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

Two-Toned Inlaid Ferns - Stampin' Up!® Fern & Flora

   

  The New at SU blog hop is back with another great hop featuring Two-Toned cardstock!  This fantastic group of international Stampin' Up!® demonstrators is ready to inspire you with all kinds of fun projects ideas using this versatile product.  Hop through with us and let us know what you loved!  The blog hop list is at the end of this post!

  I pulled out my favorite new stamp set Fern & Flora and a whole stack of Two-Toned cardstock for this project!  I loved how these saturated colors look for summer cards and the Two-Toned cardstock gives a lot of bang for the buck as you get 2 colors in one sheet with the backside being a lighter version.  Think the "stamped off" version.

   I started with cutting two 5/8" x 4" strips of 5 colors of Two-Toned cardstock; Cajun Craze, Strawberry Slush, Timid Tiger and Daffodil Delight.  I adhered them to a piece of 4" x 5 1/4" Basic White cardstock using one on the darker side and the second on the lighter side and trimmed off any white areas.  Next I layered the Fern & Flora dies across the strips and die cut them out.

  Next I embossed the panel using the Fern & Flora embossing folder. Using some Old Olive Two-Toned cardstock I cut matching ferns one in the darker side and the other 2 in the lighter side.  The ferns were then adhered inside the openings for a nice inlaid look.  I finished off the card with some gold accents and a sentiment label also from the Fern & Flora bundle.

  This easy technique ends up giving you a second card if you use the original die cut ferns from the striped panel.  I added mine to the front of a Basic White card base embossed with the Fern & Flora embossing folder.  A simple sentiment and more gold accents finish off this 2 for 1 card!

  I hope you'll incorporate some Two Toned cardstock in your next project!  See more ideas by following the rest of the hop in the links below!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Fern & Flora

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Basic White thick, basic White, Two-Toned: Cajun Craze, Strawberry Slush, Timid Tiger, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive

Accessories: Fern & Flora dies, Fern & Flora embossing folder, Adhesive-Backed Metallic Gems, gold thread (retired)

Wild Party Animal - Stampin' Up!® Wild Bunch

   Now if cute animal stamps are your thing you don't to want to wait to place your next Stampin' Up!® order!  The Wild Bunch stamp set is this months Product of the Month and is available for just $5 with a $75 order while supplies last!  Let me tell you, this set is adorable and besides the 4 sweet animals there are sentiments and accent stamps too!  

  How cute is this little party koala??  I'm using colors that I gave to my customers for a color challenge; Peach Pie, Pretty Peacock and Petal Pink.

  I started with a piece of retired Country Lace DSP for the background then used strips in my colors for stamping and embossing.  The Peach Pie strip is embossed with an upcoming new embossing folder called Swirls of Magic.  The Pretty Peacock piece is stamped with the checkerboard pattern and the Petal Pink with the heart.

 I stamped the koala in Basic Gray then colored it in with Blends along with the party hat.  I fussy cut the images and then adhered them to a die cut label from the Filled With Sweetness die set.  The sentiment is stamped and tucked under the edge of the label.

Each colored strip is embellished with a gem in one of the colors and the pompom on the hat is highlighted with Wink of Stella.

  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 Gray, Petal Pink, Pretty Peacock

Blends: Smoky Slate light & dark, Barely Blush light, Petal Pink dark, Pretty Peacock light & dark

Paper: Basic White, Pretty Peacock, Petal Pink, Peach Pie (retired), Country Lace DSP (retired)

Accessories: Filled With Sweetness dies, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Low Profile Dots (retired), 2024-2026 In Color Dots, Faceted Gems (retired)

Panther Graduation - Stampin' Up!® Cap & Gown

 It's still graduation season and I have another card from the giant stack that I have made lately.  When you have a kid graduating you tend to know a lot of other kids graduating and that requires a lot of cards lol!  I try to customize the colors for the school to change things up.  This red and blue was a nice change of pace from the teal of previous cards!

  I again used my trusty retired set Cap & Gown along with the current set Sending Salutations.  I started with a Blueberry Bushel base then a layer of Basic Black topped with a stamped panel of Real Red.  The graduation cap is stamped in a random pattern for the background.

  A Blueberry Bushel band added a but of detail behind the Basic White Spotlight on Nature die cut circle.

  The cap and gown are both stamped in Versamark on Basic White then embossed with black embossing powder.  I fussy cut them and popped them on the circle with dimensionals.

  The sentiment is stamped in Versamark and then embossed in gold.  The four corners are embellished with Gold Low Profile Dots.

  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: Sending Salutations, Cap & Gown (retired)

Ink: Real Red, Versamark

Paper: Blueberry Bushel, Real Red, Basic Black, Basic White

Accessories: Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, black embossing powder, gold embossing powder, Low Profile Dots (retired)

All Star Father's Day - Stampin' Up!® Balloon Festoon

   There is a lot of great inspiration out there right now for masculine cards.  I'm playing along with several challenges today for another Father's Day card.  The colors are from TGIF Challenges, the layout is from Sketch-n-Scrap and the general theme of masculine is from The Paper Players.  

  You might be looking at the title of this post and wondering where the Balloon Festoon bundle comes in...not a balloon in sight right?!  The only stamping on this card besides the sentiment are the stars stamped on the Smoky Slate card base, those come from the Balloon Festoon bundle.  You don't have to use a traditionally masculine stamp set to make an effective guy card!   And a sentiment can be the focal image!

  On the other side of the stamping I used a panel of Nature Walk DSP in a distressed Night of Navy pattern.  To bring in a pop of the Granny Apple Green from the color palette I added a band of retired Dandy Designs DSP.

  The next elements are the skinny strips going horizontal.  I used a piece of retired Country Lace DSP in a subtle Smoky Slate striped pattern.  I topped it with a length of retired Denim ribbon with the end trimmed to match the DSP.

  The sentiment from a retired Paper Pumpkin set is stamped in Night of Navy and trimmed down.  I adhered the strips with dimensionals to a Stitched Shape die cut square and then backed it with a larger die cut square.

  Next, to jazz it up and add some sparkle I punched out 2 sizes of stars from Granny Apple Green glimmer paper and arranged them around the sentiment.

  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: Balloon Festoon, Many Manly Occasions (retired Paper Pumpkin)

Ink: Night of Navy, Smoky Slate

Paper: Smoky Slate, Basic White, Nature Walk DSP, Dandy Designs DSP (retired), Country Lace DSP (retired), Granny Apple Green Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Stitched Shapes dies, dimensionals, star punches (retired), Denim ribbon (retired)

Red & Blue Birthday - Stampin' Up!® Balloon Festoon

   My card today is another one in my stamping book club series where I make a card inspired by a book I've recently read.  I'm a bit behind as I finished this book in February!  I need more hours in the day to read all I want and to stamp all I want lol!  I'm using the book covers as inspiration but not necessarily the story so I won't be ending up with a stack of cards with "murder mystery" as the theme.  Because who do you send those too? lol!  

  This card is inspired by the book I Have Some Questions for You  by Rebecca Makkai.  It's a bit murder mystery meets revisit the past kind of book.  Bodie is a film professor and podcaster who has to confront events of her past when she is invited back to her high school to teach a class. Bodie at first feels that she has put the past behind her but being back on campus turns everything on it's head.  There are many unanswered questions surrounding the murder of her former roommate during their senior year.  Was the wrong man put in prison? Who else could have done it? What was Bodie's own role in the events that led up to the murder? 

  I really liked the shadowed letters of the title as well as the colors so that is what I used to build my card.  The background is blended ink using Poppy Parade, Tahitian Tide and Blueberry Bushel.  

  I used the retired Playful Alphabet die set and cut 2 sets of Happy Birthday, one in Basic White the other in Basic Black.  I adhered them together with the Black letter peeking out just a bit to create the shadow effect I liked from the book cover.  I played around with my placement and then decided where I wanted the balloon to go and then stamped the string in Memento Black.

  Next I trimmed down dimensionals to fit the letters and popped them up using a ruler and my grid paper to get a straight line.  The balloon is stamped in Tahitian Tide, die cut and popped up as well.

  I added the stamped sentiment at the bottom and then embellished with some retired sequins and one Wonderful Stars puffy sticker on the balloon.

   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: Balloon Festoon

Ink: Poppy Parade, Blueberry Bushel, Tahitian Tide (retired), Memento Black

Paper: Basic White, Basic Black

Accessories: Balloon Festoon dies, Playful Alphabet dies (retired), dimensionals, Wonderful Stars Puffy Stickers (Online Exclusive), sequins (retired)

Biggest Fan Father's Day - Stampin' Up!® Match Day

   The CAS Colours & Sketches team is back with a new challenge for you!  This time we are working with a sketch from Rachel that has so many possibilities with the fun tag element!  

 Since the World Cup is about to start and we are a soccer family and Father's Day is coming I decided to combine the two with this great sketch!

  So I originally had the elements right on a Basic White thick card base but I realized after I had adhered everything that the card opened the wrong way!  Duh!  So I cut the front off and trimmed it down a bit and added it back to a Basic White base that opened the correct way!  What can I say, sometimes my card base creases are just too good lol!

  For my tag elements I layered a Basic Black one behind the A Wonderful Match DSP tag.  Some black baker's twine is used for the string.

  The jersey and sentiment are both stamped in Memento black.  The jersey is colored with Blends then die cut and added to the card with dimensionals.  The sentiment is fussy cut and also popped on dimensionals.

  I couldn't resist using a few retired black Adhesive-Backed Sparkle Gems to add a little bit of shine.  

  I can't wait to see how you use this great layout for your CAS designs.  Remember to keep it clean and simple, minimal layers and patterns with a clean look and lots of white space.  

  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: Match Day (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Basic Black, A Wonderful Match DSP

Accessories: Match Day dies, (Online Exclusive), dimensionals, baker's twine, tag punch (retired), Adhesive-Backed Sparkle Gems (retired)