A {Thinking of You} Card...

Hey guys!  Do you ever see a card that is so simply awesome that you just have to make it yourself?  You think you are making a card just like theirs but in the end it's just not as totally awesome as theirs?  Seriously, I like this card, but it's just not as awesome as Susan Raihala's card shown here.  Of course I changed it a tiny bit to fit what I had on hand.  It's funny that her card inspired me and she based her card off of someone that inspired her.  It's like an inspiration parade!

Anywho, I used some scraps from an older paper pad I had.  I used 5 different pieces of paper (maybe that was the problem, Susan only used 3).  My panel is popped up on foam dimensionals for a little added interest.  

My sentiment is off center and I used a bow instead of twine, those are the rest of the major differences between our cards.  


Do you ever CASE a card and it not turn out anything like the original?  I do that all the time, but I guess it doesn't matter as long as gets you inspired.


Have a great day!

PS.  This card is being sent to one of my "blog buddies".  Someone I've never met in person but I've been thinking about her and her family that are going through a difficult time.  This crazy blog world is something else.  Who would have thought that I would have formed so many meaningful connections with people that I've never met in person?  Certainly not me when I started this blog in 2008.

{Thinking of You}

Stamps: Thinking of You (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Indian Summer (Basic Grey)

Ink: Paint the Town Pink (CSS)

Accessories: Hemp Twine, Foam Dimensionals, Grosgrain Ribbon, Rhinestone Brad, Scallop Edge Punch (SU)

Read more...

A {Congrats Fella} Card...

Happy Monday!  I hope you're all having a great day.  It's a pretty normal day here, and I love that.  I'm such a creature of routine and habit.  I'm also a big planner.  I like to know what's going to happen and when so I can plan.  I love when things are going as planned.

Anyway, I'm happy to be able to share this card with you today.  It uses the new stamp set from Clear & Simple Stamps for May called A Guy Thing.  I just love those shoes!  What are those called?  Chuck Taylor's???  I thought that the plaid paper was just perfect for the shoes.  I stamped the shoe image on the plaid paper, cut them out and  then paper pieced the white soles by stamped the image again on white paper.  

This is such a CAS card.  It's perfect for a guy.  If I would have added anything else it would be too fussy for a guy.  It's hard to see in this photo, but the white paper in the background of the card has a distressed look to it.  It kind of look solid white in the photo.  I think I'm gonna use this as a graduation card.  You can't have too many of those this time of year.

Thanks so much for coming by for a visit with me today.  Hope you are having a happy day!!!

{Congrats Fella}

Stamps: A Guy Thing (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

Patterned Paper: Marjolaine (Basic Grey)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS)

Accessories: Little Black Dress Brads (CSS), Corner Rounder Punch, Foam Dimensionals

Read more...

A {Just a Little Something} Card Set...

Hey guys!  I thought I would start out simple since this is my first day getting crafty in a week and a half.  Well, my card is simple but I made a whole set of 5.  The idea for today's card came about when I saw this card on pinterest (click here to see my pinterest boards).

This was so easy!  I simply punched a bunch of hearts using scraps from the Offbeat paper pad from Basic Grey.  I scored a line down the center of each heart, stacked three and sewed a line down the center.

One the lines were sewn, I fluffed up the hearts a bit to add some dimension.  Then I stamped the sentiment.  

Thanks so much for taking a little time out of your day for a visit, it means so much!  See you tomorrow!!!

{Just a Little Something}

Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS)

Accessories: Heart Punch (Paper Shapers), Sewing Machine & Thread, Baker's Twine (May Arts)

Read more...

Clear & Simple Stamps: Group Project

Welcome to this month's Clear & Simple Stamps group challenge!!!  This month the challenge was to create a card/ project using Kraft Like a Rockstar card stock.  Pretty much every single card I make uses kraft, so the only hard time I had was picking which card to post today.  

I love when manly men wear floral ties.  I just absolutely love it.  None of my ties are paper pieced with floral paper, but I love the floral background .  

This card still looks masculine even though it has a floral element.  Plus, I think the silver brads and distressed edges add a masculine feel.  

With the sentiment "hey fella" you can practically use this card for any occasion for any guy.  Love that!

Make sure you check out all the other group project participants by visiting the Clear & Simple Stamps Blog. I promise you will not be disappointed!  

Have a krafty day!

{Hey Fella}

Stamps: A Guy Thing (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Your Style Blue Me Away (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Marjolaine (Basic Grey)

Ink: Your Style Blue Me Away (CSS)

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Stamping Sponge, Edge Distresser, Foam Dimensionals, Silver Brads

Read more...

A {Dude, You Rock} Card...

This past weekend we celebrated my brother's birthday.  I didn't make a card specifically for him, I just assumed I'd have an appropriate card in my stash.  Well, I quickly discovered that I don't have any cards for guys.  I ended up giving my brother a card that had hearts on it, HEARTS!  I wasn't there when he opened it, so I don't know if the hearts bothered him at all.  Hopefully the cash that was inside distracted him.  


So, today I made a card any guy would be happy to receive.  No flowers, no bows, no ruffles, no frills.  Plaid and flannel are really popular right now so when I saw the plaid patterned paper, I knew it would be perfect.

I added black enamel accents where the blue stripes intersect.  I really like the added interest, plus I added them to the sentiment panel and well.  I used a SU Mat Pack so I would have perfect spacing.  I distressed the edges of the kraft layer to give the card a little bit of a rustic feel.  My stash would be in good shape if I made about 15 more of these!


Thanks for taking the time to drop today.  Have a great day!

{Dude, You Rock}

Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Marjolaine (Basic Grey)

Ink: Brown Leather Satchel (CSS)

Accessories: Black Enamel Accents (Ranger), Corner Rounder Punch, Foam Dimensionals, Edge Distresser

Read more...

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

Read more...

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)

Read more...

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

Read more...

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

Read more...

An {I'm So Grateful For You} Card...

Hey guys!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  We celebrated my son's birthday over the weekend and unfortunately my daughter had a stomach virus and had to miss the whole party.  Good news though, she is fit as a fiddle today.  


For my card today I used a product I purchased at Michaels on Friday.  It's called Enamel Accents and it allows you to make your own pearls.  I love all the flourishes I've seen on cards recently with rhinestones or pearls, but I'm not willing to pay $2.99 a pop.  The pack I bought came with a bottle of each white and black for $5.99 and I used a 40% off coupon.  That's about $1.80 per bottle!  I was actually looking for Liquid Pearls, but my Michaels didn't have it.  I believe those look even more like pearls.


I have a swirl template from Bazzill that I used on my card.  I simply placed the swirl where I wanted it and used a marker to mark all the places to put a pearl.  After I finished applying the pearls, I thought they were spaced too far apart and you would barely tell it was a flourish, so I placed an additional pearl between all the pearls.  

There's a bit of a learning curve to making these pearls.  I love how the ones on the sentiment are perfectly rounded.  The ones on the flourish are sort of flat.   If you guessed I did the sentiment last, you'd be correct!

This is also the first card I photographed in my new lightbox.  I know I mentioned that I made my own lightbox, but the didn't work out so well.  I came across a great deal online and snapped it up.  So far, so good.  

Have a great day!

{I'm So Grateful for You}

Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Patterned Paper: Origins (Basic Grey)

Ink: Espresso Your Style (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Accessories: Enamel Accents (Ranger), Swirl Template (Bazzill), Stamping Sponge, Foam Dimensionals

Read more...

OCC Challenge - Sketch Challenge

Happy Saturday!  It's time for another challenge from Our Creative Corner!  This time we have a super simple sketch that we want you to dress up in your own style, mine being clean and simple.  My oval is a window where the negative image is popped up on foam dimensionals.  All the papers I chose are from Offbeat by Basic Grey.

Make sure you check out the other design team samples at Our Creative Corner.  Linda has been working really hard to jazz up the challenge blog and it looks really great.

Have a great weekend 

{Get Well Soon}

Stamps: Communique Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS), Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Espresso Your Style (CSS), Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories: Heart Punch (Paper Shapers), Stamping Sponge, Green Satin Ribbon (Offray), Foam Dimensionals, Digital Cutter (Silhouette)

Read more...

Clear & Simple Stamps - Mushy For You Blog Hop

Do we have a treat for you today!  On the first of the month Clear & Simple Stamps announced the SOTM, Fun Fungi.  Today is a group post day where the Design Team was challenged to create a set of Valentine's Day cards using Fun Fungi.  This will be a monthly feature and we are kicking it off today with a blog hop.

The blog hop starts at the Clear & Simple Stamps Blog and my blog is the second stop.  Here's the set of Valentine's Cards I came up with.  These cards are tiny, like Vday cards your kids would hand out.  The dimensions are 2.5" x 3".  The card base is Dare to be a Diva Red and it was cut using my Silhouette Digital Cutter.  By the way, this card stock works great in the machine.  Cuts perfectly every time.

The mushroom stamp that I chose was just begging to be paper pieced.  I stamped the image on On the Catwalk Cream card stock using Perfect Little Black Dress ink and then the sentiment using Dare to be a Diva Red ink.  I colored the mushroom stem and grass with markers.  I stamped the mushroom tops on some red patterned paper, cut them out and glued them on the mushrooms.  I sponged the edges with red ink and applied the cream panel to the scalloped card base using foam dimensionals.

Here's a close-up of one of the cards.  Your next stop on the hop is my super talented friend, Kim Howard. Here is a list of the other designers in case you somehow lose your way.  I know how easy it is to get lost amidst all these inspirational blogs.

{Clear and Simple Stamps}

{Dana Grothaus} - you're here!

{Kim Howard}

{Viola Mahr}

{Lori Tecler}

{Ryann Salamon}

Thanks so much for joining me today on the hop.  I hope you enjoy seeing all the Valentine's Day projects and it encourages you to make something of your own.  Have a great day!

{You Put the Fun in Fungus}

Stamps: Fun Fungi (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream, Dare to be a Diva Red

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

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

Accessories: Digital Cutter for Scallop Card (Silhouette), Foam Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge, Markers 

 

Read more...

A {Tea & Friends} Card...

Hey guys!  I've had a busy day so far and there is no end in sight for what needs to get done today.  I'm gonna keep this short and sweet.  This card is for today's sketch challenge at SCS.  I used a sweet little set from Clear & Simple Stamps called Tea Time.  I especially love how the tea pot turned out.  I love to paper piece, I just don't do it very often.

That kraft panel has been stamped with a background text stamp from the same set.  The words are different types of tea.  

Have a great day!

{Tea & Friends}

Stamps: Tea Time (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Kraft (SU)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS), Prussian Blue (Colorbox)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Circle Punch (SU)

 

Read more...

A {Happy Birthday} Card...

Hey guys!  Today I have a card to share that uses this week's CPS Sketch.  Once again I used some Offbeat paper from  Basic Grey.  I am not too crazy about this paper, but the more I use it I've been noticing that I like the sheets individually, but not all together.  On today's card I used one pattern for the background and just a little scrap for the small heart.  I think this works since it's mixed with a bunch of solids.  Not so overwhelming to the eye.  

I added some faux stitching and a red rhinestone as a finishing touch.  I hope you've enjoyed today's card.  Have a great day!

{Happy Birthday}

Stamps: Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Card Stock: Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories: White Gel Pen (Sakura), Red Rhinestone (Kaiser Craft), Heart Punches (Paper Shapers), Edge Distresser

 

Read more...

OCC Challenge - Sketch Challenge

Hello!  I'm here with a fun sketch challenge from Our Creative Corner.  I seriously think sketch challenges are my favorite.  It's so easy to make a card when you don't have to decide on a layout.  I am really digging the color combo on my card.  Blues, browns,and a lime-y green have such a calming feel.  

The background text is stamped using Versamark.  I love the pops of green and I tried to use the "rule of threes" by having those pops of green on three place on my card.  I think it looks balanced, what do you think?

I hope you'll check out all the other awesome creations over at Our Creative Corner.  If you're getting crafty this week, I hope you'll join our challenge.  


Have a great rest of your weekend!!!

{Thinking of You}

Stamps: Text Style (Papertrey Ink), Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Card Stock: Ocean Tides, SS White (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Moss Green (Colorbox), Versamark

Accessories: Coluzzle, Parakeet Brads (Bazzill), Heart Punch (Paper Shapers), Foam Dimensionals

 

Read more...