Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Strength and Hope Class Samples & Card Kits

    In the latest mini catalog, Stampin’ Up! released a stamp set called Strength and Hope to support breast cancer research.  They are donating $2 from each purchase of the stamp set or digital kit to the cause, which being someone who has had family members battle breast cancer, I think is awesome.  So, I put together a class using this stamp set to show my support.  Here are two of the cards we made:

    Strength and Hope love card

    Strength and Hope window card

    Get Free Card Kits!

    Since I have extra card kits and want to continue to support the cause, I’m offering free card kits when you purchase this stamp set.  Tomorrow I will be posting the other two cards we made and while supplies last, anyone who orders this stamp set from me can pick 2 of the 4 cards we made and I’ll send you the kits so you can make them at home with your new stamp set.  Everything will be precut and ready for you to stamp and assemble! 

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  • Red, White, and Blue!

    In honor of the holiday weekend a few days ago, I issued a creative challenge to the folks on my SU team to create one or more cards using only Red, White, and Blue colors.  I figured since I was the one who created the challenge, I ought to put together something to get the ball rolling.  So, this weekend, I got into the holiday spirit and after playing around came up with this:

    I decided to go simple and not blatent “4th of July” because I figured then there was a chance I could use this card on one of the other 364 days of the year. Smile  I think I like it better in person but am still a bit on the fence about it.  But either way, maybe it will be a jumping off point for someone out there to create a fabulous card of their own!  Oh, and since I was asked once already, the label on the right, I just stamped the “celebrate” sentiment on Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the curly label punch.  Then I just drew on the dashes using a Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker.  Easy peasy!

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    Celebrate red, white, and blue recipe:
    Stamps:      Itty Bitty Bits, Fabulous Phrases
    Ink:  Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White craft ink
    Paper:  Whisper White cardstock, Real Red cardstock, Night of Navy cardstock
    Accessories:  Curly Label punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Real Red marker, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • The 2011 Catalog is Here!

    Yay! The new catalog is officially launched and online.  I am still debating over which of the cool new stamps and papers I have to have now; but I wanted to make sure you had a chance to check out all the fun new stuff yourself.  Plus, don’t forget, I’m offering free shipping through July 5th!

    Some of my favorites so far include the new Pennant Punch to make cute little banners on cards and scrapbook pages, the new In Colors, ruffled ribbon, and too many stamps to count.  If you want to see everything that is new, you can see it all together online here.

    In the meantime, here is another card I made recently using the new In Colors and the fun new scallop ribbon.  Enjoy!

    Just for You 2011 In Colors

     

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  • Catching Up plus Something For You!

    Hello there! I know its been a while and can you believe it, its the end of the catalog year already! Yikes! Well, I’m going to try to get you all caught up, plus I have a little something for you too.

    So, a quickie update for me – cause some inquiring minds want to know. 🙂 Its been a crazy couple months for me with my big move to Washington plus at the same time (literally the exact same time), we found out we are expecting again in December! So all of that has made it so that I’ve been completely exhausted for the last couple months. Thankfully, the haze is wearing off, and I’m so excited to get back to stamping, the new catalog, and CONVENTION! Its going to be an awesome summer!

    Alright, now on to more of the fun stuff – and getting you all caught up as well.

    • LAST DAY of the 2010-2011 Catalog!
      Don’t miss out on your chance to grab some of the super cute items that will be no longer available after midnight MST tonight.  Some retiring papers and accessories are on sale but have been selling out, so grab them while you can because they will be gone tomorrow!  Plus, if you missed it on Facebook, I’m offering free shipping on all orders placed between now and July 5th.  So, stack savings on savings and get a great deal!
      List of the Retiring Stamps
      List of the Retiring Accessories 

    • You’ve seen the Summer Mini, right?
      I mentioned it on a blog post ages ago, and I figure that most of you either have the mini catalog or have seen it online.  But just in case you haven’t had a chance to check it out – you should!  There are some fun summer projects, stamp sets, and embellishments.  Plus a stamp set that Stampin’ Up came out with to support breast cancer research called Hope and Strength.  I’ll be posting more projects using items from this mini over the next couple months, so come back and visit me to see more ideas.  This catalog lasts until August 31st.
      Check out the summer mini catalog here 

    • The NEW 2011-2012 Catalog comes out TOMORROW!!
      Eek! So exciting!  I can’t wait to share with you the new Idea Book & Catalog.  I’ll be posting pictures and a link on my blog tomorrow when it goes live.  So, if you don’t have a physical copy quite yet, you can come back and visit and check it all out.  There are new stamps, new punches, new papers, new accessories, 5 new In Colors, and lots of project ideas combining the new with your old favorites!  Plus, did you catch that you can get free shipping with me this weekend through July 5th, so you can come check it out and then get an extra awesome deal when you place your order!  Are you excited yet?
      PS – do you need a copy of the catalog?  Let me know and I’ll work with you to get you a copy.
    • Lots of new digital downloads for My Digital Studio and other digital crafting
      Just a heads up for all you digital scrappers and crafters out there.  Stampin’ Up! has been going crazy adding a ton of new digital content online.  They have brought back retired stamp sets and papers in digital form (so you can even print out your favorite patterns to incorporate into your paper projects) as well as adding brand new images and patterns that aren’t even available in non-digital form.  There are so many cute items, that I can’t even describe them all.  But I DID update the catalog link on the right sidebar of my blog with a link to the latest PDF version of the digital download catalog.  It has pictures of everything currently available, so check it out and enjoy!
    • Did you catch FREE SHIPPING?!?
      Just a couple details on my free shipping offer.  From now until July 5th, any order placed with me will get free shipping.  So you can use it to get your last chance items with free shipping, or all your new favorites with free shipping, or BOTH!  🙂  The only catch is that orders must be placed by calling or emailing me; sorry, I don’t have a way to credit shipping charges for online purchases.

    I’m so happy to be back to blogging and crafting and so grateful you have stopped by. 🙂  I have a lot to share and will have even more this month when I head to the Stampin’ Up! convention in a couple weeks!  Until next time, here is a card I made for a friend when I mailed her a new catalog; hope you enjoy!

    Thinking of You card recipe:
    Stamps –     Swirls and Curls Verses, Priceless (retiring June 30, 2011)
    Ink –     Early Espresso classic, Whisper White craft, So Saffron classic
    Paper –     Rich Razzleberry cardstock, Whisper White cardstock
    Accessories –     Early Espresso 1/8″ taffeta ribbon, sponge daubers, Rich Razzleberry marker, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Happy Birthday With A Cherry On Top

    Like other crafters out there, I’m sure, I have a huge pile of scraps that are more than just left over pieces of cardstock when I cut out a shape from a sheet.  But I have stamped images I decided not to use for one reason or another, punched images that I played with and set aside, and even card bases that I cut knowing they would be used sometime.  Well, I finally decided to do something about these random one-off pieces and started putting together some cards using them – including this card.

    This is a cute set called On a Pedestal that my mom got at one point that I just had to try out.  It is a “2 step stamping” set where you get a stamp of the pedestal and then different items you can layer on top, like a yummy cake with a cherry on top!  I grabbed this image and matted it and then started digging in my scraps for more pieces to go with it.  I had the Pixie Pink Top Note bigshot die cutout and the Happy Birthday stamped image (using the Create a Cupcake stamp set), so I layered them onto the River Rock card base.  When I was done, it still looked a little plain so I decided to try some faux stitching and grabbed my Signo white gel pen and added a little touch to the edge.

    What do you think of how it turned out? :) 

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  • Fishy Best Wishes to You!

    Thursday night I held my first event with my new Bellevue/Redmond Card Makers meetup group.  We had a small group but it was fun to meet some local gals and great to have the forced motivation to get my craft room unpacked!  I’ll admit it, I didn’t get the craft supply boxes opened until that morning. :)  Thankfully, I knew I had extra supplies from the card we did for my last get together in CA, so I didn’t have to do design work, just find and gather the supplies.

    This was the fun fishy punch art card we made:

    I found this card on Lyssa Zwolanek’s blog and loved it so much I had to share it with others. Isn’t he just the CUTEST?!  The fun part is that this card uses some punches in very non-traditional ways.

    1.  For the body, I used an ornament stamp from the Delightful Decorations stamp set and punched it out with the Ornament Punch.

    2.  Then I punched out a flower using the 5 petal flower and trimmed off the petals to use for fins.

    3.  Then I used the 1/2” circle punch and the 3/16” punch on my Crop-a-dile for the bubbles and eye.

    Fun, huh?  Give it a try and you can have your own cutey fish too.  Need one of the punches or supplies?  You can get it now in the online store. 

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    Best Wishes Recipe:
    Stamps:      Delightful Decorations, Sincere Salutations
    Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Bashful Blue (sponging around the bubbles)
    Paper:  Tempting Turquoise CS, Tangerine Tango CS, Bashful Blue CS, Whisper White CS, Basic Black CS
    Accessories:  Ornament punch, 5 Petal flower punch, 1/2” circle punch, Crop-a-dile, Sponge Daubers, Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker

  • Back and Blogging Again!

    Hello again!  Thanks for visiting again after my recent blog hiatus! :)  For those of you that didn’t know, I just finished a big move from California to Washington state.  Its been a crazy couple of weeks for finishing getting ready to go, driving myself, my hubby, my son, and 3 cats in a minivan up to the Seattle area, and then wading through too many boxes!  I still don’t have my craft room really unpacked, but I do have a bunch of projects that I can’t wait to share with you! 

    See I was smart, I finished a bunch of cards before I left and then I kept those projects out and with me so I could share photos when I had a chance post move.  Plus there have been a ton of new promotions and cool things Stampin’ Up! launched at the beginning of the month.  So, I’ll try not to overwhelm you in this post but will share lots of projects and info this week while I finish getting my craft room in working order again.

    So, to start you off, I thought I’d share a card I did for a swap at my team meeting last month.  It uses the new Flower Garden embossing folder from the Summer Mini.

    This is actually a really simple card to make… ok, assuming you count cutting around the embossed flowers simple… but otherwise, really easy to do!  I embossed a piece of Whisper White paper with the Flower Garden embossing folder.  Then I trimmed away the paper on the left side of the flowers.  I used an aqua pen to color in the flowers and then added a bit of bling by using a 2-way glue pen to add adhesive to the center of the flowers and sprinkling with gold glitter.  Attach to Pear Pizzazz paper and a So Saffron base and you have a fun and different card.

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    Thanks for Being a Friend recipe
    Stamps:      Happy Greetings (summer mini)
    Ink:  Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, So Saffron CS
    Accessories:  Flower Garden embossing folder, Aqua pen, 2-way Glue Pen, Galaxy Glitter pack, Big Shot, paper snips

  • I Know It’s Not Christmas but Check Out This Glass Glitter!

    Yes, I know it isn’t Christmastime and I can’t even claim Christmas in July, but I recently ran across this holiday card I made last winter and I JUST HAD to share it with you!

    IMG_2262

    See, I first heard about glass glitter at the Stampin’ Up! convention last summer.  They talked about how it would tarnish and give you this antique feel.  I couldn’t really grasp what they were talking about but I nodded my head and went along with it.  Fast forward to last December – I was trying to come up with a card for one of my card nights and I thought it would be fun to play with this “no-tie” ribbon technique and after stamping the snowman on the white cardstock, I added glass glitter to the Bashful Blue cardstock base and then said “Eww!”.  So I set the pieces aside on a shelf and promptly forgot about them. 🙂

    Fast forward again to a couple weeks ago, and I rediscovered the cardbase with glitter and it looked so different!  Of course now I thought it was cool, so I added some Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait cardstock as mats behind my snowman and colored him in with markers and it was a whole different card.

    To help you see what I mean… here is a picture showing what the Silver Glass Glitter looks like out of the jar next to what it looks like after a few months sitting on a shelf on a card:

    IMG_2264

    And here is a close up of the tarnished silver glitter:

    IMG_2265

    Cool, huh? I’m now going to have to experiment with the different colors because now with the Occasions mini you can get 3 different colors of Glass Glitter:

    Baja Breeze

    Silver

    Champagne

    Baja Breeze Glass Glitter - by Stampin' Up!Silver Glass Glitter - by Stampin' Up!Champagne Glass Glitter - by Stampin' Up!

    So I hope this was useful for you… it was a fun accidental experiment for me. Smile I’d love to hear what you think about the Glass Glitter.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about how it tarnishes.

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  • Mother’s Day Card with Presto Patterns

    If you got my April newsletter recently, you may recognize part of this card!  I wanted to show some of the fun things you can do with Presto Patterns specialty paper.  See, many people either don’t realize what it is (because in the catalog it shows up as white with brown lines to show the design) or you saw the paper but couldn’t imagine what you would want with white paper with white embossing.  So, for those of you who haven’t seen it, this is what the paper looks like:

    But you add a bit of sponging, even using multiple colors and you can turn those plain designs into super pretty pieces for your cards!  I used one piece on the card below to show you what I mean:

    I also had to play with the folded ribbon.  I LOVE seam binding ribbon…have I said that before? Smile  So, I recently got the Crumb Cake color and decided to play with it in this card.  To make my rolls, I used the Snail adhesive and put a little bit down on one side of the ribbon and then folded the ribbon over to make the rounded part.  Then I kept using the Snail on the front of the ribbon so I could fold the ribbon back on itself and so on.  Yeah, I know, that was a terrible explanation.  If anyone is interested in how I did it, let me know and I can take pictures or something to show you better.  Anyway I had to finish it off with one of the rose adornments and a pearl.  Perfect for mom!

    I wanted a sentiment but you can’t stamp directly on the Presto Patterns paper very well (because the ink won’t stick to the embossed pattern) and I didn’t really want a punch out to distract from the pattern, so I stamped on some cardstock vellum and adhered to the front of the card so the pattern could show through.

    I hope you enjoyed this! If you didn’t get my newsletter this month (which had more tips and other samples), you can sign up here and be sure you will get each months project ideas, tips, specials, and sneak peeks. 

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    Happy Mother’s Day Presto Patterns Recipe
    Stamps:      Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink:  Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom
    Paper:  Presto Patterns specialty paper, Botanical Gazette designer paper, Old Olive cardstock, Cardstock Vellum
    Accessories:  Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, yellow sponge, adhesive Pearls, Vintage Flower adornments, Snail

  • Easter Bunny Punch Art Card

    I finally participated in a sketch challenge, only to realize that I totally missed the deadline. :)  Oh, well.  I still LOVE my card I made.  I was so excited to be able to come up with a fun Easter card even though I had pretty much no Easter stamp sets.  What do you think?  Isn’t this bunny adorable?!

    I made this card with my son in mind and had fun pulling papers, stamps, and punches to create an easy yet super fun Easter bunny card.  I had seen different cards out there using the Nursery Suite specialty designer paper for Easter because it has a couple patterns with bunnies on them. Let me tell you, that was one of those smacks to the forehead kind of moments! I was so fixated on this paper being “baby” paper that I didn’t even think about how it is so fabulous for so many other projects.  Just you watch, I’ll be pulling it out a lot more in the future.

    Then I saw this punch art bunny on Jan Tink’s blog and knew I just HAD to make one myself!  So, I combined the paper, this bunny, and the Stamping 411 sketch from last week to make it.  So fun!

    The bunny is made by punching 3 small ovals (one for the feet and two for the ears), one 1-1/4” circle for the body, one 1” circle for the head, and one small flower punch from the Punch Pack for the tail.

    The ribbon is just a piece of Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon (have I told you how much the seam binding ribbon rocks?) that I folded in half and then knotted.

    Make your own Easter bunny!  Get the supplies you need from the online store here, or grab the paper and punches you have and play around!  Have fun!

    Don’t forget!  TODAY is the last day of my Tax-Free weekend! 
    Check it out here.

    Happy Easter Recipe
    Stamps:      Teeny Tiny Wishes, Dot Dot Dot
    Ink:  Crumb Cake classic
    Paper:  Very Vanilla cardstock, Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Early Espresso cardstock, Nursery Suite dsp
    Accessories:  1 1/4” circle punch, 1” circle punch, Small Oval punch, Punch Pack, Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • For All You Do Digital Card

    I ordered My Digital Studio way back when it first came out; see, I was all excited about it after seeing what it could do at Convention and then they went and offered a special promotion for Convention attendees (got to love a deal!).  After I got it home, I found I’ve been using it more for non-traditional purposes like creating my blog header, gift certificates, my watermark for my photos, printing out stamp images for sets I don’t have so I can use them in my paper projects, etc.  Its actually pretty cool the fun things you can do with MDS.

    Anyway, Stampin’ Up! did a design contest a little while back and I managed to miss the deadline by 15 minutes but still submitted anyway.  Of course I didn’t win, but I still really like some of the more traditional items I created for it.  And today I thought I’d share one of them.

    For All You Do Digital Card

    I was playing with opacity of cardstock and drop shadows to try to get the effect of having Vellum in my digital project.  I actually really like how this card turned out and think I may have to CASE it and make it into a physical card as well!

    If you haven’t seen all the cool current and retired products that are now available in digital form, check out this catalog to see the many fun items you can play with in MDS or really any software that can accept an image file.  View the My Digital Studio Catty.

    Have MDS questions?  Shoot me an email and I’ll get them answered!

     

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  • More Ideas with Designer Fabric

    *** Reminder! Today is the LAST day of Sale-a-Bration.  If you haven’t gotten your favorites yet, get shopping!  You have a few hours left to shop online or contact me with your order and get FREE STAMPS or accessories! ***

    Continuing in my sharing of the fabric technique cards we made at a recent class using the Stampin’ Up! designer fabrics, and I thought I would post a couple more today.

    Sure, this is the most basic way to use fabric… but its fun!  And while I grew up with a mom who is a fantastic sewer, I never quite go into it and so didn’t internalize some of the basics.  So, I was excited to be reminded by Bethani about the fact that when you tear a piece of fabric, it will give you a wonderfully straight edge every time.  I’m so used to paper that will has a complete mind of its own when it comes to tearing, so I was thinking I had to use a cutter for every edge.  Sure, the tear gives you a slightly feathered look… but it’s a CUTE feathered look.

    I just LOVE how this turned out!  Most of the card is pretty self-explanatory.  We stamped the flower image on the base cardstock in Versamark, and then did simple sponging and punching for the other elements.  And then we get to the fabric flower…SO FUN!! 

    Ok, to make the flower, we cut out 4 flower shapes – in this case using the Cherry Blossom embosslit.  Once you have those four flower shapes, take a small square cut from a Sticky Pages sheet.  Expose one side of the Sticky Page square and then take one of the fabric flowers and fold it in half.  Place that folded flower on half of your sticky square.  Next, take your 2nd fabric flower, fold it in half, and place it on the sticky square so that it overlaps the the first fabric flower and now forms an “L” shape.  Ok, on to fabric flower 3.  You guessed it!  Fold it in half!  Place it on the sticky square so that it overlaps flower 2 and the folded edge is flush against the folded edge of flower 1.  Finally, grab and fold flower 4.  Place it on the sticky square so that the folded edge is flush with flower 2, its right corner is on top of flower 3 and its left corner is under the right corner of flower 1.  At this point you should have a flower that is stuck to the Sticky Pages square.  I then pierced a hole in the center with the paper piercer and placed an antique brad.  Then remove the remaining backing on the sticky square and place where you want it!  In my card, I layered it on a Rose Red scallop circle that was punched using the 2 3/8” scallop circle.

     

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    LAST DAY of Sale-a-Bration!  Did you get your FREE stamps?

    View the Sale-a-Bration catalog here

     

    You Take the Cake Card:
    Stamps:      Party Hearty
    Ink:  Rose Red, Regal Rose, Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Markers
    Paper:  Wild Wasabi cardstock, Baja Breeze cardstock, Whisper White cardstock
    Accessories:  Candy Lane designer fabric

    Lucky You Card:
    Stamps:      Afterthoughts (hostess set)
    Ink:  Versamark, Chocolate Chip
    Paper:  Old Olive cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Rose Red cardstock
    Accessories:  Sticky Sheets, 2 3/8” Scallop Circle punch, Corner Rounder punch, Sponge daubers, Paper Piercer, Antique Brads, Stampin’ Dimensionals