Northwest Stamper

Tag: for all things

  • Grateful for You Thank You Card with Touches of Burlap

    This week has really been a real life lesson for me on gratitude.  I have been blessed by some amazing people who came out of the woodwork and helped me survive this week as I was starting to get super stressed out midway through!  I am one of those people who have a hard time asking for help and I was shown how amazing friends and community can be. Smile  So today’s card share is my virtual way of sharing my gratitude for them!

    See, Thursday morning, I was helping decorate a table for a Ladies Christmas Dinner with my MOPS group and I was starting to freakout just a little.  Hubby was out of town, so I was single parenting and still needed to get ready for card class the next night, plus clean and finish planning my daughter’s birthday party on Sunday.  And lets just say my house was a disaster and I didn’t really know what I was doing for the party.  Oh, and I knew I would be out late that night because I would be at the Christmas dinner.  So I was just seeing a lot to do and not enough plan to know how I was going to do it!

    But by the end of the night, I had one friend, Trisha, who was helping with the Christmas dinner offer to come over the next day to help me finish cutting for card class… then that afternoon, my friend Chrissy had me over to help me get my mind straight about the party and put together a plan – but even more, she sat there with her Cricuit and cut out a BUNCH of decorations for the party while we were talking!  So I went home not only with a plan but with many of the decorations done!  Then in the evening I was overwhelmed when another friend, Lisa, sent me a picture of a fondant Hello Kitty she had made me for on top of the birthday cake (Caitlin had asked for a “Hello Kitty” cake and while I can make anything with paper… designing with frosting is not quite my forte Smile)  And my evening timed out that I could clean my kitchen and by the time I went to bed, I was starting to feel like I could do this after all!  So to all of you – THANK YOU!

    Tips for making this card:

    • Frame it up with simple layers – I always love how clean everything looks when you use simple layering to mat your card elements.  I find that a 1/8” mat is the perfect size most of the time, and really easy to cut on your trimmer.  Just cut your matting cardstock 1/4” larger in both directions than your smaller piece.  So for example, in this card:
        –  Card base as a mat: 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”
        –  Crumb cake piece: 4” x 5 1/4”
        –  Soft Suede square mat: 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”
    •   –  Very Vanilla piece for stamping: 3 1/4” x 3 1/4”
    • Use those busy patterned papers for accents – I used one of the patterns from the Into the Woods designer paper for a pop of color and an accent.  The pattern is one I like but busier than I would normally use for a big piece, so use it for a smaller layer and tuck it under one of the elements for just the right accent piece.
    • Get creative with your Burlap Ribbon – I love my burlap ribbon… like use it all the time!  But I wanted to soften it up a bit when I was making this card, so we changed it up a bit.  First, trim off the stitching from one side of the ribbon.  Then pull out 3 threads from the top of the burlap ribbon before gluing it down to your card front.  (I recommend tape runner applied to the cardstock on the card for taping down the ribbon).  Then use the threads for other accents on your card!  I used two like twine across my Very Vanilla piece and then threaded the third through a Gold Button and tied a bow.
    • Make a Shadow for your images – No lining up required!  One fun way to play with your stamp images is to use two different colors to create a “shadow” image.  The nice thing is, since you want them to be slightly offset, you don’t have to worry about lining things up.  So, you can get a little messy and it looks great everytime!  In this case, I stamped the background rectangle from the For All Things stamp set in Crumb Cake in, and then stamped the leaves in Soft Suede ink over the top as my main image.  Then stamp the shadow in Cajun Craze ink by stamping close to my original spot but not exactly the same position.

    I’m happy to say, thanks to the help earlier this week and then my mother-in-law coming over to help clean as I was baking for the party yesterday, I think we are all ready for our Princess Party!  Princess Caitlin is all ready to go!

    2015-12-06 08.06.24

    So hugs to all of you and thank you to everyone who takes the time to share their talents and time to help make every day just a little bit more survivable and a little more magical!

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    Project Supplies Used on this Card:
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  • Gratitude Month Week 2 FREE Tutorial – Patriotic Thank You Card

    As promised, though a little late, I shared this tutorial with my newsletter mailing list earlier this week (if you aren’t on the list you can sign up here).  But I also wanted to make sure to post it on my blog as well!  This was my card for Veteran’s Day and so it is a thank you card with a patriotic touch.

    November Gratitude Month – Week 2 PDF Tutorial – Patriotic Thank You Card

    Tips for this card:

    • Emboss the three main stars from Be the Star stamp set onto your favorite colored cardstock and heat set with white embossing powder for maximum punch.
    • Each star can be exactly die cut using the coordinating Stars framelits and did you notice how well they nestle together?
    • Take the banner shape from the For All Things stamp set and stamp in Crumb Cake ink and cut out.  Then cut it in half to create two banners for your card.  Staple together with the mini stapler from Stampin’ Up and you have a cute accent for the top of your card.
      Personally, I like stapling twice for decoration. Smile 

     

    • Add a button and some ribbon, but keep it neutral so your stars can take center stage.

    And most importantly, make sure to give this card to someone who means so much to you!

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    Project Supplies Used:
    (if you are reading this in email, click here to see the list of supplies)

  • Fun Fall Cards with the Rock n’ Roll Technique

    Sometimes you have to go back to those techniques have been been around forever… in this case, I created a card to share with my Stamp Club folks using the Rock n’ Roll technique.

    I combined a few of my favorite fall items – like the Autumn Wood Elements and the Fall Fest stamp and framelit bundle.  It was a way to use those fall stamps and accents for a card that isn’t necessarily fall specific.

    And of course there is the Rock n’ Roll technique which we used on the pumpkin here –

    How to do the Rock n’ Roll Technique:

    1. You want to start with a solid image – in this case, the pumpkin – and ink it up with your lighter ink color.  You want to start with your lighter color, both for the look of the end result stamped image, and because you don’t want to get dark ink all over you lovely light ink pad!
    2. Before you stamp the image, grab a darker complimentary color ink and “roll” the stamp with the lighter ink around on the ink pad.  Basically, tilt your stamped image so that it is at a 45 degree angle (think a car up on two wheels like it is driving on a curb) and then roll so you are only touching the outer edge of your stamp to the darker ink pad.
    3. The more flat you hold your stamp when you roll, the less of the light color you will see.
    4. NOW stamp your image on your paper!

    You should get a lighter color in the middle and the darker color around the edges.  Easy Peasy!

    Now, I’ll admit, this is the card we made in Stamp Club, but this is the card I originally made and had planned to use for the class (I just managed to lose the stamp set at the time and so couldn’t bring it to class!  Darn craft room, eating my supplies!)

    It is almost exactly the same, except that I used the For all Things stamp set instead.  I love how that leaf looks with this technique, don’t you?  I used the Hello Honey ink pad and edged with Cajun Craze for the pretty fall colors.

    REMINDER – Don’t forget about the 6 months of free paper!  3 Days Left!

    Just a quick reminder!  That you only have until October 31st to join my Stampin’ Up family and get in on the free pack of designer paper a month for the next 6 months! 

    Its only $99 to get $125 of your favorite items, get in on demonstrator specials like seeing the Occasion catalog early and getting to Preorder in December, plus join my great community of demonstrators and get in on my demonstrator rewards program I’m kicking off in November.  It is a fun time to join, so email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com or get started here – http://nwstamper.stampinup.net/jointhefun .

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    Card Supplies Used:
    (if you are reading this in email, click here to see the list of supplies)