Category Archives: Cards

Beauty of the Earth Thinking of You Card For Fall

Somehow I didn’t get around to acknowledging the first day of fall last week, so now I have made a card for the glorious fall season! We were even lucky enough here in Houston to experience some fall weather with cooler temperatures, but not colored leaves yet like this Beauty of the Earth Thinking of You Card For Fall. I actually had a physical reaction the other day when I walked out the back door and my body was stunned to not feel like I had just opened the oven door! It was cool outside!! We won’t get colored leaves here until probably December, but I’m amazed to see photos on the internet of places way north that do have colored leaves already!

This card uses the Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper to make a fall card. This paper is really quite interesting, different than what Stampin’ Up! usually has. You can use the paper as is in many ways, or you can even die-cut it to look like the leaves on the trees that you stamp or diecut. You can be very creative with this paper. This Suite also has the Beautiful Trees Dies which I think you really need to get the most use out of this set.

The card base is Cinnamon Cider, one of the In Colors. The layer on the card is Very Vanilla but since I actually covered it with ink it could have been Basic White! My idea was to have a strip of the Beauty of the Earth Designer Paper along the side and a fall tree on the Vanilla overlapping the designer paper. I thought the background needed to be colored in so I used Granny Apple Green ink (I think!) for the grass and Pool Party for the sky. The Beauty of Friendship Stamp Set had a little stamp in it that I used for some splotches of grass or shadows or whatever at the bottom of the card to give it a little texture and look more like a grassy area. I stamped that with Pear Pizzazz I think that I had out.

I adhered a strip of the more greenish designer paper sheet to the inked Very Vanilla piece and wrapped a piece of Linen Thread around the strip. Then I adhered the diecut tree in Cinnamon Cider covered with a diecut piece of the designer paper in the reds and golds. Again, it would have been handy to remember to use Adhesive Sheets before cutting out the tree especially but since the tree was getting mostly covered up anyway, I didn’t have to be super careful with the Multipurpose Liquid Glue because it was going to get covered with the designer paper. The leafy piece was easier to glue down because there were some larger areas to apply the glue.

The greeting is in the Beauty of Friendship Stamp Set. It is stamped in Cinnamon Cider Ink and die cut with the rectangle dies in the Beautiful Trees Dies. And because we have seen some blue jays around here (not to mention hawks!) I added two bluebirds in the tree. I love that little die that cuts out two birds at once! I added just a tiny dot of white for each bird’s eye with a white gel pen that we used to sell. Here’s another card I made in July that is very similar.

With the dies and the designer paper, this is a pretty easy card to make and it looks much more complicated. I don’t think it is going to stay cool here but at least we had a much needed cool break for a few days and will look forward to the next one! In the meantime, I’ll pretend it’s really fall here by making cards like this Beauty of the Earth Thinking of You Card For Fall.

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Don’t forget! Sale-A-Bration ends Thursday, September 30!! Don’t miss it!

The 12 Weeks of Christmas 2021 Is Coming!

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Believe it or not, Christmas is not that far off, just a little over 12 weeks away, so it is time for my 12 Weeks of Christmas Holiday Emails to begin! These special emails will begin next Wednesday, September 29th!

Every week for 12 weeks you will be getting an email from me with a fantastic holiday project for you to make! It is completely FREE, but it is exclusive to people on my mailing list. You can use these ideas to make your holiday preparations easier!

This is a thank you gift for my mailing list subscribers that I like to do every year. Just like in my regular weekly email, I will send a photo of a project, a list of supplies needed, and all the directions to make it.

In the first few weeks, I will send card ideas since it’s likely that is the first thing most of us will work on at this point. Next, come a few weeks of gift ideas, and finally, as we are doing Christmas shopping, some ideas for gift wrap, bags, and gift tags.

These are exclusive projects that I won’t be posting on my blog or anywhere else. I just want my subscribers to know that you are appreciated! If you are already on my mailing list, no need to do anything!

The only way you can get these special 12 Week of Christmas emails is to be on my Stamping With Karen Mailing List! If you are not on my Mailing List, you better get on it before September 29th at 1:00 PM, otherwise, you are going to miss out! All you have to do is sign up in the red box in the upper right of my blog.

Counting Sheep Birthday Card

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If you like sheep, I hope you are able to get this cute stamp set and dies to make a card like this Counting Sheep Birthday Card. I really had fun making this card and coloring the sheep and the background of the card. I think it’s the party hats and balloon that made me so happy! Who can’t be happy when you have party hats??!

The card base is Old Olive and the top layer is Basic White, but I colored it with ink. For the grassy area, I used Granny Apple Green ink and applied it with the Blending Brush. For the sky, I used Coastal Cabana ink. The fences are cut with the Sheep Dies. When I was going through some retired stuff in my stash, I found these wood sheets that Stampin’ Up! sold several years ago. It’s so thin it’s meant to be used like paper almost. So I die cut the fences using the wood sheets rather than paper! I also thought about using the Cork Paper! You can use any card stock you like.

The sheep were stamped on Basic White Cardstock with Memento ink and I colored them in with various Stampin’ Blends. The party hats were also stamped and colored with Blends and then everything was die cut with the Sheep Dies. The stamp set for everything is the Counting Sheep Stamp Set. After I had everything planned where I wanted it placed, I stamped the greeting at the top, which is in the same stamp set. I stamped the “You’re Amazing” on the inside of the card as well.

You can earn the Counting Sheep Stamp Set or the Sheep Dies during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 purchase. If you want both the stamps and the dies, you would need a $100 order. Sale-a-Bration ends Thursday, September 30 so don’t let it pass you by! It’s the biggest promotion of the Stampin’ Up! year and this year we had TWO Sale-A-Brations so that was pretty special…and historic! Check HERE under Sales & Specials in the Online Store to see what is currently available during Sale-A-Bration. Right now the only thing that is gone is the Be Dazzling Designer Paper.

I hope you are having as much fun as these sheep are on this Counting Sheep Birthday Card celebrating someone’s birthday!

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Delicate Dahlias Thank You Card

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This Delicate Dahlias Thank You Card is one that you can make if you earn the Delicate Dahlias Stamp Set during these last two weeks of Sale-A-Bration at Stampin’ Up! During Sale-A-Bration you can qualify for a FREE product in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure with every $50 purchase, or with a $100 purchase, you can earn an extra special $100 Level product such as this Delicate Dahlias Stamp Set. This stamp set has been quite popular because the flowers are so beautiful! As I write this, it is still available, but I wouldn’t wait until the last minute! Sale-A-Bration ends on Thursday, September 30. Don’t miss the fun!

I envisioned this card having a background of a black and white stripe with bright colored flowers to contrast. As I started looking through my designer paper, I found this paper in the Beautifully Penned Designer Series Paper, one of the $50 Level products you can earn for FREE during Sale-A-Bration. This paper coordinates with the Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog except it is in black and white! Sometimes it is fun to leave it as is and sometimes it is fun to color in or use any of various coloring techniques. The card base is Basic Black with this scalloped pattern paper as a layer,

The dahlias were all stamped in Memento Black although perhaps Stazon would have been the better ink choice with watercoloring. It wasn’t exactly watercoloring but I used a Blender Pen and added ink from an ink refill bottle in the lid of the ink pad. The colors I used were Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Daffodil Delight. I didn’t worry about proper shading or anything like that! I just colored in with the ink letting some areas be lighter if I was running low on ink on the Blender Pen and darker if I just touched it to the ink. There are no dies so I just cut the flowers out by hand using my Paper Snips! The trick is to just relax and enjoy the experience! Don’t try to cut perfectly because there are lots of ins and outs with these flowers. A little white showing on the edges of the petals is no big deal. Same way with the coloring. If you leave some white spaces, don’t worry about it! I also stamped and colored the leaves in the set.

Before adhering the designer paper to the card base, I wrapped the Black & White 1/4″ Gingham Ribbon around to the backside of the paper. Then I tied a separate bow and adhered it to the ribbon with Mini Glue Dots.

Two of the flowers are glued right on the designer paper using Multipurpose Liquid Glue. The yellow dahlia is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. I just placed the leaves around randomly.

The greeting is in the stamp set and I cut it out with the Messages Die. You can just cut one greeting using the die, you don’t have to stamp and die cut the whole sheet!

On the inside of the card, I stamped a partial dahlia in Daffodil Delight in the lower right-hand corner on a layer of Basic White. You have to have a white or light-colored card layer inside with a black card base!

If you wanted to make this card a little easier, you could just stamp the flower outline in whatever color(s) you wanted and then not color them in. You can also stamp with the two-step stamp. Lots of choices!

So if you want to earn this FREE Delicate Dahlias Stamp set, you must place a $100 Stampin’ Up! order and then you can choose this stamp set as your Sale-A-Bration choice. Or you can choose 2 $50 Level products. You will get a reminder to choose the free Sale-A-Bration items you are entitled to as you place your order online. Then you can have fun making a card like this Delicate Dahlias Thank You Card or use one of the other greetings for another occasion.

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Be Dazzling Pretty Pumpkins Halloween Card

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Here’s a fun Halloween card, the Be Dazzling Pretty Pumpkins Halloween Card, that came about simply because I found a square Pumpkin Pie card base already in my Pumpkin Pie cardstock. I immediately got the idea that I would make a quick card out of it right away. I don’t know if this one was quick in my fiddling with the words in the greeting, but it would be an easy one for you to copy since I already did the design!

Beyond the 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ Pumpkin Pie card base and putting a pumpkin on the front, I didn’t know exactly how it would all come together. Just to start, I looked through the Blackberry Beauty Specialty Designer Series Paper simply because it was laying out on my desk. Right away I saw the backside of one of the gold foil accented papers, probably one of the prettiest papers. We often don’t use the “other side” of the fancy or themed paper but sometimes we have to sacrifice the pretty side in order to use the “other” side! I immediately liked the herringbone design of this paper for a background. It is cut at 4″ x 4″.

The pumpkin is die-cut from the Sale-A-Bration Be Dazzling Paper using the Detailed Pumpkins Dies. As I write this, this paper is not coming up in the Online Store so it may not be available any longer. However, if you can’t get it, you can use a Gold Foil Sheet or any other metallic papers which will look just as pretty! This particular die is SO pretty and detailed! If you think ahead, it would be best to use an Adhesive Sheet on the back of the paper before you die cut it so that you don’t have to put teeny tiny drops of glue on the back to adhere it.

The greeting is in the Cutest Halloween Stamp Set and is quite lengthy in size. Just for fun, I decided to cut up the individual words and see if I liked that on the card. With the pumpkin taking up a lot of room on the card, front and center, it was a little difficult to arrange the words to my liking. Finally, I decided to go with a placement I liked and stamped and cut out a ghost as well from the same stamp set.

Sometimes, even when you are not totally pleased with a card, it is the addition of some little embellishment that just makes the card satisfactory! In this case, since I had struggled with the word placement and the ghost, it wasn’t like this was my favorite card of all time, but when I added the Cute Stars Adhesive-Backed Sequins, that was the final touch! I think the stars added so much and I loved the card then!

Sale-A-Bration ends on September 30, a Thursday, two weeks from yesterday! That’s all the time you have to get your free products with every $50 or more purchase! It always seems like we have lots of time in the beginning but now the end is coming up fast! Don’t disappoint yourself by forgetting or not getting free products during this favorite promotion!

Be sure to shop soon and hopefully get something FREE during Sale-A-Bration!

SHOP STAMPIN ‘ UP! ONLINE!

Be Dazzling Pretty Pumpkins Halloween Card Closeup

Harvest Meadow Pretty Pumpkins Card

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This year it seems to be trendy to have pumpkins of non-traditional colors so I thought I would try that with this Harvest Meadow Pretty Pumpkins Card. I’m not even sure how I came up with this particular idea but I pulled out the Harvest Meadow Designer Series Paper and played around with the various papers to see how these would work as pumpkins. I also was very interested in using the die in the Detailed Pumpkins Dies.

The card base is Old Olive mainly because I had already cut out the leaves in the Detailed Pumpkins Dies from an Old Olive scrap on the table while I was cutting out the pumpkins. I cut out the pumpkins and played around with their placement and combinations just on the table before I tried to put them on a card.

The background layer is the striped pattern in the Cute Halloween 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. I just was looking through various papers to see if there was something I wanted to use for the background layer or if maybe I would use cardstock and emboss it in a folder to add some texture. At first, I didn’t think there would be anything in the Cute Halloween Paper but found this striped paper that was pretty subtle but had Old Olive in it, one of the colors I was already using. I think it provides some interest in the background without clashing with the prints on the pumpkins.

The pumpkins are cut out with the outline die in the Detailed Pumpkins Dies. I chose some patterns from the Harvest Meadow DSP that I thought could look okay as pumpkins, even the blue! The one pumpkin is die-cut from Calypso Coral Cardstock with the die with the slits. I wanted another color behind those slits, so I traced the die cut on a scrap of Bumblebee Cardstock and then cut it out with Paper Snips just inside the pencil lines so it wouldn’t stick out from the Calypso Coral cardstock. A couple of the pumpkins are popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals® as are a couple of the leaves.

The greeting is in the Pretty Pumpkins Stamp Set. I stamped it in Old Olive ink on a scrap of Basic White Cardstock. I kept it simple by just leaving it as a rectangle. I didn’t want to take up too much more room on the card or take away from the pumpkins.

Here is another card on my blog that I made recently using non-traditional colors (but now trendy!) for the pumpkins. This was a fun card to make and I liked how it turned out with the different colors. When you make a fall card with pumpkins, take some artistic license and see what new colors you can use for the pumpkins! Just have fun with it! Experiment, like I did on this Harvest Meadow Pretty Pumpkins Card, until you are happy with your result!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

It’s the Holiday Paper Pumpkin!

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Some of my favorite Paper Pumpkin Kits are the holiday ones! I already love this box and can’t wait to see what the card designs are!

When you picture a peaceful Christmas, what comes to mind? Do you see snow outside your window, softly swirling through the sky? A tree trimmed with tinsel, a fire crackling nearby? Maybe you’re dreaming of decorating a holly jolly gingerbread house. Can you catch a whiff of Christmas cookies wafting through the air?

Whatever it is you think about when Christmas comes to town, picture a peaceful Christmas with the Peaceful Christmas Paper Pumpkin Kit! This glimmering and gleaming kit is your creative kickstart to Christmas cardmaking. With sprinkles of snow, shimmering silver skies, and heartwarming holiday wishes, you’ll have enough elements and embellishments to create 10 Christmas cards and coordinating envelopes.

Speaking of coordination, make even more Christmas magic with Peaceful Place products! Our stunning Peaceful Place Suite Collection (item 156277) pairs perfectly with the kit’s components. Brew a cup of cocoa, snuggle up with a soft blanket, and prepare for a cozy craft night in!

Details

The kit contains enough elements to create 10 Christmas cards—5 each of 2 designs—and coordinating envelopes. This all-inclusive kit includes printed card bases, die-cut paper pieces, embellishments, adhesive, and more!

October’s kit arrives in a cute collectible box covered with enchanting evergreen trees. Use this special, limited-edition box to store your holiday handicrafts, or transform it into a well-wrapped package for a present!

The kit’s contents pair perfectly with the Peaceful Place Suite Collection (item 156277). To continue your Christmas crafting, combine the kit’s components with the suite’s patterned paper, shimmery sequins, and more!
Card size: 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ (10.8 x 14 cm)
Envelope size: 4-1/2″ x 5-3/4″ (11.4 x 14.6 cm)
Coordinating colors: Basic Gray, Real Red, Shaded Spruce, silver foil

Sign up by October 10th!

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY!

Blackberry Beauty Slimline Floral Card

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This Blackberry Beauty Slimline Floral Card is what happens when you open a package of designer paper you just received and you didn’t realize this pattern was in the package and you just say to yourself, “Wow! That would make a beautiful, simple card!” Sometimes just seeing a sheet of paper inspires you to make a certain card design.

This designer series paper, Blackberry Beauty Specialty Paper, is so popular it has been back-ordered multiple times! It is beautiful paper for fall with its gold foil accents! This particular pattern is one of those with an empty space down the middle of the 12″ x 12″ paper so you can just cut it in half and then possibly make six cards out of that paper. When I saw these tall flowers (are they Queen Anne’s Lace?), I knew I was going to make a slimline card and that this pretty pattern wouldn’t really need much else!

The card base is Early Espresso. To make a slimline card, just start with a piece of cardstock 6″ x 6″ and fold it in half so the card is 3″ x 6″. This will fit in a regular envelope you might have in your desk at home. I cut the designer paper at 5 7/8″ x 2 7/8″ to just leave a narrow margin around the edge. You can cut the designer paper to take the best advantage of the placement of the flower or flowers on your card front. For example, you wouldn’t want half of this big flower cut off if somehow the way you cut the paper made that happen.

For the greeting, I stamped one from the Pansy Patch Stamp Set on a die-cut piece of Basic White. This is a small rectangle die from the Stitched So Sweetly Dies. I needed something very small for this card since there isn’t much space! This greeting is part of a longer sentiment so I colored only the part I wanted with the Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker. You’ll find this marker in the Neutrals Stampin’ Write Markers.

To add a little bling to the card I just added a strip of the Gold 3/8″ Shimmer Ribbon under the greeting. It just adds a little more sparkle of gold to go with the gold foil sparkles on the paper. You could use another gold ribbon if you like. Since the Early Espresso card base is pretty dark, I added a layer of Basic White for a stamped or written message on the inside of the card.

Certain designer papers are just made to be used all by themselves, I think, like this one! It would even be very pretty without the greeting on the front. We don’t always need to make a very fancy, fussy card when just a simple one that shows off the paper or some other element is all that we need for an elegant card.

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In Remembrance of September 11

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When September 11th happened twenty years ago, I was a Stampin’ Up! customer, not a Demonstrator yet. My Demonstrator told me about this Special Edition stamp Stampin’ Up! was selling to benefit those affected by the events of 9/11. Of course, I wanted to order one and I have always loved this stamp.

As I pondered what I should put on my blog for September 11th, I happened to think of this stamp. Perfect. As you can see in the photo below, I cut the words off the stamp and anchored them on the side of the wood block. Then I could use the flag image by itself or use the words separately. I colored on the stamp with markers since I wanted to use more than one color. I used Night of Navy and Real Red.

The stamped image is layered on Real Red cardstock, Night of Navy, and then Gold Foil. The Night of Navy border is really just a background for the photo but actually, I like it as part of the card. I didn’t actually make a card, just a card front, which really could be put in a frame.

The company raised more than $1 Million for the September 11th Fund.

This was one of those events when we all remember almost every detail of what we were doing that day, what all happened, and how we felt. My boys had gotten off to school and I was home cleaning up the kitchen with the Today Show on TV. Once I realized what was happening, all I could think of was I wanted my kids and husband home, but I wondered if the schools even knew what was going on. One mom went to the high school to pick up the carpool and I went to pick up my middle-schooler and his friend that we carpooled with. I remember the parking lot full and cars all over the place picking up kids and the secretary saying there was no need to take the kids home. But we all wanted our loved ones home and close to us because we really didn’t know what else was going to happen. I didn’t want to scare my son and his friend too much since they barely, if at all, knew what was going on, so I purposely stopped at Taco Bell to pick up some lunch for them so things would seem “normal” and not too crazy. His friend, just that summer, had visited New York City and had visited the Twin Towers. My daughter was away at college but one of her best friends was in school in NYC so she called her and remembers hearing sirens in the background. I didn’t think there would be school the next day or work or anything going on, but the President decided life was going to go on, so our country continued on with our normal routines.

I love that Stampin’ Up! came up with this stamp and offered it as a way to help others. “Making a difference” has always been one of Stampin’ Up!’s values and that’s good to know about a company.

Cute Halloween Trick or Treat Ghosts Card

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I just had to make another fun Halloween card, this Cute Halloween Trick or Treat Ghosts Card. I started by picking out the designer paper and played around from there! I have a trick for how I made one ghost go in a different direction from the one stamp!

This card base is Old Olive Cardstock with a layer of basic black. I chose the designer paper with the little houses and tiny moons and ghosts! This is the Cute Halloween 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. So many cute patterns to choose from! I decided to make the designer paper narrower than the card front and have the ghosts floating along the edge. Then I decided to cut a decorative edge with a scallop die in the Penned Flowers Dies. Next, I selected another designer paper, the one with black dots, to go along the edge, after considering several options. This card opens from the top but it would be the same if it opened from the side.

The greeting is stamped from the Cutest Halloween Stamp Set on Basic White and then die cut with a die that fits inside the Basic Black die-cut, both of which are in the Ornate Frames Dies. I popped up the greeting on Stampin’ Dimensionals® and added two Elegant Faceted Gems.

For the ghosts, I stamped two ghost shapes in the Cutest Halloween Stamp Set on Basic White and then turned over the cardstock and stamped one ghost on the back where it didn’t overlap the ghosts stamped on the front. I also added the faces and little arms just on the ones on the front of the cardstock! So cute!! I cute out the ghosts by hand with my Paper Snips. Now you can purchase the Halloween Punch and get both the stamp set and punch in the Cutest Halloween Bundle and save 10%. So I cut out the two ghosts on the front of the white cardstock who were both facing the same direction. I cut them out with a bit of the black ink outline showing as it would if I had used the punch. Then I turned the paper over and cut out the ghost outline. But here’s the trick… after cutting out the ghost shape, I turned it over so it would be facing the opposite direction from the other two ghosts and stamped the face on it. Now, this ghost doesn’t have the black ink outline on it since I am using the unstamped side. But if you want that black ink outline, just take a black marker and run it around the ghost along the edge to get some black marking along the outline. Or, maybe it doesn’t really matter to you and you can skip that step! Out of the three ghosts, I wanted one facing the other direction.

I originally planned to adhere the ghosts right along the edge of the green designer paper, but in the end, I liked the placement you see better. I also turned the Ornate Frame die in portrait position and stamped the greeting in that direction which I think fits better than landscape position. Either way would be fine, though! Just play and see what looks good to your eye! Here is another Halloween card using the Cute Halloween DSP except with the sheet with ghosts! Order the Cute Halloween Paper on your next order so you have plenty of time to create “cute” Halloween cards and projects to send out, like this Cute Halloween Trick or Treat Ghosts Card.

New Christmas Whimsy Kit Today!

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“Christmas Whimsy’ is a new kit in the Stampin’ Up! Kit Collection, just being released today! You probably noticed photos of it in the Holiday Mini Catalog on page 6, with another kit coming that is shown on page 7. I suppose they are releasing these a little later than the catalog to get a little closer to the holidays!

Christmas Whimsy is an adorably festive card kit with a modern design! Santa’s elves might be hard at work in the North Pole but with this all-inclusive kit, the hard work is done for you! All pieces are printed, die cut, and ready for you to craft. The simple steps of this kit are perfect for beginner crafters and kids, too! Grab a kit or two and gather around for a simple Christmas activity that everyone will enjoy. The kit contains everything you need to create eight elf-centric Christmas cards including printed card bases, die cuts, embellishments, an exclusive stamp set, a Night of Navy Classic Stampin’ Spot, and more!

Christmas Whimsy Kit (158166) $19 USD

DETAILS
Kit contains enough supplies to create eight cards—4 each of 2 designs.
Includes printed card bases, printed die cuts, adhesive, embellishments, gold foil die cuts, gold twine, and coordinating envelopes with gold foil accents.
Includes an exclusive stamp set and a Night of Navy Classic Stampin’ Spot.
Finished card size: 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ (14 x 10.8 cm)
Coordinating colors: Balmy Blue, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Evening Evergreen, Gray Granite, Misty Moonlight, Poppy Parade, Real Red, So Saffron, Soft Succulent, Soft Suede

SHOP THE STAMPIN’ UP! KITS COLLECTION!

Cute Halloween Happy Haunting Card

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Make this easy Cute Halloween Happy Haunting Card and send to a spooky friend for Halloween! It’s a basic card design, but as usual, the designer paper makes it extra special! If you are a Halloween lover, be sure to get this paper and make some fun cards to send for Halloween!

This cute designer paper is the Cute Halloween 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. I just love all the whimsical Halloween characters plus the more generic designs to pair with them. This Cute Halloween Paper is really CUTE! I could have used just the piece of paper with the black cats and pumpkins, but then the black and orange striped paper I knew would look so cute with it, too!

The card base is Pumpkin Pie with a layer of Basic Black under the designer paper. I cut the designer paper with the cats and pumpkins at 5″ x 3″ and the striped piece at 5″ x 2″. This way there was room for the two papers to overlap so I could glue them together before adding the ribbon. If you cut them exactly to the space, then you likely should glue the designer papers to another piece of cardstock the same total side so you can tie a ribbon around the seam.

Look at your designer paper with designs like this one carefully before you cut. Look at the images on the paper and see how you can maximize those and maybe not cut through too many of them. For example, instead of cutting off 1/4″ on one side and really cutting into an image you like, maybe you can cut 1/8″ off each side instead of 1/4″ of one side. That might help you preserve more of the images on the paper. Just look and see how you can place your cuts to get the best images on your paper where you want them! Maybe cut a piece off the top of the designer paper before you cut anything else to position the images on the paper.

I used the Black & White Gingham Ribbon to tie around the seam in between the two papers. I love this ribbon! I tied the bow separately and adhered it with Mini Glue Dots.

The greeting is found in the Banner Year Stamp Set. I looked at several greetings in a couple different sets and decided on this one for size and appropriateness. I stamped this in Memento Black ink on Smokey Slate Cardstock. It is die cut with one in the Stitched So Sweetly Dies. I tried layering this greeting on various colors but decided it was fine just by itself.

I love fun and whimsical Halloween things and this Cute Halloween Paper is perfect for me! Put it on your next order so you can make a few Halloween cards or projects in plenty of time!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Whimsy & Wonder Traditional Christmas Card

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The Whimsy & Wonder Suite in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog uses soft pastel colors in it, but for this Whimsy & Wonder Traditional Christmas Card, I decided to just use the traditional Christmas colors of red and green!

The card base is Garden Green with a layer of Real Red Cardstock. Real Red has been my favorite color forever! If you buy a red somewhere else, like the big box craft store, you will find that their red does not compare to the perfect red of the Stampin’ Up! Real Red! I know because I bought a big package of red cardstock and envelopes when I first started stamping. When I saw how it compared to the Stampin’ Up! Real Red, I threw out the store-bought red paper!

The stamped layer is Shimmery White, my other favorite paper! It has just the slightest glimmer to it and works well with any medium, even some watercoloring. I stamped the tree from the Whimiscal Trees Stamp Set in Garden Green Ink. Old Olive would also look good. Then I overstamped it with the dots to look like little red ornaments or lights on the Christmas tree. I couldn’t resist stamping the holly and berries up in each corner of the card. I just stamped them in Garden Green and then went back in with a Blender Pen and added green ink to the leaves and red ink to the berries. Just very lightly and carefully because I didn’t want the initial stamping to smear.

The greeting is stamped from the Banner Year Stamp Set. It is stamped on Shimmery White and layered on a strip of Real Red, punched at each end with the Lovely Labels Pick a Punch. The greeting itself is popped up on Dimensionals but the Real Red punched piece is adhered directly on the card front. For some embellishment, I added the smallest Gilded Gems to each end of the red piece.

Since the tree doesn’t come with a trunk, I didn’t really like it just floating in the air, so I added a bow with the Real Red 3/8″ Sheer Ribbon. I might have preferred a really narrow ribbon but since this one is sheer, I thought it looked light enough to put in between the tree and the greeting. And since my tree needed a star at the top, I looked through my retired punches and found the right size little punch with a star and punched some Gold Foil.

The lesson here is that even though this stamp set, Whimsical Trees is “whimsical” doesn’t mean you can’t make it “traditional” with color and embellishment! Here is another card I made with the same stamped tree and the new Whimsy & Wonder Specialty Designer Series Paper in the less traditional colors. I love this card as is, but if you are looking for the red and green of Christmas, you can certainly use this tree and change up the colors. If you are looking for a more traditional Christmas card or at least a few for certain people, then try this Whimsy & Wonder Traditional Christmas Card with red and green!

Monochromatic Shaded Summer Thank You Card

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I was taking inventory of all my cardstock colors before I got an order ready for Stampin’ Up! and I came across this embossed layer in the bag with the other Pool Party Cardstock. I immediately thought that would be pretty on a simple card and this Monochromatic Shaded Summer Thank You Card turned out! Sometimes it’s your scraps that turn into something interesting!

This card has a Basic White Cardstock base, which is difficult to see in the photo. I added a Pool Party Cardstock layer to go behind the embossed layer. Another extra piece I saw with the Basic White paper was this already die-cut Scalloped Contours Die so I thought it would be perfect to use!

The floral bouquet is stamped with the Shaded Summer Stamp Set. You will find this stamp set in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog on page 75. It has two pretty floral stamps and a lot of useful greetings. Another interesting thing about this stamp set is that you can earn the coordinating dies FREE during Sale-a-Bration with a $100 purchase. The die set is called the Summer Shadows Dies. Not only does it have dies to cut out the stamped flowers, but it has other flower dies, too! I didn’t even own the stamp set, but with the opportunity to get the dies free, I went ahead and ordered the Shaded Summer Stamp Set. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they will carry over the dies after Sale-A-Bration! Either way, it will be a useful combination to own.

After diecutting the flowers, I popped them up with Stampin’ Dimensionals on the die cut Scalloped Contour piece. I tied a piece of White 1/4″ Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon around the stem of the flower piece, plus added some small, white Elegant Faceted Gems around the flower.

The greeting is in the Shaded Summer Stamp Set. As I looked at my dies to see what I would like to use, I decided on the Messages Die. You don’t have to have a whole page of stamped greetings in order to use this die that cuts out an amazing number of greetings all at one time! I just placed the little scalloped die area over my stamped greeting to see if it fit, and ran it through my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine. It was perfect for this card! It fit perfectly without covering up too much of the pretty embossing on the card layer. By the way, the folder is the Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder. So pretty with all the little embossed flowers and leaves! I had already embossed it to use on another card but didn’t like it. Then it ended up being perfect on this card, actually inspiring the creation of this card!

Remember, if you want to keep things easy, a monochromatic card can fit the bill! I only had to stamp the floral image, not color in the flowers and leaves! Here is another monochromatic card I made a while back, that was simplest to make with just one ink color.

This is the last month for Sale-A-Bration this year! Whether you spend $50 or more to earn a FREE product in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure or spend more and get a $100 level choice, you will be sure to find something fun to spur your creativity, like this Monochromatic Shaded Summer Thank You Card.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! and SALE-A-BRATION ONLINE HERE!

A Second Chance To Get the August Paper Pumpkin Kit! Don’t Miss It!

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SPECIAL OFFERING FOR THE SHELLI HOPE BOX

From Stampin’ Up!:

Due to a glitch in our system, customers were unable to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin’s Shelli Hope Box between July 31– August 5. We are sorry for any inconvenience that caused, but we would like to make it up to you!

(In case you are new to Stampin’ Up! history, Shelli Gardner, along with her sister, is the CoFounder of Stampin’ Up! We always love Shelli’s creative ideas!)

From August 24 – August 31, we will be offering the Shelli Hope Box to all North American customers, regardless of subscription. (Normally you would have to have a subscription to purchase a past kit, but for this one week only, you do not, you can just buy it!!)

The kit can be purchased through the Paper Pumpkin Refills and Past Kits section of the online store from 12:00 AM (MT) August 24 to11:59 PM (MT) August 31. If you were not able to purchase the kit, it’s available for this limited time! Shelli Hope Box refills will continue to be available to subscribers only. After this limited offering, the Shelli Hope Box full kit will only be available on the regular past kit schedule for subscribers only.

SO… Even if you are not a subscriber now, you can order this August Paper Pumpkin Kit on your Stampin’ Up! order. What a great time to try out a Paper Pumpkin Kit without a subscription! Mine just arrived the other day and although I haven’t gotten to make it yet, the contents look fantastic! There is even a roll of special Blackberry Bliss ribbon included in this kit! Purchasing this kit may even help you earn a free Sale-A-Bration product!

Here is Shelli’s original video describing the August Paper Pumpkin Kit, Shelli’s Hope Box!

HOPE BOX PAPER PUMPKIN PAST KIT #158541