Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

Coming Soon! Tomorrow! New Look to the Online Store!

We all know that tomorrow, August 4, 2020 is the first day of the new August-December 2020 Mini Catalog for the holidays, but it will also be the first day of the new Stampin’ Up! Online Store! Yes, the Online Store is getting a makeover and from what I have seen of it, I think you will be pleased! When you log in tomorrow to shop the new holiday mini after 7 AM Mountain Time (that’s 8 AM Central Time, 9 AM Eastern Time, and 6 AM Pacific Time) you will see the new look!

Your assignment for today, to get ready for the new Online Store website, is to either make sure you have your password written down or that you know it, OR click on the “Forgot My Password”. The first time you log into your Online Store account on the new website, the website won’t “remember” your password so you will have to enter it yourself. If you don’t KNOW what it is or have it written down in a super secret location, just click on the FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD link and follow the steps to get a new password. If you don’t receive the email soon after, check your SPAM folder in case it went there!

As you can see in the photo below, my password is encrypted so if I didn’t have it written down I might not remember exactly what it is. Since the store will essentially be a new website, you have to sign in yourself the first time. You will have to type in your password yourself.

If you are doing this today, Aug. 3rd, you CAN also sign into your account as it is today, then click on “My Account” in the upper right corner. Scroll down a tiny bit to MY ACCOUNT, then click on the tab for EMAIL/PASSWORD and change it in there. Be sure to click to SAVE changes! Then WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORD. The first time you log in to the new store you will have to put in your password yourself so you have to know what it is. If you need help, let me know!

IF you have bookmarked the Online Store, your bookmark might not work tomorrow (or maybe it will?).

If you have previously chosen me as your Demonstrator, I think it still should show me as your Demonstrator. If not, you have an opportunity to choose me as your Demonstrator. Or if you clicked on a product link on my blog to my Online Store, it should show me as your Demonstrator. In any case, you might want to check that you see my name on your Store page.

If you are new to shopping online at Stampin’ Up, during the ordering process you will have a chance to choose a Demonstrator. You can look up a name or search by location. Here is my name: Karen Fontinelle #54345 Houston, TX

If you just want to check out as a Guest, Stampin’ Up! will assign a Demonstrator near your location just for that one order, as all orders go through a Demonstrator, but I think you can choose if you want any further contact from that Demonstrator or not.

There are some great new features coming in the new Online Store! Product photos will be bigger, you can sort in various categories, like color or price, you can mark Favorites, you can even have a Wish List that you could share with someone! I think it will be pretty intuitive and I think we will like it!

The main hurdle will be knowing your password in order to sign in since it will be a new website and your browser will not recognize it like it does most websites you frequent. Just so you remember to do it and save yourself the hassle later, either check what your current password is so you can log in or click on the Forgot Password button and then change it. This also might be a good time while you are in your account, to make sure your address is up-to-date as I can not go into your online account to change any of your information and you don’t want your order going to the wrong location!

You are welcome to call Stampin’ Up! as well if you need help. 1-800-STAMP-UP You probably should expect phone lines to be jammed tomorrow, however, with the new website and new catalog!!

ALSO….BONUS DAYS!! TODAY, August 3rd, is actually the LAST DAY to order and receive $5 bonus coupons to use in August. I may have said July 31 was the last day but then I remembered it did run through August 3rd! For every $50 you spend during Bonus Days, you will receive a $5 Bonus Coupon to spend on an order in August.

The new Holiday Catalog, the August-December Mini, begins tomorrow so get your list ready!! If you are new and interested in Stampin’ Up! products and would like a complimentary catalog (or even the Annual Catalog as well), I would be happy to be your Demonstrator and send copies to you! Just send your contact information to me at Karen@Karenstamps.com.

I hope you are as excited for tomorrow as I am! The Holiday Catalog is jam-packed with products! The link to that catalog will go up tomorrow plus, of course, you will see the products in the new Online Store!

Let me know if you have any questions about the new Online Store or Holiday Catalog! Thanks for shopping with me!

Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card

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If the designer paper on this card looks familiar, it’s because it was in the Holiday Mini Catalog last year! This paper and the stamp set was carried over as were a few other products from last year into the upcoming August-December 2020 Mini Catalog. I had too many ideas in my head with too many new things and couldn’t think of a single card to make so I looked at the new holiday catalog and “got inspiration” for this Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card on page 19. And then I changed it up a little bit!

The card base is Pretty Peacock, one of the 2019-2021 In Colors. Then I used this striped pattern of the beautiful Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper (150429) for the card layer. I only left a 1/8″ margin around the edge of the card.

The focal point of the card is this Very Vanilla layer stamped with images from the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set, also on page 19. I stamped the holly leaves in Memento Ink and colored them with Stampin’ Blends markers. I used Granny Apple Green with a touch of Daffodil Delight first on the leaves and a little bit of Mossy Meadow to draw over the leaf veins. The berries are Real Red, of course!

The greeting is stamped in Real Red Ink and die cut with the Tasteful Labels Dies. I loved the circle die in this set. After it cuts out the circle with the pretty edge, there is also a pretty edge left on the paper you cut the circle out of. I cut out another circle out of Real Red to layer behind the greeting, off center since it is the same size as the greeting.

Before I adhered the greeting to the Very Vanilla panel, I thought it needed a little something more so I used the stamp with tiny dots and stamped that randomly in Mossy Meadow. I added a piece of Real Red 3/8″ Double-Stitched Satin Ribbon folded over so it sticks out behind both sides of the greeting and layer. I popped up this greeting with Stampin’ Dimensionals®. I think it would also be fun to spritz the card with Champagne Mist Glimmer Paint in a Spritzer. I might try that if I make some more of this design!

After you get your new Holiday Catalog products and you make a Christmas card you really like, you might want to make maybe 5 cards and then you’ll have five cards made real easily and you can still make multiples of other designs! I usually like to make several different designs of cards!

On the inside of the card you will want to put a Very Vanilla layer since the card itself is a dark color. You can stamp a greeting for the inside of the card or use a strip of the designer paper or stamp one of the ornaments from the stamp set. You could also stamp an ornament on the envelope while you have everything out!

Don’t forget to use the wonderful Stampin’ Up! catalogs for inspiration! Copy exactly or change it up if you get a slightly different idea.

The August-December 2020 Mini Catalog (otherwise known as the Holiday Mini!) goes live Tuesday, August 4th! If you don’t have a copy you will be able to view it online on that day or just see all the products in the Online Store! If you already have this designer paper and stamp set from last year, you can duplicate this Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card right now!

Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card Closeup

Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card

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The plaid paper on this Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card is coming soon in the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog on August 4th. Now when I first saw it in the holiday catalog, I wasn’t too thrilled and might have passed it up. I did notice it could be used for Christmas, fall, or Halloween and probably other things but I wasn’t that excited about it. But I did order it and when I opened the package, I just loved the paper!!

The Plaid Tidings 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper package has all kinds of plaids in it. There is a long list of coordinating colors! Although we might think of it as holiday paper, whether for Christmas or the oranges for Halloween, Fall, or Thanksgiving, I decided to use a sheet for a birthday card. While it could be for anyone, the plaid gives it a masculine look in this case and we’re always looking for things that work well for masculine cards for the men in our lives. The red on this paper is Cherry Cobbler and the green might be Shaded Spruce or Mossy Meadow. I wasn’t sure!

The card base is Cherry Cobbler and the red and green plaid paper is adhered to that. The greeting is from the Many Mates Stamp Set. It is stamped in black Memento Ink. It’s an outline stamp and you can leave it as is or in this case I colored in the letters. I used my Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow Stampin’ Blends markers.

I stamped the greeting on Whisper White and die cut it with the Stitched Nested Labels Dies . Then I made layers with the same dies out of Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow.

Due to not having the right colors of ribbon, I decided to just use some 1/4″ strips of cardstock scraps for tails hanging from the bottom of the greeting panel. I even cut the little bitty flagged ends with my Paper Snips. You could use more or less strips. I started thinking three would be good and ended up with five! After adhering the strips on the back of the layers with our new Stampin’ Seal Adhesive, I popped the whole thing up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. Even then I wanted another little something, so I used two gold Metallic Pearls.

This is actually a pretty easy card to make! If you didn’t have the particular dies, you could use rectangles or ovals or circles or even just cut rectangle layers. Just stamp a greeting and choose your favorite plaid paper for the occasion!

You’ll find the Plaid Tidings Designer Paper in the Holiday Catalog, now known as the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog on page 57. I think you will be surprised how much you like this paper and how often you can use it for your projects, like this Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card.

Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card

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This was one of those times that I absolutely didn’t know what to make for a card so finally I remembered my own advice when you need inspiration and looked in the Stampin’ Up! Catalog! I found cards somewhat like this Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card that I eventually came up with, keeping it simple and just stamping! The catalog sample cards had other cardstock on the side and a fancier greeting, but once I got going on this card I was happy with it!

I decided to make my poppies Calypso Coral so I chose Calypso Coral Cardstock for the card base. I thought about adding a layer of Pear Pizzazz Cardstock to match the leaves, but I didn’t.

I used the “blob” stamp in the Painted Poppies Stamp Set to stamp the color for all the flowers. I inked up the stamp with Calypso Coral, then stamped it lightly on scrap paper to take off some of the ink so the stamped image would be lighter. Then I stamped over these color “blobs” with the two different outline poppy stamps in black. As you can see, this method and the shapes of the stamps makes it imperfect. But that’s okay! The flowers look artsy! I even fit in an extra poppy that is not exactly over the color and it all still looks okay!

Then I did the same thing with leaves. You can do it either way. I stamped the leaf outline in black and then stamped over that with Pear Pizzazz ink with the kind of dotty image in the stamp set. Again, it all doesn’t match up perfectly but that’s how it is supposed to be. If you want the perfect look then you would stamp the outline image and then color in.

The greeting is from the Many Mates Stamp Set. This is a great new stamp set with common messages you will want to use in different fonts and designs. Some of the sentiments will be good for using inside the card or as kind of a sub-greeting on the front of the card. I think this will be a favorite stamp set for greetings.

This card is “just stamping” which is nice to do sometimes! No die-cutting, no embossing, no embellishments. Those are all good things but when you are just starting up and you only have limited supplies, it’s good to know you can make pretty cards with just stamps, ink, and paper like this Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card.

REMINDER: TODAY and TOMORROW!! Last two days for Bonus Days! With every $50 you spend in July you will receive a coupon code to spend on your orders in August. Stampin’ Up! will send you an email with the coupon codes so be sure to watch for it, look in your spam folder if you don’t get it, or contact Stampin’ Up! Make sure your email is correct with Stampin’ Up!

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Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag

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There is a fun stamp set in the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog that I just had to order and enjoyed making this Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag for you. I think a lot of people might overlook this stamp set just paging through the catalog. I certainly did until I noticed it in a video. When I went back and looked at it closely, I saw it had funny and cute sayings for the holidays. There was even a saying I had seen at a craft show years ago, wrote down, and still have on a small piece of paper in my stash! So how could I resist this stamp set?!

Just to give you a sneak peek before the mini catalog goes live on Tuesday, August 4th, I made this little tag with one of the funny sayings from the Don’t Stop Believin’ Stamp Set (153332). It would also make a cute card, of course!

The tag is made of Crumb Cake Cardstock since we are talking about hot cocoa. The top is punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. The Frosty the Snowman image is stamped on Whisper White Cardstock along with the saying. I colored the melted snowman with just a few Stampin’ Blends in the tiny spaces. For a little extra, I added some Snowflake Sequins (150443) with tiny dots of Multipurpose Liquid Glue. You may remember the Snowflake Sequins from last year’s Holiday Catalog and if you already have them from last year you are ahead of the game. It’s great that they are returning to this year’s holiday catalog because you can re-stock for this year’s fun projects!

August 4th is coming soon, next week! In the meantime, I want to remind you that we are in the last few days of July Bonus Days! With every $50 you spend on a Stampin’ Up! order until July 31, you will receive by email a coupon code to spend in August. These will significantly help with the cost of your holiday order in August! Stock up in July on some essentials or new products from the Annual Catalog and then you’ll have coupons to spend in August! The Holiday Catalog is jam-packed with products and a few returning favorites from last year.

I just got some more copies of the Holiday Catalog so if you are in need of either the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog and/or the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog (Holiday Mini), send me your contact information if you are interested in being a Stampin’ Up! customer and I’ll mail you complimentary copies.

Perhaps this Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag will tickle your funny bone a little and also cause you to look closely at all the stamp sets in the catalog because you never know what you might find!

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Gnome For the Holidays Christmas Card

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I just got my Holiday Catalog pre-order late Saturday night (love that UPS now delivers on Saturday!) so I chose this gnome stamp set for my first project with my new things, Gnome For the Holidays Christmas Card.

I never was really into gnomes and not sure I am now exactly, until last Christmas when I started following a craft lady, @thelittlegreenbean, on Instagram, who was making stuffed gnomes. Even then I wasn’t into gnomes, but I liked her and finally could resist no longer and bought myself one of her gnomes. Then another time I went back and bought two more for Christmas gifts, plus later, one for Valentine’s Day! So when I saw this gnome stamp set in the new August-December 2020 Mini Catalog (the Holiday Mini!) I decided to get it, maybe because I especially liked the little gnome house with the Christmas lights!

I also loved this Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper from what I could see of it online. It belongs in a suite but it just has generic Christmasy designs in red, white, and green Christmas colors so you can use it for all kinds of cards. It doesn’t have a theme, except Christmas! And some of the papers are really generic so you could use it any time of the year.

The card base is Real Red with a layer of the top paper that was in my Heartwarming Hugs package! See what I mean about the paper….even this page you could use on a birthday card or all-occasion card!

I stamped the gnome house with Memento Ink and die cut with a Layering Ovals die with the house stamped near the top because the house is not completely drawn in at the top. Then I used Mossy Meadow are a layer underneath with one of the scalloped oval dies.

The cute little gnome is stamped and cut out by hand just because I wanted him separate and popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. Of course, I colored in everything with Stampin’ Blends, my favorite method of coloring!

You can use whatever colors you like. I primarily used Real Red, Crumb Cake, Granny Apple Green, gray, Daffodil Delight, Ivory, and some others.

The greeting comes in the set and I punched it out with the new Banners Pick a Punch. This is a punch that you don’t “have” to have really, but I wanted the Banner Year Stamp Set that is in the Banner Bundle, so I figured I might as well get it!

There are some really big, beautiful suites in the holiday catalog, but sometimes it is fun to look for the stamp sets that probably won’t get as much attention. The holiday catalog is coming on Tuesday, August 4th! I think this gnome stamp set is going to be a popular one because gnomes seem to be “in” these days! I hope you enjoy my little gnome and gnome house on my Gnome For the Holidays Card!

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Flowers For Every Season Thank You Card

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If you are in need of a cheerful, bright, and happy card, you most likely will want to choose this designer paper I used on my Flowers For Every Season Thank You Card. The bright florals on this piece of designer paper goes with the new In Color, Magenta Madness and that’s about all you need!

The card base is Whisper White with a Magenta Madness layer. I added a strip of the Flowers For Every Season 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper just to the side. You can make it whatever width you want. Almost any of the papers in this package are sure to brighten someone’s day!

The greeting is stamped with Magenta Madness ink on a piece of Whisper White Cardstock with the So Sentimental Stamp Set. This greeting fits perfectly in this die from the Stitched So Sweetly Dies. I love the stitched border around this die!

This is such a simple card design! Anyone can make it and you can change the greeting for lots of other occasions. And for just a little embellishment, I tied a bow with the Magenta Madness 1/4″ 2020-2022 In Color Ribbon and adhered it with a couple of Mini Glue Dots.

If you like the Flowers For Every Season Designer Series Paper, here is another card I made using this paper.

When you need some quick and easy cards, this card is the way to go!

This is the last week for Bonus Days at Stampin’ Up! For every $50 you spend in July, you will earn a $5 coupon to use in August! Bonus Days ends Friday, July 31!! Don’t delay!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online Here!

Prized Peony 3D Flower Friendship Card

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I finally tried out the new Peony Dies to see how difficult it would be to make this Prized Peony 3D Flower Friendship Card. And you know what? It wasn’t difficult at all! If I had just gotten the die set and hadn’t seen other videos describing how to use the dies, I don’t know what I would have thought! But really, it is extremely easy to die cut these peony petals and put them together to make a beautiful flower!

Here are the die-cut pieces, made with the Peony Dies. The flower petals are Petal Pink and sponged with some Petal Pink Ink. The leaves were Pear Pizzazz and Granny Apple Green.

To assemble the flower, use the pieces in order by size. You can start either with the largest piece or the smallest piece. Just slide them inside each other, lining up the bottom edges of each piece. Look at the photo above. This is the back side of my flower with just two pieces. I didn’t push the one piece down all the way so you could see how the bottom edges match! You can see all the curves and imagine pushing that piece down even with the other piece. The bottom edges would line up perfectly! Do that with all four pieces and you will have assembled your peony!

Leave the assembled pieces exactly how they are….flat. OR foof them up a little bit to make the flower look 3D! Use a Bone Folder or even your fingers to try to kind of lift or roll the petal edges. You can also stick some Stampin’ Dimensionals and Mini Dimensionals behind the petals to left them up.

Prized Peony 3D Flower Friendship Card Closeup

In the photo above, not only does the shading give some definition to the flower, but lifting up the petal edges really adds something!

The card base is Petal Pink with a layer of Whisper White. I used one of the Greenery Embossing Folders to emboss just the left side of the Whisper White. The peony is popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals with the leaves underneath. Then I decided to have a ribbon tied around the lower portion of the card and attach a bow. But that seemed to take away from the flower, so I pulled off the strip of ribbon and just tied a bow to put at the base of the flower.

Then I risked everything (don’t do as I do, do as I say!) and stamped the greeting on the otherwise finished card! If I had messed up I would have just stamped the greeting on another piece of paper and made a layer and covered up my mistake. But it’s not a good idea to do the stamping when the rest of the card is finished! You can imagine why! By then it might be too late, like with this flower, to use the Stamparatus to make sure my stamping was perfect. I got lucky and stamped the greeting in the Prized Peony Stamp Set right on to the card!

You can get the Prized Peony Stamp Set and the Peony Dies together in a Bundle, the Prized Peony Bundle, and save 10%! And if you want it ALL, get the Peony Garden SUITE! Just put in the number for the Suite (154129) and get everything without having to put in all the item numbers! But if you only want some of the items, you can certainly just add those to your order as usual.

Do NOT be afraid of the Peony Dies because they are as simple as can be! Order whatever peony products you like! If you order by July 31, you will receive Bonus Coupons to use in August for every $50 you spend on an order in July! After you place your Stampin’ Up! order, watch for the email that contains your coupon codes. Make sure you get this email and keep track of it so you don’t lose those codes. So nice to get a little extra something when you order!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Banner Blooms Colored Flowers Birthday Card

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This Banner Blooms Colored Flowers Birthday Card is another example of how I did something different than I planned to! I originally thought I would color this die-cut by sponging on some color, maybe in a very soft look. But when I went to actually color on the die-cut, I grabbed my Stampin’ Blends markers instead and went to town!

When I stamp, I am always, always, always using Grid Paper on my table. It is handy for lining things up and especially for measuring quickly and easily. When I took a decorative painting class years ago, the teacher had us put down a towel on the table and after that, I couldn’t paint unless I had a towel underneath my project! Now you can even choose from several kinds of Grid Paper from Stampin’ Up!, even colorful ones! For coloring these die-cut flowers, I needed a plain white paper underneath (and you always need a paper underneath when coloring with Stampin’ Blends because they do bleed through the paper) so I could see the die-cut well. I simply turned my Grid Paper over to the other side.

This card uses Melon Mambo Cardstock for the card base. I chose it after coloring the flowers. I used Shimmery White Cardstock, my favorite, for the die-cut and also for the card layer, because it is good to color on and it has a very subtle shimmer to it. The paper is very pretty all on its own!

I die cut the flower bouquet with the Banner Blooms Dies. This die is really different from the ones we have had. I found that it works best placing the die cutting side up with the paper on top rather than face down on the paper. I don’t know why, but it does! I also ran it through my machine three times and after that, almost all the pieces popped out on their own and the few that were left I used the Take Your Pick Die Brush Tip to roll over the die cut piece and also over the die to get out just a few pieces of paper that remain in the die.

As I said, I planned to use maybe Sponge Daubers to lightly sponge on ink colors on the flowers and leaves over the die, not really being precise, just adding color. But then I grabbed my Stampin’ Blends Markers and had fun coloring the whole thing! I didn’t try to be absolutely perfect but used mostly the brush tips of the markers to quickly color in the different areas. On the really narrow areas, I used the tip ends of the markers. I usually started with the Light color and also added the Dark for a tiny bit of shading. Since I LOVE coloring with these markers I didn’t find the coloring tedious.

To make the banners going across the bouquet, just stamp the greeting in the Hand-Drawn Blooms Stamp Set on a scrap piece of paper. Then line the die up over the stamped greeting (but you don’t need a full piece of paper or you’ll be wasting it). You will end up with the portion with the stamped banners. Then just trim these off the rest of the bouquet and adhere to the bouquet you have just colored. The greetings in the stamp set are doubled-up to fit perfectly on the banner areas. You could also cut out the banners and use stamps from other sets that would fit.

The banners are stamped in Melon Mambo ink. I popped them up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. I added two Magenta Madness 2020-22 In Color Enamel Dots to the banners.

The whole bouquet is adhered to the card with lots of teeny tiny dots of Multipurpose Liquid Glue. I placed the bouquet on the Silicone Craft Sheet which held it steady and it didn’t matter if a little glue got on the craft sheet.

A good thing to use for delicate die-cuts like this is the Adhesive Sheets which you adhere to the paper before die-cutting and it turns the die-cut into a sticker when you remove the backing paper. I just never think ahead to use it!

Here is another card I made with the Banner Blooms Die using Rainbow Glimmer Paper, another great option if you don’t want to color in!

Remember, we only have about a week left of Bonus Days! When you spend $50 on any order, you will receive via email a $5 Bonus Coupon to use on an order in August. No limit to how many coupons you can earn with every $50 you spend! Bonus Days ends on July 31.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

In Good Taste Navy Z-Fold Thank You Card

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I always think it is fun and impressive to make a card with a different fold and this In Good Taste Navy Z-Fold Thank You Card uses the easiest one there is! I was working on another project with this same designer paper which I really like so I used it on this card. You can use any designer paper and change the sentiment for almost any kind of card. You can even change the shape of the greeting layer on the card.

The basic z-fold card is so easy to make! The card base starts off like any card, 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″, scored and folded at 4 1/4″. But then you will fold the card front back on itself, in half. After scoring the card normally at 4 1/4″, next score the front of the card at half of that, 2 1/8″ and fold that part back like you see in the following photos in this post.

Next, decide on what designer paper you want to use on your card or even stamp the panels you want to add. Just do whatever you like or whatever the occasion requires. This card base is Night of Navy and the designer paper is the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper. This designer paper comes in a large package with many patterns – 12 designs, 2 sheets of each! When I first saw it in the catalog, wasn’t really interested, but after I saw how many different textures were captured on this paper, I was quite intrigued. This Night of Navy print resembles tile or china I think.

Since that folded back front panel measures 2 1/8″ x 5 1/2″, you probably want your designer paper or panel to measure 2″ x 5 3/8″ for a narrow margin around the edge or 1 7/8″ x 5 1/4″ for a wider margin. Figure it just like you would for a card.

Since the cardstock is dark, I added a Whisper White layer inside the card and put a strip of the designer paper along the edge. This was just a scrap, but it is about 1/2″ wide by 5 1/4″.

For the greeting on the front of the card, I wanted to use something kind of large. I chose one from the So Sentimental Stamp Set. It is stamped in Night of Navy ink. The die-cut scalloped rectangles I used are in the Stitched So Sweetly Dies set. When you adhere it to the front of the card, remember to only add adhesive to half of the back of the greeting so it only sticks to that folded front panel and not the rest of the card. If you are going to have a greeting on the inside of the card, you probably want that front greeting to cover up what is inside the card.

For a little bling, I added some Misty Moonlight 2020-22 In Color Enamel Dots. They are not the exact same color as the Night of Navy used on the card, but I thought they were close enough.

I could have added another color with the greeting layer and the enamel dots and ink if I didn’t want it to be the monochromatic look.

Here’s another card I made with the z-fold using really pretty designer paper from 2019, some ribbon, and a different shaped greeting on the front of the card, just to give you another idea.

Here are some other views of this card so you can see how the folds go.

In Good Taste Navy Z-Fold Thank You Card Inside

In Good Taste Navy Z-Fold Thank You Card Folds

Try your hand at making an easy Z-Fold card like this In Good Taste Navy Z-Fold Thank You Card.

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Ornate Garden So Grateful Card

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For this card, I was in the mood to use the paper in the Ornate Garden Suite and this Ornate Garden So Grateful Card is what turned out! This is a great all-occasion card that has a little different style than maybe you normally make. It’s also a great way to use up some smaller pieces of designer paper! Just change the greeting for a birthday or congratulations or even sympathy.

The card base is Mint Macaron, one of the coordinating colors for the Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper. Some of these sheets in this collection have gold foil accents.

At first I was going to just adhere the floral strips directly to the card base, but it’s a little easier to adhere to another piece of cardstock first, whether it shows or not. I started with a Whisper White piece under the floral strips with a narrow margin showing but I wasn’t crazy about that. Then I realized Terracotta Tile, another coordinating color, very evident in these floral strips, might be perfect!

You might want to make your card pieces slightly different sizes, but here are the sizes I used:

Floral Strips 1 1/4″ x 4″, Terracotta Tile layer under strips 3 7/8″ x 4 1/8″.

For the greeting, since I was using the Ornate Garden paper, I decided to use a greeting in the Ornate Thanks Stamp Set. First I stamped it in Terracotta Tile on Whisper White but I didn’t like it. I thought it looked too bold. I changed it to Mint Macaron and I could have changed the layer to Mint Macaron but I just used the Terracotta layer.

Before adhering the layer with the paper strips, I adhered a piece of ribbon around to the back on both sides and then added a separate bow. Just use a Mini Glue Dot or two to hold the bow on the card. Often this works easier than trying to tie the bow with the ribbon on the card. This white ribbon is in the Flowers For Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack. It looks like a linen ribbon and is very pretty with this paper.

I forgot to mention, I cut the sheet of Mint Macaron Cardstock in half lengthwise, rather than horizontally, so it is 4 1/4″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″. This produces a top of the card fold rather than the usual side fold. You can do it either way, it’s just something a little different!

Here’s another card I made using the Ornate Garden Suite, using one of the papers with larger flowers. You can use whichever floral pattern you are in the mood for!

Get out whatever designer paper you like or scraps you have and see if you can make a card similar to this one. Once you get started you may change the idea completely! It’s up to you! Start with my Ornate Garden So Grateful Card to possibly give you an idea and then let your own creativity take you wherever it wants to go!

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Forever Greenery Thank You Card

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Talk about a quick and easy card to make, this Forever Greenery Thank You Card is one! I don’t think I’d even gotten around to using this designer paper so I thought it was about time.

I think every green color Stampin’ Up! has is included in this Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper. I love the new In Color 2020-22 called Just Jade. Normally I’m not a big fan of green, but I really like this color. Just Jade is the card base with a layer of Whisper White Cardstock. Then I added the designer paper layer. Originally, I planned to just have a very thin margin of the Whisper White to kind of separate the designer paper from the Just Jade. But I liked more of the white showing so I made all the standard layers.

Before adhering the designer paper layer to the Whisper White Cardstock, I wrapped around a strip of Just Jade 1/4″ Ribbon and adhered it to the back. After the layer is adhered to the card, you can tie a separate bow and adhere it to the ribbon with a Mini Glue Dot.

The greeting is stamped with Just Jade Ink with a stamp in the So Sentimental Stamp Set. This is a great stamp set for greetings! There are large ones and very small ones! Then I cut out the greeting with a Stitched So Sweetly Die.

To set off the greeting a little bit, I punched a strip of Just Jade Cardstock with the Lovely Labels Pick A Punch. Then of a little bling, I added a Gold Glitter Enamel Dot on each end.

That’s all there is to making this card! And so many pretty patterns to choose from in the Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper!

Check out all the new Stampin’ Up! catalog items and when you place your order, remember the Bonus Days promotion going on during July! With every $50 you spend in July, you will receive a $5 coupon to spend on your order in August! Be sure to look for the email from Stampin’ Up! right after you order!

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Pandemic Anniversary Card 2020

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This isn’t my usual stamped Stampin’ Up! card but it is extra-special nonetheless as it is a Pandemic Anniversary Card handmade by my husband! Yesterday was our wedding anniversary of many years and he put his cardmaking skills to work to make me this card!

Due to the pandemic, of course, we have been staying out of stores so he hasn’t been able to buy cards for me. But he found a way to make them on the computer! As my son texted last night, “Making cards on the computer! How retro!” I know when we bought our first computer it was really cool to buy some software that had card designs you could make and print out! I don’t know that people do that any more, at least not with software, but there are online sites where you can design cards, apparently!

So the card base is computer paper, not cardstock, and the colors are whatever the printer ink colors are combined together! I think the card design is something similar to the Boho Indigo Medley in the new catalog on page 9. Maybe a little bit like the Forever Fern Bundle!

For Mother’s Day he also tried to make me a card, but it printed out on a full sheet of paper, not a card he could fold up, so this one was progress! But the Mother’s Day “card” was beautiful, the floral designs around the “Happy Mother’s Day” was similar to the florals Stampin’ Up! has been using in their new logos.

I really appreciate my husband going to all this trouble to make cards for me during the pandemic. He got lucky yesterday when I was in the bedroom having a long phone call with a girlfriend and he could work on the computer without me popping in!

I think if he were a stamper, we might have the same style! Even cards he has bought at the store in the past I always like and think I could copy it somewhat with my stamping supplies! Maybe he is subsconsciously absorbing my cardmaking style from being surrounded by Stampin’ Up! products!

Last year I had laryngitis so we didn’t go out for dinner on our anniversary! This year is the pandemic and right now with things being really bad in Houston we aren’t even picking up food right now, not to mention that he just had a partial root canal the other day so can’t chew on that side. Wouldn’t be any fun to go out to eat anyway for him! Maybe the third year will be the charm…next year! If I ever get to go back to my favorite seafood restaurant I am ordering EVERYTHING I love there!!

I hope you get to celebrate your anniversary and other occasions better than we did this year! And I hope WE get to celebrate our anniversary better NEXT year! But the important thing is we HAD an anniversary together and it doesn’t matter if we ate at home or had a card made on the computer.

Clear Tiny Treat Box With Sunflower

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One of my favorite extra products in the Stampin’ Up! Catalog besides stamps, paper, and ink, are the Clear Tiny Treat Boxes which can be decorated like this Clear Tiny Treat Box With Sunflower. Put a candy treat inside or a small gift and you are good to go! Just keep a package of these treat boxes in your stash for any occasion that arises.

The stamped sunflower is the smaller one in the Celebrate Sunflowers Stamp Set. This is the technique I used to stamp and color this sunflower:

Use Stampin’ Write Markers to color directly on the stamp in the different colors, huff on the stamp, then stamp on Whisper White Cardstock.
Use a Blender Pen to pick up ink from the ink pad lids of whatever colors you choose to lightly color in the white space on the stamped flower. Although I used a Crushed Curry marker to color on the stamp, I used So Saffron Ink with my Blender Pen to fill in the flower petals. I used a Granny Apple Green marker for the leaves but colored in with Mint Macaron.
The flower center didn’t look good filled in with Soft Suede so I went back with Cajun Craze lightly to match the markers. When it looked too solid or something, I used the small tip of the marker to fill in a lot of tiny dots around that center.
The very center has some yellow and a tiny bit of green.

Blender pens are good to use because you tend to get a lighter color using them but you can pick up more ink and get a darker shade. We used to use Blender Pens all the time, back in the “olden days” when I first became a Demonstrator. You can pick up ink from the ink pad or lid with them, pick up ink directly from the marker tip, blend Watercolor Pencil colors or even pick up color directly from the Watercolor Pencil tip. They are so handy and versatile. Just enough moisture to work but not enough to pill the cardstock, unless you work it too much. In that case, Shimmery White Cardstock is better than Whisper White.

The sunflower is die-cut with the Sunflowers Die. Then I wrapped a ribbon around the treat box and adhered the die-cut sunflower. This ribbon I used is the green gingham in the Flowers For Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack.

After putting your treat or gift inside, you could tie the ribbon around from the bottom to the top instead or just add a bow to the lid of the box. You could stamp a little tag to add as well.

There are so many things you can do with these Clear Tiny Treat Boxes! They are handy for so many occasions! Here is a favorite one I made at Easter.

Here is a close-up of the sunflower so you can see the coloring. You could also stamp in Memento Black ink and color with Stampin’ Blends. Or use Watercolor Pencils.

Clear Tiny Treat Box With Sunflower Closeup

Think about getting a package of these Clear Tiny Treat Boxes and also check out the other types of boxes and bags Stampin’ Up! carries for treats and gifts! There are many options!

Remember it is Bonus Days for another two weeks in July! With every $50 purchase, you will receive an email with a coupon code for $5 to use in August on your orders. No limits, so if you have a large order, you will have more coupons to use! And with the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog, a large order is pretty easy to come up with! Way too easy!!

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Stamping With Karen

Having Fun With Paper, Ink, and Stamps

Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

Coming Soon! Tomorrow! New Look to the Online Store!

Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card

Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card

Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card

Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag

Gnome For the Holidays Christmas Card

Flowers For Every Season Thank You Card

Prized Peony 3D Flower Friendship Card

Banner Blooms Colored Flowers Birthday Card

In Good Taste Navy Z-Fold Thank You Card

Ornate Garden So Grateful Card

Forever Greenery Thank You Card

Pandemic Anniversary Card 2020

Clear Tiny Treat Box With Sunflower