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

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Group Project: Nature of Winter

Hey there!  I have a fun winter project to share with you today.  It's our first Clear & Simple Stamps group project of the year.  The first challenge was to make a card/project with the theme of Nature in Winter.  

I put together a wintery card using a twig from my yard, some liquid appliqué for the snowflakes and woodgrain stamp for the "tree".  

I colored the my little owl guy with copics, using a darker color to outline the scallops and ears.  I used an orange sharpie for the owl feet.

I stamped the letters for "wishes" using Alpha Clear and colored them in with a light blue copic marker, the same color as the owl's eyes.

I used a snowflake stamp from Taglines and liquid appliqué for the snowflakes, although you can't see the stamp.  I used it as a guide for the liquid appliqué.  If you've never used liquid appliqué, it goes on like puffy paint and then it puffs up when you heat it up with your heat gun.

I used Tombow Multi Glue to adhere the twig and it is staying on really well, much better than the glue dots I tried at first.  The glue dries completely clear.  

Check out the other group projects that are happening today with a Nature of Winter theme:

• Lori Tecler
• Jennifer Rzasa
• Clear & Simple Stamps Blog

Have a great day!

{Winter Wishes}

Stamps: Alpha Clear, Icons Sentiments, Taglines, Taglines: Critters, Background Basics 1 (Clear & Simple Stamps)

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

Ink: Espresso Your Style (CSS)

Accessories: Liquid Applique, Foam Dots, Twig, Orange Sharpie Marker

Copics: B93, W1, W3, W5 

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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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{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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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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CSS Release in Review...

Hello!  I hope you are having a great weekend!  We are enjoying a nice long weekend due Election Day, the kiddos are off school both Monday and Tuesday!

Today marks Day 1 of Clear & Simple Stamps Release in Review.  We are sharing even more projects using items from Collection 5.  But specifically, today we are showcasing {The Basics} which have three groupings: Rounded Squares/Labels, Clouds (which I'm sharing today), and Fall Frenzy.

I created a card and gift bag with tag ensemble.  The card is the "cloudy day" and the tag is the "sunshine".

For my card, I started with an On the Catwalk Cream card stock base and inside panel.  I stamped the clouds from the set Cloudy Days in three shades of blue ink: Trendsetter Blue, Simply Blue-tiful, and Your Style Blue Me Away.  The sentiment, from Cloudy Days Sentiments, was stamped using True Blue Fan ink.  The panel is adhered to the card using foam dots.

For the tag, I die cut Say Yellow to All Your Fans card stock using the larger Tags 1 die.  I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Imprints 3 (sunburst/clouds) impression plate.  The "to and from" stamp comes from a set that was released earlier this year called Trendy Tags and is stamped using True Blue Fan ink to coordinate with the sentiment on the card.  The tag is attached to the handles of the bag using Navy Blue/White Twine and Yellow/White Twine.

Be sure to check out what my fellow designers have created using {The Basics}:

• Elena Roussakis
• Laurie Willison
• Lori Tecler
• Debby Hughes (guest designer)
• Clear & Simple Stamps Blog

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Enjoy the rest of your (hopefully long) weekend!!!

{You Are My Sunshine Card & Tag}

Stamps: Cloudy Days, Cloudy Days Sentiments, Trendy Tags (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream, Say Yellow to All Your Fans (CSS)

Ink: True Blue Fan, Trendsetter Blue, Simply Blue-tiful, Your Style Blue Me Away (CSS)

Dies: Imprints 3, Tags 1 (CSS) 

Accessories: Navy Blue/White Twine, Yellow/White Twine, Foam Dots

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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)

Read more...

Clear & Simple Stamps: Group Project

Hi there!  It's the last Clear & Simple Stamps Group Project of the Year.  This was a fun challenge and I can't wait to see what CSS has in store for us next year.  This month the Design Team was challenged to create a set of cards using the new limited edition set, Celebrate.  Details on how to get the set can be found here.  

I made a set of card with the same basic design, I just switched up the colors and image panel on each card.  I used the limited edition Celebrate stamp set for the sentiment and then I used the Taglines set for the images.  Here are my supplies:

And here are the the finished set of cards.  The images are popped up on foam dimensionals and most were colored using an aqua-painter and ink.

Be sure to check out the rest of the design team and their amazing creations:

• Lori
• Laurie
• Kim
• Cristina
• Tracy
• Clear & Simple Stamps  

Have a great day!

{Celebrate Card Set}

Stamps: Celebrate, Taglines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like A Rockstar, Dare to be a Diva Red, Coral Necklace, Your Style Blue Me Away, Orange You Fabulous (CSS)

Ink: Perfect Little Black Dress, Glamazon Green, Paint the Town Pink, Brown Leather Satchel, Dish All the Dirt Brown, Dare to Be a Diva Red, Your Style Blue Me Away (CSS)

Accessories: Foam Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge, Aqua-Painter

Read more...

An {Elf Quote} Holiday Card...

Hello!  I hope this finds you all well and rested from the weekend.  I have a simple card to share with you today.  I love making one layer cards but find them to be frustrating.  I think I like the challenge and the zero margin of error that comes along with one layer cards.

This sentiment is a quote from the movie "ELF" and I love it!  I think I've only seen the movie once but I love this quote.  The original sentiment has a solid line on both sides of the word "is", and I just extended that line and made a few of my own lines. I think it looked good with just the sentiment and lines, but I thought it needed a little something, and that is the frustrating part.  Did I go too far, is it just right?  Hmmm.

I've been hard at work on this year's Christmas cards, all 80 of them!  There's one part that is very time consuming and it's the silver embossed sentiment--for 80 cards!  I'm crazy!  I think I have about 25 done.

Have a great day!

{Elf Quote Card}

Stamps: Stylish Sentiments: Holiday (Papertrey Ink), Taglines (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Kraft Like a Rockstar (CSS)

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

Accessories: Black Pen, Ruler, Clear & Red Rhinestones

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