Coming Soon · Online Exclusives · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Little Howl-lo

Happy Friday! We finally made it. You know, it’s so funny. I was in a work meeting today and we were all talking about how the last two weeks have felt like a month and it’s just been CRAZY. Anybody else been in the boat? BUT we’re finally to the weekend and get a little breather.

And I thought this was the perfect opportunity to have a Sketchy Friday. What do you think? For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we use a card sketch to design our featured card.

Funny enough, I was drawn to a sketch that I used the last time I hosted a Sketchy Fridays post. Clearly, it must be a good one! Soooo this week’s card is based on the Freshly Made Sketches #706 sketch. As I was trying to find a sketch to go with the idea in my head to best show off the adorable new bundle called Cutest Crew, this one caught my eye. So here we go.

We get started with a neutral base of Crumb Cake cardstock. Our focal panel sits on a background of the brand new Garden Textures foil that will release next week. The base of the focal panel is a combination of a neutral geometric pattern from the Autumn Toile paper pack with a border of Earthen Toned metallic paper and adhered to the card front with dimensionals. The focal panel starts with a banner of Crumb Cake cardstock cut with the Nested Essentials dies. We heat emboss our sentiment from the new Cutest Crew stamp set in copper. Our cute band of doggos is from the new Cutest Crew stamp & die bundle releasing next week. We start by stamping the band of merry furballs onto white in black ink and then color them with an assortment of Stampin’ Blends, including Crumb Cake, Basic Gray, Basic Black, and a few others. The puppers are adhered to our focal panel with dimensionals. The full focal panel is adhered to the larger base with dimensionals over some Gray Granite variegated trim and Cloud Cover baker’s twine from the 2025 Advent Calendar. We finish thigs off with some opal rounds on opposite corners of our sentiment to draw our eyes across our adorable scene.

We’re rounding out our critter series tomorrow. Do you have any critter favorites that might be in my crafty stash? Drop me some suggestions and see if yours makes the cut!

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Coming Soon · L2S Group Instahop · Online Exclusives

Purrrfect Day

Happy Thursday, friends! We are almost through this week and on to the weekend. I’m super excited to bring you today’s card design because we’re getting sneak peeks at several new Stampin’ Up! goodies coming your way next week with the new Online Exclusives release. This week, our design theme is all about our favorite critters and there are some adorable critters coming your way! We’re pairing up the brand NEW Cutest Crew stamp & die bundle with the Easter Joy foil papers to bring together this adorably cheerful card. Let’s see how it all comes together!

We get started with a nice neutral base of Crumb Cake cardstock. It works well to bring out the pastels in the patterned papers without competing with them. (And trust me, I tried all kinds of colors as the base layer and the neutral worked the best!). Our background layer is a fun multicolor cross pattern from the Easter Joy foiled paper pack. There’s just enough peeking out around the edges to add some interest and pizzazz without taking away from the focal panel scene.

And speaking of our focal panel. We get started with the focal panel mat which is a brand new patterned foil paper coming your way next week in the Garden Textures foil pack. This panel is cut with the largest arch in the Everyday Arches die set. I chose the Blueberry Bushel sheet to help our focal panel stand out against our patterned background, and it also works to help the pastels in our scene pop. Our focal panel on which we’re building our scene is one of the ready-made panels in the Easter Joy paper pack. I used the next-smallest die in the Everyday Arches set to cut it out.

And then we get started with our cute kitties who are enjoying a romp on the grassy hill chasing butterflies. These adorable felines are part of the new Cutest Crew stamp set & die bundle releasing next week. I stamped the kittens on white cardstock and then used a combination of Stampin’ Blends to color them before using the coordinating dies and paper snips to cut them out. They adhered to the scene with a combination of glue dots and dimensionals to give lots of depth of scene. The butterflies are cut from Lemon Lolly pastel shimmer paper and adhered with glue dots. The sentiment from the Unforgettable Times ephemera pack is adhered over Secret Sea bordered ribbon using dimensionals. A double layer helps the sentiment to really stand above everything else and catch the eye. We finish things off with some flowers from the new garden epoxy dots pack and some pops of twinkle with the pearlized faeted circles.

Isn’t this super fun? We’re going to get a peek at a few more critters tomorrow as we return to the lazy days of breezy summers. I hope you’ll drop in and see what cutie critters are up next!

Today’s card is a part of the Luv 2 Stamp Group Instagram Hop, which goes live at 9 AM Pacific Time (PST).  Click here to head over to my Instagram feed at 9 AM Pacific/11 AM Central and check out what the other demos in our L2S Group have created for you today! 

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scene building

Peaceful Sunrise

Welcome to the midweek. I can’t decide if this week is moving slowly or swiftly. What about you? In some ways it’s hard to believe it’s Wednesday but then again I feel like it should be Friday already. Today’s card seems awfully fitting under those circumstances!

This week, we’re pulling out all the critters in our crafty stash. And today I just couldn’t resist the mom and fawn from the Autumn Trees die set. I’ve paired them up with the new Aspen Grove stamp set to create this peaceful scene with lots of layers of beautiful color.

We get started with a nice neutral base of Crumb Cake cardstock. To pull out all of the subtle colors in the pre-dawn sky, I chose a sheet of the Pool Party glimmer paper from the pastel shimmer paper pack as the mat for the focal panel. To build the scene on our focal panel, we start with the Aspen Grove stamp set. The aspen tree trunks are stamped in several different colors, including Early Espresso, Gray Granite, and Smoky Slate, to create the shading you often see if those trunks. To keep the leaves a truer green, I opted to shade the sky in the background next. Using small blending brushes, I applied a combination of Cloud Cover, Daffodil Delight, Timid Tiger, Strawberry Slush, and Fresh Freesia to create the beautiful colors of a pre-dawn sky — just before the sun peeks over the horizon. Then we stamp our canopy of leaves so that those greens stay nice and crisp over the sky. A combination of Soft Sea Foam and Old Olive worked well. Our doe and fawn images are cut from a scrap of Crumb Cake and tucked in the opening in the trees using dimensionals. The sentiment from the Prayers & Promises stamp set is stamped in Cloud Cover on white cardstock and then cut out with the Traditional Labels dies. The sentiment is tucked in the top-right corner and adhered over a twist of the brand new Berry Burst shiny ribbon that will release next week. Several layers of dimensionals help the sentiment panel stand tall above the ribbon and really catch your eye in the scene. A few opal rounds finish things off with a subtle twinkle.

Tomorrow is the Luv 2 Stamp Group Instahop day, and I can’t wait to show you a brand new and absolutely adorable critter bundle. I hope you’ll drop in and see!

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Easter

Bunny Hunt

Welcome back, crafty friends, on this sunny Tuesday here in North Texas. I know that some of you may find yourselves under a significant snowfall and maybe aren’t seeing the sun just yet. And if that’s you, I’m wishing you some sunny days ahead really soon!

This week, we’re designing around the critters in our crafty stash. And today’s card is a no-stamp, no-sentiment design. We’re pairing up the super cute Easter Joy paper with the Easter Time ephemera.

We get started with a base of Pretty in Pink cardstock. Our focal panel starts with one of the ready-made scenes from the Easter Joy paper pack that has been cut down to size using the Textured Notes dies and adhered to our card front panel with dimensionals. We build our bunny hunting eggs scene using the Easter Time ephemera pack — a combination of bunny, flowers, and decorated egg. These are all adhered to the scene with dimensionals to give depth and interest to the scene. We finish things off with some Garden epoxy dots, which are NEW and will be releasing next week, and some of the pink foiled gems.

What do you think of this super simple card? It comes together in just minutes, which is nice when you’re in a hurry. But I’m always a little leery of designing one without a sentiment, even when the theme is obvious. What are your thoughts on that?

I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow to see where our critter theme takes us next!

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Masculine Designs

My Person

Happy new week, everybody! How was your weekend? We had grand plans to work in the yard because the forecast called for some unseasonably unwintery weather. But Texas weather had another idea and gave us temps in the 60s and gusty winds, which made it quite cool. So we switched gears and did some inside things instead.

This week, we’re on to a new design series that is all about the critters. And we’re getting started with a few of my favorite critters from the crafty stash — foxes! We’re putting the Autumn Toile paper front & center in this super simple layout that also pairs the Country Woods & Unbounded Love stamps.

We get started with a base of Cajun Craze cardstock. Our card front combines three different specialty papers — the Country Woods & Autumn Toile patterned papers and the Earthen Toned metallic specialty paper. The copper-hued foil and dark woodgrain provide a nice base for the focal panel of fox toile. The focal panel has been cut with the Textured Notes dies and is adhered toward the top-right of the panel with dimensionals. The sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set is stamped in Early Espresso on white cardstock before being cut with the Sentimental Framing dies. The sentiment is adhered in the bottom-right corner with dimensionals over a bow of Gray Granite ribbon. Copper & gold foil dots carry our eye across and over the key elements in our card design.

I hope you’ll pop by tomorrow to see what critter is up next!

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St Patty's

Just Plaid Lucky

We’re playing with the lucky design theme this week. And after looking for some mojo — a/k/a design inspiration — I ran across a card that used plaid patterned paper. And that got the wheels turning. So we’re pairing up the Forever Plaid embossing folder with the Unbounded Love stamp set to create this clean & simple 5- minute card.

We get started with a base of Shy Shamrock cardstock. I machine embossed just the front panel using the Forever Plaid embossing folder. To really bring out the embossing and add a pop of gold, I used my finger and some gold ink to give the front a distressed look. It really makes our embossed plaid stand out. The sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set is stamped tone-on-tone on Shy Shamrock and then cut with one of the Spotlight on Nature dies. I used a combination of vellum and gold foil as the mat for the sentiment and cut those out with a circle one size larger from the same die set. I added some Wink of Stella to the vellum for a bit of twinkle. The sentiment is adhered to the card front over a double twist of white & gold baker’s twine. Some white with gold ribbon is tied around the length of the card against the fold. And we finish things off with some gold sequins around the sentiment.

Next week is all about the critters. I hope you’ll drop in and see all of the cute new furry friends Stampin’ Up! has in store.

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St Patty's

Luck for You

Happy Saturday, everyone! It’s been a busy one around here since Wednesday. And I just haven’t had any crafty mojo. I had some ideas this morning but I’ve had a super hard time getting those ideas down in paper. Ever have that problem? We all do. And you know what, it’s okay to take little breaks.

This week’s lucky design theme has been a little harder to bring to life than I expected. I kept reaching for all the same things. But I wanted to bring fresh ideas each day — hence the mojo problem. Today we’re frolicking in the clover as we pair up the Sweet Jar stamps with the Everyday Arches dies to create this window scene.

We get started with a base of Summer Splash cardstock. I really love the slight color variation between the backdrop and focal elements. We build our picture window with a gold foil base that is cut with the Everyday Arches die. The front portion of the card base is machine embossed with the Beautiful Patterns embossing folder to give a bit of texture to our backdrop. The base of our focal panel scene is a sheet of Cloud Cover cardstock that is cut with an arch die just one size smaller than the gold mat. I used a scrap of Shy Shamrock cardstock to create the hill of clover, which uses a combination of the Scene Adventure die to create the grass and the clover stamp from the Sweet Jar stamps to give us our field of clovers. The sentiment from the Sweet Jar set is stamped in Shy Shamrock toward the top of the arch. Some white & gold baker’s twine is tied around the panel immediately underneath the sentiment. The two-toned butterfly is created with a combination of vellum and Shy Shamrock glimmer paper. The detailed portion of the butterfly uses the small butterfly die from this year’s Advent Calendar. To give the vellum wings the look of shimmery gold, I drudged my Wink of Stella brush through gold embossing powder before coloring over the vellum. We finish things off with some pops of twinkly gold sequins and shimmery green pearls.

I’ll be bringing you another clean & simple design in just a bit. Stay tuned!

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St Patty's

Sending Luck

Happy Fat Tuesday, everyone! For me, today was a struggle. It was a super early and super busy day at work. And then Tuesday are rehearsal nights, so that always makes the day long. I’m definitely ready to hit the hay here pretty quick!

This week, we’re playing our luck at some pretty cute designs. And I decided to dig through the stash of recently retired goodies for most of today’s card. But I thought you might have some similar things on-hand to pull off this super cute clover design yourself as we pair up the Wildflower Birthday paper with the 2024-26 In Color glimmer paper and heart punch.

This cutie starts with a base of Summer Splash cardstock. We use a sheet of the retired Wildflower Birthday paper to serve as our backdrop. The gold accents were fitting for our lucky sentiment. We build our focal section by beginning with our four-leaf clover. I used my retired heart punch and punched four hearts from some Shy Shamrock glimmer paper and then I hand-cut a stem shape. I pointed all of the ends of the hearts toward the center to make the clover shape and adhered them to the backdrop with dimensionals. The stem is tucked under to give the illusion that it’s floating on the wind. The sentiment and center of our clover is stamped tone-on-tone on Shy Shamrock cardstock using the Sweet Jar stamps and then cut with one of the smaller Spotlight on Nature circle dies. It’s adhered in the center with dimensionals. I tied some Summer Splash ribbon around the stem. And we finish things off with some pops of gold using the Traditional Sparkling Sequins.

It’s easy peasy and oh so cute! You don’t have to a lot of pieces or a complicated design to create super cute cards. I’ll be taking a little break tomorrow for Ash Wednesday. But I plan to be back on Thursday to bring you some more luck. I hope you’ll drop by and see!

Products used in this card:
Summer Splash, Shy Shamrock cardstock
Wildflower Birthday, In Color glimmer (both retired)
Sweet Jar stamps
Spotlight on Nature dies
Heart punch (retired)
Summer Splash bordered ribbon (retired)
Traditional sparkling sequins
Dimensionals

sketches · St Patty's

Best of Luck

Howdy, friends, and welcome in on this fantastic Monday. We’re super thrilled to all be home together today for a work & school holiday. And it just so happens to be a gloriously sunny day here in North Texas. It’s supposed to be near 80-degrees today — crazy for February! We’ve already gotten in our bowling for the day and the boys have headed out to see if the fish are biting. Do you have today off? What are you getting up to?

As we start this new week, we’re also beginning a new theme for the week. It’s all about the luck this week. And today we’re pairing up some of the new specialty papers from Stampin’ Up! — Pleasant Patterns & Easter Joy — with the Sweet Jar stamp & punch bundle to create today’s lucky design.

We’re using a sketch from the gals over at Global Design Project for this card. We get started with a base of white cardstock, which provides the backbones on which we build our design. A sheet of the plaid Easter Joy paper covers the full card front and gives us the backdrop for our design. Textured gold specialty paper serves as the vertical strip down the left side, while a sheet of green striped paper from the Pleasant Patterns paper pack sits front & center. The center striped panel is wrapped in Shy Shamrock bordered ribbon before it’s adhered to the card front with dimensionals.

Now we build our focal point, which is a combination of image and sentiment. The jar image from the Sweet Jar stamp set is stamped in Smoky Slate on white cardstock and then filled with all the luck in the form of oodles of shamrocks from the Sweet Jar stamp set stamped in Shy Shamrock ink. We’re keeping all the luck in the jar with a gold lid and an extra bit of white & gold baker’s twine tied around the top. Our jar o’ luck is adhered with dimensionals to a circle of vellum that has been cut with the Spotlight on Nature dies. The sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set is stamped in Shy Shamrock also on a smaller circle of white cardstock cut with the Spotlight on Nature dies. A few extra shamrocks are stamped tone-on-tone on Shy Shamrock cardstock and fussy cut with paper snips and then adhered with dimensionals to form a visual triangle. We finish things off with some In Color pearls for a splash of extra color and sheen.

I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow to see where we find our luck next!

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Valentines

Happy Valentine’s Day

Welcome back to today’s Valentine posts. In case you missed it, earlier today I shared the simple gift bags I gave to my co-workers yesterday. Just a simple combo of SU! goodies from the crafty stash.

This afternoon, I’m using a lot of those same products — Most Adored DSP, Celebrate Love ephemera, and ribbon — to dress up the gifties I picked up for my two loves.

First up, sometimes you get things that are a little oddly-shaped for a gift bag or maybe you want a bit of the gift to show. So we’re using a belly band to dress up these first two. I chose the small heart sheet from the Most Adored paper pack and cut each belly band to size and adhered with tear-n-tape. The band is wrapped with some retired gingham ribbon. The tags are cut from the foiled heart patterned paper and cut with the To the Point label punch. The tags are dressed up with a punched heart and sentiments from the Celebrate Love ephemera pack adhered with dimensionals. A few gold sequin hearts are added for a little extra pop.

Next up, we’re still using the belly band technique but covering more of our chocolate bars here since their wraps didn’t really coordinate well with the color scheme. We’ve got two different heart patterns from the Most Adored paper pack and each is wrapped with ribbon — white iridescent and some Melon Mambo polka-dot. The tags are punch from a sheet of plaid and we add hearts and sentiments from the Celebrate Love ephemera pack with dimensionals. The tags are tie on with Sweet Sorbet metallic ribbon and some sequin hearts are added for a pop of gold twinkle.

It doesn’t to much to turn a gift into something special with just a few handmade elements. All it takes is some goodies from the stash and a few minutes of your time.

I hope you all feel loved today. Know that you are special to your Creator and that is the most importantly love anyone can have! Next week, we’re going to find some fun ways to share a little luck.

Products used:
Most Adored DSP, Celebrate Love ephemera, heart punch, Iridescent ribbon, Melon Mambo polka-dot ribbon, Sweet Sorbet metallic ribbon, Real Red & white gingham ribbon, heart sequins (retired)
To the Point label punch
Dimensionals