Brian’s Week in Review: October 12, 2025

Welcome to my Week in Review! Each Sunday, I like to share a quick recap for those who don’t follow along every day—and a little extra behind-the-scenes for those who do.

A Little Bit of Travel

What a week! I’m happy to share that we are back from a pretty amazing adventure! Jeremiah and I left home Wednesday on a quick road trip that took us through South Carolina (to visit Mom and see my brother for his birthday) and then to Delaware to visit with my friend Hilda and then to New York City to spend the day in the city and see a show.

While I didn’t get to see Matthew for his 50th birthday, I was able to hand him his birthday card earlier in the week as we embarked on our adventures. Here’s Matthew (in the front) with Marshall (my nephew), Anna (my sister-in-law), Mom, Jeremiah and me:

Matthew said I was “giving Jack Nicholson face.” I didn’t know what he meant until I uploaded this photo to share. 🙂

We then met with stamping friend Hilda Burton and her husband Bob in Wilmington, Delaware:

I’ve knows Hilda for years, so it was nice to finally be in the same room as her. We spent some quality time in her craft room:

And took a wonderful tour of the Nemours Estate in Wilmington, Delaware – that’s the famous home of Alfred duPont, which includes a 77-room mansion and gorgeous gardens. Here’s a glimpse at the “front yard” from a bedroom window on the second floor of the estate:

And here’s the grand staircase:

We may have overstayed our welcome a bit – we toured the entire home and walked the grounds until closing time when they escorted us back to our cars in a luxury vehicle. Weee!

Let’s get back to the week in review. Here’s a look at the projects I shared with you this week (don’t miss the bonus add-ins!) …

Monday

I’ve been holding on to a gorgeous piece of art that I couldn’t wait to share with you. I finally shared it yesterday. Melody Hyde is a talented and kind and generous designer at Stampin’ Up!. Not only did she share a fun design presentation with us in our September visit, but she took Jeremiah and me on a trip to the Utah mountains. Then…she sent a thank you card to me. I shared that card (with her permission) yesterday.

Bonus: If you like this combination of colors as much as I do, I hope you’ll save this for future reference (pin it to to your Pinterest board so you’ll be able to find it later):

To read more about this gorgeous card from Melody, CLICK HERE.

Tuesday

On Tuesday I shared a closer look at the products in last week’s Kits Collection Sale and an alternative project I made with the Calm & Bright Kit. Here’s the card I shared:

While these soft, sweet colors aren’t my “normal” and aren’t in my standard palette for Christmas cards, I had fun with them for this card. To learn more, CLICK HERE.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I shared the tags I made to accompany the most recent Super-Awesome Fun Time Card Kits that were mailed out two weeks ago. Here’s the tag I made:

Bonus: Don’t you love the warmth of these colors?! If you like the mix of gold, Pretty Peacock and Cajun Craze as much as I do, I hope you’ll save this for future reference:

Another bonus: While I had to cut these leaves out one-at-a-time (and sometimes two-at-a-time), three leaves fit in the large embossing folder at one time, which helped to cut down on the work it took to make so many. Such a time saver!

To learn more about the tag I shared on Wednesday, CLICK HERE.

Thursday

On Thursday I launched the online version of the Super-Awesome Fun Time Card Kit. Emma Goddard and I had a grand time creating these projects and are happy to share them with you. If you would like to learn more about this incredible kit, CLICK HERE.

If you would like to purchase and download the tutorial, click on the image below:

Bonus: With each kit, we host a Zoom call for participants to share what they’ve made with the kit (and some alternative projects they make with the goodies). Always a fun call! As long as you purchase the Online Only kit before October 18, you’ll be invited to join the call!

Friday

On Friday I FINALLY put the adorable holiday cars from the North Pole Delivery Specialty Designer Series Paper to work for me. Oh, how I love these images! I was inspired by a sketch from last week’s World Card Making Day event (even though I strayed a bit). Here’s the card I shared on Friday:

How cute are these merry makers?! To learn more about this card and the projects I used to make it, CLICK HERE.

Saturday

Yesterday was my “baby” brother’s 50th birthday. I wanted to make something very special for his big celebration and was happy to give him this card earlier in the week. The Modern Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper gave me everything I wanted for Matthew’s birthday card. Here’s the card I shared yesterday:

That photo doesn’t show all the wonderful shine in the all of the gold elements – but some of my close-up photos showcase them. If you want to see more, CLICK HERE.

Looking Ahead

I’ve got some fun projects to share with you this coming week, too! I hope you’ll come back every day! 🙂

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian