Northwest Stamper

Tag: jennifer blomquist

  • Everything Eleanor Christmas Swap Card

    Alright, I’m finally getting caught up which is nice!  Up next, getting ready to have a bunch of great ladies over on Wednesday night to check out all of my samples, swaps, and goodies that I brought back from Convention and then make a few projects to take home!  It should be a fun night
    (if you are interested in coming check out the details and rsvp here!)

    Anyway, this year, I took with me a ton of swap cards… normally I end up with 30-50 cards but this year I took 100!

    I didn’t mean to make so many but I discovered that I could almost exactly use the scrap from my Snow Much Fun swap to make this Everything Eleanor swap card, that I just kept making cards until I was out of scraps!  But that just means I have a whole bunch of great cards to use as inspiration now.

    So, want to see what I was swapping?

     

    I thought the flourish-y, journal stamp would make a fun wreath and my original idea had the bird stamped red for a cardinal… but I wanted the bird to stand out.  It took a little more work than I expected but I thought it was a fun use of the set.

    And before I sign off for the night, I thought I’d share all the fun goodies I got while I was at convention.  This is just the stuff I got for free as part of my registration, giveaways, and prizes.  Not too bad, huh? 🙂

    Stampin Up Convention Free Items

    That is a bag, red glimmer paper, 2 packs of designer fabric, 8 stamp sets, a journal made in My Digital Studio, 2 spools of satin ribbon, 1 pack of rhinestones, a pack of In Color Dahlias, a Holiday Mini catalog, a main catalog, and a hand fan!

    See, you know you totally want to come to convention next yere, huh??
    Shoot me an email and I can help you figure out how you can come with me and my team next year!

     

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

     

    Make a Cake Pennant Card Recipe
    Stamps:
    Everything Eleanor, Curly Cute
    Ink: Garden Green, Basic Grey
    Paper: Real Red, Basic Grey, Whisper White
    Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, large Scallop circle punch, 1 1/4” circle punch, 1/8” Real Red taffeta ribbon, glue dots, snail, stampin’ dimensionals

  • Stampin’ Up! Convention 2012–The First Day!

    Does anyone here watch “So You Think You Can Dance”?  If so, do you know how Mary Murphy has the Hot Tamale train… well imagine her screaming “Woo Hoo!!!” and that is what we were saying this morning. Smile

    It was a fun day filled with general session, make & takes, classes, and lots and lots of stamping buddies!  I think that was actually one of my favorite parts – reconnecting with friends I haven’t seen in a while, meeting new folks while waiting in line or in classes or swapping, and its been so fun to meet folks who visit my blog and stop me to say hi!

    As with yesterday, I have more photos on my facebook page – http://facebook.com/nwstamper, but here are some of my highlights from today.

    The day started with general session and I had my littlest stamper with me to enjoy the show!  Ok, so she enjoyed the first half of session and then napped the second… but that is ok, she didn’t need to learn about how to connect with Gen Y!

    IMAG0152

    The keynote speaker was the hilarious Jason Dorsey who works for a company that researches generations and their characteristics and trends. It was fascinating to hear what research shows is the difference between generations, for example – Baby Boomers prefer communication via phone whereas Gen Y strongly prefers text and email to phone calls when being reached out to. And the interesting thing was sitting next to my mom and watching us both nod our heads along to what he was saying!

    But before he took the stage… and look at this cool stage… was a welcome by Shelli Gardner

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    She talked about the convention theme and Stampin’ Up!’s commitment to supporting demonstrators who want to build their demo-ship “my way” and growing our talent and businesses in ways that are right for us.

    And of course, she had to show a super cute project!  (I’ll post a better picture tomorrow if I can!  And I’m totally going to CASE parts of it so I can show you some cool details in later posts!)

    IMAG0001 (3)

    I worked on Make & Takes – more on that tomorrow! And though I shopped at Momento Mall again over lunch, check out how fun the lunch area was set up.

    IMAG0002_COVER (2)

    I had classes in the afternoon… and if you are curious about the types of things you can learn at convention, today I took the following classes:

    • “I am a Leader” with Brian Pilling – I always love classes with Brian because he has such an interesting take on the topics.  In this case it was more about what are the characteristics/extremes of a bad leader and where is a middle ground that you can be more effective and helpful.  I’m always trying to figure out how to be better for my team and so I loved the insight!
    • “I am Open for Business” with Carrie Cutney – Carrie is one of the frequent speakers at SU events and this was a good class for hearing some basic ideas for how to find new customers and stamping friends, tips for responding when people find you, and ways to expand your business. 

    And tomorrow, its more sessions, more make & takes, more classes, and I’m going to get more pictures of the displays!

    So, before I sign off for now so I can catch a few more Zzzs before the day really begins, I thought I would share two more things that always impress me about Stampin’ Up! and convention:

    1.  Stampin’ Up’s support for demonstrators with families!  Even at a corporate event, they allow and even encourage demos with infants to come participate by providing “mother’s lounges” on either side of the general session floor.  These rooms are walled off sections of the main stage floor with carpeting (so you can put your baby down), gliders, changing station, and a TV so you can see what is happening up on the stage!

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    2. The friendship and sharing of other demonstrators!  Stampin’ Up! offers incentives and benefits for building an supporting a team, but certain incentives only take into account your first 5 levels of downline.  However, I am connected to a wonderful woman named Julie Gunhus who I am 8 or so levels below, but she has always been super inclusive of myself and my team at events and takes time to answer questions and even includes me in the cute gifts she gives her downline at convention.  Like this adorable bag tag!  I mean, seriously, isn’t it cute!?

    IMAG0159

    Oh, and before I sign off, I should make sure to share the Stampin’ Up! news that was announced today at convention.

    Day 1 Announcements:

    • Watch for fun Stampin’ Up! ads in magazines such as Parents, Better Homes & Gardens, and Family Fun coming next month.
    • My Digital Studio 2 has a release date!  August 1st with additional features coming out as free updates following that.  Awesome new features include designing 2 page spreads at one time, being able to use different color “ink” for different parts of a stamp image, being able to recolor DSP, embellishments, and stamps, and much more!
    • Great upcoming incentive trips and managers reception locations including a weekend getaway trip to San Diego and manager’s reception (if you have the title of Manager with SU) will be in January at Harry Potter’s Wizardly World in FL!  Extra incentive for me to promote to manager in the next few months!

    Alright time for a little more rest!  I’ll share more with you soon!

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • Snow Much Fun Convention Swaps & Checkin Day!

    Woo hoo!  Convention is here and it was a busy day in Salt Lake City for me yesterday.  I spent the first night in town (Tuesday night) finishing up my swaps and getting settled in after arriving late in the evening.  I wanted to use Dazzling Details (Stampin’ Up!’s glitter glue) on my cards so I glittered them up and had them all out to dry around the room. Smile

     

    swaps out 1swaps out 2

     

    The end result, I think, turned out pretty nice.  Unfortunately I had a heck of a time taking a picture in the light of the hotel room that shows the glitter, but I think you can tell here:

    Snow Much Fun Swap 2012Snow Much Fun Swap 2012 close up

     

    This was one of my two swaps and today I can’t wait to swap like crazy.  I’ve already seen some super cute cards and I know there will be tons more today!

    But yesterday was filled with picking up our bags:

    IMAG0120

    and visiting Momento Mall!  (If you want to see more Momento Mall photos, check out my facebook page where I posted a bunch of pictures from yesterday)IMAG0003

    Then we got an early peak at display boards and product showcases including checking out the new trimmer!  Did you know that the new trimmer has a lock so that the plastic blade guide (where you slide the cutter up and down) so that it doesn’t flop open when you are putting it in your bag for crops?  And the numbers are under the laminate on the platform so they won’t rub off??  Oh, I hope they announce that it is releasing soon!

    IMAG0002_COVER IMAG0136

    Well, General Session starts at 8:30 and then it is off to make & takes and classes!  I’ll be posting some to my facebook page throughout the day and then I’ll try to post more pictures tonight of more convention goodies.

    And don’t forget my Convention Week specials!!

    Don’t forget, get a FREE INK PAD and be entered in a CHANCE TO WIN a $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE when you place your order with me this week.

    Any order of $50 or more can pick out your favorite color of the new style of firm foam ink pad, and every order is entered into a drawing to win the gift certificate.  Shop online or email me your order at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll get you all taken care of!

    Well I’m off!  I’ll share more later!

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • Patio Party Birthday!

    Today is the day that I fly to SLC, so be checking back here and on my facebook page for updates from Convention.  But before I go, I wanted to share one more birthday card using the Patio Party designer paper and Make a Cake stamp set.

     

    This card is actually really quick and easy to make because you simply stamp the cake image with Midnight Muse and color in with your markers.  The banners in the top half of the card are all part of one pattern in the Patio Party designer paper.  Then you just need to stamp the Bitty Banner sentiment and cut it out with the matching Itty Bitty Banners framelits!  Seriously, super quick!

    The other colors in today’s card are Summer Starfruit and Raspberry Ripple.

    Well, I’m off to pack up my swaps and head to the airport!  I’ll be back and sharing soon!

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • Convention Week Kickoff!

    Today my family catches a train back to Seattle from Portland.  We’ve had a great trip and now I have a day and a half and then its off to Salt Lake City!  That’s right, it’s Stampin’ Up! Convention Week!

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    I will have posts scheduled to go up this week while I’m away but as I have time, I’ll try to share pictures here on my blog.  If you are interested in more up-to-the-minute details from convention, make sure you are a fan of my Facebook page as I’ll be able to post more frequently there as I see or hear exciting stuff!

    In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to have some special promotions while I’m gone.  So, if you want to take advantage of the Convention Week excitement – here are some deals for you:

    1.  FREE INK PAD – Place an order through me (via email or phone) that is over $50 before shipping and tax and receive a new firm-foam ink pad of your choice for free!  Email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com to let me know what pad you want!

    2.  WIN A $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE – Everyone who places any order this week – whether online, by email, or phone – will be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift certificate!  I’ll draw on Monday July 23rd; so check out the amazing inspiration from Convention and then pick your favorites for free!

    I’m also hoping there will be a new demonstrator sign-up promotion come out during convention, so if you have been thinking about joining Stampin’ Up!, let me know and I can keep you posted as I hear of anything coming down the pipe while I’m at convention.

    I am SO EXCITED and can’t wait to see all the amazing ideas and inspiration in Salt Lake and then share them will all of you.  This is what we saw in the last couple of years… who knows what we will see this year!


     

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • Something Different–a Fabric Credit Card Holder!

    I thought today I would share something different then my usual card/paper craft project, plus it is a great example of what you can use with some of the fun 60% off items in the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack!

    This is a cool little project that my friend Annie Lee made for me that I use every single day!  This was made as a business card holder but I started using it as my credit card wallet and I love it!

    stampin up fabric card holder closed

     

    So, this used some of last year’s Candy Cane Christmas fabric and the Big Designer Buttons.  She sewed two pieces of fabric together for the cover (so there is cute striped fabric on the inside and polka dot fabric on the outside).  The clever part is she took a hair rubber band and stitched it between those two layers on one side to be used as the “clasp”.  There is also a line of stitching half way between the two short edges to hold the fabric together and make a clean fold for the wallet to fold in half around.  Finally, she added another polka dot fabric piece to each side to make the pockets.

    stampin up fabric card holderstampin up fabric card holder inside

    Add a button to the front and it works awesome!  Having a diaper bag with me all the time, it is nice to be able to have a small wallet for my credit cards that I can put in the pocket and not have it take up too much space in my overstuffed bag. Smile

    If you want to make your own, there is still some retired fabric and a few colors of these designer buttons in the Clearance Rack for a great deal!!  The retired fabric is only $3.99 and the buttons are only $3.59!  Didn’t I tell you it is an awesome deal?   That is 60% off!

    Well, hope you have a great Friday…. and only 4 days until I’m off to the Stampin’ Up! convention!

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • A Little Bit More Everything Eleanor!

    I love chances to earn free stamp sets and recently I did just that!  So, thanks to Stampin’ Up! I got to pick this Everything Eleanor stamp set for free!  (So, in case you were wondering why you kept seeing this stamp set pop up, it is one of my newest sets and so I’ve been having fun playing around with it).  Anyway, today’s card is actually a pretty simple one.  Yes, there is a lot of hand-cutting of shapes, but overall, a pretty straightforward card.

     

    However, one of my favorite things is this ruched ribbon!  Yes, I know that this gathering style for ribbon has been around for ages and lots of folks already know how to do it…. but I was all thumbs everytime I tried to make ribbon look like this, always getting it to start looking cool but then pulling my thread out completely leaving the ribbon looking a bit silly.  But…after reading a tutorial, it all makes sense now!!

    So, for those of you who are like me and never could figure this out, the trick (which made so much sense after reading it) is to grab a thread that runs through the middle of your ribbon and hold onto on one end of your ribbon.  While holding it, push the ribbon away from where you are holding the ribbon so it starts gathering.
    Now here is the aha moment for me!
    Stop when you’ve pushed the ribbon so that half of the ribbon is gathered.  Now, go grab a middle thread on the OTHER end of the ribbon.  Start pushing the ribbon in, towards the ribbon that is already gathered.

    I know, it sounds so obvious, but I swear it was a total lightbulb moment for me! Smile

    Then just glue it down to your card front (and behind the vintage label) using something strong like sticky strip and you have a cute accent!

    See, no matter how much you craft, there is always something new (or new to you) to learn!

    Well, I’m off for another fun day in the hot Portland sun!  Enjoy your Thursday!

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

  • Got to Love Pennants!

    Well, early this morning we are hoping on a train and headed south to Portland, OR!  I’m excited for this family trip and can’t wait to see friends and favorite haunts as we visit for the first time in a long time!  Portland will always hold a special place in my heart as it is the city where I not only got my start as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator but it is also where became a mommy for the first time when my son, Nicholas was born here.  It’s a quirky, cool city, which is why I love it.

    Anyway, while I’m traveling, I won’t have consistent access to internet, so if you need something from me, I should respond fairly quickly to email at jennifer@nwstamper.com (by checking it on my phone) or give me a call (425-765-6197) for a faster response!

    In the meantime, here is another card I made up recently that I just love how it turned out.  I love the paper piecing with the cake; but I really really like how the pennants look hanging out the side of the cake matting.

     

    These pennants were all created using the Banner Framelits set and I just cut out different sizes of banners and then glued them at varying distances from the edge of the Baja Breeze cardstock matting.  It gives a cool effect don’t you think?

    The best part is, with the framelits making the banners, it makes this card a snap to put together!  Have I mentioned yet how much I love framelits? 🙂

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

     

    Make a Cake Pennant Card Recipe
    Stamps:
    Make a Cake
    Ink: Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals
    Paper: Patio Party DSP, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple
    Accessories: Banner Framelits, Stampin’ dimensionals, paper snips

  • Four Frames Pierced Frame Card

    Ok, so this is my last card we did at my card stash class on Friday.  I really, really wanted to get out my new Piercing Pack and start playing with the new shapes and designs they have and thought it would be fun to highlight on of the punches.

     

    I also pulled out the new Polka Dot pack of designer paper to give a subtle look for the background of the card so that it was interesting to look at but the focus was mostly on the stamped image.  This paper pack is one that I didn’t give much of a glance to when I saw it in the catalog but I have a feeling it is going to get A LOT of use!

    Anyway, back to the piercing, here is a close up of the design.  I actually did something a bit different too when I put this together.  Normally, I pierce the holes from front to back (so the part that is pushed up is hidden), but this time I decided to make those raised pierced parts face up toward the stamped image.

     

    If you haven’t seen how they redesigned the Mat Pack (now called the Essential Paper-Piercing Pack), you get 3 plastic mats with predesigned holes that coordinate with edgelits, framelits, and punches!

    Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack

     

    Oh and ps – there are going to be more of these cool piercing packs coming out soon with the new Holiday catalog!  I get my hands on my new pack in a few days, I can’t wait!!

     

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Four Frames Pierced Card Recipe
    Stamps:
    Four Frames, Fabulous Phrases
    Ink: Early Espresso, Marina Mist
    Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Marina Mist, Polka Dot dsp
    Accessories: Essential Paper-piercing mats, paper piercer, neutrals brads, stampin’ dimensionals, decorative label punch

  • Mixed Bunch Summer Flower

    Oops!  If you visited my blog early this morning, you got a sneak peek of this post because I accidentally had a draft version (with pictures and no text) scheduled to publish early in the morning and I completely forgot I had done that. 🙂

    But, I’m not sad to have shared this card.  This is another card we will be making at my Card Stash class today.  I loved the bright colors and wanted something to help welcome summer in.

     

    This card was inspired by a card showcased in the Stampin’ Success this month by Laura Haffke.  I’ve talked with some folks about joining Stampin’ Up! and often here people interested but hesitating because “I’m not creative enough”.  Well this is proof that Stampin’ Up! provides lots of inspiration for you.  Stampin’ Success is a monthly magazine sent to all demonstrators, whether you are building a business or just ordering for yourself and wanted a discount, and in it are tons of project samples and technique ideas.  A similar was shown and so I took my favorite elements and then changed it up to make it my own.

    So, wherever you are… have a warm and sunny friday (though not too warm if you are in the midwest of the US!)

     

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Mixed Bunch Summer Smooches Card Recipe
    Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Curly Cute
    Ink: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade
    Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Summer Smooches dsp
    Accessories: Blossom punch, 1″ circle punch, oval punch, crimper, stampin dimensionals

  • Scallop Edged Reason to Smile

    As I was working on cards for this month, I decided to grab my new Reason to Smile stamp set and start playing around again.  I was inspired by how the edgelits were used in the latest catalog and some ribbon I had on my shelf and found this new-to-me color combination:  Early Espresso, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, and River Rock.  LOVE!

    I love how this card looks in real life and so I decided to use it, not only for my class on Friday, but this will be one of the cards in this month’s Cards to Go program

     

    I’ll admit, this is my first time breaking out my scalloped edgelits.  However, I love the subtle lacy look they give the bottom of this card.  I also, started out without the extra layer of Whisper White (with the 3 flower images) and had a single flower image on the White cardstock below.  But it just needed something and after playing around with a scrap piece of paper, I thought the sponged edge gave the card an interesting look.

    I wanted to leave you with one last tip about ordering your Reason to Smile stamp set (for only $5!).  If you are shopping online, you will need to look in the special offers box to add it to your order.  So, make sure you have selected $50 in product into your shopping cart and then you should see a link to select whether you want to add in the Reason to smile stamp set and in wood or clear mount.

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!

    Reason to Smile Edgelits Card Recipe
    Stamps: Reason to Smile, Teeny Tiny Wishes
    Ink: Calypso Coral marker, Lucky Limeade marker, Early Espresso, Soft Suede
    Paper: Whisper White, River Rock, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade
    Accessories: Big Shot, Adorning Accents edgelits, Early Espresso stitched grosgrain ribbon, sponge daubers

  • A Raspberry Ripple and Primrose Petals Thank You

    One of the things I love about the internet is that it allows me to connect with new stamping buddies and friends.  Recently, I was lucky enough to connect up with Angela.  I had actually referred her to a demo closer to her home but due to some circumstances she ended up connecting back up with me.  I got to meet her adorable family at my garage sale and so when she placed an order with me recently, I wanted to send her a special thank you card.  So, this is what went in the mail to her:

    This card is a fun combination of a lot of new items:  new in colors – Raspberry Ripple and Primrose Petals, new stamps – Itty Bitty Banners and Make a Cake, new dsp – Patio Party, and new framelits – Banner framelits!  Plus, of course, the pennant punch.

    I love how Make a Cake is perfect for paper piecing the middle layer of the cake…just you wait, you’ll be seeing more of that from me later. 🙂

    So, to all my internet stamping friends and customers… I’m so glad to have met you – even if its only been virtually!  I’ll see you around the internets soon!

     

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

    Are you earning your Northwest Stamper Rewards? Every order gets you closer to your FREE stamp set! Click here to learn more!