A card that looks polished and impressive… but secretly comes together without too much fuss.
I created this card for a recent Demonstrator-Only card swap featuring products from the May-August Catalogue (which goes live to customers on Tuesday May 5!).
If you’ve ever wanted to create something that feels finished, but still works on a lower-energy crafting day, this design is one to keep in your back pocket.
Today’s project uses Golden Glow, Crisp Cantaloupe, and the 2026–2028 In Color Painted Patterns DSP to create a coordinated layered birthday card. There’s a fully linked supply list on the YamStamps Sunday Swaps Page, but please note that the links to the items in the May-August catalogue won’t work until May 5th! Also – while it goes against everything I learned in grade school, I use “Color” because that’s how the product is labelled….
The background is created using a single sheet of Designer Series Paper! The small dot pattern is one side of the sheet, and the large dots are on the other. One 4″ x 12″ strip will create one cardfront so it’s easy to create a few of these cards at the same time.
Let the Thrifty Sentiment Be in the Spotlight
The Words & Wishes Dies really shine in this design, particularly because they are popped up on a Foam Sheet. Thrify crafting for the win – and super coordinated flow. After I die cut the background from the large dot DSP, I stuck the cut outs onto a foam sheet and then die cut the sentiment from that. When you adhere the sentiment into the negative spaces, you’ll see how the pattern flows across the words and creates cohesion! The trickiest part of this project was making sure I didn’t lose the dot to the “i”…
HINT: In my experience, the large random dot pattern is a bit more forgiving than a smaller, more solid pattern, and circles are always more forgiving than hard edges like rectangles or stripes.
Add Just Enough Sparkle
Rhinestones are one of my most favourite all around accessory to add to a project. They catch the light, draw the eye in and give that finishing touch.
Application Hints:
Space them out
Create a loose visual triangle
My preference: odd numbers
One Design, Endless Variations
You may know this about me – but I don’t want to use up all my brain cells for crafting (typically I craft at the end of a work day so I don’t have many left over!!). With this one design, you can create so many looks – swap out the paper you use, swap out the colours for a whole new take. The Words & Wishes Dies have a number of coordinating sentiments and backdrops so you can swap out the sentiments as well!! That’s why I love card designs like this – paper crafting doesn’t have to be difficult to be impressive.
Your Turn
If you’ve been wanting a go-to birthday card that you can recreate without overthinking every step—this is a beautiful one to try.
Pull out your supplies, pick your colour, and give it a go.
And when you do:
Are you leaning Golden Glow or Crisp Cantaloupe?
Did you keep the background soft or go a little bolder?
Comment below, save this layout for later, or share your version—I’d love to see what you create.
First of all, it’s the sense of loss and grief that’s felt – you, as well as the person who has suffered the loss. I often feel more anxious and pressured to “get it just right” – wanting to make a sympathy card that is beautiful, thoughtful and appropriate, which is particularly difficult at a time when I’m not feeling very creative or crafty.
It’s often said that cards are a hug with a fold in the middle, and I think that sympathy cards are definitely an example of this. Those who receive handmade cards feel cared for and seen. Your time, your creativity, your words—especially when shared during difficult times—can carry deep comfort and meaning. If I can, I often like to include a favourite memory of the loved one – because that was one of the things that would bring a smile to my face in the past when I’ve received sympathy cards.
I’ve found it helpful to create sympathy cards to have in my stash – because I often don’t feel like making a sympathy card when I actually need one to send. This sympathy card was the second design that I created for the recent Stampin’ Up! Canada September-December 2025 Mini Catalogue card swap. For a linked supply list for this card, please see the YamStamps.com Sunday Swaps Page – where I share linked supply lists for swap cards that I receive (and make)!
Sympathy Card Making Tips
I love monochromatic colour schemes, and I think they are particularly good for sympathy cards – very calming and peaceful, especially if you choose more muted tones. To keep one colour cards from being too boring, texture from Embossing Folders or simple die cuts add interest without being too distracting. Nature themes, not necessarily florals – leaves/greenery, nature scenes (lakes/trees), birds are all good options (as well as florals). I also prefer simple embellishments if any, and nothing too “blingy” – but that’s me, and the person that you are making the card for may like bling and appreciate that more! That’s the joy of making your own cards – you can customize it for the person receiving it.
Sympathy cards can be difficult ones to make, but they are always appreciated.
Ready to Stay Inspired?
If the thought of beautiful, easy card projects lights you up, I’d love to share more with you! Sign up for my weekly newsletter to get exclusive tutorials, time-saving Stampin’ Up! tips, and creative inspiration delivered right to your inbox—just for amazing people like you who deserve a little crafting me time.
One guaranteed way to see the Northern Lights? Make a Northern Lights Card using Stampin’ Up! Canada products!
I have been fortunate to see the Northern Lights, but they weren’t extremely strong where I was, so it’s still on my bucket list….Stampin’ Up! Canada’s September-December 2025 Mini Catalogue features the Lights of Aurora Suite, and I used that to create a Northern Lights card for a recent Demonstrator card swap! Make your own and be guaranteed to have a great view of this beautiful phenomenon!
I’ve always enjoyed participating in card swaps, because they’re a great way to get ideas for products that I own – or have yet to purchase! They’re inspiration as well for my future card designs – by taking the basic design and then using what supplies I have on hand, I can come up with a new look without too much effort (or frustration!). My nothern lights card design had two different versions, as I used two different sheets of Designer Series Paper. The Lights of Aurora Designer Series Paper is a 6×6 package, with 8 sheets of 6 different double sided designs. By using two different papers, I had enough for 16 cards which was enough for what I needed for the swap. I can’t decide which was my favourite version!
I used a fairly simple layout for this card because I really wanted the paper to be shown off – it is a northern lights card, after all! Honestly, the most finicky thing about this card was making sure I got all the little bits out of the die cut trees! Thankfully, I had my Take Your Pick tool with the die brush tip, so I just ran that over the die cuts a few times, an easy task to do while binge watching shows. The streaming shows of choice during the card swap making sessions – Wednesday, and Only Murders in the Building. I typically watch foreign language shows, but I can’t do that when I’m multitasking because I can’t read subtitles at the same time! I do have subtitles on all the time, but at least with English language shows I can listen and follow along for the most part…
Anyway! If you want to get the full supply list (with links) for this northern lights card, I shared this card as part of the YamStamps Sunday Swap Series Page – yamstamps.com/sunday-swaps. If you’re a Stampin’ Up! Canada Demonstrator and are interested in participating in our next Demonstrator only swap, message me! If you’re not yet a Stampin’ Up! Canada Demonstrator and want to find out more about being one (and maybe participating in a card swap, too), message me! Happy Sunday! Hope the upcoming week treats you kindly.
I love that Stampin’ Up! Canada has a Kintsugi Inspirations Suite!
Kintsugi is a Japanese art/craft where broken pottery is repaired with laquer that is dusted with gold or another precious metal. It celebrates imperfection and that there is still beauty in things that may not be “perfect”. Kintsugi Inspirations is a suite of products from Stampin’ Up! that brings that elegant beauty to your craft room!
I love the whole concept of celebrating the history of an item and imperfections, and I love that there is an easy way to craft with this suite! For this Kintsugi Inspirations card, I used the Kintsugi Inspirations Specialty Designer Series Paper, and the coordinating Inspiring Imperfections Dies. The Dies coordinate with the Inspiring Imperfections stamp set (and you can get them together in a discounted bundle), but they also coordinate with the Designer Series Paper!! I roughly trimmed around the images I wanted to use (because the paper is 12″ x 12″ and won’t fit through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine!), and then I die cut the images with the tea cup shaped die. I made sure to pick one of the images that had the kintsugi-look to it – the centre one, with the gold lines. If you prefer, there’s also a couple of stamps that have those “crack lines” – so you could use that on any image!
The concept behind Kintsugi also suits my paper crafting…because my crafting is often not totally perfect, and I’m learning to roll with that (though it’s a difficult concept sometimes!!). So I’m going to look to Kintsugi and how imperfection can be inspiring and still beautiful in its own right!
Don’t forget that free shipping offer is only available July 23-25, so don’t miss out!! You can message me if you would like to pay by etransfer, or need assistance setting up your account or order!
Have an occasion to celebrate? Let Joy Bloom with this card!
I realized that I hadn’t yet shared this card…..and it’s been a hot minute since I posted something on the main blog page – so here’s a card to Let Joy Bloom!
I created this card for a 2025-2026 Annual Catalogue Canadian Demonstrator swap. I like these swaps to see samples created by others featuring stamps and dies that I may not (yet) own! It also forces me to sit down and be creative – and that can sometimes be a good thing, because I’m easily distracted….nothing like a deadline and guidelines to keep me focused!
For this Let Joy Bloom card, I used the Sweet Blooms Bundle, which includes the Sweet Blooms stamp set and Sweet Blooms dies. They’re part of the Florals in Bloom Suite – so if you’re seeing this before the end of June, they can be included in the Sweet Suites Sale! Unfortunately, the Florals in Bloom Suite itself is currently unavailable – the Pretty Florals Dies that are also part of the Suite are unavailable (though everything else in the suite IS available – at time of writing). SO – if you purchase ANOTHER suite that IS available, you could get the Sweet Blooms bundle for 50% off! The Sweet Suite Sale means if you purchase one suite, then you can get a second suite or ANY product that is part of ANY suite for 50% off – but only until the end of June (so don’t miss out!).
I combined the Sweet Blooms Bundle with the Florals in Bloom Designer Series Paper, and then pulled my ink and cardstock colours from that – Secret Sea, Summer Splash and Timid Tiger (all 2025-2027 In Colors). I was going to try to be tricky and die cut the backing “bloom” from the Basic White Cardstock to let the backing layer show through….but it got too complicated and definitely did not Let Joy Bloom! Simple option (but still thrifty) – die cut the backing “bloom” from the backing piece of Summer Splash cardstock; the Basic White Cardstock piece hid the hole, and then I adhered the backing bloom and script word on top. Also easy – putting an Adhesive Sheet on the back of the Timid Tiger Cardstock before die cutting!
Easy but effective crafting – my favourite approach!! Let Joy Bloom! If you’d like to see more samples from the swap, check out the YamStamps.com Sunday Swaps Page!
This So Thankful Beautiful Butterflies Card is a great way to show your gratitude!
I am loving the Beautiful Butterflies Bundle – a hybrid embossing folder (embossing folder and dies) and stamp set – so three tools for one great price! This So Thankful Beauitiful Butterflies card is a great way to show your gratitude – or change out the sentiment to suit the occasion!
I love how easy it is when you can emboss and die cut at one time – and by using a patterned paper it’s even easier and prettier! For this So Thankful Beautiful Butterflies Card, I used the Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper for the large die cut butterfly, and place it onto an embossed piece of Lemon Lolly Cardstock, It’s mounted on a Balmy Blue cardstock base, and that’s also the ink I used for the sentiment. One of the easiest tricks in the book to give your project a coordinated look – pick out colours from the Designer Series Paper you’re using! (they are listed on the back of the packaging…or if you’re like me and sometimes end up with things separated…it’s also listed on the website – shortcut to the Online Stampin’ Up! Canada YamStamps shop is YamStamps.com/shop). Technically, I did cheat a little bit – the colour used in the patterned paper is actually Daffodil Delight, but Lemon Lolly is a coordinating, lighter shade, plus there’s only a bit of yellow that ended up showing on the butterfly die cut.
To finish it off and add a bit more bling, I randomly stuck on sequins from the Itty Bitty Bokeh mix. I found it really handy to pick up the sequin with my Take Your Pick tool putty end, and then dip it into some Liquid Glue that I had squeezed out onto my Silicone Craft Sheet before sticking it to the cardfront. If you’re looking for the “easy” button for this So Thankful Beautiful Butterflies Card, the Beautiful Bokeh Suite Collection includes the stamp set, embossing folder, dies and embellishments that I used for this card. It’s another way to take a shortcut to a project that looks totally put together and coordinated.
If you purchase the suite, you will be able to select one Level 1 Sale-a-Bration item of your choice for free! When you place a product order until February 28th, each increment of $75CAD in a single order will earn you free Sale-a-Bration product! Plus- I’ll send you a tutorial for this So Thankful Beautiful Butterflies card! Shortcut to shop is YamStamps.com/shop or message me if you have any questions or would like to pay by etransfer. If you decide to become part of my demonstrator group, the “Eh” Team during Sale-a-Bration, you’ll be able to select TWO Stampin’ Write Marker families in addition to the “regular” $165CAD worth of product for $135CAD. More information about becoming part of my group of demonstrators here, or reach out if you have any questions. I’d love to have you as part of the “Eh” Team!!
