Birthday Blues

June 20, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome back on this Saturday. How’s your weekend going so far? We’ve had lots of things to cross off the around-the-house to-do list so it’s been a busy one around here. But now it’s time to put the feet up and relax.

This week we’re getting a sneak peek at the new Violet Dreams suite that will release in just a few weeks. And today I wanted to show how you can easily use this suite to create beautiful masculine designs. So I’m turning to one of my favorite sentiment sets right now — the Words & Wishes dies.

We get started with a base of white cardstock. I choose the sheet of Secret Sea dotted paper from the Violet Dreams paper pack to serve as the backdrop. A panel is cut from this sheet with the Branching Out dies to allow for the lighter Cloud Cover striped pattern to tuck in behind and shine through our new window. The sentiment is a combination of shimmer vellum and velveteen specialty papers cut with the Words & Wishes happy birthday dies. The sentiment is mounted over some gold sheer ribbon with dimensionals. And we finish things off with some gold metallic gems around the sentiment to draw the eye across our design.

While I might turn to this suite more often for more delicate and feminine designs, I always like to explore how each product can lend itself to neutral and masculine designs, too. Next week is all about summer. I hope you’ll come along for all the summer fun!

Products used in today’s design:
White CS
Violet Dreams (releasing in July), shimmer vellum, velveteen DSP
Words & Wishes, Branching Out dies
Striped gold sheer ribbon
Metallic gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Online Exclusives

Happy Violets

June 19, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Howdy, folks! I’m glad you’ve dropped by. Although it’s still technically spring here in North Texas, it’s certainly starting to ramp up and feel like summer. I’m sure all of our World Cup fans have been lamenting the temps and humidity this week because it’s not been fun even for us natives!

But what IS cool is the new Violet Dreams suite that will release in the latest batch of Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives in just a few short weeks. And today we’re pairing it up with the Words & Wishes dies to create this lovely mailbox pick-me-up.

We get started with a base of Fresh Freesia cardstock. I chose the subtle striped patterned sheet from the Violet Dreams paper pack as the backdrop for this one. We have some nice contrasting floral patterned paper as our accent strips. The sentiment panel has several elements. First, we have the backdrop of the Shimmering Stripes banner where we start building the sentiment. It’s adhered over a bow of Fresh Freesia satin ribbon using dimensionals. The sentiment itself is cut from a combination of pink shimmer vellum and pink velveteen specialty papers using the Words & Wishes dies. It sits neatly in the center of the bow atop several layers of dimensionals. Then we add some small floral accents from the precut accents sheet included in the Violet Dreams paper pack. Dimensionals give us lots of depth of field with our flowers. We finish things off with some iridescent pearls for some classy sparkle.

I had this post all ready to go last night and then forgot to post it. Oy! So you’ll get a two-for-one special today. *snicker* Later today we’re going to include the coordinating stamps & dies from the Violet Dreams suite. I hope you’ll drop by and check it out.

Products used in today’s design:
Fresh Freesia CS
Violet Dreams, Shimmering Stripes (both releasing in July), shimmer vellum, velveteen DSP
Words & Wishes dies
White & gold ribbon
Fresh Freesia satin ribbon (releasing in July)
Iridescent pearls
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Beautiful Thanks

June 6, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Happy Saturday, friends! I hope you’re enjoying a restful catch-up from the busy week. It’s been a pretty lowkey day around here for us as we putter around with various things on the home to-do list.

This week we’re exploring the new Beautiful Gallery paper pack. And today is all about cutting up that beautiful paper to create some lovely thank-you cards.

Our first card begins with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. I selected two different patterns from the Beautiful Gallery paper pack — the blue-hued roses and a grayish linen pattern. The rose paper sits most prominent as the focal piece, while the gray linen pattern serves as the backdrop for the sentiment. The sentiment from the Scalloped Blooms stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea. Both panels of patterned paper are mounted on a mat of Lunar Lustre paper, wrapped with Secret Sea ribbon that is tied in a bow, and then the full panel is affixed to the card front with dimensionals. A few In Color flat pearls serve as rose centers and then the sentiment is flanked with some Secret Sea moody palette dots to draw the eye to the sentiment.

The second card is assembled using the Atlantic Hearts Sketch 664 as inspiration for the layout. We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. I selected two different patterns from the Beautiful Gallery paper pack — a green plaster pattern and a damask sheet. The damask sheet is cut into the half circle and affixed to the green plaster backdrop. The panel is wrapped with gold striped ribbon and then affixed to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment is cut from Peaceful Pine velveteen paper with the Words & Wishes dies and affixed to the card front with multipurpose glue. The brand NEW Gilded Wings Accents butterfly (set to release in July) along with the drusy embellishments draw the eye to the sentiment and focal section of our card.

As we gear up for Father’s Day, next week is all about dad. I hope you’ll tag along as we use all sorts of goodies from the stash to create some special projects for dad!

Product List Card 1

Cloud Cover 8 1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[165621]

$14.00

Beautiful Gallery 6″ X 6″ (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165196]

$12.50

Lunar Lustre 12″ X 12″ (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[167199]

$8.00

Scalloped Blooms Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167639]

$20.00

Secret Sea Classic Stampin’ Pad

[165285]

$11.00

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

[166932]

$8.50

2025–2027 In Color™ Flat Pearls

[165192]

$8.50

Moody Palette Glossy Dots

[167180]

$8.00

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Product List Card 2

Crumb Cake 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[120953]

$14.00

Beautiful Gallery 6″ X 6″ (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165196]

$12.50

Velveteen Assortment 12″ X 12″ (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper

[167915]

$12.00

Words & Wishes Dies (English)

[167894]

$38.00

Gold Striped 3/8″ (1 Cm) Mesh Ribbon

[165599]

$8.00

Drusy Adhesive Backed Embellishments

[164223]

$9.00

Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Add All to Cart

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Meadow

May 5, 2026 susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Welcome in, friends! It’s a very exciting day here in the studio….why, you might ask? it’s new product release day! There are new kits, new Online Exclusives, a brand new catalog, and the new batch of SU! in Colors. Talk about exciting!

And we’ve got a new card in this week’s celebratory design series. It’s another tribute to mom with a special fold out in the middle! And we’re showcasing new flocked paper, new shimmer vellum, new dies, new stamps, and new ephemera on this one. It’s just a red letter day all around!

We get started with a standard base of Melon Mambo cardstock. Our front focal panel features the new Velvet Meadow flocked paper and is matted with the new pink shimmer vellum. Both are cut with the Perennial Lavender die set in nesting sizes. The panel is wrapped in Berry Burst shiny ribbon before it’s adhered to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment from the retired Heartfelt Hellos stamp set is stamped in Melon Mambo on white before being cut out with the new Sweet Words die. The sentiment panel is adhered over the ribbon with dimensionals. I pulled a retired paper butterfly from the stash and covered it with Wink of Stella before attaching with dimensionals at the top of the sentiment panel. We add a little extra twinkle to the sentiment panel with Strawberry Slush dots—also recently retired.

The inside of the card dresses up a gift card with a coordinating pocket panel on the inside left panel. The backdrop for our gift card fold out panel is a sheet of pink Garden Foil paper. A sheet of the pink shimmer paper gives us our foldout base. And we use additional pieces of our Velvet Meadow paper to cover each panel and make the pocket for the gift card. The new Saying Something ephemera give us our sentiments for this foldout. The Heartfelt Hexagon punch makes a nice notch to make the gift card easy to slide in and out. The sentiment on the message panel is from the new Words & Wishes stamp set.

While this particular design might be a little heavy for mailing, it’s definitely perfect for surprising mom at Mother’s Day brunch! We’ve got other celebrations in store this week. I hope you’ll drop back by and check them out!

Product List