cardmaking

Easy Beginner Cardmaking Ideas | 2 Bright Cards Using Pre-Printed Supplies

Create cheerful handmade cards in minutes using pre-printed elements from the Pink Lemonade collection.

Beginner cardmaking idea using Simple Stories Pink Lemonade collection with layered patterned paper, chipboard embellishments pre-printed die cuts and foam stickers.

Some days you just want to craft with no fuss and no complicated techniques.

No messy mediums.
No challenging layouts.

Just pure creative fun.

That’s where pre-printed cardmaking supplies really shine.

The new Pink Lemonade Collection from Simple Stories is bright, cheerful, and incredibly easy to use — making it perfect for beginner cardmaking, quick cards, and even scrapbooking projects.

I’ve been having so much fun with this collection lately. In fact, I’ve already created six cards this month using these products — two in today’s post and four in my Lemonade Stand Easel Cards and Chalkboard Coffee Thank You Cards post from earlier this month.

If you’re just starting out in cardmaking, you may also enjoy my 14 Best Cardmaking Products and Supplies for Beginners, where I share the tools I reach for again and again in my craft room.


In This Post

• Why Pre-Printed Papers Are Perfect for Beginners
• Pink Lemonade Card Designs: Same Supplies, Two Quick Cards
• Fast and Easy Card Layouts
• More Beginner Card Ideas


Easy beginner cardmaking using Chipbboard focal point from Simple Stories Pink Lemonade Collection.

Product Spotlight: Pink Lemonade Collection

Today’s cards feature elements from the Pink Lemonade Collection by Simple Stories.

This collection bursts with bright color, playful lemons, cheerful florals, and adorable embellishments that make cardmaking almost effortless.

One of the things I love most about this collection is how beautifully coordinated everything is. The colors, patterns, and embellishments all work together, so you can assemble several cards quickly without worrying about matching papers or layouts.

This collection works wonderfully for many occasions:

• birthdays
• hello cards
• thank you cards
• thinking of you
• get well cards

And it’s just as perfect for scrapbooking layouts as it is for cardmaking.

There’s even a Simple Cards Card Kit available that includes everything needed to create eight card designs with step-by-step instructions, which makes it especially beginner friendly.



Why Pre-Printed Elements Are Perfect for Beginner Cardmaking

If you’re new to cardmaking, pre-printed supplies make it incredibly easy to create polished cards quickly.

Here’s why they work so well:

Focal point images are already designed and printed
Minimal supplies required
Coordinated colors and themes
Variety of images in different sizes
Fast and stress-free card assembly

All of the pieces in this collection work beautifully together, so the process becomes simple:

sort the pieces → experiment with layouts → glue and go.

The set includes everything from large statement sentiments and focal images to charming little embellishments like lemons, strawberries, butterflies, pinwheels, and florals.

I especially love the sturdy chipboard pieces, which instantly add dimension to a card.


Card Design 1

Easy and fun beginner cardmaking card featuring a chipboard lemonade cart.

For my first card, I used two pieces of pre-printed designer paper for the card base and mat.

To add a little extra visual interest, I die cut the mat with a decorative frame die — but this step is completely optional. A simple rectangle trimmed with a paper trimmer would work just as well.

To finish the design I layered:

a vintage-style chipboard lemonade cart
a cheerful “hello” sentiment
a small pink heart accent

The result is a bright and playful card that came together in just a few minutes.

Card Design 2

Easy, bright and happy card with layered designer cardstock and chipboard focal points.

For the second card I created a layered background using three pieces of patterned paper.

Measurements:

• 5½ × 4¼″ aqua base
• 3½ × 5½″ brown plaid mat
• 3 × 5½″ floral background

Once those layers were glued together, I added:

a green plaid tag
blue flower die cuts
a rainbow “hello” sentiment
• a butterfly chipboard accent

I also added enamel dots to the flower centers, which is one of my favorite simple ways to add a finishing touch.

The layered patterns create a cheerful, eye-catching design while still being incredibly easy to assemble.


A Fun Part of the Process

📌 Save this for later on Pinterest.

Sorting Pink Lemonade chipboard pieces for easy beginner cardmaking layout
Sorting the colorful chipboard pieces from the Pink Lemonade collection while planning card layouts.

One of my favorite parts of using collections like this is sorting through the embellishments.

The Pink Lemonade chipboard set includes over 50 pieces, and laying them out on my desk while planning the cards was honestly a little mood-boosting.

Sometimes the simple tactile process of arranging colorful pieces is just as enjoyable as making the card itself.


More Easy Cardmaking Ideas

If you enjoy quick and beginner-friendly card designs, you might also like these projects:

Easy Stenciled Masculine Jean Jacket Cards
Charming House Mouse Birthday Card
Mixed Media Card for Beginners


Building Your Cardmaking Toolbox

Here are the supplies I used for today’s cards:

There are also several other coordinating products in the collection:

Collection Kit (patterned paper + stickers)
Card Kit (makes eight cards)

If you are interested in adding to your toolbox, these are the exact supplies I use in my craftroom.

I’m actually working on another project using the Journal Bits Pack, so be sure to check back soo


📌 Save this for later so you can come back when you’re ready to try this technique.

I always love hearing what readers think — so feel free to leave a comment and let me know which card you like best.

Happy crafting!

cardmaking

Easy Elegant and Economical Card Sentiment Ideas | Spellbinders

Using easy economical premade puffy stickers from Spellbinders Bayfair in cardmaking.

I love easy sentiments, and Spellbinders just released three sets of sentiment stickers and embellishments from Bayfair that I found both economical and simple to use.

Quick and Easy Premade Card Sentiments

My mom’s birthday is tomorrow and I created this stitched card for her. The puffy “Loved” sentiment was exactly what I was looking for. This beautiful gold sticker is from Bayfair’s Puffy Sticker set. I also have a card in the works that uses the Chipboard Stickers, so stay tuned for that….

I used my April Stitching Die of the Month for this card. It’s called Stitched Wall Hanging and is a real show stopper and is now available in Spellbinders Shop without a subscription.

Helpful Links:

Bayfair Puffy Stickers (Sentiments and embellishments)

Bayfair Chipboard Stickers (2 pages of sentiments, frames & embellishments)

Bayfair Button Embellishments (12 fun buttons in 3 sizes)

Stitched Wall Hanging Kit

Stitching Die of the Month Club

Bayfair Puffy Stickers add elegance and beauty to your handmade cards.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

cardmaking · Mixed Media · papercrafting

Spellbinders + Cathe Holden’s Flea Market Finds

Quick and Easy Vintage Card featuring Cathe Holden's Flea Market Finds Ephemera, printed die cuts and stamps.

Cathe Holden’s “Flea Market Finds” Ephemera

Hello! I am so excited to show you Spellbinders new product line from Cathe Holden called Flea Market Finds. Cathe is a well known fabric designer and collector of vintage miscellany and she just released a wonderful assortment of printed die-cuts, paper samplers, stamps and stencils in collaboration with Spellbinders. Cathe put so much thought into every product and they all work SO well together.

For the past week, I have been playing in my craft room and I’d like to show you what I created. Hold on, becuase I have seven cards to share with you today. The card above was so fun to make!

My Recipe For Card 1:

On this card, I used all the products “as is” with no distressing. I started with the background where I layered 2 different papers, one from the neutral palette and one from the Blue Green pack. Next, I started adding stickers and diecuts. The bird image is framed with a third paper from Cathe’s Neutral Sampler.

Vintage Shabby Chic Card

Vintage Shabby Chic handmade card using Spellbinders Cathe Holden stencil and die cut ephemera.
Vintage Shabby Chic Handmade Get Well Card

For my Shabby Chic card, I started by ink blending Tumbled Glass Distress Ink on my panel. I added Frayed Burlap Ink around the ages for a vintage feel. I let the panel dry and then added Grit Paste through stencil #1 of the Layered Vintage Floral Stencil. I really like how the background turned out. I wanted an even more vintage look so I ran my Tea Dye Distress Crayon around the edges of the background and die cut and then blended the pigment with my fingers. The card base was covered with paper from the Blue Green Paper Palette.

Cardmaking With Ephemera

Vintage Collage Style Card using Spellbinders Flea Market Finds die cuts, stamps and stickers.
Aren’t the little bakers just the cutest?

My third card is a collage style card pieced together with designer paper, printed die-cuts and stamps. I used 1.25″ squares of paper cut from the Neutrals and Blue Green Samplers for my background. I distressed my background panel and the die cuts with a Distress Crayon and then added lots of ephemera.

Grunged Up Vintage Look Card

Grunged up Mixed Media Card using Spellbinders Flea Market Finds Stamps and Stickers.

I started my grunged up card by making a background panel. I blended tumbled glass distress ink and then added a bit of frayed burlap. I then ink blended a second panel for my die cut circles. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and then added a bit of frayed burlap. I let the panels dry and then added Distress Grit Paste through my bricked stencil. I wanted it to look rough and old so I didn’t cover the entire stencil. After the grit paste was dry, I rubbed a Distress Crayon around the edges and blended it out onto the panel with my finger. I also gently rubbed some on the top of the panel so you could really see the crackle finish. Next, I die cut my circles and rubbed distress crayon around the edges and then blended onto the top with my fingers. I added two stickers to two of the circles and then stamped over them. The middle circle is just the roughly stamped cute flower truck. The matting is from the blue green sampler.

Quick and Easy Vintage Look Card

Quick and Easy Vintage Look Handmade Card using Flea Market Finds Printed Die Cuts.

This was the fastest and easiest card to make. I started with a page from the Neutral Sampler for my Background. I then layered on 3 Happy Thoughts and 2 Home Arts printed die cuts. I stamped a sentiment onto the flower basket and added a fun little paper clip from my stash.

Stenciled Background on Vintage Look Card

Spellbinders + Cathe Holden Layered Vintage Floral Stencil for Card Background,
Stenciled Background

Cathe Holden included a beautiful stencil in her collection and I used it for my background on this card. I added 2 stickers and 1 stamp to complete the card.

Using Printed Die Cuts in Cardmaking

Using Cathe Holden's Flea Market Finds in cardmaking

This was another card that came together very quickly using die cuts and stickers.

Using Flea Market Finds Miscellany on handmade cards.

Here is a group photo of the seven cards I created.

Cathe Holden Flea Market Finds handmade cards.

I had so much fun creating these cards. If you have a moment, let me know which is your favorite.

Thank you!

Karen

cardmaking · papercrafting

Making Valentine Card’s With My Xyron Sticker Maker

My daughter bought me a Xyron Sticker Maker for Christmas and I thought it would be fun to make valentines using my new toy.

Easy DIY Valentines

DIY Mixed Media Valentine with die cut hearts using my Xyron Create A Sticker machine

I started by sorting through my Gel Press Prints looking for bright happy Valentine colors. I used my gel prints but you could easily use designer paper too.

Creating Valentines with my Xyron Create a Sticker machine.

Using a variety of sizes, I die cut a bunch of hearts and then ran them through my Xyron and found it both fun and easy.

I then cut the stickers apart and laid them out on my card panel.

Making stickers with my Xyron Create A Sticker machine

I wanted the placement balanced in terms of varying the colors and sizes of hearts. Then I just peeled off the stickers and applied! I trimmed off the portion hanging over the edge of the panel and then adhered to an A2card base. This would be so fun to do with kids too.

Easy DIY Mixed Media Valentine using handmade heart stickers + great to make with kids.

I finished off the card by adding a simple heat embossed sentiment.

I enjoyed the sticker making process and will definitely be using my new Xyron again soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Xyron Create-a-Sticker, 5″, Sticker Maker, Machine, Permanent Adhesive (0501-05-10A)

Karen