Creating Greetings When No Single Stamp Exists

Morning everyone!!!! This week we’ve been thinking outside the box to create patriotic cards and projects. By Monday evening the patriotic card class will be finished except for the tutorial emailed out, and I will shift into — CHRISTMAS!!! Heck, I’m worse than Wally World, aren’t I??? Christmas is over 6 months away, yet I’m ready to start the Christmas card collection for 2025. Stampin’ Up is ready as well, since they have several holiday stamp sets and bundles coming out in the Online Exclusives tab of the online store beginning in July! And HALLOWEEN is also included!!! A Fun DSP, some awesome goody bags, and an adorable stamp set for the trick or treaters in your life.

Wrapping Up The Patriotic Cards With Appropriate Greetings

So when you have a theme such as patriotic, you quickly discover that Stampin’ Up doesn’t have the perfect stamp set for these cards. But with some creative thinking and knowing your supplies, you can create a great phrase!

To stamp the sentiment for the card above, I turned to not 1, but FOUR stamp sets!!

“Let’s Celebrate” comes from the Simply Said stamp set currently available in our product line. That phrase could well be in a stampset you use for birthdays though so look for it!
Where did I find the stamp for July???? The PERPETUAL BEAUTY CALENDAR KIT has all of the months included in the stamp set!!! Buy the kit, use the book, AND keep the stampset to use for future needs!
The number “4” came from a retired set called Classic Letters. I STRONGLY suggest you always have an alphabet set on hand – whether stamps or dies just for this reason. Currently we have the Birthday Celebration bundle with the numbers, and there is a “TH” there as well!
My “TH” comes from my OLD PAPER PUMPKIN STAMP COLLECTION!!! Do you have one too???

Have Retired Paper Pumpkin Stamps?????

This is what I turn to when I’m looking for a word or phrase!!!! These are years of Paper Pumpkin stamps!! Actually, I have two of these bins! They are loaded with the stampsets from past kits – way too good to simply toss once you’ve created the cards.

When I’m wanting a word I start digging and looking for what I need. My “TH” was cut off a stamp that said “THANK YOU”. We have AMPLE thank you stamps so it’s easy to de-construct! I love the size, the font, and it’s perfect for my needs. And how do I keep from losing that quarter-inch stamp? I store it in the Classic Letters box! Everything I need in one place.

My Suggestions To You:

You will always find at least one alphabet/number stamp sets in my supplies – you never know when you will need them! Currently we have one set of dies with letters AND numbers – the Alphabet A La Mode dies which are a nice size to have on hand. I will not retire my alphabet stamps until another one becomes available.
If you find a stampset with the month names – GRAB IT and HOLD TIGHT! These come out every so often, so I promise the set from the Perpetual Beauty Calendar will stay in my supplies until the next time we have one available.
Keep your Paper Pumpkin stamps in a box so you can grab and look! Get rid of those orange boxes with all of your leftover stuff! I have another 2 baskets loaded with ink spots as well. And when you need a phrase/word/letters turn to this box for some creative cutting!
FYI – I KEEP my stamps/ink spot with my Paper Pumpkin if it NOT ASSEMBLED though. Simply slice an opening at the end of the celophane packaging and slide the stamps/ink spot inside with the kit. Everything is one place til needed.

Final Thoughts….

Hopefully this week you’ve been able to see how to fill the need for patriotic cards without a specific stamp set! It is doable – but you must know your supplies, know the current supplies offered by Stampin’ Up, and step away from the mental box so you can get creative!

I’ll be back tomorrow to share one more project, but until then, keep stamping, keep crafting, and God Bless!!!