A {Thank You} Card...

Hello!  I'm so glad to be back after a little unexpected hiatus.  Nothing happened, just the everyday things that pop up that you have to deal with.  Anyway, I'm happy to be back.

I used this week's CPS Sketch for my card.  I didn't intend for this card to be monochromatic, but I really like it.  It sort of adds to the CAS of it.   

Those heart stamps come from one of my favorite stamp sets, Icons I from Clear & Simple Stamps.  It was hard to chose an image to use since I really like them all, but the hearts really complimented the background paper.  Those stamps also work perfectly with this sketch. 


Have a great day!

{Thank You}

Stamps: Icons I, Icons Extra (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, On the Catwalk Cream (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Dare to be a Diva Red (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Accessories: Red Floss (DMC), Foam Dimensionals, Small Hole Punch, Red Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Stamping Sponge

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A Quilted {Bundle of Joy} Card...

It is really cold today but the sun is shining so I decided to photograph today's card outside.  When I finally had some time to play in my studio today, I didn't have a clue as to what I wanted to create.  In my Google Reader I have a list of cards that I want to CASE or techniques I want to try.  That's usually the first place I turn for inspiration.  I've had this card bookmarked for quite some time.  I'm a big fan of Janelle's and subscribe to her blog.  I just had to give that quilt technique a try.

This card is small.  It's about 3.5" square.  This turned out to be a gender neutral baby card.  I'm not a big fan of the color orange, but I do really love this green, orange and kraft combo.  Over all the quilt was really easy to put together.  Since I chose to use patterned paper, I had to be really careful that the design still looked right after all the pieces were cut. I really love the embossing that Janelle did on her card.  So much so that I left mine plain since I didn't think any of my embossing folders would look right.

This week has really took on a life of it's own.  I feel like I've finally gotten everything under control.  I haven't even made it on the treadmill yet today.  Oh, and we're working on our taxes tonight.  Hopefully I'll get a bit of a reprieve tomorrow.  Thanks so much for stopping by, friends!


Have a great day!

{Bundle of Joy}

Stamps: Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft, Spring Moss, Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Espresso Your Style (CSS)

Accessories: Parakeet Brads (Bazzill)

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A {Congratulations} Card...

Finally!  I've have been working on this card all day long.  It's been such a busy day.  I've been squeezing in some crafting time in between running on the treadmill, doing laundry, parent/teacher conference, picking up kids from school, getting a few groceries at the store and attempting to make a new soup recipe.  The soup is simmering on the stove as I type this.  There's still laundry to fold and a salad to prepare.  Like I said, busy day.

So, here is my card for today.  It's based on this week's CPS layout that I don't particularly like, but it really intrigued me.  I had to give it a go.  This card uses the Silhouette a lot.  The letters were cut from the black patterned paper and then matted on yellow patterned paper.  The leaves and rolled up flowers were images I cute using the Silhouette.  I think these flowers look so much better than my first attempt. I guess practice really does make perfect.

I love the striped ribbon.  My SIL's was getting rid of some of her sCrap stuff and I rescued a few rolls of ribbon that I knew I could use.  

Have a great day!

{Congratulations}

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Accessories: Digitally Cut Images and Letters (Silhouette), Glue Dots

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Clear & Simple Stamps - App Sneak Peek

Hey there! I  Just wanted to let you know I have a card featured today on the Clear & Simple Stamps App for the iphone today.   You can see a sneak peek below.  This is a card created exclusively for the APP and you won't see it anywhere else.   If you haven't downloaded the APP, you can click here to do it. 

Have a great day!

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A {Congratulations Friend} Card...

Hello!  I made this card this morning, I was really itching to use my Silhouette.  I have always loved the cards that have letters with patterned paper behind it.  Is there a word for that?  I thought it would be really cool way to make a stack of cards for a gift and it would be quick and easy as well as clean and simple.  Some day, some day!

Anyway, I used the Silhouette to cut the kraft rectangular shape along with the letters for "friend".  After I punched out the letters, I glued the center of the "d" and "r" with glue to the patterned paper.

Here's another view.  The gems didn't photograph very well, it looks nice in real life.  This card is really giving me a masculine vibe with the earthy colors and lack ribbon and flowers.  


Take care!  Thanks for stopping by!

{Congratulations Friend}

Stamps: Icons Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Espresso Your Style (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Ink: Espresso Your Style, Emerald Bling (CSS)

Accessories: Digital Cuts (Silhouette), Edge Distresser, Stamping Sponge, Light Green Rhinestones

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A {Happy Spring} Card...

Hey friends!  I was drinking a cup of coffee this morning, browsing my usual blogs and websites when I cam across a challenge at Moxie Fab World.  The challenge Cath issued was to make a card using paper piecing. My favorite thing to paper piece lately are these adorable umbrellas from the Spring set from Clear & Simple Stamps.  So, I made this happy little spring card.  


The cloud paper I chose has some distress lines in it that make it look sorta windy so the umbrellas look like they are blowing around.  

Here's a close-up shot of the black enamel accents I used on the tops of the umbrella.  


Have a great day!

{Happy Spring}

Stamps: Spring (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Love Me Do (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Dare to be a Diva Red (CSS) 

Accessories: Black Enamel Accents (Ranger), Foam Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge

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Available Today...

Great news!  Clear & Simple Stamps has paired up with PaperCrafts Magazine for a special feature in their March/April 2011 issue.  This issue is available starting today!  You'll want to flip to page 33 and there you'll find a special web address where you can access exclusive projects you'll find no where else.  There's also a QR barcode if you want to access the site on your smartphone.   

Hope you check it out!

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A {Hope Your Day is Fabulous} Card...

Hey guys!  I was itching to get crafty this morning, but I did run on the treadmill first.  That's been my every-other-day routine for the past 6 weeks.  The other day I ran for 20 minutes straight!  That is something I never thought I'd be able to do and it feels great.

One of the reasons I was so eager to get in my studio this morning was because Papertrey Ink has started a new "Make it Monday" challenge.  This week's challenge was to include a vellum sentiment strip on your card.  I wanted to do something unique with the vellum so I decided to cut it so that the corners would fall in the middle of a flower and then put a rhinestone on that flower.  Kinda cool?

The layout for this card is this week's CPS Sketch.  This week's sketch was a little more complicated than their basic sketches that I'm used to.  I was still able to keep a CAS look though.

Thank you for clicking over to my little corner of the blog-o-sphere today.  You have no idea how much joy you bring to my day.  Have a wonderful day!!!

{Hope Your Day is Fabulous}

Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Spring Moss, Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Early Bird (Cosmo Cricket)

Ink: Not Quite Navy (SU)

Accessories: Clear Rhinestones (Michaels), Vellum, Corner Rounder Punch, Foam Dimensionals

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An {Under the Weather?} Card...

Happy Valentine's Day!  Thought I'd have a Valentine's Day card to share, huh?  Well, I've had that one done for a while. Click here to see it.  

For today's card I used the new Clear & Simple Stamps SOTM, Spring.  Would you believe that those raindrops in the background weren't one stamp?  They are a one inch strip that you line up to create the look. It was so much easier than I thought it would be and I am an love with the look.

I paper pieced the umbrellas using some fun patterned paper.  The umbrella panel is popped up on two layers of foam dimensionals and the sentiment panel is popped up on one layer.

I hope you all get to spend some time with your loved ones today.  Enjoy your day!!!

{Under the Weather?}

Stamps: Spring (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Clean Slate, A Blanc Check (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: A Clean Slate, Perfect Little Black Dress

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Stamping Sponge, Foam Dimensionals

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Valentine's Day Classroom Craft

Halle had her Valentine's Day party at school on Friday and I was chosen to bring a craft for all the kids to make.  I will admit that I'm pretty crafty but kids crafts are really not my thing.  I was thinking of doing something really cool with the Silhouette, but there are 27 kids in her class and that would take a lot of time for the machine to cut everything and switching out all those papers.

I ended up with the idea of making wrappers for Hershey Bars.  All I need was 27 Hershey Bars, 27 wrappers, and a bunch of paper scraps.  I took the paper scraps and used those to punch out large and small hearts.  I also threw in some chipboard pieces and die cuts that I've had lying around for a while.  I think I went a little overboard here.  I still had half a bag left after all 27 students decorated their candy bars.

Here's the supplies that I took to school.  The kids used their glue sticks and markers to decorate the bars.  We ended up taping the red paper around the bars since the glue sticks didn't work very well.

Overall I think it went really well.  I was afraid that the boys would think all the hearts were too girly, but they really didn't seem to care.  The had fun showing off their creation.  I created a collage below of some of them.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

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A {Happy Birthday} Card...

Hello!  Once again I have another card using two challenges.  The first challenge was another one from Papertrey Ink wanting you to use buttons in a new way on your card.  Instead of using my buttons as an accent, I used them as my focal point.  The next one was the Ways to Use It challenge at SCS that were challenging you to make a birthday card, easy peasy.


The colors for this card came about when I saw the cover of the March 2011 issue of ALL YOU.  I love the white, green and yellow combo.   I could have thrown in some magenta but it might have taken away of the CAS-ness of this card.

I used a really neglected stamp set for this card, Around & About Sentiments.   It was one of those must-have sets that I don't really use as much as I should.  I'm gonna keep this one at the top of my pile in hopes I'll use it more.

Here's another view so you can see some of the dimension.  The green panel is distressed and popped up on dimensionals.  The white squares are popped up as well.

Hope you all are having a great day!

{Happy Birthday}

Stamps: Around & About Sentiments, Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: SS White, New Leaf, Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Garden Green (SU), Yellow Citrus (ColorBox)

Accessories: Ripe Avocado Vintage Buttons (Papertrey Ink), Yellow Floss (DMC), Corner Rounder Punch, Edge Distresser, Foam Dimensionals

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A {Thank You} Card...

Hello there!  I'm sharing this yummy card with you today.  For some reason it reminds me of neopolitan ice cream.  I guess it's the pink and the horizontal strips.  Anyway, this card combines two challenges.  The layout is from today's sketch challenge at SCS.  The colors come from today's color challenge at Papertrey Ink.  The color combo I chose to use is: Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado, Hibiscus Burst, and Sweet Blush.

I love how the embossing continues over all three colors of card stock.  I simply cut three strips of card stock, adhered them to the card base and then embossed it was one piece.  


Thanks so much for visiting today.  Hope you have a wonderful day!!!

{Thank You}

Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Old Olive (SU)

Accessories: Pink Rhinestones (KaiserCraft), Corner Rounder Punch, Birds & Swirls Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Green Ribbon (Offray), Foam Dimensionals

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Clear & Simple Stamps - Group Challenge

Hello!  Today we have a special treat for you!!!  The Clear & Simple Stamps Design Team have put together some spring ensembles using the new SOTM, Spring.  

For my spring ensemble I decided to make a tag and box combo.  The box was cut using the Silhouette and Purplicious card stock.  Everything was tied together using VIP Purple satin ribbon.  


The base of the tag is Purplicious card stock with distressed edges.  I stamped the background rain drops using VIP Purple ink and of course those cute little umbrellas were paper pieced.  

Here's a view from the side so you can get an idea of the size.  It's a little hard to see, but I used some black enamel accents on the top of each umbrella to give them a little dimension.  I love that little touch!


You won't want to miss the Spring Ensembles the rest of the Design Team created:

Viola Mahr

Cristina Kowalczyk

Kim Howard

Ryann Salamon

Lori Tecler

Tracy Schultz

Clear and Simple Stamps

Thanks so much for visiting today!

{Singing in the Rain}

Stamps: Spring (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Purplicious, VIP Purple, A Blanc Check

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, VIP Purple

Accessories: VIP Purple Satin Ribbon, Purple Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Edge Distresser, Digital Cut Box (Silhouette)

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A {Home} Card...

Hey there!  Happy Monday to you all!!!  I'm a bit tired today after staying up late and having to drive home after the SuperBowl was over.  The kids definitely had a hard time getting up and ready for school.  


This card uses this week's CPS Sketch.  I took a lot of liberties with this sketch, I hope they don't mind.  This card uses paper from the Echo Park collection called Life is Good.  This collection comes with a two sheets of stickers, one is alpha letters and one is images and sentiments.  I used both kinds on this card.  As soon as I saw the "home" sticker I remembered seeing a father and daughter on Ellen singing a song called "home".  It is a cute, whimsical song and the little girl is absolutely precious.  Click here to see the video on Ellen. So, that's how the sentiment came about.  


I used a white gel pen to draw an apostrophe between the "i" and "m"  but I just realized that you really can't see it at the angle I took the picture.  I also just realized that I didn't use any stamping on this card, that hardly ever happens!


Have a great day!

{Home}

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Life is Good (Echo Park)

Accessories: Life is Good Stickers (Echo Park), Green Floss (DMC), Foam Dimensionals

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A {One-of-a-Kind Friend} Card...

Hey friends!  I received so many kind comments on the text background and layout of this card, I thought I would try it again.  The Silhouette Studio Store has a free image every week and last week the free image was the dress form I used on today's card.  It cuts in two pieces, the entire dress form and then shirt/dress part.  


To make the masked text background I created an image using the Silhouette Studio.  I simply made a rectangle that was 5.5" x 4.25" and then inside that rectangle I cut another rectangle that was 3.5" x 2.25".  Once this was all cut out, I removed the middle rectangle, placed the paper (looking like a frame) over the card front and then stamped the text.  Since the text turned out so faint I used a white gel pen to outline the box, tracing along the lines of the mask.  Easy peasy!


I have a fun weekend planned.  Tonight is a girls dinner at my friend's house.  She has a meal planned that celebrates the Chinese New Year.  That should be fun and interesting.  It's impossible not to have fun when I'm with those girls.  Tomorrow night is a date night with my hubby.  Hopefully dinner and a movie and then we'll end the night watching our cousins make fools of themselves doing karaoke.  And then of course Sunday is the SuperBowl.  We'll be cheering on the Packer's at a party at another friend's house.

Hope you all have a fun weekend ahead of you!

{One-of-a-Kind Friend}

Stamps: Friends 'til the End, Text Style (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, On the Catwalk Cream (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Patterned Paper: Early Bird (Cosmo Cricket)

Ink: Warm Red (Colorbox), Chocolate Chip (SU)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Red Floss (DMC), Red Rhinestone (Kaiser Craft), Circle Punch (SU), Digital Cut Dress Form (Silhouette), White Gel Pen (Sakura)

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An {Enjoy the Ride} Card...

Hey there!  I made this card this morning using today's sketch challenge from SCS.  To be honest, I like the idea of this card a lot more than I like the actual card.  I've been wanting to do a white on white card.  It's something that my mind keeps going to when I start thinking of card making.  Although I'm not in love with this card, I still wanted to share it.  

I used black enamel accents on the boat's portholes.  I think that turned out cute and much easier than brads or eyelets.

Thanks so much for dropping by!  See you tomorrow!!!

{Enjoy the Ride}

Stamps: Across the Miles (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check, Simply Blue-tiful (CSS)

Ink: Simply Blue-tiful, Trendsetter Blue, Perfect Little Black Dress, Dare to be a Diva Red (CSS)

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch (SU), Foam Dimensionals, Black Enamel Accents (Ranger)

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Clear & Simple Stamps - February 2011 Release

Hey there!  Today is the first day of the month and you know what that means!  A new stamp set from Clear & Simple Stamps!!!  It's called SPRING and it's just what you need to get you through these cold winter months.  I love all these adorable umbrellas and sunshine and warm rain.  I almost forgot what rain was since all we've had is snow.

Here's a cute bridal/baby shower card I made using one of the umbrellas and a little paper piecing.  Those umbrellas are just screaming to be paper pieced.  

I used Dare to be a Diva Red for my ink on On the Catwalk Cream card stock.  This is such a clean and simple card, but I think the background paper really ties the images and colors together nicely.  

Here's a different view so you can see the dimension of my card.  


Thanks so much for sharing in the excitement today!  I can't wait to share some more cards with you.  




PS.You'll be seeing a lot of that rain background stamp.  It is so easy to make a stunning background.

{It's a Shower}

Stamps: Spring (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream

Patterned Paper: Be-Loved (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Dare to be a Diva Red 

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Floss, Stamping Sponge

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