Tamara's Paper Trail

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Easy Card Layout: From Simple to Stunning in Just a Few Steps - MCM layout July 28, 2026

Happy Tuesday! It's been a full day for THIS gal already - up at 5:00 am and going hard ever since! Not gunna lie, ready for a nap now. Alas, Blog posts don't write themselves and I'm off to go Glamping tomorrow so Giddy Up, Let's Go!

I hope you had a chance to watch my Mystery Card Monday (MCM) Facebook Live last night. It was a FUN one, where I took a layout I found from Cheryl Dorsey (Cheryl's Stampin' Squad) and turned it into these five awesome cards ....

Notice how the layout can be SUPER simple, using very basic supplies most card makers have (stamps, ink, paper, punch) OR you can add embossed layers, die cuts, colouring and embellishments to "step it up". THAT is the sign of a versatile layout!

These are the cards I focused on showing you. For both I used the Moonlit Flora Designer Paper and Mossy Meadow card stock and inks. The "basic" one on the left leaves the middle card stock layer un-embossed, uses the Rounded Rectangle Punch, Natural Matte Dots and the sentiment from Prayers & Promises. The card on the right embosses the middle layer with the Fern & Flora Embossing Folder, a die cut from Filled with Sweetness for the sentiment and coloured butterflies from the Fern & Flora dies. The embellishments are from the Shimmering Dots.

I LOVE this one! It uses some retired paper, Floral Impressions. The sentiment is from Framed Violets. The embellishments are from (now retired) Deer Dots. The embossing folder is Lazy Daisy 3D.

This one is fun, using paper from A Stitched Season paper, one of three embossing folders from the new Seasonal Cheer Mini Embossing Folders, sentiment from Festive Cheer in Real Red (paper is Poppy Parade) and the embellishments are the Adhesive Backed Peppermints.

If Halloween is more you style, this one uses the new Spooktacular paper, Seasonal Cheer Mini Embossing Folders and the CUTEST little Adhesive Bakced Bats, Ghosts & Dots. hee hee ... The sentiment is from our Greetings for All Mix & Match Ephemera Pack.

Again, this is a close up of the "basic" card layout ...

... and the "stepped up" version. The embellishments on this one are from Dewdrops Embellishments.

I urge you to try this layout! It packs a really great WOW factor but is so easy! If you want to make one, prep these pieces ....

Check out the video replay on how to put all the pieces together, along with lots of other card making tricks and tips .....

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 Stampin' Up! online store. (I apologize that not all products are shown! When I do a blog post before the product is available for sale I can't add it to the list shown below.) Thank you! I appreciate your support!

Stay amazing!

Tamara

Product List

Prayers & Promises Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167014]

$28.00

Framed Violets Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[168187]

$34.00

Festive Cheer Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[168126]

$29.00

Fern & Flora Bundle (English)

[167745]

$73.75

Greetings For All Mix & Match Ephemera Pack (English)

[164862]

$9.75

Filled With Sweetness Dies

[167474]

$54.00

Rounded Rectangle Punch

[167880]

$34.00

Moonlit Flora 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[167737]

$18.00

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

[165603]

$17.00

A Stitched Season 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[168223]

$18.00

Spooktacular 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[168219]

$18.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$20.00

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

[133676]

$20.00

Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[102584]

$20.00

Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[131199]

$20.00

Poppy Parade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119793]

$20.00

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[121045]

$20.00

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

[147111]

$12.25

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

[147089]

$15.00

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

[147084]

$12.25

Fern & Flora 3 D Embossing Folder

[167744]

$15.00

Lazy Daisy 3 D Embossing Folder

[167196]

$15.00

Seasonal Cheer Mini Embossing Folders

[168221]

$18.00

Natural Matte Dots

[167510]

$11.00

Dewdrops Embellishments

[167748]

$12.25

Adhesive Backed Bats Ghosts & Dots

[168180]

$12.25

Real Red & White Adhesive Backed Peppermints

[164050]

$11.75

Baker's Twine Essentials Pack

[155475]

$15.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$6.00

Stampin' Seal

[152813]

$12.25

Bone Folder

[102300]

$11.00

Take Your Pick

[144107]

$16.50

Detail Scissors

[170902]

$13.75

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$39.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$191.00

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Double Z Fold Card Tutorial - MCM layout July 20, 2026

Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a chance to pop in to my Mystery Card Monday Facebook Live last night! I share how you can take card up a notch to make a real WOW! project that truly anyone can do! We made Double Z Fold Cards in mere minutes. Yes, easy enough for beginners; challenging enough for seasoned card makers! You can spend a little or a lot of time embellishing your project so you can use as few or as many layers/embellishments as you have/like! Here s what we made - everything from VERY simple (the fruit card) to more time consuming/fancy (the mushroom card).

This one uses products from the Violet Dreams Suite of products; Violet Dreams Paper and the Framed Violets Bundle. I stamped the images in Peaceful Pine and coloured them with Highland Heather light and Peaceful Pine light Blends. The sentiments is in Gorgeous Grape. The base is Highland Heather and the mats are Gorgeous Grape.

Measurements:

Highland Heather Card base - 11" x 4 1/4"

Highland Heather Card layer - 9 3/4" x 2"

DSP Pattern #1 (flowers) - 5" x 3 3/4"

(2) DSP Pattern #1 (flowers) - 2 1/4" x 3 3/4"

DSP Pattern #2 (stripes) - 3 3/4" x 1 1/2"

(2) DSP Patter #2 (stripes) - 2 1/4" x 1 1/2"

Gorgeous Grape Mats:

(1) layer - 5 1/4" x 4"

(2) layers - 2 1/2" x 4"

(1) layer - 4" x 1 3/4"

(2) layers - 2 1/2" 1 3/4"

I love this one! You KNOW how I love my die cuts! This is the most time consuming one, because of the die cutting needed. I used Pecan Pie and Crushed Curry card stock. The patterned paper is from Cute as a Bug and the dies are from Sweet Bugs. I used Basic Beige, Mossy Meadow, Cajun Craze and Old Olive for the die cuts. I thought I was very clever making the grass that is on front of the mushrooms. That die is actually meant to be a flower head. I snipped off the rounded bottom and now it looks like grass! hee hee. Oh, the sentiment is stamped in Mossy Meadow (on basic white) and fussy cut out. So fun!

Measurements:

Pecan Pie Card base - 11" x 4 1/4"

Pecan Pie Card layer - 9 3/4" x 2"

DSP Pattern #1 (mushrooms) - 5" x 3 3/4"

(2) DSP Pattern #1 (mushrooms) - 2 1/4" x 3 3/4"

DSP Pattern #2 (splotches) - 3 3/4" x 1 1/2"

DSP Patter #2 (splotches) - 2 1/4" x 1 1/2"

Crushed Curry Mats:

(1) layer - 5 1/4" x 4"

(2) layers - 2 1/2" x 4"

(1) layer - 4" x 1 3/4"

(2) layers - 2 1/2" 1 3/4"

This one actually turned out really great, considering I had 15 minutes do make it and was "winging it"! lol. I used Misty Moonlight Paper and ink, Basic White for the mats and Strawberries & Dots embellishments. I coloured the fruit with Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green and Cherry Cobbler Blends. You'll notice I only used one patterned paper on the card, leaving the smaller Z Fold with just white space, allowing for more stamping and allowed the embellishments to really pop.

To create the above card:

Misty Moonlight Card base - 11" x 4 1/4" - scored at 2 3/4" and 5 1/2"

Basic White layer - 5 1/4" x 4"

(2) Basic White layers - 2 1/2" x 4"

DSP Pattern - 5" x 3 3/4"

(2) DSP Pattern - 2 1/4" x 3 3/4"

Misty Moonlight Card layer - 9 3/4" x 2" - scored at 2 3/4" and 5 1/2"

(1) Basic White layer - 4" x 1 3/4"

(2) Basic White layers - 2 1/2" 1 3/4"

This one is the same as the first one, but is the "quicker" version.

It uses products from the Violet Dreams Suite of products; Violet Dreams Paper and the Framed Violets Bundle. The embellishments are die cuts that come with the Designer Paper pack. The sentiment is in Gorgeous Grape. The base is Highland Heather.

This card is the "quick" version. It doesn't have any card stock mats surrounding the Designer Papers, making it quicker, in that it requires less prep/cutting.

Measurements:

Highland Heather Card base - 11" x 4 1/4"

Highland Heather Card layer - 9 3/4" x 2"

DSP Pattern #1 (flowers) - 5" x 3 3/4"

(2) DSP Pattern #1 (flowers) - 2 1/4" x 3 3/4"

DSP Pattern #2 (stripes) - 3 3/4" x 1 1/2"

(2) DSP Patter #2 (stripes) - 2 1/4" x 1 1/2"

Here is the Mystery Card Monday (MCM) Facebook Live replay, showing you how to cut the papers and put all the pieces together. As always, I have tips and tricks to share along the way.