Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Ice Cream Parlor Mojo Monday Card

    Today is the story of why card making when very tired can sometimes yield not your intended results. 🙂  I am off visiting my parents in northern Washington for the week and yesterday was the day Nicholas (my son) and I got up at the very early hour of 5am to head to the airport and begin our day of flights and layovers to Bellingham.  And of course the first night in town, I’m always way too busy chatting and crafting with my mom to go to bed early.  So, today I was paying for it by being more groggy than usual when we set out to do some crafting after dinner.

    I loved this sketch that I was seeing around the internet a couple weeks back and when I saw my mom had printed out a sample using this sketch, I decided that would be a good project for me to work on tonight. 

    I grabbed my Ice Cream Parlor designer paper and Quick Accent sheets from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and some random pieces of cardstock I had packed with me and started almost random layering combinations.  I quickly settled on the color scheme of Marina Mist, Peach Parfait,Very Vanilla, and Cajun Craze,  Ok, quick side note – am I the only one who thought Cajun Craze was the ugliest color when it first came out and then after using it a couple times think it is an awesome color?  It is so perfect for fall cards and masculine cards.  Anyway….

    This is what I came up with in the end:

    Mojo ThanksCheck out this cute accent – like an epoxy sticker – by covering your image with a decent amount of Crystal Effects.

    IMG_2167 

    And this whole card would have been awesome except what is wrong with this picture?

    Wrong Fold Thanks Mojo Yes, I was very tired.  Enough so that I didn’t even pay attention to the fold of my card and proceeded to be focused on the little details and never looked back on the bigger picture pieces. 🙂  I almost tried creation some special type of card that would make this seem intentional, but as I said before I was tired… So instead, we did the traditional cut off the face of the card and layer it on a new card base.  That gave me the final version:

    Thanks Mojo Final

    I personally still like it better with Cajun Craze as the base, but I think the end result is still cute too. 🙂  What do you think?  Which do you like better?

    Ice Cream Parlor Mojo Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Awash with Flowers, So Happy for You (SAB set)
    Ink:  Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Old Olive
    Paper:  Ice Cream Parlor DSP, Marina Mist CS, Very Vanilla CS, Cajun Craze CS, Early Espresso CS
    Accessories:  Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Marina Mist 1/8” Taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects.

  • Plane and Simple Father’s Day Card

    I’m on a yahoo group called Late Night Stampers and each week they post a challenge for you to complete that week.  This week the challenge was to create a masculine card.  Well, I often fall back on Lovely as a Tree as a “masculine” set since I don’t have many stamps that are explicitly for the guys.  But then I thought of the Plane and Simple stamp set that just came out in the Occasions Mini. 

    Plane & Simple Stamp Set - by Stampin' Up!

    The style of this set is this cool mix of aged and masculine without the need for overt testosterone (like many of the grilling or motercycle stamps – which are not bad images, just less of my style).  Plus add in that my hubby and I are both pilots and I come from a family of pilots going back to my grandparents – and so you know I’m going to be a sucker for stamp sets that have airplanes in them. 🙂

    Anyway, enough about me…. how about a card? 

    I think my favorite thing about this card is the popped up airplane on the Whisper White cardstock that has been sponged with Baja Breeze ink so that it looks like it is in the clouds.  It was totally worth the cutting it in my opinion. :)  And the cutting wasn’t really as bad as you might think either.  You just want to make sure you have a pair of scissors with smaller blades so it is easy to manuever (some kind of paper snips like this).

     

    Check out this stamp set and the rest of the great sets from the Occasion Mini online here.

     

    Plane and Simple Father’s Day Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Plane and Simple
    Ink:  Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede
    Paper:  Baja Breeze CS, Whisper White CS, Soft Suede CS, Night of Navy CS
    Accessories:  Sponge, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Paper Snips

  • Get Inspired With This Great Video

    So, today was going to be a post sharing a project I did recently; but then Stampin’ Up! released a video by Shelli Gardner talking about creativity and Stampin’ Up! and almost the entire video is the camera panning around some AMAZING sample rooms.  Yes, rooms! 

    See, in the home office, they have this area that is kind of like a museum where they have set up different spaces like rooms in a house.  Then, they have decorated the walls, the furniture, the surfaces, etc with décor and projects made using Stampin’ Up! materials.  So, there will be Décor Elements (vinyl) on the walls and cards on the desk.  Wall hangings and organization containers…you name it, they probably have it and have it looking like the showroom in a Pottery Barn type catalog.

    When I was in town for convention a couple years ago, I got to wander through and it was awesome!  Here is are a couple pictures of what it looked like at the time:

    023032

    As you can see, lots of inspiration to be found!  So, after watching this video from Shelli, I found even more inspiration and I knew I had to share it with you.

      I’m going to watch it again and write down more things to try.  First up is the pinwheel card that I really want to make.  So, check it out and let me know what projects and ideas caught your eye. 

     

  • Happy Valentine’s Day To You!

    I’m a little late in posting today, but I wanted to be sure I wished all of you a very happy Valentine’s day!  I created this card specifically for sharing today.  Stampin’ Up! and the crafting I’ve done since I was introduced to Stampin’ Up! has introduced me to my second family of amazingly creative and supportive crafters. 

    So, thank you for visiting my blog and for all the wonderful comments and support you share with me.  I hope you have a great day with friends and family!  Sending hugs your way!

    Fun Fact about this card:  This card started as an “oopsie” card from one of my past workshops.  Someone tried stamping on the pink base and it looks like they later accidentally dropped an ink pad on the card as well.  Oops!  But I thought the Chocolate Chip strip and embossed dots layer could be used for another card and when I saw this Ice Cream Parlor DSP, I thought they just worked. 
    And see, if I hadn’t have told you, you never would have known. Smile 

    Happy Valentine’s Day!

    Hugs And Kisses Valentine Recipe:
    Stamps:      Love You Much
    Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette
    Paper:  Chocolate Chip CS, Pink Pirouette CS, Whisper White CS, Ice Cream Parlor DSP (sale-a-bration item)
    Accessories:  Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Big Shot, Melon Mambo grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Circle punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • February Make-and-Take: A Sale-a-Bration Thanks

    Last night was my February meet & greet with my local Bay Area Card Makers meetup group.  We had a fun night of socializing and, of course, card making!  I always bring a free project for everyone to make, and after receiving some new Sale-a-Bration items recently, I knew I wanted to get those out to play.  So, I grabbed the new So Happy For You stamp set and the Ice Cream Parlor ribbon (check them out in the 2011 SAB catalog) and out popped this card: 

    I had seen a card made by AlyStamps and loved how the thanks from the So Happy For You stamp layered using the small oval and large oval punches.  I’ve also been obsessed with spectrum style cards right now, so I put them together.  The card is actually very fast to put together because the squares of cardstock are punched out using the 1-1/4” square punch.  We then stamped those squares using Versamark ink, so we could get the tone-on-tone look without having to switch back and forth between different ink pads.  So the only think you really have to cut is the base cardstock and the Early Espresso mat for the spectrum which I cut at 5-1/8” x 1-3/8”. 

    I love this stamp set, and will probably be playing with it a lot more in the future and the ribbon is super fun too (though I’m just dying over the buttons! love them!).  Get either set FREE with a $50 order, or get both with a $100 order!  Don’t you just love Sale-a-Bration time?

    Check out the online store and pick your free goodies!

    SAB Thanks Recipe:
    Stamps:      So Happy For You
    Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso
    Paper:  Crumb Cake CS, Old Olive CS, Melon Mambo CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Pacific Point CS, Whisper White CS, Early Espresso CS
    Accessories:  Ice Cream Parlor ribbon, 1-1/4” square punch, small oval punch, large oval punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • A Non-Traditional Valentine using Bliss

    I’m excited to be headed out this evening to meet up with a bunch of ladies and show them these Valentine and Love themed cards.  As I’ve been sharing this week, I’ve tried to bring a mix of your traditional Red/Pink love-based Valentine’s and some sweet sentiment but more subtle Valentine’s.  This is the last card we will be making and as you can see, it falls in to the latter category:

    I tried to keep this version reasonably simple so that it (and the other 3 cards) could be completed in 1 – 1.5 hrs.  There are fun details that are hard to see in this picture like both the Whisper White piece and the cut out flower are popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.  And I kind of want to make this card again only this time spritzing the Crumb Cake base with my new gold Smooch Spritz.  Wouldn’t that be sooo pretty?  Oooh, and embossing the Bliss sentiment with clear embossing powder!! Oh yeah, I’m totally making another version of this card. 🙂

    Tip: When tying knots in ribbons on cards, I like to cut one length of ribbon that I only apply adhesive to the ends.  I wrap that around my piece of paper (in this case Concord Crush) so that it is tight to my paper.  Then, take a second piece of ribbon and slide it under your first piece and tie your knot from there.  That ensures your ribbon is on your card tightly and you get the added bonus of being able to slide your knot up and down the ribbon until you decide it is where you like it!

    Anyway, all of the images are from the new Sale-a-Bration stamp set – Bliss which you can get free with any $50 order or by hosting a party with you and your friends (check it out on page 10 of the SAB catalog) . 

    Shop the online store now to earn your free stamp set!

    Concord Crush Bliss Valentine recipe:
    Stamps:      Bliss
    Ink:  Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight
    Paper:  Crumb Cake CS, Concord Crush CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Daffodil Delight 1/8” taffeta ribbon, Adhesive back Pearls, Corner Rounder punch, Paper Snips, Snail

  • Quick and Easy Glimmer Hearts Valentine

    If you’ve read my newsletter, you got to hear me go on about how I love the new Glimmer paper and how I have all my fingers and toes crossed that we will see more of this in more colors!  Its true, I love this stuff!  So, I had to share it with others in my workshops so they could see it too.  I’ve seen so many cute projects with this paper but one of the techniques I think is so fun is this peek-a-boo design. 

    In this card, I cut a strip of the Real Red Glimmer paper at 1-1/4” x 3” and then cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock at 3/4” x 3”.  I then punched out three hearts from the Whisper White paper and then adhered it to my strip of Glimmer paper.  I free hand punched the hearts by punching the center heart first.  Then I lined up my punch along each short edge of the white strip and tried to horizontally align the hearts.  Add some Blushing Bride designer paper and a Basic Grey mat for a fun and quick card:

    Tip:  Due to the texture of the Glimmer Paper, glue stick does not hold very well to it.  So, for a project like this, I would use your tape runner or probably more easy would be a liquid glue like the Multipurpose Adhesive.  These stronger adhesives will hold up much better long term.

    Glimmer Hearts Valentine Recipe:
    Stamps:      Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink:  Real Red Classic
    Paper:  Real Red CS, Basic Grey CS, Whisper White CS, Real Red Glimmer Paper, Blushing Bride DSP (Hostess set)
    Accessories:  Small Heart Punch, Multipurpose Adhesive

    Want to make this card yourself?  Order the supplies online here!

  • Wonderful Friend Vintage Card

    Today I thought I’d share another card I came up with while playing with ideas for the Valentine’s workshop.  I was figuring that not everyone would need four red and pink cards and so I was trying to come up with some more non-traditional cards.  That way they had something for a friend or husband that could be used for Valentine’s or really any time of the year.  In this case, I used one of my new favorite stamp sets – Wonderful Favorites.  I even won this stamp set which is even cooler!  Any who….this was my attempt at more neutral:

    Don’t you just love how, when you spread the tines of the Vintage Trinkets brad, it looks like leaves on the flower!  I kept the card simple with the muted colors and let the designer paper and embellishments do the work.  The only other extra touch I added was to sponge Soft Suede ink along the long edge of the Very Vanilla/Elegant Soiree paper.

    What do you think?  Would this work for a non-traditional Valentine?

    Wonderful Friend Recipe:
    Stamps:     Wonderful Favorites
    Ink: Soft Suede Classic
    Paper: River Rock CS, Perfect Plum CS, Very Vanilla CS, Elegant Soiree DSP
    Accessories: Punch Pack, Vintage Trinkets, Victoria Crochet Ribbon, Sponge Dauber, Mini Glue Dots

  • Love You Much Valentine

    I’m so excited to be doing a Valentine’s themed workshop next week and so I’ve been busy getting the cards designed and ready to go.  I knew when we started talking Valentine’s Day, that I wanted to use this stamp set, Love You Much.  So, this is one of the first cards I created for the event.

    Because there is one stamp that stamps the three different hearts at the same time and the Heart to Heart punch will punch all three out at the same time, this card can come together pretty quickly.

    Heart-To-Heart Punch - by Stampin' Up!  image

    I stamped the Love You Much image in Cherry Cobbler and then went over the stem in Old Olive using a marker and then filled in the word Love with Pink Pirouette.  To add a little extra fun texture, I also cut an extra piece of Pink Pirouette CS and ran it through the BigShot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  Then I just glued it straight onto the card base.  Kind of fun, no?

    I hope folks at the workshop have a lot of fun with this card. Smile  If you are in the Bay Area and would like to make this card yourself, I’d love to show you and your friends during your own free workshop!  Email me a jennifer@nwstamper.com to save your date.

    Love You Much Valentine Recipe:
    Stamps:      Love You Much
    Ink:  Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink pad, Whisper White Craft Ink pad, Pink Pirouette marker, Old Olive marker, Cherry Cobbler marker
    Paper:  Pink Pirouette CS, Cherry Cobbler, CS, Chocolate Chip CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, BigShot, Heart to Heart punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Ice Cream Parlor Quick Accents Card and Card Purse

    In a flurry of excitement, Sale-a-Bration has officially begun!  Of course you can earn free stamps, but I love that you get options for other items like the Ice Cream Parlor Designer Paper and Quick Accents.  I had gotten this paper pack during the preorder and the more I use it, the more I’ve now decided that I NEED the matching Ice Cream Parlor buttons and ribbon pack!

    In the meantime, I thought I’d share a couple projects I’ve made using this paper and cardstock stickers.  First up, a super quick birthday card:

    For this card, the striped designer paper, the Daffodil Delight scalloped border cardstock sticker, and the Peach Parfeit designer paper – all come as part of the Ice Cream Parlor DSP And Quick Accents Sale-a-Bration pack.  I just added some Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, cardstock, and a staple to finish out the card.  Seriously, this is a 5 minute card!

    Next, I created a purse sized to hold a set of standard 4.25” x 5.5” cards and matching envelopes:

    If you are on my mailing list, you should have received the full tutorial for this purse in your inbox yesterday.  If you didn’t, let me know!

    Not on my mailing list yet? Sign up here.  I’ll even resend the copy of my email with this tutorial in it to folks who sign up in the next couple of days.

    Over the next week I’ll be sharing more Sale-a-Bration creations, so I hope you stop by again and check them out!  Until then, happy stamping!

    Make a Wish card recipe:
    Stamps:     Birthday Bliss
    Ink: Early Espresso Classic Ink, Marina Mist Classic Ink, Daffodil Delight Classic Ink
    Paper: Pacific Point CS, Whisper White CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Ice Cream Parlor DSP
    Accessories: Ice Cream Parlor Quick Accents, Early Espresso 1/8” taffeta ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Small Tag punch, Large Tag punch, Blender Pen, Crystal Effects, stapler

    Wonderful Friend card purse recipe:
    Stamps:     Wonderful Favorites
    Ink: Marina Mist Classic Ink, Early Espresso Classic Ink
    Paper: Marina Mist CS, Melon Mambo CS, Whisper White CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Ice Cream Parlor DSP
    Accessories: Ice Cream Parlor DSP, Ticket Corner Punch, Subtles Family brads, Round Tab punch, Paper Piercing tool, Mat Pack, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Bone Folder

  • Last Chance for Filled With Love!

    filled with love pic

    That’s right! Today is the last day the Filled With Love stamp set and bundle will be available! So, if you were thinking of getting this bundle but hadn’t done it yet; don’t miss your chance. You can order now in the online store and until 11:59pm MST at which time it sails off to retirement.

    However, in the meantime I wanted to share with you some cards I made last night using Filled With Love. 

    This was the first card I made:

    I had the idea of stamping the row of heart flowers along the bottom and then embossing while watching tv with the hubby.  Unfortunately, that is where my inspiration seemed to stop.  So, I got through the stamping and embossing, added the ribbon, and then didn’t know what to do.  I put together the heart for the sentiment and added it; but I’m still not totally convinced.

    While trying to create the sentiment for that last card, I came up with the heart for this next card.  I didn’t like it on the first card, so I pulled it off and decided to create a card just for this sentiment.  And so I created this:

    I love the fact that I used “Christmas” paper – the Deck The Halls pack – for this Valentine’s Day card.  I also pulled out my Vintage Trinkets for the first time as well (the tiny safety pin).  It looks kind of like an arrow through the little heart don’t you think?

    Finally, I had one more sentiment that I had created during all this playing that I though needed a home as well.  I also wanted to use some of the other stamps in the set and so I created a “color-blocking” style card only instead of using different colored paper for the blocks, I used different stamp images from the set.

    Again, I think the jury is still out on this card but it sure was a lot of fun to make!

    Well, I hope you enjoyed this last day celebration of this stamp set.  I had a blast creating these cards and will miss this set!  If you haven’t seen the flyer or need a reminder of what is included in the Filled with Love bundle, here it is:

     

    Filled with Love Wood-Mount BundleLove Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack
    Bitty Buttons - by Stampin' Up!Check it out in the online store!

    If you have any questions, just let me know and I’d be happy to help! 

    Until next time, Happy Stamping!

  • Bitty Button Friendship Card

    I recently wanted to make a card for a stamping friend so I could show her the new, fabulous seam binding ribbon (seriously, I can’t get enough of this stuff right now – I love how it is delicate and soft like silk yet more opaque than organza.)  So, I put together this sweet and simple card for her. 

    The bow is not tied and instead the loops are held together by a rhinestone brad, which is then punched through the Crumb Cake cardstock.  Had I been thinking before I added the bow, I would have loved to use my Color Spritzer and added some splattering of Soft Suede ink to the Crumb Cake cardstock first, but I guess I’ll have to save that for next time.  So, instead I added some Bitty Buttons covering the matching shapes punched out of the Botanical Gazette designer series paper.

    Tip: When you are using matching paper shapes with clear buttons, I find I get the best results by adding a light layer of Crystal Effects to the back of the button and then using that as the adhesive to stick the button to the paper.  You don’t need a lot of Crystal Effects, but you want just enough lightly cover the entire side of the button.  This gives you a perfectly clear adhesive with out those weird shadows you can get with glue dots or tapes and other adhesives.

    This card was centered around the pretty Rose Red Seam Binding ribbon.  But I bet it would be great with the other 6 colors of Seam Binding ribbon.  Which color is your favorite? 
    See all the Seam Binding colors here in the online store.

     

    Bitty Button Friend Card recipe:
    Stamps:      Curvy Verses
    Ink:  Soft Suede
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Crumb Cake CS, Botanical Gazette DSP
    Accessories:  Bitty Buttons, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Rhinestone Brads, Rose Red Seam Binding Ribbon, Scallop edge Punch, Crystal Effects