Welcome to the Build & Bloom Blog Hop and for September we are bringing you ‘Nature’ projects. This fits perfectly with my Product Spotlight for this month. Each month I choose a product, bundle or suite that I use to create all my projects, where possible, for that month. I share all the projects I create on my social media and my blog, where I have a single ‘Inspo’ post for each Product Spotlight.

I have chosen the Simply Leaves Bundle as my September Product Spotlight. I love a good leaf stamp set and this one comes with thw added bonus of having a coordinating punch. The leaf images are simple and the punch makes for quick, easy cut-outs. I have been finding many ways to use the images and to add colour to them. For today’s card I will be creating an Autumnal Ombre Background.

How to create your Autumnal Ombre Background.

Cut a layer of Basic White cardstock, measuring 10cm x 14.4cm. Randomly heat emboss several images over two thirds.

Starting from the bottom and working up, use Golden Glow ink and a blending brush to add colour over heat embossed images. Repeat with Timid Tiger ink to the half way point and with Cajun Craze to the quarter point. Blending the colours to create an ombre effect.

To finish your Autumnal Ombre Background, splatter with Golden Glow Shimmer Pen and add to a Cajun Craze cardbase, measuring 10.5cm x 14.9cm.

Using a combination of Golden Glow, Timid Tiger, Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Pretty Peacock Blends, add colour to an acrylic and spritz with rubbing alcohol.

Allow colours to mix and stamp onto Basic White cardstock. Once dry, use the Leaf Punch to punch out several leaves. Arrange three leaves fan style on your card front and adhere into place.

Stamp your sentiment onto Basic White, with black ink. Using the largest banner die from the Stylish Shapes Dies, die-cut your sentiment. Trim off the right-hand side to create a strainght edge. Add over your leaves using dimensionals.

Trim a piece of Old Olive Speciality Rickrack, approx. 5cm long, and cut in half length ways. Fold each piece in half and tuck under your sentiment. Fix into place with a glue dot.

Finish your card with several Sunset Sparkle Sequins. I used the Strawberry Slush as I thought they went well and looked similar to Cajun Craze.

I do hope I have given you some inspiration, and you will create your own Autumnal Ombre Background. All products used are listed below and available to purchase from my online shop.

Please do continue to hop round for lots more inspiration.

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

Simply Leaves Bundle (English) [168165] £43.00	Stylish Shapes Dies [159183] £28.00	Old Olive 3/8" (1 Cm) Specialty Rickrack [167006] £7.50	Sunset Sparkle Sequins [167785] £8.00	Golden Glow Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [167682] £11.25
Timid Tiger Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [165291] £11.25	Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154879] £10.25	Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154892] £10.25	Pretty Peacock Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161676] £11.25	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £7.50
Versamark Pad [102283] £9.00	Golden Glow Classic Stampin' Pad [167676] £14.00	Timid Tiger Classic Stampin' Pad [165278] £10.25	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad [147085] £8.50	Basic White A4 Cardstock [166781] £14.00
Cajun Craze A4 Card Stock [121683] £14.00	Blending Brushes [153611] £14.00	Basics Embossing Powders [155554] £17.00	Heat Tool – Uk Plug [129054] £30.00	Embossing Additions Tool Kit [159971] £26.00

The post How To Create A Stunning Autumnal Ombre Background! appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

How much inspiration can you put in one post? Lots! You may have seen on my social media that each month I have a Product Spotlight! I choose a current product, suite, or anything I fancy, and us that to create as many of my projects for that month as possible. I may add some other craft stash basics depending on what I have chosen. I thought it would be a good idea to add these projects to a monthly inspo blog post.

For June, I chose Flowering Meadow Bundle as my Product Spotlight. This is a beautiful bundle which contains delicate florals and foliage. There are dies to cut out stamped images, as well as some stand-alone dies. The sentiments are very versatile and can be used for a variety of occasions. I love the mix of fonts used and size of these sentiments. The Flowering Meadow bundle is part of a product suite that also contains coordinating flocked papers, and flower embellishments.

Flowering Meadow Projects

Keeping things simple for these two cute note cards. I wanted to show how your can create a beautiful card easily.

The first card uses simple stamping, a little splatter and embellishments. That’s it. I stepped it up slightly for my second card, soft blending and splattering for the back ground. I stamped and fussy cut my images, adding them using dimensionals, and finshed with a bow and embellishments.

Embossing Two-Tone cardstock, sanding and scrunching gives amazing texture to this Golden Glow card. Backing the florals with a Basic White die-cut allows them to standout.

Cutting the ribbon down its length creates a more delicate bow.

I love creating monochromatic cards and enjoy participating in a weekly Insta Hop.

This card uses a card sketch/layout and Stampin’ Up!’s June colour challenge – Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight, Timid Tiger, Old Olive and Cajun Craze.

I am loving the layers on this card and the texture from the Mixed Up Patterns DSP, plus the vellum circle over our Basic White circle.

You can watch a live video of me creating this card bmelow.

Sometimes we just need to let our inner child show. I created this card for a blog hop, where our theme was children.

It just reminds me of the Tellytubbies! LOL. A delightful rainbow of flowers.

You can read my blog post here – https://leighsasloft.co.uk/2026/06/fun-scene-card-for-kids/

Florals are always a good shout for a scrapbook page and these are gorgeous.

Keeping the background soft, with Soft Sea Foam and Balmy Blue Mixed Up Patterns DSP, and going for bright Daffodil delight, Strawberry Slush, Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green Flowers & foliage.

You can see a live video of how I created this page below.

I am always suprised by the amount of colours that appear when doing a watercolour wash. You can see the blues, pinks and purples on this center panel. Adding white heat embossed images creates a fun background.

The flowers are heat embossed in clear, giving a deeper tone to this Hydrangea Hue Monochromatic card.

Making the most of the Floral Charm DSP for these two cards and I feel the work really well together. The colours of my first card are very rich, whilst the second fun fold card feels much lighter.

You can watch a live video of me creating these cards below.

I created this card for a Global Design Project – CASE the designer challenge and I am so happy with my results, as were the challenge organisers as I was a winner. It’s always nice to be recognised for your crafting.

The baskets were created using the, now retired, Easter Basket Dies and the background is from the Mixed Up Patterns DSP. Yes I love this paper pack!

I can not take credit for this design. This was a CASE of a card by Emma Goddard – Coast Crafter. It’s a fun fold that is simple to create but definately has the WOW factor.

Three folded strips of card, adhered to a cardbase and layered with embossed panels. I am a big fan of Peaceful Pine and this card is one of my favourite..

I follwed a card sketch/layout for this card and love how the pastel flowers pop against the Artisan Sketched Garden DSP. The colours used are the 2026 – 2028 In colors, Barely Brush, Golden Glow, Crisp Cantaloupe, Hydrangea Hue and Peaceful Pine.

You can watch a live video of me creating this card below.

A beautiful rainbow and cute Koala, what’s not to like?

Keeping the background simple with a few black splatters, allows the rainbow wreath to pop. Adding a cute Koala and simple Happy Birthday finishes the card a treat.

You can read how I created this card here – https://leighsasloft.co.uk/2026/06/simple-flower-wreath-birthday-card/

I only tend to use Cherry Cobbler around Christmas and I found creating a none Christmas card difficult.

Running my ink pad across the card, created a fun background and adding splatters gives extra texture. The large die-cut sentiment is from the Words Of Beauty Dies and layering gold on white on Cherry Cobbler gives a nice effect.

This beautiful card uses a soft, natural colour pallet. An embossed background adds subtle texture.

You can watch a live video of me creating this card below.

This simple layout uses three panels of Everyday Essentials DSP, and a full sheet for the base. The colurs of the flowers are taken from the paper and the title is created using the, now retired, Sweet Blooms Bundle.

You can watch a live video of my creating this page below.

You can watch me create some of my Flowering Meadows projects here –

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

The post Flowering Meadow Bundle Inspo! appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

You may have seen on my social media that each month I have a Product Spotlight! I choose a current product, suite, or anything I fancy, and us that to create all my projects for that month. I may add some other craft stash basics depending on what I have chosen. I thought it would be a good idea to add these projects to a monthly inspo blog post.

For May I chose to use the Beautiful Ordinary Life Suite as my Product Spotlight. I feel in love with this suite when we got a sneak peek at Onstage in March. The colours are soft, with a punch of Basic Black for a big impact. This suite is perfect for scrapbooking and cardmaking alike.

This card uses the Extraordinary Life Bundle which is a coordinating bundle for the Beautiful Ordinary Life Suite. I masked, blended, stamped and splattered the background, adding a fussy cut sentiment for extra texture. Stamped, heat embossed and die-cut butterflies for dimensions and finished with Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

The colours used are Basic White, Coastal Cabana and Smoky Slate.

The DSP (designer series paper) is the star of the show here! With some simple stamping, a couple of stamped and die-cut images, and embellishments this card is a quick make. The black foliage is precut and part of the Floral Flight Accents.

Stamping a repeat pattern creates a fun background, using a colour combo of Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Lost lagoon, Real red, and Pretty Peacock.

A selection of bold images adds impact.

This card uses one of the beautiful border dies and showcases our fabulous colour coordination of products. The Barely Blush cardstock and ribbon match creating a seamless flow to your crafting.

Using the emboss resist technique creates a wonderful patterned background, that is edged with one of the simpler boarder dies. Using a blending brush to add the ink allows you to create varying depths of colour.

A simple way to get the DSP the colour you need is to use your Stampin’ Blends and black & white DSP. For a different look, colour the background instead of the images.

Another way of adding colour to you DSP, is to use ink and a blending brush. This allows you to create an ombre effect and adds depth to your project.

Keeping a simple colour pallet can make a big statement.

You can watch a live video of me creating this card below.

I loved playing with the Water & Dotted Lines Masks, to create the scrapbook page, though I did have to tell myself to trust the process. Using bright colours and adding colour through the mask in smaller areas gives a fun effect and really is the star of the show.

You can watch a video of my creating this page on my weekly Facebook Live below.

I do struggle with male cards, but found this suite of products is perfect. The selection of simple patterns and shapes, paired with DSP creates a fabulous card and male would be proud to recieve.

These cards were created during my weekly Facebook live. I very rarely make 5″x7″ cards but this pre die-cut image called for it and I love the result. Sometimes keeping things simple, really is the way to go.

The second card follows a card sketch and is one of my favourite, using this suite.

You can watch a live video of me creating these cards below.

For this card I CASED (Copy And Share Everything) the catalogue and switched things up by changing the colour combination and DSP.

Make sure you use the catalogue for inspiration and not just for purchasing.

Crisp Cantaloupe was not a colour I thought I would use a lot of, but I was wrong. It may even be the colour I use the most, from the 2026-2028 Incolors.

This card uses Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock, ink, ribbon, embellishments, Shimmer Pen and DSP. As you can see again, they match perfectly.

Both these card use the beautiful DSP. One with a larger piece of one design and the other with smaller strips of many designs, but all coordinating together with little effort.

You can watch a live video of me creating these cards below.

This double page scrapbook spread was created using the Extraordinary Life Scrapbook Workshop Kit. Sometimes I just want to craft and not design, these kits are perfect for that and for crafting on the go.

You can watch a live video of my creating this spread below.

You can watch me create some of my Capturing Smiles projects here –

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

The post Beautiful Ordinary Life Suite Inspo! appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

You may have seen on my social media that each month I have a Product Spotlight! I choose a current product, suite, or anything I fancy, and us that to create all my projects for that month. I may add some other craft stash basics depending on what I have chosen. I thought it would be a good idea to add these projects to a monthly inspo blog post.

For April I have chose to use the Capturing Smiles bundle as my Product Spotlight. This bundle is perfect for so many occassion, if it’s worthy of a photo it’s worthy of a project with a camera.

This card pairs the Capturing Smiles Bundle with the Florals in Bloom DSP. The stamped images are colour with Stampin’ Blends and the flowers are fussy cut from the papers.

Adding Fine Tip Glue Pen to the shutter for a shine.

I created this scrapbook page using the Capturing Smiles Bundle, Days Like These Memories & More Card Pack and Softest Spring Mix & Match Puffy Stickers.

I am so please with how this page finished up.

Video below.

This card is easily my favourite project I created using this bundle. White heat embossed images, watercoloured and added to a matching background. Splatters added for extra texture.

Video below.

I created this scrapbook page on my Facebook Live and it was a real ‘Trust the process’ moment. I wanted to use the same colour as I used for the card above and watercolour. Adding in the strips of Two-Tone cardstock and DSP.

Video below.

Mixing the older and the new! The Beautiful Bokeh DSP is a perfect pairing for the Capturing Smiles Bundle. The soft edged design and muted colours allows my camera to pop. I love the addition of a matching matt layer too.

These cards were created on a Facebook Live. I wanted to recreate the card above in more masculine tones, using the Boho Vibes DSP.

You can watch that live below.

This card is took me way to long to create, due to the fact that when I used the Mini Alphabet Die to cut my background, I allowed the letters to fall out. This resulted in me having to stick them back in one by one. LOL

I left out the ‘H’ & ‘I” for my sentiment, blended ink over the bottom and used my Stampin’ Blends to colour ribbon to match.

I am loving creating monochromatic projects for the Crafty Collaboration Monochromatic Insta Hops. Just a simple random stamped background, using first and second gerneration stamping, ribbon coloured to match and a large fussy cut sentiment, makes for an easy card.

I am so happy with how this card turned out. I wanted to give the impression/feel of taking a photo in nature. Using the super pretty Thoughtful Journey DSP for my background and inserted into the film strip. Keeping the camera and strip simple, in Basic Black and silver, allows them to pop without leaving the papers behind.

Another card created for the Crafty Collaboration Monochromatic Insta Hop, this time using Gray Granite. This is not a colour I use very often, but I love how this card turned out.

Again random stamping for the background and first & second generation stamping for my die-cut images. Fussy cut sentiments, simple bakers twine and white embellishments to finish.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box, or in this case create a box. .

For this Triple Z Fold Card, I used the Capturing Smiles Bundle paired with the Easter Joy DSP and Easter Basket Dies. The camera is coloured using Crumb Cake and Pecan Pie Blends.

I used a tutorial from Tami White @stampwithtami for the card construction. Do go check her out.

Keeping it simple! That was the idea for when creating these cards and I nearly accomplished it.
I took inspiration from the Global Design Project #gdp545 with the colour combo Bubble Bath, Granny Appple Green, and Strawberry Slush, using this for both my cards. Keeping it simple for my first card with tone-on-tone stamping and a couple of die-cuts. My second card uses to emboss resisit technique, but I kept everything else simple.

You can watch me create some of my Capturing Smiles projects here –

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

The post Capturing Smiles Bundle Inspo! appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

Happy New Year and welcome to the Stamptastic Friends January Blog Hop! This month we are all about Thanks and Gratitude. We can all name a reason that we can send a card to say Thank You or to show our gratitude. This is one thing I fail at often, and this year I am going to improve on this massively.

On my social media, you may have seen that I am using the Love Notes 6×6 DSP as my product spotlight for this month, and I wanted this project to keep with that. I also wanted to use the papers differently, so I have paired it with the Swirled Designs Bundle and chose Lemon Lime Twist & Balmy Blue to pair with the Azure Afternoon DSP.

How to create an Emboss Resist background

Cut a layer of Basic White cardstock measuring 10cm x 14.4cm. Rub over with an Embossing Buddy, this will remove any static or grease and stop your embossing powder sticking where you don’t want it. Using Versamark ink, randomly stamp the star cluster image over your layer. Sprinkle all over with white embossing powder and shake off excess. Use a heat tool to melt all the embossing powder.

Once your embossing is cooled and set, use a blending brush and Lemon Lime Twist ink and add colour over your layer. Start from the edges and move into the centre, turning your layer as you go. Keep going until you are happy with the coverage, I kept mine very soft towards the centre. When happy, use a tissue or soft cloth to remove ink from your embossed images. This is the ’emboss resist’ technique complete.

Trim a piece of Azure Afternoon DSP to 5.5cm x 8.5cm and cut to a pennant at one end. Adhere to the top right of your layer. Create an A6 card base, measuring 10.5cm x 14.9cm, using Balmy Blue cardstock. Adhere your layer to your card base.

Die-cut three large stars from Azure Afternoon, Balmy Blue, and Lemon Lime Twist cardstock. Layer these onto your card front and adhere into place. I added the centre cut-out to my Lemon Lime Twist star, this allowed it to standout better and gave a better base for my other star.

Stamp your sentiment using Azure Afternoon ink onto Basic White cardstock. Punch, die-cut or trim to size and add to your card using Dimensionals. I have used ‘Thank You’ from Simply Said stamp set and punched out using the Three Banner Punch. Finish your card with several silver Faceted Snowflakes.

I hope I have inspired you to get creative and try the Emboss Resist technique. All the products used are listed below and available to purchase from my online store.

Please do continue to hop round for lots more creativity and inspiration. I can’t wait to see what the other demonstrators have chosen to share with you.

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

Swirled Designs Bundle (English) [167311] £40.50	Love Notes 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Mix & Match Designer Series Paper [166985] £11.75	Simply Said Mix & Match Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [163756] £16.00	Three Banner Punch [167050] £25.00	Faceted Snowflakes [166077] £9.50
Azure Afternoon Classic Stampin' Pad [161663] £8.50	Versamark Pad [102283] £9.00	Basic White A4 Cardstock [166781] £14.00	Azure Afternoon A4 Cardstock [161728] £14.00	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock [147007] £14.00
Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock [144250] £14.00	Basics Wow! Embossing Powder [165679] £20.00	Embossing Additions Tool Kit [159971] £26.00	Heat Tool – Uk Plug [129054] £30.00	Blending Brushes [153611] £14.00
Paper Trimmer [152392] £27.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £5.75	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] £4.00	Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [150673] £65.00

The post Emboss Resist Technique For A Thank You Card. appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

Welcome to the Stamptastic Friends November Blog Hop! This month we are all about Squares, square cards, square images, square patterns. Whatever way you want to use squares to create a project. When I first sat down to create my project I felt a bit lost. I could not think what I could do that involved squares other than a patchwork of DSP (designer series paper) and although this can be beautiful, it was not what I wanted. I turned to Pinterest for help and found lots of ideas and inspiration.

I finally chose to use the Gift Of Joy stamp set and create small squares which sat behind a simple stamped image. My next dilemma was how to create the squares. Cue Hayden and his suggestion to use the acrylic blocks to stamp the background. That was decision made.

How to use acrylic blocks to stamp a square background.

I used the Stampin’ Up!® A & B Acrylic Blocks, (I have relalised whilst writing this that we no longer stock the A Block, sorry but I am sure many of you have these or similar), and Real Red & Shaded Spruce Dark Stampin’ Blends. I know the blocks are not exactly square but I am using my artistic licence. lol.

Cut a layer of Basic White cardstock measuring 10cm x 14.4cm. Colour your larger block with your chosen colour and spritz with rubbing alcohol. Stamp down onto your layer to the left centre. Clean your block and repeat with your second colour, stamping to the bottom right.

Using your smaller block, repeat with two of each colour. Do not worry about getting these lined up or equal distances apart. It looks better if they are not perfect.

Once dry, stamp your chosen images into each square using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. For the sentiment I used one from the Greeting For All Mix & Match Ephemera Pack, but you could easily heat emboss your own and fussy cut, and adhered using dimensionals.

Create an A6 card base, measuring 10.5cm x 14.9cm, using Shaded Spruce cardstock. Adhere your stamped layer onto your card base. For that bit of Christmas sparkle, add several gold Drusy Adhesive-Backed Embellishments.

I hope I have inspired you to get creative with Acrylic Blocks, Stampin’ Blends and rubbing alcohol. All the products used are listed below and available to purchase from my online store.

Please do continue to hop round for lots more creativity and inspiration. I can’t wait to see what the other demonstrators have chosen to share with you.

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

Gift Of Joy Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [165964] £20.00	Drusy Adhesive Backed Embellishments [164223] £8.50	Greetings For All Mix & Match Ephemera Pack (English) [164862] £6.75	Real Red Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154899] £10.25	Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154903] £10.25
Basic White A4 Cardstock [166781] £14.00	Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock [147006] £14.00	Clear Block B [117147] £6.75	Stampin' Spritzer [126185] £5.75	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £7.50
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] £4.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £5.75	Paper Trimmer [152392] £27.00

The post Using Acrylic Blocks To Create A Square Background appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

Hello, it’s time for the Stamptastic Friends September Blog Hop and this month we are going full on Autumn. Our weather has certainly changed, leaving the summer behind and giving a huge welcome to Autumn. I have to say that, other than all the rain we have been having, I much prefere this time of year. The Garden is still blooming with colour and the temprature is much more to my liking.

I have chosen to use the Branching Out Bundle and create a fun autumn background using alcohol markers. The Branching Out Bundle is a beautiful bundle and suitable for all year round crafting. The stamp set contains a variety of sentiment for many occasions, as well as some gorgeous branch and fern images. I have enjoyed playing with this bundle and created many cards, all of which are very different in style.

How to create an autumn background.

Using a selection of autumn colours, I have used Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Pecan Pie, and Pumpkin Pie dark Stampin’ Blends, add colour to a large acrylic block. I used the E block, but it will depend on how large you need your background to be. Add rubbing alcohol to a Stampin’ Spritzer and spray onto your coloured block until you are happy with the bleed/mix of colours.

Either lay a piece of Basic White cardstock on top of your block or stamp the block onto your Basic White. If you choose to stamp onto your Basic White your colours will run futher as you turn your block over. Allow your card/block to sit for a few seconds before removing, this will allow the colour to soak into your card. Remove and allow to dry.

Once your autumn background is dry add splatters of the same colours for added texture. Die-cut a panel using the second largest frame die from the bundle. Adhere this to a larger frame die-cut from gold foil. Create an A6 cardbase, measuring 14.9cm x 10.5cm, using Cherry Cobler cardstock. Adhere your fames using Stampin Dimensionals.

Die-cut two fern sprigs from Shadded Spruce cardstock and using a blending brush, lightly add ink to create variation and dimension. Repeat with small berry sprig and Pecan Pie. Die-cut three pinecones from Early Espresso and a long berry twig from Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Use an Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker to colour the twig, leaving the berries Cherry Cobbler.

Layering your foliage, adhere to your autumn background frame. Heat emboss your sentiment on Cherry Cobbler cardstock, using gold WOW powder. Trim to required size and add to your card using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Finish your card by adding a Linen Thread bow and several Pecan Pie Neutral Matte Dots.

Here is a video of me creating this card on a recent Facebook Live!

I hope I have inspired you to get creative with Stampin’ Blends and rubbing alcohol. All the products used are listed below and available to purchase from my online store.

Please do continue to hop round for lots more creativity and inspiration. I can’t wait to see what the other demonstrators have chosen to share with you.

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

Branching Out Bundle (English) [165776] £45.00	Neutral Matte Dots [165561] £7.50	Linen Thread [104199] £4.75	Gold Foil Sheets [132622] £4.75	Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154879] £10.25
Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154880] £10.25	Pecan Pie Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161674] £10.25	Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154897] £10.25	Basic White A4 Cardstock [166781] £14.00	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock [121681] £10.75
Early Espresso A4 Card Stock [121686] £10.75	Pecan Pie A4 Cardstock [161726] £10.75	Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock [147006] £10.75	Versamark Pad [102283] £9.00	Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder [165678] £20.00
Stampin' Spritzer [126185] £5.75	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] £4.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £5.75	Paper Trimmer [152392] £27.00	Heat Tool – Uk Plug [129054] £30.00
Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] £121.00

The post Using Rubbing Alcohol To Create An Autumn Background appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

Hello, firstly let me apologise for missing last month. Life really went mad but I am back with a Super Double Gate Fold, so welcome to Aprils Tech 4 Stampers blog hop! This month we are bringing you Fancy Folds. Fancy Folds or Fun Folds are a fabulous way to show alternative ways to use your products. They allow for interaction and an element of surprise.

I have created a Double Gate Fold card with a belly band. I am almost certain that this was during a recent team meeting and for our Mystery stamping, which would have been set by either Louise or Pip. We get given measurements on what pieces to cut behand, if they need to be cardstock or DSP (designer series paper), and whether they should be landscape or portrait. We then score, fold, stamp and create together and it is fabulous to see how different they all look.

Double Gate Fold Card with a Belly Band

Cut a piece of Smoky Slate cardstock, measuring 25cm x 15cm, and score at 2.5cm, 7.5cm, 17.5cm, and 22.5cm. Fold and burnish, mountain, valley, valley, mountain, to create a double gate fold.

Trim four pieces Petal Pink DSP, measuring 2.1cm x 14.6cm, and four pieces of Misty Moonlight DSP, measuring 4.6cm x 14.6cm. Adhere your DSP to the corresponding panels of your card base, front and back.

Stamp your hamster/gerbil onto a piece of Basic White cardstock, measuring 9.6cm x 14.6cm, with Smoky Slate ink. Add the three little hearts stamp to his tummy using Petal Pink ink. Adhere to the inside of your card base.

Create a belly band by cutting a piece of Smoky Slate cardstock measuring 25cm x 4cm. Score at 3cm, 13.2cm, and 23.4cm. Fold, burnish, and adhere to create a band.

Using Basic White cardstock die-cut a tag/label, I used the smaller tag from the Something Fancy Dies. Stamp your animal image using Smoky Slate ink onto Smoky Slate cardstock and die-cut or fussy cut out. Add to your tag with Stampin’ Dimensionals and adhere to your belly band.

Heat emboss your sentiment onto Petal Pink cardstock, using white embossing powder. Trim your sentiment to 5.5cm x 1cm and trim a piece of Misty Moonlight cardstock to 6cm x 1cm. Adhere your sentiment to your Misty Moonlight cardstock, offsetting them slightly, and add to your belly band.

Finish your card by adding a Petal Pink bow to your tag and several Petal Pink Foiled Gems.

I do hope you I have given you some inspiration and you will create your own gate fold card, or even a double gate fold! All products used are listed below and available to purchase from my online shop.

Please do continue to hop round for lots more springtime inspiration.

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

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Hearts & Hugs Bundle (English) [163667] £46.75	Something Fancy Dies [160424] £27.00	Petal Pink & Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems [162587] £7.50	Petal Pink & White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Diagonal Trim Combo Pack [163417] £9.50	Country Lace 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [163415] £11.75
Basic White A4 Cardstock [166781] £14.00	Misty Moonlight A4 Cardstock [153086] £10.75	Petal Pink A4 Cardstock [147009] £10.75	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate [131291] £10.75	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad [147108] £8.50
Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad [147113] £8.50	Versamark Pad [102283] £9.00	Basics Wow! Embossing Powder [165679] £20.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] £4.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £5.75
Paper Snips [103579] £11.25	Paper Trimmer [152392] £27.00	Heat Tool – Uk Plug [129054] £30.00	Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [150673] £62.00	Embossing Additions Tool Kit [159971] £26.00

The post How To Create A Fancy Double Gate Fold Card. appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

Hello and welcome to Februarys Tech 4 Stampers blog hop! This month we are all about Springtime, and I have a Springtime One Sheet Wonder to share with you all! When I think of Spring, I think of flowers growing, animals being born, new beginning and fresh colours. Colours is when I have gone with this months theme. Bright fresh colours – Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist, and Peach Pie – all very zesty.

I created my springtime one sheet wonder using the Natural Botanicals stamp set. This set is a Reversibles stamp, meaning you can use both sides of the stamp. On one side is a details image which can be stamped as normal, but if you turn your stamp over you can use this side as a shadow image or to add colour to your detailed image.

Card Made Using Springtime One Sheet Wonder

Using Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist, and Peach Pie inks stamp your images randomly over an A4 sheet of Basic White cardstock. This is your Springtime One Sheet Wonder. Cut into various pieces for cards, you can see how I chose to do this in the video below. You can find lots of different cutting guides online. The piece I have used is 7.5cm x 10cm, cut into four strip 2.5cm deep. Keep these in order so your pattern can be easily piece together.

Trim a piece of Granny Apple cardstock to 8cm x 11.25cm and adhere your strips, in order, ensuring an equal border all the way round.

Stamp your sentiment using Calypso Coral ink, onto Basic White cardstock and using the Stylish Shapes Dies, die-cut a circle around your sentiment.

Create an A6 card base, measuring 10.5cm x 14.9cm, from Thick Basic White cardstock. Adhere your layer to your card base, using Stampin’ Dimensionals and your sentiments using multipurpose glue.

Finish your card by adding several Peach Pie 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems.

Watch my Facebook Live here, where I share how to create your Springtime One Sheet Wonder and how to divide it into usable pieces. I also create several card using some of the various pieces. .

I do hope you I have given you some inspiration. All products used are listed below and available to purchase from my online shop.

Please do continue to hop round for lots more springtime inspiration.

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

Natural Botanicals Photopolymer Stamp Set [164831] £21.00	Simply Said Mix & Match Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [163756] £16.00	Stylish Shapes Dies [159183] £28.00	2024–2026 In Color™ Shimmer Gems [163781] £8.00	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [147101] £8.50
Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [147094] £8.50	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad [147095] £8.50	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad [147145] £8.50	Peach Pie Classic Stampin Pad [163810] £8.50	Basic White A4 Cardstock [159228] £13.00
Basic White A4 Thick Cardstock [159230] £10.50	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock [147014] £10.75	Paper Trimmer [152392] £27.00	Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [150673] £62.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] £4.00
Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £5.75

The post How To Create Fun Cards Using A Springtime One Sheet Wonder. appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first Stamptastic Friends Blog Hop of 2025 and we have a theme of New Beginnings. Lots of us start new things for the new year, whether we set them as resolutions or not. It’s a time off out with the old, or simply what we don’t want, and in with the new. New Beginnings of hobbies and habits that bring us joy or closer to that goal.

When I first read our New Beginnings theme, I automatically thought of babies, new life and starting over. I couldn’t decide on what I wanted to create, then I recalled a sentiment from the Something Fancy stamp set that read ‘Here’s To Beautiful Beginnings & Happily Ever After’. How gorgeous is that? Having made my mind up to use this sentiment I decided that I want that to be the focal point of my card and to create a simple but stunning background to mount it on. The coordinating Something Fancy dies contain several labels, perfect for allowing the sentiment to pop. .

Creating A Fun Background For New Beginnings

Cut a layer of Basic White cardstock, measuring 9cm x 11.5cm. Take an acrylic block, I used our E block, and colour over the top half with Dark Azure Afternoon Stampin’ Blend. Colour over the bottom half using Dark Summer Splash Stampin’ Blend.

Using a Stampin’ Sprizter filled with rubbing alcohol, spritz over the block. Once happy with the coverage, place your block onto your cardstock, colour side down. Allow the colours to soak into your cardstock and then remove your block. This will leave you with a beautiful background. Allow to dry, which will not take long.

Stamp your New Beginnings sentiment onto Basic White cardstock, using Basic Gray ink. I felt black was too harsh. Die-cut with your chosen label die and a detail die if you wish. This adds extra depth and interest. Adhere to your background panel using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Using the Bright Skies stamp set and dies, stamp a flower in Petunia Pop and Summer Splash ink. Die-cut using coordinating dies and adhere to background panel. I used a Stampin’ Dimensional for the flower head.

Trim a piece of Summer Splash cardstock to 10cm x 14.4cm and wrap a length of Petunia Pop ribbon around the middle, adhereing in place on the back. Add you background panel over the ribbon and a small length of ribbon with a knot. Use a pokey tool or similar to fray the ends.

Create an A6 card base using Thick Basic White cardstock, measuring 10.5cm x 14.9cm. Adhere your Summer Splash layer to the front.

Finish your new beginnings card by adding Wink Of Stella to your flower and several 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems.

You can watch a video of my Facebook Live where I create a variety of background using this technique.

I hope I have inspired you to try creating a background using alcohol. All the products used are listed below and available to purchase from my online store.

Please do continue to hop round for lots more creativity and inspiration for New Beginnings. I can’t wait to see what the other demonstrators have chosen to share with you.

Happy Crafting

PLEASE NOTE – The Product List links may nolonger direct you to the correct place, this is due to a change in my Demonstratorship. If you wish to purchase or take a closer look, please use the Shop Button below.

FREE Tutorial Bundle with ALL Online Orders from my Stampin’ Up!® Shop!

Learn more.

Something Fancy Cling Stamp Set (English) [160416] £22.00	Something Fancy Dies [160424] £27.00	Bright Skies Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [162787] £19.00	Bright Skies Dies [162793] £32.00	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897] £8.50
2024–2026 In Color™ Shimmer Gems [163781] £8.00	Petunia Pop 3/8" (1 Cm) Bordered Ribbon [163785] £7.00	Azure Afternoon Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161672] £10.25	Summer Splash Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [163826] £10.25	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad [149165] £8.50
Petunia Pop Classic Stampin Pad [163811] £8.50	Summer Splash Classic Stampin Pad [163809] £8.50	Basic White A4 Cardstock [159228] £13.00	Basic White A4 Thick Cardstock [159230] £10.50	Summer Splash A4 Cardstock [163798] £10.75
Paper Snips [103579] £11.25	Paper Trimmer [152392] £27.00	Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [150673] £62.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] £4.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [154974] £5.75

The post Using Alcohol To Create A Background For New Beginnings appeared first on Leighsa's Loft.