Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Fun Pumpkin Halloween Card with Jack of All Trades

    Alright, I’m starting to get into the fall and Halloween spirit… if you follow my Facebook fan page, you’ll have seen that I have been debating whether to jump into the Halloween project bandwagon but everyone’s enthusiasm for these cute projects has convinced me.  So, don’t be surprised to see more Halloween treats posted here over the next few weeks! 🙂

    But in the meantime, I wanted to share this swap I got at convention that I just LOVE!  From the colors to the embossed and sanded Core’dinations cardstock to the fun jack-o-lantern, it just made me smile.

    card created by Pam Zimmerman

    This card uses the Jack of All Trades stamp set to create the pumpkins and even includes the witches hat!  (I had to double check because it was so perfect).  But I really like the added touch of the Woodgrain embossed Early Espresso core’dinations cardstock and then a sanded version of the core’dinations cardstock for the modern label punch out with the sentiment.

     

    So now that I’m in the mood for Halloween, I want to hear – what is your style for Halloween projects? Cutesy characters, Gothic designs, or something else?

    Guess its time for me to start creating!

     

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    Jack of All Trades Halloween Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Jack of All Trades, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink: Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Pumpkin Pie
    Paper: Gumball Green, Whisper White, Early Espresso Core’dinations cardstock
    Accessories: Midnight Muse stitched satin ribbon, Paper snips, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Big Shot, Woodgrain Embossing folder, Labels Framelits, Sanding Block, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Scentsational Gingerbread Man Christmas Card

    Last night was the monthly team meeting for my group of fabulous Fun n’ Crafty folks on my Stampin’ Up! team.  I love having the chance to chat and stamp with some amazing crafters from across the US!  If you have been thinking of joining Stampin’ Up!, I’d love to have you join our fun group!

    Well, I wanted to share some stamping tips and ideas and so I put together this card to share.  Its one of my first playings with the new Scentsational Season stamp set.

    Now this Gingerbread man begs to be used with the oh so yummy Sugar and Spice scented embossing powder.  Oh man, I love opening that jar of embossing powder. 🙂

    Anyway, the point of this card was to show how you can do embossing with a colored image without needing to stamp first in the color and then use the stamp-a-ma-jig to line up your image in versamark.  Yes, that way totally works, but I’m lazy sometimes.  So, I showed how you can do the following steps to some great embossing:

    1. Ink your stamp using Versamark ink
    2. Ink your stamp using your color of choice (notice that I didn’t say “stamp” in between step 1 and 2!)
    3. Stamp your image
    4. Sprinkle on your embossing powder
    5. Heat emboss and enjoy!

    Because the versamark is layered on first when you are inking up your stamp, that means it is exposed last when you stamp on your paper – so the versamark is the top layer of ink on your paper.  That makes the sticky Versamark available to grab and hold the embossing powder.

    I also thought I would show off some of the cool Core’dinations cardstock in Cherry Cobbler.  Its just a cute way to easily add some flair to your paper edges.

     

    Well, I hope you enjoyed this card and stamping idea!  If you have any questions about it or the benefits of becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, just drop me a line and I’d love to chat!

     

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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!

     

    Scentsational Christmas Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Scentsational Season, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink: Soft Suede, Versamark, Cherry Cobbler
    Paper: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler Core’dinations cardstock, Festival of Prints designer series paper stack
    Accessories: Heat Tool, Sugar and Spice embossing powder, sponge dauber, stampin’ dimensionals

  • A Baptism weekend and Christening Card

    Yesterday was a busy day for us as I scrambled to finish getting the house clean in anticipation of family showing up for Caitlin’s baptism.  I love having people come over because it forces me to get the house more clean than I normally do for our household.  🙂

    So, I had to show off today how cute she looked in the dress and bonnet my mom made for the occasion.  Don’t you think?

    IMG_7747

    Our family (doesn’t Scott look so excited to have his picture taken?)

    Plus even my Grandparents came from Eastern Washington for the occasion!

    IMG_7753

     

    And not to leave you without a crafty example, here is the card my mom made for Caitlin.  Cute huh?

    Baptism Christening Card

     

    This was my first time seeing the Silver Flourish Designer Frames in person and I was surprised by the size.  I guess I shouldn’t have because I knew they fit the Decorative Label punch shape, but just in case you were having a hard time with perspective, hopefully this helps. 🙂   She also used the new My Special Day stamp set which has images and sentiments for Baptism and First Communion.  So, if you are religious, it is a pretty sweet set.

     

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

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  • A Rainbow Card for You

    I was trying to come up with a card idea for my Crystal Effects technique class recently and wanted an example where we used Crystal Effects as a clear glue for clear buttons or embellishments.  So, I started playing with my Bitty Buttons and came up with this card:

    I was drawn to the bright and cheery colors and was originally going to have the Bitty Buttons backed by the matching cardstock (or straight onto the colored cardstock) but then decided that a pop of white would be nice.

    I love using Crystal Effects for adhering paper to my Bitty Buttons because it creates a perfectly clear glue that doesn’t leave shadows or dimension (like glue dots do) and is easy to wrangle and holds like crazy! 🙂

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

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    Rainbow Banner Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Curly Cute
    Ink: Early Espresso
    Paper: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
    Accessories: Crystal Effects, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Bitty Buttons, Corner Rounder punch

  • A Little Bit of Digital, A Little Bit of Traditional

    Just a reminder – today is the last day to get 31% off a ton of digital content and print orders.  Even if you haven’t tried My Digital Studio yet, did you know that you can actually use the digital downloads in software you probably have on your computer already?

    * Digital content and images can be used in any computer program that allows pictures to be imported or pasted in, including – Photoshop, Publisher, PowerPoint, Word, Paint, etc.

    So, imagine you are editing your holiday letter or creating a photo holiday card, you can easily add your favorite Stampin’ Up! images to your project and really up the style factor.

    Now if you are like me though, for my card and scrapbooking projects, I don’t like the 1-dimensional look of purely printed projects…even if you add back shading or highlights to the image.  However, here is a great example of how you can use digital designing to get a perfect stamped image in the size you want  and still add your dimension and hand stamped style to make a really cool card.

    card designed by Linda Romer

    Ok, take a moment – guess which parts of that card are digital…. 🙂

    Not as easy as you would think, huh?  Well, here is a close up side view of the card to help you out:

     

    Yup, I still have to refer back to the physical sample to check myself.  But the entire “designer series paper/stamped” Pool Party layer are digital!  Talk about a great way to mass produce a complicated card!  The digital layer is just adhered to some cardstock and the cardbase to get the card started.

    Then she added a heat embossed Mixed Bunch flower that was punched out, layered, and topped with a printed designer brad.  And don’t you love how she used a Lucky Limeade Blossom punch out to create the leaves.  Cute huh?

    I have to admit, I found this card really inspiring to me for a great way to use digital “scrapbooking” to create great projects in a fraction of the time and still provide a Wow! effect.

    What do you think?
    Would you use digital software or images to create you card or scrapbooking projects?

    And like I mentioned before, don’t miss the 31% off deal that ends at 11:59pm Mountain time tonight!  Check out what is on sale now.

     

    Shop for Stamps and More Online, click here!

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

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

  • Using Ribbon Scraps–The Ribbon Heart Card

    I was stumbling around Pinterest the other day (I don’t browse very often, but am always amazed at the beautiful and creative projects there) and saw a card that completely inspired me!  I saw it and knew it would be perfect to do with the Stitched Satin Ribbon that is out right now (and available FREE with the Back to Spool promo too!)  It is all about cutting out your favorite shape – in this case a heart from the Hearts Framelits pack – and adhering your ribbon scraps to the back of the shape:

     

     

    The card I saw was by Diane Zechman and used different sizes and styles of ribbon scraps; and really, you could repeat this idea with any variety of shapes, colors, and sizes and it would look great!  Plus it is perfect for those of us who see a piece of ribbon that is more than an inch long and feel like it would be wasteful to just throw it away. 🙂  So, here is what we can do with those pieces!

    A couple tips for this card:

    1.  If you are going to do the doodle/dashes around your shape, draw those on before you run your cardstock through an embossing folder.  So much easier and you don’t have to deal with the texture messing up your pen lines.

    2.  Run your tape runner around the edge of your shape to help adhere your ribbon down.  I found that easier than trying to guess where on the ribbon to put the adhesive and it make the ribbon more taut across the punchout area.

    3.  If you are going to use dimensionals to raise up your embossed cardstock layer, add some dimensionals around your punchout opening.  This helps hold down your ribbon as well as adds some stability to your open area.

     

    So, I hope you enjoyed this idea as much as I did.  If you try it out, I’d love to see what you come up with!  Leave a comment with a link to your sample or post it on my Facebook page to share you creative work!

    And if you love this ribbon as much as I do, get it FREE with any order of $40 or more… in fact get 2 spools with an $80 order, 3 spools with an $120 order…. you get the idea. 🙂

     

    Shop for Stamps and More Online, click here!

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

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

     

    Ribbon Heart Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Just Believe
    Ink: Raspberry Ripple
    Paper: Summer Starfruit, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
    Accessories: Big Shot, Hearts Framelits, Stitched Satin Ribbon (Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse), Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Signo Gel Pen, Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Two by Two–A Sweet Baby Card

    I just had to share this card today because everytime I look at my stack of card swaps, I smile when I see it.  I have loved this Noah’s Ark stamp – Two by Two – since it showed up in the catalog this year and have been trying to be good and wait to order it but we will see how long I end up holding out. 🙂

     

    I mean, look how cute the animals are all colored in?

    card designed by Linda Cary

    If you heat emboss your stamped image first, it makes it easier to color in and separate the different colors.  Then you can just grab your ink pads and a blender pen; or your markers, and start letting your inner artist come out as you color and sponge away!  (This next picture tries to show you the embossing… can you see the shiny stuff? :))

     

    Plus there are lots of little details to this card like the Fanfare embossing folder for the embossed Baja Breeze cardstock on the top half of the page, the stitched satin ribbon in the middle, the Itty Bitty Banners stamp and framelits to make the sentiment banner, and the fun bitty buttons for just an added touch in the top corner.

    I have to say though, I really like the layered banners for the sentiment myself.  What is your favorite detail?

     

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

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    Two by Two Wood-Mount Stamp SetTwo by Two Noah’s Ark Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Two by Two, Itty Bitty Banners
    Ink: Versamark, Basic Black, Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, CAjun Craze
    Paper: Summer Starfruit, Baja Breeze, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Patio Party dsp
    Accessories: heat tool, Bitty Banners framelits, Big Shot, Label framelits, fanfare embossing folder, clear embossing powder, bitty buttons, primrose petals stitched satin ribbon, sponge, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Two Styles of Card, One Stamp Set–Lacy and Lovely

    I love when you get a chance to see how versatile a stamp set can be, not only in the different types of occasions that you can use the set for, but also when you can see it being used for a “girly” card as well as a “guy” card.  Well, thanks to convention this year, I was able to get some cool ideas for a set I had totally overlooked – Lacy and Lovely!

    See, I’m not normally a doily and lace stamp set kind of girl, so I skimmed past that section of the catalog, but after continually seeing swaps that made me go, “what stamp set is that??” and them all being from Lacy and Lovely, I have to reconsider my stance. 🙂

    Exhibit A:  the vintage card

    card designed by Sue McQuiston

    Sadly, my photo doesn’t properly show off the sponging and ivory/brown distressing the card, but you get the idea!

    Exhibit B: the guy card

    card designed by Daleen Pinder

    I love the clean and crisp style of this card and the colors are bold too.  I think this totally works for a guy even though I initially thought that stamp set was all lacy.

    Plus, I love that this stamp set comes with sentiments as well as the element images.  I so love having a variety of sentiments to choose from.

    Anyway, I thought this was a fun example of how colors and techniques can really make a big difference in how the same images come across.

    Shop for Stamps and More Online, click here!

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

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

     

    Lacy & Lovely Wood-Mount Stamp SetVintage Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Lacy and Lovely, Elements of Style
    Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake
    Paper: Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry
    Accessories: Basic Pearls, Big Shot, Delicate Designs embossing folder, Stitched Grosgrain Rich Razzleberry ribbon, sponge, Stampin’ Dimensionals

    Guy Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Lacy and Lovely
    Ink: Basic Black, Lucky Limeade
    Paper: Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Basic Black
    Accessories: Basic Rhinestones

  • Merry Minis Clean & Simple Christmas Card

    QUICK REMINDER:  Today is the last day to take advantage of my Buy One Get One Free offer for my retired stamp sets and products!  Place any catalog order and get 50% of your product total to spend for free on anything in my Retired Stamps and More page!  Shop online or email me to reserve your favorites!

    Ok, so I’m finally getting some of my favorite swap cards from convention photographed and edited to be able to share them with you.  (I know, I’m only a month behind the curve on this! 🙂 )  I love how I get a variety of style and design ideas from the super talented other ladies and guys I meet at Convention.

    In this case, I was super impressed by the simplicity of this card but it still packed a Wow! punch for me.  Get it… punch… ha ha.  Ok, I’m probably the only one laughing.  🙂  But I loved this idea for how to use the new Merry Minis punch pack.

    Card design by Kristen Little

    All you need is a Whisper White card base, wrap some Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon around the front (ps – starting tomorrow, you can get a spool of the stitched satin ribbon free with every $40 order), and add your die cut to the center.  To make the center piece, she cut out a piece of Whisper White paper using the Scallop Rectangle clearlit die for the Big Shot.  Then punch out three trees using the tree punch from the Merry Minis punch pack.  Add a piece of Gumball Green cardstock behind the punched shapes and top each tree with a rhinestone.  Adhere to the front of your card and stamp your sentiment on the front and your are done!

    Easy peasy!

    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!

     

    Merry Minis Christmas Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink: Gumball Green
    Paper: Whisper White, Gumball Green
    Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Big Shot, Scallop Rectangle clearlit, Merry Minis punch pack, Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • One More Princess Birthday Card

    If you are looking at this project sample today and think it looks familiar, you are right! 🙂

    While working on my Make & Take at convention using this Quinceanera stamp set, I had the white diecut cut out, the edges pierced, the princess stamped, the paper pieced dress cut and adhered, and most of the coloring done…. then I colored in the girl’s skin itself.  Lets just say I was a little confused about the directions and everytime I tried to fix things she just kept getting darker and darker!  But that sort of thing has never happened to you has it? 😉

    Long story short, I started over and tried again and got the version I used on my treat bag.  But that meant I came home with this main image all done and it would have been silly just to throw it away.  So, I decided to put together a card so you could see how you might use this stamp set even if you didn’t know someone celebrating a Quinceanera.  (Next up, I think I’m going to make a wedding card or bridal shower card with this set!)

    I also used the new 1 1/4” Scallop circle punch from the new Holiday catalog (Yay for more nesting punches, right?!) and more Pool Party ruffled ribbon.

    So, what do you think?  What do you think this stamp set would be good for?  Leave me a comment and I may try to make samples for some of your ideas!

     

    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!

    Quinceanera Princess Birthday Card Recipe
    Stamps:     Quinceanera, Pennant Parade
    Ink: Stazon Black, Primrose Petals, Crumb Cake
    Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Primrose Petals, Pool Party
    Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Essential Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer, Piercing Pad, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Big Shot, 1-1/4” Scallop circle punch, 3/4” Circle punch, Blender Pen, Paper Snips, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • When Life Gives You Scraps, Make a Card!

    Recently, I’ve been on a kick where I really want to use up my scraps when I get done with a project.  I have sooo many scraps and stamped or punched out pieces that I decided not to use for one reason or another, that I just want to get them used up so that my scrap piles don’t keep getting bigger and bigger!

    So, I was looking around my craft table and started picking up the pieces and throwing them together in hodge-podge ways.  Well, out popped a Christmas card!  I know it isn’t the most amazing Christmas card out there, but it was fun to play with my new Merry Minis Punch Pack!

     

    So, I had the pre-embossed piece of Whisper White cardstock that used the retired Snow Burst embossing folder.  (Want to know the really sad thing?  I’m pretty sure I never used this embossing folder before it retired; and of course now I want to use it all the time!)  I had an extra Basic Grey card base, so I added a matting of Rich Razzleberry for some subtle color.  And then I grabbed a left over piece of the Silver Glimmer Paper (this shape is the top of one of the labels from the Apocathary Accents framelit collection, trimmed off so the main part could be used as a mat in my Quinceanera treat bag project).

    Then I just added some punched ornaments from my Merry Minis Punch Pack and added a rhinestone to the centers.  Then the sentiment came from my retired Many Merry Messages stamp set.

    I promise it looks better in person than the picture gives it credit for. 🙂  Plus, I used up a bunch of my scraps, HOORAY!!

    So, how about you?  Have you used your scraps recently?

     

    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!

  • A Blast From the Past (plus Free Stamps too)

    Yay! It’s the weekend and this weekend is a fun one for our family as we have relatives from Kansas out to visit for the first time since Caitlin was born. 🙂

    Today we are taking the kids (and everyone else) on a ferry ride and heading to Bainbridge Island for a while.  I think Nicholas will love being on the boat and hopefully it will be more checking out the boats and scenery outside and less running around like a crazy person inside the ferry… but I could be dreaming!

     

    Anyway, I finally got all of my retired items updated on my Stamps+ For Sale page and thought I would put together a special BOGO style sale for this next week in the hopes of clearing out the shelf space and giving everyone a great deal in the process!

     

    Check out my Retired Items page for how to get your favs FREE!

     

    In the meantime, I thought I would pull up some fun “blast from the past” cards that use some if the items I have listed.  Hope you enjoy!

    Paper Pieced Card using “A Slice of Life” stamp set

    Baby Card using the “Congrats” stamp set

    Faux tiling with the “Fresh Vintage” stamp set

    Two cards with Canvas Cuts, Fashion District Rubons, and Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla satin ribbon

    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!