Last Week’s Card & Cuppa – Natural Botanicals Rainbow

February 23, 2026February 22, 2026 ~ Karen Young

As we’ve had so much rain lately, I decided to brighten things up at last week’s Card & Cuppa class with this rainbow project.

It uses tone-on-tone with a colour combination of Basic Beige and Very Vanilla.

A strip of cardstock was held across the project while the leaves were stamped across the background. This was to avoid losing leaves behind the centre strip.

The leaves are from the Natural Botanicals Stamp Set. They were then coloured using Watercolor Pencils and a Blender Pen.

It was fun seeing this rainbow of leaves come to life during the colouring phase.

Next, a strip of Very Vanilla is stuck across the project to hide the masking. Any excess is then cut off.

Then, the sentiment from the Simply Said Stamp Set is stamped, again tone-on-tone and stuck onto the Vanilla piece. Once again, the excess is removed.

Finally, a couple of Antique Pearls are added to either side of the project.

This is a great design to replicate and you could use different colours and stamp sets.

Join me at one of my classes. Head to my Class Timetable for full details.

Happy crafting

Karen Young HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies shown below, head to my Online Store. Items available while stocks last.

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June Card Making Class – Project 4

June 27, 2025June 18, 2025 ~ Karen Young

My 4th and final project from this months Card Making Class is this stripey card.

As the theme of the class was ‘It’s all new to me!’ I just had to use the new In Colors from the Annual Catalogue.

If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know that something I like to do is to combine the new In Colors in a stripe project.

So, here is my stripey project to show off this year’s new In Colors.

Each strip is laid onto a separate piece of cardstock – you could use Grid Paper for this backing instead.

Then, the piece is embossed using the So Swirly Embossing Folder.

A sentiment from the Simply Said Stamp Set is stamped in Secret Sea, one of the colours, before being attached.

This is a really quick and simple project and can be replicated using other colours or DSP instead.

I’ll do a deeper dive and introduce you to each of the new In Colors in separate posts coming soon.

Join me at one of my classes. Head to my Class Timetable for full details.

Happy crafting

Karen Young HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies shown below, head to my Online Store. Items available while stocks last.

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Last Week’s Card & Cuppa – Celebrate with Cheerful Daisies

April 1, 2024March 28, 2024 ~ Karen Young

Last week’s Card & Cuppa project was a little bit different to my usual style.

For this project, I used the Cheerful Daisies Stamp Set with White Ink to create this pretty project.

I used both Crumb Cake and Copper Clay for the brown tones, plus Daffodil Delight for the daisy centres.

Using White Ink requires a slightly different thought process to the stamping. You need to ensure that you stamp the white first to avoid cross contamination with other colours. Also, as it is a pigment ink, the pad feels slightly ‘sticky’ to stamp with, but you quickly get used to that.

Once the daisies were stamped onto the background, plus one onto a separate piece, the centres were then added. They were given gentle taps of Wink of Stella in the centre for some sparkle.

A sentiment from the Softly Said Stamp Set from the Online Exclusives range sits across the separate daisy.

Stamping onto Crumb Cake with pigment ink meant the images became brighter as they dried. They looked rather dull to begin with.

The sentiment is punched out using the Modern Oval Punch. Plus another oval from Copper Clay to create the layer.

This layer is made by cutting the shape in half and sticking each side to the edges.

A length of In Color Jute Trim is looped behind the sentiment, before the whole piece is raised up on Dimensionals.

Finally, some white sequins from the Adhesive-Backed Sequins Trio are dotted across the project.

The attendees thought this design would also look good on Basic Black cardstock. I may have to try it out. Watch this space!

All of the items used in this project will be carrying over to the new Catalogue in May. If you want to see the retiring items, then head to the Last Chance List.

Join me at one of my classes. Head to my Class Timetable for full details.

Happy crafting

Karen Young HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies shown below, head to my Online Store. Items available while stocks last.

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Last Week’s Card & (Your) Cuppa – Splendid Day Suite Collection

July 18, 2022July 15, 2022 ~ Karen Young

Last week’s Card & (Your) Cuppa project used items from the Splendid Day Suite Collection.

This fabulous new collection is in the July-December Mini Catalogue and contains a Stamp Set and Die Bundle, Specialty DSP, Ribbon and Embellishments.

For this project, I’ve used all of the items in the Suite, except the embellishments.

My colour combination of Soft Sea Foam, Fresh Freesia and Basic White is taken from the DSP.

This DSP is really difficult to photograph, so you’ll have to trust me when I say that it is simply gorgeous in the flesh.

Strips of the Specialty DSP create the background, with the foil side of some sheets and the non-shiny side for the others.

In the class packs there were strips from three sheets of the DSP. Even with this small number of sides to choose from, it was difficult to decide which pieces to use and where!

The strips were then joined by shapes cut using the coordinating Splendid Stems Dies from the Suite.

A length of the gorgeous Seam Binding Ribbon sits behind the sentiment.

The sentiment is from the Splendid Thoughts Stamp Set and cut out using the Lasting Label Punch. This punch is not part of the set!

Using Dimensionals, the sentiment is raised up to give some extra depth.

Join me at one of my online classes. Head to my Class Timetable for full details.

Happy crafting

Karen Young HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies shown below, head to my Online Store. Items available while stocks last.

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Celebrate with Seasonal Layers

August 29, 2019August 25, 2019 ~ Karen Young

If you’re looking for a card that is really versatile, then this design is perfect. At my recent Stamp-a-Stack class we chose to celebrate with Seasonal Layer.

Celebrate with Seasonal Layers. Project designed by Karen at HIPPOFROG Designs

We used Grapefruit Grove and Pear Pizzazz here, but you could use any combination.

Background stamping using the Gallery Grunge Stamp Set removes some of the white space, drawing the eye to the leaves and flowers.

These leaves and flowers are cut using the Seasonal Layers Dies. The Take Your Pick Tool and Die Brush Tip were useful for removing the bits.

A layer of Wink of Stella has been added to the flowers for a touch of sparkle.

‘Celebrate’ is from the Vibrant Vases Stamp Set and we’ve used a Stampin’ Write Marker to ink up the part of the sentiment we require.

If you have an image you only want to use a part of, then Stampin’ Write Markers are a great way of achieving this.

It’s then cut out using the fabulous Stitched Shapes Dies. These create a pretty edge.

With an strip of cardstock across the centre, the leaves, flowers and sentiment are all then assembled.

The options are endless with this design. Which colours and occasion would you choose?

If you want to join us for a future class, head to my Class Timetable for more details.

Happy crafting

Karen Young HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies used, click on the product images below to go to my online store.

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In Color 2018–2020 Stampin' Write Markers

Above the Clouds for exam congratulations

August 22, 2019August 21, 2019 ~ Karen Young

At my recent Stamp-a-Stack Class, the attendees made this exam congratulations project using the Above the Clouds Stamp Set.

Above the Clouds. Project designed by Karen at HIPPOFROG Designs

The colour combination is Seaside Spray for the clouds, with Gray Granite and Mint Macaron for the balloons. Soft Sea Foam and Very Vanilla are the accent colours.

Stamping some more of the small balloon outlines onto a separate piece of cardstock, colour is added using Watercolor Pencils. These are then fussy cut.

We also used the Dark Mint Macaron and Dark Soft Sea Foam Stampin’ Blends to colour lengths of Whisper White Baker’s Twine to use behind the sentiment.

The sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Birthdays Stamp Set but is a fabulous message for those who are receiving exam results. It’s cut out using the Classic Label Punch and stuck onto a punched circle background.

I’m really liking the versatility of this Above the Clouds Stamp Set. It is also part of a Bundle available in the new Catalogue with a co-ordinating Punch.

Why not join us at a future Papercrafting Class. Head to my Class Timetable for more details and to book your place.

Happy crafting

Karen Young HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies used, click on the product images below to go to my online store.

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Soft Sea Dark Foam Stampin' Blends Marker

Mint Macaron Dark Stampin' Blends Marker

Last Week’s Card & Cuppa – Beautiful You Trio

June 5, 2017June 2, 2017 ~ Karen Young

Due to the Bank Holiday we only had one Card & Cuppa session last week. It was a busy one though as 7 people had booked to attend and we ended up taking over most of the cafe!

Everyone had a choice of which lady they wanted to make from this Beautiful You trio.

Stampin' Up! Beautiful You Trio

Each lady is made in the same way using the paper piecing technique. However, we made our own patterned paper to use.

A lady from the Beautiful You Stamp Set is first stamped onto our final piece and again onto a separate piece of Whisper White Cardstock.

To create our patterened paper we stamped the dots from the Playful Backgrounds Stamp Set in Daffodil Delight over the second image. This was then coloured over the top of with a Calypso Coral Watercolor Pencil to create a summery look.

We then cut out this coloured piece and used SNAIL to stick it to the other stamped lady. The hats/umbrella on our final piece is coloured using a Daffodil Delight Watercolor Pencil.

To finish, the sentiment was punched out and stuck onto a piece of the fabulous new Double-Stitched Ribbon in Daffodil Delight. This ribbon has cross stitch on one side and running stitch on the other, so double the fun!

Here are each of the ladies in a bit more detail.

Stampin' Up! Beautiful You Trio

Firstly the dancer.

Stampin' Up! Beautiful You Trio

Next we have the lady that I like to call the ‘wedding guest’ as she looks very chic.

Stampin' Up! Beautiful You Trio

Finally, the lady with the umbrella, or parasol depending on your point of view!

Which of the designs is your favourite? Which one of this Beautiful You trio would have chosen to make?

If you’d like to join us at a future Card & Cuppa session then make sure you book your place by 18:00 the night before.

Happy crafting

Karen Young - HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies used, click on the images below to go to my online store. Remember to use the Hostess Code if you are placing an order.

You can also join my team here.

Beautiful You – Class design process

February 25, 2017February 25, 2017 ~ Karen Young

I love running my papercrafting classes, and designing the projects for each one is great fun.

Here is a little bit of detail on how the class design process works for me.

Usually I’ll have drawn a few rough sketches of design ideas in a notebook beforehand. However, more often than not, the projects I create are a bit different to what I had originally drawn!

I normally end up creating more projects than I need for each class and therefore some don’t make the cut. The main reasons are the project being too time consuming or the design not working at that point.

The following card is one that didn’t make the cut!

Beautiful You Stampin' Up! UK

This design wasn’t used at my recent Beautiful You Class as it would have taken a while to complete all of the elements. We did, however, end up making one very similar to this that took about 3 minutes from beginning to end instead! Keep an eye on my Pinterest boards for the Class projects.

This design uses a Stampin’ Pad, a Watercolor Pencil and a Blender Pen. After stamping the dancing lady image, I softened the lines with a Blender Pen to create depth.

The thread is Thick Baker’s Twine that I’ve separated into three strands before attaching to the front of the card. A great tip to make the Thick Baker’s Twine less bulky.

This is a really versatile card as the hat, cardstock and thread are all coordinated so could be changed to any colour.

To join me at a future class visit my Classes section for full details.

Happy crafting

Karen Young - HIPPOFROG Designs

To order any of the supplies used, click on the images below to go to my online store. Remember to use the Hostess Code if you are placing an order.

You can also join my team here.