Nutz about Stamping

Spotlight an awesomely artistic and delightful card

I found this week's Paper Craft Crew challenge....well....a challenge! It seemed so open in nature that I struggled with what to create. So I am going to show you my thinking and steps along the way to create what turned out to be pretty awesomely artistic!

First, the map. And if you want to see what others created, head over to the Paper Craft Crew.

And now you can see why I sat here thinking for a while! But after a few minutes I pulled two sets off the shelf: Awesomely Artistic and Tin of Cards. Click on either of the photos below to buy them at my Online Store.

Awesomely Artistic Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$20.00

Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set
$6.60

 

I began by stamping the flowers onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock, using my Basic Black Archival ink:

 Next, I decided on my card base, Basic Black, and a layer of It's My Party designer series paper:

For embellishments, I chose two rolls of Everyday Chic Washi tape:

 

 

 Do you see a theme beginning to emerge? I decided the flowers by themselves looked pretty 'naked' on the cardstock so I added some Basic Black splatters using a stamp from the same Awesomely Artistic set:

 

Then I adhered all the layers together and added two strips of Washi tape towards the bottom:

 

 It was at this point I knew I wanted to add some color so chose: Crushed Curry and Mint Macaron.

 

 And added some color to my flowers:

 

Now it was time for a phrase. I chose the 'hello' from tin of cards for two reasons: first I was mailing this card to my son and the 'friend' phrase from Awesomely Artistic didn't work so well for me. Second, Tin of Cards is photopolymer so I could stamp the phrase without making a mistake:

One final change - I added a second piece of Washi tape to make it look like a strip across the whole card, then added the phrase using Stampin' Dimensionals. And here is my awesomely artistic and delightful card:

I love hearing from you: post your comments under this blog post!

One final touch: a strip of washi tape on the inside layer to complete. Now I am ready to add my letter and mail it off to my son. 

3 easy steps to make a beautiful teacher appreciation card

This is such a fun time of year for teachers - when the entire community recognizes the value of the hard work and dedication they have towards our children. And today I have a fun and easy teacher thank you notecard that you can make to go along with the gifts you will be giving. 

As a former teacher I can tell you that I kept all the notes I received from the parents of my students. There are so many times during the year that I felt worn out, overworked, frustrated with the system and ready to throw in the towel. But one note from a kind parent made all those sad feelings disappear instantly. 

So why not grab these two stamp sets and make this cute card in three easy steps. (Click on the photos below to order at my online store)

Birthday Blooms Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$19.00

Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set
$6.60

Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes
$6.00

 

 

I love to hear from you - please post your comments under this blog post!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Birthday Blooms clear #140658, wood #140655, Tin of Cards #138946

Inks: Old Olive #126953, Melon Mambo #126948, Basic Black Archival #140931, Basic Black marker #100082

Paper: Whisper White Notecards & Envelopes #131527, Melon Mambo #115320, Whisper White #100730 

Accessories: Blender Pens #102845, SNAIL Adhesive #104332

 

Measurements:

Melon Mambo: 4 3/4 x 3 1/4”

Whisper White: 4 1/2 x 3”

 

Instructions:

 

1. Ink border stamp using Basic Black Archival ink and stamp 4 side of Whisper White layer. Ink Thanks and stamp then add remaining border using Basic Black marker.
2. Ink flower stamp and stamp onto Whisper White layer. Color using Blender pens.
3. Adhere Whisper White layer to Melon Mambo layer then to Whisper White notecard.

How to make an attractive graduation card, outside and in

This weekend a colleague at work is graduating with her MBA and I wanted to make her a special card to honor her hard work and dedication. I decided to create a video tutorial to share with you too. 

I used a few different products to make my card - click on any of the photos below to head to my Online Store

Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set
$25.00

Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set
$6.60

Floral Frames Collection Framelits Dies
$27.00

Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack
$8.00

 

Here's the card I created - and don't miss more photos and the video tutorial below!

I love hearing from you - post your comments under this blog post!

 

Tin of Cards Graduation card

Stamp sets: Crazy about You (137137), Tin of Cards (138946)

Ink: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Calypso Coral

Paper and cutting dimensions:

   Very Vanilla: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2", 2 1/4" square
   Pretty Petals paper stack (retiring soon): 3 1/2 x 5 1/2", two strips: 1/2 x 5 1/2"
   Calypso Coral: two strips 1/2 x 5 1/2"
   Old Olive: 3 1/2" square

Accessories: Big Shot, Magnetic Platform, Floral Frames framelits (127012), Whisper White Baker's Twine, SNAIL adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Sponges, Tear & Tape adhesive, Itty Bitty Accents punch pack (retiring soon: 133787)

Here's what I designed for the inside of the card and for the envelope:

 

Now on to the video tutorial!

Creating a fun baby card using a card map

Last week I shared a wedding card idea (click here to see the wedding card) using this card map: 

 

I loved that card so much that I decided to make a baby card using the same layout. This time I used Zoo Babies, Go Wild paper and my Chalk Talk framelits. Click on any of these images to place an order at my Online Store:

Zoo Babies Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$20.00

Chalk Talk Framelits Dies
$17.50

Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack
$8.00

  I love hearing from you - post your comments under this blog post!

Have I convinced you go give this card map a try? Want to see more card map ideas over at the Paper Craft Crew website? Click here!

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Three easy steps to making a beautiful card

I have another card map for you today - one that is very simple and will create gorgeous cards too!

First, the map - a Paper Craft Crew challenge:

I knew that I had some Pretty Petals paper I wanted to use up before it retires and the butterfly pattern made me think of the Butterflies framelits. Along with the Crazy About You phrase and my card was complete:

Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack
$8.00

Butterflies Thinlits Dies
$25.00

Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set
$25.00

 

Step one: the paper layers

Step two: The butterfly 

Step three: the phrase layer and dots (from the Cupcake Builder punch)

I love hearing from you - post your comments under this blog post!

Now it's your turn - try this easy map the next time you craft. And email me a photo - I would love to see what you create too!

Four ways to organize your stamp sets

I recently conducted a customer survey and asked what their biggest frustrations are. And in all honestly I was a bit surprised. The number one answer was organization. It appears that many of you struggle to keep your crafting supplies organized and I can certainly help with that. 

Here's the first thing you need to know: you don't have to spend a lot of money to help you become organized. Yes, you see a lot of YouTube videos of crafters sharing their beautiful and well stocked craft rooms and that's nice.... but not necessary. I recently moved and if you follow me on Periscope (@nutzaboutstamps) I will soon show you how I organize all of my crafting supplies!

For today, let's talk about organizing your stamp sets. I see four ways of doing this:

1. Alphabetical
2. Thematic
3. By Catalog
4. By type of stamp set (clear, photopolymer, wood, other)

Is there one right way? A simple answer: no. I have seen all four ways done and even a combination of all four (yikes) which I would not recommend. 

Here's how I organize my stamp sets:

I have them divided into clear mount/photopolymer and wood mount. I bet you can guess which kinds I prefer! And mine are organized* alphabetically (A-Z). I laid them in their sides deliberately too. I can easily see the name if looking by name but I can also see the images in the spine so sometimes look by image too. 

How do you organize your stamp sets? Do you use one of the four methods above? Or do you do something different? Post your answers below by clicking on 'Comments'. 

*The sets in the photo above are all current. My retired sets are stored in a box until I sell them.

Give your mom a beautiful bouquet on Mother's Day

Mother's Day is coming soon and today I wanted to give you another Mother's Day card idea, using your Big Shot, Ovals Collection framelits, Birthday Blooms stamp set and Birthday Bouquet designer series paper. Check out the card and video tutorial below!

Click on any of the product photos below to purchase at my Online Store: 

Birthday Blooms Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$19.00

Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper
$11.00

Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
$27.00

 

 

I love hearing from you - post your comments under this blog post!

Birthday Bouquet for Mom

Stamp set: Birthday Blooms (140658)

Ink: Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride, Black Archival 

Paper and cutting dimensions:

   Mint Macaron: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2"
   Whisper White: 4" square
   Birthday Bouquet paper: 5 1/4 x 4" 1 7/8 x 5"; 1 1/2 x 3 3/4"

Accessories: Big Shot, Magnetic Platform, Ovals Collection framelits, Whisper White Baker's Twine, SNAIL adhesive, Banner Triple punch (138292), Blender pens

Here's the video tutorial - thanks for watching!