Northwest Stamper

Tag: wide oval punch

  • Clean and Simple Congrats Card with Pleasant Poppies and Hey You

    Remember how I told you that stamp sets on the retiring list were now while supplies last?  Well, on a whim as I was getting this blog post ready, I thought I would check out how the stamps were doing and discovered that the Pleasant Poppies stamp that I used for this focal point on this card is sold out.  *total sad face* Sad smile!

    But if you do have it, awesome! And if you don’t, well you can still use this great idea with the flower stamps you do have, right?  Right!

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    Get them before they are gone by the end of the month!

    Sometimes you don’t need a lot on a card to make an impact. Which is what we did with this card when we made it at Stamping Bingo earlier this month.  Have a bookmark sized piece as your focal point and then just punch out a sentiment like one of the many from the Hey You stamp set using the Wide Oval punch and then help it stand out by sponging the edges.

    TIp –  I recommend sponging the edges of your paper with Sponge Daubers.  I have some people share how they sponge by running the paper across the surface of the ink pad (you get a really dark line only on the very edge of the paper) or they will use the yellow sponges (which gives you a very diffuse sponging area and it can be harder to control where you want the color).  I love Sponge Daubers because they give you finer control of where and how much ink you are coloring with and BONUS your fingers don’t get inky!  Yay!

    Because you know you are going to get ink all over from something… might as well spare some ink where you can. Smile

    To do the poppies, I cut a 2” strip of cardstock and stamped the flowers from my background stamp in Memento Black ink.  Color the flowers using your markers or Blender Pen until they are just right.  Then color the white space in between using those handy dandy sponge daubers!  I didn’t sponge over the flower heads but just went around them.  In this case it is Lost Lagoon on top and Hello Honey on the bottom.

    Leave the rest of your card base plain white and your colored image will jump off the page!

    Join me in celebrating the new catalog launch!

    I’m getting excited for the release of the new catalog in only a few days.

    Did you know?  The retiring catalog AND the Occasions catalog AND the new catalog will all overlap for ONE DAY!  Yup, it is true!  For ONE DAY ONLY you will be able to order out of all 3 catalogs and take advantage of the current hostess benefit levels.  So get those wishlists ready!

    In Seattle?  Join me for my New Catalog Kick Off Party!

    In with the new! New Catalog Kick off Party!
    Monday June 1 – drop in anytime from 6:30 to 8:30pm
    Jennifer’s House (Bellevue, WA)
    Cost – FREE!
    RSVP to jennifer@nwstamper.com

    We’ll have samples on display, new products for you to check out, make & take projects using the newest supplies, shopping specials, games, and lots of great crafty people to hang out with. Smile

    Not nearby?  Join me online on June 2nd!  I’ll be posting a new catalog walkthrough video!  I’ll walk you through all the cool new stuff and some great things that are easy to miss!  I’ll even have a little shopping incentive for those of you who come check it out!

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    Project Supplies Used:

  • Christmas Fun with a Punch Art Snowman Gift Card Holder

    Well, another Christmas is past and it was a good one this year for our family.  We had a great day relaxing at home on Christmas and then a noisy day on the 26th with family and cousins. Smile  But isn’t that the best kind of day, at least for kids?

    I had two more Christmas projects I wanted to share and today is a gift card holder I made for a friend.  It started out with a fun punch art snowman gift tag that I converted to a belly band for the holder.

    Punches used for the snowman:

    • 1-3/4” Circle Punch
    • Wide Oval Punch
    • Banner Punch
    • Starburst Framelit (for the background)

    It is really easy to put him together too!  The hat is 2 wide ovals punched out in black (you just trim down one to make the top hat part), his head is the 1-3/4’ circle punch in white, then the body is a wide oval punch in white.  Glue those pieces to a strip of patterned paper for the scarf so he looks about how you like (I used the Trim the Tree designer paper stack – also on discount right now).  Punch out a second piece of designer paper using the banner punch and glue at an angle to create the other tail of the scarf.  His nose is just a freehand cut scrap of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and then I drew on his eyes, mouth, and buttons with a black marker. 

    Add accents like the All is Calm snowflake embellishment (another discount item) to cover up where you adhered the banner punch and a little pearl in the middle for flair.  I also used the Chalk Pen to make dashes around my Starburst framelit die cut for the background and to make the white trim on his hat.

    Pretty cute, huh?

    He was made onto a belly band as the gift card hold was a trifold card.  On the front and inner flap, I decorated with the Trim the Tree designer paper.

    Then you flip it open to reveal a space for your message and the gift card.  I actually added a second pocket to the top flap so they could have 2 gift cards inside.  And the pocket had a little space cut out for easier grabbing using the small oval punch.

    It was easy and fun to make and I hope my friend liked it!

    I also know that those instructions for the snowman may have been a bit tough to follow, so I’ll try to put together a video to help show what I was talking about. Smile 

    And like I mentioned, both the Trim the Tree paper and the All is Calm snowflake embellishments are part of the Year End Blowout Sale!  They are only available for about another week, so grab then now so you can get started on your Holiday scrapbook pages or projects for next year!

    All is calm snowflake embellishments trim the tree designer paper stack

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    Project Supplies Used:
    (if you are reading this in email, click here to see the list of supplies)

  • A Little Bit Of Love…and Scallops and Pearls

    I hope you don’t mind one more Cross My Heart card sample.  I know, I’ve been using it a lot this week, but that is just because I went on a creating spree with the set and most of the cards I have photographed right now use it.  But hopefully by now you can see some fun ways to use it!  I have to admit, it was fun to take images from the same set and try to create totally different looking cards.  You should try it some time!

    Anyway, here is today’s card:

    So, this all started with me heat embossing the sentiment on a piece of Rose Red cardstock.  I don’t remember what I had planned for that stamped image… but the embossing is pretty. Smile

    I experimented with my punches and found that the Wide Oval Punch fit perfectly around my sentiment and so away I started with my punches.  I used the Scallop Oval punch to layer behind it and masked my seam with the Natural Trim ribbon… have I mentioned how much I love this ribbon?

    Then just a few more touches… like LOTS of pearls.  In the heart in the sentiment and along the scallops on the left edge.  I don’t think I’ve ever used this many pearls on a card.  But I think it works!

    So, now that you’ve seen some samples with this set, I’m curious what you think.  Is this a set that you can imagine using or just a cute idea in the catalog?  I’d love to hear what you think!

     

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  • Cross My Heart Faux Stitched Love Card

    Do you have a stamp set that you loved…bought… and now have no idea what to do with it?

    Being a word puzzle person, I love these stamp sets that are word search/crossword designs.  I even bought the word search background stamp years ago.  But did I ever figure out how to use it?  Nope!

    Well, my mom got the new Cross My Heart stamp set and while I thought it was really cool, I had no idea how you would use it.  So, I stamped a few images and have been making myself play with it.  Turns out, it was more fun than I expected!

    This is actually one of the first cards I made with this set.  I was trying to use up some scraps from around my desk and so I just started layering elements together to create a simple little card.

    One of the first things I knew I wanted to do was layer paper over the heart box to make it stand out.  So I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White and on Rose Red… then just cut out the Rose Red square to layer over the Whisper White.

    Then I realized that the flower image fit really nicely in the small oval punch.  So I grabbed than and a scrap of the Natural Trim ribbon (one of my favorite things from the new catalog!) and did a little layering here too.

    I felt like the top of the card was a little wide open, so I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen and accented my flower as well as the edge of the card.

    And ta-da!  You have a card with bits, pieces, and scraps that

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    Cross My Heart Faux Stitched Card
    Stamps:     Cross My Heart
    Ink: Early Espresso, Rose Red (marker), Lucky Limeade (marker)
    Paper: Crumb Cake CS, Rose Red CS, Whisper White CS, Patio Party designer paper
    Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, White Gel Pen, Natural Trim ribbon, Sycamore Street ribbon (SAB FREE item), Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Some Northern Hearts Card Candy

    I realized recently that while most people know what Blog Candy is (fun giveaways on a blog), that one of the things I gave away in my recent blog candy was “card candy” and that term may not be as familiar to some people.  Well, I wanted to share what I mean and the fun card candy I sent to Penny.

    I first heard the term “card candy” in reference to a swap at convention and when I read more, I learned that it means treats and embellishments for your cards.  In other words, the layered embellishments that you can put on simple card bases and layouts to add a fun touch.  So, in keeping with the theme I used for the box on the Royal Blog Tour, I did some more playing with the stamp set and other punches and embellishments to create some pieces that can be used on a card later.

    It was fun to play with the stamps, punches, and other elements to see what I could come up with that would be cute and could be used incorporated into another project.  I also tried out some new stuff and really liked how they turned out and so I wanted to share with you.

    First, I thought it would be fun to use the Northern Flurries embossing folder but once I had embossed the Bashful Blue paper it looked a bit plain.  I suddenly thought of my Stampin’ Pastels (chalks) that I hadn’t pulled out in ages and started experimenting with them.  Then I decided to add some bling to the center and then a little more Dazzling Diamonds glitter just to make sure there was some extra sparkle.  I really liked using chalks with the embossing folder and will have to play more with this.

     

    Then I started playing with the snowflakes as background images and wanted to add a little pop, so I stamped the snowflakes on Whisper White, punched out the centers, and added them to the edges of the paper, trimming what hung over the edge.  Then I punched two holes in the top to make a faux bow.  I LOVE how this ribbon looks when you make this bow.  The satin center shows in the middle and you still get the organza showing on the bits that hang out the side.  I’m definitely going to have to do this again.

    Finally, the last one I thought I’d talk about specifically is my little tag.  It was so cool to me when I realized that the birds fit perfectly in the Extra Large Tag punch.  So, I used my markers to only color in the birds and part of the vine on the bottom.  Then, I wanted to try something different with the ribbon and so grabbed the Whisper White Organza and this time colored the center part only using my Always Artichoke marker.  It went really fast and turned out so much nicer than I expected!

    I hope Penny enjoys using these in her projects!  And now you know what I mean when I say “card candy” too. Smile 

    Just a note that if you’ve been enjoying these Northern Hearts projects, this is a hostess set that is only going to be available while the Holiday Mini is here (so until mid-January.  So, if you are enjoying these projects and this set, I’d be happy to help you earn this set for free.  Just send me a note at jennifer@nwstamper.com and I’ll see what we can do!