When looking at card samples online and at events like the Stampin’ Up! convention, its easy to be drawn in to the “WOW!” cards.  You know, the ones that surely took someone multiple hours to make and look like they should be hung on a wall as art and you could never bear to throw away.  You know which cards I’m talking about. 

I love the inspiration and ideas from these cards, but often I don’t get the time to play with these ideas and replicate many of my favorites.  So, I get extra excited when I see some cards that are clean and simple, and ideas I can try in minutes at home.  Here are a few examples of some of my favorites from Convention this year:

card by Julie Gunhus

card designer unknown

card by Nancy Knowles

card by Rhonda Wells

Each of these cards has a cool touch, from the Fancy Fan letterpress plate (which I’m now convinced that I have to have!), to heat embossing, to glitter and shimmer.  But none of the layers is elaborate or particularly fussy.  So, you could make these at home in no time at all!  Got to love that.

I’m still trying to figure out how to get the best lighting with my new photo tent, so sorry if some of the details are hard to see; but let me say these are all striking in person.  Hope you got some fun ideas to try!  If you have any questions about how any of these cards were made, just let me know!

On a side note, I’ve had some folks ask me in the past about what was the standard card size and how to cut their paper for a typical card base.  So, I’ve thrown together a photo-walkthrough to answer just that question.  So, if you are interested, you can check it out here  – http://www.nwstamper.com/how-to-cut-a-standard-card-base/ and I’d love to hear if you have any feedback on how it could be better or more useful!

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