cardstock stripes

More Cardstock Stripes for End of School with Simon Says Stamp!

May 12, 2026

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon! *I have gathered links to all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience, using affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

Hi friends! We are eight days away from school beginning to let out here in my neck of the woods, and so that means it’s time for teacher thank you cards, graduation card, and teacher retirement cards! I think one of the best parts of being a cardmaker is being able to customize your project to perfectly suit the colors of your event. Wedding card? Make it match the invitation! Birthday card? Recipient’s favorite shades! Graduation card? School colors! One of our local schools has a royal blue and yellow color palette that is just so pretty, so I thought I’d make some fun and bold cards using the cardstock strip method from THIS project and THIS project, inspired by the projects in my CITI booth from Simon Says Stamp’s CREATE event! I even made a simple teacher retirement card using the same colors, this time with ink blending to make it go super quick. Let’s get started with the details!

To create this bold pair of cards, I used the Happy Cover die and it’s coordinating stamp set, aptly called Happy. The large cover plate die leaves the perfect space for a stamped sentiment from the mini stamp set, and makes it super easy to do paper piecing in your choice of colors!

For my first card, I die cut the Happy Cover die from Simon Says Stamp’s Sapphire Glitter Cardstock as well as Lemon Chiffon. Before paper piecing, I selected a variety of blue cardstock shades and trimmed them into strips of different thicknesses using my guillotine trimmer, as well as some Lemon Chiffon strips. Using the same technique from THIS post, I laid down three strips of adhesive vertically on my card base, then laid the strips horizontally all down the front of my card in my selected pattern. The different widths of the strips add some interest behind the bold die cut sentiment! After I had finished adhering all of the strips and trimmed off any excess, I adhered the glittering cover plate die cut directly over the top with liquid adhesive. I inlaid the individual die cut Lemon Chiffon letters, popping them up with thin foam adhesive squares, then added a heat embossed sentiment and some Butter Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for added sparkle!

My second card features the same yellow and blue color palette, this time putting those glittering blue letters to work inside the cover plate die cut. Waste not, want not! I blended Pawsitively Saturated Inks in shades of Butter and Royal on a white A2 card front, keeping the two colors separate with a section of white in the center so as not to create green. (Those color mixing lessons from gradeschool are definitely important ones to remember!) I adhered my Matte Champagne Foil cardstock Happy outline die cut on my blended card front with liquid adhesive, then placed the leftover blue glitter letters in their appropriate space. To complete the greeting, I thought a teacher’s retirement card would be a perfect occasion for a card with these colors! It’s even more fun to receive something so personalized, right? I added the embossed sentiment strip with thin foam adhesive squares for the tiniest bit of height, then added some Royal Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the card fron for added sparkle.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! Are you churning out graduation and teacher thank you cards? I know that I am!! We’re getting to the age that our friends’ children are starting to graduate from high school…. and boy does that make me feel old! Yikes! Thank so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

ILYSM for Mother’s Day with Simon Says Stamp + SALE!

May 10, 2026

Hi friends! I have one last project to share with you that was inspired by the CITI card that I helped teach at Simon Says Stamp CREATE last weekend! The beautiful striped backgrounds that I created for THIS post yielded three different projects. I used the first two striped panels as the background behind cover plate die cuts, but for today’s project, I thought I would allow the striped background and the gorgeous colors to be more prominently featured with the addition of a chunky sentiment and beautiful flora and foliage. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

To begin, I used the same technique that I used to create the striped backgrounds from the post linked above: add vertical strips of double sided adhesive to my A2 panel, then create a pattern using horizontal strips of cardstock in a variety of widths all down the front of the panel. Once I had created the striped panel, I used one of the A2 Arches dies to die cut the panel, doing my best to make sure that the bottom was lined up straight with the cardstock strips! The sandwich was thick and impressed a bit of the pattern from the top cutting plate into the foil cardstock. Not perfect, but still so pretty!

After I had die cut the striped panel, I mounted it on a Seashell A2 card front using thin foam adhesive squares. I then die cut the ILYSM from gold glitter and vellum cardstocks, adhering the pieces together with liquid adhesive. I also heat embossed another sentiment from Thanks, Mom onto some deep raspberry cardstock using gold glitter embossing powder, then die cut the finished sentiment with it’s coordinating die. I popped the two sentiment pieces up on the striped panel with some more thin foam adhesive for a bit of extra dimension.

To add some pretty decorative elements to this bold and graphic card, I die cut several flowers, berries, and foliage from the Aurora Blooms die set using the same shades of cardstock used on the striped panel, as well as the addition of some shining gold foil cardstock. I added Taffy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the berry branches instead of the cardstock circle die cuts, adding additional sparkle and shine to this card. I just love the modern elements of this project paired with the pretty flowers and beautiful colors.

Well, that’s all for my project today! Now for some fun sale information:

Simon Says Stamp is celebrating mothers for Mother’s Day with a sale through the end of the day! Simply fill your cart and add code MOM at checkout to receive $15 off your $100 purchase. Thanks, Simon!!

To those who are celebrating today, I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day with some rest, some yummy treats, and maybe a crafty gift or two. If this day is hard for you for any reason, I am sending lots of love and hugs.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Mother’s Day + Simon Says Stamp CREATE Inspiration!!

May 6, 2026

Hey friends! It’s been a hot minute since I posted…. I had the pleasure of teaching at Simon Says Stamp’s CREATE crafting event last weekend in Columbus, OH, and it was such a joyful event celebrating this hobby that we all adore! I met so many people in person that I’ve only known online, gave so many hugs, took a few pictures (thank you to those who asked for a picture with me… my kids now think I am “famous” lol!), and guided friends to create a pair of adorable cards! I was so inspired by Saturday’s card with it’s cardstock stripes peeking out from behind a cover plate die cut that I couldn’t resist putting my own spin on the project when I got home. I created two Mother’s Day cards using this fun technique, so let’s get started with the details!

Both of my cards today feature these colorful, vibrant stripes behind a crisp white cover plate die cut with solid, symmetrical openings in the negative space. This striping technique is such a fun way to use up your colorful cardstock scraps, and the color palettes are truly limitless! I selected a variety of shades of cardstock in different intensities of peach, pink, and gold, then used my guillotine trimmer to trim them in different widths. To create each panel, I used Simon Says Stamp’s Tear-Rifically Tacky Tape, which is a super strong double sided adhesive that is easy to tear off at just the right size, placing three adhesive strips vertically on my card base. I then laid my cardstock strips across the card front, interspersing the colorful strips with some blingy gold, creating a fun and colorful pattern all down the front of the card bases!

For my first card, I die cut the Fab Floral Plate from plain white cardstock and laid it directly over the top of my stripes to create a bold and colorful background with the pretty floral pattern! I used liquid glue to adhere the cover plate die cut, then placed a Gold Pawsitively Dazzling Gem in the center of each flower to add a touch of extra sparkle. For the greeting, I die cut the detail layer of the Simple Mother’s Day from gold glitter cardstock and the shadow layer from Concord and 9th’s Wildberry cardstock, layering the two together with liquid adhesive and placing it in the center of my striped card front with foam adhesive for a bit of extra height. Such a fun way to use up your paper scraps and still create a beautiful card front!

For my second card, I die cut the Dual Diamonds Cover Plate from white cardstock and again layered it over the top of the stripey card front with liquid adhesive. I placed a small Taffy Pawsitively Dazzling Gems where each diamond intersected with the next line, adding some extra shimmer and sparkle. For the greeting, I white embossed a sentiment from Thanks, Mom onto some tangerine cardstock, die cut it with it’s coordinating die, then layered it on a vellum Modern Teardrops die cut to ensure that the sentiment was visible on the busy background. I added a gold cord bow for one last touch of shine!

Well, that’s all for my cards today! Have you tried this technique before? It was such an inspiring weekend, and I am excited to share the CREATE-inspired projects that I created after my return home! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!