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 

Stenciling on Waffle Flower's Piercing Panel Die Cut Backgrounds

I love the look of stenciling on perforated paper backgrounds but the perforated paper is hard to find and so expensive. So I was excited to discover that Waffle Flower has an A2 Piercing Panel Die that creates the look of perforated paper without the expense. I can make as many pierced backgrounds as I want and use for all sorts of cards. My favorite technique is to stencil on them, and I pulled out an older (but still available) Pretty Pink Posh Crocus stencil to make these two cards. 

I chose purple and yellow crocuses and am not sure which I love the best? What do you think?

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Altenew Doves in Flight Cards

I took a few minutes this week to play with new dies I have recently received and made two cards with Altenew's Doves in Flight layering die set. Altenew has a brilliant Key Hole System to make lining up the different layers so easy! I hadn't made a split circle background in a while so I die cut some patterned paper and gold shimmer paper with Tonic smaller scalloped circle dies. I cut them in half and layered as you see. Then I embossed the whole panel with a Spellbinders text embossing folder. I put the dove together and attached with a sentiment from the same die set.

Here is a card I made the same way with a white dove and grey semi-circle pieces.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

November Class Cards - Interactive with Clear View Transparencies

This month at Harts n Scraps we made interactive Christmas cards with Clear View Transparencies. I had two full classes and they loved the cards. Here are the front and insides of each:

In December we are going to do book folding- you can choose an angel or Christmas tree. Then in the new year, we are starting out with Thoughtful Stenciled cards.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Overlaying Amazing Sparkle on Toner Foiled Fun Folds

Have you seen the new kind of foils called Overlay Foils that add a mystical or magical shine and shimmer to toner sheets and your cards? In my new video here, I play with Overlay Foils from Gina K Designs, Brutus Monroe and Taylored Expressions. I show how to add the extra sparkle you see above by running the toner patterned cardstock and plain toner sheets through a MINC with Gina K's new Mystic Shine Overlay Foil. The card design is called Double Decker Pop Out card and is perfect for the three different layers of foiled beauty. The Toner Card Front I started with is called Design Haven and is from Deco Foil and Therm O Web. 

Here is another double decker fun fold I made with foiled panels. I started with a Flowers in the Breeze Foilable from Pink and Main that has a layered stencil to add blended color to the flowers. The second layer was not stenciled but I did add sparkle with a Gina K Designs Mystic Shine Overlay. The front layer was the 2nd generation of foiling with a Taylored Expressions Opalescent overlay on top. 

Here is a couple pictures of the template of the Double Decker Fun Fold I made in the video:

The new overlay foils also work great on toner printed pattern paper and I started with that on this card and added the GKD Mystic Shine to those panels as well as to the black toner sheet on layer two.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

One More Trinity Stamps Coffee Cup Shaped Card

I shared my Trinity Coffee Cup shaped dies and stencil with a friend and she made this card for me. Here is a pix of the inside of this adorable coffee cup shaped and themed card:

We still have a day or two of the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, so I am entering this card into the 2025 Fall Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

2026 Calendar with Taylored Expressions and Many Other Favorite Companies Products

Recognize this fabulous puppy in his fab purse? I shared two cards with the set from Spellbinders yesterday in my blog post and video. You can choose to stitch the purse or not and on this calendar page to start 2026, the purse is unstitched. 

We received the complete 12 months calendar and the wooden holder from Taylored Expressions as part of the Crop and Create Delivered box of crafty goodies. I made these pages with other parts of that box:

Here are the rest of the pages ready for the new year made with various stencils, dies and stamps:

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen

Veterans, Farmers, Special Men - You Are Appreciated!

Happy Veteran's Day to all our veterans! Today I am sharing a new video showing how quick and fun this card was to make:

I started with two favorite cardstocks from CutCardStock - kraft which is perfect for so many things especially men's cards, and green which is my favorite color. I chose CutCardStock's Emerald Green Linen Cardstock for the cardbase.

The perfect background was created with a Layered Camouflage Stencil set from A Colorful Life Designs. I cut out the shadow for the sentiment from the background and raised it up for the eclipse look. Then I die cut and attached Military Boots using a die cut from Dies...to Die For. Here is another look at the card I created in just minutes in this video:

I am  grateful for great cardstock, stencils and dies that made this card easy and fun to make. And I am grateful also for all the veterans on this day and everyday for their sacrifices and service.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Another Snowman Coffee Cup Card for Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I couldn't resist the add on die set from Trinity Stamps that turned their shaped coffee cup die into a snowman and several other winter critters. I am entering this card into the 2025 Fall Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. 

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

2025 Fall Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Shaker Coffee Card

Today is the start of the 2025 Fall Winter Coffee Lover's Bloghop. I received the Coffee Cup die set from Trinity Stamps in the box of goodies from the Fall Crop and Create. I couldn't resist the add on set that makes a snowman and other wintry creatures. I made this card a shaker adding peppermint candy shakers also from Trinity Stamps. Here is another look at this card standing up:

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Fur-Ever Fabulous Spellbinders Stitching die Of the Month

I think the November Stitching Die of the Month from Spellbinders lives up to his name - Fur-ever Fabulous! It is a cute little puppy in a purse- just like you might see on Entertainment Tonight. The purse can be stitched or not- I did on this purse using gold metallic thread on a red mirror card. I embossed and inked the card front and pop up piece with an embossing folder also from Spellbinders. The puppy in both of the cards slides in and out and has a magnet on the back so the recipient could hang him on a frig or filing cabinet. Here is a look at the card flat to mail:

But as I show in my new video here, you can make a super cute card with this set and not stitch on the purse if time is tight. The holes and embossing make great texture on the purse even without stitching. Here is the Christmas version I made in the video for my grandson, son and daughter-in-law with the dog modeled after their new puppy:

Their new puppy is grey with light and dark grey parts and has floppy ears. I thought the sentiment from Poppystamps was perfect for their Christmas wish. This card is an easel too and will lay flat to mail. To see how easy this card came together, watch the new video here.

IF YOU LIKE THIS STITCHED DIE SET WITH THE ADORABLE PUPPY AND PURSE, YOU CAN GET IT BY JOINING THE SPELLBINDERS STITCHING DIE OF THE MONTH CLUB BEFORE THE 27TH OF THIS MONTH. If you can't join this month, it may be available after the 10th of next month if not sold out.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen 

Crealies Home Sweet Home Cards

The newest release at Crealies is full of dies perfect for shaped and textured cards. My favorite of the new dies is the Double Card House which easily creates a shaped house card with many layers. Here is the first card I created with this and many of the other new dies in this release:

I added layers of icicles and a sentiment label. Then I added texture with any embossing folder and embossed the bricks on the chimney instead of cutting them. In my new video here, I show step by step how to change this die up to make a shaker card. 

I die cut out the windows and the shadow of "HOME" so the shaker bits could be seen as  they move around. All of the new dies you see are available in the new release at Crealies.

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs, Karen