Sunset Coast Lighthouse Birthday Card

 

I love lighthouses- how about you? The Sunset Coast bundle by Stampin' Up!® has a unique lighthouse die. It has a peak-through circle area that allows your background to be seen. Layer it up with designer series paper (patterned paper) or create your own background. 

For this card, I used a Basic White cardstock piece to die cut the lighthouse. Then I colored the sand and lighthouse with Stampin' Blends markers (alcohol markers). The little sea gulls are also included in this set. I used Stampin' Blends to add a little color to them as well. 

The background was created by stamping another piece of Basic White cardstock with the water stamps from the Sunset Coast stamp set. 

 

To create the layered blues, I stamped the larger water stamp first with the stamping off technique and Balmy Blue (second generation). You ink up your stamp and stamp off onto a scrap piece and then stamp onto your project. Then, I used the smaller water stamp (could be the sun or moon reflection) and Balmy Blue ink.  The colors for the lighthouse are Cherry Cobbler, light Smoky Slate and Natural Tones medium 500. I used a variety of colors on the sand- Crumb Cake, Natural Tones Medium 500, and Ivory. The birds have a little light Smoky Slate on them and I used the color lifter to help smooth out the edges. 

I love how this card turned out. Below you'll find some more cards I made with this set. 

Card Measurements:

• Base 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"
• Misty Moonlight layer 4" square
• Basic White layer 3 3/4" square (2 of these)
• Scrap white to die cut birds
• Scrap white strip 1/2" x whatever length you need for your greeting
• Basic White layer for inside 5 x 3 3/4"

This die set has several stand alone dies and a few that die cut stamped images from the coordinating stamp. I love the variety of dies. You can make some stunning cards with this set. 

Products used:

• Basic White cardstock
• Misty Moonlight cardstock
• Balmy Blue cardstock
• Sunset Coast bundle 
• Balmy Blue and Misty Moonlight classic inks
• Stampin' Blends Markers (Cherry Cobbler, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Ivory, Natural Tones medium, and color lifter

Watch my tutorial video to see how I added color to my lighthouse die cut.

More inspiration with this set. Love all the possibilities. I'll definitely be playing more with this one. 

For this card, I used the same basic layer as my card in the video. I changed up the colors for the ground and used Old Olive and Smoky Slate. The lighthouse is Cherry Cobbler and light night of Navy. To add fireworks I used a couple of retired sets- light up the sky and in the city. The water and sky are stamped with the water image stamp from Sunset Coast. Greeting is from Simply Said stamp set. 

I love how this one came out. I made this for the 250th birthday of the USA. The fireworks are stamped in Misty Moonlight, Real Red and Smoky Slate classic inks. 

What colors would you use for your lighthouse? How about the ground?

Close-up of the ground. I used Smoky Slate in the negative areas for a rocky look.

The Sunset Coast is part of a suite collection- Scenic Coast. The 6 x 6" paper pack is full of gorgeous scenes with an iridescent foil on one side. I love how it looks behind my Secret Sea die cut lighthouse layers. I used the new hot foil system to add greetings to this card. Love the silver sparkle. Hot Foil dies used- Classic Greetings and Sweetly Sentimental. 

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my cards. Go grab your set and start creating! 

Do have this set or some of the supplies? Shop in my online store. 

Thank you for all your support. When you shop with me, it allows me to buy new products and share more inspiration. I earn a small commission when you shop in my Stampin' Up!® store at no extra cost to you. 

Happy Creating!

~ Beth

Father's Day Pocket Card

 Here in the U.S. Father's day is just around the corner. We celebrate dads and father figures the third sunday of June. Do you like to send out cards telling them how important they are in your life?

Here's a card I made on my Facebook live free class. I love pocket cards and I was inspired by a fellow Stampin' Up!® independent demonstrator- Lucia Visentin. (You can find a link to her video below). She found inspiration in an older catalog from 2005-2006. I love browsing the older catalogs for ideas too. 

Products Used:

• Relaxing Waterside bundle 
• Bordered in Beauty bundle
• Stylish Shapes dies (stitched circle)
• Nature Walk 12x12 Designer Series paper
• Crumb Cake two tone cardstock
• Cloud Cover two tone cardstock
• White Willow cardstock
• Basic White cardstock
• Secret Sea Classic ink
• Pecan Pie Classic ink
• Stampin' Blends: Pecan Pie, Natural Tones Medium 500, Dark Cloud Cover
• Linen Thread
• Secret Sea Stampin' Write marker (retired)
• Detailed Trio Punch (retired, corner rounder)
• Tear & Tape adhesive (I use this on boxes, bags and pocket cards)

This is a great pocket card. You could use this design for many occasions. I used a 12x12" sheet of two tone to cut down for my card base. You'll need to adjust the measurements if you use the regular dyed cardstock as it only comes in 8 1/2x11". I like my flaps to be 1/2" wide. You can adjust this down to 1/4" or to the size you prefer. 

Measurements:

• Base: 9x6" 
• Score 6" side on one end at 1/2" (be gentle if using two tone cardstock)
• Score 9" side on one end at 1/2"
• Flip around and score 9" side from other end at 4 1/4" (see video for demonstration)
• 1/2" score lines create flaps. Some parts are cut away. 
• Measure 1 1/2" down from top of front side and cut out across to score line to create front of pocket. (See video for demonstration). Also cut away the flap on this area so it doesn't show on the top of the pocket. Round top corners of card back.
• Adhere flaps with strong adhesive to create pocket base. 
• Notecard: 4x 5 1/4", round the top corners. 
• white layer 3 3/4" square
• Die cut tab or similar shape from patterned paper or cardstock
• Designer Series paper layer (or stamped cardstock): 4 1/4 x 3 1/2" (This piece is directional. It goes the full width of the card)
• Stamped Cardstock layer: 3 1/4 x 2 1/2"
• die cut any shape, banner or flag to attach to layer. Add twine or ribbon with knot. 
• Die cut piece (Chair) or use a 1 1/4" square for a layer with a smaller die cut. 
• Stitched Circle die cut from Stylish Shapes dies (#5 from largest or a size to fit your greeting)

Pocket Card base: solid line is a cut line. purple dotted lines are score lines. blue rectangle areas are what you cut away after scoring. On blue cut line also cut along center scoreline to remove from card front. This is where the notecard peeks out of the pocket. 

Watch my video to see how I cut the base and layers, created my patterned layer with stamps and assembled this beautiful card. 

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my card. I hope you enjoyed it and are inspired to use this design to create some cute cards. Check out Lucia's video to see her take on this idea.

Want to grab what I used? You can see products I used here and get all the items instantly added to your Stampin' Up!® shopping cart. 

Happy creating!

~ Beth

Watercolor Background Created with Classic Ink Refills

 It's nice to do something out of my comfort zone. I love the look of watercolor. I like to create watercolor backgrounds for my cards. After they dry, I stamp images or scenes on top. Watch my tutorial video and see how I create backgrounds. 

For my cards I'm sharing today, I used watercolor paper, classic ink refills and water painters. You can use regular paint brushes and water if you don't have the water painters. I like them because the tube handle holds water and it makes it easy to add water to my paper or ink. The stamps I used are retired. What stamps do you have in your collection that would work with watercolored backgrounds?

To create the backgrounds I used a piece of fluid 100 watercolor paper by Stampin' Up!® (3 1/2 x 5"). I squeezed a small amount of ink from various classic ink refills onto my glass mat. I added water to the background and then picked up ink off my glass mat with a water painter. I touched the ink to the wet paper and let the ink move around. You can watch this process in the video tutorial below. Once you're finished adding ink to your background, it needs to dry completely before you stamp anything on it. 

The background on this card was created with Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight, Peach Pie, Timid Tiger, Cajun Craze, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake and Mossy Meadow classic inks and a large water painter.  I love a good sunset and the colors I choose reminded me of a sunset we saw at the lake. 

I decided to recreate one of my favorite views at the lake- a small island. I used Crumb Cake and Mossy Meadow to watercolor a small island. After I dried my paper with my heat tool, I stamped the cluster of trees from Campology stamp set (retired) in Old Olive classic ink. I used a stamp positioner and stamped it several times. To fill in the trees a bit I used Mossy Meadow classic ink and a small water painter (brush) to add green in the leaves. I add Crumb Cake classic ink to the tree trunks.

For the water around my island, I used Balmy Blue and Misty Moonlight classic inks and a water painter. I kept the darker Misty Moonlight ink closer to the shore. The layer was adhered to a Secret Sea cardstock base (8 1/2 x 5 1/2" folded in half). You can add a white cardstock layer (3 3/4 x 5") on the inside with your message. I love how this turned out. You can see me make this card in the video below. I decided to leave it as is without a greeting. What occasion would you use this card for?

For my next card, I used less colors and created a stormy sky. I used Balmy Blue and Misty Moonlight classic ink refills and a large water painter brush. I left a little white area between the sky and my water. For the water I added more Misty Moonlight than Balmy Blue. I tried to create some dark areas to give the water movement. 

The lighthouse, boat and birds are from the Sailing Home stamp set (retired). After my background was dry, I stamped the birds in Secret Sea classic ink. The boat is stamped in Basic Gray classic ink and the lighthouse is stamped in Crumb Cake and Pecan Pie classic inks. The lighthouse is watercolored in with Crumb Cake and Pecan Pie classic inks.  Originally I used just browns but it seems too bright for the scene. So I went back after my card was done and added a little Basic Gray and Secret Sea classic inks to the lighthouse. The boat bottom is colored in with a Basic Gray watercolor pencil and the sails are colored with a white watercolor pencil. 

I dried the paper well before stamping the greeting from High Tide stamp set (retired). I used a stamp positioner to stamp the greeting in Secret Sea classic ink. The layer was adhered to a Cloud Cover cardstock base ( 8 1/2 x 5 1/2", folded in half).

I really enjoyed creating these cards live on my Facebook Coffee and a Card video. You can watch the replay below. 

Here's another card I created with sunset colors. I was a bit heavy handed when I added ink for the ground but I love how it turned out.  I like the shapes that are created when you watercolor. For this card I used the Campology stamp set (retired) and created the background just like I did for the card in the video. This background used Balmy Blue, Peach Pie, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake and Mossy Meadow classic inks. You can use the refills or press a clean block into your ink pad to pick up ink. 

I hope you give this a try and create your own watercolor backgrounds.  Just make sure your layer is dry before you stamp your images. If it's wet, the ink may spread. Which may look really neat depending on what you want it to look like. 

You can find fluid 100 watercolor paper, classic ink pads, refills, watercolor pencils, and water painters in my online store. 

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you're inspired to give a watercolor background a try. Please let me know in the comments which card is your favorite. 

Happy Creating!

~ Beth  

Faux Step Card with Cute as a Bug designer series paper

 

Fun folds can seem complicated. Today, I bring you the Faux Step Card. It has big WOW factor but is simple to make. I love breaking down fun folds and making them easier for you to copy. For this one, I used Cute as a Bug designer series paper by Stampin' Up!®. I just love all the little bugs and scenes on the paper. 

Instructions:

1. Cut card base. 4 1/4" x 11". Score at 1 1/2", 3" and 7". Fold smaller flap like an accordion fold. See video for tutorial. I used Mossy Meadow cardstock. Crease the folds well with a bone folder. 
2. Cut layer for card base (fits in the 4 1/2" x 4" space behind the step card base). 3 3/4" x 4". I used Petal Pink light two tone cardstock.
3. Cut Faux Step card base. 2 1/2" x 8 1/2". Score at 5 1/2". I used Cajun Craze cardstock. 
4. Cut faux step card base layer. 2 1/4" x 5 1/4". I used the checkered squares pattern. Adhere to the step cardstock base.
5.  Circle die cut layer. 2 1/2" or 2 3/4". Adjust to the size you need. I used the second largest circle from Spotlight on Nature dies and Basic White cardstock. There are several edge patterns to choose from in this set. 
6. Greeting layer. approximately 1/2" x 2". Adjust to your greeting. I used two different die cuts with Basic White cardstock for my cards. Smallest stitched rounded rectangle from Nested Essentials dies (hello friend from Sweet Bugs) and smallest narrow banner greeting label from Stylish Shapes dies (hello from Simply Said). Both greetings are stamped in Old Olive classic ink. 
7. Layers on die cut circles are cut from Cute as a Bug dsp. Fussy cut the characters you want with scissors and layer them on the white circle. 
8. Adhere Petal Pink layer to Mossy Meadow card base. 
9. Adhere dsp to faux step card base if you haven't already.
10. Adhere faux step card base to the bottom of the accordion fold. Apply a small amount of adhesive along the bottom of the step card base. Line it up with the bottom of the card base. Then apply a small amount of adhesive on the back of the top of the step card base. Fold it over and adhere to back of card. See tutorial video. 
11. Adhere bug scene to white circle die cut if you haven't already. 
12. Stamp greeting onto a layer of your choice.  For the card in the video I used the narrow stitched banner label and a few extra bugs I fussy cut from the dsp. 
13. Adhere circle die cut to card front. It will adhere to the step card layer and the bottom. Do not put adhesive on the areas that hang over or your card will not move and pop out to stand up. 
14. Adhere greeting layer with dimensionals. Be mindful if you put it in an area that hangs over the edge of the step card base. You don't want adhesive on any parts that hang over or the card will not stand up properly. 
15. Cut a Basic White cardstock or White Willow cardstock layer for the inside. 3 3/4" x 4". You can stamp this layer or use dsp to dress it up. I used a strip of the checkered square pattern. Adhere it to the layer and trim off any excess. Then adhere to the inside of your card. 

Have fun with this paper. The little bugs are so cute and there are tons you can cut and use from the paper. You can also get the coordinating Sweet Bugs bundle (stamps and dies) to create your own little bugs. Shop in my online store for this bundle and other greeting sets I used. 

Quick Measurements:

• Main Card Base: 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 1 1/2", 3" & 7"
• DSP/cardstock layer for main base: 3 3/4" x 4"
• Step Card Base: 2 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 5 1/2"
• DSP/cardstock layer for step base: 2 1/4" x 5 1/4"
• Circle layer: 2 1/2" or 2 3/4"
• Greeting layer: 1/2" x 2 3/4" (adjust for your greeting)
• Inside layer: 3 3/4" x 4"

Have fun creating using this faux step card design with any of the beautiful designer series papers by Stampin' Up!®. What's in your stash that would work with this fun fold card? 

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my faux step card. I love this fun fold because it has a ton of WOW factor and is simple to assemble. 

Shop for Stampin' Up!® products in my online store. 

Happy Creating!

~ Beth 

Grateful for you card with layered die cuts

 

Today, I'm sharing a simple card with layered die cuts. Designer Series Paper helps bring in some color for my background. Look through your die sets. Do some contain stand-alone dies that you can use for elements on a card? The flowers for this card were made with the Sweet Bugs dies. I die cut the stems, flower petals, middle (actually one of the berries) and a snail from Basic White cardstock. Then I added color with Stampin' Blends markers [dark Darling Duckling, Daffodil Delight, Mossy Meadow, light Gray Granite, Natural Tones 100 (deep), Natural Tones 300 (medium deep) and Natural Tones 500 (medium)]. You could use two tone or regular cardstock for this step. I used Basic White cardstock die cut with the stitched rounded rectangle from Nested Essentials dies to hold my flowers. 

The flag layers were created from the flag dies from Nested Essentials dies and Country Woods designer series paper by Stampin' Up!®. I used the second smallest with the Misty Moonlight patterned paper. Cut two and make it look longer by layering them behind the rectangle. For the smaller flag, I used the smallest flag die and a wood patterned paper. I also cut two of these. Adhere the flag pieces behind the rectangle. 

Adhere the flowers together with glue dots and then adhere on the white rectangle. Place the tiny snail with your take your pick tool putty end.  Adhere this layer onto a Thick Basic White cardstock base (5 1/2" x 8 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"). 

The greeting is from Amber Autumn stamp set by Stampin' Up!®. It's stamped in Basic Gray classic ink onto a Basic White cardstock die cut label banner from Stylish Shapes dies.  Adhere this to your card with stampin' dimensionals. 

You can leave your card blank for a message inside or use left over flag die cuts or flowers to decorate the inside. 

Here's a close-up of the flowers and the little snail. I love when Stampin' Up!® includes stand-alone dies in our die sets. Stand-alone means it doesn't coordinate with a stamp. These dies help you create unique layers and elements for your cards. Check out your stash and see what stand-alone dies you have. Use them to make some simple layered cards. 

You can add color to white cardstock die cuts with Stampin' Blends markers, Water Painters and Classic ink pads, Watercolor Pencils, Blending Brushes and Classic ink pads, or die cut from colored cardstock or two tone cardstock.  The possibilities are endless. 

I made this card on a Facebook live. Check out the video tutorial on my YouTube Channel. 

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my card. I hope you're inspired to use those extra stand-alone dies included in some of the Stampin' Up!® die sets. 

You can browse dies and bundles (stamps and coordinating dies) in my online store. 

Happy Creating!

~ Beth 

Quick Cards with paper scraps

 Today, I'm sharing a few more cards made with paper scraps. I tend to collect loads of pieces of designer series papers. I grabbed my pack of Beautiful Gallery designer series paper by Stampin' Up!®. I have made a ton of cards with this beautiful paper and I am left with strips of scraps of various measurements (1/2", 1", 2", 3" etc). You can trim them down to any size. I like to make mine 5" and I work with whatever width they are. 

Mix and Match patterns and colors. I did tuck in a designer series paper strip from another pack on my Sending Love card. Nature Walk designer series paper (dsp) has some of the same colors as the Beautiful Gallery dsp so I used a strip that mixed well with my floral pattern. What papers do you have in your collection that you can mix and match?

                                                                                                                                                                           

My first card uses two patterns from Beautiful Gallery dsp and one pattern from Nature Walk dsp. The Secret Sea grid from Nature Walk mixed so well with the textured Cloud Cover pattern. The floral piece has bits of Mossy Meadow, Cloud Cover, Secret Sea and white. I adhered them on a thick Basic White cardstock base.

I cut down the 6" pieces to 5". The widths vary. I cut the floral piece down to 2" and adhered the left over piece on the inside of my card. 

"Sending Love" greeting is stamped on a scrap Basic White cardstock strip in Secret Sea classic ink. This greeting is from Fabulous Sayings stamp set. It's an exclusive stamp set you can opt to buy in January 2026. Every month there is a new Product of the Month and it's while supplies last. When you spend $75 you can buy the exclusive product of the month for $5. Grab it before it's gone. I love the handwriting look and the greetings are bigger size. 

My second card uses three patterns from Beautiful Gallery dsp. I trimmed the pieces to 5" and left the strips whatever width they were. I'm guessing 1" to 2" pieces. I used Mossy Meadow cardstock for my base and light Basic Beige two tone cardstock inside.

I put the floral pattern in the middle to change it up and then stamped my greeting directly onto it. The greeting is from Beautiful Motifs stamp set and stamped in Mossy Meadow classic ink. I used a stamp positioner to stamped the greeting. It allows me to restamp if it doesn't stamp well or needs reinked. 

Stampin' Up!® is releasing a new Stampin' Positioner tool. Demonstrators were able to pre-order this product before it's available to customers. February 3 to March 2, 2026, anyone getting the starter kit will get this new product free as a bonus. It's an amazing deal. You get $125 in products for $99 plus tax. You pick the products! Join here and get the Stampin' Positioner free. The tool will be available to customers at a later date (TBD).

You can watch my Facebook live replay over on my YouTube Channel Stamp and Create with Beth. If you haven't subscribed, please do. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're inspired to get out some of those beautiful papers sitting on your shelf or tucked away in a drawer and use up the scraps. Make cards to send out and cheer up someone who needs it or simply say You've been on my mind. We all love a little happy mail. 

You can browse Stampin' Up! products in my online store. Enjoy!

Happy Creating!

~ Beth

Create card elements made from die cut paper scraps

Do you have designer series paper left over from card making sessions and you don't know what to do with it? Well- I can help! Today, I'm sharing some ideas on how to use up those patterned paper and cardstock scraps. I find myself swimming in scraps of beautiful papers and favorite color cardstocks. You can't throw it away- right?! 

When my scrap pile starts to overflow, I use small dies in various shapes and spend some time just die cutting my larger pieces of scraps. Some of my favorite dies to use are the smallest stitched circle and smallest banner from Stylish Shapes dies by Stampin' Up!® and the smallest stitched flag from Nested Essentials dies by Stampin' Up!®. I use these die sets quite a bit. You can use the next size up for your shapes as well depending on the size of your scraps. I keep my die cuts sorted by shape if I have a bunch of different patterned papers and I also keep cardstock die cuts sorted by color. Then when the ideas pop into my head, I can go grab my pieces and jump in. Let's jump in and see what I have created. 

Here are the first two cards I created. My sweet little robot valentine card uses the smallest stitched circle from the Stylish Shapes dies. I die cut them from Secret Sea two tone cardstock (light and dark) and a red polka dot patterned paper (retired from an older Christmas designer series paper pack- sorry the name escapes me). My robots are stamped in Secret Sea classic ink and colored with Stampin' Blends markers in Cloud Cover and Cherry Cobbler. The circles are adhered on the back of my stamped Basic White layer. You can line them up straight or make them overlap and vary.  The robots are from Nuts & Bolts (retired) and I love them so. 

My second card I made on my Snow Day Facebook live. I used the new stamp set- Sweet Bugs. Aren't they adorable?! For the die cut element, I used Secret Sea two tone cardstock (light and dark) and a patterned paper from Timeless Plaid. This could be a valentine's day card or a just because, pick me up card. The papers were cut with the smallest stitched flag die from Nested Essentials dies. I stamped the images in Secret Sea classic ink and colored with Stampin' Blends markers in Cloud Cover, Moody Mauve (retired but matched the patterned paper best), Mossy Meadow and light Secret Sea. I love using non-traditional color combos for valentines. I have all boys and I like to make cards that fit the recipients and what they like instead of the commercialized red, pink and white.  What are your favorite colors to use for valentines- do you stick to traditional colors or use non-traditional colors?

Circle die cut element from smallest stitched circle die from Stylish Shapes dies

Flag banner die cut element from smallest stitched flag die from Nested Essentials dies

I decided to create another Sweet Bugs card with the stitched flag die. Instead of a straight line, I did the flags layered wonky. What do you think? I also switched out the pattern for a plaid from Timeless Plaid designer series paper. 

There are so many possibilities with scraps and dies. I tend to do circle and flag/banner elements. Check out some more cards below. Products used are listed under each card.

Take to the Sky designer series paper (Smoky Slate plaid, retired), thick Basic White cardstock, Secret Sea two tone cardstock, Adventurous Sky stamp set (retired), Secret Sea and Smoky Slate classic inks, Cloud Cover Stampin' Blends markers, Stylish Shapes dies 

thick Basic White cardstock, Secret Sea two tone cardstock, Red Polka dot designer series paper (retired Sweetest Christmas paper pack), Sweet Bugs stamp set, Reason to Celebrate stamp set, Stampin' Blends markers in Cloud Cover, Cherry Cobbler, light Gray Granite and light Secret Sea, Secret Sea and Cherry Cobbler classic inks

Secret Sea and Basic White cardstocks, Secret Sea and Cloud Cover two tone cardstocks, Outdoor Adventure stamp set, Secret Sea and Cloud Cover classic inks, Stylish Shapes dies, sponge dauber to create two tone ink effect

Beautiful Gallery designer series paper, Prayers & Promises stamp set, Secret Sea two tone cardstock, Basic Beige cardstock, Stylish Shapes dies, Secret Sea classic ink 

I love using different dies to create elements for my cards. This is a great way to use up scraps of patterned paper. What are your favorite dies to use? 

You can watch the replay of the Sweet Bugs card from my Coffee and a Card Facebook live. 

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my cards. I hope I've inspired you to cut up those scraps and make cute elements for your cards. 

You can find the current products I've used in my online store. Happy Creating!

~ Beth