15/2 Scrapbooking with Designer Series Paper

Alison Culliver
Feb 15
9 min read

Using DSP to spotlight your memories.

Hello & welcome! I'm Alison, and I live in the beautiful city of Melbourne, Australia.

In the past, I blogged on Blogger at craftedbyalison@blogspot.com but this year I have switched to my own website to blog, write a newsletter & sell me creations in my online store. If this is your first time reading my work, welcome!

Let me share a bit about myself.

I enjoy making cards and gifts for my friends and family, and this blog is dedicated to helping you create something special for your loved ones too.

I post twice a week—on Sundays, where I typically feature a stamp set, dies, embossing folders, projects, and occasionally special Designer Series Paper (DSP), and on Wednesday evenings, where I offer techniques, colour related topics & techniques, fun folds or tools and tips.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions. You can email me at craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

Today's post is all about using DSP as a backdrop for your photo memories when scrapbooking. Traditionally a lot of scrapbook pages are white cardstock that you then apply DSP, photos, stamping, ephemera etc to but this week I am sharing how to use a sheet of DSP as your backdrop instead of a traditional page. I hope you enjoy it!

To create this pretty two page spread I started with the Everyday Happiness DSP in the soft gingham print as the base pages.

Next, I diecut some Crumb Cake cardstock with the Perennial Postage dies in two different sizes & sponged some Crumb Cake ink around the edges with blending brushes.

Stamping was next, with lots of pretty flowers stamped in Secret Sea from the 2026 Virtual Card Retreat (exclusive) stamp set & two labels from the Addressed to you stamp set stamped in Cinnamon Cider (retired), choosing the small flower spray for the corner.

I coloured the flowers & leaves with Lost Lagoon, Pumpkin Pie, Cinnamon Cider, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight & SU1000 Stampin' Blends before fussy cutting them all out. There are also two leafy sprigs, stamped in Cajun Craze from the Nature's Symphony stamp set & diecut with the co-ordinating dies.

So now that all of the stamping & cutting was completed, it was time to layout all of the pieces to see what looked nice. After fiddling around with the placement I settled on a layout that had the same elements on each page but had minor differences.

Here is page 1...

with a closeup of the blending & colouring...

Page 2...

and a closeup of page 2...

When placing the flowers near the photo mattes I made sure to leave a little bit of room so that any future photos would be able to slip under the flower.

This was a quick and easy layout, allowing room for up to 6 different photos or to add some additional memorabilia or comments, depending on which memory I was documenting. The two pages are now added to my collection of ready to use pages for when I have the right photo moment.

That's it for my creations today. I hope you enjoyed learning this quick & easy layout.

Now for some news from Stampin' Up®.

Stampin' Up® have many ways of shopping with a physical catalogue, online shopping & in person events. When items are about to be retired or are running low they are put on the 'Last Chance' list which means that there is limited stock & when it runs out, it's gone.

Stampin' Up® 's Annual Catalogue is sectioned it to have beginners, which is a step by step collection of materials in kits, then there is quick & easy where you select base materials & packs of pre-printed or diecut materials plus some stamp sets then there is create your way where you choose all the materials, stamps etc yourself & Create Your Way! In the quick & easy section Stampin' Up® have also provided some inspiration with a colour wheel & information of various ways to use colour combinations. I explored this in a bit more detail in some of my previous blogs on Blogspot. The other cool feature is that they provide card sketch & scrapbook layout ideas for you. This is great for any times that you need a little inspiration.

If you'd like to browse the catalogue online then click here. If you'd like a copy to hold in your hands, leaf through & put little notes all over it of what's on your wish list then shoot me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com or message me on my facebook page at craftedbyalison.

The mini catalogue is now available online & in printed form. There are loads of gorgeous new products in there. There's scrapbooking ideas & products, Love/Valentines & Easter themed products and some lovely outdoor themed suites. If you'd like me to send you a copy then send me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

Stampin' Up® also have loads of additional products available only online. These are called Online exclusives & have no end date, when the stock is sold out, that's the end of it.

Stampin' Up® have a great range of Kits including crafting, card making & gift giving. There are brand new kits added to the collection every month. Click here to check them all out in my online shop. As Stampin' Up® have so many beautiful kits available I usually feature a different kit in each

Sunday blog so that you can see the range.

This week the feature kit is called Best Ever & is perfect for letting someone special know that you think they are the 'Best Ever'! This kit is one of the easiest in the kit range as it is a pre-cut kit that has all of the materials needed to assemble 6 cards without any stamping or cutting.

Here's how Stampin' Up® describe it...

Celebrate your #1s—Mum, Dad, and all the everyday heroes—with the Best Ever Kit. Foam fingers, ribbons, and trophies make it a winner for cards, tags, and paper crafts that show big-time appreciation. It’s playful, easy to use, and full of ways to craft your own heartfelt celebration.

If you feel that you need to add this to your list then click here to purchase one from my online store.

If you shop with me then there are some changes last year to the rewards program that you should know about. In the past we were able to create a host code & group together individual orders & pass on the 'hostess' benefits to customers with qualifying orders. This has now been replaced with a 'Rewards' program that gives all customers who place an order with a qualifying amount a credit of 10% of their order to use on future orders. This will be displayed during the checkout process or your order. Stampin' Up® feel that this is a fairer way of rewarding all customers.

There are some new ways to craft on offer at the moment which I will go through one at a time.

Ready?

1.Stampin' Up® held it's first ever Online Craft Class with the Traditions of Christmas craftalong & followed that up with a Brushed with Beauty Suite on November 21st and the next one is called Lovely Blossoms & is available right now! It co-ordinates with the Lovely Blossoms suite & you can order the class & suite by clicking on the links. It will be held on the 20th February. I have purchased both of the previous classes & they are a great way for you to learn from the professionals & a load of fun. The Lovely Blossoms class is ready & waiting in my craft room!

Once you purchase any of the Craft Classes you will receive an email with a link to an exclusive Facebook group when the event is hosted. Can't wait to craft along again & see what designs the team come up with!

2. Stampin' Up® held their first ever Virtual Card Making Retreat over two days recently. It was designed for experienced or advanced crafters in mind but also had a heap of tips & ideas for those wanting to explore more detailed card designing. You can still be a part of this event! To participate you just need to purchase the Retreat kit ($288AU) & this provides you with all of the materials you need & access to an exclusive FaceBook group where the videos from the event are stored. It sounds like a bit of expense but from past experience, what you take away from these type of events is well worth it. You can also download & print the pre event cutting instructions as well as having a cutting video & recordings of all of the cards that were made.

Here's some more info on how to join this retreat.

To craft along with the Stampin' Up® presenters and make 15 beautiful, all-occasion cards, you’ll want to purchase the 2026 Virtual Card Making Retreat kit. Everyone who purchases a kit will receive a link to the exclusive Facebook group where the live event will stream. We only have a limited number of kits, so make sure to order yours ASAP!

3. Starting last December, Stampin' Up® will be featuring a special 'Product of the Month' item that is only available with eligible purchases. There will be a new item every month with no clues as to what the item will be. It could be stamps, dies, papers - a complete surprise every month. You will be able to receive each month's product for just $9 when you spend $125 in one order. I have been able to order the first offering for December which is some lovely blue toned DSP & also have the January Product of the Month which is a very versatile stamp set. I will share some creations with you in future posts. The February product is now available & is a stunning DSP pack filled with Beautiful watercolours and whimsical patterns that will make beautiful projects.

Once I have created with this gorgeous paper I will share them with you.

If you've thought of joining Stampin' Up® but never gotten around to it then the February joining offer may just be the one that makes up your mind.
From Feb 3rd to March 2nd you can receive the brand new Stampin' Positioner, a stamping platform tool just released by Stampin' Up®, for free!! It was available to demonstrators early but it didn't make it into my trolley. Now I have to wait with everyone else for the official release date. If you want one now, click here to join or see below for info.
In March I will be heading up to Sydney for Stampin' Up®'s annual On Stage event which is when they release their new Annual Catalogue to demonstrators. This will be my first time attending On Stage & I'm pretty excited to join hundreds of other demonstrators from all around Australia for 3 days of fun, friendship & new products. I won't be able to share any of the catalogue apart from the front cover until it is officially released to the public but I will be able to share any creations I make with products I receive at the event or in the pre-order period. More info when it's available.

Lastly, there have been lots of great items added to the clearance rack which is now called Last Chance items so make sure you check them out using this link to my online store as there are some great discounts.

P.S. if you received any Bonus Days vouchers during the January promotion, from February 3rd to 28th you can redeem them for products. Click here to visit my store & browse.

If you would like to purchase any of my creations that I feature in my blogs they can be found in my shop along with lots of different designs including feminine, masculine, special occasions, everyday events, something for the juniors or you can order something unique.

I hope you've enjoyed today's post.

My next post will be on Wednesday & will feature a technique called 4 corner stamping that allows you to stamp on one sheet of cardstock but produce 4 (or more) cards! This is a great time saving way to create multiple cards with less effort.

In next Sunday's post I will show you how to create your own gift bags.

I hope you can join me for both of them & come back for more.

Til next take, take care & keep creating.

XX Alison

Here are some links to the products that I used today & some craft room essentials.

Shop with me

Stamps, Dies, Embossing folders & punches