Tamara's Paper Trail

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

The PERFECT layout for beginners or mass-producers! MCM Layout Aug 25, 2025

Happy Wednesday! Hope you're day is starting off well. Mine is so-so. After only 4 hours of sleep (thank you insomnia due to upcoming Garage Sale prep I still need to do before tomorrow and a howling cat!) ... but I have coffee so I WILL get through the day lol. Yes, I SHOULD be out pricing more stuff right now but I really wanted to blog about the card layout I used this week on my MCM Facebook Live. It has been one of my most popular Lives and subsequent FB posts ever! ... so I wanted to get this out there for more people to be able to find the details.

I WANT to give credit for the layout to the person who made the card I stumbled across who-knows-when. I found it in my saved Pinterest board but there was no link or watermark. Reminder to ALWAYS watermark your creations so credit CAN be given!

The card I saw was so simple it struck me as beautiful. Not gunna lie ... when I made my own I had the urge to "add more" ... some bling, die cuts, Baker's Twine ... but I stopped myself. The beauty really is in the simplicity. Let the paper and sentiment do the work. This is the PERFECT layout for a beginner card maker or if you are mass producing OR if you just wanna make lots if cards in one sitting. Here are the ELEVEN I made/showed during my 45 minutes if crafting (y'all know the first 15 minutes is me sharing stories with you lol). Check these out!

SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOO quick and easy!!!!! And yes, I tried it with rhinestones but didn't like it! (that's right. I said it lol). Here they all are up close ...

Beautiful Gallery paper and sentiment from Simply Said.

Beautiful Gallery paper and sentiment from an ooooooold retired set "Loving Thoughts".

Beautiful Gallery paper and sentiment from Simply Said.

Beautiful Gallery paper and sentiment from Living Thoughts.

Traditional Christmas paper and sentiment from Traditional Labels.

Peaceful Garden paper and sentiment from Celebrate the Miracle.

Gather Together paper and sentiment from Amber Autumn.

Painterly Pears paper and sentiment from Simply Said.

Celebratory Sips paper and sentiment from Simply Said.

Floral Impressions paper and sentiment from Simply Said.

You just HAVE to try this layout! When you're ready to jump in, here is the "recipe" of the pieces you need to prep ...

... and here is the Mystery Card Monday (MCM) Facebook Live replay, showing you how to cut/score the papers and put all the pieces together ...

So that's it for this week. If you would like to join me LIVE for my MCM (Mystery Card Monday) sessions, you can catch me on my FaceBook Page here at 7:00 pm Mountain Time every Monday ... or on my YouTube Channel here at the same time (I stream live to both). Like and Follow my FB Page and/or Subscribe to my YouTube Channel. I'd love to have you - the live community is AMAZING and so much fun!

If you live in Canada and would like to purchase any of the items I used for my cards, just click any of the pictures below and you will be taken to my online store. Thank you! I appreciate your support!

Stay amazing!

Tamara

Product List

Simply Said Mix & Match Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[163756]

$24.00

Celebrate The Miracle Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[165131]

$33.00

Floral Impressions 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165603]

$17.00

Celebratory Sips 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper & Sticker Sheet (English)

[166645]

$23.25

Painterly Pears 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[166146]

$17.00

Beautiful Gallery 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[165196]

$17.00

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119686]

$15.75

Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133676]

$15.75

Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119684]

$15.75

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$20.00

Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133675]

$15.75

Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[100702]

$15.75

Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[100867]

$15.75

Darling Duckling 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[165622]

$20.00

Misty Moonlight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[153081]

$20.00

Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133679]

$15.75

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[102482]

$15.75

Calypso Coral 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[122925]

$15.75

Basic Beige 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[164511]

$20.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[147114]

$12.25

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

[147111]

$12.25

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

[147092]

$12.25

Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

[147110]

$12.25

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

[147101]

$12.25

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$6.00

Stampin' Seal

[152813]

$11.00

Paper Snips

[103579]

$16.50

Bone Folder

[102300]

$11.00

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$39.00

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Quick & Easy Card Layout - MCM Layout Aug 18, 2025

Happy Tuesday! MAN! This has been the loooooongest day! We're having the main floor flooring redone this week, so I hit the Craft Cave around 9:00 am. Eleven hours later I'm still working! Things that happened this morning seem like they happened DAYS ago! Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight!

Did you catch MCM last night on FaceBook? Not gunna lie. The second card was pretty painful ... both to create AND to watch lol. I struggled with the red/olive card below, but feel I got there in the end. The layout IS a simple one. Apparently I just struggle with which colours to use for the base and layers! These are the cards I (somehow) pulled together ....

The first two are the "beginner/basic/easiest". The designer papers have the pattern maintained and the Vanilla layer isn't embossed. The embellishments are simple - just twine and gems. All of these products are new, in the upcoming Sept-Dec 2025 mini catalogue. The paper is Autumn Toile. The twine is Early Espresso/Old Olive Linen thread combo pack and the gems are Streaked Dots. The sentiment is from Simply Said set. The Fall Toils Suite of products is GORGEOUS! I can't wait to play with them more!

This one was made with the upcoming Online Exclusive paper, Elegant Pine Snowflakes. The Old Olive is from the above espresso/Olive Linen Thread pack and the new embellishments (a must have!) are Traditional Sparkling Sequins. The sentiment is from (of all things) Long Time No See stamp set.

If you watch my FB videos you know what I say to "step up a card" and make it a bit fancier ... texture and/or layers! This one adds texture. I embossed the back Old Olive layer with the Sunflower 3D embossing folder (it's hidden enough the it looks like poinsettias, don't you think??). The upcoming paper is from the Traditions of Christmas. The sentiment is from the upcoming Peaceful Garden set. The layer is Mossy Meadow and the embellishments are our Flower Accents. The twine is the Old Olive Linen Twine (can you tell I kind of love it??).

To step the next one up I embossed the vanilla layer with the Exposed Brick 3D embossing folder, flipped the second piece over and added a die cut from the upcoming Autumn Trees bundle. Love it!!

Have I inspired you to try this layout? I hope so - it's a keeper! When you're ready to try it, here is the "recipe" of the pieces you need to prep ...