Branches & Pines: Swap Card for BackStage

November 15, 2025Leave a comment

There are so many things I’ve learned while being a Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrator beyond rubber stamping: This marvelous company was the first to train me on Crucial Conversations (which I’ve invested in three times since then), leadership and time management skills, self-care, communication, and most recently I’ve returned from #StampinUpBackStage (our leadership conference) in Las Vegas, where we learned to connect more meaningfully with our creative communities. What a blessing to have the personal development opportunity to help me grow into the best version of myself, so I can serve YOU!

Of course, no stamping event would be complete without a little swapping, but I was afraid I wouldn’t have time to make any cards to exchange…the night before I left, I MADE time to craft 20 cards. I used the cutting guide/template I shared in September and the Elegant Pine Snowflakes Designer Series Paper paired with the Branching Out bundle, which coordinated quite nicely:

It was delightful to share my cards with others, and receive many lovely hand-stamped creations in return, so the las-minute midnight stamping session paid off!

While not a holiday card, it has the feel of the season, and would make an excellent birthday or wedding card for someone celebrating during the winter:

If you are here to learn card-making skills, I’d love to send you a THANK YOU card when you order supplies from my Stampin’ Store! Make sure you OPT IN for REWARDS (earn 10% of your purchase back to save or spend next time) AND OPT IN to allow me to contact you!

Ready to embark on your own Stampin’ Up! personal adventure as a demonstrator? You will be loved and cherished in the Sprinkled Ink team, my demonstrator family!

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Mix and match card stock to coordinate with the colors in the paper, and use any embellishments that you need to use up 😉

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Keep your creative juices flowing! 🍊🧡– Loni Spendlove

Spa Day Thanks a Million Card

November 10, 2025November 10, 2025Leave a comment

This week’s Global Design Project #522 (a sketch) and TGIF Challenge #550 (colors) both inspired this bright, cheerful card—perfect for sending gratitude for a little pampering!

I started with the Lasting Linen background stamp, which adds such a beautiful, subtle texture to the card base. That coral tone-on-tone pattern instantly gives it a warm, woven feel. Then I reached for the Branching Out dies to create the layered frame. I love how the stitched edges give a crisp, polished look while still feeling handcrafted.

The fun part was building the little “spa scene” in the center using the Notes & Totes bundle—those bottles and tubes are just too cute! I couldn’t resist adding a touch of copper and a tropical hibiscus for a splash of personality. The sentiment, “Thanks a million,” comes from the NEW Banner Sayings bundle, which includes a punch with 3 different banners, and sayings to match any occasion.

Together, these elements make a card that feels fresh and happy—just right for anyone you want to thank in style. It’s always so satisfying when different Stampin’ Up! sets play together this well!

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Keep your creative juices flowing! 🍊🧡– Loni Spendlove

New at SU! Fluffy Squirrels & Branches

September 17, 2025September 16, 20253 Comments

There is always something NEW at Stampin’ Up! and September brought a SLEW of lovely new products, so the New at SU! Design Team is here to introduce you to your next “must have” item from the September-December Mini Catalog OR Online Exclusives!

I’ve chosen the Fluffy Squirrel bundle: A photopolymer stamp set with a coordinating punch, paired with the Branching Out bundle – both from the new Mini Catalog.

When creating a card with matted layers on the front, consider ways to make it different: Use a different shape for the layers, or score the card base in an unexpected way. This card base is 5.5″ x 8.5″ as usual, but scored at 1.25″ and 5.5″, so it folds around the inside greeting:

The color palette for this card is Lost Lagoon (pretty color for pines), Cajun Craze, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso and Basic Beige – feels like fall 🍂 and the squirrels make autumn adorable, sitting on a tree stump and gathering acorns for the winter. Optional idea: add some texture to the background on the top of the card by using the Birch Wood embossing folder after stamping the branches.

The best things for YOU to gather is paper crafting supplies for hours of contented crafting in every season, so keep a shopping list handy as you discover other items featured in our blog hop to squirrel-away for a stamping day (I’ve listed my products used at the bottom of this page).

September 2025 New at SU! Blog Hop: New Product Showcase

Previous Blog Next Blog

1.Furry Cat Designs (UK) – Traditions of Christmas

2.Stamping Flair (AU) – Jolly Delivery Suite

3.The Joy of Stampin’ with Rachael- Gathering Moments

4.Did You Stamp Today? (US) – Christmas Shaker

5.Stampinxime by Ximena Morales (DE) – Herbststimmung bei Stampin’ Up!

6.Creative Juice by Loni (US)- Fluffy Squirrel & Branches

7.iHeartCards2 (US) – New At SU! September 2025 – New Products Showcase

8.247 Inkspiration (US) – Spooky Sweet

9.De Kijkkast (NL) – Dreamy Card with Branching Out

BREAKING NEWS! Stampin’ Up!®️ is having a 24-hour STAMP SALE starting tonight at midnight, MT

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To see EVERY product that’s NEW at SU! BROWSE HERE

Keep your creative juices flowing! 🍊🧡– Loni Spendlove

Branches Through a Window for #gdp514

September 16, 2025September 15, 2025Leave a comment

There was one piece of Silent Snowfall Specialty Designer Series Paper left on my desk after cutting and mailing all the September paper shares, then I saw the Global Design Project sketch for the week, and imagined looking out a window on a quiet winter afternoon…

Here’s the prompt for the #gdp514 sketch:

Rummaged through more patterned paper for some worthy “wallpaper” and found the back side of one of the Autumn Toile papers would be perfect (isn’t the “front” or “back” irrelevant? The FRONT is whichever you want to use!).

Once it was adhered to the front, I cut the smaller arch from both layers, then added a dark wood window casing by cutting out two nested arches. In this picture you can really see the detail through the window:

The Silent Snowfall paper has a snowflake pattern dry embossed into it, so I heat embossed some random snowflake dots from the Branching Out stamp set over the debossed side to break up the repeating pattern and help it feel more natural and random. Once it was dry, I used a brayer to roll Cloud Cover ink over the top – the inlaid snowflakes are deep enough they don’t get any ink inside. I know that we don’t have a large Cloud Cover ink pad: You can use the refill to ink up an empty stampin’ spot, or use a piece of felt as the ink pad by squeezing some ink onto it.

Once the branches were stamped over the snowflakes, that layer was adhered to a 4″ x 5.25″ Cloud Cover card inside (8″ x 10.5″ when open), with the fold on the right:

This “card-in-a-card” design allows you to catch a few snowflakes on your tongue as you continue to unfold the greeting!

Finally, you open the inside to find a large area to write all the details a friend would love to hear from you.

Tomorrow, I’ll be mashing up the Branching Out bundle (there is a set of dies that coordinate with the stamp set) with another new bundle from the 2025 Sept-Dec Mini Catalog, and you’ll want to add it to your cart when you see how essential it is.