Tamara's Paper Trail: From Basic to Fancy in 3 easy Steps (with Waterside Retreat)

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

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