Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

Storybook Moments Z-Fold Bunnies Card

I think this Storybook Moments Z-Fold Bunnies Card turned out so sweet, not because I made it, but because the paper and the bunnies are just irresistible. I didn’t even add a greeting because this was not meant to be an Easter card (although it could be!) and I wasn’t sure for what occasion I would send it or to whom I would send it. And I could have no sentiment and just write a personal message inside.

This is a Z-Fold card which I think always looks special and yet is simple to make. It is just the front of the card folded back on a center score line. The only tricky part is adhering the center panel on the front, centered properly, so that if you have a stamped greeting on the inside, it is completely hidden from the front because of how you place it.

This card starts with a base of Boho Blue cardstock. Cut the usual card size, 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. Score at 2 1/8″ and 4 1/4″. Or score the card at 4 1/4″ as usual, then score the card front in half. Half of 4 1/4″ is 2 1/8″. Or just fold the card front in half lining it up with the card fold. Then decorate however you like.

I used the Storybook Moments Specialty Designer Series Paper for this card. I have liked this paper so much I have almost used all of it and that doesn’t usually happen! I just love the patterns with the strawberries and I got to use both on this card! One has a pinkish background and one has blue. My friend said she’d like to have the blue one for wallpaper! That would take a lot of packages of paper!

I adhered a piece of the pink strawberry pattern to the front panel. It is cut at 5 3/8″ x 2″. The main thing to think about is keeping margins the same wherever you place paper on the card. This measurement gave a teeny tiny margin around the edges. If you want the usual margin, then cut the designer paper a little narrower and shorter. But then so that with the inside layer and the strip on the right-hand edge of the card, IF you are doing those. The inside of my card has a Basic White piece cut at 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″. I played and played trying to decide on the paper design for the edge of the card and finally the blue background strawberry pattern looked perfect.

The Basic White paper on the inside of the card (for a stamped or written message or note) looked too stark white against the other papers so I used a Small Blending Brush (or you could use a sponge) to apply just a very light shade of Crumb Cake ink just around the edges and even a bit in the center. Very light! It’s just enough to match the background of the paper with the bunnies instead of looking so white.

The focal point of the card uses the Storybook Moments DSP pattern with the larger images of bunnies in a variety of poses and actions. I used the largest circle die in the Stylish Shapes Dies because that was the size I needed to get every bit of the bunnies in the die. That left me with nothing larger for the layer. After looking through my dies, I chose the Memorable Blooms Dies (which were on the Last Chance List and now must be discontinued). The octagon shape fit the bunny diecut very well and the Old Olive cardstock helped it stand out from the background.

The strip on the side of the card is 1″ x 5 3/8″, again, matching the same length of the other papers and margins on the card. You can vary this size or not even add it. For a finishing touch, I added a small bow under the bunny piece. I haven’t gone through my ribbons in awhile so this one may be retired as well. It was a Granny Apple Green in a Ribbon Duo Combo Pack. Use whatever you have. Linen Thread would look perfect on this card as well. Another important tip is to only put glue or adhesive on the half of the focal point panel so that it only is sticky on the side going on the Z-Fold and not sticking to the inside of the card!

Here is a photo of the card opened up so you can see how the Z-Fold looks.

Storybook Moments Z-Fold Bunnies Card Open

As much as I like to add bling or sparkles, I felt this card was fine without anything else, just the bow!

Don’t forget about the Last Chance List! Some items are discounted but not all and once they are gone from there, they are gone. The Last Chance List of retiring products has now taken the place of the Clearance Rack. If a product in any retiring catalog is carrying over, if you don’t see it in the new catalog it is in the Online Exclusives category in the Online Store!

Also, remember that now you get Stampin’ Rewards in your account to spend on a future order any time you place an order of $20 or more in merchandise! In fact, I noticed that when you view a product in the Online Store, it will tell you what your rewards would be for that product!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP ONLINE HERE!

See the Stampin’ Rewards Video

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Yesterday, April 15, Stampin’ Up! gave us a new Stampin’ Rewards program! No longer do we have to accumulate a large order to get rewards or get none. Now, with every order of $20 or more (before shipping and tax, of course), we will earn 10% in Stampin’ Rewards! All you need is an account and to be “opted in”. If you already have an account, all you have to do is sign in and a pop up will direct you through the steps to opt in. It’s easy and will only take a minute. If you do not have an account, just click “Create Account” from the Sign In box and put in your information. If you purchase as a “Guest” or do not “opt in” to receive awards, you will not receive any, although you can always change your mind. The system will keep track of your rewards and you can use them on your next order or any future orders. Use them each time or save them up. You will not use rewards on the order on which you are earning them. They are for future orders.

To earn Stampin’ Rewards through a Paper Pumpkin subscription, you must spend $20.00 USD per order.

3-month Paper Pumpkin subscription = $5.40 USD in Stampin’ Rewards*
6-month Paper Pumpkin subscription = $10.80 USD in Stampin’ Rewards*
12-month Paper Pumpkin subscription = $21.60 USD in Stampin’ Rewards*
Any month-to-month Paper Pumpkin subscription with two or more kits per month = $1.80 USD for every kit

Note: Single month-to-month Paper Pumpkin subscriptions with only one kit per month do not qualify for Stampin’ Rewards because the shipping included in the subscription brings the cost below the $20.00 USD threshold for earning rewards. Paper Pumpkin refills, past kits, and add-ons also qualify for rewards as long as the product total meets the threshold.

*Before discounts or coupon codes applied.

I think one thing to remember is that we will earn rewards on the “Retail Amount” in the Shopping cart which must be $20 or more. If you use a $5 reward on that order, which you can do, it will drop the Retail amount to $15 and therefore be less than $20 so you would not earn more rewards on that order. It has worked that way with other Product Credits that we have earned as Demonstrators or maybe on some promotions, customers. For example, if in the past I had a order entered in my Cart for $150 and expected to get Stampin’ Rewards of $15 on that order, but I used $50 in product credits, that dropped the retail amount to $100 so I was no longer eligible for Stampin’ Rewards. So you can’t get rewards on the amount subtracted with your rewards. I think these are the little details that will be confusing at first, but otherwise, the process is clear and straightforward. You will see that in your Shopping Cart.

Watch this video from Sara at Stampin’ Up! and you’ll see how easy it is! Then go sign in to your account, opt in, and be ready for your next order!

Click HERE to see the video at Stampin’ Up! and Learn More about the new Stampin’ Rewards program!

Happy Stampin’ Rewards!!

Storybook Moments Just A Note Card

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While Stampin’ Up! is updating the website with the new Stampin’ Rewards program, let’s enjoy another card, the Storybook Moments Just A Note Card, using the adorable Storybook Moments Specialty Designer Series Paper. You could change the greeting on this card for another occasion, even a “Happy Easter” greeting if you need a last minute card! The Storybook Moments paper has two sheets designed with a variety of individual panels that you can cut apart and use separately, unlike normal sheets of designer paper. This chipmunk was one of those panels, as I call them, so I just cut it apart from the rest of the paper and mounted it on this card! Couldn’t be easier!

This card has an Old Olive cardstock base. The background paper is actually the “other side” of the paper with the separate panels. The other side of this chipmunk image is the background foliage pattern you see on the card. To help the chipmunk stand out better against the background, I layered him on a piece of Old Olive and popped that up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. The chipmunk picture is 3″ x 3 3/4″ so the Old Olive layer is 3 1/4″ x 4″.

The greeting is in the Greetings For All Ephemera Pack in the Spring Mini Catalog on page 13. To keep it small, I cut around the words. I also sponged a little bit of Old Olive ink around the edges to take off just a bit of the “whiteness” of the ephemera paper since the rest of the card didn’t have any bright white. The greeting is layered on a small circle, diecut with the Stylish Shapes Dies. It has one Stampin’ Dimensional underneath the area that doesn’t layer on top of the already popped up chipmuch picture. You can put a bit of regular glue under the part that is flat on the chipmunk. I also tied a bow with a double strand of Linen Thread and adhered that to the greeting with a Mini Glue Dot. If you don’t own any Linen Thread, you should definitely get some because it is perfect to use when you just need a little something or don’t have the right color ribbon or twine. I have used it a lot through the years!

I still had a few of the retired Adhesive-Backed Hearts & Flowers, so I added a couple of the little white flowers on the green flower stems around the chipmunk. I think they look cute there!

That’s all there is to making this card! The characters on this Storybook Moments Designer Paper are so sweet and adorable! You can’t get enough of them and I have made lots of cards and treats with this paper. It’s not just for Easter, either. It is perfect for baby cards, scrapbook pages, and other projects, plus just any cards or scrapbook pages you want to make!

Remember, the Stampin’ Up! website should be down today for about six hours, but once it goes back up, the new Rewards system will be in place and you can start earning Stampin’ Rewards on any order over $20! Everyone will earn 10% in rewards on every order of $20 or more; no more accumulating an order of $150 so you can get $15 in free product. Now you can spend your reward on your NEXT order or save them up from several orders to add to a large order. The reward will expire one year from when it was issued and the system will know which ones are the oldest to take off your order first. I think this is a good thing for all customers. I know some stores offer “store cash” with purchases that you can spend the next time you shop, so this is modeled somewhat after that. If you have questions, just ask.

The only thing customers need to do is 1.) Have a Stampin’ Up! account, and 2.) Opt in to the Rewards program. There will be an Opt In box that pops up that will look like this:

If you don’t opt in, that’s fine, but you will not earn rewards although you can always sign up in the future. Demonstrators will no longer be able to take your order and use your credit card number for your order due to new banking and privacy laws. However, if you cannot put in your own online order, you can pay your Demonstrator directly (like with cash, Paypal, check, etc.). I think once we all figure it out the first time it will be fine and a benefit for every customer!

You should be able to order later today when the website is back up and running with the new Stampin’ Rewards program!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! HERE!

New Stampin’ Rewards Program Begins April 15th!

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Tomorrow is the big day at Stampin’ Up! and for YOU! They are finalizing website changes they have been working on and part of that is putting in place the NEW Stampin’ Rewards Program. The main thing to know about the new rewards program is that every order over $20 will receive 10% in Stampin’ Rewards. You no longer have to have an order of $150 to receive rewards. This used to be more about a Hostess having a gathering and she would get the rewards for the total amount of the orders from her guests. Or if you were ordering by yourself, if your order was $149 you would not receive any rewards. Now every time you place an order of $20 or more, you will receive 10% in Stampin’ Rewards in your account. The NEXT time you order, within a year, you can apply those rewards to your order.

The only “catch” is that you have to have an account and you have to “Opt In”. Next time you log in to your account, you will see a pop up asking you to Opt In. Go ahead and do that because who doesn’t want rewards?! Obviously, you don’t have to opt in if you don’t want to and don’t want to receive rewards. These rewards will be automatically added to your account each time and you’ll be able to see them. You can save them up or use them on each order. Just use before the expiration date which I believe will be one year.

The website will be down tomorrow morning for about six hours while they transition.

More details later, just wanted to get you prepared! I think this program will be better for everyone!

Three Fun Little Easter Baskets To Make

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If you are looking for some easy and fun Easter baskets to make, here are Three Fun Little Easter Baskets To Make to help you get started! You can copy these exactly or make the basic basket and then choose how you are going to decorate it. These baskets are from five years ago apparently but they have been very popular through the years! I have made newer ones in recent years, including this year, but these just seem classic. Use whatever colors you like, use cardstock or designer series paper, decorate with stamping or punch art, whatever your creative mind comes up with!

This is some Gingham Gala 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (retired) that I used back then. Since it was already 6″ x 6″ in size, it was perfect. Score at 2″ and 4″ on one side, then turn the paper and score at 2″ and 4″ so you have that tic-tac-toe pattern as I like to call it. All three baskets are made this way. Cut up on the two vertical score lines up to the horizontal score line. Do the same on the opposite side. If you like, you can round off the corners as I did on this basket if you have a punch that can do that. But it is fine if you don’t. Cut a matching handle of about 8 1/2″ x 1/2″.

Fold the paper into a basket and use brads or glue to hold the sides and handle together. The handle goes in between the two side flaps and the center flap. That hides it a little bit on the inside.

This gingham basket is decorated with a little punch art bunny face! So cute! I made the bunny face with a circle die and two oval dies. You could use punches. If you don’t have any ovals, you might have a leaf die or punch that would work or just cut something out by hand. I used the tip end of Stampin’ Blends markers to draw on the parts of his face and the little “stitching” around the sides of the face and ears. Adhere to the side of the basket with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

This basket is made with Melon Mambo cardstock, scored and cut the same way as the basket above. The paper is the retired Garden Impressions 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (retired). Each section of the Melon Mambo basket is 2″ x 2″ so you can cut the designer paper just a “smidge” less than 2″ on each side or 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″ if you want a little bit of margin showing.

Just fold the sides of the basket together, adhere with brads or glue, adding in the handle as well. Then decorate with a flower such as with the Daisy Punch or whatever you have and add a gem to the center.

This last basket is pretty enough with some floral stamping on the cardstock! It is Pool Party cardstock stamped with flowers in the Painted Glass Stamp Set (retired) with Pool Party ink. Just add a pretty ribbon like this Variegated Petal Pink and White ribbon.

Fill the baskets with Easter grass or paper shred and some Easter candy treats! These would be cute as a little favor at each place setting at your Easter table. Or make one for yourself for a decoration in your home! Complete with chocolate candy, of course!

New Paper Pumpkin May 2025 Kit Mountain Majesties

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Paper Pumpkin May 2025 Mountain Majesties Banner

Here is the new Paper Pumpkin Kit for May, the Mountain Majesties Paper Pumpkin Kit! You will find it in your mailbox the middle of next month if you subscribe by May 10th! This is a card kit with a masculine theme so it will be perfect for making Father’s Day cards, birthday cards for dads, uncles, sons, grandfathers, anyone!

Create Father’s Day cards with layered mountain landscapes!
• Makes 9 cards: 3 each of 3 designs with 9 coordinating envelopes
• Precut vellum and paper pieces
• Watercolor card bases and coordinating envelopes
• Coordinating colors: Basic Black, Lost Lagoon, Misty Moonlight, (Classic Stampin’ Spot), Mossy Meadow, Pecan Pie, Petal Pink

Includes vellum pieces for layering and sentiments tailored to men!

What's in the Paper Pumpkin Box — Images © Stampin’ Up! 2025

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY!

Easy Chocolate Easter Bunny Treat

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Here is an Easy Chocolate Easter Bunny Treat that you can easily make for a little favor or treat for Easter. All you have to do is buy some chocolate bunnies! They are required for Easter, aren’t they? I’ve made these little treats through the years and you can vary the size according to the size of your chocolate bunny or whatever you are putting inside.

If you have a bigger treat, just make the treat holder taller or wider and possibly increase the size of the base if you need to to make the treat fit inside. You don’t even have to cut a window in the front if you want to decorate the front and hide the treat a bit. But my preference is making a cute opening so you can see the treat inside as if it is in its little home!

For this particular one, since I had just a small chocolate bunny, I cut a strip of Pool Party cardstock at 2″ x 8 1/2″. I could have made it a little bit shorter or probably wider would have been better for wider sides to be a little sturdier. After cutting the 2″ wide strip, score at 3 3/4″ from each end. That gives you the middle section which will become the flat base of the treat holder and you will put the treat on that center base. You should be careful with adhesive and candy, but I did put a little Stampin’ Seal on the bottom of the treat holder to hold the bunny in place.

For the opening, I used one of the rectangle dies in the Nested Essentials Dies. Position it on what will be the front side of the treat holder and exactly where you want it to be. If you are decorating your treat holder with designer paper, then adhere that to the front first before you diecut. After you have the front opening cut out, fold and crease the two score lines and punch two holes for ribbon at the top, unless you are going to use some other closure. Decide if you want another color or stamping on the inside background behind the candy and adhere that to the inside before adding the candy.

Decorate the front however you like, with stamping, DSP, embellishments, a greeting, whatever you like. I used a few diecuts in the Celebrate Love Ephemera Pack. See! It wasn’t just for Valentine’s Day! I even glued a stem of flowers to the inside. Oh, and I put some Lemon Lime Twist grass at the bottom. When I used to make these I used the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch I think it was named to make the top edges fancy. But rather than look for a punch, I just clipped the two corners off to give it a little something. Then I tied it together with some silver trim I had handy.

As you can see, you can make one of these little Easter decorations pretty quickly and easily and they will give your guests a smile on their face to receive one! Plus one by each dinner plate at your table for a little favor and to decorate the table! Or put one in an Easter basket!

Here is a side view of the treat holder.

Just play with this idea and see what cute things you come up with!

New Kits in the Kits Collection!

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Kits Collection New Kits Banner Apr 2025

Last week Stampin’ Up! released THREE new Kits in the Kits Collection! In my opinion, one Kit is especially noteworthy for Spring! It’s the Paper Bouquet Kit that will take your breath away just to see the photo! The other two kits are for cards and are very pretty also, as always! These kits in the Kits Collection are available in the Online Store. They are not subscriptions and not to be confused with the Paper Pumpkin monthly subscription. You can buy these kits whenever they are available, putting them on your order as usual. Kits are perfect for anyone – new crafters, crafters who don’t have a stash of supplies, and avid crafters who are experienced but who like to just open a box and make a project! Everything you need for the project is included in the box except for maybe scissors! Try one and enjoy!

This is the Paper Bouquet Kit. Wouldn’t you just love to have those flowers in a vase sitting on your table without having to water them or watch them wilt and die? The Kit will make 23 flowers and 11 leaves in all of the new In Colors! You get the precut pieces, floral wire, and pony beads. Hot glue gun required for assembly but not included. Vase not included.

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The Essential Occasions Kit is a card kit. It makes 6 cards, one of each design. The sentiments cover many different occasions you might need a card for, like birthday, well-wishes, or thank you. In the kit you get precut pieces to make the cards, envelopes, and adhesive.

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This is the Loveliest Wishes Kit! The light colors make it a little difficult to see in the photos but I think you can tell how pretty the cards will be. This kit makes 9 cards, 3 each of 3 designs with precut images and gold foil sentiments for birthdays! The kit colors are Petal Pink, Soft Sea Foam, and white. The envelopes are printed and you also get embellishments with the other supplies.

I can’t tell you yet about assembling the Paper Bouquet Kit, but I would say these two card kits look very easy, great for beginners. Relaxing for experienced stampers and crafters! Order a couple of kits and make them with friends or family for an extra dose of fun! Just follow the directions adhering the pieces to the cards and you’ll have a new, beautiful collection of cards at the ready for many occasions!

SHOP THE STAMPIN’ UP! KITS COLLECTION!

Storybook Moments Diorama Easter Card

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Easter is less than two weeks away now! This Storybook Moments Diorama Easter Card is one you can give or send to someone, but you could also keep it for yourself for some Easter decor in your home! I have one from a previous year on display as part of my Easter decorations and I enjoy it every year! These diorama cards are relatively easy to make and still fold flat for mailing.

This card begins with two pieces of Boho Blue cardstock. The front piece has an opening cut out and the back piece has a scene adhered to it to view through the front opening. All you really have to do is score the two front and back pieces, cut out an opening in whatever shape you want, and adhere a scene to the inside of the back piece, either right on that back piece or on a separate piece of cardstock so that maybe you can pop it up on Dimensionals. It all turns out to be a pretty cute showcase!

It is easy to make a diorama card! Cut two pieces of cardstock at 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″. You can vary your measurements if you want a similar card in a larger or smaller size. Score each end of each piece of cardstock at 1/2″ and 1″. See the photo below for the side score lines and then whatever type of opening you want in the center.

Score those ends first and then you can more easily place the opening on just the top piece of cardstock so that it is centered. Crease and fold those score lines back and forth so that when you hold them together they will make the card into the diorama shape. You can see from the top view on this photo below. Don’t glue them together yet so you can more easily make the scene in the center of the back piece. Only those 1/2″ ends are going to be glued together. The next score line is what makes the card pop out in the front and the back to pop out in the back. You will see one you score and crease. Just fold it together until you see how it goes together.

Here is a photo from the top view. You can see that I popped up the scene on the back so it would be a little closer to the window on the front. I happened to use an Adhesive Sheet covering most of the back of the scene but usually I would use Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Storybook Moments Diorama Easter Card Top

Create your little scene or whatever you want to show through the opening in the front of the card. I used diecuts in the Storybook Moments Specialty Designer Series Paper. Just play around with all the pieces until you are happy with your scene. I took a photo with my phone of what I laid out so I could disassemble it and remember how to adhere everything.

If you make a separate piece for the inside of your card, measure the exact inside of that area because it will be a tiny bit smaller than you think on the sides because of the score lines. Mine is cut at 3 3/8″ x 4 1/4″. I used Balmy Blue for the inside piece. As I said, you could also make your scene just on the inside of that back piece.

On the front you can cut out a circle, oval, square, whatever you want. I used one of the square shapes in the Stylish Shapes Dies. Be sure to cut that out in the beginning, before you adhere the front and back! You might want to see what your inside is going to look like before you cut out the front, but probably you will want to be able to see as much of the inside as possible.

Here is another example of a diorama Easter card, this one using Easter eggs inside.

You don’t have to use diecuts. You can stamp something inside, you can make whatever you want and for whatever occasion! Just play and enjoy creating something different!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP!

Don’t forget the Last Chance Products now available!

Catching Up With Paper Pumpkin Kits!

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I don’t know what Paper Pumpkin Kit this is, but when I had to move a stack (or two) of Paper Pumpkin boxes out of the way recently I decided maybe it was time to catch up on some old kits I hadn’t made yet! It’s quite the challenge! Lots of them I had made some of the cards, or actually one of each of the designs, but didn’t finish the rest of the cards. I made it my project on a rainy day to do one kit after the other and see how many I could get finished. The fun thing about Paper Pumpkin is you just open the box and everything is right there ready to go! You don’t have to think about what to make, unless you want to change it up. The directions are right there, the materials including stamps, ink, and adhesive are right there, and there’s always a video you can watch. You just subscribe to Paper Pumpkin and your kit shows up in your mailbox every month! I say it’s a gift you give yourself!

Everyone seems to like a “messy desk” photo so here is mine while trying to catch up on some older Paper Pumpkin Kits!

Paper Pumpkin Kits are always easy enough for anyone to make, even beginning or Non-crafters! There are usually some pieces you just punch out and adhere to the card or project. An exclusive stamp set comes in every kit, usually with extra stamps you can use or keep for another time. The ink spot (1″ x 1″ square ink pad) can be saved and reinked so you can use it any time. Often there are embellishments like gems or dots or ribbon, whatever goes with the project. Envelopes are included so you can send your cards off right away! Even the boxes are great for storage if you want to keep some. Certain boxes even have a special design which really makes you want to keep them!

Here are the cards I made from several different kits. It was really fun to just sit down to stamp and create without having to think up my own designs and projects. Pure relaxation!

If you would like to try out Paper Pumpkin, the April Kit looks like a very nice one!

APRIL: Inked Occasions
Subscribe March 11–April 10
Craft stunning cards with hand-painted, alcohol ink designs!
• Makes 9 cards: 3 each of 3 designs with 9 coordinating envelopes
• Textured gold foil on the card bases and sentiments
• Precut paper pieces and butterfly embellishments
• Coordinating colors: Berry Burst (Classic Stampin’ Spot), Flirty Flamingo,
Fresh Freesia, Gorgeous Grape, Peach Pie, Pool Party

To get this kit, you do need to subscribe by Thursday, April 10th so don’t delay! Kits will ship just a few days later so you won’t have long to wait! No risk, no obligation. You can skip a month if you need to. Next month the subscription kit price will go up $2.00 so this is a good month to try it out. You will probably find the kit is worth the money, almost the stamp set alone, plus all the supplies, not to mention the fun you will have stamping and creating!

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY!

Storybook Moments Circles Easter Card

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This Storybook Moments Circles Easter Card is one I came up with all by myself and I like it! I absolutely love this Storybook Moments Specialty Designer Series Paper, especially for Easter coming up with the bunnies, but for lots of other occasions as well!

When I was looking at the sheet of the paper with lots of bunnies on it, I decided to diecut several with circle dies and make a card somehow with those circles. Of course, you have to cut up the paper to be able to diecut particular portions with the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine. As I’m sure we all understand, It’s almost illegal to cut up your paper in that way, maybe just digging in to some center area of the whole sheet of paper! I tried to find the images I liked as close to the edges of the paper. Then I chose which circle die in the Stylish Shapes Dies I would use and placed it over the image I wanted to diecut and carefully trimmed with my Paper Snips to cut up the least amount of the paper that I needed to. It worked out!

To make the card, I chose Boho Blue cardstock for the card base. I wasn’t sure exactly how to do the circles, with no room for layers, but with the darker background paper they stand out well enough. I chose this paper with the strawberries because it is so pretty and different. Somehow I thought to place it in the center of the card base with margins on each side. It is cut at 4″ x 5 1/2″. For a little something with the circles, I used the Timeless Plaid 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. I looked at my little scraps and decided to just add a strip of the plaid under each circle. These are cut at 2 3/4″ x 3/4″. I centered the circles on the strips and placed them so one end was up against the edge of the card on the left or right. The center one goes to the right. The plaid paper matches the Storybook Moments DSP pretty well!

The greeting is in the Greetings For All Ephemera Pack in the Spring Mini. To make it smaller, I cut the two words apart and cut close to the letters. This is a good technique to use! I couldn’t resist using some embellishments if I had something that worked. I decided on the retired Adhesive Backed Hearts & Flowers because I had some left. I just used the smallest flowers for a little something, but you barely see them on the circles.

We never know for sure what we will create when we start making a card! Even if we have a design in mind, it could change at any moment, so just play! See what turns up!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Be sure to check out the Last Chance List of retiring products!

New Last Chance (Retiring) Products!

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Today begins the “retirement” of products in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog 2024-25 and the January-April 2025 (Spring) Mini Catalog. We used to get a list and go through our catalogs to see what would be absolutely gone when the new catalog took effect, but NOW we have a Last Chance Products category in the Online Store!

What does this mean? It means Stampin’ Up! moves these “retiring” products into this part of the Online Store, some with discounts but not all, and they will remain there until they sell out! “While supplies last” could be hours, days, or months! So some of your favorite products you weren’t able to purchase yet, MAY still be available even after the catalog they were in (or Online Exclusives) ends and the new catalog begins. Once products are sold out and a restock is not coming, these products will be “Discontinued” and be gone for good.

The easiest way to see what is available, what is on sale, what is retiring is to go to the Stampin’ Up! Onine Store > Last Chance Products. Click on the big banner that shows up or click on Specials in the bar at the top.

The website could be busy today so if you get an Error message, just try again in a few seconds or a couple of minutes!

There are also new Kits in the Kits Collection today, too!!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Storybook Moments Garden Card

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This Storybook Moments Garden Card was a fun card to make! Since the Spring Mini Catalog came out in January, I have loved the sample card on page 23, the slimline card with the flowerpots, sprinkling can, and bunnies! I used that sample card for the inspiration for this card.

One of the special things about the Storybook Moments Specialty Designer Series Paper is that it has two sheets of diecut images that coordinate with the paper. Everything about this paper is delightful! The images are so cute and sweet, and it can be used for spring, Easter, babies, or any kind of special card. Sometimes you might use just one diecut for an embellishment on a card with other stamping or you might just have fun creating a card with several or lots of these diecuts as I did on this card.

The card base is Lost Lagoon cardstock with a layer of a blue plaid in the Timeless Plaid 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper, also in the Spring Mini Catalog. As I worked with the diecut pieces to design my card, I decided to add some green plaid paper at the bottom. I just took a strip of green plaid and cut the top with scissors in a little curvy design like hilly ground would be, although it is mostly hidden on this card. Even though the background “sky” is plaid and the “grass” is plaid, it all looks good together. I love this Timeless Plaid DSP! It’s very versatile.

I had already punched out all the diecut images and put them in a plastic pouch to keep them together so I dumped those all out on the table so I could see what all my choices were to use for this card. How fun does this look?!

I simply played around with the pieces until I was happy with the placement on my card. Here is a tip when you are laying out things and then have to remove them to adhere each piece, sometimes overlapping, to the card. Take a picture with your phone after you have everything arranged how you want it! Then you can take the pieces off and using the photo on your phone, put everything back how you planned it. I popped up the wheelbarrow and dirt and plant piece on Stampin’ Dimensionals and adhered the rest with Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

For the wheelbarrow, I thought it would look good to have the radishes and carrots appear to be “in” the wheelbarrow so I cut a slit along the inside edge of the wheelbarrow and slipped the vegetables into that slit just a little bit. Since I was popping up the wheelbarrow anyway, the Dimensionals on the back held in the vegetables at the same time they were popping up the whole piece.

The greeting is from the Playing in the Rain Stamp Set. As I looked through my ephemera packs and stamp sets, this greeting in this stamp set is the one I decided on. Don’t forget to look through your stamp sets sometimes to maybe use something you wouldn’t think of or to refresh your memory on what you have to use. The greeting is stamped in Lost Lagoon ink and cut out with a rectangular die in the Nested Essentials Dies.

Here is another card using the Storybook Moments diecuts to make an easy card!

If you like this Storybook Moments paper, it is Low Inventory as I write this, so order it right away if you are interested. You still have time to get it and make Easter cards if you want to use it partly for that!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! HERE!

Beautiful Bokeh Butterfly Birthday Card

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As I was going through my designer series papers and other things in my stamping supplies, I found these butterflies and checked to see if they were still current and available. They are! I had forgotten about them! After finding them, I decided I needed to make a card with them and this Beautiful Bokeh Butterfly Birthday Card is what I came up with. It’s really a pretty simple card and I could have made it even more simple by not coloring the butterflies.

The card base I chose is Fresh Freesia cardstock with a layer of a Fresh Freesia shade of the Beautiful Bokeh 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. This paper is available in the Stampin’ Up! Spring Mini Catalog until May 5th.

I chose two butterflies in the Paper Butterfly Accents to use on the card. There are different images of butterflies to choose from in the package. As I said, I could have left them white and they still would look pretty on the card. What I decided to do was color them with the Blending Brushes and ink pads. I chose Bubble Bath ink and Berry Burst ink, two colors that I thought would coordinate with the Fresh Freesia and still look “sort of” monochromatic on this card. I tried to apply the Bubble Bath ink to the center of each butterfly and Berry Burst ink around the edges of the butterflies. Make sure you know which way you want your butterflies to face before you color them. And there are many ways you can color these Paper Butterfly Accents.

The greeting is in the Poised Peony Stamp Set and is stamped in Fresh Freesia ink on Basic White. It was diecut with one of the circle dies in the Stylish Shapes Dies. These are simply some of the most useful dies, in my opinion. I often look at other dies and I often come back to these for something basic and the right size. Thankfully, they are carrying over into the new catalog.

Even with the colored butterflies and the greeting, the card still needed something (before I added the bling!). I added a piece of white ribbon looped behind the greeting. This ribbon is part of the Petal Pink and White 1/4″ Diagonal Trim Combo Pack. I have used this combo pack a lot. The ribbons are a good size for lots of projects. The greeting is popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. It would be nice to pop up the butterflies but it would be difficult to not see the Dimensional behind the butterfly unless you can hide it behind a greeting or something. You could also not put glue on the butterfly wings and then lift up the wings a little bit to give them some movement.

For some sparkle, I added several Purple Adhesive-Backed Sequins that were available as a free product during Sale-A-Bration in January and February. Even though the name of the sequins is “Purple”, these sequins are three different shades plus white. And as it turns out, the colors of the sequins are the same colors that I used on my card…Fresh Freesia, Bubble Bath, and Berry Burst! If I’d seen that at the beginning of making my card I wouldn’t have had to think about colors!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

To The Point Punch Spring Card

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I had this idea for this To The Point Punch Spring Card and I’m happy with the way it turned out! I’ve made other cards like this one with punches which fill the card front like a background, so I thought I would try it out with the To The Point Punch in the Stampin’ Up! Spring Mini Catalog.

To make this card design, I used a Basic White piece of cardstock underneath the punched pieces. It is cut at 4″ x 5 1/4″ so I could have a colored card base and not white. The card base is Berry Burst cardstock.

I punched out several pieces out of the Beautiful Bokeh 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. The colors are Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Berry Burst, and Balmy Blue. I liked the soft colors of that paper with the subtle bokeh look. I just punched out a bunch and then played around with arranging them on the white cardstock. Just lay them out how you like them, allowing the edges of DSP to extend out over the edge of the white cardstock. After you have them glued down to the Basic White cardstock (or whatever color you are using), you can trim off the excess edges with scissors or your Paper Trimmer. If you think ahead a little bit, on the pieces that hang off you can try to avoid putting glue where you don’t need it so it doesn’t get your scissors messy with glue! Don’t ask me how I know! The picture below is not how my pieces ended up being arranged but it’s the way I did it.

When you have all the punched pieces adhered, you can glue this piece to the card base. For the greeting, I used the banner in the Mixed Labels Stamp Set. I couldn’t find the right words I wanted to stamp on the banner, but I found ones I liked in the Choose Happy Stamp Set. The banner is stamped in black Memento Ink but the words are stamped in Berry Burst ink. I popped it up with Stampin’ Dimensionals across the middle of the card.

I thought that would be it except for maybe some embellishments, but I got the idea to stamp one of the cute images in the Choose Happy Stamp Set on the punched labels. It was a risk of ruining the whole card at this point, but I took a chance and it worked! I stamped the images in the same color as the bokeh paper. The center punched piece was a challenge, but I found the little flowers in the Bright Borders Stamp Set that worked perfectly. Then to finish off the card, I added two purple sequins in the Purple Adhesive-Backed Sequins on the banner. These sequins were available during Sale-A-Bration so you may have them or just use something you have.

All in all, this card was easy to make and was a fun idea to try with the To The Point Punch.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Stamping With Karen

Having Fun With Paper, Ink, and Stamps

Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

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