Category Archives: tutorials and templates

2023 Stamp & Swap projects

Last month we had our 8th annual NEPA (Northeast PA) Stamp & Swap and today I’m finally sharing the projects that I made for it. Be sure to read all the way to the end for a really cool project we did!

The first one I made was for our 6×6 Recipe Swap. I used Angie Blom’s Coolest Chicks Ever digital images, which are also available as physical stamps through Unity Stamp Co.

For the ATC swap, I wanted to create a shaped ATC. This retired MFT Milk Carton Die was the perfect size. I also used Lawn Fawn’s Cerealsly Awesome set & Dies, which was a cerealsly awesome gift from a friend! 🙂 How cute! I couldn’t decide what color to make the bowl, so I did several and let the participants choose.

Several weeks prior, I found the event theme in a sentiment set of scrabble tile letters at Hobby Lobby. They already had an adhesive backing, so I just formed them in the shape of a tree and added brads for the trunk & star. I embossed the background and added a frame and ribbon.

The Mini Slimline Swap was one of the most popular. I made mine a gatefold card using my favorite Christmas plaid paper from Hobby Lobby and SU! Snow Wonder Bundle. My base is 3 x 12, scored @ 3 and 9.

For my shoebox card, I used the retired Spellbinders Sharyn Sowell Winter Friends die set, Simon Says Stamp Pine Landscape embossing folder and die set, and SnSS Christmas Sentiments. The large bunny and sentiment circle are popped up with foam tape.

A new swap that I came up with for this year’s event was a Sketch & Card Front Swap. I used the SU! Penguin Place Bundle and coordinating papers on the card here. Below is my sketch that I started with. Participants swapped both of these together…the card front & it’s coordinating sketch.

The last project that I’m sharing is the favor that we made for everyone who attended the swap. We decided this year to make the tools to use on the MISTI or other stamping platforms, but to also PERSONALIZE them. Someone from our committee (I can’t remember who) named them our NEPA tool. 🙂

We purchased mini candles from the Dollar Tree and used the glass tops, making sure to pick out the ones with a large clear space in the center of the lid. My friend, Lou Ann, and I had several hours LOL trying to get our swap words in a circle with each name inside but when we were finished, it was so worth the effort (Don’t ask me how we did it lol)! They were then printed onto colored copy papers and punched out with a circle punch. Lou Ann’s husband cut wood circles for us to place on the bottom of the glass for stability, and then we covered the base with felt. So, there’s the glass candle lid (with a plastic covering on the bottom of it), then a wood circle which we painted white, and two layers of felt circles. Each attendee was asked their favorite colors without knowing what we were making.

We used several glues and adhesives with trial & error until we figured out the right combination! Lou Ann used her Xyron sticker maker with the punched circles, so they had adhesive on top. Then I carefully adhered them in place inside the lid using tweezers to get them inside. Our committee got together and working quickly, Mod Podge was applied inside the entire lid and chunky glitter was dumped inside. Next, a fine glitter was added to fill in the empty spaces. It’s hard to capture the glitter in the photos below! When dry, E6000 glue was used to adhere the wood circle to the candle lid. Again, they were left to sit as the glue dries. Aleene’s Felt and Foam Tacky Glue worked great to adhere two felt die cut circles to the base. We finished them off by adding some ribbons with Scor-Tape. Whew! It was a lot of work but so fun!

Thanks for reading all the way through! LOL. Have a great day!

Ai freebies

Second post for today…I have quite a few cards from throughout the past year that I haven’t shared, so I am going to try to share them this week! First, I have some cards that I made with some cute Art Impressions Freebies. These are mini stamps that are free with qualifying purchases, but I was also very thoughtfully gifted a few. Here I used the cat, dog, hedgehog, and otter. They are so sweet! My first card with the cat is a pocket card, of which I have a photo tutorial below so be sure to scroll down.

Here’s some photos to help show how I created the cat pocket card.

Have a great Wednesday!

special delivery treats

I made some last-minute Christmas treats for friends using the SU! Trucking Along Bundle. Last year, my friend Michele shared some treats with this design/fold and left a bunch of the cute, dotted bags with me. I wanted to be sure to use the bags this year to make some treats of my own to share. 🙂

I followed the measurements on her treats to cut and score. The base is 3 1/2 x 7, scored @ 1 1/2, 5, and 6. The patterned papers are 3 1/4 x 3 1/4, and 1 1/4 x 3 1/4.

Have a relaxing after-Christmas week!

snow family Christmas

Today I have another card with the new Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Snow Family stamp set. I also used Sparkle Snowflakes Die Set and a sentiment from the Holiday Cheer Stamp & Die Bundle.

I have been wanting to do the Fractured Card technique and finally tried it out. I think there are several ways to make this and a google search will show them. I just “winged it” and placed my image panel on an angle over the plaid background paper. Then I added 1/4″ strips of black cardstock to each side. I think this is the easiest way to achieve this look.

Have a great weekend!

partial stamping and framing diecuts

Hello! Today I am sharing a card with two simple techniques. Here I created an anniversary/love themed card by using only the top portion of the new Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Snow Family stamp and omitting the bottom section that includes a baby snowman. Check out your stamps and see what you can omit to create a totally different card!

Product links: Snow Family, Knit Background, Script Sentiments Stamp & Die Bundle, Decorative Frames Dies.

Also, to create the black matching layer behind the image, I die cut the frame again two more times with black cardstock. One was cut in half vertically and the other horizontally. 

Then the pieces were moved sightly apart to layer underneath and create a black shadow behind the white image/sentiment shape. Note- this also works great with shape punches.

Have a great day!

the beach is calling

Hello! I’m sharing a card today using Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps‘ new Vitamin Sea Stamp & Die Bundle. It is certainly putting me in the mood for summer!

I started this card by tearing a piece of copy paper and using it to mask & brush inks on the card base for my background.

Next, I used a new pencil eraser to stamp some polka-dots along the left edge of a full front layer. Then I cut a window from the center to allow my inked background to show through.

I then added foam tape to the back side so it could be raised up over the card base.

NOTE: To help with perfect placement of layers that are raised up with foam tape, first add your double-sided tape to all four sides of the back of your layer. Next, peel and fold back only a small section of the release paper on each strip. Turn your layer over and place it on the card front as desired, tacking the exposed adhesive areas in place. Then pull the “tabs” on each side to remove the rest of the backing papers.

Who wants a day spent at the beach? 🙂

Have a great day!

birthday guy

I have two cards to share today with a masculine sentiment set, Birthday Guy from Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps. I also used the Make A Wish Bundle.

My first card is a fun tri-fold birthday card that includes a gift card pocket on the inside. When you open the first flap, you see another birthday sentiment. Then it opens further to reveal a spot to write your message and a cute little pocket for a gift card. 

For the card base, start with a 5 1/2 x 12 piece of double-sided patterned paper. Score it @ 1 3/4, 4 3/4, and 7 3/4. Add adhesive to the back of the two center sections and glue them together to create the middle flap. Then you will need to cut or punch three of the same shapes for each fold (I chose squares here).

Here’s how I created the pocket: Start with a piece of patterned paper measuring 3″ x 2 3/4″. Score on 3 sides at 1/4″. Trim away the bottom corners and add double sided tape to the flaps. If desired, punch half of a circle or other shape from the top. Fold the flaps under and adhere the pocket to the card.

My second card is a simpler design. I cut three 1 1/4 x 5 1/4 strips of patterned paper for the background. The sentiment was stamped four times, each in a different color. Then I cut words from three of the colors and layered them onto the blue one. One candle was popped up with foam tape.

Here’s the inside…

Have a great day!

under construction

Hello and happy Mother’s Day! I am sharing a card today with the Keep Truckin’ Bundle from this month’s Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps release. I also used a fun technique to create my dirt background. I fussy cut my images but the dies are on my list.

For the dirt layers, I used the old Faux Leather technique. I crumpled a piece of kraft colored cardstock several times to break up the fibers, then I mostly smoothed it out and peeled it in half to get two textured pieces. I lightly swiped an ink cube over it in spots (not necessary to do though), then tore the second piece and layered it over the first. It’s hard to show the texture in a photograph. You really need to try it!

Here’s the inside of the card…

Have a great week!

bird’s nest treat box

Hello! I have a sweet treat box favor to share today. I saw two versions of this bird’s nest treat box made with the Stampin’ Up! Sweet Songbird Bundle but was unable to find/credit the original designer. I altered mine a bit, but these were inspired by Loni Spendlove’s Sweet Songbird Nest Treat Favors.

I started with a 3 x 1 3/4″ piece of Soft Suede cardstock for the box. This was slightly larger than Loni’s so it would fit the Hershey eggs. Score @ 1/4″ along both long sides and then score the 3″ length @ 1″ and 2″. The nest image is stamped twice for each one on scraps of Soft Suede cardstock with Soft Suede ink. Loni has a video in the link above for assembling the treats. I cut the tines off the bottom of some flat appetizer picks (slightly larger than a toothpick) for my signs. The “board” was stamped with Soft Suede ink onto Crumb Cake cardstock. The words are from the SU! set called A Touch of Ink. Mini glue dots were used to make the signs and attach them to the nests. I used some old dsp to punch the birds but thought they seemed a bit flimsy, so I also punched them from coordinating cardstock and layered them together for strength.

Note: My CVS store still had a few bags of Hershey eggs left from Easter candy…on sale!

Have a great day!

Spanner Panel Card

Good morning! I’m back with another fun fold today. I always enjoy making these!

This card is very similar to one that we made years ago except the two sides on the front are not cut away, but instead are linked together with a sentiment strip. I used an older SU! set for the flowers- Inspiring Iris, Shaded Summer + Friends Are like Seashells (sentiments), Painted Posies embossing folder, and Elegant & Bitty Butterfly punches.

Start with a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 card base, scored at 4 1/4. Then cut in both sides of the card front @ 1 1/4″, down to the scored line (fold). The sentiment strip is 3/4 x 5 1/2, with a white layer of 1/2 x 5 1/2. Be careful where you add the glue so each flap will open. Only add glue to the ends of the sentiment strip! The white embossed middle is 2 3/4 x 4 and the dsp sides are 1 x 4. There are two flaps to open to get to the inside greeting…

Have a great weekend!