FREE tutorials: Paper Blooms birthday cards

Happy new month! To mark the end of possibly the longest January in history, I held a lovely relaxing craft class on Saturday. I called this my Birthday Bash event... which in retrospect was not the best name as several people have asked if I was my birthday (they didn’t send cake though, sadly).

But no, the idea was to create a set of six cards ready for all those birthdays that spring up on you in the new year.

It was also a great opportunity to use the Paper Blooms Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-Bration brochure. Everyone received a quarter of a pack for their six projects, giving them lots of versatility and choice. 

We began with this fun fold card – although I’m not sure everyone found it as fun as I did! It's made from a full sheet of A4 cardstock; the piece you cut off can be trimmed down to use as the belly band – and in fact provided the belly band for the second card, too.

Download the FREE tutorial here (opens in new window)

 

This is what the card looks like when it’s opened out. Plenty of space to write. 

 

The second card was a simple Z-fold, where you just score the front at the halfway point and fold it back on itself. I set out to make this a masculine card but failed miserably. Never mind – we can always use more floral cards, can’t we?

Our third card utilised vellum to tone down this lovely but bold Designer Series Paper. By offsetting it a little, you can add interest. The front is decorated with flowers cut out from the Paper Blooms pack. 

 

 

When using vellum, you don't want your adhesive to show, so make sure you only apply glue or tape behind your elements. I quite like the way the vellum then sits loosely on the card but if you need more security, add a glue dot and cover it with another flower or rhinestone/pearl.

 

 

Our last three cards were from a three-in-one pattern, which is fun to make and really speeds things along. Basically, you cut three pieces of DSP to the same size, then cut them up in exactly the same pattern – I used a guillotine-style cutter so did them all in one go. Then you mix up the designs to create three different cards. You don't have to follow this pattern, you can do it with vertical or horizontal strips, or use your imagination!

If you would like to follow this pattern, however...

 

You can download a free tutorial here (opens in new window)

You can earn this gorgeous Designer Series Paper FREE during Sale-a-Bration, which runs to the end of February. This is one of your choices when you place a £45 order. If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the February host code D6PKN76U, I’ll send you a little thank you gift in March!

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website.

NB: Please note orders are currently taking quite a bit longer than usual to arrive, due to a combination of extra paperwork required following Brexit, lower staffing levels due to the pandemic, and an influx of orders as a result of both lockdown and Sale-a-Bration. Please ask if you require more information.

 

Tutorials: Double Dutch Door Fold and Desk Calendar

Our first Crafty Friday of the year saw us use this gorgeous Flower & Field DSP from the Sale-a-Bration brochure. This beautiful paper is free with a £45 order during January and February.

 

 

During the morning, we made two projects using just two 6x6 pieces of paper (cut from 12x12 sheets). A I only had one pack to play with, not everybody received the same designs, which is quite nice as we get to see lots of variations on the different projects. 

 

We began with this fun Double Dutch Door Fold. And question of the day was “what is a double Dutch door?” Turns out a Dutch door is what we in the UK know as a stable door... and suddenly the card design makes sense!

 

I don’t do complicated fancy folds so this one was right up my street. You begin by cutting a standard piece of cardstock (A4 in most countries) and cutting it in half lengthways to create a card base. Slice off a section of the front then create the bottom doors from a separate, wrap-around piece.

 

Tell you what, why not download the tutorial here

As this was a remote class, guests were using their own greeting stamps to complete the card. Therefore I sent them a selection of die-cut and punched pieces for decoration. I used Nature’s Roots Dies to create these pretty Granny Apple Green leaves and the Small Bloom Punch for some Bumblebee flowers. The mini flower accents are created using the Confetti Flowers Border Punch. I have to say, punching lots of flowers is easier than die-cutting lots of leaves!

 

Use the piece you slice off the front of the card to create a layer for your main greeting/image panel. Waste not, want not.

 

 

Our second project was this cute desk calendar. I have to thank my downline Tracey for the inspiration for this as she made one for me for Christmas. 

 

Again this starts with a simple card base, created by cutting a sheet of cardstock in half lengthways. A second piece of cardstock creates a supporting piece and a third creates a simple box on the front for a sticky note pad and pen or pencil. You could decorate it further if you wish, but I like to let the DSP do all the hard work here. 

 

Download the desk calendar tutorial here

This side view shows how the supporting piece works. Simple but effective, and stops the weight of the pad making the card fall open. 

You can earn this gorgeous Designer Series Paper FREE during Sale-a-Bration, which runs to the end of Feburary. This is one of your choices when you place a £45 order. If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the host code YK2NNMYW, I’ll send you a little thank you gift in February!

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link (opens in new window)

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  Please message me via my website.

 

NB: Please note orders are currently taking longer than usual to arrive, due to a combination of extra paperwork required following Brexit, lower staffing levels due to the pandemic, and an influx of orders as a result of both lockdown and Sale-a-Bration. Please ask if you require more information.  

 

Sale-a-Bration 2021: Darling Donkeys and Flower & Field Designer Series Paper

Sale-a-Bration is now well under way and, as predicted, this Darling Donkeys stamp set is proving to be a winner. Who could resist these cute images? And you know me, I don’t normally fall for cute stamp images. 

I showed off this project at my Twixmas Party in an interactive demonstration. Guests could vote via the Zoom polling feature on which image I should stamp, which DSP I should use and which cardstock. The above card was the result, with a Bumblebee cardstock layer and a frame created with the Layering Circles Dies. 

However, I had this one ready made to show them how the card could have looked if they had made different choices, such as a Granny Apple Green cardstock layer. This image fits better in the Layering Ovals Dies, which I had cut in advance. Yes, I guessed what they’d choose and made the opposite – seems that I do know them quite well!

I can’t lay claim to the project idea, which was originally created by Diana Gibbs. It's such a lovely design that I just had to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) it. I particularly I love the use of the In Good Taste DSP with the Flower & Field DSP.

I coloured the images using Stampin’ Blends after falling in love with these all over again recently. Crumb Cake for the body, Smoky Slate for the hooves, Granny Apple Green for the grass and Pool Party for the sky.

The “hee haw” greeting is hand cut from cardstock, simply following the lines of the curvy image. 

The Darling Donkeys stamp set is one of six stamp sets you can choose as your FREE Sale-a-Bration item when you place a qualifying order during January and February 2021. Darling Donkeys can be earned with a £45 order.

The Flower & Field Designer Series Paper is one of four packs of paper in the brochure and that, too, can be earned with a £45 order. I love the bright colours on the dark backgrounds; some of them remind me a little of traditional canal art, while others remind me of mille-fleurs tapestries.

It’s gorgeous paper and I will be using it at my Crafty Friday Zoom class this week, when we make a fancy fold card and a mini desk calendar.

Want to earn your own Darling Donkeys stamp set or Flower & Field Designer Series Paper? Or do you have your eye on something else from the Sale-a-Bration brochure? Please head on over to my store and, if you use the host code YK2NNMYW, I’ll send you a little thank you gift in February!

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link (opens in new window)

 

Sneak peek Friday - Berry Blessings Sale-a-Bration stamp set

I had a berry nice time (sorry) creating these cards using the brand new Berry Blessings Sale-a-Bration stamp set and the Sweet Strawberry set from the Jan-June Mini Catalogue.

This set is part of a larger bundle which includes some fabulous Designer Series Paper. Sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to cut this up for these projects so just stuck to the stamps for now.

Each of the images has a background and a foreground so you can use the much-loved ‘two-step stamping’ method, stamp the outline and colour in, or simply stamp with the bold images. 

 

For the blueberry card, I got so carried away with my stamping that I ended up with enough for two. I stamped in Granny Apple Green and Pacific Point, then immediately regretted it as I couldn’t find any ribbon in my stash to match! But I think this Seaside Spray and Linen Thread goes pretty well, don’t you?

A variation on the blueberry card uses just blueberries in the background, with a few cut-out leaves and blueberries on top of the greeting, which is die-cut with the ever-popular Tasteful Labels dies. 

For the raspberry card, I played around with a few colour combos before settling on Melon Mambo for the background images and Rich Razzleberry for the outline on top. Again, this left me with a ribbon issue, but I compromised with some Magenta Madness and linen thred. It was a little bright so I toned the card down with a Blackberry Bliss base and greeting (which is taken from the co-ordinating Sweet Strawberry stamp set from the Mini). 

What do you think? Will these be on your wish list for January and February? I think they provide a welcome splash of summery colour for the dark winter days. 

Did you know? Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators get an extra month of Sale-a-Bration, when we can earn free DSB stamp sets and Designer Series Paper on our December orders. This is just one of many perks of being a demonstrator. You don’t have to run a business; it’s all about getting the best value for your money, so why not get in touch using the info at the top of the page, or via my website, and I can answer any questions you may have.

Sneak Peek Friday: Darling Donkeys

Want a sneak peek of what’s to come in January? Of COURSE you do!

This gorgeous stamp set is called Darling Donkeys and I predict it’s going to be this Sale-a-Brations BIG hit. You get three cute donkeys (one isn’t shown here) and a selection of greetings and they’re just perfect for colouring in and creating fun cards for children and the young at heart. Lots of potential for creating your own amusing greetings using alphabet sets or dies, too!

Check out what I’ve been making...

This one uses the gorgeous Flower & Field Designer Series Paper, which is also a SAB item. I’ve already warned my ladies that they’re really going to have to manage their SAB choices carefully this year as there are so many great things to choose from and only two months to earn them this time!

 

Yes, if you haven’t already heard, Sale-a-Bration is only running during January and February but stop! This is GOOD news for two reasons:

1. It only features stamps and Designer Series Paper, which don’t have any supply issues as they’re sourced in the UK (so no delays caused by Chinese New Year).

2. There will be ANOTHER Sale-a-Bration in July and August - yay! So you actually get a whole month extra of SAB. (We demonstrators get two whole months extra as SAB has started already for us – so if that’s a benefit you want to enjoy, please contact me via the email address in the side panel or click here if you are on a mobile and can’t see it.

This cheery yellow card uses the Dandy Garden Designer Series Paper which I know you’re going to love. Delicate dandelion clocks provide a subtle background to this sitting donkey.

And this card is an almost copy of a sample in the Sale-a-Bration brochure. It uses the Cinnamon Cider In Color DSP but I’d run out of Bumblebee DSP so made my hay bales using the Stacked Stone background stamp instead.

What do you think? Are the donkeys going to be on your SAB hit list?