“Celebrate” card using Lovely & Beautiful DSP and Simply Beautiful bundle, stamped & sponged

At first, the large prints of flowers in the Lovely & Beautiful DSP pack and corresponding Simply Beautiful stamp and die set were so intimidating! The prints were beautiful though so I decided I needed to get over that. LOL

I embossed the background using the floral embossing folder from the Cheers & Sips Suite of products. And then I stamped the large floral and two sets of double leaves on a piece of scrap white cardstock and die cut them out.  I used finger daubers to add color, purposefully making the color uneven in places. The gold strip and gold flower centers all pull together with the gold on the printed DSP. A small “celebrate” message (from the Banner Sayings stamp set and corresponding punch) set the tone for a celebration.

Here’s a close up of the background embossed panel. I love how an embossed background adds a touch of elegance and fills the background without being too busy:

And here’s a close up of the coloring of the focal flower and the sentiment was also sponged to match. I purposely tried to let go and not try to make every petal of the blossom and leaves have an even coverage. I rather like the way the flowers turned out!

And in closing, a second card made in the same way:

I hope you enjoyed these cards…I loved making them! Thanks for stopping by 😉

Cupcake card with Arched Wishes & Everyday Arches dies

A cupcake for a birthday …how perfect is that? Coupled with a new set of dies: arches!! Love them!! So I paired both with different background DSPs. Here’s the first version on one of the beautiful Wildflower Birthday DSP prints. I fussy cut the cupcake out and raised it using Dimensionals. The sentiment was stamped directly on the arch die cut:

And here is the inside of the card where I used the same arch die for the inside panel. The sentiment was stamped using the Everyday Details stamp set:

And here’s the same card with a different background print (from the Bright & Beautiful DSP pack). I also decided to emboss just the arch panel for this version and used a retired folder called Subtle Textile:

Thanks for stopping by…have a wonderful day!

Mini cards: Country Rose and Splendid Day

Here are two more 3x3” mini cards/gift enclosures that I made recently. This time I used Splendid Day DSP and Country Rose DSP:

Here’s a closeup of the Splendid Day DSP card: 

And here’s a closeup of the Country DSP card: 

These little cards are a great way to use up small squares (or almost squares) of pretty DSP! 

Greenery lane cards

A friend recently asked me to show her how to use the Greenery Lane stamps, dies  and Washi tape. So I created the following cards:

The first card (closeup below) used the Washi tape directly adhered to white card stock, and then to the card front. I die cut several leaves from the die set and used circle punches for the sentiment. Behind the circles, I added some silver “thread” looped around and twisted once in back. Final details of light green jewels as embellishments plus a fussy cut leave trio to finish it all off.

I wanted a non-green dominant card for the second example so I used a Soft Seafoam panel from Splendid Day DSP pack and added Bubblebath card stock. I stamped using the leaf stamp as a background filler then added two die cuts in Old Olive and Soft Seafoam. The pink twine is from my embroidery floss stash (LOL) and the greeting is from the Banner Sayings set. Some iridescent sequins add an elegant touch to the card as well as the tiny brass dragonfly. Oh almost forgot the background panel is dry embossed using a Sizzix 3D foliage embossing folder.

And my last card was a technique demo of creating a stamped background using Versamark as a replacement for colored ink. The leaves on this card were die cut from the Washi tape after it was adhered to white cardstock. The bow was tied using twisted Misty Moonlight and silver twine and the mini dragonfly was made using a retired punch. 

I’m hoping that these cards inspired you to create something today using the Greenery Lane set, or any similar set. Use what you have! Thanks for stopping by….

Toadstool Gardens: the latest batch of mini gift enclosure cards

I often make mini cards usually 3” x 3” but this time, I made some 2.5” x 3.5”. These mini cards are usually used as gift enclosures and I use them as “thank you’s”. Here are the latest ones made using Toadstool Gardens DSP:

It’s quite a darling pack of DSP and I had lots of fun creating these little cards. 

Diagonal Joy Fold with Charming Floral DSP

When I open a new pack of printed Designer Series Paper (DSP), there typically is one or two of the designs that I immediately love. And this paper pack was no exception, and the print I used for this card was my fave!

I used a background card base of Blackberry Bliss that measures 5.5 x 8.5” and the angle is cut from one corner to the center fold. Here’s a look at the open card:

<insert card photo here>

Once the card was cut, I adhered the (orange) background DSP to the front flap (which was on the lower left) and then on the inside on the top right like this:

Part of the design of a  “joy fold” card is that it has another “mini” card inside. I added a card inside and positioned it so that the front flap closes properly. On the inside of the mini card, I added a white panel to write in and a small strip of the front panel DSP. 

The front of the mini card is also the main focal of the card. I attached a panel of the beautiful DSP. The sentiment was embellished with a die cut from the retired Dainty Delight Bundle as it matched so perfectly with one of the wispy flowers in the DSP:

And one last look at the entire card:

Starburst scrap buster card

It may seem silly but I’ve always wanted to make a “starburst” card and haven’t until now. My Pinterest feed recently showed me a starburst card so I decided that today was the day! 

I pulled out some sweet printed cardstock from my stash and I went at the scraps with my paper cutter…cutting as many 5” x 1” strips as I could and then cutting them on the diagonal from one corner to the opposite corner. I glued the triangles to a panel measuring 3.75 x 5” with the points all meeting up at the same spot. And then I flipped the panel over and trimmed off all the ends that extended beyond the 3.75x5” panel. I added a mat layer that coordinated with one of the colors in the strip and added a sentiment and some floral embellishments. 

Below are some additional photos of the final card (sorry I didn’t think to take photos during the process) and the inside, which I kept simple with two mini banners:

Thanks for stopping by!

Impossible cards: unique birthday cards!

Have you ever made or received an “impossible card“? I received one for Christmas and was reminded that I had always wanted to make one! It’s called that because upon examination, there’s no explanation as to how the card base is a single piece of card stock and yet, it is!! It took a while for me to figure out and rather than sift through way too many Pinterest pins to find a tutorial, I figured it out with the card I had received.

So here are a few cards that I’ve made since, all of them for birthdays: 

Here’s the first one that I made for a special friend’s birthday:

Here’s a closeup that shows the fireworks (from the Light The Sky stamp set) that have been heat embossed in rich gold and the numbers were die cut from the Birthday Celebration dies.

I left the back blank so that I could write a personalized message: 

And here’s proof that the card does fit into an A2 envelope:

Here’s the second impossible card I created. I used the the stamp from Hey Birthday Chick

And the third card:

And yet another epic birthday card: this one using the Symbols of Fortune DSP:

I have one more to share but…I’m suddenly having issues accessing my photos. So the last card (for now) to share using this design will have to wait. Until then….

 

Paper Pumpkin Inked Occasions April 2025 Kit Alternate Designs

I love Paper Pumpkin kits, though I’m  not quick to starting them. But there’s nothing wrong in admiring the kits and saving them for another day when the mood (or need?) strikes, right? And it was done the same year so, really, not so bad! Lol Yes it was a combination of “need” and being in the mood to use this cheerful kit💕 

As I often do, I cut apart the provided card bases and used them as mats on my own (plain) card bases. This act alone can significantly increase the number of cards I can make from a kit. 

I needed a bunch of Thank You cards and thought the bright and cheery colors would work well. 

The card at the top left, is a gold panel with a 4x5.25” panel of the card front. The label and words are cut from the Paper Pumpkin add-on and the “sending” is from an old Paper Pumpkin kit as well (WHICH ONE?)

The top right card base is a 8.5x11 cut in half on the diagonal and scored to form a 4.25x5.5” card! The focal panel is 4x5.25” and cut on the diagonal to coordinate.

The bottom card has a focal panel of 4x5.25”.

The leafy panels are using the bough punch.

The following card uses a gold panel near the fold line and the focal again measures 4x5.25”. This is on a Gorgeous Grape card base to emphasize the purple ink swirls in the center of the focal panel. Added to the sentiment is the gold leaf die cuts included in the kit.

And the last three in the photo below used a gold strip, Blackberry Bliss strip and a smaller panel from one of the card bases in the kit. The orange and pink floral die cuts are from the kit and I stamped “feel better soon” and Lthabks” in the corners as shown.

And last but not least, a few more thank you cards using die cuts from the kit:

There were additional quantities of each of these cards and in the end, I made about 20 cards with 3 more panels waiting to be used! Definitely a good kit! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Perennial Lavender meets Along These Lines Fun Fold

I had fun creating this card with the Perennial Lavender DSP. This particular print is perhaps my favorite print in the paper pack because of the touch of Proud Peacock in the foliage of the leaves. I knew I wanted to use the stamp set called Along These Lines as well as the Blooming Phrases stamp set. And because I love fun folds, I came up with this design which is a play of an often used partial Z-fold design:

This is the card opened and as you can see, I used another of the prints in the DSP pack on the inside as well. The split sentiment is from the Blooming Phrases stamp set and I decided to split it between the front and insides of the card. The front sentiment is stamped  and matted with the banner dies from the Stylish Shapes Dies:

And the “aerial” photo below shows the partial Z-fold design of the card better:

Here’s a close up of the coloring of the stamped rose. I also added splatters of ink (Fresh Freesia and Just Jade) on the background. The plain oval panel looked too stark otherwise and it needed something to add interest. 

And of course the finishing touch of the Fresh Freesia bow! 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed a closer look at this card.

Happy New Year 2026 Darling Donkey card

This card was made using a retired but new-to-me stamp set called Darling Donkey and I instantly knew I had to make a New Year's card with it! I had seen this on Pinterest when the stamp set was newly issued as a Sale-a-bration freebie with a $50 purchase. I loved the ingenuity of the person who first created this design, and their sense of humor!

I didn’t actually follow any particular Pinterest pin since I knew I wanted to use this particular DSP pack (Bright and Beautiful)  for its colorful and happy vibes. And my “number” dies were from the  Birthday Celebration bundle so I didn’t really need to further use the exact pin since my colors were set as were the size of the numbers for the year! And one of the Textured Notes dies were the perfect size for the focal panel.

I decided to make this card into a simple easel card so I added the sentiment as the “stopper”:

Here’s a closer look at the “stopper”:

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set and it fit perfectly on one of the smaller die cuts also from the Textured Notes dies set. I popped it up using foam dimensionals so that it catches the card base easier.

And here’s a side view of the easel card:

I hope you like my version of the Darling Donkey New Year card. Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a wonderful year with good health and happiness!