Springtime in Northern Wisconsin

It is springtime in WI and we received over a foot of snow in the past 24 hours.  UGH!  I think everyone here is tired of the white stuff.

But, I have been making some cards since I posted the last time...gee, time goes by fast.  Has it really been a month since  posted last???

This is a Magical Marquee card that I made...or at least the front of it.  I got the idea from Jan at Stamppaperscissors where you can see her video tutorial.  I made the tulips using the Stampin Up Bird punch - just the wings though.  I did not have the correct punches for the openings on the card, but played with the idea using my nestabilities dies and found that they will work, it just takes some fiddling with.  When you open the card, the curtains pull back to reveal a hidden message...

Here is the first one I made.  I did not have the circle punch, but using my circles die for the Cuttlebug, I was able to finish it.

Here is a card I made a while back for a challenge in a tea bag folding group.  The theme was "circus" and I chose to do a circus wagon, complete with teabag folded wheels and a tiger that looks like he is going to jump through the bars of the cage.

I hope the weather is good where you are.  I am going to keep thinking spring.  It has to come eventually...RIGHT????



Butterflies

Well, it will be some time before we see the real thing here!  We just got another 16 inches of snow on Monday.  At least we think that is how much we got, with the blowing wind all day, it is hard to tell!

So, I made this card using the Bleach Technique to bring a little spring to the air.

I stamped the image from Northwoods Rubber Stamps with Versamark and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  Then, using an old paint brush, I applied bleach to the petals of the flowers.  I stamped the image again using Versamark (just the butterfly portion) and embossed in black.  This time I stamped it on paper I had painted with Twinkling H2O's so it has some glimmer to it.  Then I cut the butterfly out and glued it over the original image.

Not being done playing with this stamp, I also created this card:

For this one, I heat embossed the same image in black.  I created the big butterfly using the same method and also made the smaller butterfly using a stamp set from Stampendous!  I popped the wings by cutting a piece of clear stiff plastic from packaging of a Cuttlebug folder and creasing it in the center.  I glued it to the back of the butterflies.  When dry, I glued it to the card front.  These fold flat for mailing, but pop up when removed from the envelope!



Thanks for peeking at this one!  Have a great day.

Something New!

Sorry I have been missing.  We have something new in the family!  A new member, but NOT a baby.  LOL

We have a new Mr. & Mrs.!!  My step-son married the love of his life on Friday.

Yes, it was cold!  14 degrees.

It was a beautiful wedding.  I helped the new Mrs. make her invitations and RSVP cards over the past year. 

I also did some (60+) favor boxes for the shower as well as the wedding.  Here are the shower favor boxes.



Here is the card I made for them.

I used the Martha Stewart hearts punch around the page, Snowflake embossing folder, Spellbinders classic hearts (which I glittered), satin ribbon, and sticky pearl embellishments.  The wedding colors were blue and yellow and they had a snowflake theme. 

To make the hearts, I did not use the Spellbinders in the normal way.  I drew around both edges on white card stock twice, overlapping them to entwine them.  Then I cut them out with my craft knife.  With the addition of some glue and glitter, I then ran them through my Cuttlebug between layers of wax paper to set the glitter into the glue.

I think it came together almost as well as this lovely couple did.

Congratulations to Cass & Casey.  I know you were meant for each other and your love will only grow stronger day by day.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  Ours was great. 

I thought I would share more of my Christmas cards today and some of the other things I have been working on.  I have been playing with making tiles for tea bag folding and also trying them in a medallion.

Here are 2 of the tiles I created.  Feel free to try them and let me know what you think!



If I don't see you here before then, I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year.

Be safe!

Another Christmas card

Now that my Mom & Dad have received their card from me, I can show it on my blog.  I wanted it to be a surprise. 



Christmas cards are done

Well, I am done with all my cards and most have made it to the post office and are on their way!  I ended up making 65 cards this year.  I hope to put away all my Christmas card making supplies and start on some all occasion ones soon.  I have a few birthday cards to make and get in the mail as well.

The first week in January my step-son will be marrying his soul mate and I am so excited and happy for them.  I can't wait for the wedding.  It is going to be spectacular!

We are in the middle of a blizzard here with a total accumulation of 18+ inches expected.  Since we got 8 inches on Thursday, this will give us plenty of snow for the snowmobilers and skiers.  It will also keep me in the house to play with paper!  LOL

Here are a few of the cards that went out in the mail earlier this week:

I put acetate on the window of this one and glitter snow in it to make it a shaker card.

I wonder how many others end up with a dining room table that looks like mine when they are working on cards?  It is a good thing we have a table in the kitchen for us to eat our meals on...

This photo was taken AFTER I started cleaning up...



I hope you are all having a great day!

Punch and Spellbinder Storage

I thought I would share today the way I store my punches.  These are the Martha Stewart punches as well as some of the smaller shape punches.  I do not have a lot of these (yet) but here is what I have done.  Go to the dollar stores and find the cafe rods.  These can be purchased for under $3.00 generally.  Put them on your wall and rest you punches on them.  I have mine in order with the corner punch on one and the matching border punch below it.  This works great for me.



I also took my punches and made a guide for what they look like.  I cut strips of card stock at 1", 1.25", and 1.5" and punched both sides.  Then I attached them to another sheet of card stock.  I make my own "lace" for my cards this way.  I have the sheets hung next to my punches and store my ribbon underneath them.  If I want to see what a piece of ribbon would look like run down the middle, it is easy to hold it up to it and see.

I also took all my fancy cutting edge scissors out of the shoebox I kept them in and put cup hooks in the bottom of the shelf above the punches.  I hang the scissors from them.  I can easily grab the pair I want and find that I use them more now that they are out in the open.  Some day when I have nothing better to do(LOL - in an different lifetime), I will punch the different edges they cut the same way I did with the punches, but for now I have a guide that the Fiskars paper edgers had with them.





Also, here is how I store my Spellbinders.  The magnet sheet is what they use to make the magnetic signs for cars.  If you can find a sign shop in your area, you can probably buy a piece from them.  I stapled it to the back of my craft room door and put my Spellbinder dies on it.  I took a metallic marker and wrote what the die is next to it.  I am going to go back and put how many are in each set as well so I make sure I have them all rounded up when I put things away.  The smaller ones are so easy to get lost in stacks of paper when working on projects.

Don't tell my husband, but my dream is to cover the entire door - BOTH sides!  I have told Santa that I have been as good as can be expected, so maybe that will help...