Nature Walk Suite

The new January to April 2026 Mini Catalogue went live today. (Check for the link on my catalogue page!).  One of the products that I got on my preorder is the Nature Walk Suite. I love the colours and the great nature vibes that it has!

Some of my favourite colours that Stampin' Up! has are in the DSP for this suite. Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Blue, Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock... I just love blue and green! Put them together with some great neutrals and In Colours, and this is just a great set of DSP for anyone. 

One thing that I love to do is to branch out and make things that are not cards. At Christmas, I made a tea advent calendar, and tried out covering blank notebooks with DSP to make them pretty. Of course, I also made a couple of samplers too, because, well... that is just my jam!

The first thing I used this suite for was a notebook. I love the scripted page with Early Espresso and Pecan Pie as the focus. It has a totally vintage feel. It was so easy making a notebook that was pretty and appealing with this paper. I used the Nature's Symphony bundle of stamps and dies, as well as the Natural Hues Textured Specialty Paper to enhance the focal image. 

Covering a booklet is really not that difficult. I used a 12"x 12" sheet of DSP, cut down to fit the cover plus about 1/4" tab on each side of the cover. Trimming to reduce bulk on the corners, I adhered the cover to the DSP and then folded the tabs inside. Tear & Tape is great for this as it has great sticking strength. 

Once the paper was on, I used some plain cardstock to cover the messy parts inside the book covers. That was super easy. It is close to a half sheet of cardstock, and this time I used a corner rounder that mimicked the corners of the booklet. It was a nice finishing touch. 

The rest is really just like making a card focal point. I used some scraps, different layers, some dies to cut out interesting pieces, and finished with a sentiment and some embellishments. I used a card designed by Creative Stamping Designs Karen Ksenzakovic to get me started. 

Since there are so many beautiful sheets of DSP in this set, I plan to make my video tutorial of the booklet with another option. I think it will come together really great, no matter which page I end up using! (I will try to remember to post a picture of that here when I am done!)

Since I am using this suite for a class, I moved on to designing some cards with it. I felt like this paper lends itself really well to more masculine (or even just more general) cards. Not everyone likes flowers and cutesy it seems. 

I often use the internet as a guide when I start designing a card. When a set is brand new, it can be a little difficult to find anything that helps. I lucked out this time, and found the perfect jumping point. Great Stamping with Connie's Connie Douglas had just the right inspiration. 

I sifted through the DSP and found one that I liked that features Secret Sea in a very regular, rectangular pattern. I didn't want to use Secret Sea as the base, as that would be an intensely dark card. Not always a bad thing, just not what I was looking for. I decided to pair it with Very Vanilla. Those, along with the lightest of the Natural Hues papers, were the only colours I used. Again, using the dies and stamps from Nature's Symphony, I made this card very simple, yet great. 

I love the texture stamp on the edge, as it took it to the next level. That was actually an afterthought, but it needed... something. It was a bit too plain. I also used one of the leaf stamps on the inside and on the envelope. I layered it over the texture stamp, and stamped it off to get more depth. 

My next card was actually based on another card that I made myself. When I ordered the Nature's Symphony Suite, I also ordered the coordinating scrapbooking kit called Exploring Nature. I have probably said before how NOT a scrapbooker I am. I chose to push myself to try this kit. I attended a workshop in November where we used a scrapbook kit to make anything but scrapbook pages. 

I chose to make the pages. I made all six, made a few mistakes along the way, but they turned out well anyways. I decided to gift them to my daughter for Christmas. Now all she has to do is insert pictures (the placeholders have dimensions) of herself, her husband and her pets and she has an amazing keepsake all ready to go. 

When I was done making the scrapbook pages, I still had a bunch of scraps and pieces left over. I used those and made 6 cards, needing only to add the cardstock bases for each of them. There was enough of the stickers and paper left to do the rest - even liners for the darker cards. I was so happy with how they turned out!

Back to the next card... I used one of the designs I made in my scrapbook experiment, and made a grid card. It is a really simple way of using up scraps and a lot of different DSP. I actually used a strip from each of the 6 double sided designs and tried to use as many of those as I could to enhance to colours and coordination. 

I chose Cloud Cover and Secret Sea for the mat and base layers of this card. The first card that I made just had the grid and the sentiment, with no other elements at all. There were also fewer scraps of paper left from the kit, so it took a lot of flipping and fidgeting to get enough different pieces. 

I added a bit more to this one to take it to another level. Ribbons, stamps and die cuts helped to elevate the focal point on this card, as did the use of Banner Sayings and the Triple Banner punch. It looks so great!

I love how, by using simple techniques, you can reach a whole different level. Stamping off, die cutting or fussy cutting, and adding ribbon and embellishments seem like little things, but they change so much. 

I also love the confidence I have gained as I have grown in this journey. When I first started making cards, I was not very good at it. Honestly! I threw out a lot of cards. My daughter and I sorted out cards just before Christmas, and some of those early efforts were still there. She declared they did not meet current standards, and they just had to go! Now... I can make a card, whether I base it on a card of someone else's or create  it myself, and be totally happy with it. I know I make beautiful things. I guess all of that nonsense about "practice makes perfect" really does work, huh? 

If you see this and would like to learn how I made these projects, you can contact me. You can also register for the card class on Jan. 25, 2026, or receive the virtual class supplies or just instructions. Click the link below to find out more. I have also included a link to take you to a complete list of supplies.