Hello, Birdie

April 11, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’re rounding out our outdoorsy series of card designs this week with a look through the window at some cute little birdies — just the perfect way to say hello. We’re pairing up the Cutest Crew stamps with Everyday Arches for this one.

We get started with a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. The background is a sheet of the white and gold foil plaid from the Distressed Patterns paper pack. Our focal panel is a panel of Pool Party cut with the Everyday Arches die. The sentiment and bird image from Cutest Crew are stamped in Secret Sea ink. I added a touch of sky with Cloud Cover and a blending brush. The remainder of the scene is colored with Stampin Blends. The focal panel is adhered over some Gray Granite ribbon with dimensionals. The green hexagons give us a pop of extra color and draw the eye across the full card front.

Hope to see you next week when we delve into a new design theme!

Product List

Pretty Peacock 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[150880]

$14.00

Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[122924]

$14.00

Regal Distressed Patterns 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[164037]

$10.00

Cutest Crew Bundle (English)

[167149]

$45.00

Everyday Arches Dies

[164629]

$29.00

Gray Granite 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Textured Weave Ribbon

[147656]

$7.50

Secret Sea Classic Stampin' Pad

[165285]

$9.00

Shades Of Green Hexagons

[165233]

$8.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Adventures

Time for Grillin’

April 10, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

TGIF, everyone! We’re jumping into the springtime spirit as the weather gets more & more perfect for time on the patio. Today we tip our hat to those great backyard BBQs with the new BBQ Master bundle.

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. A sheet of the red plaid Regal Distressed Patterned paper gives us that picnic feel. A combination of the thatch pattern from the Delicate Dreams pack and some Secret Sea glimmer paper give us the base for our focal panel. We add some grass to start our scene with the help of the Scenic Adventure dies. The grill is stamped on Cherry Cobbler cardstock and then heat embossed with black. We add some grass fire with a combination of Peach Pie cardstock and an assortment of red, yellow, and orange ink to stamp the image and then cut out with the coordinating die from the BBQ Master bundle. The tongs image is stamped on lunar luster paper and then diecut with the coordinating die before hanging them on the side to be ready for use flipping the food. The sentiment from the BBQ Master set is stamped in Secret Sea ink and then we add a few coordinating moody palette dots to finish things off.

Isn’t this card super fun? This stamp and die bundle has tons of potential, for sure! I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see where we wind up on this week’s adventures.

Products used:

Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Peach Pie, Garden Green cardstock

Delicate Dreams, Silver Luster, Peaceful Garden Glimmer, Regal Distressed Patterns DSP

BBQ Master stamps & dies, Scenic Adventure dies

Moody palette dots, Wink of Stella, WOW embossing powder, dimensionals

Adventures

Sunshine & Soft Seas

April 9, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back, crafty friends! We’re headed to the ocean today as we explore the great outdoors this week. And we’re pairing up the Beautiful Bokeh paper with the new Rolling Waves bundle to create this card full of sunshine.

We get started with a neutral base of white cardstock, which provides a nice contrast to our soft, beachy color palette. A panel of Pool Party shimmer paper serves as our mat for the focal panel. We’re building our focal panel on Crymb Cake cardstock and we’ve stamped some larger sand piles with the Rolling Waves stamp set. To create the ocean, we’re using a sheet of the blue Beautiful Bokeh and a scrap of white paper and the Rolling Waves waters edge dies to create the foaming effect in the foreground. I’ve cut a palm frond from Soft Sea Foam and sea shells from Flirty Flamingo and layered them up front. The sentiment is stamped ina combination of Flirty Flamingo and Daffodil Delight to create a sunset effect. We finish things off with a combination of opal rounds — a few to create pebbles and a few to create bubbles in the water.

I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see where our next adventure takes us!

Product List

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[120953]

$14.00

Soft Sea Foam 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146988]

$14.00

Flirty Flamingo 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[141416]

$14.00

Beautiful Bokeh 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[164607]

$12.50

Pastels Shimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[167198]

$10.00

Rolling Waves Bundle (English)

[167145]

$51.25

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

[147116]

$9.00

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

[147052]

$9.00

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

[147094]

$9.00

Opal Rounds Assortment

[163298]

$8.50

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Adventures

Sending Sunshine

April 8, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back to our week in the outdoors as we dig in the crafty stash to create outdoor-inspired designs. Today we’re pairing the new Far & Away Landscapes with the Woodgrain Wonders paper to create this ode to the farm design.

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. A sheet of the Woodgrain Wonders paper serves as the backdrop for our design. The focal panel is stamped with the farm scene from the Far & Away Landscapes stamp set, colored with an assortment of Stampin Blends, and then cut out with the Perennial Postage diecuts. To bring a touch of metallic flash and really help our scene pop, we mount the panel with dimensionals on earthen metallic paper over some white & gold ribbon. We mount the focal panel over a banner of Delicate Dreams cut with the Everyday Essentials dies. The sentiment from the Gliding Swing stamp set is stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla cardstock and then cut into a banner using the Stylish Shapes dies and adhered over the bottom edge of the focal panel with dimensionals so it stands taller. We add a dash of twinkle with some drusy embellishments.

I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see where our outdoor adventures take us next!

Product List

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[120953]

$14.00

Wood Grain Wonders 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[167428]

$12.50

Delicate Dreams 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[167498]

$16.50

Earthen Toned Metallic 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[165901]

$7.50

Far Away Landscapes Photopolymer Stamp Set

[167543]

$19.00

Gliding Garden Swing Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167134]

$20.00

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad

[101406]

$10.50

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[147114]

$9.00

Perennial Postage Dies

[162607]

$33.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$30.00

Nested Essentials Dies

[161597]

$34.00

White With Gold 3/8" (1 Cm) Ribbon

[166979]

$8.50

Drusy Adhesive Backed Embellishments

[164223]

$9.00

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Adventures

Hang in There

April 6, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Easter Monday, friends! Were your kids out of school today? Some years our district is out and some years it isn’t. I think we were one of the few districts who were in this year.

It’s a new week and that means a new design series. And this week, we’re taking things outdoors. We’re getting started with a fun combination of the Gliding Garden Swing stamp & die bundle and the Lovely Stripes embossing folder.

The backdrop of our design is a base of Pool Party cardstock, and we’re embossing just the front panel of the card with the Lovely Stripes embossing folder. Our focal panel is a scene built entirely with the Gliding Garden Swing bundle. We get started by cutting a panel of white cardstock with the Branching Out label die and cut a coordinating mat from Pool Party shimmer paper with the size up die. The backdrop for our scene is brushed with shades of blue, green, and brown to create the sky, grass, and dirt under our park bench. The big oak branch is stamped at the top of the panel and then colored with Stampin’ blends in shades of brown and green. The park bench is diecut from Country Woods woodgrain paper with the bench dies from the Gliding Garden Swing die set. The bush behind the bench are cut with the leaf canopy die from the Gliding Swing set and cut apart to create smaller shrubs. The pink floral pillows are cut from a sheet of paper from the 2025 Advent Calendar and adhered on the bench with dimensionals to give a more realistic look. Our pink sentiment panel is cut with dies from the Advent calendar and then adhered over some gold striped mesh ribbon with dimensionals. We finish it all off with a few green hexagons from the Hues of Green hexagon shapes set.

This week’s theme will take us on many adventures. Where would you like to go next?

Product List

Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[122924]

$14.00

Pretty In Pink 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163793]

$14.00

Shaded Spruce 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146981]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Pastels Shimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[167198]

$10.00

Country Woods 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[163393]

$12.50

Gliding Garden Swing Bundle (English)

[167137]

$50.25

Lovely Stripes 3 D Embossing Folder

[167179]

$11.00

Branching Out Dies

[165775]

$29.00

Gold Striped 3/8" (1 Cm) Mesh Ribbon

[165599]

$8.00

Shades Of Green Hexagons

[165233]

$8.00

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Easter

He is Risen! Alleluia!

April 5, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Sunday’s here; hope has arrived — Happy Easter! What a blessing to know that we serve a God who walks with us every step of the way — from the highest mountains to the lowest valleys. He knows every joy, every victory, every tragedy, every defeat. And when we don’t have the strength to take another step, God is there to carry us through.

We’re finishing up our Easter-inspired card series this week with another version of the cross fun fold honoring Easter Sunday. We’re pairing the Splendid Autumn paper with the new Easter Joy ephemera to create this stunning Easter sunrise celebration.

To add some detail to the cross, I used the recently retired Distressed Tiles embossing folder. The floral ephemera is layered behind the cross to create a beautiful spray of color. And the sentiment from the Faith Collection stamp set is stamped on a banner cut with the Words for the Season dies.

We’re headed into the great outdoors this week as we explore some nifty new goodies in the crafty stash. I hope you’ll drop in and see where we go on our outdoorsy adventure.

Product List

Very Vanilla 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166784]

$14.00

Highland Heather 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146986]

$14.00

Splendid Autumn 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[164173]

$12.50

Easter Time Mix & Match Ephemera Pack

[166984]

$7.00

Distressed Tile 3 D Embossing Folder

[162189]

$10.00

Words For The Season Dies (English)

[165797]

$32.00

Faith Collection Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[170531]

$19.00

Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin' Pad

[155611]

$9.00

Purple Fine Shimmer Gems

[162611]

$8.00

Pearlized Faceted Circles

[166978]

$8.00

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Easter · Fun Folds

It’s Friday…Sunday’s Comin’

April 3, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Good Friday, friends! While today is one of the hardest days in the Christian calendar, it’s pivotal in the journey to our eternal destination. As a church musician, it happens to be one of my favorite services to sing. The music just pierces the soul.

We’re continuing our Easter-inspired card series. And today, I decided to try the cross-covered z-fold, combining the beautiful retired Everyday Skies paper with the Faith Collection and Prayers & Promises stamps.

We get started with a base of black cardstock and score to crest our z-fold front panel and a portion of the cross. Panels of the Everyday Skies dark & cloudy patterned paper cover the front and inside of the card to create the backdrop for the cross.We use a sheet of the Country Woods woodgrain pattern to form our cross. The front sentiment from the Faith Collection set is stamped in the center of the cross and heat embossed in black.

The cross is wrapped in retired Blackberry Bliss ribbon and affixed it with glue dots. We stamp the inside sentiment panel with the Prayers & Promises sentiment is heat embossed in black. We finish off the card front with some metallic dots to serve as nails and a few moody palette dots for a subtle pop of additional color in the sky.

It may seem like all is dark and hope is lost, but remember this, Sunday’s coming. And Sunday changes everything. The Light will shine, the birds will sing, and the tomb will be empty — our victory forever won! Tune in tomorrow to see how we’ll celebrate.

Easter

Hoppy Day

April 2, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

As we march our way toward Easter this week, we’re pulling out the crafty goodness to make some cute Easter-inspired cards. Today we’re using the Easter Joy foiled paper and Time for Celebration ephemera pack to create the springy encouragement card.

We get started with a base of Basic White cardstock. A sheet of the floral pattern from the Easter Joy paper pack serves as our backdrop for the springtime scene on our focal panel. Our focal panel starts with a mat of yellow shimmer paper from the Pastel Shimmer paper pack and then we layer on top the scenic panel from a sheet of the Easter Joy pack. Both are cut with Everyday Arches dies of graduating sizes. We use small flowers and the cute bunny from the Time for Celebration ephemera pack to finish our scene, using dimensionals to add some depth to a few of our ephemera pieces. The sentiment from the retired Heartfelt Hellos stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder to help the wet ink set on the foiled paper and to add some glossy sparkle to catch the eye. The focal panel is adhered to the patterned backdrop over a twist of gold & white baker’s twine using dimensionals. And then we finish things off with some assorted opal rounds in opposing corners of the card and around the sentiment to help draw the eye across the full scene on our card front.

This is such a fun and easy card to pull together and is sure to bring a smile to the recipient, don’t you think? I’ll have a much more Easter-focused design trend going as we move forward this week. I hope you’ll drop in and check those out.

Product List

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Easter Joy 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[166939]

$16.50

Pastels Shimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[167198]

$10.00

Time For Celebration Mix & Match Ephemera Pack

[165354]

$7.00

Everyday Arches Dies

[164629]

$29.00

Heartfelt Hellos Cling Stamp Set (English)

[162964]

$20.00

Secret Sea Classic Stampin' Pad

[165285]

$9.00

Basics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165679]

$21.00

Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine

[166005]

$8.50

Opal Rounds Assortment

[163298]

$8.50

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Easter

Hoppy Easter

March 30, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Monday, everyone! We survived our busy weekend of activities and birthday fun. The weather was beautiful and the company was superb. I would have loved a do-over. Anyone else?

But we’re back at it in this shiny new week, and it’s going to be a busy one in the life of this church musician. With rehearsals and services, Holy Week surpasses any other church holiday as the most time-consuming. But when you consider that Holy Week is the turning point of the Christian faith, then it truly makes sense.

So in honor of Holy Week this week, I’ll be bringing you some Easter-inspired designs in fits & spurts between rehearsals & services. Today we’re getting started with a super easy card using the Easter Joy paper and Easter Time ephemera.

We get started with a base of Berry Burst cardstock. I used one of the ready-made panels from the Easter Joy paper pack as the backdrop for our little Easter scene with the ephemera bunny and basket of colored eggs, which are colored with Wink of Stella and gold embossing powder. They’re adhered to the backdrop with dimensionals. The sentiment from the Saying Hey retired stamp set is a combination of two stamps from the set. I used Blackberry Bliss ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. We finish things off with a pink bow and some pink iridescent dots.

This one is so fun and so easy, making it a perfect design for a quick batch of Easter hello cards. I hope you’ll drop back by and see what else we get into this week.

Techniques

Spotlight on Paper

March 28, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back, my friends. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend. It’s been a busy one for us so far, but we’ve gotten to enjoy lots of time together. So although we’ve been on the go, I’ll count together time a win any day!

This week, we’re exploring the spotlight technique and looking at all the different ways you can shine a spotlight on your focal points. Did you know you can use the spotlight technique with paper and not just stamps? Today we’re using dimension to highlight a beautiful section of a sheet of the Splendid Autumn paper.

We get started with a base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. A beautiful dusky scene from the Splendid Autumn paper pack serves as our focal point and cut just shy of a quarter panel for the card front. I chose a 2-inch section in the center to highlight with dimension and a small mat of Lemon Lolly shimmer paper. I ran a panel of white cardstock through with the More Messages die to create some sentiment panels and chose a banner for this card. The stamp set from the 2025 Advent Calendar gives us our decorative flowers and the sentiment. The sentiment panel is adhered with dimensionals and glue dots at the bottom of the spotlight panel. And then we finish things off with a pop of sparkle with some pearlized faceted circles.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning some of the different ways that you can spotlight elements of your card designs. And remember, there’s never a right or a wrong way to do it. So have fun and just play! Next week, we’ll be hopping into a couple of Easter designs in between all of the Holy Week activities I have coming up.

Product List