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

Summer Splash 8 1/2" X 11 Cardstock

[163797]

$14.00

Cloud Cover 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165621]

$14.00

Shy Shamrock 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[163795]

$14.00

Gold Foil Sheets

[132622]

$5.00

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

[167099]

$10.00

2024–2026 In Color™ Glimmer 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[163771]

$11.00

Beautiful Pattern 3 D Embossing Folder

[167097]

$10.50

Everyday Arches Dies

[164629]

$29.00

12 Days Of Crafting Advent Calendar (English)

[167335]

$99.00

Scenic Adventure Dies

[165467]

$31.00

Sweet Jar Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[169171]

$20.00

Shy Shamrock Classic Stampin Pad

[163808]

$9.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$10.00

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Traditional Sparkling Sequins

[165875]

$8.00

2024 2026 In Color™ Flat Pearls

[165266]

$8.50

Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine

[166005]

$8.50

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

St Patty's

Sending Luck

February 17, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Fat Tuesday, everyone! For me, today was a struggle. It was a super early and super busy day at work. And then Tuesday are rehearsal nights, so that always makes the day long. I’m definitely ready to hit the hay here pretty quick!

This week, we’re playing our luck at some pretty cute designs. And I decided to dig through the stash of recently retired goodies for most of today’s card. But I thought you might have some similar things on-hand to pull off this super cute clover design yourself as we pair up the Wildflower Birthday paper with the 2024-26 In Color glimmer paper and heart punch.

This cutie starts with a base of Summer Splash cardstock. We use a sheet of the retired Wildflower Birthday paper to serve as our backdrop. The gold accents were fitting for our lucky sentiment. We build our focal section by beginning with our four-leaf clover. I used my retired heart punch and punched four hearts from some Shy Shamrock glimmer paper and then I hand-cut a stem shape. I pointed all of the ends of the hearts toward the center to make the clover shape and adhered them to the backdrop with dimensionals. The stem is tucked under to give the illusion that it’s floating on the wind. The sentiment and center of our clover is stamped tone-on-tone on Shy Shamrock cardstock using the Sweet Jar stamps and then cut with one of the smaller Spotlight on Nature circle dies. It’s adhered in the center with dimensionals. I tied some Summer Splash ribbon around the stem. And we finish things off with some pops of gold using the Traditional Sparkling Sequins.

It’s easy peasy and oh so cute! You don’t have to a lot of pieces or a complicated design to create super cute cards. I’ll be taking a little break tomorrow for Ash Wednesday. But I plan to be back on Thursday to bring you some more luck. I hope you’ll drop by and see!

Products used in this card:
Summer Splash, Shy Shamrock cardstock
Wildflower Birthday, In Color glimmer (both retired)
Sweet Jar stamps
Spotlight on Nature dies
Heart punch (retired)
Summer Splash bordered ribbon (retired)
Traditional sparkling sequins
Dimensionals

sketches · St Patty's

Best of Luck

February 16, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, friends, and welcome in on this fantastic Monday. We’re super thrilled to all be home together today for a work & school holiday. And it just so happens to be a gloriously sunny day here in North Texas. It’s supposed to be near 80-degrees today — crazy for February! We’ve already gotten in our bowling for the day and the boys have headed out to see if the fish are biting. Do you have today off? What are you getting up to?

As we start this new week, we’re also beginning a new theme for the week. It’s all about the luck this week. And today we’re pairing up some of the new specialty papers from Stampin’ Up! — Pleasant Patterns & Easter Joy — with the Sweet Jar stamp & punch bundle to create today’s lucky design.

We’re using a sketch from the gals over at Global Design Project for this card. We get started with a base of white cardstock, which provides the backbones on which we build our design. A sheet of the plaid Easter Joy paper covers the full card front and gives us the backdrop for our design. Textured gold specialty paper serves as the vertical strip down the left side, while a sheet of green striped paper from the Pleasant Patterns paper pack sits front & center. The center striped panel is wrapped in Shy Shamrock bordered ribbon before it’s adhered to the card front with dimensionals.

Now we build our focal point, which is a combination of image and sentiment. The jar image from the Sweet Jar stamp set is stamped in Smoky Slate on white cardstock and then filled with all the luck in the form of oodles of shamrocks from the Sweet Jar stamp set stamped in Shy Shamrock ink. We’re keeping all the luck in the jar with a gold lid and an extra bit of white & gold baker’s twine tied around the top. Our jar o’ luck is adhered with dimensionals to a circle of vellum that has been cut with the Spotlight on Nature dies. The sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set is stamped in Shy Shamrock also on a smaller circle of white cardstock cut with the Spotlight on Nature dies. A few extra shamrocks are stamped tone-on-tone on Shy Shamrock cardstock and fussy cut with paper snips and then adhered with dimensionals to form a visual triangle. We finish things off with some In Color pearls for a splash of extra color and sheen.

I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow to see where we find our luck next!

Product List