Category Archives: Cards

Trick or Tweet Scary Halloween Animals Card

Halloween is so much fun and this Trick or Tweet Scary Halloween Animals Card is great to send to someone and spread the Halloween spirit! I love these little costumed animals, ready to stamp and color in how you like! It’s the Trick or Tweet Stamp Set! Cute name, too!

Just stamp each animal on some Whisper White Cardstock and color in with Stampin’ Blends markers or your choice of coloring. I love the alcohol markers! You can use whatever coloring method you like. Then you can punch out or die cut the animals in circles and layer on a scalloped circle. I used Berry Burst Cardstock for the layers.

The background layer on the card is embossed with the Oh My Stars Embossing Folder. I used Lemon Lime Twist Cardstock. This piece is layered on Berry Burst Cardstock and layered on the Basic Black card base.

There wasn’t a good space for a greeting, so I stamped the greeting and cut apart the words! It’s a technique I see now and then but rarely think to use it myself! The greeting comes in the Trick or Tweet Stamp Set. The greeting is stamped in Berry Burst Ink and layered on Basic Black. I just used my Paper Snips scissors to cut these apart by hand. Just glue onto the black and then trim that out. Doesn’t have to be perfect because, after all, it is a spooky Halloween card!

That’s all! A fun Halloween card! Be sure to mail it to arrive before Halloween! Or use these individual little characters as a topper on a Halloween treat bag or box. Lots of possibilities! Here is a treat box I made with the little Halloween bird as the decoration!

Wouldn’t someone you know be pleasantly surprised not just to find a card, but a Halloween card, in their mailbox from you?! Have some fun making cards and treats for Halloween like this Trick or Tweet Scary Halloween Animals Card!

First Frost Flower Bouquet Card

Leave a reply

This First Frost Flower Bouquet Card will be a good one to send to someone for almost any occasion, just change the greeting. You can stamp the flowers in any color, make the whole color scheme of the card in any appropriate colors. First Frost is just a pretty stamp set with nice greetings you can use.

As you can probably see, I stamped the flowers randomly and then die cut with the Frosted Bouquet Framelits Dies. You could also stamp the flowers on the card and then stamp an extra one or two to die cut and add to the bouquet. I did stamp the stems and leaves and some of the little wispy flowers or berries, whatever they are. (And they can be either!) Notice the stamps themselves give that kind of “not full-on ink” impression, a softer look, like watercolor. It’s a very soft, not bold, stamp set. So pretty I think!

To save 10%, just purchase the First Frost Bundle that contains the stamp set and the coordinating dies.

To finish off the card front, I adhered a little strip of the Frosted Floral 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper. If you don’t buy anything else in the Suite, I would buy this Frosted Floral Paper because it is shimmery and GORGEOUS!

On the inside of the card, you can add another die cut flower down in the corner!

You’ll find this whole grouping of products in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog! Be sure to check out this gorgeous new catalog online! And if you would like a copy of your own, please send me your contact information. I would be happy to help you and send you a complimentary copy of the catalog.

You can actually use this Frosted Floral Suite to make holiday cards! Or you can make birthday cards or sympathy cards or “thinking of you” cards or wedding cards! How many stamp sets can you say something like that about?!

I hope you can be inspired by this First Frost Flower Bouquet Card and copy it or make something a little bit different for your special occasion to send or give to someone!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Toil & Trouble Witch’s Broomstick Halloween Card

Leave a reply

How fun is it to use this designer paper with the witches’ brooms all over it and then put a Halloween witch holding a broomstick on the front of the card as in this Toil & Trouble Witch’s Broomstick Halloween Card!

This Halloween designer paper from Stampin’ Up! in the new Holiday Catalog is called Toil & Trouble Designer Series Paper. It has lots of cute images for all kinds of Halloween cards, bags, tags, and other projects! You will have fun making all kinds of cards and things out of it! I just started with a card base of Pumpkin Pie and a layer of Basic Black. Next comes the designer paper pattern with the broomsticks.

For the focal point of the card, I cut out the witch by hand from the Toil & Trouble DSP and mounted her on two ovals, one using Crushed Curry. You know you can find out the coordinating colors of any designer paper by looking on the back of the paper.

To finish off the card I tied on a piece of Crumb Cake twine from the Nature’s Twine package of 4 colors. After that, I realized I didn’t really have a good place to put a greeting, so I left it off. I can stamp something on the inside or just a personal note. It’s not a rule that every single card has to have a greeting on the front!

I hope you will check out this Toil & Trouble Designer Series Paper and see if it gets your Halloween spirit moving! Here’s another card I made with this designer paper by cutting out the witch and a cauldron! Don’t forget to join Paper Pumpkin, too and get a spooky cute box this month!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE!

Are You On My Stamping With Karen Mailing List??

Leave a reply

Are you on my Stamping With Karen Mailing List? I do love to invite anyone who is interested in stamping, papercrafting, memory-keeping, and Stampin’ Up! to join my Mailing List and keep up with any Stampin’ Up! news and get exclusive detailed tutorials. I love to have new subscribers at any time!

But I’m going to give you a hint that you REALLY want to sign up soon so that you will receive my annual free gift to my subscribers, The 12 Weeks of Christmas weekly newsletters! Believe it or not, we will be starting that pretty soon! Each week you will receive a special email with one holiday project. We will do cards, gift ideas, and gift bag & tag ideas. You won’t find these ideas on my blog or Facebook, they will only be for my subscribers! If you are not on my list, you will miss out!

Feel free to invite your friends to sign up, too! The more the merrier! I always have a great response to these holiday emails and I enjoy sending them out!

It’s not time yet, but it won’t be long! And in the meantime, you will want to keep up with any news about the new Holiday Catalog or any other offers and news from Stampin’ Up!

Current subscribers do not need to sign up again to get the 12 Weeks of Christmas! You are already on my list! And my Holiday List!

Just put your name and email in the red box on the right side of this blog page or click HERE.

Thanks for joining us! Be sure you get your FREE Gift for signing up!

Making Christmas Bright Christmas Card

Leave a reply

This Making Christmas Bright Christmas Card is one copied from a sample in the new Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog. Look at the sample on page 6. Those cards on that page and this Making Christmas Bright Stamp Set were some that really caught my eye the first time I looked through the catalog! One of the things that says “Christmas” the most are pretty Christmas lights!

Don’t let all those little bulbs scare you off! It just took me a minute with my Stampin’ Blends markers to color those in. They practically only take a dot of marker! I’m not sure what it is that is SO relaxing about coloring with those Stampin’ Blends but I love it! You can also use the regular Stampin’ Write Markers, like Real Red and Crushed Curry. The Stampin’ Up! sample colors in the white bulbs with the Wink of Stella Brush. I colored with the Call Me Clover green.

I used Call Me Clover Cardstock for the card base and used Real Red plus Whisper White and a piece of Sparkle Glimmer Paper. The circle around the greeting is Crushed Curry.

There are lots of possibilities with this stamp set. You can purchase the Bundle, which adds the Christmas Bulb Builder Punch. Bundles save you 10% over the full price!

When you are stamping the strings of lights, if one is too long and going to run into an area where you don’t want it, just put down a piece of scrap paper where you do not want it to stamp. If you don’t want to do the coloring of the bulbs, you could make a monochromatic card by just stamping everything in red or green. I might try that!

This is a good time to get started on holiday cards while we are so enthused with the new products and stamping will be so much fun, instead of rushing at the last minute! But I say that every year! Maybe this year I will really get an earlier start!

Remember to use your Bonus Coupon Codes if you have one or more! Directions are in this post of how to add your Coupon Codes.

If you are a kid at heart with Christmas lights, I think you will enjoy this stamp set or Bundle when you make a card like my Making Christmas Bright Card!

Today Is the Day! The Holiday Catalog Is Here!

Leave a reply

Today marks the official start of the holiday season (for crafters!) with the release of the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog 2018!

You can view the Holiday Catalog Online HERE!

Enjoy a few Stampin’ Up! videos that will really get you “in the mood” if you aren’t already!

SHOP THE HOLIDAY CATALOG ONLINE TODAY! USE YOUR BONUS COUPON CODES!

How to Redeem Your Stampin’ Up! Bonus Codes

Leave a reply

If you had fun ordering from Stampin’ Up! in August, it is now September so you can redeem any Bonus Codes you earned with every $50 purchase! Be sure to redeem them during the month of September. You can use all of them at once or space them out. Hopefully, you still have your email from Stampin’ Up! with your codes!

It’s easy! Just put in your order in the Online Store as usual, then click the “Manage Coupon Codes” button and add your codes! You will see your discount applied on the Order Review Screen. Be sure to check!

Here is a little tutorial from Stampin’ Up! (Click to view better!) Or click HERE to view the PDF!

You might want to wait until the Holiday Catalog goes live in just two more days, September 5th!!

Remember, if you are trying to reach an amount for a Hostess order, like $150, your total order must be $150 after the coupon codes are applied.

HAVE FUN SHOPPING WITH YOUR COUPON CODES!

A Quick and Easy Halloween Card With Ghosts

Leave a reply

Want to make a quick and easy Halloween card with ghosts? I can show you how! In fact, a card like this one is partially responsible for me becoming a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator! I was visiting my friend who was a Demonstrator and she took me along to a team meeting. There was a card on a display board with a ghost or two. When I found out the ghost was made by cutting a heart in half I was just thrilled with how creative people could be with this thing called stamping! I was so inspired by all the creativity I saw at the meeting plus everything my friend had at her house! I think I signed up while I was visiting her that weekend!

When I made another Halloween card in THIS POST with this new paper coming in the Holiday Catalog September 5th, Toil & Trouble, I remembered the idea of making ghosts out of hearts! Just punch out, die cut, or hand cut out a heart of whatever size you want. Then cut the heart in half! That’s all there is to it! Draw on some eyes with a marker. Adhere it to the side of the card layout! Sometimes it doesn’t take much to thrill me to pieces!

This card starts with a Basic Black card base with a layer of Granny Apple Green Cardstock. I let that have a wider margin than usual and cut a smaller piece of Highland Heather Cardstock for another layer. Then I added the ghost patterned paper in the Toil & Trouble Designer Series Paper for the background layer. The half-hearts/ghosts were adhered to the card on the sides. The greeting is from the Trick or Tweet Stamp Set in the Holiday Catalog.

This Toil & Trouble paper makes Halloween cardmaking so much fun! Especially when you can cut a heart in half and make a ghost poking out from a spooky place! You, too, can make a quick and easy Halloween card with ghosts!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Quick and Easy Frankenstein Halloween Card

Leave a reply

You’ve got to try this Quick and Easy Frankenstein Halloween Card if you like Halloween! It will only take you two seconds to make. You can even vary the design to put on tags or treat bag toppers or a Halloween piece of home decor – whatever you like.

The card base is Old Olive Cardstock. The hair is Basic Black just cut in a jagged way. Just figure out how long you want his hair to hang down and cut off the top portion.

Otherwise, you just need a 3/4″ Circle Punch and a 1 1/4″ Circle Punch to make his eyes and nose. Punch two 1 1/4″ circles of Old Olive and cut in half with Paper Snips. Sponge some Old Olive Ink on three of the pieces for the two eyelids and nose. You could also make a circle nose if you like or an oval. The Whisper White eyes are punched with the 1 1/4″ Circle Punch and Basic Black with the 3/4″ Circle Punch. I used the White Stampin’ Chalk Marker to just draw in those little whites of his eyes. You can put them at crazy angles or whatever you want if you want to have some fun with it!

Draw in a few scars and Frankenstein’s mouth with a Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker or Journaling Pens . Once you get your supplies out, making the card goes very quickly! Halloween is so much fun!

Here is a closeup of Frankenstein’s face. Have fun making your Frankenstein!

Don’t forget!! Today is the last day for Stampin’ Up! Bonus Days and also the Color Your Season Suite of special products! Don’t miss out!

Frosted Floral Hello Card For Someone

Leave a reply

In the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog you will find the prettiest designer paper called Frosted Floral. It has a beautiful shimmery look to it, so even a quick and easy card like this Frosted Floral Hello Card For Someone will look elegant and special to anyone you give it to.

The card base is Mint Macaron, one of the coordinating colors of the designer paper. Then I just layered on this paper with the vine design on top. I actually had another idea of adhering several stamped flowers from the First Frost Stamp Set onto the paper, but when I played with placing the flowers, I just didn’t care for it.

I considered several different greetings for this card but in the end, the “Hello” greeting from the Accented Blooms Stamp Set seemed just right. I stamped it in Mint Macaron and punched with the Tailored Tag Punch. I also applied Mint Macaron twine from the Nature’s Twine multi-pack. I like the way it looks on this card!

The new Holiday Catalog is getting close! It goes live Wednesday, September 5th – that’s a week from today! To help you out with costs you will WANT to incur in September with the Holiday Catalog, don’t forget about Bonus Days in August! Before Friday, order some basics to stock up in $50 increments and maybe some items from the new annual Stampi’ Up! Catalog and get your $5 Bonus coupons to use in September! Bonus Days end Friday, August 31!

Here’s a similar card made with the Frosted Floral Designer Series Paper I made about ten days ago. It’s really about the same style. All you have to do is change the greeting on either card and they can serve for many occasions. Try the Frosted Floral Hello Card For Someone and mail it to someone special!

Color Your Season Flower Card

Leave a reply

This Color Your Season Flower Card is just one beautiful card you can make with the Color Your Season Suite of products, a limited-time offer! And you know what, Friday, August 31 will be the last day to purchase the stamp set, framelit dies, or the Bundle. There is also a new selection of Watercolor Pencils that may (or may not) be available in a future publication. These are separate from the Bundle, but you will want them in your collection because they are the real Stampin’ Up! colors!

Get in the mood to create something full of colors and seasons! Introducing the all-new, limited-time Color Your Season products:

Blended Seasons Stamp Set, an exclusive 10-piece wood- or clear-mount stamp set with images for every season!
Stitched Season Framelits Dies, a coordinating stitched die that includes stitching on both the positive and negative images!
Watercolor Pencils in 10 new colors! Note: These Watercolor Pencils may be available in a future publication.
Please note: The Bundle includes the stamp set and dies only. It does not include the Watercolor Pencils.

I’ve seen so many beautiful samples created with this set. And it covers all four seasons! You could be making Christmas cards right now with this Suite!

Just be sure to purchase by August 31 or it will be gone!

SHOP THE COLOR YOUR SEASONS SUITE HERE!

Remember, it’s Bonus Days still going on this week at Stampin’ Up! With every $50 you spend during August, you will receive a $5 Bonus Coupon to use in September! And in September, you will be shopping the Holiday Catalog after Sept. 5th so those coupons will come in handy!

Be sure to add these limited-time products to your order through Friday, August 31 so you can have fun and color your season with many pretty cards and projects.

Cardmaking With the Paper Pumpkin August 2018 Kit

Leave a reply

Wouldn’t you love to receive this cute red box in the mail once a month? This is the August 2018 Kit from Paper Pumpkin, the papercrafting kit that comes in the mail from Stampin’ Up! Each month is a different project and almost always a surprise. The majority of kits are for making cards, but sometimes a different kind of project is in store, like party favors or a piece of home decor.

Open the box and it’s like a gift just for you! Each kit comes with an exclusive stamp set, an ink spot, and all the materials you need for the project, even little glue dots and dimensionals if you need them. Your first kit comes with an acrylic block on which to mount the stamps.

Unwrap the tissue paper and find the package containing your new project!

It’s fun to open up the box and take out all the materials and see how many things you get in a kit. Sometimes there are extras leftover for more projects on your own. There are directions and even a video you can watch.

Make the project exactly as designed or if you don’t care for it, make something else! Within a few days of people receiving their kits, there are alternative ideas online you can find if you need suggestions. I very often make part of the kit as designed and then make a few things differently. That’s what I did with this kit. But if you are someone with no other craft supplies, just make the kit as designed and you will have everything you need!

All kits are easy enough for non-crafters, never-crafters, friends, grandchildren, college students, sons, daughters, little ones, big ones, professional crafters who like a break from designing and gathering materials. Just open the box and skip to the fun, as Paper Pumpkin says!

Here is the August 2018 Paper Pumpkin Kit video:

Usually Paper Pumpkin is a complete surprise, but the upcoming kit for September 2018 is obviously going to have a Halloween theme! And I love Halloween!

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN HERE TO GET THE SEPTEMBER KIT BY SEPT. 10TH!

Cookie Cutter Christmas Gingerbread Man Card

Leave a reply

I thought this Cookie Cutter Christmas Gingerbread Man Card would be appropriate today since it is just four months until Christmas! We better get busy making our cards and projects! Hard to believe, isn’t it, especially while it is still nearly 100 degrees outside here in Houston.

I thought I would just use a set from last year, which is in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. It’s the Cookie Cutter Christmas Stamp Set and has the coordinating Cookie Cutter Builder Punch. The green print paper is new in the Holiday Catalog, though, the All Is Bright Designer Series Paper. One side of the paper has those photographic images, really pretty! The card base is Crumb Cake. The red designer paper is just the background for the card for the photo, not part of the card although I originally planned to use half green and half red. The red ribbon on this card is retired, but I have the new stuff on the way (I think!).

Of course, I also used the Big Shot and the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies for the background of the gingerbread man. And then the scalloped dies in the Layering Circle Framelits Dies are always nice to finish off the Stitched Shapes Dies as a layer.

I had planned to put the Gingerbread Man and circle over to the right side of the card, but somehow I put him in the center and thought that was just right!

The Cookie Cutter Christmas Stamp Set was a fun one last year and can be used even for baby cards with the bear! Here are some bear Christmas cards I made last year.

Don’t forget that Bonus Days are going on during August at Stampin’ Up! For every $50 you spend in August, you will get a $5 coupon code to use on your order(s) in September! As soon as you place your order, you will receive an email from Stampin’ Up! with your code(s). I printed mine out right away in case something happens to my email. Stampin’ Up! cannot replace lost coupon codes. And you know how technology is!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE DURING AUGUST BONUS DAYS!

And Merry Christmas from the Cookie Cutter Christmas Gingerbread Man in four months!

Party Animal Dog Halloween Card

Leave a reply

This cute little Party Animal Dog is front and center on a Halloween card and all dressed up in his spooky Halloween costume! I just love the colors and the fun images for Halloween!

My main purpose for this card was to use the Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils and Blender Pen. I selected this image that needed to be colored in from the Trick or Tweet Stamp Set in the upcoming Holiday Catalog. As far as the Watercolor Pencils, the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog has a set just called Watercolor Pencils. We’ve had those for a while. But if you would like some additional colors, during August you can order the Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2. It’s part of the Color Your Season Suite going on during August only! The pencils are not included in the Blended Season Bundle that includes the stamp set and framelits dies. But all of these products go away August 31 so don’t miss out! Stampin’ Up! “may” bring back the pencils in another publication, but we don’t know so if you want them and don’t want to have to wait until another catalog, go ahead and order them now!

Watercolor pencils are easy to use, especially with a Blender Pen. Just lay down some color (you don’t even have to color in every space) and the Blender Pen will sort of “melt” the color and you can smooth it out beautifully. You can also pick up the color from the pencil itself with the Blender Pen just by touching the tip of the Blender Pen to the pencil. That probably gives a little darker shade of color. You can also use an Aqua Painter or a small paintbrush. I’ve always like Watercolor Pencils for coloring!

The card is made with a base of Gorgeous Grape Cardstock. The designer paper is from Toil & Trouble. When I saw the ghost paper, I thought that would be a cute background. I wondered if it would be too much, so I checked and the back of the paper was purple-striped so I just used that different pattern at the bottom of the card layer. To cover the seam of the two papers, I adhered a piece of Basic Black 3/8″ Shimmer Ribbon.

The little dog is stamped on Thick Whisper White Cardstock with Stazon Ink since it is waterproof. That means it will stand up to the moisture of the Blender Pen. I also used some Sponge Daubers to sponge on some color on the tag so it wouldn’t be so stark white. The tag is made with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch and popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I also tied on a piece of the black ribbon. You might be able to see the shimmer a bit in the photo.

Check out the Color Your Season Suite and the Watercolor Pencils so you don’t miss the August 31 deadline!

Frosted Floral Wishing You the Best Card

Leave a reply

This Frosted Floral Wishing You the Best Card is a little difficult to photograph but is really beautiful in person. If you look closely at the top part of the designer paper on this card, you might be able to see the shimmer of the paper, kind of a pearlized look. I think the paper feels a little bit lighter weight than others which gives it that elegant, rich look and feel. It’s the Frosted Floral Designer Series Paper, available soon in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog.

The card base is Mint Macaron, although there are many different colors you could choose to go with this paper. I cut the cardstock lengthwise, 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″, so the fold would be at the top of the card. The designer paper is adhered to the Mint Macaron and then I embellished it with a greeting from the coordinating First Frost Stamp Set in the Suite. Just think how many ways you could use this greeting and this paper! The striped paper underneath the greeting is just a narrow strip of another designer paper in the Frosted Floral collection and tied with a little bow made with the Crumb Cake twine in the Nature’s Twine pack. There is also a new Linen Thread coming in the Holiday Catalog that would be pretty.

The greeting is punched with the 1 3/4″ Circle Punch and the 2″ Circle Punch. I adorned it with a few of the Share What You Love Artisan Pearls. These pearls are teeny tiny and in several pretty colors, but when you mail the card, be sure to add a piece of paper inside the envelope, preferably crimped with a Paper Crimper if you have one, to protect those pearls as they go through the mail. I recently heard that some Demonstrators testing various ways of mailing cards with these kinds of embellishments felt that putting a small piece of paper towel inside the envelope protected everything the best! Make it almost the size of the envelope so it doesn’t slip away from the area you want it covering.

You will love this beautiful Frosted Floral Designer Paper when it comes out in September and can use it for many occasions. Here is another card I made with another pattern. This Frosted Floral Wishing You the Best Card will serve you well for wedding cards, graduation, and all kinds of occasions.