Northwest Stamper

Category: Scrapbooking

  • Part 1 of a Fall Progressive Scrapbook Page

    While cleaning my room, I ran across some project kits from past Stampin’ Up! regional events.  One of them was from a year or so ago and was to make a 8.5 x 11” scrapbook page.  I decided the colors would be perfect for our trip to the Pumpkin Patch this year and so I thought now was as good of a time as any to put it together.

    Of course, I couldn’t do everything by the book, so I had to make some adjustments here and there (like the label under the picture and adding some extra cut outs.  But in the end I think it was a cute page!

    But I don’t have many 8.5 x 11” scrapbooks (I mostly do 12×12) so I thought, I would turn this into a 12×12 page – which is where the progressive scrapbook page part comes in.  So, today I thought I would show you how you could make this into a great smaller page and then tomorrow, I’ll show you how I added this to a 12×12 base plus some embellishments to make it a cool 12×12 page!  Oh, and I had a second copy of this page kit, so I had to make a coordinating 12×12 page for the second page of my layout, so I’ll share that tomorrow too. 

    So, question of the day:  What size scrapbooks/albums do you create for?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

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

    Pumpkin Picking Scrapbook Recipe:
    Stamps:      Day of Gratitude
    Ink:  Old Olive classic, Cajun Craze classic, Early Espresso marker, Cajun Craze marker
    Paper: Old Olive cardstock, Cajun Craze cs, Early Espresso cs, Very Vanilla cs
    Accessories:  Old Olive 5/8” Grosgrain ribbon, Decorative Label punch, Paper Snips, Adhesive Rhinestones, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • A Baby Girl’s First Scrapbook Page

    While cutting the paper for my designer paper share, I got a chance to really take in the different designs and was surprised to find myself drawn to the Beau Chateau pack.  See, normally I think vintage is pretty and all, but it isn’t usually my style.  Then I saw the pink patterns and since we had learned we are having a girl in December, I just had to make a scrapbook page with these papers.  So, here is our baby girl’s first scrapbook page:

    I had seen this layout on the ScrapbookSteals blog and I thought it would be perfect.  The only problem was that I liked the bracket shape at the top of the page but I didn’t have anything I could trace to make that design.  But boy did I luck out since the back of the patterned paper was lined!   I laid out where I wanted my photo(s) to be and then drew a rough outline and used my ruler to space out where I wanted the curves to go.

    Then once I was done cutting out my shape, I realized that the lines would make a cute background and because my shape was pretty symmetric I could actually just flip over and glue the left over paper (from where I cut out the bracket shape) up underneath my cutout and it fit great!  So no waste. 🙂

    I also noticed that one of the other paper designs in the Beau Chateau had a pattern that included this bigger frame.  I thought it would be perfect to cut out and use as a journaling space.

          Finally, I had to show you my title – which was when it really hit me that we are having a baby girl! I used the Letter It alphabet, since it seemed to ft the feel of this page.  This was my easy method for using them but I like the effect.

    I put all the letters together for a given word (I don’t have the biggest rectangle block so I had to squish them together on a smaller block) on one block and stamped them together.  Then I just trimmed around the letters for a quickie title.  Easy and Fun!

    Alright, I know this post is getting long, so thanks for sticking with me.  This is my first detailed scrapbook in a while and I love how it turned out; especially with paper I didn’t think I would even like! :)  Tomorrow I’ll share a baby shower invite I created to match this page (based on a request from one of my facebook fans).  Hope you’ll come back and check it out!

    And don’t forget, there is still the Buy 3, Get 1 Free designer paper promotion happening now, so you could get this paper free if you have your own vintage projects to make. 🙂

    Click here to shop online 24/7 and start earning your NW Stamper rewards!

    My Girl scrapbook page recipe:
    Stamps:      Letter It Alphabet
    Ink:  Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (for sponging)
    Paper:  Beau Chateau designer paper, Very Vanilla CS, Soft Suede CS, Pink Pirouette CS
    Accessories:  Island Indigo ruffled ribbon, Adhesive Pearls, Fabric Daisy (from retired pretties kit), Antique Brads, Vintage Trinkets, Chantilly Lace ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Clean and Simple Scrapbook Layout

    I will admit, I spend most of my crafting time making cards.  They are practical…they are fun…they don’t take too much time if I’m in a rush.  But that said, I have a ton of pictures that I take and keep that I want to scrapbook.  So, I’ve started trying to make an effort to catch up on my scrapbooking backlog.  This is a page I completed recently and I love how it turned out.

    If you can’t tell from the picture, my son is pushing the sand out of the play tube and onto the ground.  Just keeping it clean. 🙂

    So, I used the “vintage-y” paper Love Letter and when I first saw this paper when it came out I thought I would never use it but turns out it works great even for non-Valentines, non-girly pages.  Yay!  I also made the red embellishment on the bottom right by just layering two punchouts using the decorative label punch (layer so that they are perpendicular to each other).  I think it turned out pretty cool and kind of different.

    What do you think, do you think the paper works for a layout like this?

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    Keeping It Clean Scrapbook Page:
    Ink:      Chocolate Chip (for sponging of the label)
    Paper:  Love Letter designer paper, Chocolate Chip cardstock, Sahara Sand textured cardstock, Riding Hood Red cardstock
    Accessories:  BigShot die cutting machine, Billboard alphabet die cuts, Chocolate Chip satin ribbon (retired), Decorative Label punch, Large oval punch, Wide oval punch, silver brads

  • Using Ice Cream Parlor Quick Accents for Scrapbooking

    So, here is my story, to which I think a number of you can relate.  Smile 

    Many months ago, I printed out a ton of pictures of my son because I was going to create a baby album for him.  I have a stack of at least 40 pictures from his first month alone, plus baby shower pictures and maternity pictures.  I even went so far as to figure out how to layout about 6 pages of these pictures a while back (though do I have any idea what those layouts were at this point? Nope!) but then the pictures went back into the stack.  And there they still sit…in a stack…on a shelf.

    But I had an epiphany today!  I was avoiding scrapping those pictures because, aside from being busy, I was wanting to make “the just right” layout with the images including the perfect paper, embellishments, etc.  But I realized, its way more important to get the information written down and the pictures in a place they might actually be looked at, then having the perfect layout.  Especially in this world of digital photography, just put some layout together and you can always print the pictures again if you want to make it "perfect” later!

    So, with that in mind, I put together this layout yesterday afternoon during Nicholas’ nap.  I was challenging myself to use the Ice Cream Parlor Designer Paper and Quick Accent die cut stickers in a layout and I actually think they turned out rather well!

    With the exception of some cardstock and the BigShot Alphabet dies, everything comes from the Ice Cream Parlor Designer Paper and Quick Accents bundle from the Sale-a-bration catalog.  Because the quick accents are stickers, it made it really easy to put this page together!  There are still a few days left to earn them with your order or enter my color challenge and you’ll have a chance to win some Quick Accents to play with.

    Now, if only I dare to pull down my wedding pictures from 10 years ago and get started with them too… I guess one step at a time!

     

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

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    Going Home Scrapbook Recipe
    Ink:      Early Espresso (to sponge the title letters)
    Paper:  Ice Cream Parlor designer paper (SAB), Early Espresso cardstock, Certainly Celery cardstock, River Rock cardstock
    Accessories:  Ice Cream Parlor Quick Accent stickers, 2 1/2” Circle Punch, Sponge Daubers, Sizzix Simple Letters Alphabet bigz die

  • Something Different – A Baby Accordion Album

    I often make cards because they are fast projects where I can experiment with colors and techniques – and fast is what I need with a very active 13 month old trying to pull all my catalogs and BigShot dies off the shelves. 🙂  But sometimes it is fun to do something different and I was fortunate enough to get together with a local group where a fun lady named Nancie taught us how to make a great accordion album. 

     

    I have to admit that I’m a bit spoiled by my BigShot and all the box dies so I’m not used to doing a lot of cutting.  And this project requires you to hand cut the paper into a series of triangular peaks and valleys that are woven together to create the base album.  Its not hard, just way more cutting than I’m used to. 🙂 

    I made inserts for the pockets that creates by cutting cardstock (I think it was 3.5” x 3.25”) and then added pulls for each of the pages.  Finally, I used some extra chipboard pieces that I covered in cardstock to make the front and back cover.

     

    I used an old Simply Scrappin’ kit so I knew that I would have coordinating DSP, Cardstock, and Accents.  But you can make this with whatever you have on hand. 

    Tip:  When you go to add your spine to your book, make sure you leave extra space for the photos and embellishments you are going to add to your pages.  Otherwise your album will bow out and not stay closed.  In my case, I just placed extra pieces of paper in my pockets to simulate photos while adhering my spine.

    If you have any questions, just send me an email at jennifer@nwstamper.com.  This is a great project to use up scraps and extra sheets of paper because you can take the basic idea and adjust it for whatever works for your supplies. 

    I apologize for the lack of instructions.  I originally had posted more details but I received an email from a woman telling me that this album was her original design and she had a copyrighted tutorial for a fee for it.  As such, it was requested that I remove the detailed information.  I was unaware of her tutorial and have not seen the tutorial myself, but her site is here if you wish to contact her.

    Thanks for stopping by!

  • Day of Gratitude Scrapbook Page

    I made this scrapbook page before the craziness of the December Holidays and wanted to share it with you as my farewell to the Holiday Mini.  The Day of Gratitude stamp set was one that didn’t catch my eye when I first looked at the mini but after making a few samples at the Portland Regional in the fall I completely fell in love with this set.  I’m so sad to see it go but I’m sure will keep playing with it for a while.

    So this layout was the first scrapbook page I had made in many many months since I had been so busy with a new baby I had been focused more on cards (quick, easy, and functional!).  However, I did a workshop focused on scrapbooking and when I saw a layout on the Rubber Redneck blog, I just had to CASE it.

    In the workshop we did the 6×6 layout using Old Olive, Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip cardstock.  We stamped using the Day of Gratitude stamp set and left room to add a 3”x4.75” photo.  Oh, and I had to through in an adhesive backed basic pearl to add a little fun to the saying.

    I think turn it into an 8 1/2”x11 layout by adding the More Mustard  cardstock as a base with accent stamping using More Mustard classic ink and Autumn Spice designer paper.  Throw in some Antique Brads and the chipboard word “fall” cut out using the BigShot (for those of you who have attended a SU convention or regional before, I always save the cardboard/chipboard that is used as a backing for the make and take packets.  I used one of those pieces to make my “fall”).

    Finally, to turn it into a 12×12, I used a base of Autumn Spice dsp, added some textured Chocolate Chip cardstock, some stamped elements and another Antique Brad, with some Old Olive satin ribbon for a final touch of color.

    Makes me almost wish fall wasn’t over yet. Smile This is a pretty easy layout with lots of fun accents.  I loved making it and hope you enjoyed the ideas.

  • Cute New My Digital Studio Downloads and Projects

    It seems like Stampin’ Up! has started rolling out My Digital Studio downloads like crazy!  But I have to say, I love all the new stuff coming out because I keep seeing so many cute things to do with My Digital Studio.  Here are some pictures of the latest downloads that have come out – some new photo cards and a calendar kit.

    The calendar kit is what really caught my eye as its filled with TONS of brand new papers, predesigned layouts, and brush sets.  Plus, I didn’t realize you could get these calendars that come on an easel like in the picture above.  Its too cute!  Plus at only $19.95 to print one of those calendars, I think that is way better than those calendars of kittens or beaches that you get at Target or Office Depot right now!

    Did you Know?
    You can not only print cards, calendars, photo books, and scrapbook pages through the professional printing service, but you can do custom JOURNALS!  Like I said, so much has been coming out I totally missed this option!  I’ve altered journal books before, but I like the idea of the custom covers, especially for gifts.  Guess I have some playing to do with My Digital Studio now!

    Check out all the latest downloads for My Digital Studio here.

    Curious about professional printing services?
    Well, if you own My Digital Studio, you have the option right from the program.

    image

    You can select the type of printing format you want, select how many pages of your project you want to print, how many copies you want, and then send them off to the printer!  You don’t have to worry about saving the file in the right format, getting uploaded onto another website or taking it in to the store.  However, you can do that too! 

    One nice thing of the professional printing, aside from the ease of printing, is that they have worked with Stampin’ Up! to ensure the colors on the printers exactly match Stampin’ Up’s colors.  So, if you are going to add paper, ribbon, buttons, etc to your project, you will be sure that the colors will match wonderfully!

    Want to see all the different printing options and pricing?  Check them all out here.

    Ready to get started on your own project?
    Shop my Online Store to get your copy of My Digital Studio and/or your favorite digital downloads to make a project that is just your style!

  • Holiday Scrapbooking with My Digital Studio

    I suddenly realized yesterday that the deadline for the My Digital Studio contest is coming up quick!  I was hoping to get an entry submitted but wanted to play around for a bit first to get the creative juices flowing.  So, tonight, I decided to work on a 12×12 layout.

    This was actually started as a 12×12 calendar after a friend inspired me by sharing the 12×12 calendars she creates for her family each year.  However, my idea for what I was going to do for my January got sidetracked as I started playing with stamps and punches and it became this scrapbooking layout:

    Holiday Joy MDS

    I love this photo of Nicholas and thought it would fit well in the layout.  Turns out I love it!  This uses all the default stamps/paper/embellishments in My Digital Studio plus the additional Taffeta Ribbon download.  The stamp sets are Winter Post and Old Saint Nick, the Holiday Joy is just text using fonts from my computer, and the snowflakes are punch shapes that have been enlarged.

    What is your favorite thing to create with My Digital Studio?

  • Scrapbooking with My Digital Studio and an MDS Contest!

    I’ve always loved the look of a handmade scrapbook, and so when the big digital scrapbooking wave hit, I wasn’t too sure about it.  However, when Stampin’ Up! came out with My Digital Studio and I saw how easy it would be to match all of my papers and embellishments to the digital layouts and create hybrid scrapbook pages, I started catching the wave too.

    I bought MDS so that I could try to make headway with my wedding album (lets just say the photos and memorabilia have been in a box for the last 9 years).  Well, I’ve been too distracted playing with other projects that the wedding album hasn’t happened.  But here is an example of a layout I whipped up tonight.

    Cute as a button_wm

    I love this picture my mom took of my son during a recent visit and thought it would make a great page.  I started with one of the built in photo layouts that had caught my eye and even though in the end I ended up moving everything around and deleting some of the photo spots, it actually was quick, easy, and fun to create this page.
    (All of the elements I used on this page come by default with My Digital Studio)

    Plus, have you heard?  There is a My Digital Studio contest going on right now!

    I figure this layout is practice for me so I can get some ideas to submit for the My Digital Studio Contest being run by Stampin’ Up!  Create your best digital designs and you could win $400 in digital downloads for My Digital Studio!

    Here are the details:

    • Design 1 digital card and 2 single page layouts using only My Digital Studio and Stampin’ Up! downloads
    • Submit your samples plus the official entry form and photo release form to MDSContest@stampinup.com
    • Contest runs from Oct 1 – Nov 15, 2010
    • A panel of judges will select 10 winners – 5 demonstrators and 5 customers
    • You can see the full rules, FAQs, and more details here.

    Don’t have My Digital Studio or want more digital downloads?
    Grab a copy from my online store and you can be designing in no time!

  • Kicking it up with Interactive Scrapbooking

    At convention this year, I had the chance to participate in a class taught by Sherrill Graff on Interactive Scrapbooking.  It was one of those times when I found myself going, “WOW!” over something that was fairly easy but so cool.  So, when I got home, I knew I had to share it with others.  So, today I held an interactive scrapbooking class.  We made two 12×12 pages consisting of layering page protectors and filling them with designer paper.  It was so much fun and since everyone had picked different designer paper, it was cool to see how everyone put their pages together.

    So, here is the first layout we did.

    I loved this page because I thought the hinge using the Round Tab punch was so clever!  We cut a 9 1/2” x 11 inch piece of paper and glued that to our base 12×12 paper.  Then we punched 4 tab punches and folded them in half to make our hinges.  You glue half of the tab punchout to half of your 2nd punch out, then make the part that is not glued together (so it looks kind of like a mouth) glue it down to either side of your 6×6 page protector.

    Then we did the mother of all interactive layouts!  This uses one 12×12 page protector and 5 6×6 page protectors.  Is like a mini-album in your scrapbook!

    You adhere your 6×6 page protectors to the 12×12 page protector and then glue a 1”x6” piece of paper over the tab of plastic that has the holes for putting it in your album.  Its so fun because you can have elements from the lower pages be exposed on the right side when you first open to this page.  In my case, I have a curly label punch that says “Party Hearty” on page 2 and the CKC from page 3.  Here is what it looks like from the inside:

    Too much fun!

    And while we’re talking about fun and convention – did you hear that when you join the Stampin’ Up family you get this uber-cute tote bag for FREE!

    crafttote

    Yep, that’s right… not only do you get stamps, ribbon, buttons, adhesive, paper, and possibly even My Digital Studio for only $175 (a $330 value!), but you now get this awesome tote and shipping for it all FREE!  Check out all the details and everything you can get in the starter kit here.

    Whether you are looking for 20% off everything you buy, or you want to start earning extra money doing what you love.  Stampin’ Up! is an amazing company filled with so many opportunities to expand your creative horizons.  I’d love to tell you more!  Contact me if you have any questions or you can get started now (recruit password – nwstamper)

    Project Supplies:

    • 1 pkg 12×12 ring page protectors – item 104522 ($10.95)
    • 1 pkg 6×6 ring page protectors – item 104521 ($ 6.95)
    • 1 pkg designer series paper – I used Celebrations, item 117164 ($9.95)
    • round tab punch – item 119864 ($16.95)
    • sticky strip – item 104294 ($6.95)
    • snail – item 104332 ($6.95)
    • paper cutter – item 104152 ($24.95)

  • Training the trainer – an introduction to stamping

    Last week, I had the fun of introducing a friend to awesome world of stamping and paper crafting.  Nikki is my personal trainer from the gym (gotta kick out those last few pounds of baby weight!) and she has been very curious to check out Stampin’ Up!.  Since she wouldn’t be able to get a workshop scheduled until September and she was going back to Hawaii to celebrate her Grandpa’s 100th birthday in a few weeks, I invited her over to create a card and gift for her Grandfather.  We had a blast playing with everything and helping her create something that she loved and was going to be special for her Grandfather.

    So, we created a card and then an 8×10 photo page.  She attached a photo of her Grandpa and Grandma and we left the space under the photo blank so she could hand write a message to him.   Aren’t they the cutest couple?? 🙂

     

    I loved helping her try everything out and create something special and she can’t wait to take it to show off to her family. 😉 

    Birthday Photo Layout Recipe:
    Stamps:  Whimsical Words (Sale-a-bration 2010 set)
    Inks:  Night of Navy
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Night of Navy CS, Bashful Blue CS, Pink Flamingo DSP
    Accessories:  So Saffron 5/8″ ribbon, Corner Rounder punch
    Paper:

  • Is it possible to craft without making a mess?

    Well, I’m going to have to make this post quick, but I thought I would post the progress I’m making on a project since it seems to be taking me a while to complete it.  🙂

    So, on Sunday (or was it Monday?) I started trying to get things together for my open scrap day on Saturday.  I’m putting together some kits for folks who aren’t going to be bringing their own project.  One of the kits is going to be a two page 12×12 scrapbook layout.  I thought “one layout shouldn’t be so hard” but when I sat down with my papers, I realized that the only 12×12 paper that I had enough for everyone (if everyone got a kit) for the base pages was Glorious Green.  So I started from there. and it turned out to be a more challenging color base than I expected.  scrapbook_pgsI because obsessed with creating this layout to the point that I keep futzing with it instead of moving on to my other kits. 

    Finally last night, I found my groove and got the layout close enough to done (I need my BigShot that is in transit to finish it completely) that I’m going to move on to other projects tonight.

    Now, my “craft room” is also mine and my DH’s office and it is complete disaster – never got fully unpacked and now is a mess of half unpacked boxes and stacks of paper, books, and knick knacks.  So, until I get that straightened up, I’ve been taking over my dining room.  Last night, when I got home from work, I walked into my dining room and saw this:

    messy_desk

    I’ve now decided that I can’t work on a project and have my space by clean.  I also don’t know how some of you work on dresser tops and coffee tables.  🙂 My paper, scrap, and accessory piles are too big for that.  Does anyone craft and stay tidy at the same time?

    messy_bookcase
    The bookcase that was supposed to be for books and instead is my SU storage space.