Northwest Stamper

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  • Stampin’ Up Convention 2010 – Display boards and more

    I just finished going through all my pictures from convention and was reminded of all the fun looking things to try and make over the next few months.  There are always so many amazing ideas, business tips, and sneak peeks (you might even spot one or two in the photos below ;)) .  I can’t wait to share some of these projects in upcoming classes and workshops.  Want to try it out yourself? Contact me to learn more about scheduling your own workshop!

    IMG_1010We were up early each day to get over for general session.  I was so grateful that Stampin’ Up! supports families and so I could take Nicholas with me to session.  They even offered a Mother’s Lounge so moms could feed/diaper their babies and still see and hear the speaker.

     

     

    We saw lots of awesome demonstrations.  I think my favorite was the Halloween decorations…but then again there were some awesome hostess gift ideas that were super cute as well.

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    Then during lunch and at the end of the day, we got to wander around The Gathering Place and look at some awesome displays and ideas boards.  This year they had an area called The Sweet Shop where they had so many amazing displays that looked like candy and other treats but was really made entirely from paper, ribbon, and buttons!  Stampin’ Up! really has some amazing artists and designers.

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  • Stampin’ Up! Convention 2010 – Swaps, Parties, and a Baby!

    I’m back from a trip to Salt Lake City for the 2010 Stampin’ Up! convention with my Mom and upline, Kathy, my dad, and my son.  I love the chance to go meet other demonstrators, including folks whose names I’ve seen on emails but now I got to meet in person, hang out with friends, get super cute stuff, swap gorgeous cards, and generally get pumped about Stampin’ Up!  I have way too many photos to share all of them in one post so I’ll be posting pictures in future posts as well.  But for now, here are some of my highlights.

    Before convention even got started, mom and I participated in two days of preconvention stamp camps and swaps with Late Night Stampers. 

    IMG_0819 Then came Wednesday – Check in day.  This is the day that everyone lines up in the early morning for a chance to be one of the first to get into Memento Mall (the SU convention gift shop).   My dad was kind enough to go get in line when he got up around 6:15am and he wasn’t the first in line!  By 7:30 the line was around the block. :)  checkin day line photoBut unlike Disneyland, its fun to stand in line at convention.  Everyone is swapping and I even saw a friend of mine from Portland (Hi, Liz!) and got a chance to introduce her to Nicholas. IMG_0856

    After we swapped, checked in and got our free stamps and bag, we relaxed before meeting up for a group photo and swap with our upline group – the SBStampers.  It was there that Nicholas got his very first swap.   He loved playing with this fabric squeaky toy made by Charity Lawson using the Scallop Square die for the BigShot and a squeak toy from a pet supply store.IMG_0871IMG_0873 

    Later we got dressed up in our grooviest attire for the Flower Power party.  Sadly, I missed getting my face painted by SU illustrators but I did participate in some fun games.

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    That was only the beginning of a fun weekend.  Here is one of the swaps I created to trade with folks over the course of the weekend.  The flower is made using the Flower Fusion sizzlit that in one tiny little die cuts out 3 flowers of different sizes.  I then folded up the petals and stacked them using glue dots.  It really does pop off the page, which I thought was fun and cool.  I think you could step it up a notch even more by adding a pearl or rhinestone to the center of the flower.  I would have done it but I ran out of time.  But still, i like how it turned out and folks seemed to as well. Flower Fusion Swap Card

    I have to say, I love all the cards I got swapped and will be showcasing come of my favorites in a future post so you can see these great ideas too.  More photos and swaps to come!  Until then… Happy Stamping!

    Convention 2010 Thank You swap card:
    Stamps: Because I Care (hostess set)
    Inks:  Concord Crush classic ink
    Paper:  Basic Black CS, Whisper White CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Concord Crush CS, Play Date DSP
    Accessories:  Polka Dot Impression Folder, Flower Fusion sizzlit, Little Leaves sizzlit, glue dots.

  • A couple cards for my new Meetup group

    Since I’m pretty new to the Bay area, I recently decided to start up a Meetup group as a way to meet new folks and find some other like-minded crafty people.  Today was our first meetup, and so I planned a couple cards for us to work on over pie at Marie Callendars.  Between work and vacation, I hadn’t had much of a chance this month to do much card making so it was a lot of fun to create some cards and get everything ready to share with folks today.  It also gave me a chance to use some of my retiring items so I can start making room for the new goodies coming out in a few weeks.

    Here are the cards and if you happen to be in the Bay area, we’d love to have you come be a part of our group! 

     

    Father’s Day Card Recipe:
    Stamps    : Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic
    Paper: Bermuda Bay CS*, Crushed Curry CS*, Whisper White CS
    Accessories: Chocolate Chip stitched ribbon*, Large Star punch, Small Star punch*, 1/16″ circle punch, gold brad, Snail

    Best Wishes Recipe:
    Stamps    : Kind and Caring Thoughts*
    Ink: Basic Grey Classic
    Paper: Basic Grey CS, Whisper White CS, Pink Flamingo DSP*
    Accessories: Cameo Coral Marker*, Old Olive Marker

    * indicates a retiring item

  • Why I love being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator – $99 starter kit, sneak Peeks, and more!

    While I sit here and try to not stare at the front door waiting for the UPS guy to show up with my new catalog and pre-order items, I thought I would share the great deal that is being offered in June for joining Stampin’ Up! – the $99 Starter kit that includes sneak peek items!

    First, why I love being a demonstrator:

    1. Doing what I love to do and getting paid for it!  20% commission(discount) on all orders – 30% off your first order
    2. Exciting previews and sneak peeks when new products come out.  Like today when I get my new stuff in the mail!
    3. TONS of resources for project ideas, technique training, business resources, style watches, and inspiring stories for how to do what you love and help yourself and others while doing it.
    4. The family that is SU demos.  I’m serious when I say, everyone is so helpful and friendly that it really is like having a huge international family that you can lean on when life is up and when you need help.
    5. Fun events like group meetings, convention, regionals, swap events.

    I really do love what I do and love sharing it with others!

    If you have thought about joining SU, June is the perfect time to do it – especially with the new $99 starter kit which includes new sneak peek items.  What’s included (though you can make substitutions for like items of equal or lesser value)  :

    • Watercolor Trio stamp set (wood-mount)
    • I {Heart} Hearts stamp set (clear-mount)
    • Clear-Mount Block C
    • Homemade single stamp (sneak peek item!)
    • Whisper White card stock (8-1/2″ x 11″)
    • New Brights Collection assorted card stock (8-1/2″ x 11″) (sneak peek item!)
    • Melon Mambo Classic Stampin’ Pad
    • Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ Pad (sneak peek item!)
    • Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin’ Pad
    • Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin’ Pad
    • Basic Black 1/8″ taffeta ribbon (sneak peek item!)
    • New Color Coach (sneak peek item!)
    • SNAIL Adhesive
    • box of 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogs
    • box of 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogs (delivered in the beginning of July)
    • Business supplies

    Have any questions about what its like being a demo or how to sign up?  Contact me at jennifer@nwstamper.com or learn more online.

  • The Stampin’ Up! Last Chance list is here!

    Its that time of year again when we have to bid a fond farewell to many favorite stamps and accessories.  This year is even bigger than ever with the big Color Renovation happening, lots of accessories, paper, and ink are retiring to make way for the exciting new colors coming on July 1st. 

    Check out to see if your favorites are soon to be retiring and remember – All items on the retiring accessories list are while supplies last!  So, if your favorites are retiring, order fast to be sure you can stock up.

    Last Chance Stamps –

    see the full retiring stamp list here

     

    Last Chance Accessories –
    Notice that some items are 25-50% off!

    see the full retiring accessory list here

    Order online today to get all your favorites before they are gone forever!

  • A little love with the Rough Type alphabet

    So, the May scrapbooking promotion was the kick in the pants I needed to commit to getting the rough type alphabet stamp set.  I loved the idea of a high quality clear mount alphabet but was initially on the fence.  Well, the incentive of free designer brads was enough for me to just go for it and boy am I glad I did! 

    Sure, it takes a little bit to label all of the stamps but once you do, it is so easy and fun to make all kinds of words.  In this case, I was playing and decided to spell out Love.  It also gave me a good excuse to play with my BigShot – both with the polka dot impression folder and my heart die. 

    Stamps – Rough Type alpha
    Ink – Melon Mambo, Rick Razzleberry, Old Olive
    Paper – Melon Mambo CS, Rich Razzleberry CS, Whisper White CS, Cottage Garden DSP
    Accessories – Polka Dot Impression folder, Rich Razzleberry ribbon, small heart punch, 1″ circle punch, Heart BigShot die

  • A Blog Candy Thank You with Canvas Cuts

    A few weeks back, the Royal Blog Tour kicked off with a huge number of blogs sharing some fantastic projects.  While I was browsing, I entered my name into a few blog candy drawings and much to my excitement, I actually won one! 

    The lovely Peggy Outen had some fabulous projects and sent me the Chit Chat rubons from the Occasion Mini that retired at the end of April.  Now, little did she know how much I LOVE rub-ons.  They are like clear stamps without the smudging.  I love that I can place them anywhere on the page, see exactly what it will look like before commiting it to paper, and then armed only with a popsicle stick, can get a perfect image in seconds flat.

      So, I just have to say to her:

    Yes, Peggy, you are the very best ever.  Thanks for being so generous and sending me the rub-ons.  I also had to use some of my goodies from the clearance rack.  So, the curly label punch out is the Canvas Cuts with the matching Fashion District rub-ons.  Using the Canvas Cuts has been a lot of fun and so much easier than I expected.

    I was in such a groove, I had to make one more using the Canvas Cuts and the Chit Chat rub-ons for the sentiment.  This card introduces another super fun product – Bitty Buttons and the matching Itty Bitty Shapes punches.  I thought the little flower buttons and punches went great with the DSP, and they look sooo cute in person.  I think this may be my favorite Summer Mini catalog item.

    Best Ever Card:
    Paper – Very Vanilla CS, Real Red CS, Merry Moments DSP
    Accessories – Birds and Blooms Sizzlit, Fire Crystal Brads, Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon, Canvas Cuts, Fashion District rub-ons, Chat Room rub-ons, Stampin’ Dimensionals

    Friends Forever Card:
    Paper – Melon Mambo CS, Very Vanilla CS, Thoroughly Modern DSP
    Accessories – Canvas Cuts, Fashion District rub-ons, Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon, Bitty Buttons, Itty Bitty Shapes punch, small heart punch, Crystal Effects, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Chat Room rub-ons

  • Over 20 new items now in the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack

    I just saw that Stampin’ Up! has added even more fabulous retired items to the online clearance rack.  Some of these items are such amazing deals at up to 60% off that I had to quickly share them with you.  Check out all the great deals online.  I’ll be back again soon with more project shares but had to spread the word of these great deals. 

    Hurry and get your favorites before they are sold out!  See it all online in the Clearance Rack.

  • A New Mini Catalog plus free brads and more

    Summer Mini Catalog: May 1 – Aug 31

    Well, May is here and that means that the new Summer Mini has been released.  Boy is it a doozy this time!  With something for everyone, there are great products for scrapbooking, vintage, new punches, awesome new accessories, papers, stamps and more. 

    As a bit of a punch junkie, one of the items I had to order was the new Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.  That’s right, punch PACK… where you get three small punch shapes that not only coordinate with a stamp set but also with some new clear Bitty Buttons.  How cool is that?!?  I’ll be pulling those out to play with this week.  So, while I’m working on some samples to share with you all, I wanted to also share some cool promotions going on this month.

    Promotions

    Free brads – Celebrate National Scrapbooking month!  Love fun brads to accessories your scrapbooking and card projects?  Well, for the month of May, purchase select stamp sets and receive a FREE package of designer brads.  Check out the flyer for all the details.

    Free stamps and more – Ever thought of starting your own business or just having access to tools, ideas, and a great discount for your own crafting hobby?  Well, Stampin’ Up! may be the perfect opportunity for you.  With such a supportive community, lots of awesome resources to learn new tips, tricks, and ideas, and a chance to not only earn 20% of everything you buy or sell but to grow your love into a fun home business.  I love being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and would love to answer any questions you have about if it is the right thing for you. 

    If you are ready to join the Stampin’ Up family, sign up through my online website (passcode is “stampingplace”) or contact me to get started.  Right now, not only is Stampin’ Up going to send you two awesome Workshop WOW DVDs with great ideas and techniques but I’m going to sweeten the deal a little.  As I mentioned above, during May, when you purchase certain stamp sets you get FREE brads.  Well, sign up to join my Stampin’ Up! team this month and I’ll GIVE you your stamp set for FREE as well.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me!

  • Shades of Spring quick card

    Oh my goodness!  Can you believe it is April 30th already?  Where has the time gone? 

    Well, I had to post my last card from the “traveling with limited crafting supplies” series in honor of this being the last day of the Occasions Mini Catalog since everything but the base cardstock are from the mini – Vintage Vogue stamp set, Shades of Spring DSP, Hugs scalloped cardstock. 

    This card started out as an idea I had late at night but when I started working on it during the day my idea didn’t work quite right.  So, starting from just the blocks of DSP, I turned the card on it’s side and started adding elements till I got the finished result I liked. 

    It was a bit of a challenge since the only green ink I had was an old olive marker and most of the paper I had was either card bases or chocolate chip.  But challenge only makes you get more creative, right?  So, the flower is stamped on the pink DSP, the leaves are cut out of the green DSP, and the center of the flower is a circle of the polka dot DSP – all from the Shades of Spring DSP that is gone after today.  I also used the Hugs scalloped paper to make a nice background accent for my flower and popped it all up with dimensionals.  It was a fun card to create.  If you have any cards like this where a challenge helped inspire your creativity, I’d love to see what you’ve done.  Just leave a comment with what your challenge was and a link to your inspired finished project.

    Supplies:
    Stamps – Vintage Vogue
    Inks – Chocolate Chip classic
    Paper – Shades of Spring DSP, Hugs CS (both retiring after today!), Lavendar Lace CS
    Accessories – Circle punch from Itty Bitty Bits set in the Summer Mini, Stampin’ dimensionals

  • Sneak Peek – Father’s day card

    Here is another in my series of cards I made with limited supplies. 

    Coming this Saturday, the new Summer Mini catalog starts up and in there is some great new stamps, accessories, and designer paper.  One of the great papers is this new Travel Journal paper.  It is perfect for making cards and scrapbook pages for your trips, or just for some masculine layouts.  Both patterns you see here are actually the same paper, just front and back.  Add a couple courderoy buttons and a touch of color with ribbon, and VOILA!  A Father’s Day card, all ready to go.

    Supplies:
    Stamps – Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink – Chocolate Chip Classic
    Paper – Travel Journal DSP, Kraft CS, Chocolate Chip CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories – Chocolate Chip courderoy buttons, Pumpkin Pie 1/4″ ribbon, Stampin Dimensionals, Glue Dots

  • Getting back to stamping!

    Wow, its been a while since I posted.  I have to admit, I’ve had lots of intention, even taking pictures of cards I’ve made but yet I never had a chance to post.  Well, today is the day to actually get pictures off my camera and up online! 

     Today’s card is one I made a week ago when I went to visit my grandparents down in Arizona.  I wanted to take Nicholas to meet his great grandparents so we hopped on a plane and flew for a weeklong visit.  I knew my mom would be visiting at the same time, so I decided I ought to take some stamping supplies with me for some late night stamping sessions.  I didn’t have a lot of room, so I took a little bit of patteren paper, a couple pieces of cardstock, a circle punch, some buttons, ribbon scraps, 5 markers, 1 ink pad, and 2 stamp sets (Fox and Friends and Teeny Tiny Wishes).  Basically what I could jam in a large SU stamp box plus the stamp sets.

     I made this for a friend of mine who moved across the country and I wanted to send her a card to say hello.  I LOVE this glitter DSP from the Occasions Mini catalog  and when I think of monkeys I think of her, so this was my attempt to combine the two in a fun yet simple card.  It was quick and easy and hopefully she will get a kick out of it.

    Supplies:
    Stamps – Fox and Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink – Chocolate Chip Classic
    Paper – Sending Love Specialty Paper, Very Vanilla CS, Chocolate Chip CS, Kraft CS
    Accessories – Circle punches, Stampin’ Dimensionals

    One last bit of fun.  While I was in Arizona, I realized that the Creating Keepsakes crafting convention was in town, so since my mom and grandma like to craft as well, we decided to have an early Mother’s Day treat and all went to the convention for some classes and shopping.  Since I was going all day, that meant Nicholas went with us.  He was so good all day and all the ladies there loved seeing him in the classes.  So, at age 3 months, he’s now been to his first crafting convention!  Got to get him started early.  Plus, he needs to train for when he goes with me to the Stampin’ Up! Convention in July!  Here is a picture from our day out – 4 generations of crafters.