How To Make 3 Happier Hour Cards
October 25, 2025
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Get ready to dive into an ocean of creativity! This month, Spellbinders brings you an incredible underwater-themed collection that will make your cardmaking adventures absolutely spectacular. The August ’25 kits are here, and they’re packed with everything you need to create stunning fish cards that capture the magic and wonder of life beneath the waves.
Each kit in this collection tells its own aquatic story, from playful fish parades to elegant underwater blooms. These aren’t just ordinary cardmaking supplies—they’re your gateway to creating professional-quality cards that will amaze your friends and family. Let’s explore what makes these August kits so special and discover four fantastic fish card projects that showcase their incredible potential.
The Latest & Greatest: Overview of Spellbinders’ August ’25 Kits
This month’s collection transports you to an enchanting underwater world where creativity flows as freely as ocean currents. Each kit brings its own special technique and design elements to your crafting table.
The Large Die of the Month “Splash Tales” features intricate fish designs that cut, emboss, and deboss with precision. These versatile dies create stunning focal points for your cards while offering multiple layering opportunities.
The Stencil of the Month “Underwater Bloom” adds gorgeous texture and depth to your backgrounds. This stencil creates beautiful coral and seaweed patterns that serve as the perfect backdrop for your aquatic scenes.
The BetterPress Plate of the Month “Fish Parade” brings elegant letterpress-style impressions to your projects. The detailed fish and wave patterns create sophisticated, tactile elements that you can feel with your fingertips.
The 3D Embossing Folder of the Month “Underwater Waltz” transforms ordinary cardstock into dimensional underwater landscapes. The deep, rich textures create stunning backgrounds that make your fish appear to swim right off the page.
The Clear Stamp & Die of the Month “Paper Splash” combines perfectly coordinated stamps and dies for effortless stamping and cutting. The sentiments and decorative elements complete your underwater scenes beautifully.
Unleash Your Creativity: 4 Cardmaking Ideas with Spellbinders’ August ’25 Kits
Ready to dive into these fantastic fish card projects? Each design showcases a different club kit while demonstrating how these coordinated tools work together to create professional-looking results.
You can use the DIY Color Deck to help with your color palette. This is the card I used for these four cards:
The Large Die of the Month
This stunning card features layered ocean objects cut from the “Splash Tales” die set, creating a dimensional underwater scene that seems to move with life and energy.
How to Make the Large Die of the Month Card:
Start by selecting cardstock in ocean-inspired colors such as deep teal, coral pink, and sandy beige. Cut your card base from white cardstock to A2 size (4.25″ x 5.5″).
Use the mermaid dies from the “Splash Tales” set to cut your main focal point from sparkly teal glitter cardstock. Or, you can make your own by coloring white glitter cardstock with an alcohol marker. You can use the Underwater Tunnel die set to create a layering effect with different tones of blue, tan, and gray cardstock. This technique adds depth and visual interest to your design. (Pro tip: Read How to Attach A Color Panel to get all your panels aligned straight and square).
Use the smaller decorative elements from the die set to cut out seaweed, coral, and ocean life shapes in various colors from your chosen color palette.
Arrange your coral and ocean life elements on the background tunnel layers, overlapping them slightly to create a natural underwater scene. Use foam adhesive squares to raise some aspects for added dimension. Add the mermaid in the center to make it look like she’s floating right in the middle.
Attach the completed panel to your card base and add a sentiment using the coordinating stamps from the Clear Stamp & Die set or the one included in the large die of the month set.
Supply List:
The Stencil of the Month Card
Begin with a light blue A2 card base and cut a panel measuring 4″ x 5.25″ from breeze cardstock for your stenciled background.
Position the “Underwater Bloom” stencil over your cardstock panel and secure it with removable tape. (Pro Tip: use a stencil tool such as a sticky mat or the Stencil and Stamp tool). Using a blending tool and distress inks in ocean colors (try Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, and Unchartered Mariner), blend color through the stencil openings.
Start with the lightest color and work your way to the darkest, creating depth and movement in your background. The coral and seaweed patterns will emerge beautifully as you blend. You can also use inks and paste with sheen to really make the scene pop.
Remove the stencil carefully and allow the ink to dry completely. Die-cut the diess that make up the fish shapes from the large die of the month set, and cut it from cardstock that you’ve blended with Summer Garden shimmer ink and Verdicris metallic ink .
Mount a purple color panel to your card base. Use two rectangle dies to die-cut a slim rectangle from your stenciled panel and attach the “frame” and the completed panel to the color panel with liquid glue or a tape runner.
Layer the fish over your stenciled background, positioning it to interact naturally with the coral patterns. Add a heat-embossed sentiment in Mermaid Lagoon on the bottom of your panel. Pop them up with foam squares for a professional finish.
Supply List:
The BetterPress August ’25 Kits Card
This sophisticated card demonstrates the elegant letterpress technique using the “Fish Parade” BetterPress plate, creating beautiful raised impressions that add luxury to your design.
How to Make the BetterPress of the Month Card:
Set up your BetterPress system according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This innovative system allows you to achieve professional letterpress results with your manual die-cutting machine.
Cut your card base from Saffron cardstock to A2 size and attach it to a white A2 card base with a tape runner. Prepare a panel measuring 4″ x 5.25″ from Oceanside cardstock for your BetterPress impression.
Place the “Fish Parade” BetterPress plate onto the magnetic chase. Apply metallic and or shimmer ink in a coordinating colors (try a deep teal, blue, or pink) evenly across the plate surface using a blending brush.
Position your Oceanside cardstock panel on the clear platen, using the registration marks to ensure proper alignment. Create the BetterPress sandwich according to the system instructions and run it through your die-cutting machine.
The result will be a beautiful raised impression of fish and a coordinating sentiment that you can both see and feel. Allow the ink to dry completely.
Trim your impressed panel if needed and mount it to your Saffron covered card base. The stark color difference between the base and panel creates an elegant, sophisticated look that really brings out the lovely fish impressions.
Supply List:
The 3D Embossing Folder of the Month Card
This dramatic card features the deep, rich textures created by the “Underwater Waltz” 3D embossing folder, producing stunning dimensional backgrounds that make your aquatic elements truly pop.
How to Make the 3D Embossing Folder of the Month Card:
Create your A2 card base from brushed copper cardstock for a rich shimmery foundation. Cut a panel measuring 4″ x 5.25″ from Oceanside cardstock for embossing to give an ocean-deep effect.
Set up your 3D embossing sandwich according to your machine’s requirements. 3D embossing folders create much deeper impressions than standard folders, so you may need to use the Universal Plate System or adjust your machine settings.
Place your cardstock panel inside the “Underwater Waltz” 3D embossing folder and run it through your machine. The result will be dramatic raised patterns that create the illusion of flowing water and sea life.
Once embossed, enhance the dimensional effect by lightly brushing the raised areas with metallic ink or paint. Try using colors to mimic the shimmer of water and scales.
For a fun touch, cut a simple sand castle silhouette also from the brushed copper cardstock using any of the coordinating dies from the large die of the month club set. Position the sand castle over your embossed background in the lower third of the card front, allowing the dimensional patterns to show around it.
Add a sentiment and mount the completed panel to your card base for maximum contrast and impact.
Supply List:
Check Out These August ’25 Kits and the Rest of the Collection at Spellbinders Paper Arts
The August ’25 kits are here, and they’re packed with everything you need to capture the magic beneath the waves in your cards. These kits represent just a fraction of the creative possibilities waiting for you at Spellbinders Paper Arts. Each month brings new themes, techniques, and coordinated designs that work beautifully together or as individual statement pieces.
Club memberships offer incredible value, providing you with exclusive designs, project inspiration, and member benefits including special pricing and early access to new products. The “New Subscriber” registration window opens monthly from the 6th to the 27th, so you can join at any time to start receiving these expertly curated kits.
Don’t forget about the innovative DIY Color Deck System, which helps you create perfect color combinations for all your projects. This 52-card system includes stunning artwork on one side and blank spaces for swatching your favorite colors on the other. The reverse side features color theory tips, creative prompts, and fun facts to inspire your crafting journey.
Get Crafting
The underwater world of August 2025’s club kits offers endless possibilities for creating cards
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ABOUT AUTHOR
Teri Duncan
Teri has over 30 years of experience as a cardmaker. Her work has appeared in Spellbinders Paper Arts’ blog as well as with some of their products and on Altenew’s blog. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, stained glass, and teaching. She and her husband live in Crystal River, Florida with their three dogs and a cat.
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