Sneak peek: three ideas using Beautiful Gallery Designer Series Paper

When I first saw the Beautiful Gallery Suite from Stampin’ Up!®, my first thought was “Finally some grungy Designer Series Paper in dark, moody colours!”

While I love all the bright and pretty designs in the current (and upcoming) Stampin’ Up!® catalogue, I do sometimes long for something a bit murkier. And Beautiful Gallery Designer Series Paper fits the bill perfectly, with designs based on old paintings and artistic details. You’ll find full 6"x6" sheets with a self-contained design, as well as old-world patterns and some painterly effects too.

Over the Easter holiday I was short of time and inspiration so turned to THREE tried and tested card designs so I could give them a new spin using Beautiful Gallery Designer Series Paper. 

Simple card making with Toadstool Gardens Designer Series Paper

 

I just HAD to have this Toadstool Gardens Designer Series Paper because my daughter loves fungi and everything related to them. I knew I had to make her birthday card with this gorgeous Stampin’ Up!® paper.

Quick Christmas cards and last-minute treats with Humble Home from Stampin’ Up!®

 

There are two types of crafters in the Stampin’ Up!® world, I find. Those who have sorted all their Christmas projects and are now thinking ahead to 2025. And those like me.

I was convinced I had enough Christmas cards left from previous years and from this year’s events, but it turned out the box contained some 3D projects which were making it look fuller than it was.

What I DID have was quite a big pile of stamped and punched Humble Home houses which I’d made for some 3D treat boxes. However, while making them, I got distracted and stamped FAR more than I needed.

So I quickly set aside what I needed to make the required treat boxes – more on those later – and used the remaining house fronts on Stampin’ Up!® Note Cards and Envelopes to make REALLY simple cards.

Card ideas with Take to the Sky Designer Series Paper

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again... you don’t always need to buy the stamp set. This may feel like shocking advice from a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator but I know times are tough for many people right now and I would rather help you find ways to keep crafting than see you give it up for financial reasons.

Here are three cards I made using Take to the Sky Designer Series Paper from Stampin’ Up!® I don’t have the coordinating Adventurous Sky stamp set because, frankly, I didn’t think I’d get much use from it. But I love the paper featuring masculine patterns, planes, maps and clouds, and think it could be extremely versatile.

Stampin’ Up!® Ephemera Packs – the new way to make cardmaking EASY

An exciting new product range in the new Stampin’ Up!® Annual Catalogue is the Mix and Match range, which includes four fun Ephemera Packs. Read on to see all the projects I’ve made with these fun packs... so far.

One of the things I love most about the catalogue, which goes live tomorrow, is that it is so accessible for new crafters.

There are lots of products in the early pages which are suitable for those who have never made a card before, and lots of tips to help them on their way.

I’ve been cardmaking for well over 25 years now but these Stampin’ Up!® Ephemera Packs – which some will view as “beginner” products – appeal to me, too. In fact they are perfect for anyone who is short of time, short of space or wants to pack up a little craft kit to take on holiday. And, drum roll please... Ephemera Packs are perfect for scrapbooking.

Are these the easiest Christmas cards ever?

 

Do you have no time for crafting at the moment? Or maybe your mojo has gone walkabout? I'm hearing both of these issues from many of my Stampin’ Up!® customers and friends.

In fact, thanks to a new job and the commitment of rehabilitating a rescue dog, I barely have any crafting time for myself either.

Undeterred, I decided to throw some quick Christmas cards together at the weekend to show you how quick and easy making cards can be. 

Home Together Dies masked moon card

Just playing around with the Home Together dies and trying to come up with projects for tomorrow’s Crafty Friday event over Zoom. This is the one that got away.

To make this, I die-cut a circle (any circle will do) from a Post-It Note and stuck it to my card. I sponged around this mask using Pool Party ink. Then I simply built up the layers using die-cut hills and trees in Whisper White cardstock.

I finished off with a greeting from In The Pines in Misty Moonlight ink and some Pool Party ribbon to add shimmer and pick up the Pool Party around the moon.

No sticky notes in the house? Simply use thin copier paper and some Tombow Multipurpose Adhesive. Apply a few small dots on your circle and allow them to dry fully. This turns it into a temporary adhesive so you can remove the mask with care.

 Take a look at some of the other fab projects you could make with these dies...

Simple stamping with Forever Fern

It can be good to clamber out of your comfort zone – because you never know what you may discover.

And when I made this card, I learned that I can work with pink if I put my mind to it.

While that may not have been a favourite project of mine, these two definitely are. I found that the delicate leaves in the new Forever Fern stamp set really lend themselves to the brighter colours. What do you think?

Stamping in opposite corners of the card provides balance to the design.

#Simplestamping for Christmas with Peaceful Boughs

Peaceful Boughs has definitely become my go-to stamp set for Christmas projects.

We used it at my Crafty Friday session last week to make this beautiful shaker dome pizza box but it's just as good for simpler projects such as this one. This would be a great design for mass producing Christmas cards as it's just one layer, stamped, with some ribbon around it, stuck onto a pre-cut foil-edged card. Quick and easy, but pretty effective.

If you want to create the one-layer look, use a fairly pale green ink for the boughs; I've used Pear Pizzazz here with Soft Suede pine cones stamped on top. I've tried all of the darker greens and the pine cones don't stand out enough. 
 

Perfectly Plaid in Pretty Peacock

Perfectly Plaid in Pretty Peacock? Try saying that without spitting on your computer screen!

I’ve been getting myself in the mood for Christmas in readiness for my All-Day Craft Event tomorrow, where we will be using the Perfectly Plaid stamp set all day long.

While playing around with some ideas, I came up with this colour combo – what do you think? Could this be the hot Christmas combo for 2019? It’s Pretty Peacock, Pool Party and Cherry Cobbler.

To get the Pool Party behind the punched tree, I simply sponged in a circular motion until I was happy with the results. No fancy technique – and if you get any blobs you're not happy with, just stick your tree on top!

Seaside Notions - and even simpler stamping

I do love this Seaside Notions stamp set, but then I’ve always been a sucker for a seaside theme. It’s perfect for creating a simple one-layer card like this. Just one pack of Notecards & Envelopes, one stamp set and four ink pads – done!

Use the “sand” stamp in this stamp set to create a lovely soft border around the bottom of the card. Just keep stamping without re-inking to get several shades of the same colour, then re-ink the stamp and repeat until you’re satisfied with the results. This is called “stamping off” and I’ve done the same with the weed stamp in Pool Party to get some paler weeds which don’t dominate the project. 

The addition of some Terracotta Tile sand in the bottom right corner provides balance to the seahorse, which is stamped in the same colour.

Nine Lives - grey cat with Call Me Clover background

What I love about the new Rectangle Stitched Framelits is the way they stitch the frame as well as the shape they cut. Here I’ve placed some Call Me Clover Designer Series Paper behind the aperture and topped it with a lovely stamped and punched cat from the fabulous (must-have!) Nine Lives stamp set. The bow, stamped in Call Me Clover, finishes it off nicely. 

Keeping it simple with Dandelion Wishes

Keeping with the #simplestamping theme, these cards really could not be more simple. Well, I suppose they could if you stamped directly onto the card inestead of creating a layer. Oh, and I’ve used two stamp sets because the greeting I wanted was not included in Dandelion Wishes. But you get the idea... just stamping onto white cardstock with two ink pads can give you striking results.

Keeping it simple with Accented Blooms

There’s a theme to this week’s blog posts, which wouldn’t necessarily be obvious at first glance.  I’m using three different stamp sets, three different colours schemes and the cards are for three different occasions. So what’s the theme?

The theme is ... #simplestamping.

We demonstrators have realised that we get so into our craft that we sometimes neglect the new stamper. We are so keen to throw everything at our projects – purely because we can – that we forget that some people are starting out with limited supplies.

This project, then, takes things back to basics. One ink pad, one stamp set, one colour cardstock, one punch and one pack of embellishments. Perfect for the new stamper... or the experienced stamper in a hurry.

Tropical leaves, cool colours

Here’s an example of just using the dies without the stamps. You can create a lovely layered effect with the squre die in different shades; I’ve used cool colours to show you don’t have to keep it tropical all the time. And can you spot the Subtle Embossing Folder again? I do love this folder; you’ll be seeing a lot of it!

Dandelion Wishes - CAS card in retro Pool Party and Poppy Parade

Seriously, it took me longer to photograph this project than it did to make it. It’s clean and simple all right... and no less effective for it.

All I did was stamp on a piece of Whisper White in this lovely retro combo of Pool Party and Poppy Parade, add a strip of Poppy Parade cardstock and pop it up onto a notecard, with some bling to finish it off.

Yes, I have done a U-turn on Poppy Parade, which I was never keen on last time around. And with a brand new Pool Party ink pad to play with, I think you’ll be seeing a lot of this combo.

CAS card with Bird Banter

Oh how I do love this stamp set... even more so because I WON it at OnStage in Solihull. It’s always exciting to win a Prize Patrol and even more so when it’s a set you really love.

The birds are such fun to colour with our new Stampin’ Blends, so I kept the card really simple, with just a doodled line around the image to frame it on the Whisper White cardstock.

CAS cards with Stampin' Blends

When I saw this card from Dani Dziama, I knew it would be perfect for a Make & Take using the Stampin’ Blends. So this is exactly what we did at a party last week... the fun thing was, everybody used a different colour. 

Go here to find out about my Collect & Earn Programme for the new Stampin’ Blends

Cat punch - gift-wrapped!

I’ve wanted to share this card on here for ages but have had to wait for my friend and able helper Kelly’s birthday to come and go!

But now I can reveal all... along with the link to the brand new Autumn/Winter catalogue, which is where you will find this fabulous cat punch and the DSP which fits it perfectly.

I’ve placed the cat in a box by cutting off the end from a wooden crate die-cut from Kraft cardstock (yes it’s back! Page 12). The background is watercoloured in two of Kelly’s favourite colours: Soft Sky and Smoky Slate and the words are stamped with the Labeler Alphabet, which is really coming into its own now that I have cat cards to make!

Find the new Autumn/Winter catalogue here!

Clean and simple Pieces & Patterns

So you think you don’t have time to make your own cards? Think again. I turned out 20+ of these note cards – with stamped envelopes – in about half an hour. That’s just over a minute per card.

And if you’re wondering why the photo doesn’t show the pure Whisper White of the note cards, it’s because they’re not white. We now sell these handy little fellas in Very Vanilla, which is just perfect to co-ordinate with the Cajun Craze bear, Lemon Lime Twist pencil and Tranquil Tide greeting.