Friday, October 31, 2025

A SIGN FOR TRICK OR TREAT SEASON

I saved my MOST FAVORITE technique for my last card of the week.  I've never been a big celebrator of Halloween, but I couldn't let the week go by without at least making one Halloween card.

Since Halloween has never been an important holiday in my life, I have very few Halloween Stamps.  In past years, I've usually purchased a pack of designer series paper (DSP) so I could make a few Halloween themed cards, but this year I even forgot to do that.  So, I used my favorite Technique to make my own "Halloween" DSP.


This background was made with the Shaving Cream Technique.  Yes, it is messy, but doesn't it make fun backgrounds?  And it is SO FUN to do.  I love the surprise you find under the Shaving Cream when you scrape it off your cardstock.

Since the cardstock can get quite damp with this technique, I do recommend using Thick Basic White rather than regular Basic White.

If you have never tried it, watch this video to see how it is done.


This was one of my very early videos when I first started making Technique Videos, so be kind.  It's an old video, but I think you will still get the idea of how the Shaving Cream Technique is done.

The colors I used for the technique were typical Halloween favorites:  Gorgeous Grape, Pumpkin Pie, Granny Apple Green and Daffodil Delight


Fortunately, I did recently purchase the Sign Design Bundle which includes this Trick or Treat greeting.  And I love that you can turn your sentiment into a little sign with the border stamp and the coordinating punch from the bundle.

I was going to just add the "sign" on my Shaving Cream Background, but I thought I needed a "pole" to hold up my sign.  So, I headed to my "stamp stash".  And look what I found -- this retired Bewitching Bundle with the witches feet and hats.  This is one of the few Halloween sets that I have, and it is probably my all-time favorite of the few I have purchased.  Yes, it is retired, but it was too cute to resist.  Besides, I keep telling you to "use what you have", so I need to listen to my own advice!  I just don't like to tease you with something you can't get should you fall in love with it.


As I've indicated many times in the past, when I make a technique sheet I often make it larger than I know I will need.  Then when I trim it down I can used the scraps to decorate the inside of my card.

That's what I did on this card.  The trimmed scrap ties the inside of the card to the front.  The HAPPY HALLOWEEN sentiment is from another very old, retired stamp set, All Holidays.

I hope you have enjoyed the techniques I shared this week.  All of these technique can be used to make any type of card.

If you would like a PDF Tutorial for today's card, use this link to download a copy.

A list of the products I used is shown below.  As I indicated, some are retired, but you can always use products that you already have.

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Location: Commerce Township, MI, USA

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

CHRISTMAS GREENERY BOUQUET

The technique for today's card uses tissue paper and Ink Refills to create a beautiful background.

The colors I used were Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party and Bubble Bath.  I pulled the color combination from the Traditions of Christmas Designer Series Paper (DSP).  If you ever have trouble coming up with color combinations use your DSP as inspiration.


I shared this Tissue Paper and Ink Refills technique some time ago on my Learning with Friends Video series.  If you are unfamiliar with it this video will show you how it is done.  It's fun, easy, and not too messy.  For this card I purposely left some white space within the colored areas.


The focal point was die cut from the Traditions of Christmas DSP.  I love DSP that has images that coordinate with dies.  One of the dies in the Christmas Greenery Bundle coordinates with this particular floral bouquet in the DSP.   The sentiment and coordinating die are from the Traditional Labels Bundle.

The Traditions of Christmas Suite includes all of these products and more.


Do you like to make bows from ribbon?  Are you good at it?  I make them because I love the look of pretty ribbon, but I struggle to make nice bows.  This Pool Party bow was easy peasy!  It's made with three dies from the Christmas Greenery dies.

Do you notice the shadow around the flower bouquets?  I wasn't really satisfied with the look of the flowers when I placed them directly over the tissue paper background.  It needed something to give it a little pop.  I die cut two more of the flower bouquets from cardstock to create the "shadow".  I experimented with all three of the colors in the background, but none of them were giving me the extra "pop" that I wanted.  Then I decided to try Secret Sea cardstock, and I found the winner.  I purposely kept the border very narrow as I didn't want it to overwhelm the image.  I just wanted it to look like a shadow, and Secret Sea did that for me.


To decorate the inside of the card I fussy cut some additional images from the Traditions of Christmas DSP.  I like to use images from the edges of the paper for this purpose as it is a great way to use partial images that may otherwise be tossed away.


A list of the products used is shown below.


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Monday, October 27, 2025

MIXED FLORAL & IRIDESCENT TREATS

Rather than featuring a particular product this week, each of the cards I share will feature a specific technique.  A couple of them that I will share are "old favorites", but today's technique was brand new for me.  I'd love to know what you think of it!


If you are a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator you may have seen this technique in a Suceed Weekly from a few months ago.  I was intrigued when I first saw it and finally got arcound to trying it.  First I had to order the Iridescent Treat Bags because those are needed to make this gorgeous background.

If you aren't a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I'm wondering if you have seen this technique.


To make the background a piece of Basic White cardstock is slipped into an Iridescent Treat Bag and then heated with a Heat Tool.  The bag shrinks around the paper which results in the beautiful crinkles that shimmer and shine like crazy!

I cut my shink-wrapped cardstock into 3 strips before adhering them to the Petunia Pop layer.
I wasn't really sure what type of adhesive to use to adhere them, so I used Tear & Tape which worked great.


The Coneflower is from the Mixed Florals Bundle which, at the time I'm writing this, is still available but is on the Last Chance List.  This is a bundle I'm definitely sad to see retire.  But, frankly, this card can be made with any stamp set.  There is nothing about this technique or this card that requires this specific bundle.

However, if this bundle is on your wish list, don't dawdle.  When Last Chance Products sell out, they are gone forever.


After cutting my technique sheet into three strips, I had a leftover piece, so I used that at the bottom edge of the inside of the card.  We never want a naked inside for our card, but I feel like it is extra special when a bit of the outside is carried to the inside of the card.

If you would like to give this easy technique a try, use this link to download a PDF Tutorial.  Directions are included for the technique as well as all the cutting dimensions and step-by-step instructions for completing the card.

Below is a list of the products that were used on my card, but again, other than needing the Iridescent Treat Bags, you can use what you have.

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