May 6th Swap Cards

 

Hi Stampin' Friend!

The May "6th Swap" cards have all arrived. As always, they are beautiful and varied, representing the array of talent in the group.

The card above is my creation for May. I enjoyed using the Sending Love die cuts to create the 3D mailbox. The words on the card front are from the Trucking Along set, the "Happy Birthday" words are from Unbounded Love, and the Designer Series Paper is called Thoughtful Journey.

The next card is from Tammie. The picture doesn't do it justice. The cardstock and ink color is Coastal Cabana and it looks so fresh in person.

Pam's birthday "Make a Wish" card is bright and colorful.

Kim's "Let's Celebrate" card features some of the new In Colors. Notice the subtle interest in the background mat with 2 different coordinating pieces of cardstock.

Julie's Zinnia card makes me smile, with the bold, happy flowers. It is an offset gatefold card, something just a little different.

Jennifer also used some of the new In Colors for this lovely feminine birthday card. The stamped greeting is once again from the versatile Unbounded Love set.

And last, but not least, Carolyn's simple and bold "hello" card showcases all 5 of the 2024-2026 In Colors. Brilliant!

Happy Stampin!

Campin' Stampin' Kit

 

Hi Stampin' Friend!

We just returned home from a short (4 days, 3 nights) camping trip. I put together a little campin' Stampin' kit to take along in the RV and thought I'd show you what I took, what I made, and give you a tip I learned.

Everything you see in this photo was packed neatly into the tote as you can see in the first picture above.

I chose 3 stamp sets with some word and image stamps. Two were photopolymer stamps and one was "cling" or red rubber stamps that mount on acrylic blocks. The stamp types makes a difference which I will talk about later in my tip.

I pulled out every Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Marker that I own, so I would have a wide variety of ink colors to use. I included an assortment of Designer Series Papers, an assortment of colored cardstock selected to coordinate with the patterned papers, some pieces cut to 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches and pre-scored for card bases, and others in smaller sizes to use for layers. There were also some white cardstock pieces to stamp on.

For tools, I included a couple of acrylic blocks, paper snips, a craft tweezer, small paper trimmer, liquid glue, Tombow Mono adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals, a painters pad for cleaning the stamps and some scratch paper to protect the table.

Yes, it all fits in that tote bag as you see!

And here are the cards I assembled. You can see that most of them do not have stamped sentiments yet. This brings me to the tip I want to share with you:

Stampin' Write Markers have a water-based ink that corresponds to the ink in Stampin' Up! ink pads. The markers can be used to apply color to stamps, instead of using an ink pad.  

HOWEVER, my experience is that the photopolymer stamps do not hold the ink the same as the red rubber stamps do. The cards in my picture which have stamped sentiments used the red rubber stamps. When I colored with the markers on the photopolymer (clear) stamps, the ink was all blotchy and the stamped image was not good enough to use on a card.

The next time I take a Campin' Stampin' Kit along, I will only take stamps made of the red rubber.

Oh, and here's a bonus tip for you: when you get a kit from Paper Pumpkin or Stampin' Up's Kits Collection, they are packaged in the cardboard boxes you can see in the photos. Those boxes are great for packing stamping supplies and many other things you may want to take along. And when not in use, they fold flat for easy storage.  Just another useful feature of our kits!

The next time you are camping or traveling on vacation, consider taking a stampin' kit along for some extra fun.

Here is a photo of what I made on our first camping trip this season.

Happy Stampin' and Campin'!

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!