Chocolate Bunny Basket - Stampin' Up!® Easter Basket Bundle

   We are still pretty much iced in here in the Richmond area so there's been some extra time in the stamp room and today I'm playing along with the Addicted to CAS challenge where they have "food" as the prompt!  A bit harder for me than I first thought it would be until I looked closer at the new Easter Basket bundle!  A chocolate bunny certainly counts as food doesn't it? 

  While the basket might take up more space than I'd normally use for a clean and simple card I left off any extra layers and kept the rest of the design very simple so I think overall it's a CAS card.

  The basket is cut from Crumb Cake and the grass from Granny Apply Green.  The bunnies are stamped in Versamark onto Early Espresso and then embossed with clear embossing powder for a nice shiny look.  As close to chocolate as I could get!

  I tucked the bunnies into the basket after they were die cut.  The basket is embellished with a bakers twine bow and 2 small Pressed Flower Motifs.

  Finally the sentiment is stamped below the basket in Early Espresso ink.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Easter Basket

Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso

Paper: Basic White thick, Crumb Cake, Granny Apple Green, Early Espresso

Accessories: Easter Basket dies, dimensionals, clear embossing powder, baker's twine, Pressed Flower Motifs

Rainbow Butterfly Birthday - Stampin' Up!® 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar

   I have another card today using the 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar stamp set.  I designed this one to play along with the Seize the Birthday challenge prompt of "Rainbow of Colors".  I thought the little butterfly stamp would look perfect in rainbow colors.

  I decided to go with more of pastel rainbow for a softer overall look.  I started with a Crumb Cake base then a layer of Basic White embossed with the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder.

  Next I cut a Spotlight on Nature circle die so that I could stamp the Happy Birthday in the center.  The circle is popped on dimensionals.

  The butterflies are stamped and fussy cut then arranged around the circle and popped on dimensionals.

 

  It's hard to see in the photos but I added an iridescent sequin where each butterfly touches the next one.  It gives a nice little touch of shine in real life.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. 

Stamps: 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar, Banner Sayings

Ink: Crumb Cake, Strawberry Slush, Peach Pie, Lemon Lolly, Lemon Lime Twist, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather, Pretty in Pink

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White

Accessories: Beautiful Pattern embossing folder, Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, iridescent sequins (retired)

Crafting Cupcake - Stampin' Up!® 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar

   I went to a crafting day organized by one of my downline last weekend and it's such a fun day of crafting and chatting and getting to focus on some paper crafting projects for the whole day.  The only problem is deciding just what projects and supplies to bring!  A lot of people do scrapbooking and are working on particular pages/books but I usually bring supplies to make cards.  I tend to design the cards at home and then just bring the paper and supplies to make multiples of the designs because it's really hard for me to not have ALL of my supplies right there lol!  But I decided to bring all of the products that came in the 2025 12 Days of Crafting Advent calendar and see what I could come up with.

  I did limit myself to to cardstock in the colors of the Advent calendar DSP so I did have a little bit of a focus.  I ended up making 4 of this design and I think it turned out pretty cute using limited supplies!

  I started with a Pretty in Pink base then added a layer of Basic White.  I cut 4 squares of the DSP and adhered them.  Before adhering the Basic White panel I wrapped a bit of baker's twine around it and tied a bow.

  The cupcake is stamped in Pretty and Pink and Basic Beige and then I fussy cut it and popped it on a postage stamp die cut which is adhered to a square of Misty Moonlight.  

  A little Misty Moonlight flower is also fussy cut and popped on the cupcake.

  I stamped the birthday sentiment below in Misty Moonlight ink and then added some of the gold dots that also came in the calendar.

  I really like how all the products coordinate with each other but can also be used on their own for all year round.  I'm looking forward to using more of the supplies soon!  If you're interested in the 12 Days of Advent Crafting Calendar it is still available but it is on the Last Chance List so there's no telling how long it will be available so don't wait if you have to have it!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

All supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Items marked with a * are from the 2025 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar.

Stamps: 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar stamp set*

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Misty Moonlight, Basic Beige

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Misty Moonlight, Basic White, 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar DSP*

Accessories: Postage Stamp die*, baker's twine*, Gold Dots*, dimensionals 

Scrappy Stripes - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony

  It's been very cold here in central VA and just a bit ago around 5pm I saw my first few snowflakes so the storm is coming!  We spent some of the day preparing around the house.  I filled up some jugs and extra water bottles; it's probably overkill since we don't have well water but with 2 labradors we use a lot of water in a day!  I even did some laundry and vacuuming just in case the powder does go out; we be drowning in dog fur otherwise.  Since I was busy and didn't get any stamping in I was happy to have this card that I made last week using another one of my new Color Cube cards for inspiration.

  The new Nature's Symphony bundle has 2 beautiful large leaf/branch die cuts and they are perfect for highlighting all on their own.  After pulling out my colors I picked a neutral for the background in one of the wood grain patterns from the Country Woods pack.  I adhered it to a Basic White thick card base.

  Next comes 1/2" strips of color!  The closest matches to my Color Cube card were Poppy Parade, Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist, and Granny Apple Green.  This is a really great layout to use up a lot of scraps; a swap of colors would give a whole different look.  All blues would be lovely, pastels perfect for spring, dark jewel tones for fall.  Really any colors would look great!

  I die cut the large leaf in Basic White so it would pop against the brighter colors and adhered it with dimensionals.

  The sentiment from Nature's Symphony is stamped in Crumb Cake and die cut with a Spotlight on Nature die and the edge is tucked under the Granny Apple Green strip.  A few Poppy Parade Dear Dots are the only embellishment for this crisp card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Nature's Symphony

Ink: Crumb Cake

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Country Woods DSP, Poppy Parade, Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist, Granny Apple Green

Accessories: Nature's Symphony dies, Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, Dear Dots

Nature's Lagoon - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony

   Lots of hullabaloo around these parts as we're getting ready for a big storm this weekend.  It sounds like we're going to be getting quite a lot of ice which is worse than just straight snow so we've got to make sure we have gas for the generator and propane for the grill and enough dog food for the Labradors and plenty of stamping supplies in case we are without power and home bound for an extended period of time!  You know all the important things! In the meantime I'm sharing a card I made with the Nature's Symphony bundle and some of the coordinating Nature Walk DSP.

   The Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake and Pretty Peacock color combo is what I started with for this design and I just kept adding and playing around with different elements until I ended up here.

  The base is Pretty Peacock with a layer of Crumb Cake stamped with the Lasting Linen Background stamp.  I love that it adds a subtle look of texture.  Next I tore the edge off a scrap of Two-Toned Pretty Peacock and added it to the card front.

  I used the little hole die and a piece of vellum to add another layer.  Then I used the Stylish Shapes square die to cut some Nature Walk DSP for the last "background" part. One of them has a bit of linen thread tied around it because why not?

  The large branch/leaf is stamped onto Lost Lagoon with the same color ink and is then die cut.  I used a bunch of mini dimensionals to pop it up. The sentiment is from the Banner Sayings stamp set and is stamped in Pretty Peacock.  

  For the final touch I sprinkled some retired Pretty Peacock sequins around the branch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Nature's Symphony, Banner Sayings (Online Exclusive), Lasting Linen background (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock

Paper: Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock Two Toned cardstock, vellum, Nature Walk DSP

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, Nature's Symphony dies, dimensionals, linen thread, Adhesive-backed Sequin Trio (retired)

Nature's Peace - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony

   Last year I came across some people on Instagram who were making crochet granny square blankets using the books that they read throughout the year as inspiration for each square.  They were using the covers as inspiration for the color combo and design of the squares.  As a reader I thought that it was such a cool idea to log all of your read books in a really tangible (and practical way) other than just checking things off on Goodreads.  I'm not a crocheter but I am a card maker and I thought I could try something along those lines in 2026 but using paper instead!  So I'm going to try to make a card using each book that I read as inspiration.  It will be my own little Stamping Book Club!  

  The first book I finished in 2026 was Exiles by Jane Harper.  It's the third in a trilogy that follows the story of protagonist Aaron Falk. I enjoyed this mystery set in Australia centered on old friends gathering together in their small hometown and all the secrets that have been kept over the years.  

  I thought the book cover was an excellent inspiration for a card with the way the sky was colored and then contrasted with the dark of the surrounding trees and vegetation.  

  I definitely wanted to try to re-create the sky with inkpads and blending brushes.  I used Lemon Lolly, Timid Tiger, Balmy Blue and a tiny bit of Blueberry Bushel to get the colors shown on the cover.  The branches are stamped over the ink blending in Memento Black using the Nature's Symphony stamp set.  If only I had the new Boardwalk Fun bundle I could have been very faithful to the cover!

  To create the vegetation in the foreground I used the large branch die and Basic Black to do a partial die cut so that the branch would still be attached to the band of cardstock.  I cut a second branch fully and then added that before popping up the partial die cut on dimensionals.

  Before adding the dimensionals I tied a length of Balmy Blue Sheer Ribbon around the panel.  I added another smaller branch which is tucked under the ribbon knot.

  I struggled on deciding what sentiment to use and finally landed on this one from the Prayers & Promises stamp set.  I embossed it in black for a but of shine and dimension.  No other embellishments were added for this one.

  Anyway I hope to keep up making a card for each book I've finished.  I think it could be fun to track my books in this way and maybe inspire some others to do the same!  If you give this a try please leave a comment or tag me on social media!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Prayers & Promises, Nature's Symphony

Ink: Memento Black, Lemon Lolly, Timid Tiger, Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel

Paper: Basic Black, Basic White

Accessories: Nature's Symphony dies, dimensionals, black embossing powder, Balmy Blue Sheer ribbon

 

Beautiful Wedding - Stampin' Up!® Simply Beautiful

   The New at SU! blog hop team is back this month with a really fun (and timely) theme!  We are focusing on Handcrafted Hearts, in other words, Love!  We are creating projects for Valentine's Day, Love, Wedding, Engagement etc. We hope you hop around with us to see the wonderful inspiration from around the world and get inspired to create your own project!  You can find the hop list at the end of my post!

  At first I was going to do the easy and more pressing project and focus on Valentine's Day but then I realized I don't have a single card that I could use for an engagement congratulations or a wedding card!  I guess where I am in my stage of life I don't have much need for them but I like to keep a well stocked selection of cards so off I went!  The Simply Beautiful bundle has perfect sentiments and the coordinating Lovely & Beautiful DSP just has "spring wedding" written all over it!

  A simple layout with the gorgeous DSP and a layered Fresh Freesia blossom is perfect for an engagement card!

  The gold accents on the paper as well as the gold sequins really makes for an elegant look.

  I created a second card with similar supplies but used Basic White and Calypso Coral ink to make the large layered flower for this wedding card.

  The layers of the flower are popped on dimensionals make for a really full look.

  I hope these cards have given you some inspiration to start thinking about your own project with a "Handcrafted Hearts" theme!  Hop around with us to see more inspiration!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make these project can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Simply Beautiful

Ink: Basic Gray, Calypso Coral

Paper: Basic White, Fresh Freesia Two-Toned Cardstock, Old Olive Two-Toned cardstock, Darling Duckling, Peach Pie, Old Olive, Lovely & Beautiful DSP

Accessories: Simply Beautiful dies, dimensionals, gold sequins, Pearlized Faceted Circles

Angled X's & O's - Stampin' Up!® Endless Love

   I'm back today with the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge team with a cool layout for you!  It's got a fun diagonal corner element and I can't wait to see what you do with it!  

  I'll be working hard the next few weeks to get all of my Valentine's Day cards made in plenty of time to get them mailed out so I took advantage of this layout to come up with another one using the Endless Love bundle.

    For the diagonal lines in the corner I decided to use the Endless Love "XO" dies and cut a bunch out of Coastal Cabana and Cloud Cover and alternated them and added some Pretty in Pink and Strawberry Slush hearts back to the O's.  I colored the mini hearts with some Wink of Stella for a subtle shimmer.

  For the rest of the layout I stamped the heart in Pretty in Pink onto the same color cardstock and popped it up then added the sentiment in Strawberry Slush along with a Summer Splash gem.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Endless Love

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Pretty in Pink

Paper: Strawberry Slush, Basic White, Pretty in Pink, Cloud Cover, Coastal Cabana

Accessories: Endless Love dies, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, faceted gem (retired)