Celebrate in Autumn - Stampin' Up!® Elegant Leaves

   I've got a nice masculine birthday card to share today!  The Elegant Leaves bundle continues to be well used in my stamp room and I made a stack of this design for my customer thank you cards for orders placed in September.  Everyone always seems to need ideas for guy cards so here's one that you can use for inspiration.

  I started this one with a Secret Sea card base, then a layer of Pecan Pie with a 2 1/2" circle punched (or die cut) from it.  I stamped the largest leaf overlay stamp in the same color ink.  Using a piece of Florals in Bloom DSP in a nice Cloud Cover striped pattern I adhered it to the back of the circle opening making a nice focal point for the card.

 Using Two-Toned card stock in Cloud Cover, Cajun Craze, and Golden Glow I cut out the leave shapes on the light side of the paper.  Using some adhesive sheets and cardstock in the same colors I die cut the overlay pieces and added them to the shapes.  Using cardstock made the stickers a bit more sturdy than if I had used the Two-Toned again. The leaves are popped on the card front with dimensionals.

 The sentiment from Round About Messages is stamped in Secret Sea onto Cloud Cover cardstock.  The sentiment strip is backed with a torn piece of Secret Sea to add weight and texture.

  Finally a few retired Faux Bronze Pentagons are added for a little masculine bling.

  To see how this card comes together you can watch this quick 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: Elegant Leaves, Round About Messages

Ink: Pecan Pie, Secret Sea

Paper: Secret Sea, Cloud Cover, Pecan Pie, Cajun Craze, Florals in Bloom DSP  Two Toned: Golden Glow, Cloud Cover, Cajun Craze

Accessories: 2 1/2" circle punch (or circle die), dimensionals, Adhesive Sheets, Faux Bronze Pentagons (retired)

Retro Get Well - Stampin' Up!® Elegant Leaves

   A few weeks back I came across some mid century modern color palettes on a design website and I thought some of them were pretty good and would translate well into Stampin' Up!® colors.  My card today uses one of those palettes and I made a simple card using the spotlight technique and the Elegant Leaves stamp set.

  I started with a piece of Basic Beige stamped all over with leaves from the Elegant Leaves stamp set in Early Espresso ink.

  Next the leaves are stamped again but this time on colored pieces of cardstock.  I used Cloud Cover, Darling Duckling and Cajun Craze.  I punched them out with 3 different sizes of circle punches (you could use circle dies also).  I lined them up over the background leaves and popped them on dimensionals. 

  Before adhering the stamped panel to the card front I tied a piece of linen thread around it.  The sentiment is from the Sending Salutations stamp set and is stamped in Early Espresso on a piece of Very Vanilla.  I used the Party Banner's dies to cut it out.  A few Cloud Cover flat pearls accent the banner.

  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, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper: Basic Beige, Cloud Cover, Cajun Craze, Darling Duckling, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Party Banner dies, linen thread, circle punches/dies, dimensionals, 2025-2027 In Color Flat Pearls

CAS Fat Bear - Stampin' Up!® Woodland Wishes

   A few weeks back the Paper Players had a fun clean and simple theme of "bear" for their weekly challenge.  I thought the timing was perfect as it was also Fat Bear Week in Alaska around the same time so the stamping vibes were very much in alignment!  I didn't get the card made and photographed in time to share then but the challenge was definitely my inspiration so I wanted to give a shout out.  

  Behold, my fat (CAS) bear!  I think the colors might have been from another challenge but I can't even remember now!  I started with a Basic White card base, then used an already embossed piece of Gray Granite from my stash and die cut it with the oval from Noel Tidings dies.

  The bear from Woodland Wishes is stamped in Early Espresso and colored in with Blends markers.  I fussy cut it and then popped it over the sentiment strip.  The sentiment is in the Banner Sayings stamp set and the die for the strip is also in the Noel Tidings dies.

  A few retired Streaked Dots are finishing touch to this clean and simple 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: Woodland Wishes (Online Exclusive), Banner Sayings

Ink: Early Espresso

Blends: Pecan Pie light & dark, Ivory

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Gray Granite

Accessories: Noel Tidings dies, dimensionals, Brick & Mortar embossing folder (retired), Streaked Dots (retired)

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)

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)

Back to School Owl - Stampin' Up!® Adorable Owls

   Even if my kids are now in college I'm still doing back to school cards for them!  I dug back into the archives for this cutie!  Adorable Owls was a Sale-a-Bration reward back in 2023 and I'm glad I hung onto it!

  I started with a Granny Apple Green card base, then a layer of Misty Moonlight and then a layer of Homemade Sweetness DSP in this fun notebook paper pattern.

  The retired Just A Note bundle is also one that I've kept because I just love the fun office stationery and the notebook paper dies.  They were a great pairing with the owl.  The Learn & Grow stamp set is a good current substitute if you're looking for a similar "school" type stamp set. I used the notebook paper die on a piece of Basic White to create a spot to add all of my other elements.  The Misty Moonlight banner embossed with the sentiment, the stars and glimmer paper heart paper clip as well as the owl.  

  I colored the owl with Blends and then fussy cut him.  He's popped on dimensionals.  I thought it ended up being a cute back to school 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: Adorable Owls (retired SAB), Just a Note (retired)

Ink: Versamark, Memento black

Blends: Pecan Pie light & dark, Ivory, Real Red light & dark, Daffodil Delight dark, Pumpkin Pie dark, Azure Afternoon dark

Paper: Granny Apple Green, Misty Moonlight, Basic White, Homemade Sweetness DSP, Daffodil Delight, Real Red Glimmer (retired)

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, Just A Note dies (retired)

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

   Sometimes it's the basic stamp sets that you can have the most fun with!  I've been having a ball playing around with the upcoming new set called Round About Messages.  No coordinating dies, no big focal images, just some fun greetings and small accent images that you can do a lot with!

  My colors for this card come from the Color Hues challenge where we're to use yellow and orange.  Now I couldn't come up with a Christmas card using these colors like my friend Nancy who is on the Color Hues Design Team (seriously give her props!!) but I chose to use the cheerful colors for a fun hello card using the Round About Messages stamp set.  Now that I've got 2 kids in college I've got to double my card production to send them!

  I used a 2 inch circle punch with Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight cardstock and punched 3 of each color.  Then I cut each circle in half and starting in the center of a piece of Basic White cardstock I alternated the colors to form full circles.  The other half circles are added to the sides and then I trimmed off any overhang.  That panel is adhered to a Basic White thick card base.

  I stamped the 'hello' in black and the sun image in Daffodil Delight then fussy cut each of them.  They are popped on dimensionals in the center circle.  And finally to add some shine I gave each half circle a Shiny Sequin.  

  I'm so glad I gave these colors a try and while I did stress about about getting the circles lined up "just so" I think it turned out really cute and uses minimal tools or extras!

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

Stamps: Round About Messages*

Ink: Black, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight

Accessories: 2" circle punch/die, dimensionals, Shiny Sequins (retired)

Rising Sun Sailboat - Stampin' Up!® Sunset Coast Dies

      Having a decent stash of masculine birthday cards is always in the back of my mind when creating and I find clean and simple cards the perfect time to focus on those guy cards I might soon be needing.  The Sunset Coast bundle can be used for layered, embellished and over the top "Wow" cards but it can also be great for some clean lines and simple layouts.

 The Addicted to CAS challenge theme of water was my starting point for this card.  I started with a Basic White thick card base, then added a layer of Scenic Coast DSP.  I chose the b side instead of the shimmery side because I liked the uniform color of the water to anchor the center of my card and keep the focus on the mail elements.

  Next I cut 2 of the sunburst dies, one in Crushed Curry and the second in another of the Scenic Coast DSP b sides in a Crushed Curry pattern.  I adhered the cardstock sun to a piece of Basic White and trimmed off the excess.  Next I added the DSP rays from the other die cut to the openings of the cardstock sun using the Basic White backing to give some support to the circle and it was easier to put the glue on the white than the DSP.

  I die cut the sail boat and waves from Secret Sea cardstock and trimmed the boat down and popped it on dimesionals just in front of the sun.  The waves along with the Banner Sayings sentiment are adhered under the boat.  No embellishments or extras on this clean and simple 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: Banner Sayings

Ink: Secret Sea

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Secret Sea, Crushed Curry, Scenic Coast DSP

Accessories: Sunset Coast dies, dimensionals

Woodland Trio Christmas - Stampin' Up!® Woodland Wishes

   I've got a sweet little Christmas card to share today!  I'm mixing some current products with a few things that will available soon in the Stampin' Up!® Sept.-Dec. 2026 catalog.  The sweet little animals in the Woodland Wishes stamp set are so cute and just look how nice they are with red and green Christmas colors!

  The layout is from Freshly Made Sketches and is a nice sketch for grouping some smaller images/die cuts together.  The colors (red, green, brown) are from the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown which I don't tend to play along with until I get new Christmas supplies each year but they always have cool challenges!

 I started with a Cherry Cobbler base (which you can't see), then added a piece of the upcoming Timeless Christmas DSP to cover the card front.  I love this tone on tone polka dot pattern, useful for not just Christmas cards!  Next I die cut the Cherry Cobbler scalloped strip with the upcoming Home for Christmas dies.  The sentiment is stamped in Peaceful Pine on the light side of a strip of Peaceful Pine two-toned cardstock.  Look at how well it matches the polka dots!  I love having a light and regular shade of all my cardstock colors; it doubles the amount of shades to work with which is always a good thing in my book!

  Next I stamped, colored and fussy cut the animals with Blends and then added them to the card front.  The fox is popped on dimensionals.  The card needed a bit of sparkle so I die cut a few little stars out of gold glimmer paper with the Home for Christmas dies.

  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 on Sept. 1, 2026.

Stamps: Woodland Wishes (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Memento Black, Peaceful Pine

Blends: Ivory, Peacan Pie, Cajun Craze, Pecan Pie, Bronze

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Peaceful Pine Two-Toned, Gold Glimmer (retired), Timeless Christmas DSP*

Accessories: Home for Christmas dies*, dimensionals

Woodland Bear - Stampin' Up!® Woodland Wishes

   I love when seasonal sets can be used out of season!  It really makes you feel that you're getting more bang for your buck when you can use a Christmas stamp set in July to make a non-Christmas card.  I'll have both boys away at school this fall so I've got to beef up my college kid card stash.  The little bear in the Woodland Wishes set was calling my name!

  Thanks to Freshly Made Sketches for the fun square layout to show off this chubby little guy!  I pulled out some scraps from the retired Autumn to Remember Scrapbooking Workshop kit and coordinating Sweet Days of Autumn DSP as the colors seemed to be just what I had in mind!

  The card base is Basic White thick, then a layer of Cajun Craze, then the Sweet Days of Autumn DSP.  The Bear is stamped in Memento and then colored with Blends.  He's cute out with a Stylish Shape square die and is backed with a layer of Cajun Craze.  The square is popped on dimensionals.

  For the narrow strip I used another scrap and trimmed the ends.  The sentiment is from the Reason to Celebrate stamp set and is stamped in Memento and punched out with a retired 3/4" circle punch.  I layered the sentiment over a baker's twine bow.

  To finish off this boy friendly card I added a few of the leftover wood grain heart accent pieces from the kit.  

  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: Woodland Wishes (Online Exclusive), Reason to Celebrate

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Pecan Pie light & dark, Ivory

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Cajun Craze, Autumn to Remember DSP

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, wood accents (retired), Copper Clay baker's twine (retired)

Let's Go Dukes! - Stampin' Up!® Football Fan

    If you are looking for a football themed stamp set for scrapbooking, cards, invitations or party accessories then the Stampin' Up!® Football Fan stamp set fits the bill!  In addition to some great images you've got some fun sentiments to go along with the sports theme!  I hadn't inked up my set yet so I thought I would get ahead of the fall season and make a card for the college football team we cheer on; the JMU Dukes.  It's my husband's alma mater so we always gear up in our purple and gold and get a good "Goooooo Dukes!" in!  

  A great companion bundle to use with the Football Fan stamp set is the soccer themed Match Day.  The whistle, cone, grass and trophy die cuts along with more sports theme sentiments expands the mix and match opportunities!  

  The Just Us Girls challenge of "play" along with the just closed Freshly Made Sketches layout were inspirations for this design.  I started with a piece of Wonderful Match DSP for the background.  A strip of Gorgeous Grape and narrow strip of Golden Glow draw the eye to the main elements.

  It's been a long time since I've done a "polaroid" style element on a card and the running player seemed like a perfect image to use.  I started with creating the frame by using a rectangle shaped piece of Basic White then using a square die to cut out the inside.  

  The player is stamped on a piece of Basic White that is slightly larger than the opening in the frame.  I stamped the image again on a sticky note and fussy cut it to create a mask so I could lightly blend a bit of Pool Party ink around the player for a nice crisp background.  The image is colored in with Stampin' Blends and then the the frame is added and the whole thing is popped on dimensionals.

  I wanted to use some of the fun "accessory" stamps so I used the pennant, ball and fan hand to add a little cluster at the corner of the "photo".  I added the gold strips to the pennant and highlighted the gold on the player with my Golden Glow Shimmer Brush for some fun sparkle.

  The final touch are some 2026-2028 In Color Dots in the corner and on the fan hand.

  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: Football Fan (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Memento Black, Gorgeous Grape, Golden Glow, Pool Party

Blends: Highland Heather dark, SU500, Pecan Pie dark

Paper: Wonderful Match DSP, Basic White, Gorgeous Grape, Golden Glow

Accessories: Square die, dimensionals, 2026-2028 In Color Dots

18th Birthday Balloons - Stampin' Up!® Balloon Festoon

   Have you ever sat down to make a birthday card and you just can't quite believe the number you've put on it??  I experienced that very thing when I was making this card for my youngest the other day.  The whole time I was making the card I was like "how is it possible that I'm using this ridiculous number??!" No sir, that's my baby boy lol!  And it's hard to square that he's 18 but I'm not nearly old enough to have a kid that old lol! Funny how that works isn't it?!

  I combined a few challenges for this one; Seize the Birthday with 'numbers' as the prompt, Stampin' Up! Only challenge with a CASE the Designer (I went with the layout) and the colors from the closed TGIF Challenge

  I started with a Lemon Lime Twist card base, then topped it with a piece of Basic White embossed with the Swirls of Magic embossing folder.  

  Following the sketch I added a piece of retired Zoo Crew DSP in this black and white star pattern.  I had forgotten I had any of this paper left and while it's just scraps there was enough for this design.  Next is a strip of white for the balloons to be set against.

  The balloons are from Balloon Festoon and are stamped in Coastal Cabana and Lemon Lime Twist then the 1 & 8 from the Simple Alphabet set are embossed in black embossing powder for a nice raised shiny look.  The strings are cut in basic Black then they are both popped on dimensionals.

  The sentiment is stamped in Memento Black and the ends are flagged and a smaller banner in Coastal Cabana is added to the back before popping it up on dimensionals.

  A few retired adhesive hearts and gems are added for the finishing touch!

  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: Memento Black, Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Basic Black, Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Zoo Crew DSP (retired)

Accessories: Balloon Festoon dies, Swirls of Magic embossing folder (Online Exclusive), dimensionals, black embossing powder, Adhesive-backed Hearts & Flowers (retired), Sunny Day Iridescent 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)

Father's Day Fern - Stampin' Up!® Fern & Flora

   The Fern & Flora bundle is a great pick for making Father's Day card for those nature loving dads out there.  Grab a masculine color combo like this one and start layering elements!

  Crumb Cake is a great neutral base for these masculine colors; Cloud Cover, Night of Navy and Peaceful Pine.  I pulled out my pack of Florals in Bloom DSP for the subtly striped piece in the background.  I was kind of surprised this one hasn't hit the Last Chance list yet as it has a lot of the recently retired In Colors but it's perfect if you want a mix of florals and simple patterns on the B side.  

  I embossed a piece of Peaceful Pine with the Fern & Flora embossing folder and backed it with a Basic White panel.  It's popped on dimensionals and then the stamped and die cut ferns are layered on top.  The stamped fern uses Peaceful Pine ink and then is colored in with the Soft Sea Foam Blends markers.  The stamped fern is also popped on dimensionals.

  The sentiment is from the Balloon Festoon stamp set and is stamped in Night of Navy and then trimmed down.  It's adhered over a strip of retired ribbon.

  The final touch are some retired Boho Blue 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: Fern & Flora, Balloon Festoon

Ink: Night of Navy, Peaceful Pine

Blends: Soft Sea Foam light & dark

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White, Night of Navy, Peaceful Pine, Soft Sky, Florals in Bloom DSP

Accessories: Fern & Flora embossing folder, Fern & Flora dies, dimensionals, Night of Navy Bordered ribbon (retired), Boho Blue dots (retired)

Smiles for Father's Day - Stampin' Up!® Capturing Smiles

   This time of year is full of hand stamped card worthy events so I'm trying to keep up with them all and working ahead a bit for the ones I need.  Usually I'm a last minute stamper but I'm trying to be more organized by looking ahead on the calendar.  Up next for me is Father's Day and I thought the fun camera and film strip in the Capturing Smiles bundle would be a great masculine card.

 I started with some 2026-2028 In Color Painted Patterns DSP in a striped Peaceful Pine pattern.  I wanted to use some of the small nature scenes in the stamp set and the green was a good starting point.

 Next I cut 2 of the film strips and added stamped hearts, the sentiment and a beach scene and camping scene after coloring them with Blends markers.

  The camera is stamped on Balmy Blue cardstock with Memento black ink.  I used the Balmy Blue Blends dark marker to highlight a few areas of the camera image and then die cut it.  The lens and lens heart were stamped and die cut and added to the camera.

  I dug around in my retired sentiments to find one that that fit the vibe of the card and came up with Many Manly Occasions from the May 2016 Paper Pumpkin.  I stamped it in Timid Tiger and and trimmed it down to fit the space.  This could easily become a birthday card with a quick change of the sentiment too if you're stuck on a masculine birthday card idea!

  A few retired Faux Glass Dots are a nice simple embellishment to finish this card.

  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: Capturing Smiles (Online Exclusive), Many Manly Occasions (retired- Paper Pumpkin)

Ink: Memento Black, Timid Tiger, Peaceful Pine, Balmy Blue

Blends: Timid Tiger light & dark, Peaceful Pine light & dark, Balmy Blue light & dark

Paper: Basic White, Basic Black, Balmy Blue, 2026-2028 In Color Painted Patterns DSP

Accessories: Capturing Smiles dies (Online Exclusive), dimensionals, Faux Glass Dots (retired)

Masculine Balloons - Stampin' Up!® Balloon Festoon

   The CAS Colours & Sketches challenge team is back with a new challenge to get you inspired for clean and simple designs.  This time is color combo!  Rachel has given us Night of Navy, Gray Granite and Balmy Blue.  Perfect colors for a masculine card if you need a place to start for the men in your life!  As you can see that's how I used them!  

  I always need a little help getting a guy card started so that's what I went with so I could beef up my stash of birthday cards.  And the Balloon Festoon bundle was a great pairing!

  I simply cut a few balloons in graduated sizes in the challenge color, added a little bit of stamping to the blue ones and embossed the Gray Granite one with the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder.

  I adhered them to a Basic White panel with the top two being popped on dimensionals.  I trimmed off the over hang and then hand drew the string with a marker.

  The sentiment from the Banner Sayings stamp set is stamped in Night of Navy at the bottom.  The whole panel is then adhered to a Basic White thick card base.

  Head over to the see the CAS Colours & Sketches design team inspiration and add your creation using these colors to the gallery.  Make sure to keep it clean and simple with minimal layers and patterns and lots of open 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: Balloon Festoon, Banner Sayings

Ink: Balmy Blue, Night of Navy

Paper: Night of Navy, Gray Granite, Balmy Blue, Basic White, Basic White thick

Accessories: Balloon Festoon dies, dimensionals, Beautiful Pattern embossing folder

Soccer Field Birthday - Stampin' Up!® Match Day

  Hopping on quickly to share a fun birthday card using the Match Day bundle along with the Alphabet Challenge to use B for "balls".  This one could have quickly gone off the rails but I figure they are looking for sports related balls and not the other kind and really who wants a card like that anyway??!  

 

  I started with a Granny Apple Green card base, then a panel of the same but I cut some of the grass die cuts in Garden Green and adhered them in stripes.  A scrap of Basic Black highlights the edge of the 2 Granny Apple Green fields.

  

  The Match Day stamps and dies are so fun to use to make clusters of elements so I cut a few soccer balls, stamped and colored some flags and then added in a shiny gold trophy to group around the birthday sentiment.

 

  You could make endless versions of this by changing the colors around and mixing and matching the dies and stamp sets.

  A few gold Metallic Gems are added to play off the gold of the trophy.  

 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), Reason to Celebrate

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Real Red light & dark

Paper: Granny Apple Green, Garden Green, Basic White, Gold Foil, Black Glimmer (retired)

Accessories: Match Day dies (Online Exclusive), Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, Metallic Gems

Simple Birthday - Stampin' Up!® Simple Alphabet

  If you don't have an alphabet stamp set in your collection then I highly recommend the Simple Alphabet set!  I've used it for a number of cards and I am always pleased with the results.  I find it easy to line up, quick to fussy cut if that's your thing and super cute if you want to use the letters in a less structured way.  I used the Simple Alphabet set to create my own birthday greeting in a bright color palette for the Addicted to CAS challenge prompt of 'birthday'.  It would be great for scrapbook titles, personalized cards and whatever else you could use an alphabet stamp set for!

  The card base is Basic White thick and then a layer of Azure Afternoon.  All the fun happens on the top panel of Basic White.  I spelled out 'happy birthday' with the Simple Alphabet set and in a fun group of colors.  I didn't line up the letters perfectly straight and overlapped some edges for a less formal look.  This playful look goes nicely with the bright colors.  And yes, my first go at this I didn't give myself enough room for all of the letters in birthday.  But making mistakes is all part of creating!

  I used the Addressed to You stamp set to stamp the little bunch of balloons in Memento black and then colored them with Blends markers.  I added small highlights using a white gel pen.  The whole panel is popped on the card front with dimensionals.

  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: Simple Alphabet (Online Exclusive), Addressed to You (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Memento Black, Poppy Parade, Darling Duckling, Pool Party, Balmy Blue, Azure Afternoon

Blends: Darling Duckling, Poppy Parade, Azure Afternoon

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Azure Afternoon

Accessories: white gel pen, dimensionals