Northwest Stamper

Tag: it’s my party designer paper

  • Fun Birthday Card with Big Designer Candles!

    Fun Birthday Card with Big Designer Candles!

    So, I hope you’ve been enjoying all the blog posts recently, full of technique and project ideas!  As I headed off on my big European adventure on the Stampin’ Up incentive trip, I knew I had so many project that I’ve loved lately and wanted to share.  Plus I’ve been meaning to get back on track with posting at least every other day here on the blog… so what better way to start the habit than having a post-a-day heading all the way into June!  I have more fun planned for you coming up including starting on Friday, I’ll be sharing each day the projects I made for Stampin’ Up displays boards at OnStage in Salt Lake City.  They are full of sneak peeks and fun scrapbooking and 3D project ideas in addition to my many card projects for the boards.  So, be sure to come back and check it out.

    Psst – did you know?  You can subscribe to my blog and get an email in your inbox each time I post a new blog post!  You get the full post with all the details and pictures that you can view at your convenience or save for later!  Just sign up to subscribe to the blog by entering your email address in the Subscribe to the Blog box on the right side of the blog. Smile  –>

    Ok, now back to today’s super fun card!

    So, this card came together because I wanted to do a birthday card for my Fond Farewell card class (this was my recent card class where I focused on having one last hurrah with many of the retiring product that Stampin’ Up is discontinuing at the end of the month).  But I wanted to do something different.  I had seen cards where people had made big candles, but many of those used a stamp set I didn’t have and fussy cut and image I didn’t have.  So I decided to get creative!

    Enter the Bird Builder punch!

    Yes, that is right!  See these candles?  The flames on top are the wings of the bird from that punch. 

    And for the candles, instead of cutting out a stamped image, I just grabbed the It’s My Party designer paper stack and picked out a few fun patterns and cut them into rectangles for my candle sticks.  Easy Peasy!  One tip though- I did end up sponging the edges of the patterned paper because I found with busy patterns, you really need some ink or something around the edge to help define the edge of the shape.  Otherwise it tends to blur into the background easily.

    Can we also please have a moment of silence for my beloved 2 1/2” Circle punch?

    …..

    Seriously, I love love love my big circle with the convenience of a punch.  I know there are circle framelits but I still am sad about this punch being on the retirement list.  Oh well,  at least I have mine!  Better believe I’m keeping that puppy around for future crafting. Smile

    Oh, and don’t let me forget, I wanted to share what brings these candles to life – why the clear Wink of Stella brush of course!  Just a quick swipe along one side of the wing/flame and you get some sparkle to really twinkle up your candlelight!

    It’s pretty, it’s fun… Sadly a lot of this card is retiring.  Here is a list of what is going away at the end of the month so you don’t miss out on anything!  (See the bottom of the post for links to any of these items in the online store)

    Retiring Items on this Card

    • Bird Builder Punch
    • 2 1/2” circle punch
    • It’s My Party designer series paper
    • Decorative Dots embossing folder

    While I'm Cruisin' Special ad

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  • Quick Congrats Notecard with Balloon Celebrations and Gold Wink of Stella

    Sometimes you need a quick card for some event and you want it to be cute but not take a lot of prep of supplies.  Well, check out this card that I have for you today that is PERFECT for using up some scraps and can easily be turned into a congrats, thank you, OR birthday card!

    This uses one of my favorite stamp sets right now, the Balloon Celebrations set.  And the better bonus is that between the speckled fill stamp from the set and the technique of stamping off, you can get a variety of shading looks with ONE ink pad!

    1. Stamp the small balloon in Crushed Curry onto the card front
    2. Stamp the speckled shading image in Crushed Curry on top of the stamped balloon
    3. Ink up the solid balloon stamp again in Crushed Curry and then stamp first onto a piece of scrap paper, then before inking again, stamp onto the card front.  PS – it looks really cool if you slightly overlap the balloons, but I apparently forgot that in this version of the card. Smile
    4. Stamp the speckled shading image in Crushed Curry over the lighter stamped balloon.

    You could have stamped off the shaded image first before stamping to get a more subtle shading but I liked it being a little darker to match the other balloon.

    I did the same thing with the outline of the balloons.  I stamped the outline on the darker balloon in full strength Tip Top Taupe, but on the lighter balloon, I stamped off on to scrap paper first before stamping on my card.

    Playing with Gold Wink of Stella

    I also used this card as a fun way to try out a few different options for the Gold Wink of Stella.  We all love our Wink of Stella, but sometimes the gold is a bit harder to figure out where to use. 

    So, first I used it to color my sentiment – the Expressions natural elements.  I wanted a subtle shimmer and it made it a bit more yellow to go with my Crushed Curry balloons.  You can see from the product picture how light the wood is normally:

    Plus aren’t these words great?  You can use them to turn this card into one for just about any occasion by changing out the word you add to the front! 

    Pro tip – when adhering your words, lightly dot the back with the adhesive from the Fine-Tip glue pen!  It holds great and by dotting it, the glue won’t squish out the sides!

    The other way I used my Gold Wink of Stella was to add some fun shading to the balloons from the It’s My Party designer paper stack.  It is subtle but really makes a fun difference in the final effect of the card.

    So, hopefully that gives you some fun ideas for using some of the supplies in your stash!  And if you don’t have the Wooden words, I would grab some now before they sell out!  They and a few other items on this card are on the retiring list and so grab them while you can… including:

    See the full list of everything that is being discountinued and what is sold out in a PDF list

    or see what is left in the Online Store


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  • Bear Hugs Birthday Card with the Collar Fold Technique

    I’ve recently seen this idea of the Collar Fold card and I just had to give the technique a try!  And what more fun way than to have a little bear popping in to say hello and Happy Birthday to you!

    A Few Fun Card Details

    This card was a fun way to play around with a few different things… I grabbed a cheery paper from the It’s My Party designer paper stack and made my fold first, then I started building the card around it. 

    I started with the larger bear from the Bear Hugs stamp set.  I actually had the chick from the Honeycomb Happiness stamp set first, but I figured everyone had seen me use him a billion times, so I needed to break out of the rut and try something new.  And isn’t this bear just too stinkin’ cute?  I stamped him in the Archival Basic Black ink onto a piece of Whisper White paper and then colored using an Aqua Painter and Tip Top Taupe for the bear and my Stampin’ Write markers for the flowers.

    I also pulled out another new set – the Party Pants stamp set.  This is one of the limited time release sets that just came out for Sale-a-Bration.  You can get it free with a $50 purchase and only until the end of the month!  I loved that all of the sentiments fit in the balloons and that the balloon fits the Balloon Bouquet punch from the Occasions catalog!  So, it was the perfect way to hold back my flaps.

    Did you spot it?  The last touch?  I use Crystal Effects to create a raised gloss over a bunch of the Balloons on the patterned paper.  It makes a HUGE difference and is so EASY to do!  I really need to do that more often. Smile 

    How to make a collar fold card

    Now if you want to make a card like this at home, here is how you do it:

    • Cut a piece of pattern paper to 5” x 3.75”.  I highly recommend a paper that has high contrast between the two sides. 
    • Cut a slight halfway down on the patterned paper (so 2 1/2” down & 2” in)
    • Fold back the patterned paper.  If you want, you can use your trimmer to SCORE the paper for you, or just do what I did and fold it by hand.
    • Stamp your image on a piece of Whisper White paper the same dimensions as your patterned paper (5” x 3.75”).
      TIP – to get your stamped image peeking out just the right amount.  After you fold your flaps back, set it onto your white paper and trace the cut opening using a pencil.  Then take away the patterned paper and use the pencil marks as a guide when stamping.  Erase the marks when you finish stamping.
    • Color your image and then glue the patterned paper over the Whisper White cardstock.
    • Mount to a piece of cardstock for your mat (5 1/4” x 4”)
    • Decorate your card as desired

    The possibilities are endless and you can do all kinds of fun designs by mixing and matching your patterned paper and stamped images.

    And don’t forget!  Sale-a-Bration is ending in a few weeks!

    So if you want to get the most bang for your buck, don’t forget to get your order together now!  There are 3 ways to maximize your goodies –

    1. Something free for every $50 ordered!  Yup, for every $50 in product you can pick out an extra stamp set or paper pack from the Sale-a-Bration catalog or bonus flyer (that is where the awesome Metallic tape and this Party Pants stamp set are from!)
    2. Extra $25 in hostess freebies!  Gather some orders together from your friends or put in your own $250 order (you know make a dent in that wish list!) and you’ll get the regular $25+ in hostess benefits plus a bonus $25 in extra benefits.
    3. Save now and save more later!  Get it all with the Starter Kit!  This is the way to get the most bang for your buck!  Turn that $100 wishlist order into $155 in product by getting the demonstrator starter kit for $99 plus tax and you get to pick out $155 in product to get for that $99!  AND you’ll be a part of my Fun n’ Crafty stampers demonstrator group, join our fun, and get at least 20% off all your personal orders or orders from friends and family, through June!  Sweet, right?!  Get starter picking out your kit here

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    Use Hostess Code Z4ZAG9TD at check out to get a special thank you from me!

    What I Used to Make This project