Thursday, April 2, 2026

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

Today I have a last-minute, but meaningful, Easter card for you that is sure to WOW its recipient.

As is often the case with Fun Folds, they can be a challenge to photograph in a way that makes them easy to "understand".  

The above photo shows the card partially opened, and the photo below gives a top-down view to help you better understand the card.


To open the card, you just grab the cross and pull to the left to open.

Don't let the pictures intimidate you.  This card is super-simple to make.  Watch this video for all the details.

For the background of this cross card I used designer series paper from the Beautiful Gallery Collection, but you can see in the video that choices are very versatile.  Use what you like and what you have!


The DSP on the left is on the front of the card and the DSP on the right is on the inside of the card.  If you use DSP that is a scene like on this card be sure to cut the two pieces so it that looks like the scene continues across the card front.   


You can decorate your cross any way you like.  For this card I used die cut ovals and flowers from the Scalloped Wishes Dies.  But as you see in the video, I also used flowers on a couple of my cards.  That's why this is such a great "last-minute" card because you can use whatever supplies you have and it's quick to make.


When you open the card fully it looks like the photo above.  For the inside sentiment, I used a VERY OLD favorite Easter stamp set called Glorius Gift.  It was one of the very first stamp sets I purchased when I became a demonstrator over 19 years ago.


That was back in the day when we had to cut our rubber stamps out from a sheet using a Rubber Scissors and then mount them to wood blocks.  But this is still one of my favorite Easter Stamps.  After all, it states what Easter is all about!  

If you would like a written tutorial with all the dimensions and step-by-step directions, use this link to download a free copy.  You can also access the video from a link on the Tutorial.

A list of the products I used for this card is shown below.  Not all products are currently available.

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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA

Monday, March 30, 2026

FUN WITH SCALLOPS

This week I will be using the Scalloped Wishes Bundle.  This bundle includes a great stamp set with some versatile greetings and some pretty elements to decorate your oval scalloped dies.

Today's card is a shaped card made with the Everyday Arches Dies.  To make a shaped card, just position one side of the die off from the folded card base when you run it through the Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine.  That way only three sides of the card base will be cut, and the folded edge stays intact.

HINT:  Since you are die cutting two layers of cardstock you may need to run the die through the machine twice.


The front of the Thick Basic White card base was decorated with Kintsugi Inspirations Designer Series Paper (DSP) also cut with an Everyday Arches Die.  

The Scalloped Wishes Bundle was used to create the oval focal point.  I first stamped it to create the dotted Cloud Cover oval and then die cut the stamped image with the largest oval die.

The "fancy" die cut oval was also created with a Scalloped Wishes die and cut from Cloud Cover cardstock.


The flowers, tiny leaves and dragon fly were created with other dies from the bundle.  For the flowers and the dragon fly's wings I used scraps of Glimmer Paper from my stash.



A little color and sparkle was added to the inside of the card using the Kintsugi DSP and a strip of the glimmer paper.

This card is quick and easy to create using the Scalloped Wishes dies, but the unique shape and the bit of sparkle create a WOW for the recipient.

A list of the products I used is shown below.  Click on any of the images to learn more about a product or to make a purchase.

NOTE:  The Glimmer Paper & Tinsel Gems are retired.  Use what you have!

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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA

Thursday, March 26, 2026

THE FISH ARE BLOWING BUBBLES

I had not used the Bubble Background Technique in a long time, so thought I would have  fun and blow some bubbles.

And what is the perfect environment for bubbles?  Water of course!  So I pulled out my Peaceful Pier Stamp set and went to work.

I love this cute little fisherman, but it looks like he needs to catch a bigger fish, so I decided to give him a couple to try to catch.

My two fish are swimming in water filled with bubbles.  Making this background is a lot of fun, but no two are going to turn out alike.

Have you ever tried the Bubble Background Technique.  If not, watch this video to see how it is done!

Ok, now you are ready to give it a try.  I hope you learned some tips and tricks in the video, but if you like to also have written instructions, use this link to download a FREE TUTORIAL.

My fisherman, Charlie, was stamped on Basic White and colored with Stampin' Blends.  So were the fish he is trying to catch.  The colors I used are all defined on the tutorial.

Since the Peaceful Pier stamp set does not have coordinating dies, I did have to fussy cut the fish, but it wasn't too bad.  Fussy cutting Charlie was going to be another story, so I cut him out with one of the Nested Essentials dies.  The water bubbles were die cut with the Stylish Shapes dies.

I was originally going to make the complete background be bubbles, but then I saw this layout in the current Annual catalog and thought it would be more interesting.  But I still wanted a "water-themed" background, so I grabbed my Soft Waves embossing folder to  create the Basic White background.

Because I made my Technique Sheet large enough for a full card front, I had plenty of leftovers after I die cut the circle "bubbles".  So I used the leftovers for the sentiment and a decorative strip for the inside of the card.


Since the card is a "Just Because" card, I didn't add a greeting on the inside, but I thought there should be a couple more fish swimming in the bubbles.

What do you think?  Do you have a fisherman in your life that would love to receive this card -- Just Because?

A list of the supplies I used is shown below.  Click on any of the images to learn more about that product or to make a purchase.


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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA
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