It's time for another Monday Montage Blog Hop! 

I wanted to come up with a masculine card and saw a fun design shared by Sara Douglas using the new Inked and Tiled punch pack. This is an easy, but fun, design that can be done with any Designer Series Paper. I used the fun Gone Fishing Designer Series Paper for my version and paired it with some Boho Blue card stock. 

Here's another look at the card. I popped up the Designer Series Paper pieces to add more dimension.

Be sure to hop all the way through to check out all the great projects shared. I love seeing what everyone makes! ​ You can click next to see Julie's and back to see Elizabeth's. 

Have you checked out the Stampin' Up!s kit collection?  I find that a lot of people have totally missed them since it's a new concept to have some products online only and not in a catalog. 

They are awesome! A new one is added almost every month and we have nearly 30 available now.  Each kit is all inclusive. This means everything, and I mean everything, is included! In some kits this means a stamp set, ink and block and in others it means pre-printed sentiments so all you do is assemble. 

The best part is they are on sale all month in August.  Plus, I am donating 20% of all my kit sales this month to the Glen-Ed Pantry.  The pantry has seen a large increase in need recently and this seemed like a good way for me to give back through something I love.  I want to get even more people to try paper crafting especially those who think they aren't creative.  Everyone can be successful with kits! 

I thought I'd share some alternative ideas for how to use some of the stamp sets after you complete the kits.  I'm sharing the Forever Friends and the Love This Memory kits today. 

For this first card I used Berry Burst ink and card stock to create a pretty background.  I decided to use one of the Stitched With Whimsy dies to add some texture. A quick punched piece along with a sentiment and the card is nearly complete.  This is a very simple card that I think looks much fancier than it is! 

This is another one with the same stamps from the Forever Friends kit. I paired Berry Burst, Shaded Spruce and Crushed Curry.  A design from the Delightfully Eclectic was the perfect pairing. 

The stamps that come in the Love This Memory are so adorable! I LOVE this cute little face stamp. Lemon Lolly is a bright and cheerful yellow and the perfect pairing for this stamp. 

I wanted to show off all the cute mini stamps in this set on this card. Arrows, flowers and hearts...oh my! 

Which is your favorite?  Have you tried a kit yet?  Go shop while they are on sale! Be sure to use Host Code ​ESVP2UWG.

It's another Monday and time for another Monday Montage Blog Hop.

Someone please tell me where the summer has gone?  My kids go back to school in two weeks! ​It has gone by so fast and I don't feel like we've done enough.  We've been busy for sure but I have so many things still on the summer bucket list that I thought we'd do.

For this week's Hop I decided to play around with the Bright & Beautiful suite, especially the Memories and More cards.  I'm offering a class with the printed cards and the cards and envelopes where each person will get to make 20 cards in one class. I love doing these classes because, not only do they get to make a LOT of cards, but everyone can be creative and make them how they want. 

For most of the cards I'm showing today though I used more than just the Memories and More packs. I added card stock, embellishments, ribbon and the stamps, dies and paper from the Bright & Beautiful suite. 

I love rainbows and thought this made a bright and cheery card to celebrate all types of occasions.  

This one combines the Memories and More pack with the dies in the suite. I cut out the balloons and used the negative space to create the focal point. Cutting up one of the cards to get the words "hip, hip hooray" gave me a saying to use. 

I used the die cut from the previous card on this one. I added the stitched lines with a Basic Black Stampin' Write marker. I also pulled in some of the Bright & Beautiful Designer Series Paper that coordinates with the Memories and More products. I thought this made a fun and festive celebration card. 

Each of these use only the Memories & More suite as well as few embellishments.  These are the types of cards that can be made in my upcoming class. Interested?  Click here for more details! 

Be sure to hop all the way through to see all the great projects. Up next is Wendy and you can click back for Elizabeth. I love seeing their projects!

The month is flying by and school is going to start before I'm ready! I can't believe it's already time for another Monday Montage Blog Hop.  This time I'm sharing with you my July Paper Pumpkin alternatives from the Fun in The Sun kit. It came really quickly this month. 

The cards in the kit are meant to be cool fun fold designs.  I did a lot of cutting apart to create pieces I could use on my alternatives. I liked the score marks on the pieces because I felt like it added dimension to the look of the card.

​I think this is my favorite one! I used Crumb Cake for my ink and paper choice. 

Trimming the panel to the full length of the front of the card on this one allowed it to be a great background for the beach chair. 

Layering the umbrella piece over the panel made this a super easy card to create. Birthday, Thinking of You, Just Because...so many reasons to send it. 

I think this would make a great retirement card. 

This one is a fun fold of my own making.  I used a piece of the original card and folded it into the card base.  The front folds down and then you open the card up! 

Which is your favorite?  If you aren't getting your own Paper Pumpkin delivered to your door you can sign up here.  The August kit looks wonderful and includes a bonus FREE stamp set so you get two next month! 

Be sure to hop all the way through so you don't miss any of the fun projects.  Click next to see Wendy's great project or back to see Elizabeth's. They always amaze me with their creativity. 

July is here! Summer is in full swing and we are making the most of it. We had a quick family trip to Wisconsin a week ago and now are busy with camps and work. 

This card was a fun one. Fussy cutting is not for everyone but I don't mind it. I saw another card somewhere (I wish I knew where/who created it but I can't remember or find it again) that used the Countryside Dies to create a geometric background. It was such a fun thing to try.  These little critters playing music are super cute. 

My class last week was a "Best of Bundles" class where I featured four different bundles. One of the bundles was the Zany Zoo and this is the card we made in class.  The background was created with a stamp from the Timeless Charm that will be available for purchase on the 6th. 

I love using circles and this card featured a few.  I used one of the circle punches available as an online exclusive and the Stylish Shapes dies. The sweet bear reading is so cute. 

I love Monday Montage days because of the great projects I get to see! Be sure to hop all the way through.  Click next to see what Wendy has to share and back to see Elizabeth's project. 

I love teaching classes and have fun creating cards to share with others. Each of these cards are ones we created in my recent Game Night class.  They are all easy to recreate designs that use many of the beautiful Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers (DSP) (which happen to be on sale through the end of the week!)

This first card design is great for showing off multiple designs in a paper pack.  Each square is 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches.  I used the Countryside Inn paper for this one. Pick your favorite DSP and you can create cards in minutes with this layout. 

For the second card is used the Fresh As a Daisy paper. I love the bold colors on these designs. Paired with Pretty Peacock the card is gorgeous and so easy to make.  The paper piece measures 4 1/4 x 4 inches. I added a 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch piece of the Copper Clay Luster Specialty Paper. 

On both of these first two cards I used dies from the Nested Essentials for the sentiments. 

This next card is a fun fold that I create often. My favorite part is that the 2 3/4 inch piece you cut off the front of the card is the piece you use as your focal point! You can then simply add two 2 1/2 x 4 inch pieces of DSP to finish the card.  

I created both of these to use as a "this or that" poll on my social media accounts.  Both use the Delightfully Eclectic DSP pack.  Don't miss out on the Wanted To Say dies as well.  You can create these cards with no stamping required. 

This final a card I love because it's a fun way it uses your 6x6 papers.  You can create 3 cards from one piece by cutting it into four 3 x 3 squares and then cutting one of these into three 3 x 1 inch pieces.  Layer those on a coordinating piece of card stock measuring 4 3/8 x 3 1/4 inches. 

Which layout will you try first?  Be sure to order your papers while they are on sale.  Use host code UGNJK76D to shop by end of day Friday to receive a nine card tutorial I created with friends! 

It's time again for another Monday Montage.  The weeks seem to fly by!

This week I played around with a fun color combo that I wanted to share. It came about by accident when I was prepping for my class.  The four colors were the bases for the cards we were going to make but when I had them all together to cut I realized I liked them all together as a combo. 

I first pulled out the new Just My Type stamp set to use in my creating.  This set has quickly become a favorite of mine. This card uses the rainbow stamp to create a background and the sweet sentiment pairs nicely with it. 

The four colors I used were Crumb Cake, Bubble Bath, Pretty Peacock and Calypso Coral.  

The cute typewriter is my favorite part of this stamp set.  Yes, this card did require some fussy cutting but it was worth it! Simple but fun. 

Besides birthday cards, thank you cards are what I use most.  I tend to make a lot of them! 

It's rare for me to make a card with no white on it at all but I did it with this one.  Do you tend to use white or not?

This card is one I created on my Facebook Live this past week.  It was done by first stamping the images and then embossing the panel.  It creates such a fun look. I was still playing with the same color combo and the Lighting the Way stamp set was a perfect one to use for this design. 

Before I cleaned everything up I decided I wanted to try another version on this card but have the images the side instead of the bottom.  I did not emboss this one either.  

I ended up sharing these on social media to ask which everyone preferred.  Which do you pick?

Be sure to hop along and see all the great projects everyone is sharing this week.  I'm always amazed at the creativity.  Up next is Julie and you can click back to see Elizabeth! 

This past week I shared projects on my social media accounts that I created with the brand new Stampin' Up! Darling Details bundle. There are so many things to love about this bundle! 

I have a million flower sets, and keep thinking I don't need more, but this one is different. I love that it's more cartoonish than realistic.  It's a different look than most of the sets I have. 

These two projects were my "this or that" that I feature every Thursday on my Facebook and Instagram accounts.  It's always fun to see what people pick.  Some weeks its a total blow out and others it stays tied! 

There are so many cool dies with this bundle.  There are two cut out pieces that look like lace. They make awesome frames. I paired this one with the Glorious Gingham paper and some of the smaller detailed dies. One large flower finishes things off. 

To me this smaller frame looks like a window frame.  The Masterfully Made paper has some beautiful patterns on i and was a perfect partner for this card. 

These cards were created with the fun "cross pattern" or "t shape" one sheet wonder technique that I love to do.  Here is a fun BTS video I made of how to do this technique. Have you tried this technique before?  It's quite addictive and so fun to do! Use any set that has some large focal point stamps as well as smaller detail stamps for filling in space. 

Which is your favorite project?

It's June! Summer is here and these Paper Pumpkin cards are perfect for the masculine card occasions I have coming up. These make great Father's Day, graduation and birthday cards. 

As always I cut up the bases to create extra cards.  For these first ones I actually cut the full card into four equal pieces of 5 1/2 x 2 1/4. Add a piece of coordinating cardstock behind and mount on Basic White Thick card stock and it's a vibrant but easy card! 

I was inspired by one of the samples that Paper Pumpkin offered in the directions this month. I used the new Nested Essential Dies to create this focal point. This technique is easy to do with two coordinating shapes.  Use the smaller one to cut a focal piece from your base and then layer it on a die one size larger. 

These were created by cutting a card base into two pieces sized 4 x 5 1/4 inches. 

Did you catch the add on card bases and envelopes?  Talk about easy card making! The designs are stunning and all you need is your sentiment. I've linked to them below. Only $10 for 18 card bases and envelopes! Talk about a good deal. 

Interested in Paper Pumpkin?  Be sure to sign up by June 10th to get the next kit.  It looks fun! 

Be sure to hop along for the full Monday Montage Blog Hop. Click next to head to Julie or back to see Elizabeth. I love blog hop day because of all the awesome projects I get to check out.  

There is so much to love about the Stampin' Up! Fresh As a Daisy suite. Between the amazing Designer Series Paper pack, the beautiful stamps as well as matching and coordinating dies there are endless possibilities for creating unique cards.

You'll notice that for a lot of these cards I really let the paper do most of the work.  One of the paper pieces that I love the most is a college of various small prints that you can cut out and use individually.  Pair those with the large daisy die and you can make an incredible focal point for a card in minutes.  

Here is another one of the panels that can create a card nearly on its own. Paired with Boho Blue and the new Inked and Tiled punch it is finished in minutes. 

These papers all feature the new 23-25 In Colors.  It doesn't get much easier in card making than layering pretty paper on card stock and calling it a day! 

This last card I created for my recent technique class.  The technique I was featuring was creating a "ribbon" from card stock.  Here is a reel I created to show you how I made the card. 

I use my Blends for most of my coloring but sometimes the Stampin' Write Markers are the perfect tool.  Have you seen the new design for our markers?  The biggest change is to the small tip. It's bigger (while still being a fine tip) and hopefully will not dry out like the old version. 

Which is your favorite?  Have you gotten this suite yet?