Northwest Stamper

Category: Cards

  • Clean and Simple Just Believe Card

    Happy December everyone!  Can you believe it is already here?  I swear I was just making plans for Halloween, but I guess that is how it is every year. 

    I just spent the last week visiting friends and family in Oklahoma, which was tons of fun I might add, and while I was there I had the chance to stamp with a few different wonderful folks.  In fact, a couple of the folks I stamped with decided to take advantage of the starter kit special and joined my team – so welcome Debbie and Kally! 

    I wanted to share with you today one of the cards I made while goofing off with the limited supplies I had brought with me.  This was one of those cards that starts off with one idea (having the grass and flowers be stamped off the edge of the card) and then you make a “mistake” aka “opportunity for embellishment” (I didn’t get the stamp over the edge of the paper and so the grass and flowers stopped 1/2” before the edge of the card); and so a new concept is born.  In the end, I like the simplicity of this card.

    I can’t decide if it needs something else like some bling or glitter on the Razzleberry flower.  What do you think?

    Just For You Recipe:
    Stamps:      Just Believe
    Ink:  Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry marker
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Basic Black CS
    Accessories:  Stampin’ Dimensionals, Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Paper Snips

  • Have a Blue Christmas

    Today I thought I’d share the final card from my Holiday Stamp-a-Stack last weekend.  I wanted to get away from the traditional reds and greens and ended up playing with some blues instead. 

    Marina Christmas Card sm

    I don’t know why I always forget about using white craft ink on cardstock, but thanks to a sample I saw on the demonstrator Stampin’ Connection site, I knew i just had to have some white snowflakes.  I also had seen some layering of ribbon with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch and wanted to try that as well.  So, we ended up combining Whisper White, Bashful Blue, and Marina Mist to make this cute little winter flurry card.

    Blue Christmas Recipe:
    Stamps:      Northern Hearts, Christmas Classics
    Ink:  Chocolate Chip Classic ink, Whisper White Craft ink
    Paper:  Bashful Blue CS, Marina Mist CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch, Marina Mist taffeta ribbon, Large Oval punch, Decorative Label punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, adhesive back rhinestones

  • Happy Thanksgiving!!

    I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

    I am so thankful for my family, friends, and the wonderful community of crafters I have had the privilege of becoming a part of since discovering stamping and Stampin’ Up!

    And I am thankful for all of YOU!  Your comments, encouragement, and visits to my blog really bring joy to my life.  So thank you.!

    So, as you enjoy a meal with family and friends today, I wish you the best and remind you to enjoy and be thankful for all the people and wonderful little things in life. 🙂

    Thanksgiving 2010-001

  • A Designer Fabric Holiday Card

    I ordered the new Designer Fabrics a long while back as part of a special for Stampin’ Up! convention attendees and was excited to try experimenting with incorporating fabric into my projects.  Well, I kept looking at the pretty fabric sitting on my shelf and couldn’t bring myself to cut into it (ok, and I’ll admit I was a little intimidated to try something different).  But after my friend kept asking me about the fabrics, I knew i needed to break them out and just start cutting!

    So, this card was a fun way to play with the fabric, experiment with fraying the edges (since I had seen a few cards that did this to a very cute effect), and then also use the matching designer series paper as an accent in the Build-a-Brad.

    Fabric Christmas Card smSide note – for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about when i say “Build-a-Brad”, it is that brad in the center of the card.  What makes these brads cool, is that they come as a blank flat-topped brad.  They are meant for you to punch out any paper/stamped image using a 1/2” circle punch and adhere that punchout to the top of the brad.  Then you can use the provided clear  adhesive-backed plastic pebble to make the brad looked finished. 

    Here is a close up of the brad showing how we punched out a circle from the Designer Series paper that had the same pattern as the fabric:

    Build a Brad with fabric sm

    I started with the idea of using the fabric and fraying it.  Then I added the Build-a-Brad.  I had the card done and all ready for the class when I looked at it and said, “Its so vintage, I bet a torn edge would look cool”.  So, I tore the bottom edge of the card, which looked cool but really popped when I added some Crumb Cake cardstock to the bottom of the card inside. 

    This card probably took the longest to make, but I love its fun accents and vintage feel.

    Some tips for this card:

    • When we adhered the DSP to the top of the brad, I like to use Crystal Effects as my glue as opposed to Snail or Glue Dots because you can get a flat even coating of the adhesive on the brad top and you know it won’t slide around on you in the future.
    • To adhere the fabric onto your cardstock, your best bet is probably going to be the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets.  But if you don’t have that (and we didn’t for the class), you can use sticky strip to do the job.  For this card, I recommend cutting your fabric and determining where you are going to lay it on your card.  Cut a piece of Sticky Strip that is 1/2 – 2/3rd the height of your fabric piece and place it on the edge of the cardstock and then press your fabric onto the sticky strip.  I found that if you tried to put sticky strip directly onto the fabric, it can be hard to get the red backing off the tape without pulling the tape strip off of your fabric at the same time.
    • When fraying the edges of your fabric, only pull one or two threads at a time to minimize punching and pulling of your fabric. 
    • Pull extra threads for fraying by using the tip of your Paper Snips to separate the thread you are going to pull from the flat fabric piece.

    Don’t miss your chance to get the Designer Fabrics for 50% off!

    If you like the idea of playing with fabric in your projects, don’t miss your chance to try it out for half-off as part of the Online Spectacular sale.  You only have until Nov. 30th, so don’t delay!  Check them out HERE.

  • Quick and Easy – Yet Cute! – Holiday Cards

    Last Saturday was my latest holiday Stamp-a-Stack.  Since I had a few folks who had been to my first class, I decided to shake things up and play with some new products and designs.  Turns out, I love these cards and had so much fun sharing them with my ladies.  So I thought I would share a couple of the cards with you today.  I’ll be posting the other two cards we made here this week and would love for you to stop back by and let me know what you think!

    A Cute Christmas

    If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve already seen this card since I posted it as a sneak peek on Saturday.  I originally created this card because I wanted to show off the cute glitter paper in the Candy Cane designer paper pack.  I thought that the stripes were a little much for me and since I didn’t know what I was going to do with the paper, I’d find a way to use it up for this class.  I also wanted a fast and easy card since I knew my designer fabric card was going to take some time.  Well, turns out I love how bright and cheery this card is and I love the stripes!  Guess I’ll be using this paper more than I thought. 🙂

    cute christmas snowman sm Recipe:
    Stamps:      A Cute Christmas
    Ink:  Night of Navy Classic ink, Real Red marker, Blushing Bride marker, Wild Wasabi marker, Baja Breee marker
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Real Red CS, Candy Cane designer paper

    Joyful Season Letterpress Card

    This next card was an excuse to use the Letterpress plates.  One of my ladies had been curious about the Letterpress plates and so I thought I would give everyone a chance to try them out.

    We used Craft Ink on textured Whisper White paper for the debossed image.  Then we spritzed the paper with Crumb Cake using the Color Spritzer tool.  If you haven’t used the Color Spritzer, it is a neat way to add splatters and spritzes of color on your paper.  I swear I feel like a wild and crazy artist when I stand over my paper and start squeezing this air gun all over the place. 🙂

    joyful season card sm If you aren’t familiar with the letterpress dies, the way they work is that you ink up the raised image on the plastic plate using your ink pads (I personally love using the Craft Ink Spots).  Place your paper over the inked image, and run it all through your BigShot or other die cutting machine.  Your image is impressed into the paper and the ink is left behind in that impressed image.  Here is my attempt at taking a photo close up to show you what I mean.

    joyful season close up sm Recipe:
    Ink:      Always Artichoke Craft ink, Bravo Burgundy Craft Ink, Crumb Cake marker
    Paper:  Baroque Burgundy CS, Textured Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Joyful Season letterpress plate, BigShot, Corner Rounder punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Color Spritzer

    Don’t forget to fill out your wishlist and get your FREE bonus gift certificate! 

    With the Holiday Online Spectacular sale and my wishlist bonus offer going on this week, now is the perfect time to help your family and friends get their shopping done early! 

    Your family and friends can save money on your favorite things through the Online Spectacular and you will get a free bonus gift certificate worth 10% of all the items purchased off your wishlist.  Its a win/win!  Email me your wishlist today to start earning your rewards.

  • A Clean and Simple Holiday Card

    When I was at the Stampin’ Up! regionals in Portland, I saw a demonstration that showed how cute a scalloped edge could be on a card.  I got inspired by the example and started playing with a card layout that has evolved into this design which I really like. 

    I have made this design in the past using Whisper White cardstock as the base with Cherry Cobbler accents but I had some scraps lying around and so went ahead and tried it with Soft Suede.  It looks really nice in person (better than I think it shows in the picture).  The other thing I vary with this card – in this example I used a strip of Soft Suede cardstock for the string the ornament is hanging on, but when I used a white base, I really like using Early Espresso narrow taffeta ribbon.

    Thanks for looking! 

    Happy Holidays Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Tags Til Christmas, Many Merry Messages
    Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Cherry Cobbler CS, Soft Suede CS
    Accessories:  Ornament Punch, Scallop Trim Punch, Adhesive Rhinestones, Stampin” Dimensionals

    Love crafting and sharing it with others? 

    starter_kit_widgetDon’t miss this amazing opportunity to get the demonstrator starter kit for 50% off!  Become a demonstrator before November 30th and you’ll get over $310 worth of product and supplies for less than the cost of the stamps!

    My team is growing and I’d love to have you join us!  Contact me today at jennifer@nwstamper.com  for more information or click here to get started.
    (my recruiter code is nwstamper).

  • More Fun Ideas for Crystal Effects

    Each month I hold a technique night focusing on some different product or crafting technique.  Well, this last Tuesday night we focused on Crystal Effects.  I think Crystal Effects is one of those products that I often forget on the shelf but when I pull it out and start playing around I have so much fun!  I took this evening to show some of the different ways you can use Crystal Effects starting with the simple:

    Hello card In this case, we stamped the card and then added Crystal Effects over the butterfly image to create a fun 3D effect:

    CE close up Similar to this idea, we also made some chipboard accents to use on a future project.  This was the thrifty person (aka hoarder) in me.  I saved the white cardboard piece that comes with our designer paper packages.  We adhered some DSP to the cardboard and then punched out a heart using the Small Heart punch.  Then we punched that out using a 1” Circle punch and also punched out a 1” circle of Poppy Parade cardstock.  Glue the Poppy Parade piece to the back of your chipboard and then fill in the cutout with Crystal Effects.  Its a fun way to make custom epoxy-like accents.

    Epoxy AccentsNext, we added some sparkle to the place… cause who doesn’t like glitter with your pizza?  🙂   (We were meeting at Round Table Pizza and only got a little bit of glitter on the table)  Coat the top of the brad with Crystal Effects and dip into some fine glitter to create your glitter brads.

    glitter bradsNow, I will warn you, unlike our Glimmer Brads in the Holiday Mini, the glitter will tend to rub off a bit with these brads.  You want to shake off what you can when you first glitter them up and then be prepared for a little to flake off after its dried.  I think it is pretty enough to be worth it.  Oh, and when you are letting your brads dry after dipping them, just set them gently on the table with the prongs pointing up.  It won’t mess up your brads and then you can have your hands free to do other stuff while it dries.

    We also used Crystal Effects as glue on the back of the clear Itty Bitty Buttons, using the matching Punch Pack to punch out paper in the same shape as the button.  I made this card a while back and used it as my sample.  But it shows you basically what we did.

    friends forever buttons close up buttonsFinally, our last fun technique was the Stained Glass technique.  I love using this stamp set for this technique.  If you want to see details on how to do it, check out my post from last year.  But here is the card we made:

    stained glass treeAnd yes, my tree ended up a little “artistic”. 🙂  I was showing how to color and paint on the Crystal Effects and when showing how you would attach the window sheet to the Whisper White paper once the Crystal Effects was dry, I accidentally put them together.  So, I now call it artistic shading.

    It was a fun night and I loved seeing the creativity in the room.

    Thanks for taking the time to view the projects we made.  I’d love to hear what your favorite use is for Crystal Effects.  Leave a comment sharing what tips and techniques you use, I’d love to hear from you!

    In the San Francisco area? I’d love to show you and your friends how to make these projects!  Contact me at jennifer@nwstamper.com to learn how you can get a free private class for you and your friends!

  • A Simple Day of Gratitude Card Share

    A little over a week ago, I hosted my monthly “meet & greet” and as with each month, I brought a free make & take card.  This month, I decided to use the fabulous Day of Gratitude set, which thanks to regionals in Portland, I am love more and more each time I use it.

    Anyway, I got home and put all my supplies away and managed to hide the card from myself for over a week until today!  Well, I found the card and really like how it turned out and so I wanted to share it with you here.

    This stamp set begs to be used with Cajun Craze and More Mustard inks, both of which have not been my favorite colors.  But I have to say, Cajun Craze has really grown on me!  It is the perfect color for using in fall scrapbook layouts and cards.

    For some added kick, the Decorative Label punch out is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.  Otherwise, it is a quick and easy card that looks great in person.  We stamped the strip of Very Vanilla cardstock randomly using the images from the Day of Gratitude stamp set in the colors More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and Early Espresso.  Its like making your very own Designer Paper!  The medallion is stamped in Old Olive ink on Old Olive cardstock.

    In the San Francisco Bay area? I’d love to have you join me for my next event!  Check out my event calendar or contact me for more details!

    Until next time- Happy Stamping!

  • Some Northern Hearts Card Candy

    I realized recently that while most people know what Blog Candy is (fun giveaways on a blog), that one of the things I gave away in my recent blog candy was “card candy” and that term may not be as familiar to some people.  Well, I wanted to share what I mean and the fun card candy I sent to Penny.

    I first heard the term “card candy” in reference to a swap at convention and when I read more, I learned that it means treats and embellishments for your cards.  In other words, the layered embellishments that you can put on simple card bases and layouts to add a fun touch.  So, in keeping with the theme I used for the box on the Royal Blog Tour, I did some more playing with the stamp set and other punches and embellishments to create some pieces that can be used on a card later.

    It was fun to play with the stamps, punches, and other elements to see what I could come up with that would be cute and could be used incorporated into another project.  I also tried out some new stuff and really liked how they turned out and so I wanted to share with you.

    First, I thought it would be fun to use the Northern Flurries embossing folder but once I had embossed the Bashful Blue paper it looked a bit plain.  I suddenly thought of my Stampin’ Pastels (chalks) that I hadn’t pulled out in ages and started experimenting with them.  Then I decided to add some bling to the center and then a little more Dazzling Diamonds glitter just to make sure there was some extra sparkle.  I really liked using chalks with the embossing folder and will have to play more with this.

     

    Then I started playing with the snowflakes as background images and wanted to add a little pop, so I stamped the snowflakes on Whisper White, punched out the centers, and added them to the edges of the paper, trimming what hung over the edge.  Then I punched two holes in the top to make a faux bow.  I LOVE how this ribbon looks when you make this bow.  The satin center shows in the middle and you still get the organza showing on the bits that hang out the side.  I’m definitely going to have to do this again.

    Finally, the last one I thought I’d talk about specifically is my little tag.  It was so cool to me when I realized that the birds fit perfectly in the Extra Large Tag punch.  So, I used my markers to only color in the birds and part of the vine on the bottom.  Then, I wanted to try something different with the ribbon and so grabbed the Whisper White Organza and this time colored the center part only using my Always Artichoke marker.  It went really fast and turned out so much nicer than I expected!

    I hope Penny enjoys using these in her projects!  And now you know what I mean when I say “card candy” too. Smile 

    Just a note that if you’ve been enjoying these Northern Hearts projects, this is a hostess set that is only going to be available while the Holiday Mini is here (so until mid-January.  So, if you are enjoying these projects and this set, I’d be happy to help you earn this set for free.  Just send me a note at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll see what we can do!

  • A Curly Cute Congratulations

    So, to continue the celebratory mood, I thought I would post a fun little Congratulations card.  I actually made this card while traveling in Portland and so I was limited to mostly scraps and a small amount of supplies I had on hand.  However, having limited resources can sometimes bring out some cool combinations you wouldn’t have thought of before.

    For example, in this card, I wanted a hint of color and had some scraps of the Elegant Soiree DSP and the Greenhouse Gala DSP.  Mix them together and you get a neat collage of patterns.  Plus, they were mellow enough colors that I thought they would do well to accent a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock for the base (oohh… did you see what I did there?  Elegant Soiree and Elegant Eggplant!  Ok, yeah, that was totally accidental, but I’ll still call it fate.)  🙂

    I added some adhesive backed pearls to the corners for a little extra flair and finished it off with a box from Old Olive satin ribbon.  And let me just say, this is the easiest bow you will ever make! 

    To make the bow:
    Cut one length of ribbon and adhere the ends together making a loop.  Then, cut a second piece of the ribbon and wrap it around your first loop, adhering the ends of that second piece together to make the cinch in the middle of your box.  Stick to your card with glue dots and you’re done!  No tying required!

  • Royal Blog Tour – Sharing Northern Hearts and Blog Candy!

    Welcome to my little stop here on the Royal Blog Tour!  I hope you’ve been enjoying all the amazing and creative projects the princesses have been sharing along your journey.  For my stop, I wanted to share with you some simple yet fun ways to use the Northern Hearts stamp set.

    This stamp set is a hostess set available in the 2010 Holiday Mini.  I originally thought it was just a nice simple set, but the more I started playing with it, the more I saw how it coordinates with some other new and super cute items.  I guess the fact that they are all named “Northern something” should have tipped me off, but I can be a bit slow sometimes.

    Northern stuff thumb

    Anyway, first I noticed that the large snowflake from the stamp set was the same as the large snowflake in the embossing folder.  So, I tried combining the two.  I added some shimmer paint to the stamp before I stamped to give it a bit of shine like snow when I stamped it on the Whisper White base.  I also sponged some of the shimmer paint onto the embossed image to sparkle up the Baja Breeze paper.

    Next, I started playing with the wreath stamp from this set.  I had some fun with different color markers to give it a more mottled, natural look.  Then I started playing with punches but didn’t like how it was turning out so I ended up hand cutting out the wreath.  It was cute but a little bare, so I added in on of the birds from the love birds stamp.  Finally, what is a wreath without somewhere to hang it from, so I used the branches from that same bird set and after coloring with markers, stamped a few times to make it look like tree branches.  Add some DSP and fun ribbon, and you have another fun little card.

    Finally, I decided I wanted to make one more project and so I went for a 3D gift box that you could decorate for the holidays or really for anytime.  I used the Snowflakes and the Love Birds stamps from this set to decorate this 3 1/4” x 3 1/4” box.  This is perfect for a stash of 3×3 cards or to fill with treats for your favorite someone.

    I will be posting the instructions for this box on my blog when the tour is over.  So come back on November 9th to see more details!

    Well, I hope you enjoyed viewing these projects since I sure had fun making them.

    Blog Candy Time!

    Leave me a comment letting me know what you think and you’ll be entered into a drawing for some BLOG CANDY (you must include your email address so I can contact you if you win).

    What’s up for grabs?  You will get this box filled with some cards, some card candy (embellishments for you to use on your own cards), and some actual yummy candy!

  • More Holiday Stamp-a-Stack Cards

    As promised, I have the last two cards we created at our Holiday Stamp-a-Stack  (you can see the details on the first two in my post from yesterday).

    Seasons Greetings

    Like I said yesterday, these cards were meant to be fairly easy to make though I guess the hand cutting on this card is a bit more time intensive than the other cards we did.  I really liked how the holly looked cut out and hanging over the matting, but I’ll share a couple variations folks made that may be a bit faster to do for those of you less inclined to cut intricate images. 🙂

    This card uses the Peaceful Seasons hostess set from the Holiday Mini.  It’s a very simple and straightforward layout and so you could really use it for any stamps or holiday.  In this case, we popped the Garden Green and Very Vanilla cardstock up on Stampin’ Dimensionals in the center of the Cherry Cobbler cardbase, over some Very Vanilla 5/8” grosgrain ribbon.  We also used markers to color in the holly image using Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, and Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla cardstock. Then we cut out the holly and adhered it straight down onto the corner of the matted image.  In my sample, I only put Snail adhesive in the middle of the holly so that the edges could curl up and add some dimension without needing an actual dimensional.

    During one of the sessions, a couple folks decided to get a bit creative to avoid cutting out the holly.  So these are some options they came up with:

    Yes, the globe ornament is cut out, but I think it is easier to cut than the holly.  Well, and the fact that she was really into doves and “Peace on Earth”

    Jolly Holiday Seasons Greetings

    I swear, I always end up with way more ideas that I want to do for my classes and workshops than is practical.  So, I decided that I really wanted to let everyone play with the new Tags til Christmas set and the matching Ornament punch.  This stamp set is aimed directly at me because I love punches probably too much and oh my goodness when I see stamp sets that every stamp in the set matches a punch.

    Plus, the stamp and punch are one of the Handmade Holiday bundles for 20% off!  I know, I’m a sucker for sales. 🙂  Anyway, back to the card:

    This card is so fast and is still super cute in person.  Plus add some of the adhesive rhinestones to the ornament or a little glitter for even more kick!  However, for this quick version, we stamped the ornament image from Tags til Christmas in Cherry Cobbler and punched it out using the Ornament punch.  We adhered three patterns of the Jolly Holiday DSP to the bottom of the Old Olive cardbase and then added a piece of Soft Suede Cardstock that was punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch.  Finally we stamped the sentiment from the Curly Cute stamp set in Cherry Cobbler and then adhered the ornament image using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

    Want to make these cards? Join me on November 20th when I do this class again; or if you can’t make it, you can order the supplies though my online store or for an even easier and faster method, get the kit!

    Get the Kit!

    I’m offering this as a Holiday Card Class to Go kit where you will get precut and scored supplies for 12 cards (3 each of the following 4 designs)

    Holiday Card Kit Thumb

    You will get full color instructions, precut paper, scored cardbases, punched shapes, brads, ribbon, dimensionals, and envelopes – all for only $25 plus shipping.  Its an easy way to get your holiday cards done without the hassle and leaves you time to add your own personal touch if you so desire.

    Plus, if you order this kit from me, you have the option of adding a bottle of Shimmer Paint for only $5!  That is a 16% discount plus no additional shipping!







    Select your option: