The hot papercraft and card making trends for 2023

It’s safe to say that 2022 was not exactly an uneventful year, and we continued to be bombarded with bad news.

But no matter what’s going on in the world around us, we always have crafting – and another fabulous year of creativity awaits, along with some gorgeous new Stampin’ Up!® products to lift our spirits in 2023.

Just like in fashion and interiors, there are trends in the crafting world – often with a surprising amount of crossover. Remember flamingoes, pineapples and cheetahs? They were on clothes, curtains, stationery, packaging, stamps and paper!

I’ve been doing quite a bit of digging to find out what we can expect in 2023 and it seems that all the predicted trends lead back to the same overriding theme: comfort.

Read on to find out how I believe this will translate into our Stampin’ Up!® projects.

Why are all trends leading back to the theme of comfort? It doesn’t take an expert to conclude that this is a result of the world around us being in chaos. A climate emergency, cost-of-living crisis, world conflict and yet another year of Covid all sending us scurrying towards anything which makes us feel better.

This is influencing how we decorate our homes, the clothes we wear and yes, even our crafting choices. Let’s take a look at the predicted colour trends for 2022 for starters.

Show your true colours

When researching trends, in the words of the late, great Victoria Wood, I often find that “colourwise, anything goes this season”.

However, in 2023 there seems to be a clear trend towards warm and cosy colours, earthy tones, and bold reds and oranges, surely in response to the events of the wider world.

In times of stress many of us – me included – take solace from nature, gaining comfort from being among trees and animals. This, along with a growing interest in environmentalism could be prompting us to choose earthy shades and greens. This is reflected by Krylon®’s colour of the year, Spanish Moss, which is very similar to the Stampin’ Up!® colour Mossy Meadow, and Dulux’s colour of the year, Wild Wonder, which is a little darker than the Stampin’ Up!® colour Crumb Cake. 

Others find that womb-like colours such as warm reds and oranges can help to alleviate stress. Experts predict that 2023 will be a year of deep tropical colours, jewel tones and earthy pinks, all of which can all make us feel safe and cosy – so let’s embrace them! Pantone® is certainly doing so; its colour of the year is Viva Magenta, a bold pinkish red, slightly pinker than the Stampin’ Up!® colour Real Red.

Blues and purples are huge again too – the colours that remind us of our grandmothers. For this trend, look no further than the front cover of the new Stampin’ Up!® January-April Mini Catalogue for Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather and Fresh Freesia working together in perfect harmony.

Keeping it cosy

Hygge may have had its day as a buzzword but cosiness is going to be huge in 2023. As well as warm, earthy colours, there will be a trend towards maximalism – surrounding ourselves with objects which make us happy. 

Gone is the austerity of white interiors; I think we’ve all had enough of hospital chic. Instead we will be making our homes and gardens into cosy sanctuaries to cocoon us from the outside world. Garden trends will lean towards sun-baked terracotta and creating a boutique hotel feel at home, perhaps in response to the cost-of-living crisis curbing our travel plans.

How does this cross over into papercrafts? Warm colours, cosy themes and maximalism all translate perfectly into ‘more is more’ projects. If you tend to make clean and simple projects, try mixing your patterns, using bolder colours and adding lots more elements for a change; you never know, you might enjoy it! 

Check out this project from the new January-April Stampin’ Up!® Mini Catalogue, using the new Regency Park Designer Series Paper. It’s a great examples of maximalism – loads of brightly coloured patterns all working together in harmony.

 

And these projects using the new Favored Flowers Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-Bration brochure really embrace the maximalism trend. That paper is intense – and, you will notice, very purple!

Nature’s influences

In a trend that speaks directly to me, nature’s influences will be everywhere. I’ve already mentioned that nature can be comforting but as well as nature’s influences on our colour choices, it will pop up over and over again in stamps and paper.

In these projects, the natural trend meets maximalism with designs which are as busy as the bees they feature. These are from the Stampin’ Up!® Mini Catalogue and feature the new Queen Bee Bundle with some of the Lovely Linen Designer Series Paper from the Stampin’ Up!® Annual Catalogue. 

And we will be seeing animal prints once again – yes, there’s new Designer Series Paper in the new Jan-April Stampin’ Up!® Mini Catalogue. 

 

It’s also satisfyingly shiny, which fits in with another predicted trend which comes up every few years; mixed metallics. 

Animals are always popular stamp images and there are lots to choose from in the new Mini, including the new Sea Turtles stamp set. Perhaps in a nod to the cost-of-living crisis and getting the most for your money, this set is reversible, so you get lots of images in one cost-effective stamp set.

Embracing imperfection

I found several trends which fit this theme. A big trend in crafting is ‘make do and mend’, which makes perfect sense in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and is good news for those of us who care about the environment. Visible darning is already huge, and looks great too. Instead of fixing a hole with yarn of the same shade, people are using a contrasting colour to make a feature of the repair. Genius.

Visible mending fits in with a home décor trend we can expect in 2023; wabi sabi. This is the Japanese love of embracing imperfection and even making a feature of a repair. I’m definitely up for embracing imperfection – so many people get hung up on making their cards look perfect that it ruins the enjoyment, not to mention the fact that the recipient won’t even notice!

Even in the world of packaging, a more casual look is on trend. Hand-drawn images, hand lettering with a scrawly feel... these all add up to a carefully crafted look of imperfection.
These trends are likely to cross over into papercrafts too. Have a scrap of card which is bent? Scrunch it and use it on a project!

There’s bent cardstock on p13 of the new Sale-a-Bration brochure (featuring the Beautifully Happy stamp set) and torn paper on page 2 of the January-April Stampin’ Up!® Mini Catalogue (featuring Fancy Flora Designer Series Paper) so maybe 2023 will see the return of the shabby chic look. I do hope so!

Geometric patterns

I must admit I find it hard to see geometric as a trend as it comes up every single year, but maybe in 2023 the geometrics will be less perfect and more casual. This is certainly the case with the new Layered Stripes background stamp in the January-April Stampin’ Up!® Mini Catalogue. It features geometric stripes but they’re a bit wonky and uneven. Bring on the imperfection!

There are many other trends coming your way; too many to mention here. The main thing to remember, I find, is that trends may be fun to watch but we don’t have to hop on to every bandwagon. It can be just as fun to go your own way.

Whatever your style, here’s to another year of crafting!

If you are in the UK or Ireland and have a big Stampin’ Up!® wish list, now is the perfect time to invest in the Starter Kit. This will unlock year-round discounts, as well as access to sneak peeks, exclusive products and more. To find out more,

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