Fun Folds · January Mini Catalog · Online Exclusives

All Good Things

Howdy, friends, and welcome back on this bright & shiny Tuesday. We’re still frozen in under a pretty thick layer of ice here in North Texas, and it’s Day 2 of no school. That may sound a little strange to anyone who lives in a colder climate, but we don’t get very many days of ice or snow in winter so we’re not prepared to handle it. And we have a blanket of solid ice without any associated traction, so roads are a mess at best. But the goodness is that we’re finally expected to get above freezing this afternoon and should experience some thawing. Will it be enough to get us all back to work & school tomorrow? Well, that remains to be seen. But for now, I’m enjoying a beautiful sunrise out my craft room window.

This week, we’re using the new Days Like This Memories & More cards to create our projects. This pack contains a combination of 3×4 and 4×6 decorative cards that could be used for scrapbook pages or for cards and other projects. And today we’re using the smaller cards to create a double Z fun fold card.

I’m using a standard A2 card base (4.25 x 5.5-inch card front) for today’s card because I prefer to keep things sized so they’re easy to mail, but you might decide to size up to have the scale of the smaller Z-panel be more in line with the overall card size. We’re getting started with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. We’re going to score as usual in the center to create a standard card base and then score again in the center of the front panel to create our base Z-fold. I used a scrap of Lovely Blossoms patterned paper to create the two 2-inch panels for the smaller front Z-flap and inside peek-through panel.

Then we start working on our focal Z-panel, which is a little smaller. I sized the Cloud Cover base so that none of the small cards from the Days Like This card pack had to be cut down. I wanted to preserve all of the pretty details of each of the patterns selected — the front sentiment panel, middle pattern, and inside butterflies. Caveat: this does impact how much you’re able to open the card — it will not lie flat when open. (Side note: I need to work on some kind of sliding mechanism for the next one I make like this.) To preserve all of the pretty card details means that our message panel — a blank card with tiny butterfly detail on the bottom — is a hidden, pull-out element. I used a piece of the Secret Sea bordered ribbon and stabled it in place to serve as the pull-out tab for the message panel. Some Wink of Stella on the smaller butterflies in each of the panels adds some twinkly interest, along with the Cloud Cover baker’s twine from the 2025 Advent Calendar and a few iridescent foil gems.

Today’s design is definitely a craft on the fly design, and there are a few things that I would change if I had taken more time. But sometimes the fun part of the creative process is just following an idea all the way through and seeing how it turns out. Do you ever just let yourself run with idea?

I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow for another look at the Days Like This Memories & More cards.

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January Mini Catalog · Online Exclusives

Celebrate Days Like This

Happy Monday, crafty friends! Is it cold where you are today? We’re experiencing super cold temps here in North Texas as Winter Storm Fern has left a cold air mass in place. All of the sleet and snow that fell over the weekend is solidly frozen in place and a perfect slippery ice rink for the kiddos to play in. On days like this, I like to stay warm and craft. What about you?

Speaking of days like this, this week we’re beginning a new design series incorporating the new Memories & More pack called Days Like This. The pack includes a mix of 3×4 and 4×6 cards with an assortment of spring(ish) designs. Pair it up with some patterned paper, like I have a here, and add a sentiment, like this one from the Unforgettable Times ephemera pack and you’ve got a super quick — and cute — design!

We get started with a base of white cardstock, which isn’t visible on our card front. A full quarter panel of a sheet of the Lovely Blossoms paper serves as the backdrop by our large focal panel. I used one of the larger cards from the Days Like This card pack as the focal panel and matted it with Pool Party shimmer paper. The panel is wrapped with white & gold baker’s twine at the top, and then we adhere our sentiment from the Unforgettable Times ephemera pack on top with dimensionals. The full focal panel is adhered to the card front with dimensionals, as well. We finish things off with a touch of sparkle with some iridescent foil gems.

You could celebrate all kinds of occasions with this card, making it a good all-around design to have in the stash. I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see more of the Days Like This Memories & More pack.

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Botanicals · January Mini Catalog

Blossoms of Recovery

Welcome to the midweek, everyone! My best intentions of getting this post wrapped up and published yesterday didn’t come to pass. My day just didn’t quite go as planned. We’re still working to get back into the groove of all the things after the holiday break and I forgot how busy Tuesdays typically turn out to be.

This week, we’re continuing to take a look at some of the new products that hit the store last week. If you haven’t checked out all that’s new, click here to take a look. It’s definitely worth the peek!

So this week we’re working with the new Prayers & Promises stamp set. These sentiments cover a whole bunch of occasions and help with those “difficult” cards. Today we’re making a get well card using a whole host of new products, including paper, laser cut elements, ribbon, and embellishments!

We get started with a base of white cardstock. A sheet of the Lovely Blossoms patterned paper serves as our backdrop. I love the combination of the soft background with the bold Secret Sea accents. Our focal panel combines several elements. We start with a base of the January Product of the Month (still available!) called True Blue Florals and then layer the new Pleasant Patterns foiled paper on top. The sentiment from the Prayers & Promises set is stamped in Secret Sea on one of the diecut sentiment panels included in the 2025 Advent Calendar, which is adhered in the bottom corner with dimensionals. I layered some Covered in Flowers accents, colored with Wink of Stella, over a twist of the new white with gold ribbon. We finish things off with some sparkle dot essentials for an additional pop of twinkle.

This card comes together in a flash and is sure to be the perfect pick-me-up for a friend who’s under the weather. We’ll be staying with our botanical theme tomorrow as we pair our sentiment set with two new multi-image bundles. I hope you’ll drop in to see which bundles are coming to the stage!

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Botanicals · January Mini Catalog

Birthday Blossoms

TGIF, everybody! We made it thru the first full work week since the holidays. How did it go for you? It was pretty busy here. I’m glad I had worked ahead in the craft room last weekend!

This week, we’ve been working with the new Lovely Blossoms suite that just released in the store this week. Today, we’re combining all of the suite elements to create this lovely birthday card.

We get started with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock, which provides a nice contrast with our focal panel background of Secret Sea. A sheet of the small white floral pattern from the Lovely Blossoms paper pack provides our backdrop for the focal panel. Our focal panel has lots of layers. We start with a piece of vellum machine embossed with the Lovely Stripes embossing folder included in the suite. This provides a subtle relief from our background and provides a soft landing for our bold focal backdrop of Secret Sea glimmer paper that has been cut using the Lovely Arrangements circle backdrop die. The floral elements use the coordinating Lovely Arrangements stamps and dies. The flowers are stamped in Cloud Cover on white and then cut with the coordinating die. We adhere them to our backdrop with dimensionals. The leaves are cut from Soft Sea Foam using the leaf die from the Delicate Pines die set and are tucked behind over flowers in opposing corners for balance. The sentiment from Lovely Arrangements is stamped in Secret Sea on white and then diecut with the small sentiment strip die from the coordinating die set. The sentiment sits atop a strip of the Cloud Cover broad ribbon placed in the center of our foliage. We finish things off with some Cloud Cover dots in opposing corners for just a flash of color and reflective sparkle.

I really love how this one came out. So soft and elegant. I’ll be taking a little break tomorrow as we travel out of town for a family funeral. But I’ll be back next week with some new products,

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Botanicals · January Mini Catalog

Blossoms of Smiles

Howdy, friends, and welcome back! This week is coasting along. And all I can think about is all of the things I have to do before we head out of town this weekend for a family funeral — get the kitties situated, tidy up the house, last-minute laundry, packing. Ack! So many things. But somehow I know it will all get done and things will be fine. We’re fortunate to have friends who are willing to let their teenager taking on the pet sitter gig, so we know our guys will be in good hands!

This week, we’re getting an in-depth look at the brand new suite called Lovely Blossoms. It just launched in the online store. Have you checked out all of the new goodies that dropped in the store this week? I’m really loving this suite because you can create so many different looks based on the products you combine. And today we’re letting our stamps and dies take center stage. I actually borrowed the inspiration for today’s card design from one of the samples in the online store. Maybe you can figure out which one?

Today’s card is actually pretty simple and comes together relatively easily. We get started with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. I used a quarter panel as the backdrop and punched it up by die cutting the eyelet pattern on the diagonal across it using the Lovely Arrangements die. The panel is then adhered to the card front with dimensionals to really give that eyelet pattern more prominence. Our focal section is the florals. I stamped a collection of both the large and small flowers from the Lovely Arrangements stamp set in Secret Sea on white paper and cut with the coordinating dies. The images are filled in with an assortment of Stampin’ Blends, using the darks from each pair for the centers and the lighter blends for the flower petals and edges. Nothing too precise — just swipes across the images. I really love this simple shading method and the look you get. I also stamped a couple of the leaf bunches in Garden Green on Soft Sea Foam paper and cut them with the coordinating die. And then we start arranging the flowers and leaves to get the layers of color and shapes that are most pleasing to the eye before sticking everything down. Glue dots adhere the elements that are in the background, while varying layers of dimensionals give us the depth and layers in the flowers. The sentiment sits on a banner of vellum cut with the Words of Beauty die. The sentiment from the Lovely Arrangements stamp set is stamped in Versamark on vellum and then heat embossed with gold and is adhered over a twist of the gold striped mesh ribbon with glue dots. A few traditional sparkling sequins finish things off with a pop of Pool Party.

I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow as we continue our Lovely Blossoms design series with a closer look at the dies.

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Fun Folds · January Mini Catalog

Because You’re Amazing

Welcome back and welcome to the midweek! With most of us going back to work and kiddos returning to school, this is either the first full week for some or simply feels like the longest short week ever for others. *wink*

But how about some new product inspiration to give a little bright spot in this week for you?! Did you know that a whole bunch of new stuff hit the online store yesterday? Yep — there are 3 new kits, a whole new batch of online exclusives, PLUS all of the products in the new January Mini catalog. Soooooo many goodies. And this week, we’re getting a good look at the brand new Lovely Blossoms suite that includes paper, ribbon, embellishments, stamps, dies, and an embossing folder.

Today’s featured fun fold card puts another one of the ready-made card panels on display. The new Lovely Blossoms paper pack includes a full sheet of these panels of varying sizes. Today’s panel is a little smaller, which lets some of the other cool goodies in this suite get a chance at the spotlight. Let’s take a closer look.

Our card front starts with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. For this fun fold, we’re using a standard A2-sized base. The backdrop for our front focal panel is a combination of two patterned papers. The mat is from the Traditions of Christmas pack and our floral panel is from the new Lovely Blossoms pack. Our focal panel base is white cardstock that is embossed with the new Lovely Stripes embossing folder. This folder gives a nice, deep impression in the paper making the details really pop. I used my paper snips to cut closely around the focal image from the ready-made panel I cut from the Lovely Blossoms paper. The little detail of the overhanging leaves just added a nice soft touch to the card front. The because sentiment is from the Words of Beauty set and is stamped on vellum with Secret Sea ink and then set with clear embossing powder before being diecut with the coordinating outline die. It’s adhered to the focal panel with glue dots to keep the adhesive invisible. The focal panel is adhered to our embossed panel with dimensionals over a twist of the new Cloud Burst ribbon and we finish off our focal panel with a dash of subtle twinkle with the new Moody Palette glossy dots.

When we open our small front focal panel, we reveal the other portion of our sentiment I think you’re amazing from the Words of Beauty set. Our sentiment panel sits atop a beautiful backdrop of some of the smaller ready-made panels from the Lovely Blossoms paper. We add some interest to our backdrop using the Stylish Shapes dies and the set of postage stamp dies in the 2025 Advent Calendar.

The sentiment is stamped on vellum in Secret Sea and heat set with clear embossing powder before being cut with a smaller banner die from the Stylish Shapes die set. It’s adhered over a faux bow of Cloud Cover baker’s twine from the 2025 Advent Calendar. And we finish off our sentiment panel with a little pop of twinkle with some Secret Sea Moody Palette glossy dots. The card opens up to a blank white message panel which covers the anchor portion of our smaller front focal panel.

Tomorrow we’re going to let the stamps & dies from the Lovely Blossoms bundle take center stage. I hope you’ll drop in and see.

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Botanicals · Fun Folds · January Mini Catalog

Thankful Blossoms

Welcome in, friends! I hope your week is off to a good start. This is the first full week I will have had since the flu and the holidays. And I’m still not sure what day it is! *snicker* All of the kiddos in our area are returning to school today so the roads are back to being busy.

This week, I’m playing with some of my new January Mini Catalog goodies with an up-close look at the new Lovely Blossoms bundle by Stampin’ Up! This terrific bundle includes it all — stamps, dies, embossing folder, paper, embellishments…the works! And one of my favorite things about the paper in this set is the sheet of ready-made card elements. With a pretty tight schedule these days, it’s nice to have ways to still make handmade smiles without hours in the craft room.

Today’s fun fold card starts with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. I’m using the barn fold here which places the flaps opening squarely in the center of the card front. But I used an overly large overlay panel to give the look of a traditional cohesive card front. Isn’t that such a fun twist on this barn fold?! I used one of the largest ready-made panels from the Lovely Blossoms sheet and cut it down just a smidge with the largest Textured Notes die. The panel is then matted with Secret Sea glimmer paper and the full panel is adhered just to the left flap of our barn fold. The sentiment from the Lovely Arrangements stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea on white cardstock and then diecut with the Words of Beauty middle-sized sentiment panel die. The sentiment is adhered over a twist of the new white with gold ribbon in the bottom corner of our front focal panel. And we add bits of sparkle with some of the brand new Secret Sea sparkle dot essentials.

Now comes the fun part — the inside of our card. The message panel has a flower image from the Lovely Arrangments set stamped in the bottom corner. Each of the flaps is covered with a coordinating lighter floral and vine patterned sheet from the Lovely Blossoms set. And then we cover the exposed part of our front card panel with a coordinating Secret Sea patterned sheet from the Lovely Blossoms paper pack.

I just love how this one comes together. You could even add an inside sentiment on the left inside panel. That would be a really nice variation actually. *making note to self* Tomorrow we’re going to be making another fun fold with this suite and getting a sneak peek at a few more new products. I hope you’ll drop in and see!

Products used:
Secret Sea, Basic White cardstock
Lovely Blossoms, Peaceful Garden glimmer DSP
Textured Notes, Words of Beauty dies
Lovely Arrangements stamps
Secret Sea ink
White with gold ribbon
Sparkle dot essentials
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon

Here for You

Happy Monday, friends! Did you have a productive weekend? We ticked quite a few things off the to-do list. And then there’s still quite a bit left to do. Isn’t that how it always goes? A never-ending to-do list, it seems.

Even with all of the household to-dos, I still found some time to play in the studio with new stampin’ goodies. I’m really digging into the new releases that will go live in the shop tomorrow (1/6). You guys are going to love them! This week, we’re going to playing with the Lovely Blossoms suite. This gorgeous suite of SU! products includes patterned paper, stamps, dies, an embossing folder, ribbon, and embellishments. I love the cool hues of this suite! And *bonus* one of the patterned papers includes a side of mixed-size images that make quick work of a card front. And we’re using one of those today.

Today, we’re keeping things pretty simple. We get started with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. The background layer is the striped pattern from the Traditions of Christmas paper pack. I cut apart the image sheet in the Lovely Blossoms paper pack and used one of the large images. To make things interesting, I decided to cut it down with the Everyday Arches dies and cut a mat from a sheet of the silver Peaceful Garden glimmer paper with the next-up arch die. The sentiment is from the new (coordinating) Lovely Arrangements stamp set and is stamped in Secret Sea right on top of the focal image panel. The whole panel, including mat, is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. And we finish everything off with a bow of Misty Moonlight & Silver ribbon and some of the new Misty Moonlight sparkle dots.

This card comes together in a jiffy thanks to the ready-made card front panel. We’re going to use another panel tomorrow but in a dressed-up version. I hope you’ll pop in and check it out!

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