Guest Stamper Catherine Pooler

Today I get to share a video with you from my friend, Catherine Pooler.  She showed her design team a sneak peek of the cards featured in the video and I tried to figure out how they were done.  Turns out, her way is even  easier than mine.

No surprise there.  She has mastered the basics and does a fabulous job of taking her cards beyond the basic. On my card, above, I embossed the image from love notes with black embossing powder onto both black and white cardstocks.  Then I cut out the center of the red piece and layered it on top of the white.  Watch the video below to see how Catherine made her stunning watercolor card.

***Note if you are reading this post in an email or reader, you may need to go to my blog to view the video.  :)  Click on the post title "Guest Stamper..." to go there now.

These two cards are just a small sample of what you will find in the new Basics & Beyond class.

Want to learn more?  Click HERE now.
Want to get the class 50% off?  Become a StampNation member and grab your coupon code.  Clicky
Already joined the class?  Check back in to see the Bonus content added yesterday.  :)

See you in the classroom.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Notes (CASual Fridays), Label Love (SU)
Ink: Versamark, Real Red (SU)
Paper: Real Red & Basic Black
Misc: Artisan Label Punch, Black Embossing Powder

Birthday Bash Begins

StampNation is turning 3 this week and we are having a bash to celebrate!  Our fearless leader, Catherine Pooler, will be having a giveaway each day on her YouTube channel.  It's going to be fabulous!   You don't even have to be a StampNation member to win the prizes, but members do get an extra entry.   :)

SN BB

To celebrate I will be playing along with each of the challenges and hopefully building my stash of birthday cards.  My Design Team cards are exclusive, so you'll only be seeing sneak peeks of those cards here on my blog, but today was my DT day off so I can share the card I made as a member.

Isn't it cute?!  I was in the mood to make a square card so that's what I did.  The embossed pink cardstock is from my neglected scrapbook paper stash.  Sorry, I don't know who made it, but it goes so well with my SU Melon Mambo ribbon and Embossing powder, doesn't it?

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Card Supplies:
Stamps: Label Love
Paper:  Pink Embossed Dots (unkown), Pink Pirrouette, Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo, Versamark

Misc: Artisan Label Punch, Melon Mambo Ribbon (Retired), Scallop Square Duo Die (Retired), Small Oval Punch 

Label Love Stamp & Punch Bundle 

Retired Ribbon Available WSL in the Clearance Rack

Scallop Square Duo Die Available WSL in the Clearance Rack

Artisan Label Punch

Fly High Birthday Boy

Today is my son's birthday.  His dream is to be a Naval Aviator.  When I make cards for people I usually try to make a card that fits their style.  I choose colors and images I think they will like.  Even though he is a teenager, I think he's going to love this one.

Today is also Thursday, so it's time for another StampNation Challenge card. It just so happens that I used the photo below as inspiration for my son's birthday card.  At first glance you may wonder how I went from that photo to this card, but if you look closely you might see the inspiration I drew from it.

First off, the color Red.   My son's favorite color is red, so I knew I could use this photo to make his card.  You might also notice the crisp white background with touches of blue/green.  I took that too for my "sky".  And then there is the texture of the burlap.  I didn't have the burlap ribbon when I made this card last month, so I made my own texture using Off the Grid stamp set in Crumb Cake ink.

The airplane comes from the Need for Speed stamp set.  (retired)  I colored it in with Real Red ink and a blender pen, one of my favorite ways to color.  The plane was cut out leaving a small white border all around it and then popped up on dimensionals.  The clouds were from the Cloudy Day embossing folder.  I just cut a few of those out and adhered it to my Soft Sky Deco Label.

Happy Birthday, my son!  May you always reach for your dreams, wherever they may take you.  I'm proud to be your mom and I love you to the moon and back again times infinity.  <3

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  I think the Cloudy Day embossing folder might be retired.   :(  You can make your own clouds with the icing from the cupcake punch or freehand them, then use your paper piercing tool to add the texture around the edges. 

Stampin' UP! Supplies Used
Stamps: Need for Speed (retired), Off the Grid, Label Love
Ink: Crumb Cake, Black Staz-On, Real Red, Pool Party
Paper: Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Misc.: Blender Pen, Cloudy Day EF (retired???), Deco Labels Framelits




Off the Grid



Label Love



Deco Label Framelits




New Papers

If you have ever visited my craft room or scrapbooked with me, then you know I have thing for papers.  In fact, the thing that pushed me over the edge into becoming a demonstrator was the offer for one FREE pack of Designer Series Paper (DSP) every month for the first year.  I snatched that deal up!   So, it is probably no surprise that in my first order for products from the new catalog I added a couple of packs of new DSP.  ;)  

The thing is that we've been so busy lately I had not had a chance o play with my new stuff.  That is until I got a care package for being on the design team at StampNation.  The sweet card Catherine sent me and the goodies she gave gifted me inspired me to hop into my hobby room and whip out 4 cards, not to mention breaking open my box of new goodies.  This is one of the cards I made that day.   I was inspired to cut into my pretty paper instead of leaving the sheets whole.   What good is paper in a package?  It needs to feel the love and be used.

Don't you just love when a stamp set comes with a matching punch?  It makes it so easy!   I'm really liking the shape of this new punch and the stamps that come with it. 

If you are a paper lover (hoarder) like me, I encourage you to pull out your papers and start using them in your cards, scrapbooks and journals.  You will be glad you did. 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  I can't show you pictures of the new product yet, but I will include page numbers so you can look in your catalog and find them.  :)  The catalog goes live tomorrow at noon, so check in to my website then to get your new catalog goodies.  If you do not have a demonstrator and want a new catalog, let me know and I will send you one.  Just email me your information at cr8tvblessings@hotmail.com

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Label Love (page 33)
Ink: Melon Mambo
Paper: Gingham Garden (pg. 153), Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Misc.: Artisan Label Punch (pg. 181)