Monster Mash

July 2, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Wacky Wednesday, as my kiddo likes to say! Part of me can’t believe it’s Wednesday, and then at the same time, it seems like the longest week ever. Funny how short weeks with holidays are always like that. Wacky for sure!

This week, we’re having fun designing with some of the new Online Exclusive products that launched this week. And today we’re playing with the new Spooky Sweet paper and ephemera again because I just couldn’t resist these cute critters all dressed up and ready for a good party! When I first saw the sheet of paper in the pack with all of the Halloween cuties on it, all I could think of was the song Monster Mash. And *voila* that’s how this design came to life.

We get started with a base of Highland Heather cardstock. I used another one of the 4×5 panels from another Spooky Sweet sheet as the background panel. It reminded me of a photo prop. What do you think? Next to the arches of our photo area, we adhere two of the large urns from the ephemera sheet and then place the mummy hippo in front on a layer of dimensionals. I cut two of the cute critters from Halloween cuties sheet in the pack and used multiple layers of dimensionals to adhere them in front of our hippo to give the effect of these little guys being more in front of our hippo who’s striking his best pose. To add to the festive atmosphere, we’ve hung some banners in the back and have some sparkly confetti falling. So simple but so cute!

Tomorrow we’re going to see more of the Label Me Grateful bundle. I hope you drop by and check it out!

Product List

Highland Heather 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146986]

$14.00

Spooky Sweet 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[166191]

$16.50

Purple Fine Shimmer Gems

[162611]

$8.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[144220]

$6.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Online Exclusives

Fairy Korn

July 1, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome in on this fine Tuesday! We’re enjoying a cool front here, which makes it a bit more pleasant to be outside. And anytime you can enjoy a July evening outside is a good one in Texas!

Did you get a chance to see all of the new products that dropped today? There’s a whole new batch of Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives and 2 new kits. If you haven’t seen the new goodies yet, you should pop over to my store and take a look! This week, we’re creating designs that use some of these new products. Today, I’m showcasing the new Spooky Sweet paper pack and included ephemera. You can easily whip up adorable Halloween-themed scenes like this one.

This card gets started with a base of Basic Black cardstock. I cut one of the 4×5 cards from the Spooky Sweet scene sheet to serve as the backdrop for this scene card, and it’s matted with a piece of the pink/purple pastel ombre shimmer paper for some extra sparkly pizzazz. A handful of ephemera create our focal section, which is a combination of the cute bear dressed up as a fairy, a cauldron and bubbles, some candy corn, and a bat. Dimensionals are the key to giving lots of depth to this scene. Wink of Stella adds subtle twinkle to the fairy’s wings, crown, and scepter, as well as the cauldron bubbles. I also added some rhinestone and shimmer gems to the fairy’s crown, some clear gems to the cauldron bubbles, and finished off the night sky with a few shimmer foam stars. Easy peasy!

Tomorrow we’re headed to the monster mash. I hope you’ll drop in!

Product List

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[121045]

$14.00

Pastel Ombre Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[164851]

$12.00

Spooky Sweet 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[166191]

$16.50

Shimmer Star Foam Stickers

[166202]

$9.50

Strawberry Slush & Pretty In Pink Gems

[165615]

$8.50

Purple Fine Shimmer Gems

[162611]

$8.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[144220]

$6.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Appreciated

June 30, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome to a bright, shiny week all full of fun and possibilities! We had a nice lowkey weekend. With things really heating up here in North Texas, there wasn’t much fun to be had outside unless you were up for frying an egg on the sidewalk! *wink*

We’re starting a new design series this week. With a whole new set of Online Exclusives dropping tomorrow, we’re going to be taking a closer look at some of the things that I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on. And first up is the Label Me Grateful bundle, which is a set of lovely scripted sentiments and a set of dies that includes a large label and accent pieces. Today, I’m pairing it up with the Timeless Plaid paper to create a nice masculine card.

We get started with a base of neutral Crumb Cake cardstock. A sheet of the green plaid paper from the Timeless Plaid pack serves as our backdrop. I used the label die from the new Label Me Grateful set to cut a piece of Cloud Cover Flower Garden foil. The sentiment from the Label Me Grateful stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea on white cardstock and then cut with the middle label die from the Mixed Labels die set using the extension method. The sentiment is adhered over a twist of the new Mossy Meadow & Gold trim using dimensionals. I cut a few sprigs of greenery and a flower from pastel ombre glimmer paper and tucked them next to the sentiment. One of the new Secret Sea charming shimmer faceted dots serves as the floral center, while gold flecked gems flank the sentiment panel on either side.

Tune in tomorrow to see what’s cooking up next. *spooky*

Products releasing tomorrow!
Label Me Grateful stamps & dies
Mossy Meadow & gold trim
Charming shimmer faceted dots

Product List

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

[120953]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

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

[164678]

$12.50

Flower Garden Foils 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[165511]

$10.00

Pastel Ombre Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[164851]

$12.00

Mixed Labels Dies

[164652]

$21.00

Strawberry Slush & Pretty In Pink Gems

[165615]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Coming Soon · Treat Boxes

Boo Box

June 24, 2025June 23, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week’s design theme is 3D projects, and today we’re whipping up a super simple (but simply adorable) treat box using some up-and-coming Online Exclusives. The new Spooky Sweet paper pack and coordinating precut shapes are just adorable. Add a few twinkly stars and some iridescent ribbon and you have the perfect treat box for your trick-or-treaters!

Our treat box is made from Basic Black cardstock. I used two different patterns from the Spooky Sweet paper pack on the box and added a little twinkle with the glimmer paper for an extra pop on the lid. I chose some precut shapes that complimented the patterned paper and helped tell the trick-or-treating story on the lid. A few sparkly stars scattered across the lid finish things off. I found that adding a few finger notches on the sides of the lid, as well as the little tab on the front of the box really helped make the box much easier to open.

Isn’t this box the cutest?! A simple swap of paper and embellishments and you can have a cute little gift box for any occasion! Wanna try making one yourself? You can download the instructions here.

Products used in today’s project:
Basic Black cardstock
Spooky Sweet DSP & cutouts (coming July 1st)
Three color glimmer paper (retired)
Petunia Pop iridescent ribbon (coming July 1st)
Shimmer stars foam pieces (coming July 1st)
Small circle punch
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Online Exclusives · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: You Can!

April 5, 2025April 5, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

As I mentioned in my earlier post today, my week kind-of got away from me. So we’re having our Sketchy Fridays post today instead. This week, we’re working with a nature theme and with a dreary, rainy day here in North Texas, I’m finding myself leaning into a water theme for our next card design.

For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we’re 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 #7 from the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. Today’s design features the Otterly Adorable suite from one of the latest Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives releases.

I just love the Otterly Adorable suite and was actually just mentioning to my husband how I hadn’t used it much. So as I was looking for a sketch, I had this set on my mind. One of the things we’ve talked about throughout our Sketchy Fridays series is that sometimes your final design follows a sketch to a tee, while other times the sketch was just your jumping off point. And I think for today’s card, my selected sketch from the SU! Annual Catalog was more of an inspiration for the placement of the card elements I had in mind. The beautiful thing about crafting is that there are NO rules!

We get started on this card with a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. I chose the fish pattern from the Otterly Adorable paper pack as the focal panel backdrop and cut it out using the largest Textured Notes die. For the focal image, I chose the baby otter swimming with its parents because it seemed to work perfectly for the chosen sentiment of “you can do this.” I cut out the otters using the Spotlight on Nature dies. I wanted the focal image to stand out against the backdrop, so I matted it with some Pretty Peacock glimmer paper cut out with a slightly larger circle from the Spotlight on Nature die set. To add a bit more color and visual interest around the otters, I cut the smaller fish from Flirty Flamingo cardstock using the Otterly Amazing dies and then used my glue pen to adhere them. The otters are adhered to the sparkly mat with dimensionals and then adhered directly to the fishy backdrop. The sentiment from Saying Hey (currently on the Last Chance list!) is stamped in Pretty Peacock on a panel of the water paper from the Otterly Amazing paper pack that has been diecut using the Something Fancy banner die. I adhered this over a twist of some gold thread with two layers of dimensionals to be sure the sentiment really stands out. The full focal panel is adhered to the card base with dimensionals and we finish things off with a few Lost Lagoon faceted gems and riverside irregular pearls.

Next week, we’re going to look at some of my favorites that are on the Last Chance list. I hope you’ll follow along!

Product List

Pretty Peacock 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[150880]

$11.50

Three Color Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[162813]

$10.50

Flirty Flamingo 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[141416]

$11.50

Otterly Adorable Suite Collection (English)

[164939]

$75.25

Spotlight On Nature Dies

[163580]

$35.00

Textured Notes Dies

[165555]

$31.00

Something Fancy Dies

[160424]

$28.00

Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150083]

$9.00

Gold Twisted Thread

[164603]

$7.50

Faceted Gems Trio Pack

[162148]

$7.50

Riverside Irregular Pearls

[164937]

$9.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Fine-Tip Glue Pen

[138309]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Online Exclusives · Pattern of Friendship

Joy & Laughter

March 14, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

TGIF, everybody! We’ve made it to the end of the week. And it’s certainly been a busy one. Finishing up the work week and packing for a trip is no small task, and that completely put me off schedule yesterday. But in between packing and cleaning today in preparation for our family spring break trip, I squeezed in a little time to make this cutie.

This week, we’ve been exploring all of the cute ways that we can use the new Pattern of Friendship bundle from Stampin’ Up! And today, we’re pairing it up with the Bright Skies and Playing in the Rain dies to make this chipper scene. I also tried a new stamp technique to create an ombré effect with the sentiment and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out!

This design starts with a base of white cardstock. I love how it makes the scene really pop. The scene is built on a base of Balmy Blue cardstock. I wanted the grassy hills to look like they were freshly mowed and so I began by using the Pattern of Friendship die to make the mower lines in the Lemon Lime Twist panel before cutting the hills using the Bright Skies long cloud die. I already had the flowers cut from a previous project — they’re a combination of Mossy Meadow and Pretty in Pink. I adhered the grass and flowers with dimensionals and create depth with different heights. I added a few clouds to the sky that are cut from Graceful Greenery vellum with the Bright Skies dies. The sentiment is stamped in between in Misty Moonlight that is stamped off using different pressure across the stamp to create an ombré look to the stamped sentiment. I finished things off by cutting a butterfly from the pastel ombré glimmer paper using the Playing in the Rain dies and added two tone sparkle gems to the wings to give some definition to the butterfly. A few starburst sequins finish things off with a little detailed sparkle.

I’ll be taking tomorrow off to enjoy some time with the family. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! I’ll be popping in on Monday to bring you a perfectly festive design. ☘️ I hope you’ll check it out!

Products used in today’s card:
Basic White, Balmy Blue, Lemon Lime Twist, Mossy Meadow, Pretty in Pink cardstock
Graceful Greenery vellum, pastel ombré glimmer paper
Pattern of Friendship bundle
Bright Skies, Playing in the Rain dies
Two tone sparkle gems, starburst sequins
Dimensionals

Online Exclusives · Pattern of Friendship

Let’s Keep in Touch

March 12, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’re already halfway through this week, folks! My fellow demos are off to North Carolina for the annual Stampin’ Up! convention. And I’m here at home prepping for a little spring break adventure with the fam in just a few days. Needless to say, I’m actually a little sad that this week is halfway gone!

This week, our designs feature the new Online Exclusive bundle called Pattern of Friendship. I’ve had a lot of fun coming up with different ways to use this fun set. Today we’re pairing it up with the Hot Air Balloon dies and Everyday Skies paper. See if you can spot where the fun texture die comes into play.

We get started with a base of white cardstock. I chose white to provide contrast with the focal panel. Our focal panel starts with a piece of Petal Pink glimmer paper that is diecut with the Textured Notes dies. This serves as the eye-catching mat for our focal sheet of Everyday Skies patterned paper that is diecut with the Perennial Postage dies. I cut two hot air balloons with the Hot Air Balloon dies. And for a fun little twist, I add texture to both balloons with the Pattern of Friendship die and the Painted Texture embossing folder. To give some dimension to the scene, I adhered the balloons on dimensionals of different heights. I added a few clouds that I cut from Graceful Greenery vellum using the Hot Air Balloon dies. The sentiment from Pattern of Friendship is stamped in Cajun Craze on white cardstock and then cut with the small banner die from the Countryside Corners dies. I scattered some shiny sequins across the panel for some eye-catching sparkle.

We’ll look for more fun ways to make patterns as we continue our design series through the week. I hope you’ll stop in and check it out.

Product List

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$13.00

Peach Pie 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163799]

$11.50

Flirty Flamingo 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[141416]

$11.50

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

[119686]

$11.50

Everyday Skies 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[164622]

$12.50

Three Color Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[162813]

$10.50

Graceful Greenery Vellum 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[164118]

$10.00

Pattern Of Friendship Bundle (English)

[165385]

$48.50

Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad

[147085]

$9.00

Textured Notes Dies

[165555]

$31.00

Perennial Postage Dies

[162607]

$33.00

Hot Air Balloon Dies

[162754]

$30.00

Countryside Corners Dies

[161471]

$28.00

Painted Texture 3 D Embossing Folder

[154317]

$10.00

Adhesive Backed Shiny Sequins

[163484]

$7.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Add All to Cart

Online Exclusives · Pattern of Friendship

A Smile to My Face

March 10, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week, our featured design product is the Pattern of Friendship bundle by Stampin’ Up! This stamp and die bundle just released with the new Online Exclusive products. It’s not your typical stamp and die bundle though. The accompanying die is a full-size background die that leaves delicate lines of dots in your paper. What I love about this die is being able to create so many different looks with this one very simple die. Let’s check out today’s card to see what I mean.

This design was inspired by a card I saw made by fellow demo Mikaela Titheridge over at the Crafty O’ Ink Pen. We get started with a base of Balmy Blue cardstock. The focal panel has a mat of Misty Moonlight cardstock which serves to give some structure and stability to our focal panel and some depth to our color palette. The focal panel is a sheet of the blue Beautiful Bokeh that has been cut with the Pattern of Friendship die on the diagonal to create an argyle pattern. I love how this pattern gives the illusion of blowing rain. Using the Bright Skies dies, I cut several different sized clouds from white cardstock and adhered them in several different layers onto our focal panel. I stamped the sentiment from Pattern of Friendship in Versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder onto a sheet of the yellow Beautiful Bokeh paper and then cut a circle using the Spotlight on Nature dies to create the sun for the scene. I tucked the sun behind the clouds. I added some raindrops under the clouds using the blue tinsel gems and then added some bits of sparkly interest with the white and yellow starburst sequins.

Reimagining how to pair products in our crafty stash is what making a papercrafter so much fun. When I’m looking for a unique spin on an otherwise very traditional idea, I try to think of how I can use something from my stash differently. Like using the Pattern of Friendship background die to create the look of rain. How can you reimagine some of your favorites?

I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to see what else we can get up to with this week’s featured bundle!

Product List

Balmy Blue 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146982]

$11.50

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

[153081]

$11.50

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$13.00

Beautiful Bokeh 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[164607]

$12.50

Pattern Of Friendship Bundle (English)

[165385]

$48.50

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Basics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165679]

$21.00

Bright Skies Dies

[162793]

$34.00

Spotlight On Nature Dies

[163580]

$35.00

Starburst Sequins

[165539]

$7.50

Tinsel Gems Four Pack

[161623]

$8.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Online Exclusives · Thankful Garden

You’re On My Mind

March 10, 2025March 9, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Saturday….uh, I mean Monday? As I’m sure you could tell, Saturday came and went and all was quiet here. Saturday turned out to be a much busier day than we had originally anticipated. The kiddo had an Academic Pentathlon tournament and then we had dinner with friends. I expected to have enough time in between to make charcuterie boards AND a card. But those best laid plans didn’t quite pan out. But I had this idea in my head and wanted to share one final card to wrap up our week with the Lovely Garden suite. So today, you’ll be getting TWO posts!

Our final card in the Lovely Garden design series pairs this lovely paper with the new Pattern of Friendship die, Mixed Labels stamps, and paper butterflies (one of my favorite accessories). I wanted to try something a little different with the Pattern of Friendship die and double cut to create a pattern, and I really love how it turned out and am looking forward to trying out some other pattern ideas.

Our card gets started with a base of Fresh Freesia cardstock. I used the small floral pattern sheet from the Lovely Garden paper pack as the backdrop for our focal panel. The focal panel is also a sheet of the Lovely Garden pack and is matted with a sheet of the tungsten textured metallic cardstock that has been inlaid with a plaid pattern using the Pattern of Friendship die. I wrapped some Fresh Freesia velvet ribbon around the metallic panel before adhering to the base with dimensionals. The floral patterned focal panel is adhered over the metallic mat with several layers of dimensionals so that it would lie flat over the raised velvet ribbon. I stamped the sentiment from Mixed Labels in Fresh Freesia on white cardstock and then cut with the banner die from the Adventurous Sky dies. The sentiment is adhered to the floral panel with dimensionals. The paper butterfly is given a little sparkle with Wink of Stella before it’s adhered to the panel approaching a flower. A few two tone sparkle gems add the twinkle and draw the eye across the design to take in all the elements.

I hope you enjoyed getting a peek at a number of ways that you can use the Lovely Garden suite to make beautiful designs. This week, we’re going to getting a closer look at the Pattern of Friendship bundle. I think you’re going to love it!

Product List

Fresh Freesia 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[155613]

$11.50

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$13.00

Lovely Garden 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165524]

$12.50

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

[163772]

$8.50

Mixed Labels Cling Stamp Set (English)

[164643]

$23.00

Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin' Pad

[155611]

$9.00

Pattern Of Friendship Die

[165384]

$36.00

Adventurous Sky Dies

[163446]

$33.00

Paper Butterfly Accents

[162612]

$8.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$9.00

Fresh Freesia 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Faux Velvet Ribbon

[165540]

$10.50

Two Tone Sparkle Gems

[164633]

$9.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Online Exclusives · Sketchy Fridays · Thankful Garden

Sketchy Fridays: Sympathy Garden

March 7, 2025 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’ve made it through another week, and I don’t know about you but this one went by quickly with Ash Wednesday in the middle. The start of Lent always means a lot more rehearsal time for me. Such is the life of a singer! Despite some crazy weather at the beginning of the week, we’re enjoying more springlike weather here in North Texas.

But the real business you’ve all come for is Sketchy Fridays, so we’ll get right to it! For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we’re 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 #16 from the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. Today’s design features the Lovely Garden paper and decorative masks, along with the Textured Notes dies, all from the new Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives release.

I decided to try a different technique with the decorative masks after seeing several other demos use it. The masks for the Thankful Garden stamp set are made, not only to use with the stamped images, but also can stand alone to make lovely watercoloresque images.

Our card starts with a base of Balmy Blue cardstock with a background panel of the Lovely Garden designer series paper. I decided to reiterate the floral images on the focal panel, so I used the masks and 3 shades of purpley-pink (Bubble Bath, Fresh Freesia, and Petunia Pop) to create the flowers. I cut them out with my paper snips. I created the focal panel by first using the Textured Notes dies to cut a piece of vellum (because I wanted the lovely background pattern to show through) and then the piece of black and white polka dot from the Lovely Garden pack. I tied some Fresh Freesia velvet ribbon around the background panel before adhering and then adhered the focal panel pieces over it. I layered the flowers with dimensionals to give some depth. I stamped the sentiment in Fresh Freesia on white using the Mixed Labels stamps and cut it out with the Something Fancy hexagon die. The sentiment mat is cut from Petunia Pop glimmer paper using the Mixed Labels dies. I put a twist of gold thread in between the two sentiment layers for a little added sparkle before adding some of the starburst sequins.

Today’s sketch inspired a few changes here and there to the suggested layout. Remember, a sketch should never tie you down but just make the process of getting started and finishing a lot easier. When all is said and done, I really like the softer look you can achieve by using the decorative masks by themselves like I did here, but I’m probably much more likely to use them in conjunction with the stamped images because I really like the definition and detail. But isn’t it fun to try new things?!

We’ll be closing out our series tomorrow. I hope you’ll pop in and see how we finish off our week!

Product List

Balmy Blue 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146982]

$11.50

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$13.00

Lovely Garden 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165524]

$12.50