We Elect to Stamp November

Happy November Stampers!  By the time our Second Thursday Stampers get their hands on our beautiful projects for this month we will know the outcome of one of the most historic Election Days in the history of the United States.  No matter the outcome of the 2016 Election we rest assured that the outcome of a year of Second Thursday Stamping is a winner!  Check out the excitement brewing for our last meeting of the calendar year . . .

Emerald Envy and Real Red pair up with some Red Glimmer and Presents & Pinecones Washi for a Happy Wonderful Christmas Card . . .

One very lovely Peaceful Pine stands out in Night of Navy on Whisper White.  The Gold Embossed message on this beauty gives our lone pine a whole bunch of seasonal class.

 
 Simply put--Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas to you!  Two designs from This Christmas Specialty DSP provide a perfect backdrop for our super easy, Holly Jolly Greeting set off with a Gold Foil Merry and a Cherry Cobbler Christmas.



We are sure that we will have some happy stampers when they take home a half dozen complete cards ready to sign and put in the mail.  Wooo hooo!  

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

Happy Wonderful Christmas

The Wondrous Wreath Stamp Set comes back to help us again!  The greeting is a perfect anchor for this feel good card.  Quick and easy and so beautiful!

Wondrous Presents Washi Tape Card

Our card base is the tasty Mint Macaron Card Stock, layered with Emerald Envy.  What's not to love about this color combo?  Three pieces of Presents & Pinecones Designer Washi Tape on Whisper White Card Stock provide the backdrop for our ornament made of Red Glimmer Paper punched with a Medium Star centered in the middle of a 2" Circle.  (Don't forget to punch the star first!)  The starry bauble is suspended on Emerald Envy Thick Baker's Twine topped off with an Emerald Envy 3/8" Ruched Ribbon Bow.  Perfect!

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

 

Snow Flurries and One Peaceful Pine

The simplicity of a beautiful pine and a blanket of white is all we needed to give us that Peaceful Christmas Feeling.  Less is more with this double embossed and truly exquisite card.

 Peaceful Night of Navy Card

Our old standby, Night of Navy Card Stock has become one of our favorite Christmas go to hues!  The lone pine from Peaceful Pines stands placidly in the midst of a flurry of flakes.  We dry embossed our Whisper White Card Stock with the Softly Falling Textured Impression Folder.  We took special care to be sure we only had a few flakes at the bottom to save space for our Gold Embossed message from Peaceful Pines.  We know our seasonal wishes will make our friends who find one of these pretty cards in their mailbox feel oh so fine!

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

A Gold Merry and Cherry Christmas

A flurry of Holly Jolly Greetings flakes and a Gold Foil Merry fashioned with a coordinating Merry Christmas Thinlit make this easiest of easy cards beautiful and pleasing to our eye on the holidays!

 This Merry Christmas Card Card

Our colors are traditional with Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler Inks and Card Stocks, complimenting two designs of Designer Series Papers from our brand new pack of This Christmas Specialty Paper.  We struggled a little bit with how to present our Merry Christmas message, but decided that less is absolutely more!  We stamped directly on our card base of Very Vanilla Card Stock with stamps from Holly Jolly Greetings. To make things a little less putzy for our stampers, we backed our Gold Foil Paper with some adhesive sheet so that our stampers could easily cut the Christmas Greetings Thinlits message in the Big Shot and simply press and stick to a beautiful finish!

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

  

Awesome October

October is a month of changes in Wisconsin.  We all know that the warm autumn days turn into chilly nights and the beautiful colors will change to bare branches.  Our Second Thursday Stampers October projects honor the season and look forward to the next.

 

Our cute little Cookie Cutter Scarecrow sits on a freshly harvested hay bale. 


 

A forest of Totally Trees is showcased by fun fold panels--thanks to our Pinterest friend Nancy at NancyFerbShares,

And we peacefully pieced our angel to remind us that the Wonder of Christmas is just around the corner!



Bravo ©Stampin’ Up!  We couldn't have done it without our fabulous new Holiday Catalog!!!
 

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

A Tiny Fall Forest

Each month we try to give our Second Thursday Stampers a full card and a fun technique or new fold.  This simple card is so versatile that we know there will be some really wonderful different spins on decorating this panel fold.  We used an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Cajun Craze Card Stock, scored at 2" and 3 1/8" from each side, and layered with panels of Old Olive Card Stock embossed with the Woodland Embossing Folder.

 Totally Trees Fun Fold Card

The autumn show on Very Vanilla Card Stock and stamped with elements from Totally Trees is showcased on Cajun Craze and Old Olive Card Stock layers.  The trees are stamped with Soft Suede Ink and their autumn dressings with Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, and Pumpkin Pie Inks.  What could give us a more "Fallish" feeling!  The little "Hello" from Thoughtful Banners is stamped in Soft Suede, and the tiny Cajun Craze heart is from Jar of Love. This card is made to display throughout the season and folds flat to fit in an A2 Envelope.  No extra postage necessary!

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

Hello Fall!

Our fun little scarecrow from our brand new Cookie Cutter Halloween stamp set sits on a faux hay bale textured with our Seaside Textured Impression Embossing Folder, sponged with Delightful Dijon Ink, and shaped with some snips and Linen Thread tied around it.

Cookie Cutter Friendly Fall Scarecrow Card

A piece of watercolor paper gives our little guy some really nice texture and allows us to decorate with our Watercolor Brush and some ink borrowed from our Sahara Sand, Old Olive and Marina Mist Inks.  The rest of his outfit is snazzed up with Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, and Marina Mist Markers.  Then a little punch with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch and we were on the way to creating this fun little card!  Our card base is Delightful Dijon Card Stock with a Basic Black Card Stock layer.  We stamped a little bit of Always Artichoke texture for the ground in our picture using a stamp from Timeless Texture Stamp Set.  Our sky was created by dragging a spongeful of Soft Sky Ink across the Whisper White Cardstock card front.  The finishing touch was accomplished by punching out three Tangerine Tango Card Stock blossoms with our Blossom Builder Punch.  We embellished with some Perfect White Accents.  The very appropriate "Hello Fall" message comes from our retired For All Things Stamp Set.  Our sincere thanks to our go to Pinterest friend Connie at Inkspired Treasures for this, and many other really great card ideas!

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

  

An Angelic Paper Doll

Who doesn't love paper dolls?  Our stampers can snip, snip, snip and leave a bunch of snibbles!  The result is a very sweet paper pieced angel created with our Wonder of Christmas Stamp Set. 

Pieceful Paper Angel Card

The card base of Island Indigo Card Stock layered with some Crumb Cake Ink stamped on Crumb Cake Card Stock.  The images for this card are all from the Wonder of Christmas Stamp Set.  Our sweet faced angel is stamped in Basic Black Ink on Whisper White Card Stock and stamped again on a piece of Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper.  Our Paper Snips are our best friends as we make a pretty little DSP outfit for our angel.  We borrowed the colors in the paper, Pool Party and So Saffron, to add a little color to her hair, banner, and shoes.  It was easy to bling things up with some Rhinestones and Metallic Enamel Shapes fancies this sweet card up a bit.  Then our angel gets popped up with some Dimensionals and we added a little shimmer added to her wings with Clear Wink of Stella.  The real angel is stamper Michelle Andrews at Stamp, Pray, Love Blogspot.  Thank you for the inspiration!  

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

 

A Simply Super September

September has a magical feel and we wanted to enhance that feeling for our Second Thursday Stampers by creating some magic of our own.  Our brand new Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog© is making it easy and oh, so much fun! 

A little bit of reindeer fun from Cookie Cutter Christmas, and a spooky scene created with Spooky Fun will give our stampers some holiday fun.  We don't want to neglect our beautiful new Touches of Texture set from our Inspiration Book, so we created a sunny little "last of the season flower" to give everyone a bit of the feeling of a warm Fall Wisconsin day.

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

 

Fancy Fall Flower

A little stamp here and a little stamp there . . . a little bit of shine, burlap, lace, and twine, and we have a fancy little collage card in just a few minutes.  Touches of Texture has so many possibilities.  We pulled out some earthy autumn colors to give us that warm Fall feel and the result is this simply beautiful card.

 Touches of Texture Collage Card

It was fun to find just the right texture elements from the many choices in our set.  We used more than our share of clear block sizes to make this happen, but the results are worth all the mounting and cleaning!  Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake Inks did the heavy lifting, but a splash of Peekaboo Peach and So Saffron Ink helped make this beautiful collage come to life.  What would a collage be without some shabby chic, so we paired a little lace with burlap and twine, then topped things off with shiny Sequins and Gold Wink of Stella.  Chocolate Chip and Peekaboo Peach Card Stocks give a warming backdrop for our Fall flower.  The toughest part of this creation was knowing when to stop.  It is easy to get carried away with all of the possibilities in this set!  

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

  

A Cookie Cutter Rudolph

Simple, simple, simple and so darn cute!  This quick holiday card is done in a wink.  Our super sweet Cookie Cutter Christmas Stamp Set and Builder Punch Bundle from the brand new Stampin’ Up! © Holiday Catalog might just get everyone in the mood!

 Cookie Cutter Rudolph Card

We encourage individuality with our Second Thursday Stampers, so we are letting them have their choice of paper from The Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack.  The Baker's Twine Trio Pack, also from the Holiday Catalog, has both Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green to wrap liberally around this little present!  Rudolph was colored with Basic Black and Real Red Water Color Markers, and stamped on some Crumb Cake Card Stock.  A little punch with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch and he's ready to lead the way on a foggy Christmas Night.  The other reindeer are stamped with Basic Black Ink, punched out and adhered to the card front.  Rudolph gets popped up with some Dimensionals to make him the standout that he is!  Our Whisper White Card Stock card base is decorated up on the inside with some leftover DSP pieces and a happy little sentiment from the stamp set.  Doesn't this adorable card make you want to grin?

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

EEEK!

Ready for Some Spooky Fun?  This card was fast and fun.  It comes together in the wink of an eye with loads of help from our Halloween Scenes Edgelits.  This bundle is sure to be a "go to" design package for our scary Halloween season.  We are pretty sure these edgelits are going to find their way into some other seasons as well.

 Some Spooky Fun Card

Our full moon lighting up the spooky tree was punched from Daffodil Delight Card Stock with the 2" Circle Punch and sponged with Pumpkin Pie Ink.  We started out with a Pumpkin Pie Card Stock base and a Smoky Slate Card Stock card front.  The pumpkins are--what else?--Pumpkin Pie stamped with Basic Black Ink.  The little Smoky Slate splotches are from Timeless Texture.  Once again, Dimensionals are our friends!  They make for some "standout" little bat and pumpkin action.  No tricks, just treats with this one.

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

  

MidSummer Night Thoughts and ZZZZ's

Okay.  We admit it.  Corny is our style.  What the heck?  When you live in Wisconsin  and August rolls around it is all about corn (Corn is, after all our State grain) . . . so why not get a little silly.  You will have to admit though, that our August creations for our always steadfast Second Thursday Stampers are something to crow about.  Get it? Corn ? Scarecrows? Only in Wisconsin!!!!  Have a peek and you will see what we are so giddy about.

We are taking advantage of the amazing ©Stampin’ Up! Limited Edition Thoughtful Branches Stampset to create two very different cards.  Versatility is the word with this set.  Our full card for the month is a really fun twist on the Z-Fold card--another versatile way to say whatever is on your mind!  We love this month's creations and we know our stampers will too!

 

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

ZZ-Fold Card Pizzaz

Each month our Second Thursday Stampers are treated with a new fold or technique to create a unique full card to take home and covet, or share with someone they love.  We think our fancy little Double Z-Fold Card is one of the best ever!  It is so versatile and can be made for just about any occasion.  Thank you for the complete instructions to Beth Adams of Crafts by Beth and available on Pinterest.  Have a look!  Open or closed, you can't take your eyes off of this one!

 

 

Zzzzzzzzzz Fold Card

Don't let the numbers scare you.  There is, we admit, a lot of cutting and adhering of layers, but the guide available on Pinterest, and the happy experience of using the beautiful Playful Palatte Designer Series Paper make it an easy labor of love!  The colors we used for our base, Sweet Sugarplum Card Stock shown here, or Peekaboo Peach Card Stock coordinate beautifully with the DSP.  Each card will be a little different depending on the patterns our stampers choose.  We constructed our creations with little effort once the pieces were assembled.  The beauty of this card is that it can be anything you want.  Ours sports some birthday fun, with the greeting from Sunshine Sayings and a couple of Flower Shop blooms stamped in Sweet Sugarplum and Peekaboo Peach Ink and punched with our Pansy Punch.  A cute little bloom compliments of the new Blossom Punch and spiffed up with an In Color Enamel Dot adorns the Happy Birthday message.  We've got big plans for this style fold.

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

 

Hydrangea Hysteria

 Impressive as it looks, the construction of this card is truly a "piece of cake!" We are using the beautiful Thoughtful Branches Stampset with the Beautiful Branches Thinlits.  (Get them while they last!)  We know our Marina Mist hydrangea is sure to be a hit with our Second Thursday Stampers. 


We stamped the flower image on Watercolor Paper which we spritzed liberally with water using our Stampin' Spritzer.  It looks like a blurry mess, but a beautiful thing happens when it is cut out with the Beautiful Branches Thinlits.

 Thoughtful Hydrangea Branch Card

To make this beauty happen, we cut two flower shapes with the Beautiful Branches Thinlits, one of the spritzed Marina Mist Inked water colored page, and one from Marina Mist Card Stock.  A little bit of adhesive and we have an amazing hydrangea bloom!  The leaves, also from our thinlits set and cut out in Pear Pizzazz, are spruced up with some Linen Thread.  Our "thoughtful" message stamped on Very Vanilla Card Stock is from Thoughtful Branches.  We embossed the stamped card stock with the Petal Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, adhered it to some Pear Pizzazz over Marina Mist Card Stock, and topped it all off with our constructed hydrangea.  Pop with Dimensionals or not.  It's up to you.  Wow!  What more can we say?

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

 

Some Hot Weather Holiday Cheer

When we found out what we could do with our brand new Thoughtful Branches stamps, we just had to take advantage of this limited edition set.  What better way to be Whisper White cool in the middle of a hot and humid Wisconsin summer than to fashion a fabulous Christmas card.

 Thoughtful Christmas Branches Card

Starting with an oval mask made from Layering Ovals Framelits held in place with removable tape, we stamped a forest of Soft Sky Ink pines from our Thoughtful Branches Set. This set is being offered by ©Stampin’ Up! in August, but only while supplies last.  It is a must have from our perspective.  You decide!  We used a sponge full of Soft Sky Ink to add some color to the oval, then removed the mask.  The rest was as easy as pie!!!  The two-step stamp method worked perfectly with Smoky Slate Ink to stamp our big pine in the foreground. We used the same color to stamp our message chosen from More Merry Messages.  We dug out this retired set for a message that seemed just right.  Running the stamped piece through our Cuttlebug sandwiched in the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder gives our piece a big WOW!  Adhered to a piece of Soft Sky Card Stock, this creation could stand on its own, but some of us can't let anything go without some splash.  We let our stampers decide if they want to add some shine with Clear Wink of Stella--or add some wintry sparkle with Silver Stickles, lightly applied with a Q Tip (or a fingertip for our stampers who love a little creative messy.)  What a gorgeous card!  Who knew it could be so easy?

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

 

July Sparklers on The Second Thursday

Independence Day celebrations and the Fireworks are over, but we are lighting up our Second Thursday Night with cards that sparkle!  

 




We got happy with a birthday shaker easel and card ;-) 

 
Brightened our smiles with a Jar of Love and some fireflies

And took to the waves to bask in the light of a Swirly Bird sun.

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

Shake, Shake, Shaker

One of the new ©Stampin’ Up! products, our Foam Adhesive Strips, were begging for a project and what better use than a new twist on the shaker card technique!?  We got a lot of help from another new friend . . . the Layering Squares Framelits.  Our results are spectacular.

Shakin' Up Your Birthday Card 

Our Layering Square Framelits got a real workout turning our Pool Party Card Stock and Ink into a card with a bonus.

The shaker part of our creation is a pretty little easel that can remind its recipient of their happy day.  We nested some Pool Party and Basic Black for the frame and decorated a square of Whisper White with a cake and message from Endless Birthday Wishes.  The little pink bud that adorns the top is punched with our new Blossom Bunch Punch from Pink Pirouette Card Stock.  Pink Pirouette makes the scalloped square shaker base as well as an easel stand that conveniently slides into a slit in the card front . . . all set for giving.  After we attach some Window Sheet with Glue Dots and load it up with Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim and In Color Sequins, the Foam Adhesive Strips tie the entire shaker together.  It is easier than it looks and it makes an impressive little gift.  Thank you Connie Stewart, for the idea and your tutorial for the shaker at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8gU2EpIxX8

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

 

Fireflies in a Jar

Who hasn't loved catching fireflies in a jar on a hot summer night?  Our stamped version of the Jar of  Love takes us back to the days of youthful excitement and the wonder of it all!




This card was a quick, easy, and very impressive way to capture the wonder!

 Firefly Jar of Love Card

Though the fireflies are the stars of this show, we added some excitement with sparkly stars in our Night of Navy Card Stock. Punched with Confetti Stars and backed with some Silver Glitter Paper, certainly made for a starry night.  Our little jar and lid from Jar of  Love are stamped with Basic Black Ink, and the flies are stamped in Basic Black then colored with Crushed Curry Watercolor Marker.  To make our insects seem to glow in the dark we added a bright little spot with a Sponge Dauber inked with Crushed Curry Ink.  Pear Pizzazz leaves stamped around our jar make us feel like running through the grass on a warm summer evening.  Stamped on a piece of white scrap, fussy cut, and popped up with Dimensionals two of our escapees are flying high into the stars!

It's no surprise that we found this card idea floating around on Pinterest.  Thanks Julie Frakie, for a great idea!

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

Oh, Happy Day

What could be better than a day at the beach in July?  Here is a lovely reminder in our fun little Swirly Bird and Swirly Scribbles version of Sailing Away on a beautiful summer day.  

 Happy Day Sailing Away Card

Our delightful scene was so much fun to make.  All elements come from the Swirly Bird Stamp Set, and the fun little message from Thoughtful Banners seemed to fit perfectly.  We started with a few fluffy clouds in our Soft Sky sponged sky.   (Check out the cloud in Balloon Celebration to make a mask for the fluffiest of clouds.) Our new Dapper Denim Card Stock waves, over the Soft Sky Card Stock water is the perfect place to sail our boat stamped in Dapper Denim, Daffodil Delight, and Peekaboo Peach Inks.  We got some help from Self Adhesive Sheet (non-SU) to adhere the waves over the stamped Soft Sky.  The boat is easily fussy cut and popped up with Dimensionals.  We made our water sparkle with a little bit of clear Wink of Stella.  Layers of Soft Sky and Dapper Denim Card Stock provide the perfect frame and make us feel . . . Happy!

A shout out and huge thanks to Pat at http://ramblinstamper.blogspot.com/2016/05/swirly-bird-i-think-im-in-love_31.html?spref=pi

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

June--Better Late Than Never!

Starting a new Stamping Year with our Second Thursday Stampers presented a challenge and our blog post was preempted . . .  Never fear!  We started our new year with a wonderful group of stampers including three new and talented additions to our crew, and we got going with an incredible new catalog from ©Stampin’ Up!  

We "water colored" with sponges and the help of In The Meadow

Spongy Soft Meadow Sky Card

. . .went 3D with a Playful Palette, some Dimensionals, Balloon Celebration, and pretty Sweet Sugar Plum

 Playful Palette 3-D Balloon Card

. . . and made a birthday wish compliments our new Swirly Bird, Swirly Scribbles, and Thoughtful Banners, and all of our brand new In Colors,

 Thoughtful Swirly Bird In-Color Card

We're back to usual for July with four new posts each month featuring new techniques and product by  ©Stampin’ Up!

Our thanks for June to Imastamping in Indiana for a beautiful card idea with In the Meadow, Flowerbug for a 3D idea with Balloons, and Savvy Handmade Cards for help with Swirly Bird.

We're back to usual for July with four new posts each month featuring new techniques and product by  ©Stampin’ Up!

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

 

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

May is the month for fond farewells for our Second Thursday Stampers.  This month is the last of our 2015-16 Stamp Club Year with the advent of a whole new ©Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog and a grand RETIREMENT of stamps and accessories to make room for the new ones.  We are also saying goodbye to several of our regular club members making some room for new ones.  (Anyone interested?  Give us a holler!)  It seems quite fitting, then, that our projects for this month feature stamp sets and colors that are retiring--alongside some returning favorites.

We are sad to see these go, but such is a day in the life of our avid stampers!

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

Double Up Our Gratefulness

Goodbye 2014-16 In-Colors™.  We are sad to see you go, but you deserve a break.  To give our old faithfuls a proper farewell, we teamed up the retiring Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, and Hello Honey Card Stock, Inks, and Ribbon with a new kid on the block.  Welcome to our stamp room Grateful Bunch and Blossom Punch!  We love what you do for us already.

Grateful Bunch Double Front Fold Card

This very fancy fold came directly from a wonderful tutorial video shared by one of our talented Pinterest friends, Lisa Curcio.  We wish we had thought of this one!  This card is a sweet little book with a cover, a middle, and a back page.  The front Hello Honey with Whisper White Card Stock is perfectly aligned with the same size and shape on a Whisper White center page.  

 

When you get to end, the message from our brand new Grateful Bunch Stamp Set expresses exactly how we feel!

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