Thursday, September 3, 2026

AUTUMN SCALLOPED BLOOMS TOWER FUN FOLD

Do you have friends or family that love to display the handmade cards you make for them?  If so, they will love today's Tower Fun Fold.


Once you get the fun fold base of the card created, there are many different ways to decorate it.  I chose to use the Autumn Opulence Designer Series Paper (DSP) and the Autumn Woodland Glimmer Specialty Paper.  


I kept the front of the card simple by layering a couple of the Scalloped Blooms die cuts.  They were die cut the same size and rotated one scallop, so you see the back Cajun Craze layer die cut peeking out between the scallops of the Very Vanilla cardstock.


The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Scalloped Blooms Stamp Set.  You can never have too many birthday cards!

Does the Tower Fun Fold look scary?  I'll admit, it was a little intimidating the first time I tried it, but it's easier than it looks.  Watch my video below to learn how it's done.  

I had a difficult time choosing between two different DSP designs when I made today's card, so, for the video I used the other design from Autumn Opulence that I was debating between.  Which you do you like best?  


There is no "inside" to this card, so we use the back of the center panel for the message layer.


I covered the two side panels on the back of the Tower Fun Fold with the same DSP used on the front side panels.  To further tie the back to the front, I added a couple of scraps from the front horizontal DSP to the bottom of the message layer.

Use this link to download a PDF tutorial with all dimensions, a cutting, scoring & folding diagram, and step-by-step directions.  A list of products used is also included on the tutorial as well as below.

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Two additional products that were used on the card are:
  • Autumn Opulence Designer Series Paper ---  Item # 168336
  • Autumn Woodland Glimmer Specialty Paper --- Item # 168335
At the time of the writing of this post, they were not yet available to include on the above list, but both DSP designs are now available to purchase.
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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA

Monday, August 31, 2026

SHIMMERING SCALLOPED BLOOMS

This week I am featuring the beautiful Scalloped Blooms Bundle.  If you love layering dies in unique shapes, and greeting stamp sets, you will love this bundle.


Do you ever purchase crafting products that you totally forget you have?  The 26-27 In-Color Pearlized Specialty Paper was one of the first things I purchased when the new In-Colors were introduced.  I put the beautiful paper in the container with the rest of my current designer series paper, and then TOTALLY forget I had it--even though I go into that "box" almost every day!  I guess it was hiding!  So, on today's card I am making up for lost time and using four of the five colors.


The Barely Blush Pearlized Paper was embossed with the Fern & Flora embossing folder and then added to the card front.  I wish you could see the full beauty of this paper when it is embossed.  It is amazing!  Unfortunately, photographing it to fully capture that beauty is not one of my skills, but I hope you can see enough of the shimmer to appreciate how pretty it really is.


I used the two smallest scallop dies from Scalloped Blooms to create the flowers.  They were die cut from Basic White cardstock and then lightly tinted with a Blending Brush and Barely Blush ink.

The flower centers and the leaves were die cut from Golden Glow Pearlized Specialty Paper adding even more shimmer.  Flower Centers are from the Pretty Poinsettia Dies and the leaves are from Butterfly Flight dies.

The Peaceful Pine background behind the flowers is also from the Pearlized Specialty paper.


To make sure the inside of the card also had a little shimmer, I added a strip of embossed Crisp Cantaloupe Pearlized Paper.  I love how the In-Color collections always coordinate with each other.  I wasn't so sure about Barely Blush and Crisp Cantaloupe, but once I put the card together, it grew on me!


A list of the products I used is shown below.  Click on any image to learn more or to make a purchase of your favorites.  Hint, Hint!  Try the Pearlized Paper!  You will not be disappointed!  Just don't forget you have it.

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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA

Thursday, August 27, 2026

WATERSIDE RETREAT

Today's card was created using one of my favorite techniques -- water coloring.

I created this beach scene with watercolor paper, Water Painters and ink.  If you can "scribble", you can watercolor this scene, also.

Watch the video to see how I did it.  Yours will look different than mine, but it will still be beautiful.   I've never had two "paintings" look exactly the same.  That's part of the fun.  You'll see in the video that my 2nd card has its own vibe.

For today's card I used the two-piece chair.  I've gotten in the habit of using the Adirondack Chair from the Relaxing Waterside bundle so for today's card I wanted to get out of my rut and try this other chair.  I like it, but I think it looks a little more formal than the Adirondack.

In the video I used the Adirondack.  Which do you prefer?

My Seagulls were stamped with Smokey Slate ink.  You may need to stamp a couple of "test" birds -- I did.  My ink pad was pretty juicy, so the birds were darker than I wanted.  I tried stamping-off, but then they were too light.  So I ended up using a plastic spoon to push some ink on my ink pad away from one area so I could ink my stamp in that area.  Watch the video to see how I did that.  It's a good trick to use when you have a very juicy ink pad, or when you want a lighter image, but stamping-off makes it too light.

As I mention in the video leaving white space when you are "painting" a scene is also a tip.  It helps to provide depth to your "painting".  Remember, you can always add more ink, but it is not as easy to lighten the color and even more difficult to get back to white space.  Watch the video for more tips.

Don't forget to add a light color wash with Gray Granite below the seagull to "ground" it.  Unless your bird is flying, you don't want it to look like it is floating in space.

The inside sentiment is from the Banner Sayings Stamp Set.  

Use this link to download a FREE TUTORIAL with all the dimensional information and step-by-step directions.  But be sure to watch the video if you want to learn how I did the water coloring.

A list of the products used is shown below.

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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA
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