Hello Stampin’ Friends ~

Today I’d like to share one of my favorite “quick -n- easy” card layouts that gives you that WOW look, without all the work! You’ll love the ease … they’ll love their card!

Ready for some fun!? Let’s begin with the card base … Start with a piece of 8 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ cardstock (I will supplies colors later when I share the cards) Score and fold at 4 1/4″. This give you a 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ square base. This means your inside piece and the designer paper on the front is 4″ x 4″. I love this dimension for my designer paper because it means you get 9 fronts from one sheet!!

Now here’s where the magic really starts to shine! Once you’ve created your base layers, it’s time to add a die-cut shape to the top half of your card. This simple step transforms your layout from “pretty” to “WOW!” in just seconds.

Just be sure your total card height stays within 5-1/2″ so it still slips perfectly into your envelope. Trust me—once you see how easy these are to make, you’ll be making these all the time!

Circles are hands-down my favorite die-cut shape to play with—they’re classic, clean, and instantly eye-catching! On our first card, I paired the Stylish Shapes dies with the Spotlight on Nature die, and oh my goodness… that combination creates the coolest rugged, textural look! If you want to step up your layers like I did on the card (verses my instructions above), just trim your Calypso Coral cardstock to 4″ x 4″ and your Beautiful Gallery Designer Paper to 3-3/4″ x 3-3/4″.

From there, I stamped the florals from the Gallery Blooms Bundle, colored them with Stampin’ Blends, and die-cut those beauties to tuck around the circle. Those little floral clusters pull the whole design together and make the focal point pop!

But here’s the fun part about this layout… you don’t have to stick with circles! Let your creativity run wild with any of Stampin’ Up!’s amazing layering dies. For my second card, I reached for the Everyday Arches Bundle, and it completely changed the feel of the layout—same concept, totally different vibe.

One of the stars of this card is the Everyday Arches Bundle from Stampin’ Up!. This versatile bundle includes a clean and elegant 13-stamp photopolymer set along with 10 nesting arch dies. The stamps feature heartfelt sentiments in graceful arched shapes—perfect for encouragement, friendship, or thank-you cards. Now pair it with the Everyday Skies 6″ × 6″ paper … an absolutely dream! One side features hand-painted cloudscapes, evoking sunrise, sunset, or the calm of an overcast day, while the other side offers more subtle, all-purpose patterns. Even better? The Everyday Skies DSP is on the Last Chance list and currently discounted to $8.75, so this is a fantastic time to grab it before it’s gone.

I’m absolutely in love with how this layout comes together — it’s clean, but with so much personality. Like I said, it’s one of my favorites, and you can see how this one pattern can looks so differently when changing out dies and papers!

If you’re looking for a layout that’s both powerful and effortless, give this one a try. Thanks!