Coffee or Tea Lover? A Perfect Blend Either Way!

I know both coffee lovers and tea lovers and I bet you do too. The new December Stitching Die of the Month from Spellbinders is called A Perfect Blend and is perfect for both! In my new video here, I share several cards I made with this fun set of dies. The two cups come together to form a heart so I thought they would be perfect on gatefold cards and show several ways to make them in the video. Here is a look at this card when it is opened:

In the video, I show step by step how to make this card for a tea lover like my daughter:

As I show, the stitching only takes a minute or two but adds so much to the cup images. But if you are too busy to stitch them, all the dies can be used without stitching as well. The front focal image is on a belly band and when it is taken off, here is the inside of the card with two floating pop up squares:

The "love you" is part of the Spellbinders die set and the bottom image represents the gift card from Magic Hour Tea my daughter will receive via email. 

If you like this stitching die set, you have until December 27th to sign up for the monthly stitching die of the month club. But if you can't commit to a monthly club right now, it may be available on the Spellbinders website after January 10th if not sold out.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

CASED Card with Altenew Bundle

I am on a mission to design with everything I have purchased this year but not played with yet. I had to buy the beautiful Blooming Freesia stamp, die and stencil set from Altenew but hadn't designed with it yet. I admit- this card was CASED from the brilliant Jennifer McGuire - the fun fold and design are pretty much the same as she did in her video and blogpost here. I pinned it two years ago and meant to try the fun fold but didn't until now. Thanks to Jennifer for her inspiration! 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Eclipse Slimline

I have been on the lookout for scenery papers where there are two or more of the same image in the pack so I can make eclipse cards with my slatted dies from CraftAddictionUK. The only ones a local store had were slimline from Divinity Designs. I cut two slatted rectangles and made this pretty card with a gorgeous mountain scene. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

New Fun Folds with Brutus Monroe Washi Strips

I have been playing with new fun folds and also new products I have recently received. The washi tape strips from Brutus Monroe intrigued me and these cards are made with those. My favorites were the foilable ones like the butterfly strips above. Brutus Monroe also sells templates to place the washi tape strips on. This new fun fold (to me) is a quadruple z-fold card.

I love reading and so do many friends and members of my family so I couldn't resist the washi tape strips that looked like old books. I attached the washi strips to several templates and then embossed and inked them to make this card that opens up and out after the belly band is removed.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Stamp Joy Staycation Cards

I recently participated in Taylored Expression's Stamp Joy Staycation and the theme was Timeless Techniques. I learned so much. Above is one of the cards I made and below are several more I made pretty much exactly as they taught them:

I loved what I learned making both of these cards. The mason jar in the first one is full of TE's Iridescent Glitter Happy Medium and is squishy to the touch. I added and orange reinker to it to make this "old fashioned" drink card:

The old fashioned drink glass is from a set by Spellbinders. Looks good enough to drink, right? 

I loved revisiting the baby wipe technique, and I made these two cards with different colors of reinkers and several of the stamps we received as part of the kit. The arched shape dies are from the Essential Arches die set by Spellbinders. 

An exciting product that Taylored Expressions sent us (and will be available in January) is the Mirror Mat that allowed us to easily create the reflection of the trees on this card. I decided to cut my image apart into strips and put on a new fun fold called the Quadruple Z-fold. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Shaped Cards in Non-traditional Colors for Christmas or Gifts

Today I am finishing up my Christmas Inspiration Countdown Series for CutCardStock with non-traditional colors and shaped cards. Instead of the usual reds, greens and golds, why not try some beautiful metallic cardstocks in purple, blue and silver?

I have chosen CutCardStock's Stardream Metallic Card Stock in Vista, Silver and Punch. All of my cards feature Spellbinders Arch Punch & Pierce Plate. The Bethlehem Nativity dies above are from Creek Bank Creations. 

One pass of the Spellbinders Arched Punch and Pierce Plate through a die cutting machine die cuts all three pieces.  So after three passes, we have all the pieces to make three beautiful shaped cards.

These shaped cards can be used for Christmas cards as shown in the first card. They also could be used for birthday, sympathy, thinking of you or any other reason or season. I made a set of 6 cards most without any sentiments attached. Then I packaged up a dozen or so foiled and die cut sentiments with adhesive strips on the backs. Next I put the sentiments and the cards with envelopes in a cloth basket to be given as a gift. The recipient can chose which sentiment to add anytime they need a special card.

I hope these cards inspire you to try dies and colors in new and non-traditional ways, and then give or send them out to share some handmade joy in our world! Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen

Spellbinders Pop Up Surprise Card

This is a card I made recently with the beautiful Scenic Poinsettias 3D embossing folder from Spellbinders. It is pretty, but the real fun happens when the sides are pulled:

Peppermint Prancer pops up wishing everyone Happy Holiday Smiles. I loved the October Stitching Die of the Month from Spellbinders and created several cards with him which you can see here on my blog. But when the month is over, the dies and other products of the month are still available if they did not sell out and this die is here if you want this cutie. 

It is hard to see this pop up magic with still pictures, so here is a mini video to show you the fun:

If you are a subscriber, the videos do not show up. Simply go to my actual blog or instagram to see this card in action. 

Wishing you Happy Holiday Smiles! and Happy Thanksgiving!

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen