Northwest Stamper

Category: Big Shot

  • Mixed Bunch: From Scrapbook Sketch to a Card

    Last weekend, I did a presentation at the Northwest Women’s Show that was based around the idea that you can take one of the many scrapbook sketches out there and use them even if you are not a scrapbooker.  I don’t know about you, but while I like designing cards, sometimes my brain just isn’t working and so it is so nice to have a sketch or design to borrow from.  Often I will use the Stampin’ Up! idea book and catalog and just tweak a card that they use as a sample, but sometimes a scrapbook sketch is perfect!  As in this case:

     

    Mixed Bunch card from scrapbook sketch

     

    I cased a scrapbook layout made by a friend and mixed it up using my Stampin’ Up! supplies (I posted about it recently) and so I took the same elements of the scrapbook page and just shrunk them down a lot to make them fit on a card.

    One of my favorite elements of the original scrapbook page was the color blocked row along the bottom of the layout.  In my version of the scrapbook page, I had taken pieces of cardstock and ran them through my Big Shot with an embossing folder to give them texture; so I did the same thing with my card…only much smaller.

    I also kept the Crumb Cake strip to separate the color blocking from the bottom of the card and the white background.  Then I added in the baker’s twine to keep going with my texture theme.  Now, with a card, I didn’t really have room for both a picture (or stamped image) and the flower, so I decided to keep the flower since I’m totally digging this Mixed Bunch stamp set right now.  And then I stamped my sentiment in the same color (Rich Razzleberry) as my title on my scrapbook page.

    Overall, I love how this card turned out and that I didn’t have to think too hard since I was just copying another design of a scrapbook layout!

    So, here is the challenge for you – take a scrapbook page that you found somewhere and turn it into a card!  Post a link here in the comments of my blog or on my facebook page.  I’d love to see what you come up with.

     

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     First Tooth Scrapbook Page Recipe: 

    Stamps:  Mixed Bunch, Sincere Salutations
    Ink:  Wisteria Wonder classic, So Saffron classic, Rich Razzleberry classic
    Paper: Chocolate Chip cardstock, Whisper White cs, Wisteria Wonder cs, Pink Pirouette cs, Rich Razzleberry cs, Lucky Limeade cs, So Saffron cs, Island Indigo cs, Crumb Cake cs, Concord Crush cs, Very Vanilla cs
    Accessories:  Blossom punch, Scallop Trim border punch, 1” circle punch, Wisteria Wonder bakers twine, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Butterfly Framelit Window Frame Card

    If you are on my mailing list, you’ve seen this card with my last newsletter but I love it so much that I had to share it on my blog too!

    Now, I’ve done the window frame style card before (like this card) but I really wanted to play around with using the new Labels Framelits since they gave me a super easy way to make a big window on the front of my card.  So, one night I started playing and this card came out:

    I started out by picking two of the patterns from the Sale-a-Bration designer paper Everyday Enchantment.  I guess, I thought this evoked a garden window at the time.  Then I started stamping some flowers from the Vintage Vogue stamp set and cut them out by hand.  Not the fastest process, but actually pretty relaxing.

    Then I started layering my elements by popping up the green piece of designer paper and layering flowers above and below the level of that paper.  Finally, I finished it off with butterfly from the Beautiful Butterflies dies to make my garden complete!

     

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  • Altered Clipboard Countdown Ticker

    Have you ever looked at your stash of supplies, whether scrapbooking paper or office supplies, and realized you had more than you thought? That was me after organizing my craft room at the end of last year.  So I joined a group of girl friends in declaring a 100-project challenge!

     

    For this challenge, you are supposed to create 100 projects using the supplies you have before you buy more stuff.  You are allowed to declare exceptions – like I said I could get more adhesive, supplies for my Stampin’ Up! classes, and page protectors for scrapbook albums.  However, soon after starting the challenge, I realized I was having a hard time remembering what number I was on, and so I decided to make myself a little countdown ticker.

     

    I found a smaller clipboard at a local craft store for $1 and so I snagged it and brought it home to decorate – hey it counts as one of my projects that way!

    I dug into my retired designer paper and found that I had tons of this Junior Varsity pattern and so grabbed a pack and got to work.  I covered the front and the back of the clipboard with designer paper and then used the Big Shot to cut out a title using the Go Go Boots alphabet dies I got on the Clearance Rack.

    Then for the numbers, I used my Simple Numbers Bigz die to cut out two sets of 0-9 numbers.  Then I created cardstock tags that could be clipped up and traded out as I worked my way through my projects.

    After I finished, I thought I should have made the title or decoration on the clipboard more generic so I could use it for all kinds of other countdowns – but I guess that means I can make more and they’ll count as another project! 😉

     

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  • Designer Frames Embossed Love Card

    I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!  My day was like pretty much everyday except my hubby was super sweet and let me sleep in a little in the morning.  He even fed Nicholas breakfast while I slept!  That was an awesome enough gift for me. Smile

    Well, as evidenced by my just getting my Christmas thank you cards out in the mail last week, I’m a bit behind on my holiday card making.  So, it really wasn’t any surprise that I didn’t get many Valentines done…and by many I mean, I got one done.  Sure, I helped my son make one for his daddy, and so I hurried to put together one from me as well.

    I saw a card on the Stampin’ Up! facebook page that used this stamp from the Easy Events stamp set in front of the lattice embossed background and it was inspiration enough to get me started.

    imageI was trying to figure out how I wanted to mat the image when I remembered that I had just received the Designer Frames embossing folders as a free Sale-a-Bration item and sure enough, the rectangle frame was a perfect fit!

    The really cool thing about these embossing folders is that since the plastic is somewhat see-through, I could stamp my image first and then line it up inside the frame before embossing.  Sure, it leaves a little bit of ink on the folder, but that is easy to clean with a little spritz of the Stampin’ Mist cleaner.

    Anyway, after embossing the image, I decided to snazzy it up a bit and used a black marker to outline the embossed ridge near the inside of the rectangle.  Then I cut out the whole frame and sponged to make it “pop” more off the background.

    Oh, and one tip I’ll give you about watercoloring your images:
    Let the ink sit for an extra minute before you start blending your colors.

    I used a blender pen, and though I know the Basic Black ink is water resistant and that classic ink dries really quickly.  I forgot that if you are going to be doing a lot of pulling the color around with a blender pen – let your stamped image sit for an extra minute to totally dry.  I started coloring in almost immediately after stamping and found that if I went over the black lines very much with the blender pen it would darken my color (in this case, I ran into it with the green of the tree).  It still looked pretty and came out fine, but I ended up stamping again anyway because I wanted a more vibrant color when I was coloring.  Letting the image sit while I cut out the frame was more than enough time to be ready to color.

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    Easy Events Love Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Easy Events
    Ink:  Lucky Limeade Classic Ink, Cherry Cobbler Classic, Soft Suede Classic, Basic Black marker
    Paper: Basic Black CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Big Shot, Designer Frames Embossing folder, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, Basic Black 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Lattice embossing folder

  • Playing with the Petal Cone Big Shot Die

    Every catalog since Stampin’ Up! started offering the Big Shot, they have offered new dies in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  This time around, the Occasion Mini catalog offered the Petal Cone Bigz die.  My mom ended up getting it and so I had to play with it myself.   

    The die itself actually punches out two sides of the cone (with attached half circle flaps), one half-scallop circle, and a banner like strip.  So, I decided to experiment.  I created the cone out of your basic Melon Mambo cardstock and then decided to use the Love Letter designer series paper for the half-scallop circles, which I attached underneath the flaps. 

    Tip – if you are going to use the scallop circles under the flaps, you will want to trim the last scallop or two off each side.  Otherwise your flaps will not lie flat as the scallops get in each others way.

    I wrapped some Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon around the rim of the cone and then added some pearls for an extra fun touch.  Finally, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with the banner, so I took two of them and glued them together to make the strap for the cone!  Since I didn’t want a seam to show, I cut out a couple flowers and added them to the strap for a pretty way to finish it off.

    So, this was a start but I’ve seen a lot of other cute projects with this die including baskets (made by folding in the pointed ends of the cone before you glue them together) and carrots for holding Easter candy! 

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  • Quick and Easy – Yet Cute! – Holiday Cards

    Last Saturday was my latest holiday Stamp-a-Stack.  Since I had a few folks who had been to my first class, I decided to shake things up and play with some new products and designs.  Turns out, I love these cards and had so much fun sharing them with my ladies.  So I thought I would share a couple of the cards with you today.  I’ll be posting the other two cards we made here this week and would love for you to stop back by and let me know what you think!

    A Cute Christmas

    If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve already seen this card since I posted it as a sneak peek on Saturday.  I originally created this card because I wanted to show off the cute glitter paper in the Candy Cane designer paper pack.  I thought that the stripes were a little much for me and since I didn’t know what I was going to do with the paper, I’d find a way to use it up for this class.  I also wanted a fast and easy card since I knew my designer fabric card was going to take some time.  Well, turns out I love how bright and cheery this card is and I love the stripes!  Guess I’ll be using this paper more than I thought. 🙂

    cute christmas snowman sm Recipe:
    Stamps:      A Cute Christmas
    Ink:  Night of Navy Classic ink, Real Red marker, Blushing Bride marker, Wild Wasabi marker, Baja Breee marker
    Paper:  Whisper White CS, Real Red CS, Candy Cane designer paper

    Joyful Season Letterpress Card

    This next card was an excuse to use the Letterpress plates.  One of my ladies had been curious about the Letterpress plates and so I thought I would give everyone a chance to try them out.

    We used Craft Ink on textured Whisper White paper for the debossed image.  Then we spritzed the paper with Crumb Cake using the Color Spritzer tool.  If you haven’t used the Color Spritzer, it is a neat way to add splatters and spritzes of color on your paper.  I swear I feel like a wild and crazy artist when I stand over my paper and start squeezing this air gun all over the place. 🙂

    joyful season card sm If you aren’t familiar with the letterpress dies, the way they work is that you ink up the raised image on the plastic plate using your ink pads (I personally love using the Craft Ink Spots).  Place your paper over the inked image, and run it all through your BigShot or other die cutting machine.  Your image is impressed into the paper and the ink is left behind in that impressed image.  Here is my attempt at taking a photo close up to show you what I mean.

    joyful season close up sm Recipe:
    Ink:      Always Artichoke Craft ink, Bravo Burgundy Craft Ink, Crumb Cake marker
    Paper:  Baroque Burgundy CS, Textured Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Joyful Season letterpress plate, BigShot, Corner Rounder punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Color Spritzer

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  • Halloween Letterpress Card

    When I was first playing with my letterpress plates and trying out different inks and paper, I ended up with extra pieces as samples.  This Trick or Treat was one of the pieces I made using Confetti White paper and classic Pumpkin Pie ink.  It turned out pretty well, so I had set it aside to use later.  Then, I also had this card base I made using Basic Black paper and torn Old Olive cardstock originally for a punch art card that ended up going a different direction, and so I had that lying around too.  So, put them together and add a fun halloween pumpkin and this is what turned out:

    Punching the pumpkin –

    I also had to get a little creative with the pumpkin.  I didn’t have oval punches, which is what I would normally use, but I did have a 1-1/4” circle punch available.  So, I punched out three full circles from some Tangerine Tango cardstock.  I then slid one of the circles back into the punch so I could punch again, trimming off one side of the circle to make an oval like shape.  Now, I did this by sliding the circle in and tapping the side of the punch to shift it into place – the complete pain in the tush method.  If I were to do this again, I would either stick my circle to the back of a post-it note or use dotto to temporarily adhere the pumpkin to a piece of computer paper so that I had a bigger piece of paper to hold when trying to control how much of the circle I was trimming.

    To finish the pumpkin, I sponged the edges of the circles with Chocolate Chip ink,.  Then overlap two of the circles and adhere together.  Adhere the trimmed circle/”oval” on top of the two circles.  Cut a strip of Old Olive CS and adhere to the back of the pumpkin you just created for a stem.

    Trick or Treat Recipe:
    Ink:     Pumpkin Pie classic ink, Chocolate Chip classic ink
    Paper: Basic Black CS, Confetti White CS, Tangerine Tango CS, Old Olive CS
    Accessories: Trick or Treat letterpress die, 1-1/4″ circle punch, sponge, paper piercer, Ice Rhinestone brads

  • 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.

  • Experimenting with the Stampin’ Up! Letterpress Dies

    As I mentioned last week, I received the new Letterpress Dies and made my first card using the method recommended on the packaging.  However, I’m not always good with rules and recommendations and so I had to start experimenting myself with how these dies worked with different inks, paper, and BigShot “sandwich” combinations.

    I wanted to share my results with you so you could try some of these ideas out yourself or avoid the methods that didn’t work so well.

    But first – a new sample using the bigger Trick or Treat letterpress die:

    The green ribbon in the Pumpkin Pie button is actually the 1/4” Old Olive grosgrain ribbon cut in half.  If you do this to thread through a button, I highly recommend using a needle to thread it through the holes.  I was using the “wet the end of the ribbon, twist, squint, shove, and hope enough gets through to grab with your fingernails” technique.  Lets just say the ribbon frays much more easily that way.

    Experimenting with Paper, Ink, and BigShot techniques

    Click Read More to see my experiments with the Letterpress dies including photos for the different papers, inks, and techniques I used. (more…)

  • 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.

  • A little love with the Rough Type alphabet

    So, the May scrapbooking promotion was the kick in the pants I needed to commit to getting the rough type alphabet stamp set.  I loved the idea of a high quality clear mount alphabet but was initially on the fence.  Well, the incentive of free designer brads was enough for me to just go for it and boy am I glad I did! 

    Sure, it takes a little bit to label all of the stamps but once you do, it is so easy and fun to make all kinds of words.  In this case, I was playing and decided to spell out Love.  It also gave me a good excuse to play with my BigShot – both with the polka dot impression folder and my heart die. 

    Stamps – Rough Type alpha
    Ink – Melon Mambo, Rick Razzleberry, Old Olive
    Paper – Melon Mambo CS, Rich Razzleberry CS, Whisper White CS, Cottage Garden DSP
    Accessories – Polka Dot Impression folder, Rich Razzleberry ribbon, small heart punch, 1″ circle punch, Heart BigShot die