Northwest Stamper

Category: Decor

Get ideas for creating custom home decor and altered items for fun gifts and decor tailored to your favorites! These project ideas include framed art, decorated notebooks, book marks, and other altered projects.

  • Embellished Pocket Calendar

    This summer, I discovered at one of those big box fabric stores, some pocket calendars at a rediculously low price.  So, I just had to pick some up (I’m such a sucker for a good sale).  The calendars ran August 2010-July 2011 and so I thought they would be perfect for me to keep in my craft tote for scheduling Stampin’ Up! events while I was out at workshops and classes. 

    But a storebought calendar just wouldn’t do.  So what do we do?  We embellish!!

    I grabbed some of my scraps, punches, and the BigShot and went to town:

    I printed out some of my favorite photos of Nicholas so that they would fit being matted by the 1 1/4” square punch.  They make me smile everytime I pull this out.  Smile And of course, I couldn’t leave the back empty, so I put a photo I love of our family from a vacation this summer. 

    This project is so fast and easy that I made one each for my mom and dad as well.  All you have to do is
    – pull the plastic cover off the calendar and measure the cover
    – cut a piece of DSP that is slightly wider than the cover dimensions
      (you want it slightly longer so that it doesn’t pull away from the ends when you adhere it to the cover and fold it around the spine of the calendar). 
    -I printed off photos and then punched 4 squares out of Basic Gray to use as mattes for my photos using the 1 1/4” square punch
    -Then I used the BigShot to cut out the numbers for the year using the Simple Numbers Bigz die

    The biggest thing to watch out for is to not add too thick of embellishments and layers so that you can fit your calendar back into the plastic.

    These are a fun, inexpensive gift.  Hmm..,I think I may have to see if I can grab a few more.

  • An altered notebook gift for my upline

    One of the fun traditions of going to the Stampin’ Up convention is often uplines and downlines make little gifts for each other.  My way-upline, Julie Gunhus gave everyone personalized notepads and decorated pen.  My direct upline gave me a bag tag, some custom labels, and a cute box made using the new petal punch.  This is what I made to give to my upline:

    I found some Spongebob spiral bound notebooks with hard covers in the dollar bin at Target.  I wish I had bought more because they were great for altering.  I picked cardstock that was similar in color to the covers since i was going the quick and easy route of only covering to the spiral binding.  I measured my cardstock to be about a 1/2″ longer on three sides so I could wrap the paper around the cover.  I used the Tombow liquid glue to coat the paper and then glued to the cover.  When folding the paper around to the inside of the cover, I folded the parallel sides over first and then finished by wrapping the side opposite the binding.  I then glued down a piece of white cardstock to the inside to finish off the inside.  Once the covers were wrapped, then I started stamping and embellishing.  I assembled the center image including the ribbon and then adheared the whole piece to my cover with sticky strip.  I waited until the cover was wrapped so I could make sure I had everything centered.  I then stamped the phrase “notes” so it was centered under the image.  I think that was the most stressful step because I was nervous it would get messed up but the stamps worked great and I love how it turned out!

    I used the Rough Type Alpha and the Bouquet Bunch stamp sets for the covers.  These ended up being the perfect size for taking in our bag for convention and so I’ll be keeping my eye out to get more for future gifts.

    If there is interest in more step by step instructions for making these, let me know and I’ll put something together.

    Altered Notebook recipe:
    Stamps: 
    Rough Type Alphabet, Bouquet Bunch
    Ink: Basic black, Old Olive
    Paper:  Melon Mambo CS, Basic Black CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Melon Mambo marker, Black Satin ribbon, Watercolor pen, Tombow liquid glue

  • Stampin’ Up Convention 2010 – Display boards and more

    I just finished going through all my pictures from convention and was reminded of all the fun looking things to try and make over the next few months.  There are always so many amazing ideas, business tips, and sneak peeks (you might even spot one or two in the photos below ;)) .  I can’t wait to share some of these projects in upcoming classes and workshops.  Want to try it out yourself? Contact me to learn more about scheduling your own workshop!

    IMG_1010We were up early each day to get over for general session.  I was so grateful that Stampin’ Up! supports families and so I could take Nicholas with me to session.  They even offered a Mother’s Lounge so moms could feed/diaper their babies and still see and hear the speaker.

     

     

    We saw lots of awesome demonstrations.  I think my favorite was the Halloween decorations…but then again there were some awesome hostess gift ideas that were super cute as well.

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    Then during lunch and at the end of the day, we got to wander around The Gathering Place and look at some awesome displays and ideas boards.  This year they had an area called The Sweet Shop where they had so many amazing displays that looked like candy and other treats but was really made entirely from paper, ribbon, and buttons!  Stampin’ Up! really has some amazing artists and designers.

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  • Exciting upcoming dates – retiring accessories list, decor elements phase 3, and Sale-a-bration!

    So, I’ve been spending too much time in the last couple days cleaning my house and hanging out on Splitcoast Stampers and my SCS blog group’s blogs (they are some super talented ladies – check out links to their blog on the right side of my blog).  All this web surfing and household cleaning has meant no time for stamping. 🙁  But, I’ve been getting inspired and hope to have a creative blow out over the next few days. 🙂

    In the meantime, I thought I would say hi and make sure you knew about some of the exciting upcoming dates for Stampin’ Up events.

    The Retiring Accessories List – January 5th

    I just realized this is happening on monday and I’m on the edge of my seat in anticipation to see what accessories are retiring with this catalog on January 19th.  Unlike the retiring stamps, which are available for sure until the end of the catalog; retiring accessories are while supplies last.  This mean that if you have a favorite accessory, don’t wait until the last day of the catalog to order or it might be gone.  I’ll post the list Monday morning and will keep it updated with availability each day.  But if something you love is being retired, I recommended ordering it right away!

    Decor Elements: Phase 3 – January 19th 

    If you haven’t seen or heard of Decor Elements, they are the line of products Stampin’ Up! has started for home decorating.  They are fantastic vinyl die cuts that are meant to be applied to walls, furniture, glass, dishes, the possibilities are endless.  The super cool thing about them are the fact that they are very easy to apply and fairly permenant; however, if you ever decide to take them down, they cah be removed without leaving residue or staining!  How cool is that?  Well, they are expanding the line to even more great designs and now are adding stencils to the mix.  I love the shelf set items that look like flower pots and book stacks that you apply on the wall behind a shelf.  I may have to get some of those. 🙂

    decor_elements_3

    Sale-a-bration – February 1st

    Finally, this is the special event that many people look forward to each year.  This mini catalog is filled with special stamp sets, paper, and even ribbon that you can’t buy in the catalog.  In fact, you can’t buy them period.  Instead, you get them FREE with each $50 purchase.  Spend $150, and you not only get your normal free hostess set, $15 in free merchandise, but you also get 3 free Sale-a-bration products.  Thats a heck of a lot of free. 🙂 If you sign up to be a demonstrator, get another set for free.  Host a $300 workshop, another set free! Start browsing now to see what cool things are in store for this fun time and contact me to schedule a workshop now so you can be sure to make the most of this event.

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  • Some other craft fair items

    So, this is just a quick post to share some of the other items that I made for the craft fair.  Unfortunately, there was not much traffic so I came home with most of what I took with me.  However, being mostly paper crafts, they’ll last till the next one. 🙂

    Embellished picture frame, flower pots (with actual seeds), decorated candles, chocolate filled containers, decorated york peppermint patties
    Embellished picture frame, flower pots (with actual seeds), decorated candles, chocolate filled containers, decorated york peppermint patties
  • Prepping for a Portland-area craft fair

    This friday I’m participating in my first craft fair and it has been keeping me busy this week.  I’ve been trying get my supplies in order and then power-craft to get everything ready to go.  Last night, Kally came over to make up the cards for her blog candy (I can’t wait to see the pictures because I forgot to take some of my own!).  We spent a while designing the cards and then she started putting them together while I worked on items for the craft fair.  Here are the first couple of finished products I will be selling.  They are gift card holders and a picture frame embellished with some rub-ons (on sale now!) and some designer paper and stamps. 

    If you have some time on Friday from 1-8pm, come visit me at the Holiday Bazaar at the College of Legal Arts – 8909 SW Barbur Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97219!

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  • Decorate with Decor Elements

      And you thought Stampin’ Up! just did stamping.  Have you been introduced to Decor Elements yet? 

    These are gorgeous self-adhesive vinyl images that take only a few minutes to put up and look great in any room of the house.  The best part is that they are removable so if you move or decide you want to put up something different, you can take them down without damaging the wall!

    They come in a variety of styles including letters, phrases, florals, frames, and more.  Right now the offerings come in neutral colors but I’ve seen previews for the next wave of elements this fall and there will be lots of new colors coming soon!

    Check out the full line up here