Two New Kits in the Kits Collection!

You know the holidays are going to sneak up on us! Get a head start by ordering one or both of these holiday-themed Kits in the Kits Collection at Stampin’ Up!

The Christmas Companions Kit

These Kits in the Stampin’ Up! Kits Collection are perfect for new crafters, experienced crafters, and crafters who want quick and easy projects. Anyone can make these and you don’t need supplies. Everything is included in the Kit. Some Kits are Card Kits and others referred to as Craft Kits, with some fun project of various types that is not cards!

These Kits are different from Paper Pumpkin. These Kits in the Kits Collection can be purchased online in the Stampin’ Up! store as long as they are available. Paper Pumpkin is a monthly kit that you receive in the mail by subscription. Paper Pumpkin also comes with the supplies you need for the project inside.

This Christmas Companions Kit is great for your pet-loving family and friends! Create adorable cards featuring festive pet-centered scenes. With precut pieces, printed card bases, coordinating envelopes, and red foil accents for an extra merry sparkle, this kit has everything you need to craft joyful Christmas cards for pet-loving friends and family.

DETAILS
– Makes 10 cards: 5 each of 2 designs
– Includes red foil accents
– Colors: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Golden Glow, Peaceful Pine, Pecan Pie, Petal Pink, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red
– Also available in French

Kit includes one of each item listed below.
– Christmas Companions Photopolymer Stamp Set
– Clear stamp block
– Peaceful Pine Premium Stampin’ Spot
– Step-by-step instructions
– 10 printed card bases
– 10 printed envelopes
– Precut pieces
– Adhesive

The Festive Plaid Pop-Outs Kit

This Kit is the Festive Plaid Pop-Outs Kit! It is an all-inclusive card and tag making kit! You will make 10 cards and 10 tags, plus 10 envelopes of course! Sounds like fun to me!

Celebrate the Christmas season with the Festive Plaid Pop-Outs Kit, an all-inclusive card and tag making kit with classic plaid designs. This kit includes plenty of festive details, including precut decorative pieces and holiday greetings, gold foil accents, and navy blue twine trim. Some of the precut pieces in this kit do double duty, with pop-out shapes to embellish your tags and peek-through details left behind for your card fronts. With everything ready to assemble, you can spend more time crafting and less time prepping.

DETAILS
– Makes 10 cards: 5 each of 2 designs
– Makes 10 tags: 5 each of 2 designs
– Colors: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, gold, Secret Sea, Very Vanilla

Kit includes one of each item listed below.
– Step-by-step instructions
– 10 printed card bases
– 10 printed envelopes
– 10 printed tags
– Includes gold foil
– Precut pieces
– Secret Sea twine
– Adhesive

Another great Kit for the holidays is the Nutcracker Tags Kit! Very festive and colorful tags to put together and make your packages look extra special! It’s on Low Inventory so may be gone soon! Check it out!

SHOP THE STAMPIN’ UP! KITS COLLECTION HERE!

Lots of Kits to choose from! Even Halloween!

Is It Really Time For the 12 Weeks of Christmas??!

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Is it really only 12 weeks until Christmas? It comes up pretty quickly and by surprise every year! Most of us are just getting serious about Halloween coming the end of the month, but we know once the Halloween decorations go up, Christmas is not far behind!

What is the 12 Weeks of Christmas special edition email? This is a special thank you gift I send to my email subscribers every year with exclusive ideas I won’t be posting anywhere else. First we start with holiday cards, then gift ideas, and finally gift bag and tag ideas for wrapping those gifts! The weeks fly by for sure!

Every Wednesday I will send out a 12 Weeks of Christmas email at 1:00 PM. Hopefully, it will be an inspiration (and reminder!) for creating your own projects for the holidays and getting a head start!

I have fun sending these emails and I think my customers enjoy receiving them and getting extra ideas that they can use for their holiday crafting. Tell your friends to sign up, too, if they like papercrafting! They might not even need to be stampers! All us crafters like to see new ideas! There are always alternatives if you aren’t a stamper. You might come up with a different project using paint or whatever your hobby is.

How do you get these 12 Weeks of Christmas emails? You have to be on my Mailing List! Just sign up in the red box on the right if you are on my website. If you are on your phone, you may have to scroll all the way down to find it. Or just click HERE to go to the page to sign up. It’s free, of course, and you can unsubscribe at any time if it’s not for you. If you are already getting my Tuesday emails, then you don’t have to do anything! You are IN!

These projects will not be anywhere else…not on my blog, Facebook page, or Instagram. They are my gift to my mailing list subscribers as a thank you for following me and stamping along with me! We’d love to have you join us if you would like! The first email goes out Wednesday, October 7, 2026! See you then!

Harvest Hues Ephemera Pumpkin Card

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This Harvest Hues Ephemera Pumpkin Card is a fun one to make if you like playing with ephemera and stickers to make a card! And usually pretty easy, too, since there is often no stamping involved. This card was mostly made with the Harvest Hues Ephemera Pack. You will find all the new ephemera Mix & Match packs on page 69 in the current Stampin’ Up! catalog. The pack is an assortment of autumn precut images and layering pieces. They have a backing so you can use them as stickers for Halloween, autumn flowers and foliage, pumpkins, and more. I couldn’t resist!

The card base is Mossy Meadow cardstock with a layer of Cajun Craze. The top layer is Basic White, cut at 3 3/4″ x 5″ since we have that extra Cajun Craze layer on the card base. I used the pumpkin grouping and the floral strip that I put near the bottom of the card. But before I adhered anything, I got the idea to do some splattering in the background just to make that white space a little more interesting. I used my Stampin’ Blends in Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie (or you could use Timid Tiger) to flick the brush end of the marker against the inside of the marker cap. Usually I am not very good at splattering, but this method worked well.

The pumpkins are popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals so I didn’t remove the backing to make it into a sticker. However, the strip is adhered flat onto the card. Then I added a few of the leaves, acorns, and tiny mushrooms, even a little flower on the yellow pumpkin. The ephemera pack doesn’t come with greetings so I chose a greeting from my hot foiling stash of extras, made with the Sweetly Sentimental Hot Foil Dies. I love this set because of the sentiments and easy way to make a bunch in one fell swoop! Make extras and then you have some handy to use at a moment’s notice, like on this card!

I also added three Cajun Craze dots from the Painted Patch Dots for a little extra embellishment. You could change up this card lots of ways even if you were copying it! Use a different greeting, leave the background plain or add different colors of splatters or even blend in some clouds. Whatever you like! The ephemera packs are also good for easy scrapbooking. The Harvest Hues Ephemera Pack is due back in stock the week of October 19th but check back now and then and see if it arrives early. It’s always a good idea to fill out the notification form if you want to find out when something is back in stock. You’ll find those on any product that you click on that is out of stock at the moment. Hopefully, you already own this pack and don’t have to wait.

It’s time to make and send those Halloween and fall cards if you are making some!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Frightfully Fun Stack and Shuffle Halloween Cards

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Frightfully Fun Stack & Shuffle Halloween Cards

Try this easy way to quickly and easily make three similar cards using the stack and shuffle method as I did with these Frightfully Fun Stack and Shuffle Halloween Cards! I’ve been seeing different versions of these cards and decided to try it and to make Halloween cards. How is it October 1st already today?!! It’s easy and fun!

Start by choosing three different designer series patterns, most likely in the same package of paper (although no reason you couldn’t use three coordinating papers of different packages). Cut one piece from each pattern at 4″ x 5 1/4″. The reason you cut this size is because it is the size if you were using the whole piece on the card base as a DSP layer. I used the Frightfully Fun Designer Series Paper. As you can see, I chose a piece of the ghost print paper, the striped paper, and the little stars paper. Stack the three papers together on one pile, each 4″ x 5 1/4″.

Next, make marks with a pencil on the right side of the card at 1″ and 4″ and at 2″ and 3″ on the left side of the pile. You don’t have to mark each paper, just the top one. Using your Paper Trimmer, cut on a diagonal from the 1″ mark on the right down to the 2″ mark on the left side of the paper. Then cut on the diagonal from the 4″ mark on the right to the 3″ mark on the left side. Keep each stack together at first.

Above you see what the papers should look like, cut and still stacked.

Then just sort them out so each paper is in a different position on a different card.

I chose three different colors of card bases, but you could do all the same. I used Basic Gray, Basic Black, and Pumpkin Pie cardstock. Then just adhere the designer paper pieces to the card bases in the same order you have laid out already. There are no spaces in between the pieces. I just started at the top and then did the middle piece and bottom piece. That worked for me.

For the greeting, I used the “Boo to You” sentiment in the Oh My Fright Stamp Set. It is stamped in Memento ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and the cut out with one of the Stylish Shapes Dies, plus a larger Basic Black circle for the layer. I also stamped some stars and sparkles with a stamp in the same set in Pumpkin Pie ink on the greeting. I popped up the greeting with Stampin’ Dimensionals on two of the cards and adhered it flat on the third card. On one card, I added some Black 3/8″ Iridescent Ribbon under the greeting.

For a little more fun, I remembered I had the new embellishments, the Adhesive-Backed Bats Ghosts and Dots. I added a few ghosts on one card, a couple dots and a bat on another, and a ghost and two dots on another.

See the inside of the card below. I used a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, stamped with a Pumpkin Pie greeting from the Oh My Fright Stamp Set, and a ghost!

I’ve seen other “stack and shuffle” cards that used different size rectangles instead of the angled pieces I used, so you could do that if it seems easier to you. You could also eyeball the cutting lines if you don’t like to measure. They don’t have to be the measurements I used. Try it out! Use other designer papers or Christmas papers if you don’t need Halloween cards.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Luxe Foliage Fall Card

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As soon as I started looking through the papers in my new package of this designer series paper, I had the idea for this Luxe Foliage Fall Card. After all, it is officially fall now so this card is timed perfectly! The Luxe Foliage Specialty Designer Series Paper is the Product of the Month at Stampin’ Up! for September and is beautiful, as you might imagine. You can get it for only $5 with a $75 minimum order! The paper is a little thinner and one-sided, but the leaf and floral designs in gold foil are elegant! You get four each of 3 designs in Gold, Secret Sea, Peaceful Pine, and Pecan Pie. You can use this paper for almost anything, including scrapbooking and other projects.

I liked the green & gold sheet so I used Peaceful Pine cardstock for the card base and a layer of Gold Foil underneath the designer paper. I cut the Gold Foil at 4″ x 5 1/4″ and the DSP at 3 3/4″ x 5″. I really wanted that layer of gold underneath the paper to separate it from the Peaceful Pine cardstock. The card looked beautiful just at that stage with the green and gold!

I also wanted to try out some other new products I received in that same order! I diecut a small gold foil scalloped rectangle from the new Scalloped Christmas Cheer Dies. You’ll find these in the new September-December 2026 Catalog. These dies are part of the Timeless Christmas Suite Collection. I hope they keep the dies around long past Christmas because you can use them any time!

In my newest order, I also had gotten the Harvest Hues Ephemera Pack, so I looked through the package to see if there was something I could use. I settled on this diecut floral image and added two leaves on the sides. These are all stickers, but since I wanted to pop up the floral image, I used Stampin’ Dimensionals on the back of that piece and for the two separate leaves I peeled off the backing and used them as stickers flat on the card.

The greeting I already had in my collection of hot foiled pieces I’d made in a few batches one time when I had thte Hot Foiling System out. It is in the Sweetly Sentimental Hot Foil Dies. I love these because you foil and then diecut all the words at one time! I chose the one that says, “Sending Hugs” in gold.

If you haven’t invested in the Stampin’ Hot Foiling System yet or don’t plan to, this Luxe Foliage Designer Series Paper will keep you in the loop with gold foiled cards.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Halloween Decor Kits to Make!

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If you love decorating your home for Halloween as I do, you have to check out the Stampin’ Up! Kits Collection! There are TWO kits available that you and your family might enjoy making together and then having for years for Halloween decor!

The newest Kit is the Witchy Whimsy Hat Kit. This kit is even better than a similar one they had many years ago (which I still put out every year!). In this kit you get a REAL witch hat, kind of velvety, full size! Once you take it out of the small cello bag you can’t fold it back up and put it back in the bag, at least I couldn’t! But I was pleased that I didn’t have to make my own out of paper as in the previous kit a long time ago!

At first the directions in the kit look confusing and not very helpful. I suggest watching the Stampin’ Up! video (and slowing it down in speed and pausing after every step) to get the idea, then look back at the pictorial directions and you will understand them better. There are a couple of really fun things in this kit. There is a special coppery-metallic kind of paint and a Sponge Dauber to dab on various pieces in the kit to make them look a little distressed for a witch. No precise painting involved, just dabbing on paint here and there on some pieces. Really fun!

Also, the paper the diecut stars are punched out from, is really nice! It is corrugated and copper-colored. You will probably wish we carried that paper in our Online Store! The wire is rolled up on a spool so be careful as you open it, and then work with it a little to mostly straighten it so it is easier to work with. You will make something resembling a knot in one end, then stick the other end up through the inside of the hat to poke out from the top of the hat. The “knot” will hold it in place as you pull it through. Then you will wind it around the hat and hot glue at the bottom. The stars, one on each side of the wire, will be attached. I used Dimensionals as the directions called for but I think you could use hot glue as well.

Just proceed with all the pieces as directed in the video and directions OR do your own thing with the supplies. Either way, I think you will be happy with your witch hat creation! Be sure you have a block of time to work on it so you can enjoy the process. It is not really difficult, but it does take a little bit of time so don’t be in a rush.

Another Halloween decor item you might miss if you don’t look through all the Kits in the Kits Collection, is the Haunted Home Kit from two years ago I think. I bought this at the time and it sold out almost immediately. More came in after Halloween and some people decorated the house on their own for Christmas! But now it is available in the Online Store. It is not difficult to put together. Start with the cardboard walls, add the vellum behind the windows, decorate the outside, and add the roof.

When I finished mine, I covered a sturdy piece of cardboard with a greenish piece of designer piece of paper to “resemble” grass and used hot glue to adhere the house to that base. I wanted it to be sturdy and I knew I wasn’t going to try to fold it up for storage or anything. You can see the base I made in the next photo.

Any of the Kits in the Kits Collection are fun to make and easy enough for anyone! They come with all the supplies (except maybe a glue gun is recommended) you need. You can follow the directions perfectly or change up the design according to your liking. Take a look at these Halloween crafts and get your order in! You still have time to receive your order and make the project in time for Halloween! Enjoy!

SHOP THE KITS COLLECTION!

October 2026 Paper Pumpkin Kit

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Paper Pumpkin Noel Greetings Kit Oct 2026 Banner

Although all the Paper Pumpkin Kits are good, I especially enjoy the holiday kits! Paper Pumpkin is a monthly subscription kit that comes to you in the mail. It’s all presented almost like a gift! You will love it!

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN BY OCTOBER 10.

OCTOBER

Craft elegant, layered Christmas cards in a sophisticated neutral palette.

NOEL GREETINGS: Subscribe September 11–October 10

Makes 10 cards: 5 each of 2 designs with 10 coordinating envelopes

Precut paper pieces
Makes 10 cards: 5 each of 2 designs with 10 coordinating envelopes.
Gold foil accents
Coordinating colors: Basic Beige, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow (Premium Stampin’ Spot), Pecan Pie

(Try out the new Premium Stampin’ Spots! They are about an inch longer and slightly wider than the Spots we have had all these years.)

Coordinates with the Neutral Noel Suite Collection (item 168469)!

Check out the coordinating dies to use with your October, November, and December Kits and any time! (optional)

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY SO YOU DON’T MISS OUT!

Sunflower Fields Friend Card

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Just look at this beautiful Sunflower Fields Friend Card! Would you love to get it in your mailbox instead of another piece of junk mail? Well, I was the lucky recipient of this surprise card! It was sent from a Demonstrator group, SUDSOL, that I have been a member of since I joined Stampin’ Up! Through the years they have sent out RAK cards (Random Acts of Kindness) (do we hear that much any more?) to random members just for fun.

I especially appreciated receiving this card because I do not own any of these products in the Sunflower Fields Suite Collection. What a mistake I made not ordering those items! The paper is beautiful and look at the cute sunflower and flower pot dies! The Suite is “currently unavailable” as I write this post but due back in stock the week of October 5th. Actually, the only product not available in the Suite is the ribbon so if you want it right away you can order the stamps and dies Bundle to save 10% and the designer series paper and anything else you want separately.

The card base is Golden Glow cardstock with a layer of Cajun Craze. On top of that is the Sunflower Field Designer Series Paper, which is beautiful! The sunflower and pot are the Radiant Sunflower Dies. They are layered on Nested Essential Dies, I believe. The greeting is in the Radiant Sunflowers Stamp Set. The ribbon is the Mossy Meadow & Very Vanilla Ribbon.

The whole point of this post of my being lucky enough to receive this card is to emphasize the thrill of receiving a handmade card in the mail! I think we should all make a bigger point of sending out the cards we make, even for no reason. We don’t have to wait for a birthday or anniversary, or special occasion. Just send a card because we can and we want to let someone know we are thinking of them. Which would you rather receive once in awhile….a text or a handmade card?

Have a good week and mail a card to someone for no reason!

3-Day FLASH SALE at Stampin’ Up!

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Starting TODAY, from September 16–18, you can get SELECT stamp sets at 15% off!

Grab stamps that have been on your wish list or use this opportunity to explore new stamp styles. Act fast—this stamp-tacular sale only lasts for three days! While supplies last!

WEDNESDAY – THURSDAY – FRIDAY

SHOP SALE ONLINE HERE!!

You can add other products to your order as well! Check the new September-December 2026 Catalog, Online Exclusives, Kits, and Last Chance! If you order reaches $75, you can purchase the Product of the Month for only $5!

You will receive 10% in Rewards with any order of $20 or more to spend on a future order within a year. Your Rewards will be based on the total after any Rewards or discounts are applied.

Painted Patch Fall Hello Card

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Here’s a card I made over the weekend, and I’m going to say it’s a little deluxe! I did lots of fussy-cutting (cutting out by hand) to make this Painted Patch Fall Hello Card. That’s partly my fault, because I could have bought the dies in the Painted Patch Suite Collection. Hopefully, this Suite will be back in stock this week. Those dies work with some of the designer series paper images, or specifically the stamped images in the Painted Pumpkins Stamp Set. But I don’t mind doing a little fussy-cutting, and in this case, I cut out plenty of pumpkins, gourds, and acorns to see what I would need.

The card base is Cajun Craze, a color I don’t use that often, but fall is a time to use it! I added a layer of Very Vanilla cardstock cut at 4″ x 5 1/4″. I added a strip of the Painted Patch Designer Series Paper to the left side. It is 3/4″ x 5 1/4. After cutting out an assortment of pumpkins, gourds, leaves, and acorns, I played around with them into the positions that I liked. Then I took a picture with my phone since I was going to have to move them around to glue. Some of the pumpkins in front are popped up on Dimensionals, others are glued down flat. You have to be careful when you want to stick things partly underneath other things so those areas aren’t glued down. It just takes a little bit of thought!

After I had all the cut-out pieces arranged and adhered, I thought the Vanilla background looked a little plain. So I added some Timid Tiger ink with the Small Blending Brush, very lightly. I love the way that looked. It helps the greeting stand out a little more.

The greeting is stamped in Cajun Craze ink on a hot-foiled label of Very Vanilla. I used gold foil with the Flourish & Frames Hot Foil Dies, first to add the gold foiling around the edges and then to cut out the piece with the regular die in the set. The greeting is in the Simply Leaves Stamp Set. It fit perfectly on this piece! It is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals and then I added a few fussy-cut leaves around two of the corners.

On the inside of the card, I added a Very Vanilla panel to stamp a greeting or write a personal message. I added another strip of the Painted Patch DSP to the side and adhered an extra fussy-cut pumpkin and acorn to the bottom corner.

I considered adding some matching dots to this card but decided maybe it was busy enough and didn’t need anything else! You could make this card simpler with fewer die-cut or fussy-cut pumpkins, etc., at the bottom, or maybe only one or two just in the lower-right corner. Whatever you like!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Painted Patch Just Because Card

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This Painted Patch Just Because Card is an easy one to make and show off the fun Painted Patch Designer Series Paper. I love all the different styles of pumpkins on these pages plus other designs.

The card base is Basic White cardstock, and I left a wider margin than usual on the sides. If you prefer, you could use the Basic White Thick Cardstock. The margin on the two sides is 1/2″. The top and bottom margins are about 3/8″ on each end so that the front panel is not square, but a little bit of a longer rectangle from top to bottom.

I used Timid Tiger and Secret Sea for the layers underneath the designer series paper. I think Secret Sea is one of those colors you start off not caring for and then you come to love it. On this card, the Timid Tiger layer is cut at 3 1/4″ x 4 3/4″. The Secret Sea piece is 3″ x 4 1/2″. The Painted Patch DSP is cut at 2 3/4″ x 4 1/4″.

Before adhering the designer paper piece to the Basic White card base, I wrapped around a piece of Timid Tiger ribbon. This particular ribbon from last year’s catalog is retired now, but I’d barely used it so I was going to use it on this card. You can choose whatever ribbon you would like to use depending on your card colors and designer series paper. I tied a simple knot, rather than a bow, around the ribbon. Over the ribbon, I added a greeting popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. It is in the Framed & Fabulous Stamp Set and is stamped with Secret Sea ink on Basic White cardstock. It is diecut in this rectangle shape with rounded corners in the Nested Essentials Dies.

This card design is easy to make. Choose what designer series paper, stamped, or embossed paper you want to use for the focal point, then choose one or two layers underneath. Leaving a wider margin just gives a little different look.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

LAST DAY! Join Paper Pumpkin For the September Kit!

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Paper Pumpkin Aspens of Gratitude Sept 2026 Banner

This is the new Paper Pumpkin Kit for September, Aspens of Gratitude. This is the monthly subscription kit that comes in the mail to you each month. Easy for experts or beginners! Beautiful gift-like presentation! I say it’s the gift you give yourself! Great for “Me Time” or to do with a friend or family member!

SEPTEMBER:

Aspens of Gratitude Paper Pumpkin Kit

Subscribe August 11–September 10

Share your gratitude with cards featuring beautifully hand-painted woodland designs.

• Makes 10 cards: 5 each of 2 designs with 10 coordinating envelopes

• Precut paper pieces

• Self-adhesive gem embellishments

• Coordinating colors: Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso (Stampin’ Spot), Golden Glow, Gray Granite, Mossy Meadow, Pumpkin Pie

Check out the additional Detailed Flora Dies you can purchase.

This Kit will include the new Premium Stampin’ Spot for your ink pad!

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN HERE!

Last date to subscribe, cancel, or skip a month is September 10.

My Making of the Witchy Whimsy Hat Kit

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Here is the Witchy Whimsy Hat Kit in the Stampin’ Up! Kits Collection, just released in September 2026. I love almost all things Halloween so this witch hat kit really caught my eye! Years ago Stampin’ Up! had a witch hat kit of some kind that I bought and made and still put out at Halloween. It has a garland of fall leaves wrapped around the base of the hat. But we had to make the hat first! With this kit, a real witch velvety hat is included in the supplies. After you take it out of its little plastic bag, don’t expect to fold it back up and put it back in the bag! At least I could not! But it is a great hat! This Kit is a little involved to make so give yourself a block of time and enjoy working on it. I will give you some of the steps in photos below. If you are short on time, just plan to get all the pieces prepared and then another time you can adhere everything on to the hat.

Here are the contents of the kit, as seen in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store.

Here is my witch hat after I took it out of the plastic bag. And I’ve got my “cool” hot glue gun ready!

Here are the pieces I took out of the kit! I love doing this when I purchase a kit in the Kits Collection or the monthly Paper Pumpkin Kit! I love to see what is included in the box! Lots of pieces to punch out, wire to wrap around the hat (be careful when you “unleash it” from that roll!), gauze for the base of the hat, ribbons for embellishment, a tube of copper colored paint and sponge dauber for “distressing” the pieces (the most fun part!), and really cool corrugated copper-colored paper which you punch out the stars from. Love it!

Here are the directions in a pamphlet just like directions in other Stampin’ Up! kits. There are no “written” directions for assembling the kits, I assume because the kits go to other world markets as well. Usually these would be fine for kits. But for this witch hat, I heard one Demonstrator say, “Here are the directions, now throw them away!” I was close to that but what I recommend is look at the directions and diagrams. Then watch the video several times. Maybe show down the playback speed because it is very fast. No talking on the video either. But watch it and get the general idea, then look at the directions again and you will probably understand them a little better. And if you don’t want ANY guidance, look at the photo of the hat and put it together however you like! Nobody said you have to follow directions or even do it like the design is intended. Have the video handy to watch again as you make the hat, pausing it, or rewinding as necessary. At least, that is what I had to do!! Maybe your experience will be more intuitive….and I like to make my things EXACTLY as intended so….!

Now to the good part! Punch out all the pieces, get your supplies organized, have scrap paper to cover your surface and/or your Glass Mat if you have one. You will be working with paint, so be ready to protect whatever you are working with.

If you have made a rosette before, you will know how to fold these two long scored strip back and forth. The fun part of adding some paint to the sponge dauber and then rubbing it on to the rosette strips, not solid and perfect, but in a haphazard/distressed fashion. You can watch the video to see how to make the rosette which is the background for the “31” and the spider web piece. You can apply the paint first to the folded up strip, then open it up and add more. If you do the inside first, then fold up, the wet paint might stick.

Keep adding paint to all the pieces as you see in the video. I really liked this tube of paint and the sponge dauber! It was fun adding paint to all these pieces.

When you have all your pieces ready and dry, you can decorate the hat. To start the wire, wrap one end around the paint pen or something of that size to effectively make a “knot” or obstruction so you can stick the wire up inside the hat to come out the tip top and that knot will hold it in place. I found it was a good idea to stuff the hat with some kind of paper like newspaper, tissue, bubble wrap, whatever you have to hold the shape while you work on it. You will need to kind of straighten the wire so you can work with it wrapping it around the hat and around the base, but not totally. The wire then gets wrapped around the hat, and then the stars are attached, back to back. I followed the instructions and used Dimensionals in between the stars, but maybe hot glue would be better. Your choice.

Just follow the video, directions, or picture to decorate your hat. Pay attention to where the seam is on the hat and put that in the back.

That’s it! Now you have a fabulous Witchy Whimsy Hat for your Halloween home decor! Have a friend or two order the kit and make them together.

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Whispering Woods Bear Christmas Card

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This Whispering Woods Bear Christmas Card is made with two new things in the new Stampin’ Up! September-December 2026 Catalog. I used the cute bear in a new stamp set and the beautiful paper that looks like forest where the bear lives.

The card base is Real Red because I wanted the card to look like Christmas. For the background, I used the new Whispering Woods Designer Series Paper. I liked the sheet with all the little pine trees in the forest where bears like to live! This paper is extra-special because with every package sold, Stampin’ Up! will donate $3 to organizations to help spread a little holiday cheer. You can find this paper on page 64 in the catalog. There are 12 sheets, 4 each of 3 double-sided designs. Two of the patterns have designs at the top and the bottom so that you could cut the paper apart into panels and use them to make several cards at once. Or each would make a beautiful scrapbook page border.

For the focal point of the card, I stamped the bear holding a sign from the Christmas Crew Stamp Set. I stamped him in Memento black ink, along with a greeting on a sign, on a piece of Basic White cardstock, colored him with Stampin’ Blends, and fussy-cut him. There are Christmas Crew Dies, but I didn’t buy those. but you can save 10% by getting them in the Christmas Crew Bundle along with the stamp set. I colored him with Pecan Pie Blends and Black for his nose, also Blend 1000 for under his nose.

For the background on the banner-shaped tag, I diecut a scrap of paper from the middle of the paper with the trees at the top and bottom. These dies are in the Nested Essentials Dies. The paper had a bit of color that looked like clouds, although it didn’t really show up on my small piece very well. I added some color with a Small Blending Brush and Misty Moonlight ink. On top of that, I drew in some little snowflakes with a White Gel Pen. These newer White Gel Pens are better than the ones we used to have. I just got this one, but I’ve been reading how well they work compared to others.

In order for the background piece of DSP to be layered on the Real Red cardstock, I trimmed off the edges with the “stitching” on both sides and the top of the designer paper, leaving the bottom banner end as is. Then it fit over the diecut piece of Real Red. I thought it still needed something, so I just cut another larger banner shape with my Paper Trimmer out of Shaded Spruce cardstock. This piece is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. I also fussy-cut a tree from another sheet of the DSP and stuck him in on the left side of the bear. To finish it off, I added a bow made wtih the Real Red 1/4″ Stitched Ribbon. It is adhered with a couple of Mini Glue Dots. The feel of the ribbon surrpised me – it has a silky feel! I was expecting a cotton/fabric texture to it. You’ll find the ribbon in the Online Exclusives. It seemed like the perfect finishing touch for this card!

On the inside of the card, I stamped a Christmas greeting on a piece of Basic White and adhered a narrow strip of the same designer series paper with the little trees on the left side of the Basic White to decorate the inside of the card a little!

I think we all will have lots of fun with the Christmas Crew Stamp Set characters and their signs! And the bear can be used for birthdays or other occasions depending on his sign!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Paper Pumpkin Kit Watercolor In Bloom Cards

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When you don’t feel very motivated to do anything or you can’t narrow down which of a thousand tasks or fun things you should do, instead of wasting your time playing a new game on your phone, get out a Paper Pumpkin Kit and make it! Don’t think about how maybe you should make a card with your new stamps and products, maybe you should send a card to somebody, maybe you should organize your stamping stuff, maybe you should check the news again about the hurricane in the Pacific that is supposed to affect Kauai where your son just landed for a vacation, maybe you should clean out that basket of papers and bills and receipts sitting on the counter, maybe you should make that tiny puzzle you gave to yourself and everybody else at Christmas, maybe you should bake a new pastry recipe, maybe you should……and on and on and on! So instead of nothing getting done, just grab the closest Paper Pumpkin Kit you can find (and we all know we have some kits that haven’t seen the light of day yet!) and make it! Make it right now and don’t change your mind.

That’s what my thought process (or lack of it) was yesterday and here is the result! Nine cards, three each of three designs that have fancy diecuts, vellum, little copper sequins for embellishments, and pretty printed envelopes to match! I accomplished something in my day, produced something useful, and it got my mind off myself! What a wonderful gift a Paper Pumpkin Kit is! I always say it is the gift you give yourself when you find that box in your mail!

This was the December 2025 Paper Pumpkin Kit, Watercolor In Bloom. I didn’t dream it had been sitting on my desk since December!! Maybe 2-3 months! The cards turned out so pretty, I thought, and I’m glad I finally stopped the world and caught up with a Paper Pumpkin Kit! If you are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber or you sign up to be one, you can purchase this “past kit” in the Online Store. Not all kits are always available.

These cards all have several layers, some pretty diecut layers, along with vellum. The instructions are pretty clear and there is a video you can watch also, with every Paper Pumpkin Kit to see how to make everything. I watched part of it and then I knew what to do. All supplies were included, even Dimensionals and Tear & Tape for adhesives and a Night of Navy ink spot. Since I have all the colors of ink pads, I ususally use my regular ink pads and “save” the cute ink spots! The card bases are all pretty and the same on both sides. We don’t usually make a card with a pretty back, do we? And if you wanted to be adventurous, you could cut the card base in half and make extra cards with your own cardstock and supplies. I always love that these card kits come with matching envelopes!

Watch the Stampin’ Up! Paper Pumpkin video below to see how these cards went together, if you are interested. If you aren’t familiar with Paper Pumpkin, this will show you what it is like!

If you would like to get the September Paper Pumpkin Kit in your mailbox, join by September 10 and get the beautiful Aspens of Gratitude Kit.

Share your gratitude with cards featuring beautifully hand-painted woodland designs.

• Makes 10 cards: 5 each of 2 designs with 10 coordinating envelopes

• Precut paper pieces

• Self-adhesive gem embellishments

• Coordinating colors: Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso (Stampin’ Spot), Golden Glow, Gray Granite, Mossy Meadow, Pumpkin Pie

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN HERE!

No risk, no obligation. Stop or skip a month any time. Just go into your account before the 10th of any month if you want to make any changes.

Stamping With Karen

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LAST DAY! Join Paper Pumpkin For the September Kit!

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Whispering Woods Bear Christmas Card

Paper Pumpkin Kit Watercolor In Bloom Cards