Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Pretty Perfectly Preserved Pears

    Talk about a tongue twister, huh!?  🙂

    Well, after a great weekend away with my mom (we flew to Utah late last week for a weekend scrapbooking retreat in Utah), I’m back and blogging.  I have to say, there is nothing like a weekend dedicated to creating and actually having the time to get some projects done!  I was on the plane flying home and was ready and eager to finish the project I was in the middle of and keep the creative ball rolling.  Of course then reality (and dentist appointments and household tasks) cropped up today… but still!

    Anyway, enough about me… how about a cute card to look at?

     

    Perfectly Preserved In Color Card

    This card was created by the awesome designers at Stampin’ Up!  (see, I love the resources and inspiration provided by Stampin’ Up! because I know I wouldn’t have thought of this color combination for pears – but isn’t it pretty?!

    Plus this card shows some fun ways to use some of the new goodies from the Holiday catalog.

    Quick… can you guess how many new items are showcased in this card?
    Just a fun little challenge.

    Alright, you ready?

    1.  Perfectly Preserved stamp set

    2.  Cannery framelits

    3.  Orchard Harvest designer paper

    4.  Woodgrain embossing folder

    5.  Brushed Bronze designer buttons

     

    And the colors, that I was saying I didn’t think of for pears are Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, and Island Indigo (sigh… Island Indigo… I have a serious crush on this color right now! 🙂 )

    So, hope you enjoyed the card and I’ll be back soon with more ideas for you!

    Have you seen the new Single Stamps being offered?
    Stampin’ Up! is testing out selling individual stamps from certain stamp sets to see how people like the option of buying parts vs the whole thing of a stamp set.  So, if you love the idea, grab them now since this program is only available through the end of the year!

    Check out the flyers for Word Play  |  Perfectly Penned  |  Seasonal Sayings

     

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  • Orchard Harvest Thinking of You Card

    Orchard Harvest was one of those designer papers that I loved as soon as I saw it in the catalog and so I had to get some.  But then my fear of using things up kicked in and I just looked at it and couldn’t bring myself to cut it up.

    Well… as I look at my box of retired designer papers that I also couldn’t bear to use up… I am trying to get better and actually enjoy the papers and share them with others. 🙂  So, here is the first step – a fun fall card!

     

    I tried to mix up a few textures and dimension with this card.  We have the patterned paper, embossed Lucky Limeade paper using the Stripes embossing folder, some Stitched Satin ribbon, and then the smallest sized Labels framelit for the sentiment.

    I have to admit though, my favorite thing about this card is that I used the colors that were found in the Orchard Harvest paper to pick the other elements of the card.  And so because of that, I discovered that More Mustard and Raspberry Ripple can actually go together!  I would never have thought those colors could go together but they totally do!

     

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    Orchard Harvest Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink: Early Espresso, More Mustard
    Paper: More Mustard, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Orchard Harvest dsp
    Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Framelit, Stripes embossing folder, Sponge Daubers, Basic Rhinestones, Stitched Satin Ribbon (Raspberry Ripple), Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Getting Monochromatic with the 2012 In Colors

    I have a friend who hosts Stampin’ Up! workshops for me from a couple states away (she lives in Colorado, I live in Washington), so I send her a project and some fun samples to share with her friends who come over to stamp.

    This time, I wanted to let everyone see what the new In Colors really look like in person – from the ink, to the cardstock, to the ribbon, and even the dahlias!  I mean, they look nice in the catalog but its kind of like ordering clothes online.  The picture looks great but what will it really look like when you get it home.  So, I took on the challenge to create a set of cards that showcased each color and this is the results:

     

    Each card uses the Mixed Bunch stamp set at the base image and then uses the new 1-1/4” scallop circle punch and the Boho Blossoms punch to build up the flower.  Then some Stitched satin ribbon wrapped around the card and a Dahlia on top and you are done!  These were quick to put together but definitely POP in person.

    Now the only question is which color I like best. 🙂

     

    Did you get the first week of the 12 weeks of Christmas newsletter?
    Keep an eye out- week 2 is heading to your inboxes tomorrow!  If you aren’t signed up yet, you have until tomorrow morning to sign up and you’ll be set for the remaining 11 weeks!

     

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    Ribbon Heart Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Mixed Bunch
    Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse
    Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Whisper White
    Accessories: Blossom Punch, 1-1/4” Scallop Circle punch, Boho Blossom punch, Stitched Satin Ribbon (Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse), In Color Dahlias, Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Fluttering Hearts Wedding Card with Framelits

    I love it when I find a great idea for a card that I can tweak and make my own (with so much amazing talent and inspiration out there… its nice to have some brilliant ideas to start from!)

    Well, today’s card came from a mass-produced card I saw probably 9 months back.  I wish I had saved the original photo so I could say where exactly it was from – but since I took way longer to make my version than I expected, I’m totally drawing a blank.  So, let me describe what I saw – it was a simple white card with butterfly wings partially cut out of the white cardfront and a solid color showing through under the wings.  The wings were still attached to the cardfront, they just were bent up for dimension.

    I thought it was one of the prettiest cards I had seen in a while!

    However, I couldn’t figure out how to make a card with partial cut-outs on my cardfront, so I went with the next best thing – Framelits!

     

    Yep! I placed my Hearts framelits in the middle of the page and cut out my hearts.  Then I adhered a piece of Island Indigo cardstock behind my Whisper White card front.  Crease the hearts and adhere the creased line to the Island Indigo paper to make the heart line back up.

    I bent up the edges and added some Dazzling Details to the centers of each heart to add a little sparkle.  So you get the peek-a-boo effect with the Island Indigo below the hearts.

     

    Add some ruffled ribbon and a tag made with the Jewelry Tag punch and Tiny Tags stamp set, and you have a pretty card that would be perfect for a wedding or anniversary.

    It also looks like a lot of work, but actually, aside from waiting for the Dazzling Details to dry, it is pretty easy!

    Oh, and if anyone figures out doing this with butterflies, please let me know because I’d love to try it!

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

    Check out the 2012 Holiday Catalog

    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 Hearts Wedding Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Tiny Tags
    Ink: Island Indigo
    Paper: Whisper White, Island Indigo
    Accessories: Big Shot, Heart Framelits, Dazzling Details, Island Indigo ruffled ribbon, jewelry tag punch, glue dots, bone folder

  • Peek-a-boo Emboss Resist with Raining Flowers

    Oops, I was so focused on getting the first week of my 12 weeks of Christmas newsletter ready that I totally got behind and forgot to get this post up! Well, I’m fixing that now.  (and if you want to get exclusive holiday ideas sent to your inbox, just make sure you are on my mailing list and you will be all set!  And can I just say I LOVE the first project…. soooo elegant. Smile)

    This is another fun idea for how to use your clear embossing powders.  I don’t know what the “official” name for this technique is called – so I’m going to call it Peek-a-boo Emboss Resist.

     

    imageTo get this effect, you want to find some fun pattern of designer paper and stamp your SOLID stamp image (like this flower from the Raining Flowers stamp set) onto the paper with Versamark ink.  Cover with clear embossing powder and heat with your heat gun.

    Now, use your brayer to run a dark color over your designer paper until you can’t see the paper’s pattern any more.  The embossed areas will resist the ink (you can take a tissue and wipe off any extra ink that is trying to stick around).  So, your pattern will show through the inked area and “peek-a-boo” through!

    I will say, the hardest part is picking what pattern to show under your stamped image… at least for me. Smile  I had to hold up paper patterns and stamp images to my mom to decide what to try out for this card and so, thanks to her for this card!

    This was one of the cards we made for my Awesome Embossing class.  I’m thinking of putting this class together as an online class.  So, let me know if you would like to see this as an online class and I’ll make sure to put it together to share!

     

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

    Check out the 2012 Holiday Catalog

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

    Raining Flowers Emboss Resist Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Raining Flowers, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink: Island Indigo, Versamark
    Paper: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, River Rock cardstock, Summer Smooches designer series paper
    Accessories: heat gun, clear embossing powder, embossing buddy, modern label punch, word window punch, mini silver brads, paper piercer, brayer

  • Masculine Card using Affection Collection?

    So I put a question mark at the end of my blog title because I’m trying to decide if this card counts as “masculine” or not.  It definitely isn’t flowery, or pink, or have lots of lace and bows.  So I think it counts.  But take a look and you can decide for yourself.

     

    Have I mentioned yet that I’m having a total love affair with Island Indigo right now?  Some of my favorite cards highlight Island Indigo and I’m already feeling like 8 months isn’t enough time to love this color before it’s term as an In Color ends.  So, hopefully you don’t mind it because you’ll be seeing a lot more I’m sure! Smile

    This was a quick card that I made to show a few of the new items in the Holiday catalog including:

    * the woodgrain embossing folder

    * the 7/8” Cotton ribbon

    * the Affection Collection stamp set

    I was in a rush and so I didn’t want to wait for the ink to dry if I stamped on the ribbon; so instead I stamped next to the ribbon.  I also grabbed the awesome Decorative Label punch and stamped and sponged the sentiment.  Then I took two more punchouts of the same shape and cut them to give me the matting I wanted for the sentiment.  (If you don’t already know how that works, let me know and I can put together a video to share it!)

    My favorite thing about this card is how the Early Espresso sponging around the Friends sentiment layered over the Cajun Craze matting somehow makes it look like the edges are rounded and dimensional!

    PS – Did you hear the other announcements from Stampin’ Up! yesterday?

    3 stamp sets that you can buy individuals stamps out of… lowered printing prices with My Digital Studio…and a survey to help Stampin’ Up! pick a project kit to offer in the near future!  Check out this blog post to see all the details!

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

    Check out the 2012 Holiday Catalog

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

    Masculine Friends Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Affection Collection
    Ink: Island Indigo, Early Espresso
    Paper: Very Vanilla, Island Indigo, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso core’dinations cardstock
    Accessories: Big Shot, Woodgrain embossing folder, 7/8” cotton ribbon, decorative label punch, sponge daubers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Sponged Holiday Ornament Card for the Stamp-a-Stack

    Last night I was finished up the final design touches and prepping for my first Christmas Card stamp-a-stack this weekend.  I need to get the cards photographed so I can share some of the fun things we will be doing but I really wanted to get at least one up today so I hope you don’t mind the more “rough” photography I did for this one card.  🙂

    delightful decorations christmas stamp a stack card

     

    I wanted to have a good mix of colors for the cards so they weren’t all red/green combos, so I started thinking blue and that got me thinking sponging for whatever reason.  So, this card started coming together.  We are going to be punching out an ornament shape from some cardstock (the backing from the designer series paper packs you get) to use as a mask for our Whisper White base.  Then we will sponge using Baja Breeze and Island Indigo to make the mottled ornament shapes.  Add a bit of Dazzling Details for their “strings” and they make a nice background.

    The front ornament is stamped in Island Indigo and punched out with the Ornament punch but if it looks a little funny to you, that is because we are going to cover it with Shimmer Paint!  It gives it a really pretty shimmery sheen when you stamp.  Check it out:

    shimmer paint delightful decorations close up

     

    To get this look, you ink up your stamp in your color of choice, and then take a sponge dauber and dab it in your Shimmer Paint.  Tap the sponge dauber all over the surface of your inked stamp to add the shimmer and then stamp like normal!  Very pretty effect!

    Add a rhinestone to the middle and some Whisper White bakers twine for the string and you are done!  Its an easy card with a lot of pizzazz  I may have to do more of these for my own personal Christmas cards this year. 🙂

     

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  • Sweet and Simple Card with Just Believe

    Today is another quick post because I need to get my rear in gear and finish up my swaps for Regionals this weekend and finish prepping for my Christmas Card stamp-a-stack on Sunday!  The paper and dimensionals will be flying around my craft room today! 🙂

    But this is a card that we made in my Build your Stash card class earlier this month and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, plus it is really easy to take this design and switch it up with different stamps and colors you have at home.

     

    We used the Just Believe stamp set for everything on this card.  The leaves on the right side of the card were stamped with Certainly Celery ink onto the Certainly Celery cardstock.  Then for the flower and grass image, we just used Certainly Celery and Pink Pirouette markers to color them in.  Add some Soft Suede for the trim and the sentiment and it’s a nice subtle card that can be used whenever you need it!

    Alright, well, back to the craft room I go!  If you try this card out yourself, I’d love to see what you come up with!  (I’m curious what everyone does with the design!)
    Leave me a link in a comment here to where you’ve posted your card or post it up on my Facebook page for everyone to see!

     

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    Just Believe simple Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Just Believe
    Ink: Markers – Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Ink Pads – Soft Suede, Certainly Celery
    Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery
    Accessories: Scallop Trim Punch, Basic Pearls

  • Lovely As A Tree Autumn Thank You Card

    I guess fall was on my mind when I was creating recently.  Today is another share that I created for a swap but started with me looking around my craft table and figuring out what paper and scraps I had lying around.  🙂

    See, sometimes I like to challenge myself to create a card or project using just my scraps on hand and so the Crumb Cake card base, Garden Green cardstock, Lovely as a Tree stamp set, and Day of Gratitude stamp set were all staring at me – begging to be used!

     

    I colored the tree using markers, starting with Chocolate Chip for the trunk and More Mustard for the leaves.  Then I “thumped” Cajun Craze and Garden Green markers on top of the More Mustard leaves in a few places to add specs of color.  And to be clear, when I say “thumped”, I mean literally took my marker, laid it on its side, and smacked my stamp rubber!  🙂

     

    The ribbon is the new 7/8” Cotton Ribbon from the Holiday Mini.  I just folded it in half (I actually ran my snail along one edge to help stick it together when I folded it) and wrapped it around my stamped layer.  Then I used some Linen Thread to tie it together on one side.

    Simple, but oh so Autumn!

    And if you are already thinking past Fall, I invite you to join me for my Christmas Card stamp-a-stacks starting up this weekend and running each month for the next 3 months!

    We’ll create 12 cards with envelopes at each session 3 each of 4 different designs. Each month we’ll do something new so join us and get you holiday cards all done before December even starts!  Join me for one of the following sessions:

    • Sept 30th – 2pm –Panera Bread in Redmond
    • October 28th – 2pm – Panera Bread in Redmond
    • November 25th – 2pm – Panera Bread in Redmond

    I’ll have everything precut and ready for you to get creating right away!  Everything you need for 12 cards plus envelopes is only $25.  Visit my events calendar to RSVP if you can join us!

     

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    Don’t Miss It! Free Stitched Satin Ribbon with every $40 purchase!

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

     

    Lovely As A Tree Autumn Thank You Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Day of Gratitude, Lovely as a Tree
    Ink: Markers – Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Garden Green, More Mustard
    Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Garden Green
    Accessories: 7/8” Cotton Ribbon, Linen Thread, Snail, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Day of Gratitude + Markers = Fun Fall Thank You

    I’m sharing a card today that I made for a monthly swap with my team (Jennie, hope you liked your card!)  The theme was Thank You cards and so I started digging around in my stamp sets for inspiration and came up with the Day of Gratitude stamp set.

    This stamp set often gets buried for a while and usually in the fall I rediscover how pretty it can be and it starts getting more and more use.  Well, I decide to take full advantage this time of the intricate design for the big flower/doily/stamp-thingy 😉  So, I grabbed my markers and got to work.

     

    Sure it took a while to color in all of the parts, but thankfully “huffing” on the stamp (ie – breathing on it like you are trying to fog up a mirror) at the end kept it all moist.  And besides, it felt good to put some extra time into a card for my downline, Jennie.  I am so glad to have her in my group that I was happy to make a card that took a little more effort.

    I wanted the big stamped image to be the main focal point so I didn’t add too much on the Very Vanilla paper.  Then I stamped the leaf image from the set in Garden Green ink onto Garden Green paper and cut 3 pieces out.  I tucked them under the Cajun Craze cardstock mat and mostly let them hang loose to add some dimension and be more interesting than just stamped images. 🙂

    Anyway, I thought it was a little different of a look on a card and had fun making it.  I hope she enjoyed receiving it!  What do you all think of the hanging leaves under the stamped mat?

     

    Shop for Stamps and More Online, click here!

    Don’t Miss It! Free Stitched Satin Ribbon with every $40 purchase!

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

    Day of Gratitude - Clear-Mount Stamp Set - by Stampin' Up!

    Day of Gratitude Fall Thank You Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Day of Gratitude
    Ink: Early Espresso, Garden Green, Markers – Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Garden Green, More Mustard
    Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Garden Green, Cajun Craze
    Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Paper Snips

  • Double Embossing with the Stripes Embossing Folder

    Yesterday I highlighted the Emboss Resist card from my Awesome Embossing class that I’m holding today.  And as promised, here is my first Halloween card of the season and the card we will be making to try out Double Embossing!

     

    If you can’t tell, this isn’t striped printed paper – it is heat embossed with Black Embossing powder!

    Now the best part is it is really easy to do thanks to the Stripes Embossing Folder.  The basic idea is that you ink up your embossing folder with Versamark ink before you run it through the Big Shot.  The big question is the best way to ink up your folder.

    Now I experimented with a few different methods for doing this and started with a brayer and my Versamark pad, and tried inking up the side of the embossing folder with the raised plastic (so the part that would press into the paper and become the “insides” of the stripes).  And every time I would run the folder through the Big Shot, I would only get part of ink to stick to the paper.  🙁  So, I started pressing my ink pad directly to the raised part of the embossing folder and didn’t get much better luck.

    Finally, I tried taking my Versamark ink pad directly to the “flat” side of the embossing folder (the side that is mostly flat with some striped “holes” in it).  And that worked great!  So, if you are just trying this technique out, I would recommend taking your Versamark Ink pad directly to the flat side of your embossing folder!

     

    The rest of the card used the Toxic Treats stamp set and the trick I shared the other day for using Versamark and Classic ink at the same time to heat emboss any color of ink.

    So, I hope you enjoyed these ideas and give Double Embossing a try!

     

    Shop for Stamps and More Online, click here!

    Don’t Miss It! Free Stitched Satin Ribbon with every $40 purchase!

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

    Toxic Treats Halloween Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Toxic Treats
    Ink: Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Versamark
    Paper: River Rock, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
    Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes Embossing folder, Heat Gun, Basic Black embossing powder, Sponge Daubers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Elegant Thank You Card using Emboss Resist

    Ever have one of those days where your mojo is kicking in and you are able to make some projects that just make you smile?

    I hope so!  Yesterday was one of those days for me and I was having such a blast finishing getting ready for my Awesome Embossing class this weekend.  I had such a hard time narrowing down what I wanted to showcase for the class since there are so many cool embossing techniques and so many variations on what you can do with many of them.  But I focused down to 4 different ideas that I loved.  However, my absolute favorite was the card I’m sharing today – the Emboss Resist card!

    Emboss resist

     

    I had just gotten my new Lacy and Lovely stamp set…so glad I got this set!…and I thought it would be perfect for this technique.  I tried to stick to a more monochromatic style card even though I added a few other hits of color; and so my focus was on the Calypso Coral elements around the white embossed doily image.

    Seriously, this is so quick to do and such a pretty result!  I’ve decided I’m going to do this card for my swaps at the Stampin’ Up! regionals in Tacoma in a couple weeks.  So if you are going to Tacoma, find me and I’ll swap with you. 🙂

    And this isn’t the best picture, but I thought I’d share a sneaky peek at my first Halloween card and another embossing card for the class:

     

    I promise I’ll share the full card soon!

    Well, I’m off to take my family to the Puyallup fair.  This will be Nicholas and Caitlin’s first time at a big fair and hopefully they love seeing the animals, displays, and other fair favorites while we are there!  Wish me luck that I don’t get sucked into too many “you’ve never seen a knife that cuts like this!” demos and displays.  🙂  I love all the too-good-to-be-true stuff that seems to always be offered at these events.

    Now just ask me how many of the items like that that I’ve bought at fairs have actually gotten use after I’ve gotten home… no wait, maybe you better not. 😉

     

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    Don’t Miss It! Free Stitched Satin Ribbon with every $40 purchase!

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