Northwest Stamper

Author: Jennifer

  • SU Convention Day 2: Display Boards and More!

    Sorry I got a little behind with my blogging but  I was planning on posting last night but ended up spending a couple hours trying to figure out how I was going to stuff all my goodies in my bags!  It was a full packed day and I loved every minute of it!

    We spent the morning in classes learning lots for our business and things like how they came up with the new hostess program (have you seen it yet?  Such a great change!)  Then it was lunch and we got to peruse all the great displays and info booths:

    IMG_6197 IMG_6200 IMG_6214 IMG_6215 IMG_6223 IMG_6224 Oh, and if you are a demo and curious, next year’s incentive trips are to Hilton Head Island and Fuji!  Awesome, right?!?

    Then dinner followed by the Hispanic Night Party.  I hadn’t spent much time looking at our spanish set line before but it was really interesting to learn more about the cultural difference and get to stamp and chat with more fun ladies. (pictures coming soon)

    Then it was home to figure out how to pack all our great goodies!  I’ll be posting more pictures on my facebook page shortly and then look for notes from my last day here on the blog. 

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  • First Day of the Stampin’ Up! Convention 2011

    My word!  Its been a whirlwind of a week starting with me desperately trying to get swaps made and everything packed and ready to go for convention this year.  But I made it and flew into Salt Lake City on Tuesday in anticipation of a great week…and I haven’t been disappointed! 

    Today was the first day of convention and boy was it a doozy!  Lots of sneak peeks of upcoming products, freebies, amazing ideas, and fab projects.  I’ve been posting pictures on my facebook page when I could so if you want to see a few more pictures, check it out.  But I couldn’t take pictures of a lot of the details I learned so I wanted to share a few pictures and more details!  Enjoy!

    Ok, can I have a personal toot for a minute? :)  Each year they invite people who met certain milestones or achievements to walk across the stage.  I am still working towards that, but this year they added 2 more marches – first time attendees and anyone who recruited in the last year.  Well, Bethani, my downline, got to walk for first time attendee and I got to walk for recruiting!  Yay!

    P7130142 

    Next we had a HUGE sneak peek at the upcoming Holiday Mini that launches in September.  No joke, I am in so much trouble with how much I want out of it.  There are new ribbons (can you say velvet and quilted satin?), new punches including a stocking punch that has a matching stamp set!!, fun holiday dies and embellishments (like mini jingle bells that I have no idea what I’m going to do with yet but I have to get), more adorable fabric (I’m just saying check out my next picture), of course new papers and stamps, and a ton more.  Then they showed us this bag that we could buy in Memento Mall that looks like this:

    IMG_2708

    Know what it’s for?  AAAAHHHHH!  I’m so excited!!!  It’s made to fit the new Simply Scored tool!  That’s right, a super awesome scoring tool.  It takes the best features of what’s out there and adds some, like besides giving you lines every 1/8”, you get a metal tipped ergo stylus, multiple plastic arrows to mark which score lines you are using for a given project, a storage compartment, multiple ruled edges, etc.  I’m so stoked!

    Ok, moving on.  At lunch, I had another amazing experience where when we entered the Gathering Place to get our lunches, we got picked for a You Crew experience.  You Crew is their name for randomly selecting people to have one of a variety of one of a kind experiences and in our case, we got a special table with glasses, plates, lemonade, a staffer who made sure we were well taken care of.  Pretty fun!

    IMG_2695  At the end of lunch, we saw that they had put out a special dessert.  Cookies…but not just any cookies, check out the designs:

    IMAG1469

    Yeah, yeah you say, they have designs.  But these are special designs.  They are Stampin’ Up! cookie stamp designs!  Yes, as in a stamp that can make different impressed images on cookie dough.  How fun is that.  Oh, and the shortbread recipe that comes with it, if it is the same one they used for these cookies, is pretty darn yummy.  🙂

    Finally we finished our day with make & takes, which I still need to finish so I can share with you, and one more session where we saw some great ideas for quick, easy, and inexpensive projects.  Like did you know you can get a package of quick accent stickers, 2 packages of notecards, and make 40 cards in no time flat?  And they are simple and cute too. 

    I know I don’t have many project sample pictures today, but don’t worry.  I’ll have more of the projects and products I can photograph and share posting over the next few days.  And don’t forget to stop by my facebook page to see more photos and updates when I can.

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  • More Strength and Hope Card Ideas

    In a continuation of yesterday’s post, here are the other two cards we made using the new Strength and Hope stamp set (missed the first two cards, you can check them out here).  The second card uses the “joy fold” technique to create a unique flap style card.  They are actually really easy to make and can be a fun way to do something a little different with your cardmaking.

    Strength and Hope butterfly hello cardStrength and Hope joy fold card

    To make the joy fold card, you need to cut two pieces of your base cardstock:  1 piece that is 4-1/4” x 8-1/4” and 1 piece that is 3” x 8”.  Score the larger piece at 5-1/2” and score the smaller piece at 4”.  Decorate the 4-1/4 x 5-1/2” piece with patterned paper if desired (I use the pink designer paper) then adhere the 3” x 8” piece of cardstock in the center of the 4-1/4” x 5-1/2” space so that the score line of the smaller cardstock is on the right side of the card.  Decorate the remaining flaps and areas of cardstock as desired.  You will end up folding the small flap from the card base inside of the 3” x 8” piece you adhered to the center of the card.  Then close the center piece over the little flap.  I promise, it is way easier than it sounds! 🙂

    Get Free Card Kits!

    Since I have extra card kits and want to continue to support the cause, I’m offering free card kits when you purchase this stamp set. Yesterday and today I posted the four cards we made and while supplies last, anyone who orders this stamp set from me can pick 2 of the 4 cards we made and I’ll send you the kits so you can make them at home with your new stamp set.  Everything will be precut and ready for you to stamp and assemble!  Just send me a note to jennifer@nwstamper.com when you place your order with which cards you want and I’ll get them on the way to you!

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  • Strength and Hope Class Samples & Card Kits

    In the latest mini catalog, Stampin’ Up! released a stamp set called Strength and Hope to support breast cancer research.  They are donating $2 from each purchase of the stamp set or digital kit to the cause, which being someone who has had family members battle breast cancer, I think is awesome.  So, I put together a class using this stamp set to show my support.  Here are two of the cards we made:

    Strength and Hope love card

    Strength and Hope window card

    Get Free Card Kits!

    Since I have extra card kits and want to continue to support the cause, I’m offering free card kits when you purchase this stamp set.  Tomorrow I will be posting the other two cards we made and while supplies last, anyone who orders this stamp set from me can pick 2 of the 4 cards we made and I’ll send you the kits so you can make them at home with your new stamp set.  Everything will be precut and ready for you to stamp and assemble! 

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  • Red, White, and Blue!

    In honor of the holiday weekend a few days ago, I issued a creative challenge to the folks on my SU team to create one or more cards using only Red, White, and Blue colors.  I figured since I was the one who created the challenge, I ought to put together something to get the ball rolling.  So, this weekend, I got into the holiday spirit and after playing around came up with this:

    I decided to go simple and not blatent “4th of July” because I figured then there was a chance I could use this card on one of the other 364 days of the year. Smile  I think I like it better in person but am still a bit on the fence about it.  But either way, maybe it will be a jumping off point for someone out there to create a fabulous card of their own!  Oh, and since I was asked once already, the label on the right, I just stamped the “celebrate” sentiment on Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the curly label punch.  Then I just drew on the dashes using a Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker.  Easy peasy!

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    Celebrate red, white, and blue recipe:
    Stamps:      Itty Bitty Bits, Fabulous Phrases
    Ink:  Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White craft ink
    Paper:  Whisper White cardstock, Real Red cardstock, Night of Navy cardstock
    Accessories:  Curly Label punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Real Red marker, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • The 2011 Catalog is Here!

    Yay! The new catalog is officially launched and online.  I am still debating over which of the cool new stamps and papers I have to have now; but I wanted to make sure you had a chance to check out all the fun new stuff yourself.  Plus, don’t forget, I’m offering free shipping through July 5th!

    Some of my favorites so far include the new Pennant Punch to make cute little banners on cards and scrapbook pages, the new In Colors, ruffled ribbon, and too many stamps to count.  If you want to see everything that is new, you can see it all together online here.

    In the meantime, here is another card I made recently using the new In Colors and the fun new scallop ribbon.  Enjoy!

    Just for You 2011 In Colors

     

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  • Catching Up plus Something For You!

    Hello there! I know its been a while and can you believe it, its the end of the catalog year already! Yikes! Well, I’m going to try to get you all caught up, plus I have a little something for you too.

    So, a quickie update for me – cause some inquiring minds want to know. 🙂 Its been a crazy couple months for me with my big move to Washington plus at the same time (literally the exact same time), we found out we are expecting again in December! So all of that has made it so that I’ve been completely exhausted for the last couple months. Thankfully, the haze is wearing off, and I’m so excited to get back to stamping, the new catalog, and CONVENTION! Its going to be an awesome summer!

    Alright, now on to more of the fun stuff – and getting you all caught up as well.

    • LAST DAY of the 2010-2011 Catalog!
      Don’t miss out on your chance to grab some of the super cute items that will be no longer available after midnight MST tonight.  Some retiring papers and accessories are on sale but have been selling out, so grab them while you can because they will be gone tomorrow!  Plus, if you missed it on Facebook, I’m offering free shipping on all orders placed between now and July 5th.  So, stack savings on savings and get a great deal!
      List of the Retiring Stamps
      List of the Retiring Accessories 

    • You’ve seen the Summer Mini, right?
      I mentioned it on a blog post ages ago, and I figure that most of you either have the mini catalog or have seen it online.  But just in case you haven’t had a chance to check it out – you should!  There are some fun summer projects, stamp sets, and embellishments.  Plus a stamp set that Stampin’ Up came out with to support breast cancer research called Hope and Strength.  I’ll be posting more projects using items from this mini over the next couple months, so come back and visit me to see more ideas.  This catalog lasts until August 31st.
      Check out the summer mini catalog here 

    • The NEW 2011-2012 Catalog comes out TOMORROW!!
      Eek! So exciting!  I can’t wait to share with you the new Idea Book & Catalog.  I’ll be posting pictures and a link on my blog tomorrow when it goes live.  So, if you don’t have a physical copy quite yet, you can come back and visit and check it all out.  There are new stamps, new punches, new papers, new accessories, 5 new In Colors, and lots of project ideas combining the new with your old favorites!  Plus, did you catch that you can get free shipping with me this weekend through July 5th, so you can come check it out and then get an extra awesome deal when you place your order!  Are you excited yet?
      PS – do you need a copy of the catalog?  Let me know and I’ll work with you to get you a copy.
    • Lots of new digital downloads for My Digital Studio and other digital crafting
      Just a heads up for all you digital scrappers and crafters out there.  Stampin’ Up! has been going crazy adding a ton of new digital content online.  They have brought back retired stamp sets and papers in digital form (so you can even print out your favorite patterns to incorporate into your paper projects) as well as adding brand new images and patterns that aren’t even available in non-digital form.  There are so many cute items, that I can’t even describe them all.  But I DID update the catalog link on the right sidebar of my blog with a link to the latest PDF version of the digital download catalog.  It has pictures of everything currently available, so check it out and enjoy!
    • Did you catch FREE SHIPPING?!?
      Just a couple details on my free shipping offer.  From now until July 5th, any order placed with me will get free shipping.  So you can use it to get your last chance items with free shipping, or all your new favorites with free shipping, or BOTH!  🙂  The only catch is that orders must be placed by calling or emailing me; sorry, I don’t have a way to credit shipping charges for online purchases.

    I’m so happy to be back to blogging and crafting and so grateful you have stopped by. 🙂  I have a lot to share and will have even more this month when I head to the Stampin’ Up! convention in a couple weeks!  Until next time, here is a card I made for a friend when I mailed her a new catalog; hope you enjoy!

    Thinking of You card recipe:
    Stamps –     Swirls and Curls Verses, Priceless (retiring June 30, 2011)
    Ink –     Early Espresso classic, Whisper White craft, So Saffron classic
    Paper –     Rich Razzleberry cardstock, Whisper White cardstock
    Accessories –     Early Espresso 1/8″ taffeta ribbon, sponge daubers, Rich Razzleberry marker, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Happy Birthday With A Cherry On Top

    Like other crafters out there, I’m sure, I have a huge pile of scraps that are more than just left over pieces of cardstock when I cut out a shape from a sheet.  But I have stamped images I decided not to use for one reason or another, punched images that I played with and set aside, and even card bases that I cut knowing they would be used sometime.  Well, I finally decided to do something about these random one-off pieces and started putting together some cards using them – including this card.

    This is a cute set called On a Pedestal that my mom got at one point that I just had to try out.  It is a “2 step stamping” set where you get a stamp of the pedestal and then different items you can layer on top, like a yummy cake with a cherry on top!  I grabbed this image and matted it and then started digging in my scraps for more pieces to go with it.  I had the Pixie Pink Top Note bigshot die cutout and the Happy Birthday stamped image (using the Create a Cupcake stamp set), so I layered them onto the River Rock card base.  When I was done, it still looked a little plain so I decided to try some faux stitching and grabbed my Signo white gel pen and added a little touch to the edge.

    What do you think of how it turned out? :) 

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  • Fishy Best Wishes to You!

    Thursday night I held my first event with my new Bellevue/Redmond Card Makers meetup group.  We had a small group but it was fun to meet some local gals and great to have the forced motivation to get my craft room unpacked!  I’ll admit it, I didn’t get the craft supply boxes opened until that morning. :)  Thankfully, I knew I had extra supplies from the card we did for my last get together in CA, so I didn’t have to do design work, just find and gather the supplies.

    This was the fun fishy punch art card we made:

    I found this card on Lyssa Zwolanek’s blog and loved it so much I had to share it with others. Isn’t he just the CUTEST?!  The fun part is that this card uses some punches in very non-traditional ways.

    1.  For the body, I used an ornament stamp from the Delightful Decorations stamp set and punched it out with the Ornament Punch.

    2.  Then I punched out a flower using the 5 petal flower and trimmed off the petals to use for fins.

    3.  Then I used the 1/2” circle punch and the 3/16” punch on my Crop-a-dile for the bubbles and eye.

    Fun, huh?  Give it a try and you can have your own cutey fish too.  Need one of the punches or supplies?  You can get it now in the online store. 

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    Best Wishes Recipe:
    Stamps:      Delightful Decorations, Sincere Salutations
    Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Bashful Blue (sponging around the bubbles)
    Paper:  Tempting Turquoise CS, Tangerine Tango CS, Bashful Blue CS, Whisper White CS, Basic Black CS
    Accessories:  Ornament punch, 5 Petal flower punch, 1/2” circle punch, Crop-a-dile, Sponge Daubers, Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker

  • Back and Blogging Again!

    Hello again!  Thanks for visiting again after my recent blog hiatus! :)  For those of you that didn’t know, I just finished a big move from California to Washington state.  Its been a crazy couple of weeks for finishing getting ready to go, driving myself, my hubby, my son, and 3 cats in a minivan up to the Seattle area, and then wading through too many boxes!  I still don’t have my craft room really unpacked, but I do have a bunch of projects that I can’t wait to share with you! 

    See I was smart, I finished a bunch of cards before I left and then I kept those projects out and with me so I could share photos when I had a chance post move.  Plus there have been a ton of new promotions and cool things Stampin’ Up! launched at the beginning of the month.  So, I’ll try not to overwhelm you in this post but will share lots of projects and info this week while I finish getting my craft room in working order again.

    So, to start you off, I thought I’d share a card I did for a swap at my team meeting last month.  It uses the new Flower Garden embossing folder from the Summer Mini.

    This is actually a really simple card to make… ok, assuming you count cutting around the embossed flowers simple… but otherwise, really easy to do!  I embossed a piece of Whisper White paper with the Flower Garden embossing folder.  Then I trimmed away the paper on the left side of the flowers.  I used an aqua pen to color in the flowers and then added a bit of bling by using a 2-way glue pen to add adhesive to the center of the flowers and sprinkling with gold glitter.  Attach to Pear Pizzazz paper and a So Saffron base and you have a fun and different card.

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    Thanks for Being a Friend recipe
    Stamps:      Happy Greetings (summer mini)
    Ink:  Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, So Saffron CS
    Accessories:  Flower Garden embossing folder, Aqua pen, 2-way Glue Pen, Galaxy Glitter pack, Big Shot, paper snips

  • I Know It’s Not Christmas but Check Out This Glass Glitter!

    Yes, I know it isn’t Christmastime and I can’t even claim Christmas in July, but I recently ran across this holiday card I made last winter and I JUST HAD to share it with you!

    IMG_2262

    See, I first heard about glass glitter at the Stampin’ Up! convention last summer.  They talked about how it would tarnish and give you this antique feel.  I couldn’t really grasp what they were talking about but I nodded my head and went along with it.  Fast forward to last December – I was trying to come up with a card for one of my card nights and I thought it would be fun to play with this “no-tie” ribbon technique and after stamping the snowman on the white cardstock, I added glass glitter to the Bashful Blue cardstock base and then said “Eww!”.  So I set the pieces aside on a shelf and promptly forgot about them. 🙂

    Fast forward again to a couple weeks ago, and I rediscovered the cardbase with glitter and it looked so different!  Of course now I thought it was cool, so I added some Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait cardstock as mats behind my snowman and colored him in with markers and it was a whole different card.

    To help you see what I mean… here is a picture showing what the Silver Glass Glitter looks like out of the jar next to what it looks like after a few months sitting on a shelf on a card:

    IMG_2264

    And here is a close up of the tarnished silver glitter:

    IMG_2265

    Cool, huh? I’m now going to have to experiment with the different colors because now with the Occasions mini you can get 3 different colors of Glass Glitter:

    Baja Breeze

    Silver

    Champagne

    Baja Breeze Glass Glitter - by Stampin' Up!Silver Glass Glitter - by Stampin' Up!Champagne Glass Glitter - by Stampin' Up!

    So I hope this was useful for you… it was a fun accidental experiment for me. Smile I’d love to hear what you think about the Glass Glitter.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about how it tarnishes.

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  • Mother’s Day Card with Presto Patterns

    If you got my April newsletter recently, you may recognize part of this card!  I wanted to show some of the fun things you can do with Presto Patterns specialty paper.  See, many people either don’t realize what it is (because in the catalog it shows up as white with brown lines to show the design) or you saw the paper but couldn’t imagine what you would want with white paper with white embossing.  So, for those of you who haven’t seen it, this is what the paper looks like:

    But you add a bit of sponging, even using multiple colors and you can turn those plain designs into super pretty pieces for your cards!  I used one piece on the card below to show you what I mean:

    I also had to play with the folded ribbon.  I LOVE seam binding ribbon…have I said that before? Smile  So, I recently got the Crumb Cake color and decided to play with it in this card.  To make my rolls, I used the Snail adhesive and put a little bit down on one side of the ribbon and then folded the ribbon over to make the rounded part.  Then I kept using the Snail on the front of the ribbon so I could fold the ribbon back on itself and so on.  Yeah, I know, that was a terrible explanation.  If anyone is interested in how I did it, let me know and I can take pictures or something to show you better.  Anyway I had to finish it off with one of the rose adornments and a pearl.  Perfect for mom!

    I wanted a sentiment but you can’t stamp directly on the Presto Patterns paper very well (because the ink won’t stick to the embossed pattern) and I didn’t really want a punch out to distract from the pattern, so I stamped on some cardstock vellum and adhered to the front of the card so the pattern could show through.

    I hope you enjoyed this! If you didn’t get my newsletter this month (which had more tips and other samples), you can sign up here and be sure you will get each months project ideas, tips, specials, and sneak peeks. 

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    Happy Mother’s Day Presto Patterns Recipe
    Stamps:      Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink:  Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom
    Paper:  Presto Patterns specialty paper, Botanical Gazette designer paper, Old Olive cardstock, Cardstock Vellum
    Accessories:  Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, yellow sponge, adhesive Pearls, Vintage Flower adornments, Snail