Northwest Stamper

Category: Punch Art

  • Scrapbooking Sunday: A Punch Art Bunny For Spring!

    Happy Easter to you!  I hope you have a wonderful day full of fun and happy moments.

    For my blog post today, I wanted to share a scrapbook page I created to hold some of our Easter moments this year (I knew what color outfits the kids would be wearing so I could pick the right colors – hee hee; but I don’t have the pictures printed yet).

    If you saw my stamping basics video earlier this week, you saw that I used the Button Buddies stamp set to demonstrate the difference paper can have on your image.  Well, what you didn’t see is that I did that about 4 different times because I was trying to figure out how to get my video camera to point to the right place and work for my demonstration – or making sure it was on… that was frustrating when I did the full video only to realize I had pushed the record button off instead of on when I started!

    Anyway, I had some extra flowers and an idea, so I created this:

     

    The very first thing I knew I wanted to do was create this row of flowers.  I punched them out with my scallop circle punch and went about laying them down.  I alternated having one flower glued straight down to my paper and the next flower popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  And while this stamp set is made to work perfectly with a designer button in the center of the flower, I decided I wanted to do something a little more subtle and so I used Crystal Effects to add some shine and pop to my flowers.

     

    And then there is the bunny…. I LOVE making this punch art bunny.  I’ve made one in the past but for this page I knew I wanted a smaller version and so I had to start from scratch.  So, I looked at my punches and started experimenting… but isn’t he cute?

     

    I’ll admit I got the button tail idea from a few demos online (I saw it first from Pam Steckman on facebook) though their bunnies were much bigger.  Anyway, if you want to create this little bunny, I thought I’d show you how I put it together.  It is the Heart to Heart punch for the ears and feet, the 1” circle punch for the body, and the 3/4” circle punch for the head.  I sponged all the pieces with Blushing Bride ink just to give them a subtle definition from each other.

    As it turns out, seeing the bunny shape from my example to show you how I made the bunny looks like another cute way to create a punch art bunny.  So, hopefully this gives you a couple new ideas to play with on your projects!

     

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    Sponged Easter Egg Card Recipe:

    Stamps: Button Buddies
    Ink: Blushing Bride Classic, Rich Razzleberry
    Paper: Certainly Celery CS, Melon Mambo textured CS, Whisper White CS, Nursery Nest designer paper, Pear Pizzazz CS
    Accessories: Twitterpated buttons, glue dots, Pear Pizzazz 1/2” stitched poly ribbon, 1 3/8” square punch, Heart to Heart punch, 1” circle punch, 3/4” circle punch

  • Fun and Creative Convention Swap Cards

    I am always so amazed and inspired by the swap cards I get at convention.  From the cards that make you go “WOW!” to the cards that are so simple to make that I realize you don’t have to go over the top to make a striking card.  I started taking pictures of some of the cards I received so I can share them with you.  So, expect to see more pop up on my blog.

    For today, I wanted to share a couple cards that I thought were just fun and creative.

    First up!  How lips stamps can be cool:

    card by Naomi Keeling

    I saw the a la carte stamp S.W.A.K. when the catalog first came out but I had no idea how I would use it.  Well now I do!  What is hard to see in the picture but looks awesome in person is that the dotted background looks to be a piece of designer series paper behind a square of vellum – all attached together with silver mini brads.  Then she heat embossed with the Melon Mambo embossing powder the lips on top of the vellum.  Isn’t it cute?!

    Next, an awesome idea for your Blossom Petals punch:

    card by Debbie Flattum

    Isn’t this creativity with punches is inspiring!  They sponged some vellum paper with Marina Mist ink and then punched out 5 of the larger petals from the Blossom Petals punch.  Then they punched out 5 of the leaves from the same punch on unsponged vellum.  Add a Round Tab punch for the top (with a 3/4” circle punched out to make the neck) and you have an adorable dress card!

    I think I need to start using more vellum ‘cause I just love how it is used in these cards!  Well, these cards inspired me and I hope they inspired you.

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  • Easter Bunny Punch Art Card

    I finally participated in a sketch challenge, only to realize that I totally missed the deadline. :)  Oh, well.  I still LOVE my card I made.  I was so excited to be able to come up with a fun Easter card even though I had pretty much no Easter stamp sets.  What do you think?  Isn’t this bunny adorable?!

    I made this card with my son in mind and had fun pulling papers, stamps, and punches to create an easy yet super fun Easter bunny card.  I had seen different cards out there using the Nursery Suite specialty designer paper for Easter because it has a couple patterns with bunnies on them. Let me tell you, that was one of those smacks to the forehead kind of moments! I was so fixated on this paper being “baby” paper that I didn’t even think about how it is so fabulous for so many other projects.  Just you watch, I’ll be pulling it out a lot more in the future.

    Then I saw this punch art bunny on Jan Tink’s blog and knew I just HAD to make one myself!  So, I combined the paper, this bunny, and the Stamping 411 sketch from last week to make it.  So fun!

    The bunny is made by punching 3 small ovals (one for the feet and two for the ears), one 1-1/4” circle for the body, one 1” circle for the head, and one small flower punch from the Punch Pack for the tail.

    The ribbon is just a piece of Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon (have I told you how much the seam binding ribbon rocks?) that I folded in half and then knotted.

    Make your own Easter bunny!  Get the supplies you need from the online store here, or grab the paper and punches you have and play around!  Have fun!

    Don’t forget!  TODAY is the last day of my Tax-Free weekend! 
    Check it out here.

    Happy Easter Recipe
    Stamps:      Teeny Tiny Wishes, Dot Dot Dot
    Ink:  Crumb Cake classic
    Paper:  Very Vanilla cardstock, Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Early Espresso cardstock, Nursery Suite dsp
    Accessories:  1 1/4” circle punch, 1” circle punch, Small Oval punch, Punch Pack, Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Dress Card using Designer Fabrics

    I saw a project someone made at convention last year that created the dress part of this card using cardstock and a paper napkin.  Then, when I was looking for ideas for using the Stampin’ Up! designer fabrics, I ran across some cards that used the dress and put it onto a standard card base.  Cute, right? 

    I originally found instructions from Lorraine Castellon-Rowe’s blog and then started playing with the fabrics and papers I had around.  Because I wanted to use the swirly pattern from the Deck The Halls fabric set, I decided to use my swirly pattern Texturz Plates for my BigShot to emboss the background piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. 

    To make the dress bodice, I used a series of punches:

    Dress Card Punch Art Step 11.  Punch a circle using the 2 1/2” Circle Punch for the base of the bodice
    Dress Card Punch Art Step 2 2. Punch out the waistline of your dress using the 1 3/4” Circle Punch.  If you want to be very precise, you can take the cut out from the first side and trace that curve on the opposite side.  Then use the pencil line as your guide when lining up the punch.
    Dress Card Punch Art Step 33.  Punch the neckline using the 3/4” Circle punch

    Then embellish as you like.  I used the adhesive pearls and added some ribbon to the waistline but you could get creative with gems, buttons, embossing, or whatever sounds fun to you.  The skirt was just run through the BigShot using the Scallop Square die though I think for future cards like this, I would probably use the new Scallop Square Duo die.  And then adhere to the back of your bodice.

    It’s a fun card and one you could make in so many variations to be a perfect match for the recipient of the card. I hope you enjoy this project!

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    Just For You Dress Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink:  Basic Black
    Paper:  Riding Hood Red cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock
    Accessories:  BigShot, Scallop Square Bigz die, Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates, 2 1/2” Circle punch, 1 3/4” Circle punch, 3/4” Circle punch, Adhesive Pearls, Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Small Oval punch, Deck the Halls designer fabric

  • Jack-o-Lantern Gift Card Holder

    As I was thinking about projects for the Halloween Punch Art Blog Hop, I came up with this idea in my head for an interactive Jack-o-Lantern.  I had ideas for making it hold a gift card and some other stuff, but when I sat down to make it, it just wasn’t coming together.  Finally today I got some more time with it and this is what I came up with:

    He may look small in the picture, but he is actually made using the Scallop Oval Bigz Die for the BigShot.  I think he is about 5”x4.5” or something like that.  But you see the scallop cut at the top of the pumpkin?  That’s because…. Surprise!  He’s a gift card holder.

    I wanted this to be a stand alone card/project but at first I had a hard time making it work.  I even have a card base all ready to adhere him to; but after I had the sticky strip in place, I was inspired to try one more time to make him all pumpkin.  So, 3 more ovals later….

    This entire card was made using punches and BigShot dies.  Once I had the design down, it was really easy to make and fun too.  The gift card rectangle part actually slides into and out of the pumpkin, so when you have the gift card in place, it just looks like a pumpkin front and back.  So, something a little different, but a lot of fun.

    Funny side note – I don’t actually have the scallop oval Bigz die, so I made this guy by tracing the oval from a swap I had received and then using that to trace and hand cut out 6 ovals!  What we do for the love of our craft. 🙂

    Punches used –
    Bigz die (Scallop oval), Large Star punch (eyes & nose), 1/2” circle punch (eyes),  Large Oval punch & Wide Oval punch (mouth), Modern Label (stem), Corner Rounder (gift card holder), Slit punch (gift card holder), 3’/4” circle (spider), Curly Label punch (spider legs)

    Want the tutorial?
    I have had numerous requests for the instructions and so I’ve created a full tutorial with step-by-step instructions and photos for each step.  The 14 page, full-color pdf will be emailed to you for only $1.95.


    In the San Francisco Bay Area? I’d love to stamp with you!  Check out my calendar of events at http://nwstamper.stampinup.net/events or drop me a line to schedule a time for your own personal crafting time!

  • Halloween Punch Art blog hop

    Man, can you believe the stores are already putting out their Halloween decorations and candy?  I guess that means the holiday season is creeping up on us.  But that also means fun holiday projects like a ton of fabulous Halloween Punch art.  I’m participating in a blog hop with 13 other extremely creative folks.  I had a ton of ideas and they are mostly half done on my craft table.  So, while I work on figuring out what to do with my little creatures on the table, here is a quick card I created after being inspired by a skull image I saw online.

    I have to say that Mr Bones here  looks even cuter in real life. 🙂 I made his head by punching out a 1 3/4″ circle and then using the word window punch to cut out the sides of his face for cheeks.  I used a few different circle punches to get his eyes and the small heart from the Heart to Heart punch to make his nose.  His jaw is made using the wide oval punch.  You punch out an oval from white cardstock and then punch the center of the oval out using the wide oval punch again.  His bow tie is the modern label punch that I trimmed in the top and bottom to make the bow tie shape and then added some additional circles for the knot.  Kinda snazzy, huh?  I love what a few basic punches can do!

    Check out these other amazing projects that folks have posted for you today.

    Paper Punch Addiction
    Blinkin’ Thinkin’ & Inkin’
    It’s A Stamp Thing
    Kelli’s Korner
    Northwest Stamper
    Ink Paper Stamps
    Gwen’s Paper Expressions
    Stamping My Life Away
    Gettin’ Crafty
    Krafty Kate’s Kupboard
    Brenda’s Stamping Corner
    Beth-a-Palooza
    Bonnie’s Creative Place
    Craft Chaos
    Stamping with Heather


    Mr Bones Recipe:
     Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
     Ink: Rich Razzleberry
     Paper: Basic Black CS, Whisper White CS, Rich Razzleberry CS, Old Olive CS, Wicked Fun DSP
     Accessories: 1 3/4″ circle punch (head), wide oval punch (jaw), 1/2″ circle punch (black eye, razzleberry bow tie), itty bitty shapes punches circle (white eye,black bow tie), crop-a-dile 3/16″ punch (sm black eye), Heart to Heart punch (nose), Modern label punch (bow tie), word window punch (sentiment, cheeks cut out), Stampin’ Dimentionals

  • An Owl Punch Flower Pendant Card

    When I was visiting my mom last week, we got a chance to try out some different stamps and punches.  (One of the fun things of having an upline/downline – you can share stamps and products so you can try them out without having to buy everything yourself).  One of the items she had just received was the new Owl Punch.  This punch makes really cute cards – like this one that was shown at convention 2010.

    But one of the other things you can do with it is make other neat punch art like bats and even a flower.  So, we decided to try out making a flower with the punch and once I had the flower, I then built a simple card to use it with.  We use the description found on the blog Flowerbug’s Inkspot to create the flower.  Her blog has a great description and photos but here is the quick version: 
    Start by punching out 7 owls.  Take the main body of the owl from the punch and trim off the legs.  Then you fold the body in half so you have a centerline.  Fold the rounded bottom part of the owl in towards the center line so it looks kind of like a pie wedge.  Trim a curved lines starting from the point of the ears into the center line to make the white petals you see below.  Then glue the 7 pieces to a base piece of paper in a circle to make the flower.  I then added a vintage tag to the center and pierced two holes in the base cardstock to run the string through.  This allows the flower to swing like a pendant.

    If you’ve found other fun ways to use this punch, I’d love to see them.  Leave a comment with a link to your blog or site with the sample and I’ll check it out!

    Recipe:
    Stamps:  Watercolor Trio
    Ink:  Elegant Eggplant
    Paper:  In Color DSP – Peach Parfait (Hostess), Crumb Cake CS, Very Vanilla CS
    Accessories:  Owl Punch, Lg Scallop Circle Punch, Baja Breeze double stitched ribbon, vintage tag, Adhesive Pearls, Paper Piercer.

  • Punch Art Flower for my August Meetup

    Yesterday was the August meet and greet for my Meetup group here in the Bay Area.  A few of us got together and had some pie at Marie Callender’s and I brought a free make and take for everyone to do.  This month I decided to do some punch art and so I modified a past card I had made to use some new stamps and colors and came up with this card.

    This was an easy card that used 7 punches in all, though you could modify this card to use fewer punches or more stamps.  Here are the steps to create it yourself:

    1. Punch the base of the flower using the extra large Fancy Flower punch
    2. Stamp the five petal flower image from Punched Posies hostess set, once on colored cardstock and once on white cardstock
    3. Punch out stamped images using the Five Petal punch
    4. Stamp the smaller six petal flower image from the Punched Posies hostess set on white cardstock and punch out the center using 1/2” Circle punch
    5. Layer these punched images together and glue
    6. Punch the leaf using the Small Oval punch
    7. Fold the oval in half and trim one side to form a point
    8. Stamp the vase using one of the ornament images from the Delightful Decorations stamp set on white cardstock
    9. Punch out using the ornament punch and trim the bottom of the ornament to form the flat base of the vase
    10. Stamp the sentiment from the Because I Care hostess set on white cardstock
    11. Punch out sentiment using the Large Oval punch
    12. Punch corners of base white cardstock with the Ticket Corner punch
    13. Stamp the stem using the stem image from the Punched Posies stamp set on base white cardstock
    14. Glue down onto your card base and your done!

    Punched Flower Recipe:
    Stamps: Punched Posies, Delightful Decorations, Because I Care
    Ink: Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive
    Paper:  Old Olive CS, Whisper White CS, Poppy Parade CS, Daffodil Delight CS
    Accessories:  Fancy Flower punch, Five Petal punch, 1/2” circle punch, Ornament punch, Ticket Corner punch, Small Oval punch, Large Oval punch

  • Stampin’ Up! Convention 2010– Punch happy swaps

    I had a few more swaps that I had to share so here is one more post including my second swap I took to convention.

    So, you remember my first swap I showed you (recipe in this post) –

    Well, after punching out the leaves and the flowers from the BigShot, I was going to recycle the scraps when I looked at them and said, “I could totally punch out stuff using these scraps”.  So, I started punching out little hearts using the small heart punch and managed to actually get 5-6 hearts per scrap.  So, from there was born the idea for my second swap.

    This card uses the new Occasional Quotes hostess set.  It is a perfect set for an outside and matching inside sentiment for your cards.  Anyway, I had made 40 swaps and so had 40 of each color scrap, I watched a movie with my hubby and drove him crazy punching out hundreds of these little hearts.  Then, the night before I left for convention, I punched out the scallop rectangles using the new Scallop Rectangle Clearlits die and then did the assembly from my hotel room.  These took a bit of work to assemble but again, I felt very happy with them.

    hearts swap
    Finally here is another round of some of my favorite convention swaps.  Pretty cool huh?

    card by Mary Booker                                       card by Valerie Taylor

    card by Lorri Heiling                                     card by Jill Kelley

    card by Kathy Kuffel                                      card by Diana Curtis

    card by Terry Bolender

    Hearts Swap Card Recipe:
    Stamps: Occasional Quotes (hostess)
    Ink:  Concord Crush classic ink
    Paper:  Concord Crush CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Whisper White CS, Crumb Cake CS, Chocolate Chip CS, Blushing Bride CS
    Accessories: Small heart punch, Scallop trim border punch, Scallop rectangle clearlit