Thursday, January 29, 2026

BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES WITH A SPLASH OF SPARKLES

Today's card is again based on my Fairless Stampin' Flair Sketch #7, but I rearranged the elements and used some bright colors from the Splash of Sparkles Designer Series Paper.  Same sketch.  Totally different card from Monday!


As a reminder, here is sketch #7.


This sketch was not an immediate "hit" with me, but as I worked with it more this week it has started to grow on me.  There is a bit of a story behind it.  I actually saved it from the trash bin, but then the first card I made with it ended up in the trash!  Watch my YouTube video to learn more about the origin of the sketch and see some additional card alternatives.

As I "learned" to love the sketch, I had to start thinking less "literally" on my interpretation of it.  

For this card I used butterflies from Beautiful Butterflies for two of the circles and a sentiment from the same stamp set as the third "circle".

In my opinion, the star of the show for this card is the Splash of Sparkles DSP.  This gorgeous paper is an Online Exclusive, and it makes me happy.  It has modern graphics, fun colors, and silver and gold foiling!  If you missed it in the Stampin' Up! store you will want to take a closer look!


I stamped the top left butterfly with Black Memento ink and then colored it with Stampin' Blends, but the one on the right was simply die cut from the DSP!

For the inside of the card, I die cut three more butterflies from the DSP and added them along the strip of DSP.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY  is also from Beautiful Butterflies.

Use this link to download a copy of the tutorial.  There is also a link to the video on the tutorial.

A list of the products used is shown below.  Click on any image to learn more about a specific product.  And definitely don't forget to check out the Splash of Sparkles DSP!

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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA

Monday, January 26, 2026

ELEGANT SIMPLICITY

This week it is TEMPLATE TIME!

All the cards I share this week, both here and on my YouTube video, will be created using the same sketch.  I have been creating cards for many years, and about a year ago I started creating sketches for some of my favorite layouts.  I number them so I can easily find them. Do you have certain layouts that you find yourself gravitating to time and time again?

This week I am using my Sketch #7, and I'll be honest, it is not one that I gravitated to for years.  Rather, I found it in a magazine last year when I was purging "treasures" -- like very, old Cardmaking magazines.  I thought it looked very interesting, so before I tossed the magazine, I decided to create a sketch so I could remember the layout when I wanted to try it.


In fact, I liked the layout so much that I used it as the challenge for my Coffee Club when it was my month to pick the challenge.  This was BEFORE I had tried to make a card using the sketch.  

I'll admit!  My first attempt at using this sketch was awful, and my coffee club friends weren't crazy about the sketch either.  My card ended up in the trash, but seeing the cards that the Coffee Club gals made inspired me to try the sketch again.  Their creations were less literal, and seeing their cards gave me hope!


Today's card uses a technique that I have always loved -- all white or all Very Vanilla cards.  The only cardstock I used on this card was Very Vanilla.  I did use Thick Very Vanilla for my card base because I still have some left, however, there are so many layers on this card that using Thick cardstock for the base it totally unnecessary.

What I love when creating cards in this style is using tons of texture.  Each layer was embossed with a different embossing folder.  I did end up putting a non-embossed layer between each layer to give a narrow separation of the different textures.  (All the dimensions are in the tutorial.)


This technique of using the same color with different textures results in a very elegant, clean and simple card.  My touches of gold are vellum elements from the Beautifully Adorned Ephemera Pack.   The sentiment was heat embossed with Gold Embossing powder.  I love this sentiment from Peaceful Pie, but admittedly, its font is probably a little small for heat embossing.


I continued the Sketch #7 layout on the inside of the card by putting the message layer in the upper left corner rather than centering it on the embossed layer behind it.  The sentiment is from the Banner Sayings stamp set.


A list of the products I used is shown below.

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Thursday, January 22, 2026

ADDRESS FUN

Today's card features the balloons from the Addressed to You stamp set.  And what is a better way to use balloons than to make a birthday card.


To make my large bouquet of balloons I stamped the balloons six times.  Then I colored them with Night of Navy, Balmy Blue and Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends.

If you are not someone who likes to fussy cut, you are not going to like the next step for this card!  Yes, since this stamp set does not have coordinating dies, I fussy cut the six balloon groups!


I wanted the background for my balloon to look like swirling air, so I used the So Swirly embossing folder and brayered Balmy Blue ink on it before embossing the Basic White cardstock.

The Brayering an Embossing Folder Technique is easy, and it really brings the design of whatever folder you use to life.  If you have never tried this technique, watch the following technique video to see just how quick and easy it is.

I provide a few tips to insure you get a nice clean embossed imprint on your cardstock.

The simple Happy Birthday sentiment strip was double-matted with Night of Navy and Granny Apple Green cardstock -- colors picked up from the balloon bouquet.  A bow made with Night of Navy ribbon and three Night of Navy Opal Rounds, placed to highlight the sentiment, complete the card front.


I purposely made my brayered/embossed technique sheet a little larger than needed for the card front.  When I trimmed it to the finished size this provided a little strip to decorate the inside of the card.

I used the oval border die with a stamped bouquet of balloons to highlight my greeting on the inside of the card.  This "Wishing you GOOD THINGS" greeting is from the Banner Sayings stamp set.

You can see a portion of the envelop in the background with is decorated with the same oval border and balloons.  the stamp with lines is also included in the set.  For someone who cannot write in a straight line (like me) this stamp is very helpful!

Use this link to download a copy of the FREE TUTORIAL.  

A list of the product I used is shown below.  Click on any image to learn more about that product or to visit my Stampin' Up! store.

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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA
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