Cards By Carol

Thursday, April 9, 2026

A Tote Full Of Thanks

Have you seen the Spellbinders' Club Kits for April? I had so much fun creating this card with the Clear Stamp & Die, Fresh-Packed, and the 3D Embossing Folder of The Month, Market Crates.

The Fresh-Packed Clear Stamp + Die of The Month includes the stamps for the fruit and flowers with eight sentiment stamps. In the included die set you get dies for all of the sentiments, plus a die for the cute market tote!

I die cut the Fresh-Packed tote three times from white cardstock. I inked up one layer with a blending brush and then glued all three layers together.

To get the placement correct for the fruits and flowers, I very lightly traced around the die cut tote with a pencil. I used various inks from my stash to stamp the fruits and flowers.

I embossed Sicily colored cardstock with the Market Crates 3D embossing folder and glued it to an A2 card base. I trimmed the stamped panel to 3-½" x 4-¾" and glued it to the card front.

The sentiment is one of the eight in the Fresh-Packed stamp set and cut out with the included coordinating die.

If you have never checked out Spellbinders Monthly Club Kits, I would encourage you to do so. There are several options to choose from to fit whatever products you like to craft with! The sign-up window for the April Club Kits goes through April 27.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

Thank you very much for using my affiliate links to shop (never any additional cost to you)!

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

3-Dimensional Purse Gift Bag/Gift Card Holder

Hello crafty friends! I'm thrilled to be giving you a little sneaky peek of Honey Bee Stamps' upcoming Bloom In Style release, available after the release party on April 15.

This adorable project features the amazing Lovely Layers: Tote For All Seasons Honey Cuts (dies). You can use the dies in this set to create a 3-dimensional purse or a flat purse to be used as a small gift bag (as I did), a gift card holder, or a custom gift tag!

Be sure to check out my Instagram on Friday, April 10, to watch my reel of how to assemble this darling purse!

I found the Lovely Layers: Tote For All Seasons super easy to assemble. The Layering Guide is very clear and easy to follow too. On the Layering Guide you will find that you need to die cut two each of the side die and the purse front/back die. All of the score lines you need for the folds are pressed in for you when the pieces are cut out with the dies.

I also die cut three pieces of the purse handle. Once from white cardstock and twice from brushed gold cardstock. I glued the layers together to create a nice sturdy handle.

I chose some pale rose pink cardstock to die cut all of the pieces for the purse. I die cut the handle and buckle from brushed gold cardstock and the front flap layer from white cardstock.

Before I glued the pieces together, I added the quilted detailing with the two dies in the Accessorize It: Quilted die set. This made me realize that I could have centered these dies into the Tote dies to accomplish this in one step.

Next I used Bee Creative glue to adhere the Tote pieces together. You could definitely use a double sided adhesive, but I like the "wiggle room" you get with the glue before it sets. I did need to wait a few minutes to let the glue thoroughly dry before continuing with the rest of the gluing.

The main thing to remember when glueing the pieces together is to make sure to get all of the tabs to the inside of the purse when fully assembled. I glued all of the pieces together flat, and then adhered the sides and bottom to the back of the purse.

Once the purse was fully assembled, I glued on the handle and buckle pieces. I used a gold pen to trace the etched stitching for another touch of gold.

Of course, we don't want just a plain purse, right?! Haha! I embellished the purse with flowers from the new Lovely Layers: Petals & Wings dies. The scarf, from the new Accessorize It: Charmed, is die cut from patterned paper found in the Textiles & Texture: Celebrate paper pad (retiring).

I stamped a sentiment from the, coming soon, Luxurious Friend stamp set. I cut it out with the coordinating Luxurious Friend die.

I love how the buckle strap slides into the holder to hold the purse closed! For another bit of gold, I added a gem sticker to each flower center.

There are so many different ways to used the Lovely Layers: Tote For All Seasons dies! I love a good and versatile set like this one.

Be sure to come back here after the April 15 release party to shop these products in the Bloom In Style release. I will update the links for you as soon as possible after the release is available.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope your day is wonderful and crafty too!

Thank you very much for using my affiliate links to shop (never any additional cost to you)!

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Sending Easter Blessing

Hello crafty friends! It's April, spring has sprung, and it's Easter weekend coming up! All of that has inspired my card today that features Honey Bee Stamps' beautiful Lovely Layers: Easter Lily Honey Cuts! This could easily be made into a springtime card for any occasion by changing out the sentiment!

First I worked on the A2 card base layer first. I placed a piece of white cardstock into the Kaleidoscope 3D embossing folderand ran it through my die cutting machine.

Next I added yellow-green splatters to the panel. I did this by smooshing my ink pad onto my craft mat and added a few drops of water. Then I picked it up with a paint brush and splattered away!

I cut white cardstock with the dies from the Lovely Layers: Easter Lily set. I repeated the die cutting for the lily so I can have two.

Next I picked two shades of yellow green inks and used a small ink blending brush to add some light green shading near the base of each layer of the lilies. The flat tipped blender brushes (linked in the list below) really help to add ink in a narrow strip! I used those inks plus a darker green ink to color the leaves and palm fronds.

The assembly is super easy for the Easter Lilies. I used Bee Creative glue to adhere all of the layers. I used glue and foam adhesive to adhere my Lily arrangement to the card.

The sentiment is from the He Is Risen stamp set and stamped with black pigment ink. I cut it out with the coordinating die.

I totally love how Honey Bee's previously released products remain so timeless and I enjoy using them so much!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope your day is wonderful and that Easter is filled with many blessings for you!

Thanks so very much for using my affiliate links to shop (never any additional cost to you)!

Saturday, March 28, 2026

My Pretty Things Blooming Friendships Release -- A Celebration of Growing Our Crafty Community

Hello, crafty friends! Today I am excited to be participating in My Pretty Things' first EVER blog hop! Today, we are introducing My Pretty Things' newest release in this blog hop: Blooming Friendships -- a collection designed to celebrate community, kindness, and the beauty of handmade expression.

There's something truly special about the way creativity brings people together, and that's why the My Pretty Things' tagline is:

"Crafting Friendships Everyday"

Whether it's a handmade card or crafty time shared together, the bonds we build through art are some of the most special moments between friends.

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There will be prizes drawn for this hop! Be sure to read all about it at the end. I also have the complete hop list for you too!

Today I am sharing three cards I made with products from the Blooming Friendship release! First up are these two cards featuring the absolutely beautiful Watercolor Wonderland Wide Washi Tape and the coordinating Watercolor Wonderland Washi Die.

I've also used the new Spring Floral Lattice stencil set to create my textured background. I inked through the stencil and around the card panel edges with a pretty green ink. I added a few gold splatters to coordinate with the gold in the washi tape.

I pulled off a section of florals of the Watercolor Wonderland Wide Washi Tape and adhered it to a piece of white cardstock. Then I placed the one-piece Watercolor Wonderland Washi Die over the panel and ran it through my die cutting machine. This one die will die cut 10 individual pieces for you to arrange in any way you like.

The sentiment is from the Pretty Awesome Birthday stamp set. After stamping, I trimmed it into a rectangle and popped it up with foam adhesive.

Here is the second card featuring the Watercolor Wonderland Wide Washi Tape and the Spring Floral Lattice stencil set.

What is different on this card is the texture paste I tinted with a drop of yellow and green re-inkers. I applied one color through one of the Spring Floral Lattice stencils, let it dry, and then repeated the step with the other color texture paste and the other stencil.

The sentiment is made with the new Layered Friend Dies. These multi-layer dies are so fun. I inked cardstock with the same color ink as used for the stenciling for a coordinating sentiment.

This Watercolor Wonderland Wide Washi Tape is absolutely beautiful with the touches of gold! These would be gorgeous on scrapbook pages too!

One more card that I am sharing today is made with these awesome new products: Buzzing By stamp set and the Postage Stamp Frame die.

I cut white cardstock with the Postage Stamp Frame die. Then I placed all of the pieces back together onto a sticky mat inside my MISTI. Then I stamped the sentiment images from the Buzzing By stamp set as shown, allowing some to hang over the die cut rectangles.

I colored all of the images with various Copic markers.

I added a black cardstock layer to an A2 card base. Then I glued the frame of the Postage Stamp die cut piece to the card. Next I added foam tape to the back of each rectangle to adhere each one to the card.

I'll be sharing a fourth card next Tuesday over on my Instagram! I hope you will follow me there to more inspiration for this awesome Blooming Friendships release! Now on to the fun stuff!

Giveaway Info:

My Pretty Things is giving away a $25 gift card to TWO lucky winners!! Both winners will be drawn randomly from U.S. entrants* that have hopped along and left kind comments on the blogs along the way. Deadline to comment is April 3, 2026.

Winners will be announced on the My Pretty Things website main page on Monday April 6, 2026.

*This giveaway is open only to participants in the U.S. as My Pretty Things does not currently ship internationally.

Hop along at each of these stops and leave comments to increase your chance to win:

Erin Thompson

Andrea Shell

Meghan Kennihan

Carol Hintermeier <<<that's me!

Amy Tsuruta

Shalana Glass

Brenda Noelke

Blooming Friendship release products used for my cards:

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Masculine Easter Basket Card

Hello crafty friends! Have you noticed that I sometimes enjoy finding unexpected ways to use crafty products? Haha! Well today, that's what I've done! How about using some of the tools from the Honey Bee Stamps new Mechanic Tool Box Add-On to make an Easter Basket for the guys? This was fun to make combining new products with some older favorites!

Here is a list of the featured products I've used:

Mechanic Tool Box Add-On dies
Gears 3D Embossing Folder
Bunny Basket dies
Lovely Layers: Rabbit
Grass Border die
Eggstra Special stamps/dies
Itty Bitty Eggs dies -- in retiring category
Hoppy Easter stamps/dies -- retiring

To begin, I inked blue ink onto 80# Neenah with a blending brush. Then I put it into the Gears 3D embossing folder to add some fun and manly texture. I glued this to an A2 card base.

Next I die cut the basket from the Bunny Basket set from blue cardstock. I added a bit of dimension with a shade darker coordinating ink.

The next step was to cut two pieces of white cardstock with the Grass Border die. I used a few green Copic markers to color the grass. Then I hand trimmed one piece into two pieces of grass to layer into the basket. When I glued these to the basket layers, I made sure to just add glue at the sides so I can tuck the basket goodies into the grass. The second grass piece is glued to the bottom front of the card.

I die cut white cardstock with the egg dies in the Itty Bitty Eggs (retiring). I did some quick coloring of each egg with my Copic markers. Then I used a white gel pen to add details to a few of the eggs.

I die cut the tools in the Mechanic Tool Box Add-On from white and matte silver cardstocks. I colored the tool handles with two red shades and then glued the layers together.

One more element I wanted to go with the basket is a rabbit! I die cut white cardstock with the dies from the Lovely Layers: Rabbit set. I used a couple shades of brown inks and blending brushes to color the layers. I used a pink Copic marker for the ears and cheeks. I used my favorite Bee Creative glue to adhere the layers.

I used two different sets for the sentiments and stamped both with black pigment ink. The top sentiment is from the retiring Hoppy Easter stamp set and coordinating dies. The other is from the Eggstra Special stamp set and cut out with the coordinating die.

After I assembled the Bunny Basket, I used the NEW ½" White Hexagon Ultra Thin Foam Dots to assemble it and the Rabbit.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my version of a masculine Easter basket card! Before I go, I just want to remind you that the retiring sets are gone once they're gone. I was really surprised to see SO MANY new items (and some of my favorites) in the retiring category! Be sure to check it out HERE!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope your day is awesome!

Thank you very much for using my affiliate links to shop (never any additional cost to you)!

Monday, March 23, 2026

Born To Shine Year After Year

Happy Monday, crafty friends! Today I'm sharing a card I made featuring Spellbinders beautiful Windmills and Tulips Press + Foil Plate and Stencil Bundle by Yana Smakula. I love how Spellbinders is now making plates that can be pressed and/or foiled! You get to choose!

I am a huge fan of layering stencils and so enjoy the process of adding ink layer by layer! Every time I pull off a stencil seeing the new layer of ink just makes me smile!

This time, I chose to foil the Windmills and Tulips press plate. I used 80# Neenah and Black Glimmer Foil with my Glimmer Hot Foil Machine to achieve the super crisp and slightly shiny outline of the images.

Next I used blending brushes to add various inks through each layer of the six layers of the Layered Windmills and Tulips stencil set. All of the ink colors I used are in the list below. I used sets of coordinating inks to achieve shading with the darker inks.

I used a brown Copic marker to make the doors and windows on the windmills a bit darker. I think adding these small details make cards that more special!

I added a sentiment that is from the La Dolce Vita Sentiments that is a sweet birthday sentiment. This is a Press Plate that will press/foil nine sentiments in one pass. There is a die included that cuts out each sentiment in one pass! I love having multiple sentiments already created and ready to use!

A trip to see a field of tulips with windmills in real life is certainly a bucket-list item! I hope I have time to use this Windmills and Tulips set again--I'm thinking maybe pink tulips!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

Thank you for using my affiliate links to shop (never any additional cost to you)!

Friday, March 20, 2026

Simon Says Stamp In My Heart Release Blog Hop Day 1

Hello, crafty friends! I'm so happy to be joining in Simon Says Stamp's In My Heart Day One Blog Hop! As is true for all of Simon's releases, this one is filled with so many beautiful stamps, dies, stencils, and embossing folders just right for our spring time projects!

Check this out!

You will receive this exclusive and not-yet-released Beautiful Day 3" x 4" stamp set for free with your purchase of any item in the exclusive In My Heart Collection! How awesome is that?! Note: This gift with purchase will expire on March 22 at 11:59 pm EDT or while supplies last.

Also, I want to let you know that Simon Says Stamp will be awarding a $25 coupon to every stop of the blog hop! All you need to do is to leave your comment here and at each stop along the way, which will increase your chances of winning! Check out the complete hop list below.

Now, on to my first card I am sharing with you! This features the new and so beautiful Jaunty Stem die set and the Big Basketweave Stencil.

One of my most favorite techniques to use in my card making is tinting texture paste to use with stencils! I tinted this texture paste with one drop of Lost Shadow Distress Ink Re-inker. I spread the tinted paste through the Big Basketweave Stencil without smoothing it off for this rustic look.

Mounting the dry stenciled panel onto light gray cardstock adds another touch of the light gray I used in the texture paste.

I love this background for the Jaunty Stem die set! After die cutting white cardstock, I did some quick Copic marker coloring on the pieces. Foam tape squares behind the flowers and glue on the stems creates more dimension on the card.

I used a sentiment from the previously released Basket of Blooms stamp set. I love making birthday cards for my stash!

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This next card is so sweet with a whimsical background I made with the Folk Flowers Background stamp.

I stamped this fun Folk Flowers Background stamp with clear embossing ink onto white cardstock. I added white embossing powder and then heat set it. I used ink blending brushes to add on soft shades of Distress Oxide inks.

I love how the white embossing just pops when color is added to the panel! Be sure to use a clean towel to wipe off any excess ink from the embossing.

The sentiments are from the new Thanks, Mom stamp set. I used my scissors to trim out the large sentiment, but there are coordinating dies available. Check out the link in my product list below.

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In case you missed it, yesterday I shared this fun and vibrant card over on my Instagram, @c.ann.h. This features the beautiful Friendly Blossoms Stencils and Coordinating Dies.

I used some of my favorite Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Ink pads to color through the Friendly Blossoms Stencils. I have all of the colors I used in my product list below.

When I die cut the stenciled images with the Friendly Blossoms dies, I die cut two more layers of each die from white cardstock. Note that I did not die cut the leaves.

I really love the perspective in dimension is achieved with the stacked florals and leaving the stenciled leafs on the panel!

These sentiments are also in the Thanks, Mom stamp set. I used my trimmer to cut them into rectangles and foam strips to adhere them to the card.

Thank you for taking a look at my cards in this awesome hop! I hope I've inspired you and that you will leave a comment for me before you continue hopping! The winners will be chosen by Simon Says Stamp and posted on their blog on Wednesday, March 25 with instructions on how to redeem your prize.