Northwest Stamper

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  • A Splitcoast Stampers Index Card – Game Night

    Ok, so I’m not making any promises about how often I’m normally going to post during the week, but I have an interesting challenge ahead of me and I just had to get started last night. 

    game_night_index

    If you have ever been to the splitcoaststampers website, you may have seen that they have a gallery of project images organized by stamp set.  Since any card or project can be uploaded to a given stamp set gallery, regardless on whether you used one or tons of stamps from the set, they have what they call “gallery index cards”.  This is a cardfront that shows every single stamp from the given stamp set and no other stamps.  That way, someone who is curious what is included with say…Thank You Kindly, can see that it includes exactly 4 different thank you sentiments. 

    Now, because there are hundreds of stamp sets out there, they have asked for help creating index cards for some of the new stamp sets.  I agreed to do three – Thank You Kindly, Sweet Stems, and Game Night.  So, here is the challenge.  I didn’t want to make index cards that were just stamps on a cardfront.  I wanted to see if I could make it look like a card you might actually give someone.  So, with that in mind, I mounted my new stamps and started with Game Night.  This stamp set makes me think of Las Vegas, and Las Vegas makes me think of gambling, and gambling makes me think of green and red.  And so… my index card colors were chosen and I came away with this:

  • A new job and a couple cards

    Its only been a day and a half and I already feel bad that I don’t have a blog post planned. 🙂  I started a new job yesterday and between that and racing home to place my first new catalog order, I didn’t get any crafting done.  So, today is just a quick post before I head in to work to share with you a couple of the swaps I recieved during a recent new catalog stamp set swap.  These are some simple but pretty layouts that I really liked.  Both use new hostess sets and Raspberry Tart DSP.  Kinda cool to see different uses for the same product.

    dreamalittle
    Designed by Debbie Flattum. This is the card that convinced me I needed the kiwi kiss/very vanilla satin ribbon. It was also neat to see the sweet stems embosslit.
    echoes_of_kindness
    Designed by Kathy Thisted. Very simple but pretty echoes of kindness using watercolor paper.

  • A non-traditional valentines’ day card

    scsbc_jan As part of my SCS blogging group, each month one of the members issues a challenge to the group.  For January, we were challenged to make a Valentine’s Day card without using red, pink, or white.  What a challenge!  I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that you could do such a thing. 🙂 Thankfully, when I sat down to start this challenge, I pulled out my scraps and turned up this Apricot Appeal DSP piece and suddenly my creative juices started going. 

    There are three things I’m really happy about on this card.  First, I’m using embellishments!  I love brads and buttons and ribbon and gems, but I tend to hoard them.  I end up not using them because I’m afraid I’m going to use them up.  However, I finally had that aha moment when someone else pointed out that there are always new and cute embellishments coming out, so if use up what I have, I can always get more!  The second thing is the base cardstock – Mellow Moss.  This is one of thos colors that I always looked at and then quickly moved past.  However, this time, it was perfect and I realized that I don’t need to always avoid that color.

    Finally, this is my first card that I’ve ever done stitching.  It all started because I had the bashful blue paper and thought “this needs something”.  So, I decided to go with paper piercing since I’m trying to learn when best to use it.  Unfortunately, I created the double row of piercings and hated it!  I realized that I have a box full of thread from back when I did counted cross-stich, so I figured what the heck!  I think it is a neat touch to the card and will have to try it again sometime.  I love when mistakes turn into new, even better things.

    Recipe:
    Stamps:     Love You Much, Fun and Fast Notes
    Ink: Chocolate Chip
    Paper: Mellow Moss CS, Bashful Blue CS, Very Vanilla CS, Kraft CS, Apricot Appeal DSP
    Accessories: Antique Brass brads, Heart Trio punch, Keytag punch, Mat pack, piercer, Scallop edge punch, stamping dimensionals, Ticket corner punch

  • My card party cards – Love You Much and more

    I just finished cleaning up my kitchen after my card party this afternoon (we stamp in the dining room since right now all my stamping stuff is on tv trays and a bookcase in there).  Today, in addition to the ladies who were stamping with me, their young daughters were with us as well (ages 4 and 10).  Now, the DH’s were in the living room “watching the children” while we stamped.  But like many guys, they got distracted by TV and video games, so the girls came in and wanted to make cards too.  Thankfully I have a HUGE pile of scrap paper and old stickers that I could never bring myself to throw out because “it’s still good, I might use it one day”. 🙂 So, I let them have at those items and some of my older stamps.  I have a feeling they might grow into crafters. 🙂

    Anyway, today we made 3 cards and one magazine holder for the cards.  I was going to have us make a box or bag but decided since I was in such a groove with the holders (and they are so multi-functional) that we should do that instead.  So, I wanted to share with you what we made.  I have to admit, the cards are CASEd off of some very talented stampers on SCS.  I wasn’t in the designing mood, so I found inspiration online.  Hope you like them!

     

    Love You Much card recipe
    Stamps – Love You Much
    Paper – Candy Lane DSP, Ridinghood Red CS, Pink Pirhouette CS, Chocolate Chip CS
    Ink – Ridinghood Red
    Accessories – Stampin Dimensionals, heart trio punch

    Just for You card recipe
    Stamps – Happiness always (hostess)
    Paper – Baja Breeze CS, Kiwi Kiss CS, Chocolate Chip CS, Whisper White CS
    Ink – Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
    Accessories – Chit Chat rub-ons

    Celebrate You card recipe
    Stamps     – Party Hearty
    Paper – Jr Varsity DSP, Old Olive CS, Rose Red CS, Bashful Blue CS, Whisper White CS
    Ink – Old Olive, Rose Red
    Accessories – stampin dimensionals, rose red grosgrain ribbon, circle cutter, scallop edge punch, scallop circle punch, 1″ punch, 3/4″ punch

  • My new Stampin’ Up! catalog has arrived!

    I did not even realize how ridiculously excited I could get over a catalog.  I got my box last night and spent most of the evening flipping through it and forming my wish lists.  When I was done, I realized that my wishlist definately exceeds my budget right now.  However, there are a few must haves for me when the new catalog arrives. 

    Specifically – I’m getting the BigShot!  Cute texture plates and new dies, I’m starting to get excited.  Courderoy buttons and brads – too cute!  Bigger brads in neutral colors.  Textured, glossy, and gorgeous DSP (To the Nines and Tea Party are at the top of the list).   Oh yeah, and did I mention the awesome new colors in the hostess prints pack? (Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Basic Grey, Brocade Blue, and Garden Green)

    If you’ve seen the catalog, what are you most excited about?  If you haven’t seen it, what are you most hoping for?

  • Making the “magazine” card holder

    photo_folio_sideI’ve gotten a few requests to post the dimensions for the card hold I made that looks like a magazine file.  I was getting ready to post the information, when I realized that this was actually made using a template that the super talented Becky Roberts created and sells.  I contacted her about sharing the information and she requested that I not post too detailed of instructions.  She has a free tutorial on her site for a mini-version of this project, so you should be able to get the gist from there.

    However, while waiting to hear back from her about posting some information on how to make your own holder, I started playing with her template to see if I could figure out how to make the base holder (without the designer paper)  out of a single 8.5×11 sheet of cardstock, as her template calls for starting from a 12×12 cardstock.  In the process, I played with different widths and depths but it turns out that while you can just barely do it, the extra breathing room in her design can be nice. 

    two_mag_files

     

     

    My best design, turned out to be 5.5″ tall, 4 3/8″ long (yeah, that was fun to score :)), 2″ wide, and the base band was 1 1/8″ tall (so, 1 1/8 + 4 3/8 + 5.5 = 11″ exactly).  As you can see from the picture on the right, her design on the left has more space for the cards (mine on the right fills up the whole depth with little to no wiggle room) and the taller base band is a little more supportive for the cards.

     

      The upside from all the trial and error, I ended up with a handful of these to use for my card storage. all_folio_frontall_folio_back  You can see from the pictures my different widths and band heights.

  • Playing with some Petal Pizazz

    So, I normally don’t go for big flower stamp sets.  I never know quite what to do with them.  But when the preview stamp sets where announced, I saw this stamp set and thought some of the flowers and elements could be fairly versatile and so I thought I would give the set a shot.  Maybe I would grow to love big flower sets.

    petal-pizazzI’m still figuring out ways to use the set, but my mom had stamped off some images onto a piece of white paper over Christmas using rose red, orchid opulance, and tangerine tango to use later, and I thought the color combo was great.  Her scrap paper inspired the flower backgrounds on this card and it just kind of went from there.  I love all the colors; its a bit of brightness in the grey winter outside.  I also can’t bear to leave it without a sentiment but haven’t figured out how to place it yet.  I think I will just stamp something small on the green DSP in black or chocolate chip.  But I can figure that out later.

    Recipe:
    Stamps:      Petal Pizazz
    Ink: Rose Red, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Orchid Opulance
    Paper: Tangerine Tango CS, Whisper White CS, Bella Rose DSP
    Accessories: Earth Elements buttons, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • The jackpot of love

    Alright, I’ve made it home and in between trying to catch up on all my home life stuff (those piles of papers and clothes didn’t seem to magically put themself while I was away, darn!) I wanted to post up another card I made over the weekend.

     Game Night is a new Spring/Summer set that I bought because I thought it would be perfect for scrapbooking the multiple trips my DH and I have taken to Las Vegas.  We both also love board games – in fact my birthday party this year was a board game night at my house.   The set includes the jackpot stamp, the sentiments “game night” and “big winner”, card suits, chess rook, dice, and dominos.  Its something fun and different from all the flowers and bird stamps out there right now. 🙂

    jackpotNow about the card.  So, first off, I couldn’t seem to get the lighting to work in my favor and to show off the fact that the white rectangles with the red hearts are actually curved out in the middle (courtesy of pop-up glue dots) to look like reels on a slot machine.  This card was a challange to myself to use the new Game Night stamp set for a card; and not for a card that just says “game night” with no other purpose than to use the set. 🙂  My inspiration was thinking hitting the jackpot in love and since I always have to use the slot machines when I’m in Vegas, I naturally thought of the slot machine reels.  I’m still trying to figure out how to , in general, take my cards to the next level, but this was a fun way to play for now.

    Recipe:
    Stamps:  Game Night
    Ink: Basic Black, Ridinghood Red, Basic Grey
    Paper:  Ridinghood Red CS, Whisper White CS, Basic Grey CS, Kraft CS
    Accessories:  Pop-up glue dots, paper piercer, mat pack, corner rounder, sponges, heart trio punch, white gel pen, word window punch, circle punch

  • Posting from the train plus new catalog highlights

    After spending 6 days at my parents, I am finally heading home.  I’m so happy that the Amtrak train is running.  After the ton of snow the Pacific Northwest got over Christmas, the water levels were high from the melt-off.  Then, this week it started dumping buckets of rain causing tons of flooding and mudslides, including mudslides over the train tracks!  The train was cancelled up until this morning.  Its been interesting watching through the train window at areas I thought were ponds with high water, only to have the conductor say they are actually fields that are normally dry! 

    So, I’m going to try to take pictures of a couple cards I made this weekend using two more new stamp sets (Game night and Petal Pizazz).  But in the meantime while I still have internet, I thought I would share with you some of the exciting news I’m hearing about the new Spring/Summer catalog.

    New Catalog Highlights:

    • New Stamp sets – when I first saw the preview stamp sets, I thought “here we go again with more flower sets”.  Well, from what I’m hearing, there are a ton of cool new stamp sets and they aren’t overwhelmingly flowers!  We are getting more masculine sets, some new cute tree sets, some coffee based sets, and even some fairy tale based sentiments, and I’m sure lots more. 
    • Awesome accessories – Oh man, from what I’ve been hearing, my wallet is going to be in trouble when the new catalog comes out.  There are some great new colors for the button bouquet (chocolate chip!), courdoroy buttons, bigger brads, crystal rhinestone brads,  crochet flowers, canvas die cuts, multi-color rubons, and more! 
    • BigShot expansions – Stampin’ Up! is going to be expanding the line of BigShot items including the introduction of some new dies.  With the new catalog we will be getting texture plates for embossing, new shapes including a new alphabet and bag templates, plus even more coming out in a couple months.
    • New Paper – I can’t wait to see the new designer paper.  I’m sure there will be lots of cute patterns, plus we will be getting black and white designer paper, and even textured cardstock.

    I’m sure there are lots more goodies in store, but these tidbits have been enough for me to start buiding my list of have-to-haves. 🙂 I think it will be time for me to finally get the BigShot and I think my nose is going to be buried in the accessory section of the catty for about a day while I drool over everything. 🙂 Ok, off to try to snap some photos!

  • Playing with blog themes

    Ok, I was getting kinda tired of looking at my old blog theme, especially when so many of the blogs I visit look super cute.  So, I’ll probably be making some tweaks and hopefully it won’t be too hard to read. And besides, maybe a cute blog theme will make my cards look better too. 🙂

  • If you are in the Portland area and want to come play…

    Just thought I would invite you all to come to some of my upcoming classes if you are in or from the Portland,OR area. 

    Its a Card Party! – January 17th at 2pm
    The hubby will be out of town, so it seems like a perfect time to host a get together.  We will be making 3-4 cards and a container to hold them.  Each card will be different and good general purpose cards to use throughout the year (birthday, thank you, etc).  Since I have all day, you are welcome to stay later and use my punches, stamps, and ink for any of your personal projects.  Cost $10
     
    Technique Night- January 22nd at 7pm
    With the holidays and everyone traveling, we didn’t have a technique night early in January, so I’m holding a make-up session late this month.  Plus, the new Spring and Summer Idea book is coming out on January 19th, so you will get to see and play with some of the new items.  We will be using Crystal Effects (a glossy lacquer) and making a couple small projects/embellishments to see some different ways to use it for both scrapbooking and card making.  Cost $5
     
    Open Scrap – February 7th at 1pm
    I’m so behind on my scrapbooking projects that I’m going to have a day of just an open table to come, bring your project, and feel free to use my inks, stamps, and punches. Those of you interested in scrapbooking, I will have a 2 page layout project available. So, come and hang out for a laid back afternoon. 🙂

    If you are around, I’d love to have you join us!  Email me at stampingwithjennifer@gmail.com, and I’ll send you all the details!

  • Making door prizes for a crop

    As I’ve said in prior posts, I’m visiting my mom this week to help her out with some events (a party for her on Tuesday and a Crop where we will be demo’ing a free make and take on Saturday). So, yesterday was my day to help make sure we had everything in order for Saturday. Somehow I ended up being focused on door prize items. She has a small bag of handmade items she is going to give away and I decided that she ought to have a couple cards in the bag as well.

    doorprize_stampsSo, I whipped up a couple of cards and then “wrapped” a stamp and ink set that is going into a bigger door prize basket. After wrapping the stamps, I’ve decided I’m officially obsessed with ribbon. I love almost all of the SU ribbon and keep obsessing over how to make a good bow. I have a feeling many of my cards in the future will be including ribbon. 🙂  Oh yeah, and the card on the left is using the new Sweet Stems stamp set.

    doorprize_cards