Northwest Stamper

Tag: crystal effects

  • Scrapbooking Sunday: Mixed Bunch page

    Since the end of last year, I’ve started to get on a scrapbooking kick.  I realized that I had a lot more fun and was much faster with scrapbook pages when I started from a sketch and so I started playing along with some sketch challenges.  This was a page I created based on a sketch by the very talented Kristy Lee.

    Normally, I am one of those people who try to jam a million 4×6 pictures onto a 12×12 scrapbook page; so the idea of only having one picture is definitely outside of my comfort zone.  However, I loved this picture and it stood alone well for the story (Nicholas getting his first tooth) that I just went for it.

    It also meant I had lots of space to fill with other elements on the page.  So I grabbed my new Mixed Bunch stamp set and matching Blossom punch from the Occasions mini and am pretty sure I used every stamp in the set!

    I punched and popped up the flowers with varying heights to add some dimension to the page.  And then I added some extra accents for fun – a brad here, some dazzling details on the Tangerine Tango center of the white flower (hard to see in the picture), and some Crystal Effects on the green flower thing.

    You can also kind of see in this picture how I had fun sponging the letters for my title.  I busted out my Big Shot to cut them out but thought white was too stark.  So, thanks to the awesome color matching-ness of Stampin’ Up papers and inks, I was able to pull in the colors of the papers by sponging the coordinating inks across the letters (well, I actually sponged the paper and then cut out the letters, but you get the idea).  This was a new idea for me; and I’m definitely going to have to do it again.

     

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

     

    First Tooth Scrapbook Page Recipe:
    Stamps:      Mixed Bunch
    Ink:  Old Olive classic, Tangerine Tango classic, Chocolate Chip classic, Bashful Blue classic
    Paper: Old Olive designer paper, Bashful Blue textured cardstock, Chocolate Chip cs, Whisper White cs, Crumb Cake cs, Tangerine Tango cs, Old Olive cs
    Accessories:  Chocolate Chip 1-1/4” striped grosgrain ribbon, Crystal Effects, Gold Brad, 3/4” circle punch, 1” circle punch, Blossom punch, sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Ticket corner punch, Paper piercer, Dazzling Details, Star stickers and border from retired SS kit, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet, Big Shot

  • 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.

  • Glittery Filled with Love Card

    Last night was another fun card night with the gals of my meetup group.  We made three cards and I thought I would share today one of the cards we did.  I knew I wanted to showcase the Filled with Love set and the Bitty Buttons you can get free with the bundle and so I started brainstorming ideas for a layout.  Then I saw a card created by Robin Merriman and thought it would be perfect to start from.  I changed it up a bit so that I could use the super fun new glimmer paper and add in the cute heart bitty button, plus simplify some of the layers to make it a bit faster for the class setting.

    I’ve had this stamp set for a while but have been so caught up with Christmas that I’ve been slow to start using it.  However, it is another stamp set that I am crossing my fingers will make it into the main catalog next year.  I love how versatile and modern it is!

    Tips for this Card –

    When stamping the big hearts on the left side of the card, start by stamping the heart in the middle.  Then you can more easily control how much is cut off on the top and bottom hearts as well as feel like you have reasonably centered layouts of your heart and layered love.

    Glue down all your layers before adding your heart Bitty Button.  It just makes it easier to get adhesive on your Love layers.

    Adhere your heart Bitty Button with Crystal Effects.  This clear lacquer also makes for excellent glue that actually dries super clear so you don’t get adhesive outlines or wiggly layers like you might with glue dots or double sided tape.  You don’t need very much, just a thin coating on the back of your button

    Oh, and the glimmer paper punches like a dream with your standard punches.

    So if you haven’t heard, this stamp set is only available until January 24th as part of a special bundle

    So, what is all included?

    • Filled With Love stamp set (only available until this promotion ends)
    • Love Patterns designer series paper pack – 12 sheets of 12×12 double sided paper.  6 of the sheets are patterns in Real Red and 6 of the sheets are Pretty in Pink
      This paper pack is exclusive to this promotion and is not in any of the catalogs
    • Free Bitty Buttons!

    Check out the flyer to see pictures of everything in the bundle

    Got to love free, right?  Especially when we are talking about something as cute as those bitty buttons. 🙂  Anyway, thanks for stopping by and happy stamping!

    Filled With Love Card recipe:
    Stamps:     Filled with Love
    Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip
    Paper: Real Red Glimmer paper, Real Red CS, Whisper White CS, Chocolate Chip CS
    Accessories: Bitty Buttons, 3/4” Circle punch, Small Heart punch, Crystal Effects

  • More Fun Ideas for Crystal Effects

    Each month I hold a technique night focusing on some different product or crafting technique.  Well, this last Tuesday night we focused on Crystal Effects.  I think Crystal Effects is one of those products that I often forget on the shelf but when I pull it out and start playing around I have so much fun!  I took this evening to show some of the different ways you can use Crystal Effects starting with the simple:

    Hello card In this case, we stamped the card and then added Crystal Effects over the butterfly image to create a fun 3D effect:

    CE close up Similar to this idea, we also made some chipboard accents to use on a future project.  This was the thrifty person (aka hoarder) in me.  I saved the white cardboard piece that comes with our designer paper packages.  We adhered some DSP to the cardboard and then punched out a heart using the Small Heart punch.  Then we punched that out using a 1” Circle punch and also punched out a 1” circle of Poppy Parade cardstock.  Glue the Poppy Parade piece to the back of your chipboard and then fill in the cutout with Crystal Effects.  Its a fun way to make custom epoxy-like accents.

    Epoxy AccentsNext, we added some sparkle to the place… cause who doesn’t like glitter with your pizza?  🙂   (We were meeting at Round Table Pizza and only got a little bit of glitter on the table)  Coat the top of the brad with Crystal Effects and dip into some fine glitter to create your glitter brads.

    glitter bradsNow, I will warn you, unlike our Glimmer Brads in the Holiday Mini, the glitter will tend to rub off a bit with these brads.  You want to shake off what you can when you first glitter them up and then be prepared for a little to flake off after its dried.  I think it is pretty enough to be worth it.  Oh, and when you are letting your brads dry after dipping them, just set them gently on the table with the prongs pointing up.  It won’t mess up your brads and then you can have your hands free to do other stuff while it dries.

    We also used Crystal Effects as glue on the back of the clear Itty Bitty Buttons, using the matching Punch Pack to punch out paper in the same shape as the button.  I made this card a while back and used it as my sample.  But it shows you basically what we did.

    friends forever buttons close up buttonsFinally, our last fun technique was the Stained Glass technique.  I love using this stamp set for this technique.  If you want to see details on how to do it, check out my post from last year.  But here is the card we made:

    stained glass treeAnd yes, my tree ended up a little “artistic”. 🙂  I was showing how to color and paint on the Crystal Effects and when showing how you would attach the window sheet to the Whisper White paper once the Crystal Effects was dry, I accidentally put them together.  So, I now call it artistic shading.

    It was a fun night and I loved seeing the creativity in the room.

    Thanks for taking the time to view the projects we made.  I’d love to hear what your favorite use is for Crystal Effects.  Leave a comment sharing what tips and techniques you use, I’d love to hear from you!

    In the San Francisco area? I’d love to show you and your friends how to make these projects!  Contact me at jennifer@nwstamper.com to learn how you can get a free private class for you and your friends!

  • Getting in a little stamping

    lilacflower_wm  Its been a crazy week for me but I’ve finally managed to sneak away to get a quick card put together and up on the blog.   This last week, I was away in Dallas on a business trip and returned home to my Mother-in-law visiting for a week.  And while all of that is fun, I haven’t had much time to get some stamping in.  But then yesterday, I had the perfect excuse to take time out of entertaining and get creative.  My MIL was going to a wedding and didn’t want to spend $4 for a “nothing special” card from the store.  So, we were going to make a card for her to take.  So, while she was getting ready for the wedding, I started playing with some of my scraps to see what I could come up with.  In this case, I had the flowers from my crystal effects technique night, the bow from the same night (we were discussing different ways to tie bows), and then scraps from the new SAB paper – delicate dots.  I only had about 15 min to come up with a layout and put it together so it is simpler than I might have done if I had more time, but it was nice to use some of my pieces into a simple, pretty card.  Inside the card, I stamped the Heard from the Heart sentiment “wishing you happiness today and always”. 

     

    My other project I’ve started is getting my office cleaned up and turned into a craft room.  My dining room has been great but my DH would rather I get set up in a slightly less public space. 🙂  So my MIL and I went to ikea and shopped for some fun organizational pieces and I hope to make good progress on this project over the next week.  Having the pieces sitting in my house is pretty motivating for me to get it done.  I’ll share pictures when i’m done.   Hope you all are having a great week!

  • Using Crystal Effects

    babybestwishes_wm1So tonight was our Crystal Effects night, and I think everyone learned something new – myself included!  I ended up staying up late last night as I kept finding new ways to use crystal effects that I wanted to try.  If you haven’t heard of crystal effects, it is this great thick clear liquid laquer for using on craft projects.  The most straightforward use is to add a bit of gloss or shine to your projects by applying some Crystal Effects on top of a stamped image.  However, there are a ton of fun and creative other uses. 

    I made a few samples of some different techniques last night.  So we talked about those different ideas and then set to work making a few items to take home.  Tonight we made Faux brads, Laquered die cuts, and a card using colored Crystal Effects on a transparency.  However, here are some of the different ideas for how you could use crystal effects:

    1. Add a touch of gloss to a stamped image
    2. Use crystal effects as a base for glitter.  Drop some crystal effects onto a stamped image and then cover in glitter.  Tap off excess glitter and allow to dry.
    3. Create Faux Brads by punching out a circle of paper and placing it over a glue dot.  Add some crystal effects to the top and you are ready to go!
    4. Create dew drops by dropping some crystal effects onto wax paper or the backing for the stickers from your stamp sets.  Add a bit of reinker color to make different colored drops.
    5. Color with crystal effects by mixing some crystal effects and reinker, and then using a brush or toothpick, color in a stamped image for a colored, glossy effect.
    6. Make a 3D embellishment by drawing a shape with crystal effects on wax paper (or the sticker backing) and then pouring glitter on top.   Allow to dry and then pop-off.
    7. Create laquered die cuts.  Cut out a shape in chipboard (in my case, I cut out the left over piece from a chipboard die cut after I popped out the die cut).  Glue the chipboard to a piece of designer paper.  Fill in the die cut space with crystal effects and allow to dry.
    8. Make glittering transparencies.  Mix some crystal effects with some reinker and dazzling diamonds.  Use a paintbrush to apply the colored crystal effects to the backside of a stamped transparency.  Allow to dry and attach to your card or project.

    techniquece

  • Just Buzzin’ By to show you a new sample!

    I have to admit, I never really thought much of bees as a stamping element or as particularly cute.  But when I started playing with this stamp set, I found they can be remarkably charming. 🙂

    Buzzin' By cardfront
    Buzzin' By cardfront

    I started thinking about what to make with this set and got inspired by the honey pot to use my crystal effects.  My favorite part of the card (because it was the most fun for me to create) was the honey pot on the inside of the card.  I got to do paper piecing and use crystal effects for an end result I really like. 

    Buzzin' By card inside
    Buzzin' By card inside

    To make this pot, I stamped the pot image on the white cardstock.  Then I stamped the pot image on some Lovely Lilac cardstock.  I colored in the honey part on the white cs using a watercolor pen and So Saffron ink.  Then I cut out the honey pot lid and the honey pot base minus the goopy honey drips and glued it down. Finally, I put down two layers of Crystal Effects over the honey drips on the white paper to make a shiny looking bit of honey!

    Recipe:
    Stamps: Just Buzzin’ By
    Inks: So Saffron, Old Olive, Lovely Lilac, Basic Black
    Paper: Whisper White CS, So Saffron CS, Lovely Lilac CS, Kraft CS
    Accessories: Waterpen, Stampin’ Dimentionals, Crystal Effects, Sponge