USE UP THAT DESIGNER SERIES PAPER STASH!

If you’ve been crafting for a minute or two, you probably have a stash of Designer Series Paper (DSP). Maybe you bought the pack for one design that you loved and the rest has been untouched. Maybe you’ve used most of the pack but there are just a *few* sheets left. Or maybe you just bought too much and need to use it before you buy more. (Ugh, the truth can hurt.)

  • Stamps: Perfect Pears
  • Color Palette: Basic White, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Mossy Meadow
  • Accessories: Stamp Cut & Emboss Machine, Textured Note dies, Painterly Pears DSP, Daubers, Blender Pen, Low Profile Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I am obsessed with coloring the pears with Daubers, and love that every time it’s just a bit different. I pulled the color palette from the DSP and added a bit of Mossy Meadow to the edge for a little drama. The sweet row of blossoms under the writing panel is stamped in Daffodil Delight and has a little center added with a Blender Pen.

If I may be so bold as to say it, if you don’t have the Textured Notes dies, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200, just click on ADD TO CART. (There. I feel better.)

My dear crafty buddy Sharon showed me this great fun fold. Score a standard 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ in the center (4 1/4″) and also 1 1/4″ from either end (that’s 1 1/4″ and 7 1/4″ if you need the exact numbers). It creates a perfect canvas for DSP.

Everything else is just cut-and-mat DSP! This is another quick and easy card to assemble, and it features my favorite “just enough room for I-Love-You” writing panel. Those Low Profile Dots are a great product for cards you intend to mail, too. I usually put a piece of card stock over the front of a card when I mail it, but it’s almost not necessary with these Dots.

The Perfectly Pears bundle is a great option to add color and variety to your crafty stash. There are flowers, sure, but they’re quite understated. It’s all about the pears – and of course, that gorgeous Painterly Pears DSP. Try it, you’ll like it.

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DIY CALENDAR BLOG HOP: JULY 2025

I blinked and it was July. We have 6 months of beautiful DIY Calendars behind us, and 6 ahead – so let’s get started with this one! I’m featuring a brand new set, available today, called Perfectly Pears.

  • Stamps: Perfectly Pears
  • Color Palette: Basic White, Old Olive, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lolly, Darling Duckling
  • Accessories: Stamp Cut and Emboss Machine, Perfectly Pears dies, DIY Calendar Template, Daubers, Blender Pen, Masking Paper

Not much to this one! The outlines were first, done in Old Olive. I inked the pears in Darling Duckling, then added some Granny Apple Green with a dauber. I gave them the lightest of mists before I put them to paper. The flowers are outlined in Darling Duckling, colored with a Blender Pen in Daffodil Delight and Lemon Lolly. I added Granny Apple Green to the centers because there was a lot of yellow.

I die cut the leaves and added them across the top for a little dimension. I considered die cutting the “front” pear but yeah, nah. The leafy branch isn’t included as a stamp, so it had to be a die cut.

You can find Perfectly Pears in the Online Exclusive release for July. But I’m warning you, there are a lot of glorious new products in the Online Store!

Ready to see what the rest of the DIY team has done? Click the button below to see! And thanks for stopping by this month.

2026 Calendars will be available in September!

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COLOUR CHALLENGES: COLOUR INKSPIRATION #189

My friends at Colour INKspirations know how to set up a proper challenge! This combination was a tough one, as Melon Mambo generally doesn’t get much my attention. But by toning it down using daubers, I came up with a project that met the challenge!

  • Stamps: Impressions Abloom, Elements of Text, Perfectly Pears, Inspiring Imperfections
  • Color Palette: Basic White, Darling Duckling, Melon Mambo, Cloud Cover, Secret Sea
  • Accessories: Stamp Cut & Emboss Machine, Impressions Abloom dies, Perennial Postage dies, Gallery Blooms dies, Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder, Kintsugi Inspirations DSP, Dauber, White Bakers Twine, Wink of Stella, Fine Tip Glue pen, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Here’s the inspiration photo. I knew right away I was going to have to be “INKspired” to work in that Melon Mambo! And while I adore Secret Sea, it’s a very bold color, so I used it sparingly as an accent.

Looking for elements for this card, I pulled out some treasures that are still available but have been sidelined in favor of newer releases. That 3D Exposed Brick EF is one of my absolute GO-TO elements. White Bakers twine is too, although it will never replace my beloved Linen Twine.

I used our Fine Tip Glue pen to add shine to the centers of those flowers. They have a little Cloud Cover daubed in the center to soften the white-white-white and tie in with the background DSP. My FTGP has lost its Fine Tip, so I unscrew the cap and use my trusty bamboo skewer to paint the glue over the circle. The skewer lets me control the amount I apply but doesn’t leave brush strokes or messy cleanup.

Cloud Cover ink has been a bit of a heartbreak, as it turns out the formula reacts with the foam in our ink pads, causing instability. The solution is to use one of our un-inked spots and Cloud Cover Ink Refill. It takes a bit longer to ink larger stamps, but I think it’s worth the effort!

There’s still a little time to join the challenge. It closes at 7pm Monday AEST (remember, for the US they are a day ahead). I’d love to see what you do with Melon Mambo!

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