Tag: Sarah Renae Clark Color Cubes

Best Cardmaking supplies 14 Best Cardmaking Products & Supplies for 2026 (Must-Have Craft Room Staples)
Cardmaking Kit · Die cutting

14 Best Cardmaking Products & Supplies for 2026 (Must-Have Craft Room Staples)

Karen BrownLeave a comment
Best Cardmaking Supplies for 2026 Quad Graphic showing cardstock, swatching, tool organizer, Inks and die cutting machine

There’s something extra special about the first blog post of a new year — a fresh start, new ideas, and (let’s be honest) a little craft room daydreaming.

Today I’m sharing 14 of my most-used, most-loved cardmaking supplies for 2026. These aren’t just trendy products — they’re the tools I reach for again and again. If you’re stocking your craft room, refining your supplies, or just love seeing what other cardmakers actually use, this list is for you.

1. Favorite Card Kit Subscription: Spellbinders Large Die of the Month

Cute die cut card with hummingbirds hovering over a daisy floral garden.

If I had to choose one subscription kit to keep, this would be it. The Spellbinders Large Die of the Month never disappoints, and January’s kit — Hummingbird Delight — truly lives up to its name.

This kit features a beautiful floral postage / polaroid-style frame paired with the cutest hummingbirds. We get loads of hummingbirds in my garden every summer, so this theme instantly stole my heart. The floral border alone makes the card feel finished and elegant with very little effort.

✨ Runner-Up Favorite Subscription:
The very first kit I ever ordered — Hero Arts My Monthly Hero, now available in two versions for 2026:

Spellbinders January 2026 Embossing Folder of the Month Club Kit Card: Cloud Nine

2. Best Die Cutting Machine: Spellbinders Platinum 6

Best Die Cutting Machine: Spellbinders Platinum 6

I use my Platinum 6 die cutting machine almost every single day. I’ve tried other machines over the years, but this one is reliable, smooth, and powerful. The others? They’re collecting dust.

3. Best Cardstock: Spellbinders ColorWheel Cardstock

Best Cardstock: Spellbinders ColorWheel cardstock shown in several assortment packs.

With 48 gorgeous colors, ColorWheel cardstock makes color selection easy and stress-free. I use it almost exclusively.

I recently placed a big order and am sharing a photo of my shipment, including:

4. Best Planning Tool: Swatching Dies

Best Cardmaking Planning Tool: Spellbinders Swatching Dies.

I use my swatching dies on nearly every project. Being able to flip through physical cardstock swatches saves time and helps me confidently choose colors that work together.

👉 Find all the details in my original swatching post

Key Swatching Products:

You’ll see these swatches featured throughout this post.

5. Best Inspiration Tool: Color Cubes

Best Papercrafting Inspirational Tool: Color Cubes.

Color planning is always my starting point, and Color Cubes are essential to my process. I own two volumes (1&2), a birthday gift from several years ago, and they’re well loved.

Best Color Inspiration: Color Cubes

I like to start with the Color Catalogue where I can search by Color, Key Word or Collection and then I grab a few cards for inspiration.

Paired with my cardstock swatches, they make choosing beautiful color palettes effortless.

👉 Find all the details and dies used in this Be Beautiful Blooms post

6. Best Inks: Hero Arts Reactive & Core Inks

Best Inks: Hero Arts Reactive and Core Inks.

I have a large tub of Hero Arts inks — and honestly, I rarely reach for anything else. The colors are vibrant, blend beautifully, and are incredibly reliable.

Some favorites:

7. Best Blending Brushes: Waffle Flower

Best Blending Brushes: Waffle Flower with the color coded handles.

I love that Waffle Flower blending brushes have color-coded handles, so I instantly know which brush goes with which ink family. Small detail, huge time saver.

8. Best Die-Cutting Staple: Hero Arts Infinity Dies

Best Die Cutting Staple: Hero Arts Infinity Dies.

Nesting infinity dies are true craft room staples, and I use mine constantly. I’ll be linking to 8 of my most-used sets in this post with my most used at the top. I’ll also link to a card using each die.

If you’re building a die collection, start here.

9. Best Embellishment: Enamel Dots

Best Papercrafting Embellishment: Spellbinders and Hero Arts Enamel Dots.

Hands down my favorite finishing touch. I use Spellbinders and Hero Arts enamel dots the most — clean, modern, and endlessly versatile.

10. Best Way to Add Texture: Embossing Folders

Best Way to Add Texture to Your Papercrafting Projects: Spellbinders Embossing Folder of the Month Club Kit.

Embossing folders are one of the easiest ways to add interest to a card. I subscribe to the Spellbinders Embossing Folder of the Month, and my collection has grown quickly.

I used January’s folder, Cloud Nine, on my Hummingbird card. It’s a stylized sky with clouds — perfect for so many scene cards.

11. Best Desk Organizer: Hero Tools Handy Holder

Best Crafting Desk Organizer: Hero Tools Handy Holder perfect for holding scissors, bone folders, pokey tools, jewel pickers and brushes.

This Handy Holder organizer keeps my scissors, tweezers, bone folder, palette knife, and brushes within arm’s reach. I love it so much… I own two!

They sit front and center on my desk.

12. Best Work Surface Organizer: Craft Stax

Best Craft Organizer: Stash Stax. large clear bin with lid to store crafting supplies.

One tool I reach for constantly while creating is Craft Stax. There are several sizes and they’re perfect for organizing, protecting, and corralling all of my crafting components as I work.

The photo above with my Fergus Felt components is the Stash Stax. I also love this size for storing cardstock.

I use Craft Stax to hold die-cut pieces, partially assembled cards, sentiments, and embellishments so nothing gets lost or damaged mid-project. They’re especially helpful when I’m working on detailed die-cut cards or stepping away and coming back later — everything stays exactly where I left it.

Best Papercrafting container for protecting components mid-project as you create.

The photo above is the Medium Craft Stax. 4.8″ x 6″

Craft Stax also make it easy to stack multiple projects on my desk without creating chaos (always a win!). Simple, smart, and incredibly useful — this is one of those tools you don’t realize you need until you have it… and then you can’t imagine crafting without it.

13. Best Die Organizer: Hero Arts Magnetic Sheets & Envelopes

Best product for storing and organizing dies: Hero Arts Magnetic Sheets and Envelopes.

These are absolute must-haves for staying organized:

  • Magnetic sheets keep dies secure
  • Labeled envelopes make everything easy to find

Two Sizes:

If organization is your goal in 2026, start here.

14. Best Tool for Stenciling & Stamping: Waffle Flower Sticky Mat

Best Tool for stenciling and Stamping: Waffle Flower Sticky Grip Mats.

I never stencil without a Waffle Flower Sticky Mat. I even wrote a full blog post about them — which turned out to be my most popular post of 2024!

👉 Find all the details in my original post

Sticky Grip Mats are perfect for stenciling and stamping. And they work great in your  Misti and Mini Misti Stamp Positioners…no need for magnets anymore!

Grip Mat Options:

Final Thoughts

These 14 products form the backbone of my cardmaking in 2026. They help me craft more efficiently, choose colors with confidence, and enjoy the creative process even more.

If you’re building or refreshing your craft room this year, I hope this list gives you a helpful starting point — and maybe a little inspiration too. 💛

I

Handstiched floral card. Spellbinders Stitching Die of the Month – Beautiful Blooming Florals
cardmaking · Cardmaking Kit · stitching

Spellbinders Stitching Die of the Month – Beautiful Blooming Florals

Karen Brown1 Comment
Handmade stitched floral card with layered pink, coral, and yellow die cut flowers on a Waterfall aqua blue background, accented with gems.

This month’s Spellbinders Stitching Die of the Month is a true floral beauty! The set includes three sizes of blooms, and I couldn’t wait to dive in with floss, cardstock, and gems to create a stitched garden full of detail and color.

You might also enjoy my blog post for the September Small and Large Die of the Month Kit.

🌼 My Stitching Process

To give my flowers a sturdy stitching base, I die cut each bloom twice and glued the layers together before stitching. This little extra step makes the stitching so much easier and helps the finished blooms hold their shape beautifully.

I used two threads of floss throughout, which was just the right weight for crisp yet delicate details.

Close-up of stitched die cut flowers with pale pink and yellow floss, Citrus Spritz leaves, and gem embellishment.

🎨 Stitching Recipe & Color Palette

For this project, I worked from the Color Cubes Palette #391 (Color Cubes Bundle) and pulled together a warm, happy scheme:

The combo of pinks, corals, and yellows pops beautifully against the fresh aqua-blue background!

✨ Finishing Touches

  • I added a touch of sparkle with Woodland Tales gems, which highlight the flower centers perfectly.
  • For the foliage, I decided to switch things up! Instead of using the leaves included in the set, I reached for the pretty die cut leaves from Citrus Spritz (Here is a LINK to a post using the Citrus Spritz Die Set).

💡 Extra Tips for Stitched Dies

  • Don’t be afraid to mix and match leaves, blooms, and embellishments from other kits for added variety.
  • Layering blooms in groups of three always creates a pleasing, balanced look.
  • Keep a small piece of tape handy to hold your floss tails on the back of stitched elements until you’re ready to glue them down.
Handmade die cut and stitched card using the floral Spellbinders September 2025 Stitching Die Club Kit.

This month’s kit is such a joy—relaxing to stitch, yet bold and beautiful when assembled. I can see these blooms being used for birthdays, thank you cards or just becuase.

Christmas Crackers die cut handmade card. 4 Tips for Christmas Cardmaking
cardmaking · Die cutting · Tutorial

4 Tips for Christmas Cardmaking

Karen BrownLeave a comment
Bright, colorful Christmas card with a blue "dimpled" background, purple and orange die cut Christmas Crackers and a folliage accents.

Featuring the Christmas Cracker Die Set + Dimpled Embossing Folder

The holidays are the perfect time to get crafty, and Spellbinders’ new Christmas releases make it so much fun! Today I’m sharing a festive card I created with the Christmas Cracker Die Set from Yana’s Christmas Collection and the Dimpled 3D Embossing Folder from Suzanne Hue’s Texture and Foliage Collection.

Along the way, I’ll walk you through 4 tried-and-true tips that will make your holiday cardmaking easier, more enjoyable, and more beautiful.

Tip 1: Use Quality Cardstock

Handmade Christmas card featuring a colorful die cut Christmas cracker in shades of purple, orange, blue, and green. The background is embossed with a dimpled 3D pattern, and some die cuts are raised on foam for added dimension

The foundation of any good die cut is quality cardstock. Thin or flimsy paper isn’t substantial enough for die cutting. For this project, I used Spellbinders’ Color Wheel Cardstock—which is heavyweight, smooth, and cuts like butter.

Here are some of the gorgeous shades I pulled:

  • 🌊 Cascade
  • 💜 Fairy Tale
  • 🌸 Lavender & Lilac
  • 🌞 Beeswax
  • 🍊 Carrot
  • 🍎 Pomegranate
  • 🌿 Peridot & Rainforest

Together these created a vibrant, cheerful, and slightly unexpected holiday palette.

Tip 2: Swatch Your Cardstock

Handmade die cut Christmas card using Spellbinders Yana's Christmas Cracker set with the Dimpled 3D Embossing folder.

Having your cardstock organized and swatched makes choosing colors so much faster. I’ll link HERE to a post where I go into detail on how I keep my swatches handy and easy to use.

For this project, I flipped through my swatches until I landed on the perfect non-traditional holiday mix. Seeing them side by side helped me visualize how the colors would work layered on the Christmas cracker.

Products Used:

Tip 3: Use Color Inspiration

Handmade die cut Christmas Card created with the non-traditional colors of blue, purple, orange, red and green.

When in doubt, let a color system do the heavy lifting! For this card, I turned to Color Cubes Volume 2, specifically palette card #252, which inspired the purple, red, orange, yellow, blue color mix. I also own Volume 1. You can find the Color Cubes Bundle HERE.

I’ll also link to a previous blog post that features Spellbinders’ Color Deck System, another fabulous way to spark ideas when you feel stuck or want to try something different.

Click HERE if you’d like to see another Christmas Card using the same #252 Color Cubes palette card.

Tip 4: Add Texture and Dimension

Die Cut Christmas cracker card with loads of texture, dimension and vivid colors.

Flat die cuts are nice, but texture and lift make a card pop. For this background, I embossed a panel with the new Dimpled 3D Embossing Folder—a subtle yet impactful pattern that catches the light beautifully.

I also used foam squares behind some of the cracker die cuts to add depth and shadow. Craft foam also works great, especially on larger die cuts. The best glue for smaller die cuts is Bearly Glue. I love the fine nozzle! Simple details like these can make your handmade card feel polished and professional.

cardmaking · Die cutting

Spellbinders | More Fresh Picked Collection

Karen BrownLeave a comment
Handmade die cut Birthday card created with Spellbinders Fresh Picked Vase Bouquet from the More Fresh Picked Collection.

Spellbinders More Fresh Picked Collection offers an exquisite opportunity to create a contemporary cardmaking masterpiece. The entire Fresh Picked series offers modern, contemporary, stylized florals that really ignite my creativity and I couldn’t wait to get started die-cutting.

Fresh Picked Vase Bouquet

Pink, Aqua, Turquoise, Blue and White Floral die cut Birthday card with flowers in an embossed vase.

My Process:

Today, I selected the Fresh Picked Vase Bouquet for my birthday card. I knew I wanted Waterfall leaves and greenery on my card so I did a quick search through my color cubes and decided on color combination #060, and I have to say I love this color palette!

Helpful Product Links:

Final Thoughts

With its sleek lines and intricate designs, the Spellbinders Fresh Picked Vase Bouquet die set allows for the creation of stunning floral arrangements that exude modern elegance.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Die cutting · Tutorial · Wax Seals

18 Tips and Tricks for Making Wax Seals | Spellbinders

Karen Brown3 Comments
18 Tips and Tricks for Making Cards with Wax Seals.

My Husband gave me Spellbinders Wax Seal Starter Kit for Christmas, and I have been having SO much fun! I also received a Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine and I have to say I loved the results!

In today’s post, I used three beautiful new wax bead colors: Pistachio, Velvet Rose and Ink.

Tutorial + 18 Tips and Tricks for Making Wax Seals:

  • With a Sharpie marker, I put a dot on my seal so it was easy to keep track of where the top of the design is.
  • I read that it helps reduce soot if you trim your tea candle wick, so I did this.
  • I put 4 beads in the warming spoon and it took 2 minutes to melt.
  • I poured the wax and found it is easy to make a circle pattern, but I do like seals that aren’t perfectly round.
  • Don’t press the seal into the wax, just gently position and allow gravity to work.
  • After experimenting, I found that if I wanted a thicker, more button like seal you should pour the wax and then wait 15-30 seconds before gently dropping the seal into the wax. The card with the pink seal was done this way.
  • If you like a thinner seal with a higher rim then place the seal immediately after pouring.
  • I found if I used just my thumb and pinky or middle finger that I was better able to center the seal more precisely. 
  • I left the seal in the wax anywhere from 15 to 90 seconds. The time didn’t seem to matter and no wax was ever left on the seal itself.
  • I also found it helps to move your pours around on the silicone mat so you don’t get warm spots on your work surface.
  • I also let my seal cool in between pours.
  • If you don’t like a seal, you can remelt it.
  • You can mix colors for a lovely marbled look. I really love the blue and green combination that I made which is shown in the upper left of the first photo. I also love blue and gold together and you can see two with that combination in the upper right corner on the blue card.
  • You can add flakes, glitter or pearls to the melted wax.
  • I used a paper towel to clean the spoon when changing wax colors.
  • I used a Decocolor marker on some of my seals (see the card with the green seal). I have Gold but wish I had bought silver too. Just lightly go over the raised ridges.
  • I experimented using Posca Pens too. They work, but I did like the result of the Decocolor markers better. The navy wax seal was highlighted with a silver Posca.
  • I love the Sealed Twine Die for a perfect twine look every time!
Quick and Easy Die Cut Card with Custom Handmade Wax Seal.

Each seal is so beautiful and unique!

Floral card with blue and purple flowers and Ink Navy blue Wax Seal Element.

Once, my seals were made, I got out two favorite die sets – Sealed Wildflower, and Autumn Sealed Sprigs – and started creating my floral designs. I also used the Sealed Twine die on all of my cards.

How to use wax seals on handmade greeting cards.

For two of my cards I embossed a background panel for added interest.

I’ve enjoyed my Wax Seal Kit so much that I signed up for the Wax Seal of the Month Kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Hummingbird Delight 💛 ✨ 14 Best Cardmaking Supplies for 2026 ✨ ✨ Best of 2025 ✨ Merry Christmas from the Brown Family!🎄 #merrychristmas Looking back at the Best & Most Popular @heroarts Cards of 2025 ✨ A mixed media Valentine — Spellbinders style! Nothing cuter than a House Mouse + a giant cup of coffee! Colored with Copics and finished with a “thanks a latte” sentiment—because I never get tired of that pun 😄 Clean + modern get well card using the December Stamp & Die Kit of the Month from @heroarts Spa day, but make it die cut! 💆‍♀️🩵

cardmaking · Die cutting

Spellbinders Cards | Be Bold Blooms Floral Die Kit 3 Ways

Karen Brown2 Comments
Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms Die Set (S5-502) handmade card.

Happy Birthday to me! I had several crafty items on my wish list that I received as birthday gifts:

I thought it would be fun to combine these products together for a birthday blog post.

Using Sarah Renae Clark’s Color Cubes and Catalogue

I love color so Sarah Renae Clark’s bundle has been so fun to explore! I started by looking for color inspiration in the Color Catalogue and then I pulled out several Color Cube Cards that I found inspiring. I like to start with the Color Catalogue where I can search by Color, Key Word or Collection. I wanted a bright springy card so I began by searching for combinations with hot pink/magenta. For my first card, I settled on combination #35. My second card uses #218.

Once I had my colors selected, I matched them up with hues in my new Papertrey Cardstock. I love that there are 36 colors in each package!

Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms handmade cards in Pinks and Yellows from Papertrey Perfect Match Cardstock.

Spellbinders Flowers | Be Bold Blooms Die-Cutting Tutorial

I started die cutting with my Be Bold Blooms kit. I love the variety of flowers included…they are fun and whimsical! I used my Papertrey paper plus some Spellbinders Brushed Gold. I like that the gold adds a rich elegance without being too shiny.

I wanted to experiment with backgrounds too. For Card 1, I “debossed” my background panel with an older Embossing Folder of the Month called Intertwined Lattice. For Card 2, I die cut a frame with an old favorite Spellbinders Essential Rectangles.

Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms Die cut handmade card in blues and yellows.

I played around with layouts and once I had the die-cuts they way I wanted I carefully applied Press-N-Seal wrap over the top, flipped it over and applied Instant Dimension Foam Tape to the bottom of each piece. All I had to do was flip it back over, place, add a bit of pressure and then gently peel back the Press-N-Seal. So much faster than laying out, disassembling, adding foam tape and then reassembling piece by piece.

Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms die cut handmade card in blues and yellows using Papertrey Perfect Match Cardstock.

I added my sentiments (hello is from a past club kit) and was done.

Elegant Die Cut floral Sympathy Card.

I needed a Sympathy Card so did another quick card with white, gold and pink die cuts.

Die Cut Sympathy Card.

Products Used:

Have a great week!

Karen

cardmaking · papercrafting

Altenew Celebrating Parents Card Drive 2023 Blog Hop + Giveaway ($200 in Total Prizes!)

Karen Brown33 Comments

Altenew's Stunning Sakura + Trailblazing Fresh Dye Ink + Card

Hello, I am sharing two cards that I created using Altenew’s new Stunning Sakura stamp, die and coloring stencils for The Celebrating Parents Card Drive and Blog Hop!

For my birthday, I received received Altenew’s Trailblazing Fresh Dye Ink Mini Ink Cubes so of course I elected to use the periwinkle hues on this project. I also received Sarah Renae Clark’s Color Cubes (Volumes 1 and 2) and I wanted to use her cards for my color inspiration. I sorted through all the gorgeous color combinations and settled on #206, which you can see in the top left corner of the photographs.

Creating with Altenew’s Stunning Sakura Stamp Bundle

Altenew's Stunning Sakura Stamp, Coloring Stencil and Die on a handmade card.

Quick and Easy Coloring with Stencils:

How to Use Coloring Stencils + Altenew's Stunning Sakura floral stamp

I love the violet/lilac color combo!

Stamped floral card in Violets and Lilac purples

These cards are perfect for Mother’s Day….or a birthday!

We hope to see YOUR cards as part of the Celebrating Parents Card Drive.

Altenew's Stunning Sakura coloring stencils.

Products Used:

I really appreciate that you stopped by and are participating in this Blog Hop. Your next stop is Ishani and her projects are always such a treat! You can see the all the hop stops by clicking the button below:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

Giveaway Prizes

$200 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 03/20/2023 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 03/21/2023.

Giving Back Info

We have handpicked a few Altenew products that are perfect for your Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards (and other year-round crafting projects! Check out the collection HERE. We’ll donate $1 with every order of the products included in this collection from 2/28/2023 until 5/14/2023 to the Food Bank of Central New York to support seniors in need.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen