With Sympathy and Frugal Stamping Tips

You can never have too many sympathy cards on hand. One of my new sets is called Teeny Tiny Wishes and it works great with the new punch I got, both are from Stampin' Up!.



The card below has the same sentiment but without the punch. I needed to use my stamp-a-ma-jig with this one to make sure when I stamped the sentiment, it wasn't crooked. I also got to use a new toy...I mean tool...that was in my new batch of goodies from last week, a paper piercer. You can see the holes if you look to the bottom right of the sentiment. Nothing fancy, just a pointed tipped poker with a handle so you can poke holes in paper. I also bought a guide so that my holes would be straight. I found that some of my cards just needed a tiny bit of something and the little paper piercer does the trick. It is also handy to use when you need a hole to put in a small brad. You can even take a fine tip pen and draw lines between the holes to look like stitching. All things I will try when I have time.



Frugal Stamping Tip: It is much easier to stamp a sentiment on paper and then punch it out. That way you don't have to worry about stamping straight and you can use lots of small scraps. Just turn the punch over and punch upside down, this way you can see through the opening in the punch and see exactly what you are punching out.

Bonus Frugal Stamping Tip: If you don't have a paper piercer, a thumb tack works just as well!

No Stamp Valentine

This card goes to show you don't need an arsenal of stamps to make a nice card. I used a small circle punch to punch the circles out of a piece of designer paper.

I embossed the brown paper with the cuttlebug, added a couple gems and I was finished. Super easy.

Frugal Stamper Tip - The designer paper I punched the circles out of was scrap as well as the strips of paper under them. Don't forget about your scrap pile, look at the details in it and see if you can use a small part of it.

Journal Note Christmas Card

Journal Notes from Crafty Secrets make card making a snap. I needed a quick card for my mom so I figured my Journal Notes were the way to go. I embossed a piece of 2 colored card stock and then sanded it a little to allow the color on the other side to show through. This kind of paper is great for embossing. I added my Journal Note, using the top and bottom and that was it. Super Simple.

Frugal Stamping Tip: Journal Notes are a great way to be a frugal stamper. I did not use any stamps on this card (which can be expensive). So you don't need an arsenal of stamps on hand in order to have a great choice of images and sentiments to make a beautiful card.

Thank You Cards

This set was quick and easy. I have had my eye on a great stack of 12 x 12 paper from DCWV called La Creme but have never bought it. I am glad I didn't because I found it in a 4.5 x 6.5 inch matstack. The matstacks are just like the 12x12 but smaller (and cheaper) and are a great size for cards. They only have to be trimmed down a little and then you are left with a nice strip that can still be used on another card. This is a great way to save money and still get to use that wonderful designer paper. One neat thing about this paper, other than the great neutral colors, are about half of the pages are flocked. That means fuzzy for those of you like me and didn't know what that meant until I bought this paper :-). So, the black printed designs on the first 2 cards is flocked, pretty neat huh??

Frugal Stamping Tip: If you want to try some wonderful quality paper in those great designer stacks but don't want to spend $20, look for the same design in a matstack. It is only $9 AND if you use a store coupon, you can get it for even less. Happy saving everyone!

Sketch Challenge 253

I think Sketch Challeges are my favorite type of challenges because they really get my brain going. I tend to always use the same basic layout when I am left on my own to make a card but with a sketch challenge, I usually love the end result because it is so unlike anything I usually create.

For today's challenge (which was actually from last Wednesday but I just got around to doing it today) I used paper from Die Cuts With A View and didn't even use any stamps. I really like the layout and it emphasizes the focal image with the small triangles on the side.

Frugal Stamper Tip: All the paper used in this card was scrap. When choosing a layout where you are wanting to use up scrap, pick a layout with small pieces so you can use up all those odds and ends in your scrap drawer.

More Bookmarks

I truly believe these are my favorite things to make. I could sit and make these for hours. I think it lets me feed on my natural Frugal tendencies. It is a perfect project for all those little strips of paper left over after card making and scrapbooking that would go against my nature to throw away.


The base paper is just a solid colored card stock and I designed these so that I could easily cut stripes from an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. The base is 8 1/2 x 11 long and 2" wide and then scored at 4 1/4 and folded in half. The printed paper is 4 x 1 3/4. See how Frugal I am? I hate waste and since the designer paper required is so small, I can easily go through my scraps and usually find plenty to make these cute bookmarks. Add two magnets on the inside of the card stock and these will clip right over the page in a book and not fall out.

Happy Birthday Johnny!

My daughter (who is 3) insisted that we make our neighbor, Johnny, a birthday card. He turned 7 last week and his mom mentioned he was having some friends over for a camp out in the back yard. My daughter heard "birthday" and was convinced we were going to a party. I had to explain that we were not going to a party but we could make him a card if she wanted. She was ok with that idea and everyone seemed happy.


I used my JustRite tiny letters, my go to item for any birthday card these days, and a baseball stamp my mom got me from a yard sale. The baseball print paper was scrap and I embossed the red with my cuttlebug. I thought it needed a little more so I added the star brad at the bottom.

Frugal Stamper Tip: The small black strip of paper separating the red and the baseball print...you guessed it, a tiny scrap I found in the scrap drawer. I was tempted to throw it out the day before but I am glad I didn't. Anywhere you may think you need a piece of ribbon, a narrow strip of scrap paper can accomplish the same effect in many instances. Give it a try and see what you think!

CPS126 Sketch Challenge

The challenge I played today was from CPS and you can see the challenge here. I love sketch challenges and I have learned this site has a new one every Sunday and they are all sponsored by different stamp companies so you get to see lots of new products and do a little shopping!




I used my new set from There She Goes again, I am really glad I got it. There is a strand of raffia behind the circles but it ended up more hidden than I had planned, oh well.


Frugal Stamper Tip: The little flowers were from a small scrap of designer paper. I punched them out with a 3/4 inch circle punch and then matted with other circles punched out from other scraps. So, NEVER throw those scraps away, you never know when you will be able to use it. Nearly everyone of my cards has scrap on it somewhere. All of the paper used for this card was scrap except for the large sand background.

Simple Graduation Card

I like to make graduation cards in the school colors but I did not know the colors. I was given a scrapbook-a-day desk calendar years ago and thought there may be something in there I could use. Yep, I found a few pages in that set and I thought they were a nice mix of colors. I just cut out the 3 graduation caps, mounted them on a heavy cardstock, added the gold brads and popped it all up with 3D foam tape. I used my Congrats set from Stampin Up for the sentiment, super simple.

Frugal Stamper Tip I thought I was going to have to go to the store to get a gradation stamp but I remembered about the paper from the calendar. Don't forget about all your scrap paper, wrapping paper or even old cards that you have saved. If you are a scrapbooker, you may be out of the habit of using non acid free paper but remember, for cards, it does not have to be acid free. Magazines, newspapers, aluminum foil and even old books could be used to make a very interesting (and inexpensive) card.

Baby Shower

I love making baby cards. There are so many options and seem to be so many opportunities. I am 30 so I am at the stage in my life where I know between 5-10 people at an given time who are pregnant. I was asked to make a few shower invitations for a friend who is having her third child but it is her first boy. We are very excited for her and her family.

I stamped the letters using Justrite monogram stampers. I punched them out using a 1 inch punch. Using a 1 1/4 inch punch, I punched out the patterned paper. I used Stampin Up Sincere Salutations for the "Your Invited".

Frugal Stamper Tip: The white paper I stamped my letters on was the back of a white card I had messed up when I printed some invitations for an earlier project. No point in wasting that nice heavy paper. Always remember, when you are using the back of something you messed up, hold it up to the light and make sure you are not going to be able to see through.

40th Wedding Anniversary Invitation

WARNING - BAD PHOTO ALERT! I am very sorry for not only my bad photo of this card, but the poor stamping. I had just finished making 50 of these and was running to the post office with them before it was time for the kiddo's naps. I quickly grabbed a card and snapped a few photos. I did not look at the photos until now. Well, for some reason they were all blurry and the card I grabbed was not stamped very clear.

So, now that I am finished making excuses, I will get to the card. I used Night of Navy for the ink and a non-Stampin Up paper and ribbon that matched. The stamps are from Justrite and I used a monogram set and the wedding set. The sentiment says..."A celebration of love and friendship". I thought that fit very well for a 40th wedding anniversary. The embossing was done with my Cuttlebug and the Birds and Swirls folder.


Frugal Stamper Tip: Do you want to know a secret? I am a VERY frugal person and this is no exception in my paper crafting. I am thinking about devoting this blog to ways to save money. So, I am going to start letting you in on my ways to be a frugal stamper. Look at the navy scalloped circle the monogram is layered on, it is the same color as the mat, right? Well, I punched the scallop out of the actual mat piece before I assembled the card. I figure this saved about 4 pieces of card stock which saved me about $2. Before you do this, make sure you are not going to be able to see through and notice the punch out. I recommend the husband test. Give it to him and have him look it over and see if he notices anything. If he doesn't, you are probably ok. Another tip for doing this 'secret punch out' is to try to punch it out in the same area it will be re-covered later. I punched all mine out of the bottom right corner of the navy mat so that it would be covered again when I placed the monogram.

I hope you enjoy this little tip and it can help you to be a Frugal Stamper.