stampin’ up – Page 84 – Northwest Stamper

Beau Chateau invitation Sample

I recently asked folks who visit my Facebook page if they had any requests for types of projects they would like to see, and one request was for a baby girl shower invitation. Well, after creating my baby girl scrapbook page, I was inspired to try out a matching design for a shower invitation.

So, I used more paper from Beau Chateau, Vintage trinkets, Antique Brads, and Lace ribbon. But this isn’t your standard fold card. I wanted to make it a fun sleeve to hold the details of the party.

Yes, I know the inside is blank so this really could be a design for a number of parties – but i figured you’d get the ideal and I’ll probably convert this to be integrated in another scrapbook page for my baby book. :) Oh, and if you are curious, the finished size of the inner card is 5” x 7” so you have enough room to add all your party details and the complete card should fit in your standard envelope for 5×7 cards.

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Baby Shower Invitation recipe:
Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (for sponging)
Paper: Beau Chateau designer paper, Very Vanilla CS, Soft Suede CS, Pink Pirouette CS
Accessories: Fabric Daisy (from retired pretties kit), Antique Brads, Vintage Trinkets, Chantilly Lace ribbon, 2-1/2” circle punch, Decorative Label punch, Scallop edge punch, 1” circle punch, Glue dots

August 18, 2011

A Baby Girl’s First Scrapbook Page

While cutting the paper for my designer paper share, I got a chance to really take in the different designs and was surprised to find myself drawn to the Beau Chateau pack. See, normally I think vintage is pretty and all, but it isn’t usually my style. Then I saw the pink patterns and since we had learned we are having a girl in December, I just had to make a scrapbook page with these papers. So, here is our baby girl’s first scrapbook page:

I had seen this layout on the ScrapbookSteals blog and I thought it would be perfect. The only problem was that I liked the bracket shape at the top of the page but I didn’t have anything I could trace to make that design. But boy did I luck out since the back of the patterned paper was lined! I laid out where I wanted my photo(s) to be and then drew a rough outline and used my ruler to space out where I wanted the curves to go.

Then once I was done cutting out my shape, I realized that the lines would make a cute background and because my shape was pretty symmetric I could actually just flip over and glue the left over paper (from where I cut out the bracket shape) up underneath my cutout and it fit great! So no waste. 🙂

I also noticed that one of the other paper designs in the Beau Chateau had a pattern that included this bigger frame. I thought it would be perfect to cut out and use as a journaling space.

Finally, I had to show you my title – which was when it really hit me that we are having a baby girl! I used the Letter It alphabet, since it seemed to ft the feel of this page. This was my easy method for using them but I like the effect.

I put all the letters together for a given word (I don’t have the biggest rectangle block so I had to squish them together on a smaller block) on one block and stamped them together. Then I just trimmed around the letters for a quickie title. Easy and Fun!

Alright, I know this post is getting long, so thanks for sticking with me. This is my first detailed scrapbook in a while and I love how it turned out; especially with paper I didn’t think I would even like! :) Tomorrow I’ll share a baby shower invite I created to match this page (based on a request from one of my facebook fans). Hope you’ll come back and check it out!

And don’t forget, there is still the Buy 3, Get 1 Free designer paper promotion happening now, so you could get this paper free if you have your own vintage projects to make. 🙂

Click here to shop online 24/7 and start earning your NW Stamper rewards!

My Girl scrapbook page recipe:
Stamps: Letter It Alphabet
Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (for sponging)
Paper: Beau Chateau designer paper, Very Vanilla CS, Soft Suede CS, Pink Pirouette CS
Accessories: Island Indigo ruffled ribbon, Adhesive Pearls, Fabric Daisy (from retired pretties kit), Antique Brads, Vintage Trinkets, Chantilly Lace ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

August 17, 2011

On The Road Again!

When I was just out of school, my friends used to give me a hard time about the fact that I was always traveling. They must have been right because its time for another trip!

We’ll be heading out tomorrow for the San Francisco Bay Area with my Mother-in-Law to lend support to my family as my 3 yr old nephew prepares for major surgery at Stanford later this week. (That’s him on the left in the photo with Nicholas from earlier this summer…it was so cute, Nicholas wanted to hold hands the whole way home.) But on a fun note, I’ll get a chance to visit with my friends and stamping buddies in the area.

Don’t Miss The Fun!

So, as I finish getting ready for our road trip, I’m also putting the finishing touches on some blog posts and projects to share with you while I’m away from home. I’ll have new blog posts scheduled to publish each day including some cards, some projects, and even the first scrapbook page for the new baby!

I’m also getting ready to send out my August Newsletter. Like always, I have exclusive tips and projects to share with you. So, if you aren’t a member of my mailing list – sign up today to make sure you get a copy!

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August 15, 2011

A Little Watercoloring with On The Grow

I decided to participate in another challenge with week – again with the Late Night Stamper group. This week was challenge #133 and you were to create a thinking of you card that has blue on it. Seemed easy enough and so I grabbed my poor neglected On The Grow stamp set from the summer mini and got to work.

When I saw this stamp set, it screamed,”Watercolor me!”. So, I thought I would try to get a little artsy with my card and pulled out the watercoloring paper, my aqua pen, and some inks and got to work.

A few watercoloring tips:

If you are going to use a lot of colors, make sure you use watercolor paper. Because you will be going over the same area lots of times with a wet pen, most cardstocks and paper like Whisper White will start warping or pilling up on you. Watercoloring paper is more fiberous and can absorb the water without a problem giving you a really nice image.
Use Staz-on ink for best results for your outlined image. Staz-on won’t bleed as you go over the same area with a wet brush multiple times. Stampin’ Up’s Basic Black and Basic Grey are water-resistant so they will work too for your watercoloring projects but your best bet would be to use Staz-on
If you want a really precise placement of color – grab your blender pen. It uses an alcohol-base to pick up and place your color and the tip is firmer so you can be exact with placement and you won’t get extra liquid.
If you want to be more artsy – grab your aqua pen. It is a refillable pen that just contains water with a more flexible-brushlike tip. When you color, you can squeeze a little and make the pen more wet letting you color spread a little more or just get a more damp and traditional watercolor look.

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Thinking of You Watercolored card recipe:
Stamps: From the Garden
Ink: Stazon Black, Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum, Pear Pizazz, Crumb Cake
Paper: Baja Breeze cardstock, Marina Mist cs, Soft Suede cs, Watercolor paper
Accessories: BigShot die cutting machine, Lattice embossing folder, Paper piercer, Neutrals 5/8” brads, Aqua Pen, Stampin’ Dimensionals

August 14, 2011

Easy Events Sparkly Fun Birthday Card

Happy Saturday! Saturdays are for fun right? I plan to head out to a local berry patch with my family to pick blueberries…which should be interesting with a 1 year old. But I figure that given that he is so good at picking the berries off our bushes at home (especially the green ones!) I think he’ll do fine. Smile

So, in the name of fun, I thought I’d share another card we made at my recent class that I think is a pretty fun card. For me, it was fun to make and I think it would be fun for the receiver to get too. Gotta love when that happens!

Fun Touch #1 – Tone-on-Tone punching

I always forget about using tone-on-tone die cuts or punches to add a more subtle but interesting touch to your project. In this case, we used two different circle punches (I think 1-1/4” and 3/4” circles) to punch out extra Lucky Limeade paper. Then we adhered them to the base strip of Lucky Limeade cardstock. I made sure to have some of the circles hanging over the edge and just went around with my paper snips and trimmed them off at the edge of the base strip of cardstock.

Fun Touch #2 – Coloring with Markers

The birthday image, including sentiment, comes as part of the Easy Events stamp set. All the images are line art which just begs to be colored in. And in this case we broke out the markers and went to town. I love the fact that Stampin’ Up! offers markers that are the same colors as the cardstock. Makes it so easy to know your marker picks will look great with your paper!

Fun Touch #3 – Just a little bit of sparkle

Ok, after I was done punching and coloring, I still thought it needed something. So, what’s a girl to do? Why break out the glitter of course! Just grab your handy dandy 2-way glue pen and color over where you want the glitter to stick (in this case, the frosting). Then generously dollop with some Dazzling Diamonds glitter and tap off. Easy Peasy!

So, what’s your favorite way to add a fun touch to your cards? Leave me a comment; I’d love to hear your ideas!

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Easy Events Birthday Card recipe:
Stamps: Easy Events
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red Stampin’ Write marker, Pool Party Stampin’ Write marker, Lucky Limeade Stampin’ Write marker
Paper: Whisper White cardstock, Pool Party CS, Lucky Limeade CS, Real Red CS
Accessories: 1-1/4” Circle punch, 3/4” Circle punch, 2-way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Easy Events Stamp Set - by Stampin' Up!

August 13, 2011

Cheery Berry Blossom Thinking of You Card

Earlier this week, I held a card class with my meetup group (if you are in the Seattle-area, I’d love to have you join us!). I was using convention displays as inspiration for the four cards we were going to be making; but after designing the first 3, I decided that my 4th card was just going to be too much for the evening. So, I did a quick change and pulled together this card that afternoon of the class. Turns out, it ended up being one of my favorites of the night!

One of the things I love about this card is that it is so simple, but with a few different elements (scallop ribbon, dotted brad, stampin’ dimensionals) you get so much texture and dimension.

I was also using this card as a way to start getting over my fear of using my super cute brads and the new designer paper (the first cut is always the hardest! Smile ) And wouldn’t you know, it worked! I can’t wait to use these accents some more. Woo hoo!

Don’t Forget! This Berry Blossom designer paper is one of the many available as part of the buy 3 get 1 free promotion going on this month. So, feel free to cut into and make lots of fun projects with you paper. You can always get more at effectively 25% off! See all of the patterns you can choose from online now.

Berry Blossom Thinking of You Card recipe:
Stamps: Raining Flowers, Curly Cute
Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Berry Blossom dsp, Whisper White cardstock, Crumb Cake cardstock
Accessories: Dotted Scallop Chocolate Chip ribbon, In Color Dotted brads, Stampin’ Dimensionals

August 11, 2011

A Little More Convention Inspiration

Well, today is my day to photograph some of the recent projects I’ve made to share with you; so while I work on that, I thought I’d share with you a few more swap cards I received at convention. These were all cards that when I saw them I just had to trade for them. So I hope you enjoy like I did!


card by Tammy Olsen I love how this card uses the scallop circle from the Perfect Pennant bigshot die and weaves Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon to make this adorable wreath!	card by Kathy Gage I see this card and I think it looks like a present in the middle of a white card – perfect for a birthday card.

I’m trying to find the creator of this card, I’ll update shortly. When I saw this card, I thought it looked like a work of art and was so excited to swap for it. The cutest thing was the person who created it had designed it for a “Wow! swap” and was concerned it wasn’t good enough. So, she really appreciated that I was wow’ed by it and I loved having such beautiful inspiration.	card by Jacque Henry I’ve done masking techniques before and I’ve seen sponging and brayering techniques but I never put them together like in this card. Doesn’t it make such a neat effect! I know I’ll have to try different fun masked shapes now.

Been thinking about Designer Paper? I just got in my paper for the paper share and will be mailing out samplers shortly! I have a couple samplers extra, so if you are interested in one – it is a great deal!
Only $25 shipped for 96 6×6 sheets of all the patterns including specialty papers!

Check out all the designs and reserve yours in this post – http://www.nwstamper.com/love-designer-paper-check-out-this-sampler/.

August 10, 2011

Simple Is Beautiful Too

When looking at card samples online and at events like the Stampin’ Up! convention, its easy to be drawn in to the “WOW!” cards. You know, the ones that surely took someone multiple hours to make and look like they should be hung on a wall as art and you could never bear to throw away. You know which cards I’m talking about.

I love the inspiration and ideas from these cards, but often I don’t get the time to play with these ideas and replicate many of my favorites. So, I get extra excited when I see some cards that are clean and simple, and ideas I can try in minutes at home. Here are a few examples of some of my favorites from Convention this year:

card by Julie Gunhus

card designer unknown

card by Nancy Knowles

card by Rhonda Wells

Each of these cards has a cool touch, from the Fancy Fan letterpress plate (which I’m now convinced that I have to have!), to heat embossing, to glitter and shimmer. But none of the layers is elaborate or particularly fussy. So, you could make these at home in no time at all! Got to love that.

I’m still trying to figure out how to get the best lighting with my new photo tent, so sorry if some of the details are hard to see; but let me say these are all striking in person. Hope you got some fun ideas to try! If you have any questions about how any of these cards were made, just let me know!

On a side note, I’ve had some folks ask me in the past about what was the standard card size and how to cut their paper for a typical card base. So, I’ve thrown together a photo-walkthrough to answer just that question. So, if you are interested, you can check it out here – http://www.nwstamper.com/how-to-cut-a-standard-card-base/ and I’d love to hear if you have any feedback on how it could be better or more useful!

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August 7, 2011

Fun with Pennant Parade and the New Pennant Punch!

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE stamp sets that go with punches. See I love my punches (you can never have enough punches), but when you can stamp cute images in different colors and textures and then can punch them out instead of cutting them out by hand – Brilliant! That is why I was so excited to see Stampin’ Up! come out with this Pennant Parade stamp set and the matching Petite Pennant builder punch.

If you haven’t seen them, this is what the stamp set looks like and the shapes the punch cuts out:

So, when you look at the stamp set, you think… that is cool, it matches the punch so there must be cute stuff you can do with it. But what? Let me say, convention was FULL of inspiration with this stamp set courtesy of some awesome stamper’s swap cards. Check out all these fun things people came up with!

card by Krissie O’Donnell

card by Jessi Mann
card by Jackie Tucker
card by Jackie White

Totally adorable, right? I know I’m super inspired and can’t wait to get my stamps inky! Have you used this stamp set or punch yet? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

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August 4, 2011

Got Paper?

Well, happy August everyone! Can you believe it?! But with a new month, comes a new promotion – and who doesn’t love a fun deal?

Pretty, Pretty Paper Promotion!

For the entire month of August, you can stock up on your favorite designer series papers and when you buy 3 packages, you get your 4th free! And really, who doesn’t like free? Check out this flyer to see all of your options and the details.

Still trying to pick which papers you like best?

Don’t forget, I still have a few spaces left in my designer paper share, which gives you a 6×6 sampler of ALL the patterns in the catalog including the awesome specialty papers. (wanna see the full list with pictures? check it out here)

That means, you have plenty of paper to make a card like this:

And still have extra of the same pattern left off to make more fun cards, 3D projects, scrapbook pages, or whatever you can come up with!

I’ll be sharing with you some of my favorite projects with the new paper this month and would love to hear which patterns you love the most! So come back and leave me a comment and let me know which patterns are inspiring you!

Until next time…

Shop now and start earning your free stamps with NW Stamper rewards!

August 1, 2011

A White Only Card– LNS Challenge 131

Whew! Nothing like a deadline to get me to hurry up and post a card I made this week for a challenge the the Late Night Stampers yahoo group. Each week they post some kind of project challenge, and this week sounded really interesting:

Challenge 131: Only use white in your project except you can use a different ink color for your sentiment.

So, this is what I came up with:

I know it is hard to see the different elements so I tried taking some close up shots to show the butterflies and flower heart.

If you want to try this at home, I punched out a large heart from Whisper White cardstock. Then I punched out a ton of flowers using the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack. Then I curled up the flower edges and glued them to the heart with the Tombow liquid glue (the nice thing about both the heart and the flowers being out of white is that if there are gaps, you don’t notice too much!) Then I added the smallest rhinestone to each flower center. It takes a bit of time, but looks very pretty in person.

The rest of the card is just an embossing folder and the Beautiful Wings embosslit and some white ribbon.

Reserve your Designer Paper sampler now!
Only $25 for 96 sheets including specialty papers!

White Challenge Card recipe:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Whisper White cardstock
Accessories: Large Heart punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Big Shot, Whisper White Organza ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

July 31, 2011

Love Designer Paper? Check Out This Sampler!

So, if you’ve seen my blog for a while, you know that I like to offer designer paper shares or designer paper samplers. This is a great way to get to try out a TON of paper patterns for a fraction of the cost. Well, since Stampin’ Up! is offering a special during the month of August on their designer paper, I thought this would be a great time to give people a chance to check them all out before deciding which where “have-to-haves!”

Join in the 2011-2012 DSP Paper Share!

Get 1 – 6×6 sheet of EVERY pattern of regular and specialty designer series paper in the catalog (excluding the color family packs).

So that is 96 sheets of 6×6 paper in the following patterns:

Beau Chateau	Berry Blossoms	Big Top Birthday
Domestic Goddess	Frightful Sight	Just Add Cake
Letters to Santa	Nursery Nest	Pocketful of Posies
Paisley Petals	Timeless Portrait	Well Worn
	Beyond the Garden
Flirtatious Specialty (2 die cut sheets)	First Edition Specialty (thin newsprint style)	Mocha Morning Specialty (2 black flocked sheets)

If you were to buy full packages of all of these papers, it would cost $181.20 not including tax and shipping.

*** Sampler price for all 96 sheets and priority shipping is only $25! ***

Sign up now and I’ll be shipping out this round of samplers by the second week of August (to give everyone time to reserve their spot and for me to get a full count of samplers to prepare). If you have any questions, just drop me a line at jennifer@nwstamper.com.

July 30, 2011

Tag: stampin’ up

Beau Chateau invitation Sample

A Baby Girl’s First Scrapbook Page