Stitched Christmas - Stampin' Up!® Stitched Stocking

 Christmas in June??? Why not?  Planning ahead for handmade Christmas cards is the only way I can get enough made without driving myself crazy come December.  I won't be making a big Christmas card push just yet so don't unfollow me for being out of season. Getting a few cards in the storage box gives me a little peace of mind! I'm using the Stitched Stocking bundle which will be available in the July 2026 Online Exclusive release.

  I needed to make a card using the sketch challenge that I gave my to customers this morning and I thought this Christmas stocking kind of fit the larger element of the layout.  What do you think?

  Maybe a little big lol!  But it was fun to put this card together using the quilt inspired Stitched Stockings bundle.

  I started with a Peaceful Pine card base, such a wonderful Christmas green!  Then a panel of Basic White cut with the retired Stitched Rectangle dies and embossed with the retired Beautiful Pattern embossing folder.

  The stocking is die cut in several layers with the bottom being just the stocking shape. The top layer of the stocking is the part that has all the wonderful patchwork and stitched details.  Both layers are in Cherry Cobbler.  The cuff is also separate and is in Basic White. Before adhering the cuff I added a loop of Peaceful Pine Bordered ribbon.

 This bundle is part of a suite which includes A Stitched Season DSP.  I used a plaid pattern to cut the star detail and added it to the stocking.

 A little Christmas tree and some holly leaves and berries colored with Wink of Stella are fun accents and a little tiny sentiment from the long retired Itty Bitty Christmas is the final piece.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Items marked with a * will be available in the July 2026 Online Exclusive release..

Stamps: Itty Bitty Christmas (retired)

Ink: Peaceful Pine

Paper: Peaceful Pine, Basic White, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Real Red, A Stitched Season DSP*

Accessories: Stitched Stocking dies*, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, circle punch, Beautiful Pattern embossing folder (retired), Stitched Rectangle dies (retired)

Hello Summer Flowers - Stampin' Up!® Summer Happiness Dies

 Do you need a fantastic color combo for creating a card this week?  These colors are so fun and vibrant and perfect for a cheerful hello card or a bright birthday card.  Berry Burst, Melon Mambo, Lemon Lime Twist and Coastal Cabana are courtesy of the As You See It challenge.  As soon as I saw them I knew I had to turn them into a card!

  I had fun pulling in a bunch of different products for this design.  I started with going through my DSP and finding this retired Melon Mambo pattern from the Friends of the Ocean DSP.  Once a DSP has retired I feel it's so much easier to use a big panel of it.  Am I the only one that feels that way?

 Next I used a strip of Coastal Cabana and die cut the little circle details in it using the Nature's Symphony dies.  The Basic White Spotlight on Nature die cut is where I add more elements.  The sentiment from Cutest Crew stamp set is stamped in Coastal Cabana ink.  

  The flowers are from an upcoming die set called Summer Happiness that will be released with the July 2026 Online Exclusives (it has a coordinating stamp set too!).  I cut 3 in Basic White then again in 3 of the challenge colors to make the centers.  These flower shapes (when the centers are empty) remind me of those classic flower butter cookies that always seemed to be around when I was a kid.  Do you remember those?  Thinking about them gives me dry mouth lol!  Anyway...I added the centers using a dimensional on the back to get them to stick.  

  Lemon Lime Twist leaves are cut for each flower and then the flowers are added around the sentiment. The final detail for this card is the Wink of Stella on the flower centers which doesn't show well in the photo.  Thanks to the As You See It team for a great combo!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Items marked with a * will be available in the July 2026 Online Exclusives release.

Stamps: Cutest Crew

Ink: Coastal Cabana

Paper: Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Friends of the Ocean DSP (retired)

Accessories: Spotlight on Nature dies, Nature's Symphony dies, Summer Happiness dies*, dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Snail Mail Delivery - Stampin' Up!® Wild Bunch

 Are you ready for some Clean and Simple stamping inspiration?  The CAS Colours & Sketches challenge team is back with a new challenge and this time we are doing a color combo! Suzy has us using Blackberry Bliss, Gorgeous Grape and Garden Green!  Beautiful right colors wouldn't you say?

I decided to really make it a true challenge and not do flowers which were my first instinct!  I always love it when my Design Team friends use colors in slightly unexpected ways so I looked through my stamps and landed on the Wild Bunch stamp set!  I figured a snail can be any color combo I want right?

  Isn't he/she sweet?  The Wild Bunch stamp set is the June 2026 Product of the Month and if you love critter stamps this one should definitely find it's way into your next order!  

  I started with a Gorgeous Grape card base, then did all the fun stuff on a panel of Basic White.  The snail and heart are stamped in the new Basic Black Hybrid ink.  It's really my first time using it for any coloring and besides my pad being a bit juicy I thought it held up nicely to watercoloring.  The snail is watercolored with all three colors.  Then I used my Stampin' Journaling Pen and drew in the snail trail trying to match the line thickness of the image.

  Looking at this now I should have colored the heart in with Blackberry Bliss but it is what it is! Finally I stamped the sentiment above the heart also using the Basic Black Hybrid ink.

  I can't wait to see what you do with these awesome colors!  Be sure to keep your design "clean and simple" as in minimal layers and embellishments and lots of open space.  Link your card up in the CAS Colours & Sketches gallery so we can all  oooohhh and aaahhh over it!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Wild Bunch (June 2026 POM)

Ink: Basic Black Hybrid, Blackberry Bliss, Gorgeous Grape, Garden Green

Paper: Gorgeous Grape, Basic White

Accessories: water painters, Journaling Pen

Summer Fun - Stampin' Up!® Summer Happiness

 I got my demonstrator pre-order for the July Online Exclusives and the rumors are true....I'm my own best customer lol!  Every release has things that I just need.  'Need' being used here loosely of course!  I ordered quite a bit from this preorder and the products span from summer themed all the way to Christmas so I'm well on my way to enjoying this summer season but also looking ahead to fall and winter.  The upcoming Summer Happiness bundle fills in a bit of a gap in my current products with the variety of images and dies that will work for cards as well as accents for scrap pages.

    I'm using the Freshly Made Sketches layout for this card and it's perfect to show off some the fun that this bundle contains!   I started with a Pool Party base topped with a full panel of Pool Party embossed with the recently retired Soft Waves embossing folder.  

  Next I die cut 3 Perennial Postage rectangles to follow the sketch and give my summer items a place to land.  The sun is stamped in Darling Duckling then die cut and is backed with a same shape die cut in just cardstock to give it a little off set layering.

  The sunglasses are die cut from Poppy Parade and the lenses are Black Glimmer paper because why not?  I added some small rhinestones to the edge to add even more sparkle.

  The flip flops are die cut from Balmy Blue and Azure Afternoon.  The straps are the perfect chance to use the Adhesive Sheets as they are very narrow and a bit tricky to glue up.  I wish I had thought of that before getting glue everywhere!  If I can't be a good example I'll just have to be a horrible warning!  All the die cuts are popped on dimensionals.

  The sentiment from Banner Sayings is stamped in Basic Black Hybrid ink on the center postage stamp.  If you like this color combo check out this other card that I made using the same one a while back.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Items marked with a * will be available in the July 2026 Online Exclusive release.

Stamps: Summer Happiness*, Banner Sayings

Ink: Darling Duckling, Basic Black Hybrid

Paper: Pool Party, Basic White, Darling Duckling, Poppy Parade, Black Glimmer (retired), Balmy Blue, Azure Afternoon

Accessories: Perennial Postage dies, Soft Waves embossing folder (retired), rhinestones, Summer Happiness dies*, dimensionals

Thankful Shimmer Fern - Stampin' Up!® Fern & Flora

  The Moonlit Flora DSP is so pretty that I find myself not wanting to cover it up.  I designed this card to show off the DSP for my recent new catalog open house make and takes as well as to highlight Golden Glow and Peaceful Pine.

  The card starts with a Golden Glow card base, then a rectangle of Moonlit Flora DSP backed with a piece of Peaceful Pine cardstock.

  The fern die cuts pull colors from the DSP.  The smaller one is Soft Sea Foam and the larger is actually Basic White that has been colored with the Peaceful Pine shimmer brush.  The shimmer brushes are so fun with the color matching plus shimmer!

  The ferns are tucked behind the stamped sentiment label and a length of Golden Glow Bordered ribbon.  And it's hard to see in the photo but there are several Dewdrop embellishments above the sentiment for a last touch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Fern & Flora

Ink: Golden Glow, Peaceful Pine

Paper: Golden Glow, Peaceful Pine, Basic White, Moonlit Flora DSP

Accessories: Fern & Flora dies, dimensionals, Shimmer Brush, Bordered Ribbon, Dewdrop Embellishments

In Color Balloons - Stampin' Up!® Balloon Festoon

   Last weekend I hosted my annual New Catalog Open House and BOGO Retirement Sale and had a blast seeing so many of my customers.  Along with lots of sample cards, In Color swatches and new products I had several make and takes so that everyone could try out the new products for themselves.  I always try to highlight the new In Colors in these projects and I managed to use 3 of the 5 on this card.

  The Balloon Festoon bundle has been a fun one for me to design with and thought it would show off Hydrangea Hue, Crisp Cantaloupe and Barely Blush nicely.

  This one starts with a Basic White thick card base, then a wide band of Hydrangea Hue stamped in the same color in with the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment.

  The balloons are die cut from the In Color Painted Patterns DSP.  And a quick tip for this is that you can stack your pieces of DSP and cut all 3 balloons at the same time.  Saves a few steps! The Crisp Cantaloupe balloon is popped on dimensionals.  The sentiment is stamped and also popped with a length of Barely Blush Bordered Ribbon layered behind.

  Each balloon has a rhinestone that has been colored with the matching Blends marker as well as some highlights drawn on with a white gel pen.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Balloon Festoon

Ink: Hydrangea Hue

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Hydrangea Hue, 2026-2028 In Color Painted Patterns DSP

Accessories: Balloon Festoon dies, dimensionals, rhinestones, Blends, gel pen, Barely Blush Bordered ribbon 

Beautiful Country Z Fold - Stampin' Up! Beautiful Gallery DSP

 I'm trying to catch up with my stamping book club series of cards and currently I'm behind by 9 books! Yikes I better get to stamping lol!  So today I'm sharing 2 cards inspired by 2 books I've read this year.  I feel ok putting them together as they are books 2 and 3 of a series of 3.  

  The books that inspired these two cards are The Book of Etta and The Book of Flora by Meg Elison.  I read the first book in the series back in 2022 so I was a bit hazy on the details but the premise of books 2 and 3 are that the characters are navigating the world in the aftermath of a devastating illness that wipes out much of the population in book 1. Following the plague, childbirth becomes deadly for both women and infants turning any that do survive into a commodity to be bought and sold, hunted and enslaved and left with very few safe havens in which to live.  The way that different communities spring up and the varied ways in which they decide to treat women was an interesting aspect of these books; women as sacred vs. women as controlled resource.  Can a society function and ultimately thrive when women are treated in such different manners?  

  The desolate and sparsely populated landscapes of both books brought to mind the pretty scenes of the Beautiful Gallery DSP.  So while there were a lot of horrors in both books I wanted to focus on the open countryside that much of the books are set in.  Because no one needs a post-apocalyptic greeting card right?!  lol!

  This Z fold design is perfect for showing off almost a whole panel of DSP allowing you to showcase full scenes like the Beautiful Gallery DSP.

  A few die cuts and labels and stamping for the sentiments keeps these cards quick to make and a great way not to have to choose which part of DSP gets used or not!

  I originally got my measurements from Rachel Tessman.  The only addition that I did on these two cards was to add a piece of DSP on the left under the top flap.  For both of my cards I used a B side of the Beautiful Gallery DSP in a coordinating color/pattern.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make these cards can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Simply Said (retired), Sending Salutations, Prayers and Promises (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Cloud Cover, Old Olive, Basic White, Beautiful Gallery DSP

Accessories: Filled With Sweetness Dies, Nature's Symphony dies, dimensionals, metallic dots (retired), Tasteful Label dies (retired)

Purple Sunset - Stampin' Up!® Sunset Coast

     My card today is one I made a few weeks ago for my May customer thank you cards.  I love the Sunset Coast bundle because there are so many ways to use it; focus on the dies, just use the stamps or any number of gorgeous ways in between!  I kept my focus on the stamps and used the dies as accents this time around!

 I stamped the scene on Basic White, added the sentiment and then popped it up on a Crumb Cake base.  I used the seagull, net and shell dies to create accents for the scene.  A few sequins finish off the design. 

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Sunset Coast

Ink: Secret Sea, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Strawberry Slush, Crushed Curry

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White, Balmy Blue, Secret Sea, Strawberry Slush

Accessories: Sunset Coast dies, dimensionals, Sunset Sparkle Sequins