Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Spotlighting Paper Piercing for a Fab Blog Hop on Tools!

    Thank you so much for joining us for the September Stylin’  Stampin’ Squad Blog Hop! This month we are focusing on the tools of the stampin’ trade. Specifically, each of our favorite stamping tools. It’s amazing the kinds of tools that have been created to help us along in our paper-crafting addictions.  This month’s blog hop will showcase many of the Stampin’ Up! tools that are now available to us in the 2013-2014 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Holiday Catalog and even a couple of products that are so new they aren’t in either catalog. We hope you enjoy seeing how we use the old and new tools and are inspired to come up with some great projects of your own.

    You should have just left stop number 9 on the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop – Stuck on Stampin’. If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn’t work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.

    Ok, so are you ready to see what I picked for my favorite tool?  I was going to pick punches (since, have you seen my wall of punches??) but that was well covered.  And so I decided to go with the less popular tool – the paper piercer and templates!

    I promise the picture above includes all three of the templates included in the Essentials pack, but its hard to see, so here is a better picture of all of the options available to you in the pack.

    image This is my absolute favorite pack because I cannot live without my straight rows of piercing holes.  It is the simplest thing, but I use it all the time!  Now, I love the shapes and patterns as well, and have found they give lots of possibilities even if you don’t own the coordinating punch or framelit.

    But to show you 3 of the ways I use my piercer, I created this card to share today:

    Can you spot all 3 uses of the piercing tool and template?  Smile  Keep reading to see if you caught them all!

    1.  Creating Faux Stitching

    One of the coolest techniques I know with this tool is the faux stitching technique and it is so easy to do as well.  Yes, you can pierce your holes and then grab needle and thread and stitch on your cards…. or you can just do this.

    Line up the more widely spaced straight line holes of your paper piercing template so that the seam between two pieces of paper (in this case, patterns from the Etcetera designer paper) is exactly in the middle between the two lines of holes.

    how to use a piercing template for faux stitchingUse your piercing tool to poke each hole and then draw your stitch lines in with your favorite color marker.  Looks pretty real, huh?

    2.  Spotlighting with Pierced Patterns

    Since there are so many patterns on the templates, sometimes they are perfect to coordinate with a punch or framelit for an extra accent.  In this case, I loved how the oval of holes helps accent the sentiment in the center of the scallop oval punch out.  You could do some faux stitching with this as well, but I thought the simple look was a bit nicer.

    You can also do this without needing to use a punch.  Use any of the shapes to accent a stamped image on any project you are working on.

    3.  Precision Placement of Brads

    how to line up piercing template for corners

    Ok, this is my go-to use for my paper piercer and template – placing brads.  I am a pretty loosey-goosey card maker and stamper.  I’m ok if my image is a little skewed (hey, its artistic that way!) and if I didn’t quite get that bow right.  But one thing I can’t stand, is if an element that is supposed to be symetrical – like brads in a row or in the corners of a paper – comes out slightly off.

    So I ALWAYS pull out my piercing template when I’m going to add brads to a project so I can make sure they are spaced evenly apart and the same distance in from each corner.

    To do that, you just align the black solid line on the template along the edge of your paper and then pick the same hole in the corner to use for placement.  Then just use the same corner of the template for each corner on your paper and you will get perfect corners every time!

    So, there you have it…. did you figure out all 3?

    I also wanted to take a quick moment to show one other little trick I did on this card…. yeah, it has nothing what so ever to do with piercing, but I thought it was cool.  It was how I got the doily for the background of the card.

    two tone sponging on paper doilies I took a single doily and folded it in not-quite-half.  Then I took a piece of scrap paper and placed it between the top and the bottom piece of the doily.  I sponged the top piece in Pool Party; then I opened it up and sponged the bottom side with Midnight Muse.  It gives a neat effect with no cutting and only one doily!

    and back to paper piercing…

    I did a class on Paper Piercing a while back and so I thought I’d share a card we made in that class that gives you even more ideas for how you can user the piercing tool and template.

     

    So I hope you enjoyed all the tips and ideas, and now are inspired to get out your piercing templates and start creating!

    For even more inspiration and ideas for using the tools you have at home, keep on hoping and visit Bree for some fun with the Simply Scored!

    Blog Hop Participants:

    1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
    2. Pam S. of Stampin’ in the Sun!
    3. Tonya B. of Stampin’ with Tonya
    4. Dawn S. of Dawn’s Creative Chalet
    5. Darcy J. of DJ’s Stampin’ Place
    6. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
    7. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
    8. Justin K. of JK Cards
    9. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin’
    10. Jennifer B. of NW Stamper <— YOU ARE HERE!
    11. Bree R. of Craft-somnia
    12. Diana E. of Stampin’ Fun with Diana
    13. Jennifer C. of Happy 2 Scrap 4 Life
    14. Jamie H. of Unique Ink
    15. Kristina M. of Mama’s Sanity

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    Card Supplies Used
    Stamps- Express Yourself (hostess set)
    Ink- Midnight Muse, Calypso Coral, Pool Party
    Paper – Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Etcetera designer paper
    Accessories – Paper piercer, piercing mat, Essentials Piercing Template, Scallop Oval punch, sponge daubers, white doilies, Mini Brads, stampin’ dimensionals

    Help me better plan future classes, online offerings, tutorials, and events –  take this quick survey on in-person and online class offerings and you’ll be entered to win!  Take the survey now!

  • A Fun Pop-Up Card with Swallowtail Tutorial

    When I was at convention this year, Shelli showed off some cards that had neat pop-up effects.  Once of the cards that really struck me was a cool card that used the Swallowtail butterfly to create a surprise pop-up on the inside of the card.  I thought it was extra cool because when you look at that stamp image, it is too big to fit well on a card front and so I never would have thought it would have thought to try it on the inside of a card.

    So for a recent technique class, I decided to try it out and create that moment of surprise for class attendees as they got to make this card.

    Here is the front of the card… I kept it simple since we were going to be focusing on the details inside the card.

    Then you untie the ribbon (which you need so the card doesn’t try to push open on you when you aren’t ready), open it up and hello, butterfly!

    If that is a little hard to see, here is another angle to help you see the pop-up effect.  I also used the Pleasant Poppies background stamp to give the effect of the butterfly flitting through the flowers.

    To create this pop-up effect, you want to do the following:

    1. Start by stamping and coloring your Swallowtail butterfly image. 
    2. Then cut out the butterfly. 
    3. Gently fold the butterfly image in half (you don’t have to press hard to crease it, just make sure it is set to fold how you want when the card is closed.
    4. imageTake a piece of window sheet and punch a 1-1/4” circle out.
    5. Cut a spiral into the 1-1/4” circle as shown in my poorly drawn image to the right. Smile 
    6. On the “top” side of your spiral, attach a glue dot to the center of your spiral.  Attach another glue dot to the “bottom” side of your spiral at the outside end of the spiral.  (it doesn’t really matter which side is top and bottom, as long as your glue dots are on the opposite sides of the spiral)
    7. Glue the right wing of the butterfly to the right side of your card inside.
    8. Fold the butterfly in half and press the window sheet spiral onto the backside of the left wing with the glue dot in the center of the spiral sticking to the wing.
    9. Hold the butterfly down so it is folded in half and close the card.  This will allow the left side of the card inside to stick to the glue dot on the edge of the spiral.
    10. Open the card and check if you like how much of a pop you get with your butterfly.  Reposition the spiral as needed to get it just how you like.

    Hopefully that made sense!  If not, let me know and I’ll try to put together a video on how to do the pop-up effect.

    Like I mentioned, this is a card I shared at a recent card class and I loved the idea of sharing some pop-up and flip style cards with everyone.  I’ve finished my class schedule for the rest of the year – so if you are interested in joining me at a future event, check out the calendar and let me know!

     

    Want to win a $20 Stampin’ Up! shopping spree? 

    Take this quick survey on in-person and online class offerings to help me better plan future classes, online offerings, tutorials, and events and you’ll be entered to win!  

    Take the survey now!

     

    In the meantime, give a pop-up card a try!  They are fun and easy, and give the recipient a fun surprise.

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    Card Supplies Used
    Stamps- Swallowtail, Pleasant Poppies, Express Yourself (hostess set)
    Ink- Early Espresso, Sahara Sand (marker), Pool Party (marker), Calypso Coral (marker)
    Paper – Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Window Sheets
    Accessories – 1-1/4” circle punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Glue Dots, Pear Pizzazz taffeta ribbon, Elegant Butterfly punch, Bitty Butterfly punch

  • Finally Finished August’s Paper Pumpkin Kit!

    I know, I know… we are already in September and I”ve had my Paper Pumpkin kit for a few weeks; but I finally had some time to sit down with my August kit and start playing.

    I try each month to make one example following the pre-designed sample and then make the rest using only the supplies in the kit and a little creativity…. so this is what came out this month:

    I’ll admit, I started out a bit stalled since this month, but once I started playing more ideas started coming.  And I even ended up with some extra stickers and pieces I can use for other projects – I just need another burst of mojo to finish those up! Smile

    Plus, I had to make sure to stamp up my envelopes as well.  So, here is what I did along with my two favorite cards in the set:

    I actually stamped the front bottom corner of three of the envelopes by inking up my bicycle stamp with the Bermuda Bay ink and then inked each envelope one after another without re-inking in between.  So you get a slightly faded effect as you go.

    I also used this technique to get this cool motion effect on one of the cards:

    Just stamp the bicycle on the right side of your paper and then keep stamping WITHOUT re-inking while moving the stamp slightly to the left each time you stamp.

    Yes, it’s true, this card uses a few supplies not included in the kit (some scrap Whisper White cardstock, the 2 1/2” circle punch, paper piercing tool, and the Essentials Piercing Pack) but that is because I started out stamping out the bicycle on the card back and I completely messed it up!!

    So, I needed to do something to cover up the boo-boo and thus the scraps started coming out.  Plus, I loved the idea of piercing the circle to help it coordinate with the background print.  What do you think?

    Don’t forget – if you have been thinking of signing up for Paper Pumpkin, you need to be signed up by TONIGHT if you want to get your first kit in September. Sign up here

    ——————————————————————————-

    So today’s post was supposed to go up yesterday but instead of adding the finishing touches to the post and publishing, we had the excitement during breakfast of our carbon monoxide monitors going off and having to quickly evacuate our house due to extremely dangerous levels of the gas in our house.  Thankfully we had the monitors and all the people and animals in our house are fine, and the kids had the fun of seeing firetrucks come to our house and getting to hang out with firemen.

    2013-09-09 09.46.53

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    So, the moral of the story is… if you don’t have carbon monoxide detectors in your house, please go get some!  You never know when you will need them.  I know we had no clue anything was wrong or that we were in danger until they started going off.

    All the best and happy & SAFE stamping!

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  • Playing with the New Labels Thinlits Flip Card

    When I ran a recent class about cards that flip and pop, I knew I had to share a card using the new Labels Thinlit die.  I mean, the fact that one run through the Big Shot and you have the card almost done, got to love the ease of that. 

    Since the thinlit die comes with a bunch of extra shape dies, I wanted to see what I could come up with that mostly uses those extra shapes.  Have you seen all the options?

    image

    So, this is what we made:

    I decided to try to experiment – and this is a little hard to see in the picture – but with the main label shape, we actually cut out a label in Coastal Cabana and then cut out a second label shape in So Saffron, but this time, we placed the “hi” die inside the label die so that it would cut out the “hi” leaving a hole in the shape of the word (does that make sense? Smile)  Then we glued the labels together so the Coastal Cabana peeked through!

    To decorate the rest of the card, we added a bit of Washi tape to the front of the card and then stamped an image from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.  We stamped the inside, just like the card from last month’s newsletter

    (if you missed it, you can sign up here and I’ll get you a copy of the past newseltter)

    So this is an idea to make a card using just a few supplies…. now I’m off to try out a few more ideas that incorporate more items from your craft room to step up the card even more. 

    Untill then, happy stamping!

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  • The Right Way to Get-away & an Idea for a One Layer Card

    2013-08-30 17.30.12Ever have one of those months where you swear you can’t keep up and yet you look back and try to figure out why you were so swamped?  Well, August apparently was that month for me!  Everytime I thought I was about to get caught up, I had something else that was starting to run behind and needless to say I felt like the proverbial headless chicken running around my house.  Thankfully, I got most of my major projects done before the Holiday weekend and my awesome hubby planned the perfect Anniversary getaway!

    You see, Sept 1st is our wedding anniversary and this year he planned a secret getaway… I had no idea where we were going until we got there!  Plus he was extra awesome and told me to pack some craft stuff to take with us!  Isn’t he the best!

    So we packed up our kids and turned out he had rented a house on the Washington Coast and while the whole family would be there Friday night, Saturday the kids would head off to Grandma’s house and we would have the place to ourselves to relax and enjoy the quiet until Monday.  And relax we did!  Check out my view from the dining room table where I did some crafting: 2013-09-01 15.29.56

    Anywhoo – the trip was fantastic and exactly what I needed to relax and get re-energized!  Hopefully, you were able to enjoy your holiday weekend as well and get some “you” time in as well! 

    I was going to share one of the cards we’ll be making at my Cute and Classic card class this Friday, but I discovered that the photo quality was pretty bad.  So, that will be my post for tomorrow and in the meantime, I thought I’d share an idea for an almost-one-layer card using the Wildflower Meadow stamp.

    Since the Wildflower Meadow stamp is basically a background stamp, it does most of the heavy lifting for you in this card.  I just stamped the front of a Very Vanilla cardbase and then added a couple rhinestones for bling on the flowers, some ribbon around the bottom of the card, and a cut out snippet from the Banner Greetings hostess stamp set for the sentiment in the corner.

    If you wanted to step it up a bit, without adding layers, you could use the Wildflower Meadow embossing folder to dry emboss the flowers on the front for a little extra oomph!

    Card Supplies Used
    Stamps – Wildflower Meadow**, Banner Greetings
    Ink – Raspberry Ripple, Baked Brown Sugar
    Paper –Very Vanilla
    Accessories – Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones

    ** available in a discounted bundle with the coordinating embossing folder

     

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  • Adding a Splash of Washi to Your Cards

    So turns out when I start working on something, I can get really focused on that task.  In the case of last week, that task wasn’t any of the handful of crafting projects and event prep I needed to work on, but instead was an even more daunting task – picking a preschool for Nicholas!  2013-08-23 12.29.45

    Awww….aren’t they getting so big? Smile 

    I thought it would be a quick and easy thing to figure out, and I’d be back working on my other projects right away.  But, no…. there are so many choices and variations.  Thankfully, we were able to find some good options and start the process for getting him enrolled, so now I’m able to get back in the crafty mindset!

    And first on the docket – Thank you cards!

    I always like to send thank you cards to everyone who places an order with me and I wanted something bright and cheery to remind us that summer hasn’t quite ended yet!

    I used 3 of my favorite items right now:  Washi tape, Flower Shop bundle, and the Oh Hello stamp set to put this together.

    Card Supplies Used
    Stamps –     Oh Hello, Flower Shop
    Ink – Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, Rose Red, Gumball Green
    Paper – Rose Red, Whisper White
    Accessories – Posy Punch, Gingham Garden washi tape, Stampin’ Dimensionals

    So, if you’ve ordered with me in the last few weeks… check your mailbox for your own copy of this card!

    If you’ve ordered with me in the last month and NOT received a card, please let me know!  There have been some hiccups in the Stampin’ Up! ordering system and some demonstrators have not been receiving notice about orders placed.  I want to make sure I’m giving you the best possible service, so if you haven’t heard from me, let me know so I can fix it. Smile 

     

    But no matter what, THANK YOU for stopping by and please come back soon!

     

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  • Fun Friend Card with Paper Pumpkin Welcome Kit Stamps

    I’ve been subscribed to My Paper Pumpkin since it started and so each month, I tend to get excited about the newest projects and stamps that come in the mail each month, and I sometimes forget about the past stamps.  But with the August promotion where you can get your first 2 months for only $10 a month (including shipping!), I have had some new friends join Paper Pumpkin this month and get the welcome kit.  So, I wanted to send a little note saying hello and thank you and decided to pull out those stamps that come with the welcome kit.

    This is what I came up with:

    It all started with a card base that I had made a while back by embossing the entire card front with the Honeycomb embossing folder.  Then just started adding some fun elements that were lying around my craft room.  I loved how the new burlap ribbon made a fun border for my scrap of Whisper White cardstock that I stamped with the speckled splatter stamp.

    So I hope they like it!  I really had fun with it and think I may need to make a few more!

    Don’t forget – the 50% savings for the first 2 months ends August 31st!  You can cancel or skip a month anytime with no penalty, so if you’ve been thinking about trying it out, don’t miss out on this great deal!  Plus I’ll send you one of these cards as well to thank you for joining. Smile  Get your no-obligation Paper Pumpkin subscription started here and use promo code PUMPKINDEAL!

    Card Supplies Used

    Stamps- Paper Pumpkin Welcome Kit
    Ink – Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight
    Paper – Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
    Accessories – Linen Thread, Burlap Ribbon (SU Holiday catalog), Glue Dots, Big Shot, Honeycomb embossing folder, Decorative Label punch

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  • Fabulous Flower Shop Summer Card (Convention CASE)

    I had to continue my sharing of the great convention with another card that I loved so much that I had to share it in a class last week.  I really wanted to start playing with my goodies from the Holiday catalog but I couldn’t quite let go of summer yet, and so I gravitated to this cute idea.

    Card designed by Sherrie Schintz

    I loved how this card uses all 5 of the 2013-2015 In Colors together and after you emboss them with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, they are pretty cheery wouldn’t you say?

    We added some of the flowers from the Flower Shop bundle (which includes the stamp set and the posy punch) and of course a bit of glitz with a rhinestone in the center of each.

    Now, I loved the card, but I wanted to add a little bit of something, so we all lined an envelope by creating our own matching designer paper.  Now, when playing with the liners recently I noticed that if you use designer paper that has a dark pattern, you can sometimes see it through the front of your envelope.  So this was an example of using Whisper White cardstock and stamping one side with your preferred image (in this case, we stamped the same flower images in a random pattern).

    Then, grab your NEW, AWESOME Envelope Liners!  Sigh, I love these things… Smile

    image

    They come in 3 sizes:

    1.  A2 – to fit 4.25” x 5.5” cards

    2. Notecards – to fit the 3.5” x 5” cards from the Stampin’ Up! notecards & envelope set

    3.  Square envelopes – to fit 3” x 3” cards

    So, we cut our Whisper White paper to 6”x6” (so you can get 4 out of a 12×12 piece and stamped our flowers.  Then cut it out using the largest envelope die.  Because you have white on the back, you don’t see anything through the front of your envelope, but on the inside you have lots of cute flowers!

    Plus, the liner stops just short of the adhesive on the envelope, so you still have the gummy to seal your envelope when you are ready.  Sweet, huh?  So, grab these dies and get creative and I know you’ll love the results!

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  • Very Vintage Butterfly Thank You (Convention CASE)

    Every year that I go to convention, I get caught up in swapping.  The idea of taking a bunch of card fronts with you to convention and then trading them with everyone else so that you can get new ideas to take home and share… or copy… or hang on your wall and drool over!

    Well, I’ve learned from the one year that I showed up with NO SWAPS, and proceeded to spend my first night there trying to make as many swaps as I could from the crafting supplies I happened to bring with me; that I LOVE swapping.  I love seeing an amazing card from across the room and running up and saying,”swapping?”  Its like the thrill of finding an amazing deal at the department store.

    But the problem is, I come home with 50-100 card fronts and proceed to take pictures of them and then they sit in a box forgotten until I’m cleaning my room and find them again.

    Which is very sad….

    So, I decided this year, that I would not only share them on my blog, but I’d also use them for inspiration in my classes as well.  (Which really is one of the main points for swapping anyway!)  So, for class this month, I CASE’d (copy and share everything) two fabulous swap cards and I just had to share this one with you!

    Card case’d from a design by Julie Leblanc

    There are a few reasons why I love this card…

    1.  The color combination (why do I always forget about Perfect Plum?)

    2.  The touch of sparkle with the Silver Glimmer Paper

    3.  The fact that this card uses NO WHITE PAPER at all!

    I know it is silly, but that last point was kind of profound to me.  I’m so used to stamping on Whisper White paper with a colored ink that I didn’t think of stamping on Crumb Cake paper.

    And then there is the really cute butterflies.  I had to change this up from the original because I didn’t have the Papillion Potpourri that she used,  Instead I used the Best of Butterflies stamp set and the Elegant Butterfly punch to make them.  They are stamped with Basic Black ink and then sponged on top with the Perfect Plum ink. Neat effect, huh?

     

    And in class, I had someone emboss a little bit higher up the page than they meant and so they left their first attempt behind and made a second card.  So, I finished out the card with her “boo-boo” and the rest of the supplies only this time I used the Lacy & Lovely stamp set for my sentiment and drew around it with a marker.  I think it turned out just fine! Smile

    So I hope you liked this card as much as I did and I will have another fun card that we case’d tomorrow using the lovely Flower Shop stamp set and punch!  See you tomorrow!

     

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  • Quick & Easy Thank You Card for a new Design Team!

    Today is the kick off for a new blog that I’m excited to be a design team member for – Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration!  It is a blog that will have daily posts to help give you new ideas and project challenges to inspire new ideas for you to try at home!  Most of the posts will have a particular theme and have many of the design team members showing you different takes on that theme.  Fun, right?

    So, the theme for today was Quick & Easy Cards and you know that is right up my alley!  I love clean and simple and with 2 small kids, quick is key.  So, here is my take on the idea:

    I will tell you this card was inspired by a card I saw from my friend, Katy Kirwan, and while the finished project doesn’t really look anything like what she created, I still like them both. Smile 

    To create my card, I created my own designer paper by using the Chevron background stamp from Stampin’ Up! and then layered on the punched out sentiment.  It still needed a little something, so I added some of the Pear Pizzazz Chevron ribbon (sshhh, don’t tell anyone I used two different greens on this card!) and while I was worried the fact that the stamped and the ribbon chevrons go in different directions, I still think it totally works!

    Card Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up unless noted)

    Stamps – Designer Typeset Photopolymer Stamp Set, Chevron Background
    Ink – Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar
    Paper – Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding
    Accessories – Petite Curly Label Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Pear Pizzazz Chevron Ribbon

    So, what do you think?  Quick? Easy?  But totally fun!  I’m actually using this for my Cute & Classic Card Class tonight, so hopefully they have fun with it too! 

    And if you are looking for more quick and easy ideas, hop on over to our Inkspiration blog and check out all the fab ideas for more great projects. 

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    Oh, and before I forget!

    It’s Here! The Stampin’ Trimmer Rotary Attachment is now Available!

    imageOk, I may be the only person on the planet who is excited about this, but I-CANNOT-WAIT to order my rotary trimmer attachment. 

    Why do I care so much?

    I have found that I really LOVE my Stampin’ Trimmer and the little blades that come with it work great.  But when you are cutting grittier material (like glimmer paper) or want to cut more than one sheet of cardstock at a time, the little blades just don’t do as good a job. 

    So I had been periodically missing my rotary cutting board (except not missing the fact that that Fiskars board could not cut a cardbase straight if I had to!).  But now I have the best of both worlds!  This replaces the clear arm and track for the little blades and the rotary attachment is available as of 8/9/2013!  So, I’ll be ordering mine today and will let you know how it goes. Smile 

     

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  • Quick Thank You Cards with Chalk Talk

    I’ve been learning something about myself this week – when I’m in the middle of a big task, I have a hard time focusing on other things.  So, in this case, when I completely pull apart my craft room,

    Messy Craft Room

    I was having a heck of a time bringing myself to do any new crafting or even work on blog posts.  Instead I have been focused on organizing my stamps, converting my woodmount stamps to the new woodmount cases, and figuring out what items I can bring myself to part with for my craft garage sale August 17th & 18th (the pile is growing for sure!)

    But my room is just about ready to go – and I promise I’ll share pictures of the reorganized space this weekend – so I wanted to stop back over here on the blog to say hello and share a set of cards that my mom, Kathy Thisted, made for me that I thought were so cute!

    I loved these little mini thank you cards and thought they were a fun way to use the new Chalk Talk stamp set.  Since the stamp set coordinates with the Chalk Talk framelits (and gets you a discount when you buy both in a bundle), many of the samples I’ve seen used the framelits with the stamps.  So I loved seeing some quick ideas using the stamps without the dies.

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    Card Supplies Used
    Stamps- Chalk Talk
    Paper- 2013-2015 In Colors, Basic Black
    Ink- Whisper White craft ink
    Accessories- White gel pen, Natural Trim ribbon, White 1/4” grosgrain (retired), striped grosgrain ribbon (retired), White embossing powder, heat gun

    Blog Hop Tomorrow!
    Join me tomorrow as it is the monthly blog hop as well the kick off of a new blog that I am an inaugural design team member for!  Should be lots of fun. Smile   See you tomorrow!

     

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  • Playing a Bit with Stamping on Vellum

    What is that item in your craft room that you completely forget about and then when you find it, you suddenly remember how cool it is?  For me, I always do that with vellum!  I never think to pull it out, but when I do, I have the best time with it.

    Take today’s card for example:

    It is simple card, but the vellum gives you a way to add a little extra pop without worrying about finding the exact right color designer paper.  Its like a frosted window in a way. Smile 

    Plus, don’t you love this message?  I need to make something for my desk with this sentiment reminding me to everyday live the life I want to be living, not doing the same old thing wishing things were different.  I love my life but I know there is always room to grow and make things even better!

    Stampin Up! Supplies Used

    Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Really Good Greetings
    Ink: Coastal Cabana, Basic Black
    Paper: Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Basic Black, Coastal Cabana, White Vellum
    Accessories: Scallop Trim Border punch, Basic Rhinestones, 2-way Glue Pen, Stampin’ Dimensionals

    Have an item in your craft room that you need inspiration or a reminder how to use?

    I want to start up a new feature on the blog where, based on suggestions from readers, I highlight some fun ideas and uses for an often forgotten or unused item in your craft room. 

    So, if you have a great candidate, shoot me an email at jennifer@nwstamper.com or leave a comment and I can feature your favorite soon!

     

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