HSS498 – An Autumn Inspiration Challenge

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It’s time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments , and this week we have a gorgeous Inspiration Challenge for HSS498!

There was SO much to love in this inspiration board — pumpkins, sunflowers, falling leaves and all those warm autumn colours. I decided to pull out the rich oranges, yellows, greens and natural tones for my card.

For my focal point, I used the Harvest Hues Mix & Match Ephemera. I love having these little pieces on hand when I want to create without pulling out a whole collection of stamps and dies. The leafy wreath gave me all the autumn colour I wanted and made such an easy focal point.

I paired it with a warm neutral background and added lots of texture with the beautiful Sunflower 3D embossing folder. I love how the tone-on-tone embossing adds interest without competing with the wreath.

A simple sentiment, a few little pops of orange and that gorgeous metallic bow finished everything off.

I think my favourite thing about an inspiration challenge is that there really is no “right” way to interpret it. You might be drawn to the pumpkins, the sunflowers, the little squirrel, the colours — or something completely different!

Be sure to head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments to see what the rest of the Design Team created for HSS498, and then I hope you’ll play along with us. I’d love to see what catches your eye in this week’s inspiration!

Woodland Wishes Card Class To Go

I’m so excited to be offering a Woodland Wishes Card Class To Go! It’s been a little while since I’ve offered one of my Card Classes To Go, and I’m very happy to be getting back into the swing of things.

For $55, you’ll receive the supplies to create a beautiful collection of cards along with the class instructions, and we’ll craft together during my live class. You’ll just need to provide your own colouring tools, inks and adhesives.

The registration deadline is October 5th, so don’t wait too long if you’d like to join me!

REGISTER HERE: https://form.jotform.com/leahdixon41/woodland-wishes-online-card-class

Want to Make This Card?

Shop the links below or head to my shop. You can also scroll down for a printable set of instructions so you can recreate this card yourself.


HSS 498Download
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GDP566 Sketch Challenge – Autumn Birthday Wishes

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Two of my favourite things came together for this week’s Global Design Project challenge — a sketch challenge and autumn!

For #GDP566, I reached for the September Product of the Month DSP. I’ve been loving this paper for my September birthday cards. The warm autumn colours are so pretty, and I especially love how the metallic leaf pattern adds a little extra something without making the card feel too busy.

I followed the GDP sketch fairly closely, layering the patterned paper over a Secret Sea card base and adding the lighter panel for my sentiment.

The flowers were fussy cut from another sheet of the POM DSP – the perfect way to carry the colours through the card. I love how they frame the sentiment without covering up too much of that gorgeous DSP!

For the greeting, I used a sentiment from Exciting Times, then finished everything off with a few 2025–2027 In Colour Flat Pearls.

Simple layers, beautiful autumn colours and a sketch to get me started — definitely my kind of card!

And if you’ve been thinking about joining this week’s Global Design Project challenge, you still have one day left to play along! I’d love to see what you create for #GDP566.

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Throwback Thursday: A Sweet Baby Card with Brides & Babies

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There’s something extra fun about pulling out a REALLY old stamp set and giving it a fresh new look!

For this week’s Throwback Thursday, I reached way back into my Stampin’ Up! collection for the Brides & Babies stamp set. And when I say throwback, I mean it — this one has been in my collection for a very long time! But seriously, how sweet is that little baby tucked into the moon? Some images are just too adorable to let go.

I paired this old favourite with some newer goodies to give it an updated feel. An Everyday Arch creates the large background layer and gives the card a fun focal point without taking away from that sweet stamped image.

I kept the colour palette soft and dreamy, with Pool Party and Lost Lagoon and just a touch of Golden Glow Shimmer Brush for the stars. The little scattered stars in the background help carry the theme across the card without making it feel too busy.

And then, of course, I needed a little something special! The Gold Striped 3/8″ Mesh Ribbon adds just the right amount of shimmer, while a few Antique Pearls finish everything off beautifully.

I love how mixing older stamps with current products can make something that has been sitting on the shelf for years feel completely new again. It’s also a great reminder that you don’t always need the newest stamp set to create something you love — sometimes an old favourite is exactly what you need!

Do you have a REALLY old Stampin’ Up! stamp set that you still can’t bring yourself to part with? I’d love to know which one!

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GDP565 | Metallic Christmas Wishes with Hot Foil

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It’s time for another Global Design Project challenge, and this week we are playing with METALLICS! ✨

If you’ve been following along lately, you probably already know that I am a little obsessed with hot foiling right now, so this challenge was right up my alley!

For my #GDP565 card, I decided to keep the colour palette almost completely white and let the beautiful metallic details do all the work.

I started with a Basic White card base and added another layer of Basic White embossed with the Swirls of Magic 3D Embossing Folder. I absolutely love all of the swirls, stars and tiny details in this folder. It adds so much texture while still keeping the card clean and elegant.

The real star of this card, though, is that fabulous Christmas Wishes focal image! I used the A Christmas Wish Hot Foil Die to add the gorgeous metallic foil to Basic White cardstock. I love how dramatic the large sentiment looks against the white-on-white background—and the shine is even prettier in person!

I carried a little more metallic detail through the card with the gold striped 3/8″ mesh ribbon, a few gold adhesive backed dots and a sweet bow. A smaller “From Me to You” sentiment heat embossed in gold finishes everything off without competing with that beautiful focal image.

This is exactly why I am having so much fun with hot foil right now. You really don’t need a complicated card design when you have a gorgeous foiled image, lots of texture and just a little bit of shine!

Be sure to pop over to the Global Design Project to see what the rest of the Design Team created for this week’s metallic challenge. There are always so many fabulous ideas!

And then we would love to have you create something featuring metallics and join us for #GDP566!

✂️Supplies Used:


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A colorful welcome box featuring the word 'WELCOME' in multiple languages including 'BIENVENUE', 'WILLKOMMEN', and 'WELKOM', with a light pink background and playful circles.

The join process has changed a bit (sign up for $135 and get a $170 coupon) and you now get a fantastic Welcome Box too. The perks once you’ve joined remain the same.

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HSS497 Sketch Challenge – Holly Jolly Christmas Card

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It’s time for another challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments , and this week we have a fabulous sketch challenge for you!

I love working with sketches because they give you a starting point without telling you exactly what your finished card needs to look like. You can follow them quite closely, flip them, change the shapes or simply use them as inspiration.

For HSS497, I stayed fairly true to the original layout, but filled those circles with some festive Christmas favourites!

I pulled out the Holly Jolly Branches Bundle for this card — a bundle I have been having so much fun creating with lately!

Be sure to head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments to see what the rest of the Design Team created with this week’s sketch. Then pull out your favourite supplies and play along with HSS497 — I’d love to see what you create!

If you love the Holly Jolly Branches Bundle too, it is also the featured bundle for my upcoming Holly Jolly Branches MEGA Stamp Camp, happening October 3 & 4!

We’ll be creating 10 Make ’n Take projects, with live video tutorials, printable PDF tutorials, a bonus tutorial and more. And don’t worry if you can’t join us live — the videos will be recorded so you can watch whenever it works for you.

See all the Holly Jolly Branches MEGA Stamp Camp details & register here

Want to Make This Card?

Shop the links below or head to my shop. You can also scroll down for a printable set of instructions so you can recreate this card yourself.


HSS497Download
SHOP HERE

Looking for even more inspiration and more ways to enjoy stamping? Join my Stampin’ Up! Ink Pad Pals team!

The join process has changed a bit (sign up for $135 and get a $170 coupon) and you now get a fantastic Welcome Box too. The perks once you’ve joined remain the same.

  • Save 20%+ on your orders.
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Coast to Coast Creators: A Little Christmas DSP

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It’s time for another Coast to Coast Creators Blog Hop, and this month we’re celebrating the brand new September–December 2026 Mini Catalogue!

There are so many fun new products in this catalogue, but I couldn’t resist creating with the A Little Christmas 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper. Those sweet little Christmas mice are just too cute!

For my card, I really let the DSP do the work. I fussy cut the adorable mice, cookie jar, bow and gingerbread cookies directly from the patterned paper a ready made little Christmas scene. The large vellum circle behind the images gives everything a place to land while still allowing all those fun little details to shine.

I paired the patterned paper with Lost Lagoon and Cherry Cobbler, which gives the card a slightly softer take on traditional Christmas colours. The ‘Softly Woven 3D’ embossed Lost Lagoon background adds lots of texture without competing with the busy little scene in the centre.

A few gold embellishments and a little bow of twine add just enough extra detail. I finished the front with the “wishing you a festive season” sentiment, heat embossed in white on Cherry Cobbler cardstock.

And because I had those adorable little gingerbread cookies sitting on my desk after all that fussy cutting, I couldn’t resist adding a couple to the inside too!

A Little Christmas DSP

This is exactly the kind of Designer Series Paper I love — not only are the patterns beautiful for backgrounds and layers, but there are also so many images that can become the focal point of a card.

If you enjoy fussy cutting, papers like this give you so many possibilities without needing a coordinating stamp set or dies. Just grab your Paper Snips and start cutting!

Be sure to continue along the Coast to Coast Creators Blog Hop to see what everyone else has created with products from the new September–December Mini Catalogue. I always love seeing how differently we use the same catalogue for inspiration!


Want to make this card?

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Here is a printable recipe card – with supplies and instructions:

C2C Sep 2026Download

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GDP564 CASE the Designer: A Playful Cat Birthday Card

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It’s time for another Global Design Project challenge, and this week we are CASEing the Designer for #GDP564!

Our inspiration card was created by the talented Janneke Dijkstra de Jong, and there were so many fun little details in her design that caught my eye. For my card, I was inspired by the clustered focal point, layered elements, little tag, black twine and all that beautiful white space in Janneke’s original design.

A creatively designed card featuring colorful embellishments, including a yellow tag with the text 'JUST BECAUSE', surrounded by patterned hearts and flowers on a white background.
A handmade birthday card featuring playful cat illustrations, a 'happy birthday' message on a pink background, and a yellow ribbon that reads 'HAVE THE BEST DAY'. The card is decorated with floral designs and a black and white patterned element.

I went with a sweet group of cats for my focal point and created a fun birthday card with a playful mix of pink, yellow, black and white. I love how the little pops of black ground all those softer colours.

I also carried over the layered look from the inspiration card with my pink birthday tag, sentiment strip and patterned pieces tucked behind the cats. The black twine was another detail I definitely wanted to keep—it adds just the right bit of contrast.

And how cute are those tiny butterflies?

One of my favourite things about CASE the Designer challenges is seeing how completely different cards can grow from the same starting point. Sometimes it’s the layout that inspires you, sometimes the colours, and sometimes it’s just one tiny detail that sends you in a completely different direction.

Be sure to head over to the Global Design Project to see what the rest of the Design Team created for #GDP564. I can’t wait to see how everyone CASEs Janneke’s beautiful card this week!

✂️Supplies Used:


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A colorful welcome box featuring the word 'WELCOME' in multiple languages including 'BIENVENUE', 'WILLKOMMEN', and 'WELKOM', with a light pink background and playful circles.

The join process has changed a bit (sign up for $135 and get a $170 coupon) and you now get a fantastic Welcome Box too. The perks once you’ve joined remain the same.

  • Save 15%+ on your orders.
  • Get free access to my monthly card class tutorials.
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Contact me to find out more or see the details on my website.

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Festive Friday: Graceful Evergreen Deer Christmas Card

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It’s Festive Friday, and I’m sharing a Christmas card featuring the brand new Graceful Evergreen Deer Bundle.

I have to admit, I am a little obsessed with hot foiling right now, so of course I had to add some shine to this card! I used gold hot foil for that gorgeous deer and red hot foil with the Magical Christmas Hot Foil Dies for the sentiment.

I kept the rest of the card crisp and mostly white, with Secret Sea and touches of gold. The little snowflakes in the winter sky were heat embossed in gold for just a bit more sparkle.

For the background, I die cut the arch from the Basic White layer before embossing it. I adhered the embossed outer piece flat to the card base and then popped the stamped arch back into place with Dimensionals. I love the texture this adds while still keeping the card fairly clean and simple.

Those little Secret Sea snowflake embellishments are new too — and you’ll be seeing them again in my upcoming Holly Jolly Branches MEGA Stamp Camp!

Another Christmas card ready for my stash — and I’m pretty sure there will be lots more hot foil coming! 😊

🛒 Want to recreate this card?
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✨ Stampin’ Up! Supplies Used:


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Throwback Thursday: Mixing Old & New

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I love a good Throwback Thursday project — especially when I can bring a few retired favourites back out and pair them with something current!

This card was created with a few special colleagues in mind as we get ready to head back to school. I am so grateful to have such an amazing team to work with every day, and I thought a sweet little note card would be a fun way to let them know how much I appreciate them.

For this card, I pulled out the retired Bird’s Eye View stamp set and stamped one of the birds perched on a stack of books. I added a little pair of glasses for some extra personality, then coloured the image in Calypso Coral, Lemon Lolly, Pool Party and Lost Lagoon.

Those colours coordinate beautifully with the striped and polka dot circles I die cut from the current Beautiful Ordinary Life Designer Series Paper using the Stylish Shapes dies.

I also added a strip of cardstock (2-1/2″ x 5-1/2″) embossed with the Softly Woven 3D Embossing Folder for a little texture. The heat embossed sentiment is from the retired Wild Bunch stamp set, and I finished things off with a few retired Pearlized Faceted Circles.

I really like how easily these older products work with something new. You don’t need an entire collection of brand-new supplies to create something fresh — sometimes it’s just a matter of looking at what you already have in a different way.

And that might be my favourite part of Throwback Thursday!

Old favourites + new products = lots of creative possibilities.

And this week, a little creativity is also a reminder of how thankful I am for the wonderful people I get to work alongside every day. Here’s to a great school year ahead!

Looking for even more ways to enjoy stamping? Join my Stampin’ Up! Ink Pad Pals team! We have a new starter kit offer. See all the details by clicking the image below.

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Harvest Birthday Wishes | GDP563 Themed Challenge

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Sometimes the best cards come together when you have to work with what you’ve got!

This week’s Global Design Project #GDP563 challenge has a harvest and garden theme, which was perfect inspiration for a fall card. The only problem? Most of my stamps are still packed away while we renovate!

So I turned to one of my favourite resources for a quick and easy seasonal card: Designer Series Paper.

For this card, I used the August Product of the Month — Glow of Harvest 12″ x 12″ Specialty Designer Series Paper. The shimmer in this paper is absolutely gorgeous, and I knew those little pumpkins were just begging to be fussy cut!

I paired the pumpkins with the simple Addressed to You stamp set. I love the fun oval outline and that pretty scripty birthday sentiment. Sometimes you really don’t need a lot of stamping to create a card that has plenty of personality.

And because I loved last week’s GDP sketch so much, I couldn’t resist using that sketch again as the starting point for this card. I think the layout works perfectly with the pumpkins and lets that beautiful shimmer take centre stage.

I also added a few subtle stamped flowers in the background to give the card a little extra interest without taking away from the focal point.

I hope this harvest-inspired birthday card gives you a little inspiration to look at your Designer Series Paper in a new way — especially when your stamp collection happens to be packed in boxes! 😉

✂️Supplies Used:


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Looking for even more inspiration and more ways to enjoy stamping? Join my Stampin’ Up! Ink Pad Pals team!

The join process has changed a bit (sign up for $135 and get a $170 coupon) and you now get a fantastic Welcome Box too. The perks once you’ve joined remain the same.

  • Save 15%+ on your orders.
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  • Enjoy our monthly team meetings with stamping fun and collaboration.

Contact me to find out more or see the details on my website.

Join Now!

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget to check out the other Global Design Project #GDP563 creations for even more harvest and garden-inspired cardmaking ideas.