Matthew 6:33 Card

I love making cards with scripture verses, and I recently discovered Papertrey Ink's Reflections subscription. Each month, a beautiful scripture stamp, coordinating die to cut out the stamped verse, and 2 decorative label dies arrive in my mailbox to play with! I'm delighted by the subscription and have started making a set of cards using the verse of the month stamp and sending them out to elderly members of my church and other people the Lord puts on my heart to encourage. 

For this card, I wanted to use the colors in Papertrey's September challenge, so I picked yellow, orange, and pink inks and started by creating a stenciled background using Papertrey's Color Pop Butterflies set. Once I had finished stenciling, I trimmed the panel to fit my white, top-folding A2 card base and adhered it to the card front. 

For the verse, I stamped it in black ink so it would stand out. I die cut it with the coordinating die (I just love the look of die cut sentiments/verses!) and then ink blended it with the same pink I used in the background. I then die cut the largest of the 2 labels in the Reflections Matthew 6 subscription set out of white cardstock. I ink blended the die cut using the same golden yellow I had used in the background. Then I adhered that die cut and the scripture verse to the front of the card. This was a quick and easy card that will brighten a friend's day with the cheerful color palette and the encouraging verse. 

Challenges I'm entering: 

September 2026 Inspiration Challenge – Papertrey Ink: 

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: ATG (4/5; ends 10/7/26)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (4/5 for the week; 4/10 for the challenge; ends 10/14/26)

Classic Design Challenge Blog: ATG with option to use die cuts (ends 10/12/26)

613 Avenue Create: ATG with option of  Bright and Breezy (6/8; ends at the end of the month)

A Place To Start: ATG with option of Relates to a Song (5/8; ends at the end of the month)

I'd like to leave a blessing for all the lovely visitors to my blog: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26

 

Butterfly Wedding Card

One of my good friends has a daughter getting married in October, so I thought I would create a wedding card for her, and a shaker card seemed like a fun, celebratory design for a wedding card.

I started with a white, top-folding A2 card base and then trimmed a piece of white cardstock to 4 1/8 by 5 3/8ths and ink blended it in yellow along the edges. I then adhered this panel to the card base. 

Next, I die cut the butterfly body from Papertrey Ink's Enclosed: Butterfly die set. Using the same yellow ink, I ink blended the die cut and set it aside. Then I die cut the frame several times. I used fun foam for the bottom layer and added that to my yellow body. I added some sequins and small beads as my shaker elements inside the layer of fun foam. Then I die cut a piece of acetate with the solid butterfly die and adhered it to the layer of fun foam. Then I die cut a couple more layers of the frame piece and trimmed out the word "blessed" from one. I ink blended the layer that still had the word "blessed" in it using orange ink and then ink blended the trimmed layer with pink ink and adhered that on top of the orange layer. I adhered those layers on top of the acetate to complete the butterfly shaker.

I was planning to use an ink blended background behind the butterfly, but it didn't feel quite right, so I took out Papertrey Ink's Make it Market: Out of this World kit and used a stencil from that kit. I ink blended all three colors for this month's challenge on the Papertrey Ink blog through the stencil. Then I put the butterfly shaker down on the card front to see where to stamp the "wedding day" stamp from Papertrey Ink's One Big Happy stamp and die set. After stamping the sentiment in orange ink, I adhered the butterfly shaker to the panel and adhered the panel to the yellow layer on the card base to finish the card. 

 

Challenges I'm entering: 

September 2026 Inspiration Challenge – Papertrey Ink: 

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: ATG (3/5; ends 10/7/26)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (3/5 for the week; 3/10 for the challenge; ends 10/14/26)

Allsorts challenge blog: Anything Autumn or ATG (4/5; ends 10/8/26)

Classic Design Challenge Blog: ATG with option to use die cuts (ends 10/12/26)

613 Avenue Create: ATG with option of  Bright and Breezy (5/8; ends at the end of the month)

A Place To Start: ATG with option of Relates to a Song (4/8; ends at the end of the month)

I'd like to leave a blessing for all the lovely visitors to my blog: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26

 

Bountiful Blessings Card

I recently started subscribing to Papertrey Ink's monthly Reflections subscription, and while I was on the website, I checked out the monthly challenge and decided I wanted to create a card for it. I pulled out the Color Pop: Autumn set and used the challenge colors to ink blend and stamp my card elements. I've had this kit for some time now but hadn't ever played with it, so I was learning as I went. I discovered the stamps create beautiful additions to the stenciled background, but I discovered that too late as I had already added my sentiments to the stenciled panel before I realized how the stamps coordinate with the stencils. No problem though! I used the coordinating dies to die cut a couple elements that I went back and ink blended with the stencils (they were easy to line up with the stencils) and then stamped the tops of them and added them to the card front using foam tape for dimension. I layered the panel on a piece of cardstock I had ink blended around the edges to match the yellow in the stenciled background and then added the panel to a top-folding kraft card base. I finished the card by adding 3 pink enamel dots. 

Challenges I'm entering: 

September 2026 Inspiration Challenge – Papertrey Ink: 

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: ATG (2/5; ends 10/7/26)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (2/5 for the week; 2/10 for the challenge; ends 10/14/26)

Allsorts challenge blog: Anything Autumn or ATG (3/5; ends 10/8/26)

****Pammie's Inky Pinkies**** **********Challenges**********: ATG (3/3; ends 10/5/26) C10

Inspiration Station: My card has a fall theme like the one in the inspiration photo (5/8; ends at the end of the month) 

Classic Design Challenge Blog: ATG with option to use die cuts (ends 10/12/26)

613 Avenue Create: ATG with option of  Bright and Breezy (4/8; ends at the end of the month)

A Place To Start: ATG with option of Relates to a Song (3/8; ends at the end of the month)

Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game!: ATG with stencils with option of yellow (I used the Paper Echoes stencil on the card front, the inside of the card, and the envelope) (3/3; ends at the end of the month)

I'd like to leave a blessing for all the lovely visitors to my blog: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26

 

Apple Branch Card

I'm delighted to be hosting Altenew's September Inspiration Challenge, and I chose a color palette with lovely fall colors. To see the card I created for the challenge post, check out this link: Carrie's Custom Cards: Altenew September Inspiration Challenge. 

For this card using the challenge colors, I created a top-folding white A2 card base. Then I trimmed a panel of black cardstock to 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 and adhered it to the card front. Next, I used Catherine Pooler's Over Coffee ink on Altenew's Weathered Bark 3D embossing folder and ran a piece of brown cardstock through my Platinum 6 machine. The texture from this embossing folder is amazing, and it's even better when I add ink to the embossing folder so it gets in the crevices and darkens those areas. I made sure the ink was dry before trimming the embossed panel to 4 1/8 by 5 3/8 inches. I adhered that panel to the card front using a piece of fun foam I had trimmed to 4 by 5 1/2 inches so it has a bit of dimension. 

For the apples, I die cut the pieces to create 4 apples from Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: Fruits & Flowers project kit and watercolored them using Altenew's Ruby Red Watercolor Brush Marker. Then I created the branch and leaves using Altenew's Creative Cuts: Fresh Pears die set and ink blended the leaves using Altenew's Whispering Woodland Fresh Dye Ink collection. For the branch, I ink blended Altenew's Choco Hazelnut ink onto the branch. I stamped the "You are apple-solutely the best!" sentiment from Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: Sweet Harvest project kit and trimmed the sentiment into a banner shape. I adhered the branch, leaves, apples, and sentiment using Altenew's Instant Dimension Foam Tape. 

If you're interested in doing some crafty shopping at Altenew, I'd be so grateful if you used my affiliate link here: Carrie's Altenew Link.  I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Altenew carries many wonderful craft products and has a great weekly sales section if you are looking for bargain prices to grow your Altenew collection. 

TIME OUT Challenges: Colors of the season where you're located: I'm in Michigan, USA, so fall colors are beginning to show and it's apple season (4/5; ends 9/30/26) C5

simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/: ATG 

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (1/5 for the week; 1/10 for the challenge; ends 10/14/26)

Allsorts challenge blog: Anything Autumn or ATG (2/5; ends 10/8/26)

****Pammie's Inky Pinkies**** **********Challenges**********: ATG (2/3; ends 10/5/26) C10

I'd like to leave a blessing for all the lovely visitors to my blog: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26

 

Rustling Leaves Feel Better Card

I recently watched a YouTube live with Altenew Ambassador and Educator Lana Tabor (see video here: Get More from 3D Embossing Folders | Altenew LIVE + $20 GIVEAWAY), and I loved her card design and decided to CASE her card with a different color scheme and a press plate set rather than an embossing folder. 

I started with Altenew's Rustling Leaves press plate. I inked up the foliage groupings with Altenew's Cherry Sweet Fresh Die Ink first and then ran the plates through a second time after inking them up with Altenew's Snapdragon Fresh Dye Ink. Then I die cut them with the coordinating dies and ink blended them using the coordinating stencil. I again used Cherry Sweet and Snapdragon inks for the ink blending. 

I trimmed an ink-smooshed panel to 4 1/8 by 5 3/8 inches and die cut an arch out of it using Altenew's Nesting Arches die set. I die cut another arch out of gold cardstock using the arch die in Altenew's Craft-Your-Life: The Afternoon Spread project kit. Then I ink blended some Cherry Sweet ink onto a white panel and placed it behind the orange ink-smooshed panel and added the gold arch. I then die cut a smaller arch out of the orange ink-smooshed paper and adhered it onto the panel. I adhered all the layers to a top-folding white A2 card base. 

Next, I arranged my die cut leaves onto the panel and die cut the "feel better" sentiment out of the same gold cardstock I used for the gold arch in the background and the shadow die from white cardstock. The sentiment is from Altenew's Warm & Cozy Sentiment Die Set. I die cut a few of the shadow layers and adhered them together for a bit of dimension on the sentiment. I adhered the leaves and sentiment to the card panel to finish the card. This one went to a friend from church who is recovering from cancer treatments. 

If you're interested in doing some crafty shopping at Altenew, I'd be so grateful if you used my affiliate link here: Carrie's Altenew Link.  I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Altenew carries many wonderful craft products and has a great weekly sales section if you are looking for bargain prices to grow your Altenew collection. 

 Challenges I'm entering:

TIME OUT Challenges: Colors of the season where you're located: I'm in Michigan, USA, so fall colors are beginning to show (3/5; ends 9/30/26) C5

Inspiration Station: My card has a fall theme like the one in the inspiration photo (4/8; ends at the end of the month) 

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (3/5 for the week; 3/10 for the challenge; ends 9/30/26)

Allsorts challenge blog: Anything Autumn or ATG (2/5; ends 10/8/26)

****Pammie's Inky Pinkies**** **********Challenges**********: ATG (1/3; ends 10/5/26)

I'd like to leave a blessing for all the lovely visitors to my blog: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26

Sending Love Houseplants Card

I recently attended a Zoom with Altenew Educator Evette Jacobson where she had participants play with ink smooshing through stencils and heat embossing with just water instead of ink to hold the embossing powder. It was so much fun! 

For my card, I ink smooshed through Altenew's Cascading Elegance stencil using inks from the following Altenew collections: Warm & Cozy, Cherry Blossom, Golden Sunset. I used these same inks to ink smoosh onto a couple more panels of white cardstock. I added gold embossing powder to one of the ink smooshed panels and then heat set it. The places where the ink smooshing was still wet held the embossing powder and left some lovely gold areas. 

I used the ink smooshed and gold embossed panel to die cut leaves from Altenew's Crispy Leaves die set, and then I used the other ink smooshed panel without any embossing to die cut some foliage elements from Altenew's Creative Cuts: Houseplants set. I also ink smooshed a panel using inks from Altenew's Delectable Desserts ink collection and used that panel to die cut the pieces for the little planter. I assembled the pieces for the planter and decided where I wanted all the little foliage elements to go, and then I adhered everything to the panel I had ink smooshed through the stencil on. Some elements were adhered with liquid glue and some with Altenew's Instant Dimension Foam Tape. I had trimmed the panel to 4 by 5 1/4, and I adhered it to a panel of orange cardstock that I trimmed to 4 1/8 by 5 3/8 inches. I added a couple pieces of tulle I ripped and used a spray adhesive on to add more texture to the background. I added some twine around the bottom of the panel before adhering the panel to a top-folding white card base. 

To finish the card, I die cut "sending love" and its shadow from Altenew's Strong Oak Stencil Art and coordinating die set and adhered the sentiment to the card front. I die cut one layer in yellow and ink blended one layer with Rubellite ink to match the pink ink in the background and on the leaves. I die cut the shadow layer in vellum. When I stacked the die cuts, I did a slight offset so the yellow layer peeks out a bit behind the pink layer. 

If you're interested in doing some crafty shopping at Altenew, I'd be so grateful if you used my affiliate link here: Carrie's Altenew Link.  I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Altenew carries many wonderful craft products and has a great weekly sales section if you are looking for bargain prices to grow your Altenew collection. 

 Challenges I'm entering:

TIME OUT Challenges: Colors of the season where you're located: I'm in Michigan, USA, so fall colors are beginning to show (2/5; ends 9/30/26) C5

Inspiration Station: My card has a fall theme like the one in the inspiration photo (3/8; ends at the end of the month) 

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (2/5 for the week; 2/10 for the challenge; ends 9/30/26)

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/: Make your own background (2/5; ends 9/28/26)

Allsorts challenge blog: Anything Autumn or ATG (1/5; ends 10/8/26)

I'd like to leave a blessing for all the lovely visitors to my blog: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26

Majestic Maple Card

I wanted to include a fall-themed card in a package I sent to my oldest daughter with jars of homemade raspberry jam recently, so I took out Altenew's Majestic Maple Layering Die Set and created this card.

I started with a top-folding A2 card I trimmed and scored using kraft cardstock. Then I die cut the pieces of the Majestic Maple die set using brown cardstock for the trunk and 3 different watercolor papers I had painted with a variety of metallic acrylic paints for the 3 layers of the foliage on the tree. I layered everything together and used Altenew's Instant Dimension Foam Tape for some of the layers to give it dimension. 

For the background, I embossed some watercolor cardstock I had painted with brown watercolor using Altenew's Rolling Hills 3D embossing folder. I trimmed a piece of dark brown cardstock the same color as the tree trunk to 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches and then trimmed the watercolored and embossed panel to 4 1/8 by 5 3/8 and adhered them together and then adhered them to the card base. 

I adhered the Majestic Maple tree to the card panel and then decided on a sentiment. In a perfect world, I would have added the sentiment first to make my life easier, but thankfully my card base fit in my Stampwheel 2.0, and I was able to stamp the "hope today is beautiful" sentiment (from Altenew's Magnolia Ballerina stamp set) with VersaFine Clair: Pinecone ink despite the dimension on the Maple tree die cuts. I needed to stamp it a couple times to get all parts of the stamp nice and crisp, but thankfully it worked. I would recommend stamping the sentiment before adding the die cut next time! 😂

If you're interested in doing some crafty shopping at Altenew, I'd be so grateful if you used my affiliate link here: Carrie's Altenew Link.  I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Altenew carries many wonderful craft products and has a great weekly sales section if you are looking for bargain prices to grow your Altenew collection. 

Close up:

Challenges I'm entering:

TIME OUT Challenges: Colors of the season where you're located: I'm in Michigan, USA, so fall colors are beginning to show (1/5; ends 9/30/26) C5

simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/: Make Your Own Background (I watercolored and then embossed my background panel) (1/5; ends 9/28/26)

Inspiration Station: My card has a fall theme like the one in the inspiration photo (2/8; ends at the end of the month) 

Allsorts challenge blog: Sympathy/Thinking of You/Get Well or ATG (1/5; ends 9/24/26)

Word Art Wednesday: ATG (1/5 for the week; 1/10 for the challenge; ends 9/30/26)

I'd like to leave a blessing for all the lovely visitors to my blog: 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26