Be Inspired

Hi everyone, it's Jennifer from Northwest Stamper!  Today is my turn to share some fun tips with you and as I wracked my brain trying to figure out what would be an interesting topic, I thought of one thing that many of us are always looking for.... new inspiration!

I am always looking for new ideas for color combos, layouts, and project designs.  It is so easy for me to get stuck in a rut.  But then one day I got a Crate & Barrel ad in the mail and I was struck by how much the colors in the display looked like Island Indigo, Elegant Eggplant, and Basic Black and just knew I had to keep it for inspiration.

Here is the card I came up with to share with you using the image above as inpiration:

I used the colors in the ad to start with.  And then I added touches like the rounded corners on the 1-3/8" square as a throwback to the pillows on the couch.  I also added the row of paper pierced dots on the left of the Island Indigo cardstock and then colored over the holes with a white gel pen to remind me of the rivets on the side of the couch.  See, lots of different bits of ideas.

Then when the next ad came in the mail, I had the same bit of inspiration and so I've been keeping these ads to help with more inspiration.  Like this one:

 So how about one more card... this time, one you could use for a guy or a girl in your life.

I was inspired by the colors (though I think our retired More Mustard would have been a closer match, but instead I used Crushed Curry).  I also loved the hexagon artwork on the wall on the right side of the ad and wanted to replicate that in my card.  I punched out the hexagons using the Hexagon punch and then edged them with the Gold Encore ink pad from the Holiday Catalog.

Other fun touches are the embossing with the Alphabet Press embossing folder and throwing back to the tablecloth by heat embossing with white embossing powder the Pleasant Poppies background stamp.

So, in addition to the great sketch, color, and layout challenges here on Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration, don't forget to watch for that unexpected inspiration in your everyday life!

Have fun and happy stamping!

Jennifer

Our Friday Favorites!!!

Our Friday Favorites!!!

What is your favorite tool, stamp, paper that you are currently using?

Here are some of our design teams:

Jenn Campbell's favorite die is her newest die...

Gift Bow Bigz die

129977

Jenn loves that you can use this die in so many ways and how quick and easy it is to use.

She created the card above in just 5 minutes!

Heidi at Stuck on Stampin'

Heidi's favorite product right now is the Decorative Window Gift Boxes! She uses the Witches' Brew DSP and Orange Glitter from the Holiday Catalog to jazz it up to create a fun little Halloween treat! A step by step tutorial on how to decorate this box can be found on her blog.

 Darcy Johnson

This week Darcy's favorite product is glitter used with our Heat & Stick Powder. Here's sneak peeks of two additional cards featured on my blog today.

Tonya Ball
As I thought about my Friday Favorite post I couldn't help but want to share our Heat Tool with you. I find that I am reaching for it more and more. This card uses it for the Stain Glass Technique but I also used it this week on a Birthday card and my 6th Grader's Book Report. More on that on my blog. 

Kim Ryden
One of my absolute favorites is Stampin' Up!'s monthly My Paper Pumpkin Kits.  The card base of my card today comes from the September kit!  Visit my blog today to learn more about it!

Pam Steckman

One of my favorite things right now is the "For the Birds" stamp set.  I case'd this card from our Demonstrator Magazine Stampin' Success (ask your demonstrator how to get your own copy in the mail).  Check out my blog here for more pics of other cards you can make with this stamp set (clear mount #126407/ $24.95 or wood mount #126405/ $32.95)!

Don't forget, pin our work to show you love it!!!

Thanks for stopping by to see our favorite stuff right now!

We'd love to hear from you what your favorite item is or leave us a link to your blog in the comment section for us to check out your favorite item!

See you on Monday!

Best of Halloween

Hello and welcome! Tonya here from Stampin' With Tonya, I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope you are inspired by what you see. Halloween is a busy time of the year for me and while I don't send as many cards as I do during Christmas I do enjoy working on a few projects.

 

The Best of Halloween Stamp Set which is only 14.95 and is great for your Halloween needs whether they be cards, treats or even a decoration. Today I have a card and a box that was inspired by the Stampin' Up! team. First for the card.

I used the following card stock colors: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, with the Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper. I used the the Circles #2 Originals Die to cut out the circles and the Banner is from the Circle Thinlits Die. The Decorative Label Punch is perfect behind the front circle. I used just a few colors including the Jet Black Stazon, Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker, Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write Marker, Pumpkin Pie Stamp Pad, and Summer Starfruit Stamp Pad. I used the Pumpkin Pie and Summer Starfruit to sponge the moon over the images.

 

I took this picture of the inside since I feel like you should decorate those too. I used almost the entire set on one card which is a rarity for me.

Moving on to my 3 D project. The Stampin' Up! design team recently posted these cute boxes and I thought I would make a few changes and filled this one with chocolate. The rosette was made with the Simply Scored Scoring Tool and then I added the image. I used the Tombow Multipurpose Glue to add the Black and Orange Stampin' Glitter.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed today's post and please stop by tomorrow when our design team will be sharing their Friday Favorites.

All That Glitters Is Gold...or Silver or Orange or Black!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today it's all about the GLITTER! All of my projects today include glitter. I'm showcasing several different levels of glitter coverage from subtle to in your face everyplace ;) I Hope you enjoy the projects and are inspired to use some of these ideas to bling up your own cards.

On the first card I wanted show how subtle sparkle and shimmer could be. This monochromatic card is jazzed up just a bit by using Iridescent Ice embossing powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I added just a bit more bling with the basic rhinestones and 1/8" silver ribbon.



Supplies: Soft Sky CS, Festive Flurry & Joyful Christmas Stamp sets, Iridescent Ice EP, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Versamark Ink, Basic Rhinestones

On this card I wanted to show how well our gold and silver glitter works with line images. I just stamped onto DSP with versamark and applied heat n stick powder and gold glitter. I stamped twice and popped up the smaller petals to give the poinsettia dimension.


Supplies: Gumball Green, Old Olive CS, Season of Style DSP, Christmas Joy stamp set, Season Of Style Washi tape, Gold Glitter, Versamark Ink, Square lattice EF, Heat & Stick powder

This is one of the best ways to glitterize something. Non-messy Glimmer Paper. Just cut and adhere to surface. This card made maximum use of both the main lattice bit and the tiny extra bits leftover. This ha amazing sparkle in real life.


Supplies: Chocolate chip, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry CS, Champagne Glimmer Paper, Tags 4 You, Autumn Accents Bigz Die, candy dots, lattice die, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Sweater Weather DSP, Early Espresso Ink

This one here though is my favorite because I LOVE GLiTTER! I used sticky strip to glitterize the whole entire car front. It takes time but isn't it fabulous :) All this card needed was a simple stamped image and a bit of ribbon


Supplies: Orange and Black Glitter, Tags 4 You stamp set, White taffeta ribbon, basic black re-inker, sticky strip, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie CS & markers, Adorning Accents Edgelits

Happy Stamping!
Shellie

Christmas Cards

Welcome! Today our designers have a real treat for you. Yes, it's time to start thinking about Christmas, so we want to give you lots of inkspiration for your own Christmas cards.

But first, how about some fun facts about Christmas cards? (ezinearticles.com, 2007)
Christmas cards originated in England by means of boys practicing their writing skills; making cards for their parents.
Commercial Christmas cards appeared in the United States in 1856.
54% of consumers prefer "Merry Christmas," 21% prefer "Happy Holidays," and 12% prefer "Season's Greetings."

We hope you enjoy our creations today and are inkspired to create your own.

Jennifer Campbell

Jennifer Campbell

Diana Eichfeld

Kim Ryden

 Tonya Ball

Breelin Renwick

Darcy Johnson 

Embedded Embossing

Good Morning!  Kristy MacKeen here to share a fun, and quick, card that has a lot of impact!

If you have been following the cards I have made, you can tell I LOVE embossing folders.  They add so much dimension to a project!!! 

To get started, I grabbed some Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Paper (#130141) and used my 7/8" Scalloped Circle punch (#129404) to give me a bunch of flower shapes. 

After inking the edges with a little Baked Brown Sugar (#131174), I stuck them down on a piece of Whisper White paper (#100730).  I put the paper in my Square Lattice (#119976) embossing folder.

Now comes the fun part...My kids helped me run the embossing folder through my Big Shot (#113439).

This is the final outcome.  I love how the embossing folder "embeds" the punched shapes onto the background paper. 

And here is the final card.  I used a stamp from Really Good Greetings (#130333) to make a sentiment tag for this card.

 Hope to see you tomorrow for a little jump on the holidays with some Christmas card inspiration!

What is Washi Tape?

Washi Tape is a paper tape and comes from Japan.  AND WARNING: Washi tape is addicting. Once you start using it, you might not be able to stop! Embellish paper projects, mark really important things on your calendar, cover boring refrigerator magnets. Skip the ribbon on packages and criss-cross them with washi tape designs. Wrap pencils. Alter journals.  The possibilities are endless!!

Stampin' Up! now has 4 sets of washi tape that you can make your own!  All of the sets come with 3 rolls and is only $4.95 USD!  Such a good deal!

This & That  #131269  $4.95

Season of Style  #132155  $4.95

Witches Brew  #132156  $4.95

Gingham Garden  #129314  $4.95

Our Designers had a little fun with Stampin' Up!'s line of washi tapes and want to show you some of our creations today... 

Breelin Renwick



Tonya Ball

Darcy Johnson

Kim Ryden

 Pam Steckman

We hope you have a great weekend!  We will see you back on Monday for some more FUN!

Banner Decorating

Hello again from Darcy, aka Stampin' Dj! I'm very excited to share my project with you today because it has a little extra meaning for me.

My project features the Build A Banner Simply Created Kit available in the Holiday Catalog. The kit comes with the full alphabet of stencils, plus everything you see pictured. It comes with 18 canvas pieces, six each of the three designs shown. You can also purchase additional canvas pieces to create more banners!

I will admit, when I first saw this in the catalog, I had no intentions of buying it. Then I started seeing some fabulous projects made with it, and decided I really needed to get it and try it out.

I was really putting pressure on myself for what to create as my first banner. I kept thinking, "fall," but it just didn't feel right. First I'll show you my project, and then I'll discuss it a little more.

A very brief backstory: In 2009, I was diagnosed with Lupus (SLE). Needless to say, my life shifted a bit after that. In 2011, I discovered yoga, and that it really helps with my health. Plus, the focus on gratitude really hit home to me.
This week has been a whirlwind. We are having our only bathroom remodeled, and of course I've been excited about all new everything for the bathroom. This remodel has been a long time coming, and when I was thinking about a banner decoration, that's when it hit me! I can now start every morning with a reminder for an attitude of gratitude.

I, of course, love chevrons, but I chose them on this banner to represent that there will be ups and downs, but always have gratitude for what I do have.

It's not yet hanging on the wall, because there's not a wall to hang it on yet. You will notice that some of the edges are curled a bit. The canvas will do that when you ink it, but after it dries completely, I will flatten them back out.

I used the sponge daubers with Smoky Slate and Cajun Craze ink refills. I did not dilute the ink at all, so the colors are a bit darker than when you'd stamp them, or even compare it to the cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me share my banner and inspiration for it with you. I hope you will share your own banner ideas with us. Make sure to stop by again tomorrow when we will feature projects with Washi Tape!