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

 

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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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Paper Maniac Thursday - Congratulations!!!

Hey there!  It's Paper Maniac Thursday and I have a fun and bright card to share with you.  I had so much fun making this card, seeing how it all came together.  I used some die cuts from the Hippy Girl paper pad by Kaiser Craft and then I die cut the oval from one of the patterned paper sheets.  I had fun getting to know my sewing machine and creating the ruffle-y ribbon.  

The "congratulations" sentiment is from a set called Enjoy by American Crafts.  I curved the stamp on my acrylic block before I stamped it.  The butterfly is a stamp from the same set.  


Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.  Have a great day!

{Congratulations}

Stamps: Enjoy (American Crafts)

Card Stock: Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Hippy Girl (Kaiser Craft)

Ink: Moss Green, Purple (Colorbox)

Accessories: Glue Dots, Sewing Machine & Thread, Sheer Ribbon (Offray), Oval Nesties (Spellbinders), Pink Rhinestones (Michaels)

 

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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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A {Birthday} Card...

Hey guys!  The card I made today uses the same papers I used yesterday, but this card is much more my style.  I kept this one clean and simple by using two pieces of patterned paper with muted tones.     

One thing I really like about this card is all the white space left on the sentiment panel.  I'm definitely a less is more kinda gal.  

Hope you enjoyed today's card.  Guess I don't have much to say today.  Weird.  Have a great day!!!

{Hope this year...}

Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

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

Patterned Paper: Off Beat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Blue Lagoon, Chestnut Roan (Colorbox)

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Brown Sheer Ribbon (Offray), Foam Dimensionals

 

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A Funky {Celebrate Your Day} Card...

For today's card I opened a pad of paper I've had lying around for a few months.  I didn't open it because I wasn't sure if I really liked it.  Now that I've made this card, I'm still not really sure if I like it.  The one thing I really like about this card is the cool ribbon feature I made with my sewing machine.  I've always wanted to be able to make that kind of ruffle effect and it was so easy!

The paper I used is Offbeat by Basic Grey.  I like a lot of the patterns and colors individually, but not sure I like them so much mixed together on a card.  KWIM?  

Hope you all had a great weekend!  I'll see you all back here tomorrow!!!

{Celebrate Your Day}

Stamps: Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Card Stock: Chocolate Chip (SU)

Patterned Paper: Offbeat (Basic Grey)

Ink: Dark Brown (Colorbox)

Accessories: Light Blue Satin Ribbon (Offray), Sewing Machine & Thread, Coluzzle, Edge Distresser, Red Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft)

 

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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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Holiday Gift Ideas from HomeGoods!

Hello!  I have teamed up with HomeGoods and Blogher to share a fun gift giving idea with you.  HomeGoods provided me with a $25 gift card to go shopping in their store and knock a few people off my holiday list.  This was so much fun!  If you normally visit my blog for something crafty, don't worry I got all crafty with this as well.  

My three girlfriends from high school and I have dinner about once a month.  Every December we go out to dinner/lunch instead of just going to someone's house.   We always exchange gifts and I usually make something like fudge or peppermint bark.  So, I decided to use my HomeGoods gift card to buy three gifts.  I wanted to give them something food related like I usually do.  HomeGoods has an awesome gourmet foods section. I forgot to mention that I had my two kiddos with me, and I was grateful I was able to find the perfect item so quickly.  So, here's what I chose:

I put two sprinkle jars with each cookie mix.  Here's the close-ups:

Snowflake Sugar Cookie Mix with cookie cutter and 2 jars of sprinkles

Gingerbread Cookie Mix with cookie cutter and 2 jars of sprinkles

Christmas Tree Cookie Mix with cookie cutter and 2 jars of sprinkles

So here's the crafty part.  I needed to package these gifts and make tags.  I put each gift in a gift bag filled with tissue paper and then made some fun tags.  I saw a tutorial for these super cool ponytail holders on Maile Belles blog and I knew I had to give them a try.  I followed the basic directions except I didn't have the same dies.  I actually used a Labels 9 Die from Spellbinders and I hand-cut the leaves.  I also stitched a line down the center of my leaves to give it a little depth.  I glued my finished flowers on clips instead of using a ponytail holder.  

The idea is that they will pin these to their purses of shirts, or they might just put them in their daughter's hair.  By the way, this is my first experience with felt since grade school.  So fun!  

As for the tags, I used my oval nesties to die cut three ovals.  I stamped the sentiment in red.  I punched a few holes in the top to attach the flower clip.  I also threaded red floss through the hole to attach the tag to the bag.  

And here's everything all packaged and ready to go!

Here's the fun part for you!  HomeGoods is giving away a $100 shopping spree and another 20 winners will get $25.  All you need to do is leave a comment on the Blogher Exclusives Page saying who you would cross off your holiday shopping list with a HomeGoods gift card. 

I hope you enjoyed today's post.  It's a little out of the ordinary for this blog, but oh so fun!  Have a great weekend!

 

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Clear & Simple Stamps - App Sneak Peek

Hello!  I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I have a card featured today on the Clear & Simple Stamps APP.   You can see a sneak peek below.  This is a card created exclusively for the APP and you won't see it anywhere else.   If you haven't downloaded the APP, you can click here to do it.  Here's a hint, it'd be perfect to accompany a gift for a teacher!

I'll be back in a little while with an extra special post.  You'll just have to wait and see what it's all about!!!

 

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Paper Maniac Thursday - Pick Three

Hello, hello!  It's Paper Maniac Thursday and this week we are using three of our favorite products from Paper Maniac on our cards.  Well, I'm sure you're not surprised by my choices since I use them all the time.  First up is this awesome paper pad called Hippy Girl by Kaiser Craft.  Every paper element is from this collection except the card base.  I created a window for my sentiment by cutting a hole in the pre-made die cut label from the pack.   Even the strip of glitter came with pack too.  My second item is the Labels 9 Nestabilities Die from Spellbinders.  It is my all time favorite die and I use it on everything.  Lastly is Kaiser Craft rhinestones.  I think I have them in every color available.  Love, love, love them!

Here you can see the dimension of my card and that little circle window I created for the sentiment.  Thanks so much for visiting today.  I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

{Enjoy the Journey}

Stamps: Enjoy (American Crafts)

Card Stock: Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)

Patterned Paper: Hippy Girl (Kaiser Craft)

Ink: Green Moss, Dark Peony (Colorbox)

Accessories: Light Purple Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Coluzzle, Foam Dimensionals, Labels 9 Nesties (Spellbinders)

 

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Clear & Simple Stamps - December 2010 Release

Hello & Happy December!!!  It's release day at Clear & Simple Stamps and I couldn't be any more excited to share these new sets with you.  These have got to be my favorite so far, but I know I say that every month.  There are two new sets for December and they work really well together.  They are:

Icons I

Icons Extra

 And here's just one card I made with this set, many more to come this month.  

 

Almost everything on my card comes from the December release.  The new color story for this month is Emerald Bling and I used that color for the snowflake stamp, ribbon, button and card stock.  The patterned paper is from Kaiser Craft.

There's a lot of dimension and texture on this card.  The centers of the snowflakes have mint green rhinestones on them, which look sort of clear in the photos.  The edges of the sentiment panel as well as the edges of the circle are distressed.  

Here's a close-up of the bow with the button center.  

Like I said earlier, the December color story is Emerald Bling and it is a rich emerald green color.  Emerald Bling is available today in card stock, ink, re-inkers, buttons and ribbon as well as the Copic Trio Bundle (colors pictured below).  

Thanks so much for stopping by today for the big release news!  I love these sets and know you will too.  Have a great day!

{Frosty Wishes}

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

Card Stock: On the Catwalk Cream, Emerald Bling

Patterned Paper: 'Tis the Season (Kaiser Craft)

Ink: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Emerald Bling

Accessories: Emerald Bling Ribbon, Emerald Bling Button, Green Floss, Light Green Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Edge Distresser, Circle Cutter Tool, Glue Dots, Foam Dimensionals

 

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