A {Let's Celebrate Grant} Card...

Happy Halloween!  If I had planned better (such is life, huh?) I would be sharing a Halloween card.  Instead I have a card I made over the weekend for my nephew who was baptized on Saturday.  Since I'm not religious, I don't have any religious quotes or cross stamps, so I just made do with what I have.  And who doesn't love a personalized card?

I used three different stamp sets here.  I masked the the center with a post-it note, trimmed to size.  Then I took my PTI Mehndi Medallion stamp set and stamped the middle sized medallions first (dark blue and green ink) and then I stamped two smaller medallions (turquoise and red ink).  It looked a little too evenly spaced and like it was missing something, so I took the large medallion and stamped it using light green ink all over the card so there were no empty spaces.  I took a blue ball point pen and traced along the post-it note to achieve the look of the frame, then removed the post-it note.

I used two Clear & Simple Stamp sets for the inside of the frame.  I spelled out GRANT using Alpha Varsity and colored the inside of the letters with a blue copic marker.  I stamped "let's celebrate" in red ink and then the only small medallion I didn't use on the border I stamped in green next to GRANT.


It's not religious but definitely suitable for a baptism.  My nephew was so adorable too!


Have a great day and have fun!!!

PS.  This card fit's this week's PTI Make-It-Monday challenge which is to create a background with your stamps.

{Let's Celebrate Grant}

Stamps: Alpha Varsity, Let's Celebrate (Clear & Simple Stamps), Mehndi Medallion (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Ink: Green With Envy, Dare to Be a Diva Red, Simply Blue-tiful, Glamazon Green, Your Style Blue Me Away (CSS)

Accessories: Blue Pen, Post-it Note

Copic Marker: B93 

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Organizing Your Child's School Work...

I'm sure you all have it together in the the organizational department, but I will admit that I don't.  I hope you don't have your kid's school work from the previous three years just sitting in a bin like I do here.  What a mess!  And now that it's almost November, this years school work is piling up on my kid's dressers.  It's about time I did something about it.

Oh, and don't forget this one here.  It's stuffed so tightly the seams are about to burst!

I wanted to share a little afternoon project with you that helped me get a system in place for school work I wanted to keep for sentimental reasons and to just see how much they've grown.  


Now, I have two kids and both kids work was mixed up in those bins and bags.  There were even school fliers and things that I have no idea why I kept.  Let me tell you right off, this will not be fun, but it will be satisfying when you are finished.  

First off, you'll need to get some 2 gallon sized zipper bags.  These are from my local grocery store and cost around $2.  My daughter Halle is now in third grade with two years of preschool and my son Colin is in first grade with two years of preschool.  I decided to lump their two years of preschool together just to make it a little easier on myself.  So, I needed 5 bags for Halle (preschool, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade) and 3 bags for Colin (preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st grade).  These bags are great because they keep things separate and waterproof.

Now, dig in to that school work and separate it by grade and child.  You need to be ruthless.  I didn't save any worksheets, coloring book pages, or anything that didn't show individuality.  If it didn't have a name on it, I pitched it.  You can't keep everything, but you do want to keep art work (unless your daughter has a knack for drawing the same exact puppy or princess  over and over and you have 200 of the same picture).  I also kept anything involving creative writing.  I love seeing their perspectives on things and those are things they will really get a kick out of seeing later in life.  Some of their past teachers created a sort of scrapbook of the year which is wonderful and have been saved as well.  I believe I included a class picture in each bag along with their report cards.

After it's all said and done, here's what I'm left with (and an overflowing recycling bin).  They each have a zipper bag in their rooms for the current school year.  I have noticed that the largest bags are from preschool and they start getting smaller from there.  I guess they must do a lot less arts and crafts and a lot more reading and work sheets the older they get.  The bags from this current year don't have very much in them yet compared to last year's bags.  


Going forward I've been throwing out graded worksheets as they bring them home, after they spend some time on the refrigerator.  Creative writing and art work and other projects go in their respective bags after being hung on the fridge.

Have a great day!

PS.  If you are inspired to do this in your home, make sure you put the finished bags away, maybe in a closet or keepsake chest of some sort.  You won't feel as satisfied if they are laying in the middle of your living room for two weeks, trust me, I know these things :)

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A {Card Making Kit}...

Hi there!  I have one last project to share with you this month using the Clear & Simple Stamps sets: Craft Room & Crafty Sentiments.  This is a little gift tin I whipped up to give a crafty friend.  It includes some envelopes, blank card bases, buttons, die cut shapes, some ribbon, and and some clear stamps.

The tin is one I've had in my stash a while.  I think a watch originally came in it.  I recovered it to hide the tacky pattern that was printed on the tin.  Tied ribbon around the sides and made a cute tag.

 The ribbon is stamped using Perfect Little Black Dress ink on A Blanc Check satin ribbon, no bleeding!

For a finishing touch and to give my friend some card making ideas, I stamped the card images on a blank piece of card stock and then sketched some layouts with a pencil.  Everything you could ever ask for in a  card making kit.  

Have a great day!

{Card Making Kit}

Stamps: Craft Room, Crafty Sentiments (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, A Blanc Check, Coral Necklace, Simply Blue-tiful (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Gertie (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Simply Blue-tiful, Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS)

Accessories: A Blanc Check Ribbon (CSS), Brads (Making Memories), Corner Rounder Punch, Square Tin (Filled w/ card making supplies), Stamping Sponge

Copic Markers: R85 

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A CAS-ual Fridays {Colorful} Card...

This week Clear & Simple Stamps is sponsoring a challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.  Our own Laurie Willison challenged us to use markers, pencils, chalk, etc. to add color to your CAS card.   I chose to use Craft Room and Craft Room Bonus for my card.  It was a little ironic to be coloring images of copic markers using my copic markers.  Weird, huh?

I think this sentiment is perfect for a challenge where you needed to add color.  I actually cut up this sentiment so I could space the words out and use different colors of ink.  I really like the rhinestones.  They really seem to make the card look special.

Here's a close-up of the sentiment banner.  It's curves just a bit and adds just the right amount of dimension.  


Head on over to CAS-ual Fridays Blog and check the cards from their design team as well as some linked up from the Clear & Simple Stamps design team.  

CAS-ual Friday participants get a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Clear and Simple Stamps. And as an added bonus, use the html code below to add the CSS blinkie to your side bar, and leave us a message with a link to your blog and we will randomly select (3) blogs featuring the CSS blinkie to win the Limited Edition Crafty Bonus stamp set!

{bonus offer closes Thursday, Oct 27th at midnight, EST}

Hope  you all have a great weekend!!!

{You Color My World}

Stamps: Craft Room, Craft Room Bonus (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check, Coral Necklace (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Simply Blue-tiful, Paint the Town Pink, Creamsicle Cardigan (CSS)

Accessories: Rhinestones (Recollections), Foam Dimensionals, Labels 9 Nesties (Spellbinders), Birds & Swirls Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug)

Copic Markers: R81, R83, R85, B93, B95, B99, Y32, Y35, Y38, W1, W3 

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A Spooky {Happy Halloween} Card...

Hello!  I thought it would be fun to make a Halloween card using PTI's Holiday Lights set and use it for a different holiday.  I stamped the lights using orange and purple ink and then stamped some black spiders randomly on the lights. Spooky, huh?

The Halloween sentiments are from a Clear & Simple Stamps set that hasn't seen ink since last October.  I hope to make a few more Halloween cards with that set.

This card is pretty much a one layer except for the little Happy Halloween rectangle.  


Thanks for stopping by to see today's card!

{Happy Halloween}

Stamps: Beware (Clear & Simple Stamps), Holiday Lights (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream, Creamsicle Cardigan (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, VIP Purple (CSS)

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Foam Dimensionals

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A {Football} Card...

Hey all!  I don't know if you remember the problems I was having with my Silhouette (from this post).  Well, I had to send it in to be fixed, luckily it is still under warranty.  I received it back a few days ago and they sent me a brand new one!  I have to say that I'm quite impressed with this company.  When I first called about the problem, an actual person answered the phone!  I wasn't even transferred.  They sent me an email with directions of something to try and gave me info to send it in if I couldn't fix it myself.  I ended up sending it in (paying for the shipping and insurance myself) and about two weeks later I got the new one in the mail.  As some of you know, a new Silhouette comes with a $10 gift card to the Silhouette Store, new mats, and blade.  I'm sure you can tell that I was tickled pink.  


I was originally using my Silhouette to make a football themed card for my brother.  I owed him $10 for joining his fantasy football team and guess what?  I still hadn't sent him the money!  Here's the card I made.  It's pretty different than any of my other cards, but it was quick and got the point across.

The inside just might be my favorite part. 

Our Bengals are on a three game winning streak!  Whodey!!!

Have a great day!

PS.  I'm not going to list my supplies since it's just card stock and everything cut using the Silhouette.

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Creating Keepsakes Convention: Cincinnati

Hello!  On Friday I was fortunate enough to meet up with the gals behind Clear & Simple Stamps at the Cincinnati Creating Keepsakes Convention.  Lucky for me I only live about 25 minutes away from Cincinnati.  Nicki & Reenee were teaching copic classes at the convention and I tagged along, picking up a few new tricks.  

Me, Nicki & Reenee

This is a bird's eye view of the showroom floor.

In the classroom, scrappers eager to learn about copic markers.

Nicki teaching.

Some GORGEOUS examples of cards using copic markers.

One of the cards made during the class.

Nicki & Reenee setting up the booth for the Friday night crop.

I had a blast hanging out with Nicki & Reenee.  I loved helping out during the classes.  It's really exciting to see someone figuring it all out for the first time and be so proud of themselves when they get the hang of it.

If you are interested in learning about using copic markers, Nicki has an AMAZING tutorial here. Don't forget there are additional resources along the right sidebar.   Now, of course, I'm itching to get some more copics!


Have a great day!

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A {Thinking of You} Card...

Hey guys!  In a few short hours I'll be off to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Cincinnati.  But, I thought I'd pop on here real fast and share a card I made yesterday but didn't have time to share.

This card was really fast and easy because it's a CASE of this card from Cristina Kowalczwk.  I think I have more of her cards pinned on my Pinterest boards than anyone else.  

The colored strip is popped up on foam dimensionals and overhangs the sides of the card. Super easy!

Have a great day!

{Thinking of You}

Stamps: Iconic Images (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check, Purplicious, I'm a Princess Pink, Your Style Blue Me Away, Glamazon Green, Orange You Fabulous, Dare to Be a Diva Red, Say Yellow to All Your Fans (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS)

Accessories: Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart), Black Rhinestone (Kaiser Craft), Foam Dimensionals, Sticky Tape, Glitter

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A {Happy Birthday Crafty Girl} Card...

Hello!  Can you tell I am loving this Craft Room set?!!  I am loving the clean and simpleness of this one.  You can never go wrong with black and white with a pop of color, or can you?  

Here's a different view so you can see all the layers.

I also have a card featured on the Clear & Simple Stamps App for the iPhone.  This is one of my all time favorite cards and I think you can see why!  Yep, that's my little girl!!!

I hope you have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by!!!

{Happy Birthday Crafty Girl}

Stamps: Craft Room, Crafty Sentiments (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check, Coral Necklace (CSS)

Ink: Paint the Town Pink, Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch

Copic Markers: W3, W1, W5, B95, R85

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Clear & Simple Stamps: Group Project

Hello!  For our group project this month we have a card sketch designed by former design team member, Kim Howard.  Take a look:

Such a clean and simple layout, but I took it a step further by making my card one layer.  Check it out:

I used the marker stamp to create the thin horizontal lines.  I wanted the ribbons to look like they were hung on a rod, like in many craft rooms.  I masked the spools to make them look like one solid image.  

After I was done coloring all the images with regular markers (crayola), I outlined them all with a light gray copic marker to add a little dimension.  


Take a look at what the rest of the design team created:

1. Lori
2. Laurie
3. Kim
4. Cristina
5. Tracy
6. Laura B.
7. Laura O.
8. Clear & Simple Stamps 

Thanks so much for dropping by!  Have a wonderful day :)

{Thank You Crafty Friend}

Stamps: Craft Room (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Dare to Be a Diva Red, Your Style Blue Me Away (CSS)

Accessories: Markers (Crayola) 

Copic Markers: W1, W3, W5

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A {Wishing You Everything Good} Card...

Hi there!  Just a quick and easy card to start out the week.  This uses another new stamp set, Mehndi Medallion from PTI. Today is the first day of my kiddos fall break.  We'll be planning our week off later today, I'm sure it'll include going to the movies, the library and lots of time playing outside.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great day!!!

{Wishing You Everything Good}

Stamps: Mehndi Medallion (Papertrey Ink), Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Card Stock: Green With Envy, Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Ink: Glamazon Green (CSS)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Glitter Pen (Sakura), Circle Punch (SU), Stamping Sponge

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A One Layer {Season's Greetings} Card...

OMG!  I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted a card.  Our vacation was amazing, although it was tough being away from the kids.  I expected to be tired, but not this busy.  We've had a book fair at my kid's school this week that I've been helping with and there was also a homecoming parade (not to mention boy scouts and soccer practice).  Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it.

My husband's birthday is tomorrow so I should have made a card for him, but I received some new PTI stamps while I was on the cruise and I couldn't wait to use them.  Since my husband very rarely reads my blog he won't know that I just picked his birthday card out of my stash.  Shh!

So, this is a one layer holiday card.  As soon as I saw the strings of lights I knew I wanted to create a frame with them with a sentiment on the inside.  I used two colors of green ink and red.  I still need to work a little on lining up the bulbs on the line, don't look too close!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

{Season's Greetings}

Stamps: Holiday Lights, Stylish Sentiments: Holiday (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Dare to Be a Diva Red, Glamazon Green, Green With Envy (CSS)

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Blogher Book Review...

The next book I am reviewing for the Blogher Book Club is called: How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway.  Based on the title alone, I was intrigued by this book.  I'm a housewife (god, I hate that word) and I sort of thought it would be a hoot to see what I was doing wrong and how I should improve.  Well, that's not really what this book is about.

It's about a woman named Shoko who was raised in Japan, marries and American when Japan was occupied by American soldiers and they move to the United States.  The book takes place in the present day but frequently flashes back to Shoko in Japan with her family and how she came to the present situation.

This book plays off of an actual reference book called How to Be an American Housewife, written in Japanese and English, and is quoted at the end of every chapter.  The purpose of the book was to help Japanese women transition to the American way of life and how to keep their husbands happy.  It was so interesting to me to get a peek into a world that I never even would have given a second thought to.  It was really a great book and I would urge you all to read it.  Already read it?  Join the conversation here!

Have a great day!

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