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Card Crafting with Stampin’ Up!

Who’d have thought that four years after securing my two A-grade Art A-Levels, I’d reach heights of using a card crafting kit? Ha, no but seriously, although my day job definitely doesn’t utilise my arguable talent, I love content creating and I love crafting. Although the two are distinct, I view them in a similar way; I want both to be enjoyed, by both myself and others. Whether my online content is enjoyed by a few Instagram followers or my home crafting (be it in the form of making cards or undertaking DIY projects: no matter how small those may be) is enjoyed by a few friends and family, I find that the enjoyment is what makes it worthwhile.

With Fathers Day looming, and with my own two year anniversary having just passed, I’ve had the opportunity to make the most of my Stampin’ Up! ‘Lots of Happy Card Kit‘*, so I thought I’d share it and a few of my own card creations with you. If you’re a regular, you’ll know that I think gifts are all the more special for including personal elements. Hand-crafting cards is a definite gold-star for effort. Honestly, they say ‘I care’ about a hundred times more than a card you picked up from Tesco. A bonus of spending time and effort on celebrating your loved ones is that being creative is often enjoyable. It can also be pretty therapeutic (just don’t get too stressed out if you accidentally colour outside the lines).

The Kit

Apart from a Pritt Stick, the kit comes with pretty much all you need to create Stampin’ Up!’s own card designs. You get your card templates, pencils, labels, and ribbon etc., but if you’re into crafting, you’ll probably already have optional extras like glitter, stickers or in my case, red felt love hearts (mine are from the Waitrose Valentines range). Although its fine to copy the designs already created for you, don’t be afraid to think outside the box, you’ll have a much greater sense of achievement at the end of the process if the design is unique!

The kit contains a stamp block. As I’ve never used one before, me being me, made life much harder for myself by struggling to cover the stamps with a pretty small ink block (getting ink all over myself in the process). If you’d like to avoid making a mess then I’d definitely recommend using the stamp block. Just give it a quick YouTube search if you’re unfamiliar with the process. Because of the difficulties I had with the stamps, I had to go over the stamp work. I used coloured pencils and a black pen just to give the words a better clarity. Hopefully, if you use the block you won’t have this issue!

I absolutely love the plain floral accents that are included in the kit. I had so much fun colouring them to feature under the greetings section of the card. The dimensionals are a really beneficial inclusion as they enable you to create layered looks. I think that a greater depth can make greetings cards look so much more interesting. If you’re curious about this kit then I’d definitely recommend checking out Stampin’ Up!’s video which gives you a great overview of the boxes contents, and some handy tips on how to make the most of its features!

The Verdict

I had so much fun making these cards, and it really wasn’t overly time-consuming either. I think that the kit is a really handy thing to have around. Even if you’re not a craft enthusiast, we’ve all have those oops moments. The ones in which we realise we haven’t bought a card for a birthday! No worries, because you can whip one up and get extra brownie points for putting all the effort in. Jamie loved his Valentines card, and hopefully my Dad will appreciate his too!

* This post contains PR Samples which I have been sent to review and give my honest opinion about. All words, images and opinions are my own. Please read my full disclaimer for more information.