Saturday, October 11, 2025

Autumn Colors and Sweater Weather

Which season is your favorite? My favorite season is autumn with cooler sweater weather and beautiful fall colors. Texture and CutCardStock’s cardstocks combine to make this card easy to make and beautiful.



I recently took an online class with Altenew and one of the instructors taught a card with this sketch and products. We both used the gorgeous Cozy Sweater 3D embossing folder and Garden Friends leaf dies. I die cut my leaves out of CutCardStock's Stardream Antique Gold and Copper and then added in some red using Red Pepper cardstock. 

My added touch to this card that was taught was to attach leaves in the 3 x 4 1/4 piece of white cardstock before embossing so those leaves were embedded into the embossing. Then I added some gold ink around the edges so the piece stood out against the white background. This card could be used for many reasons, but I added the perfect touch of gold in a Taylored Expressions Foil It sympathy sentiment. Here is another picture of this lovely card:


Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Spellbinders Peppermint Prancer Stitching Die Of the Month


Aren't these Peppermint Prancers adorable?? I made them with Spellbinders Stitching Die of the Month for October. I have joined the club at Spellbinders where I receive one new stitching die set a month and this one is available until the 27th of October if you too want to join up. If not sure, you can purchase any of the club dies after the 10th of the next month until they are sold out. 


I learned from Jennifer McGuire how to make the floating acetate strip across both of these cards so my Peppermint Prancer pops out and floats along with the letters that spell my favorite holiday word: JOY. The stitching on this set of dies takes just minutes and you  can choose to stitch or not. The embossing folder on the back is also from Spellbinders.


The embossed background on this card was made with a new text embossing folder from Altenew and inking on the embossing folder itself so the words stand out. On this Peppermint Prancer I chose not to stitch his red nose. This one too pops out on acetate but lays flat to mail.


If you join the whole Deluxe Kaboodle club (so you get all the dies and embossing folders etc.), you also receive a free gift and October's is the "for U" and magic strip. I added a gift card using a new die from Gina K Designs I got in the fall Crop and Create Delivered online class kit.

I am going to be creating with each month's Stitching Die of the Month from Spellbinders for the rest of the year at least so stop back to see what is new, and if you like stitching you might want to join me in the fun!

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Monday, October 6, 2025

Crealies Mini Gift Bags Made in Minutes


In my newest video here, I share how to make small gift bags in just a few minutes like the one above using new Create a Box Mini dies from Crealies. This size is perfect for a gift card or small gift and I made this one for a friend's fall birthday. There are two more sizes in the new release at Crealies if you want to make a large or medium gift bag. 

Another of my favorite dies in the new release is the Stamp Strip die and I used it to decorate the front of my bag before adding some flowers and the sentiment strips. Here is a look at the back of this adorable mini gift bag:


I want to make small gifts for about 30 people at Christmas and in the new video, I show how fast and easy it is to use this die set to do just that.


This is the bag I made in the video. I chose to use the slot die in the set and put a ribbon through it for a quicker make. In this picture I stapled the ribbon shut but then decided to use clips to close it to make for easier opening. Here is a look at the back of this adorable little gift bag:


Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 


Saturday, October 4, 2025

September Class Cards

Here are the cards I taught in September's Fun Folds With Clear View Transparencies at Harts n Scraps:







If you are local, I am teaching many background techniques and Masculine cards in October and Winter Pop Up cards with Clear Views in November so call or stop by Harts n Scraps to sign up before the classes are full.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 


Friday, October 3, 2025

Day 3 of Fall 2025 Crop and Create Cardmaking Delivered

We started Day 3 with Concord & 9th and I posted those cards earlier in the week because they were my favorites. But I loved all the cards we created today too.  Next up was Hero Arts and look at these gorgeous stenciled cards:



Then we learned from Trinity Stamps how to make these awesome coffee cup shaped cards:



The last class of the weekend was with Honey Bee Stamps and we made 3 cool men's cards with their Man Cave die set. I changed mine up to feature Packer colors and numbers and simplified the other 2:




After the last class, we were treated to a video by Jennifer McGuire where she brilliantly combined products from many of the companies in her unique way.  Each night SCT gave away amazing prizes and maybe next year I will win:) As I have stated many times, the SCT Crop and Create Cardmaking weekends are worth every penny and I highly recommend them! 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Crop and Create Cardmaking Delivered Day 2

Here are the cards I made on day 2 of the Fall Crop and Create Delivered:


Gina K started off the day with beautiful stenciled gift card cards. Next up with Stamps of Life with a stairstep die used several different ways:





Picket Fence Studio's kit included adorable baby card dies:



Simon Hurley and Ranger closed out the day and I loved his mixed media backgrounds with all of his awesome products! I will play more and share more later. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 


Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Crop and Create Cardmaking Delivered First Day and Favorite Cards

Every year since it first started, I have been participating in the 3 day on line event put on by Scrapbook and Cards Today called Crop and Create Cardmaking Delivered. I will not miss one because in my opinion it is the best on line event for card makers! They bring together 12 different companies with excellent instructors and send a box of exclusive dies, stencils, stamps, paper and embossing folders worth 3 times what we pay! Here are the cards I made in the first class on Friday from Tayored Expressions:


We also got supplies to make a calendar which I will share a peak of later. Next up was Scrapbook.com and we used rub ons which I loved:



I loved the embossing folder and vase from Spellbinders as well as the lessons on how to ink them:


My favorite class of the weekend was Concord & 9th because of the "map" background helping us place the gorgeous colored leaves and flowers on these two cards:




The background die also cut out the lovely shape. I need to add some sentiments but am waiting to see what occasion I will use them for. I also used these dies to make one month of my calendar from Taylored Expressions. I will share more when it is done.


If you have never participated in Crop and Create Delivered, open registration for the Spring 2026 event starts October 20th and fills up very quickly (to over 3000 participants!!) 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen