This First Frost Flower Bouquet Card will be a good one to send to someone for almost any occasion, just change the greeting.  You can stamp the flowers in any color, make the whole color scheme of the card in any appropriate colors. First Frost is just a pretty stamp set with nice greetings you can use.

As you can probably see, I stamped the flowers randomly and then die cut with the Frosted Bouquet Framelits Dies.  You could also stamp the flowers on the card and then stamp an extra one or two to die cut and add to the bouquet.  I did stamp the stems and leaves and some of the little wispy flowers or berries, whatever they are. (And they can be either!)  Notice the stamps themselves give that kind of “not full-on ink” impression, a softer look, like watercolor.  It’s a very soft, not bold, stamp set.  So pretty I think!

To save 10%, just purchase the First Frost Bundle that contains the stamp set and the coordinating dies.

To finish off the card front, I adhered a little strip of the Frosted Floral 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper. If you don’t buy anything else in the Suite, I would buy this Frosted Floral Paper because it is shimmery and GORGEOUS!

On the inside of the card, you can add another die cut flower down in the corner!

You’ll find this whole grouping of products in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog!  Be sure to check out this gorgeous new catalog online!  And if you would like a copy of your own, please send me your contact information.  I would be happy to help you and send you a complimentary copy of the catalog.

You can actually use this Frosted Floral Suite to make holiday cards!  Or you can make birthday cards or sympathy cards or “thinking of you” cards or wedding cards!  How many stamp sets can you say something like that about?!

I hope you can be inspired by this First Frost Flower Bouquet Card and copy it or make something a little bit different for your special occasion to send or give to someone!

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Make beautiful floral cards with the products in the Color Your Season limited time suite! It’s called Color Your Season because with this set of stamps and dies, you can make cards or other projects for any of the four seasons!  Do a little watercoloring with the new colors of Watercolor Pencils with real Stampin’ Up! colors! There is already a set of Watercolor Pencils in the Annual Stampin’ Up! Catalog, but this new set is called Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2.

You can purchase just the stamp set, Blended Seasons, which is pretty enough just in itself. You can also purchase just the framelits dies, Stitched Seasons, if you wanted to use them with other stamp sets you have.  They have dies that will create nice frames, plus embellishments. OR if you want it all, you can get the Bundle, Blended Seasons, at a 10% savings.

With this special limited-time set of products, you can make cards with spring or summer flowers, or Christmas cards and cards for fall!  You are all set!

Remember, this Color Your Season group is available only during August, while supplies last.  Don’t wait too long just in case!  And I would highly recommend the Watercolor Pencils for sure especially with Blender Pens of you don’t already have them.  Go ahead and enjoy this set before we get into the serious holiday crafting season!

Blended Seasons Clear-Mount Bundle
$64.75

Blended Seasons Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$39.00

Blended Seasons Wood-Mount Bundle
$77.25

Blended Seasons Wood-Mount Stamp Set
$53.00

Stitched Seasons Framelits Dies
$33.00

Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2
$12.50

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Here’s another easy card, the Petal Promenade Beautiful Day Card, made with beautiful designer series paper and a greeting. A couple embellishments add a nice finishing touch!

The card base is one of the new In Colors, Grapefruit Grove.  The designer paper is the Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper.  This paper is so pretty and is made up of photographic images of flowers on one side.  Stampin’ Up! actually brought in bouquets of fresh flowers, photographed them, then made them into designer series paper!  You can appreciate the paper even more after watching the video of how they designed it!

For this card, I used the backside of the flower design for the main area. It’s just a very soft, subtle design that goes beautifully with a strip of the flower side of the paper which I placed on the left side of the card.  I added a bit of Whisper White 1/8″ Sheer Ribbon around that piece and just tied a little knot.

The greeting is from the Love What You Do Photopolymer Stamp Set.  This is a great set with pretty flower images and great sentiments to use! It is die cut with the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies and layered on a scalloped circle die cut from the Layering Circles Framelits Dies.  It’s difficult to see in the photo, but the three little dots on the greeting are the Faceted Dots.  These come in several colors and sizes and the faceted surface gives them a little sparkle. Very pretty in person!

This Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper is one of the select papers in the Buy 3 Get 1 Free  DSP Sale at Stampin’ Up!  Choose 3 papers on your order and when you add the 4th package, it will be FREE!  Great time to get that designer paper you hadn’t ordered yet or stock up on your favorites.

You can’t go wrong with this Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper if you like to make beautiful cards that are simple and elegant.  Here is another card I made showcasing the floral side of the paper and one of my favorite greetings.  This paper is beautiful for summer and can be used for so many occasions from just a “Thinking of You” card to an engagement or wedding card.  Who do you know who wouldn’t be thrilled to receive this Petal Promenade Beautiful Day Card?

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It’s hard to believe the 4th of July is coming up next week, but it is, so here is a card, 4th of July Wreath Card with Swirly Scribbles, to celebrate the holiday!  I said the other day that you didn’t need a “4th of July” stamp set to make 4th of July cards and projects and this is an example!  I’ve always seen cards with wreaths made with the circular die cuts from the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies, so I got the idea to make a patriotic wreath out of that piece.

The card base is made with Lovely Lipstick Cardstock and embossed with the Sparkle Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for a little texture and interest. The Oh My Stars folder would also be a good one to use.

I actually die cut two wreaths and used the In Color 2018-2020 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. I chose one of the Blueberry Bushel patterns. I cut two wreaths but the bottom layer uses the striped blue and white side and the top wreath shows the polka dot wreath.  I thought using two circles (wreaths) added a little more dimension to the wreath.

Then I stamped small flowers from the Swirly Bird Photopolymer Stamp Set, die cut a few and cut out a few by hand with Paper Snips!  Some flowers are popped up on Min Dimesionals.  The ribbon is used to make a double bow on the wreath. It’s the Whisper White 1/8″ Sheer Ribbon.  For a little pizzazz, I added a few silver stars from the Metallic Enamel Shapes (retired).

The greeting is stamped from the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set and cut out with the Classic Label Punch, accented with two small Rhinestone Jewels.  This stamp set takes the place of Teeny Tiny Wishes, one set that I loved and used A LOT!  I can see using the Itty Bitty Greetings set A LOT also!  I think everyone should have it in their collection.

Check HERE for another patriotic card for the 4th of July I made with the Swirly Scribbles dies!

Have fun making some patriotic cards or cute projects for the 4th of July!  Remember, this is the last week in June and next Wednesday is the 4th of July!! Use this 4th of July Patriotic Wreath Card with Swirly Scribbles for your inspiration!

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Today is the first day of summer, the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. I think it has already been “summer” here in Houston, Texas for awhile now, but technically, today is the day! Depending on what you enjoy, this card might be the perfect card to celebrate summer!

Sometimes people say they are either “mountain” people or “beach” people. I don’t know that I am either-or, but I do love seeing the scenic mountains on trips (no mountains in Houston!!).  However, I also enjoy seeing the ocean any chance I get! Not necessarily going out in the water, unless I am just wading, but I love being on a beach and watching the waves! The air is fresh and feels so good. If I thought about a good summer day, maybe it would be sitting on a beach watching the waves breaking on the shore.

This card is just built on a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  I tore off the top portion of a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock for the sand and stamped a piece of driftwood from the stamp set Colorful Seasons.  The waves in the ocean are die cut with the Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies.  The paper is Coastal Cabana, but any shade of blue will do.  I sponged a bit of white craft ink for the whitecaps. Now we have an Uninked Stampin’ Craft Pad and Whisper White Refill.  For the sky, I sponged on some Balmy Blue ink.  The sun is inked in with a sponge through a stencil. The stencil is made by punching a circle in a sticky note and using that for a stencil to sponge the sun with Daffodil Delight ink.  Such a fun little trick!

The greeting from the same stamp set is stamped in Crumb Cake ink. What a great saying, because the best way to relax is to “Just Breathe.” And there’s no better place to take in fresh air than at the ocean.  The chair is die cut with the Seasonal Layers dies in Real Red.  I LOVE this die cut chair, especially in red!

Here is another card I stamped two years ago which is also another good idea for spending the summer! This Sitting Here Stamp Set is still available in the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog on page 65.

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere,  hope you are enjoying your first day of summer! Probably the kids are out of school and you are planning a vacation. Take some time to stamp some cards for summer, or better yet, some summer scrapbook pages so they are ready to go when you get the photos printed.  Even though I made a card above, you could just expand the idea and make a scrapbook page out of it!  I hope you can make a perfect card for summer according to what your summer will look like!

Do you ever start out with an idea for a card and end up with something entirely different, like I did making this Easy Card with the Garden Impressions Paper?  I planned to STAMP a card front much like this designer paper, but as I started looking at and pulling out the designer paper, various ideas came to mind.  Since I was short on time at the moment, I chose the easy route!  And there’s nothing wrong with that because with Stampin’ Up!’s pretty designer paper and coordinating paper and accessories, you can make a quick and easy card that looks beautiful!  Especially to the recipient who will love it because it’s from you, and because they will wonder how you could make such a beautiful card that they think they couldn’t possibly make (except WE know they could!).

I’m not sure I’m in love with the brand new color Petal Pink.  Maybe I just haven’t found the right coordinating colors with it. So for this card and this designer paper pattern, I chose to use Powder Pink, one of the In Colors from last year. This designer paper, Garden Impressions 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper, has so many pretty patterns in it! I wasn’t sure I would like it at first, but I think I do!  It has bigger, bolder patterns of flowers and also smaller patterns of colors. Also, there are lots of coordinating colors that go with it.

For this card (or actually the card I planned to make) I chose Powder Pink Cardstock for the card base.  Then it was just a matter of cutting the designer paper with the big flowers to 4″ x 5 1/4″ to fit the card front. I chose the Shaded Spruce ribbon from the Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack. Although it’s a bold color, it coordinates and it is narrow so not overwhelming.

The greeting is from the Abstract Impressions Stamp Set.  There are a lot of nice greetings in that stamp set.  I stamped it in Melon Mambo, another coordinating color, die cut with the Layering Circles Framelits Dies and layered that on a scalloped circle. The card was done!

Just looking at the designer paper gave me all sorts of card design ideas, not to mention the Stampin’ Up! catalog itself.  Be sure to use the resources you have right in front of you for ideas and inspiration if you need it!  Some days you will need inspiration and other days you will not!

I could have even added a bit more embellishment to this card, maybe with some pearls or dots or other bling or a little Wink of Stella on the flowers.  But most of the time, simple is plenty good enough!

Try your hand at making an easy card like this one using designer paper, maybe some ribbon, and a greeting.  You will have a beautiful card in minutes!  Here are some similar card design ideas I made with using designer paper (this particular paper just retired, but it’s the idea).

Just be sure you are using Stampin’ Up! supplies because the color coordination is one of the best features of the products.

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Now that my nieces have received their graduation cards, I think it is safe to post these, just in case you are still looking for graduation card ideas for 2018. The three sisters all graduated together – two twins and one graduating a year early!  What a wonderful time in their lives!

You may notice that some of these products I used are now retired, but maybe you already have them or they will just give you some ideas to come up with your own card ideas.  I wanted to kind of keep the cards similar since they were going to three sisters, but I also wanted each to be different.

Obviously I have used the Large Number Dies (retired) but another idea if you have the Large Letters Framelits would be to spell out “GRAD”.  If you don’t have dies or alphabet stamps, you can always use your computer and print what you want on cardstock and use that!

Use what you have!  The balloons come from the Happy Birthday Gorgeous Stamp Set.  The little black graduation cap is simply a black cardstock square with just a hand cut shape of a tassle.  There are fancier styles you can make if you are interested.  The card with the Gold Glimmer Paper is punched with the Star Confetti Punch (retired).  Use whatever appropriate stamp you have for the greeting, whether “Congratulations” or “Best Wishes” or “Good Luck”, etc.

Click HERE to see another graduation card I made last year.

I always say stars and hearts are good for most any occasion so don’t feel you must have a “graduation” stamp set.  A lot of other things will do!  The most important thing is that you make a card from the heart and send your best wishes for their future! Make a graduation card or two to have on hand in case a graduation announcement is on its way to you!

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I think I could have kept on stamping and playing making more cards like these In Color Springtime Impressions Die Cut Butterfly Cards.  These two were fun to make, not to mention, easy! I wanted to try out the butterfly die in the Springtime Impressions Thinlits Dies.  Yesterday I posted a card using the other die in the set, the very flowery corner piece die cut and the one little flower.  Of course all the dies can be combined, also, on a card or project!

Today I started with the new In Color Grapefruit Grove to make a 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ card. I stamped the flowers at the bottom of the Grapefruit Grove card using the same color ink with a stamp from the Love What You Do Photopolymer Stamp Set.  I die cut the butterfly from the In Color 6″ x 6″ 2018-2020 Designer Series Paper.   After I had the butterfly ready to place on the card, I decided I would prefer a Whisper White card base and just a layer of Grapefruit Grove.  I’m sure it would have been fine to continue with just the Grapefruit Grove card, but a stamper can change her mind!  I cut off the stamped piece from the rest of the original card and then cut it down a little bit to fit on my Whisper White 4 1/4″ card base.

I mostly just put Snail Adhesive on the middle of the butterfly and a little bit out from the middle, but I wanted the wings to be “free” to look like they could fly!  Then I added a small greeting from the perfect Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set.  I think this is a must-have stamp set with such a large number of greetings!!  I didn’t want to cover up my stamped flowers at the bottom of the card very much so this size was perfect.  Then I punched it out with the Classic Label Punch and cut off the one end to align with the edge of the card.

After I made the Grapefruit Grove card, I wanted to see what the butterfly would look like against a piece of the designer paper in the new green, Call Me Clover. I decided it probably needed a bit of white behind it to help it stand out, so I die cut a large oval for a background. It did the trick!  The greeting is also from the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set. I just stamped it on a scrap strip of Whisper White. Then I used the Classic Label Punch to punch a piece of Call Me Clover.  To make it “fit” better under the greeting, I cut it in half and had each end stick out from the greeting.  Nobody can see underneath that it doesn’t go all the way across underneath! And for a final touch, I couldn’t resist using some Faceted Dots on each card!

Both cards are very simple and easy to make! When you get all your In Colors, try making a card for each In Color. Get our your Big Shot and new dies and colors and make some cards like these In Color Springtime Impressions Die Cut Butterfly Cards.

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