DIY cards

Stitched Snowflake Trio Card Sketch

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Snowflake Trio Card Sketch

What a fun card sketch for today! The hardest part was figuring out what images to use down in the corner. Since I’ve been working on tons of Christmas card designs snowflakes won out!

Have you checked out the Stitched Snowflake dies that are bundled with and coordinate with the Merry Snowflakes stamp set on page 13 of Stampin’ Up!’s July – December (Holiday) Mini Catalog? I love these die because the stitching sets them off perfectly! You can see three of the snowflakes on my card. Of course, you don’t want a naked snowflake so I had to add a rhinestone to the center of them. Ha!

Once again I managed to create above and beyond the sketch. The extra layer was a given but I also added the little sentiment and the strip of cardstock to make it pop. Maybe if the designer paper was a little brighter and busier I could have got by without the sentiment but I think it finishes off my rendition perfectly.

The designer paper is the Penguin Playmates paper from the Sale-a-bration Brochure. It’s a package of designer paper that you can choose for FREE when placing a $50 order but only through September 30th. The sentiment is from the Penguin Place stamp set on page 33 of the July – December Mini Catalog and yes, the paper coordinates with the stamp set! Gotta love coordination!!!

What products would you use on a project if you were using this card sketch? I’d love to know! Leave a comment and let me know!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

It’s All About the Paper!

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It’s all about the paper (ok…and the adorable little fish….) with this card.  How can you go wrong with fun designer paper that has little pine trees all over it….and plaid pine trees at that?!  Two of my favorite things!  When I think of pine trees I think of the Minnesota Homeland and our family property in Canada.  I can’t wait to get back there.  Oh….as you read this I AM in the Minnesota Homeland hanging with my mom and dad.  I’ll be here for a week before hubby joins me and we head up to the cabin.  Woo Hoo! I’m excited to hopefully spend some time in the upper midwest!

This card really came together once I was inspired Anne Marie’s card. She hit the trifecta on her card. Plaid trees on the paper, plaid ribbon and the little fishies! The fish were what first caught my eye! They’re so cute!

I wanted to incorporate the fish on my card without completely copying Anne Marie’s card but I just couldn’t make it work so I decided to go with the Pine Tree Punch. Did you notice that I ran the punched tree through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine with the Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder? This really gave it a nice texture.

This color combination of black, white and Garden Green is very striking. I’m not sure I’ve used it before. Hope about you? Have you checked out the Peaceful Prints Designer Series Paper in the Sale-a-bration Brochure yet? So many fun designs! If you like it, you need to get it soon! Sale-a-bration is almost over! Only a few weeks left! With a $50 purchase you can choose this package of designer paper for FREE!!! Don’t miss out!

I’m pleased with the way my card turned out. Guess what? You could use it for lots of occasions including Christmas! Hmm….

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Whimsy & Wonder Front Flap Fun Fold Card

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Here I go again using that designer paper that I didn’t like. Sheesh! Never say never, right? For not liking Stampin’ Up!’s Whimsy & Wonder Designer Series Paper I sure can’t get enough of it! It has definitely grown on me.

When I think of Christmas colors I definitely think red and green with blue and white coming in second. Even though I like this Whimsy & Wonder designer paper I do still have trouble thinking of pink as a Christmas color. What about you? Are the traditional Christmas colors your go-to colors for those holiday cards or are you more open minded and can think pink?

This card looks like a regular card that you open either from the side or the bottom. Well, it’s not! Check out this second picture and you can see where the fun fold comes from for this card.

Front Flap Fun Fold Card

The focal point of the card is the part that opens! Now, you could have just had the focal point as the focal point on a regular-styled card but where would the fun be in that?

The stitched scallop rectangle die that pretty much makes the card is from the Stitched So Sweetly Dies. This set of dies is one of my favorites with 6 different sized stitched rectangles and 4 different shaped stitched labels. Definitely a useful set of dies!

Don’t forget the inside of your card! As you can see, I added a thin strip of a different pattern of designer paper (from the Whimsy & Wonder pack). It’s just enough to draw your eye. Since I didn’t use a stamp set on the card itself I needed to find the perfect sentiment from my stash. And I did!

With the wrapped package design on the front of the card, this sentiment from the Perfectly Plaid stamp set was….perfect! Isn’t it fun when things come together so perfectly?

Here are a few dimensions for you:

Mint Macaron cardstock: 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″, 8 1/2″ x 3 1/8, scored at 4 1/4″

Polished Pink cardstock: 5 1/4″ x 4″, 3 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ die cut with the largest scalloped rectangle die from the Stitched So Sweetly Dies.

Basic White cardstock: 2 7/8″ x 4″

Designer Paper: 3 3/4″ x 2 5/8″, 1/4″ x 2 7/8″

Despite this card not being made with “traditional” Christmas colors I just may have to make a few more to send out this year!

Have you started thinking about your Christmas cards for this year? It’s never too early!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Gorgeous Leaves & Cork Specialty Paper Card Sketch

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It’s September and, despite the continuing hot weather, my mind say’s it’s Fall.  I love the changing colors of the leaves and I love making cards with leaves so when I saw this card sketch that already had a leaf on it I knew it was perfect for a fall card!

Stampin Up!’s Stitched Leaves Dies are so fun to work with and so easy to use on cards. These dies are a great size and I love the stitching on them! While figuring out what to use on this card I decided that the new Cork Specialty Paper would be just the right thing. This was my first time using it and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use. It’s extremely thin so you don’t have to worry about adding extra bulk to your card.

I stuck fairly close to this week’s Card Sketch. Only two extra layers and a few extra embellishments….oh, and I did emboss the background piece. Close, right?! I freely admit that I have a hard time with simple.

The sentiment is from the Many Messages stamp set. Have you checked this stamp set out? Actually, it’s a single stamp with nineteen different sentiments. It coordinates with a single die that will cut out the various sentiments in different shapes. Quite fun. These items are from a previous catalog and in the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog Stampin’ Up! came out with another stamp that works with the Messages Die. I don’t have the new one yet but it’s on my wish list.

Don’t forget to try working with a Card Sketch. Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Nothing’s Better Than Cocktails!

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Nothing’s Better Than

Nothing’s better than cocktails, right?  Ok…not everyone drinks alcohol but Stampin’ Up!’s Nothings’ Better Than stamp set not only has cocktails, but it has chocolate, cookies and coffee too!  You could easily switch this focal point and the corresponding sentiment on this card. This stamp set even has a coordinating die set called Love You More Than. So fun! When I’m crafting there is nothing better than a stamp set and dies that coordinate! This stamp set has some really fun sentiments in it and you can cut out the words cocktails, chocolate, cookies and coffe with the dies. Be sure to click the links above (name of stamp set or dies) and check them out. Too fun!

Connie Stewart, who designed these samples that inspired my card, helped design this stamp set!  When a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator reaches the $1,000,000 milestone in career sales they get to help design a stamp set!  How fun is that?!  And no….I’m not even close.  Ha!

You can see Connie’s samples to the left.  Her projects were made using the Basic White Notecards & Envelopes.  I needed more layers and more PINK on my card so I went with a full size card.  The double circles (and the cocktail glass!) are what initially caught my eye on Connie’s cards.  So cute, fun and retro!  I love the little stars.  They just say “1960’s” to me.

On Connie’s cards you can see how easy it is to use the same template or card sketch and just change the images and sentiments.

Here you can that I added my sentiment to the inside of the card instead of having it on the front. Just another one of those changes I made.

I was definitely inspired by these fun little samples but I didn’t stick very close to the original when making my card. That’s the fun of Make It Mine Mondays (or any other day)….you’re inspired and have that starting point for your project.

I hope you’re inspired. Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Whimsy & Wonder Card Sketch

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Whimsy & Wonder Card Sketch

Here I go again using Stampin’ Up!’s Whimsy & Wonder Specialty Designer Series Paper thatI was sure I wouldn’t like. Who uses pink and light green on a Christmas card? The more I use this paper the more I like it. There are some really nice patterns even if they include pink! Ha!

I like having a starting point for my design when I use a card sketch. When I look at the sketch I try to envision different stamp sets and papers in the design and then go from there. Sometimes I just thumb through my designer papers to see which ones I think will work best with the design. As you know, the design of a project is usually the hardest part of creating.

What products would you use with this card sketch? Make a card and share your design in the comments section! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fun Fold: Angled Gate Fold Card

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Angled Gate Fold Card

As soon as I saw this Angled Gate Fold card I knew I had to give it a try.  It’s so interesting with the different angles.  You can have either the left flap or the right flap of the card be the one that has your focal point on it.  The sample I saw had the focal point on the right side but wanted to change it up and have my focal point on the left.  Personally, I like it better on the left.

The card base for this card is pretty easy to make once you’ve figure out the little tricks to it.  You are going to start with a 5 ½” x 11’ piece of cardstock.  Score it along one the long sides at 3 3/8” and 7 5/8”.

The easiest way to figure out how to cut the angles on the flaps of the card base is to watch the quick video below that I recorded. I’ve also posted a few photos below.

To make the top angle you want to line up the 7 5/8″ score mark in the cutting grove of your Stampin’ Up! Trimmer. Then line up the top corner of the card base at the right edge of the trimmer grid. This actually is at 1 1/2″. Then cut along the cutting grove.

The second or bottom angle of the flap is just as easy to make. This time you are going to line up the corner piece that you just cut in the cutting grove and then line up the bottom corner of the card base with the 1″ mark. You can view this in the photo below.

To cut the angles on the left flap of the card base I completely flipped my card base over and repeated the steps above.

It was easier to flip the card so that I could use the same measurement points on the right side of my Paper Trimmer.

To cut the designer paper and/or cardstock to layer on top of the card base flaps you will want to start with a piece which is 3 1/4″ x 5 3/8 . The important thing to remember when trimming these pieces is that it is not going to exactly match up to the flap. Your borders may not be exactly equal. If you are super particular about your crafting you may need to tweak things a bit.

You will trim the 3 1/4″ x 5 3/8″ pieces the exact same way that you trimmed the angles on the flaps. Instead of starting the first angle on the score mark you will start it at the left top corner of the paper.

Most of the samples I saw using this fun fold had the same pattern of designer paper on both the left flap and the right flap of the card. I tried that but with the pattern I was using and with the white card base it was just too much white. My card needed a little contrast so I decided to cover the right flap with Misty Moonlight cardstock which I embossed with the Bark 3D Embossing Folder. It was just what my card needed!

I hope you like this week’s fun fold. Give it a try and leave a comment with your project. I’d love to see it! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Book Binding Fun Fold Christmas Card

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Book Binding Fun Fold

When I first saw the Whimsy & Wonder Suite in Stampin’ Up!’s July – December (Holiday) Catalog I had a hard time with it. To me Christmas items should be red and green with maybe some blue, silver or gold thrown in. Pink, although it’s my favorite color, does not say Christmas to me.

Then I started messing around with the Whimsy & Wonder Specialty Designer Series Paper. Too fun! I kind of got into the pink and other light colors of the paper. This card made rethink the whole “no pink for Christmas” thing. Ha!

Book Binding Fun Fold – open

Today’s Fun Fold is the Book Binding Fun Fold and is SO easy! Start with an 11″ x 4 1/4″ piece of cardstock for the card base. Score at 4 1/4″ and 5 1/2″. Fold the score marks in opposite directions. Adhere the small section of the card front to the inside of the card base. This will leave you with a 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ section that opens for your card and a 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ section on the inside of your card. Then on to decorating!

I used all of the accessories/embellishments in the Whimsey and Wonder Suite of products on my card. The gorgeous paper, the iridescent foil snowflake and the fun Blushing Bride pink ribbon. The Basic White layers on my card are 4″ x 4″ and 1″ x 4″. The designer paper layers are 3 3/4″ x 3 3/4″ and 3/4″ x 3 3/4″. I adhered the snowflake to the front of the card with a Stampin’ Dimensional which fits perfectly in the center of the snowflake.

What you may not have noticed in the first two photos I shared of this card and which is still a little difficult to see in this photo is that I actually used two different ribbons layered together on my card.

The Blushing Bride 3/8″ Frayed Ribbon looked nice on the card but it seemed a little flat. That’s where the fun, new White 3/8″ Glittered Organdy Ribbon comes in. When layered with the pink, the glitter ribbon gives the last perfect, sparkly touch to the card!

That Rule of 3 came into play again on this card. The designer paper sparkles, the snowflake sparkles/shimmers and the ribbon sparkles. Three different items that make my card shine!

If you like the look of fun fold card but some seem a little involved for you be sure to give the Book Binding Fun Fold a try. It’s the perfect fun fold to get you started.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Expressions In Ink Card Sketch

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Here is today’s card sketch. I think I did pretty good on this one. Just a few additions, right? Naturally I had to add another layer….

I used Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous Expressions in Ink Specialty Designer Series paper as the focal point for my card. This paper is so beautiful! The sentiment is from the Artistically Inked stamp set which also is part of the Expressions in Ink Suite of products that can be found on pages 96-97 of Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog. “thanks” is heated embossed with Gold Embossing Powder .

Did you notice how I used the “Rule of 3” with the gold? There is gold in the designer paper, the sentiment is embossed in gold and my added layer is gold. If you don’t remember what the Rule of 3 is it is this: when things are used in threes they are more pleasing to the eye. You may use this when creating your projects and not even realize that you’re using the “Rule of 3”.

Once again, I’m going to encourage you to try creating with card sketches. Whether you get your sketches from Freshly Made Sketches where I’ve been finding mine or some other source, card sketches are a great way to start the creative process.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Non-Traditional Halloween Card for Make It Mine Monday

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Nontraditional Halloween Card with Sparkle of the Season

Today I really changed things up with Make It Mine Monday!  Both cards are made using the fun and versatile Sparkle of the Season Bundle but after that…..well, you decide!  Ha!

There were two things on the original card that caught my eye and made me want to make it mine.  The first was my favorite checked ribbon and the second was the little bats on the card.  I love stamped, punched or die-cut bats but I’m pretty sure I’d be totally freaked out if I encountered a real bat.  After including the those two items on my card all bets were off and the card was my own.  I guess I did use the same pattern of the Cute Halloween designer paper.

The bundle used to create both the original card and my card is the Sparkle of the Season Bundle (page 58 in Stampin’ Up!’s Mini Catalog).  In the Seasonal Swirls dies that coordinate with the Sparkle of the Season stamp set there are three different swirled wreath dies.  One has Christmas greenery, one has leaves and the last one has stars.  On the card that inspired me the creator used the wreath with leaves and added pumpkins.  For a Halloween card I wanted to use the wreath with the stars and I wanted my stars to be yellow which is why my Halloween card is black and yellow instead of black and orange.  Now that I’m writing this I guess I could have used the traditional Halloween colors but…I didn’t.

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fun Fold: Modified Z-Fold 2.0

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In my newsletter early this week I shared a card that was similar to this with a single leaf and the same color combination. I liked it so much that I wanted to use it again with a fun fold.

Today’s card is a modified Z-Fold. I’m actually calling it a Modified Z-Fold 2.0 because I’ve already shared one type of modified Z-Fold card with you. You really can do a lot with a Z-Fold.

Modified Z-Fold Fun Fold Card

As you can see in the photos above, the front and back of the card aren’t connected to each other at all. The inside Z-fold section connects the front and the back of the card. It’s a fun little modification to change things up a little.

Each of the outside panels are 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″. The inside Z-fold is a piece of cardstock that is 11″ long and 3 1/2″ wide. It is scored on the long side at 1 1/2″ and 6 1/4″. Fold the 1/2″ score mark into a mountain fold and the 6 1/4″ score mark into a valley fold.

The large outside section of the Z-Fold is adhered to a 5″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock which is then adhered to the back section of the card. To adhere the front piece of the card to the small section of the Z-fold first close up the Z-fold and place adhesive on the small section. Now line up the front of the card with the back of the card and press down so the adhesive adheres. The card base should be complete and ready to decorate.

I love the way the Stitched With Whimsy die perfectly frames the leaf and sentiment on the card front. It also brings out the stitching on the Stitched Leaf die. The “hello” is from the Biggest Wish stamp set and the speckles behind the leaf are from the Gorgeous Leaves stamp set.

Below you will find a quick video on how I made the base of the card.

Modified Z-Fold Card

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Spot On With A Wintery Card Sketch

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I hope you agree with me that I hit the nail on the head with this card sketch. I didn’t add anything and I didn’t change anything. Can you believe it? With recreating projects I have a hard time leaving well enough alone.

How about you? When you are inspired by a project do you copy it verbatim or do you switch things up to follow your own personal style more? Even with step-by-step instructions right in front of me I change things up….mostly because I didn’t read the directions correctly or I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the video/instructor.

Whether you do follow something step-by-step or completely change things up, the important thing is that you are happy with the results. You need to enjoy what you do and that includes enjoying the finished product!

Go create and enjoy! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Celebrate With Sunflowers: Make It Mine

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This lovely card made with Stampin’ Up!’s Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set really caught my eye. My first thought was “nice card but sunflowers are yellow!”. Well, I had to look it up but apparently you can find sunflowers in colors other than yellow if they are crossbred. Who knew? I admire the creator of this card for stepping outside the box. I also admire them for doing such a nice job of coloring with their Stampin’ Blends Markers!

How do you switch up such a nice card? Well, you first make the sunflower yellow! Ha! I guess I’m a purist. Of course then I had to decide which of Stampin’ Up!’s yellows to use. As with many of the color decisions I make when creating a project I let my ribbon make the decision for me. After seeing the lovely original I knew that I wanted to add ribbon and thought that the Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon would work perfectly with a sunflower.

Celebrate Sunflowers

Lately, I’ve really been into using dies on my projects so that is what I chose to do with my sunflower. I’m not very good at coloring either.

I stamped both the flower image and the leaves before die-cutting the solid portions and then I die cut the intricate pieces after adding a piece of Adhesive Sheet to the back of the cardstock.

The more I thought about it, I guess I did change up quite a bit on the card. The only things that I didn’t change were the basic layout of the card and the stamp set I used. That’s the whole idea of Make It Mine Monday. Get inspired! Take a card that catches your eye and start from there.

Have a great day. Take care. Happy stamping. Be inspired!

Double Dutch Door Fun Fold Card

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Guess what? There is an actual Double Dutch Door! Just like the name suggests, it’s double! Both the top and bottom parts have two doors each! Who knew?!

Last week I shared the Dutch Door Fun Fold with you and today you get the Double Dutch Door Fun Fold.  These folds are similar, yet different.  The Dutch Door Fun Fold only had one piece that opened on the card and the Double Dutch Door Fun Fold actually has three!  OK…maybe it should be called the Triple Dutch Door Fun Fold but that name doesn’t have quite the same ring. Ha!

Double Dutch Door Fun Fold

In these two photos you can see the three different flaps on the card. The top flap will fold down and the two smaller flaps at the bottom will fold in. So fun!

Here is the closed card. You can easily see the three flaps. The circular focal point helps hold the flaps down.

When I saw the Nuts About Squirrels stamp set on page 49 of the new Mini Catalog I thought “here we go again…another cutesy stamp set and I don’t do cutesy”. Hmmm…as you can see, I changed my mind. These little squirrels are too stinkin’ cute and I really like the sentiments. There’s your basic “happy birthday” but the “hope you’re feeling bright-eyed & bushy-tailed” was the clincher for me.

As you can see, this stamp set makes a very cute card! Cinnamon Cider was just the right color for my squirrel and the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper completed my card perfectly!

Here is a template to help you make the card base. You need to start with a piece of cardstock that is 8 1/2″ wide by 9″ high. Then cut and score according to the template.

Have fun with this fold. I think you’ll like it! I’d love to see what your Double Dutch Door Card looks like! Leave a comment and share!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Ephemera Wreath Card Sketch

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I’m going to start today’s post with a definition of “ephemera”. At first I looked it up in the dictionary and the definition didn’t make any sense at all. Then I “googgled” it and had better luck. I typed in “ephemera in crafting” and got a more useful definition. “Ephemera is generally defined as collectible memorabilia that is was for a short term purpose. … Ephemera is almost always paper-based and is often written or printed items that were expected to have short term popularity or usefulness.” When I look in Stampin’ Up!’s catalog at the Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack on page 141 of the Annual Catalog I would call it “pretty stuff to put on my latest project”. I wouldn’t call this the best description but it works for me. Ha!

The reason I went into all this detail for today’s card sketch is because the gold wreath on my card is part of the Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack. Since I was using it I thought I should figure out what the word “ephemera” meant.

My take on today’s card sketch is pretty close. That is if you discount the extras I added. Ha! In my opinion the sketch needed another layer and I added the sentiment to finish it off.

Are you wondering how I got the gold ephemera wreath to adhere to the card front? I didn’t. I placed the wreath where I wanted and when I adhered the flowers and the sentiment they held the wreath in place. There was no way I would have been able to get glue on the back of that skinny wreath!

That would be my tip of the day….when trying to adhere something really thin and narrow to your project use another piece to actually anchor your thin item.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!