Christmas Tree Card made using Paper Inlay Technique. | Concord and 9th Tree Lot Inlay Die

Featured Card

What a beautiful field of Christmas trees you can create using the Concord & 9th Tree Lot Inlay Die. The paper inlay and pierced details create a clean, graphic design with flat elegance — a modern, minimalist look without bulk.

Behind the Featured Card and More

 

Paper inlay is a lovely technique. I find it quite meditative, and it’s so satisfying watching all those little puzzle pieces come together. You do need to be mindful not to throw any of the tiny pieces away when die cutting, but before long you’ll recognise exactly which bits need to be kept. All I can say is that making these cards is very addictive.

I used six different colours for each card and constantly seemed to have pieces left over. I’d cut more to finish the next section of trees, only to end up with extras again—and so the process continued on and on. That’s how I ended up with 17 cards when I’d only really intended to make eight. I’ve shared nine of my favourites here; the others, which feature larger amounts of gold cardstock, were tricky to photograph due to the reflections—so I’ll leave those to your imagination.

✂️ Paper Inlay Tips & Tricks

🧩 Keep every tiny piece

Those little off-cuts matter! Don’t clear your desk too quickly—some shapes look like scraps but are essential later.

🗂️ Work one colour at a time
Finish all the pieces in one colour before moving on. It keeps your sanity intact 😄

📦 Use a scrap tray or lid
Pop tiny die-cuts into a shallow dish, lid, or tray so they don’t vanish into the crafting abyss.

🧷 Tweezers are your best friend. Needle nose tweezers are my favourite.

🧴 Use adhesive sparingly – A fine-tip glue applicator or glue pen helps prevent ooze and warped paper. Even better, skip glue altogether. Apply double-sided tape to the back of your coloured cardstock before die cutting. This ensures all the edges of your inlay pieces are fully adhered, sitting beautifully flat and secure in place

⏳ Be patient and slow down
Paper inlay is meditative 🧘‍♀️—rushing can lead to misalignment. 

❤️ Embrace the addiction

Paper inlay is oddly satisfying—and yes, it will multiply your card count!

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Concord & 9th Triple-Step Happy Day Card Series | Post 1— Triple stamping Technique

Featured Card

Soft pastel green, coral, and yellow come together in this handmade birthday card, created using the Concord & 9th Triple-Step Happy Day stamp set. The triple-step stamping technique makes layering colour and florals so easy and effective

Behind the Featured card and More

Post 1 in my Concord & 9th Triple-Step Happy Day Card Series introduces the stamp set and triple-step stamping technique, includes a short video demonstration, and showcases handmade birthday cards in coral, mint, and tangerine colour palettes.

Concord and 9th have some truly gorgeous products, and the moment I saw the Triple-Step Happy Day stamps and dies, it was love at first sight. The multi-layered stamping and those fabulous patterned overlays stamps for the letters, were just so much fun to play with.

What is Triple Step Stamping

In these cards, triple-step stamping involves using three separate stamps to create a single sentiment—Oh, Happy Day—along with the accompanying flowers.

Each of the three stamps is made up of a collection of letters and floral elements that all sit next to each other. When stamped in sequence, they form one complete image. In the stamp set shown below, these three stamps are shown with grey shading to indicate that they are joined together. The remaining images and words, shown without the grey background, are single, standalone stamps.

Here is a video showing this process.

A Quick Heads-Up

If you’re diving into triple-step stamping—especially with the stamp that has the scalloped edge—it’s worth knowing that large, irregularly shaped acrylic stamps can stretch when repeatedly removed from a stamp positioner like a MISTI.

This happened to me over time, and eventually the stamps stopped aligning properly. In hindsight, I should have been more careful when removing the stamps from the positioner, and since I own three stamp positioners, I would use all three in future so the stamps can remain in place.

That said, stamp stretching isn’t unique to Concord & 9th. It’s something I’ve experienced with many acrylic stamps, regardless of brand. Acrylic stamps are far more affordable than red rubber stamps—which don’t stretch—so it really comes down to personal preference and budget.

As usual, I went a little stamping-crazy and ended up with a whole stack of cards. Experimenting with different colour combinations was such a joy, and I was genuinely surprised by how well some colours worked together. I even pulled out a few ink pads from my stash that are over ten years old. It was lovely to give them a new lease on life—although, sadly, a few ink pads had not survived the test of time and ended up in the bin.

I’ve created many posts featuring cards made with the Triple-Step Happy Day stamps and dies. If you’re enjoying this series, be sure to check out the others too! The links are at the bottom of this post.

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Here are the links to the other Cards in this Series

Post 1 -Triple stamping technique

Post 2 -  Lilac, Coral and Mint

Post 3 -  Green and Purple

Post 4 -  Bright Colours

Post 5 - Pastels and Gold Card Stock

Post 6 - Pops of red

Post 7 - Stepping It Up with Bows

Post 8 -  Stepping It Up with Flowers

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