Great Explorer

February 5, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Thursday, everyone! Whew — it’s been a rough week as we have all transitioned back to normal life after the Winter Storm Fern. Work and school and all of the things are back in full swing, and I guess I just wasn’t ready. Hopefully next week will go a little more smoothly.

But all that aside, I’m back with some more tips & tricks for those masculine cards. This week, we’re looking for those shortcuts to make cards for the fellas come together a little quicker. We started by using a sketch with geometric patterns. Today, we’re focusing on color palette as we take our cues from the new Nature Walk paper released by Stampin’ Up! This gorgeous paper combines hues of blue and brown and green to create perfect subtle patterns. We’re pairing it up with the newer Outdoor Adventure stamp & die set to make our adventure-themed card.

We get started with a base of Secret Sea cardstock and then add a sheet of the Nature Walk patterned paper as our backdrop. We cut an accent piece from a sheet of Timeless Plaid using the Textured Notes rectangle dies and adhered on the left side of our card. I stamped a stand of trees on white cardstock in a combination of Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, and Soft Sea Foam using the Outdoor Adventure stamp and then cut it out with one of the smaller Spotlight on Nature dies. It’s adhered over a bow of Secret Sea cardstock with dimensionals. Our wolf is stamped in Smoky Slate on Cloud Cover cardstock and then cut with the coordinating die from the Outdoor Adventure die set. It’s adhered at the bottom of our tree panel with several layers of dimensionals for some extra depth in the scene. I stamped the sentiment from the Outdoor Adventure set onto vellum with Versamark and then heat embossed with silver embossing powder. It’s cut out with the banner die from the Stylish Shapes set using the extension method to make it long enough to capture the full sentiment. The sentiment banner is adhered at the top of our focal panel using glue dots on either end to make it look like the banner is rippling in the wind. We finish things off with some Mossy Meadow and Secret Sea embellishments from the Moody Palette and Sparkle dot sets.

I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see a clean and simple design that comes together in minutes.

Product List

Secret Sea 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165624]

$14.00

Cloud Cover 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165621]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Nature Walk 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[166912]

$12.50

Timeless Plaid 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[164678]

$12.50

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

[167099]

$10.00

Outdoor Adventure Bundle (English)

[168009]

$38.50

Textured Notes Dies

[165555]

$31.00

Spotlight On Nature Dies

[163580]

$35.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$30.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[147113]

$9.00

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

[147111]

$9.00

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[147090]

$9.00

Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad

[147102]

$9.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Secret Sea 3/8" (1 Cm) Bordered Open Weave Ribbon

[166932]

$8.50

Moody Palette Glossy Dots

[167180]

$8.00

Sparkle Dot Essentials

[166991]

$8.00

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Masculine Designs

Amazing Nature

February 2, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, friends. Can you believe it’s Monday already? There was lots on the to-do list this weekend which meant that the weekend flew by, but it felt good to get most of what we had on the list all done. We bid adieu to the Christmas decorations (am I the only one who waits until February to take it down?) and put the house back together.

This week we’re beginning a new design series that’s all about the fellas. It can sometimes be hard to make cards that feel more masculine, but we’re going to explore our crafty stash together and find some shortcuts to masculine designs. And today’s shortcut begins with a sketch. I’ve found that a geometric feel to a card layout can lend itself to feeling more masculine. With a more neutral color palette and some earthy patterns in the Autumn Toile and Nature Walk papers, we have the perfect recipe for a card fit for a dear dude. (Did you catch my play on words there? *wink*)

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. I used a sheet of the Mossy Meadow Nature Walk patterned paper to serve as the backdrop for the design. Our three repeating shapes are from the Nested Essentials die set and are cut from a sheet of the Autumn Toile patterned paper. I really love how you can still make out the original scene as you look down the three shapes and how the deer repeat in each panel in a perfect triangle.

The sentiment panel finishes our visual triangle and is punched from vanilla cardstock with the To the Point label punch. The sentiment from the Words of Beauty stamp set is stamped in Early Espresso. We cut some oak leaves and acorns from Cajun Craze and Early Espresso cardstocks and adhere them behind the sentiment panel, along with a twist of white & gold baker’s twine. The whole panel is then adhered to the card front with dimensionals. And we finish everything off with some gold drusy embellishments for the perfect pop of sparkle.

Today’s sketch is from the current Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and also happens to be our current Luv 2 Stamp team challenge sketch. What do you think about using a sketch to inspire your masculine cards?

I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see what other tips we can use to make creating masculine cards a little less challenging!

Product List

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

[120953]

$14.00

Very Vanilla 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166784]

$14.00

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119686]

$14.00

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

[119684]

$14.00

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

[165882]

$12.50

Nature Walk 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[166912]

$12.50

Words Of Beauty Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167083]

$20.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[147114]

$9.00

To The Point Label Punch

[164568]

$25.00

Nested Essentials Dies

[161597]

$34.00

Label Me Grateful Dies

[166111]

$24.00

Drusy Adhesive Backed Embellishments

[164223]

$9.00

Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine

[166005]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Winter Wish

January 24, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back, friends, for a bonus post on this snowy day in North Texas. Winter Storm Fern is living up to all the hype here for sure as temperatures are frigid and mixed precipitation continues to fall. The streets are covered and roads are slippery, so needless to say, we’re staying home where it’s safe & warm.

And that’s giving me the opportunity to make up for the crafting time I didn’t get earlier in the week. I thought it would be fun to have a few bonus posts that give an ode to the current weather here. So today I’m inking up a stamp set I’ve had for a while that has *eek* made its way to the Last Chance list — Snowy Delights. Time to get it inky! And it just so happens to pair up perfectly with the new Nature Walk paper.

We get started with a base of Night of Navy cardstock. The background pattern is from the Nature Walk paper pack and I machine embossed it with the Soft Waves embossing folder to give a snowdrift effect. The embossed panel is wrapped in a combination of Cloud Cover and Misty Moonlight & silver ribbons before it’s adhered to the card front. Our focal image from the Snowy Delights stamp set is stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed in silver before being diecut with the coordinating outline die. I added some of the white frosted iridescent dots to the center of the snowflake for some extra detail and a bit of sparkle. The snowflake is adhered over the ribbon with dimensionals. The sentiment from the Snowy Delights set is embossed on vellum in silver before being cut out with the banner die from the Stylish Shapes set. It’s adhered over the snowflake with glue dots so the adhesive isn’t visible. A few extra iridescent frosted dots finish things off.

What do you think of this super simple tribute to Winter Storm Fern? I think it’s pretty perfect. I hope you’re staying & safe and warm in your neck of the woods. It’s the perfect evening to curl up with some soup and a good movie and that’s just what we plan to do!

Product List