A {You Are Amazing} Card...

Hey there!  Happy Friday!!!  I made a grid card today.  I haven't done that in a while and I remember why.  It can be a pain in the butt.  Not the cutting apart, but the lining them up perfectly part.  I think the colors in this card make it masculine, which is hard to come by on this blog.  To me, monochromatic equals masculine.  I used a light blue card stock and then used a dark blue ink.  

Here's a little bit of a different view so you can see the individual squares popped up on foam dots.

I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

{You Are Amazing}

Stamps: All Occasions 2, Sunburst (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Trendsetter Blue, Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Ink: True Blue Fan (CSS)

Accessories: Small Circle Punch, Foam Dots

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A Pregnancy {Congratulations} Card...

Hey all!  Just a simple card to share today.  I tried to keep it gender neutral since this is a card you would send during the beginning of someone's pregnancy.  Pink/Blue/Brown.  I used a bunch of baby sets for this card, so fun to mix and match.  And look, just one extra layer!

It's rainy today so I had to settle for taking this photo using my light box.  I just love taking my card photos outside.  It just looks so much cheerier.  Don't ya think?

I also have a card featured on the Clear & Simple Stamps iPhone App today.  You won't want to miss this cute one!

Have a great day!

{Congratulations}

Stamps: Baby Sentiments, Baby Shower, Party Elements-Baby (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Basics Manila (Basic Grey)

Ink: True Blue Fan, Paint the Town Pink, Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS)

Accessories: Blue Floss, Pink Gem, Corner Rounder Punch

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A {Hello Friend} Card...

Hey there!!!  It was so nice to sit and craft this morning in my little craft studio with a big mug of coffee, that is until the utility tub overflowed!  Thankfully our laundry area is right by my craft area so I heard it as soon as it happened.  Something was clogged in the drain where the water that the washer uses is drained.  Minimal clean-up!

So, there is another great post from CSS's Style Watch this week all about One Layer Cards.   To me, one layer cards usually mean masking.  That's just what I did here with the heart.  I die cut the heart on a post-it note, placed it on the card stock and then stamped the woodgrain over it.  Easy peasy!

I knew my kids made a gigantic mess in my craft area over the weekend.  They even got out my dies *cringe*.  At least they know what paper is off limits.  So, they cleaned up their mess yesterday and this is what I found when I went to craft this morning.  I love that my kids are so creative.

And yes, that is Ellen on my iPad.  I'm about a week behind and trying to play catch-up today.  Watching shows on my iPad while I craft is one of my favorite things to do.  

Things have been really busy around here, but good busy.  I got the iPhone5 on Friday and I'm totally in love with it!  I've never had an iPhone before and I'm in heaven.  The photos today were all taken with the iPhone since it has such a nice camera.  We'll see if it's better than my regular point-and-shoot camera.  

Have a great day!

{Hello Friend}

Stamps: Tweet Notes, Tag Lines, Background Basics 1, Shapes: Hearts (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Ink: Dish All the Dirt Brown, Green With Envy, Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS)

Dies: Shapes: Hearts (CSS) (used as a mask)

Accessories: Red/Green/White Twine (CSS)

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A {Welcome Baby} Card...

Hey y'all!  Have you seen this week's Style Watch from CSS?  Well, I saw it and was immediately inspired to create something with my alpha dies.  I really had the urge to mix and match different patterned papers with my letters.

The letters in "baby" are popped up on two different sizes of foam dots (1/4" and 1/8").

Have a great day!

{Welcome Baby}

Stamps: Baby Sentiments, Sweet Dreams (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Brown Leather Satchel (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Basics Manila (Basic Grey)

Ink: True Blue Fan (CSS)

Dies: Uppercase Alpha, Lowercase Alpha (CSS) 

Accessories: Foam Dots, Twine, Edge Distresser

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A {Thank You} Card...

Hello & Happy Friday!!!  I have a fun little card to share with you today.  Once I picked the colors of card stock I wanted to use, the card came together rather quickly.  I used dies from the combo set Shapes: Squares from CSS.  It's a set that included stamps and dies.  I just used the dies here.  

The green layer and the green heart are popped up on foam dots.  This card was so plain until I added the heart.  The heart is from another combo set called Shapes: Hearts.  

Have a weekend!!!

{Thank You}

Stamps: All Occasions 1 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Trendsetter Blue, Creamsicle Cardigan, Glamazon Green, Orange You Fabulous, Green With Envy (CSS)

Ink: Orange You Fabulous (CSS)

Dies: Shapes Hearts, Shapes Squares (CSS)

Accessories: Foam Dots, Orange Gem

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Another {Mr. & Mrs.} Wedding Card...

Hey there!  I noticed that I was running a little low on wedding cards when my cousin asked me for one.  I had a bunch of "Congrats" and "Best Wishes" cards, but hardly any specifically for a wedding.

Obviously I'm loving the sentiment "Mr. & Mrs." from the All Occasions 1 set from Clear & Simple Stamps.  Actually I am loving that whole set, which is clearly evident by how many cards I've made using that set.   Also worth noting, I cut the sentiment apart.  In the set it is all one piece.

I think that the background building stamp I used is so elegant, perfect for a wedding card.  This card is 5" x 3.5, which is a size I am really loving.  Just a bit smaller than the regular A2 size I make.  

Have a great day!

{Mr. & Mrs.}

Stamps: All Occasions 1, Background Basics 1 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Green With Envy, True Blue Fan, On the Catwalk Cream (CSS)

Ink: True Blue Fan, Green With Envy (CSS)

Dies: Tags 2 (CSS) 

Accessories: Green Floss

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A {Mr. & Mrs.} Wedding Card...

Just a clean and simple wedding card to share today.  It's been a while since I've used an embossing folder and I think this one goes so well with a wedding theme.

ETA: I just realized that the sentiment under "Mr. & Mrs." can't be seen in the above photo, whoops!  It's there, really.  Check out the bottom pic for the full sentiment. I guess lighting is everything.

I also like the cream on cream for wedding.  It seems to be timeless.

I sprinkled a few gems here and there to sort of glitz it up a bit.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful day!!!

{Mr. & Mrs.}

Stamps: All Occasions 1 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream, Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS)

Ink: Glamazon Green (CSS), Vintage Cream (PTI)

Accessories: Birds & Swirls Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Pink Gems, Pink Floss, Foam Dots

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CSS Style Watch!

I have a super fun project to share with you today!  I'm sure you have an iPhone or knows somebody that does. Seems like everyone has one but me, but I'll be getting one shortly when the new one comes out.  What does do crafting and iPhones have in common you ask?  Well, CSS has created a template to design your own insert to go with those clear iPhone cases!!!  I love those trendy and fun cell phone covers, but they are so expensive!  This way, if you already have a clear case, you can change out your insert everyday using supplies you already own.  If you are having a hard time following me, here are some photos that may help.

Here's the template printed on regular copier paper.  I didn't want all of my inserts to use the same color card stock, but I also didn't want to be wasteful by printing the template out a bunch of times of different colored card stock.  You can see here that I planned ahead as to what color and design would be on each template.

I cut four pieces of card stock (from scraps) to fit right over each template and then adhered them with masking tape.  This worked really well and didn't get come apart in my printer. 

Here's what they looked like off once removed from the printer paper.

I would definitely recommend stamping your template and then cutting them, so much easier that way.  If you look closely, you can see the template under all that glorious stamping. 

Once I had the iPhone Cover Inserts made, I needed a cute way to give them to my friend.  Since these covers will reflect how cool, trendy and unique she is, I wanted a card to go with that theme.  

I created a little pocket on the inside of the card so that the inserts could slip right in.  

You can download the template by clicking HERE.  I was just thinking that it would be really cool to use the template on photos as well.  I would probably cut the template on card stock first and use it as a stencil on a photo.  I've seen custom photo covers and I'm sure they are pricey. 

Some of the other design team ladies are getting in on the actions!  You won't want to miss their awesome creations!

Stephany Zerbe

Jennifer Rzasa

Jaclyn Miller

Denise January

Lori Tecler

Clear and Simple Stamps

Have a great day!

{You Are an Original}

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

Card Stock: Dare to Be a Diva Red, A Blanc Check (CSS)

Ink: Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS), White

Accessories: Foam Dots, Sticky Tape, Circle Punch

{iPhone Cover Inserts}

Stamps: Background Basics 1, Squares Plus, Designer Lines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

Ink: Dare to Be a Diva Red, Dish All the Dirt Brown, Say Yellow to All Your Fans, Orange You Fabulous, Glamazon Green, Your Style Blue Me Away, Simply Blue-tiful, Purplicious (CSS)

Accessories: iPhone Cover Template

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A {Thank You} Card...

Hello!  I have another card for the 10 Minute Craft Dash Challenge.  This week the challenge was to use three colors plus neutrals.  The colors are light blue, a darker blue, and a green.  Here's the card I made and it took every second of ten minutes.

This card came together pretty quickly, the most time consuming were putting the gems on the butterflies and gluing them down.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to stop by!  I hope you have a great weekend!!!  Speaking of weekends, I'll have a really fun post for Clear & Simple Stamps tomorrow.  You won't want to miss it!

Have a great day!

{Thank You}

Stamps: Background Basics 1 (CSS), Communique Sentiments (PTI)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream, Trendsetter Blue (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Basics Manila (Basic Grey)

Ink: Simply Blue-tiful (CSS)

Dies: Spiral Notebook (PTI) 

Accessories: Edge Distresser, Stamping Sponge, Floss, Foam Dots, Butterfly Punches (Martha Stewart)

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Blogher Book Club Review...

It's time for another Blogher Book Club selection.  This time it's Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay.    This is such an intriguing book!!!  I was hooked from just reading the inside cover.  It's about a schizophrenic man that is confined to his apartment. Since he can't leave, he does the next best thing to discover the world.  He has a computer program that (like google earth) shows a second in time of the entire world.  Needless to say, the man is obsessed with this program and is able to memorize the addresses and people.  He discovers an image in a NYC store window that looks like a woman being murdered.  I know, this is compelling stuff!  You won't want to miss what happens next!!!

Come chat with us at the Blogher Book Club page.  One of our first topics is about visiting a city virtually.  This is something I would never even think to do.

Have a great day!

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One More {Birthday} Card...

Hey friends!!!  Before I get to my card, I just wanted to share with you a little about my day.  So, I donated blood for the first time back in May.  The process went as planned, but I failed to read the list of things you should and shouldn't do afterwards.  I went right home and started to be a mom again, making dinner, checking homework, cleaning the house.  Within about half an hour of getting home I was sweaty, dizzy and puking.  My husband had to finish cooking dinner because I was either puking or laying down with my feet up.  It took about two hours to feel somewhat back to normal.

It's been over three months and not feeling discouraged about my prior experience, I scheduled an appointment for today to donate blood again.  I remembered how horrible I felt afterwards so I really planned my day so I could just lay down and only have this blog post to write and then I would just take it easy and watch tv until it was time to pick up the kids from school.  I made this card first thing this morning, photographed and edited it and also got down to business on a little project you'll see in a few days.  I even started dinner in the crock pot and straightened up the house a bit so I wouldn't have to worry about it later.

Well, I went to donate blood and my iron level was 1 point too low!  Darn it.  I was so disappointed because this is something that is really important to me and I'm glad I can contribute to society in this manner.  This might be TMI for some of you, but the phlebotomist said that she was sure it was because it was my special time of the month.  Well, I'll know better next time.  So, my afternoon is wide open now.  What to do, what to do?

Okay, enough about me....

I love this card.  I probably love it so much because I love the card it's based on.  Usually when I CASE a card, I try to change as much as I can to make it my own, but I just loved the original card so much, I didn't want to change too much.  The color combo of gray/blue/orange came from this outfit I found on Pinterest.

Since I don't have gray ink, I used black and stamped it on some scratch paper and then on the card (this technique as also called Stamping Off).

I hope you are all enjoying your day.  I'll be sure to report back next time I donate blood, probably it two weeks.  Thanks so stopping by!!!

{Birthday Wishes}

Stamps: Trinket Sentiments, Shapes: Hearts (Clear & Simple Stamps), Mehndi Medallion (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Such a Gray-cious Host, True Blue Fan (CSS)

Ink: Orange You Fabulous, Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS), Vintage Cream (PTI)

Dies: Tags 2, Shapes: Hearts (CSS) 

Accessories: Orange Floss, Glue Dots, Foam Dots

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Another {Happy Birthday} Card...

Hey guys!  I hope you all had a great weekend, we sure did.  Scott and I finally went out last night for my birthday (yes, over a month late).  We had so much fun though, going out to dinner and exploring a new park downtown.

So, my mother-in-law's birthday was on the 30th and it's a big one.  They are finally back in town from a long vacation, so we are finally going to celebrate her 60th birthday by going out to dinner on Sunday.

This card uses the Circle Trio die, but using only two of the circles.  The numbers fit perfectly!

Well that's all for me!  Hope you have a great day!!!

{60 & Fabulous}

Stamps: Block Numbers, Sunburst (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check, Say Yellow to All Your Fans, Trendsetter Blue (CSS)

Ink: Simply Blue-tiful (CSS)

Dies: Circle Trio, Numbers (CSS) 

Accessories: Stamping Sponge, Bright Blue/White Twine, Foam Dots

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