CSS Release in Review, Day 1...

Hello!  Today is the first day of Clear & Simple Stamps release in review.  Today I'm focusing on two new stamp sets that were released last month: Air Mail and Alpha Clear.

Since I made a Valentine's Day gift for my daughter, it's only fair I make one for my son as well.  I tried to keep it as masculine as I could but still use hearts for Valentine's Day.

The card uses a Pressed Greige Linen card stock base, one of my new favorite neutrals.  I used the arrows from Air Mail, the letters from Alpha Clear, the heart from Shapes: Hearts Combo, and the little heart that replaces the "o" in Colin's name is from Love Cupid.  

I used the Party Favor #3 die for the box in True Blue Fan card stock.  I trimmed a thin piece of Glamazon Green card stock for the handle.  Before I folded up the favor box I die cut a heart (from Shapes: Hearts Combo) and adhered a piece of clear acetate behind it.  The strip that says "colin" uses the same stamps as the card, with the colors switched up a bit.   

You won't want to miss the other projects from the design team:

• Elena Roussakis
• JJ Bolton <------- designer="" guest="" li="">
• Clear and Simple Stamps Blog

Have a great day!

{Colin's Vday Card & Treat}

Stamps: Air Mail, Alpha Clear, Shapes: Hearts Combo, Love Cupid (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Pressed Greige Linen, True Blue Fan, Glamazon Green (CSS)

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

Dies: Party Favor #3, Shapes: Hearts Combo (CSS) 

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch

Read more...

An {I Love You} Card...

Yep, more lovey-dovey Valnetine's Day stuff.  I think you guys will be happy when I stop using red on every single card I make.  Lol, too much of a good thing?

Anyway, I made another Valnetine's card, but this one can double as a simple "I love you" card.  Lot's of fun stuff going on here.  I die cut the heart in kraft card stock first, then embossed it with the woodgrain impression plate.  

I took a piece of cream card stock, stamped the sunburst image using red ink, then placed it under the heart, once in place I stamped the black heart outline.  

Check out the black faux stitching!  I haven't done that in for-evah!

TIP: The sentiment stamp "I Love You" is all one piece, however I didn't want to cut my stamp apart if I didn't absolutely need too.  So I stamped the full sentiment in cream ink on the black card stock strip, then cut apart the strip in the center of the word "love" and stacked the two strips on top of each other so that only one or two letters of the word "love" were showing, just enough that the heart would cover them and the spacing looked right.

Have a great day!

{I Love You}

Stamps: Sunburst, Love Cupid, Shapes: Hearts Combo (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Perfect Little Black Dress, Kraft Like a Rockstar, Cre'me de la Cream (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS) Vintage Cream (PTI)

Dies: Imprints 4, Shapes: Hearts (CSS)

Accessories: Foam Dots, Stamping Sponge, Mini Circle Punch, Black Fine Tip Pen

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A {Congratulations} Card...

Hi there!  Just a quick post today.  This card is a CASE of this beautiful card I saw yesterday on Dawn McVey's blog.  I loved her card and had to see how I could make it using my stamps.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although it still pails in comparison to Dawn's card, which is utter perfection.

I really do like the touch of black, it really grounds the card.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit, have a wonderful day!

{Congratulations}

Stamps: All Occasions 1, Love Cupid (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Cre'me de la Cream (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Purplicious, VIP Purple, Coral Necklace, Paint the Town Pink (CSS)

Accessories: Purple/White Twine (CSS)

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CSS Group Project: Favors

I have such a fun project to share!  Today's group project from Clear & Simple Stamps is to make party favors.  I decided to make these party favors for my daughter and her friend so they can have an American Girl Valentine's Day Party.  Each favor is filled with mini valentine's they can trade between their dolls and stuffed animals.    

I started my pulling out my Cuttlebug, Cube die and new Tiny Note + Envie dies.  I die cut the cube using red card stock (2), the envie using white printer paper (5) and the note using red card stock (5).  I cut two extra notes using white card stock for the fronts of each cube.

Each cube contains 5 valentines.

I had so much fun dressing up my daughter's doll.  She noticed right away that her doll had mysteriously changed clothes while she was at school :)

You won't want to miss the fun party favors some of the other DT members created:

• Audrey Tokach
• Laurie Willison
• Lori Tecler
• Clear & Simple Stamps Blog

Have a great day!

{Doll Party Favors}

Stamps: Taglines, All Occasions 2, Love Cupid (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

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

Dies: Tiny Note + Envie, Cube (CSS)

Accessories: Red/White Twine, Sticky Tape, Stamping Sponge, Mini Hole Punch, Printer Paper

Read more...

CSS Release Day! Week 3...

Hello!  I hope you are having a great weekend so far!  Clear & Simple Stamps is releasing some super fun items this weekend, including stamps and dies.  One of the newest stamp sets is called Air Mail and is so versatile.  You'll see!  I used it to create the above ensemble.  Let's take a closer look.  

I started with a kraft card base and stamped those "short diagonal lines" around the perimeter of the card and then the "Air Mail/Fragile" wording along the upper right and lower left hand sides.  Check out that cute envie!  It's a new die called Tiny Note + Envie.  I used vellum so you would be able to see the heart through the envie.  

I adhered the envie to the card with foam dots and then stamped the sentiments in black.

The heart is removable, making this card interactive.

For the favor, I used the same stamps as I used on the perimeter of my card.  The favor was made using the Party Favor 1 die and kraft card stock.   I made a tag by punching a small hole in the "tiny note" from Tiny Note + Envie dies.  I used the "to and from" stamp from Trendy Tags 2 and the heart is from Love Cupid.

I cannot wait to see what the other ladies created!  They are always such an inspiration!!!

• Elena Roussakis
• Audrey Tokach
• Kim Duran
• Lori Tecler
• Laura Bassen
• Laurie Willison
• Tracy Schultz
• Clear & Simple Stamps Blog

Have a great day!

{Sending You My Love + Favor}

Stamps: Air Mail, Love Cupid, Trendy Tags 2 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

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

Dies: Tiny Note + Envie, Party Favor 1, Shapes: Hearts (CSS)

Accessories: Red/White Twine (CSS), Foam Dots, Vellum

Read more...

Another {Valentine's Day} Card...

Hi!  Yep, another Valentine's Day card.  I'm running so low on red card stock that I'm starting to get nervous!  I only have scraps left.  I need to reorder, stat!  

I started working on this card Sunday, I had the perimeter of the card done and then it just sat for a couple days, not knowing where to go.  I finally decided on a Valentine's theme.  The scroll and sentiments come from Love Cupid, which has been seeing a lot of action lately.  And the little randomly stamped heart is from Taglines: Critters, but any little heart will do.  

Designer Lines is definitely one of my favorite  background building stamp sets.  Its so versatile and the images are so bold and graphic, my favorite.

Have a great day!

{Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetheart}

Stamps: Love Cupid, Designer Lines, Taglines: Critters (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Cre'me de la Cream, Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS)

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

Accessories: Foam Dots

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A {Be Mine} Valentine Card...

Hello!  It's been hard, but I am determined to post five times a week.  Hopefully once I get going, I won't be able to stop.  So, this morning I was checking out my Google Reader and stumbled upon the Silhouette free shape of the week (one of the many things I love about Silhouette), and the shape was actually a full card with all the embellishments.  I really liked the card base, so I decided to use that for my card today.  Everything you see in pink was cut with my Silhouette, the hearts at the bottom were the centers of the hearts at the top.

I really liked the diagonal lines at the bottom of the card the was made on the Silhouette Blog, so I recreated that using lines from Designer Lines from CSS.  I simply placed post-it notes over the top of the card when I stamped the lines in black.

The sentiment comes from Love Cupid.  The hearts and sentiment panel are all popped up on foam dots.

I love Valentine's Day!  I'm sure you'll be seeing more Valentine's Day stuff from me leading up until the big day.

Have a great day!

{Be Mine Valentine}

Stamps: Love Cupid, Designer Lines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS)

Accessories: Digitally Cut Image (Silhouette), Gems, Foam Dots

Read more...

A {Just a Note} Card...

Wow, that was quite the blogging hiatus I just had.  It was glorious though, my hubby was on vacation and the kids were on break.  Not much crafting happened unless you count cooking and baking (which I definitely do).  I did teach myself how to knit, just the basics though.  

Since I haven't made a card in a week or two, I knew I should start with something easy.  A one-layer card was in order.  I pulled out an older CSS set, Love Cupid.  It contains a damask image that is cut in two, right down the middle.  I arranged both halves on my acrylic block to make the shape that is stamped on the left, I turned the stamp 180* and stamped the right side of the card.  

The stamped images actually go off the card on both sides, I trimmed the edges after the images were stamped.

After I stamped the main image in pink, I took the two stamps and individually stamped a "shadow" of the first image in yellow, slightly toward the center of the card.  

The card ended up being a little small, perfect for "just a note".  The finished size is approx. 4" x  2.75".

Have a great day!

{Just a Note}

Stamps: Love Cupid, All Occasions 2 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Cre'me de la Cream,  (CSS)

Ink: Coral Necklace, Say Yellow to All Your Fans, Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS)

Read more...

A {With All My Love} Card...

Hello!  I can't believe I'm actually ahead of the game here.  I'm typing this Tuesday night and scheduling it to post on Wednesday since I know I'll be working.  I love subbing for Halle's teacher.  She's not yet old enough to be embarrassed by me. Unfortunately I also photographed my card tonight as well.  It's definitely not a good photo, but the close-up one below turned out okay.


So, this is a sort of collage of a card using elements from two stamp sets.

That's it for me today/tonight!!!


I'll see you back here Thursdays!

{With All My Love}

Stamps: Love Cupid, Background Basics I (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream, Kraft Like a Rockstar, I'm a Princess Pink (CSS)

Ink: Dish All the Dirt Brown, Simply Blue-tiful (CSS)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Circle Punch, Floss 

Read more...

My {Dawn} Card...

Hey there!  I'm sure you all know about the PTI 5th Anniversary activities that are happening.  I settled in with a tall cup of joe this morning, inspiration struck and I actually made 2 cards!  I know, that's almost unheard of in these parts!  I used Dawn's digi image and created a card very "Dawn" card and used Maile's digi image to make a very "Maile" card.

Here's my first card and it's totally obvious this is not a "Dana" style card, but it is totally Dawn.  Lots of shaped layers and patterns on top of patterns.  The sun is out in full force today so my cards look a little bright.

My daughter had this totally girly patterned paper out on my desk (she was making valentines) and it was just perfect and paper that I probably would not normally use. I also stamped a damask image on the notebook paper (which is actually light pink) and I had to include a frilly bow.

Please read the next post for my Maile card, I had to split them into two separate posts.


Have a great day!

{Happy Birthday}

Stamps: Digi Stamp (PTI), Love Cupid (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft

Patterned Paper: With All My Heart (SEI)

Ink: VIP Purple (CSS)

Accessories: Spiral Notebook Die (PTI), Labels 9 Die (Spellbinders), Circle Punch, Foam Dimensionals, Sheer Pink Ribbon, Edge Distresser

Read more...

A {Be Mine, Valentine} Card...

We had such a huge release at Clear & Simple Stamps last month that we are going to have some cool projects lined up these next few days to give you even more ideas of things you can do with all the new goodies.  The design team and I are reviewing the all the new products and we'll have a fun re-release party on February 5th.

To me, nothing says Valentine's Day like red and white.  I started this card off with some gingham patterned paper with a kraft band along the left side.  I stamped the cupid in red ink on kraft card stock, cut him out and popped him up on foam dots.  I stamped the scroll image using white ink on red paper. One of the really cool things about clear stamps is that you can manipulate them.  I took the "valentine" stamp and curved it to fit perfectly in the scroll, then I stamped it in black ink.  I cut out the scroll and adhered it to the card using foam dots.  I stamped "be mine" in red above the scroll.

For the finishing touch, I used a white gel pen to create faux stitching along the border.  


Have a great day!

{Be Mine, Valentine}

Stamps: Love Cupid (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

Patterned Paper: Silver Valley (SEI)

Ink: Dare to Be a Diva Red, Perfect Little Black Dress (CSS), White 

Accessories: White Gel Pen, Foam Dots

Read more...

An {I Love You} Card...

Hello!  Today's card could either be for Valentine's Day or any day you want to tell someone you love them.  I used the both heart stamps from Quotes II so create a sort of chevron pattern.  I really had to plan this card out ahead of time.  I made diagonal lines using a pencil in both directions, then stamped the solid hearts in red and the outline hearts in pink.

The sentiment come from the Love Cupid set as well as the brackets.  A fun background with a simple sentiment, one of my favorite types of cards.

I have a card featured today on the Clear & Simple Stamps App for the iPhone (and like devices).  It's one of my absolute favorite cards I made for this release.  I really hope you check it out!

Have a great day!

{I love you}

Stamps: Quotes II, Love Cupid (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check, I'm a Princess Pink, Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS)

Ink: Paint the Town Pink, Dare to Be a Diva Red (CSS)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals

Read more...

An {I Love You Always} Card...

Hi there!  It's nearing the end of the month and I just realized I haven't shared very many of the projects I created for the Clear & Simple Stamps January release.  Although I have been using the stamps a lot in my everyday posts.  So here goes one!

I started this card with a layer of patterned paper that is very much in style with how my Grandma decorates her place (very Victorian), but not really my style.  But I think it works in small amounts.  I covered that layer with some Kraft Like a Rockstar card stock with Hearts die cut out using the new Heart Dies from Clear & Simple Stamps.  I also die cut out a smaller heart in Coral Necklace and stamped it with Dish All the Dirt Brown ink (the outline heart stamps come with the heart dies, so cool!).  Those hearts are popped up on foam dimensionals, and you can see just a tiny bit of the patterned paper peaking out.










I stamped and applied the brown card stock stripe before I cut the hearts out.  It's much easier that way :)  


I hope you enjoyed today's card!  I had a very productive Girl's Craft Night on Saturday.  I finished all my February DT projects, which is highly unusual since I'm a last minute kind of girl.   


By the way, my back is 100% normal.  I can resume walking, but not running yet (still not sure if I'm going to start back, the hubby and I have been talking about getting an elliptical machine (anyone have one and love it? Hate it?  Please share your thoughts!)).  


Have a great day!

{I love you always}

Stamps: Love Cupid, Shapes: Hearts (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, Coral Necklace, Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS)

Patterned Paper: TC Cottage (K & Co.)

Ink: Dish All the Dirt Brown, Coral Necklace (CSS), Cream

Accessories: Shapes: Hearts Dies (CSS), Foam Dimensionals, Pink Baker's Twine (CSS), Stamping Sponge

Read more...

Clear & Simple Stamps: Release Sneak Peek!!!

Hi there!  It's so nice to be back in the swing of things.  The kids went back to school this morning and I am such a creature of habit and I really like being in a routine.  We had such a nice holiday break.  Many days were spent in our pj's the whole day.  


So, I have a sneak peek today of some new stamp sets from Clear & Simple Stamps that will be released on January 5th.  Mark my words, this is a huge release.  I'm so excited for you to see the full sets and accompanying accessories, totally cool.  


This card uses stamps from two new sets, Love Cupid and Hearts Plus.  That heart shape is a new die (and that's all I can say about that!!!).

I can't wait for you to see these full sets and all the other sets as well.  Be sure to check out the Clear & Simple Stamps Blog for all the previews.


Have a great day!

{Forever & Always}

Stamps: Hearts Plus, Love Cupid (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar, A Clean Slate, Trendsetter Blue, True Blue Fan (CSS)

Ink: True Blue Fan, Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS), White

Accessories: Baker's Twine, Circle Punch, Shapes: Hearts Die Cuts (CSS), Mini Hole Punch, Green Gem, Foam Dimensionals

Read more...