Northwest Stamper

Tag: into the woods designer paper

  • Using up Some Scraps with Acorny Thank You

    As I’m clearing off my desk and getting ready for the new year and the new Occasions Catalog, I am trying to use of scraps and bits and pieces from my desk.  It really is a fun challenge to see what neat new designs you can come up with using up those bits left over from other projects.   This this card using the Acorny Thank You left overs from a prior card plus some scraps from the Into the Woods designer paper.

    Once again, I loved being able to use a paper for a different season then I had stuck in my mind.  Its pretty and bright and I love pairing it with the Acorn punch.

    Plus add in some Gold Metallic Thread and a Metallic doily and you really have some sunny shine to share with someone.

    TIP – If you are trying to do the looping thread look behind an element – like this acorn – coat the back of the item with a bunch of Snail tape runner.  Then start by pressing the end of the Gold Thread onto the back of the element, so that it is held by the tape runner.  Then continue making loops, pressing into the tape on the back of the acorn each time you loop.  Then, when you are done, help secure it in place by pressing a Stampin’ Dimensional over where most of the threads cross to give extra security, plus a way to pop-up your element off your card.

    So, don’t let your fall and Christmas papers languish in the back of your paper shelf or drawer now that the seasons are past.  Mix them up and use them for any season!  I bet you can find some creative uses for them.

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    Use Hostess Code PGHMVNJM at check out to get a special thank you from me!

    NEW ITEMS ADDED – BIG Year-End Clearance Sale!  See what is on sale here.

    See all the tutorials & classes by mail here

    Check out the Holiday Catalog Retiring List & Sold Out Updates

    Save 25% on the Latest Weekly Deals

  • 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!

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    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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    Use Hostess Code BEFX37ZS at check out to get a special thank you from me!

    See all the tutorials & classes by mail here

    Check out the Holiday Catalog Retiring List & Sold Out Updates

    Save 25% on the Latest Weekly Deals

    Don’t miss up to 60% off in the online Clearance Rack!

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    Click any image for more details or to shop!  Use hostess code BEFX37ZS when shopping to get a special thank you from me!


  • Acorny Thanks with a Bit of Glitz! Plus new Weekly Deals too

    *******************************************
    Don’t Forget!  Only 3 More Days of the 15% off ALL Stamps Sale!
    Shop in my online store and you’ll automatically see the discount
    Use hostess code FHRCKER7 to get a special thank you from me!
    (excludes hostess stamps, bundles – because they already are discounted, and rotary stamps)
    *******************************************

    A lot of times when I’m working on creating a card for classes or just for my own fun, I start out by getting the mojo going by searching on Google Images or hoping around Pinterest or some of my friends blogs.  Usually, I see a few cards that inspire me in different ways and I combine my favorite elements into a card that is something new.  Like, maybe I love how the first card uses an embossing folder in the background, and I love the color scheme from a second card, and in a third card, I love how a set of punches are layered together.  I’ll mix and match all of those elements into one card that makes me happy.

    But then sometimes, I find a card that I love so much that I have to recreate it exactly how I see it.  And today’s card share is one of those cases… or should I say CASEs. Smile  (see what I did there?  some crafting humor Smile)  I was inspired by the very talented Ilina Crouse and her original card here, to create this card to give out as thank you cards… now if only I can figure out what I did with my completed cards I would be very happy!

    I think my favorite part of the card is the hint of glitter along the edge of the white sentiment layer!  Here is what I did:

    • Adhere a strip of the Into the Woods designer paper along the left edge of the card base
    • Adhere a 1/4” strip of Gold Glimmer paper to the back of a 3 3/4”x5 1/2” piece of Whisper White cardstock so that only about 1/8” of the gold is showing.
    • Mount the white and gold paper to the front of the card using Stampin’ Dimensionals
    • Decorate the front of the white cardstock. 

    This gives just a touch of gold and adds some fun dimension that is subtle.  One tip though, I did this on a card that had the crease at the top (so a 4 1/4” x 11” piece of base paper folded in half) but when I gave people this card, because of the dimension on the front, they wanted to open the card from the side.  So I recommend using a standard card base with the crease on the left (so a 5 1/2” x 8 1/2” piece of paper folded in half)

    For the front, I grabbed the super fun Acorny Thank You stamp set.  Here are a few tips for the front of my card:

    • Tangelo Twist and Early Espresso make a great fall color combination!  That is what I used on my acorn.
    • You can cut out your Thankful banner really easily using the Bitty Banners framelits!
    • Cover the back of your acorn with SNAIL or other tape runner, and then create loops from the Gold Metallic Thread and press them into the back of your acorn so that the tape covering the back holds them in place.
    • Add a few gold sequins from the Gold Sequin Trim for some extra glitz using glue dots

    I just totally love this card and may have to make it in other colors and designs.  Don’t you love it?

    Yesterday was also the start of some new Weekly Deals too!  A few fun and festive items are on sale…

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    Shop the weekly deals here

    And while you are there, don’t forget about the Big Stamp Sale too!

    15 off stamps promo_NWStamper

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    But use Hostess Code FHRCKER7 to get a special thank you from me!

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  • Feeling Thankful on a Friday with Acorny Thank You

    Whew!  We made it to Friday!  Some weeks blow by and others I am just grateful it is almost the weekend.  I’m not sure which it is for you, but even though I’m a mom of small children and so weekends don’t mean quite the same thing they did a few years ago…I look forward to not HAVING to be anywhere in the morning and so we have a little more flex in our day which is nice.  This week is also a time of transition for Stampin’ Up demonstrator as Stampin’ Up announced at the beginning of the year that they were making significant changes to the business structure for demonstrators (like what our titles are, criteria for how much we are paid, what incentives are offered) and that all kicked off this week as they changed to a new fiscal year starting in October.  Lots of good changes, but lots of brain power required to shift from the old system to the new system. Smile

    So, today I am thankful.

    – Thankful that I am able to stay home with my kids – even when it is stressful.

    – Thankful that I am able to create cute projects and share them with my friends and customers – even when I realize that I wasn’t paying close enough to the calendar and the class I thought was a week away was only a couple days away and I wasn’t ready!  (Thank goodness for pinterest to get the mojo going on short notice!)

    – Thankful that I have amazing men and women who share this experience with me as members of my amazing Fun n’ Crafty Stampers demonstrator group and as the sweetest customers I know!

    So, the card I have to share with you today is another of my beloved Acorny Thank You cards… all about being Thankful.

    A couple punches, some patterned paper, and a deep breath to relax and enjoy the creative process and you get this lovely card.

    Tips for making this card:

    • Create your center piece of the card using your favorite designer papers and colors.  In this case, I used the Into the Woods designer paper for both the yellow square AND that leafy acorny circle.
    • Yep, that is right, that leafy spray behind the acorn is as easy as grabbing your 2-1/2” Circle Punch and punching out one of the clusters from this great paper from the Into the Woods paper pack.into the woods dsp
    • The yellow pattern is a 3”x3” piece (makes for extra efficient use of your 12”x12” pieces of paper!) layered onto a 3-1/8” x 3-1/8” piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock.
    • Run some linen thread around and tie a bow before layering down your 2-1/2” circle.
    • Stamp your acorn base in Early Espresso and the acorn top in Rich Razzleberry and they are super easy to punch out with the Acorn punch!  (Get the punch with the stamp set in a bundle and save 15% off both!)
    • Did you know?  You can cut out the sentiments from this stamp set using the Bitty Banners Framelits?  It’s true!  That is what I used to cut out this Thankful sentiment and it layers over the top perfectly.
    • Finally, for the last touch, I had to get into my Corrugated Cardstock!  This awesome paper is totally lost in the Stampin’ Up Annual catalog but once you start playing with it, you will love it.  It is an easy way to add texture without the need of any tools!  Plus it is bumpy on one side and flat on the other so it glues down like a dream.

    Just add a few dimensionals to pop everything up and you have a great card that looks so much cooler than those grocery store cards!

    Flurry of Wishes Card Class Instructions are going out today!

    If you purchased my Flurry of Wishes Holiday Card class by mail or just the pdf instruction sheets, I wanted to let you know that the instructions are being emailed out this afternoon!  One more round of kit supplies are being ordered this afternoon, so the kits themselves will start shipping out mid next week.

    Haven’t ordered your copy yet?  You can!  Just click here –> Flurry of Wishes Class by Mail to sign up!


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    Project Supplies Used:
    use Hostess Code FHRCKER7 to get a special thank you from me!