Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Loving Thoughts Valentine’s Card

    Alright, I’ll admit I’m totally behind on getting pictures taken for my blog right now; but then I realized that there are number of projects that I don’t share on my blog that are great idea pieces out on my demonstrator website.  So, I thought I would post one of those projects so you could see one of the cute ideas.

    Totally cute, right?

    And it’s actually really easy to put together as well!  Its mainly cutting a few blocks of paper, some hearts using the new Heart Collection Framelits die, add some ribbon and some stamping, and you are good to go!  And do you see the pleated satin ribbon?  Love!

    So, if you want to see more about this card or a bunch of other project ideas you haven’t seen on my blog, check out the idea section of my website.  Let me know which projects inspire you!

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

  • An Everyday Enchantment Valentine

    Hopefully you had a chance to enjoy the blog tour earlier this week.  I loved playing with the new Sale-a-Bration items for my projects and so I reached for them again when I was working on a card for a long-distance workshop I have coming up.

    I was working within the constraints of what stamps, ink, and tools my hostess had; but since I was providing the paper and embellishments – I knew I really wanted to work in the Everyday Enchantment designer paper and Calypso Coral Organdy ribbon.

    I also was excited to use the Fun Flowers Bigz L die for the Big Shot. I don’t use mine nearly enough but I started playing with a Very Vanilla flower and thought it really went with the vintage look when I sponged the edges. Then I was told that the scallop circle punch from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack fit perfectly in the scallop circle from the Fun Flowers die, and that gave it just the right amount of Pop!

    This is one of those cards that looks complicated but is actually really easy to pull together.  So hopefully the girls getting together for the workshop will have a lot of fun making their own copies!

    Interested in hosting a workshop even if you aren’t local?

    I’m happy to work with you to put together a long-distance workshop so that you can earn all your hostess benefits at your own convenience.  Email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com for more details!

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

     

    Fun Flowers Valentine’s Day Card Recipe:
    Stamps:  French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
    Paper: Everyday Enchantment designer paper**, Lucky Limeade cardstock, Very Vanilla cs, Calypso Coral cs
    Accessories:  Big Shot, Fun Flowers Bigz L die, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Adhesive Backed Pearls, 1/8” Calypso Coral Organdy ribbon**, Sponge Daubers

    ** FREE items as part of the Stampin’ Up! Sale-a-Bration promotion

  • Vintage Fresh for Today’s Sudsol Blog Tour!

    SUDSOL Blog Tour, February 1st!
    Hi everyone!  Today is the day for the big SUDSOL blog tour.  I love all the ideas you can find on a blog tour and hopefully my projects today will give you some new ideas to try at home.  For this tour, the focus is on the fun new things in the Occasion Mini and the Sale-a-Bration catalogs.  I decided to show you some of my favorites with 3 different projects; and since I have a lot to share…lets get this show on the road!

    A Scallop Circle Mini Basket

    So, for those of you not familiar with SUDSOL, it is a community and content website specifically for Stampin’ Up! demonstrators who are interested in really focusing on thinking about their stamping business as an actual business.  So, there are lots of great ideas, tips, and sharing of projects – including a library full of templates and project patterns with photos and instructions created by other demos (not a member? click the link above to sign-up for a 2 week FREE trial to check it out).

    Anywho, I was browsing the library and found this totally novel idea for how to turn a Scallop Circle (from the Bigz Big Shot die) and turn it into a little box – or in my case, add a handle and make it a basket. See:

    Seriously, I would have never thought to score and cut a scallop circle die cut to make a small rectangular box.  But isn’t it cute !!  I pulled out my coordinating Sale-a-Bration items: Fresh Vintage stamp set, Everyday Enchantment designer paper, and the Everyday Enchantment brads and ribbon pack; and went to town decorating!

    So, I started by pulling out the pattern I liked from the designer paper and making a 1/2” band around the box.  I had a piece left over from cutting my band and so I cut that in half (making two 1/4” strips) to make my basket handle.  I didn’t like the seam where I glued them together at the top of the handle, so I pulled out the Lucky Limeade organza ribbon and wrapped it around the seam to hide it.

    As you can see, I have chocolate in my basket (yum! chocolate!)  I actually have 2 undecorated Reese’s mini peanut butter cups in the bottom of the basket and 2 decorated ones on top.  I used the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch along with the Fresh Vintage stamp set to decorate my candy.

    SU Demos – you can find the instructions for this box in the SUDSOL library here. 

    A Fresh Vintage Thank You Card

    Alright, so I had the chocolate and the basket, I needed a card to go with it.  So, I set out by pulling out my next favorite item – Framelits Labels collection!

    I wanted to use the big flower image from the Vintage Fresh stamp set and was super excited to see that one of the labels seemed to have curves that exactly fit the shape of the flower’s flourish.  So, I started with that as my guide for the layout.  Then I wanted to use my current favorite ribbon – Pleated Satin Ribbon in Blushing Bride.  Yes, you heard right… they pre-pleat the ribbon for you!

    Anyway, I knew I wanted to use the labels and the ribbon and so then I just fiddled with placement and papers until I thought it looked alright.  Here are a few touches that might be hard to see in the above picture:

    Sponging of the Blushing Bride label and the Basic Grey cardbase with Blushing Bride ink.  Oh, and popping up the smallest label.

     

    I stamped the repeating flourish pattern from the stamp set along the bottom of the card front with my stamp-a-ma-jig and then layered the ribbon along the top edge.

    A Fresh Vintage Stand-Up Card

    Alright, so I had been tasked to create 3 projects for this blog tour and I was now up to 2.  I decided to turn back to the SUDSOL pattern library to see if there was something that really pulled me in.  I ran across this stand-up card pattern and thought it was something I had never done before and it looked like fun.  So, I gave it a go and this is the results!

    I love how this card style will actually lie flat for mailing in an envelope but stands up when you pull it out.  Cool, huh?

     

    I tried to keep in theme by using the same color schemes (or at least more Blushing Bride and Pool Party), designer paper, and stamps. I decided to pull out one more new Occasion Mini product to play with for this project – Twitterpated designer buttons. I was inspired by some recent vintage-y scrapbook pages I had seen and wanted to try out lots of layers for the focal point and then have some sentiment that suited staring at me from a shelf. Thus – Beautiful Life.

    SU Demos – you can find the instructions for this card style in the SUDSOL library here.

     

    Whew! You made it!  I had so much fun creating these projects and I hope you enjoyed them as well.  I’d love to hear which was your favorite – please leave me a comment and let me know!

    CONTINUE on the Blog Tour

                           

    Adriana Benitez                            Annette Bogue

    And after the tour I’d love to have you come back and visit here again; or for SUDSOL members, check out more of my projects in my gallery on the SUDSOL site.

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

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  • Sneak Peek for Wednesday

    It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a blog tour and so I decided to join up with one through a Stampin’ Up! demo business group called SUDSOL.  On Wednesday a group of talented demos will be sharing cool ideas for using some of the new Sale-a-Bration and Occasion mini items.  We each have to share at least 3 samples and I’m really happy how my samples turned out.

    So, in the hopes of encouraging you to come back and visit me on Wednesday, I thought I’d share today a little sneaky-peek of one of my projects.

    And I will say, there is another really fun feature of the project show above that you totally can’t see from the picture!

    Hope to see you Wednesday!

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

  • A Slightly More Masculine Thank You

    Today I wanted to share the last of the cards we made at a recent class of mine.  The other cards all were flowery or included pink so I figured I ought to try to come up with something for the more manly folks in your life.  (Plus I really wanted to use my Stripes embossing folder for the Big Shot!)

    So this is meant to be a quick and easy card you could make when you need a thank you card and everything you have in you drawer is too girly.  This was also one of my first times pulling out the First Edition specialty designer paper.  It’s a lighter-weight paper, so its kind of fun to play with – even when you are just doing something as simple as tearing an edge.

    Oh, and did I mention that the Stripes embossing folder is one of the items you can get FREE during Sale-a-Bration?  Smile
    (It’s easy to miss in the SAB catalog, but it’s there!)

    So, while I’m still trying to figure out just what defines a “masculine” card; I think this will work for now!

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

    Stripes Thanks So Much Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Sincere Salutations
    Ink:  Rich Razzleberry classic
    Paper: First Edition specialty designer paper, Rich Razzleberry cardstock, Soft Suede cs, Pear Pizzazz cs
    Accessories:  Stripes embossing folder, BigShot, Gold Brads, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Snail adhesive, Paper Piercer

  • A Birthday Card for a 2 Year Old

    December is a big month for my family… its my birthday, now my daughter’s birthday, Christmas, and my son’s birthday.  This year my son turned 2 and even though he wouldn’t really notice the card in the sea of wrapping paper and family – I still wanted to make him a fun little card.  So this is what I came up with:

    I didn’t have a cutesy stamp set that screamed “kid’s birthday” to me, so I pulled out my new Patterned Party set and started playing around.  I stamped the numbers image first using the Pacific Point ink and then stamped a second time on a piece of scrap only this time coloring in the number 2 with Real Red and Daffodil Delight markers to give it some “pop”.  Then I cut it out and glued it over the blue image.

    After it was all put together, it felt like it was missing something so I dug through my stash of ribbon and ran across some Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon and decided to play with adding it above the numbers.  I thought it looked like icing…which I thought was fun for a birthday card.

    I also added some Dazzling Details glitter glue to the flame on the number 2, but it is really hard to tell from the pictures.

    In the end, while he was more caught up in the excitement of unwrapping I was still happy I took the time to make the card.  And while it may seem silly; I’m totally putting it in his scrapbook!

    Click Here To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime!

  • A Mixed Bunch Thanks

    See, I told you I was back and blogging… this is 2 days in a row! hee hee

    Well, between the holidays (and being way behind on my thank you cards) and just being so grateful for my customers, downline, and online crafting friends who have been amazingly supportive while I’ve been dealing with a new baby instead of posting.  So, I have “Thanks” on the brain. 

    This time, I pulled out a couple more fun new stamps.  First, the Mixed Bunch stamp set from the Occasion mini – and of course, it’s matching blossom punch!  Then for the sentiment I used the FREE Outlined Occasions stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.

    Its been crazy with snow and freezing weather here in Seattle, so I needed a bright and cheery card right now.  I think this fits the bill nicely!  Plus it can be very relaxing to just sit and color in an image (in this case the “Thanks” using my blender pens and inks).

    So, check out an example of why Sale-a-Bration is so cool:

    Order the Mixed Bunch stamp set + the Blossom Punch + some cardstock
                       (item #125537)              (item #125603)           (item #120954)

    Mixed Bunch - Wood-Mount StampBlossom Punch8-1/2 X 11 Smooth Card Stock - Getting Started Collection - by Stampin' Up!

      

    and get the Outlined Occasions set FREE

    image

    Yay free! Just add some ink and ribbon or other embellishments from your stash at home and you can make be making this card in no time!  I promise, it is fun too. 🙂

    I’ll be back tomorrow with more project ideas as I start writing posts sharing some of the projects I’ve been making recently. 

    Have a product or project type you want to see? 
    I’d love to hear what you are interested in seeing.  Leave me a comment or send me an email and I’ll see what I can do to post up the projects I’ve done or will try to incorporate what you ask for in future projects.  I’m always up for a challenge!

     

    Click Here To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime!

    Mixed Bunch Thanks Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Mixed Bunch, Outline Occasions (SAB)
    Ink:  Basic Black classic, Daffodil Delight classic, Pear Pizzazz classic
    Paper: River Rock cardstock, Daffodil Delight cs, Whisper White cs, Pear Pizzazz cs
    Accessories:  Pool Party ruffled ribbon, 2 1/2” Circle punch, In-Color designer brads, Blossom punch, Sponge Daubers, Snail adhesive, Paper Piercer, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • It’s Sale-a-Bration Time!

    “Celebrate good times, come on! “

    … that is totally the song going through my head right now as I typed the title for this post.  But the perky tune matches my smile and mood as I’m so excited to be re-kicking off my blog (including a new blog design!) and sharing the first of many projects I’ve been working on lately.

    Also, I absolutely LOVE Sale-a-Bration time at Stampin’ Up! because who doesn’t love getting extra free stuff?

    Wanna see what I did with some of my free stuff? I used the new Fresh Vintage Sale-a-Bration stamp set and matching ribbon, along with one of my favorite new items in the Occasions Mini – framelits!

    This is actually a pretty quick card to make aside from the coloring of the stamp with markers.  But I think all the colors are worth it – don’t you agree?

    This year there are a ton of fabulous products and amazing incentives during Sale-a-Bration:

    • Get FREE exclusive items for every $50 you spend! There are stamps, cardstock, designer paper, fabric, digital designs, buttons, ribbon, and even embossing folders to choose from.
    • Get extra FREE items when you host a party!  Get a cute shopping tote on top of your regular hostess benefits with a $150+ workshop.  Get a free bundle of Sale-a-Bration coordinating items (Fresh Vintage stamp set and matching designer paper, brads, and ribbon!) with a $400 workshop.
    • Get a FREE pack of designer paper or a digital download EVERY month for the rest of 2012 ~plus~ get a discount on the starter kit when you sign up as a demonstrator!  Seriously, this is such a cool offer they are running right now.  Not only do you get the full starter kit at a great price, along with all the other benefits of being a demonstrator, but you get free stuff every month as well.  How cool is that?!

    I know, it’s a lot to take in.  But check out the super cute stuff in the Sale-a-Bration catalog and let me know if I can answer any questions or if I can help get you all the freebies you are drooling over!

    I’ll be back tomorrow with more card ideas using some fun new Sale-a-Bration and Occasion mini products.  So, until then –

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

    Vintage Flower Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Fresh Vintage (SAB)
    Ink:  Old Olive classic, Soft Suede classic, Calypso Coral marker, Blushing Bride marker, Marina Mist marker, So Saffron marker, Old Olive maker
    Paper: Old Olive cardstock, Soft Suede cs, Very Vanilla cs
    Accessories:  Calypso Coral 1/8” organza ribbon (SAB), BigShot, Framelits – Labels, Adhesive Pearls, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Snail adhesive

  • Clean and Simple Fall Card

    What do you do when you stamp an image for a card and you decide it isn’t quite right for what you were doing?  I often find myself saving the image because “it’s a perfectly good image that will be great on another project” aka I’m a pack rat!  But, here is an example when I took a bunch of scraps (the image, the ribbon, the embossed cardstock, and the brown cardstock base) and put them together into a new card that actually works!

    I don’t think I would have come up with this layout on my own if I didn’t have the pieces lying around but now I’m so glad I did (plus I finally used up some of my scrap stash – yay!). So, back when I was stamping this image, I used the pine image from Lovely as a Tree and stamped the center tree with Always Artichoke ink, then before I cleaned my stamp, I stamped two more times (one on each side of the initial image) for the more faded images.  Other than that, it was just laying different pieces I had on hand and mounting it all on an Always Artichoke cardbase. 

    This would be a super quick card you could make yourself for any occasion.  Just swap out the colors or image and it could be holiday, birthday, sympathy, anything!  Who knows, maybe you have some perfect scraps lying around waiting to be put together like this. 

     

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

    Thinking of You Tree Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink:  Always Artichoke classic, Soft Suede classic
    Paper: Always Artichoke cardstock, Soft Suede cs, Whisper White cs,Crumb Cake cs
    Accessories:  So Saffron 5/8” Grosgrain ribbon, BigShot, Lattice embossing folder

  • A Holiday Card from Halloween Paper?

    So, after making a couple cards recently using the Frightful Sight designer paper , I decided to challenge myself to make a card that had absolutely nothing to do with Halloween using this paper pack.  So, how about a holiday card?

    The black paper with green dots is the backside of the crazy pattern that I call "eyes” and the big colored dots are the backside of the green spider pattern paper.  But when paired with different cardstock, stamps, and embellishments, you would never know they were in a Halloween set!  (If you are curious to see the spider side and the black paper in action on a Halloween card, check out my facebook page where I posted a card with them this year).

    I paired the designer paper with a matting of Old Olive cardstock, and put all that on a base of Cherry Cobbler.  Add some seam binding ribbon and then my stamped sentiment.  Some of the fun things I did with this card is I distressed the edges of my Whisper White cardstock in the center of the card using my scissors and then sponged the edge of the smaller piece with Cherry Cobbler ink.  The ornaments were stamped after I had “stamped-off” twice (where I inked up the image and them stamped twice on scratch paper before stamping “for real” on my paper.  This gave me a light enough image that I could stamp over the ornaments with Basic Black ink and have it be readable.

    So, what do you think?  Think it works?

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

    Halloween Pumpkin Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Tree Trimmings, Many Merry Messages
    Ink:  Old Olive classic, Cherry Cobbler classic, Basic Black classic
    Paper: Cherry Cobbler cardstock, Old Olive cs, Whisper White cs, Frightful Sight designer paper
    Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, Sponge Daubers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Happy Halloween To You

    Well, the calendar says it’s October 31st and so that means it is officially Halloween!  And so whether today holds parties, trick-or-treating, pumpkins, or just hanging out at home; I wanted to wish you a happy and safe Halloween!

    For today’s card, I wanted to get some good time in with this Frightful Sight designer series paper.  See, this is one of those paper packs that I thought was super cute and just my style for Halloween – and then I let it sit on my shelf for months!  Can anyone relate to that?  (Please, someone say yes!)

    Anyway, I realized that Halloween was almost here and so I grabbed my paper and started playing around.  The basic layout of this card was from a sketch my mom shared with me years ago but I think it still holds up.  I sponged the edges of just about everything with Basic Grey ink to help give it a dirty/spooky feel and I especially love how it turned out on the cat.  The pumpkin was made by taking a 1” circle punch and punching out two circles.  I trimmed one down into an oval and then cut the second in half to glue behind the first “circle”.  I finished it off with some scrap Always Artichoke cardstock to make the stem.  Pop a few pieces up on dimensionals and add a Basic Grey corduroy button (currently available for a steal on the clearance rack) and there you go!

    So from our house to yours:

    Have a Spooky, Fun, and Happy Halloween!

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

    Halloween Pumpkin Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink:  Cajun Craze, Basic Grey, Basic Black marker
    Paper: Cajun Craze cardstock, Basic Grey cs, Whisper White cs,  Always Artichoke cs, Frightful Sight designer paper
    Accessories:  1” circle punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Basic Grey corduroy buttons, Sponge Daubers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • A Happy Halloween Owl!

    Halloween is almost here and since I’m so behind on posting, I wanted to hurry up and share a card I made this month using the holiday hostess set called Warmest of Wishes.  I normally don’t get halloween stamps but since this adorable trick or treating owl was a part of the set, I knew this year I had to make at least one Halloween card!

    Trick or Treat Halloween Owl

    I actually got the card layout idea from the October issue of Stampin’ Success (the free monthly magazine sent to all SU demos – see another fun perk of being a demo!)  But I had to play with it and add my own touches.  The trick or treat bag held by the owl is actually stamped in black on Pumpkin Pie cardstock and cut out to add some extra dimension and color.  And with the Rich Razzleberry designer button, I tied linen thread around the Pumpkin Pie ribbon and through the button holes to help gather the PP ribbon.  Then I just used glue dots to hold it in place. 

    This card was fun to make; I may just have to try it for other holidays too!

    Reminder: The Free BigShot Offer Ends Tomorrow!

    If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to do what you love, while getting a 20% discount on your favorite products, now is the perfect time! Through October 31st, you’ll get a FREE Big Shot (or $100 in extra free product of your choice) when you join the Stampin’ Up! family as a demonstrator! 

    This is a killer deal and I know I can’t live without my BigShot. Smile Between the starter kit (valued at over $345) plus this $100 offer, you are getting an awesome chance to start your own business, build your crafting stash, or just get one heck of a Christmas present!  Just remember, you only have until 11:59 MST tomorrow.

    Check out all the benefits of being a demo or Click Here to sign up now!