Category Archives: Birthday

Celebrate Paper Pumpkin’s 6th Birthday With the March 2019 Kit!

Paper Pumpkin Birthday March 2019 Banner

Image © Stampin’ Up! 2019

Paper Pumpkin is turning SIX and we want you to celebrate with the March 2019 Paper Pumpkin Kit, so be sure you are subscribed! If you previously were a subscriber, you might want to sign up again! And if you sometimes skip a month, make sure you reactivate your account! Don’t forget!

SIGN UP FOR PAPER PUMPKIN NOW!

(This is my personalized link to make it easy for you!)

Why should you want to celebrate with Paper Pumpkin in March??

(If you want to be surprised, don’t read any further!!)

Stampin’ Up! is pulling out all the stops for this kit! You’ll get an adorable kit, a special box, and most importantly, you’ll get TWO stamp sets instead of one. All for only $19.95 which includes shipping! TWO STAMP SETS!!

* Don’t look if you want to be surprised!!

Here’s a little bit about the March kit! Because it’s our birthday, we decided to create a kit that is perfect for making birthday cards!

The March kit features eight full-sized, mailable cards.
Coordinating colors are Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, and Poppy Parade.
This kit has an element that is sure to “pop”! ??????
The FREE stamp set is even bigger and better than your typical Paper Pumpkin stamp set and can be used on a variety of crafting projects.

You KNOW you want to get this Paper Pumpkin Birthday Kit in your mailbox next month!!

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY!

You KNOW you want to have some crafting fun!

If you already have your own Demonstrator and want to sign up under her, just go to www.paperpumpkin.com and find her name. Otherwise, I am HAPPY to have you!

No risk, no obligation! Try out Paper Pumpkin for this great kit! Stampin’ Up! guarantees every kit.

Sign up today so you don’t forget, but the deadline for sure is March 10, 2019.

Happiness Blooms Birthday Card

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After all the reds and pinks of Valentine’s Day, it seemed like a good idea to switch to some bold colors like this Happiness Blooms Birthday Card. This designer paper wasn’t something I was attracted to at first, but I think it’s a nice change of pace for some bright, colorful projects and cards!

This birthday card starts with the green Call Me Clover, one of the 2018-2020 In Colors, for the card base. Next is a layer of Night of Navy Cardstock, another one of the coordinating colors with the designer paper. I chose the bold paper pattern with the Call Me Clover, Night of Navy, Pineapple Punch and Whisper White colors as the decorative layer. I made it 3″ wide so I could have side margins of other colors. The designer paper is Happiness Blooms. This paper has the bold, bright floral designs on one side of the paper and more general designs on the other side. You are sure to find something that is just right for your cards.

To jazz up the layers, I added a strip of Pineapple Punch Cardstock along each side of the designer paper. To make it more interesting, I die cut the Pineapple Punch with a die from the Be Mine Stitched Framelits Dies. It makes a little bit of a stylized scalloped edge.

The greeting is stamped in Night of Navy ink on Whisper White and punched with the Pretty Label Punch. In order to make it stand out a little bit more, I wanted a Night of Navy layer underneath, but of course the punch would be the same size. The solution is to punch two labels and then layer those, one a little bit above and one a little bit below the greeting. It works out perfectly on the sides. Just play with it until you get the layers just right.

The greeting is from the stamp set Hello Cupcake, available FREE during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 purchase. This is a great stamp set! Who doesn’t like a cupcake stamp? You can do so many things with this set, plus the greetings are very nice to use.

Here is another birthday card I made with the Hello Cupcake Stamp Set and using my Stamparatus® to stamp the greeting perfectly lined up.

Do your Stampin’ Up! order as you normally would, perhaps thinking in terms of $50 increments so you can take advantage of Sale-A-Bration. There is no limit to the number of Sale-A-Bration items you can choose. You can order from the Annual Catalog, the Occasions Catalog, and even the Clearance Rack! The Clearance Rack is always worth checking. Remember, an order of $150 earns Hostess Stampin’ Rewards. And during Sale-A-Bration, an order of $250 earns you an EXTRA $25 in product.

The Happiness Blooms Designer Series Paper contains bright and bold papers for some bright and happy cards and projects. This paper is sure to put a smile on someone’s face who receives it and can be used for many occasions. Order this paper and make a card like my Happiness Blooms Birthday Card and brighten someone’s day!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE TODAY!

Easy Floral Romance Card

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If you want to make a beautiful card easily, just grab the Floral Romance Specialty Designer Series Paper and start creating! Some of the pages are vellum, like this one on this card. It is really beautiful paper that you will love! The papers of Floral Romance are perfect for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, or simply to say “Hello” and that you are thinking about that person. Everyone would love to get a personal handmade card in the mail instead of more junk mail!

I started with a card base of Fresh Fig Cardstock because it is one of the coordinating colors and then a layer of Whisper White to be placed under the printed vellum. I just applied the Multipurpose Liquid Glue to the darkest colors on the backside of the vellum and I don’t think it is showing through. This printed vellum is great for that!

For the greeting, I stamped with Petal Pink, another coordinating color of the designer paper, on a piece of Whisper White with a stamp from the Forever Lovely Stamp Set. That was punched with the 1 1/4″ Circle Punch and layered on a die cut from the Stitched Labels Framelits Dies. I used Petal Pink for the circle die cut.

I tried several ribbons to tie around the side of the card but nothing looked quite right so I went with a piece of the Whisper White 5/8″ Flax Ribbon, although it is currently on backorder until mid-February. It is just adhered underneath the circle die cut and greeting. If you don’t already have the Flax Ribbon, just substitute some other wide ribbon. If you have narrow ribbon, try winding it back and forth underneath for another look! And of course, a few Petal Pink Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins.

Here is a birthday card I made using a different pattern of the Floral Romance vellum.

Remember to put the new postage on your envelope and all your mail beginning today! This easy Floral Romance card could be sent for a Valentine, birthday, so many occasions! Just let someone know you are thinking of them!

Hello Cupcake Birthday Card

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The stamp set to make this Hello Cupcake Birthday Card can be yours FREE during Sale-A-Bration! This is Stampin’ Up!’s biggest promotion of the year since the early days of Stampin’ Up! Usually, a special promotion doesn’t have a history behind it!

Until March 31, just spend $50 on any Stampin’ Up! products and then choose a FREE product in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure! This Hello Cupcake Stamp Set is one of the popular choices! Just think of all the cute cards you could make with this cupcake! I really like the greetings and the font, too.

To make my card I used Blushing Bride Cardstock for the card base. Next is a layer of Whisper White on which I stamped the cupcake. The whole cupcake is actually three pieces….the cupcake wrapper, a bottom piece of the frosting, and the top of the cupcake. I stamped the cupcake wrapper in So Saffron and the frosting in Blushing Bride. I stamped some sprinkles in Melon Mambo and colored them in with a Melon Mambo Stampin’ Write Marker. And to fill up space around the cupcake, I stamped the teeny little flowers in the set.

On the side panel of Blushing Bride, I stamped the greeting three times with Blushing Bride ink using the Stamparatus! When you use the Stamparatus, you can move the stamping plate down one hinge at a time and get perfect placement of the greeting all lined up. After stamping three greetings, there wasn’t enough space for another one so I just stamped three flowers at the bottom. Then there is a small strip of Soft Seafoam Cardstock to match some of the Soft Seafoam stamped flowers!

Just for a finishing touch, I added one of the Frosted Flower Embellishments right over the center stamped flower. And one little Share the Love Artisan Pearl in the center looks perfect.

The Stamparatus would actually be a good thing to purchase during Sale-A-Bration, plus one other item (because the Stamparatus is $49) to easily earn a Free SAB item.

What’s more fun than shopping for things you want to buy and then getting to choose FREE things?!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE DURING SALE-A-BRATION!

Easy Floral Romance Vellum Birthday Card

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This Easy Floral Romance Vellum Birthday Card is an easy to make design and uses new specialty designer paper in the Occasions Catalog. Add a few embellishments if you like and you have a beautiful card ready to mail!

The Floral Romance Specialty Designer Series Paper in the new Occasions Catalog is something special! You get four different patterns of paper, three sheets each. Two of the patterns are regular designer sheets of paper. The other two patterns are vellum! That gives you the opportunity to use beautiful printed vellum paper for your cards and projects!

These are the two regular printed paper patterns. I forgot to photograph the opposite sides, but they are papers printed on both sides!

These two sheets are the printed vellum:

For my card, I used the Whisper White Thick Cardstock. You can use the regular Whisper White, the Thick is just a little sturdier. I wrapped the Petal Pink/Whisper White
5/8″ Variegated Ribbon around, making sure the ribbon tucked underneath the vellum layer was completely lined up with the ribbon on top so it wouldn’t show through the vellum. I used Snail Adhesive under the vellum and since the vellum is printed, I think we are going to get a break with adhesive in that it pretty much doesn’t show through. I think I can barely see where the adhesive is through the vellum but I doubt any recipient who isn’t a perfectionist in cardmaking like we are would notice at all. I haven’t tried Fast Fuse yet or the Multipurpose Glue.

The greeting is stamped in Petal Pink ink from the Itty Bitty Birthdays Stamp Set. This is layered on a die cut piece of Petal Pink and that on a larger oval of Whisper White. I experimented with circle of paper and vellum but the oval is what I liked best.

To embellish the card, I tied a piece of the ribbon on just in a knot and added some Petal Pink sequins from the Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins. I think these sequins are good for when you want just a little something, a little bling on your card! If you need help handling sequins and other embellishments, be sure to order the Take Your Pick Tool. It comes in handy either with the tacky putty on one end to pick up small things or the other end with interchangeable paper piercer, spatula, small and large stylus. I’m using mine more and more. If you have one from years ago from another company, you might want to try this new one that has more “tools” to use!

I definitely recommend this Floral Romance Specialty Designer Series Paper for lots of cardmaking occasions. Just the paper alone will get you started in making beautiful cards, like this Easy Floral Romance Vellum Birthday Card.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Gingham Gala Monochromatic Card

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FINALLY I have finished with all things holiday and played with some of my new Occasions Catalog 2019 products to make this Gingham Gala Monochromatic Card. The first time I saw this gingham designer paper, it was something I wanted to have right away. As Demonstrators, we get to pre-order new products so we can start working with them in order to be able to help our customers and give you ideas. I’m a little behind but it only took a second to get excited about these new stamps, papers, ribbons, embellishments, & everything!!

This monochromatic card is all about Grapefruit Grove, one of the newest 2018-2020 In Colors that were introduced when the current Stampin’ Up! Catalog came out. This new Gingham Gala 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper comes in two sizes of checks, the large check on one side and the small check on the other side. They are beautiful spring colors to work with: Balmy Blue, Daffodil Delight, Grapefruit Grove, Highland Heather, and Lemon Lime Twist.

The card base is Grapefruit Grove and is layered with a piece of the Grapefruit Grove Gingham paper. The ribbon is one of the free items you can earn during Sale-A-Bration, the annual Stampin’ Up! promotion we all have come to know and love! Spend $50 and choose a free Sale-A-Bration product! One of the choices is this Organdy Ribbon Combo pack, 5 colors that coordinate with the gingham paper.

The greeting is from the new Itty Bitty Birthdays Stamp Set. This set is one with the new “Cling Stamps”. The new stickers for the stamps will REALLY stick to the acrylic blocks! We will all have a bit of a learning curve with this sticky new stamps so that we treat them right and don’t mess up the foam! You will be amazed how sticky they are! But it will be great not to have to worry about them falling off the block as they are being inked up or getting ready to stamp!

For a little bling, I added a few of the new Gingham Gala Adhesive-Backed Sequins. So great to have these sequins easy to apply since we don’t have to fool with glue! Just stick them on!

All these lovely new products and many more go live on Thursday, January 3, 2019! And with every $50 you spend, you get to choose a FREE Sale-A-Bration product in the brochure. Spend $100 and either chose two Sale-A-Bration items or one special choice for spending $100.

Stampin’ Up! FLASH SALE TODAY ONLY! Select Stamp Sets 15% Off!

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Stampin’ Up! Birthday Sale!! 15% Off These Select Stamp Sets! One Day ONLY!

Put on your party hats and save! It’s time for the It’s Our Birthday Stamp Sale!

SHOP THE BIRTHDAY SALE!

For 24 HOURS ONLY, you can save 15% on select stamp sets. This sale will be gone in a flash, so celebrate with Stampin’ Up!! Don’t miss it!

C LICK HERE to see the list of stamp sets on sale!

All selected stamp sets may be applied to Starter Kits.
Discount applies to select stamp sets only when purchased individually during the 24-hour promotion period. Bundles featuring stamp sets from the promotion will not be discounted.
If you purchased a stamp set prior to the sale, we will not be offering exchanges or credits.
In the event that we run out of any stamp sets, we will honor the discounted price as long as the order is closed within the promotion deadlines. You will receive your discounted stamp set as soon we are able to fulfill your order.
Sale ends Tuesday, October 23 at 11:50 PM (Mountain Time).

Let me know if you have any questions. You can add other things to your order along with these sale stamp sets. Have fun at the stamp birthday party!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! STAMP SALE!

Tomorrow! Birthday Flash Sale! Birthday Stamp Sets 15% Off!

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Tomorrow, Tuesday October 23! It’s a Birthday Flash Sale! Select stamp sets will be 15% off! Check them out and make out your list!

Click HERE or on any of the images above to see the PDF list!

Make sure you are on my Mailing List to keep up with all the Stampin’ Up! news! Sign up in the red box!

Have fun shopping TOMORROW, OCTOBER 23!

Tomorrow! ONE DAY ONLY FLASH SALE!

Graceful Glass Stained Glass Birthday Card

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With all the excitement over Halloween and Christmas products and projects, let’s not forget about one of our greatest needs as cardmakers, and that is birthday cards like this Graceful Glass Stained Glass Birthday Card. It’s always great to sit down and make a birthday card for a loved one or friend.

One of the most beautiful groups of products has been the Painted Glass Stamp Set and the Graceful Glass Designer Vellum Paper. The vellum comes in a 6″ x 6″ stack with two each of 12 designs. This vellum provides a wonderful opportunity for some “adult coloring”! Coloring is therapeutic and relaxing! I especially like to use the Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers but you can use the regular Stampin’ Write Markers or Watercolor Pencils if you like. Sometimes it is interesting to put different colors of cardstock behind the colored piece. Usually you might just want Whisper White Cardstock behind the colored piece which brightens the colors.

You might enjoy the Painted Glass Bundle which consists of the Painted Glass Stamp Set and the Stained Glass Thinlits to use with the Big Shot. This elegant, medieval look will be beautiful on any of the projects that you make.

Enjoy this video about the Graceful Glass Suite!

I hope you get some new ideas from this video. I can’t emphasize enough the fun and relaxation of doing the coloring on this paper!

For my card, I also used the Tufted Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for the background layer. I think this embossing folder really gives a nice look for lots of cards.

Take a day and think about upcoming birthdays so you don’t get behind in the midst of all the holiday projects. There are other good sentiments in the Painted Glass Stamp Set, too for other types of cards. The Graceful Glass Suite is a slightly different style to have on hand but will produce cards and projects of beauty. Check out this blog post with another example of a card using the Graceful Glass Vellum!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP!

Broadway Birthday Shaker Card

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If you want to send a fun birthday card to someone special, you might want to try this Broadway Birthday Shaker Card. You can find it as a sample in the Stampin’ Up! Catalog on page 69 with the Broadway Bound Suite of products. I made this card for my brother, my little brother, as I will always think of him no matter how old we get, even though he is only two years younger than me! On my birthday I told him I wished I was as young as he was! I thought this card was perfect for him because I wanted to make something special for him and because if anyone does deserve a wonderful birthday wish, it is him. In THIS POST I mentioned that he and his wife adopted eight (yes, eight!) children in international adoptions over a few short years. Amazingly, time is passing by quickly and those children are growing up and some have left the nest for college! We never could have imagined that would happen (as most of us parents can’t imagine!)! His family threw him a surprise birthday party earlier this month since he is often busy at work around the time of his birthday.

While shaker cards take a little extra effort, they are fun and impressive! Anyone can make them! This one is sized at 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ with a Basic Black card base. There is a piece of Broadway Bound Specialty Designer Series Paper layered on the card base. This paper is fun because one side has a bright party design and the other a design with gold foil accents.

I cut two pieces of Whisper White Cardstock, one very slightly smaller than the other so that it could go behind the front piece and not show. This piece provides the background that you can see through the window. I stamped a few of the small images on this background piece. I also stamped some of the diamonds on the front piece after die-cutting the square opening with the Layering Squares Framelits Dies. A piece of Window Sheet was adhered to the back of this front window piece. Then I used Foam Strips to make a tight border around the edges of this window on the Window Sheet. I poured in some retired gold glitter and some colored sequins I had leftover from a Paper Pumpkin Kit. After the contents are in the shaker window it is time to adhere the smaller Whisper White piece over it. Then this whole window shaker piece was adhered to the front of the card.

Next comes decorating the front of the card on the shaker window. I die cut the word “Wish” with the Broadway Lights Framelits Dies out of Gold Foil. I stamped the greeting with words in the Broadway Birthday Stamp Set and just hand cut the little banners. There is also a little candle and flame that I stamped and die cut.

There are many ways this card could be decorated using the basic sample in the catalog! Get the basic shaker part made and then decorate the card however you like for whatever occasion. The Broadway Bound Suite is a great group of products to have on hand for birthday and other congratulatory occasions!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Be sure to use your Bonus Coupon Codes by September 30, 2018!

Animal Expedition Kangaroo Little Hello Card

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This Animal Expedition Kangaroo Little Hello Card came about quite by accident! While my mind is mostly on holiday projects, this Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper kind of jumped out at me. When I pulled out some Crumb Cake Cardstock to use with it, there were already two 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ card bases in with the cardstock so that’s what I used!

I don’t have a fancy cardstock storage system. I leave the paper in the plastic that it comes in (until it rips and falls apart!) and I stick cardstock scraps into the bag also. Then I just stack the packages by color family on a few plastic paper sorter things. It works for me. So if I made a card base and then didn’t use it, I just put it back in that package of cardstock to be discovered sometime when I do want to use it!

This card began with the Animal Expedition Paper and since I wanted to use the big kangaroo on one of the sheets of paper, I chose a sheet with a lot of greenery for the background layer. To cut out the kangaroo, I chose the Layering Ovals Framelits Dies. I chose a scalloped oval because it seemed to fit around the kangaroo better without cutting into some other animals on the paper. It did cut into two little birds although that hardly would have been noticeable, but I just cut out two birds by hand from the paper and adhered them over the partially showing birds. It gives it a little bit of a 3D look and makes it a little more fun.

Since I already had the two 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ card bases ready to go in my package of cardstock, I chose to go ahead and use one of those. Sometimes it is fun to use a different card size. For this size, just start with a piece of cardstock 8 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ and fold in half. The layer of designer paper is then 4″ x 4″.

For some embellishment on the card, I used the 1/8″ Shaded Spruce Ribbon in the Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack. I just adhered a piece around the center of the card and then tied two little pieces of ribbon onto each side.

The layered kangaroo piece is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. The greeting is stamped from the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set. I could have used lots of different greetings. I think this would make a cute baby card, for example. Or it could have been birthday or “thinking of you” or others. The greeting is punched out with the Classic Label Punch. Then I even used this punch to make the flagged ends of the greeting. It is popped up with the new Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Pretty easy card to make and the Animal Expedition Paper is oh so cute! This Animal Expedition Kangaroo Little Hello Card would be fun to send to a friend in the mail!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Don’t forget to use your Bonus Coupon Codes from August this week before October 1st.

Check out the Clearance Rack! Need items were added, some items are sold out, but check it anyway!

Girls Stamp Camp Projects

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Almost a month ago now, I had the pleasure of having five girls and four moms over to do some stamping! The girls are all friends in Girl Scouts and/or school and they were so wonderful to work with. I initially thought that being 11-year-olds and in our rather short time frame, we wouldn’t get that many projects done. The former teacher in me always overplans, regardless, even with adults, because you never really know how fast or slow people will work. And I like nothing better than thinking up projects on my own or browsing the internet (of course!) for ideas so I had PLENTY from which to choose.

My first thought was to decorate a gift bag for them to carry home their projects and teach them how they can recycle the bags they might get at a store by decorating with paper and maybe some stamping and embellishing. The one in the photo I made a while back in this post, but it was a good sample and I used this same retired paper for the girls because I had enough of it, in different colors. They stamped different flowers in matching colors. I also had die cut their first name initial with the Large Letters Dies to glue on the tag. I love decorating bags like this.

To teach them how to make a card, I thought a birthday card is always handy to have on hand. One girl made hers for her dad who had a birthday coming up. I found this design somewhere online. It was easy to make with the Balloon Bouquet Punch and the In Color 2018-2020 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. My sample used all the same colors but some of the girls and moms traded balloons so they could have each balloon a different color. I love when people put their own twist on a project.

When I first became a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, at my first workshop we made a sticky note holder (whatever brand you like to use!). This one just takes a piece of cardstock folded to fit a pad of notes inside and then decorated on the front. For this one, we used a piece of the Garden Impressions 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper on the front and then stamped a daisy with the Daisy Delight Photopolymer Stamp Set and punched with the Daisy Punch. These stamps and punch were very popular last year when they came out in the catalog and still are this year. Some people punched two daisies to layer, which was cute also! For the daisy center we used a Clear Faceted Gem.

The thank you card used the Stampin’ Up! Note Cards & Envelopes and I die cut the butterfly ahead of time with the Springtime Impressions Thinlits Dies. I got this idea online from Mary Fish. We placed a colored piece of cardstock behind the die cut and popped the butterfly up on Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals. Some call this the Eclipse Technique. For a little bling, we added the Glitter Enamel Dots.

And what’s a stamping event without candy and chocolate?! We assembled the Clear Tiny Treat Boxes and decorated with some retired designer paper and ribbon. Of course one of my favorite things to do is to cover chocolate candies with a small strip of designer paper, so I showed them how to do that for some chocolates to put in their Tiny Treat Box.

Who would have thought we would get through this many projects with 9 people in about two hours or less?! But we did, and still had extra time, I hurriedly cut some more paper and grabbed some small chocolate candy bars and we made the small Halloween slider treat with the Cat Punch. This is a fun little project that is surprising that when you pull on the ribbon at the top, it pulls the candy bar up and out of the cardstock wrapper.

I always like to make a lot of projects, I wonder if these broke a record in how many we got done in two and a half hours with nine people! The girls said they should come back for “every occasion” and were amazed at all my stamp sets on the shelf. I’m just glad they enjoyed the stamping experience. I told them all to come back to me when they are 18 and I’ll sign them up to be Demonstrators!

Animal Expedition Playful Animals Birthday Card

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Who wouldn’t love this Animal Expedition Playful Animals Birthday Card? While whimsical and playful, these animals on the Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper, is not just for children! It would make cute cards and projects for children or babies, but it can be for anyone.

Even if you do not want to invest in the entire Animal Outing Bundle, I think just owning the paper can be a very good investment! And if you really love the paper, stamps, and the dies, then buy the paper and the Bundle! The Bundle saves you 10%! I’ve seen so many cute samples using this entire set! But, so far, I only own the paper because I think it is so cute! If you don’t mind some scissor-cutting, you can trim out the animals in the paper without the dies, while you are watching TV or working on your project. Or you can use various dies and punches that you may already own to cut out the animals. The paper is just adorable!

To make this card, I chose Lemon Lime Twist Cardstock for the card base with a layer of the smaller animal pattern. I used the greeting from the Detailed With Love Stamp Set. It is die cut with an oval in the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies and layered on a scalloped oval in the Layering Ovals Framelits Dies. The ribbon is the Lemon Lime Twist 1/4″ Ombre Ribbon. And just for fun, I added some leaves from the Leaf Punch and sponged them a little bit on the edges.

This is one of those basic card designs that are easy for anyone to make – just a card base, a piece of designer paper and a greeting, maybe some ribbon or another pattern of designer paper, and that can be it. If you want, you can embellish even more. Keep the design and layout in mind when you need to make a card and don’t know where to start!

Remember the Stampin’ Up! Bonus Days going on now! Spend $50 and earn a $5 coupon code to use on your order in September! For every $50 you spend, you will receive a coupon code. Be sure to write them down or print out the email from Stampin’ Up! so nothing happens to your codes! Stampin’ Up! cannot replace lost codes.

This would be a good time to purchase the Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper and perhaps the entire Animal Outing Bundle along with some of the new ink pads, if you don’t have all the new colors already! Don’t forget the Reinkers! Get as much on your order as you can so you can take advantage of Bonus Days! Only two weeks left in August! OMG! You’ll want those coupon codes in September when you start shopping the Holiday Catalog beginning September 5th.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE TODAY!

Rooted in Nature Masculine Birthday Card

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This Rooted in Nature Masculine Birthday Card was fun and interesting to make and you could use it for other occasions as well. I hadn’t used this stamp set and designer paper yet (amazingly!) so I looked in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog for inspiration. This card is my take on one of the samples in the catalog! Can you tell which one?

I wasn’t planning to make it a birthday card and I planned to use one of the greetings in the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set. And this is why you should always check everything in your Stampin’ Up! order when you get it! I’ve never had this happen before, and honestly, rarely have any problems with my orders. Rooted in Nature is a two-pack stamp set with so many stamps. I had only used the tree from the first pack. Then I opened the second case for the greeting I wanted to use. That sheet of rubber was the same as the stamps in the first case!! The labels for the stamps were correct and the cover on the case was correct….just the stamps weren’t! Of course I called Stampin’ Up! and of course, they are sending me a correct set!! So I had to choose a greeting from another set! And I remembered I needed a birthday card for my nephew!

The card base is Cajun Craze and then there is a layer of the Nature’s Poem Designer Series Paper. Too bad it doesn’t show up more! I should have made the top layer a little smaller! I chose Shimmery White Cardstock for the stamping because I knew I would be doing some watercoloring in the background and Shimmery White holds up to the water. Regular Whisper White Cardstock is likely to pill or get rough from the water.

I stamped the tree with Mossy Meadow Ink, trying not to get the tree trunk inked up and then used a Soft Suede Marker to color directly on the rubber for the tree trunk. Sometimes I stamped directly but usually I stamped off once or even twice. Then I stamped one tree and die cut with the Nature’s Roots Framelits Dies. It is adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop it up.

Before adhering the tree, I watercolored the background with some Balmy Blue Ink and Soft Suede for the ground. I used my Aqua Painter and just tiny bits of ink in the lids of the ink pads. So fun!

For the greeting, I chose a birthday greeting in the Beautiful Bouquet Stamp Set because it was the right size for the space. It is die cut with a Layering Oval Die and layered on a piece of Tranquil Tide cardstock die cut with a scalloped oval die in the same set. For a little extra, I cut a small piece of the 5/8″ Burlap Ribbon to go under the greeting.

This card shows that even though what you thought you had planned to make, various factors, including maybe your creativity, may change that! In this case, partly my own idea of stamping more trees than the sample in the catalog and then not having the greeting I thought I was going to use changed the original idea of the card! But now I have a birthday card for my nephew that I might not have had otherwise! (Also a good idea to check your birthday book of dates before the middle of the month to see what birthdays are coming up!)

Remember, Bonus Days are going on, so if you were interested in the Rooted in Nature Bundle of stamps and dies, you would save 10% with the Bundle and also get a $5 coupon code to use with Stampin’ Up! in September (when the Holiday Catalog goes live!) This has been a very popular Bundle, I’m just slow in getting around to using it! You can make many cards like this Rooted in Nature Masculine Birthday Card.

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Easy Fancy Petal Promenade Z-Fold Birthday Card

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I wanted to make a card for a long-time friend who has a birthday the day after mine, so I came up with this Easy Fancy Petal Promenade Z-Fold Birthday Card. What can make a more beautiful birthday card than the Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper! I just love it, and as you may have seen on a video previously, this paper was photographed in the Stampin’ Up! studio from fresh flowers and then made into a paper design by the graphic designers – I think they mentioned digitally removing a spider or ladybug hiding in the flowers!

One of the coordinating colors for this paper is Petal Pink, so that is what I used for the card base. I decided to jazz it up a bit by making a z-fold card. So simple, yet it makes you look like a specialty card designer! Just make the card as usual, then fold the front of the card in half back on itself! It’s best to score first so half of the card front (4 1/4″) is 2 1/8″. Just score and fold back, hence the name “Z-Fold”.

The designer paper is layered on to the card using the photographic flowers on the front panel, and the opposite side of the paper that looks like a granite pattern on the inside of the card. Since I was using a light color of ink, I used my Stamparatus to stamp the greeting inside the card on the designer paper (stamp first, glue second!). As I thought, the first stamping looked too light, but I could stamp it a second time and then it was inked up well enough to look good. I even glued another “back” of another pattern of paper on the inside of that front fold. It’s the one that looks like bokeh dots.

The greeting on the front of the card is stamped in Petal Pink Ink on Whisper White and die cut with the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies. I was hoping I could layer this on top of the Petal Pink die cut piece from the Stitched Labels Framelits Dies and I think it works. The thing is with a Z-Fold card is you want the stamped greeting on the inside of the card to be hidden behind the greeting on the front of the card. You need to think this through a little bit while you are making the card.

For a little bling, I added the Share What You Love Artisan Pearls on the greeting on the front of the card. I first looked at sequins and some of my other embellishments, but decided, as I often do, on the Artisan Pearls. They are so teeny tiny they add a nice accent without being too bold.

Remember, Stampin’ Up! Bonus Days are here during August! Spend $50 and get a $5 coupon by email to spend in September!

Pick up some of this gorgeous Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper on your next order and start making some easy cards and projects that will be beautiful like this simple Z-Fold card.