Cathy Zielske's Blog, page 8

Unboxing the latest card kit from Simon Says Stamp and making five cards

It’s Kit Unboxing Day for the May 2025 Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. Let’s jump right to the video, shall we?

When I first opened the box, I was a little nervous but as you saw, it always gives me a little creative spark, no matter the style of the kit. Here is a closer look at the cards. First up, Card One:

This is such a basic, easily replicable design! I love having multiple mats on a card. Plus, the foiled greetings are so pretty. I can never photograph them to show the ful...

A look at my paper scrap storage and a few cute cards from those scraps!

Today I’m sharing a look at my paper scrap storage and also sharing some fun cards that are part of a blog hop for the newest release from Altenew.

Having your cardstock scraps organized is helpful when you need to find the perfect color for die cuts, especially for floral designs or those that use other small, detailed elements.

I used the same scraps for both cards today.

In my video today, I’ll share a brief look at my storage as well as how these cards came together:...

Cathy Makes a Card Live: the giveaway post

Welcome to the giveaway post for today’s livestream (4/9/25)! If you would like to be entered for a chance to win my card, leave a comment below.

In the mean time, here is the livestream:

I love this card so much, I’m sad to be giving it away! But give it away, I must!

Check out the new release today from Concord & 9th!

Thanks for stopping by.

SUPPLIES:

Affiliate links are used in this post and below at no additional cost to you. I receive a small percent ...

My first ever fancy fold card (plus some pretty foiling and ink blending!)

At first glance it looks like a typical card but when you look at like standing up, you see the magic:

I realize this is a very basic fancy fold, but it’s the first time I’ve tried this on my YouTube channel. I also featured some fun foiling and ink blending, as well.

Take a peek at my video here:

It took a few cuts to get the fold just right but this is something I’ve not really done much of, if at all. I’m really happy with how it turned out.

Plus, I used the lef...

Download my small palette swatching chart for free

Today I’m sharing a free 5 x 7 printable to help you swatch out small paint palettes. I’m also including one with the Altenew colors I recently swatched, if you have any of those, or are considering adding watercolors to your collection.

These PDF files are 5 x 7 to match the Altenew 5 x 7 watercolor paper, but you can trim any watercolor paper to 5 x 7. I printed mine on an ink jet printer, and made sure to set my paper size to 5 x 7. I also printed on the smoother side of the watercolo...

Getting meta with postage themed cards!

Yes, we’re going to get a bit meta today with two cards that feature postage and envelope themes. I’m loving the new Blocks of Fun release from Waffle Flower!

There are some fabulous new Postage Die collections and mail themes in this release.

I combined a few die sets—the Postage Collage Envelope Die, the Postage Collage Mini Seals Dies and the Envelopes Die (plus a stencil and sentiment strip)—to create my cards.

Here is my tutorial:

GIVEAWAY

Today ...

CATHY MAKES A CARD LIVE—THE POST FOR THIS WEEK’S YOUTUBE LIVESTREAM

IThe card from today’s livestream (April 2, 2025) is going to my friend Gina K, to celebrate her 200K subscribers and also because she’s a salt of the earth, amazing human.

All supplies for this week’s livestream will be listed at the bottom of this post. In the meantime, check out the live (or replay) here: 

I love this stencil set so much. And Gina! Who is the best!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

SUPPLIES:

Affiliate links are used in this post and below at no...

Tile your background! Turn any panel into fours!

Today I’m sharing a simple technique to add a bit more interest to any card design: turn a background panel into quads!

This four-panel look works with any type of background stamp, repeating pattern stencil, patterned paper—pretty much any design for a background! Just create it, cut it into fours, and pop it up on your notecard. I’m sharing a great hack for perfect alignment, too! Watch this tutorial:

Here’s a look at the second card I shared:

If you’ve never tried b...

Cathy Makes a Card Live—the giveaway post

If you’d like to be entered for a chance to win the card from today’s livestream (March 26, 2025), just leave a comment below! I’ll choose a winner at random by next week’s live.

All supplies for this week’s livestream will be listed at the bottom of this post. In the meantime, check out the live (or replay) here: 

Phew! That was a long livestream. They happen from time to time. But OH, it this a cute card!

This color scheme is so fresh and spring-like. And that letter st...

My top 10 coloring tips (for being who struggle with alcohol markers!)

I am not technically known for my alcohol marker coloring. But back in 2017, it was all the cute critters from companies like Mama Elephant and Lawn Fawn and Pretty Pink Posh that lured me into building my Copic marker collection. Even though I still feel like I never know what I’d doing when it’s time to color in critters or cute things, I have some tips to share with beginners or others who don’t always feel like they know what they are doing either.

This might be the simplest Top 1...