Festive Season themed card for the Build & Bloom bloghop

Festive Season themed card for the Build & Bloom bloghop

by | Oct 14, 2025 | blog, Cards

Oh, my goodness…how can Christmas be coming so quickly. I don’t know about you but I’m far from organised. I’m trying, but the days seem to whizz by and before we now it Santa will have been.

The theme for this months bloghop is Festive Season.

I don’t know if you’ve looked at the September to December mini catalogue, but along with online specials, I think this is one of the best ranges of Christmas products available this year from Stampin’ Up!

So, for this bloghop I’ve used the Delicate Pines photopolymer stamp set, the Traditional Labels stamps and dies and the Merry Christmas stamp set.

Using a single sheet of A4 card, I trimmed 1cm off the top and side of the card and then measured and drew a cross in pencil, making sure not to press too hard, through the centre of the card (lines from top to bottom and side to side).

Starting with the largest snowflake from the Delicate Pines set, I stamped in the centre of the card where the two lines crossed.

I continued to stamp the other images from the stamp set in different colours along the horizontal and vertical lines, ensuring that I went above, below and either side.

The colours I used were Real Red, Shaded Spruce, Garden Green, Mossy Meadow, Soft Seafoam and Early Espresso for the pine cones.

Once I was happy that I hadn’t got gaps and it all looked nice and even, I cut the card into 4 equal layers.

I used the Traditional Labels stamps and dies on two of the layers, the Merry Christmas stamp on another and the sentiments from the Delicate Pines set on the fourth. Mounting them onto different coloured card bases to make them pop.

I then used these four layers to create 4 different cards and embellished with Traditional Sequins and ribbons. Of course I didn’t forget to stamp the insides with sentiments and foliage images too!

Hope you’ve felt inspired to give this technique a go – its a pretty easy way to make lots of cards at the same time!

Product List

Please hop along to the next hop on the blog and see what others have created.

Its been a while…..

Its been a while…..

by | Sep 8, 2025 | blog, Cards

In fact, it’s been a very long while! I always start the year with good intentions and then life just gets in the way. Earlier this year, I lost my father and along with it quite a lot of my mojo!

I continued to run my weekly Coffee and Card group, but all other things just went well and truly out of the window. The workshops i had planned just didn’t happen.

Fast forward to last week and I attended a Stampin’ Up! ™ event in Lincoln. It was a great day of crafting and catching up with people, some who I had never actually met in person. It was a fab day.

During the day, we had the opportunity to swap cards with others – great way for new inspiration, and we also had 2 demonstrators share a project each with us.

The first project was shared by Cheryldiana Taylor and used two-tone card stock and the Prairie Grass stamp set.

designed by Cheryldiana Taylor

And the second was by Caroline Heslam, who gave us all the 1st card as her swap and then helped us all to make the second card, once again using 2 tone card and the Prairie Grass stamps.

All this inspired me to use this technique fro my Coffee and Card ladies, but also to use all the offcuts from making the original design card to make 2 more cards. This was the result;

Many of the stamps used at Coffee and Card were retired, but are available on my shop.

Product List

Sweet Ice Cream Birthday card for Tech 4 Stampers Bloghop

by | Apr 12, 2022 | Birthday cards, Cards

For the very first time, I’ve decided to join in the Tech 4 Stampers Academy bloghop. The theme this month is Pretty in Pink and there are so many pretty pinks to choose from from Stampin’ Up! The Sweet Ice Cream stamps and punch I thought were perfect for this, especially with the better weather approaching.

After much deliberation and playing with lots of shades from my collection, I plumped for using the soon to be retired Magenta Madness ink and card stock. Unfortunately, since I made my card, the Magenta Madness ink has sold out, but this technique would work with any bright shade of pink…..Polished Pink, Melon Mambo etc.

I wanted to make a birthday card for an Ice Cream loving friend, so opted for the Sweet Ice Cream stamps and punch.

I began by tearing a sheet of copier paper carefully in a zigzag motion to give a ragged edge to the paper. Starting at the top of a piece of basic white cardstock, I placed the jagged edge on the card and using a blending brush covered the visible card with Magenta Madness ink. I kept moving the card down and in different angles and used the other piece torn from the paper and turned them over to give different waves until all of the card was covered.

Tearing paper to make a nice wavy edge for using with blending brushes
Completed wave effect

I stamped the cone for the Ice Cream in Crumb Cake ink and punched it out with the co ordinating punch. The Ice creams again are in Magenta Madness, but you may notice that the colour looks a little different. This is because I used Wink of Stella on them after I had punched them out and this softens the colour but gives a lovely glimmer to the Ice Cream.

Sweet Ice Cream pretty on Pink card
I added an Early Espresso flake to my Ice Cream – you can’t have an Ice Cream without!!

The sentiment too is in Magenta Madness, and then the card was layered onto some basic white and black card, and finally adhered to the Magenta Madness card base.

Inner of Sweet Ice Cream card
On the inside I added a basic white insert and stamped a little greeting and some ‘sprinkles’, all from the same stamp set.

This Photopolymer stamp set is currently in the sale, and also features Ice Lolly stamps. Want to find out more, then click here.

I hope my friend loves it…..I might take her an Ice Cream around with her birthday card…that would be fun!

You can find a list of all products used below.

Product List
Sweet Ice Cream Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)
[158224]
£16.00
Ice Cream Cone Builder Punch
[154241]
£17.00
Magenta Madness Classic Stampin' Pad
[153117]
£7.00
Magenta Madness A4 Cardstock
[153085]
£8.25
Basic Black A4 Card Stock
[121688]
£8.25
Basic White A4 Cardstock
[159228]
£9.00
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush
[141897]
£7.50
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad
[147114]
£7.00
Early Espresso A4 Card Stock
[121686]
£8.25

If you would like to see more of my blogs then click here

I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at what I’ve made and that you will hop on the links below to see what others have made too.

Fancy Fold Christmas Card

Fancy Fold Christmas Card

by | Nov 19, 2021 | Cards, Christmas, Fancy Folds, Uncategorized

During the past week, I have run a workshop demonstrating four fancy fold Christmas cards. In fact, the workshop extended into another session, as I didn’t take into account how much work we actually had to do! (Note to self, 2 fancy folds is enough in one session!)

This card is one of the ones we made. Probably the most technical and certainly a challenge to follow my own hand written instructions!

Lots of the materials were from the Whimsy and Wonder suite. I used 12 x 12 basic card stock for the base, but because it is not very stiff, I used lots of layers to help support it.

I wanted a cracker like feel to the card. The Basic edge dies were perfect to achieve this effect, and this is what took a lot of time….12 edges to die cut for each card!

I didn’t use Stampin’ Up! dies for the central aperture, as they were not big enough for it.

The gorgeous Whimsy and Wonder specialty designer series papers were used to decorate this fancy fold card. They are foiled on one side and so pretty. In fact they are so beautiful that its hard to decide which side to use, and in fact, some of the workshop attendees used the opposite side to what I used in my sample card. I stamped some of the Whimsical trees and the coloured baubles on to the central panel. To finish I added some Crystal Shimmery effects to make those pretty baubles shimmer.

To order any of the products used to make this fancy fold card, click on the images below.

Product List
Whimsical Trees Cling Stamp Set (English)
[156330]
£20.00
Basic Borders Dies
[155558]
£27.00
Basic White 12 X12 (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Cardstock
[159231]
£7.25
Silver Foil Sheets
[132178]
£4.75
Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
[138344]
£8.25
Evening Evergreen Classic Stampin' Pad
[155576]
£7.00
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
[147084]
£7.00
Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin' Pad
[153118]
£7.00
Shimmery Crystal Effects
[150892]
£4.75
Multipurpose Liquid Glue
[110755]
£3.75

To find out more about upcoming workshops, take a look at the events and classes tab.

Birthday Card with Tasteful Touches

Birthday Card with Tasteful Touches

by | Nov 1, 2021 | Birthday cards, Cards

Today I sat and looked at all my stamps and thought…..what haven’t I used recently? Its way too easy to forget about those stamps you bought when they launched and then have pushed them to one side once new stamps are released. So, I flicked through my pile of stamps and decided to use a couple of stamp sets that I haven’t used for quite some time because before we know it another new catalogue will be out and again those unused stamps will be pushed to the back. I also didn’t want to use the main focal images on the stamps, but I did want stamped textured background on a birthday card. So, I used Tasteful Touches and also used Free as a Bird stamps.

Birthday Card with Tasteful Touches stamp set. A combination of Granny Apple green and Gorgeous Grape with a splash of So Saffron really sets off this pretty birthday card, and only I didn't use the 'focus' stamps in the sets either.
Pretty Birthday Card with Tasteful Touches stamp

I used Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green for my card layers and stamped onto some basic white in Memento black and Granny Apple Green. The flowers are stamped onto some white card, coloured with Stampin’ blends and then fussy cut – who doesn’t love a bit of fussy cutting? And then, I cut slightly into the centre of some flowers and gently eased the petals to give some dimension. I layered one flower on top of another, making sure NOT to line up the petals for a more realistic effect.

The square shaped ‘blocks’ add a lovely bit of texture and interest to the background.

I added a mat layer inside and stamped and coloured one of the flowers inside too.

What do you think to this birthday card with Tasteful Touches?

Shop any of the products I used by clicking on the images below

Product List
Tasteful Touches Cling Stamp Set (English)
[152562]
£21.00
Free As A Bird Cling Stamp Set
[149468]
£20.00
Best Year Cling Stamp Set (English)
[152568]
£19.00
Gorgeous Grape A4 Cardstock
[147011]
£8.25
Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock
[147014]
£8.25
Matte Black Dots
[154284]
£6.50
Highland Heather Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
[154887]
£8.50
Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
[154885]
£8.50
So Saffron Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
[154905]
£8.50
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
[132708]
£5.50
Paper Snips
[103579]
£9.25

If you were at this weeks Coffee and a Card, then you will have had the opportunity to make this card.

Do you think you would like to make cards like these? Live local to Boston, UK? Why not pop along to The Mallard on a Monday morning and join our friendly group? Please note; from November 8th we will be meeting at 11:30AM due to winter opening hours.

If you are a complete beginner to card making and papercrafts and would like to learn more, watch out for beginners card making classes starting in the New Year. Sign up to my newsletter (at the top of this page) to keep informed.