Advent Thanks

October 21, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, crafty friends! Welcome back to our second day of the 12 Days of Crafty Christmas as we work our way through the new SU! 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar, where we’re opening two boxes each day and then creating a fun project with them.

Yesterday, in our boxes we received a set of coordinating dies that go with the included stamp set, along with a set of 6×6 patterned papers. Let’s see what boxes 3 & 4 have in store for us today.

So today, we have a set of gold glitter shaker elements and gold foiled diecut shapes. After thumbing through the set of patterned papers we opened yesterday, the white floral pattern really caught my eye — especially the golden centers. So I looked for a sketch that would make quick work of today’s project and settled on Sketch 2 from the Holiday Mini catalog on page 14. Let’s see how our clean & simple project comes together.

I wanted a nice neutral base that paired well with the subtle background of the patterned sheet and decided that Smoky Slate was the ideal choice for the card base. The sheet of patterned paper serves as the backdrop for our card front. I modified the sketch slightly so that our 3 diagonal elements are solid lines rather than broken and used the narrow Daffodil Delight satin trim for those diagonal elements. The sentiment from the coordinating 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar stamp set is heat embossed in gold on the long oval diecut from today’s box of diecut pieces. The sentiment panel is mounted over the ribbon with dimensionals. I used the shaker elements as individual embellishments in several floral centers by adding pieces of glue dots to the backs of each small gold glitter circle.

Are we having fun yet? I’m looking forward to opening the next two boxes of our Advent calendar tomorrow. What about you?!

12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar

Advent Birthday Wishes

October 20, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Monday, everybody! Have you missed seeing crafty inspiration because I’ve certainly missed having time for it! Sometimes we just have to know when to make a little space for other things — like coordinating major work programs and family time, all of which were time well spent.

But we’re back at it this week with 12 days of crafty Christmas! Each day we’re going to be opening 2 slots in the Stampin’ Up! 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar. Each calendar comes with a box of crafty surprises, as well as a coordinating stamp set. Let’s see what we have in store today!

So isn’t that fun — today we’ll be working with the coordinating dies and 6×6 patterned paper for the Advent Calendar stamp set. The first thing I wanted to do was put everything side-by-side to decide on a theme and color palette for a card design.

The pink floral pattern stood out to me in the selection of papers, so from there I looked for a simple design that would allow me to use the stamps & dies. I pulled out the Holiday Mini catalog and turned to the sketches on page 14 and was drawn to the very first one — clean and simple & a perfect way to coordinate the paper, stamps & dies.

So we have a sketch, our 2 Advent Calendar boxes, and the stamps. We pull coordinating papers together — Strawberry Slush, Pretty in Pink, Mossy Meadow, and white — to get started. To add a pop of interest, I decided to add some texture to the background panel using a *NEW* embossing folder that releases in just a few weeks.

We get started with a base of Strawberry Slush cardstock. The background panel is a quarter sheet of Strawberry Slush that I machine embossed with the new Beautiful Pattern embossing folder, which releases in just a few weeks! The sheet of pink florals is cut and then wrapped with Strawberry Slush ribbon before being adhered to the embossed background panel. Using the Advent Calendar stamp set, we stamp the large and smaller flowers on Pretty in Pink in both Strawberry Slush & Pretty in Pink ink. The center is stamped in Timid Tiger. The flowers are then diecut with the new coordinating dies we opened today, along with coordinating leaves from Mossy Meadow. Our flower is adhered over the ribbon on the left — substituting for the circle in our sketch. The sentiment from the Advent Calendar stamp set is stamped in Strawberry Slush on white cardstock and cut with the banner from the Mixed Labels die set and adhered over our flower element and just under the ribbon. A few Strawberry Slush & Pretty in Pink gems finish things off with pops of twinkle across the card front.

I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to see what our next 2 boxes will reveal. I know I can’t wait!

Product List

12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English)

[167335]

$99.00

Strawberry Slush 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165625]

$14.00

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

[163793]

$14.00

Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133676]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Pretty In Pink Classic Stampin Pad

[163807]

$9.00

Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad

[165286]

$9.00

Timid Tiger Classic Stampin' Pad

[165278]

$9.00

Mixed Labels Dies

[164652]

$21.00

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

[165274]

$8.00

Strawberry Slush & Pretty In Pink Gems

[165615]

$8.50

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[154031]

$7.00

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Kits

Sending Joy

October 15, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We thoroughly enjoyed our quick little trip to the country. The weather was perfect and we managed to find a spot where the fish were biting. But most importantly, we simply enjoyed being together!

During the afternoons when it was a tick too warm to fish, we enjoyed time cooling off in the cabin. And that meant a little crafting time here and there to play with the new Calm & Bright Kit.

This kit includes everything you need to make 3 different holiday card designs. And I brought along just a few extra things to make some simple variations.

Today’s variation includes a wide band of Pretty in Pink soft shimmer paper, some Lost Lagoon soft cording, a touch of Wink of Stella, some iridescent striped trim, and an assortment of faceted gems and sequins.

I also worked a little on my photography for this one. I still worked with the early morning light but got outside before the sun peeked over the horizon. So I got much better soft light without so much orange undertone. Needless to say, I won’t take for granted my nice studio setup quite so easily anymore! *wink*

It’s back to the regular work grind for the remainder of the week, along with the fast and furious last-minute, late-night crafting for this weekend’s craft fair.

Kits

All is Calm & Bright

October 13, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome to a brand spankin’ new week! I hope you enjoyed your weekend.

We are definitely enjoying our time at the lake for a little family Fall Break getaway. The weather is perfect and we are soaking up the time outside.

And since I’m on the go, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to highlight the perfect line of products for crafting away from the crafty stash — Stampin’ Up! kits. And a gorgeous new holiday card kit is coming your way and I’m going to give you a little sneak peek.

Meet the Calm & Bright kit. This gorgeous kit offers you 3 different clean and simple holiday card designs. Kits include everything you need to create the designs shown. You can literally throw the box in your bag and be able to create on the go! And that’s exactly what I did with a little bit of free time I had yesterday afternoon.

While the on-the-go photography may not be quite as good, the crafting is perfect! I brought along just a few extra goodies to create an easy punched-up alternative design. The card on the left is assembled according to the included instructions, while the design on the right is my variation. I added a sparkly layer of Pretty Peacock glimmer paper under the main panel to make the colored elements really pop. I wrapped the focal panel in Lost Lagoon soft cording rather than the white linen thread included in the kit. I added some Wink of Stella to the house for a touch of twinkle and offset it from the snowy stamped background. I used the smallest snowflake stamp for the tag detail to coordinate with the background stamping, and I finished things off with some iridescent gems for subtle twinkle in opposing corners of the focal panel.

It’s hard to decide which design I like better, but one thing is for certain — I love being able to craft on the road!

birthday · Rest day

Checking in

October 12, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Hello and happy Sunday, my crafty friends! I have survived the big work training event this last week. Remind me never to go into the party planning & logistics business! *belly laugh* It was a crazy week, to say the least, but all of the program attendees thought it went off without a hitch, so I guess I will call that a success!

I jumped straight into vacation prep on the heels of the big work event, but there’s something about a vacation that makes it feel a little bit less like work. *snicker* I’m checking in today from our cabin on the lake, where we’re planning to fish until we’re tired. The weather is beautiful and our cabin is perfect!

While I’m away, I do plan to pop in with a fun little project sometime tomorrow. Because what crafter can go on the road without taking a little project?! LOL! Seriously though, it’s the perfect opportunity to show off the new Christmas card kit and a few on-the-go design alternatives, so I hope you’ll drop in.

In the meantime, how about a little giveaway in honor of my birthday? Drop a comment on this post or on the posts in my socials (going up later today) to be entered to win a little packet of goodies. I’ll announce a winner on Wednesday (10/15) evening.

Autumn

Gather Decor

October 4, 2025October 4, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’re rounding out this week’s design series with some home decor. I have a craft show in a couple of weeks, and I’m still working feverishly to prepare all of the things I have on my display wish list. Last year was the first year I offered home decor items, and they generated a lot of interest.

Today’s design is inspired by a recent post on the Stampin’ Up! official Instagram page. I, of course, put my own twist on it. And isn’t that the best thing about inspiration?! So let’s dig in and see how this comes together.

This is a 6×6 frame I found on Amazon. So we get started with a 6×6 card base. HINT: Before you fully commit to your layout, be sure that it shows through the frame as you intend. I neglected this step this time so my Cajun Craze base – that was supposed to be a small border around the focal panel – doesn’t show at all. *womp-womp*

The focal panel base is a sheet of the gold foil hashed patterned paper from the Nature’s Sweetness paper pack. I decided to use the retired Changing Leaves embossing folder to create the background texture because I wanted the pattern to more closely tie with the image theme. The focal image is an image rub using blending brushes.

I decided to create a mask and negative that I could use more than once using some of the acetate sheets I had saved in my stash. When I unpack my acrylic stamps, I always save the thicker acetate sheet to use for shakers and window cards later on. It’s the perfect thickness for a mask and negative too! I used the larger leaf from the Gathering Moments dies to cut through the acetate. I used both pieces to create my focal image. The negative creates the center image, which is rubbed in Mossy Meadow, and then the shape is used to create the highlight around the leaf image, which is rubbed in Flirty Flamingo.

The sentiment panel has several layers. The backdrop is a banner created from two strips of the Gathering Together patterned paper. The sentiment from the Gathering Moments set is stamped in Versamark on Cajun Craze and then heat embossed in gold. I cut around the sentiment using paper snips. The fall foliage arrangement on the left is created using the Gathering Moments images and dies. We finish up with a bow of gold striped iridescent ribbon and some Cajun Craze & gold dots.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s series. I’ll be in and out over the next two weeks as I prepare for the big educational program at the office and then head off to the woods for a little family fall break get-away. But I have new goodies arriving that I hope to be able to show you so don’t go too far!

Product List

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

[119684]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[162616]

$16.50

Gathering Together 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[165969]

$16.50

Changing Leaves Hybrid Embossing Folder

[164138]

$40.00

Gathering Moments Bundle (English)

[165980]

$56.50

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

[147111]

$9.00

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

[147052]

$9.00

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

[147084]

$9.00

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

[147087]

$9.00

Timid Tiger Classic Stampin' Pad

[165278]

$9.00

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[147090]

$9.00

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

[147092]

$9.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[147114]

$9.00

Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad

[147085]

$9.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

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

[165599]

$8.00

Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

[165984]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Beautiful Pumpkins · Peaceful Garden · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: BIG thanks

October 4, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Sketchy Fridays, everyone, and welcome to the weekend! Except it’s Saturday, but we’re all good with that, right? *snicker* My week could be summed up by lions and tigers and bears, oh my! We had a major cloud data migration at my office over last weekend and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. So we were having to make due with alternative ways of accessing e-mail and cloud files all week, and let’s just say that it’s been a mess! In and amongst all of that, we’re hosting a big educational conference in our office next week annnnnnd naturally all of my spreadsheets and files were a part of the data migration. *sigh* So it’s been a little challenging at the office this week, to say the least!

BUT here I am on Saturday bringing you the Sketchy Fridays card because it was just going to be too cute not to make & share! 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.

This week’s card is based on the Freshly Made Sketches #706 sketch. As soon as I saw it, I already had an idea in mind and that made it an easy choice! And we’re turning it on its head, so to speak, to make it landscape. Today’s design features the new Online Exclusives Beautiful Pumpkins bundle.

We get started with a neutral base of white cardstock. Our front panel backdrop is a sheet of the gold foiled script paper from the Nature’s Sweetness paper pack. The focal panel is a combination of two sheets of the Gathering Together paper – the Cajun Craze small leaf pattern and the gold foiled fall foliage pattern. It’s mounted to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment from the *new* 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar stamp set is heat embossed in black at the top of the panel. I wanted the pumpkins to have more texture and interest than what the stamps alone would provide, so I selected several of the woodgrain patterns from the Country Woods paper pack and used the detail stamp from the Beautiful Pumpkins set and a coordinating, but light, color on top of each woodgrain and then used the coordinating dies to cut out each one. The pumpkin stems are also cut from one of the darker woodgrain patterns from the Country Woods paper pack. I tried several different colors for the leaves and vines before settling on the Old Olive sheet from the Season of Elegance paper pack. We give the pumpkins lots of depth of field by adhering them with varying heights of dimensionals. And we finish things off with some gold low profile dots.

I’ll be closing out this week’s design series with some home decor. I hope you’ll drop back by later to check it out.

Product List

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[162616]

$16.50

Gathering Together 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[165969]

$16.50

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

[163393]

$12.50

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

[164144]

$16.50

Beautiful Pumpkins Bundle (English)

[166012]

$36.00

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

[147116]

$9.00

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

[147101]

$9.00

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad

[147097]

$9.00

12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English)

[167335]

$99.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Basics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165679]

$21.00

Low Profile Dots

[164658]

$7.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Autumn

Grateful Heart

October 2, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Although the weatherman tells us it’s fall here in North Texas, in usual Texas fashion, summer refuses to go out quietly. While it’s certainly not August, we’re not quite into the glorious chill of fall mornings or altogether pleasant days either.

But that won’t stop us from continuing this week’s design series – all about fall. And today we’re revisiting the beautiful Splendid Autumn patterned paper and pairing it up with the Label Me Grateful stamps to create a super easy fun fold card. When you have paper as pretty as this, finding a design that takes full advantage is a must! And the simple z-fold design allows you to use the full sheet of paper.

I chose Granny Apple Green as the card base. It really allows all of the colors of the leaves and flowering grasses in our patterned paper to shine. The Splendid Autumn sheet features a winding path through a small grove of fall trees. And as you open the fold, you see the full scene. The sentiment panel is facing front when the card is closed. The sentiment from the Label Me Grateful stamp set is stamped in Timid Tiger ink on white cardstock and then cut out with the Traditional Labels dies. A few In Color flat pearls add the perfect finishing touch to the sentiment panel. It’s adhered over a bow of Timid Tiger and Mossy Meadow & Gold ribbon using dimensionals. We add some green hexagons in opposing corners of the card front. I chose the lightest color so they’re more sparkle than they are a pop of color.

What do you think of this clean & simple design? I hope you’ll tune in for tomorrow’s Sketchy Fridays to see what else we can pull together with our crafty stash of fall-inspired products.

Product List

Granny Apple Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146990]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[164173]

$12.50

Label Me Grateful Cling Stamp Set (English)

[166108]

$20.00

Timid Tiger Classic Stampin' Pad

[165278]

$9.00

Traditional Labels Dies

[165864]

$29.00

Timid Tiger 3/8" (1 Cm) Faux Linen Ribbon

[165275]

$8.00

Mossy Meadow & Gold 1/4" (6.4 Mm)

[166158]

$9.50

2025–2027 In Color™ Flat Pearls

[165192]

$8.50

Shades Of Green Hexagons

[165233]

$8.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Autumn

Celebrate Fall

October 1, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, we’re exploring our fall-themed crafty stash as we create our projects. And today, the Gathering Together suite is taking center stage. Because I’m a little pressed for time today, I decided to make things a lot simpler by using a sketch to get started. So I’m using Sketch #5 from the recent SU! Craft-a-Long, which takes the cards on page 42 of the Holiday Mini Catalog and turns them into versatile sketches.

Sketch #5 is the perfect way to use a few scraps of patterned paper and allows for an easy diecut focal point. Here we start with a base of white cardstock, which isn’t visible on the card front itself. A sheet of the white woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack. A sheet of the lovely Gathering Together paper serves as the backdrop for all of our focal elements. The Cajun Craze leaf pattern is the background panel, while the plaid and foliage strips provide the grounding for the focal leaf element. The leaf is cut from a combination of Gathering Together and Country Woods papers using the Gathering Moments die. To help the pattern leaf stand out against the busy background, I used a darker woodgrain-patterned leaf to provide the shadowing, which really brings out the brown details of the pattern nicely. The sentiment from the Simply Said stamp set is heat embossed in copper and then adhered over gold cording with dimensionals. Some Cajun Craze & Gold dots are scattered around the card front to provide the perfect pops of twinkly color.

Tune in tomorrow to see some more autumn inspiration!

Product List

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Gathering Together 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[165969]

$16.50

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

[163393]

$12.50

Gathering Moments Dies

[165979]

$37.00

Simply Said Mix & Match Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[163756]

$17.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Gold Twisted Thread

[164603]

$7.50

Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

[165984]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Autumn

Thankful for Autumn

September 30, 2025September 29, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

I’m having a good time with this week’s design theme – we’re all about fall! And today’s card is inspired by the Luv 2 Stamp Group monthly team challenge where I had to create a Thanksgiving card. Being in the heart of Autumn, my mind immediately goes to beautiful foliage when I think of Thanksgiving and, of course, we all tend to focus on what we are thankful for. So being that fall happens to my favorite season of the year, it only made sense to tie all of that together!

I drew inspiration from a gorgeous card I saw over on Insta from @didyoustamptoday. I really wanted to bring out the thoughts of fall when I worked on my version of the card. And so I drew on all of my favorite fall hues when selecting the foliage elements. I also wanted to recreate that sunrise/sunset feel from the inspiration card, which translates into some beautifully colored mountains in the background. And, of course, Everyday Skies and Wink of Stella do all of the work with the twinkling of the sun over the mountains.

So although it’s not readily visible on the front panel, we get started with a base of Cajun Craze cardstock. Our mountain scene is built with a combination of the Scenic Adventure and Lights & Wonder dies. I chose Peach Pie and Flirty Flamingo for the tall mountain range in the back that is catching all of the sun’s rays and they’re cut with the larger mountain die in the Scenic Adventure set. A sheet of the Everyday Skies gives us the gorgeous sunrise, and some carefully placed Wink of Stella draws the eye in to the rising sun and its rays peeking up over the range. To give the look of division between mountain ridges, I added the tree line of Pretty Peacock pines next. The next ridge is cut using the largest mountain die in the Lights & Wonder set. And then we have our trees along the water’s edge. These trees are cut from Daffodil Delight using Lights & Wonder die, and then to give the look of changing leaf colors, I used my blending brushes to give touches of Old Olive and Timid Tiger. The lake is cut from a sheet of the blue pastel ombre glimmer paper with the Lights & Wonder die. Each of our layers of mountains and trees are separated by dimensionals to give a more realistic depth of field. The sentiment is a combination of the Words for the Season dies and Beautiful Pumpkin sentiment stamp. A few drusy embellishments on either side really let the Autumn pop.

While some scene cards take a bit of time to build, I find it fun to stretch the creative wings and see if I can bring life to the picture in my mind’s eye. Do you like to undertake designs that take a bit more time sometimes? Tomorrow we’re going to get started with a sketch and see where that takes us. I hope you’ll drop by and check it out!

Product List

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

[119684]

$14.00