How to Make Your Own Flocking & Add Fuzz to Your Projects

When I was playing with the Swallowtail stamp, I realized that it was a big stamp… seriously, like background sized big stamp.  And I was trying to figure out how I wanted to use it.  So, I cut and I played, but I really wanted to keep the full butterfly image for my card.  So I let go of my 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” boundaries and let my butterfly fly!

But then as I was working on the rest of my card, I decided that the Honeycomb embossing folder looked a bit too tall… too sharp for my card.  So I grabbed my handy sanding block and started rubbing down the layers.  When I was done, I was much happier with my cardstock and I had a ton of extra fuzz collecting on my desk.

That fuzz makes awesome flocking!  If you don’t know what flocking it, it is like glitter only instead of being a jar full of reflective bits, it is a jar full of fluffy fuzz.  It is perfect to add as a layer over parts of your stamped image or card that you want to have a plush texture and when you make your own, it perfectly matches the rest of your project.

Here is a close up of how my honeycomb looked when I was done sanding and you can kind of see the butterfly body too:

I even made a video so you can see how I made it!

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Supples Used
Stamps – Swallowtail, Fabulous Phrases
Paper – Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder
Ink – Early Espresso
Accessories – Big Shot, Honeycomb Embossing Folder, Rhinestones, Sanding Block, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Scrapbooking Sunday: Using Stamps as Accents on a Baby Page!

I know it is St. Patrick’s Day and so I should be posting something green, but I finished this scrapbook page for my daughter and just had to share it with everyone for this week’s Scrapbooking Sunday!  So, you can virtually pinch me but I hope you enjoy the ideas for this weeks layout.

I’ve been trying to get through some of the recent backlog of photos I printed opportunistically and then never got scrapped.    This is one of the photos from right before we left the hospital after she was born.  I may not look my best, but it is one of the few pictures of I have of her and me and so I’ll love it no matter how I look.

This whole layout actually started with me wanting to use the elephant from the Patterned Occasions stamp set exclusively available during Sale-a-Bration but to use it for a baby scrapbook page.  So I grabbed my Pink Pirouette marker and started coloring the elephant and making an elephant parade.

One thing I noticed is that the markers are so juicy and the pattern of the elephant is so intricate that extra ink gets caught in the spaces so it wasn’t as crisp of an image.  But I didn’t care and couldn’t be bothered to try again using a post-it note to mask the stamp itself.

But then I tried again using a mix of colors for one more fun elephant accent.  This time I left the flower in the image and cut it all out.  I accented it with a 1 1/4” scallop circle punched out of Pink Pirouette cardstock.

Finally, I needed a little more something at the top of my page and my Hearts a Flutter stamp set and framelits was exactly what I needed.  I just adhered my baker’s twine across the top of the page and tucked my banners under the twine where I wanted them.

I even like the Summer Starfruit designer paper from the Sale-a-Bration flyer (Sycamore Street designer paper) as my background even though initially I was not a fan at all of this pattern.

Don’t Miss the Start of Sale-a-Bration Send Off Week! Giveaways and more!

Don’t forget that this is the last week to get your free stamps and accessories as part of Sale-a-Bration.  To remind you (and me!) of the fun ideas and projects you can make with the different stamps and accessories, I’ll be holding a send off celebration here on my blog all week capped off with a Sale-a-Bration Send Off Party on Friday.

All week you can get entries for prizes and drawings!

So, come back tomorrow when it all kicks off and you can start celebrating and winning with me!

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Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

Patterned Occasions Baby Scrapbook Page Recipe:
Stamps: Patterned Occasions*, Hearts a Flutter
Ink: Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit, Rich Razzleberry, Markers: Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, Gumball Green
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Primrose Petals core’dinations cardstock, Sycamore Street designer paper *
Accessories: Sycamore Street ribbon & button pack*, Big Shot, Junior Timeless Type sizzlits, Hearts a Flutter framelits, Square Lattice embossing folder, Glue Dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Crochet Lace trim, Early Espresso baker’s twine, stapler, Sanding Block, 1 1/4” scallop circle punch

* item that is available for free with a $50 order through 3/22/2013

Adorable Easter Class Projects, Punch Art, & a Blog Hop!

It’s the first Thursday of the month and that means the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop.  I lucked out because this month the theme is Easter/Spring and I just so happen to have my Everything Easter class coming up this weekend on Sunday!

So I thought I would share some of the projects we’ll be doing in the class and give you some inspiration for what you could do for your own Easter baskets!

Not-so-tiny Treat Pouch!

I had been looking at some past projects and saw some old treat pouches that were made with a Big Shot die that retired a few years back.  It reminded me of the fun and easy idea of a no-sided bag that holds a pouch of treats in the middle.  Did that make any sense at all?  I bet not, so here – how about a picture to show you what I mean?

Does that make more sense now?

Ok, so this is really easy to make and you can change it up for any event or holiday.

In this case, I took a 4”x12” piece of Certainly Celery cardstock and scored at 5” and 7”.  Then I used my new Ovals Framelits to cut out a piece of Pool Party core’dinations cardstock to make my top flap!  I then embossed the top flap and sanded down the dots for a subtle, textured effect.

The stamped flowers are from the Madison Avenue stamp set that is only available as a free stamp set with a $50 order.  The flowers are separate from the leaves and it makes for some great stamping options.

Tip:

• Use Sticky Strip (red line tape) to attach the scallop oval flap to the back of your pouch.  This helps hold up with multiple openings of the pouch.
• Use a slim velcro dot to keep your flap closed on the front of your pouch – this allows for easy reuse later.
• Secure a clear envelope or card sleeve to the front-inside panel of your base cardstock.  (So in my picture, behind where my stamped flowers are).  This helps with the stability of the pouch and keeps the candy from getting away.  

Punch Art Easter Duck / Chick

I’ll admit I don’t have many Easter stamps.  But that is usually ok because there are so many adorable punch art options that are perfect for Easter!

Like take this duck punch art for example …  isn’t he CUTE!

I just love this little guy and knew I had to share him with my friends for the class.  I tried to use as few punches as necessary but ended up with 6 punches used:

• Ornament Punch
• 1 3/4” Circle Punch
• 1 3/4” Scallop Circle Punch
• 1 1/4” Scallop Circle Punch
• Large Oval Punch
• Circle from Itty Bitty Punch Pack

The funny thing about this sample card is that this duck was my “figure it out” version and then I made a “nice sample” version where I sponged the edges of the different body parts, made sure everything was on straight, etc.  But when I was putting together the card, I grabbed a duck….glued…. and then realized I had used my messy version instead of the “nice” one.    I guess it didn’t turn out too bad, huh?

I have two more projects for the Everything Easter class on Sunday – a card and an awesome punch art bunny treat box!  Sadly, I didn’t get them photographed in time for today, but I’ll try to share them soon.

Until then, if you want more inspiration for your Easter and Spring projects, check out the other talented stampers who are sharing their great ideas on our blog hop!  Click the “Next Blog” image or your favorite link below:

1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
3. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps-A-Lot
4. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
5. Tonya B. of Stampin’ with Tonya
6. Dawn S. of Dawn’s Creative Chalet
7. Darcy J. of DJ’s Stampin’ Place
8. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
9. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
10. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin’
11. Jennifer B of NW Stamper  <—YOU ARE HERE!
12. Bree of Craft-somnia
13. Diana E of Stampin’ Fun with Diana

I hope you enjoyed my projects I shared today!

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

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Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set!  Click here to learn more!

Smashed Bottle Cap/Soda Pop Top Spring Card

Ever since I went to Leadership in January, I have been dying to try out the technique of smashing the soda pop tops with your Big Shot to create these super cute embellishments.  For some reason I thought it was going to be super hard or complicated… or something that made me a little bit intimidated to give it a try.  But then one day I decided to just go for it and I was shocked at how easy it was!

So, I just had to put together a card to share with my group at my monthly team conference call/meeting.  I showed them how easy it was and then had supplies for everyone to make this card:

I just had to use some of my new favorites including Tea for Two designer paper and the Honeycomb embossing folder for the base of the card.

But check out this pop top… isn’t is awesome when smashed?!?

How to Smash Your Soda Pop Top in Your Big Shot

Ok, so if you want to do this yourself, this is what you need to do:

1.  Put your white multi-purpose platform on the Big Shot base with all of the tabs/shims flipped open

2.  Sandwich your bottle cap/pop top between the two clear cutting plates and place on top of the multi-purpose platform

3.  Run through your Big Shot

That’s it!  It smashes fast and like buttah!  I have way too much fun doing this.

I just used the 1” Circle Punch after I stamped my image from the Collage Curious stamp set (stamped on River Rock cardstock) and adhered it to the inside of the pop top.  Then I filled the inside with Crystal Effects. 

I will warn you it takes a long time to dry!  Like seriously, it took probably about 45 min for mine to dry because I used soooo much Crystal Effects.  But it looks so awesome that I just had to do it.

So if you haven’t tried this smashed soda pop top technique yet, you totally should!  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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Smashed Recipe:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Collage Curious
Ink: Crumb Cake, Markers: Calypso Coral, Certainly Celery
Paper: Very Vanilla cs, Certainly Celery cs, Tea For Two designer paper
Accessories: Big Shot, Honeycomb embossing folder, Glue Dots, Crystal Effects, Paper Snips, Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Bloomin’ Marvelous Embossed Treat Box

When I accidentally ordered 3 packs of the Kraft Treat Boxes because I thought you were getting one for the $2.95 not 4 boxes for the $2.95, I was initially bummed to have so many boxes; but now I’m almost out and have been loving experimenting with them!  This was my first time trying out embossing and die cutting the boxes but I just LOVE how it turned out.  What do you think?

I started out by grabbing my Window Frames framelits and cutting a hole in the top flap.  I will admit, it took some playing with which tabs to use and how to fold the box so that it would fit through the Big Shot.  In the end, I think I flipped over the first tab so only one tab on the white Multi-purpose Platform was being used.

Once I got it cut out, then I went back with my polka dot embossing folder and embossed just the top flap.  Again, it look a little manipulation and I think an extra tab on the platform being flipped out, but it eventually worked!

Then I just glued a piece of the Sycamore Street designer paper that I got free as part of the Sale-a-Bration promotion behind the hole for a pop of color.  I punched out the sentiment from the Bloomin’ Marvelous Sale-a-Bration stamp set and then added some flowers I created using the Boho Blossom punch.

Finally I finished it off with a band of the Sycamore Street designer paper (in one of the other patterns) to tie in the colors from the top to the side of the box.

Now it is the perfect gift to fill with treats and give to the next person who hosts a private class with me!

I still have a couple dates left for the Sale-a-Bration promotion period, so contact me at jennifer@nwstamper.com if you want to have a fun night out crafting with some of your friends.  I bring the projects, you all just show up and have a great time!

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

Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards?

Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

Sycamore Street Treat Box Recipe:
Stamps: Bloomin’ Marvelous
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Whisper White cs, Pool Party cs, Calypso Coral cs, Summer Starfruit cs, Sycamore Street designer paper
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Window Frames framelits, Sticky Strip, Stampin’ Dimensionals