🎀🛠️ Trusty Tools Handmade Cancer Encouragement Card: “Screw Cancer” With Sass + Support
- This Chick Loves Paper
- Aug 18, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 23
When cancer barges into your life, it doesn’t knock, it doesn’t ask permission, and it definitely doesn’t show up with snacks. It crashes in like the world’s rudest guest.
Some battles are fought with wires and IVs… & others are fought with stubborn hope, dark humor, & whatever courage we can scrap together between doctor calls & emotional landmines.
This Trusty Tools handmade cancer encouragement card wasn’t created with fancy techniques or card-maker wisdom (because I had neither). It came from something stronger than skills: friendship, survival, and a whole lot of “Nope, not today, cancer.”
When I made this card, I had no clue as to what I was doing! I was a baby scrapbooker with some paper, a couple of inks, and a few colored markers. But when my friend Carol told me she was battling cancer—and STILL hyping me up like I was Picasso with a glue gun—I knew I had to make something just for her.
Carol’s motto? “Screw cancer.”
So obviously, I grabbed tools, bolts, and steel-gray cardstock and built a card that looked ready to throw hands.
It wasn’t pretty.
It wasn’t perfect.
But it showed up with attitude, which is exactly what she needed.
And when she got it? Oh, she showed it off. I was over here worried about crooked edges and glue goobers, and she was bragging like, “Y’all see this? My girl MADE THIS.” She didn’t care about the craftsmanship—she cared about the fight behind it.
That was Carol—sweet, kind, and always lifting me, especially as a mom. She watched my son grow up through Facebook posts and loved him like family from afar. She fought with grace, she loved loudly, and she cheered like it was her superpower.
So this card?
It’s for her.
And for every fighter, supporter, and survivor who deserves a cheerleader with a little sass.
It’s more than paper and glue.
It’s a handmade hug that says:
“Cancer sucks, but you’ve got this—and you’re not fighting alone.”
🛠️ Supplies for This Trusty Tools Handmade Cancer Encouragement Card
📜 The Foundation: Paper & Cardstock
✔ Stampin’ Up! 2024–2026 In Color™ 6” x 6” Designer Series Paper – A soft but bold background, just like the message behind this card.
✔ CTMH Black Cardstock – or Stampin' Up! Basic Black Cardstock - Perfect for die-cutting those nuts & bolts with strength in mind.
✔ CTMH Charcoal Cardstock – or Stampin' Up! Gray Granite Cardstock - Creates a realistic pegboard effect.
✔ Basic White Thick Cardstock – A strong base for a strong message!
🎨 The Tools: Stamps & Dies
✔ Stampin’ Up! Trusty Tools Stamp & Thin Cut – The ultimate set for creating a design that symbolizes resilience.
💡 The Finishing Touches: Embellishments & Details
✔ Stampin’ Up! Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack – A nod to cancer awareness with a soft, feminine touch.
✔ Stampin’ Up Gray Granite Stampin' Blends Combo Pack - Adding color to the tools
✔ Industrial Trinkets – Metallic details that represent strength and durability.
✔ Foam Tape & Adhesives – Because layering makes everything pop—literally!
🪛 How to Make This Sass-Fueled Encouragement Card
1️⃣ Build a Base That Can Handle a Fight
Start with a strong foundation! This card is a 5” x 7” vertical layout, so grab your Basic White Thick Cardstock and cut it to 10” x 7”, then score at 5” to create the base. Strong card = strong message. 💪
Next, layer on that pink striped DSP from the 2024–2026 In Color™ 6”x6” paper pack. Since our background is larger than 6”x6”, don’t panic — the pegboard panel is going to cover the gaps anyway (we love a strategic cover-up 😏). Trim your DSP to 4¾” x 5¾”, adhere it to the card front, and line up those stripes the best you can.
2️⃣ The Power of the Pegboard 🛠️
Time to bring in the muscle! The pegboard from the Trusty Tools Dies is the star of this show — because nothing screams “Let’s fight back” like tools ready to go on a workshop wall. Cut your pegboard from Stampin’ Up! cardstock (Gray Granite or Basic Gray both work beautifully).
Then ink the edges using CTMH Intense Black — yes, the ink with the attitude to match the sentiment. A little shading gives the pegboard a bold, rugged look, like it’s ready to fix the whole world with a wrench and some stubborn hope.
Once it’s ready, adhere the pegboard right over your pink base. To finish it off and really sell that “bolted to the wall” vibe, add Industrial Trinkets to each corner. Now it looks like it’s screwed in and about to lecture cancer on who’s actually in charge. 😏
🔥 Pro Tip:
Inked edges aren’t just detail — they add mood. A little bit of shading brings big “don’t mess with me” energy to your cardstock.
3️⃣ Tools That Mean Business 🔧
Now for the stars of the fight! Stamp your Trusty Tools on Basic White Cardstock using CTMH Intense Black ink — it’s bold, crisp, and doesn’t smudge when you hit it with alcohol markers (aka, a survivor’s ink 💪).
Color your tools using Stampin’ Blends in Pretty in Pink and Gray Granite. The pink adds compassion, the gray brings the grit — and together they say, “You’re strong, but you don’t have to be hard to fight.”
Because the whole message is “Screw Cancer,” don’t skip the wrench (or better yet, add two). It’s the punchline AND the pep talk. Die-cut the little screws and bolts using CTMH Black Cardstock, along with the paintbrush handle and one of the wrenches for extra contrast. Glue the tools directly to the pegboard — bold messages don’t need extra lift, they stand on their own.
🛠️ Design Tip: Mix pink and metal tones to balance tough + tender. It’s basically sending support with steel-toe boots and a hug.
4️⃣ The Words That Matter Most 💬⚡
Let’s be honest: you’re not going to find a stamp in any catalog that says “Screw Cancer.” So, I headed into Cricut Design Space® and worked some beginner magic. And by “magic,” I mean I had no idea what I was doing, picked a basic font, did a Print Then Cut, and hoped Cricut didn’t quit on me. 😅
But here’s the truth: the sentiment didn’t need to be fancy — it just needed to say it. So I cut out my tiny “Screw Cancer” label, glued it to a Black cardstock panel die-cut with the pegboard shape, and added a strip of that striped pink DSP behind it (turned the opposite direction, because I was feeling rebellious).
This time, yes, foam tape showed up! I popped the sentiment up for a little extra attitude, because when you’re telling cancer off, you say it with your chest.
To finish the spotlight moment, I added a couple of mystery sparkly embellishments from who-knows-where, because sometimes the perfect accent comes from the bottom of a drawer, right next to a glue lid you lost in 2019.
💗 Real Talk Tip:
Support doesn’t have to be perfect — it just has to show up. Your sentiment doesn’t need fancy fonts to make a statement. If it speaks the truth, it’s already beautiful.
🌟 Explore More: From Glue Goofs to Glow-Ups
When I made this card for Carol, I was a baby crafter armed with panic, paper, and hope. I didn’t know techniques, I didn’t own half the tools, and honestly… the sentiment might’ve been straighter if I’d taped it on with my eyes closed.
And yet, she showed it off as if it were platinum artwork. 😂
Fast-forward a year and a half, and guess who finally knows what she’s doing?
(Okay, most of the time.)
I’ve learned, I’ve practiced, and I’ve leveled up so much that Carol would probably be bragging even louder now.
Want proof?
Check out my glow-up with cards for birthdays, thank-yous, everyday cheer, and all those occasions where a little handmade sass speaks louder than Hallmark.
✨ Peek at how far a glue-smudging newbie has come.
📣 Share Your Handmade Encouragement Cards (Or Your First Crafting Disaster 😉)
If my first “Screw Cancer” card could make someone feel supported and get shown off like it was museum-worthy, then your cards deserve a spotlight too — whether they’re polished masterpieces or proud glue goblins.
Have you made a card to cheer someone on?
Do you have a first card that looks like it survived a tornado made of foam tape and hope?
We want to see it. All of it.
Upload your creations to the Members Gallery! The good, the real, the crooked, the meaningful. Because around here, we celebrate cards that show up, not just cards that look perfect.
✨ Share your support. Share your story. Share the card that fought back.
💗 Final Thoughts: For Carol — and Everyone Still Fighting
This card started as a simple gesture from a beginner crafter with shaky cuts and glue smudges… and it became a message that mattered. In 2025, Carol lost her battle with cancer, but she never stopped fighting with humor, love, and encouragement. I will always remember her cheering me on like my sloppy little card belonged in an art museum.
So if you’re crafting for a fighter, a survivor, or someone you just want to hold up with your creativity — do it. Don’t wait. Don’t worry about perfect edges. Don’t worry about fonts or fancy dies. Just show up.
Because sometimes the strongest support arrives in the mail, wrapped in cardstock, inked with love, and lifted with foam tape.
Craft loudly. Love boldly. And when needed…
pass the wrench, send the card, and screw cancer.
— April, This Chick Loves Paper
🛒 Grab Your Supplies & Get Crafting!
All photos and projects are subject to copyright ThisChickLovesPaper.com.
Images © Stampin’ Up!
The content in this blog is the sole responsibility of April Raine – This Chick Loves Paper as a Stampin’ Up!® Independent Demonstrator. The use of and content of classes, services, or products offered is not endorsed by Stampin’ Up!®
Handcraft a meaningful Trusty Tools handmade cancer encouragement card with a bold “Screw Cancer” sentiment. A supportive, sassy design from This Chick Loves Paper that uses tools, bolts, and compassionate colors to send strength with humor and heart.
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