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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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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CSS Group Project! New Colors!!!

Good Morning!  I've been waiting for this day for quite some time, I'm finally able to share the NEW COLORS that  Clear & Simple Stamps is releasing today.  The design team is hosting a gift exchange and we are each focusing a NEW COLOR.  The color that I chose to work with is ROUGE RUFFLES.  It's red with a little brown mixed in, like an earthy red.  I love it!  

Here's a message from Clear & Simple Stamps regarding these exciting changes: 

Clear and Simple Stamps has made the choice to "go green" and revitalize the CSS current color line. You will see a few new colors and some vintage colors no longer being offered, in an effort to provide product made from renewable contents. All of the color coordinated products are made in the USA. The paper comes from mills that practice responsible, sustainable forestry while manufacturing the highest quality paper products on the market. These mills are powered by renewable energy sources, and our paper products are made of 100% recycled content with 30% PCW (post-consumer waste). We are very pleased to announce our commitment to incorporate environmental practices into our daily crafting.

These new colors don't just include card stock and ink, they also have coordinating envelopes (two sizes) and some have gift wrap.  Rouge Ruffles does not have a coordinating Gift Wrap, so I used the new Kraft Like a Rock Star gift wrap.  I love it!  The perfect weight for wrapping gifts and it accepts ink beautifully.  

(click here to download PDF)

Onto the details about my project:

For my card, I created two panels with a space in the center for some falling leaves using the stamp set Leaflets and coordinating dies.  I used Rouge Ruffles card stock to line the two panels, and Rouge Ruffles ink for some of the leaves and the sentiment.  The card is sitting on top of a coordinating Rouge Ruffles envelope.  I replicated some of the leaves along one of the edges so it would coordinate with my card.

Here's a close-up of the card.  You can see the subtle Distressed Linen background that I stamped using From an Anonymous Source watermark ink.  

I am the most excited about my present!  I replicated the background from the card on my gift wrap, just using Rouge Ruffles ink this time.   The bow that sits atop the gift was made using Rouge Ruffles card stock!  It's the first time I've ever made a gift bow!  It was pretty easy.  The trick to using card stock is to run each strip through your fingers to get it to curve on its own before you start manipulating it.

My tag looks like a sugar cookie!  This is a recipe I discovered last year when my kids and I made Christmas Ornaments.  Here's the recipe:  
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1/2 C. Salt
1/2 C. Warm Water
1 C. All Purpose Flour

Mix all ingredients, roll out dough.  Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes and use a straw to create a small hole to thread string through, transfer to a cookie sheet.  I like to roll my dough out directly on the cookie sheet so I don't have to worry about the dough getting out of shape when I move them.  If you want to stamp on your tag/ornament do this now.  You can also paint on them afterwards.  Bake at 250* for about two hours until they are hardened.
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You'll have to check out the following designers to see all the colors being released today!  Have fun blog hopping!

• Lori Tecler
• Jaclyn Miller
• Kim Duran
• Tracy Schultz
• Laura Bassen
• Laurie Willison
• Jennifer Rzasa
• Elena Roussakis
• Stephany Zerbe
• Denise January
• Amber Kemp-Gerstel
• Debby Hughes (guest)

• Clear & Simple Stamps

Have a great day!

{Thank You Gift Ensemble}

Stamps: Leaflets, Distressed Linen, All Occasions 1, Well Preserved Jars Extras (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: Rouge Ruffles, Kraft Like a Rockstar, On the Catwalk Cream (CSS)

Ink: Rouge Ruffles, Dish All the Dirt Brown, From an Anonymous Source (CSS)

Dies: Leaflets (CSS) 

Accessories: Kraft Like a Rockstar Gift Wrap, Rouge Ruffles Envelope, Twine/Rafia, Foam Dots, Glue Dots, Salt Dough Tag

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A {With Sympathy} Card...

Hey guys!  Happy Friday!!!  Another busy week here, but that seems to be the norm these days.  I have a simple looking card share today.  The over all look is simple, but the design took a lot of pencil marks, a ruler and a good eraser.  

The rectangle image comes from the new set Well Preserved Jars: Extra.  It's designed to be stamped as a jar label, but I loved the simplicity of it and used it to build a background.  I stamped the rectangles in a light color so I could stamp the leaves and sentiment over top.  One more thing worth noting, the sentiment is two words that originally are next to each other on one stamp, I cut the words apart so I could stamp the sentiment with the words stacked.  I just love how versatile clear stamps are!

Well, that's all for me!  Have a wonderful weekend!!!

{With Sympathy}

Stamps: All Occasions 1, Leaflets, Well Preserved Jars: Extra (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: A Blanc Check (CSS)

Ink: Brown Leather Satchel, Orange You Fabulous, Dish All the Dirt Brown (CSS)

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CSS Release Day: Well Preserved

Hey guys!  Another exciting day of releases from Clear & Simple Stamps here!!!  Today CSS is releasing Well Preserved, a collection of jar stamps and coordinating images, sentiments and dies.  When I first saw this set, this was the card I envisioned!  I just love those flowers and the simplicity of the jar.  

I started by stamping the sentiment first, masking it off and then stamping the jar and then the flowers, all in Perfect Little Black Dress ink.  I colored the flowers with watercolor pencils and an aqua-painter.

I peeled the original label off the candle and replaced it with my own label.  I chose an image from Label Frames 1 and used both Say Yellow to All Your Fans and Creamsicle Cardigan ink to create a color of ink to match the flowers on the card.  I cut out the label and left tails on both sides that wrap around the candle.  I added some gems to kick it up a notch.

• Kim Duran
• Stephany Zerbe
• Elena Roussakis
• Denise January
• Laura Bassen
• Laurie Willison
• Lori Tecler
• Clear & Simple Stamps

Have a great day!

{A Well Preserved Friendship}

Stamps: Label Frames 1, Well Preserved Jars: Extra, Well Preserved, Well Preserved Jars: Medium (Clear & Simple Stamps)

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream (CSS)

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

Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Aqua-Painter, Gems

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