Friday, November 14, 2025

FESTIVE SNOWMAN

I saved my favorite card this week to last.  There is something about these adorable Festive Friends characters that just make me smile every time I use them!


Today I using the tearing technique with the Two-Tone Cardstock.  I've used the "tearing" technique on and off over the years, but it was usually associated with a "vintage" or "grunge" style of card.  And since I don't often make cards in that style, I tend not to use this technique much.

When you tear Two-Tone cardstock it gives you a white edge which I like--not at all vintage.    In fact, I really like the torn appearance for snow drifts like these.


I used Cloud Cover two-tone cardstock and alternated using the dark and the light sides.

Depending on the direction you tear the cardstock you will get the white edge on either the dark or the light side.  So, pay attention to the direction you tear.  When you tear it, the back side of one piece will have the white edge and the front edge of the other piece will have the white edge.   For my snow, I just flipped one of them over and used both pieces.

Before creating the "snow", I used a Blending Brush and Secret Sea ink for the sky.  I envisioned a dark night sky with a full moon.  However, I initially forgot to mask the moon.  So, I placed a 1" circle mask over the inked area and added more ink.   I kept it lighter near the moon and darker farther away, creating a clear outline.  The result was unexpectedly pleasing -- a fortunate crafting mistake.

The small trees on the horizon line and the large trees on the left were die cut with dies from Light & Wonder Dies.

The little snowman from Festive Friends Stamp Set was given a bright, multi-colored hat with Stampin' Blends and his scarf was colored with one of the colors in the hat.  

The sentiment is from Festive Friends and was die cut with the Traditional Label Die.  Did I say how much I love the Traditional Labels Dies?  They are SO VERSATILE with many different shapes and sizes.


To provide a base of snow for my snowman on the inside of the card I added a couple of leftover torn strips from the card front.  The sentiment is from the Jolly Holly stamp set.  This is another stamp set that has received a LOT of use this season -- this greeting in particular.  I like that it is tall and narrow in shape and the sentiment sounds like me.

Use this link to download a tutorial with all the details of today's card.

A list of the products I used is shown below.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2025

A THANKSGIVING FUN FOLD

It has been a long time since I made a Double Z fun fold.  It had been so long that I couldn't remember the dimensions for cutting and scoring the two card bases, so I had to try to find one of my old tutorials.

That's when I realized how long it had actually been.  I finally found one, and it was from 2023!  I used to make this fun fold all the time because it is very easy but looks complicated.

It is also a great way to show off a Designer Series Paper (DSP) Collection because there are so many different panels that you can use several different designs on the same card.  This card today uses four different patterns from the gorgeous Gathering Together DSP.

My challenge (to myself) this week was to use Two-Tone Cardstock, and I thought this Double Z Fun Fold would be a good way to use both sides and show off the two shades.

The large Double Z card base is made with the dark side of Pecan Pie two-tone, and the small Double Z card base is made with the light side of Pecan Pie two-tone.  


All stamped images and greetings on today's card are from the Amber Autumn Bundle.  These leaves are so much fun to color.  I'll admit that my version of these oak leaves don't look much like my neighbor's oak leaves that now cover my grass.  Those are pretty much just a solid brown.  If I'd colored mine with solid Pecan Pie, that is about what the ones on the grass look like, but who wants solid brown leaves on a card?  Not me, so I gave them a little "unrealistic" colors.

I chose colors from the DSP, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, and a tiny touch of Old Olive Stampin' Blends to color my leaves.  Since we do not have Crushed Curry Stampin' Blends, I substituted Daffodil Delight.

If you would like to make a Double Z Fun Fold, use this link to download a tutorial with all the cutting & scoring dimensions.

A list of the products used on this card is shown below.  Click on any image to learn more about that product or to make a purchase.

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Monday, November 10, 2025

TWO-TONE CHRISTMAS WREATH

This week I will be featuring cards made with Two-Tone Cardstock.  I've been "collecting" it since I was first introduced to it last March at OnStage, but I haven't been using it much.  So, I thought maybe using it as a "featured product" might get me motivated.  If you haven't yet started exploring Two-Tone cardstock I'm hoping this week's cards will give you a reason to explore using it, too.

Fortunately Stampin' Up! has several different variety packs.  That's how I started.  That way I could get a few different colors without a huge investment of buying a pack of each color.

The Granny Apple Green is included in a collection called Memories in Bloom.  It includes six different colors -- Darling Duckling, Granny Apple Green, Petunia Pop, Secret Sea, Summer Splash & Timid Tiger.  I liked this pack because not only did I get a variety of two-tone colors, but it also gave me many of the current In-Colors.

There are some things that you can do with Two-Tone cardstock that you cannot do with regular cardstock.  

One side of the two-tone cardstock is the shade of the regular cardstock and the opposite side is a lighter shade of the same color.  Stampin' Up!'s two-tone cardstock also has a white core which makes it great for tearing and sanding.

My card today uses Granny Apple Green Two-Tone, and I have the darker side facing up.

I embossed Granny Apple Green Two-Tone with the Traditional Wreath Embossing Folder and then used a sanding block to lightly sand the peaks of the embossed surface.  Sanding makes the embossed surface pop because it reveals the white inner core.

Since the wreath embossing folder is a 6" x 6" folder, I decided to make a square card.  I don't make many square cards any more, but it allowed more of the complete wreath circle to show.

I used the Traditional Labels Bundle to create a simple sentiment.  I liked how the plaid from  the Traditional Christmas Designer Series Paper gave a bit of a "country vibe" so I used that to mat the sentiment.  A couple of Gold Foil pine boughs die cut with a die from Christmas Greenery dies add a little shimmer peeking out from behind the plaid.  A Shiny Real Red Ribbon bow and Red Traditional Sparkling Sequins add a little more traditional red sparkle to the card.


For the inside of the card I reduced the width of my Basic White message layer to allow more of the embossed Granny Apple Green Two-Tone to show.  A strip of the plaid DSP and another Gold Foil Pine Bough coordinate the inside with the card front.

Use this link to download a tutorial with all the dimensions and step-by-step directions.

A list of the products I used is shown below.

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