Flippin’ Awesome Father’s Day

April 30, 2026April 29, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Thursday, everyone! It’s been a wild week so far here in North Texas as we’ve had a string of daily thunderstorms. And it just happens to be the time of year when thunderstorms turn nasty in a hurry. So needless to say, we’ve been on our toes this week!

Today’s card, on the other hand, is an ode to sunny weather that is perfect for grilling in the backyard. In particular, we’re looking ahead to Father’s Day when, ironically, most dads grill a meal in honor of their own special day! And the new BBQ Master bundle of stamps & dies is perfect for this tribute to dad. We’re revisiting the side step fun fold to create this backyard bbq scene for dad.

Our fun fold base is created with Cloud Cover cardstock. We use our instructions to cut and fold to create the 3 step folds on the side of our card and then we start building the scene. We create the tree using a sheet of the medium-shade woodgrain from the Woodgrain Wonder paper pack and cut the trunk using the Gliding Garden Swing die and then adhere it to the larger left side panel, allowing the branches to overhang freely over the step panels on the other side. Using the bush dies from the Garden Swing set, I cut out Shy Shamrock and Summer Splash bunches to create the tree canopy on the overhanging branch, layering the bunches with glue dots and dimensionals to create realistic dimension.

Now we get started with the real meat & potatoes of our scene. The grill image from the BBQ Master stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea on Cloud Cover cardstock and then cut out with the coordinating die. The grill flames are stamped on Peach Pie with a combination or Real Red and Timid Tiger ink and then cut with the coordinating die from BBQ Master die set. The tongs are stamped in Smoky Slate and Gray Granite on Cloud Cover cardstock and then cut with the coordinating die. Dimensionals give us our depth of scene and a little extra snip of the tongs allow them to hang on the side of the grill in a more believable way. The sausages and hamburger are created with the BBQ Master dies and a collection of paper scraps to create realistic-looking grilled yummies. I used some leftover pieces of white picket fence cut using the Notes & Toes die to create the picnic table. The table and food are affixed to the middle side panel to give the look of the tail being more under our shady tree branch. The sentiment is front and center on the bottom right and is heat embossed in black and we use a few moody palette dots to finish things off with an equal amount of glossy sheen.

Isn’t this fun fold perfect for creating this dad’s day bbq scene?! If you’d like to try it out yourself, you can snag the pdf side step fun fold tutorial here.

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!

Product List

Cloud Cover 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165621]

$14.00

Shy Shamrock 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163795]

$14.00

Summer Splash 8 1/2" X 11 Cardstock

[163797]

$14.00

Peach Pie 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163799]

$14.00

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

[120953]

$14.00

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119686]

$14.00

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

[146986]

$14.00

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[102482]

$14.00

Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119684]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[167428]

$12.50

Bbq Master Bundle (English)

[167466]

$39.50

Notes & Totes Dies

[165240]

$39.00

Gliding Garden Swing Dies

[167136]

$36.00

Secret Sea Classic Stampin' Pad

[165285]

$9.00

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

[147084]

$9.00

Timid Tiger Classic Stampin' Pad

[165278]

$9.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[147113]

$9.00

Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad

[147118]

$9.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Basics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165679]

$21.00

Moody Palette Glossy Dots

[167180]

$8.00

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Coming Soon · L2S Group Instahop · Online Exclusives

Purrrfect Day

February 26, 2026February 25, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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!

Product List

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

[120953]

$14.00

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

Unforgettable Times Mix & Match Specialty Ephemera Pack (English)

[166987]

$8.50

Everyday Arches Dies

[164629]

$29.00

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad

[101406]

$10.50

Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154882]

$11.00

Basic Black Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154843]

$11.00

Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154897]

$11.00

Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154881]

$11.00

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154904]

$11.00

Pearlized Faceted Circles

[166978]

$8.00

Secret Sea 3/8" (1 Cm) Bordered Open Weave Ribbon

[166932]

$8.50

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

January Mini Catalog · L2S Group Instahop

Smiles and Laughter

January 29, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, everyone! Anybody know what day it is? I say that because the kiddos are once again out of school today due to the weather and we have all completely lost track of what day it is! Good news tho — temps have hovered just above freezing overnight so we’re expecting all of our slick roadways to completely thaw today so the kiddos can return to school tomorrow. Fingers crossed anyway!

This week we’re having fun with the new Days Like This Memories & More card pack that just released in the Stampin’ Up! January Mini catalog. Today we’re pairing it up with the new Lovely & Beautiful paper and Beautiful Butterflies dies to finish off the message panel of our card. Let’s see how it all comes together.

We get started with a base of Pool Party cardstock. Our card front begins with the larger floral pattern foil sheet from the Lovely & Beautiful patterned paper pack. The sentiment from the Lovely Arrangements stamp set is stamped in a combination of Versamark and Pretty Peacock and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. We use the smaller banner die from the Stylish Shapes die set to cut out the sentiment using the extension method to get the full sentiment and a little border. The sentiment panel is adhered over a faux bow of black & gold bakers twine using dimensionals. Now we work on our sparkly butterflies. The detail portion of each set of butterfly wings is cut from Pool Party shimmer paper using the Beautiful Butterflies dies. The larger wings are cut from vellum that is covered with Wink of Stella. Each butterfly body is cut from black cardstock that is covered with Wink of Stella. We assemble our butterflies with glue dots and then adhere them to our card front on either side of the sentiment panel using varying layers of dimensionals. And just look at how those butterflies sparkle thanks to our shimmer paper and Wink of Stella! We finish off our card front with some of the white opal rounds.

Our message panel is where our Days Like This cards come to our aid. We use one of the larger 4×6 panels as the base layer and the grid pattern is perfect for writing a nice straight message. I used a leftover scrap of the reverse side of the large base panel as the detail piece on the left-hand side. We tie together our butterfly theme between front and inside panels by adding a touch of Wink of Stella to the small butterfly in our side accent panel. The inside sentiment is diecut from one of the smaller 3×4 cards in the Days Like This pack using the Nested Essentials banner dies. We finish off our inside message panel with a few yellow opal rounds.

Product List

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

[122924]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[121045]

$14.00

Lovely & Beautiful 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[166957]

$16.50

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

[167198]

$10.00

Vellum 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[167099]

$10.00

Days Like This Memories & More Card Pack

[166911]

$11.50

Lovely Arrangements Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167169]

$20.00

Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150083]

$9.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Basics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165679]

$21.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$10.00

Beautiful Butterflies Hybrid Embossing Folder

[164614]

$42.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$30.00

Nested Essentials Dies

[161597]

$34.00

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

Autumn · Autumn Trees · L2S Group Instahop

Autumn Window

October 30, 2025October 29, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

So glad you’re back, friends! You probably noticed that my day shaped up as I expected and I didn’t have the opportunity to post yesterday. But never fear, the card design I had in mind is about halfway finished and coming your way tomorrow!

But today, we’re hopping along with the Luv 2 Stamp Group over on Instagram. And our card today continues our design series using the Autumn Trees bundle by Stampin’ Up! I thought it would be fun to do a variation of last month’s window card design by making it a double flap card to make room for a nice note section on the inside panel. Let’s take a look!

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock and cut a window using the largest Everyday Arches die. To make the shaker section, we cut a window frame from a sheet of Country Woods patterned paper using the largest and third largest dies to make the frame wide enough for our two-sided tape to adhere the window sheet. The front window frame is adhered directly to the card front. The second frame and window sheet is assembled and then we use adhesive foam strips to create the box in which the shaker elements will move about inside our window. Before adhering this window frame, we add our shaker bits to the back of the outside window sheet and then seal everything up with the inside window frame. I used the new shaker bits that I scored from my SU! 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar.

Now we move on to our inside fold-out panel where we build a fall scene using the Autumn Leaves bundle and a sheet of Thoughtful Journey patterned paper. The base is a quarter sheet that is cut a half-inch wider to allow for the small fold-over flap that is adhered to the inside card base under the message panel. We get started by building our background scene. The mountain is cut directly from our patterned paper using the Scenic Adventure dies. The top piece of the sky is cut down to size and then adhered at the top of our panel and then the mountain section is adhered over it with dimensionals. I added Wink of Stella to the portion resembling a lake, giving it time to dry while we work on the forefront of our scene.

From another sheet of Thoughtful Journey, we cut a small section of trees using the Light & Wonder die set and adhered at the water’s edge and just under the mountain ridge. Using a small scrap of black cardstock, we use the deer die from the Autumn Trees set to cut the doe and fawn. They’re adhered directly to the background. Next up, I stamped the tree image from Autumn Trees in Early Espresso on the slightly smaller quarter sheet of Crumb Cake and shaded the trunk with blending brushes and Crumb Cake ink. We cut leaves in several different colors. I especially love the look of the red and green leaves from the Season of Elegance paper. Each set of colored leaves is adhered on top of the other with dimensionals and slightly askew of one another to create lots of depth. The tree is then adhered at the base of our scenic panel along the edge using dimensionals. We finish things off with some grass in the foreground that is cut from the other sheet of Thoughtful Journey using the Scenic Adventure die. This panel is then adhered to our inside panel with tear-n-tape along the small fold-over flap. The inside message panel has a small buck in the bottom corner and the sentiment from With You in Mind at the top.

This card is even prettier in person. And I thought you might enjoy seeing it in action to get an idea. *grin*

Product List

Crumb Cake 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Cardstock

[166787]

$22.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[121045]

$14.00

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

[163393]

$12.50

Thoughtful Journey 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[163303]

$12.50

Season Of Elegance 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[164144]

$16.50

Window Sheets

[142314]

$5.00

With You In Mind Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[164747]

$20.00

Autumn Trees Bundle

[165900]

$56.50

Everyday Arches Dies

[164629]

$29.00

Light & Wonder Dies

[165762]

$38.00

Scenic Adventure Dies

[165467]

$31.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$10.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Foam Adhesive Strips

[141825]

$8.25

Add All to Cart

L2S Group Instahop · Winter

Snowy Window

September 25, 2025September 25, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Thanks for dropping in today, friends! After a looooong day at work yesterday, I didn’t have any zip left to play in the craft room. But never fear, that childhood throwback card is coming to you tomorrow!

But today, we’re hopping along with the Luv 2 Stamp Group over on Instagram. And we’re continuing our snowflake series as we combine the Elegant Pine Snowflakes paper with the Winter Scenes stamps to create today’s shaker window card. Let’s check it out.

We get started with a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. Two panels of the Pretty Peacock frost pattern from the Elegant Pine Snowflakes paper cover both the front and back of our front card panel. The window is cut using the Everyday Arches dies, and I ran the whole sheebang through the machine a couple of times to be sure it cut all the way through all of the layers. Acetate window sheets create our shaker panel, and we adhere one on each side of our card front, filling the shaker with sparkly things, and then adhering our patterned paper covers on each side. We dressed up the window with two small arches cut from white cardstock using nesting dies from the Everyday Arches set. And then the upper corner of the window has a snowflake cut from a combination of Peaceful Garden silver glimmer paper and a sheet of the Elegant Pine Snowflakes paper. This snowflake is the perfect compliment to our snowy winter scene.

The smallest center arched piece is used for our image panel. The image from the Winter Scenes stamp set is stamped in black and then colored with a combination of Stampin’ Blends and blending brushes. To give it the sparkle of falling and fallen snow, I covered the snowy bits with Wink of Stella. The sentiment from the Greetings for You ephemera pack is adhered over Balmy Blue sheer ribbon with several layers of dimensionals and affixed underneath the focal image. A few Traditional Sparkling sequins on the inside and outside focal panels finish things off with the perfect amount of twinkle.

Product List

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

[150880]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Elegant Pine Snowflakes 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[166066]

$12.50

Peaceful Garden 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Glimmer Paper

[165929]

$10.50

Window Sheets

[142314]

$5.00

Winter Scenes Cling Stamp Set (English)

[166088]

$22.00

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad

[101406]

$10.50

Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154892]

$11.00

Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154882]

$11.00

Pool Party Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154894]

$11.00

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154904]

$11.00

Small Blending Brushes

[160518]

$14.00

Cloud Cover Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

[165279]

$5.50

Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin' Pad

[153118]

$9.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$9.00

Everyday Arches Dies

[164629]

$29.00

Greetings For You Mix & Match Ephemera Pack (English)

[166208]

$8.50

Balmy Blue 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Sheer Ribbon

[165767]

$8.50

Traditional Sparkling Sequins

[165875]

$8.00

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Beautiful Pumpkins · Coming Soon · L2S Group Instahop · Online Exclusives

Small Things

August 28, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, we’re getting a closer look at the new Online Exclusive suite called Gathering Together that will release next week. Aside from being a combination of beautiful products that stand just fine all by themselves, they also pair up beautifully with other products in the SU! lineup. And today we’re getting a second sneak peek as we pair up Gathering Together with the new OE bundle called Beautiful Pumpkins.

I think I mentioned yesterday that I’m really in love with the foiled paper in the Gathering Together patterned paper pack. Today I’m showing you one of the non-foiled, reverse-side patterns which serves as the backdrop for this design. But I couldn’t just abandon the sheen of the foiled paper altogether. I used a sheet of the vanilla Season of Elegance foiled paper to stamp and diecut all of my focal panel images. I just love the look! One tip: let the ink dry before diecutting or you’ll end up with ink in interesting places! *wink and ugh* To speed things up, I used my heat gun.

We get started with a base of Basic Black cardstock. This pulls out the small black pinstriping in the background panel quite nicely. I tied some Mossy Meadow & Gold ribbon around the bottom of the panel before adhering to the card front. Our focal panel is a sheet of the foiled Gathering Together paper and is cut using the Nested Essentials dies. Using the Beautiful Pumpkins stamps, I stamped the pumpkins and acorns on the vanilla sheet of Season of Elegance paper, and I made sure to include some of the foiling in each of the stamped images. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out. I cut the pumpkin stems from Crumb Cake cardstock and the pumpkin leaves from a sheet of the Old Olive Season of Elegance paper. They’re all adhered to the pinstriped backdrop using different layers of dimensionals to create lots of depth in the scene. The sentiment from the Beautiful Pumpkins set is stamped on a strip of white cardstock, and I snipped the ends to create a banner. It’s adhered under the focal panel with dimensionals. I added some gold drusy embellishments in opposing corners to draw the eye across the panel.

Products used in today’s card:
Basic Black, Basic White, Crumb Cake cardstock
Gathering Together (coming next week) , Season of Elegance DSP
Beautiful Pumpkins stamps & dies (coming next week)
Nested Essentials dies
Mossy Meadow & gold ribbon
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Fun Folds · L2S Group Instahop

Sending Sweetness

July 31, 2025July 30, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, we’re trying out some new fun folds from my “must try” stash. Do you have a stash of card designs, maybe even fun folds, that you’ve been meaning to try? Why don’t you play along?! Let me know if you do so I can come check out your handiwork!

Today I’m trying out the Slide & Lock Fun Fold card that I learned from fellow Luv 2 Stamp team member Patti Dolan. I went a little off the reservation with my variation on this fun fold. I’m not 100% sure if I would recommend. *snort* So I’m going to leave it to the pro to show you how it’s done! But let me know what you think of variation.

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. It’s scored so that it opens in the center. I assembled the background of Strawberry Slush, Wildflower Birthday, and Nature’s Sweetness to look like a kitchen and then cut this panel in half and adhered to the card front. Next up we make some cookie jars using the Sweet Jar stamps and punch. Two of the jars are adhered on dimensionals on either side of the center opening. The third cookie jar serves as our sentiment panel, as well as the slide. Here’s where I went a little off on my own. I decided to use the cookie jar as the slide, but I must say that it’s pretty small and oddly shaped, which makes it a teensy bit challenging to work with. But once I figured it out, I think I would replicate the card design without nearly as many do-overs. *grin* The challenging part for now, however, was writing instructions for this card that made any sense at all. So I think I’ll make it a few more times and then try again. But be sure to click on the link above the photo for Patti’s fabulous video and PDF instructions!

Here’s a complete look at the finished product. What do you think? Does the Sweet Jar bundle do the Slide & Lock fun fold justice?!

Product List

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

[120953]

$14.00

Strawberry Slush 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165625]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Wildflower Birthday 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[164591]

$16.50

Nature's Sweetness 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[162616]

$16.50

Sweet Jar Bundle (English)

[165507]

$41.25

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[147114]

$9.00

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

[147116]

$9.00

Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad

[165286]

$9.00

Strawberry Slush 3/8" (1 Cm) Faux Linen Ribbon

[165274]

$8.00

Strawberry Slush & Pretty In Pink Gems

[165615]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

L2S Group Instahop

Take Me to the Beach

June 26, 2025June 26, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’re cruisin’ into Thursday like we’ve got somewhere to go! And here in North Texas, things are beginning to really heat up and feel like summer. School is out, the mercury’s rising, and pools are open for fun. What about you? Are you feeling the summer vibes yet?

This week, we’re using the crafty stash to create 3D projects. And today’s project is a little something for my office. I needed a seasonal update for my frame scene that I keep on my side table, so I decided to create a little summer escape that features the Notes & Totes bundle.

Our scenes starts with a sheet of the Thoughtful Journey 6×6 paper. I chose a sheet that had a nice sky look to the top of the paper, knowing that I would be covering the bottom portion of the paper with a combination of ocean and sand. I chose a sheet of the Bright & Beautiful paper pack to create the ocean waves. The reverse side of the confetti sheet had the perfect shade of blue with wave-like patterns, and I tore several strips so I could really capture the movement of ocean waves. I adhered two of the wave layers directly to the backdrop while popping up the waves in the foreground to create a sense of depth to the scene. To create the sand in the foreground, I chose a sheet of Crumb Cake and used the Notes & Totes detail stamp to stamp the grain pattern. The strip of sand is tucked behind the waves to give the look of the waves lapping onto the shore.

From here, I begin building the scene. We get started with a small bit of white picket fencing on the right side of the scene to give the illusion that we’ve walked down to the beach. The Notes & Totes dies do all the heavy lifting here as we work to create our scene in the foreground. I used Timid Tiger and Strawberry Slush for the shells and starfish. Our beach bag has a custom pattern created by stamping the small florals in Pretty in Pink onto the white bag. I did a little paper piecing for the lotions, water bottles, and sunglasses. And the towel is created by rolling up a sheet of the striped pattern from the Bright & Beautiful paper pack. A combination of In Color flat pearls, two tone sparkle gems, and shimmer foam stars add the last bit of twinkly details.

What do you think? Does this scene invoke the sounds of Take Me Away and make you dream of a beachy get-away?

Product List

Thoughtful Journey 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[163303]

$12.50

Bright & Beautiful 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[161449]

$12.50

Pastel Ombre Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[164851]

$12.00

Silver 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Foil Sheets

[163387]

$5.00

Berry Burst, Old Olive & White 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Glimmer Specialty Paper

[163769]

$6.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[120953]

$14.00

Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[131199]

$14.00

Strawberry Slush 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165625]

$14.00

Timid Tiger 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165626]

$14.00

Notes & Totes Dies

[165240]

$39.00

Pretty In Pink Classic Stampin Pad

[163807]

$9.00

Timid Tiger Classic Stampin' Pad

[165278]

$9.00

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

[147087]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

2025–2027 In Color™ Flat Pearls

[165192]

$8.50

Two Tone Sparkle Gems

[164633]

$9.50

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[154031]

$7.00

Add All to Cart

Fun Folds · L2S Group Instahop

Heart Aflutter

April 24, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Although I’m not much a fan of the allergies that accompany the advent of spring, I’m a huge fan of all things becoming new again. I love the early spring flowers — irises, daffodils, and primrose — the budding trees and the first influx of butterflies.

This week, we’re walking through the garden of our crafty collection and working with florals in our stash. Today, I’m combining the Stampin’ Up! Thankful Garden collection with Beautiful Butterflies. And what better way to showcase both than with a fun twist on a two-panel fun fold!

I wanted this design to have a fun twist on the usual layers you might incorporate into a more conventional two-panel fun fold design. And most especially, I wanted to give a more realistic look to a fluttering butterfly.

To accomplish this idea, I incorporated a sheet of acetate as the outer flap. This does two things — first, it allows the florals to remain center stage, and second, it gives the illusion of the butterfly coming in to light on the garden of flowers. Tip: I save the sheets of acetate from new photopolymer stamp sets to use later (act as window sheets).

So we get started with a base of Basic Black cardstock. I really love how this provides a nice but neutral contrast for the focal elements of the design. The focal backdrop on the card front is a sheet of the Lovely Garden designer series paper. I used paper snips to fussy cut two flowers from a separate sheet of the paper to add dimension to the flowers in the garden. One is adhered directly to the front card base on the left side and the other is reserved for the acetate panel. I wrapped some Fresh Freesia velvet ribbon around the bottom of the patterned paper, which acts to hide, if you will, the bottom of the acetate panel when the card is fully closed. I added pink sequins from the sequins trio to several of the floral centers for a bit of interesting dimension to the garden of flowers. The sentiment from the Layers of Beauty set is stamped in black on white cardstock and then diecut with the largest Beautiful Butterflies decorative banner and adhered to the bottom of the panel with dimensionals and finished with a pink Blooming Pearl on either side.

The acetate panel wraps around the front card panel from the inside of the card. The inside message panel and decorative paper cover where the acetate panel is affixed to the card base. A bone folder helps give a deep score line to the acetate so that it folds and lies flat more easily. Using the Beautiful Butterflies dies, I cut the base of the large butterfly from the sheet of aqua-hued Pastel Ombré glimmer paper and then cut the detailed piece from black cardstock to make the butterfly look similar to a Ulysses swallowtail. It’s adhered to the acetate panel with glue dots. The flower cut from the Lovely Garden paper is adhered with glue dots onto the acetate so that it perfectly aligns with the flower on the front card panel underneath. I added pink Blooming Pearls to the flower’s center and then added a few peacock sequins from the sequins trio to either corner of the acetate to tie the full design color palette together.

Product List

Basic Black 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[121045]

$11.50

Basic White 8 1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Lovely Garden 12″ X 12″ (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165524]

$12.50

Pastel Ombre Glimmer 12″ X 12″ (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[164851]

$12.00

Window Sheets

[142314]

$5.00

Beautiful Butterflies Bundle (English)

[164615]

$59.25

Layers Of Beauty Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[163514]

$20.00

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad

[101406]

$10.50

Blooming Pearls

[162238]

$8.00

Adhesive Backed Sequins Trio

[161206]

$8.00

Fresh Freesia 1/8″ (3.2 Mm) Faux Velvet Ribbon

[165540]

$10.50

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Fun Folds · L2S Group Instahop

Up & Away Birthday

February 27, 2025February 26, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, we’re working with the Everyday Skies designer series paper that is currently available as a Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusive. We’re pairing it up with the Hot Air Balloon bundle to make this super fun birthday fun fold. I’m using the Accordion Z-Fold by fellow demo Jackie Bolhuis.

Our card starts with a base of Azure Afternoon cardstock, which also serves as the z-fold base. I used several sheets of the blue skies sheets from the Everyday Skies paper pack to build the background. I made sure that all of my panels fit together to build the scene without any odd junctions between pieces and adhered them according to Jackie’s instructions. I cut a variety of balloons from several patterns from the Bright & Beautiful paper pack using the Hot Air Balloon dies. I outlined each balloon with a black marker to give some defined shape to each balloon. The balloon baskets are cut from several different paper scraps, including Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, and gold foil. The sentiment from the Hot Air Balloon stamp set is stamped in Night of Navy ink on white cardstock and then diecut with the banner die from the Hot Air Balloon set. The banner edges are pieces of silver foil for a little festive sparkle on the sentiment panel. The sentiment banner is adhered directly to the balloon. The balloons are all adhered to the card panel with dimensionals of varying heights and in such a way that when the card is closed they overlap so that only the small front panel scene is visible. The clouds are cut from the white spotted sheet of vellum from the Graceful Greenery vellum pack using both the Bright Skies and Hot Air Balloon dies. I used glue dots to affix the clouds in our scene. The largest cloud holds our inside sentiment which is from the Pattern of Friendship stamp set, which is set to release in the newest batch of Online Exclusives next week. This sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder. We finish things off with a scattering of white transparent dots.

It’s always fun to build scene cards, and this fun fold is a terrific way to combine this beautiful Everyday Skies paper with the Hot Air Balloon bundle. I love how you’ll be writing your message in the sky when leaving a note for the recipient!

Product List