A {Good Teacher} Card...

I've had such a busy week that I was having serious withdrawal from paper crafting.  I was so happy to have a day (or even part of a day) to spend in my studio.  It's such a great way to relieve stress.

My card today uses a color combination that I love, yellow and gray.  This was the first time I've inked up that background image and I'm smitten!  I was really nervous that it would be hard to line up, but it was actually really easy and that's really why I love clear stamps!

I went with a yellow apple, something a little different than the traditional red apple for a teacher.  You can see in the above photo that the edges are sponged, just to add a little more color.  


If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've been doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  Once I do it today, I'll have completed 5 days, 25 more to go.  Today is the first day my whole body isn't sore. It's a great workout and I'm so lucky to have a friend doing it with me.  It's really easy to put it off to the next day, but you can't do that when you have to be accountable to someone.  It's also only about 24 minutes so it's easy to fit into your day.  I finally feel like I have my plant-based, vegan diet down pat, that all I need to do is add exercise.  Stay tuned about this journey.  Hopefully I'll have some weight loss success to share with you.


Okay, that's enough from me today.  Off to workout!!!


Have a great day!

{Good Teacher}

Stamps: Teacher, Background Basics I, Icons I (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Such a Gray-cious Host, Say Yellow to All Your Fans, A Blanc Check (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Say Yellow to All Your Fans (CSS)

Accessories: Stamping Sponge, Foam Dimensionals

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Holiday Gifts & Tags

Happy Friday!  I'm so excited to be giving my first gifts of the season tonight.  Every December I go out to dinner with my three girl friends and we always exchange gifts.  Nothing big, just a little something.  


I always like to give something handmade and this year was no different.  This year I crocheted  them each a scarf.  I chose yarn that was really soft and chunky, it was a little hard to work with but I love the end result. I actually had all three of these made before Thanksgiving.  Since I usually give them baked goods, I thought I would throw something edible in with their scarf.

 My Aunt Patty always says that presentation is everything, so I made sure I paid attention to all the details and didn't just throw everything in a gift bag.  I wrapped each scarf around the box of hot chocolate and then tied everything in place with some twine (not card making twine, this stuff is heavy duty).

Then I made them each a personalized tag.  I used the Clear & Simple Stamps set Trendy Tags and  Icons I.  Then I dug out some letter stickers that I've had lying around forever.  

What do you think?  Hopefully they'll love it and all the effort put in to making it look nice.  


Have a great day!

{Holiday Tags}

Stamps: Trendy Tags, Icons I (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: TC Garden Cottage (K & Co)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS)

Accessories: Letter Stickers, Foam Dimensionals, Clear Gems, Sheer Ribbon

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A {Welcome Summer} Card Re-do...

Hey guys!  I'm almost embarrassed showing my face today.  I can't believe it's been 6 days since I've posted anything.  It was a totally unscheduled break.  For some reason, the last few weeks of the school year are always crazy busy and this year wasn't any different.  When I had time to be creative, I was exhausted.  I know you guys understand.

So, I was getting some cards ready on Monday (63 to be exact) to submit to CARDS Magazine (hopefully at least one will be accepted) and I was looking at some of my really old cards, ones that I would be too embarrassed to give away.  Do you have a stack of those?  Anyway I was thinking it would be fun to re-do some of those cards and see how much better my skill set is now.  Well, the first card I picked was one I made before I began blogging.  It was a Christmas card I made about 60 of and sent out to all of our friends and family.  I really liked the layout, so that's pretty much all I kept the same.

Original Card

Card Re-do

I really do still like the original card.  I love those lightbulbs and how they look like glass (they were covered with glossy accents).  It would be fun if I still had those stamps to make use them, but that was all the way back in 2007.  So, my new card uses 4 stamp sets.  I didn't have that luxury back in the day.  If you are having a hard time reading the sentiment, it says "Welcome Summer", which we finally are doing.  


The major differences are the stamps used and the overall feel of the card.   I replaced the brads with buttons, used some edge distressing, added a little interest around the sentiment (they are little cream leaves).  I left the ribbon off completely   

Original Card

Card Re-do

I also added some dimension to this card by using foam dimensional adhesive behind the leaf squares.  


I hope you thought today's post was fun.  Hopefully I make-over a few other cards.  It's fun to see how we've all evolved in this little crafty world.  

Have a great day!

{Welcome Summer}

Stamps: Icons I, Happy Fall (Clear & Simple Stamps)Wreath for All Seasons, Text Style (Papertrey Ink)

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

Ink: Green With Envy (CSS), Vintage Cream (PTI)

Accessories: Buttons (PTI), Edge Distresser, Foam Dimensionals, 

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A {Hippity Hoppity Greetings} Card...

Hey guys!  I was looking through my stash of stamps today and realized that I actually do have an Easter stamp.  The bunny came from Icons and the sentiment came from Icon Extras.  I totally forgot that there was a bunny image.  I think I've used them all except the bunny.  What perfect timing!

I love how this card turned out.  It was quick and easy to make, but it looks really cute.  The rhinestone for the bunny's eye is blue, that may be hard to see in the photo.  This card is 3.5" x 4.25".  I've been making a lot of cards this size lately.  I'm not sure why, but I really like this size.

Make sure you stop by tomorrow for a special Earth Day post.

Have a great day!

{Hippity Hoppity Greetings}

Stamps: Icons, Icon Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

Patterned Paper: Gertie (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: Simply Blue-tiful, Coral Necklace (CSS)

Accessories: Blue Rhinestone, Yellow Floss (DMC), Foam Dimensionals

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A {Happy Birthday} Card...

Hey Friends!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  Today starts a super busy week for me.  I hope I can juggle everything.

I wanted to make a CAS card using an interesting color combo.  I created a strip of stars using Kraft Like a Rockstar card stock, Brown Leather Satchel ink, and the star stamp from Icons I.  I matted the strip with A Clean Slate and I'm a Princess Pink card stock.  My ribbon was a little too wide for this card, so I simply folded it in half before I tied the bow.

The sentiment is stamped in Dare to be a Diva Red, although it looks brown in the photo.  I wanted the sentiment to match the rhinestones.

Have a great day!

{Happy Birthday}

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

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, A Clean Slate, I'm a Princess Pink (CSS)

Ink: Brown Leather Satchel, Dare to be a Diva Red (CSS)

Accessories: Red Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Edge Distresser, Light Pink Sheer Ribbon (Offray)

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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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OCC Challenge - Color Challenge w/ a Twist

Hey guys!  We have a fun and unique challenge from Our Creative Corner for you today.  I've seen color charts before, but I've not made a card based on complimentary colors.  You can see the color chart to the left.  The challenge is to use three colors in order from the chart.  


For my card, I used three colors in the lower right quadrant.  I chose a medium blue, aqua blue, and green.  You can also use black and white. I love how the colors pop off the white card stock.  

I actually used three stamps from three different stamp sets. Each layer is popped up on foam dimensionals.  


Be sure to check out the other samples at Our Creative Corner.  You'll find lots of inspiration from all over the color chart.  

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

{You're a Lucky Star}

Stamps: Icons I, Icons Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps), Around & About Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Blanc Check, Glamazon Green (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Ink: Simply Blue-tiful, Green with Envy, Your Style Blue Me Away (Clear & Simple Stamps), Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Foam Dimensionals, Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft)

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A {Happy Heart Day} Card...

Hello!  Today I'm playing along along with CPS's 200th Sketch!  I chose to use these papers because they were still sitting out on my desk from the card I made yesterday.  I just adore the colors of the Love Me Do collection by My Mind's Eye.

The stamps I chose are from Clear & Simple Stamps.  The hearts are from Icons I and the sentiment is one that I created using Icon Extras.  To get extra mileage out of my sentiments, I sometimes cut the words apart.  The word "heart" came from the phrase "from the heart". Since they are acrylic stamps, they are super easy to line back up on the block when you want to put the phrase back together.  


Today Colin celebrated his birthday at school and the clown cake pops were a hit!  All the kids loved them and said they tasted great.

PS.  I ordered an actual light box so I can take better photos of my cards.  They are so hit or miss lately.  The card today is totally cute and the photo doesn't do it justice.  Ugh.  Can't wait till it gets here.  I would love to consistently take good photos indoors.


Have a great day!

{Happy Heart Day}

Stamps: Icons I, Icon Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Dare to be a Dive Red (CSS)

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

Ink: Dare to be a Diva Red (CSS)

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Light Blue Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft ), Stamping Sponge, Foam Dimensionals, Red Rhinestones Strip (Michaels)

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Teacher Tags

Hey guys!  I've had a whirlwind day.  My kids have holiday parties tomorrow, so today was my last day to wrap up a few projects and run a few errands.  Well, they had a snow day!   Talk about throwing a wrench in my plans.  Luckily everything that needed to get done, still got done, just in a more chaotic manner. 

So, I made these tags to go along with the gift my kids are giving their teachers.  These cards are small.  They are roughly the size of a business card when closed.  I used the apple stamp from Icons I and the sentiment is from Icons Extras.  

I made sure the word "special" was right over the green apple.  This was such an easy one layer card to make.  I'll share what I made for their teachers tomorrow.  I hope they have school or they won't have their holiday parties.  


Have a great day!

{For a Special Teacher}

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

Card Stock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Warm Red, Moss Green, Dark Brown (Colorbox)

 

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A {Star is Born} Card...

If you've visited my blog for any short period of time, you know I love to make grid cards.  I just love them.  They are simple but look so impressive.  This card was super easy to make.  I chose three "baby" colors and the star stamp from Icons I.  I stamped the star image four times with each color, cut them out and arranged them on the card adhering them with foam dimensionals.

The sentiment says "A Star is Born" and is from the Icons Extras set.  Also worth mentioning is that the stars are not all pointing in the direction.  I mixed them up for a little added interest.

Here's a shot of all the dimension.  
Thanks so much for taking the time to visit today.  Have a great weekend!

{A Star is Born}

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

Card Stock: Trendsetter Blue, On the Catwalk Cream 

Ink: Blue Lagoon, Rouge, Lime Pastel (Colorbox)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Scissors, Brads

 

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A {Pick of the Patch} Card...

Hello there!  Today I have a card for you using the new SOTM from Clear & Simple Stamps.  I think I've said this before, but I think this is my favorite CSS set yet!  I just can't stop using it. Today I used the pumpkin stamp as my focal point.  I stamped it using brown ink on orange card stock.  I cut out each square and adhered them to the card using foam dimensionals.  That thin strip of brown running behind the pumpkins is actually satin ribbon.  

I love finishing touches and on this card that would have to be the "leaves" on the pumpkin.  I tried to attach these a few ways, but the easiest and best looking way was to just tie a knot with green floss, adhere the knot to the pumpkin stem using liquid glue and then snip the ends to the length you want.  It's all in the details!!!

And here's one last look at the dimension and that cute sentiment "pick of the patch".  Love!  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here tomorrow for an Our Creative Corner Challenge.  

{Pick of the Patch}

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

Card Stock: You're Such a Gray-cious Host, Glamazon Green, Orange You Fabulous, Kraft Like a Rockstar

Ink: Chestnut Roan (Colorbox)

Accessories: Espresso Your Style Ribbon, Green Floss (DMC), Edge Distresser

  

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A {Thank You from the Heart} Card...

Hey all!  Today I have a fun card for the Sketch Challenge at SCS.  I pulled out some patterned paper from My Mind's Eye and some stamps from Clear & Simple Stamps.  The stamps areIcons I and Icons Extras, which are new this month.  I stamped the heart four times and then punched out the centers with a heart punch.  I'll let you in on a little secret.  I punched out the bottom two hearts first without thinking that I had no way of punching out the top two hearts.  So, not wanting to waste perfectly good stamped images, I sliced the panel in half right between the rows of hearts, punched out my hearts and then taped it back together!!!  You really can't tell unless you are really looking for it.  

The patterned paper behind the hearts is attached using foam dimensionals and adds some depth to the card.  The rhinestones on the hearts are a sort of finishing touch. 


Hope your day is going well!  I've been marking things off my to-do list left and right today.  So much to do to get ready for Christmas and I haven't even finished my Christmas cards yet!!!  Have a great day!!!

{Thank You from the Heart}

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

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream (CSS)

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

Ink: Coral Rosé (Colorbox), A Clean Slate (CSS)

Accessories: Red Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Spiral  Notebook Die (Papertrey Ink), Heart Punch (Paper Shapers), Floss, Stampin' Sponge 

 

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Caardvarks Color Challenge

Hello there!  Kinda weird posting on a Sunday, something I almost never do.  But, this is gonna be fun!  Clear and Simple Stamps is sponsoring this week's Caardvarks Challenge and they are also introducing their full Color Story Line complete with 38 fabulous colors!!!

This week's challenge is to make a card that's monochromatic.  I've used two complimentary colors on my card along with the December SOTM, Icons I and Icons Extras.  The colors are Emerald Bling and A Clean Slate.  I also used some double faced satin ribbon in A Clean Slate and some light green rhinestones to add a little elegance.   Enjoy!!!

{Winter Wishes}

Stamps:Icons I, Icons Extras (Clear and Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Emerald Bling, A Clean Slate, On the Catwalk Cream

Ink: Emerald Bling

Accessories: A Clean Slate Ribbon, Light Green Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Foam Dimensionals, Edge Distresser, Stampin' Sponge 

 

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