Creating with the Birthday Bash Kit leftovers & Toadstool Gardens DSP

 Hello & welcome to my blog,

My name is Alison & I live in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. For those of you who have previously visited my blog & are now returning, thank you. For those of you who are here for the first time, welcome!

 Here's a little bit about me. I love creating cards & gifts for my loved ones & this blog will show you how to create something special for those you love. I blog twice a week, once on a Sunday where I mainly showcase a stamp set or dies, embossing folders, projects & sometimes special DSP and Wednesday evenings when I highlight a technique, fun folds or tools & tips. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions & my email address for that is craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

Stampin' Up® 's Annual Catalogue was released last year with a very different format & it's a beauty! It's set out quite differently to previous catalogues but there are benefits to that. They now have sectioned it to have beginners, which is a step by step collection of materials in kits, then there is quick & easy where you select base materials & packs of pre-printed or diecut materials plus some stamp sets then there is create your way where you choose all the materials, stamps etc yourself & create your way! In the quick & easy section Stampin' Up® have also provided some inspiration with a colour wheel & information of various ways to use colour combinations. I explored this in a bit more detail in my 1/1/25 mid week blog. The new mini catalogue was launched on January 7th with lots of lovely stamps, dies & papers to ooh & aah over. If you would like a copy of this new catalogue then please contact me at craftedbyalison@gmail.com. Stampin' Up® also have products available only online. These are called Online exclusives & have no end date, when the stock is sold out, that's the end of it.

This week I am sharing some cards I have creating with the Birthday Bash kit. This kit is perfect for those just starting out with crafting, for sharing crafting with younger people in your life or if you want some cute, easy to assemble gifting products in your stash. Last week I created the gift bags & gift card holders as per the instructions included with the kit. This week I used some of the leftovers from the kit along with some cardstock, embellishments, stamps & DSP called Toadstool Gardens that is currently free with qualifying purchases during Sale-a-bration. I had a lot of fun using these leftovers, I hope you enjoy what I have created.

Once I had finished creating the bags & card holders I gathered the leftover pieces that would not be used to make the second set of bags & holders. They consisted of tags & labels in other languages as the kit is an international one. The tags were too pretty to waste so I decided to repurpose them.

The first card I created is a simple design of DSP on cardstock with a sentiment matted in the centre of the card. 

The DSP is matted on Lemon Lime Twist then adhered to a Basic White card base. The sentiment is from the Biggest Wish stamp set (retired) & heat embossed in gold & silver on Berry Burst. I added this to one of the sentiment tags from the kit & adhered it to the base, adding one of the centres from the gold stars plus a few Adhesive Backed Pearls & the card was done! Easy, peasy.

The next card is also a simple design - DSP, ribbon, a tag, sentiment & embellishments.

The base is Granny Apple Green & I left the front plain as the DSP was enough with all of the pretty, whimsical images on it. There is a band of Pale Papaya & White woven ribbon (retired) wrapped around for a cute detail. The tag has a Pumpkin Pie strip with the sentiment from Cake Celebrations embossed in white. The only addition after that were a few Ladybug trinkets from a number of catalogues ago plus some Itty Bitty Bokeh bits. Done.

The final card uses DSP, embossing & stamping.

The portrait card base is Lemon Lime Twist. There is a Basic White matte with a very tiny margin showing. This was used to give a slight contrast to the bright colours of the cardstock & DSP. I used Berry Burst & embossed with the Starburst embossing folder which is another of the FREE items from Sale-a-bration. The DSP is one of the patterned sides from the Toadstool Garden pack. 

On the join I used some Petal Pink Scalloped ribbon which is a soft contrast to the stripes of the DSP. 

I then stamped some flowers & foliage from the Cheerful Daisies stamp set in Pumpkin Pie, Peach Pie, Pale Papaya, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, Highland Heather & Fresh Freesia before diecutting them. I added 2 sprigs of fern like foliage cut from Lemon Lime Twist & combined them into a cute posy. The sentiment is from Charming Sentiments (retired), stamped in Berry Burst on the reverse of a small gift tag. The edges have been scraped over the same ink pad.

Some Linen Thread was tied around the stems in a bow & is also used to attach the tag.

The posy is adhered with glue but the tag is raised on dimensionals.

The final touch are some more of the Itty Bitty Bokeh mix.

These 3 cards were super easy to create & used similar products PLUS also used some of the tags which would otherwise have been wasted. I'm really happy with the results.

So that's it for this post. I really enjoyed creating with this kit, now I'd like to share some of the latest news from Stampin' Up®.

Stampin' Up® has a number of ways to purchase their lovely products. You can look through their physical catalogue or browse through the catalogues online but there are also some products that are only available exclusively online that don't appear in any catalogues. These products are called the Online Exclusives & are only available under the Online Exclusives section of the Stampin' Up® shop. Check out the online exclusives in my online store. Stampin' Up® adds more product items to the online shop so don't forget to keep checking the store to see what's new. There are some lovely new products now available including kits, embellishments, stamps, dies & embossing folders. Something for everyone! If you would like a copy of the catalogue please send me a message at craftedbyalison@gmail.com or on my Facebook page, craftedbyalison. 

There is also another Sale-A-Bration happening right now until February 28th where you get free stuff, just for ordering product! YAY for free stuff!!!! There's also a great new joining offer inside the Sale-A-Bration catalogue. But there's not much time left so be quick if you want to take advantage of this offer!

Stampin' Up® have a great range of Kits including crafting, card making & gift giving. There were 2 brand new kits just added to the collection. Click here to check them all out in my online shop. As Stampin' Up® have so many beautiful kits available I feature a different kit in each blog so that you can see the range. 

This week's featured kit is City Sights. This kit is perfect for the men in your life or for those who prefer a city scene over flowers. There are all the supplies you need to create 8 beautiful cards with lovely matching envelopes.

Here's how Stampin' Up® describes the kit...

Make all-occasion cards with the City Sights Kit. Featuring artistic cityscape designs in neutral colours, this kit has a masculine charm, and is great to anyone dreaming of big city skylines. Craft like an artist using the different elements from this kit. It’s easy to wish a happy birthday or send a friendly note to a special someone! 

If you feel that you need to add this to your list then click here to purchase one from my online store. 

If you shop with me then don't forget to use this month's host code AUUBV3PY. This will allow me to pass on any hostess benefits to customers when the sales reach the required qualifying amount.

Lastly, there have been lots of great items added to the clearance rack which is now called Last Chance items so make sure you check them out using this link to my online store.

If you would like to purchase any of my creations that I feature in my blogs they can be found in my FaceBook shop at craftedbyalison or you can order something unique. 

I hope you've enjoyed today's post. I certainly had a lot of fun creating with leftovers. If you would like me to send you a copy of the current Annual catalogue or the new mini  then please message me via my FaceBook page, Crafted by Alison or send me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

That's all I have for you this week. My next blog is on Wednesday & I have a new card sketch for you. Card sketches are great to inspire you when you are in a creative funk or just for something new.

My next Sunday my blog will feature some adorable creations made with the Darling Dinos bundle. It is soooo cute!

I hope you can join me for both of them.

Well, that's it for another week. I hope you enjoyed this post & come back for more. 

Til next time, take care & keep creating! XX Alison.

Here are some links to the kit I used today & some craft room essentials.

Shop with me

Stamps, Dies, Embossing folders & punches

• Birthday Bash kit
• Cheerful Daisies stamp set
• Cheerful Daisies dies
• Cake Celebrations stamp set

Cardstock, DSP & paper goods

• Basic White Thick cardstock
• Granny Apple Green cardstock
• Lemon Lime Twist cardstock
• Berry Burst cardstock
• Pumpkin Pie cardstock

Inks & Markers

• Berry Burst Classic Stampin' pad
• Highland Heather Classic Stampin' pad
• Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' pad
• Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' pad
• Peach Pie Classic Stampin' pad
• Granny Apple Green Classic Stampin' pad
• Versamark ink
• WOW Basics embossing powders
• WOW Metallics embossing powders

Embellishments

• Petal Pink Scalloped ribbon
• Itty Bitty Bokeh mix
• Linen thread
• Adhesive Backed Pearl Trio

Adhesives

• Multipurpose liquid glue
• Tear and tape
• Dimensionals
  
• Mini Dimensionals
  
• Foam adhesive strips
• Mini Glue Dots
• Adhesive sheets

Tools

• Paper Trimmer
• Take Your Pick tool
• Paper Snips scissors
• Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine
• Water painters
• Heat tool
• Blending Brushes
  
• Sponge daubers