Tamara's Paper Trail

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

From Basic to Fancy in 3 easy Steps (with Waterside Retreat) - MCM layout May 25, 2026

Happy Tuesday, Friends! The day is FLYING by, as I madly try to get a bunch of "chair work" done before I head on my trip to Alaska this Sunday. "Chair Work" are the hours and hours of "behind the scenes" stuff I do in my business that can generally be done from the comfort of my living room chair. Truth be told, I usually only spend a few hours a week in my craft cave. The rest of the time I am at a computer doing the 15 other (usually less fun) things that need doing. I don't actually mind doing my blog posts - I just need to take an hour to actually DO it! So here we go ...

Last night on my MCM Live I (once again) showed you how to start with a "SIP" card (Stamp, Ink, Paper) and the in just a few easy steps, jazz it up to something fancier. I like that one layout can appeal to both newer cardmaker and those who are more experienced. These layouts are a perfect "jumping off" point and you can add as much, or as little, as you like, based on your preferences, supplies and time. I got inspiration from my Social Media feed by someone in Poland. It was watermarked as "IMC" but I don't have a name or page/site to refer to. I took their idea and ran with it. This is their card ....

Here is what I came up with ...

Start with "basic" ... SIP ...

"Step it up" with a layer that has some stamping on it for "texture" ...

Take it up another notch by using a coloured card base, DSP as a layer and some die cuts ...

Step 1 ...

Step 2 ...

Step 3 ...

Don't overthink it! (... says the Queen of Overthinking!) You can go from simple to fancy in a few easy steps. Here is the "recipe" of the pieces you need to prep if you want to try making one ...

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

Give it a go! Try it with different papers, embossing folders and colours. See where it takes you.

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

Relaxing Waterside Bundle (English)

[167928]

$64.75

Spotlight On Nature Dies

[163580]

$48.00

Waterside Retreat 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[167920]

$18.00

Delicate Dreams 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[167498]

$23.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$20.00

Basic Beige 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[164511]

$20.00

Pecan Pie 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[161717]

$20.00

Pecan Pie Classic Stampin' Pad

[161665]

$15.00

Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad

[147118]

$12.25

Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad

[147102]

$12.25

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[147090]

$12.25

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

[147111]

$12.25

Linen Thread

[104199]

$7.00

Earthy Matte Dots

[167213]

$12.25

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$6.00

Stampin' Seal

[152813]

$12.25

Sponge Daubers

[133773]

$10.25

Bone Folder

[102300]

$11.00

Take Your Pick

[144107]

$16.50

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$39.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$191.00

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Go from beginner to pro - handmade cards made easy! MCM layout May 18, 2026

Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a lovely long weekend. I did! A good mix of friends, family, outdoors and work. Im getting the hang of balance these days!

I usually take bank-holidays off but not this round. I didn't go live LAST Monday (Mom and I went out for Mother's Day Dinner Theatre) and I couldn't justify taking another one off. Not when I had a GREAT little card layout to share with you! You know I love me a good layout that can go from "easy" to "fancy" in just a few steps. THIS is one of those layouts. Check out what we made on my Facebook Live and how I took it from "super simple" to "woah!".

I started with the very basics. Stamp, ink and paper (SIP). I used Moonlit Flora paper and a sentiment from Frames & Phrases. Nothing fancy here! A simple sentiment on a strip of paper straddling some strips of pretty paper, a bow and a few flower embellishments and you have a sweet little card. VERY minimal supplies (and no fancy tools) needed!

Same idea, I just moved the papers to the right a bit and flag-ended the sentiment strip ...

If you've watched me before, you know how to "step it up". You add layers, and/or texture. This one adds some visual texture by stamping the card base (in Soft Sea Foam), adding a layer of white to frame the designer papers and popping the sentiment up on dimensionals. It's a little fancier simply by die cutting a label for the sentiment.

This next one adds even MORE texture by embossing the back layer ...

Things are getting crazy now, as I used coloured card stock for the base, embossed the top left corner of the layer and sanded it to expose the white core. Soft Sea Foam and Mossy Meadow die cuts take it to the next level!

This one is very similar. I embossed the ENTIRE layer, not just a corner of it. This one has Mossy Meadow and Old Olive die cuts.

So there you have it! How to go from simple to fancy in a few easy steps. Here is the "recipe" of the pieces you need to prep if you want to try making one ...