Leaves of November and The Holidays in the Wings

November!  Where did you come from and why are you going so fast?  Before we know it Turkey Time will be here.  Second Thursday Stampers are thankful for family and friends, and the wonderful opportunity to gather together once a month with our talented stampers!  We honor the season with beautiful creations to share in our world!  

This month our cards are designed with the seasons in mind!  We are bringing the beauty of Fall inside with a Serene Silhouette exploding with Cajun and Curry . . .


 

. . . promoting peace with a wonderful image of Wonderland, while getting some practice with an impressive embossing technique in Indigo.



 
. . . and topping things off with a stunning Embellished Ornament to get everyone in the tree trimming mood!  

Most papers, inks, and accessories used in our projects are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Fancy Folding for Fall

Our choice of Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry inks and card stock make the task of embracing the beautiful and fleeting colors of Fall in Wisconsin as easy as can be.  We got a little help from our Serene Silhouettes Stamp Set and Leaflets Framelits.  Whisper White Card Stock is always our favorite "go to" to set things off. One 11" x 4" piece supports our efforts beautifully with a fold at 5 1/4", a flip around and another score at 2 1/4" . . . mountain and valley fold and we are ready to get serious!

 Serene Fall Fold Card

Once our folding is accomplished the stamping and embellishing begins!  We stamped trees from White Christmas in Basic Black Ink on the Whisper White CS piece, and decorated them up with "leaves" made with our Awesomely Artistic Stamp, first with Cajun Craze Ink, next with Crushed Curry Ink.  A little sponging on the sky and ground and we are ready to walk in the leaves!  A piece of Crushed Curry Card Stock embossed with some Tiny Dots, and a piece of Cajun Craze Card Stock embossed with Decorative Dots provide a pretty backdrop for our Serene Silhouette stamped image.  Our stamped Whisper White Card Stock leaf is cut out with a Leaflet Framelit and sponged with our go to colors.  We tied things up with Gold Bakers Twine, and popped our leaf on with Dimensionals.  Just in time to Give Thanks!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

A Winter Wonderland in the Forest

Our Big Shot gets a workout to make our really impressive forest.  Island Indigo Card Stock and Ink give us the soothing feeling of a familiar atmosphere reminiscent of the beautiful Birch Forests of Door County Wisconsin.  We can almost feel the peaceful silence of a walk in the winter woods.  

 Peaceful Wonderland Forest Card

We have been waiting for just the right card to give the technique of stamping right on the embossing folder a try and this is it!  We can honestly say that this technique is easier than we thought, and over the top impressive!  Stamping a Wonderland forest directly on the Woodland Embossing Folder in Island Indigo Ink and a run through the Big Shot loaded with Whisper White Card Stock will knock your socks off!  The rest is a piece of cake--layering with Island Indigo and Brushed Silver Card Stock and topping things off with a greeting of Peace made with a scrap of Silver Glimmer Paper and the Christmas Greetings Thinlits.  Our greeting is from Holly Jolly Greetings, and Rhinestones give our finished product a bit of brilliance.  

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

 

Time to Trim the Tree

Wow!  Just wow!  How much easier can it get to make an impressive card to share your holiday greetings.  This card is sweet and simple and says Merry Christmas just as nicely as can be!  

Embellished Ornament in Red Card 

Put this together 1-2-3!  One:  arrange the Red Foil Sheet Scrap, the Brushed Silver Scrap, on the Big Shot with Magnetic Platform and Delicate Ornament Thinlits and crank!  Two:  trim the corners of Whisper White and Real Red Card Stock with the Curvy Corner Trio Punch and stamp a message--ours is from Petite Pairs and Three:  Layer and adorn with Whisper White and Real Red Card Stock, Season of Cheer Designer Series Paper, and top things off with an Iced Rhinestone Embellishment.  This card should have everyone humming a few Christmas carols before the last Glue Dot grabs the Silver Cord bow on top!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Our October--A Fall Full of Seasons

While the Falling Leaves are drifting by our window we are reminded of just how seasonally gifted we are this time of the year.

What fun for our creative stampers to build a really nice little spooky Mini Treat Bag with a Happy Halloween message inside, show their thanks with a Thanksgiving Day view from their window, and feel the frost of the winter season while they take a little Sleighride! 

Our new Handmade for the Holidays ©Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog is getting quite a workout this month.  We love it! All of the stamps, accessories, and specialty papers come from its pages.  Just when we thought our shelves were complete, we found more lovely stamping goodies we just can't do without!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in our projects are from ©Stampin’ Up!

No Tricks, Just Treats

We can't help but be taken with the new Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper from ©Stampin’ Up!  We are sharing the designs in our Happy pack liberally so every one of our Second Thursday Stampers has a unique little treat bag to take home.  We started with pieces of our DSP cut out with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits and commenced to making a sensational little bag . . .

Spooky Mini Treat Bag Card

With a special little message inside! 

 

The Mini Treat Bag Thinlits are versatile and aren't just for making little bags.  There are dozens of creative ideas for this set.  There could be . . . you guessed it . . . a bag for all seasons!  Our bag is decorated with the fun "Spooky" stamp from Happy Scenes, heat embossed with Black Embossing Powder on Crushed Curry Card Stock and punched out with our 2" Circle Punch.  The big yellow 2 1/2" moon is punched from Crushed Curry Card Stock and fancied up a bit with some Silver Cord.  As if that isn't enough, we popped that up with Dimensionals over a Spider Web Doily.  Wowee!  The card inside measures 3 1/2" x 4", and is perfect in Very Vanilla with a little black ribbon pull on top.  A little bit of the leftover Happy Haunting DSP and some spooky fun images from Among the Branches make this the perfect little Halloween messenger for treating family and friends.  Easy and impressive!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

 

 

A Fabulous Fall View

Here it is!  Our version of a peak through the window, and what we see is a familiar sight these days.  Bright orange (or in our case Tangelo Twist) pumpkins abound, with leaves tumbling faster than our rakes can handle!  It's closing in on peak color season here in Southern Wisconsin, and the view through our windows looks a lot like this one!

 

Grateful for Happy Scenes Card

 

The beautiful Fall scene in our window is from Happy Scenes stamped in Basic Black and sponged with So Saffron and Tangelo Twist Ink.  We colored the pumpkins in the yard with Pumpkin Pie Marker.  Our window frame was cut from Chocolate Chip Card Stock and it stands out with the help of some Dimensionals.  Our big orange super moon was cut with the second largest framelit from the Circle Framelits Collection and sponged with Tangelo Twist.  We are especially happy with the effect our pumpkins in the left corner of our Soft Suede Card Stock card front make.  We stamped in black on the suede, then stamped again on some Tangelo Twist Card Stock.  A bit of fussy cutting and we have instant pumpkin charm!  Our greeting from Happy Scenes is stamped in Basic Black and finished off with a little leaf from our new Into The Woods Wooden Elements.  We put the whole thing on a Very Vanilla base just for a little interest.  Wow!  Easy peasy and so much fun!

 

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!



Sleigh Bells Ring, Are Ya Listening?

Over the ground lies a mantle of white
A heaven of diamonds shine down through the night
Two hearts are thrillin' in spite of the chill in the weather
 

Once you have a look at our beautiful winter seasonal card you will know why these words come to mind.  You can almost hear Doris Day now!  This almost monochromatic card in our old standby Whisper White is just a little different from our usual fare.  The stark white is beautifully contrasted with Whisper White stars in a Night of Navy sky.  We have put our  Sleigh Ride Edgelits to good use with this beauty!  You can almost hear those sleigh bells jingle.

 

 

Jingling Sleigh Ride Edgelits Card

 

This card starts with a 5" x 5" piece of Whisper White Card Stock and just gets better and better.  The first order of business was to make a night sky from what else?  Night of Navy Card Stock.  We cut our sleepy little town from a 4 1/2" x 4" piece of white using the Sleigh Ride Thinlits and flipped it over to adhere to the top part of the card.  The sleigh was cut from a 4 1/2" x 4" piece of white and popped up with Dimensionals.  The Jingle Message from the Jingle All the Way stamp set was the perfect companion for a sleigh ride down the hill.  Our starry sky was made with stars stamped from the same stamp set in Whisper White with some really special stars punched from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper with the Confetti Stars Punch.  What more can we say?  This easy card is stunning, and simply beautiful!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Spectacular September

It wasn't long ago that we were singing See You In September and suddenly it's here!!!  We are really excited to start giving our new ©SU! Holiday Catalog stamp sets a workout and this month's projects are just the beginning.  Here's a peek!!!

We get right down to business with a nice little Brick Wall back to school note for teacher, then move into a colorful Fall with some Vintage Leaves in the Woodland, and top things off with a Wonderful Winter Wonderland which is sure to be a favorite! 

Most papers, inks, and accessories used in our projects are from ©Stampin’ Up!

A Note for the Teacher

When we think of September we think of "back to school" excitement.  Our little clipboard thank you note is just the thing to remind us that teachers deserve lots of credit for encouraging that enthusiasm and a couple of apples at that! 

Back to School Note to the Teacher Card

The "note" is showcased on a Cherry Cobbler Card Stock wall created by brayering the Brick Wall Embossing Folder with Early Espresso Ink and embossing with the Big Shot.  The Writing Notes stamp set was stamped and trimmed and stamped again with the tree image and message from Sprinkles of Life.  We used three Espresso stamped apples from the same set and punched them with the Tree Builder Punch.  Our little faux clip at the top of our Early Espresso Clipboard is fashioned from a 2" x 2" piece of Brushed Silver Card Stock with the help of our Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.  All ready to tuck in a backpack and send off as a bunch of thanks for the teacher!

Thankful for Fall

Tip Top Taupe and an embossed forest is our way of setting off some of the first falling leaves of the season.  This card makes use of our brand new Woodland embossing folder along with the Leaflets Thinlets.  Our Big Shot is one tool we don't want to do without!   We grabbed our Pumpkin Pie, Hello Honey, and Old Olive Inks to make each leaf  as unique as its stamper!

Vintage Leaves in the Woodland Card

Once we embossed the Tip Top Taupe and sponged it with Whisper White Ink we adhered it to our Chocolate Chip Card Stock for a lovely card front.  The sponged leaves are adhered, with one "standout" on a Dimensional.  We did a little decorating with a message from And Many More stamped in Taupe on Very Vanilla Card Stock Scrap and punched with the Washi Tape Punch.  Then we topped things off with a pretty Gold Basic Metal Button and adorned it with a little Linen Thread bow.  So simple and impressive. We hope we have created a little anticipation for that familiar Fall smell in the air!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!  

A Winter Wonderland Just Around the Corner

One of our new most prized possessions in our ©Stampin’ Up! Stamp Set collection is the beautiful Wonderland set.  So versatile and who doesn't need at least one more really lovely tree set?

We are trying out the new Basic Black Ink.  Did we mention how much we love that too?  Add a little bit of brand new Winter Wonderland DSP and we are creating a masterpiece!  The card is a nice version of a tent type card.  We took a piece of 4 1/4" x 11" Basic Black Card Stock, scored it at 5 1/2" and trimmed to 7 1/4" long.  The rest was easy!

Wonderful Wonderland Card

Some snowflakes stamped with Gold Encore Ink and a two part message (we snipped the stamp in half so we could tuck the second half behind the bottom panel) stamped in Basic Black on the inside was an easy way to show off the entire Wonderland stamp set.  The vertical front panel is stamped Whisper White Card Stock on a 2" x 4 1/2" Basic Black Card Stock and decorated with some Gold 1/8" Ribbon. This card was so very easy and so very beautiful! What's not to love?

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Just Ducky August Blooms and Greetings

This is the time of year when Wisconsin is an interesting mix of heat, humidity, flower and vegetable gardens in full bloom, a little bit of Summer Rain, and a flurry of summer fun. All this variety serves as inspiration for our August creations, each of which is interesting in its own wonderful and interesting way!

We tried a fancy fold with a belly band, were inspired by the amazing Brick Wall art of the Walldogs coming to our town, and got all "grandmalike" with some Snuggles and Smooches!  We are having some really cool fun on our hot summer days.

All papers, inks, and most accessories used in our cards are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Doing a Pin Wheely!

Who hasn't tried a wheely with their two wheeler when the pavement is hot?  Though we are a bit past that kind of summer activity, we did think that a pretty card that does a wheely of its own would be fun.  Thanks to our Minnesota neighbor, Dawn Olchefske and Splitcoast Stampers we were able to do our own spin on a crisscross pinwheel card.  Check out Dawn's Pinwheel Fun Fold Tutorial.  Easy as a summer's day and so impressive. Here's our version . . .

Everyday Chic Pinwheel Card

Everyday Chic Designer Series Paper provides the drama for our Pinwheel card.  We cut the 8" x 8" square, picked the side we wanted for the inside, positioned it on the Diagonal Scoreboard and commenced to scoring our way to a beautiful card that anyone would be proud to give.  Although the fold will hold the card closed perfectly well, we thought a pretty flower on a belly band would be frosting on the cake.  We chose Real Red Card Stock, flowers and leaves from Birthday Blossoms, punched the flower with our Pansy Punch, and decorated them up with the new Metal Trimmed Pearls from ©Stampin’ Up! The inside is as pretty as the cover.  Adorned with more stamping from Birthday Blossoms, this is a card with potential for every season of the year!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Delightful Ducky, Stars, Snuggles, and Smooches

We are getting a little personal since the Granny Bug has bitten us with all the new tiny people gracing our lives this summer.  A sweet little baby card was just the thing to encourage that warm fuzzy feeling!  Something for Baby and the Baby's First Framelits gave us the jumpstart we needed to come up with this happy little card.

Just Ducky Snuggles & Smooches Card

Daffodil Delight and Tempting Turquoise are the perfect pair and we used them liberally!  Our background stars are sponged on Whisper White with the help of our Stars Decorative Mask.  We stamped circles from Snuggles & Smooches with Hello Honey over the stars and topped them off with 1" strips of Brights Collection Designer Series Paper punched with our new best friend, the Banner Triple Punch.  The show begins when we wrap a bit of Gold Bakers Twine around the white, and top it off with a Tempting Turquoise stamped message and our cute little rubber ducky. Dimensionals help set things off on top of a card base of Daffodil Delight.  Oh baby!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!                  

Art on Walls

What happens when hundreds of artists from all over the nation and even the world converge on your town?  Amazing things get painted on brick walls! The Walldogs came to Delavan, Wisconsin in June and we now have a lasting and historical impression all over town!

We were inspired, of course, to do our own Brick Wall art and just look at the beautiful result!

A Brick Wall Garden Card

We started by stamping our leaves and flowers with Summer Silhouettes on Whisper White Card Stock.  A couple of Daffodil Delight stamped Petite Petals cut with help from the Petite Petals Punch were popped up on Dimensionals in just the right places. Once we grew our garden just the way we liked it--with Garden Green and Rich Razzleberry Ink--we embossed with the Brick Wall Embossing Folder.  This folder is a little wider than most, so we brought out the Big Shot to accomplish that task.  Our wall is sponged with Tip Top Taupe Ink to give it that aged turn of the last century look.  To finish things off we used our brand new Lots of Labels Framelits and a message from Banner Banter.  A bit of Razzleberry, Whisper White, and a sponging of Tip Top Taupe and we were ready to hang our artistic creation on a piece of Garden Green Card Stock.  We aren't Walldogs, but this card makes us feel very proud!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

July is Flowers and Butterflies Month!

We didn't plan the flowers and butterflies theme.  It just turned out that way!  New colors, stamp sets, and techniques abound.  We are trying to feature a full card with a special fold or 3D technique each month.  So far, so good, and so much fun!

We love that the Watercolor Wings and Butterfly Framelits play so nicely together.  By the way, new Bold Butterflies Thinlets and our new "old" favorite Butterfly Basics round out an amazing team! There will surely be more from these players!  Serene Silhouettes reflects those quiet summer evenings.  We even used Butterfly Basics but left out the butterflies and featured the flower from that set.  No fireworks this month.  Enough of those in the skies around Wisconsin.  These cards though, should make a creative spark in our stampers!

Most papers, inks, and accessories used in our projects are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Wings, Wings, Wonderful Wings

Wow!  That is all we can say about the teaming up of the Watercolor Wings and Butterfly Basics Stamp Sets, and the Butterflies Thinlets and Bold Butterfly Framelits.  The combos are endless!  We used Watercolor Wings and our Butterflies Thinlets to make this deceptively simple and stunning card.  Our thanks for the inspiration to Brenda at QBee's Quest.  Check it out on You Tube. Here's our version!

Watercolor Wings Monarch Card

Our Butterflies Framelits coordinate perfectly with Watercolor Wings and that makes us smile.  A simple layering of Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, and Cajun Craze Inks made this flutterby easy and impressive!  We even found the perfect message in this new stamp set too!  We are still in love with our Magnetic Platform, Big Shot, and wax paper helping to make our creation of the butterfly filigree an easy and fun-filled task!  Absolutely brag worthy!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Wild Wasabi Wild Flowers

Our butterfly theme continues . . . but where is the butterfly? The floral we used to try out a dry emboss on vellum technique came directly from Butterfly Basics.  Easy is the the word.  With a little bit of rubbing on the back of our vellum card stock this beauty emerged!

Dry Emboss Flower Card

Vellum Card Stock stamped with Memento Black Ink is the start of something wonderful.  We stamped the flower image from Butterfly Basics, flipped it over and used a Stylus to emboss the flowers.  The magic begins to happen when small circular motions are used to create dimension.  As the fibers of the Vellum Card Stock are altered, the white color pops out!  Who knew?  The leaves and stems were simply colored with Pear Pizzazz Watercolor Marker.  We found some vellum tape in our adhesive stash so we thought this was a good place to use it!  Our embossed flower looks so pretty on the embossed Pear Pizzazz Card Stock decorated with a piece of Wild Wasabi Seam Binding Ribbon.  Nice, isn't it?

All papers, inks, and most accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Fancy (Fold) That!

Our stampers spoke and we listened.  Each month they get to try their hand at a fancy fold technique, full card or 3D project.  This month we grabbed a great idea from Dawn at DO Stamping.  Check out the instructions for the Corner Flip Fun Fold Card, and check out our version!

Silhouettes Fancy Fold Card

Our card features Serene Silhouettes.  We are trying to figure out why we haven't used this lovely set more often!  Coloring and "huffing" made the So Saffron blooms easy, and we think Early Espresso looks stunning with our choice of Pear Pizzazz.  We used a bit of sponging on the image and distressing around the edges.  The message is strategically placed on Very Vanilla and Early Espresso Card Stock fancied up with tails, compliments of our new love, the Banner Triple Punch.  Top it all off with a little Early Espresso Baker's Twine and there you have it! An easy and impressive card, ready to give to your favorite friend.  

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

June Flew By!

Our sincere apologies to all of our disappointed blog viewers for missing our June post.  Who knew we were so important in the lives of our stampers!  Our beautiful June cards were well received and the creations outstanding.  Here they are!

First up.  A local favorite!  We used a latch card technique with "You've Got This" and "Kinda Eclectic" stamp sets.  And oh how we love Watermelon Wonder!

You've Got This Latch Card

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Another beauty.  This card used Mint Macaroon and Sahara Sand Watercolor Markers to make this interesting background.  It looks so good that one of our stampers wanted to know where she could get the new striped paper!  What fun.

Crazy Stripes Card

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Last, but certainly not least is our summery version of the Tree Builder Punch versatility!  Not too treelike, but we really like it! We are also pretty excited about the Banner Triple Punch! Sprinkles of Life is the Ronald McDonald Stamp Set.  Fun stuff for a good cause.

Yummy Sprinkles of Life Card

We promise to get back to our regular blog format for July, and welcome comments!  Thank you patient stampers.  We love you!!!!!

May's Merry Butterflies, Blooms, and Friends

The Merry Month of May already!  It seems we were just bundling up to brave the cold and the only green we saw was in our card stock and ink pads.  Suddenly we are bursting with blooms in our beloved Wisconsin . . . and we're awed by the wonder of it all!

Check out the result of our inspiration.

It might be a little early for butterflies in our backyards, but Butterfly Basics are fluttering back in the ©Stampin’ Up! world so we decided to make good use of them!  Our Potpourri of Petals are a little Eclectic, and our overflowing cups make the Perfect Blend. What a happy way to brighten up the Merry Month of May.

All papers, inks, and accessories used in our cards are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Grungy Eclectic Potpourri

Whew!  What a combination.  Who would have thought one could throw together a Petal Potpourri, in a Kinda Eclectic way, and make Grunge Gorgeous?  Our stampers of course!  This card looks sun drenched and just plain pops.

Eclectic Petals Card

A few Gorgeous Grunge splotches of Daffodil Delight and we are on our way to a bright and beautiful card.  Our Daffodil Delight Ink got a real workout providing the focal point of a pair of blooms from Petal Potpourri layered with Pear Pizzazz petals made from the same flower shape and accented with a Bermuda Bay center. We got a lot of help from our brand new Flower Medallion Punch, our 1/2" Circle Punch, and a whole bunch of Dimensionals.  Our message from Kinda Eclectic and is stamped with Bermuda Bay. More Dimensionals!  What would we do without them?  All of that focus on flowers and banners won't detract from the background of this beauty.  The Bermuda Bay and Pear Pizzazz collage accents from Kinda Eclectic underneath it all make this card very showy!  We topped things off with a sprinkling of Bermuda Bay Sequins.  Fabulous!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Fern Fronds and Butterflies

Butterfly Basics and Butterfly Framelits are back--and oh what a wonderful event it is!  The stamp set has a perfect combo of images for creating a a little bit of nature, and that is exactly what we did, and all in one happy little layer!

Basically Butterflies Single Layer Card

Starting with a Very Vanilla Card Stock base and a pretty butterfly from Butterfly Basics stamped in Crumb Cake Ink we created the focal point of our lovely collage.  With the help of our Big Shot and Magnetic Platform, we lined up and cut out our stamped butterfly. Our message and background images, along with one more little papillon were all stamped in Crumb Cake. The Mossy Meadow ferns, also from Butterfly Basics, were inked once and stamped three times in opposite corners of the card.  A little free hand trail of dots and a free form frame drawn with a Mossy Meadow Watercolor Marker finished off the earthy scene.  A bit of sponging around the butterfly space is optional, but we thought it worked well with the style of this card. Finally, we put a little adhesive on the back of the cutout butterfly, lined it up with the cutout butterfly space, and pressed it into the inside of the card. The possibilities with this stamp set are endless! We think our caterpillar has definitely turned into a butterfly.

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Coffee with Friends

A "splat" of Crumb Cake compliments of our trusty Gorgeous Grunge set gives a perfect start to a Perfect Blend.  Our little 3" x 3" card is a nice way to show off this stamp set before it finds its way to the world of the retired.

Friends and Coffee 3 x 3 Card

Crumb Cake Card Stock and Ink is getting a workout in our stamping world this month.  The "to go" cup is stamped with Black Memento Ink  on Painted Blooms Designer Paper and cut out with our paper snips.  We stamped portions of the cup a couple more times, once on Crumb Cake and once on Whisper White.  Some more snipping, a bit of assembling and adhering, and some Dimensionals make this coffee cup look like you could grab it and go.  A tiny flower and a rhinestone to fancy things up and we're done!  You can almost smell the coffee.

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

April Come She Will

Where does the time go?  April already--and buds and blooms have taken their place on the Wisconsin landscape AND in the hands of our Second Tuesday Stampers!

Our choice of all flowers of all kinds was intentional this month. Call us nostalgic, but as Time marches on (we love this little poem in music) and we ponder Our Younger Selves,  Springtime and it's promise make us think about our past and future. Why not enjoy that old "feel goodness" and promise of a warm and sunny future?  We are passing that cheer on to our stampers this month!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in our projects are from ©Stampin’ Up!  Our sincere thanks to Art Garfunkel for the nostalgia.

A Fond In Colorful Farewell

Speaking of nostalgia, the 2013-2015 In Colors will soon be a fond memory. Using all five of these pretty hues was easy as can be! They play nicely together and our Stampers do the same as we get ready to end one stamping year and start a new one.

2013-2015 In Color Farewell Flower Card

Talk about creative!  Who would have thought that tucking five Crisp Canteloupe and two Pistachio Pudding Ink stamped Modern Mosaics and topping them off with a Pearl topped Coastal Cabana center could make such a pretty bloom?  Our Mosaic Punch flower is framed with a card base of Baked Brown Sugar Card Stock.  Enhanced with a strip of In Color Designer Paper sporting some pretty Coastal Cabana and a Scallop Edge Punched stripe of Strawberry Slush makes this beauty stand out on Whisper White.  Our message is simple and straight from our Dozen Thoughts stamp set accented with a Pearl.  This "Hello" is a perfect way to say goodbye!  

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

A Basket Full of Spring

Quick and easy and really fun.  This card is so bright and cheery that even some chilly April showers can't make our Stampers frown!  The Happy Spring message directly From the Garden and our Hand Picked Framelits top off this nice reminder of garden things to come.

Spring Basket Card

Impressive!  We used Baked Brown Sugar Card Stock fashioned into a basket with the help of our Berry Basket Bigz Die, and topped it off with Fun Flower Punched Marina Mist, Calypso Coral, and So Saffron big blooms.  We made good use of our Beautiful Bunch Stamp Set for the Calypso Coral flower centers, and tucked our Happy Spring! garden stake right into the basket.  Dimensionals helped set things off along with some Baked Brown Sugar Thick Bakers Twine to tie things together.  Done and just dandy!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Because I'm Happy

It seems only right that our Stampers get to make a "Happy" card with our April offerings, and if happy smiles are hard to come by when we have some April showers, just give this HAPPY a whirl!

Flowery Happiness Card

How can such an impressive card be so simple?  It is truly simply beautiful. The Choose Happiness Stamp Set makes an artist out of everyone, but we could not have done it without our Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper.  How easy is it?  Stamp with Memento Black Ink . . . Watercolor leaves with Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz Water Color Markers . . . Sponge flowers with Daubers full of Rich Razzleberry Ink . . . Sponge around the DSP with sponges full of Old Olive and Soft Sky Ink and our artful selves have emerged.  Top it all off with a Black Memento Ink message from Choose Happiness punched out with the Label Bracket Punch, sponged with Soft Sky Ink, and popped up with a Dimensional.  Thanks to Vicky Hayes at her Crafting Clare Blog for this great technique!

OOOOOOOHHHHHH! Happy!  All Done--Clappy Hands!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Amazing March Magic

After we finished our planning we realized there wasn't much in the way of St. Patty's green, but what there is plenty of are some beautiful cards and inky-cutty techniques!

Spring has sprung in Wisconsin, so it seems fitting that we remind our stamping friends that flowers and butterflies are on their way, and our cold and snowy winter is becoming a fond memory.

Most papers, inks, and accessories used in our projects are from ©Stampin’ Up!

slàinte

Negative is a Positive Thing!

An impressive use of the Negative Spotlight Technique let us use the tried and true Lovely As a Tree Stamp Set.  We are pretty sure every one of our Second Tuesday Stampers has this old standby set and if not we are pretty sure it will be 100% after this month. Many thanks to Julie Davis at Julie's Stamping Spot for a very nice tutorial and lots of ideas to make this technique work for our stampers.


The example we followed uses a sympathy sentiment, but we chose to make it a birthday greeting.  There's a reason we think that our stamp set is so versatile!

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A Spotlight on Lovely as a Tree Card

We cut some strips of Smoky Slate and  So Saffron Card Stock, saved a little So Saffron CS Scrap and commenced to creating. Stamping twice, once on the top piece of Grey card stock and again on our So Saffron spotlighted section on scrap gave us the basis for our card.  Both layers of our image feature are stamped in Basic Grey Ink and after using the 1 1/4" Circle Punch to create our spotlight, we lined things up and adhered the pieces together. Our use of some Dimensionals to pop up the top layer is the pièce de résistance.

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!

Punches and Fussy Cut, Flowers and Butterflies

Punches and Fussy Cut

Flowers and Butterflies

Pear Pizzaz Inkpads and

Lost Lagoon Ribbon

Modern Mosaic and the trusty Cuttlebug

These are a few of our favorite things.

OK.  We admit it!  The hints of Spring get us a little giddy, but why not?  Our beautiful flowers stamped with the new Butterfly Basics Stamp Set makes the season feel like a real possibility!  Whisper White on Whisper White Card Stock makes this card stunning!  

Butterfly Basics Circle Cutout Card

We layered the slightly smaller embossed piece over the card front of the same shade of card stock, but not before we fancied it up a bit.  A little round "bite" out of the top layer of our monochromatic background was made with a 2 1/2" Circle Punch.  Any old shape and your choice of embossing folder will do though!  After we marked the cutout area lightly with pencil, ee colored our floral image from the Butterfly Basics Stamp Set with Lost Lagoon and Pear Pizzazz Watercolor Markers.  We "huffed" then stamped.  A second stamping of the big flower on Whisper White Scrap, a little fussy cut, and a Dimensional made our pretty Spring bouquet.  Next we tied a neat little knot in a piece of Lost Lagoon 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon (this has to be one of our favorites) and wrapped it from the circle edge around the embossed piece.  Very nice touch, don't you think?  The butterfly accent stamped with Papillon Potpourri is also colored with Lost Lagoon Marker, punched out with the Bitty Butterfly Punch, and decorated with Pearl Basics Jewels.  So nice, and so very easy.  This elegant card will be appropriate for almost any occassion and can be put together in a jiffy!

All papers, inks, and accessories used in this card are from ©Stampin’ Up!