This month the IDEAS team has a theme we’ve not used before. It’s called Inspiration and we’re sharing how we find inspiration for our projects. It’s a question I’m asked quite regularly and the simple answer is it can come from all sorts of places, not just from other people’s cards. However that’s exactly where I got my inspiration this time, and while the layers on the original card are gorgeous, it was actually the colour scheme that caught my eye.

In fact it was over a year ago that I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a card that made me stop. The card was beautiful but it wasn’t the dragonfly, or the layers that caught my eye, it was the colours. So I made a note of what I saw and created a reference card I could use as inspiration for future projects. It was that reference card that I pulled out to create the card for this month’s IDEAS Tutorial PDF (shown above). The project for today’s blog post is quite different however even though I used the same inspiration card.

I began by cutting a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card and using a Blending Brush I covered the surface with a layer of Poppy Parade ink. Then I went around the edges of the layer with Real Red ink. After that I added Crumb Cake ink around the edges before finishing off with Pecan Pie ink. With this much ink on the card layer I decided to set it aside to dry thoroughly. Meanwhile I got to work on the other pieces I’d need.

Turning to the Fern & Flora Stamp Set I used Pecan Pie ink to stamp “Thankful for you” onto a scrap of Basic White Card. Then I used the label die in the Fern & Flora Dies to cut out the sentiment.

For the card base I chose Smoky Slate Card and cut a piece 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″. With the long side at the top I scored the card at 4-1/4″, folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. Then I glued the inked layer on the front.

NATURE INSPIRATION

Next, as the dies were right there I cut the largest fern from pieces of Crumb Cake and Pecan Pie Card. Then I simply stacked the two ferns and with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals I attached the sentiment over their stalks. Before fixing the assembled piece to the inked layer, I decided it needed to be ‘anchored’ to the background with some extra card strips. So I cut a 3/4″ x 4″ piece of Vellum Cardstock and a 1/4″ x 4″ strip of Silver Foil Sheet. Using liquid glue I fixed the Vellum to the inked layer, 1-1/8″ from the bottom edge. Then I glued the silver piece through the centre of the vellum strip. Finally I centred the sentiment over the top of the strips and fixed it into place with Stampin’ Dimensionals behind the sentiment and liquid glue for the ferns.

To decorate the inside of the card and the envelope I picked up the ‘negative’ pieces left over from cutting the ferns. I placed one in the bottom left corner of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Basic White Card and using the card as a stencil I created a fern image with Crumb Cake ink and a Blending Brush. Then I moved the stencil slightly and repeated the process with Pecan Pie ink, before stencilling the front of my envelope to match.

With that done I used liquid glue to fix the stencilled white layer inside the card base. Then once I’d added three Rhinestone Basic Jewels to the front of the card my project was finally complete.

MORE INSPIRING IDEAS

So now that’s out of the way let me tell you about the September 2026 IDEAS Tutorial Bundle. Our 52 page “Inspiration” Tutorial PDF is full of inspiration with 17 projects from 12 designers. The collage below offers a little sneak peek of what’s inside with lots of great ideas for both beginner and advanced paper crafters to try. My contribution to the tutorial bundle is the card I showed you earlier, inspired by the colours in Bibi Cameron’s original card.

If you’d like a copy of this IDEAS Tutorial Bundle for your own personal use, or even to use in your classes, there are three different ways to get it if you’re in Canada:

• Place an order via my online store for $45CAD (before shipping and taxes). But make sure to allow Stampin’ Up! to share your contact details so I can e-mail the tutorial to you.
• Join Stampin’ Up! and my Crafty Canadians team, and you’ll get this IDEAS tutorial for free.
• Buy the tutorial for $20CAD. Contact me at tutorials@papercraftwithme.com for more information.

The IDEAS Team has worked hard to provide these exclusive projects for your own personal use. So once you’ve received the bundle, please don’t share or distribute printed or electronic copies of our tutorials. However, if you know someone who’d like a copy of the tutorial bundle, simply ask them to contact me (if they’re in Canada) or another member of the IDEAS team. Thank you for your support.

For information from the rest of the team about their projects and inspiration, click on the links below.

Finally, to see the original project that inspired me, check out the 2025 blog post from Bibi Cameron.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS: I bought the Fern & Flora Stamp Set and coordinating dies using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This saved me 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included links to both options below so you can explore these further if you wish.