AWOW – Use Your Stash

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For our twelfth month, we are focused on using up our stash and CAS(e)ing our English team member, Kim Gibbons Fee.

Kim is a returning Artisan team member (2022, 2024 and 2026). Kim loves to create with whatever she has on hand in her craft room… she is creative with her outside of the box thinking and if she feels a need to use something that is not current, she doesn’t hesitate to use it. #useyourstash

Kim is known for her elegant, classic style with a touch of sparkle.

Take a look at some of her designs:

I love Kim’s designs. I like the clean look of them, the pops of color and texture, and the simple but stunning designs.

I also love to use retired product. After 23 years of being a demonstrator, I have a LOT of stamping stuff in my stash. While I absolutely love getting new products (who doesn’t?!) I also love to revisit some of my favorites from over the years. This was a perfect excuse to dig into my stash. I chose one of my favorite DSP packs of ALL time – Delightfully Eclectic:

Everything about this DSP screams me! Yellow polka dots. Navy. Whimsy and eclectic. I love love LOVE it. (good thing I still have almost a full pack!)

I also chose the old stamp set and dies called Petal Palette:

Over the years, this bundle has made it in my “to sell” pile, and then I think of this bird, or polka dots, or the great dies, and I pull it back out…so it’s a keeper.

Let’s take a look at my creation:

Let’s look at the card from another angle:

What do you think?

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to the fabulous Bree Renwick’s blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Jan Clothier – NZ
Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Marga Bultena – DE
Ximena Morales – DE
Aurélie Fabre – FR
Annette Ball – CA
Angie McKenzie – US
Kelly Taranto – US – You are here!!
Bree Renwick – US – Next!
Cheryl Hamilton – US

NC Demos Hop – Cheerful Spring

It’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to hop with my NC Demos group. You might have already stopped by the talented Tina Lesson and her blog, but if you are just popping in with me first, our theme this month is all about shaking off the winter blues and bringing on the spring cheer. I think we’re all ready for it!

I’m using an variety of new “spring things” that have entered my craft room in the past couple of weeks. To see all of the product, skip down to Shop the Supplies below. But, the star of the show on these cards is the Splash of Sparkles 12 x 12 DSP.

Let’s take a look:

Doesn’t this paper scream spring?! And the silver foil…I’m not going to lie. Any DSP with foil, I’m ordering.

I made this card first:

The background is from the Splash of Sparkles DSP pack. The stripes are from the Easter Joy DSP. Let’s take a look at that:

I actually had that little scrap leftover from another project, but the colors went so well with Splash of Sparkles, I decided to use it. Turning it horizontal, made me think of birthday candles so I found a make-shift flame from my stash (believe it or not, it’s a ice cream “drip” from the retired Sweet Ice Cream stamp set) and made a birthday card.

But, I couldn’t stop there. I made these other two cards using the Splash of Sparkles DSP and Easter Time Mix & Match Ephemera Pack:

Finally, today kicks off the #The100DayProject (if you don’t know what that is, visit: https://www.the100dayproject.org/) and I am going to make an ATC (Artist Trading Card — size 2.5 x 3.5) each day for 100 days showcasing Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous DSP — my favorite product. So, a bonus mini project was also crafted today using these products:

Isn’t it darling? I’m excited to try out this journey.

Let’s take a look at all of these projects together!

Who’s ready for spring now!?

Now, let’s see what the others have done showcasing the new Mini Catalog. Visit the roll call below, or click the next arrow below to head over to Toni Campana’s Blog:

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Tina Lesson 
Kelly Taranto  The Late Night Stamper
Toni Campana 
Laurie Meier 
Tracie Evans Langley – the Sassy Stamper 

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Stamping With Friends – Delicate Dreams DSP can be Masculine!

Today I’m excited to be hopping with my Stamping With Friends group. Our challenge today is to create a masculine card. Oddly enough, I’m using a floral pack of DSP for my card! As always with a Blog Hop, be sure to hop along with us by checking out the Roll Call at the bottom of this post so you can carry through and see the other creations of my talented stamping friends.

Here is the DSP I’m using:

This paper is called Delicate Dreams and will be released March 3rd as part of the new Online Exclusives March release. It is gorgeous! Blues, tans, and grays with a pop of Old Olive. The “A” side of the patterns has copper foil.

I was making other cards with this gorgeous paper and decided to use it to make a masculine card for today’s challenge. Let’s take a look!

This project also uses die cuts from the Lovely Arrangements bundle. The connected dot die (circled in pink below) in that bundle is the star of the show, if you ask me!

Now let’s see what my friends chose to do for this month. Be sure to click through the Roll Call below to see all of my stamping friends’ creations!

Happy stamping! Kelly

Roll Call:

AWOW – CASEing the New Catalog

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For our eleventh month, we are CAS(e)ing the new Jan-Apr catalog, AND our Alaskan team member, Teri West.

Teri is a returning Artisan team member (2024 and 2026). Teri loves to do alternate designs for the Paper Pumpkin kits and was selected to provide alternatives for some of the Paper Pumpkin lives during her first year as an Artisan.

Teri is known for her lovely clean and simple style.

Take a look at some of her designs:

As mentioned, the other challenge for this month’s hop is to CASE the catalog. I thumbed through the January – April 2026 Mini Catalog and came across this sample:

This sample immediately reminded me of Teri’s projects above so I decided this was the card to CASE.

Let’s take a look at my creation:

I am using most of the products from the Endless Love Suite of products from Stampin’ Up!

Let’s look at the card from another angle:

What do you think?

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to the fabulous Bree Renwick’s blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy almost Valentine’s day! Kelly

Roll Call

Jan Clothier – NZ
Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Marga Bultena – DE
Kim Fee – UK
Angie McKenzie – US
Kelly Taranto – US — You are here!
Bree Renwick – US
Cheryl Hamilton – US

NC Demos Hop – Jan-Apr Mini Catalog Showcase

It’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to hop with my NC Demos group. You might have already stopped by the talented Amanda Rhodes and her blog, but if you are just popping in with me first, our theme this month is all about the new January-April mini catalog. We have new wonderful Mini Catalog and Bonus Days all at the same time! So, inquiring minds want to know, what’s on your shopping list that would get your order to $50 to earn a Bonus Days Coupon AND then what would you add to reach $75 to get the January Product of the Month, the Fabulous Sayings stamp set!

Given the icey-wintery-mix we’re all experiencing right now, I’m thinking spring. Today I’m featuring the Sunshine & Tulips bundle.

Let’s take a look:

The stamp set has pretty little flowers all in a row, and a set of images to make a layered tulip. It also has really great sentiments in mixed fonts – which I love. The die set’s showstopper is the big cutting plate. It measures 4 x 5 1/4, so perfect for an A2 sized card front. The other showstopper of the die set? The label (you can never have enough of these in your stash!)

Here’s my first card with this bundle:

But, I couldn’t stop there! I decided to make a mini set of tulip cards to show how you can cut up the main cutting plate to make multiple cards — you don’t always have to use the big background die as a standalone piece.

To make these cards, you cut one panel using the big die, then place the the die back on the cut piece, to not only cut the piece into other pieces, but also to add the stitched border to finish off those pieces.

Let’s see this idea in action:

The middle card only has stitching on the sides — I didn’t have enough room to add it to the top and bottom (although, I could have tried it). Also, that card’s sentiment “Sending Love” is from the January Product of the Month stamp set. [And, note: when using the little tulip filler dies, use Adhesive Sheets!]

Now, let’s see what the others have done showcasing the new Mini Catalog. Visit the roll call below, or click the next arrow below to head over to Toni Campana’s Blog:

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Tina Lesson 
Frances Wagner 
Tracie Evans Langley – the Sassy Stamper 
Laurie Meier 
Amanda Rhodes 
Kelly Taranto – The Late Night Stamper
Toni Campana

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AWOW – This or That Faux Torn Endless Love

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For our eighth month of CAS(e)ing team member, we are CAS(e)ing For our tenth month, we are CAS(e)ing our New Zealander team member, Jan Clothier.

Jan is an alumna of the Artisan Team. Jan loves to create a faux-torn paper mask background using torn copy paper as the mask. It first appeared on her blog as an Artisan post on September 26, 2020.

Take a look at some of her designs:

I LOVE this technique!! You simply take a piece of copy paper, tear the top and bottom, and use the ends to mask the top and bottom of your card layer. Ink blend, stamp, fill in the space, peel off the masks and voila! Instant gorgeous card.

Let’s take a look at my creations:

I am using most of the products from the Endless Love Suite of products from Stampin’ Up!

Today’s hop has a bonus theme. In addition to CASEing Jan, it’s also a This or That Challenge. I realized after I made these two projects that we were supposed to do a “This” or “That” using one of Jan’s cards. So, you can either choose between one of my projects and hers, or I’d love to hear which between my two projects you prefer.

After I tore the copy paper, I decided to make one card with a piece of the teared paper on the top of the heart and the 2nd piece on the bottom of the heart to stamp in the middle:

THIS

Then, I took the remaining torn piece of copy paper (the “middle” of the two pieces that masked the above card) and used that to make this card:

OR THAT??

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to the fabulous Bree Renwick’s blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Jan Clothier – NZ

Leonie Stuart – AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU

Cheryll Miller – AU

Aurélie Fabre – FR

Danielle Kassing – NL

Marga Bultena – DE

Annette Ball – CA

Kelly Taranto – US – You are here!

Bree Renwick – US

Teri West – US

Stamping With Friends – Tic Tac Toe meets Joyful Squares

Today I’m hopping with my Stamping With Friends group — it has been a few months, and I’m hoping to be back with them on a more regular basis in 2026. Our challenge today is to make a project with 3 squares from a Tic Tac Toe board. I’m continuing my week-long use of the Joyful Squares bundle. As always with a Blog Hop, be sure to hop along with us by checking out the Roll Call at the bottom of this post so you can carry through and see the other creations of my talented stamping friends.

Here is the Tic Tac Toe board – and the row I’m using:

And, here’s my card!

I have lots of layers, die cuts, and of course, my signature creative element: designer series paper (or patterned paper) – rarely do I make a card without it!

Now let’s see what my friends chose to do for this month. Be sure to click through the Roll Call below to see all of my stamping friends’ creations!

Happy stamping! Kelly

Roll Call:

NC Demos Hop – Blinging in 2026 with Joyful Squares

It’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to hop with my NC Demos group. You might have already stopped by the talented Frances Wagner and her blog, but if you are just popping in with me first, our theme this month is all about blinging in the new year! Our project could be anything as long as it has sparkle and bling. For my project, I’m using the new Joyful Squares bundle coming out in the new January-April 2026 Mini Catalog. Let’s take a look:

This card uses the Joyful Squares bundle to cut the square, the gold accent pieces, the frame stamp and the circle. 2026 is from the retired Playful Alphabet die set, and the sentiment “Good days ahead” which is from the Sunshine & Tulips stamp set. The background gold foiled DSP is from Pleasant Patterns 12 X 12 Specialty DSP from the Easter Joy Suite Collection. I finished it off with some Adhesive-Backed Sparkle Gems and Gold Striped ribbon from my stash. Unfortunately, I can’t link the new products below on a shopping link because they aren’t live yet, so be sure to visit my Online Store after January 5th to shop the supplies!

Let’s take a closer look at this blinged out Joyful Squares card:

I hope you like it – and happy almost 2026!

Now, let’s see what the others have done with blinging in the new year. Visit the roll call below, or click the next arrow below to head over to Laurie Meier’s Blog:

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Tina Lesson  
Toni Campana 
Amanda Rhodes  
Frances Wagner 
Kelly Taranto – The Late Night Stamper
Laurie Meier 
Tracie Evans Langley – the Sassy Stamper

Shop the Supplies

Again, new products: Joyful Squares Bundle, Sunshine & Tulips stamp set, Pleasant Patterns DSP, are not linkable yet — Visit my Online Store January 6th to purchase! Here are supplies used you can purchase now:


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NC Demos Hop – It’s Time for Tags!

It’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to hop with my NC Demos group. You might have already stopped by the talented Laurie Meier and her blog, but if you are just popping in with me first, our theme this month is all about tags! We were to create a tag (or more) for ANY occasion – Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthday, Weddings, Baby Showers or any other occasion.

I decided to use the Gingerbread Man bundle to make these adorable gingerbread tags.

In addition to using all the very fun accessories, I also pulled these felt fun items from my stash. I’m talking OLD Stampin’ Up!

The Stitched Felt Winter Wishes pack have been in my stash since who knows when (the old packaging was mid-2000’s maybe?). Anyway, I thought they would be a fun way to add a little zip to these tags. Let’s take a closer look at each:

Aren’t they fun? And of course, with every tag, you need a To: From: on the back. For this, I used the Traditional Labels stamp set:

Now, let’s see what the others have done with tags! Visit the roll call below, or click the next arrow below to head over to Tracie Langley’s Blog:

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

November Blog Hoppers
Tina Lesson
Toni Campana
Frances Wagner
Laurie Meier
Kelly Taranto – The Late Night Stamper
Tracie Evans Langley – the Sassy Stamper

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AWOW – This or That with Embossing Folders

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For our eighth month of CAS(e)ing team member, we are CAS(e)ing our American team member, Sharon Hashimoto Burkert. Sharon has been a design team member for several blog challenges over the past two decades. She is talented with her classic and clean cardmaking style. I was drawn to two things when looking at her projects. First, many of her cards use black and white, with a color pop, and almost every card has an embossing folder used somewhere in the project.

Take a look at some of her designs:

Today’s hop has a bonus theme. In addition to CASEing Sharon, it’s also a This or That Challenge focusing on “all wrapped up with gratitude”. Given that, I was also inspired by the sketch design in Sharon’s last project above (the one with the dreamy coffee drink) and used that sketch for my “This or That.”

Let’s take a look at my creations!

Coneflower and Sunflower 3D Embossing Folder

The card uses the Sunflower 3D Embossing folder, and the Coneflower Celebrations. For a full shopping list, see below. (PS I’m realizing now that I had “Embossing Folder” in the title…as I got creating things shifted a little bit – but I still used an embossing folder!)

These cards are exactly the same, but I’ve switched the base layers under the cone flower. Which one do you like better?

THIS?

Coneflower and Sunflower 3D Embossing Folder

or THAT?

Coneflower and Sunflower 3D Embossing Folder

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge — starting with the woman of the hour – Sharon Hashimoto Burkert! Click the next button below to follow along to Sharon’s Blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Jan Clothier – NZ
Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Danielle Kassing – NL
Marga Bultena – NL
Aurélie Fabre – FR
Kelly Taranto – US — You are here!
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Chris Smith – US
Teri West – US

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