Brian’s Week in Review: October 19, 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. You don’t want to miss these extras! ♥

What I’ve Been Up To…

How have I managed to stay so busy?! This is a secret (so please don’t tell anyone), but I’m looking into a new profession  – there’s nothing wrong with staying busy and contributing to the world a bit. I’m not yet sure what it will be, but I have completed my certification in a very focused area. More to come, but I’m keeping all of my options opened at this point. Taking my time. Whatever I do, it won’t impact my Stampin’ Up! commitments, so…

Over the past couple of months, I’ve finished three Halloween puzzles. I paused for my travels and picked up a new puzzle Thursday night. I completed it Friday night. Here’s a look at my completed puzzle:

As can tell, it’s a puzzle that features “High School Classics” – literature that most of us read in high school. This block style made it easy to zip through, but …

It happened again! A brand new puzzle with ONE PIECE MISSING. I couldn’t blame Mom (and her puzzle magnet arms). Ugh. Here’s the mystery left in Romeo & Juliet:

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

On Monday I shared a card that pairs the Sweet Blooms Bundle with the Floral Charm Designer Series Paper. It’s a simple layout that’s easily updated for other projects. Here’s the card I shared on Monday:

Bonus: Don’t ever toss the goodies you pull together and then don’t use on a card. I keep them around (in a bin, on the corner of my desk, in a drawer). I’ve been holding on to this “bloom” for months and was happy to build a card around it.

Extra Bonus: You might have seen this (you have a good eye), but the flower I snipped to fill the space above the “m” was cropped from the edge of a piece of paper. I didn’t notice the flat side of the second flower until I had taken the photo. Doh!

If you want to read more about this card and see all of the products I used to make it, click here.

Tuesday

I’ve used Floral Charm Designer Series Paper a lot, so ….

On Tuesday I shared six color combinations with the Floral Charm Designer Series Paper (three only using colors featured in the papers and three that include a color that’s not in the papers). I also shared five projects I’ve shared here with the pages of this gorgeous paper.

If you want to see my projects and the color combinations I shared on Tuesday, click here.

Wednesday

On Tuesday night, I hosted my InKing Royalty Team Facebook call. I share new promotions and products and celebrate the success of team members during the calls. Here’s the card I planned to make on the call Tuesday night:

Bonus: As I shared above, I planned to make this card on my team call. I had cut the layers and planned to build the collage of elements during the call. Unfortunately, I ran into some technical difficulties with the overhead camera. Bummer! Still happy with how it turned out.

If you want to read more about this fun card, click here.

Thursday

On Thursday I shared a thank you card I made with the Gathering Moments Bundle and some other fun products. The green background on this card is created with a bit of over-stamping of an oak leaf. Fun! Here’s the card I shared with you on Thursday:

If you’d like to read more about this card and the products I used to make it, click here.

Friday

So many cards start with a special pattern – and I just build a design around that page. That’s what happened with the festive Snowy Delights card I shared with you on Friday.

If you’d like to read more about this card, click here.

Saturday

Here’s another idea that’s been bouncing around in my brain that finally made it to a finished project and the blog…these festive bookmarks using the Nutcracker Tags Kit:

Bonus: Here are the measurements for my little bookmark pouches, starting with the base and working up (my example is for the first tag):

• Thick Basic White – 3-1/2″ x 5-1/2″
• 3-3/8″ x 5-3/8″ – Poppy Parade
• 2-7/8″ x 3-1-2″ – Basic White
• 2-3/4″ x 3-3/8″ – Modern Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper

I used 1/2″ strips of Basic White for sentiment and cut the angle in my trimmer. I didn’t measure precisely, but the left side of the Designer Series Paper is about 2-1/4″ tall. I used Tear & Tape around three sides of the pocket.

If you want to read more and see more pictures of these projects, 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