Northwest Stamper

Tag: thank you card

  • A Slightly More Masculine Thank You

    Today I wanted to share the last of the cards we made at a recent class of mine.  The other cards all were flowery or included pink so I figured I ought to try to come up with something for the more manly folks in your life.  (Plus I really wanted to use my Stripes embossing folder for the Big Shot!)

    So this is meant to be a quick and easy card you could make when you need a thank you card and everything you have in you drawer is too girly.  This was also one of my first times pulling out the First Edition specialty designer paper.  It’s a lighter-weight paper, so its kind of fun to play with – even when you are just doing something as simple as tearing an edge.

    Oh, and did I mention that the Stripes embossing folder is one of the items you can get FREE during Sale-a-Bration?  Smile
    (It’s easy to miss in the SAB catalog, but it’s there!)

    So, while I’m still trying to figure out just what defines a “masculine” card; I think this will work for now!

    To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime, click here!

    Stripes Thanks So Much Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Sincere Salutations
    Ink:  Rich Razzleberry classic
    Paper: First Edition specialty designer paper, Rich Razzleberry cardstock, Soft Suede cs, Pear Pizzazz cs
    Accessories:  Stripes embossing folder, BigShot, Gold Brads, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Snail adhesive, Paper Piercer

  • A Mixed Bunch Thanks

    See, I told you I was back and blogging… this is 2 days in a row! hee hee

    Well, between the holidays (and being way behind on my thank you cards) and just being so grateful for my customers, downline, and online crafting friends who have been amazingly supportive while I’ve been dealing with a new baby instead of posting.  So, I have “Thanks” on the brain. 

    This time, I pulled out a couple more fun new stamps.  First, the Mixed Bunch stamp set from the Occasion mini – and of course, it’s matching blossom punch!  Then for the sentiment I used the FREE Outlined Occasions stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.

    Its been crazy with snow and freezing weather here in Seattle, so I needed a bright and cheery card right now.  I think this fits the bill nicely!  Plus it can be very relaxing to just sit and color in an image (in this case the “Thanks” using my blender pens and inks).

    So, check out an example of why Sale-a-Bration is so cool:

    Order the Mixed Bunch stamp set + the Blossom Punch + some cardstock
                       (item #125537)              (item #125603)           (item #120954)

    Mixed Bunch - Wood-Mount StampBlossom Punch8-1/2 X 11 Smooth Card Stock - Getting Started Collection - by Stampin' Up!

      

    and get the Outlined Occasions set FREE

    image

    Yay free! Just add some ink and ribbon or other embellishments from your stash at home and you can make be making this card in no time!  I promise, it is fun too. 🙂

    I’ll be back tomorrow with more project ideas as I start writing posts sharing some of the projects I’ve been making recently. 

    Have a product or project type you want to see? 
    I’d love to hear what you are interested in seeing.  Leave me a comment or send me an email and I’ll see what I can do to post up the projects I’ve done or will try to incorporate what you ask for in future projects.  I’m always up for a challenge!

     

    Click Here To Order Stampin’ Up! Products Anytime!

    Mixed Bunch Thanks Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Mixed Bunch, Outline Occasions (SAB)
    Ink:  Basic Black classic, Daffodil Delight classic, Pear Pizzazz classic
    Paper: River Rock cardstock, Daffodil Delight cs, Whisper White cs, Pear Pizzazz cs
    Accessories:  Pool Party ruffled ribbon, 2 1/2” Circle punch, In-Color designer brads, Blossom punch, Sponge Daubers, Snail adhesive, Paper Piercer, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • For All You Do Digital Card

    I ordered My Digital Studio way back when it first came out; see, I was all excited about it after seeing what it could do at Convention and then they went and offered a special promotion for Convention attendees (got to love a deal!).  After I got it home, I found I’ve been using it more for non-traditional purposes like creating my blog header, gift certificates, my watermark for my photos, printing out stamp images for sets I don’t have so I can use them in my paper projects, etc.  Its actually pretty cool the fun things you can do with MDS.

    Anyway, Stampin’ Up! did a design contest a little while back and I managed to miss the deadline by 15 minutes but still submitted anyway.  Of course I didn’t win, but I still really like some of the more traditional items I created for it.  And today I thought I’d share one of them.

    For All You Do Digital Card

    I was playing with opacity of cardstock and drop shadows to try to get the effect of having Vellum in my digital project.  I actually really like how this card turned out and think I may have to CASE it and make it into a physical card as well!

    If you haven’t seen all the cool current and retired products that are now available in digital form, check out this catalog to see the many fun items you can play with in MDS or really any software that can accept an image file.  View the My Digital Studio Catty.

    Have MDS questions?  Shoot me an email and I’ll get them answered!

     

    Click here to shop online 24/7

  • Watercoloring Techniques: Inks and Watercolor Crayons

    Each month I run at least one technique class to give folks a chance to try something different or learn new ways to use something they might already have.  Well, a recently ran my popular watercoloring technique night during which we made 5 cards, each using a different method for watercoloring.  It was so much fun to create the cards and even more fun to see the different ways people used the techniques on their cards.  This week, I thought I would share some of the cards we did at this class.

    Watercoloring with Inks

    This is your basic watercoloring technique that most people, if they have only done watercoloring one way with stamping, it is this method.  To do this technique, you want to squeeze your ink pad so that some of the ink gets deposited onto the inside of the lid of your stamp pad.  Once you open your ink pad, you will see the ink deposited on the lid and you can lift it off with a blender pen or aqua pen.  Then use your pen like it was a marker to color your card.  In this case, we did a sweet Build-a-Bear cheery card.

    Watercoloring with Watercolor Crayons

    Next we did a card using the hostess set – Because I Care and the Watercolor Crayons.  Now, this is a medium that I often completely forget about but there is so many cool things you can do with watercolor crayons.  I won’t go into all of them today because that would make this post way to long but if there is interest, I can highlight them another day.

    Anyway, for this card we did a technique I haven’t done in a long time.  We used the crayons to color directly onto the stamp rubber – placing all of our colors on the image at the same time.  Then you spritz your rubber with water and stamp.  The water you spray on the rubber interacts with the wax of the watercolor crayons to create the more classic watercolor look.

    I just had to show you too the other thing we did with the card that was just for fun and I guess thinking back on it now, was a theme with this card: spritzing things.

    We used the gold Smooch Spritz to add gold shimmer to the background So Saffron paper.  Its fairly tone on tone but is sooo pretty in person.  Here is an attempt at a photo to show you what I mean.

    Cards 3-5
    Check back later this week as I post the other cards we created in this class.

     

    Interested in trying these cards & techniques out yourself?

    In Person
    Do to multiple requests, I’m running my class again on March 28th in the Mountain View, CA area.  I’d love to have you join us. Check out the full details on my meetup site.

    Online
    Or, if you are not local, purchase the supplies for these techniques from my online store and send me an email.  I’ll send you written tutorial instructions for these cards for FREE!  Not sure what you need, email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll send you a basic supply list and you can see what you have in your stash and what you would still need.

  • Ice Cream Parlor Mojo Monday Card

    Today is the story of why card making when very tired can sometimes yield not your intended results. 🙂  I am off visiting my parents in northern Washington for the week and yesterday was the day Nicholas (my son) and I got up at the very early hour of 5am to head to the airport and begin our day of flights and layovers to Bellingham.  And of course the first night in town, I’m always way too busy chatting and crafting with my mom to go to bed early.  So, today I was paying for it by being more groggy than usual when we set out to do some crafting after dinner.

    I loved this sketch that I was seeing around the internet a couple weeks back and when I saw my mom had printed out a sample using this sketch, I decided that would be a good project for me to work on tonight. 

    I grabbed my Ice Cream Parlor designer paper and Quick Accent sheets from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and some random pieces of cardstock I had packed with me and started almost random layering combinations.  I quickly settled on the color scheme of Marina Mist, Peach Parfait,Very Vanilla, and Cajun Craze,  Ok, quick side note – am I the only one who thought Cajun Craze was the ugliest color when it first came out and then after using it a couple times think it is an awesome color?  It is so perfect for fall cards and masculine cards.  Anyway….

    This is what I came up with in the end:

    Mojo ThanksCheck out this cute accent – like an epoxy sticker – by covering your image with a decent amount of Crystal Effects.

    IMG_2167 

    And this whole card would have been awesome except what is wrong with this picture?

    Wrong Fold Thanks Mojo Yes, I was very tired.  Enough so that I didn’t even pay attention to the fold of my card and proceeded to be focused on the little details and never looked back on the bigger picture pieces. 🙂  I almost tried creation some special type of card that would make this seem intentional, but as I said before I was tired… So instead, we did the traditional cut off the face of the card and layer it on a new card base.  That gave me the final version:

    Thanks Mojo Final

    I personally still like it better with Cajun Craze as the base, but I think the end result is still cute too. 🙂  What do you think?  Which do you like better?

    Ice Cream Parlor Mojo Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Awash with Flowers, So Happy for You (SAB set)
    Ink:  Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Old Olive
    Paper:  Ice Cream Parlor DSP, Marina Mist CS, Very Vanilla CS, Cajun Craze CS, Early Espresso CS
    Accessories:  Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Marina Mist 1/8” Taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects.

  • February Make-and-Take: A Sale-a-Bration Thanks

    Last night was my February meet & greet with my local Bay Area Card Makers meetup group.  We had a fun night of socializing and, of course, card making!  I always bring a free project for everyone to make, and after receiving some new Sale-a-Bration items recently, I knew I wanted to get those out to play.  So, I grabbed the new So Happy For You stamp set and the Ice Cream Parlor ribbon (check them out in the 2011 SAB catalog) and out popped this card: 

    I had seen a card made by AlyStamps and loved how the thanks from the So Happy For You stamp layered using the small oval and large oval punches.  I’ve also been obsessed with spectrum style cards right now, so I put them together.  The card is actually very fast to put together because the squares of cardstock are punched out using the 1-1/4” square punch.  We then stamped those squares using Versamark ink, so we could get the tone-on-tone look without having to switch back and forth between different ink pads.  So the only think you really have to cut is the base cardstock and the Early Espresso mat for the spectrum which I cut at 5-1/8” x 1-3/8”. 

    I love this stamp set, and will probably be playing with it a lot more in the future and the ribbon is super fun too (though I’m just dying over the buttons! love them!).  Get either set FREE with a $50 order, or get both with a $100 order!  Don’t you just love Sale-a-Bration time?

    Check out the online store and pick your free goodies!

    SAB Thanks Recipe:
    Stamps:      So Happy For You
    Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso
    Paper:  Crumb Cake CS, Old Olive CS, Melon Mambo CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Pacific Point CS, Whisper White CS, Early Espresso CS
    Accessories:  Ice Cream Parlor ribbon, 1-1/4” square punch, small oval punch, large oval punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • New Card for a New Mini

    Friday night was my preview party for the new occasion mini.  I had samples of projects made using the new stamps and accessories from the Occasion mini as well as treats, a door prize, and this make and take card.  It gave everyone a chance to play with some of the new designer series papers, seam binding ribbon, and the vintage flower adornments.

    I’ll admit that Rose Red is one of my favorite Stampin’ Up! colors.  When they announced the color renovation last summer, I was so relieved to see that it was going to be sticking around.  So, when I saw the Occasions Mini and saw that they were offering new colors of seam binding ribbon and one of the colors was Rose Red, I was stoked!  I love how delicate the seam binding ribbon can look, perfect for a vintage feel.  Add some Botanical Gazette DSP and a little rose and you have an easy peasy vintagy card.

    Botanical Thank You Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Curly Cute
    Ink:  Soft Suede
    Paper:  Crumb Cake CS, Very Vanilla CS, Botanical Gazette DSP 
    Accessories:  Vintage Flower Adornments, Rose Red Seam Binding ribbon, Glue Dots, Corner Rounder punch

  • Day of Gratitude Thank You

    Yesterday I shared a thank you card I made for a future hostess with some fun punching with the new Decorative Label punch.  Well, today, I thought I would share another card along the same lines.  Well, I was on a roll with the decorative label punch and so after playing a bit came up with this card for my friend to thank her for hosting a workshop with me.

    Day of Gratitude Thank You (1280x1207)For this card, the Thank You sentiment is punched out using the Decorative Label punch.  I turned the punch vertically (so it was tall and narrow) and punched out the Thank You at the top of the punchout shape.  Then I pulled the end of the punchout (the part with the stamped image) through the middle of the back of the punch so that it wouldn’t get cut again, and slid it down so the Thank You sentiment was just above the bottom of the punch opening and cut it out.  Again, I know that can be hard to visualize so I will try to get a photo explanation out soon.

    I also punched the corners of the card with the same Decorative label punch to get the curved and indented corners.  Love it!

    Did you know you can get this punch along with the matching Tags til Christmas stamp set as a bundle for 20% off?  Check it out!

    Card Recipe: 
    Stamps:  Day of Gratitude
    Ink:  Garden Green, Old Olive marker, Poppy Parade marker, Peach Parfait marker, Chocolate chip marker and ink pad
    Paper:  Garden Green CS, Very Vanilla CS, Autumn Spice DSP
    Accessories:  Decorative Label punch, Adhesive back pearls, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • A Curly Cute Thank You

    Well, guess what?  My camera battery died and I don’t have my charger with me.  Sigh.  Thankfully my cell phone takes decent pictures and so i was able to get a couple reasonable shots to last me until i can get my battery charged.

    I wanted to share this card with you because of the fun punchout I created.  This is a thank you card for a friend who is going to be hosting a workshop with me in a couple weeks.  I had been playing around with my new Day of Gratitude stamp set from the regional and my Designer label punch and ended up with the punched flower below.

    Curly cute Thank You I made the flower by punching out the flower with it in the center of the designer label punch.  Then i took that punch out and slid it back into the punch so that one end of the punched out shape was in the punch and the other end was pulled up through the opening in the back so that when I squeezed the punch, only half of the paper would be cut.  I then repeated that again on the other side. 

    i know that is totally confusing 🙂 so, i’ll try to take some photos when my camera is working again to show you what I mean.  But I have to say, this punch is awesome for playing around with different punch shapes.

    Thank You Recipe:
    Stamps:      Curly Cute, Day of Gratitude
    Ink:  Concord Crush marker, Old Olive marker, Poppy Parade marker, Blushing Bride marker
    Paper:  Elegant Eggplant CS, Whisper White CS, Elegant Soiree DSP, Soft Suede CS 
    Accessories:      Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Thanks Joy Fold Card

    Tonight was another fun technique night with my meetup group and we spent the night creating three different “fancy fold” cards.  Specifically, we made a Joy Fold card, a Gate Fold card, and an Easel card.  Here is the first card we created –

    IMG_1563 (3) (800x568)

    This is a Joy Fold card.   That means, instead of the typical folded in half card, you use two pieces of card stock to create your fold.  Here is what it looks like when open:

    IMG_1562 (800x779)

    This is actually a very easy card to create.  Here are the dimensions to create this card yourself:

    1. Cut your base cardstock (in my card it is Poppy Parade) 4 1/4” x 8 1/2”.  Score at 5 1/2”.
    2. Cut one piece of DSP at 4” x 5 1/4” (the Greenhouse Gala blue flower paper above)
    3. Cut a second piece of DSP at 4” x 2 3/4” (the Greenhouse Gala green flower paper above)
    4. Cut your inner cardstock piece at 3” x 8” (I used Daffodil Delight).  Score at 4”.
    5. Adhere your DSP, then position the base cardstock piece in the center of your large DSP.
    6. Decorate your inner cardstock as you wish.  We stamped the ala carte So Many Thanks stamp on a piece of Whisper White paper and then sponged the edge with Daffodil Delight.
    7. Use a punched or cut element to hold down the corner of your inner cardstock on the outside flap.  I used dimensionals on the heart from the Heart to Heart punch out to make a pocket for the corner of the cardstock to fit into.

    These are fun cards to create and gives you a chance to be creative as you play with color combinations of cardstock and different designer paper patterns.  What are your favorite combinations?

  • A Letterpress Card for the Stamping 411 Challenge #168

    If you’ve seen the holiday mini, you’ve seen one of the new products Stampin’ Up! just released – the Letterpress Plates.  These plates are made to use with your BigShot and instead of embossing your image by causing the pattern to raise up off your paper, these plates deboss your image – making empressed images that go into your page.  Add some craft ink, and you get imprinted colored images to spiff up your project.

    At convention this year, Stampin’ Up! unveiled the plates and then offered a special convention bundle of all the letterpress plates at a discount for convention attendees.  Yet another awesome benefit of being a demo (see even more benefits here).  So, I decided to try them out and after getting my bundle, spent some time this weekend playing with them.  So, today, here is the first card I made with the Northern Trim plate for the Stamping 411 sketch challenge.

    I’ve also been playing with different types of papers and inks, so check back later this week as I’ll be posting my results and offering tips for what I’ve found from using the plates.  Until then, here is the video Stampin’ Up! released to show you more possibilities with these plates.

    Oh, P.S. – if you are a demo or become a demo when attending their regional seminar, they have another special bundle just for attendees!  Contact me at jennifer@nwstamper.com for more info or find out how to be my guest when I go to the Portland Regionals in October.

     

    Demonstrating the Letterpress Dies

    Kind Thanks Recipe:
    Stamps:     Thank You Kindly
    Ink:  Always Artichoke Classic ink, Always Artichoke Craft Ink, Rose Red Craft Ink
    Paper:  Elegant Soiree DSP, Basic Black CS, Rose Red CS, Confetti White CS, Always Artichoke CS
    Accessories:  Basic Black Satin ribbon, Scallop edge punch, Basic Rhinestones, Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Modern Label punch, glue dots, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Stampin’ Up! Convention 2010 – Swaps, Parties, and a Baby!

    I’m back from a trip to Salt Lake City for the 2010 Stampin’ Up! convention with my Mom and upline, Kathy, my dad, and my son.  I love the chance to go meet other demonstrators, including folks whose names I’ve seen on emails but now I got to meet in person, hang out with friends, get super cute stuff, swap gorgeous cards, and generally get pumped about Stampin’ Up!  I have way too many photos to share all of them in one post so I’ll be posting pictures in future posts as well.  But for now, here are some of my highlights.

    Before convention even got started, mom and I participated in two days of preconvention stamp camps and swaps with Late Night Stampers. 

    IMG_0819 Then came Wednesday – Check in day.  This is the day that everyone lines up in the early morning for a chance to be one of the first to get into Memento Mall (the SU convention gift shop).   My dad was kind enough to go get in line when he got up around 6:15am and he wasn’t the first in line!  By 7:30 the line was around the block. :)  checkin day line photoBut unlike Disneyland, its fun to stand in line at convention.  Everyone is swapping and I even saw a friend of mine from Portland (Hi, Liz!) and got a chance to introduce her to Nicholas. IMG_0856

    After we swapped, checked in and got our free stamps and bag, we relaxed before meeting up for a group photo and swap with our upline group – the SBStampers.  It was there that Nicholas got his very first swap.   He loved playing with this fabric squeaky toy made by Charity Lawson using the Scallop Square die for the BigShot and a squeak toy from a pet supply store.IMG_0871IMG_0873 

    Later we got dressed up in our grooviest attire for the Flower Power party.  Sadly, I missed getting my face painted by SU illustrators but I did participate in some fun games.

    IMG_0876

    That was only the beginning of a fun weekend.  Here is one of the swaps I created to trade with folks over the course of the weekend.  The flower is made using the Flower Fusion sizzlit that in one tiny little die cuts out 3 flowers of different sizes.  I then folded up the petals and stacked them using glue dots.  It really does pop off the page, which I thought was fun and cool.  I think you could step it up a notch even more by adding a pearl or rhinestone to the center of the flower.  I would have done it but I ran out of time.  But still, i like how it turned out and folks seemed to as well. Flower Fusion Swap Card

    I have to say, I love all the cards I got swapped and will be showcasing come of my favorites in a future post so you can see these great ideas too.  More photos and swaps to come!  Until then… Happy Stamping!

    Convention 2010 Thank You swap card:
    Stamps: Because I Care (hostess set)
    Inks:  Concord Crush classic ink
    Paper:  Basic Black CS, Whisper White CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Concord Crush CS, Play Date DSP
    Accessories:  Polka Dot Impression Folder, Flower Fusion sizzlit, Little Leaves sizzlit, glue dots.