What a fun and unique card sketch! It’s also the perfect way to highlight your favorite designer series paper! Nine little circles each showing a little snippet of designer paper. I used the smallest circle die from Stampin’ Up!’s Layering Circles Dies. It was the perfect size at 1 1/8” across.
I adhered my designer paper circles to a 5 ¼” x 4” piece of designer paper from the same pack. I used the Tidings of Christmas Designer Series Paper from Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog. I love this paper!
The “Merry Christmas” is from the Pointsettia Petals stamp set. I stamped it in Evening Evergreen and quickly heat embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder. This made the sentiment a little easier to see against the designer paper.
Be sure to give this card sketch a try with your favorite designer series paper!
Do you love designer paper as much as I do? Don’t forget that Stampin’ Up! has 9 different packages of designer paper on sale this month. Don’t miss out! There’s only a few weeks left of the sale! Check out what’s on sale right here!
Stampin’ Up! makes such beautiful paper that sometimes you just need to make it the focal point of your card. The first card that I’m sharing here is the card that inspired me. Simple, yet elegant. I received this card in a swap and unfortunately there was no name on it so I don’t know who to credit.
The piece of designer paper used on this card is from the Beauty of the Earth package. It is beautiful and layering it on Night of Navy cardstock makes it pop. Those of you who have been around me for a while know that I have a hard time with “simple”. I usually have to add layers and embellishments to my cards. However it was the simplicity of this card that caught my eye and I knew I had to give it a try.
Beauty of the Earth Sympathy Card
If you look closely at my version of the card you will notice that this time I actually used one less layer! What? I know, it’s pretty different for me. I tried layering my version like the original but I felt that by just layering the designer paper and popping it up on the card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals kept the focus on the designer paper better.
On the original card the sentiment is stamped directly on to the Merry Merlot cardstock with Night of Navy ink. I felt this was a little hard to read. I didn’t want to stamp my sentiment on a label because I thought that that would fight with my designer paper focal point. I thought I’d just try a strip of Basic White cardstock and tuck it under the focal point. Guess what? I LOVE it! What do you think? I am definitely going to have to try this little trick again. It’s just enough to add a little something-something to the front of the card but not enough to detract from the focal point.
Do you love designer paper as much as I do? Don’t forget that Stampin’ Up! has 9 different packages of designer paper on sale this month. Don’t miss out! Check out what’s on sale right here!
Can you believe that I found another type of gatefold card? There are SO many and they’re SO fun! This fun fold isn’t too difficult, especially since I used the Stitched Rectangles Dies to make my interlocking pieces. What’s really fun about this fun fold is that you can use any kind of shape(s) to make your interlocking pieces!
The base of my card is the usual for a gatefold card. 5 ½” x 8 ½”. Score in from each short side at 2 1/8” and make sure the sides meet in the middle of the card base when you fold both sides in towards the center.
The frame of my card is made from Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper. (Yes, this is one of the patterns that is on sale this month!). To give my frame a little extra support I adhered a piece of the designer paper to a piece of Basic White cardstock before die cutting. To make the frame I chose two different sized rectangles. I first die cut the inside of the frame with the rectangle that is the 5th largest (outside measures about 2 3/8” x 3 ¾”). Then I centered the 3rd largest frame (outside measure about 3 1/8” x 4 ½”) around the opening I had created. When you go to adhere the frame to the card remember that you only want to adhere the left side of the frame to the left flap on the front of the card.
The solid Basic White piece that interlocks with the frame was also die cut from the 3rd largest rectangle of the Stitched Rectangle Dies. The stitched design I added to this piece of Basic White cardstock is a border piece from the Stitched Leaves Dies. I die cut the leaf using the same die set. It is die-cut from another piece of designer paper from the Beauty of the Earth package. I love gorgeous paper!
When I adhered the right side of the Basic White piece of cardstock to the right flap of the card base I had the card closed so that I could make sure that it fit perfectly inside of the die-cut frame. Then I added the die-cut leaf and decorated with a piece of linen thread. Done! Oh…in the last picture did you notice that I added a little strip of designer paper to the piece of cardstock on the inside of the card? Don’t forget to decorate the inside!
This card sketch couldn’t have been any easier. Four pieces of designer paper that are 1 3/8” wide by 4 ¼” tall. That’s it! The hardest part of using this sketch was finding just the right combination of designer paper!
The sketch didn’t call for a sentiment but I thought my card needed a little something more on the front. This sentiment is from the Lovely You stamp set and the label that my sentiment is on was punched with the Lovely Labels Pick A Punch. So easy! I did have to color the pearls with my Flirty Flamingo Stampin’ Blend Marker so they would match the paper. That’s just me being picky though. 😊
I used Stampin’ Up!’s Sweet Symmetry package of Designer Series Paper on my card. Such fun patterns! And yes, this package of paper is one of the one’s that is on sale this month for 15% off! Be sure to check out the pdf of all of the patterns on sale here or view them directly in my online store here.
I’d love to see what you do with this sketch! Leave a comment with your card or send me a photo! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!
July is birthday month! Yep, I’m having another birthday and we’re going to celebrate. I’m going to share a birthday card with you that I made my own but first I want to share something I’m going to do for you!
Send me a handmade birthday card this month and your name will be entered in a drawing. The first person’s name that I draw will get to choose a current Stampin’ Up! stamp set (valued at $30 or less). The second person’s name that I draw will get to choose a kit from Stampin’ Up!’s new Kit Collection! How fun! Birthday cards can be mailed to me at:
Cindy Russell 1640 Mountain Maple Ave. Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
Let’s get to our cards today!
Here’s a birthday card that I received in a swap. These Party Puffins are SO cute! This stamp set makes the best birthday cards! Thank you Kim for the inspiration with your card. I stayed pretty true to Kim’s card design just changing up the color scheme and the arrangement of the layers. I also left off the ribbon and moved the sentiment to the inside of the card.
Kim and I both used the Pattern Party package of designer paper that is only available for hosts with Stampin’ Rewards. It’s one of my favorite papers in the new catalog! One of my favorite things about this package of paper is that one side is bright colors while the second side is black and white. So versatile!
Is it weird to admit that the little fish on the inside of the card is my favorite part of the card? Ha! Too cute!
On Tuesday in my newsletter I shared a gorgeous origami frame with you that another talented demonstrator made. As I was searching around the web trying to find out how to make it (I’m still searching), I came across this fun and easy Origami Window Fold. The card itself isn’t a fun fold but you use this Origami Window Fold as the focal point of the card.
When you first look at this fold it’s a bit intimidating but once you have the measurements it’s quite easy. Start with a square piece of designer paper that is 4 ¼” x 4 ¼”. As with most origami folds you want the two sides of your paper to coordinate. I tried starting with a couple of squares that were a bit smaller but I couldn’t get the other measurements to quite work out. I’ll let you know if I get that figured out.
Lay your square of paper diagonally on the Simply Scored scoring board with the top and bottom points lined up on the 3” mark. Now score along the 1” and the 1 ½” marks. Turn the paper 90 degrees and repeat. Continue until you have four sets of score marks.
If you don’t have a Simply Scored to make your score lines and want to use your Paper Trimmer you line things up a bit differently. You still start by placing the paper diagonally on the Paper Trimmer. You will line up the top and bottom points at the 2” mark and score. Then slide the points over to line up on the 1 ½” mark and score. Turn paper and repeat three more times. Fold along the inside marks toward the center and them fold the other score marks to the outside.
Fold along the inside score marks towards the center of the paper. They should all meet in the center. Then fold the other score marks back towards the outside.
To complete the fold and give it a little dimension you want to add a couple of Stampin’ Dimensionals to the inside of each side of the frame. See the photo to the left to see where I placed them.
The Origami Window Fold is done. Now it’s time to decorate. I chose to mount my Origami Window Fold on another piece of cardstock (3 ¼” x 3 ¼”) before adhering it to the card. I also lined the inside of my frame with a coordinating piece of designer paper (2 7/8” x 2 7/8”) to make my flower pop. If I hadn’t, the inside of my frame would have been the gingham checked print like the folded out flaps.
This was a fun and easy fold to make that adds a lot of “wow” to my card. Give it a try. I think you’ll like the results! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!
Do you think of summer when you see daisies? I know I do. And you can’t beat a yellow, white and black color combination. Oh, wait a minute….yes you can….PINK, white and black. Ha!
Whatever color you like to pair with black and white, this simple card sketch is for you. Three strips of designer paper, a sentiment and the focal point. That’s it! I really like the simplicity of this sketch. Clean and simple.
Did you notice that I kept pretty darn close to the sketch with this card. The only “extras” I added were the Matte Black Dots. That’s pretty good for me!
Just because it’s a national holiday celebrating the Fourth of July doesn’t mean we can’t start thinking about Christmas does it? There are only 173 days left! (I looked it up.) We need to get crafting!
Besides the fact that Christmas is almost upon us (kinda, not really) this Tidings of Christmas Designer Paper was perfect for this card. AND…it’s one of the papers that Stampin’ Up! has on sale this month. 🙂
These little banners of designer paper show off five of the gorgeous patterns in this paper. I love it. You’ll probably see lots of it when I get really get started on my Christmas creations.
This is the card that inspired me. I liked it’s simplicity. As you can see by comparing the cards though, I didn’t quite carry over the simplicity of Laura’s card to my own.
After changing the orientation of my card I added an extra layer as well as a label to my card. The biggest reason I had for changing the orientation of my card was so I didn’t have quite so much white space on my card. My banners are 3/4″ wide. Before punching the banner end of my strips they are 4-1/2″, 4-1/4″, 4″, 3-3/4″ and 3-1/2″.
I have to share a fun little tip about my label. The “noel” from the Tidings & Trimmings stamp set in Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog was the perfect size for my card but I wanted a little label for it. I searched high and low through my stash and through the catalog to find a punch or die that I owned that would work. I was getting a little disappointed when my eyes stopped on the Messages Die. Oh, my! This die is amazing! It’s been sitting on my shelf just waiting to be used. It’s one die that has all sorts of die shapes on it. It’s created to use with the Many Messages and the newer Many Happenings stamp sets but you can certainly use it for anything like I did. Just be sure to use a smaller piece of cardstock when die cutting as you’ll get all of the other shapes too. The label shape that I used was this little rectangle with the banner tails on it. I first die cut the shape in white, stamped Noel and then trimmed the word down. Then I die cut the shape twice in the Evening Evergreen. I adhered the first green label directly on to my card front. I trimmed the second one down so that it was just the rectangle. I adhered my white sentiment piece directly to this trimmed down label and then adhered the trimmed down label over the full label with Stampin’ Dimensionals. So fun!
Thank you Laura for inspiring my Christmas in July card! Such a fun design!
This fun fold card is both gorgeous and easy. The key is to get all of your score lines straight so that everything lines up. I’ve seen this Accordian Fun Fold card around but had never tried it. When I saw Stampin’ Up!’s package of Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper I knew I found the perfect paper for this card.
The base of this card is made from half a sheet of 12” x 12” designer series paper. As you can see from the photo, you can see both sides of the paper at the same time so when you choose your paper for your card you want to make sure that both sides coordinate. I made this card for a swap I participated in and I have to tell you, I was able to use all six patterns of this paper to make this card! You don’t always see that in the paper packages.
You are going to start with a 5 ½” x 12” piece of designer paper. Score the paper at 1 ½”, 4 ½” and 6 ¾”. That’s it! The 1 ½” and the 6 ¾” score marks will be valley folds and the 4 ½” score mark will be a mountain fold. Once you’ve creased the score marks your card base is done! All’s that’s left is to decorate your card. If you’re using Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Paper decorating is easy. There is usually a stamp set or bundle that coordinate with the paper. That’s what I did on my card. I used the Hand-Penned Petals and Penned Flowering Dies for the focal point on my card. Easy Peasy!
Dimensions for Card:
Designer Paper: 5 ½” x 12” scored at 1 ½”, 4 ½” and 6 ¾”
Colored cardstock: 5” x 3 ¾”, 4 3/8” x 3 1/8”
White cardstock: 4 ¾” x 3 ½”, 4 1/8” x 2 7/8”
This was a fun and easy card to make. I hope you try it! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!
Happy July! It’s Card Sketch day today! It is also designer paper month since Stampin’ Up! is having a great sale on select packages of their designer paper. You can check that sale out here. Since this month is all about designer paper I wanted to share a sketch with you that I used designer paper on.
This card is one of those that is simple, yet elegant. Doesn’t the designer paper just make the butterfly pop? This sheet of designer paper is from the host only package called Pattern Party. One side of each sheet is a fun and bright pattern and the other side of each sheet is a black and white pattern. So fun! Let me know if you’re interested in learning how you can earn this paper.
The butterfly is die-cut using the Brilliant Wings dies. The sentiment is from the Art Gallery stamp set.
Here is the sketch that I used for this card. I did pretty good this time, didn’t I? I didn’t add too many extra layers. Ha!
Have you tried any of the sketches I’ve shared yet? Aren’t they fun to work with? I hope you’re enjoying these sketch challenges as much as I am! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!
Summer is officially here and that means it’s strawberry season! Not only do we get to eat these tasty berries in summer but we need to get out our Sweet Strawberry stamp set and make some strawberry cards!
I received this card in a swap and liked the simplicity of it as well as the color combination. You can’t go wrong with black and white with a pop of color.
I was browsing through the catalog and on page 43 I found the Sweet Strawberry stamp set. What made me giggle was one of the card samples that I saw. Let’s just say that Diane likes to “Make It Mine” too. I know where she got her inspiration. 🙂
Sweet Strawberry
As you can see by comparing the photos I kept pretty close to the original. I did add a layer behind the designer paper and I arranged the strawberries differently. My sentiment was a bit smaller and I added the red rhinestones.
This was a fun and easy card to make. We’re making it my first post-Covid in-person card class tomorrow. Having an in-person card class is a really big step for me. For some reason, even though I’ve been fully vaccinated since April, I’m still a little skittish about everything Covid. One step at a time, right?
Be sure to check out page 43 in Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog so you can compare the three cards. Similar…yet diferent.
This card definitely looks like a WOW but is actually quite easy to make. Four score lines and two cuts. Once you have those done your card base is ready. Add a focal point and some cardstock to the inside of the card to write your message and your card is done! I used the Artistically Inked stamp set and the Expressions in Ink designer series paper. Aren’t they gorgeous?
Before I get into the basics of making this fun fold I want to share a little tip. In my opinion, when I stamped the flower with the Pale Papaya ink it was a little too bright. The flowers in the designer paper seemed a little darker in color and I wanted my die-cut flower and my paper to match better. What I did was I first inked up the flower in Crumb Cake ink and then I stamped off on my scrap paper 2-3 times leaving just a bit of the Crumb Cake ink on the stamp. After stamping the flower on my cardstock I cleaned off the stamp, inked it in the Pale Papaya ink and stamped directly on top of the Crumb Cake flower. It turned out exactly how I wanted!
Above you can see the basic template for your card. Start with a 5 ½” x 12” piece of designer paper. The key here is to make sure both sides of the cardstock coordinate well together. Only one side of your designer paper can be directional. This would be things like trees or flowers with a stem that might not look good upside down. If you do use a directional pattern on one of the sides of your paper you want to make sure this is the side that is on the “inside” of the card. When scoring and cutting your paper you want this side facing up.
Once you’ve decided which side of the designer paper should be on the inside of your card place this side up on your Simply Scored tool and score at 2”, 4”, 8” and 10”. The next step is to trim off the corners according to the template. Make sure you know which corner was cut from which side. Take the corner you cut from the left side, flip it over and adhere it to the lower left corner of the paper. Repeat with the right side. Now decorate your card!
It’s Card Sketch Day! I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I’m having with these. I spent a whole day last weekend playing with them.
These card sketches are great because they get me searching all the stamp sets on my shelf to find the right one to use with the sketch I’m working with.
The Freshly Made Sketches website that I’m getting my sketches from runs a contest each week with that week’s sketch. Then the next week they publish the winning card along with the others that were submitted. This gives you a lot of inspiration on where to start.
Pretty Perennials
Here is the card I came up with for this sketch. The words are from the Pretty Perennials stamp set which is retiring on June 30th. The designer paper is from the Pattern Party paper set which is a host only pack.
I did change up the sketch a bit by changing the orientation of the card as well as adding layers and an extra focal point (happy) to my card.
Once again I want to encourage you to give card sketches a try. They are fun and a little addicting. Ha!
Before I get into the details of todays card(s) I want to remind you that June 30th is the very last day that you can order the Hey Chick stamp set, the Chick Dies or the bundle that includes both items. Don’t miss out on these fun items!
But back to our originally scheduled post….
As I was searching for a card made with the Hey Chick Bundle I came across this card. I really liked the unique layout and thought I’d give it a try.
Hey Chick
It’s kind of funny, but the thing I really liked about the original card is the first thing I changed on mine. On the original, I liked that everything in the background was the same color. Since I couldn’t decide what color I would use I just switched everything up.
I made my chicken wire die out of Smoky Slate cardstock and used a wood pattern from the In Good Taste Designer Paper on my card. Of course, I added a layer too.
Even though I left my chicken white it still pops against the background since I embossed it with the Tasteful Texture Embossing Folder.
How would you have made the original card yours? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping! Don’t forget to grab the Hey Chick Bundle before it’s gone!
It’s time for this week’s card sketch. I know this is only the second one I’ve done but it’s kind of fun. It can definitely be a challenge too. The sketch looks simple enough but then I need to figure out which of my supplies to use.
The first thing I did after deciding on this sketch was to find a stamp/die that would fill most of the white space on the sketch. After browsing my shelf of stamps I chose Hey Birthday Chick with the adorable chicken being lifted in the air by a balloon.
As you can see, I added a couple of layers to the card. My sentiment is a bit lower as I didn’t want to cover up the adorable chicken. Other than that I kept pretty close to the card sketch. I used a blending brush to lightly add Bermuda Bay ink for the sky.
Have you tried working with card sketches yet? Give this one a try and then either post your photo in the comments below or email me (cindy@stampbystampcreations.com) a photo of your card. I’d love to see what you come up with!
