Northwest Stamper

Author: Jennifer

  • Convention 2012 Here I Come!

     

    Alright, I’m going to warn you right now that today’s post is going to be a total photo bomb!  Some folks have asked where I get my ideas or have said I am so excited about what I do – so I wanted to share with you where some of that comes from and how you can get in on it too!

    The annual Stampin’ Up! convention!

    I was so excited when registration for the Stampin’ Up! convention 2012 opened up earlier this week that I registered in the first 15 minutes!  This will be my 4th convention in a row and my 2nd where I’ll have a baby with me.  I get so many ideas, learn so much, and have a ton of fun that I can’t imagine not going each year.

    If you can see yourself getting excited about a sneak peek announcement with 3,000 of your stamping friends…

    If you LOVE seeing the most A-MAZING project ideas with things you probably have in your home already…

    If you want new ideas for how to share your love of crafting with others…

    This is the place to be. 🙂  Here are some photos from my trip last year so you can see what I mean.

    If you are interested in learning more about coming, shoot me an email and I’d love to give you the full scoop!  Already registered?  Leave me a comment, I’d love to see who all my stamping buddies are that are coming with me to Salt Lake!

     

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    Free prizes! (Including products before you can buy them!)Swapping! I get so many amazing ideas each year from fellow demos
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    Business and Stamping Tips from Stampin’ Up! and other successful demonstratorsAchievement walks! That is me in the purple. 🙂 I got to walk across the stage for growing my team.

     

    If that wasn’t enough, here are even more awesome snapshots from my time in Utah: Keep reading to see lots more Convention Photos!

  • Cupcake Birthday Card and Another Video

    I had a customer recently order some wheel stamps and then ask me for more information about how to use them.  So, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to practice creating more videos for my new YouTube channel.  Its amazing to me that I’ve been intimidated by the idea of creating videos but now that I’ve started it is a lot of fun and so much easier than I imagined! Yay!

    Anyway, so I created a video going over the basics of wheel stamps and then decided to create a second video where I used the Cupcake Wheel stamp and showed a few different ways to use the stamped images from the wheel on the same card.  Since I was trying to keep it simple, I created an almost complete card and then showed a few samples of what you could do to it with the wheeled images.  And then after I was done filming, I picked one configuration and came up with this:

    Cupcake Wheel Stamp

     

    I kept it simple in the end and just colored in the images with my markers and then used a cut and colored image from some scrap paper to make an extra embellishment.  I even popped it up on a dimensional to help make it stand out.  Isn’t it just the cutest cupcake?!

    Cupcake Wheel Stamp close up

    Though now that I’m looking at the cupcakes, I’m thinking I really need to pull out my Dazzling Details glitter and add some sparkle to the card.  What do you think?

    In the end, it was a great re-learning experience with my wheel stamps and I will definitely have to pull them out more often.  I forgot how nice they can be, especially if you have a Stampin’ Around Wheel Guide!

    Here is the video I put together… I’d love to get your feedback on what new videos I should create next and how I can make them even better!  Leave me a comment and let me know!  I’m ready to get started on my next one. 🙂

     

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Happiest Wishes Birthday Card Recipe:

    Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes, Cupcakes wheel
    Ink: Calypso Coral Classic, Pink Pirouette marker, Calypso Coral marker, Pool Party marker, Crumb Cake marker, Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Around cartridge
    Paper: Sweet Shop specialty designer paper, Pool Party cardstock, Calypso Coral CS, Soft Suede CS, Very Vanilla CS
    Accessories: Regular Wheel Stampin’ Around handle, 2 1/2” Circle Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Bright and Cheery Birthday Card

    As you can tell, I’ve been getting into my Summer Smooches designer paper and today is my favorite card so far with this paper!  I have been completely falling in love with Island Indigo recently and I just love the bright yellow and deep blue in this card.  What do you think?

     

    I was inspired by a card by a fellow demo name Jen Tumiko who used these colors and a similar layout.  But once I got going, like usual, the card kept changing and evolving.

    This is also my last card that I designed prior to receiving my Smooches paper, so here is another version using Beyond The Garden dsp.

     

    I love how a slightly different paper even when it is the same color scheme, can make the card have a very different feel!  Which card do you like best?

     

    Check out all of the Summer Smooches Suite

    available as a sneak peek in April only!

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Happiest Wishes Birthday Card Recipe:

    Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes
    Ink: Early Espresso Classic
    Paper: Summer Smooches designer paper, Daffodil Delight cardstock, Island Indigo cardstock, Whisper White cardstock
    Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Island Indigo ruffled ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • The 2012 Retiring Stamp List is Here

    MainAd_RetiredList_DBWS_Apr1512_US

    Its that time of year again where Stampin’ Up! is getting ready for a new catalog to come out (coming June 1st!) and with the new catalog means retiring some of the current stamp sets to make room for the new.  The list is big this year but I’m excited to see what that means for the new sets in June.

    These are the top 3 stamp sets that I’ll be sad to see go:

    1.  Sincere Salutations  –  This is my go-to stamp set and I am so sad to see it retiring!

    2.  Triple Treat Flower  –  Such a cool stamp and inexpensive too!  Watch for my newsletter coming out in the next few days for some fun ideas with this set!  Not on my mailing list yet?  Sign up here to get tips and project ideas each month.

    3.  Baroque Motifs  – Perfect for backgrounds, elegant occasions, or great neutral designs

     

    Click here to see the full list of retiring stamps

    Stamps will be available until May 31st and then they are gone for good!

    The list of retiring accessories and wheel stamps comes out April 25th!  I’ll post it as soon as I see it and unlike the stamps, accessories are only available while supplies last.

    Retirement Special Offer:

    Earn double punches on your Northwest Stamper Rewards Card for every $40 you spend on retiring stamps or accessories between now and April 30th!  You can be earning your free stamp set faster then ever and even use your reward to get your favorite set when the new catalog comes out!

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • Summer Smooches and Button Flowers

    I seriously need to figure out how to take better pictures because I had a heck of a time getting a photo that shows just how bright and cheery this card is!  When you see the Summer Smooches designer paper in person, it just makes you smile and feel like summertime.  So, here is what it would look like if you were sitting in the shade on a sunny day. 😉

    I was sharing this card with my team on our facebook group yesterday, and Pam made the comment about how I had introduced her to the idea of using the Ornament punch as a flower pot (if you hadn’t realized that… I used the Ornament punch to punch out some designer paper and then trimmed off the bottom to make it into a vase.)

    Her comment got me thinking and I realized that I use this punch way more often as a vase than I do as an ornament!  How funny is that?

    Anyway, I used the new Daffodil Delight seam binding ribbon and then decided to mirror the flowers in the designer paper by using the Itty Bitty Punch pack and Bitty buttons to make cute modern flowers for my vase.

     

    Tip:  Punch out your paper using the small circle punch and then adhere it to your button by making a light coating of crystal effects on the button.  This gives you a super solid hold and it is uniformly clear when looking at the button. 

    I’ve tried glue dots in the past and you tend to see the shadow where the glue dot ends but the button still continues to be bigger than the glue dot.

     

    Finally, I thought I would show you the card I created for this design while waiting for my Summer Smooches items to come in the mail.  This uses the same stuff, just Sweet Shop specialty designer paper and Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon.

    Psst… don’t tell the Summer Smooches, but I think I like the Sweet Shop card better. 😉

    But that is ok.  Just wait until tomorrow when I share a card I LOVE using the Summer Smooches paper.  Until then…

     

    Check out all of the Summer Smooches Suite here

    available as a sneak peek in April only!

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Just For You Smooches Card Recipe:

    Stamps: Just Believe
    Ink: Real Red Classic, Lucky Limeade Classic
    Paper: Summer Smooches designer paper, Whisper White cardstock, Daffodil Delight CS, Real Red CS
    Accessories: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Bitty Brads, Crystal Effects, Ornament Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Time For the New Summer Smooches Suite

    For the first time in a long time, I didn’t preorder the sneak peek products – the Summer Smooches Suite.  I know, I know… if you get the perk as a demonstrator to get to see and order them early, why wouldn’t you?  I guess I was indecisive about what I wanted but I knew I loved the Fabric Brads (even though they will only be available in April) and the bright colors of the Summer Smooches designer paper have been calling to me since seeing them.  And finally, my shipment showed up yesterday and so this is one of the first cards I made:

     

    I’ve been wanting to try out this idea of a “peek-a-boo” designer paper and after being inspired by a card on Stampin’ Connection (the online demonstrator community) I started creating and the card kept evolving.  For this style of card, you punch a shape out of your top layer of paper and then layer a different color or print behind the holes.  I love how the fabric brad matches the print of the designer paper and the neutral-ness of the Crumb Cake cardstock lets the Tangerine Tango color really stand out.

    One fun thing I did was to punch the flower with the Fancy Flower punch and then I cut between the petals about halfway towards the center of the flower so I could curl up the petals.

     

    Now since I was working on this card for my Cards to Go kit for April as well as a local class, I wanted to make sure I had the design figured out so that as soon as my package arrived with the Smooches stuff, I could cut the right sizes of paper and be ready to go.  So, I ran my first experiment using the Sweet Shop Specialty designer paper from the Occassions mini and the retired Sweet Stitches fabric brads.

     

    I think I love fabric brads… I’m just bummed they are only here for April and won’t be returning when the new catalog arrives in June.  So if you love them too, make sure you order soon!

    Check out all of the Summer Smooches Suite here


    available as a sneak peek in April only!

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!
    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Peek-a-boo Smooches Card Recipe:

    Stamps: Pennant Parade
    Ink: Soft Suede Classic
    Paper: Summer Smooches designer paper, Crumb Cake cardstock, Island Indigo cardstock, Whisper White cardstock
    Accessories: Summer Smooches fabric brad, Fancy Flower punch, 2 1/2” circle punch, 1” circle punch, Sponge Daubers, Island Indigo bakers twine, Scallop edge punch, Stampin’ dimensionals

  • New Deals in the Clearance Rack!

    If you haven’t seen the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack, now is the perfect time to check it out!  Stampin’ Up! just added more goodies to the clearance section of the online store and you can get some great deals on items from the past holiday mini as well as punches and past Sale-a-Bration accessories!

    The only catch is that supplies are limited and until inventory runs out.  So if you see something you want, grab it now before it is gone!  And yes, Clearance Rack purchases count for punches with my Northwest Stamper rewards program!

    My favorite items in the clearance rack today:

    – Card Keeper Boxes for only $3.49
    – Ice Cream Parlor Ribbon and Button Pack $3.99
    – Cherry Trim 6×6 Designer Scrapbook Album $4.39
    – And all the punches!!!

    Shop the Clearance Rack Sale Now 

     

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!
    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • Scrapbooking Sunday: A Punch Art Bunny For Spring!

    Happy Easter to you!  I hope you have a wonderful day full of fun and happy moments.

    For my blog post today, I wanted to share a scrapbook page I created to hold some of our Easter moments this year (I knew what color outfits the kids would be wearing so I could pick the right colors – hee hee; but I don’t have the pictures printed yet).

    If you saw my stamping basics video earlier this week, you saw that I used the Button Buddies stamp set to demonstrate the difference paper can have on your image.  Well, what you didn’t see is that I did that about 4 different times because I was trying to figure out how to get my video camera to point to the right place and work for my demonstration – or making sure it was on… that was frustrating when I did the full video only to realize I had pushed the record button off instead of on when I started!

    Anyway, I had some extra flowers and an idea, so I created this:

     

    The very first thing I knew I wanted to do was create this row of flowers.  I punched them out with my scallop circle punch and went about laying them down.  I alternated having one flower glued straight down to my paper and the next flower popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  And while this stamp set is made to work perfectly with a designer button in the center of the flower, I decided I wanted to do something a little more subtle and so I used Crystal Effects to add some shine and pop to my flowers.

     

    And then there is the bunny…. I LOVE making this punch art bunny.  I’ve made one in the past but for this page I knew I wanted a smaller version and so I had to start from scratch.  So, I looked at my punches and started experimenting… but isn’t he cute?

     

    I’ll admit I got the button tail idea from a few demos online (I saw it first from Pam Steckman on facebook) though their bunnies were much bigger.  Anyway, if you want to create this little bunny, I thought I’d show you how I put it together.  It is the Heart to Heart punch for the ears and feet, the 1” circle punch for the body, and the 3/4” circle punch for the head.  I sponged all the pieces with Blushing Bride ink just to give them a subtle definition from each other.

    As it turns out, seeing the bunny shape from my example to show you how I made the bunny looks like another cute way to create a punch art bunny.  So, hopefully this gives you a couple new ideas to play with on your projects!

     

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!
    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Sponged Easter Egg Card Recipe:

    Stamps: Button Buddies
    Ink: Blushing Bride Classic, Rich Razzleberry
    Paper: Certainly Celery CS, Melon Mambo textured CS, Whisper White CS, Nursery Nest designer paper, Pear Pizzazz CS
    Accessories: Twitterpated buttons, glue dots, Pear Pizzazz 1/2” stitched poly ribbon, 1 3/8” square punch, Heart to Heart punch, 1” circle punch, 3/4” circle punch

  • A Sponged Easter Egg Card

    Happy Easter weekend everyone!  I hope you have sunshine and wonderful events planned with family and friends this holiday weekend.  Today we are getting ready to go out for egg hunts and coloring some eggs at home with family.  But before we head out, I wanted to share the first eggs I colored this year…. for a card. 🙂

     

     

    I had this idea to use sponging to create eggs for my card and so I grabbed my handy dandy Extra-Large Oval Punch.  Then I punched out an oval on scrap paper and pulled a pile of ink pads and sponges and got to work masking my Easter Eggs.  Of course, I made the eggs on a piece of scrap white paper and then had to design the card around the colored eggs. 🙂  But I added some paper for grass and then threw on some Early Espresso baker’s twine and the adorable Twitterpated buttons.

     

     

    So, consider this my Easter card to you. 🙂  Have a great weekend!

     

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!
    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards?  Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set!  Click here to learn more!

    Sponged Easter Egg Card Recipe:

    Stamps:  Delightful Dozen
    Ink:  Chocolate Chip classic, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride
    Paper: Daffodil Delight CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories: Twitterpated buttons, glue dots, Early Espresso baker’s twine, yellow sponge

  • Using Up Those Scraps!

    So, I recently reorganized my craft room yet again.  I’ve been fine tuning it for efficiency for how I find I craft in my space.  Well, after the last clean up, I realized I had a ton of useful looking scraps lying around on my table.  Now, normally I brush them into a pile and put them in a bag to “use later”.  Though really what happens is that my scrap bag gets bigger and bigger and I always forget what I have.

    Today I decided to use up those scraps now so that I didn’t have them hanging around for years to come. 🙂  So, I did not cut one single thing for this card… everything was already cut and lying around.  I just had to glue, stamp, and add a brad.  Not too bad, huh?

     

     

    The card base was a “whoopsie” that I did for a class sample.  The other pieces were all left over scraps from making other class samples as well.  Even the ribbon I just needed to trim the ends and I was good to go.

     

     

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!

     

    Everyday Enchantment Thank You Card Recipe:

    Stamps:  Thank You Kindly
    Ink:  Chocolate Chip classic
    Paper: Everyday Enchantment designer paper (SAB), Crumb Cake CS, Tempting Turquoise CS, Pool Party CS, Lucky Limeade CS, Calypso Coral CS
    Accessories: Everyday Enchantment brads and organdy ribbon (SAB), Big Shot, Framlits Labels, Blossom Triple Layer punch, Paper Piercer, SU Glue stick, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Trying Out Video Tutorials!

    I know, I’ve gotten a bit behind on posting projects on my blog this week.  But, yesterday was super productive and not only do I have a couple more projects to share with you this week (just have to upload the photos) but I finally figured out how to set up and create videos to share with you!

    It took me most of the afternoon and evening to record and edit a simple video but now I think I have it down and am super excited to try to create more.  So, if anyone has any requests, send them my way!

    For my first video, I was asked to share some basic stamping tips and so I put this together to show how I ink my stamps and then how I physically stamp them to make sure I get a clean and solid image.  So, even if you don’t need these tips, I’d love to hear from you about what I can do to make my videos even more useful for you!

    So, here is my first attempt at a video and I’ll be back tomorrow with more fun cards to share!

     

     

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!

  • Summer Smooches Sneak Peek is Here!

    It may be April Fool’s Day, but there is no foolin here!  🙂  (Ok, and honestly I just couldn’t think of a good April Fool’s Day joke to play, so you just get the straight stuff from me today. hee hee).

    If you are on my mailing list, you’ve seen this flyer in last month’s newsletter; but now its finally time for everyone to have a chance to check out all of the sneak peek goodies from the upcoming 2012-2013 Stampin’ Up! catalog.  Introducing the Summer Smooches collection:

     

    Summer Smooches Sneak Peek

    summer smooches flyer page 2

    Most of these items will be available in the catalog that starts June 1st (yes, that is 1 month earlier than in years past!) but for the month of April, you can get them early and start playing with them now.

    I will give you the heads up, the décor stencil (picture #3 on the first page of the flyer) and the adorable fabric brads (picture #5 on page 2 of the flyer) are available in APRIL ONLY.  So, they will not be in the upcoming catalog.  So if you love them, you may want to snag them now.

    So, want to see these bad boys in action?  Check out this fab sample from Stampin’ Up!

    summer smooches sample wm

    Seriously, how summery fun is that?  You have the cheery Summer Smooches designer paper, the matching Summer Smooches fabric on the flower, the Daffodil Delight seam binding ribbon – yep that’s right, a new color of seam binding! yay! , and the cutsie patoosie Summer Smooches fabric brads.

    I’m thinking I need to do a giveaway this month… and I really ought to giveaway something from the Summer Smooches collection.  Leave me a comment with what your favorite new item from the Summer Smooches sneak peek and help me pick what I should giveaway this month.   Based on what I hear from folks, I’ll pick a fabulous prize and share the details of the drawing here on my blog soon.

    But until then, enjoy browsing the new goodies!

     

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!