Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Playing with Designer Fabrics the “No Sew” Way

    When my downline, Pam, suggested having a class focused on using the designer fabrics; I thought it was a great idea.  She was looking for more ideas on how to use all the cute fabrics and I needed the kick in the pants to start cutting more into my fat quarters.  So, I organized a fun afternoon where I shared “no sew” ideas and Bethani, another of my downline, brought an awesome card for everyone to do as well.  Since two of the cards used Sale-a-Bration stamp sets, I thought I’d share them first.

    So Happy For You Butterflies

     

    For this card, we use the Sizzix Multi-Purpose adhesive sheets to put adhesive on the back of the blue and red polka dot fabric (we didn’t put any adhesive on the multi-colored polka dot fabric).  Then we ran both fabric pieces through the Big Shot using the butterfly Bigz die. 

    Tip:  Place the fabric on the adhesive sheet prior to running it through the BigShot.  It not only will make it easier for you to have an exact shape match without having to try to line anything up, but the BigShot will provide all the pressure you need to ensure a no-bubble seal between the fabric and adhesive!

    We adhered the cardstock and then ran a piece of cardstock vellum through a crimper for a fun little touch (ok – and really I somehow completely forgot the vellum at home and so the ladies used whisper white paper and it looked really good too).  I adhered the crimped paper in the center only.  Then used the big butterfly with the adhesive back as the main adhesive as I layered it over the crimped paper. 

    Then we used glue dots in the center of the little butterfly and the button to layer them on top.  By only using adhesive in the middle of the small butterfly and the vellum, it gave the card a little extra dimension and/or movement.  Finish it off with my favorite sentiment set right now – So Happy For You from the Sale-a-Bration catalog

     

    Sweet Summer Flowers

    This is the card that was designed and taught by my downline, Bethani Semple.  Isn’t it so fun looking!  I think she did an awesome job and though I changed my version up a little by wrapping the ribbon around the Old Olive cardstock, I now think her original version that wrapped the Night of Navy taffeta ribbon around the cardbase was better. Smile

    Anyway, for this card, we took a strip of the Sweet Stitches Fabric and twisted it (kind of like how you twisted a towel when you were a kid and were going to “snap” someone in the kitchen).  So, once you had the twisted strip of fabric, we curled that around a small stick – in this case a paper piercer – to form the flower head.  When you were finished coiling, you tucked the end of the ribbon up through the center of your flower.  Then, add some hot glue to a punched out circle of cardstock and squish in your flower head.  Ta da!  Your very own custom accent.  Totally fun, huh? 

    In this case we used the ribbon flower as a head for one of our Sweet Summer flowers, this set is also from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.

    Shop now and get your FREE Sale-a-Bration goodies

    Only 5 days left of Sale-a-Bration!  Did you get your FREE stamps?

    View the Sale-a-Bration catalog here

  • A Spring Color Challenge – Play along and win!

    Yesterday afternoon, I was putting the supplies away from my card class I ran on Thursday and had decided to sit down and make up some of the extra cards.  At one point, I looked up on my table and saw four markers sitting there and all I could think of was “Wow! That looks like it would make an awesome Spring card!”

    I didn’t get a chance to make my card yet because Nicholas (my 1 yr old stamper-to-be) was insisting it was almost dinner time; but I thought this would be a great color challenge to share with you all!  And its been a while since I did some kind of giveaway on my blog, so I thought why not combine the two? Smile So, here is your challenge:

    Spring Color Challenge

    Use the following colors in a project:

    • Marina Mist
    • Old Olive
    • Melon Mambo
    • Daffodil Delight

    You could make a card, a scrapbook page, a 3D item, or anything you feel inspired to do!  My goal is for you to try out a fun new color combination that you might not have tried before.  Color Challenge

    Don’t have one of the exact colors?  That’s ok!  Use something similar for a similar effect.

    Now, on to the fun stuff – a giveaway!

     

    Wanna win some goodies from me?

    **Post your completed project on my Facebook page here – NWStamper Fan Page ; or send me a picture of your project to jennifer@nwstamper.com.  **

    By sharing your awesome ideas, I’ll put your name in a random drawing to win.  What will you win, you ask?  How about a half sheet of Ice Cream Parlor Die Cut Stickers, some Ice Cream Parlor ribbon, and a card kit with supplies to make 4 of these cards from my recent card classes:

    You can even pick the color of buttons for your kit. Smile So, between the coordinating stickers, ribbon, and the cardstock and papers, you will have lots of options for some fun bright and cheery cards.  I’ll post some of the challenge submissions here on my blog as well to help give you some extra ideas along the way too (obviously with full credit to the brilliant creator who made it!).

    I will be drawing a winner at 10pm PST on 3/31, so make sure you get your entries posted by then!

    So, until then I hope you enjoy this color challenge – I know I can’t wait to play along myself!

    Click here to shop online 24/7!

    Only 6 days left of Sale-a-Bration!  Did you get your FREE stamps?

    View the Sale-a-Bration catalog here

  • One Week Left to get Free Sale-a-Bration Goodies Like These!

    Oh my goodness, is it seriously almost April already?  How did that happen? That also means that there are only a handful of days left in Sale-a-Bration!

    This is also usually the time that I get wistful that some awesome stamps and accessories are about to be retired and I use the heck out of them to make up for lost time. And so today is no exception!  Here are two cards that I made for a card night I’m running today.  Both use the Ice Cream Parlor designer paper (that comes with the Quick Accent die cut stickers). 

    This first card here uses the coordinating Ice Cream Parlor buttons – seriously how stinkin’ cute are they?  It is taking all of my willpower not to hoard them!  Just breathe and say “they will lead a happier life when they are on a card being given to someone instead of on a shelf in a bag”.   I also used the So Happy For You stamp set…my absolute favorite from Sale-a-Bration this year.  I know this set won’t be collecting dust in my house!  Finally, though you can’t see it, we’ll be spraying Smooch Spritz in Gold Glow on the Daffodil Delight cardstock for an extra bit of fun shimmery shine.

     

    Next up, we have another example showcasing the designer paper but this time, instead of using the buttons, we are using the ribbon that comes with the buttons – the Ice Cream Parlor ribbon.  Its so bright and cheery and the perfect size to use for tons of projects.  Well, in this case, I wanted to play with the ticket corner punch and brads around the main image (the flower pot from the hostess set – A Slice of Life).  Oh yeah, and we’re going to be doing some paper piecing to get the flower pot out of the matching designer paper.  So, here ya go:

    I also decided to go outside of my comfort zone and had NO sentiment on the front of the card. I don’t know why its seems like you must have a sentiment on the front of the card, but I’m trying to convince myself you don’t.  I’d love to here what you all think!

    So, don’t miss out on your chance to get these cutie patootie buttons and ribbon pack, or the designer paper and quick accent pack; either one for FREE with your $50.  Or get both with a $100 order. Only 8 days left….and counting!

     

    Shop now and get your FREE Sale-a-Bration goodies

     

    Birthday Wishes Recipe:
    Stamps:      So Happy For You (SAB)
    Ink:  Peach Parfait marker, Marina Mist marker
    Paper:  Whisper White cardstock, Daffodil Delight cardstock, Ice Cream Parlor designer paper (SAB)
    Accessories:  Smooch Spritz – Gold Glow, Ice Cream Parlor buttons (SAB), Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Mini Glue Dots

    Flower Pot Sale-a-Bration Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      A Slice of Life
    Ink:  Old Olive, Daffodil Delight marker, Melon Mambo marker, Old Olive marker
    Paper:  Old Olive CS, Whisper White CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Ice Cream Parlor designer paper (SAB)
    Accessories:  Ticket Corner Punch, Silver Brads, Ice Cream Parlor ribbon (SAB), Stampin’ Dimensionals, Paper Snips

  • Seeing Stars Graduation Card

    I know it is a little early to be thinking about school graduations.  Though now that I think about it, I graduated college during the month of March, so I guess it might not be too early for some.  Anyways, I was asked to design a graduation card for a stamp camp last week and was posed the additional challenge that guests at the camp would be making cards for kids attending one of two schools.  So, that meant an unknown number of people would want a card in Navy and Orange while some other unknown amount of people would want Navy and Yellow!

    Well, never one to back down from a challenge, I put my thinking cap on and designed a card that was based around the common Navy theme and then allowed the creator to switch out ink colors and punch outs in the appropriate accent color.  And it turned out even better than I expected. Smile

    The star pattern on the Whisper White paper was hand stamped using the Seeing Stars stamp set; and so it was different on every card – which I loved.  We used Presto Patterns designer paper for the sponged paper on the bottom half of the card (and if you haven’t seen Presto Patterns yet, it is this super cool paper that is white with white glossy embossing, which means that you can spray/sponge/brayer whatever color you want on top and create your own custom paper!)

    Then folks punched out their sentiment and coordinating shapes to finish it off.  Every card was totally different but that was perfect!  This way, even if two friends were given this card, they would still have their own personal and unique card.  And it was fun to make to boot!

    I hope you enjoyed this early graduation idea and can see even more fun ways to tweak this design for Birthdays, Holidays, and more!

    NWStamper Signature

    Click here to shop online 24/7!

    Happy Graduation Card Recipe:
    Stamps:     Teeny Tiny Wishes, Seeing Stars
    Ink: Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight
    Paper: Crumb Cake CS, Whisper White CS, Night of Navy CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Presto Patterns designer series paper
    Accessories: Night of Navy 1/4” Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Oval Punch, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Watercoloring Techniques: Watercolor Pencils

    Alright, today is the last day of my Watercolor Technique card shares.  At least for now.  But with this last card,  I wanted to show you the 5th technique we are doing in my watercolor technique class.  So without further ado:

    Watercoloring with Watercolor Pencils

    You may think, “yeah, yeah, I know what it is like to color in an image with colored pencils. I did that back in school.”  But have you seen the magic that is watercolored pencils? Smile The cool thing about watercolor pencils is that you have the control to color in fine details and spaces because you have the fine tip of the pencil.  And coloring with colored pencils is very pretty.  But you are left with pencil stroke marks that maybe you would rather not have.  Simply wave your magic wand (aka Blender pen or Aqua pen) over the places where you colored with the pencil and voila!  You get this beautiful, smooth watercolored look.  Here is an example… though I’m having the hardest time taking a good picture to really show you what I mean.  But in the image below, the flowers are colored using the same colored pencils and amount of coloring.  But the one on the right has been gone over with a blender pen.  You can at least see that the color gets more saturated and maybe see that it has a smoother look.

    That said, here is the sample for the card we are making in the class:

    Like I said, the pencils are great for detail work.  Especially things like the stamp border and the tiny flower bud.

    This technique is so pretty and so easy at the same time.  It was also probably the favorite the last time I ran this class.

    Well, I hope you enjoyed checking out some of the different ways to add watercoloring looks to your cards.  This is a good introduction to just the surface of what you can do and I’d love to hear what your favorite techniques are as well!  Leave a comment and let me know how you like to do watercoloring.

    Interested in trying these cards & techniques out yourself?

    In Person
    Do to multiple requests, I’m running my class again on March 28th in the Mountain View, CA area.  I’d love to have you join us. Check out the full details on my meetup site.

    Online
    Or, if you are not local, purchase the supplies for these techniques from my online store and send me an email.  I’ll send you written tutorial instructions for these cards for FREE!  Not sure what you need, email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll send you a basic supply list and you can see what you have in your stash and what you would still need.

  • Watercoloring Techniques: Chalks and Markers

    If you saw my last post, I started sharing some of the cards we are doing in my watercolor technique class (if you haven’t seen it, check it out here).  These cards are meant as a way to introduce you to some of the different ways you can play with watercolor styles.  So, last time was Inks and Watercolor Crayons; and so today is Chalks/Pastels and Markers.  If you have any questions, leave me a comment or send me a note and I’d be happy to help you out.

    Watercoloring with Chalks

    Stampin’ Pastels are the chalks offered by Stampin’ Up! and they used to come by default in your Stampin’ Up! starter kit.  So, I had a big set for ages but kept forgetting to pull it out.  But that is when a class like this is great, it reminded me of the different ways you can use your chalks, including watercoloring.  In this example, we did one of the easiest methods which is just to pick up the chalk using a blender pen and then coloring your image.  The nice thing with this method is that you can get a rich color without it being as streaky or dark like you might with a marker.  The difference is that you are essentially picking up the physical chalk with the pen and smoothing that out on your image as opposed to just having some of the ink pigment soaking into the tip of your pen like when you are using inks.

    **If you are interested in chalks, there is a set in the Clearance Rack for a steal!  Its while supplies last so snag it while you can! **

    This is only one of the ways to use chalks.  I have a blog post on other technique ideas for using your Stampin’ Pastels – check out more Pastel Techniques here.

    Watercoloring with Markers

    So, this is a technique I LOVE because it is sooo easy and turns out beautifully.  For this technique, all you are doing is using the Stampin’ Write markers to outline a stamped line art image.  Then pull the color from the outline to wherever you want there to be color fill.  So, in the image below, I outlined the flower head in Rich Razzleberry marker and then used a blender pen to pull the Razzleberry color to fill out the petals.  You want to use the brush head of the marker when drawing your outline so there is enough ink on the paper to blend around.  Also, this technique really works well if your marker is a dye based ink.

    You can also use your markers to do watercoloring in other ways including using the marker to color onto a clear block, ink pad lid, etc and then picking up the color with your blender pen.  The one thing you do not want to do is to try to pick up the color off the tip of the marker using your blender pen.  If you do this, you may start diluting the color in your marker because you can have some of the water or alcohol base in your blender pen soak into the marker tip when you are trying to pull off color, which is no good.

    Card 5
    I’ll be back to post the last card at the end of the week.  Hope you stop back by to see!

    Interested in trying these cards & techniques out yourself?

    In Person
    Do to multiple requests, I’m running my class again on March 28th in the Mountain View, CA area.  I’d love to have you join us. Check out the full details on my meetup site.

    Online
    Or, if you are not local, purchase the supplies for these techniques from my online store and send me an email.  I’ll send you written tutorial instructions for these cards for FREE!  Not sure what you need, email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll send you a basic supply list and you can see what you have in your stash and what you would still need.

  • Watercoloring Techniques: Inks and Watercolor Crayons

    Each month I run at least one technique class to give folks a chance to try something different or learn new ways to use something they might already have.  Well, a recently ran my popular watercoloring technique night during which we made 5 cards, each using a different method for watercoloring.  It was so much fun to create the cards and even more fun to see the different ways people used the techniques on their cards.  This week, I thought I would share some of the cards we did at this class.

    Watercoloring with Inks

    This is your basic watercoloring technique that most people, if they have only done watercoloring one way with stamping, it is this method.  To do this technique, you want to squeeze your ink pad so that some of the ink gets deposited onto the inside of the lid of your stamp pad.  Once you open your ink pad, you will see the ink deposited on the lid and you can lift it off with a blender pen or aqua pen.  Then use your pen like it was a marker to color your card.  In this case, we did a sweet Build-a-Bear cheery card.

    Watercoloring with Watercolor Crayons

    Next we did a card using the hostess set – Because I Care and the Watercolor Crayons.  Now, this is a medium that I often completely forget about but there is so many cool things you can do with watercolor crayons.  I won’t go into all of them today because that would make this post way to long but if there is interest, I can highlight them another day.

    Anyway, for this card we did a technique I haven’t done in a long time.  We used the crayons to color directly onto the stamp rubber – placing all of our colors on the image at the same time.  Then you spritz your rubber with water and stamp.  The water you spray on the rubber interacts with the wax of the watercolor crayons to create the more classic watercolor look.

    I just had to show you too the other thing we did with the card that was just for fun and I guess thinking back on it now, was a theme with this card: spritzing things.

    We used the gold Smooch Spritz to add gold shimmer to the background So Saffron paper.  Its fairly tone on tone but is sooo pretty in person.  Here is an attempt at a photo to show you what I mean.

    Cards 3-5
    Check back later this week as I post the other cards we created in this class.

     

    Interested in trying these cards & techniques out yourself?

    In Person
    Do to multiple requests, I’m running my class again on March 28th in the Mountain View, CA area.  I’d love to have you join us. Check out the full details on my meetup site.

    Online
    Or, if you are not local, purchase the supplies for these techniques from my online store and send me an email.  I’ll send you written tutorial instructions for these cards for FREE!  Not sure what you need, email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll send you a basic supply list and you can see what you have in your stash and what you would still need.

  • Fun Birthday Wishes Card

    While working on the sample for my upcoming Birthday Card Kit and Organizer class, I was trimming pieces from the cheerful Celebrations designer series paper.  After one of my cuts, I looked at the leftover scrap and thought it was the coolest accidental trimming I had ever done and I just had to use it in a card.  That scrap was the long skinny piece in this card with the colored circles making an awesome scallop edge down the paper.  How fun is that?

    I used the Party Hearty stamp set and the Sale-a-Bration set So Happy For You for the sentiments but mostly let the paper do the cheering in this card.   This isn’t one of the cards from my class but it definitely was inspired from some of the cards we’ll be making. 🙂

    Want to make some birthday cards with me?  I’d love to have you join us for the Birthday Card Kit and Organizer class.  If you aren’t in the area, I will also be offering this as a class by mail.  Email me for more details or to reserve your kit!

    Birthday Wishes Recipe:
    Stamps:     So Happy For You (SAB), Party Hearty
    Ink: Pacific Point, Real Red
    Paper: Bashful Blue CS, Pacific Point CS, Whisper White CS, Certainly Celery CS, Old Olive CS, Real Red CS, Celebrations DSP
    Accessories: Corner Rounder punch, 3/4″ Circle punch, 1 1/4″ circle punch

  • Look Who’s Turning Birthday Cards

    Do you have a stamp set that you love everytime you look at it but never quite pull the trigger to order it?  Well, Look Who’s Turning is that stamp set for me.  From the first time I saw it, I LOVED it.  I thought the animals are so stinking cute, I love the font, and I can totally see uses for cards and scrapbooking.  However, when I would go to order, I always said “I’ll get it next time”.  You see, I’m trying to be good… but after playing with this set last week, I think I only love it more. 🙂

    While I was visiting my mom, she ran a “Sketches and Scraps” event.  It was a cool idea where she provided a couple of sketches and piles of cardstock and patterned paper scraps and let everyone loose to create as many cards as they wanted.  It was so much fun and if you want to see both sketches and the cards everyone made, you can check it out on her blog here.

    Well, this was one of the sketches she provided for the event and I grabbed Look Who’s Turning stamp set to play with for one of my cards.  As you can see, sketches are awesome for giving you a starting point but just because the sketch has a bow, why not change it up and make it a button instead?

    Sketch created by Kathy Thisted

    And then, after making that card, I just had to keep playing with the stamp set and so I pulled out my Ice Cream Parlor Designer Paper and Quick Accents from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and started putting together a card that I could use for my son’s birthday (which isn’t until December but if I can still find this card then, it will be perfect!)

    If you view a bigger version of the picture, you’ll see that I hand cut both the hippo and the number 2, but I think it was totally worth it.  I also started sponging the edge of almost all of my layers thanks to watching my mom sponge pretty much everything on all of her cards.  It looked cute on her stuff and so it rubbed off on me… ha ha… rubbed off, get it…sponging, rub off… ok, nevermind. 🙂   Anyway, I hope you enjoy these card ideas and the sketch from Kathy.  I’d love to hear what you think of them.

    Until next time!

    Look Who’s Turning 2 Recipe:
    Stamps:     Look Who’s Turning
    Ink: Chocolate Chip, Peach Parfait
    Paper: Marina Mist CS, Whisper White CS, Peach Parfait CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Ice Cream Parlor Designer Paper
    Accessories: Ice Cream Parlor Quick Accents, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

     

  • Happy Birthday to Mom!

    I had to put up a post today because it is a special day, it’s my mom’s birthday!

    I just got back from a weeklong visit with her and my Dad, which was a lot of fun.  Nicholas got his first walk in snow and my mom got a ton of time to play grandma (which since we currently live two states apart, that is a valuable commodity).  And can you tell he loves being with his Grandma too?

    IMG_2215

    My mom is a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and super crafter (you should see some of her cross-stich pieces and quilts!)  So, we spent the last week crafting but I didn’t want to make a card for her when she was sitting across the table from me, so I put together something after I got home with her in mind.  Its not your typical card layout but I just had too much to say. Smile

    Want to share the birthday love? Stop by my mom’s blog and wish her a happy birthday.  She has no idea I’m posting this but I know it would bring a smile to her face.

    Thanks for sharing my cheer and stopping by today!

    Wonderful Mother Recipe:
    Stamps:     Wonderful Favorites, Baroque Motifs, Beary Best Friends
    Ink: Soft Suede, Bravo Burgundy, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy
    Paper: Soft Suede CS, Groovy Guava CS, Crumb Cake CS, Rich Razzleberry CS, Barely Banana CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories: Lattice Embossing Folder, Bright Delights rub-ons, Scallop Oval punch, Small Oval punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Neutrals buttons (retired), Pretty in Pink corduroy buttons, gold Smooch spritz, Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Sometimes the Card Wins

    If you have been to any of my classes or events, you’ve probably heard me say “its not a mess up, its just an opportunity for embellishment!”  And I really do believe that when you do something and say “oops!” you can usually tweak your card design or add an embellishment and you will still end up with an awesome card.  However, this week I had the card that finally beat me. 🙂

    I was designing a card for my meet & greet with my local meetup group and had an idea to use sponging and the Sale-a-Bration stamp set Bliss.  I did some masking of the center of the card, and when I looked at it, I decided I needed to draw an outline of the masked area to help it stand out.  Unfortunately, I drew my rectangle lopsided, so I thought, I’ll just rotate my white layer and it will be artsy.  But that looked wierd, so I thought I needed to do more to make the center stand out and look good, so I did clear embossing over the flourish.  It was nice, but not enough.  So I added ribbon and then I added piercing along the bottom of the center area.  In the end I just gave up and decided to call it a loss.  Oh, and di I mention that this was supposed to be a card showing how you could do something simple with little to no layers? 🙂

    But, I thought the base idea was good, so I tried again, pulling out some of my favorite elements of the first card and really like how the second card turned out. 

    This is the card we will be making on Saturday and it uses sponging with sponges and with sponge daubers, paper piercing with the mat pack, and then coloring ribbon (its the Organza ribbon that is originally white!) with markers.  I can’t wait!

    And don’t forget, this is the last few weeks to earn this stamp set – Bliss – free with any $50 order.

    Stop by the online store and grab some of your favorites and enjoy your Sale-a-Bration freebies!

    Bliss Card Recipe:
    Stamps:     Bliss (Sale-a-Bration)
    Ink: So Saffron, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Bravo Burgundy
    Paper: Whisper White CS
    Accessories: Whisper White Organza ribbon, Bravo Burgundy Marker, Paper Piercing tool, Mat Pack, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Punch Potpourri Sweet and Simple Card

    Today I thought I would do a quick card share to show an easy and fun card I made for my friend and downline.  I’ll admit I was in the middle of creating some Valentine’s Day cards when I created it so I think it came out a bit “love-y” due to the colors I used; but I still like it anyway. :)  How can you go wrong with pearls and seam binding ribbon! 

    This card started with the idea of tearing a piece of cardstock and laying it over a stamped image (or set of images – in this case the flower stamp from Punch Potpourri that is a perfect match for the Boho Blossoms punch).  Then I had to add some Rose Red seam binding ribbon because, well, I just love the Stampin’ Up! seam binding ribbon.  I think it is my second favorite ribbon behind the satin ribbon.  Finally, I needed an excuse to play with my new Full Heart punch and so the rest just came together from there.  I stamped in Early Espresso ink and then used Stampin’ Write markers to color in the flowers on the heart image.

    Tip –  I’ve had some folks ask me recently if there is a specific way they should tear their cardstock for projects like this with a rough edge.  In general, there is no wrong way to tear your cardstock, however you can influence the final effect you get depending on how you tear.  Plus, because Stampin’ Up! cardstock has color all the way through the paper (as opposed to some papers out there that are only colored on the surface and have a white or other colored core), the cardstock is very forgiving when you try to do a card like this. 

    If you want an edge that is more roughed up and shows part of the core – like the card above – I recommend holding the paper in one hand and with your second hand, tear down and in towards the hand holding the paper.  That means you are sort of tearing at an angle.  Think of it like you are holding the paper facing you and you are tearing the paper towards your shoulder.

    If you want and edge that is torn but very clean and minimal distressing, I recommend holding the paper in one hand and with your second hand, tear straight down.  This means you are tearing basically perpendicular to the paper, like you are just trying to rip a piece of paper in half.  In this case, think of it like you are holding the paper facing you and you are tearing the paper straight towards your chest.

    Try it out and you’ll see that you get two pretty different looks.

    Now is the perfect time to host a card night with your friends.  Not only can you get this stamp set – Punch Potpourri – for FREE but everyone will get great deals and opportunities to receive free stamp sets as part of Sale-a-Bration.  I have a couple dates left and would love to come show you and your friends some fun new ideas for your creative projects!  Email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com to reserve your date!

    Punch Potpourri For You Recipe:
    Stamps:      Punch Potpourri (hostess set)
    Ink:  Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette
    Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
    Accessories:  Full Heart Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Pink Pirouette marker, Certainly Celery marker, Adhesive backed Pearls, Rose Red Seam Binding Ribbon