Toadstool Gardens birthday card

 At my last event I got to spend time with friends old and new. One of the lovely ladies was Karen. She was my very first team mate and has been a demo for nearly as long as I have! As we chatted and crafted Karen  shared some of her latest makes. Karen makes Christmas cards all year long so was sharing some of her gorgeous designs. One that particularly caught my attention was what she called a 5-3-1 card. She explained that the principle was to have 5 of one thing, 3 of another and finally 1 other item. So today I'm sharing my take on a 5-3-1 card using the super fun Toadstool Gardens pattern papers. 

These papers are only available to the end of February 2025 and are free, yes Free, with a qualifying purchase!  How cool is that! The beautiful colour palette of pinks, greens, lilac and orange just make me happy. The cute images just make me smile 😃 

For my 5 element on today's inspiration I chose to use 5 scrap strips of the pretty paper. Because the papers are part of a pack that have a common colour palette and design they all work beautifully together. I adhered them to a basic white panel and then adhered the panel to a white card base using 3d foam. 

For the 3 element I went with fussy cutting 3 of the cute toadstools out of another scrap of the pattern paper. I used 3d foam to adhere these to the card front. Then cut another 3 out as well to decorate the inside of the card because I just couldn't resist them 🍄😃

The final 1 element on the card is the sentiment. I chose to go with a die cut sentiment and shadow from the Wanted to Say dies.

I really enjoyed using the 5-3-1 formula for today's inspiration.  My mind is now thinking about mixing it up . Maybe 1 piece of pattern paper,  5 gems and 3 stamped sentiment / images... and off I go to make more cards 🤣 Will you give this 5-3-1 formula a go? How would you do it? 

Black on Black Birthday Celebration card

 Why is it that celebrating my son's birthday makes me feel older than celebrating my own does??? My son is my youngest child and he just turned 25 😜 oh my day's where has the time gone? And next year will be worse my eldest daughter turns 40 😱... I must be getting old !!! 🤣. Anyway back to the card making, which by the way keeps me young 😉. Today's inspiration is the card I created for my son. He likes very graphic, architectural design and his colour palette is shades of grey, black with pops of reds and purple. With all that in mind and the fantastic Birthday Celebration stamps and dies to hand here is what I created.

I used basic black cardstock for the card base which is a piece of A4 cardstock folded in half to create an A5 card base. Then I used a piece of the Two-tone basic black cardstock and the number dies from the Birthday Celebration bundle and cut the numbers out, make sure to save the inner parts of the numbers. 

 The Two-tone cardstock has a darker side and a lighter side with a white core and comes in a range of colours.

Next adhere another mat of the Two-tone cardstock but with the lighter side uppermost to the card base. 

To add more texture to the card I used a 3d embossing folder from the sadly retired Basics 3d embossing folder pack.

I adhered the die cut panel onto the card base using  black 3d foam. I also added a piece of silver foil behind the number 25 to highlight it.

The sentiment was stamped in versamark and heat embossed with silver powder then die cut out using the largest banner die from the set.

Waste not want not is a great motto to help continue the decoration to the inside of the card don't you agree 😀

Well I'm pleased to say that my son liked his card and had a lovely birthday.  Would you try a black on black card?

Cute as can Bee scrapbooking

 Wow what a day I had yesterday!  Yesterday was the first scrapbook and memory keeping event I've ever held.... and it was amazing! The 10 lovely ladies who took part shared their creativity and their laughter at this fun event 😀.  The session was an introduction to scrapbooking and memory keeping . I designed a double page scrapbook layout, a very simple mini album and photo frame. All were designed using the oh so cute and pretty Cute as can Bee pattern papers and sticker sheet.

The colours in these papers and stickers are just delightful. 

For the event my focus was on clean and simple. The layout was designed to inspire but not overwhelmed the new scrappers. I wanted to show that you don't need lots of stash to create beautiful pages.

All the talented crafters who came knocked it out of the park! They added their own flair to their pages  and enjoyed playing with the layout which was amazing 👏 🤩 

As I watched them develop their layouts I was so inspired I just had to create my own stepped up version!

The simple additions of mats and extra embellishments whilst keeping to the feel of the original inspiration made for 2 new pages that still delight me. The mats and embellishments give the layouts more dimension.

Flagging the ends of the strips and adding some simple stamped bee trails give the layout extra movement. The placement of the photo mats also help give more movement to the pages.

All in all I'm loving these stepped up pages especially as they were inspired by the wonderful ladies who I had the pleasure of spending time with. Thank you all Heather, Karen, Lynn, Andrea, Ellen, Maria, Carole, Jackie,  Kay and Jane. You ladies rock 🤩 Can't wait for our next scrap-together 😀

Darling Dinos

 When I got my first glimpse of the January to April mini catalogue the stamp set that caught my heart straight away was the Darling Dinos.  Why have I waited to share a sample with it till now? Who knows! But today I'm making amends! 

The stamps are so cute and fun full of character and charm.

The stamps come with coordinating dies which include fun elements to enhance the stamps as well as cut out the images.

Darling dinos really are versatile but today's inspiration has a new baby vibe to it. The beautiful shades of yellow are not only non gendered but also cheerful and bring spring to mind 💛. 

The sentiment and hexagon shapes are from the Meant to Bee bundle another very cute stamp and die bundle. The sentiment words are cute as can bee but for today's card all you need to do to change it is to mask off the second "e" before inking the stamp up.

Use your scraps to give a simple splash of something to the inside of the card.

When I was tidying after making the card I really liked the shape that die cutting the dino out left and decided to use it to create this coordinating tag.

Don't you agree they look together? 

Terrific Toadstools

 What a day! It's wet, windy and wild here! So of course I had to make a bright and colourful card for today's inspiration 😅 . Stamping is my happy place and I love to create whatever the weather. But there is just something magical about listening to the wind and rain whilst snug indoors making some sunshine of your own isn't there?

To help bring the sunshine inside I chose to play with the fantastic Terrific Toadstools bundle of stamps and coordinating builder Punch. These stamps are perfectly matched with the amazing free with qualifying order pattern paper stack called Toadstool gardens. If you like the papers be quick because they'll be gone once sale-a-bration is over if not before!

Aren't they just gorgeous with their bright  pink, orange, green and lilac colour palette? So why not let the paper do the talking and make a simple fun fold that shows it off so well!

The card base is made using a piece of cardstock measuring 14.85cm x 18cm scored at 10.5cm.  ( 5½" x 7" scored at 4¼")

Then mat and layer to your hearts content 

Don't forget to decorate the white panel on the inside. This is where you will write your personal message. 

The focal point on the front is made by stamping and punching and fussy cutting the Toadstools.  Use the large toadstool topper on the punch to create the green hill onto which the toadstools are adhered. 

A simple fun fold that makes for a great smile inducing card with these bright colours and zany images. 

Ocean friends and friendly Seagulls thank you card

 How you all doing? It's cold,grey and damp in my small corner of the world 🫤 So to cheer myself up I've made a bright and zingy card using the fun Ocean Friends bundle of stamps and coordinating dies. As well as the amazing Friends of the Ocean pattern papers. These papers are really eye catching in a wonderfully bright and bold colour palette combined with a fun take on the ocean theme. Perfect if you're looking for something a little different or quirky. 

The ocean theme of the stamps and papers are a perfect match for the Friendly Seagulls

 Stamps that are part of the sale-a-bration 2025 exclusive free offering! You could recieve the stamps free if you purchased the Ocean Friends bundle and the Friends of the ocean pattern paper pack 😉

With all these fun products on my table knew I would have  great fun making a card with them. 

If you want to show off pattern papers then a simple z fold card is a great fun fold to do your papers justice.

 The card base is created with a piece of cardstock measuring 14.85cm x 21cm scored at 5.25cm and 10.5cm.  ( 8½" x 5½" scored at 2⅛" and 4¼"). Fold along the scorelines as a mountain fold then a valley fold, ie folding back upon it's self. 

Next cut a strip of cardstock measuring 5cm x 21cm and score at 5.25cm and 10.5cm. ( 2" x 8½" score at 2⅛" and 4¼")

Now decorate the panels of the card base with pattern paper. The adhere paper to the largest panel of the narrow strip and the small panel next to it. Then turn the stip over and add another piece of pattern paper to the final panel. 

Turn over again and adhere the end of the strip with the largest panel onto the front of the card base. Fold the strip along the scorelines both as mountain folds. 

With the larger panel adhered open the card and fold the 2 short panels behind it. Now apply adhesive to the last small panel and close the card base. This will ensure that the strip is now perfectly aligned.

With the card base complete decorate to your hearts delight. 

When closed the card will fit in a standard C6 (A2) envelope. Make sure that your decorations aren't over hanging when the card is closed.

When open the card stands really well and is sure to be a hit with the recipient 😀.

The picture above shows how the fold works.

If you decide that you need somewhere to write your personal message may I suggest that you add a piece of white cardstock to the large background panel of the card. This gives you even more space to decorate 😜.

Well I hope that you like this bright and zany card and will consider having a go at making one yourself.  

Friendly Seagulls pop out card

 Looking for a fun easy card ? Want to share something a little different?  Well I have just the card for you! Made using the sale-a-bration exclusive free stamp set Friendly Seagulls this easy pop out card is both fun to make and fun to receive 😀 

The Friendly Seagulls stamps are only available during the months of January and February.  They are free with a qualifying purchase and so worth getting 🤩 Fun and quirky they will add a little something different to your stash for sure.

The embossing folder used to decorate the front of the card is called Soft waves. This 3D embossing folder is just gorgeous 😍. 

The little boat is from a stamp set called Choose Happy.  A great photopolymer stamps set full of sentiments and cute images.

The card base is made using 2 pieces of cardstock measuring 14.85cm x 12cm both scored at 10.5cm. ( See the video at the bottom of this post for the how too)

The pattern paper used for the background on the inside front of the card is from a pack  called Everyday Skies.

The wood effect pattern paper is from a pack called Country Woods.

The seagulls and chip boxes are coloured using Blends which are alcohol markers. For the seagulls I used light and dark smoky slate and pumpkin pie. For the chips I used dark lemon lolly and for the boxes light and dark real red.

This easy pop out card  technique would work so well with other themes such as flowers, other cute critters, lego block... the list is only limited by your imagination! 

If you'd like to see how to make the fun card watch my video below