Tag: jennifer blomquist

Quick and Easy Halloween Treat Bags – Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop
I’m so excited to be getting back to blogging and get started by sharing a fun and EASY project ideas as part of the Fun n’ Crafty Stampers Blog Hop this month! Though I haven’t been blogging for a while, I have been doing lots of creating for my local classes, retreat, and demonstrator training event – all of which have taken place in the last month or so. So, when it was time for a blog hop with the theme Fall and Halloween, it was the perfect kick off to get back into sharing here with you!
Easy Halloween Treat Bag using Gusseted Bags!
Now, I know some people are big Halloween people and make and send Halloween cards… and if that is you, I think that is awesome! For me, I love to make Halloween cards and projects, but the ones that seem to actually get the most use turn out to be anything that involves candy. Because who doesn’t love getting candy, especially when it is wrapped up all cute!
So, I came across this idea from Patty Bennett for using designer paper inside one of Stampin’ Up’s 3″x6″ Gusseted Bags to create an easy treat bag and I just had to create my own version!A
All you have to do is :
1. cut a 2 7/8″ strip of your favorite designer paper to 7″
2. score at 1″ from the top
3. Slide the patterned paper into the bag (make sure it is tucked into the back gusset)
4. add your treats
5. and fold over at the score line to seal things up!
I recommend sealing it closed by either using some Fast Fuse adhesive or simple stapling the flap down. Once you have your treats safely tucked away – and didn’t I tell you that this was a super quick and easy project – you can decorate the front as much or as little as you want.
I grabbed the new Spooky Cat stamp set and stamped the spiderweb treat tag onto a piece of scrap Very Vanilla cardstock. Then I added the Happy Halloween sentiment (also from the same stamp set) in contrasting Pumpkin Pie ink.
Now the best part is that this tag image, stamps out PERFECTLY using the Everyday Label punch! Then you can just add some black rhinestones on each side for a fun tag. I also wanted to use some of the Vintage Crochet Trim for a little fun behind it. I just taped the ribbon to the back of the tag before adhering it to the front of the bag.
These treat bags are perfect for parties or handing out to friends and co-workers
Quick, easy, and cost effective too! The gusseted bags are only $4.50 for 25 bags! Plus, you can get up to 48 pieces of the right size patterned paper from one pack of designer paper! So, one pack of patterned paper, one set of bags, and some candy and you are set for a party worth of trick or treaters!
Check out more great ideas in the Fun n’ Crafty Group Blog Hop
Thanks for checking out my project and taking part in our blog hop! If you want to try this at home – and I encourage you to do so – card dimensions and supplies are listed for you at the bottom of this post.
There are more amazing ideas and inspiration you don’t want to miss. If you just started, make sure to hop back and check out the cute creations by Merit and then continue on to Susan’s blog.
*** Please leave a comment at the end of this post and on the blog hop stops, and let us know what you think!***
1. Tobe – The Craft Sea
2. Christine – Artful Musings
3. Merit – MB Squared Designs
4. Jennifer – NW Stamper<—YOU ARE HERE
5. Susan – Stampin’ By the SF Bay
Make this project at home! Here is what you’ll need:
- Spooky Night designer paper (potions) – 2 7/8″ x 7″, scored at 1″
- Very Vanilla cardstock – scraps to punch out the Everyday Label punch
- Vintage Crochet Trim – 8″
Supply List
Spooky Cat Photopolymer Stamp Set
$17.00
Everyday Label Punch
$18.00
Spooky Night Designer Series Paper
$11.00
Vintage Crochet Trim
$6.00
Black Rhinestone Jewels
$5.00
Gusseted Cellophane Bags
$4.50
Very Vanilla 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$9.00
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.00
Stampin’ Trimmer
$30.00
Fast Fuse Adhesive
$10.00
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September 28, 2017
SNEAK PEEK! Carol of Christmas and a Blog Hop! [VIDEO TUTORIAL]
Woo hoo! I’m back from the Stampin’ Up Incentive trip to Thailand – feeling refreshed (once the jet lag wore off! 😉 ) and excited for the upcoming Holiday catalog! Winter is my favorite season, filled with twinkly lights, beautiful scenes, and an extra bit of kindness to go around. Before I left for Thailand, Stampin’ Up announced an amazing starter kit promotion that gives you an extra $72 in bonus goodies when you join in July! One of those items was the sneak peek stamp set “Carols of Christmas”. So, when it was time for our Fun n’ Crafty Stampers group blog hop – and the theme was Christmas in July, I knew what I wanted to play with!
Holiday Catalog Sneak Peek – Carols of Christmas
Our team also did a fun swap using this stamp set this month (since we were able to preorder it), and so this was my swap card.
It was easy to put together thanks to the Carols of Christmas stamp set and Card Front Builders framelits (yes, they will be available as a bundle as part of an early release starting August 1!). In fact, I created a video tutorial at the end of this post to show you how to put it all together!
But in the meantime, let me show you some of the fun parts of this card –
It all started because I really wanted to play with these border dies that come in the Cart Front Builders framelits. I was thinking they would look cool, but I really wanted them to POP! So I got the idea of layering them with a dark color behind the holes. Thankfully, the die is sized to fit perfectly in a 4″x5 1/4″ layer on your card front, so I could make my matting just a smidgen larger to get that extra border of Old Olive.
Once I had that in place, I focused on my sentiment. In this case, the ‘Deck the Hall” from the Carols of Christmas stamp set. It was a cool bold sentiment, so I didn’t want to mess with it too much, so instead I looked for ways to highlight it from behind.
First I knew I wanted to add some designer paper behind. I loved the new specialty paper from the Holiday Catalog that is all music sheets and music notes, and the contrast of the black with so much white in the card was perfect! (This paper is thinner like the newsprint specialty paper, and so you get half a pack with a black background and white print, and half a pack of white background with black print – for a total of 24 sheets in the pack!). But it still needed something, and gold was the perfect touch with the new Metallic Edge ribbon from the annual catalog. It is satin with that metallic stitching on the edge… soooo pretty!
But I couldn’t stop there… seriously, sometimes I think I have a problem calling a card done! ha ha ha!
So, to get a little more gold without overwhelming the card, I added a small mat behind the sentiment using the Fabulous Foil designer acetate. Each pattern can be used either as gold (on one side) or silver (the other side). Of course, I used gold here, but I love the versatility. Then for a little pop of color, I stamped the holly from the same stamp set and cut it out and popped it up on a mini-dimensional.
So, lots of little pieces, but nothing hard to do! Don’t believe me? Check out the video tutorial below!
Get more holiday ideas on the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop!
We have more amazing holiday cards lined up for you, so I invite you to hop along and check them all out! We all would love to hear what you think too. Next up is Stacey, and she never disappoints!
*** Please leave a comment at the end of this post and on the blog hop stops, and let us know what you think!***
1. Christine – Artful Musings
2. Kathy – Stampablog
3. Merit – MB Squared Designs
4. Susan – Stampin’ By the SF Bay
5. Jennifer – NW Stamper<—YOU ARE HERE
6. Stacey – A Work of Carte
VIDEO TUTORIAL – Carols of Christmas Classy Card
As promised, check out this video to learn a little more about the starter kit promotion in July and how to make this card! (Hop to 1min 40sec to get to the start of the card tutorial).

Card Measurements
- Whisper White cardbase – 4 1/4″ x 11″
- Old Olive cardstock – 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″
- Whisper White cardstock – 4″ x 5 1/4″, 2 3/4″ x 2 3/4″
- Fancy Foil Acetate – 3″ x 3″
- Music designer paper – 1 1/2″ x 4″
- Metallic Edge Ribbon – 5″
Card supplies you will need:
Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate
$12.00
Gold 3/8″ (1 Cm) Metallic-Edge Ribbon
$7.00
Banner Triple Punch
$23.00
Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$9.00
Old Olive 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
$7.00
Brights Stampin’ Write Markers
$29.00
Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals
$4.00
Stampin’ Dimensionals
$4.00
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive
$7.00
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July 27, 2017
Crafting Forever Using the New 2017-2019 In Colors!
It’s time for another great Blog Hop with my Fun n’ Crafty Stampers group! This month we are playing with the new 2017-2019 In Colors!
I hope you take a chance to hop through our projects today because these new In Colors are ones that have some surprisingly great colors in the set! For example, while my far and away favorite new in color is the Berry Burst… I first saw Lemon Lime Twist and thought,”Ack! How can anyone do anything with this neon yellow/green color?”
Oh, silly me!
I soon saw people pairing it with black and white… seriously an amazing combination. Along with using it in other accent color combinations and now I have to say I think it is my second favorite color in the bunch! So, lets check out these colors:
I was inspired by a card by Jenn Tinline and wanted to show off all the new In Colors in one go… and they were a perfect compliment to the pens stamp in the Crafting Forever stamp set! I used my In Color Markers to color in the pens (you just have to stamp it twice, but I tried stamping it using no special tools and it lined up really easily!) Then I used the pens again to color directly on the rubber for the sentiment. A little Berry Burst for the “creative” and Fresh Fig for everything else.Fun tip for this card front. I wanted my sentiment to look like a tag, but didn’t want to have to do a lot of work to get that look. So I did it the cheater way!
1. Stamp your sentiment onto scrap paper and then punch out with a circle punch.
2. Run a piece of baker’s twine around your cardstock that you want the tag to “hang” from. Make sure to only tape down the ENDS of the baker’s twine behind the cardstock.
3. Adhere your circle to the card so that the top of the circle is just underneath your baker’s twine.
4. Take a second piece of baker’s twine and tie a bow onto the first piece of baker’s twine. Then position the bow so it looks like it is in the top of the “tag”
5. Easy peasy done!
Make this project at home! Here is what you’ll need:
Crafting Forever Wood-Mount Stamp Set
$28.00
Crafting Forever Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$20.00
2017-2019 In Color 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock
$8.00
2017-2019 In Color Stampin’ Write Markers
$15.00
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
$7.00
Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$9.00
Sahara Sand 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Basic Black Baker’s Twine
$3.00
1-1/2″ Circle Punch
$16.00
Stampin’ Dimensionals
$4.00
Check out more great ideas on the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop!
So this was my idea using the New In Colors! I showed you how fun they can be all together in one project, but keep checking out the projects on the hop and you’ll see more color combinations and fun ideas using different colors. 🙂 So, keep the inspiration going by checking out Christine’s projects next!
1. Christine Szekeres–Artful Musings
2. Pamela Wu –Stinky Tofu
3. Kathy Thisted–Stampablog
4. Merit Brown–MB Squared Designs
5. Susan Schultz –Stampin’ by the SF Bay
6. Jennifer Blomquist –Northwest Stamper <– YOU ARE HERE
In the Bellevue area? Join me for my Annual Craft Garage Sale!
I’ve been doing some deep purging of both my house in general and my crafting space. And just in time for this weekend’s Annual Craft Garage Sale! This is my big sale where I bring together multiple sellers and many of my retired Stampin’ Up stamps/paper/tools out at a discount for you. This year we have about a dozen people putting their crafting goodies in the sale so it should be a great sale!
Friday June 23rd & Saturday June 24th from 9am-3pm at my house in Bellevue, WA. Get all the details HERE
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June 22, 2017

Top 10 Favorites from the Stampin’ Up Annual Catalog – Released Today!

Yay! It is the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog Release day! The new catalog is now live over in my Online Store and I hope you get a chance to go check it out. To help you wade through all the cute stuff in this new catalog:

Click HERE to view the 2017-2018 Stampin’ Up Annual Catalog PDF

Get started shopping from your wish list today so you can be playing in no time!
Click HERE to get started

Top 10 NEW Items in the 2017-2018 Stampin’ Up Catalog

	#1 – Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals I was so excited to see this hidden gem in the Stampin’ Up catalog! I always am cutting my dimensionals in half to have them fit on the little shapes and letters. Well, after one month recently where Paper Pumpkin had a kit that included mini Stampin’ Dimensionals, I thought, “Man, these would be great to have on hand all the time!” Stampin’ Up heard us and now you can get your own pack with 720 of them for only $4! See them in the online store
	#2 – Soft Sayings Card Kit I love, love, love card kits. Especially when they make really cute cards, and this new card kit fits the bill perfectly! The printed card bases give you a great foundation to stamp and embellish with all the great die cuts, stamps, and accessorites that come in a convenient little box. This is great for traveling or for giving as a gift. All you need is a SNAIL tape runner and you are set!See it in the online storePS – if you end up loving the kit, you can now get REFILLS for the kit at a discounted rate!
	#3 – Love Today Planner Kit If you love planners, or have been curious about planners, this is going to be a super fun kit for you! I love how it takes the idea of a planner and steps it up! Your planner kit includes a binder that is sized to perfectly fit any of the Memories & More (or previous Project Life) page protectors, so you can mix and match as necessary. And you get pocket pages, undated calendar pages (so you can start anytime), stickers, and accessories. And even better? The accessory sheets are hole punched so they store right in the back of your planner! See the planner in the online store
	#4 – Pick a Pattern Suite I couldn’t pick just one favorite from this suite to share here in my list. I love the stamp set and the patterned paper… and the colors are just so fun for anytime of year! It is a good mix of cute images and cool backgrounds for your projects. See what I mean on the Pick a Pattern suite page
	#5 – Ombre Ribbon If you heard a scream a few weeks back, that was me… jumping up and down and squeeling like a little girl because that A-MA-ZING Ombre ribbon that was in the Cupcakes & Carousels Accessory Pack in the Occasions Catalog, was now available by itself in 3 cute colors! You can get it in Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, and Lemon Lime Twist. So soft and so pretty in person, whether you try them all in my Product Samplers or get a whole spool… you won’t be sad you did! See this ribbon in the online store
	#6 – Happy Birthday Gorgeous Bundle Really, I could love just the die alone… it is so fun. But I love how it pairs with the Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set. And when you can get them both and save money, well… sign me up! Plus the stamp set coordinates with the Balloon Bouquet punch and the Classic Label Punch, so you can expand it even more! See the bundle in the online store with more ideas
	#7 – Glitter Enamel Dots Everyone is going bananas over these, and myself included! I was silly and didn’t order them on my very first pre-preorder after On Stage because I thought I was going to be good and wait until my regular preorder. Well… turns out they were so popular they quickly sold out and went on backorder! I’ve ordered more, so they will be on their way to me soon. But I know these are going to go like hot cakes! You can order some today, but if you see a message about them being on back order, don’t worry! They are getting their shipment in on June 5th, so they will be out the door to you and only behind the rest of your items by a couple days. 🙂 See them in the online store here
	#8 – Floral Statements Stamp Set I had to put this stamp set on my list because I think it is going to be easily missed! It is so gorgeous and looks really complicated to color… but it can be as simple or as detailed as you want! It is perfect for simple watercoloring with an Aqua Painter or get details with the Watercolor Pencils. Either way, it is on my very first order and I can’t wait to play! See the stamp set in the online store
	#9 – Embossing Paste This is one thing I don’t have any experience with… and when I saw it in the catalog I pretty much just passed it over. But then I saw it demo’d at OnStage and I was totally sold! It is a really cool way to add some texture and dimension to your cards in actually a pretty simply way to do it. Just lay down a mask and then paint on some of the Embossing Paste. You can add color to the paste, color it later, use it as a background, lots of fun options! Check out the embossing paste and a few more samples in the online store Also, here are the masks and the tools that go with it to make your experience much easier and more successful!
	#10 – Birthday Memories Designer Paper Ok, one more favorite to make it a nice and even Top 10! I thought I would share the Birthday Memories designer paper. It looks like your favorite classic childrens book, but also has die cuts that perfectly cut out the shapes in the patterned paper, and so much more to go with it. I saw a great idea for a fun class that I hope to have shared with you all soon! But in the meantime, you have to check them out! See the Birthday Memories paper in the online store

Don’t forget, you can try a number of these items in my PRODUCT SAMPLERS and I’ll be keeping sign ups open for just a short time more for these samplers, so get your selection in ASAP!

Also, there is a great promotion going this month as well!

If you have questions about the promotion or are interested in hosting, please let me know at jennifer@nwstamper.com.

I’ll leave you to browse and enjoy! Time for me to go finish up my order and get it in so I can start playing with more goodies soon! 🙂

June 1, 2017

Clean and Simple Elegance Eastern Palace Card
Woo hoo! This week is hopping – blog hopping that is! This time, its my Fun n’ Crafty Stampers team who are here to share with you some fresh ideas using the newest products – our preorder goodies!
Now, I’ll admit, technically, I might be bending the rules a bit because the goodies I have to show you – you yourself can actually order them TODAY! Say, what?! I’m featuring the Eastern Palace suite that is new in the upcoming 2017-2018 Stampin’ Up Annual Catalog. I’m not going to lie, this was a suite I wouldn’t have really thought twice about if I was just flipping through the catalog. But Stampin’ Up was smart and they decided to offer it early as part of two Sneak Peek bundles (the starter bundle & the premier bundle). So, of course, I ordered it. 🙂 And turns out, I love it!
My favorite piece in the suite is the Eastern Gold Vinyl Stickers. That is what makes the shiny gold flower and little circles in the background of my card. They are so EASY to do and because the stickers are clear and fairly close cut to the images, they blend in and look great!
Tips for making this Eastern Palace Clean & Simple card:
- Sometimes the perfect Gold ink is Yellow! As I was creating this card, I wanted to have the stamped ring around my sentiment fit with the gold accents of the card since I didn’t really want to introduce another color to the mix. And right as I was lamenting the retirement of gold ink, I looked at my Color Caddy ink spinner and saw the Delightful Dijon ink pad! I realized that the dark yellow was a great hue to compliment gold. Too bad it is retiring on May 31st, or I’d be using it with this suite all year!
- Scissors is all you need to pop-out this diecut flower – I saw this flower on a card by Louise Sharp and it in fact inspired this card – but when I went to use my die to cut it out, I realized that the die actually just die cuts the petals so they curl up from the cardstock… it doesn’t cut the whole thing out of the paper! However, it is an easy 30 second fix to just grab your snips and snip the one spot in between each petal that keeps it connected to the cardstock. A few quick snips and you have a fun new die shape!
- Think outside the suite for coordinating accents – I had the card coming together using the cardstock, stamps, stickers, and even designer paper from the Eastern Palace suite. But it still needed that elusive something. Thankfully I remembered the Fabulous Foil Acetate from the current Annual Catalog. It is super easy to miss and in fact, I often forgot I even had some from my part of last year’s product sampler I ran. But if you look at that mosaic gold piece above the purple paper, it is a printed window sheet that coordinates PERFECTLY with this suite! I’m so glad it is carrying over, because now that I realized how fab it actually is; I plan to use the heck out of it. 🙂
(thank goodness for samplers saving the day with this card! and yes, I have just released new product samplers for the upcoming catalog for when a year from now we discover that item that we never thought twice about, but now 11 months later is exactly perfect for a project!)
So, what do you think of this card and this suite?
I’d love to hear your thoughts… please leave me a comment below and let me know what YOU think of the Eastern Palace Suite!
Make this project at home! Here is what you’ll need:
Eastern Palace Premier Bundle
$103.50
Layering Circle Framelits Dies
$35.00
Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate
$12.00
Big Shot
$110.00
Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$9.00
Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Check out more great ideas on the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop!
So, that was my idea using something new from the upcoming catalog. While you can order the discounted bundle this month, you will be able to order individual pieces from this Eastern Palace suite starting June 1st! And if you just can’t wait, we’d love to have you join our Fun n’ Crafty team! Order your starter kit and you can get this bundle, plus $21.50 in product more for less than the price of the bundle alone! You’ll be able to order it today and then consider joining us on our blog hop next month. 🙂
In the meantime, keep the inspiration going by checking out Christine’s projects next!
1. Christine Szekeres – Artful Musings
2. Merit Brown – MB Squared Designs
3. Pamela Wu – Stinky Tofu
4. Susan Schultz – Stampin’ by the SF Bay
5. Stacey Lane – A Work of Carte
6. Jennifer Blomquist – Northwest Stamper <– YOU ARE HERE
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May 25, 2017
Daisy Delight Sneak Peek Thank You Card
I’m excited to finally be getting off my duff and participating in this fun Thailand Incentive Trip Achievers Blog Hop. Each month, a collection of the folks who have earned the trip and will be joining me in Thailand this July, choose a theme and share some amazing projects! This month our theme is the “2017/2018 Annual Catalog Sneak Peek”. We want to show you some of the AMAZING products that are available for demonstrators to order right now! So check out all the cute projects and amazing inspiration!
I have been having a blast using the new Daisy Delight Bundle. It includes the new Daisy Delight stamp set and the Daisy punch. And while I love my dies, I’m always a sucker for great punches. They make projects quick and easy, and you don’t need a lot of space to get your work done.

Tips for making this Daisy Delight Thank You card:
- Double Up! I kept it sweet and simple. I stamped my daisy in Crushed Curry twice and punched both flowers out. The punch creates a sparse daisy, but once you start layering the punches, they really build up into beautiful flowers!
- Perfect Complementary Punch! You can stamp the center of the flower and it punches out perfectly with the 1/2″ circle punch!
- Add some shimmer! I’m hoping you can tell in the picture above, the middle of my flower was stamped in Early Espresso, but to get that coordinating golden glow and shimmer, I used my retiring Gold Wink of Stella brush. It adds just the right hint of yellow to match the flower and adds lots of gold shimmer!
I love the fonts and sentiments that go with this stamp set as well. You can mix and match to fit exactly what you need your card to say. And when I get the chance to mix and match my sentiment stamps, especially when there are different fonts, I love to mix and match my colors too! I just picked two colors I used elsewhere in the card (Dapper Denim and Early Espresso) to tie everything together.

Such a fun stamp set and punch, to help make such pretty spring and summery cards! And YES! It will be released as a discounted bundle, so you can get them both and save too!
Check out more great ideas on the Thailand Achievers Blog Hop
Thanks for checking out my project and taking part in our blog hop! There are so many amazing ideas and inspiration you don’t want to miss. Remember that currently you are at my blog – Jennifer Blomquist – Northwest Stamper, so check the blog hop line up list to see who is next in the list.
Make this project at home! Here is what you’ll need:
Daisy Delight Photopolymer Bundle
$31.50
Gold Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush
$8.00
1/2″ Circle Punch
$6.00
Very Vanilla 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$9.00
Old Olive 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Dapper Denim Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Early Espresso Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Crushed Curry Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Stampin’ Dimensionals
$4.00
Eastern Palace Starter Bundle
$60.50
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May 23, 2017
Color Blocking Card Using High Tide
When is the last time you got a handmade card in the mail?
Do you remember how it made you feel?
The other day, I went to the mailbox and was flipping through my mail when I saw a smaller envelope – a card envelope. And handwritten on the front was my name with a return address label from my friend Julie Davison. I literally stood there on the sidewalk thinking… why is Julie sending me a card? I wonder what her card looks like! It wasn’t my birthday and it wasn’t for a swap. So I eagerly opened the envelope and found this card with a sweet note from Julie along with something she had promised to send me and I had totally forgotten about.
I absolutely adore this card and it was a good reminder why sending the cards we make is such a meaningful thing to do. Especially when you can send a card at times of the year for no other reason than to say “Hi! I’m thinking of you!”.
I’m getting ready to gear up a card mailing blitz for myself (and I’ll be sharing it with you here and on my Facebook page too!) So, I invite you to remember the smile it brought to your face to get a card when you didn’t expect it and consider sending that smile to someone you know could use it!
Tips for making this color blocked High Tide card:
So, you heard the story behind this card, but how about we take a minute to talk about some of the cuteness of the card itself?!
- Give this color combination a try! I remember struggling with the (retiring) Delightful Dijon In Color when it first came out. But it has turned out to be a great accent color – especially for fall cards and masculine cards. In this case, it is the great combo of Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, and Delightful Dijon.
- Color Blocking is a great and simple way to mix colors – with color blocking, you want large, bold areas of a single color. I love how Julie did that in this card. The dark base allows you to really show off the other colors with wide bands that go all the way from side to side. To make the most of this technique, you will want to stamp your main image first, and then base the sizing of your color bands based off of the sizing of your main image. You want your color bands to be just a bit smaller than your main image (such as 1 1/2″ smaller across than your main image). Then just layer.
- Get matching layered colors with two-step stamping – one of the great things about this set is that it is MADE to have the colors be layered. So you can use the same color inks as you used for the cardstock to create a great seaside scene. The images are designed so that it is easy to layer and even if you are not a perfect stamper, they almost always look great even if you are off just a little bit!
Want to make this card at home? Here are the project supplies:
High Tide Photopolymer Stamp Set
$26.00
Linen Thread
$4.50
Banner Triple Punch
$23.00
Early Espresso 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Early Espresso Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Sahara Sand 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Delightful Dijon 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock
$8.00
Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$9.00
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive
$7.00
Stampin’ Dimensionals
$4.00
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To help you get inspired to create cards to send to folks any time of the year, I often include free PDF tutorials for cute projects to my newsletter email list. You can download and save the tutorials to try when you are ready, and these projects are exclusive to my newsletter subscribers! I’m working on sending out the next one shortly, so be sure you are signed up!
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May 16, 2017
Cute Collage Stamping using Kinda Eclectic
Today I wanted to share a card I created to send out as part of my customer thank yous. I had gotten embarrassingly far behind on sending out thank you cards for orders over the last few months and so I wanted to make up some cards and make sure everyone knew how much I appreciated them and their support. It took a while but it was great to sit and write a little note to each person. Plus it was fun to take a big stack to the post office… say HAPPY MAIL! 🙂
So what is inside many of those cards? This fun Kinda Eclectic collaged thank you card! I have always loved the Kinda Eclectic stamp set because it is one of those sets that you can just randomly stamp a bunch of the images onto a piece of cardstock and it almost always looks great. Gotta love stamp sets that make it hard for you to mess things up!
Now this card was also a last hurrah for me for many of the retiring items from the Stampin’ Up 2016-2017 retirement list (You can see everything that is still available and being discontinued here). Including:
- the Kinda Eclectic stamp set
- Cucumber Crush Thick Baker’s Twine
- Cucumber Crush cardstock
- Cucumber Crush ink
- Tip Top Taupe ink
- Bitty Butterfly punch
- Elegant Butterfly punch
Yes… I’m still in a bit of shock that Stampin’ Up is retiring the butterfly punches! They are so cute and look so great layered together!
Tips for making this Kinda Eclectic collage card:
This card is a lot easier to make than it may seem, so here are a few quick tips for making it.
- Have fun with the leaves to fill in the corners! I stamped the leaves in Cucumber Crush ink on the corners of the card base. Then I used Memento Black to stamp ONCE full strength in the corner of the white cardstock and then I stamped AGAIN without REINKING just offset from the first black image so you get the faded layered look.
- The two butterfly images come from the Kinda Eclectic stamp set. Stamp the large butterfly full strength and punch out. Stamp the smaller butterfly once on scrap paper and then again without reinking the stamp onto your cardstock scrap and punch it out with the Bitty Butterfly stamp. Both of the butterfly images below were stamped using Tip Top Taupe ink.
- Use glue dots to hold your butterflies together – I love using glue dots to adhere my butterflies. I use one dot in the center of each butterfly. This holds my punch out down firmly, but still lets me fold up the wings so it looks like it is trying to fly away.
- Make a tiny matting border for a crisp way to break up your layers – I love using this type of small mat. It is 1/8″ larger in each direction than the Whisper White cardstock. Now, I mailed off all my copies of this card without measuring, but I think it is approximately 3 3/4″ x 5″ for the Whisper White cardstock and then 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″ for the Basic Black cardstock.
Want to make this card at home? Here are the project supplies:
Kinda Eclectic Wood-Mount Stamp Set
$28.00
Kinda Eclectic Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$20.00
Bitty Butterfly Punch
$16.00
Elegant Butterfly Punch
$16.00
Cucumber Crush Thick Baker’s Twine
~~$3.50~~ $2.45
Cucumber Crush 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock
$8.00
Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$9.00
Basic Black 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.00
Glue Dots
$5.25
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May 11, 2017
Sneak Peek! The Eastern Palace Suite is Available Early!
How fun is this? Normally, the new Stampin’ Up annual catalog comes out on June 1st and so you would have to wait for the new catalog to go live to order any of the new goodies (well, unless you purchased the demonstrator starter kit, but that is a whole other fun thing!). But this year, Stampin’ Up decided to get the party started early by releasing one of the suites early!
Introducing the Eastern Palace Suite!
This is a new suite that is coming out with the Annual Catalog but you can get your hands on it via one of two bundles. Plus, you’ll get one or more free items with your bundle as well!
Let me tell you, I know those pictures are hard to see, but the pieces in the bundles are SOOOO Pretty!
I especially love the Eastern Gold Vinyl Stickers and you will be seeing me use them a LOT I expect. 🙂
Free Card Tutorial to Get you Started when you Buy a Bundle!
Now, if you think they look cute but you are worried about getting started with the bundle – don’t worry! I have you covered! Order one of the bundles and I’ll send you the instructions for making all three of these cards with your new goodies.
And those are just the tip of the iceberg. The one thing I’m learning with this framelit and stamp set, its that the possibilities truly are endless.
See the items in the Eastern Palace Suite online HERE
Eastern Palace Starter Bundle
$60.50
Eastern Palace Premier Bundle
$103.50
Get even more free with the BEST bundle option!
I just thought I’d also share the best bundle option if you want to really take it up a notch and get more free goodies and have the opportunity to get even more. Consider the Ultimate Bundle – the demonstrator starter kit! You’ll only pay $99 plus tax – the shipping is always free – and you’ll be able to not only get the Premier Eastern Palace Suite, but you’ll also have $21.50 more in product you can select to be added to your kit. That includes picking up Annual Catalog preorder items! See…
We have an awesome Fun n’ Crafty Stampers group who would love to welcome you, and we are working right now to start inspiring each other with this bundle and I’d love to have you join us.
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May 2, 2017
Limited Time – Build Your Stash Card Class By Mail
I’ve been promising this class by mail for a while and I finally have everything up and ready so you can make these cards at home! So I’m offering this as a class by mail for a LIMITED TIME only as many of the supplies are retiring and are while supplies last.
***Class kit registration is available through May 19th***
I ran this as a class at my recent Northwest Crafty Retreat Weekend and everyone loved the cards. So I knew I had to make it available to my crafty friends who couldn’t make it to the retreat! Its centered around the Cupcakes & Carousels designer paper stack. A great paper pack that is so much more versatile than it seems at first glance.
Check out what you get in this great card class by mail
You’ll get supplies to make 12 cards! 2 each of the 6 designs including:
- Precut cardstock to make the 12 cards
- A FULL PACK of the Cupcakes & Carousels designer series paper, with the needed piece precut for you for these cards. You’ll have the remaining pieces from the 48 sheet 6×6 pack included in your kit so you can make more cards and projects beyond these 12 cards.
- A FULL SPOOL of the Very Vanilla 1/4″ Satin ribbon, with the pieces you need for the cards precut. The rest of the 10 yd spool will be in your kit to use on future projects.
- Punched and die cut pieces for the cards
- Necessary accessories and embellishments
- Step-by-Step color PDF tutorials for each of the cards emailed to you
  (PDF tutorial only option is also available)
You just need to supply your own stamps, ink, and adhesive and you’ll be ready to have your stash ready for anything.
All this is only $34 plus shipping to you!

Class kit options

Class kit registration is available through May 19th
Kits will ship the following times:
Early Bird orders placed by May 3rd will ship the week of May 8th
orders placed May 4th-May 19th will ship the week of May 22nd
If you have any questions or need extra supplies, email me at Jennifer@nwstamper.com
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April 29, 2017
Accent Coloring with the Chalk Marker
Back when Stampin’ Up had Chalkboard Paper, we also got the White Chalk marker. And I knew what to do with it… duh, you use a chalk marker on chalkboard paper! 🙂 But then, the chalkboard paper went away and the chalk marker remained, which made me think there had to be other great uses for this marker. Since then, I found that it is great for all kinds of soft accents and touches on your cards. My favorite version is Accent Coloring with the chalk marker on light brown paper, like I did in this card!
I stamped the flourish image from the Flourishing Phrases stamp set using Archival Basic Black ink. The archival black is a GREAT black ink and much deeper and richer than the Memento Black or even past Basic Black classic ink pads. However, it does tend to stain your stamps, similar to stazon, so I tend to only use it with my rubber stamps. Thankfully though, this set is rubber so I can happily stamp away with my happy black.
Once you’ve stamped your main image, then you can go over areas you want to highlight and color them in with your White Chalk Marker. The chalk ink doesn’t saturate into the paper and so it makes a nice soft white highlight on top of the colored cardstock, providing a great contrast.
I wanted my flourish stamp to be the main focus of my card, so I kept the rest of the elements on the card muted and simple.
- Pool Party ink for the leaves in the background (also from the Flourishing Phrases stamp set) on a Pool Party card base
- An understated pattern from the Blooms & Bliss designer paper down the middle of the card matted by Basic Black cardstock.
- Sponging the edges of my Crumb Cake main piece with Pool Party ink to soften the edges up and help them blend into the background card base.
- A small scrap of Burlap ribbon to add some texture and a natural feel.. but only a hint!
- Pearls under the sentiment to make it feel finished and with a touch of elegance.
But this technique of doing Accent Coloring with the chalk marker is great on different colors of cardstock as well as different types of sets. It works best with line-art images, but also is good for highlighting (see this example with a snow scene). Here is another example of coloring in an image with the chalk marker.
Want to make this card at home? Here are the project supplies:
April Rewards Hostess Code is PPXVZ4NN
Flourishing Phrases Wood-Mount Stamp Set
$49.00
Flourishing Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$37.00
White Stampin Chalk Marker
$3.50
Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper
$11.00
Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments
$5.00
5/8″ (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon
$7.00
Pool Party 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Basic Black 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Crumb Cake 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock
$8.00
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
$7.00
Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Island Indigo Classic Stampin’ Pad
$6.50
Sponge Daubers
$5.00
Stampin’ Dimensionals
$4.00
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April 5, 2017
Make an Easy Favor Box with the Lift Me Up Bundle
As I head into the week of the spring OnStage event (the Stampin’ Up! convention weekend), I have treats and gifts on my mind. I’ll be headed to Shreveport, LA with 5 of my Fun n’ Crafty Stampers group to get a sneak peek at the upcoming Annual Catalog that launches in June as well as get inspired by the great creativity and savvy of other demonstrators. I’ve never been to Louisiana before! I am excited to get a chance to adventure somewhere new and bond with my team at the same time! So, be watching my Northwest Stamper Facebook page for real-time updates from my trip. I’ll also try to post here after the main event.
So, one of the things I’m working on today is gifts for my team attending with me, which made me think this would be the perfect day to share this easy favor box idea using the clear tiny treat boxes.
Read More about this Tiny Treat Favor Box
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April 3, 2017