Peaceful Thoughts

August 16, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome to the weekend! How is yours going so far? It’s been a busy one here just catching up on all of the things you don’t have time to deal with during the school week. But, of course, there’s always a little time for crafting too! *wink*

This week, we’ve been using the products in the SU! Peaceful Garden suite that will release in a few short weeks with all of the products in the new Holiday Mini catalog. Today we’re pairing up the paper with the With You in Mind stamp set and a cool fun fold I learned from fellow demo Patti Dolan called the Arrow Fun Fold.

We get started with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. One sheet of patterned paper from the Peaceful Garden pack serves as the show-stopping focal elements in this card. The sentiment from With You in Mind is stamped in Secret Sea on white cardstock. I used paper snips to cut around the sentiment. It’s adhered to the arrow portion using dimensionals. I finished things off with some Misty Moonlight silver edged ribbon, Hues of Blue flowers, and charming shimmer gems.

Would you like to give this fun fold a try? It’s really pretty simple, and you can download the PDF tutorial here.

Next week, we’re going to a stroll through another suite of products that will be releasing in September. And I can’t wait to show it to you!

Products used in today’s card:
Cloud Cover, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP (coming in Sept)
With You in Mind stamps
Misty Moonlight silver edged trim (coming in Sept)
Hues of Blue flowers (coming in Sept), charming shimmer faceted dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Peace, Love, & Joy!

August 15, 2025August 13, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Sketchy Fridays, everyone, and welcome to the weekend! Around here, we’ve survived our first week of school and now we’re sailing into the weekend ready for the R&R for sure. I’m super stoked because I just got my box of pre-order goodies for the new Holiday Mini catalog. Anyone know what I plan to be doing this weekend? *grin*

We’ve taken a little break from Sketchy Fridays for the last little bit, but I thought it would be fun to get back to it. Because who doesn’t love being able to push the easy button on getting a card started?! *wink* 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 our Luv 2 Stamp Group’s monthly sketch challenge using the Atlantic Hearts Sketch #640. Today’s design features the new Peaceful Garden suite that will release in Holiday Mini catalog in September.

We get started with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. The background panel is a nice neutral pattern from the Peaceful Garden paper pack. The focal panel backdrop is a floral pattern and cross-hatch sheet from the pack. The sentiment from Peace on Earth is stamped in Misty Moonlight on white cardstock and then cut to a simple banner. The sentiment panel is adhered over a bow of Misty Moonlight & silver edged ribbon with dimensionals. I finished things off with some Hues of Blue flowers. Super simple and super elegant!

We’ll be wrapping up our Peaceful Garden card series tomorrow with a fun fold. I hope you’ll drop in!

Products used in today’s card:
Cloud Cover, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP (coming in Sept)
Peace on Earth stamps (coming in Sept)
Misty Moonlight & silver edged ribbon (coming in Sept)
Hues of Blue flowers (coming in Sept)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden

Monochromatic Peace

August 14, 2025August 13, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’re winding down this week, and I don’t know about you but I’m ready for the weekend ahead. The first week of school is always a rough transition as we work to find the school year rhythm again. Poor fella had a rough day yesterday after leaving some important papers and his school computer at home. Learning personal responsibility is tough!

This week, we’ve been working with a brand new suite of products that is due to release in September in the SU! Holiday Mini catalog. Peaceful Garden lends itself to a whole host of different styles and seasons. Today I thought it would be fun to work in a monochromatic color palette and with just a few simple elements from the suite. So our featured color is one of the new In Colors called Secret Sea and we’re letting the lovely Peaceful Greenery embossing folder do all of the heavy lifting for our design.

We start with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. Our Secret Sea focal panel is machine embossed with the Peaceful Greenery embossing folder and then matted with Secret Sea glimmer paper. One thing I love about the Peaceful Greenery embossing folder and Peace on Earth dies is that the decorative panels are made to inlay in the center of the debossed portion of the embossing folder. So I used the largest die to cut out the debossed section. And then I used the smaller die to cut down the cutout piece and create a smaller panel for the sentiment. The sentiment from Peace on Earth is stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I cut some of the smaller greenery elements from a scrap of Secret Sea glimmer paper and adhered them on opposing corners of the sentiment panel before adhering the sentiment panel to the center of the card front with dimensionals. A few shimmer dots finish things off perfectly.

Tomorrow we’ll be using a sketch to create our card. I hope you’ll drop in and see what’s in store!

Products used in today’s card:
Secret Sea cardstock
Peaceful Garden glimmer SP (coming in Sept)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming in Sept)
Peaceful Greenery embossing folder (coming in Sept)
Clear embossing powder
Charming shimmer faceted dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden

Peaceful Greenery

August 13, 2025August 12, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome to the midway point of the week. The first week of school is always a whirlwind as we get back into the groove of the schoolyear schedule, and this year is no exception. Hopefully we’ll start finding our groove a little better next week, but for now we’re just flying by the seats of our pants! *grin*

This week, all of our designs feature the Stampin’ Up! Peaceful Garden suite which is due to release in September in the new Holiday Mini catalog. Today, I wanted to give a look at the Peaceful Greenery embossing folder.

We get started with a base of Night of Navy cardstock. The backdrop for our focal panel is a sheet of vine pattern from the Peaceful Garden paper pack. This panel is machine embossed with the Peaceful Greenery embossing folder. To ensure that the embossed pattern stood out against the complimentary patterned background, I used my finger to “shade” the embossing with platinum ink from my metallic ink stash. The embossed image has a perfect shaped portion in the center where the stacked dies from the Peace on Earth set fit. The sentiment from Peace on Earth is stamped in Misty Moonlight on white and then cut with the smallest die. The panel is then matted with Secret Sea glimmer paper from the Peaceful Garden pack that has been cut with the larger die. The full panel is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. I cut two of the larger twigs from the die set from silver glimmer paper and held them together with some of the Misty Moonlight silver edged ribbon. Drusy embellishments draw the eye down and across the design so that the eye takes in all the details.

I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see what else this lovely embossing folder can do!

Products used in today’s card:
Night of Navy, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP, Peaceful Garden glimmer (coming in September!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming in September!)
Peaceful Greenery embossing folder (coming in September!)
Misty Moonlight silver edged ribbon (coming in September!)
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden

Wishing You Love

August 12, 2025August 12, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back, friends! I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. We have successfully navigated the first day of school. The kiddo was pretty stoked that he had friends in every class. And we’re just glad that he had a great day and seems to be at least moderately excited about this school year.

On to some crafting, shall we? This week, we’re working with a brand new suite from the upcoming Holiday Mini catalog – Peaceful Garden. And the beautiful paper takes center stage in today’s card.

We get started with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. (Does anyone else love the moodiness of this new shade of blue?) A sheet of the floral stems from the Peaceful Garden paper pack serves as the backdrop for our card. A strip of the coordinating Secret Sea glimmer paper serves as the focal panel on which we have two small squares of the vine patterned from the Peaceful Garden pack. The hovering dove is cut from a sheet of silver glimmer paper using the Peace on Earth dies and secured to the panel with dimensionals. Extra dimensionals under the wings give the realistic look of wing movement. The sentiment from Peace on Earth is stamped on white cardstock in Secret Sea ink. One end of the panel is snipped to create the sentiment banner that is adhered underneath the larger focal panel. A few drusy embellishments on either side help draw the eye across our design so that you take in each element.

Tomorrow we’ll be exploring a few of the other elements included in the suite. I hope you’ll drop in and see some of the other awesome goodies in this amazing suite.

Products used in this card:
Secret Sea, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP & glimmer paper (coming Sept 3!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming Sept 3!)
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden

Peaceful Prayers

August 11, 2025August 12, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Monday, crafty friends! It was a busy weekend that went by way too fast for us as we spent the last weekend soaking up summer and preparing for the new school year that begins today.

I am SO excited about this week’s featured design products. We’re going to be using the *new* Peaceful Garden suite of products, which releases in the new Holiday Mini catalog on September 3rd. This suite includes beautiful patterned paper, coordinating glimmer paper, stamps, dies, an embossing folder, gorgeous ribbon, and fun embellishments. I just love the beautiful blue color palette of this suite! And today’s super simple design features the gorgeous patterned papers.

We get started with a base of Misty Moonlight cardstock. I chose two coordinating patterns from the Peaceful Garden paper pack – the beautiful doves and greenery sheets. I loved the repeating pattern of the doves and chose to cut one of the vertical strips of repeating pattern to serve as the centerpiece of this design. To give a little eye relief and add a little punch, I separated the dove strip from the greenery with a strip of blue glimmer paper from the coordinating pack. The sentiment from the Peace on Earth stamp set is stamped in Misty Moonlight on a strip white cardstock and then notched on each end to create the banner. I offset the sentiment to allow for the diecut dove on the left. The dove is cut from white cardstock using the Peace on Earth dies and adhered to the sentiment panel with dimensionals. I also cut and added a branch of greenery cut from silver glimmer paper. The sentiment panel is adhered at the bottom of the front panel with dimensionals. A few charming shimmer faceted dots on either side of the sentiment panel add a little extra color-coordinated sparkle.

This suite really does make it easy to create beautiful cards in a snap. I can’t wait to show you more!

Products used in today’s card:
Misty Moonlight, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP & glimmer paper (coming Sept 3!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming Sept 3!)
Charming shimmer faceted dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Fun Folds · Holiday Mini Catalog · Tutorials

Big Hugs

August 2, 2025August 1, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, everyone, and happy Saturday! We are officially to the weekend. We’re counting down the last week of summer break over here, so there are lots of things on the to-do list to be sure the kiddo is ready for his first week of 8th grade! What about you? What will your weekend plans have you doing?

Here in the craft room, we’re wrapping up our full week of fun fold designs. And today, I’m giving you a sneak peek of a full suite of products that will be available in the Holiday Mini catalog on September 3rd. We’re using the Peaceful Garden Suite to create a 4-Panel Accordion Fold. Demos were able to purchase this suite early as part of the special Creativity Now event in June, and I’ve saved using it until we got closer to the official release date for customers.

We get started by cutting down a 12×12 piece of Night of Navy cardstock and then score it to create the accordion base. I chose the leaf and vine patterned sheet from the Peaceful Garden paper pack as my focal paper and then matted these strips with the coordinating silver glimmer paper. The sentiment panel is created using the Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle included in the Peaceful Garden suite. I finished things off with a few Hues of Blue flowers and Misty Moonlight trim from the suite, along with a few drusy embellishments.

I dressed this fun fold up a bit by adding mats for each of the patterned paper panels. When you’re using heavier glimmer paper, like the sheets from Peaceful Garden, this will add some extra weight to your card. You could simplify this by omitting the extra mats or using lighter weight glimmer paper.

How would you like to give the 4-panel accordion fold a try? You can download the free PDF tutorial here.

It’s been a lot of fun learning some new fun folds this week. And there are quite a few that will be going into my more regular rotation. Do you have a favorite from this week’s fun fold series? Tell me in the comments!

Next week, we’re going to be exploring a super fun stamp bundle called Sweet Jar that has a new coordinating holiday stamp set called Jar of Joy. I hope you’ll pop in and see all of the fun things we can do with these cute stamps & punch!

Products used in today’s card:
Night of Navy, Cloud Cover, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden, Peaceful Garden glimmer DSP (coming in September!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming in September!)
Misty Moonlight & silver edged ribbon (coming in September!)
Hues of blue flowers (coming in September!), Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Holiday Mini Catalog

When Words Are Too Much

September 30, 2024 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome to a brand new week. It’s the last day of September. Who else is reeling a little bit about that?!

This week, we’re starting a brand new series using the Stampin’ Up! Nests of Winter suite. We’re starting off super simple by letting the beautiful paper do all the talking. With so many of you dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, this sentiment felt appropriate today. The photos of the damage left behind is simply overwhelming! Our prayers are definitely with you all.

We start our card with a base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. I love how that pulled the subtle purple hues in this paper more forward. I chose the one-sheet-wonder sheet from the Nests of Winter paper pack as our focal sheet for this card. I twisted the Night of Navy linen thread around the top. I love how this makes the little blue bird in our focal sheet really pop. The sentiment from Wonderful Thoughts is stamped in black on white cardstock and then diecut using the Greetings of the Season dies. I added a few regal foiled dots on the sentiment panel and scattered a few among the branches below.

This clean and simple design is a great way to let a gorgeous piece of paper do all the heavy lifting. Check in tomorrow to see more from this lovely suite of products.

Products used in today’s card:
Blackberry Bliss, Basic White cardstock
Nests of Winter DSP
Wonderful Thoughts stamps
Greetings of the Season dies
Natural Tones linen thread
Regal foiled dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List

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

[133675]

$11.50

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$13.00

Nests Of Winter 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[164183]

$12.50

Wonderful Thoughts Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[161899]

$25.00

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad

[101406]

$10.50

Greetings Of The Season Dies

[164112]

$32.00

Natural Tones Linen Thread

[164071]

$9.00

Regal Foiled Adhesive Backed Dots

[164038]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Autumn · Holiday Mini Catalog · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Birthday Greenery

September 27, 2024 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’ve made it to another Friday, and you know what that means? It’s time for another Sketchy Fridays!

Each week we’ll be using a card sketch to design our featured card. Right now, we’re working through a full series of designs using the card sketches found in current Stampin’ Up! catalogs.

This week’s card is based on Sketch #4 in the Holiday Mini catalog and features the Golden Greenery dies and the Splendid Autumn designer series paper in the new Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini catalog.

One of my dearest girlfriends is celebrating a birthday in a few weeks, and I knew that I wanted to create something special for her. I’m always a little nervous creating things for her because she’s such a gifted artist. She draws, she paints, she watercolors….and everything is just stunning! So it seemed only fitting to use the beautiful Splendid Autumn designer series paper with its gorgeous watercolor look. And I really love how you can change the look and feel of the sheet of paper simply in the way that you selectively cut it to size.

Our design gets started with a base of Cajun Craze cardstock. The focal panel is a combination of Splendid Autumn patterned paper and gold mercury vellum as a mat. The Splendid Autumn paper in this design is trimmed so that only the trees from the scene are showcased in the panel. I think it’s such a neat look, especially considered in context with the full sheet of paper.

Our focal section consists of the sentiment panel. The sentiment from Everyday Greetings is stamped in Copper Clay on Very Vanilla and then diecut using the Autumn Leaves dies. We have two sets of fall foliage behind our sentiment panel. One is cut from Oxidized Copper, while the other is cut from Season of Elegance paper. Both are cut using the Golden Greenery dies. A twist of linen thread in between ties our fall color palette together nicely. And we finish things off with the sparkle of Earth Tones shimmer gems.

The next time you’re cutting down a sheet of patterned paper, think about how you can create a different and interesting look based on the overall feel you want to convey in your design. I think you’ll be surprised how it changes the look of the panel you trim down!

Tomorrow we’ll be finishing off our Season of Green & Gold series with another fall-inspired design. I hope you’ll drop in and check it out!

Products used in today’s card:
Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla cardstock
Splendid Autumn, gold mercury vellum, Oxidized Copper, Season of Elegance DSP
Everyday Greetings stamps
Golden Greenery, Autumn Leaves dies
Natural Tones linen thread
Earth Tones shimmer gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List

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

[119684]

$11.50

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[101650]

$13.00

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

[164173]

$12.50

Gold Mercury Vellum 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[164142]

$10.00

Oxidized Copper 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[162190]

$8.00

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

[164144]

$16.50

Everyday Greetings Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[165084]

$21.00

Autumn Leaves Dies

[162185]

$38.00

Golden Greenery Dies

[164116]

$39.00

Copper Clay Classic Stampin' Pad

[161647]

$9.00

Natural Tones Linen Thread

[164071]

$9.00

Earth Tones Shimmer Gems

[164070]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[154031]

$7.00

Add All to Cart

Christmas · Holiday Mini Catalog · Holidays

Bells & Boughs

September 25, 2024 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, we’re exploring some of the ways we can use the Stampin’ Up! Season of Green & Gold suite of products. Today, we’re using it in a more traditional holiday-inspired layout.

Our design gets started with a base of Shaded Spruce cardstock. Our focal panel uses two patterns from the Season of Green & Gold designer series paper pack. I just love the gold-foiled patterns, and here we’re using the mistletoe and diamond patterns to create the backdrop for our focal section. The sentiment from Greetings of the Season is stamped in Shaded Spruce on Very Vanilla cardstock and then diecut with the Autumn Leaves die using the extension method. The greenery and bells are cut from a sheet of the Season of Green & Gold patterned paper and then adhered with several layers of dimensionals. The bells are adhered over a satin bow tied with the Very Vanilla satin ribbon. A mixture of drusy embellishments add sparkle and draw the eye across the card design.

I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to see how we can use this suite to create a fall-inspired design.

Products used in this card:
Shaded Spruce, Very Vanilla cardstock
Season of Green & Gold DSP
Greetings of the Season stamps
Autumn Leaves dies
Very Vanilla satin ribbon
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List