CSS Group Project: Joyful Resolution

Hello!  I have a super fun project to share with you today.  It's group project day for Clear & Simple Stamps and today we are sharing a New Year's favor along with a crafty resolution for the new year. 

I had so much fun making this wine tag.  As soon as I had the idea of using the champagne class for the #1, I was ready to go!  It's funny how it takes just a little something for my mind to go into overdrive.  

I started with a strip of card stock about 7" long and a little less than 2" wide.  I used a circle die from Shapes: Circles to make the opening that would slide over the wine bottle neck.  I stamped it using the woodgrain stamp from Background Basics 1.   The label itself uses a frame Label Frames 1 stamped using Dare to Be a Diva Red ink and then cut out.  I added some diagonal pink lines using Designer Lines.  That cute little wine glass is from Taglines and is colored using copic markers.  The die cut numbers were adhered using foam dots, so they literally pop off the label.  The sentiment is from the Limited Edition set JOY.  

As far as my crafty resolution is concerned, it's all about organization.  From keeping a blog agenda, scheduling more posts,  handing in projects before the deadline, to keeping my studio space neat and tidy.    

Be sure to check out the designers projects and resolutions:

• Lori Tecler
• Clear & Simple Stamps Blog

Have a great day! 

{NYE Wine Tag}

Stamps: Background Basics, Label Frames 1, Designer Lines, LE Joy, Taglines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Dish All the Dirt Brown, Dare to Be a Diva Red, I'm a Princess Pink (CSS)

Dies: Shapes: Circles, Numbers (CSS) 

Copics: Y32, Y35, W1, 110

Accessories: Foam Dots 

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#DrawnTogetherForCT

Hey friends!  If you are part of the crafting community you may have already heard about the #DrawnTogetherforCT project that my friend Amber Kemp-Gerstel is spear heading.  If you have not already heard about it, let me fill you in.  Amber is a Child Psychologist by day and an amazingly talented crafter by night.  We were all heart broken when tragedy struck Sandy Hook Elementary last Friday and I know I felt the strong urge to help out in some way, but how?  How can I have a direct effect on the children of Newtown, CT?  That's where Amber jumped in with both feet with a plan.  She is collecting crafty items (markers, card stock, glue sticks, stamps, etc) to put into art kits to send to the many places that have programs set up for the kids affected.   Amber is also accepting monetary donations to pay for supplies and shipping.

Amber suggested making a card for the kids to include in each art kit that is made.  I made 12 cards using Little Critters and Critters Sentiments.  They are purr-fect for kids!  Just a little something to let them know that somebody out there is thinking of them.

I made two types of cards, one says "with LOVE for you" and the other one says "PURR-FECT in every way".  Inside I wrote a note saying "You are special today and every day. " The cat's body is colored with a copic marker (W5) and the nose as well as part of the sentiment used a fuchsia colored sharpie marker.  There are little clear gems on the eyes.

For quite some time now I've had a massive pile of craft items I wanted to sell.  Most of them were from magazines in exchange for having a card published.  Most was not my style at all.  #DrawnTogetherforCT was the perfect opportunity to get rid of these things.  It's a win/win.  I get some space and kids get some crafty goodies.

It's hard to see everything in there, but that box is packed with LOVE.  It was so fulfilling to participate in this project.  I hope you are able to contribute a little something.  Amber, this box of LOVE is headed your way!!!

Have a great day!

{#DrawnTogetherForCT Cards}

Stamps: Little Critters, Critters Sentiments (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress  (CSS)

Dies: Little Critters (CSS)

Copics: W5 

Accessories: Foam Dots, Clear Gems, Fuchsia Sharpie Marker

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A {Happy Holidays} Card...

Things sure do get crazy this time of year.  I vowed to get all of my shopping and wrapping done before my kids started winter break.  I actually stuck to this and therefore have not posted much on the blog lately.  Like last year, I also vowed to not buy any gift cards.  I like a challenge I tell ya.

I bought a gift for my husband that is a Groupon and I don't just want to hand him a piece of paper so I made this card this morning.  I used my silhouette a lot since he did by that for me for Christmas two years ago.  I thought architecture was pretty masculine, so that's where the whole I idea of the window came from.  The tree is on the inside of the card, that's why it's photographed with the card closed.

I created "siding" for my house by using my Martha Stewart scoring board.  I sponged the score lines and edges with brown ink to make the "siding" more noticeable.  I think overall this card has a vintage/shabby chic look.  Is it possible to be shabby chic and masculine?  I'm not sure.

 You can see a bit of the dimension is this above photo.

And here's the lone tree on the inside.

I'd like to post some more over Christmas break (I have one post scheduled already) but I'm not making any promises.

Have a great day!

{Happy Holidays}

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Holiday (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Glamazon Green, Pressed Greige Linen, Gray-cious Host (CSS)

Ink: Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS)

Accessories: Silhouette, Foam Dots, Stamping Sponge, Scoring Board (Martha Stewart)

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{Personalized} Holiday Tags...

Hello!  Happy Friday!!!  Every year my girlfriends and I go out to dinner and exchange a little gift.  We did this a few nights ago, so I can safely share these on my blog.

Last year I crocheted everyone a scarf and I've made treats in previous years.  I really went a different way this year and bought them something.  It's something I would like to receive myself so I knew they would like them.  You can see in the photo below that they each received a 5-pack of drink mixers.  You mix each bottle with a certain type of alcohol (rum, tequila, or vodka).  I found these at Target.

You can see the tags I made above (I just had to make something!).  And below you can see them tied with a big red ribbon around the handle on the drink mixes.

These tags were made using four sets of CSS dies: Uppercase Alpha, Lowercase Alpha, Tags 1, and Leaflets. Once I had everything die cut, I just assembled everything.  

The letters are actually stamped with a houndstooth pattern from Designer Lines.  It's red ink on red card stock.  In person it shows up really well, but it did not show up in the photos. 
Have a wonderful weekend!

{Holiday Tags}

Stamps: Taglines, Designer Lines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Glamazon Green, Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS)

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

Dies: Leaflets, Tags 1 (CSS) 

Accessories: Mini Hole Punch, Foam Dots, Ribbon

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A {Glamazon Green} Special CSS Project...

I have a special Clear & Simple Stamps project for you today.  Pantone just announced the 2013 color of the year - Emerald, which is the equivalent to CSS's Glamazon Green! Everyone know's that Glamazon Green is my very favorite CSS color.  I could not pass up the opportunity to make a card dedicated to my favorite color. 

My card was actually pretty simple to make, but with a big payoff.  Dontcha just love that?  I simply ran a sheet of Glamazon Green card stock and the entire configuration of Leaflet dies through my Cuttlebug and then randomly adhered them to a rectangular panel of the same color.  I trimmed around the edges of the rectangle, I had pretty many die cut leaves left over. 

Here's a close-up.  I matted the green panel on a piece of Brown Leather Satchel card stock and distressed the edges. I adhered that panel to the kraft card base using foam dots.  You can see in the close-up that the sentiment panel has some green sponging around the sides.

Take a peek at what the other designers created using Glamazon Green:

• Laura Bassen
• Lori Tecler
• Clear & Simple Stamps

Have a great day!  Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

{Thinking of You}

Stamps: All Occasions 2 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

Ink: Glamazon Green (CSS)

Dies: Leaflets (CSS)

Accessories: Stamping Sponge, Foam Dots, Edge Distresser

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CSS Group Project!!!

We have a super fun project to share with you today!  The CSS design team and I have been challenged to pick a project from our past that we really liked, and then redo it using the new stamp set, Limited Edition: JOY.

The card I am CASEing is the one above.  It's not the greatest photo, but I just love how it looks in person.  It's a CAS card and I wanted to replicate it for a different occasion.

I happened to need a baby shower card for friends of ours that just adopted a newborn baby girl.  It was one of those showers where you bring a book to start the baby's library.  That's where the idea of using the book from Sweet Dreams came from.  I colored the book using copics.

As you can see, I kept the same layout of the card, just switched the card orientation so that the front panel is longer.  I kept the text on the bottom of the card, but used the test from Sweet Dreams filled with nursery rhymes.

The Limited Edition stamp set, JOY, can be used for many happy occasions.  This is just one example. How do you get this Limited Edition set?  Read all about it on the Clear & Simple Stamps Blog.

Check out the rest of the design team as they replicate one of their favorite CSS projects using the new JOY stamp set:

• Kim Duran
• Jennifer Rzasa
• Elena Roussakis
• Jaclyn Miller
• Laurie Willison
• Tracy Schultz
• Lori Tecler
• Clear & Simple Stamps

Have a great day!

{A Bundle of Joy}

Stamps: Limited Edition JOY, Sweet Dreams (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: I'm a Princess Pink, Paint the Town Pink, Cre'me de la Cream (CSS)

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

Accessories: Foam Dots

Copic Markers: W1, W3, R83, R85

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A {Thinking of You} Card...

TGIF!  So happy Friday is finally here!  My husband has been out of town for business all week and we get to pick him up from the airport late tonight.  The kids are so excited to stay up extra late and pick him up wearing their pajamas.

I had so much fun making this card!  It's filled with those warm autumn colors that are my favorite.  I stamped the jar outline and the jar filling first.  I just love that shadow stamp, it really pulls the card together.

I die cut and stamped the jar topper.  Tied some twine and attached some charms.  I used Pressed Greige Linen for my neutral color, I just love the warmth of that color.

Have a great weekend, I know I will!

{Thinking of You}

Stamps: Well Preserved Jars: Large, Well Preserved Jars: Extras, Leaflets, All Occasions 2 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Pressed Greige Linen (CSS)

Ink: Glamazon Green, Orange You Fabulous, Dish All the Brown, Rouge Ruffles, Brown Leather Satchel (CSS)

Dies: Well Preserved Jars: Large, Leaflets (CSS) 

Accessories: Brown/White Twine (CSS), Foam Dots

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An {Oh Baby!} Card...

Hey friends!  All of my Christmas cards were mailed out this morning and I feel like a weight has been lifted!  It was so nice to sit down and make a non-holiday card.  I decided to make a baby card using Baby Shower and Designer Lines from CSS. 

I started with a kraft card base, then die cut the giraffe into the base.  I cut the brown and blue strips separately, using masking tape to hold the die in the right place while it ran through the Cuttlebug. 

I adhered a square of pink card stock behind the giraffe opening and added a bow to make this card look a little more feminine.  

Thanks for stopping by!

{Oh Baby!}

Stamps: Baby Shower, Designer Lines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, I'm a Princess Pink, Trendsetter Blue, Brown Leather Satchel (CSS)

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

Dies:  Baby Shower (CSS)

Accessories: Red/White/Pink Twine (CSS), Corner Rounder Punch

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CSS Customer Appreciation Month!!!

Hello, hello!  I have some exciting new to share today.  December is Clear & Simple Stamps Customer Appreciation Month!  During this time they release a new year-end Limited Edition stamp set.  This set is not for sale, for details on how the stamp set is earned (it is earned in increments), please visit the Clear & Simple Stamps Blog.  

Here is the stamp set: 

Isn't it FAB? As you can see it focuses on JOY, but not just holiday joy.  This set can be used year round and I will show you that throughout the month.

If you've been hanging out around these parts for a while, you know that I make Christmas cards every year.  I usually make about 75 and work on them over the course of a couple months.  Not so this year! I made my cards in three days!!!  It really helped that the kids were in school all day and I had big chunks of time to dedicate to the task.

Here's my process:

• First things first.  You need a prototype.  Once I figured out what my card was going to look like (above), I could start cutting all the components.  
• I cut these trees out on my Silhouette.  They perform double duty.  Since you only see the right side of the tree, I cut the tree down the center and then took the left side and flipped it over.  That way I only needed to cut out half the amount of trees and it was less wasteful that way too.  

• I cut the stars out on the Silhouette as well.    

• Here's all the paper items I needed to assemble the center panel.  
• I started off by using adhesive to apply the tree, then I trimmed the edges off the top and bottom of the tree.

• Then I adhered the star using liquid glue.

• Here they are all spread out.

• While I was waiting for the glue to dry on the stars, I stamped the sentiment "Wishing You Hope, Peace &" on the red strip.

• It's very important to do this in front of the TV to stave off boredom.  I did all my holiday card making on the coffee table in my living room, not in my studio.

•  Once the stars were dry, I trimmed off the excess. 

• I must have forgotten to photograph the next part, but I stamped the word "JOY" on each tree base.  
• Then I stamped the snow.  I used white ink and little snowflake stamp from the stamp set "Taglines".

• All that was left now is to apply the red sentiment strip with foam dots and then adhere the entire panel to a white card base using more foam dots.  
• I cut and scored all of the card bases a few weeks ago at a girls craft night.  At that point I had no idea what my card would look like, but white card stock for the base was a pretty safe choice.

• Here's what they look like all spread out on my coffee table, all 74 of them!  (I'm missing one because my first prototype was a disaster).

Clear & Simple Stamps is also releasing metallic card stock, envelopes, ribbon and gift wrap!  Just in time for you to make holiday cards and to decorate gifts.  They come is gold, silver, and a shiny white.

I can't wait for you to see what the other designers have created with the new, limited edition JOY stamp set!  You won't want to miss it.  

• Laurie Willison
• Lori Tecler
• Elena Roussakis
• Jaclyn Miller
• Kim Duran
• Jennifer Rzasa
• Tracy Schultz
• Laura Bassen
• Clear & Simple Stamps

Have a great day!

{Wishing You Hope, Peace & Joy}

Stamps: Limited Edition JOY, Taglines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check, Glamazon Green, True Blue Fan, Say Yellow to All Your Fans, Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS)

Ink: True Blue Fan (CSS), White

Accessories: Foam Dots, Silhouette Shapes (Tree & Star), Silhouette Machine

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A {Celebrate This Special Moment} Card...

Hello!  Hope everyone is having a great week.  I made this card in protest of the cold weather we are experiencing here, and it's only going to get colder.  Thoughts of spring were in order.

This is a one layer card that uses a bit of masking.  I started by stamping the sentiment first, embossing it with silver embossing powder, masking it, then stamping the jar and then the flowers in black ink.  

 The flowers are colored with watercolor pencils, then smoothed out a bit by using an aqua-painter.

I used a glitter pen to fill in the centers of each flower.  You can only see it when the card catches the light.

Have a great day!

{Celebrate This Special Moment}

Stamps: Well Preserved Jars Extras, Well Preserved Jars: Large, All Occasions 2 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Pressed Greige Linen (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, From an Anonymous Source (CSS)

Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Glitter Pen, Watercolor Pencils, Aqua-Painter

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