Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Sale-a-Bration Send Off: Vintage Verses

    Ack!  Can you believe TOMORROW is the LAST DAY for Sale-a-Bration?!  I swear I always find my groove and my love of a stamp or scrapping product right before they are discontinued or become hard to get!  Turns out this is one of those sets.

    Yup, I’m talking about Vintage Verses

    Vintage Verses stamp set

    You see, I had grand ideas for this stamp set…. oh the projects I was going to make with it.  The cool techniques that would be perfect to use with these stamps.

    And then life got in the way.

    So that brings us to now when I pulled out the stamp set again for one last hurrah before the stamp set goes away for good and turns out it is awesome!

    My favorite sentiment is the “There’s Only One You” which I LOVE for scrapbooking.  If you saw my Sunburst Scrapbook Layout then you may have noticed I used this sentiment as the title for that page.  But here are some other ideas you can try with this set:

    I just had to try out the Chalkboard Technique with this stamp… anyone interested in a video on this technique?

    I received this Butterfly Thanks card from my awesome friend and downline, Pam Wu, which in turn inspired my trying out coloring in the letters of the Thanks in my cards I’m sending out for orders placed this month:

    This last card using the Spec-tacular Single Stamp that I thought was the coolest stamp.  I was going to do a whole blog post on it and this card but I wanted to share how cool it goes with the Vintage Verses sentiment so I’ll just have to do another card with this stamp later.  (And just a heads up – the glasses single stamp is only available through 3/31)  So, if you love it, grab it now!

    I seriously can’t pick a favorite from these cards and sentiments…. too much fun!  If you had to pick which is your favorite?  Leave me a comment and let me know and you’ll be entered into the drawing for this weeks blog candy.

    And stop back by tomorrow for my last Sale-a-Bration Send Off!  I’ll be focusing on Pretty Petites for our let set of shares.  Smile

    Are you entered?

    In addition to the blog candy, there is still time to be entered in my BIG DRAWING!
    From free stamps, gift certificates, and more!  Get entered as many times as you want.  Get entries for

    • Every $25 you order by Friday night using hostess code 7BGPE37S  (shop online here)
    • Stopping by my Sale-a-Bration send off party on Friday
    • 5x the entries when you let me know you want to host a private party or class!  I even do long distance parties!

    Check out this post for all the details!

     

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

    See what you can get FREE with every $50 you spend

    Don’t miss your chance!  Get your choice $156 worth of products for only $99 when you join my Fun n’ Crafty group of demonstrators by March 22nd! 

  • Sale-a-Bration Send Off: Madison Avenue!

    Ready for day 3 of the Sale-a-Bration send off?  Today is a stamp set that I’ll admit, is not one of the first stamp sets I gravitated towards, but turns out you can do some really fun stuff with….

    I’m talking about Madison Avenue!

    Madison Avenue Stamp Set

    Of course you can get this stamp set free with any $50 order, but did you know you can also get it free on top of your earned sets with an order?  YUP!

    Just because it is easy to miss, I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that you can get:

    Sycamore Street Bundle

    Madison Ave Stamp Set

    Madison Avenue Stamp Set    		+Sycamore Street Designer Paperimage+Sycamore Street Designer Ribbon & Buttons

    image

    Get these all for free with a $400+ order or party order!
    That is on top of the Sale-a-Bration sets you earn free with every $50 you order.

     

    Ok, so now, on to the fun stuff!

    How about some ideas for what you can do with this set (and that cute paper too!)

    I also have a Quick Spring Treat Bag that I shared on a prior post if you are looking for even more ideas.

    So what do you think of this set?

    Am I the only one who didn’t pick this set first or is it one of those sets that needs some imagination to get going?  Have you seen other fun ideas with it?

    Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think, plus be entered for Blog Candy!

     

    Are you entered?

    In addition to the blog candy, there is still time to be entered in my BIG DRAWING!
    From free stamps, gift certificates, and more!  Get entered as many times as you want.  Get entries for

    • Every $25 you order by Friday night using hostess code 7BGPE37S  (shop online here)
    • Stopping by my Sale-a-Bration send off party on Friday
    • 5x the entries when you let me know you want to host a private party or class!  I even do long distance parties!

    Check out this post for all the details!

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

    See what you can get FREE with every $50 you spend

    Don’t miss your chance!  Get your choice $156 worth of products for only $99 when you join my Fun n’ Crafty group of demonstrators by March 22nd! 

  • Sale-a-Bration Send Off: Bloomin’ Marvelous

    Yesterday I shared some ideas for the Patterned Occasions stamp set and so today we are on to our next set – Bloomin’ Marvelous!

    image

    I’ll admit, this is a stamp set that I wasn’t too excited about when I first saw it.  I thought the sentiments were cute but the images were just eh.

    Well, then I started seeing the samples and I had a total change of heart!  Smile  So, here are some ideas you can try if you decide to pick up this set:

     

    And my absolute favorite because it feels so fresh and summery to me:

    So see… lots of different looks and sentiments all from one very unassuming stamp set.  What do you think?  Is this a set you can imagine using?

    Leave a comment & not only will I love and appreciate your thoughts – but you’ll be entered in this weeks Blog Candy as well!

    Join me tomorrow as I share more fun ideas using a new Sale-a-Bration stamp set.

    And in the meantime, don’t forget to get your name in the hat for the Big Sale-a-Bration Celebration drawing!  Place an order, attend my Sale-a-Bration send off party on Friday, or sign up to host a private class and you could win one of many fun prizes.  Check out this post for all the details!

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

    See what you can get FREE with every $50 you spend

    Don’t miss your chance!  Get your choice $156 worth of products for only $99 when you join my Fun n’ Crafty group of demonstrators by March 22nd!  

  • Cute and Quick Masking Card using Oh Hello

    I love my monthly technique classes, not only because I love sharing new ideas with the folks who come craft with me, but it forces me to remember some techniques I haven’t tried in a while and come up with new takes on old methods.

    Today’s card is one we created recently in my Misting and Masking technique class. 

    This was a simple card that is a lot of fun to do!  And it uses 3 different styles of masking!

    1.   Using a mask so your stamp pattern only shows in the pattern of the mask
    (in this case, I die cut a flower from the Floral Fusions framelits and laid the paper with the flower shaped hole over my card front.  Then I stamped using the chevron oval from the Oh Hello stamp set.  Ta da!  A custom chevron flower!)

    2.  Using a cut out piece of paper to prevent part of the stamp image from leaving ink on your card front
    (in this case, I used the die cut flower from step one and laid it over the stamped chevron flower.  Then I could stamp my arrow “leaves” and have them appear to be hidden behind the flower!)

    3.  Use a post-it note to cover up part of a stamp’s image before inking
    (in this case, I covered up the “oh” part of the “oh hello” stamp so that I only inked up the Hello part.  This works a bit better than inking up the whole thing and trying to clean off just the “oh” part because often you don’t get it all or you still have some weird colored cleaner on the stamp that transfers to your image exactly where you don’t want it.)

    See, made entirely by tweaking up the Oh Hello stamp set:

    Oh, Hello Clear-Mount Stamp SetAnd the cute Sycamore Street ribbon and button bundle from the Sale-a-Bration flyer (yup! that is right!  Get all the ribbon and buttons you see here FREE with your $50 order!)

    Sycamore Street Ribbon & Button Pack

    So, give it a try and I hope you had as much fun as I did!

     

    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!

    Hello Masking Card Recipe:
    Stamps:     Oh Hello
    Ink: Crumb Cake, Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green
    Paper: Whisper White cs, Raspberry Ripple cs, Crumb Cake cs
    Accessories: Sycamore Street ribbon & button pack*, Glue Dots, Big Shot, Floral Fusion framelits

    * item that is available for free with a $50 order through 3/22/2013

  • Feels Good Masculine Card with Sycamore Street

    Who is with me that it is easy to make a “girly” card but hard to come up with a “guy” card?

    I know I’m not the only one and so for a recent card class I decided to show how you could use some of the items from the Spring catalog and Sale-a-Bration flyer to make a masculine card.  And YES you CAN use ribbon for a guy!  See:

    I used the Sycamore Street designer paper to make simple blocks for my base design.

    Tip: Use Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop up your designer paper blocks for extra impact.

    Then for the sentiment I grabbed my new Feels Good stamp set and then roughed up the edges of the stamped image and the Baja Breeze mat.  Because rough edges are manly, right?  Smile

    Then it still needed something so I grabbed a button and some ribbon for a little bit of flair.  No bows, so I was still doing ok!

    Now I’ll admit, the first version of this card actually used the Silver Designer Buttons and the Natural Trim ribbon from the Spring catalog and I kind of like them better.

    What do you think?

    And of course, finish it up with a matching envelope by adding a little strip of coordinating designer paper to the bottom of the front of your envelope.  And ta da, you are done!

     

    So what do you think?  Does this count as a masculine card or just not a girly card?  Smile

    Hop on over to my facebook page and let me know what you consider traits of a masculine card.  I’ll take the ideas as a challenge to come up with more fun masculine cards to share in the next few weeks!

     

    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!

    Feels Good Masculine Card Recipe:
    Stamps:     Feels Good
    Ink: Island Indigo
    Paper: Whisper White cs, Baja Breeze cs, Crumb Cake cs, Sycamore Street designer paper*
    Accessories:     Sycamore Street ribbon & button pack*, Silver designer buttons, Natural Trim ribbon, Distressing Tool, Stampin’ Dimensionals

    * item that is available for free with a $50 order through 3/22/2013

  • Some Ideas For Your My Paper Pumpkin Welcome Kit

    This last week, I have been performing my civic duty by heading to the district courthouse each morning to report for jury duty.  Most people are not excited by being called for jury duty, but with two overly energetic toddlers in the house and a mom who offered to come help watch the kids, I was actually looking forward to the relative quiet and time away.

    But I knew that there was likely going to be times when I was sitting around waiting and so I wanted to take something with me to keep me entertained.  And then it hit me the night before I was due to report and I was trying to figure out what I could grab to make my own crafting kit to go — why not just take my “Welcome Kit” box from My Paper Pumpkin?  All I needed to do was throw in some adhesive and my bone folder and I was ready to go!

    My Paper Pumpkin at Jury Duty

    So that is exactly what I did!  Smile  This is me sitting in our waiting area bench getting ready to start.  I found that the box, when closed, makes a fine table for assembling.

    Now, I like that I can make 4 of the same card with this kit… but what if you don’t want 4 of the same card?  I decided to try to create a variety of designs using only what I got in the kit when making my cards. And this is what I came up with:

    The card on the right is the design that is shown on the instruction sheet with the welcome kit supplies.  The card on the left is a bit of a variation.  (and psst – I couldn’t take scissors with me to court, so I made my left card look like the designer paper was skinnier by wrapping it around the left side of the card and adhering it to the back of the card base as well.  Tricky, huh?!)

    And here are two more designs I came up with while playing around.  I ended up using all of the contents of my card with the exception of part of one of the green scallop stickers.  But I love that each of the cards is just a bit different from the other.

    If you had other stamps at home, change up the sentiments or start adding even more embellishments for even more options.

    Have you signed up for My Paper Pumpkin yet? Did you get your bonus?

    Remember, you need to be signed up by Sunday, March 10th to make sure you get your Welcome Kit in mid-March and receive the new project kit in April!  If you sign up after the 10th, you will get your welcome kit mailed out in mid-April and then start receiving your regular monthly project kits in May.

    Visit http://mypaperpumpkin.com to get started

    Please make sure to select your demonstrator when you sign up too!
    If you aren’t sure how it works, this is what it will look like once you provide your name/address/cc info:

    image

    Thank you for your support!

     

    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!

  • Adorable Easter Class Projects, Punch Art, & a Blog Hop!

    It’s the first Thursday of the month and that means the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop.  I lucked out because this month the theme is Easter/Spring and I just so happen to have my Everything Easter class coming up this weekend on Sunday!

    So I thought I would share some of the projects we’ll be doing in the class and give you some inspiration for what you could do for your own Easter baskets!

     

    Not-so-tiny Treat Pouch!

    I had been looking at some past projects and saw some old treat pouches that were made with a Big Shot die that retired a few years back.  It reminded me of the fun and easy idea of a no-sided bag that holds a pouch of treats in the middle.  Did that make any sense at all?  I bet not, so here – how about a picture to show you what I mean?

     

    Does that make more sense now?

    Ok, so this is really easy to make and you can change it up for any event or holiday.

    In this case, I took a 4”x12” piece of Certainly Celery cardstock and scored at 5” and 7”.  Then I used my new Ovals Framelits to cut out a piece of Pool Party core’dinations cardstock to make my top flap!  I then embossed the top flap and sanded down the dots for a subtle, textured effect.

    The stamped flowers are from the Madison Avenue stamp set that is only available as a free stamp set with a $50 order.  The flowers are separate from the leaves and it makes for some great stamping options.

    Tip:

    • Use Sticky Strip (red line tape) to attach the scallop oval flap to the back of your pouch.  This helps hold up with multiple openings of the pouch.
    • Use a slim velcro dot to keep your flap closed on the front of your pouch – this allows for easy reuse later.
    • Secure a clear envelope or card sleeve to the front-inside panel of your base cardstock.  (So in my picture, behind where my stamped flowers are).  This helps with the stability of the pouch and keeps the candy from getting away. Smile 

    Punch Art Easter Duck / Chick

    I’ll admit I don’t have many Easter stamps.  But that is usually ok because there are so many adorable punch art options that are perfect for Easter!

    Like take this duck punch art for example …  isn’t he CUTE!

    I just love this little guy and knew I had to share him with my friends for the class.  I tried to use as few punches as necessary but ended up with 6 punches used:

    • Ornament Punch
    • 1 3/4” Circle Punch
    • 1 3/4” Scallop Circle Punch
    • 1 1/4” Scallop Circle Punch
    • Large Oval Punch
    • Circle from Itty Bitty Punch Pack

    The funny thing about this sample card is that this duck was my “figure it out” version and then I made a “nice sample” version where I sponged the edges of the different body parts, made sure everything was on straight, etc.  But when I was putting together the card, I grabbed a duck….glued…. and then realized I had used my messy version instead of the “nice” one.  Smile  I guess it didn’t turn out too bad, huh?

    I have two more projects for the Everything Easter class on Sunday – a card and an awesome punch art bunny treat box!  Sadly, I didn’t get them photographed in time for today, but I’ll try to share them soon.

    Until then, if you want more inspiration for your Easter and Spring projects, check out the other talented stampers who are sharing their great ideas on our blog hop!  Click the “Next Blog” image or your favorite link below:

    1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
    2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
    3. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
    4. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
    5. Tonya B. of Stampin’ with Tonya
    6. Dawn S. of Dawn’s Creative Chalet
    7. Darcy J. of DJ’s Stampin’ Place
    8. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
    9. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
    10. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin’
    11. Jennifer B of NW Stamper  <—YOU ARE HERE!
    12. Bree of Craft-somnia
    13. Diana E of Stampin’ Fun with Diana

    I hope you enjoyed my projects I shared today!

    I’d love to hear what you think – please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

     

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    Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set!  Click here to learn more!

  • Fun with Texture Thank You Card

    As I was playing with ideas for thank you cards for February, I decided to get inspired by the Sycamore Street designer paper from the Sale-a-Bration flyer for my colors and then start adding texture as I went along.

    The most obvious bit of texture was my chevron embossing folder that I used on the top half of the card.  Then I added some ribbon to get something different from paper in the lower half of the card.  And then my favorite – heat embossing!

    I inked up my Thanks sentiment from the Vintage Verses stamp set with Versamark, and then before stamping I inked it up again with Rich Razzleberry ink.  Then, stamp, cover in clear embossing powder right away, and apply heat with your heat gun.  Ta da!  Embossed ink in whatever color you want!

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

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    Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Vintage Verses Thank You Recipe:
    Stamps:     Vintage Verses
    Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Versamark
    Paper: Whisper White cs, Rich Razzleberry cs, Baja Breeze cs, Sycamore Street designer paper
    Accessories: Sycamore Street Ribbon (Tangerine Tango), Clear embossing powder, Heat gun, sponge daubers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • A Little Bit of This and That for a Fun Thank You Card

    I have a “matchy-matchy” mind I’m learning.  When I have product kits or coordinating suites, I tend to make projects that use all the stuff from that one collection.  So, that makes today’s share a bit more impressive for me since I pretty much used a little bit of this and that of things lying around my craft table to create this fun thank you card for a friend.

    Greeting Card Kids Designer Brad thank you

     

    I was playing with a few of my favorite new things (the Oh Hello stamp set and Tea for Two designer paper), but then I wanted to give the new Designer Brads a try.

    I used my Pink Pirouette cardstock to make the small pink circle in the middle of the brad (you use the circle from the Itty Bitty Punch pack to easily punch this out).  Then I loosely formed a bow with the new Two Tone ribbon and then wrapped my designer brad around the center of the bow to pinch it together and make a cute accent.  The wrapping the brad tines around the bow did use up most of the metal from the brad tines, and so I ended up adhering my bow to my card with glue dots.

    But all together, it was fun putting this card together and hopefully my friend liked it. Smile

    And for those of you scrapbookers out there, stop by my blog tomorrow for another installment of Scrapbooking Sunday!  See you then!

     

    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!

    Greeting Card Kids Thank You Recipe:
    Stamps:     Teeny Tiny Wishes, Oh Hello, Greeting Card Kids
    Ink: River Rock, Basic Grey, Pink Pirouette marker
    Paper: Whisper White cs, Pink Pirouette cs, River Rock cs, Tea For Two designer paper
    Accessories: Two-Tone Ribbon (Basic Grey), Designer Brads, Itty Bitty Punch pack, Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Smashed Bottle Cap/Soda Pop Top Spring Card

    Ever since I went to Leadership in January, I have been dying to try out the technique of smashing the soda pop tops with your Big Shot to create these super cute embellishments.  For some reason I thought it was going to be super hard or complicated… or something that made me a little bit intimidated to give it a try.  But then one day I decided to just go for it and I was shocked at how easy it was!

    So, I just had to put together a card to share with my group at my monthly team conference call/meeting.  I showed them how easy it was and then had supplies for everyone to make this card:

    I just had to use some of my new favorites including Tea for Two designer paper and the Honeycomb embossing folder for the base of the card.

    But check out this pop top… isn’t is awesome when smashed?!?

    How to Smash Your Soda Pop Top in Your Big Shot

    Ok, so if you want to do this yourself, this is what you need to do:

    1.  Put your white multi-purpose platform on the Big Shot base with all of the tabs/shims flipped open

    2.  Sandwich your bottle cap/pop top between the two clear cutting plates and place on top of the multi-purpose platform

    3.  Run through your Big Shot

    That’s it!  It smashes fast and like buttah!  I have way too much fun doing this. Smile

    I just used the 1” Circle Punch after I stamped my image from the Collage Curious stamp set (stamped on River Rock cardstock) and adhered it to the inside of the pop top.  Then I filled the inside with Crystal Effects. 

    I will warn you it takes a long time to dry!  Like seriously, it took probably about 45 min for mine to dry because I used soooo much Crystal Effects.  But it looks so awesome that I just had to do it.

    So if you haven’t tried this smashed soda pop top technique yet, you totally should!  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

     

    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!

    Smashed Recipe:
    Stamps:     Teeny Tiny Wishes, Collage Curious
    Ink: Crumb Cake, Markers: Calypso Coral, Certainly Celery
    Paper: Very Vanilla cs, Certainly Celery cs, Tea For Two designer paper
    Accessories: Big Shot, Honeycomb embossing folder, Glue Dots, Crystal Effects, Paper Snips, Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Our Snowy Snowy Vacation

    Just when I was sad that we didn’t get any snow in Seattle this year, I learned the day before our trip to Kansas that a winter storm was due shortly after we arrived in town.  And we got in, went to bed, and woke up to tons of snow!

    While Caitlin wasn’t too sure about it (when the snow is above your knees, it’s kind of hard to get around!); Nicholas loved stomping around!

    So, we’ve been a bit busy watching and playing in the snow and visiting family this week. 

    For all of you in the Midwest being affected by this storm, I hope you are all safe and staying nice and warm!  And if you are on the coasts…. well, I’ll throw a snowball on your behalf.  Smile 

    In the meantime, I thought I’d share a bright and cheery card I received at a swap at Leadership.  I love how Kim mixed and matched the bright colors and did the super pretty emboss-resist technique with the Secret Garden stamp set!

    So, enjoy!  And I’ll be back tomorrow with a fun treat box idea for you!

     

    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!

  • In Color Fun Flower Thank You Card

    I needed a hostess thank you gift for a recent private class and while deciding what to do, I stumbled upon these cute 2011-2013 In Color Pizza Boxes by Kymberli (those are the Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, and Island Indigo colors for those of you – almost everyone – who doesn’t know the In Colors by their years…hee hee)

    Anyway, I LOVED how the colors went together so awesomely using the Fun Flower Big Shot die.  So, I put together a box for my hostess – only I did a bigger box so it would fit the cards she was making at her event.  Of course I totally forgot to take a picture, oops!

    But then I had some left over pieces and an amazing friend (Annie Lee) who was doing me a big favor and so I wanted to make her a card to say thank you.  And this is what came out:

    Fancy Flower crystal effects thank you card

    It was quick to put together and a great way to use up some scraps.  I just ran a scrap of Pool Party cardstock through my Big Shot with the Chevron Embossing Folder to accent the sentiment (the Thanks from Oh Hello stamp set).

    Then for a final touch, I added Crystal Effects to the center circle of my flower for a bit of shine and dimension for the flower.

    Fancy Flower crystal effects close up

    Hmm, seeing this card again is making me want to make more.  Maybe this will have to be my next set of Thank You cards for my amazing friends and customers.  Ooooh… and change out the sentiment to the “Oh Hello” sentiment and send it out to people who need random sunshine in their day.

    Ok, guess my Big Shot and I have a date with some In Color cardstock!  So, while I go off and do that I hope you have a bright and sunny rest of your day!

     

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    Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set!  Click here to learn more!

     

    Fun Flower Oh Hello Thank You Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Oh Hello
    Ink:  Soft Suede
    Paper: Whisper White cs, Pool Party cs, Calypso Coral cs, Lucky Limeade cs, So Saffron cs
    Accessories:  Big Shot, Chevron embossing folder, Fun Flowers Bigz Die, Crystal Effects, Stampin’ Dimensionals