Northwest Stamper

Tag: stampin’ up

  • Stampin’ Up! Regionals and Free Sneak Peek Stamp Set – Eat Chocolate

    Man, yesterday was the Stampin’ Up! regional seminar in Portland, OR and I attended with my mom and my friend Sue.  I flew into town late Thursday night with the hubby and Nicholas.  I was very behind on getting ready and ended up not making swaps until 12:30am the morning of regionals.  I ended up getting too tired and so I took my last few pieces and raced to finish my swaps before everything started. 

    Imagine my surprise when I heard “is this the last minute finishing of swaps?” and I started to respond and looked up to see the speaker was none other than Shelli Gardner herself!  So, of course I had to get a picture (and how does she always take a perfect picture and I always look just a little goofy?)  Anyway, this is me, Shelli, and my friend Sue.

    IMG_1574 (800x600)

    That was super cool to chat with Shelli before things got started (we were actually on the path between the stage and the staff table so she stopped and chatted with us a couple times.  She is a really cool lady).

    I have tons of cards and techniques to share with you over the next many blog posts but today I wanted to share with you the AWESOME recruit promotions that Stampin’ Up! is offering for anyone signing up to be a demonstrator in the next two weeks.

    Super Awesome Bonuses for Joining My Stampin’ Up! Team

    If you have ever thought of turning your crafting hobby into a business or getting a
    20%+ discount on all your stamping supplies, now is the perfect time to join.  As if the amazing deal that the starter kit is wasn’t enough,  Stampin’ Up! has provided some extra bonuses for anyone who joins the team of a demo who attended a regional event.

    So, between now and November 7th, checkout everything you get for the $175 starter kit price (almost $400 value!)

    • 4 stamp sets
    • 1 stampin’ around wheel
    • 1 clear block
    • Pack of designer series paper
    • 2 packages of cardstock
    • Ribbon
    • 5 ink pads
    • 2 markers
    • ink refill
    • Snail adhesive
    • Stampin’ Mist and Stampin’ Scrub stamp cleaner
    • A decor element item
    • Stampin’ Around ink cartridge
    • Stampin’ Around handle
    • Blender Pen
    • Sponge
    • Stampin’ foam Dimensionals
    • Decor elements applicator tool
    • Business tools
    • BONUS –  Craft Tote
    • BONUS – Sneak Preview Stamp Set called Eat Chocolate

    Interested in learning more about this opportunity?  Email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’d be happy to send you more information.

    So, you get all of this:

    IMG_1580 (800x600)

    I can’t show you the Eat Chocolate stamp set, but I can share with you these samples:

    Eat Chocolate 1 (648x800)

    Eat Chocolate 2 (800x615)

    Eat Chocolate 3 (465x800)

  • Square Card Challenge – LNS challenge #92

    I earned the hostess set Northern Hearts recently and was excited that it matched my Northern Trim letterpress die.  So, its funny that the first card I created with it ended up having nothing to do with the matching die, even though I had finished scraps from the right die lying around.  Oh well, this let me play with my other item I just had to have, but hadn’t used yet – the big buttons from the holiday mini.

    I used markers to color the stamp set and then added one of the biggest buttons in the pack!

    I can’t decide if this is a Christmas/holiday card or not.  What do you think?  Would you send this as a Christmas card?

    Northern Heart Birds Recipe:
    Stamps:     Northern Hearts
    Ink: Cherry Cobbler marker, Pear Pizzazz marker, Blushing Bride marker
    Paper: Crumb Cake CS, Very Vanilla CS, Greenhouse Gala dsp
    Accessories: Paper piercer, Candy Cane Big Designer Buttons

  • Handmade Holiday – 20% off holiday bundles!

    If you know me, you know I love shopping and that I love sales.  Well, let me tell you, this new sale has me itching to shop because I can get some super cute stuff on sale!  Stampin’ Up! is offering bundles of coordinating products to help you get your holiday projects done and really wow the folks receiving your cards, gift bags, and gifts.  I think my favorite is the Simply Adorned bundle.  I keep eyeing these necklaces and love some of the different inserts I’ve seen created.  My mom has one with a photo of Nicholas on one side and a cute piece of dsp on the other.  Plus, with the new pearl and bead baubles in the Holiday Mini to spiff up your necklace, you can really make these unique for each person you make one for.

    Check out the flyer below to see all of the bundles or visit the online store to see all of the Handmade Holiday offerings

  • A Masculine Birthday

    Here is a quick share for the day; it is my attempt at a masculine birthday card.  My brother-in-law had his 30th birthday and I needed to get some card off to him.  I didn’t want to use a tree set and many of my stamp sets used cutesy animals or had lots of flowers, neither of which scream manly man. 🙂  So, I relied heavily on colors to man-up this card.

    I had some fun with my Party Hearty stamp set by paper piecing the party hats.  I stamped with my Dusty Durango ink and then stamped again on a piece of dsp so I could cut out two more of the party hats to glue over the stamped image.  I also used one of the Texture Plates for the BigShot to create the diamond background in Soft Suede.  The one other piece you might not be able to see, I punched out the Celebrate You stamped image and then behind that punchout, I adhered a scallop circle punch in Dusty Durango.

  • My Digital Studio Professional Print Prices Reduced!

    I was so excited to learn that beginning October 19th, nearly all of the Stampin’ Up! My Digital Studio professional print products will be available at approximately 15-60 percent off regular retail prices! 

    Did you know that beyond scrapbook pages, My Digital Studio helps you create beautiful cards, photo books, multimedia presentations, and calendars? 

    Create your project using digital versions of your favorite Stampin’ Up! projects and then print them at home or select the option from within the program to send your project straight to a professional printer.  This printing company has been working hard with Stampin’ Up! to ensure the finished product quality meets SU’s high standards and have the print colors exactly match the colors of your cardstock and embellishments.  That means you can easily create hybrid projects by printing out your scrapbook page or card front and then add cardstock punchouts, ribbon, brads, or whatever embellishment your heart desires, and you know they will match!

    Print your holiday cards starting at $1.95 a card including envelopes or make photo books or photo calendars as gifts for friends and family this holiday season!

    Download the new pricing flyer

    Don’t have your copy of My Digital Studio yet?
    Shop my online store to get it now or if you are considering joining Stampin’ Up! you can get it as part of the digital starter kit!

  • Just Believe Easel Card

    Here is the last of the three fancy fold cards we made this week.  This final card was my first ever easel card.  I had seen lots of folks making them but never took the time to figure them out until this class motivated me to create one.  I started out thinking I wanted to make the card in Elegant Eggplant and that I wanted to use a Wheel stamp.  From there I picked the Just Believe stamp set since it match my Always In Bloom wheel and continued building and embellishing until I got to this:

    butterfly easel card (530x800)

    Now if you aren’t familiar with an Easel card, this type of card is called Easel because the base of the card acts as a stand so that you can have the card front permenantly popped up and on display if you want.  Here is a side view:

    butterfly easel card side (780x800)

    The nice thing is that the card lies flat for mailing.  Here are the steps to create this card:

    1. Cut a piece of cardstock to 4 1/4” x 11” for the card base. 
    2. Then cut a second piece of the base color cardstock at 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” for your card front.
    3. Score the 4 1/4” x 11 paper at 5 1/2” and 8 1/4”.  Fold the card in half at the 5 1/2” score line (like a typical card fold) and then fold the cardstock in the opposite direction at the 8 1/4” fold.  So you end up with the cardstock looking like a zigzag pattern when looking at it from the side. 
    4. Adhere the 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” card front piece to the smaller scored end of the paper so that when you fold the card flat, your card front completely covers your card base.
    5. Embellish your card as desired being sure to add some embellishment or paper layers to the inside of the card base to help “catch and hold” the card front when you open the card.  In the example above I used the Rose Red cardstock with the white stamped layer.

    Tip:  If you are using cardstock layers, you may want to curl/distress the edges so that there is more cardstock sticking up to catch the card front

    Tip:  When wrapping ribbon around a card front, especially closer to the open end of the card, use a bit of adhesive to tack down the center of the ribbon to the inside of your card front.  That keeps the ribbon from sliding when you are tying it as well as keeps it from sliding off the card entirely during handling. 🙂

    Just Believe Easel Card Recipe
    Stamps:      Just Believe, Always in Bloom wheel stamp
    Ink:  Old Olive, Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant
    Paper:  Elegant Eggplant CS, Rose Red CS, Whisper White CS, Blushing Bride hostess dsp
    Accessories:  Whisper White taffeta ribbon, self adhesive Rhinestones, Snail adhesive, Glue dots, Butterfly punch

  • Autumn Spice Gate Fold Card

    Today I wanted to share with you another card we made on our technique night.  For this card, we used the Gate Fold style.  This style can be implemented in a various designs but the most common is the version we used below where you take a standard sized card but score your paper to enable the front to open at a split in the middle.

    IMG_4935 (647x800)To make this card, you want to cut a piece of paper your standard 5 1/2” x 8 1/2”.  Then score the paper at  2 1/8” and 6 3/8”.  This will give you the Gate fold and you can then embellish the card front as you desire. 

    IMG_4937 (643x800)

    Typically folks will create some cardstock or embellishment piece that overlaps both of the front flaps.  Adhere this element to one front flap.  Then on the other flap, adhere a punched piece or 3d element that will overlap the corner of your center piece to help hold the card closed.  In this case, I used an Old Olive button and positioned a glue dot on the lower right of the button back.  This allows me to slide the Cajun Craze paper behind the button.  

    Hope you enjoyed this card!

    Autumn Spice Gate Fold recipe:
    Stamps:      Occasional Quotes
    Paper:  Always Artichoke CS, Very Vanilla CS, Cajun Craze CS, Early Espresso CS, Autumn Spice dsp
    Ink:  Cajun Craze
    Accessories:  2 3/8” scallop circle punch, Corner rounder punch, Ticket Corner punch, Bold Brights buttons (old olive), Glue dots

  • Promotion Updates!

    With a couple promotions coming to a close soon, I wanted to post an update so you had a chance to take advantage of them before they are gone.  

    Tote-ally Cool Free Craft Tote

    There is less than one week left to get the super cute Greenhouse Gala craft tote for free!  

    From now through October 18th, sign up to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and not only will you get over $310 worth of products and supplies in your starter kit for $175, but you will get this roomy tote to hold it all for FREE!  I seriously love mine (I had to buy it when they showed them at convention) and use it all the time.  There are so many amazing benefits and opportunities whether you are looking for a viable business or just an insiders view and discount on all your stamping goodies! 

    Have questions or want to learn more?  Contact me at jennifer@nwstamper.com 

     

    Stamping Roulette

    The spaces are filling up and its almost time to spin the wheel!  Once all the spaces are taken, I will be spinning the wheel and one lucky person is getting a $50 shopping spree on me!

    But you still have time to play!  Use one of the following options to claim your space on the board and be in the running to shop it up!   Here is how you can earn a spot on the board:

    1.  For every $25 you spend with me, you will receive a number on the board.  Yep, that’s right, spend $25 and you could win $50!

    2. Host a workshop with me in October and receive a free space. I offer workshops in your home or workshops in a box for folks who live to far away for an in-home workshop.

    3.  Thinking of becoming a demonstrator?  Join my team and get 3 free numbers on the board!

    Contact me at jennifer@nwstamper.com to reserve your spot or start shopping online through my online store.

     

  • Making stamping and crafting your business

    Hi all!  I received some fun news yesterday that I just had to share with someone who would understand my excitement; and so I hope you all don’t mind me sharing with you. Smile

    So, some quick background on me.
    I joined Stampin’ Up! three years ago because I loved crafting, teaching others, and I liked the idea of the business opportunity.  Fast forward to this summer and I had spent my time as a demo working on my business here and there but mostly acted as a hobby demo and liberally took advantage of the 20% or more commission and sneak peeks/preorders.  So I decided that after convention this year, I was going to focus on making this really be a business for me.  And that’s what I’ve done the last few months.


    My fun news?
    I was told yesterday that my sales for this year (July 1 to now) are only $10 short of my sales for the entire last year (July 2009- June 2010)! Wow!! I had no idea!


    So, I wanted to thank all of you for your support as friends, blog readers, and customers!  I absolutely love what I do and I love sharing it with you all.

    I thought I would share a card I made almost two years ago but I still think it is a fun little card.

    Now, I’m still building my business but it feels great to know that if you really decide and commit to making stamping and crafting your business, it can work!

    If you’ve thought about becoming a demo, I’d love to answer any questions you have and share information about the business opportunities and the benefits of being a demonstrator.  I know that I’m so glad I did!

  • World Card Making Day Projects–Part 2

    Like I mentioned earlier this week, at my World Card Making Day event, I brought supplies for everyone to make cards based on two different layouts.  I shared the first layout in a previous post and so I thought I would share the second layout today.

    So, here is the card that I made as a sample:

    It is a super quick and easy card and it lets you feel like you are an artist (even if you are like me and can’t paint or draw worth anything Smile) by giving you space to color using markers and/or water coloring.

    So, given those card components, here are some of the cute creations the other folks came up with:

    Karolina’s cards

    Pam’s card –
    this is another example of why I love it when folks take my samples and do their own thing.  I love how she tucked the sentiment label between the designer paper layer and the scalloped edge.  It’s a different way of layering I probably wouldn’t have thought of on my own.

    Card Recipes:
    Stamps: Fun and Fast Notes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Paper: Real Red CS, Basic Gray CS, Crumb Cake CS, Bashful Blue CS, Greenhouse Gala DSP, Celebrations DSP
    Ink: Basic Black, Pacific Point, Stampin’ Write markers
    Accessories: Scallop edge punch, Scallop trim punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Blender pens, Watercolor pen

    Want project outlines, technique details, and the latest promotions and deals information delivered to your inbox?

    I’m getting ready to send out my monthly newsletter for October and would love to share these ideas with you.  Sign up today and you’ll be all set to receive this month’s newsletter filled with fun ideas for the upcoming holidays.

  • Scrapbooking with My Digital Studio and an MDS Contest!

    I’ve always loved the look of a handmade scrapbook, and so when the big digital scrapbooking wave hit, I wasn’t too sure about it.  However, when Stampin’ Up! came out with My Digital Studio and I saw how easy it would be to match all of my papers and embellishments to the digital layouts and create hybrid scrapbook pages, I started catching the wave too.

    I bought MDS so that I could try to make headway with my wedding album (lets just say the photos and memorabilia have been in a box for the last 9 years).  Well, I’ve been too distracted playing with other projects that the wedding album hasn’t happened.  But here is an example of a layout I whipped up tonight.

    Cute as a button_wm

    I love this picture my mom took of my son during a recent visit and thought it would make a great page.  I started with one of the built in photo layouts that had caught my eye and even though in the end I ended up moving everything around and deleting some of the photo spots, it actually was quick, easy, and fun to create this page.
    (All of the elements I used on this page come by default with My Digital Studio)

    Plus, have you heard?  There is a My Digital Studio contest going on right now!

    I figure this layout is practice for me so I can get some ideas to submit for the My Digital Studio Contest being run by Stampin’ Up!  Create your best digital designs and you could win $400 in digital downloads for My Digital Studio!

    Here are the details:

    • Design 1 digital card and 2 single page layouts using only My Digital Studio and Stampin’ Up! downloads
    • Submit your samples plus the official entry form and photo release form to MDSContest@stampinup.com
    • Contest runs from Oct 1 – Nov 15, 2010
    • A panel of judges will select 10 winners – 5 demonstrators and 5 customers
    • You can see the full rules, FAQs, and more details here.

    Don’t have My Digital Studio or want more digital downloads?
    Grab a copy from my online store and you can be designing in no time!

  • Clearance Rack Blitz! Hundreds of retired items at up to 80% off!

    I was about to go to bed when I logged in to the Stampin’ Up! demonstrator website one last time to check something when I saw a news posting from the home office.  They just announced from Oct 5-18th, they are having a Clearance Rack Blitz to make room in the distribution center for new products. That means some of your old favorites are back while supplies last.

    Deals include:

    • Cardstock from the old color families
    • Retired punches including the slot and slit punches
    • Retired Ribbon
    • Retired DSP
    • Build A Brad sets
    • Pretties Kit
    • Rub-ons
    • On Board albums and shapes
    • Retired color ink pads
    • and more!

    Shop now to grab your favorites before they are gone!