Northwest Stamper

Tag: doilies

  • Sweet Christmas Card with Suite Seasons for the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop!

    Today is a fun post for me because not only am I going to share the swap card that I created for OnStage Local in Vancouver, BC last weekend – but it is also the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop!  That is right!  Some of the stampers from my group have gotten the band back together again and we are showcasing some holiday project ideas including many using the stamp sets that are in the 25% off sale this month!  So, make sure to check them all out.

    Keeping it Simple with the Suite Season stamp set

    So, for OnStage this year, I made the poor choice of not working on my display board project particularly early, which meant as we were getting into the last week before the event, I still needed to finish up display board projects AND create a card to bring as a swap card.  Thankfully, the Suite Season stamp set and the Candy Cane Lane designer paper made it easy for me to pull together a cute card with time to spare!

    Now, I’ve had some people ask where the house came from, and if you missed it, it was cut straight from the Candy Cane Lane designer paper!  And before you start thinking “oh man!  That is a pain to cut”, let me tell you, it goes WAY faster than you might think!  I thought that was going to be the thing that was going to be the biggest pain for me with this card, but nope!  Turns out, trying to pick up and glue the little hearts were a more tedious challenge than cutting. Smile  I cut for 20 cards out of a sheet of the designer paper.

    The houses were a great balance for the size of the sentiment from the Suite Season stamp set.  I wanted the sentiment to hold it’s own and then just decorate up the other side of the card as an accent to the saying.

    And speaking of accents, if you do cut these houses out – make sure to grab your Clear Wink of Stella!  I painted it onto the snow topped portions of the house and it was super cute!

    Then it was as simple as layering over the fabulous stitched edge Real Red ribbon and one of the White Doilies (cut in half) to finish out the card.  Oh and before I forget the other touch… that little red heart at the bottom of the sentiment.  Can you guess where I got that from? huh? huh?  Smile

    It is from the Hearts Confetti Border punch!  How fun is that?!  I punched out some hearts from scrap paper and then just glued them down over the stamped heart in the sentiment.  That little extra touch of red on the right side just finishes it off, don’t you think?

    Now, like I said, this stamp set is one of the 9 sets that are available for 25% off in the month of November.  Stampin’ Up picked stamp sets that would coordinate with the NEW Stitched Edge Framelits and makes it easy to create cute projects!  They are featured in this blog hop as well as in the Premium Tutorial Pack for November!  See what stamp sets made the list:

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    Get even more great ideas with these stamps on the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop!

    Ready to see more project ideas with these stamp sets and other great holiday sets?  Well, hop along to the blogs below – the links will take you directly to their post highlighting a great project using one of these sets.

    Don’t forget to leave comments along the way!  I’d love to hear what you think of my swap card or just to hear you say hello. Smile

    Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop stops:

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    Enjoy the hop and if you’d like to join us next month on the hop, consider joining our fun group of Stampin’ Up demonstrators by purchasing the Starter Kit!  You’ll not only get to see the Occasions Catalog NOW, but you’ll get to order from it in December… and best of all, you’ll be part of our awesome crafty community and we can’t wait to welcome you there.  Then you can join us and be featured in our blog hop next month!

    Have questions?  Just let me know or get started here.

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    Premium tutorial pack hostess code_thumb[1]

    Get your free exclusive Tutorial pack from our amazing International demonstrator design team featuring the stamp sets that are on sale this month!  You can get your free copy of this SET of great project ideas by either:

    Placing a $50 Stampin’ Up order with me (either directly or in my online store using the hostess code above) in the month of November
    Join my Fun n’ Crafty Stampers!  My team gets a copy of this Tutorial Pack for FREE!

    Project Measurements:

    • Sahara Sand cardstock – 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″
    • Early Espresso cardstock – 3 3/4” x 5”
    • Very Vanilla cardstock – 3 1/2” x 4 3/4”

    Project Supply List:

  • Speedy Scrapbooking with Seasonally Scattered

    I realized this weekend that I haven’t done traditional scrapbooking in what feels like a long time.  And I really do miss it!  So, after I get all caught up with the samples for my next few events, I will be for sure doing more scrapping.  And I may just have to plan a cropping day too… anyone want to join me?

    Today’s share however is a page I created for the Stampin’ Up convention display boards using the new Seasonally Scattered stamp set from the Holiday Catalog (which I’m finishing mailing out this week, so if you need a copy, let me know!)

    Tips for this project:

    • Keep it quick by using the designer paper packs, like the Moonlight pack here, and just overlap full sheets of the paper to make your background.  No cutting means fast designs!
    • Use up your ribbon scraps by trimming the ends and then adhering them in a group behind one of your layers of paper.  I mixed 1/8” Taffeta in Melon Mambo and Satin Ribbon in Hello Honey & Blackberry Bliss.

    • After stamping your sentiment in Melon Mambo and then outline the letters of the stamped image in a contrasting marker – in this case Blackberry Bliss.
    • Use vellum for a subtle way to add journalling to your project without the journalling block dominating your scrapbook page.
    • Add a few sequins for some bits of color and shine along the top of your page.

    The fun part about scrapbooking is that you get to enjoy the memories while you are working because you are looking at your pictures… plus you get to have fun will all your tools and techniques as you build your page.  It is like a really big card to play and experiment with!

    Scrapbook even faster with Project Life!  If you have tons of pictures you want to get documented but don’t feel like you have time to scrapbook, don’t forget to check out Project Life.  All you need is a few essentials:

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    See all the options with Project Life here

    Drop your photos in the pocket pages – no cutting required! Add the cute cards from the card collections and just write in your notes about what was happening and you are done!  Easy Peasy!  Learn more about Project Life and see a video of how fast it is to create a set of pages in this blog post.

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    August Online Stamp Club Hostess Code – TT2NETD4
    Use this code to get free exclusive tutorials & project kit! Learn more


  • Spotlighting Paper Piercing for a Fab Blog Hop on Tools!

    Thank you so much for joining us for the September Stylin’  Stampin’ Squad Blog Hop! This month we are focusing on the tools of the stampin’ trade. Specifically, each of our favorite stamping tools. It’s amazing the kinds of tools that have been created to help us along in our paper-crafting addictions.  This month’s blog hop will showcase many of the Stampin’ Up! tools that are now available to us in the 2013-2014 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Holiday Catalog and even a couple of products that are so new they aren’t in either catalog. We hope you enjoy seeing how we use the old and new tools and are inspired to come up with some great projects of your own.

    You should have just left stop number 9 on the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop – Stuck on Stampin’. If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn’t work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.


    Ok, so are you ready to see what I picked for my favorite tool?  I was going to pick punches (since, have you seen my wall of punches??) but that was well covered.  And so I decided to go with the less popular tool – the paper piercer and templates!

    I promise the picture above includes all three of the templates included in the Essentials pack, but its hard to see, so here is a better picture of all of the options available to you in the pack.

    image This is my absolute favorite pack because I cannot live without my straight rows of piercing holes.  It is the simplest thing, but I use it all the time!  Now, I love the shapes and patterns as well, and have found they give lots of possibilities even if you don’t own the coordinating punch or framelit.

    But to show you 3 of the ways I use my piercer, I created this card to share today:

    Can you spot all 3 uses of the piercing tool and template?  Smile  Keep reading to see if you caught them all!

    1.  Creating Faux Stitching

    One of the coolest techniques I know with this tool is the faux stitching technique and it is so easy to do as well.  Yes, you can pierce your holes and then grab needle and thread and stitch on your cards…. or you can just do this.

    Line up the more widely spaced straight line holes of your paper piercing template so that the seam between two pieces of paper (in this case, patterns from the Etcetera designer paper) is exactly in the middle between the two lines of holes.

    how to use a piercing template for faux stitchingUse your piercing tool to poke each hole and then draw your stitch lines in with your favorite color marker.  Looks pretty real, huh?

    2.  Spotlighting with Pierced Patterns

    Since there are so many patterns on the templates, sometimes they are perfect to coordinate with a punch or framelit for an extra accent.  In this case, I loved how the oval of holes helps accent the sentiment in the center of the scallop oval punch out.  You could do some faux stitching with this as well, but I thought the simple look was a bit nicer.

    You can also do this without needing to use a punch.  Use any of the shapes to accent a stamped image on any project you are working on.

    3.  Precision Placement of Brads

    how to line up piercing template for corners

    Ok, this is my go-to use for my paper piercer and template – placing brads.  I am a pretty loosey-goosey card maker and stamper.  I’m ok if my image is a little skewed (hey, its artistic that way!) and if I didn’t quite get that bow right.  But one thing I can’t stand, is if an element that is supposed to be symetrical – like brads in a row or in the corners of a paper – comes out slightly off.

    So I ALWAYS pull out my piercing template when I’m going to add brads to a project so I can make sure they are spaced evenly apart and the same distance in from each corner.

    To do that, you just align the black solid line on the template along the edge of your paper and then pick the same hole in the corner to use for placement.  Then just use the same corner of the template for each corner on your paper and you will get perfect corners every time!

    So, there you have it…. did you figure out all 3?

    I also wanted to take a quick moment to show one other little trick I did on this card…. yeah, it has nothing what so ever to do with piercing, but I thought it was cool.  It was how I got the doily for the background of the card.

    two tone sponging on paper doilies I took a single doily and folded it in not-quite-half.  Then I took a piece of scrap paper and placed it between the top and the bottom piece of the doily.  I sponged the top piece in Pool Party; then I opened it up and sponged the bottom side with Midnight Muse.  It gives a neat effect with no cutting and only one doily!

    and back to paper piercing…

    I did a class on Paper Piercing a while back and so I thought I’d share a card we made in that class that gives you even more ideas for how you can user the piercing tool and template.

     

    So I hope you enjoyed all the tips and ideas, and now are inspired to get out your piercing templates and start creating!

    For even more inspiration and ideas for using the tools you have at home, keep on hoping and visit Bree for some fun with the Simply Scored!

    Blog Hop Participants:

    1. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
    2. Pam S. of Stampin’ in the Sun!
    3. Tonya B. of Stampin’ with Tonya
    4. Dawn S. of Dawn’s Creative Chalet
    5. Darcy J. of DJ’s Stampin’ Place
    6. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
    7. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
    8. Justin K. of JK Cards
    9. Heidi B of Stuck on Stampin’
    10. Jennifer B. of NW Stamper <— YOU ARE HERE!
    11. Bree R. of Craft-somnia
    12. Diana E. of Stampin’ Fun with Diana
    13. Jennifer C. of Happy 2 Scrap 4 Life
    14. Jamie H. of Unique Ink
    15. Kristina M. of Mama’s Sanity

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    Card Supplies Used
    Stamps- Express Yourself (hostess set)
    Ink- Midnight Muse, Calypso Coral, Pool Party
    Paper – Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Etcetera designer paper
    Accessories – Paper piercer, piercing mat, Essentials Piercing Template, Scallop Oval punch, sponge daubers, white doilies, Mini Brads, stampin’ dimensionals

    Help me better plan future classes, online offerings, tutorials, and events –  take this quick survey on in-person and online class offerings and you’ll be entered to win!  Take the survey now!

  • It’s Stampin’ Up! Convention Time!!

    I’ve been getting super excited over the last week as convention approached and I started getting exciting wondering what amazing ideas I’d see, what new products would be revealed, and have a chance to hang out and reconnect with some wonderful people.

    As I do each year I’ll be posting live updates to my Facebook page (as long as my battery holds out each day) and I’ll give you the full scoop and pictures each night here on the blog.  So even if you can’t be here in person, you can still participate in the excitement and get a feel for it with me.

    Travelling to Salt Lake City!

    So, today was my traveling day and I was very lucky to have 4 members of my group plus a great stamping friend traveling with me from Seattle to Salt Lake City.  We hopped on our plane last night and were treated to the most amazing sunset as we came in to land in SLC.

    salt lake city sunset

    We got our bags and a shuttle and headed to our homebase for the weekend – the Radisson at the convention center.  Check out the cool wall art about the nice beds:

    Convention 2013 Radisson hotel room

    And while I should really be sleeping in that bed right now (since breakfast comes waaay to early in the morning), I thought I’d show you some of the other fun things I brought with me to kick things off. Smile

    1.  My nametag & convention buttons!

    My first year at convention, I saw people with their lanyards full of pins and buttons and I realized that many people collect their convention pins and acheivement pins on their lanyard and I set out to start collecting mine.  It’s taken me 5 years, but I love that it is getting more full.  I know… its silly, but sometimes the little things make it more fun!

    convention 2013 name tag and lanyard

    Plus with 6,000 demos in attendance, they are checking badges this year and so I got to make it fun to look at!

    2.  Swaps!!

    What would a Stampin’ Up! event be without swaps?  I started out with making a ton of this Flower/Doily card… it was fun and easy to make a bunch.  But when I was done, I had made 76 cards and I decided a few days ago that a few more wouldn’t hurt and so I made the Christmas cards as well.

    Flower Shop Doily Card

    stampin up convention 2013 flower shop swap

    I used the new Flower Shop bundle to create the cute flowers and then just accented with one of the Whisper White doilies.

    I decided I needed a few more swaps and I thought of this fun way to use the new Christmas Collectibles stamp set.
    (psst – sneak peek alert!  New holiday catalog goodies including the new stamp set, punch, and embossing folder.)

    Christmas Collectibles Ornament Card

    stampin up convention 2013 christmas swap card

     

    3.  Fun n’ Crafty group gifts!

    And finally, I put together a little Convention Survival Kit for everyone in my group since it was the first convention for many of them.  Some people have the tradition of downline gifts and roommate gifts… I just was excited to have so many downline and friends going with me I wanted to put a little something together for them.

    Stampin up convention 2013 survival kit

    • I figured a few emergency snacks and mints would be nice.
    • Wet wipes for cleaning up after snacks or when you are stamping during make & takes and need a little extra clean up power.
    • Some tissue, because there is always some touching story or presentation that gets the whole room crying!
    • Chapstick – I swear, I always forget this and buy a new stick every year when I am here!
    • Band-aids were supposed to be in the bag, especially for when you are walking all day and your shoes start rubbing
    • …and of course a cute bag they can reuse each day to easily find their essentials.

    Today they get their handmade gift from me… but I’ll save that surprise for my next blog post!  Ooh, I can’t wait to give everyone theirs!

    So, today will be a day full of Stampin’ Up! home office tours, swapping, opening session, and a big party afterwards!  I’ll post as I go on my Facebook page and then back here later for the full report.

    I’m so excited!

    Now for a few hours sleep while I can….7:15am comes too early!

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  • Vintage Cards for Mother’s Day

    Ok, so these cards don’t actually say “Happy Mother’s Day” on them… but the vintage feel and pretty colors just makes me want them to be Mother’s Day cards!

    Both of the samples I’m sharing with you today came from some amazing creators that I had the privilege of swapping with at Leadership this year.  I love how Whisper White, Crumb Cake, and Primrose Petals come together to make such a pretty combo!

    card created by Jessica Brigden

     

    card created by Twila Mooneyham

    Which one would you pick for your mom? Smile

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

    See the Latest Availability & PDFs of all the retiring stamps and accessories here

  • Scrapbooking Sunday: Layering, Misting, and More!

    I’ve been trying to start up scrapbooking classes each month… partially because I wanted to have some balance in my classes and also because I am dreadfully behind on my scrapping.  So, creating layouts for a class forces me to get some extra pages done!

    So, this month, I ended up turning to the Tea for Two suite from the Spring Catalog as my inspiration in creating two 12×12 pages.  I designed them so they could stand alone or be a two page spread.

    Layout #1: Best Things in Life

    So, this page is designed with the Basic Grey pieces to be mats for 4×6 photos – that means once you drop in your pictures there will a little grey mat plus the Old Olive mat behind that.

    My favorite embellishment is this layered flower above the photos:

    I took one of the Tea Lace Doilies (one of the best deals in the catalog! You get 24 doilies for only $2.95) and I sponged it with a sponge dauber and Calypso Coral ink.  You just have to be careful that you don’t rub too hard or you will tear part of the doily off.  Thankfully, in this case, you can tuck the yucky part (like I did!) under the grey photo mat.

    Then I stamped the flower image from Betsy’s Blossom and punched it out with the 1-3/4” Scallop Circle punch.  For the top layer, I used one of the new Designer Build a Brads to create a cute topper.

    Now, here is the trick – I snipped off the brad tines from the back of the Build a Brad!  Then stick your brad into a Stampin’ Dimensional and stick it to the front of your embellishment.  This raises the brad up off of the photo mat so you have room to slide your photo underneath!

    I also thought it needed something in the upper corner so I used Besty’s Blossom again for the bird and leaves.

    And I used this great sentiment from the Feels Good stamp set for my title.  If you are wondering about the shape I used for the title block, it is actually the largest of the Labels Framelits that I hung off the corner of the page and then snipped away all of the extra.

    Layout #2:  Misting Fun

    This is the second layout we created.  I’ll try to go fast since I know this post is getting totally long. Smile  This page was my “play with all the tools on my craft table” layout.

    First I started by misting the corners of my base paper.  I started with Whisper White cardstock and then spruced it up by making my own So Saffron mist.

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    To make your own mist, add some rubbing alcohol to one of the Stampin’ SpritzersThen add a few drops of your favorite re-inker to the mix and shake it up.   I would add about 10 drops of reinker for about every 1/4 of the spritzer bottle you fill with alcohol.

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    Then I used my Color Spritzer and my Calypso Coral marker and spritzed over the So Saffron mist with Coral splatter.  It adds just a touch of coral to the page without jumping out at you.

    Finally a few more touches… I used some of the Pool Party Core’dinations cardstock (sanded down of course!) to accent my photo mat for my 5×7” photo.  Then I cut out more of the images from the Betsy’s Blossom stamp set for a corner embellishment, which is also popped up on dimensionals so you can stick your photo underneath.

    Finally I had to grab some of my new This and That items to finish it out.  The rotary date stamp for the banner label (I wasn’t sure which picture I wanted to use so I left the date blank) plus some washi for more color at the bottom of the page!

    Whew!  Ok, made it through all those photos!  I just love scrapbook pages though because you can use all your different papers, tools, and accents to make one big cool design.

    So hopefully this gave you some new idea and I’d love to hear what you think about these pages.  I love hearing what you think in comments, so if you have a minute please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

     

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    Supples Used
    Stamps
    – Betsy’s Blossom, Feels Good, This or That rotary date stamp
    Paper – Whisper White, So Saffron, Old Olive, Basic Grey, Tea for Two designer paper, Pool Party core’dinations cardstock
    Ink – Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Calypso Coral marker, So Saffron reinker
    Accessories – Tea Lace Doilies, 2011-2013 In Color Printed brads, Stampin’ Spritzers, Color Spritzer, This and That washi tape, Designer Build a Brads, Stampin’ Dimensionals, 1 3/4” Scallop Circle punch, Big Shot, Labels Framelits, Spone Daubers, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Stampin’ Sanding System

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