I dare you to play with the Cherry on Top Designer Washi Tape and not feel happy! Just the designs and bright colors can put you in a good mood when you are stamping. The same is true with the Cherry on Top Designer Series Paper Stack, although today I only used the Cherry on Top Washi Tape. The card base is the brand new Whisper White Thick Cardstock. Today is the first day I actually used this thick card stock and I can tell you it really makes a nice card base. I didn’t add a layer or anything. While our regular Whisper White cardstock is very nice, it has always been just a little bit light for using as a card base.

To make this card, all I did was tear off strips of Cherry on Top Washi Tape and applied them on a diagonal. I let them extend over the edge of the card and then cut the excess off with a scissors. That way you don’t need to be exact with measuring, which would be nearly impossible. For a greeting I used “Just Because” from the A Dozen Thoughts Stamp Set. Then because it was laying on the table and because I thought it kind of matched, I stamped the squiggly line along the bottom of the washi tape from the Tin of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set. You can see this stamp set is not JUST for the Tin of Cards Project Kit!

When you need a card in a hurry, try one like this!  Use washi tape and a greeting or strips of your favorite designer paper!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE!

The Bohemian Designer Series Paper has such rich colors, you can use just a small strip on a card and have it be enough if you aren’t really into bold patterns. One of the coordinating colors that goes with the Bohemian paper is Blackberry Bliss so I used that for the card base. For an accent color I used a strip of Island Indigo card stock. For the greeting, I used the Watercolor Thank You Wood-Mount Stamp stamped with Island Indigo ink. Then for something a little fun, I took a strip of the Gold Sequin Trim and tied it. It is adhered to the greeting with a couple of Glue Dots. And then for a final little pizzazz, I adhered a few gold sequins that I pulled off the Gold Sequin Trim and stuck them around on the card with the Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

Easy card, elegant looking because of the deep colors and the sequin trim.  Did you know the Sequin Trim comes in four colors? It comes in Gold, Silver, Bermuda Bay and now Blushing Bride!

You can see a similar card in another blog post I did HERE.

Please go check out the new Stampin Up! Designer Papers HERE in the Stampin Up! Online Store!  I know they are difficult to see, but click on the little magnifying glass in the corner and then you can click the arrows to view some of the patterns better!  And just remember, they are EVEN BETTER in person!

You might not have heard but today is National Donut Day!  And you can probably even get a free donut in your neighborhood somewhere!  Just google “National Donut Day” and find a location near you! Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme have something going on, Shipley’s here in Houston, but look it up online to see what the conditions are before you go!  Who thinks up these “days”?!

To commemorate National Donut Day, I made this card with three homemade donuts – out of paper! That reminds me, I learned to make my own donuts in Home Ec in 7th or 8th grade out of the canned biscuits. The donut holes were especially good.  I think I made my grandpa a container of donuts for Christmas for a gift!

To make your own paper donuts, you will need a circle punch or two or the Circle Framelits or come circular cutting skills. After all, a donut doesn’t have to be a perfect shape! I cut the two regular donuts out of Crumb Cake card stock and the chocolate donut out of Chocolate Chip card stock.  Then for frosting I did the same, but trimmed it down with my Paper Snips to look like the frosting was spread on top. The chocolate donut has white frosting with Chocolate Chip sprinkles (from the Sprinkles of Life stamp set!). The donut with chocolate frosting was embossed with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. The largest donut was punched with the 2 1/2″ Circle Punch and the 3/4″ Circle Punch for the center (punch the center first, then center that hole when you punch with the larger circle punch). I should have just used pink card stock, but I used Whisper White and then colored it with Pink Pirouette reinker and my Aqua Painter. For candies on top I used the Subtles Candy Dots. Love those!  The greeting comes from the Bravo Stamp Set.

My card began with a Daffodil Delight card base, but it just needed something. I added a layer of Watermelon Wonder and another layer of a pattern in the Cherry on Top Paper Stack. Such cute papers in there! When you are creating something, if it doesn’t feel right, just keep playing with it and I’m sure you will come up something that feels satisfying and then you know you’ve got it!

Another new stamp set in the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog that would be good for National Donut Day is the Sprinkles on Top Stamp Set. The small images can be candies or donuts!

Go get your free donut, then sit down and do some shopping at the Stampin’ Up! Online Store!  

Happy Donut Day!

Today is the first day for the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog all by itself! The “old” is gone and the “new” is here! My card today uses the new Bohemian Designer Series Paper along with the coordinating In Color Delightful Dijon and a Bermuda Bay card base. This is a very simple card, inspired by (copied!) by one in the new catalog on page 18.

The Bohemian DSP has very bold patterns that you may or may not like, but you can always use a small piece of it if you don’t like the look of a lot of it on a full size card. You can also turn the paper over for a different and smaller pattern! Remember that amazing fact about stamping and papercrafting – there is always the other side of the paper!

If you are tired of cutting the cute little tail on banner pieces, now you can use a punch! The Banner Triple Punch is designed to snip that little tail on the end of banners that are 1″, 1 1/2″ and 2″ wide. I think you can even slide in a narrower strip, like 3/4″ and just center it yourself in the slot.  I think this punch will be very popular!

For my greeting on the card, I used the Watercolor Thank You Stamp.  It is a single wood-mount stamp and has that watercolor look that is SO popular now.  I love the look of it! Then I punched it out with the 2 1/2″ Circle Punch. It is stamped with Bermuda Bay ink. And as in the card in the catalog that I was copying, I tied on a piece of Baker’s Twine and made a little bow. I used the Gold Metallic Baker’s Twine.

Try making a card similar to this one with what you have! It is a quick and easy card!

On my Stampin’ Up! Store website, you might notice the categories in the left side bar are a little different with the new catalog.  For example, to find punches, you need to click on “Paper Cutting and Scoring”. Then more categories will come up to lead you to what you are looking for. I guess that might be obvious to some, but it took me a minute to wonder what they did with the punches!!

If you are already very familiar with Stampin’ Up! products, then you probably have a Demonstrator you like and work with – but if you do not, I would be happy to be yours! Just email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com  if you would like a new catalog if you prefer a hard copy. Otherwise you can view all the products online at my Stampin’ Up! Store or check out the PDF version of the catalog.

Stampin’ Up! 2015-16 Annual Catalog PDF

Sign up for my Mailing List SOON so you receive my June issue of the Stamping With Karen Newsletter full of projects and the latest Stampin’ Up! news! Put your name and email in the box in the top right!

It’s time to use Apothecary Art another time while it is on the Stampin’ Up! Retirement List. Such a pretty stamp set to use for many kinds of occasions, from elegant to casual. I chose to stamp the images with Versamark and emboss with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder  and the Heat Tool. The card base is Basic Black card stock, layered with Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper. This paper is on the Retirement List of Accessories at 50% off! I just cut around the gold embossed image so that it would layer on a piece of Basic Black cut out with the Labels Collection Die (which is no longer available). And then the greeting is just laid across the open space in the middle of the flowery image.

Here are some other samples in the Stampin’ Up! Store:

Don’t forget the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals, good until late tonight!

Shop at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store today and tomorrow for any retiring products you want!

If you are a cake decorator, or at least a papercraft cake decorator, you will enjoy the new Build A Birthday Stamp Set. Use the rectangular shapes to stamp the various layers, whatever design or size you like. Use one of the shapes for the birthday candle, too. It comes with a cake plate stamp, which I have mostly covered up using the new Mint Macaron In Color Lace Trim. I was experimenting with making a little lace edge on my cake plate, but I think I should have cut it in half or doubled it over so it wouldn’t be so long! I just eyeballed the cake layers, which luckily turned out fine, except there was a tiny space in between the top and second layer.  It really wouldn’t have mattered, but I decided to add a line of Basic Pearls across there that would look like a cake decoration anyway.

Since my cake and candle really took up most of the space on the card, I had to get creative with the greeting. At first I wasn’t sure what I would do, but then I remembered that photopolymer stamps can be bent a little on a curve. I tried that but it was still kind of high up to put over the candle. Next I decided I could just curve each word and color with a marker, just one word at a time and stamp one word on each side of the candle. That worked fine!

The cake layers and marker I used are all the new Stampin’ Up! In Colors – Watermelon Wonder, Delightful Dijon, and Tip Top Taupe for the top “chocolate” layer! The cake plate that you can’t see I stamped with Mint Macaron. The only color I left out is Cucumber Crush. Should have used that for the greeting!  The card base is Mint Macaron.

Remember, Tuesday June 2nd is the day you can order from the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog. On that date you can also order from the current catalogs if you want to do it all together and perhaps take advantage of Hostess Benefits. On June 3rd, only the new catalog will be in effect.

Shop HERE at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store for any current or retiring products!