December 2025 Class - Scene Creation & Monochromatic Color Schemes

 

This month we're looking at aspects of scene creation - this time with Monochromatic color schemes.  All cards used Stampin' Up!s discontinued Winter Meadow papers, but most paper packs have papers that will work well for this technique. (As always, all Stampin' Up! images © 1990–2025 Stampin’ Up!®)  

I started with shades of brown using Early Espresso ink and cardstock.  The focal was a simple single-stamp scene like you see in the card above - though this one is dressed up as a shaker card with an embossed frame. To make it, I used a scene from the Winter Scenes stamp set, dies from the Framed Scenes die set and the Timber 3D embossing folder (both, unfortunately, discontinued), but again, you can find great dies and embossing folders on their website here.  The sentiment was created using a discontinued hybrid embossing folder called Thoughtful Moments.

The same color scheme was used for the center step card below.  

This time, the focal was created using two stamps from that same Winter Scenes stamp set - with some masking.  Sentiments came from two discontinued sets - Sentimental Rose kit, and Flower Cart stamp set.  

Next, I moved to a blue color scheme using Night of Navy ink and cardstock.  

 

This time I used stamps from Stampin' Up!s Woodland Scenery set and stamped directly onto the patterned paper.  (Sentiment was from the discontinued Paper Pumpkin kit called Warm Wishes).  

As you can see, the second of these cards was made like an easel card. I didn't like the way the smoke and logs were see-through enough that they didn't show well over the patterned paper.  I colored them in with a light Boho Blue Stampin' Blends marker - which fortunately looks better in real life than in the picture!

And finally, I made cards using a blue-green color scheme. This time, the cardstock used was Pretty Peacock, and I used both Pretty Peacock and Lost Lagoon inks.  

This first card again used stamps from Woodland Scenery (with sentiment from Warm Wishes Paper Pumpkin kit). 

 

For this last card, I used BOTH stamp sets - Winter Scenes and Woodland Scenery. This time I used Lost Lagoon ink for all but the greeting (from discontinued Greetings of the Season) which was stamped in Pretty Peacock ink.  I really like the way all those stamps combined on this card - all four of the Winter Scenes, and then the trees, deer, and snow from Woodland Scenery. In hindsight, however, it might have been better to have used both inks like I did for the previous card. I would have liked just a bit more contrast. Anyway, I finished this card by adding a few snowflake confetti pieces I had in my stash.

November Swaps

Today I have not one but TWO cards for the November digi swap - and then my regular swap card.  For the digital makes, I used printed digi paper and focals/greetings I found in my stash from Hunkydory.  

 

First up, above, is a 5 x 7 card made using a lovely denim colored digital background.  Unfortunately, the colors show a bit differently in the picture, (probably a difference between the glossy focal & mat background).  In real life, the colors of the focal/greeting panel go REALLY well with the background. For this card, I simply cut the digi paper to be a little smaller than my card front, inked the edges with Stampin' Up!s Night of Navy ink, and glued it to the card front.  Then I cut down the Little Book page to fit, (I'm not sure what set it came from because it was given to me), matted it on white cardstock, and added it with dimensionals.

 

Secondly I have the card you see here: 

This card uses a digi paper that is more of a linen look with lace - really pretty.  I  found this cute dog in my Hunkydory stash - came from an old Pop-a-Topper set called It's a Cat and Dogs Life, while the sentiment came from a little book of sentiments I had.  After gluing those two pieces directly to the card front, I added a ribbon bow with a Mini Adhesive Dot (ribbon from my stash - no idea who made it) and sequins (again from my stash) using Multipurpose glue.  Easy, but I think it's a cute card.

 

Finally,  I have my Swap Card:

 

Because it turns out there really wasn't time to create the third step card in my More Step Cards class (see next picture below), I decided to turn it into my swap card for this month.  I simply created a pumpkin to add to it!  The pumpkin was made from a small stamp from HOTP and colored with Stampin' Blends.  Then I found I had a squirrel with an acorn in my stash (Karen Burniston dies), so added it.  Quick and easy turn around - and nice to have it completed in this busy month!

 

 

 

I HAD made it as you see here. The structure was created quite similarly to a side step card, but has a narrower area on the left and the back two stairs are created side by side with different heights.  I decorated with leaves (from Autumn Leaves dies and Changing Leaves Hybrid Embossing folder - discontinued from Stampin' Up!) & a sentiment.  This time, the stamp for the sentiment came from the Textured Notes stamp set, and was created using the Autumn Leaves dies.

More Step Cards Class

Today I have more step cards from our latest class.  The first 3 have a clear Autumn theme and are the ones we made in class.  At the end, I show 2 more versions of these cards - same types, but decorated differently.  Here's the list of materials used for the first three cards (all from Stampin' Up! (except for the little bit of ribbon & the squirrel that I found in my stash):

• Autumn Leaves (stamps & dies), Changing Leaves (hybrid embossing folder with dies, stamps), Textured Notes (stamps).  Note that the first two sets are no longer available, but there are several other options currently available here.
• Thick Basic White cardstock for card bases
• Colored Cardstock in these colors - Pecan Pie, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry 
• Woven Textures DSP - beautiful neutral papers that can be used for MANY different themes, and make great backdrops for these Autumn makes (and the last two cards as well).
• A bit of To Market DSP that had a basket on it. 
• A squirrel from my stash (made with a Karen Burniston die, but you can get a very similar look using the Fluffy Squirrel bundle from Stampin' Up!  
• A bit of brown grosgrain ribbon from my stash
• Classic Inks in these colors: Pecan Pie, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Old Olive 

I had them make a bunch of leaves using the both the Autumn Leaves dies and the Changing Leaves Hybrid Embossing Folder.  They used blending brushes to add color to the leaves to make them look more real.  This is mostly what we used to decorate the cards, so we could focus on how to make the cards themselves.  Here's a look at the cards. 

Light Up Nativity Cards & more

Today, unlike usual, I am not using Stampin' Up materials except for a bit of cardstock and ink.  I found a beautiful set of Nativity papers at Hobby Lobby that was 50% off, and I thought they'd be perfect for the nativity cards I wanted to make.  There are several pages that are great for backgrounds, and some pages that are great for fussy cutting to create scenes.  My niece and I shared them, and she has the cover, so I don't know who made them, but I thought in addition to a few nativity cards in general, they'd be great for trying out some lights I got from Pear Blossom Press.  They are SO MUCH fun!

I'll started with the lighted cards.  I got a package that had two types of lights.  They call one a halo light because it's forms a circle of light (that's the one I used on the card you see at the top of the page).  The other is called a "One Light".  I used that on the first lighted card I made.  The halo was second, and the remaining two cards were slimline cards that I did not use lights on.  Here's a look at each individually.