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:

Spring cards Paper Pumpkin December 2023 & March 2023 alternates & mashup

As you can imagine, I’ve collected quite a few unfinished cards over the years, as well as unfinished card kits. These are affectionately known as “PhD’s”….Projects Half Done!! LOL Lately I’ve been trying to finish those projects up… add sentiments where needed and combine leftover pieces with items in my stash to finish a kit up. 

Recently, I pulled a very springtime kit out and looked at all the leftover pieces. The December 2023 “All The Best“ card kit was so cheery with its blue card fronts, yellow florals and light green foliage. I had made a bunch of cards with the kit way back when it came out, then put the rest of the kit away for a rainy day. Ahem. I guess today was that rainy day! So I pulled everything out, and made these from the card base fronts from the kit, plus leftover floral and label pieces:

I created the sentiments by combining words from different stamp sets since I didn’t really have any spring time greetings (other than Easter!) 

In the next set of photos,  I used the back side of the original card base (which was plain blue) as my background. I embossed panels for more background interest (from the cut up envelopes), added some die cuts to fill empty spaces (tiny  leaves from the Heart Shaped Bundle) and finished off with a few jewels.

And last but not least , I made an Easter card by stamping the pot and lilies from the March 2023 Paper Pumpkin kit. I used the last of the original plain blue card base back half and embossed another white panel from yet another envelope. I stamped the greeting from the retired Easter Bunny stamp set, but it was a single line stamp so I stamped the left half then the right half so that it fit better on the banner label from the kit. I’m amazed that I didn’t botch that!  Then I added a small piece of the original card front was tucked under the pot/greeting (because I could) and I added a die cut from Spring Bloom Dies to the lower left corner.

I did warn you that this was a mash up of various sets from the last several years, didn’t I? LOL And yes I had to pull back some older sets I had been thinking of downsizing away! Oh well…

Thanks for stopping by…Have a wonderful day!

3"x3" cards over the years

I often make 3"x3" or 2.5"x3.5" cards and include them as little "thank you's" with orders I get at my Etsy shop.  And over the years, I've made a lot of them! So I thought I'd share a few. 

These were made using the Daffodil Afternoon Designer Series Paper  on an embossed Distressed Brick panel. I LOVE the little dragonfly accent!! I often use a mini dragonfly or a tiny butterfly to jazz up the little cards: 

And these are made with the Fitting Florets DSP. Can you see the Decorative Circle punch of vellum behind the fussy cut flowers? I wanted a little something to separate the florals from the background, but not anything that solidly blocked the background either...

And these cuties are from the Penguin Playmates DSP pack:

I found these on my Instagram account (KikumiDesigns) and snagged a few screenshots of some older designs. These were made using prints from the Ornate Garden DSP pack. These little "book binding" cards are so perfect for using up scraps of printed paper:

The top card below is also from the Ornate Garden DSP pack (it's my fave of them all) and the one below was from Berry Delightful DSP pack:

And these were made with the Forever Fern DSP. That DSP sampler card kit was super popular and flew out the door of my shop!

I'll post others as I find the photos, or make new ones! Thanks for stopping by...

Bee My Valentine flip it cards

This is a throw back to last year’s adorable bee DSP and one particular card I designed with it. I die cut several bases, but didn’t get to finishing them all (I think I finished and sent one out),  nor did I post any. So this is kind of a throw back to last year, and yet not.

The Sizzix die set that I used to create these cards is likely a decade old if not older. I bought my first die cutter way back in 2013 and I’m guessing this was purchased shortly after that. I seem to pull it out every couple of years, make a card with it, then put it away for another rainy day!

This is a flip card …so as you open the card, the greeting “flips” or swings and you see the back side of it. 

And since you might want to write IN the card without it showing when the card is closed up, I affixed and extra piece of die cut white card stock inside:

Hope you enjoyed the little quasi throw back to last year! Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!

Kayak birthday card - Adventurous Journey

Sometimes I buy a stamp set that’s so unique that I need to get it. But then the need to use it doesn't happen for a while. LOL That is this set called Adventurous Journey! And then the need for a special birthday card came up and ... the perfect match!

The Adventurous Journey stamp set includes a kayak, row boat, paddle, lily pads & a fish, and rings of dispersion from a water drop (like when you paddle and water drops from your oar). 

So the birthday card was for a kayaker so this was the PERFECT occasion to use this set! And this is what the card looked like:

I used a blending brush to add some soft color to the water under the kayak and Azure Afternoon ink for the water rings. I actually stamped the kayak on scrap paper, used alcohol markers to color it, and then cut it out. I also (amazingly) had the perfect sentiment for the front of the card, which came from a set called Etched In Nature. 

As an additional dimensional element, I glued one edge of the kayak onto the card front then used Dimensionals (foam stickers) to lift the other side, as if the kayak was leaning over (as it would when paddling). Here’s a closer look at the angled dimensional effect:

And here you can see the shadow under the paddle at the top of the card:

Here’s a close up  of the waterlily pads and fish:

And last but not least, I use the Bark 3D Embossing Folder to create the look of ripples on the water’s surface:

The “ it’s your day enjoy it!” sentiment is from the Happiest of Birthdays stamp set. And the Happy Birthday (note the different fonts and font sizes) are both from the Adventurous Journey stamp set.

And that about sums up this card. I hemmed and hawed about starting it but once I started, it came together really quickly.

Country Birds Birthday Spanner Easel Card

 Oh what a mouth full! A spanner easel card! LOL Just a super fun funfold card, super simple too! I used the Country Birdhouse stamp set and dies. The background is dry embossed with the Distressed Brick folder and the adorable floral vine paper is from the retired Flight and Airy DSP pack. The card looks like this when you take it out of the envelope:

And this is what it looks like when you stand the easel part of the card up:

And when you lift the front part of the card, you see:

And when you life the “spanner” piece that spans and connects both edges you see the inside sentiment as well as any personalized message written by the sender.

Isn’t this a sweet card? I sent it to a very special friend for her birthday…

Latte Love coffee card

Ever get a stamp set (or other craft item, like some pretty fabric for example) and get all anxious about using it? That was this “coffee” based set for me. So I brought it on vacation. And yes I did make this card but I realized that I couldn’t use any of the wonderful dies since I hadn’t brought the right colors of cardstock! (Oh well, I can revisit that when we get back LOL. )

Anyhow so I needed to use mainly the DSP (A Little Latte #163453) and stamp set (#163455) for this card. No problem - Pinterest always provides  plenty of inspiration! And since I love fun fold cards, I decided to create a triangle flap card that has a smaller notecard attached. 

I decided to fussy cut from the printed DSP the coffee cups with the artistic milk foam…I love when a barista has some fun adding an artistic flair to the coffee foam💕 I chose two different (double sided) DSP prints for the triangular pieces so that all four triangular pieces would be different. And then I adhered the center panel and added a partial coffee cup on the bottom 

Last but not least was the sentiment, from the Latte Love stamp set, die cut with the Stylish Shapes Dies (#159183)

And with a bit of twine underneath the sentiment, this card was done! Perhaps a neutral color gem or matte dot might be nice but I don’t bring them along. Stay tuned for more cards with this set!

Hershey Nugget Purse Treat holder

 Here I go again, another little purse treat holder! Love this little one and it holds 2 Hershey Nugget chocolates!

This little gem measures 2” across and 1.5” wide and tall (minus the handle of course). Isn’t it adorable? I used the (retired) Tag Topper Punch since it made the pretty scallop AND the hole for the brad closure all at once. Here are the measurements of each part:

DSP 2” x 6”  (If your paper has a direction  to it,  be careful to punch so that your  image  is in the correct orientation to be the flap.)

Cardstock: 2”x1.5” (optional but I like the solid cardstock so that it emphasizes the print “flap”

Cardstock: 1.25x5” (this is the “wrap” for the Hershey Nuggets)

Cardstock: 1/4” x 7” (this is the handle)

Mini brad (or other closure mechanism)

Awl (to poke a hole for the brad)

I scored the DSP 2x6” DSP at 1.5”, 3”, 4.5” and 4.75”. Then I used the Tag Topper Punch on the 1.25” segment…which also took off and extra 1/4”. This left a 2x5.75” panel

I folded all the score lines then added the 2x1.5” cardstock to the front panel of the same dimensions.

Using my awl, I poked a hole through the purse “front”. To figure out where to make the hole, fold up the score lines to form the purse shape and see where the mini brad needs to be to latch the purse flap shut. Insert a mini brad in the hole and secure it.

I wrapped two Nuggets with the 1.25x5” cardstock and adhered it to the inside bottom of the purse

The handle got added into the 1/4” space. 

And that’s it…you’ve just created an adorable little chocolate purse! Thanks for stopping in…have a wonderful day!

Alternate Designs Paper Pumpkin December 2023 Kit All The Best

It took me a while to start with this kit but once I did, it created sooooo many cards! Here’s the 6 different designs I’ve made so far, with still some components left to use!

Paper Pumpkin Dec 2023 Alternative Designs

I’ll start with the bottom row since those are most like the kit’s original designs. The bottom left card is a Z-Fold. The original card base was cut into two, trimmed down slightly and mounted on Balmy Blue card stock. Then it was adhered to a Basic White card base that was folded into a Z-Fold base. I made 5 of these cards and gave them away with the original printed envelope. 

Alternate design: Z-Fold Dec 2023 Paper Pumpkin All the Best

In the center card design, I cut the card base in half again, trimmed 1/4” off each side and mounted it on a standard A2 card base. I made 2 or 3 of these pretty much as the kit intended, except for the sentiment and being mounted on a white card base!

I remembered seeing a Pinterest pin where someone had used the Deckled Circle die on the envelope to partially cut the flower from the envelope front. (At this point I had 4 envelopes to play with.) I thought that it looked neat and a bit different. I opted to add a stamped and adhered sentiment instead of stamping directly on the circle panel. The card base was again cut into two and trimmed down slightly to be glued to a Basic White card base.

Alternate Design Paper Pumpkin Dec 2023 Deckled Circle

By this time, I was a little “done” with the blue and white cards, having made 8 or so of them. So the cards on the top row purposely didn’t use any blue! If you’ve been counting, I had 3 envelopes left at this point. The flower was die cut from one envelope using the Deckled Rectangles dies. I put that on an Old Olive mat one rectangle size larger, added some twine, and adhered it on a Daffodil Delight panel that had been dry embossed with the Exposed Brick embossing folder. A few light green gems finished off this card design and I made 3 of these!

Paper Pumpkin Alternate Card design Dec 2023

I loved the gold panels that came with this kit and purposely left them for last. I decided to adapt them to an Asian theme and cut each of the three panels into two. Then I chose two different patterns of Japanese Washi paper to be the background for each card:

 

Paper Pumpkin Dec 2023 Alternate Designs Asian

I couldn’t quite decide if I was going to angle the Distressed Gold mats or align it straight with the gold flower panels so I did both on the black Washi panels, but decided to only angle it on the red Washi design. There were 3 red cards and 3 black ones in the end. Oh and I embossed the gold flower panels with the Textured Textile embossing folder. Here’s a closeup:

Paper Pumpkin Dec 2023 Alternate Design Asian

And believe it or not, I thought the embossing on the actual flower itself didn’t look great so I used my bone folder to gently flatten out some of the embossing!! I left it on the background though as that’s what I wanted…a little bit of texture!

And I have extra pieces still left that I can create more cards with! But I think I need to stop here and move on to the many projects I want to work on next.

I hope you are inspired… Thanks for stopping by…have a wonderful day

Flowering Zinnia friendship card

I have to admit that when I first saw this DSP pack called Flowering Zinnia….I thought…yikes, BRIGHT...perhaps a bit too bright for me...??  This was at the beginning of March in the depths of gloomy and dark rainy days in the Pacific Northwest! But I bought a pack of the DSP anyhow. And wow, I opened it and LOVE IT so! Yes, it’s got some bold and assertive coloring going on but how cheery and fun! I needed 3 thank you cards for an upcoming class and I came up with this design.

Flowering Zinnia DSP cards

Sadly I gave away the cards before jotting down the measurements of each piece!! The zinnia DSP panel is approximately 2.5” x 5”. And to save DSP, I used two thin purple panels instead of one larger one since it just got layered behind the focal panel. Those measure approximately 4x1” and 4x1.5”. The tougher part of aligning the two so that it LOOKED straight (like it was one piece of printed paper). I aligned it on my a sheet from the Stampin'UP! grid paper and that made it so much easier! The green  striped background  panel is 4x5.25”. And last but not least, and it’s punched out using the Hexagon punch.

And here’s a closeup of the card again:

Oh almost forgot: the wonderful sentiment is from the retired Grace's Garden set. So perfect for a floral card...

Definitely a cheery feel good card! Hope this easy card inspired you today to create...thanks for stopping by.

Outdoor cards - Paper Pumpkin May 2023

 Stampin’UP! has a “surprise” kit that is on a monthly subscription which includes everything you need to create the monthly cards inside the box (except for an acrylic block which you get with your first month when you subscribe). You get a few hints, like knowing the basic colors and theme and whether it’s a card or a craft kit (most are card kits) and you can choose to skip a month any time, which I often do skip. But I wanted this month’s kit because of the outdoors-y theme.  

The basic kit, as designed is a beginner kit that isn’t overwhelming or too complicated. This month’s designs were simple but with beautiful scenery and so, the cards didn’t need much: just a greeting! Here are the cards from the kit as designed (meaning all the supplies needed were in the box): 

I often like to change up the design and since I love fun folds, I often use parts of the kit to create different cards by adding some of my own supplies. I used one of the card fronts to create the bridge card below:

      

I liked the way it turned out so much that I made another one with a different card front from the kit and used different stamps:

And here’s a top view that shows why the design is called a “bridge” card….the front panel acts like a bridge across the two folded edges:

I hadn’t made a bridge card in a long while but I think I’ll remember this design again in the future! Oh and yes, it fits in a standard A2 envelope! Let me know if you want the measurements to make this card yourself. Thanks for stopping by…have an awesome day!