DigiStamp Boutique is now open!

I am pleased to announce that DigiStamp Boutique is now open. There is also a monthly challenge posted on the new blog so don't forget to visit the blog and submit a card for the challenge. Along with the launch of her new Boutique, Sally-Ann has also released some new images. Here are samples with a few of the new releases.

Love Birds - Love you

Love Birds

Olly and family

It's rainy and foggy here today so a good day for staying inside and crafting! Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're having a wonderful week.

So busy . . .

Work has been keeping me way too busy these last couple of weeks and I'm really starting to drag. Last night I rushed home from work to change my clothes before running off again but when I got home I found this little guy in the yard so I paused for a bit to take a couple of photos of him before he flew away. Cedar waxwings are one of my favorite birds! I have fond memories of flocks of them occasionally filling our trees when I was a child. They aren't too common around here so it's always fun to spot a group of them. This little guy must have hit out window and was recovering on the ground. His friends were all perched in the trees waiting for him. He must have sat for at least 30 minutes before flying up into the tree. But he did fly away with the group so I hope he's ok.

I do have a card I made the other day that I can share. I made this using the Polly and handbag digital image from DigiStamp Boutique and papers from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie line.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Take the Challenge: Earth Day

When you think about protecting the earth and going green, recycling is all the rage. Starting today, Clear and Simple Stamps will be taking on Earth Day in a fun, going green inspired challenge. For the Earth Day Take The Challenge: Pull out your CSS stamps or digital papers and create something by recycling something. Examples: an old card, used magazines, create something 3d(altered) using say an old milk carton or coffee can - get creative and have fun!

I decided to recycle an empty envelope box to create a card holder.

Here's a photo of the empty envelope box.

And here it is recycled into a card holder.

If you'd like to participate in the challenge the details can be found here. Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Earth Day!

You're not old . You're ripe.

When I saw this saying I knew the bananas from GinaK's You know you're old when . . . set would be perfect. I stamped the bananas with Palette Hybrid Black and colored them with Copics.


I'm really enjoying my label maker for creating sentiments! I find it much easier than pulling out alphabet sets to create them. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're having a great day.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Gina K You Know You're Old When
• Papers: White, Black, Marigold Morning, My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow
• Ink: Palette Hybrid Noir
• Accessories: Copics, Nestabilities, Dymo Label Maker, Popdots

Exciting News!

I received wonderful news today! I have been chosen by Sally-Ann to join her new design team. Her new on-line shop is called "DigiStamp Boutique" and it will be up and running soon. Sally-Ann has chosen 5 members for her new DT (including me lol) and I'm adding a link to each of their blogs so that you can go over and say hello and look at all their amazing creations.

Zoe (aka Mrs Wonka)

Nikki

Denise

Lisa

Thank you Sally-Ann for this wonderful opportunity. I look forward to working with this group of gals! In honor of being selected, here is a card made with one of the images from the Fairy Collection by Grab-a-doodle-do. The glitter on her wings and wand didn't photograph very well but they are glittery in real life. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Supplies:

• Images – Grab-a-doodle-do Fairy Collection


• Paper - White, Riding Hood Red, Basic Grey Urban Prairie, Amy Butler


• Misc – Copics, Stickles, Prima flower, Amy Butler brad, Pop dots

Greetings Earthling

Ok I'm still playing with my label maker. Today's cards use Kim Hughes Little Guy set from Cornish Heritage Farms. I stamped the little Alien in the set and made him some greetings. For the top card I used a variety of papers from the Cosmo Cricket Mr Campy line and the bottom cards uses papers from the Basic Grey Archaic line. Both cards have Kraft bases.

Hope you're having a great weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Cornish Heritage Farms Kim Hughes Little Guy
• Ink – Palette Hybrid Black, Vintage Photo Distress Ink
• Paper - Kraft, White, Cosmo Cricket Mr Campy (top) and Basic Grey Archaic (bottom)
• Misc – Copics, Pop dots, Circle punch, Dymo Label Maker

Whipper Snapper Bee-cause

Last night I pulled out the bee in Anna Wight's Little Critters set from Whipper Snapper and my dymo label maker and had some fun. I love the little bee and wanted to create some sayings to go with her so the label maker was perfect. I went with: BEE WELL SOON, BEE-LATED WISHES, and HAPPY BEE-DAY. The bee was stamped with Palette Hybrid black on white cardstock, colored with Copics and coated in Stickles. Once the stickles were dry the bee was matted with black and mounted to the card with a pop dot. The patterned papers are from the Basic Grey Urban Prairie line.

Thanks for stopping. I hope you are all having a great week.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Whipper Snapper Little Critters
• Ink – Palette Hybrid Black
• Paper - White, Baja Breeze, Soft Sky, Basic Grey Urban Prairie
  Misc – Copics, Stickles, Circle punches, Corner round punch, Ribbon, Button, Twine, Pop dots, Dymo label maker

CSS Bravery Gent

Today’s card features Clear & Simple Stamps new Bravery Gent set. I started by stamping the image on white and coloring it with re-inkers and an aqua brush. The starts were stamped on white, cut out and mounted on pop dots for some dimension. The ribbon is from May Arts. What a special way to thank all of the military people in your life.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Clear & Simple Stamps Bravery Gent
• Ink – Palette Hybrid Black, Midnight blue Stazon
• Paper - White, Navy, Riding Hood Red, Unmarked designer paper
• Misc – Re-inkers, Aqua brush, Ribbon, Pop dots

Are you ready for summer?

How about a Fourth of July project for today's post. Clear & Simple Stamps released Bravery Gent yesterday and it's perfect for all of the military people in our lives but it's also great for Fourth of July celebrations. So let's start with some sour cream containers filled with yummy chocolates.

I created my own patterned paper by using the background stamp. First I took a sheet of white cardstock and used my Scor-pal to score it every 1 ½ inches in either direction to create a grid so I could line up my stamp. Next I stamped every other square with Blue Iris chalk ink, washed my stamp and stamped the remaining squares with Lipstick Red chalk ink to create my patterned paper.

To create the containers cut your cardstock to 4x6 and glue the end of the 6 inch side together to create a 4 inch long tube. Put a little glue inside one end of the tube and flatten the end together. Now run the end through your crimper to finish the edge. On the other end pinch the ends together in the opposite direction of the finished end and run that through the crimper too. Don’t put any glue on this end! Now fill it with goodies (Hershey Kisses work great if you don’t have to worry about them melting). Once you have filled it, squish the end back together and punch a couple of holes in the crimped part to attach the ribbon. For a little extra detail I stamped some stars from the set, mounted them on a couple of layers and attached them just under the bows.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Clear & Simple Stamps Bravery Gent


• Ink – Colorbox Chalk Blue Iris and Lipstick Red


• Paper - White, Navy, Riding Hood Red


• Misc – Ribbon, Crimper, Circle punches, Nestabilities, Pop dots, Candy
  

Clear & Simple Stamps Release Day

New sets available today!

Mom and Me / Dad and Me / Believe in Words III
Got Fish? / Tea Time / Summer Sentiments
BBQ Darling / Bravery Gent

Receive $1 off the Stamp of the Month
Mom and Me
Enter discount code: 04SOTM09
offer valid thru April 30, 2009

You can see earlier samples of the Mom and Me set here and here. I also have two more cards using the Mom and Me set to share with you today.

How about a gatefold card? If you have a scor-pal it couldn’t be any easier to create one. Cut your cardstock to 4 ½ x 11 then score at the arrow marks on your scor-pal. For my card base I used Kraft then added some Bo Bunny double sided paper. I cut the two pieces of designer paper for the front panels and then cut them in strips and alternated between sides to get the variety. The image and greeting were stamped with Colorbox Chalk French Blue. The image panel and layers were attached to the left front panel with Pop dots. Instead of using a brad or crystal in the flower center I stamped the #1 Mom sentiment and added that for the flower center.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Clear & Simple Stamps Mom and Me
• Ink – Colorbox Chalk French Blue
• Paper - White, Kraft Bo Bunny
• Misc – Scor-Pal, Corner rounder, Prima flowers, Nestabilities, Pop dots

Just a very simple Mother’s Day card using the new Mom and Me set from Clear and Simple Stamps. I stamped the image with Pink Pirouette ink on white cardstock then added a Pink Pirouette layer, another white layer, a layer of Regal Rose and a card base of Pink Pirouette. I ran my tracing wheel around the image panel and distressed the edges of the other white layer. A tag and some Primas with a crystal center were added to finish the card.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Clear & Simple Stamps Mom and Me
• Ink – Stampin Up Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose
• Paper - White, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose
• Misc – Tracing wheel, Heidi Swapp Distress Tool, Prima flowers, Crystal

Another BBQ Darling card

Today I'd like to share another card using the BBQ Darling set from Clear & Simple Stamps that will be released on April 15th. This set is great for creating a quick card using the Darling image. I stamped the image on white cardstock, colored it with Copics then matted it on a couple of layers and it was done.



Supplies:

• Stamps – Clear & Simple Stamps BBQ Darling
• Ink – Palette Hybrid Black
• Paper - White, SU Riding Hood Red, Black
• Misc – Copics

Release Week for Clear & Simple Stamps

Well, the 15th will bring another stamp release from Clear & Simple Stamps. How about some more sneak peaks of the upcoming sets. Today let's share the BBQ Darling set that will be released later this week.

One of the great things about acrylic stamps is that you can see where you’re stamping without having to use a stamp positioner so it’s pretty easy to stamp a stack of hamburgers like I did for this card. I started by stamping the burger image near the bottom of my white panel and them just kept stacking them until I liked the size. They were then colored with Copics and the panel was matted with Chocolate Chip cardstock. The What’s Cooking sentiment from the Gourmet Darling set was stamped on white, layered and mounted with pop dots.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Clear & Simple Stamps BBQ Darling and Gourmet Darling
• Ink – Palette Hybrid Black
• Paper - White, SU Chocolate Chip, SU Morning Marigold, My Mind’s Eye
• Misc – Copics, Tracing Wheel, Nestabilities, Circle Punch, Pop dots

Happy Easter

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy Easter! I made this mini basket from the template found here. The pink paper is scraps that I had and the patterned paper is from Chatterbox. The saying is from the Easter Basket set by Clear & Simple Stamps. Finishing touches include a prima flower and gemstone.

I hope you're all having a great weekend.

Happy Birthday

It's my brother's birthday today. Happy Birthday Greg! He's supposed to be going out of town today for a weekend of four-wheeling with the guys. I hope he has a good time.

If you're familiar with SplitcoastStampers you're probably aware that it's also Daven Nolta and Beate Johns birthday's today too. Daven and my Brother were born on the same day. So I guess I'll share a couple of birthday cards today in their honor.

This first card is one that I made for my Nephew's birthday a couple of weeks ago. I used the retired set Yukon from Stampin' Up. It's one of those sets that I love for making guy cards. The card base is Kraft with a block of Bo Bunny polka dot paper. I stamped the bear on a panel of Kraft and the mountain background stamp on another Kraft panel then added a little color to the images using reinkers and colored pencil. The edges were sponged with Vintage Photo distress ink. The mountain piece was matted with the reverse side of the Bo Bunny paper and attached to the card. I ran my tracing wheel around the bear panel before mounting it with pop dots and stamped the birthday wishes from Anna Wight's 29 Again set from Whipper Snapper. Last I die cut the 16 out of grungeboard and inked it with Walnut Stain distress ink then mounted it on another panel of Kraft. For the finishing touch I added a tab and brad on the end of the piece that overlapped the bear panel.

For the second card I used C.C. Designs AmyR's Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments with a variety of papers from the Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday line.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're all having a great day (especially if it's your birthday)!

What a beautiful day!

The sun has been shining all day today and it even reached 50 degrees. Spring might finally be ready to visit Northern Minnesota. For my cards today I used the K & Company Citronella pack. I'm really enjoying the bright fun patterns in this pack. On the first card I used the Pretty Birds set by Kim Hughes from Cornish Heritage Farms.

On the second card I pulled out Anna Wight's Posies for you set from Whipper Snapper. I used markers on the stamp and then colored the images in with an aqua brush. The pink floral paper in the background is glittery so I added some stickles to the posie to match.Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're all having a great week!

Take the Challenge Tuesday

It's time again for Clear & Simple Stamps Take The Challenge Tuesday which happens the first Tuesday of each month. This month it's all about "Spring Fever" and paper piecing. Get out your spring patterned papers and let's get paper piecing.

Here are a couple of cards I made for the challenge using the BFF Darling set
from Clear & Simple Stamps.

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

This card uses several designer papers from the Basic Grey Sultry collection and a strip of paper from the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow collection. The faces and hair were colored with Copics and then their clothes were paper pieced. This card uses more of the My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow papers.

Visit the Design Team blogs to see more Spring inspired, paper pieced projects, or PCP to upload your own paper pieced challenge cards - use tag "ttco04".

Design Team Members' Blogs

Lori Tecler

Maria Levine
Nicole Ritts

Nancy Beauchamp

Guest Design Team Members' Blogs
Kim Howard - Basement Stamper
Lynette Neus - My Stamping Addiction

Thanks so much for stopping. I hope you'll join us for the challenge.

Little Gem in Bee Suit

Today I would like to share a couple of cards I made with an adorable stamp from Pink Gem Studios in the UK. When I saw this cute little puppy in a bee suit I knew I had to have it! I have a friend who has a Maltese/Poodle mix that looks a lot like this little doggie so I made this set of cards for my friend.



I'll have to edit the supplies info to add the designer paper info. I'm not at home right now so I don't have the details with me. I hope you're having a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by.

*Edited to add the designer paper details - K & Company Citronella pack*

Supplies:

• Stamps – Little Gem in Bee Suit from Pink Gem Designs
• Ink – Archival Jet Black
• Paper - White, Black, K & Company Citronella pack
  
• Misc – Reinkers, Aqua brush, Stampin Write markers, Stickles, Pop dots, Gems

Home again, home again.

I don't have anything crafty to share today. I was in Madison Wisconsin for the weekend so I thought I would share a couple of photos taken at the Henry Vilas Zoo.

It's not a really big zoo but it's free and has some great animals plus it was within walking distance of the hotel. Here's me posing with the tortoise.

I loved this big fuzzy grizzly bear.

My daughter thought this Rhino was pretty cute.

Look at that face!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all had a great weekend!

Hope your day is Fairy nice!

Today I would like to share a couple of cards using the Fairy Collection from Grab-A-Doodle-Do. Grab-A-Doodle-Do offers these fun images as digital downloads so you don't even have to wait for shipping which is especially great since they're located in the UK and I'm in the US.


Both images were colored with Copics and cut out using Nestabilities. For the top card I used some glittery paper from DCWV and for the bottom card I used SU Marigold Morning, some patterned paper from My Mind's Eye and then added some glitter to the fairy wings and stars. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're all having a great day!

Want to win a stamp set?

Clear & Simple Stamps Stamp of the Month is the new Mom and Me set.

Want a chance to win your very own Mom and Me stamp set? Visit Paper Craft Planet's Design Team gallery for the month of April. Every month, the PCP Super Novas pull together a huge album full of inspiration based on a theme. This month, to get ready for Mother's Day, our theme is "Mother & Child". What better way to kick off a new month than with a contest? No foolin', we're having a Guess the Baby contest! Are you ready?Match the baby with the Super Nova! Not just that... but you'll also have to guess who is missing! Yikes. Hard, I know. If you get them all right, you're entered to win this awesome new stamp set Mom & Me from Clear & Simple Stamps AND a $100 Amazon gift certificate to buy whatever other goodies you want! Clear & Simple Stamps is also giving all PCP members a $1 off using code: PCP409! Good Luck!

I wanted to create a soft subtle card for my Mom for Mother’s Day so I pulled out the Mom & Me set from Clear and Simple Stamps and some My Mind’s Eye papers. To create the main image panel I stamped the image on Vanilla cardstock with Soft Sky ink and then covered it with Stickles. The image was cut out with a Fiskars oval template and cutter and matted on the reverse side of one of the My Mind’s Eye patterned papers. For the finishing touches I added some prima flowers, flat backed pearls and a sentiment tag.

Supplies:

• Stamps – Clear & Simple Stamps Mom and Me
• Ink – Stampin Up Soft Sky and Bordering Blue
• Paper - Very Vanilla, My Mind’s Eye
• Misc – Stickles, Pearls, Prima flowers, Fiskar’s oval template and cutter, Pop dots