I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to patterned paper. It's so pretty that I want it all! Patterned paper also makes it easy to create cards quickly. 

The next set of cards feature patterned paper from three different sets of DSP. On some of the cards, I even mixed paper from different sets.

The ribbon on the front is the Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon from the January-June Mini Catalog. However, I wanted Petal Pink ribbon. Luckily, the Stampin' Blends color this ribbon beautifully. I held it to the brush tip of the dark Petal Pink Stampin' Blend and pulled the ribbon across the marker. In just a few moments it was dry and ready to tie around my card front. I then attached the whole thing to a Purple Posy card base.

I stamped a greeting from the Friend Like You stamp set in Melon Mambo ink on a circle of Whisper White cardstock cut with the Layering Circles dies. I added this to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals. Finally, I attached the card front to a Melon Mambo card base.

​I absolutely love using patterned papers and letting it shine as the star of the show on my cards. I hope that I've inspired you to pull out some of your own patterned paper and use it!

You can copy the ideas exactly, or put your own spin on it. I find that the more I CASE other stampers' cards, the more I start to formulate my own ideas. If you're new to stamping, it's a great way to get started. When I find myself with a little Stamper's Block, I CASE some cards and quickly find myself stamping away again. 
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I recently received the beautiful Friend Like You stamp set from a fellow stamper. I was so excited when it arrived in the mail, but I was knee deep in some other projects at the time and had to set it at the back of the stamp table. But today I pulled it out and made three awesome cards that go from simple to Wow!

All stamps and supplies used for these cards are available from Stampin' Up! If you are not already working with a demonstrator, I would love to help you purchase these supplies for your own craft room. Just send me a note.

First, I stamped the clump of leaves and stems using Old Olive ink. I stamped once and then stamped a second time further up and to the right to create a more faded image. Then I re-inked the stamp and stamped a third time, again, further to the right, but this time at a height between the first two. ​

To ink the flowers, I very carefully used the corner of my ink pad to ink the flowers in the desired color. This seems tricky, but with this set, it was pretty easy and I didn't experience trouble with ink on the wrong flowers. However, I don't think you could use this technique to get the flowers that are the same color in the samples in two different colors. They are just too close together.

I carefully lined up the images over the leaves I had already stamped. Since these are clear photopolymer stamps, it's easy to see through them to get perfect - or nearly perfect - placement. This stamp set is very forgiving, and if the flowers and the stems don't line up exactly, you won't really notice. Like the leaves, I stamped the flowers a second time to get the more pastel version you see in the back. Then I re-inked and stamped a third time.

Finally, I added the greeting in Rich Razzleberry and tied on a little ribbon. The polka dot tulle adds a great touch and is very easy to tie. I absolutely love it and find it works on so many projects. 

The DSP and the greeting strip are trimmed to match the edge of this embossed cardstock on the left. As you can see, on the right, they are staggered in length. 

On the piece of vellum, I very carefully scored a line 1/4 inch from each side. Then I flattened the vellum back out because it tended to curl up. This left a very subtle line framing the outside of the layer. 

Whether you're short on time or supplies or you want to go all out and make a Wow! card, the Friend Like You stamp set is a perfect vehicle for you creative juices!

Have questions?
Comment below or contact me at stampin_heidi@yahoo.com. 

Already have Paper Pumpkin? I would love to see your creations. Share a photo in the comments section. 

The craziness of Mondays can zap your inspiration and make creating cards difficult. For today's quick and easy cards, I headed to my scrap bin for help.

If you're like me, you have a bin that looks something like this. Whenever I make a card and have extra bits that don't quite work, stamped images or die-cut shapes, I throw them in my scrap bin thinking they will be useful someday. Well, someday is today!

I started by dumping my bin out on the table so I could dig through all the goodies a little easier. As I looked through things, I started grouping items that I thought would work well together. I tried different shapes and colors together. Put images with shapes. Combined images. The beauty of the scrap bin was that I started putting things together that I wouldn't have normally thought would work. Working with all the bits and pieces sparked so many ideas!

I made a dozen cards in a few hours. Some were more successful than others, but it was a great way to use some scraps and put together some quick cards on a Monday!