Peace and Joy - Stampin' Up!® Simple Alphabet

   Sometimes you want to make a card where the sentiment is the focus but all of your sentiment stamps are too small or don't say what you want them to.  No problem!  Just stamp it yourself using the Simple Alphabet stamp set!

  I started this design with a Secret Sea card base with another layer of Secret Sea embossed with the Softly Woven embossing folder.  Before adhering the panel down I added a length of Barely Blush Bordered ribbon across the center.

  Using Secret Sea ink and the Simple Alphabet stamp set I created my words.  I find them really easy to line up and I just stamped the letters with a small bit of space between them.  The ampersand is stamped in Strawberry Slush.  Then I fussy cut the words and ampersand.

  The words are popped on dimensionals on a Basic White Scalloped Christmas Cheer die cut panel.  The big scallops really complement the curves of the letters. The scalloped rectangle is backed with a piece of Strawberry Slush.

  I accented the focal point sentiment with a cluster of holly leaves and berries die cut using the Home for Christmas die set.  The berries are covered with clear Wink of Stella and both the berries and leaves have white gel pen accents.

  And the final touch for this card is a Barely Blush fork bow to finish the ribbon detail.  Want to see how to make a fork bow check out my how to video.

  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: Simple Alphabet

Ink: Secret Sea, Strawberry Slush

Paper: Secret Sea, Strawberry Slush, Basic White, Granny Apple Green

Accessories: Softly Woven embossing folder, Scalloped Christmas Cheer dies, Home for Christmas dies, Barely Slush Bordered ribbon, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, white gel pen

Celebrate in Circles - Stampin' Up!® Round About Messages

   I've just been dropping the ball lately and I completely forgot that I had a card due for the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge that posted yesterday.  It's an every other week challenge and for some reason I was thinking I still had a week!  I feel like I'm going crazy some days!  Anyway, here's my card, a day late and a dollar short as my dad says!

Rachel has given us a lovely grouping of circles to work with though you can swap them out for another shape or mix and match!

  Since I was already late I didn't want to overthink it and I knew I needed to add to my masculine birthday cards stash so I went with Pool Party & Secret Sea as a color combo and used the Round About Messages stamp set.

  The Stylish Shapes dies continue to be a staple in my card making and they give just the right amount of detail for a clean and simple card.

  I hope you'll play along with this sketch and share your design in our gallery so we can all oooohhhh and aaaahhhh!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Round About Messages

Ink: Secret Sea, Pool Party

Blends: Daffodil Delight light & dark, Pool Party light & dark

Paper: Basic White think, Basic White, Pool Party, Moonlit Flora DSP

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, Clear Ribboned Adhesive Dots (retired)

Hydrangea Christmas - Stampin' Up!® Home for Christmas

   I love finding new color combos to use for Christmas cards and since we get new In Colors each year the options increase giving me even more colors to use.  This year Peaceful Pine and Hydrangea Hue have come together for a knock out pairing for the season!  

  The colors come from the Color Dare Challenge and I'm so glad I saw it since I was wanting to use Hydrangea Hue on a Christmas card and was just waiting on some inspiration!

  I started this one with a Basic White thick base then added a striped background of Hydrangea Hue using Two-Toned cardstock on the outside edges. The strips are embossed with the Swirls of Magic embossing folder and sanded down to really bring out the pattern.  The center panel is a piece of 2026-2028 In Color Painted Patterns DSP.

  I used the Home for Christmas bundle for the stamping and die cutting.  The little tag die cut has been getting a workout the last month or so and you can see it used a lot if you scroll back through my posts.

  The tree is stamped in Peaceful Pine and is popped on the tag with dimensionals.  It's topped with a star that started as Basic White and I colored with the Hydrangea Hue Shimmer Brush.  The sentiment from Soiree Celebrations is stamped in Hydrangea Hue ink.

  The tag is detailed with a bit of Peaceful Pine scalloped trim (cut with the little pocket die) and a few 2026-2028 In Color Dots.  The tag ties are a bit of retired Metallic Edged ribbon and retired Orchid Oasis baker's twine.

 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: Home for Christmas, Soiree Celebrations

Ink: Peaceful Pine, Hydrangea Hue

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Two-Toned Hydrangea Hue, Peaceful Pine, 2026-2028 In Color Painted Patterns

Accessories: Home for Christmas Dies, Swirls of Magic embossing folder, dimensionals, 2026-2028 In Color Dots, Hydrangea Hue Shimmer Brush, Metallic Edged Ribbon (retired), Orchid Oasis baker's twine (retired)

Season's Treats - Stampin' Up!® Home for Christmas

 Once September hits I definitely begin to look ahead to Christmas and my Christmas card stash.  I've been slowly adding to that stash every week while also trying out ideas that could be used at my upcoming classes.  Stampin' Up!®'s Home for Christmas bundle has been giving me lots of fun ideas and images to work with!  The gingerbread men and peppermint candies take center stage on today's card!

  Overall I like the design of this one but I'm not sure it would be a great one for a class.  I had a heck of a time getting 3 decent gingerbread men images.  Not sure if I got a dud stamp set or what but ink kept pooling in the buttons and icing lines no matter how lightly I inked up. And that just wont work in a class setting.  I persevered and finally got 'good enough' images.  I layered the gingerbread men alternating them with stamped peppermint candies along the side of the card front.

  Under the men I used a bit of recently retired Natural Hues Specialty Paper with torn edges and Early Espresso scallops.  The scalloped edge die is in the Home for Christmas dies and are a wonderfully fun detail to add to a card at Christmas.  The striped DSP is the retired Merry, Bold & Bright DSP from a few years back.  The retired products also don't lend themselves to classes lol!

 The sentiment from the Noel Tidings stamp set is stamped in Early Espresso and is fussy cut and popped up over a smaller scalloped edge trimmed from the pocket die in the Home for Christmas dies.  An Early Espresso baker's twine bow is added underneath.  A few pink sequins finish off this design.

  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: Home for Christmas, Noel Tidings

Ink: Pecan Pie, Melon Mambo, Early Espresso

Paper: Early Espresso, Basic White, Melon Mambo, Natural Hues Specialty Paper (retired), Merry, Bold & Bright DSP (retired)

Accessories: Home for Christmas dies, dimensionals, Early Espresso baker's twine (retired), Adhesive-backed sequins trio (retired)

Hello Sunshine - Stampin' Up!® Round About Messages

   I recently held a card making class for fellow moms of college kids to make cards that we can send to our kids so that they can learn that their university mail room isn't just for Amazon packages!  The designs for the cards are what I would call 'quick & easy' and very doable for new stampers to make.  The Round About Messages stamp set is perfect for this purpose!

  So cute right?  And very easy to make!  I used a nice neutral Basic Beige card base then a strip of the retired Sunny Days DSP with the ends cut at an angle.  Swap in any current DSP that has a bit of yellow in it and use that same yellow to stamp the sun.

  I stamped the hello three times without re-inking in Night of Navy ink on a die cut tag.  The stamped off gradient color look is a nice simple beginner technique to introduce to new stampers.  You can find the tag die in the Home for Christmas die set. The tag has a baker's twine tie and is popped on the card front with dimensionals.

  The sun is stamped in Crushed Curry and is punched out and is also popped up on a dimensional.  The final touch are a few retired Milky Dots in Night of Navy.

  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: Round About Messages

Ink: Night of Navy, Crushed Curry

Paper: Basic Beige, Basic White, Sunny Days DSP (retired)

Accessories: Home for Christmas dies, circle punch, dimensionals, baker's twine, Milky Dots (retired)

Christmas Tidings - Stampin' Up!® Noel Tidings

   You can't beat a traditional red and green Christmas card and I leaned in heavy with that using the Noel Tidings bundle and threw in a bit of gold and rustic wood for a classic seasonal card.

    I started with a piece of Country Woods DSP to cover the whole card front.  Next is a panel of Poppy Parade topped with a piece of embossed Basic White that I had in my scrap bag.  It's embossed with the retired Beautiful Pattern embossing folder but any of your favorite folders would make a good substitute here. 

 Next I stamped one of the pine branches on the light side of Two-Toned Peaceful Pine cardstock a few times and die cut them.  A few branches and Poppy Parade berries come next.  They are all layered under a Framed & Fabulous hot foil circle.  A bit of retired ribbon from my scrap stash is tucked under the circle as well.

  The detailed circle is a nice spot to highlight a bigger sentiment so I stamped the big Merry Christmas from the Noel Tiding set and then fussy cut it and popped it on dimensionals.

  A little bit more gold is added with some gold adhesive-backed dots on the left side of the large panel.  And some sparkle is added to the berries with clear 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: Noel Tidings

Ink: Peaceful Pine, Poppy Parade, Early Espresso

Paper: Country Woods DSP, Poppy Parade, Basic White, Two-Toned Peaceful Pine

Hot Foil: gold foil, Framed & Fabulous dies

Accessories: Noel Tidings dies, dimensionals, Gold adhesive-backed dots, Beautiful Pattern embossing folder (retired), Wink of Stella

Christmas Two Ways - Stampin' Up!® Home for Christmas

The New at SU! international design team is back this month with a fun theme of "From Simple to Stepped Up" where we will be showing how to take a basic design all the way to 'WOW'!  We hope you are inspired!  Be sure to hop around with us and leave some love on each project.  We love hearing from you.  The hop list is at the bottom of my post.

I'm showcasing the Home for Christmas bundle and the Timeless Christmas DSP for my projects.  I made a little grouping of Christmas trees and alternated colors for the sentiment and then added that to a nice Scalloped Christmas Cheer rectangle.  A star on the tree and a ribbon knot finish the details. Sweet and simple!

Now let's step it up!  I took the basic layout from the first card and added texture, layers and gold for this more detailed second card.  I used the same DSP and same Scalloped Christmas Cheer rectangle but brought in texture by adding a piece of Two-Toned Peaceful Pine cardstock (light side) embossed with the Softly Woven embossing folder.

  The sentiments are in the same spot as the first card but I highlighted them by embossing them in gold on strips of cardstock in my card colors and popped them on dimensionals for more interest. A few gold adhesive-backed dots also accent the sentiment area.

  The trio of trees stays the same but I stamped and die cut all three and added them to a die cut tag that's popped on the side of the scalloped rectangle.  I added gold glimmer paper stars for all three trees, a ribbon tag tie, a strip of dotted DSP and a mini button and baker's twine bow.

  I hope you've gotten some good ideas of how to step up your designs!  Enjoy the rest of the hop!

  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: Home for Christmas

Ink: Peaceful Pine, Soft Sea Foam, Poppy Parade, Versamark, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Timeless Christmas DSP, Peaceful Pine, basic White, Poppy Parade, Soft Sea Foam, Two-Toned Peaceful Pine, Gold Glimmer, 

Accessories: Scalloped Christmas Cheer dies, Home for Christmas Dies, Softly Woven embossing folder, Gold Adhesive-backed Dots, Mini Christmas Buttons, baker's twine, dimensionals, gold embossing powder, Real Red Stitched ribbon

Love & Joy Noel - Stampin' Up!® Welcome Noel

 I'm so excited to be joining the Color Hues Challenge as a guest designer today!  They have a super talented Design Team and I love seeing what they come up with for each challenge and I'm always inspired.  Thanks for having me!!

 I love purple so I was excited to see this combo!  I decided to do a Christmas card using the Neutral Noel Suite.  The little purple village is a fun look for Christmas I think!

 I embossed the Very Vanilla background panel with the Softly Woven embossing folder for a nice bit of texture.  The greenery is Mossy Meadow and makes a nice big oval frame for the sentiment and buildings.

  A tiny bit of yellow is blended on the windows for a nice golden glow.  I just used whatever was left on the blending brush so I can't even say which yellow.  I'm considering the yellow a neutral here, it's like a version of the Very Vanilla lol!  I used both Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather for the buildings.  Two-Toned Mossy Meadow cardstock  for a slightly lighter look for the garland and the wreath. 

  I cut berries out of both purples and covered them with clear Wink of Stella.  They are then grouped around the wreath adding in some Gold Dots for a bit of shine.

  Thanks for having me Color Hues; it was a fun combo to work with!  

  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: Welcome Noel, Noel Tidings, Soiree Salutations

Ink: Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Mossy Meadow, yellow

Paper: Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow, Two-Toned Mossy Meadow, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape

Accessories: Softly Woven embossing folder, Noel Tidings Dies, Welcome Noel Dies, dimensionals, Gold Adhesive-Backed Dots, Wink of Stella

Pine Wreath - Stampin' Up!® Noel Tidings

  We are back with a new challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches today! It's a color challenge this time and Rachel has given us a beautiful set of colors to work with!

  Since I'm in the US we are heading into fall and looking towards winter so I saw these colors as perfect for a Christmas card!  If you're in the Southern Hemisphere these might be just right for your spring cards!

  I stamped a bunch of pine branches from the Noel Tidings set and die cut them to make a wreath shape overlapping each die cut for a nice full look.  A Basic White thick card base is the perfect clean and simple background for the wreath.

  

 Using the Welcome Noel dies I cut some Highland Heather stars, colored them with clear Wink of Stella and added them to the wreath.  The sentiment from Soiree Salutations is stamped and die cut and is popped on dimensionals across the center of the wreath.

  Now I needed to get some of the Bubble Bath on this card!  I had a small scrap of some very narrow bubble bath ribbon that was just perfect for a fork bow!  Usually I use a serving fork to make the bows but I wanted this bow to be even smaller so I used a dinner fork instead and it was just the right size.  Check out my tutorial on how to make a fork bow here.

  A few iridescent Bubble Bath sequins add a bit more sparkle as a finishing touch.  I hope you'll give these great colors a try and add your card to our gallery.  Remember to keep it clean and simple!

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: Noel Tidings, Soiree Salutations

Ink: Peaceful Pine, Highland Heather

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Highland Heather

Accessories: Noel Tidings dies, Welcome Noel Dies, dimensionals, Bubble Bath ribbon (retired), iridescent sequins (retired)

CAS Thanksgiving - Stampin' Up!® Soiree Salutations

  Talk about a clean and simple card!  This one lets the sparkly leaf be the focal point.  I send out a small amount of Thanksgiving cards each year so I like to get some finished up early and this would be a great one to make multiples of!

  I used Very Vanilla for the card base as well as to die cut the Scalloped Christmas Cheer rectangle.  I used the detailed Elegant Leaves die to cut the leaf shape out of the Very Vanilla panel.  Then I cut the same leaf in Cajun Craze.   I adhered a piece of the Cajun Craze Autumn Woodland Glimmer paper behind the Vanilla panel and then added the detailed Cajun Craze die cut over the top of the Glimmer paper.

  The sentiment from Soiree Salutations is stamped below the leaf in Early Espresso and then a few retired Streaked Dots finish this clean and simple seasonal card.

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: Soiree Salutations

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper: Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze, Autumn Woodland Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Scalloped Christmas Cheer dies, Elegant Leaves dies, Streaked Dots (retired)

Autumn Hello - Stampin' Up!® Elegant Leaves

   My seasonal stamper self is starting to get deep into fall cards and I love the all purpose Elegant Leaves bundle that can be used for so many different types of cards.  My card today was made a week or 2 ago as a customer thank you and I had fun with it using a sketch I had given as inspiration on my customer Facebook page.

  Super cute right?  I started with a Basic Beige card base and then a layer of Basic Beige embossed with the Softly Woven embossing folder.  I think Basic Beige is a fantastic clean neutral for fall cards.  Look how crisp the other colors show up against it?  

  I have a tip or note about the Softly Woven embossing folder; since the pattern is deep and pretty much all over the cardstock can stretch or shrink a bit so don't be surprised if you have to trim some edges to line up when you're using it.  That was fine for this card because I was planning to trim down the card base so that I could have my DSP flag hang over the edge just a bit but still be able to fit in an envelope.  So I trimmed about 1/4" off of the right hand side of the card base to clean up the embossed layer as well as adjust for the flagged piece. Win win!

  The DSP band is in a fun Pool Party plaid from the Painted Patch DSP.  The DSP is 4 1/4" long and 2" wide.  Next I stamped all of my leaves onto a piece of Basic White (3" x 3 1/2").  I used Timid Tiger, Lost Lagoon and Cajun Craze for the veins and then filled them in with Timid Tiger, Pool Party and Cajun Craze for the second layer.  I backed that piece with Lost Lagoon and then popped it on dimensionals.

  The hello is stamped in Lost Lagoon, punched out and backed with a punched Pool Party circle.  It is also popped on dimensionals.  I used some Two-Toned Cajun Craze cardstock and cut out a small leaf with the light side being up.  Then I topped it with the detailed die cut to match using the Autumn Woodland Glimmer paper in Cajun Craze and added it over the stamped leaf using dimensionals.  It's such a fun pop of sparkle in the middle of the falling leaves!

  Finally a few Timid Tiger 2025-2027 In Color Flat Pearls accent the sentiment to finish of this fall beauty!

  

  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: Elegant Leaves

Ink: Timid Tiger, Lost Lagoon, Cajun Craze, Pool Party

Paper: Basic Beige, Lost Lagoon, Basic White, Painted Patch DSP, Two-Toned Cajun Craze, Autumn Woodland Glimmer Paper, Pool Party

Accessories: Elegant Leaves dies, Softly Woven embossing folder, dimensionals, circle punches, 2025-2027 In Color Flat Pearls

CAS Christmas Cheer - Stampin' Up® Welcome Noel Dies

   Has everyone else spent today thinking it was Monday instead of Tuesday??  Happens to me every time  there is a 3 day weekend.  So not only being confused about what day it is I've spent the day trying to catch up as I had an uncharacteristically busy long weekend.  I was out of town in a different place each of the 3 days for most of the day doing fun stuff but also not spending any time in the stamp room so I'm glad I had a card already made to share today!  

  When I posted this card for the current CAS Colours & Sketches challenge I had said that I made two cards for it and would share the second one later well today is later!  I can't get away from focusing on Christmas cards at least a little bit these days so it's a clean and simple Christmas card using the Welcome Noel dies.

  I think the colors really steal the show on this card.  I had this combo marked down to try and it did not disappoint!  The trees are die cut from Pretty Peacock and Peaceful Pine, the house in Flirty Flamingo and the sentiment is stamped in Pretty Peacock on Pool Party cardstock.

  Each little snippet of the die cuts are popped on dimensionals.  I did have to trim some down to fit the smaller areas but it was well worth the extra few seconds.

  Each house and tree are covered with clear Wink of Stella for a beautiful subtle sparkle.  And since it is a festive occasion card I added a bit more sparkle with some retired Traditional Sparkling Sequins.

  Everything is mounted on Basic White with a Pretty Peacock mat layer and then a Basic White thick card base.  This is a great layout to use with scrap cardstock pieces because you don't need to cut the whole long die but just pick sections to cut.  

  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: Noel Tidings

Ink: Pretty Peacock

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Pretty Peacock, Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party, Peaceful Pine

Accessories: Welcome Noel dies, Noel Tidings dies, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Traditional Sparkling Sequins (retired)

Pastel Noel - Stampin' Up! Welcome Noel

   The Neutral Noel suite continues to offer a lot of fun possibilities for Christmas cards and I love the different looks you can get just by changing the color palette.  My card today shows off some pastel colors and some mixing and matching of the stamp sets and dies.

  The card base is Barely Blush, then another layer of the same embossed with The Swirls of Magic embossing folder.  Before adding the next layer I used the Barely Blush Shimmer pen to color some of the embossed pattern making them stand out a bit more.  The shimmer Brush makes them slightly darker and sparkly.

  Next is a Basic White Scalloped Christmas Cheer die cut which is the perfect size for creating these little building scenes.  I embossed a separate piece of Basic White with the Softly Woven embossing folder and cut it down to fit on the inside of the stitched detail of the scalloped rectangle.

The house has a Hydrangea Hue backing and a Barely Blush star on the peak.  The trees are Old Olive and are tucked just under the edge of the house. The first part of the sentiment from the Noel Tidings stamp set is stamped in Versmark, embossed in white and fussy cut as well and the second part is stamped in Hydrangea Hue and trimmed down to fit the space.

 I couldn't place any ribbon or embellishments to my liking so I left the only bit of sparkle on the star which is colored with Barely Blush Shimmer Brush.

  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: Welcome Noel, Noel Tidings

Ink: Old Olive, Hydrangea Hue, Versamark

Paper: Barely Blush, Basic White, Hydrangea Hue

Accessories: Swirls of Magic embossing folder, Softly Woven embossing folder, Scalloped Christmas Cheer dies, Welcome Noel dies, dimensionals, white embossing powder, Barely Blush Shimmer Brush

Happy Work-i-Versary - Stampin' Up!® Reason to Celebrate

  One of the perks of being married to a card maker is having access to their card stash and/or the pull to ask for a custom card when needed.  Since my husband is so wonderful I'm always happy to make any card that he needs and honestly I never turn down an opportunity to have more stamping time lol!  My husband recently asked for a work-i-versary card for his administrative assistant and I was happy to see what I could come up with!

  After looking through my stash of current DSPs nothing really jumped out as right for the occasion so I dug into some retired papers and the leftover pieces from the Turtle-y Sweet scrapbooking kit seemed perfect.  The dotted pattern in the Turtle-y Sweet DSP was perfect for the background and I pulled the rest of the colors from there.

  A banner cut from Two-Toned Poppy Parade was stamped with the chair from the long retired Welcome to the Team stamp set and the I sanded the edges for a worn look.  A bit of Pool Party baker's twine was tied around it before adhering the banner with dimensionals. 

 Next I added another piece of Turtle-y Sweet DSP in a Crushed Curry pattern across the center of the banner and cut 2 wonky circles with the retired Around It All dies.  The Pool Party circle is also Two-Toned and is sanded along the edges.

  I used the Reason to Celebrate stamp set to stamp the sentiment and then fussy cut.  The chair from Welcome to the team is stamped again this time in Memento black.  It's colored then fussy cut.  Both the sentiment and chair are popped on dimensionals.

  Lastly, some Dots for Days in Crushed Curry are sprinkled on the banner.  This was a fun one to design and put together and of course it always feel nice to use some supplies that I've kept "just in case"!

  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: Reason to Celebrate, Welcome to the Team (retired)

Ink: Poppy Parade, Memento Black

Blends: Pool Party light & dark, Basic Black light, Smoky Slate dark

Paper: Poppy Parade Two-Tone, Pool Party Two-Toned, Basic White, Turtle-y Sweet DSP (retired)

Accessories: Party Banner dies, dimensionals, Around It All dies (retired), Pool Party baker's twine (retired), Dots for Days

Scrapped Noel - Stampin' Up!® Welcome Noel Dies

   When a challenge says to use up scraps for a card you don't need to tell me twice!  The current Inspire. Create. challenge does just that and I'm all in!  I'm always looking for fun, creative ways to use up my cardstock scraps.  A simple background is always a good way to go!

I love all the catalog samples of the Stampin' Up!® Neutral Noel Suite but I also like to dabble in non-traditional or bright Christmas color combinations.  I thought a bright striped background for a little snowy scene using the Welcome Noel dies would fit not only the "scrap" element but would also give me a chance for a bold color palette.

  I started with a Coastal Cabana card base, then another slightly smaller layer of Coastal Cabana that I added differing widths of scraps in Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green and Azure Afternoon.  I randomly spaced them out on the panel and then trimmed any edges that were overhanging.

  Next I cut 3 Basic White panels using the Welcome Noel dies, 2 with the trees and one with the houses.  I trimmed them down so they were spaced just so and then adhered them to the card front and each other with dimensionals.

  Then using more scraps I cut a few of the houses again in the different colors then trimmed them apart and adhered them to the Basic White house panel for a colorful wintery scene.

  I meant to stamp the sentiment before adhering everything and I knew if I tried to stamp it over the dimensionals it would have been a disaster so I stamped it instead on another scrap and added it to the bottom of the lower tree panel.

  A few retired Iridescent Adhesive-backed Discs are added to the sides of the sentiment for a bit of shine.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Noel Tidings

Ink: Azure Afternoon

Paper: Basic White, Coastal Cabana, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Azure Afternoon

Accessories: Welcome Noel dies, dimensionals, Iridescent Adhesive-backed Discs (retired)

Hello x 4 - Stampin' Up!® Round About Messages

 Sometimes ideas for CAS cards are hard to come by and sometimes you have several ideas and aren't sure which is the better card to share!  The latter was my dilemma with this newest CAS Colours & Sketches challenge!  So I'm sharing one card today and I'll post the second in a few days and you all can decide which was the better way to use this sketch!

    As I'm in the first weeks of having both of my boys away at college I'm making an effort to create cards that might be well received by them (ie keeping the frills and fluff to a minimum lol!).  Clean and simple challenges are perfect for this focus and I am embracing it!  I used the just about to be released Round About Messages stamp set for this design.

  I constantly collect color combos and mark them down with swatches in a notebook so whenever I'm in need of one I can page through and see what jumps out at me.  This is one of those combos and I think it's a fun one for a masculine feel.

  The card base is Basic White thick, then a layer of Basic White is die cut with retired Textured Notes dies for a tiny bit of detail along the edges.

 Next I stamped the 'hello!' in Versamark on a 1 inch wide strip of each of the four colors then embossed them in white.  I trimmed the edges down to crisp angles and then popped them with dimensionals on the card front following the sketch.  

  A few retired Faux Glass Dots are a clean embellishment to help bring the eye down the card.

  I can't wait to see how you use this sketch!  Be sure to keep your design clean and simple with 'white' space and minimal layers and patterns.  Share in the challenge gallery so we can all oooohhh and aaaahhh!

  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 starting September 1, 2026 in the Stampin' Up!® Sept.-Dec. catalog.

Stamps: Round About Messages*

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Golden Glow, Pumpkin Pie, Coastal Cabana, Pretty Peacock

Accessories: white embossing powder, dimensionals, Textured Notes dies (retired), Faux Glass Dots (retired)

Peaceful Noel - Stampin' Up!® Welcome Noel

   The Neutral Noel suite in the upcoming Stampin' Up!® Sept.-Dec. 2026 catalog is a beautiful set of products that have so much potential for holiday cards and I am excited to start exploring all the fun ways to use the two bundles in this suite.  My card today focuses on the Welcome Noel bundle with it's sweet scene building elements.

  My layout today comes straight from the Paper Players Challenge.  They are celebrating their 800th challenge this week and Ann has chosen this throwback sketch from their very first challenge!  Congrats to them!!  I was lucky enough to be a guest designer with them back in 2021 and they are the nicest and most welcoming bunch of paper crafters and it is absolutely no surprise to me that they've reached this huge milestone, quality sticks around.  I hope you'll play along with them and make the 800th gallery huge!

  I started with a Mossy Meadow card base and used my Perennial Postage dies to cut a background panel from the Neutral Noel Specialty paper.  This paper is one sided and it's thicker than regular DSP. It has lovely gold accents and a beautiful neutral color palette.  I used a second piece in an all gold pattern for the band across the middle.  I added a Basic Beige ribbon knot around that layer before adhering.

 Next I stamped the building in Basic Beige, the tree in Mossy Meadow and the deer in Pecan Pie.  After they were die cut I clustered them to the side to follow the sketch.  The deer is popped on a dimensional.  I added a little die cut wreath decorated with a tiny red rhinestone and dabbed a tiny bit of Golden Glow Shimmer Brush on the tree.  

  After that I did what I should have done before I adhered all the other elements; stamped the greeting at the bottom.  I was nervous I was going to muck it up and have to start fresh lol!  So it's a do as I say, not as I do moment!! Stamp that sentiment first just in case!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this project can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Items marked with a * will be available on September 1, 2026.

Stamps: Welcome Noel*, Noel Tidings*

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Basic Beige, Pecan Pie

Paper: Mossy Meadow, Basic White, Neutral Noel Specialty DSP*

Accessories: Welcome Noel dies*,  Perennial Postage dies, Golden Glow Shimmer Brush, dimensionals, Basic Beige Classic Ribbon (retired), red rhinestone (retired)