Some cards for the Central Wisconsin Cultural Center Gift Shop

 

Happy Last Day of April to my Stampin' Friends!

This week I made a few Mother's Day cards to sell in the Central Wisconsin Cultural Center Gift Shop - Did you know that I and other local crafters have hand-made greeting cards there? Stop in there and check it out!

I was using some of Stampin' Up's lovely floral printed papers as the focal point for these cards. You can see some ways that the paper can be used other in addition to the basic rectangle mat layer on the card.

The card above showcases one of my favorite border dies. I love how they layer so nicely.

I hope you enjoyed this quick look at my latest projects!

Happy Stampin!

April Cards from the 6th Swap

Hi Stampin' Friend!

I received 6 fabulous cards once again this month in the 6th swap (where each stamper mails cards to 6 different people around the 6th of the month for 6 months.) 

The above card is my submission for this month, using the Let's Go Fishing suite of products. The Designer Series Paper from this suite is retiring on April 30, but the stamps and dies will be around for at least another year.

The next two pictures are the front and inside of Carolyn's card. She used the Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper which is also sadly retiring. I really appreciate the assortment of bright colors on Carolyn's card and in the paper pack.

Jennifer's card features the Meandering Meadows Designer Series Paper and the Delicate Forest die cut frame. Words are from the So Sincere stamp set. What an inviting scene!

Julie used my current favorite floral set, Two Toned Flora on her card below, with the Charming Sentiments word stamps and Sentiment Silhouettes dies. The Layered Florals embossing folder gives an added touch of texture. So pretty!

Kim's card adds the texture by embossing the layer AFTER stamping, a whole new sophisticated look.

Bold colors and die cut textures make Pam's card stand out. These products are all in the brand new Flowering Zinnias suite. The colored card liner and cute die cut on the card inside adds to the fun.

Tammie created this peaceful sympathy card with the Perennial Postage dies, Paper Butterfly Accents and Perennial Lavender Designer Series Paper.

And that is a sampling of some of my "happy mail" this month. 

Remember to check your Stampin' Up! wishlist before April 30 to see if any of your favorites are retiring. If you want to snag them before they go away, I can help you with that. Just call, email or Facebook message me!

Happy Stampin!

 

More March Swap Cards, and Another Look at a New In Color

 

Hi Stampin' Friend!

Here is another sneak peek at one of our new In Colors for 2024-2026: Peach Pie! This graphic shows how it fits into the Stampin' Up! line of current and retired colors. I see a lot of possibilities for Peach Pie ink, cardstock and accessories on our summertime cards.

Meanwhile, here are the rest of my March swap cards - My friend Beth sent this circle card. It's a clever way to use a large circle die, and it could also be decorated to look like a lady's hat. What other die cut shapes could you use to make a non-traditional card base?

And from my 6th Swap group, here is Jennifer's VERY classy card - 

I already have my April swap card designed but can't show it here until my swap groups have a chance to get it. Please come back for a look at it in a few weeks.

Only 34 days until the new Annual Catalog!  Contact me to learn how you can get your very own copy :-)

Happy Stampin!

Swap Cards for March, and a Sneak Peek at a new Stampin' Up! Color

 

Hi Stampin' Friend!

We Stampin' Up! demonstrators now have access to the soon-to-be-revealed 2024-2025 Annual Catalog, with all the new products and colors it holds in store.

The image above shows one of the new In Color line: Shy Shamrock. You can see here how it compares to other current and past green colors of inks and cardstock. I'll be posting some more of the colors in future.

Swap Cards

Here are some of this month's cards I have received from my 2 swap groups. Swapping cards with other stampers is a great way to get new design or color ideas and also to build up a nice variety of cards to send out.

These cards are from Kim, Tammie and Julie. Interestingly, all 3 stampers live in Minnesota, they each chose a wildlife image and each used a monochromatic color scheme on their lovely cards. And all are birthday cards!

Pam and Carolyn made these gorgeous cards.

This great masculine card was designed by Annie.

Diana chose blueberries for her card this month, giving us a little reminder that warmer months are coming!

And this is the card I made for both of my swap groups this month. The stamps, punches, designer series paper and Lost Lagoon ribbon all come bundled in a suite of products that I really liked.

Check back soon, there are still a few more cards to come in this month.

Happy Stampin!

Card Kits for Brittany, Part 2

Hi Stampin' Friends!

It's (way past) time for me to send another set of card kits to my special niece Brittany.

Here are the cards that Brittany will be making, along with the step by step instructions. If anyone else would like to make these cards, contact me. If I still have the kits available, I'd be happy to get them to you.

Continuing my numbering from the previous post, here are the cards:

Card 5:  Relax in blue

Glue blue woodgrain triangle on navy blue triangle, leaving a small margin on all sides.

Glue the triangles on the card front in the upper right corner. The piece will fit flush with the top and right side of the card.

There are 2 white pieces stamped with the lady by the window.
- If you want to color the image, you will get the best results on the one stamped with black ink.
- If you aren't going to color it, you can use the one stamped with blue ink for a monochromatic look.

After coloring (if desired) glue the stamped white piece to the square navy piece. Then glue this piece on the larger white square.

The small white triangle is a "shim" to keep the layered square pieces level when you glue them on the card front. Glue it to the back of the square layers on the bottom left corner, then glue all these layers on the card front as shown in the photo.

Embellish with the adhesive backed round gems.

Card 6: Patchwork/On Your Birthday

Before you start gluing - Lay out all the patchwork pieces and put them in the right order. Use this photo as a guide but your printed pieces will be the opposite of mine. I used the same die on 2 pieces of printed paper. Then alternating the patterns, I assembled one set and sent you the other set. Hope that makes sense!

When you have the pieces in the order you like, glue them on the mint green rectangle, leaving a small margin on all 4 sides.

Glue the assembled layers on the yellow card front.

Layer and glue the oval pieces as shown in the photo, then glue them on the patchwork piece wherever you like.

Glue the white rectangle stamped with "wishing you..." on the inside of the card.

Card 7: Moose/Hello

Glue the printed trees rectangle piece on the card front

Glue the solid green die cut circle in the center of the tree piece, covering the hole that is die cut into it.

Glue the circle with the printed trees in the center of the solid green die cut circle. Line it up with the trees printed on the large rectangle from which it was die cut.

Put little dots of glue all around on the back of the moose die cut piece. The front is where the moose is facing to the right. Glue the die cut to the printed tree circle on the card front.

Put a little glue in the die cut opening that looks like the sun coming over the mountain. Glue the shiny gold piece in that opening.

Layer the white oval stamped with "hello" over the green oval so that the green is showing slightly on the right side of the white piece. See photo.

Glue the ovals on the card front wherever you would like them.

Glue the white rectangle inside the card.

Card 8: Southwest birthday in green

Glue the solid color green embossed strip across the end of the green patterned piece. Trim ends of the solid green strip to be even with the edges of the patterned piece.

Glue the green patterned piece to the light orange mat with an even margin all around.

Glue the green and light orange layers to the card base with an even margin all around.

Glue the white stamped “on your birthday…” piece to the lower right corner of the card front.

Glue the light orange die cut pieces on the card front as shown.

Glue the white layer stamped with “live, laugh, love, …” to the inside of the card.

Embellish the card front with the metallic dots as desired.

Card 9: Vintage car birthday

Glue the small car-printed flap down on the herringbone-print side of the paper.

Glue the folded printed piece to the beige card base with a small margin on all sides.

Glue the large white rectangle stamped with “Hope your day . . .” to the card inside.

Glue the white oval stamped with “Happy Birthday” to the rust colored punched label.

Use the foam adhesive dots in the card kit to attach the “Happy Birthday” piece to the front of the card, slightly overlapping the small flap on the bottom of the card front.

Glue the dark brown and rust colored banners to the top left of the card front as shown on the photo.

Tie a bow with the twine and glue it to the white oval with one or 2 of the glue dots that are on the clear plastic piece in your card kit.

Card 10: Floral Just a Note

Glue each of the 3 floral print rectangles on a solid color rectangle.

Glue the rectangles on the card front, starting with the 2 outside ones. Leave an equal margin on the top and outside edge of the card front.

Then glue the third rectangle centered between the first 2.  

There's your spring card kit, Brittany! I hope you like it :-) Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Happy Stampin' Everyone!

Card Kits for Brittany

Hi Stampin' Friend!

My special niece Brittany (the one in the middle between the handsome guys in this photo of my brother's family) recently asked me to make her some card kits. I'm putting the card photos and directions here as a way to easily find them when she wants to make the cards, and we'll share them with the rest of you, too!

Here you go, Brittany - have fun and if you have any questions, send me a message.

Card 1: Green truck/Sending you sunny thoughts   

1.       Glue the vanilla circle with stamped trees on the dark green circle.

2.       Glue the green and gold plaid rectangle to the dark green rectangle.

3.       Hold the circle layer against the plaid layer to decide where you want the twine to be wrapped around. Wrap the twine two times around the rectangle layers and tie a bow on the front. You can tape the twine on the back of those layers to help keep it in place, if it helps.

4.       Glue the rectangle layers on the card front.

5.       Use the foam adhesive dots to add the circle layers to the card front.

6.       Use the foam adhesive dots to add the truck to the circle.

7.       Glue the large vanilla rectangle inside the card to write on.

Card 2: – Compass/Happy Birthday 

1.       Glue the printed scenery square at the top of the white piece that has the compass and “Happy Birthday” stamped along the bottom edge. Leave equal white space at the top and sides of the scenery piece.

2.       Glue the white layer to the dark green layer.

3.       Glue the dark green layer on the card front.

4.       Glue the long narrow scenery layer at the left edge of the white piece that has “life is meant for…” stamped on it.

5.       Glue this layer inside the card.

Card 3:  Card 3 – Horse & rider/Birthday wishes  

1.       CAREFULLY apply dots of glue to the back side of the horse and rider die cut. Try to get some all the way around the edges as well as on the larger pieces of the die cut. The front is where the horse and rider are facing to the right.

2.       CAREFULLY Glue the die cut piece to the mountain scene printed paper. They are almost exactly the same size, with the printed piece just a hair smaller.

3.       Glue the die cut and printed layers to the front of the card.

4.       Glue “birthday wishes” to the bottom of the die cut piece.

5.       Glue the white rectangle with “it’s your day” inside the card.

 

Card 4 – Mountain scene, hiker and tent/Mountains of Thanks  

1.       The printed green and purple mountain scene is for the front of the card. The printed green piece with pine trees and plain white rectangle are for the inside of the card, trees on the top and white piece on the bottom when the card is opened and facing you.

2.       Choose the die cut pieces you would like to use.
a. The long green pieces with an irregular edge can be layered across the bottom of the mountain scene to give you some ground to put the other die cuts on. Arrange them as you like, then trim any edges that hang over the bottom or sides of the printed piece.
b. OPEN THE CLEAR PLASTIC ENVELOPE CAREFULLY!!! There are two very TINY walking stick die cuts inside. The walking sticks have adhesive on one side with a white layer over the adhesive. Gently peel the white layer off when you are ready to apply them to the card.
c.  Choose from the tents and people and decide how you would like to lay them out before applying glue.
d. If you want to use the hiker with a walking stick, use scissors to trim the lantern off the die cut before gluing it down.

3.       When you have your scene completed and the edges trimmed so it fits on the card front, glue it on.

4.       Optional – Glue the “mountains of thanks” word piece on the front. If you don’t want to use these words, the card will look just fine without them.

5.       Glue the tree piece and large white rectangle inside the card.

 

Happy Stampin' and Merry Christmas to you all, from Eric, Nellie and me!

 

Fresh as a Daisy and Earthen Elegance Card Class, Part 1 of 3

 

Hi Stampin' Friend,

I hope you're not getting bored with my One Sheet Wonder obsession by now. I'm not over it yet, and I already have plans to make another set of these cards with different patterned paper from Stampin' Up's January 2024 Sale-A-Bration brochure.

Counting down in reverse order, this is post 1 for my December 2023 card class. Here are cards 1, 2, 3 and 4 of 11 made from this 12x12 inch One Sheet Wonder cutting template.

And here is the original that I found on Kristina Rees's blog:

Enjoy the cards, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the designs that aren't answered below.

Cards from Earthen Elegance DSP

Cards from Fresh as a Daisy DSP

Cards 1 & 2 - 

Stamp sets: Sending Smiles and Peaceful Moments (retired)

All dies and punches on these cards are retired.

Cards 3 & 4 - 

Stamp on Card 3 (top) from Courage & Faith set

Stamps on Card 4 from Picturesque set (retired)

Punches: Card 3 Postage stamp (retired)

Card 4 Double Oval and Large Oval (retired)

I hope you like these cards. See the rest of the finished cards from this class in Post 2 and 3.

Thanks for looking!