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 Layers

March 27, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Whew — we made it to Friday, friends! And what a TGIF feeling it is! It’s gonna be a busy weekend around here but also lots of fun as we celebrate the kiddo’s birthday this weekend. And we have to throw in a few around-the-house projects too. What are you getting up to?

We’re continuing our Spotlight technique series and today is all about layers as we combine the Layers of Beauty and Peace on Earth Stampin sets to create this encouragement card.

We get started with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. In opposing corners we stamp portions of the Layers of Beauty image tone on tone with Lost Lagoon ink. Our focal panel is a small piece of Lost Lagoon cut with the Textured Notes dies with the same images stamped in opposing corners. The sentiment from the Peace on Earth stamp set is stamped in Pretty Peacock and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. This panel is adhered over some white with gold ribbon in the center of our card so that our floral images overlap one another. Frosted iridescent dots finish off our card with a touch of whimsy.

I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow to see another Spotlight technique at work!

Product List

Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133679]

$14.00

Layers Of Beauty Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[163514]

$20.00

Peace On Earth Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[165918]

$19.00

Textured Notes Dies

[165555]

$31.00

Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad

[161678]

$9.00

Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150083]

$9.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Basics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165679]

$21.00

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

[166979]

$8.50

Frosted Iridescent Dots

[165766]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Spotlight on Flowers

March 23, 2026 susanfoxbowen2 Comments

Howdy, friends! Did you miss me? Last week didn’t exactly turn out as I had planned. I had grand plans for all of last week’s posts and then our schedules just kinda imploded. Between a major office furniture swap out and then a home update project, last week was chocked FULL and I didn’t have anything left for crafts.

Sooo here we are in a brand new week and I finally get to bring you all the fun ideas I have for this new design theme — the spotlight technique. Typically, this technique will, in some way, repeat a pattern or an image in a fresh, new way. Today, we’re using the elevated coloring method to spotlight a portion of the Flowers Fair stamped image.

We get started with a background of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. The focal panel backdrop is a quarter panel of white cardstock stamped with the Flowers Fair stamp and then cut to size with the largest Perennial Postage die. A second white quarter panel is also stamped with the identical image and then we use one of 2025 Advent Calendar dies to cut out a small portion of the image and then color it with Stampin Blends. The small colored panel is matted with pink shimmer paper and the two are adhered together with dimensionals. We wrap our background panel with pink ribbon before adhering it to our card front with dimensionals. The spotlight panel is adhered in place with dimensionals so it is just above its uncolored counterpart in the image below. The sentiment from the Rolling Waves stamp set is heat embossed in silver on Blackberry Bliss cardstock and then cut out with the Stylish Shapes banner due. Some pink flat pearls in opposing corners finish things off perfectly.

I hope you’ll drop in again to see what other spotlight methods we’ll be using this week!

Product List

Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133675]

$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

Flowers Fair Photopolymer Stamp Set

[167217]

$23.00

Rolling Waves Photopolymer Stamp Set

[167142]

$20.00

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad

[101406]

$10.50

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Perennial Postage Dies

[162607]

$33.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$30.00

12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English)

[167335]

$99.00

Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154892]

$11.00

Pretty In Pink Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack

[163824]

$11.00

Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154883]

$11.00

2024–2026 In Color™ Shimmer Gems

[163781]

$8.50

Bubble Bath 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Faux Linen Ribbon

[167075]

$8.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Botanicals

Blooming Thanks

March 9, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Monday, everybody! I hope your week is off to a good start. I feel like the weekend went by in a flash. Anyone else hate the spring time change as much as I do?? I don’t know what it is about springing forward but it just doesn’t sit well with me. My poor body is doomed to be confused by the whole thing for at least another month. But onward and upward, I guess, right?

This week we are onward & upward to a new design theme. Except I would more call it a repeat theme with a twist. I enjoyed last week’s florals series in honor of spring so much and had many more ideas I didn’t get to that I decided it needed another week. So here we are enjoying another week of spring florals BUT we’re adding the twist of using a different sketch each day to get started. Today we’re pairing up the Lovely & Beautiful paper with Sketch 717 from the folks over at Freshly Made Sketches.

Our beautiful patterned paper is driving the bus on our color scheme today. We get started with a card base of Petal Pink cardstock. Our background is a sheet of the Calypso Coral floral pattern from the Lovely & Beautiful pack. Our front overlay panel is a sheet of vellum that folds over our card front and covers the sentiment panel and has one oversized flower in the center. When the see-through panel is closed, it nicely compliments the smaller foiled floral pattern underneath. We add some metallic gems and gold striped ribbon to this front-facing panel.

The smaller panel is the medium floral pattern with gold foiling and actually serves as our hidden sentiment panel. The sentiment from the With You in Mind stamp set is stamped in Versamark over the center flower in gold and is then heat set. Some pearlized faceted dots are added across the panel to draw the eye down and across.

What do you think of this fun variation on the sketch? I love the breezy feel of this card design. Can’t you just imagine yourself running in a field of wildflowers that are softly blowing in the wind? I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see what fun products we put together with our new design sketch!

Product List

Petal Pink 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146985]

$14.00

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

[166957]

$16.50

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

[167099]

$10.00

With You In Mind Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[169063]

$20.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Adhesive Backed Metallic Gems

[163780]

$9.00

Pearlized Faceted Circles

[166978]

$8.00

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

[165599]

$8.00

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Botanicals · Online Exclusives

Sending Blossoms of Love

March 7, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome to the weekend, everyone! It’s a rainy Saturday here in North Texas. And while I have lots of things on the outside spring to-do list, the indoor activities won out today. I started the day providing music for a funeral and then spent the afternoon at the kiddo’s Academic Pentathlon district meet, where he placed individually in Literature and then took several medals with his team. And before hitting the home to-do list, I’ve stolen a little time in the craft room to bring some of my own sunshine to this overall dreary day.

This week, we’ve been letting spring inspire our designs. And today is all about the gorgeous Lovely & Beautiful patterned paper, along with a few other things from the crafty stash, and a sketch as we create this beautiful encouragement card.

Because I’ve got a list of things to do, I wanted to create a beautiful card but without a lot of time spent on designing from the ground up. And what helps the most in those situations? For me, sketches are a must! So we’re using #719 by the Freshly Made Sketches team to make quick work of today’s card.

We get started with a base of Fresh Freesia cardstock. A sheet of the small floral pattern from the Lovely & Beautiful paper pack serves as our background pattern. A strip of Fresh Freesia helps break up our busy patterned background and we spruce it up just a touch by machine embossing our strip with the Beautiful Patterns embossing folder. From a scrap of one of the larger floral patterned sheets from the Lovely & Beautiful pack, I cut a gorgeous peony and adhered it on the left with dimensionals. The sentiment from the Fabulous Sayings stamp set is stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed in gold before being diecut with the Nested Essentials banner die using the extension method to get it just the right size. The vellum sentiment panel is adhered over the flower with mini glue dots. We finish things off with some pearlized faceted gems for just a touch of twinkle.

There are so many more beautiful spring florals in the current Stampin’ Up! lineup that I think we’re going to continue it for one more week. Do you have any current floral-y favorites you’d like to see? Maybe they’re in my stash. Drop me some suggestions in the comments! Until then, see you next week.

Product List

Fresh Freesia 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[155613]

$14.00

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

[166957]

$16.50

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

[167099]

$10.00

Beautiful Pattern 3 D Embossing Folder

[167097]

$10.50

Fabulous Sayings Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167972]

$5.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Nested Essentials Dies

[161597]

$34.00

Pearlized Faceted Circles

[166978]

$8.00

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Online Exclusives · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Birthday Blossoms

March 6, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Friday! We have made it to the end of the week. And it was quite an exciting day for me. In the middle of a big work meeting today, we had a medical emergency. There’s nothing like someone crumpling in their chair to get the ol’ adrenaline pumping! Luckily, we could rouse the person and get them on their way for a medical evaluation pretty quickly. And on top of the excitement of the work day, it seems that the weather in our area is ramping up to make for an exciting evening. I hope it turns out to just be rain. I’m not sure my poor heart can handle anymore crazy adrenaline rushes today.

But on to our crafty fun for today. We are having another Sketchy Friday (even more appropriate than I originally intended!). 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 #722 sketch. A sketch like this one is the perfect way to use busy patterns and/or scraps. In our case, we’re doing both!

We get started on today’s card with a base of white cardstock. Since we’re using a lot of pattern, we want a nice neutral backdrop. A sheet of the Easter Joy pattern paper serves as our background. For the three diagonal corner strips, we combine the floral foil from the Pleasant Patterns pack, the pink sheet from Garden Textures, and the small floral foiled sheet from the Lovely & Beautiful pack. The two competing floral patterns are broken up with the solid textured sheet from Garden Textures. I wanted all of our fun patterns to show through, so the sentiment from the Fabulous Sayings set is stamped on vellum in Versamark and then heat embossed in gold. Before adhering our sentiment, we add a few floral bunches on either side from the Easter Time ephemera pack and then adhere the sentiment over them with glue dots. We finish things off with some pearlized faceted circles.

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

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

[166950]

$10.00

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

[166957]

$16.50

Garden Textures 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Foil Sheets

[167125]

$10.50

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

[167099]

$10.00

Fabulous Sayings Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167972]

$5.00

Easter Time Mix & Match Ephemera Pack

[166984]

$7.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Pearlized Faceted Circles

[166978]

$8.00

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Botanicals · Online Exclusives

Delicate Thoughts

March 5, 2026March 5, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back for today’s bonus post. This week’s theme is all about spring as things here in my area are certainly starting to feel like spring, including last night’s storms! But with spring showers come spring flowers and isn’t that what we’re all in for?! Today’s bonus card is showcasing more of the Delicate Dreams suite as we pair the Delicate Dreams and Delicate Designs foil papers to create this lovely thinking of you design.

The layout for today’s card uses Sketch 276 from the Freshly Made Sketches team as the starting point. We get started with a base of Misty Moonlight cardstock. Our base layer combines the small blue floral pattern from the Delicate Dreams pack and the leaf pattern from the Delicate Designs pack and then separated with some Misty Moonlight and silver edged ribbon in a faux book binding look. Our focal panel plays double duty as our sentiment panel. The sentiment from With You In Mind is stamped in Versamark on vellum and then heat embossed with copper. The panel is cut with the Label Me Grateful panel die and then adhered over some leaf fronds cut with the same die set from a combination of earthen toned metallic and blue garden textures foil sheets. We finish things off with a combination of metallic gems on our sentiment panel and then blue opal rounds surrounding our focal panel.

This paper is just so beautiful that I keep turning to it. But I promise I’ll be branching out into some other goodies in the crafty stash tomorrow as we continue our spring design series! Hope to see you then!

Edited to add: would you like to know what happens when you get in a hurry to post your card because you’re so excited about how it turns out? You forget to actually insert it in your post. DOH!

Product List

Misty Moonlight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[153081]

$14.00

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

[167099]

$10.00

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

[167498]

$16.50

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

[167509]

$11.00

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

[165901]

$7.50

Garden Textures 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Foil Sheets

[167125]

$10.50

Label Me Grateful Dies

[166111]

$24.00

With You In Mind Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[169063]

$20.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Misty Moonlight & Silver Edged 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Ribbon

[165931]

$10.00

Opal Rounds Assortment

[163298]

$8.50

Adhesive Backed Metallic Gems

[163780]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Coming Soon · Online Exclusives · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Little Howl-lo

February 27, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

Product List

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

[120953]

$14.00

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

[165901]

$7.50

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

[165882]

$12.50

12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English)

[167335]

$99.00

Nested Essentials Dies

[161597]

$34.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Opal Rounds Assortment

[163298]

$8.50

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