Easter

Bunny Hunt

February 24, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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!

Product List

Pretty In Pink 8 1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[163793]

$14.00

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

[166939]

$16.50

Textured Notes Dies

[165555]

$31.00

Easter Time Mix & Match Ephemera Pack

[166984]

$7.00

Strawberry Slush & Pretty In Pink Gems

[165615]

$8.50

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Masculine Designs

My Person

February 23, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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!

Product List

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

[119684]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[163393]

$12.50

Autumn Toile 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165882]

$12.50

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

[165901]

$7.50

Textured Notes Dies

[165555]

$31.00

Sentimental Framing Dies

[165476]

$38.00

Wonderful Thoughts Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[161899]

$25.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[147114]

$9.00

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

[147656]

$7.50

Cajun Craze & Gold Dots

[165984]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

St Patty's

Just Plaid Lucky

February 21, 2026February 21, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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.

Product List

Shy Shamrock 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163795]

$14.00

Gold Foil Sheets

[132622]

$5.00

Unbounded Love Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[163378]

$25.00

Shy Shamrock Classic Stampin Pad

[163808]

$9.00

Spotlight On Nature Dies

[163580]

$35.00

Forever Plaid 3 D Embossing Folder

[164049]

$12.00

Traditional Sparkling Sequins

[165875]

$8.00

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

[166979]

$8.50

Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine

[166005]

$8.50

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$10.00

Add All to Cart

St Patty's

Luck for You

February 21, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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!

Product List

Summer Splash 8 1/2" X 11 Cardstock

[163797]

$14.00

Cloud Cover 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165621]

$14.00

Shy Shamrock 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163795]

$14.00

Gold Foil Sheets

[132622]

$5.00

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

[167099]

$10.00

2024–2026 In Color™ Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[163771]

$11.00

Beautiful Pattern 3 D Embossing Folder

[167097]

$10.50

Everyday Arches Dies

[164629]

$29.00

12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English)

[167335]

$99.00

Scenic Adventure Dies

[165467]

$31.00

Sweet Jar Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[169171]

$20.00

Shy Shamrock Classic Stampin Pad

[163808]

$9.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$10.00

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Traditional Sparkling Sequins

[165875]

$8.00

2024 2026 In Color™ Flat Pearls

[165266]

$8.50

Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine

[166005]

$8.50

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

St Patty's

Sending Luck

February 17, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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

February 16, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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!

Product List

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[166950]

$10.00

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

[166939]

$16.50

Shy Shamrock 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163795]

$14.00

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

[167099]

$10.00

Textured Metallic 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[163772]

$8.50

Sweet Jar Bundle (English)

[165507]

$41.25

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[147113]

$9.00

Shy Shamrock Classic Stampin Pad

[163808]

$9.00

Unbounded Love Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[163378]

$25.00

Spotlight On Nature Dies

[163580]

$35.00

Shy Shamrock 3/8" (1 Cm) Bordered Ribbon

[163787]

$7.50

2024 2026 In Color™ Flat Pearls

[165266]

$8.50

Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine

[166005]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Valentines

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2026February 14, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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

Valentines

Happy PALentine’s Day

February 14, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody! So glad you stopped by today. I’ve been so tired when I got home from the office on Thursday and Friday that I pretty much had dinner, did the usual family thing, and then went straight to bed! It’s a super busy time of year with the kiddo’s various activities, church activities picking up as we head into Lent, and just life stuff. Do you ever have weeks where you’re just done when you get home? I feel like I’m having a string of them.

Despite being pretty wiped out from the work day, I did actually play in the crafty goodies the last two days in preparation from Valentine’s Day. So today, I’m going to be bringing you two posts to show you what I pulled together from the crafty stash to make some folks feel a little love this week. I have oodles of Valentine-themed goodies in the retired Stampin’ Up! stash and that’s where I turned for my projects. I like to swipe holiday-themed things when they go on the sale rack in the store to prep for the next year. For anyone who likes to make things for craft fairs or just likes to make things to give away, this is a perfect way to give gifts from the heart on a budget! So we’re pulling out last year’s beautiful Most Adored foiled paper, Celebrate Love ephemera, and Sweet Sorbet metallic ribbon, along with some gift bags I bought on clearance a Christmas or two ago.

I like to make little gifties for my co-workers, and with some clearance chocolates in-hand, I just needed to whip up some cute packaging. I had a package of pre-scored, pre-assembled SU! gift bags in my stash and they were just the perfect size to fill with the assortment of chocolates I purchased — Hershey Kisses, Hershey Nuggets, and some Lindor truffles. I cut some smaller pieces of metallic tissue paper from my wrapping stash to stuff in each bag. And then I set about making the custom gift tags. I chose a red plaid pattern from the Most Adored paper pack and cut tags using the Heartfelt Hexagon punch. I punched a small hole in the top of each one and thread a loop of red & white baker’s twine to affix the tag to each bag. I made a bow of the Sweet Sorbet metallic ribbon and then placed a sentiment from the Celebrate Love ephemera pack on top using dimensionals. I tied the tag to the bag and voila — gift complete.

Sometimes it’s just a simple touch that really elevates a gift. And all we needed here to dress up the cute SU! gift bag was a tag. If you drop back by a little later today, I’m going to show you how I dressed up the little gifties I got for my boys for Valentine’s Day.

Products used:
Most Adored DSP, Celebrate Love ephemera, Sweet Sorbet metallic ribbon (retired)
Heartfelt Hexagon punch
Red & white baker’s twine
Dimensionals

Valentines

Wish You Were Here

February 10, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Hello, crafty friends. Welcome in. I know it’s only Tuesday, but it sure feels like we’ve lived about 3 Mondays this week! Anyone else? Hopefully the rest of the week smooths out.

This week we’re tipping our hats to our loved ones near & far as we think of ways we can honor the upcoming Valentine holiday in our designs this week. And today I still wanted to give a nod to the fellas with this blue-hued design combining blue cardstock and a few elements from the 12 Days of Advent calendar.

We get started with a base of Night of Navy cardstock. Our blue floral backdrop panel is from the patterned paper pack from this year’s Advent calendar. And the same goes for a sentiment panel — it’s one of the 3×4 notecards from the Advent calendar that’s been matted with Night of Navy before being adhered to the center of the card front with dimensionals. And to finish things off, some of the darker opal rounds are added in opposing corners to draw the eye across the design.

I think this is the perfect card to send to a friend you don’t see often — just to let them know they’re on your mind. And it could easily be for a guy or gal pal. What do you think?

I’ll be taking a break tomorrow to attend the kiddo’s basketball game. But we’ll be back at it on Thursday. Hope to see you then!

Products used in this design:

Night of Navy cardstock; 2025 Adventure Calendar; Misty Moonlight & Silver edged ribbon; Opal rounds; Dimensionals

Valentines

Extra Special Grove

February 9, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back, friends! It’s Monday and my tail is dragging. What about yours? After getting a little crafty time on Saturday morning, the hubby & I set about tackling our to-do list for the day. Late in the afternoon, I got a headache that eventually morphed into a migraine. So my grand plan for rewarding myself for conquering our to-do list by playing in the craft room again was replaced by retiring to bed early and sleeping with a pillow over my head. Womp-womp.

So here we are at Monday again and time for a new design challenge. This week, we’re thinking about the upcoming Valentine holiday, if we want to call it that. It’s actually a perfect time to let your friends know you’re thinking of them — and that special someone too, of course! So we’re starting off with one for the fellas since they didn’t really get their due last week. And we’re combining the new Aspen Grove stamp set with the Country Woods paper and a sentiment from the 2025 Advent Calendar.

We get started with a base of Smoky Slate cardstock. A sheet of the grey woodgrain from the Country Woods paper pack serves as our focal backdrop. I arranged the Aspen Grove stamps on a large block and stamped the row of trunks in black ink onto white cardstock. I layered several shades of green leaves up top to create the treetop canopy. To give some realistic depth to the tree trunks, we use Crumb Cake and Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends down the left side of each one, which gives a shadow effect. I filled in a touch of blue in the background with Cloud Cover ink, but you could easily skip this shading (and next time, I think I will!). The focal panel is downsized using the Textured Notes die and then adhered to the woodgrain backdrop. The full panel is wrapped in black & gold bakers twine that is tied in a knot on the left side before the focal panel is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment panel is cut from Cloud Cover cardstock with the Stylish Shapes circle die and then the sentiment from the 12 Days of Christmas Advent calendar is stamped in black in the center and then adhered over the twine with dimensionals. I added a few of the lighter Shades of Green Hexagons on either side of the sentiment to draw the eye in and add a bit of colorful eye candy.

This design is 100% inspired by one of the samples from the January Mini catalog. Much like using a sketch, you can take a design and make it your own with a substitution here & there. It’s another great trick when you’re either short on time or lacking a little inspiration — or both!

I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see another Valentine-inspired design.

Product List