Sunday, January 31, 2010

February CDS Sneak Peeks - Final Day!!


Spring Chickie

CDS STAMPS USED: You're My Peep

CS/PAPERS: Kraft, Regal Rose, Apricot, White CS, SU Soft Sky DP

INK: Memento Black

Markers: Copic Y17, Y21, RV13, R20, RV34, B00, YR02, YR000, YG91, YG95, BV00

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Scalloped Oval Nestibilties, button, gold cord, scalloped square punch


So are you ready for spring yet? It seems that as soon as Christmas is done, I'm ready for the birds to come back and the snow to be gone, so these cards were wonderful little bursts of color!! I colored the Spring Chickie from You're a Peep with copics and kept the card super simple to keep the focus on the chickie. You have *got* to see some of the other designer's cards with this image. Incredible!!!! But that's why *my* blog's name is *Simply* Stamping!!! LOL!!!


For my second card I took two of the flowers and a sentiment and used them to make a sweet Spring note card. I stamped them on watercolor paper and watercolored them with markers and a waterbrush. Sweet, simple & easy to mail!


Now, don't forget to check out the other designers' blogs for the rest of the peeks! All the new stamps will be available to purchase after midnight!! Happy Stamping!!




Spring Blessings

CDS STAMPS USED: You're My Peep

CS/PAPERS: Pink, Hibiscus Burst, White, Watercolor Paper, Pink DP

INK: Memento Black

COLORING: Watercolor with Waterbase Markers

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Scalloped Oval Nestibilties, brads, ribbon, MS Doily Punch

MORE SNEAKS TO PEEK AT!!


Trudy Sjolander

Tori Wild

Candy Fosta

Kim Teasdale

Nancy Grant

Katie Renz

Stacy Morgan

Shawne Arnold

Sarah Taylor

Cassie Trask

Angela Thomas

Linda Anderson

Laurie Wilson

Linda Borneman

Saturday, January 30, 2010

February CDS Sneak Peeks - Day 3

I have gobs of Sneak Peek cards from Clear Dollar Stamps to show you today! The first showcases a new sentiment set called Dream Big. I combined it with the branches from the Genuine Love set and the butterfly from the Birthday Celebrations set. I used some older SU dp that I found in my box and I just *adore* the color combination!!

The next two cards are from a set called Elegant Gymnasts. Do you remember watching Nadia and Olga get their perfect 10's??? (Am I showing my age here??? Do you even know who Nadia and Olga are????) Anyway - I think all little girls want to be gymnasts at some point in their lives - so this set is for the gymnast in all of us. Actually even if you *aren't* a gymnast, you'll want the set for the beautiful words that are included!



For the kraft card above, I laid out a number of the sentiments and mini gymnasts on a block to make a background, and used the swirlies under the balance beam (or floor mat, I'm not sure) to make a border around the main image.


I had won a set of MVP designer paper in a blog hop not too long ago, and it was *perfect* for this perfect 10 card. Actually that sentiment would be cute for someone's 10th birthday, too!!

Edited to add: I found out later that this gal is actually supposed to be vaulting - not on the uneven bars! Isn't that hysterical?? I totally missed that! SO... I just made the card this way to showcase its versatility... You can use the images in *so* many ways!! LOL! (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!! )


Next up is the new Plumes and Blooms set...

Can you tell I still had the olive and red papers on my desk?? This set is so elegant that you can use it as the focal image and just add a sentiment... (mine's from With Thanksgiving)...

Or...
You can use it as a background, like I did on this card...

Time to go check out the other designers!! Thanks for stopping by, and we'll see you tomorrow!!

Trudy Sjolander

Tori Wild

Candy Fosta

Kim Teasdale

Nancy Grant

Katie Renz

Stacy Morgan

Shawne Arnold

Sarah Taylor

Cassie Trask

Angela Thomas

Linda Anderson

Laurie Wilson

Linda Borneman



Take a Risk

CDS STAMPS USED: Dream Big, Genuine Love, Birthday Celebrations
CS/PAPERS: SU DP, Olive, Red, Vanilla, White, River Rock CS
INK: Memento Black, Artichoke, Olive, Red
MARKERS: Copics to accent paper piecing
ACCENTS/TOOLS: Oval punches, Brad, Dimensionals, Spiral Punch, Buttons
TECHNIQUE: Paper Piecing


Elegant Dream

CDS STAMPS USED: Dream Big, Elegant Gymnasts

CS/PAPERS: Basic Grey Wisteria DP, Amethyst, Sage, White CS

INK: Memento Black, Sage

MARKERS: Amethyst SU marker to accent corners

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Rectangle Nestibilities, Stitching, Ribbon


Simply Elegant

CDS STAMPS USED: Elegant Gymnasts

CS/PAPERS: Kraft, Lemon Tart, White CS

INK: Soft Suede

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Scalloped Border Punch, Ribbon, Button, Scrappers Floss, Sewing Machine


Go For It!

CDS STAMPS USED: Elegant Gymnasts

CS/PAPERS: Black, Burgundy CS, WeRMemorykeepers MVP DP, White CS

INK: Baroque Burgundy, Memento Black

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Labels 4 Nestibilities, Oval Punch, Brads, Paisley CB Folder, paper piercer


Birthday Blooms

CDS STAMPS USED: Plumes and Blooms, Birthday Celebrations

CS/PAPERS: Grey, White, Purple, Olive, Magenta DP

INK: Elegant Eggplant, Memento Black

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Circle & Scalloped Circle Punches, Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Brads, dimensionals


Blooming Glad

CDS STAMPS USED: Plumes and Blooms, With Thanksgiving

CS/PAPERS: Olive, Cream, Red, kraft CS

INK: Artichoke, Read Red

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Rectangle Nestibilties, pearls, stitching


Friday, January 29, 2010

Fifth Friday Challenge!

Edited: The drawing is closed! The winner is #6 - Lisa Lara! Congrats!! I'll get your gifty in the mail shortly!! Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Hello friends! I know, I've had gobs and gobs of posts today, but it might be worth your while to read this one... just sayin'....

Today is Paper Garden Projects Challenge Day and there is *such* a cool prize for the winner!!
The challenge is... "Pulling on your heart strings", and our challenge to you is to create a Valentine or love themed project that includes ribbon. And if your projects also includes buttons, you will get a double entry!

For my project I used my - oh, so adorable - Penny Black set again "Every Which Way" and pulled out my prismacolors and oms, of all things! They have felt *so* neglected since I got my copics!! I used two of Paper Garden's Paper Kits for my little folder. The dp is from the Frosted Winter kit and the rest of the cardstock and ribbon and buttons are from the Hearts Bloom kit. Oh! Did I say 'folder'? Is this not a card??? Nope! Look inside!

I see some sweet kitties peeking out! They are saying, "If you leave a comment on this post before Sunday at midnight, I might come live at your house!" And I might just include some chocolate, too. What's Valentine's Day without chocolate?? OK - so leave your comment (and be sure I know how to reach you if you win!), and then put together a card using buttons and bows for the Paper Garden Challenge and link it up before midnight EST on Feb 5th... or maybe you'll want to stop by the store and pick up a paper kit and some cute Penny Black stamps first... just be sure you leave me one of those Farmyard Friends stamp kits with the cute Pink Cat Studio farm animals and the fun paper. I need that one!!! :-)

See ya' Bye!! And remember there are still more CDS sneak peeks tomorrow!!

Blessings,

Tricia

Clearly Inspired Colors!

It's a busy day today! Clear Dollar Stamp Sneak Peeks, the Clearly Inspired Challenge and Paper Garden's Fifth Friday Challenge. Be sure you scroll through to see all of today's posts!!

My Warm Wishes card above is for the Clearly Inspired Challenge to use Red, White, Black and Pink. Great colors for Valentine's Day - or just any day! I used a retired Stamp of the Month from Clear Dollar called Spring Trimmings. Last I checked there were still a few retired Stamp of the Month sets that are actually available for sale right now - if you missed them during the month they were released - and this is one of them! :-) Aren't I helpful??? ;-)

Here's the details...
CDS Stamps: Spring Trimmings
Cardstock: Black, Red, White, Berry Sorbet DP
Ink: Memento Black, Real Red
Markers: Copic RV13, 0, R37
Tools: Circle & Scalloped Circle Punches, Scalloped Border Punch, Word Window Punch

February CDS Sneak Peeks - Day 2


Going Dotty


CDS STAMPS USED: Chuggin Along

CS/PAPERS: Pink Paislee DP, Olive, Brown, White CS

INK: Memento Black, PTI Fresh Snow

MARKERS: Copic

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Ribbon


Today's set, Chuggin' Along, has so many pieces that I didn't know which to use first! It has both outline images and shadow images, so you can color or not, depending on what you like to do. For my first card I chose the adorable teddy bear image and colored him with copics. Isn't he just precious??? I added the little stripes on his tummy with a .01 Zig Millennium pen to make him look fat. ☺


For my second card I stamped the train engine onto a piece of Cosmo Cricket paper, and then stamped the wheels and such with a grey ink. That's all one stamp, by the way, so it's really easy to use!! I added some gold dew drops for steam and put the sentiment on the side.




Pastel Train


CDS STAMPS USED: Chuggin Along

CS/PAPERS: Cosmo Cricket DP, Cream, Apricot CS

INK: Memento Black, Palette Grey

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Gold Dew Drops, Spiral Punch

SPECIAL TECHNIQUES: Paper Piecing


Here's the list of other designers! Be sure to check out all of today's sneak peeks!! See you here tomorrow!!



Trudy Sjolander

Tori Wild

Candy Fosta

Kim Teasdale

Nancy Grant

Katie Renz

Stacy Morgan

Shawne Arnold

Sarah Taylor

Cassie Trask

Angela Thomas

Linda Anderson

Laurie Wilson

Linda Borneman

Happy Bee-Day!!

I just got a stack of adorable stamps in the mail from Em at Stampin' Bella (I *won* them! Can you believe it??) and I wanted to play along with this week's Bellariffic Friday, cuz the birthday theme was perfect for this little BEEday Huggabugg! Isn't she sweet?? I used some older Brenda Walton paper from K&Co, a little Hibiscus Burst cs from PTI, Some ribbon from my LSS, some nesties and a CB folder, along with the sketch from CardPatterns for this week. My little Huggabugg is colored with copics and, of course, has Stickles on her wings!! :-)

Don't miss all my other posts today!!! Clear Dollar sneak peeks, the Clearly Inspired Challenge and the Fifth Friday Challenge from Paper Garden Crafts will all be taking a turn today!!

Blessings!

Tricia

Thursday, January 28, 2010

February CDS Sneak Peeks - Day 1

Frog Hello


CDS STAMPS USED: Circle Somethings

CS/PAPERS: Spring Moss, White, Kraft CS

INK: Memento Black, River Rock, PTI Fresh Snow, Caramel, Olive

ACCENTS/TOOLS: Oval Nestibilities, Taffeta Ribbon, Button, Sponge, Sewing Machine


Hello Friends!


Can you believe that it is almost February??? Yikes! But that means it's time for Clear Dollar Stamps sneak peeks again!! Yippee! I can finally show you what I've been working on all month, besides bookkeeping for GraceWorks. ☺


So without further ado, let me introduce you to Circle Somethings. It's a set of 23 stamps for only $14.99. Don't you just *love* the value CDS packs into their sets??


For my first card I chose the polka dot half circle that's included in the set to make Mr. Froggy. Since the circles and half circles are separate from the "features" you can stamp them in different colors. They all have their own patterns, too! Fun, huh?? You can make turtles, cups, birds, ladybugs, mice and baby buggies... just to name a few. *And* it comes with 4 sentiments!!


Oh! By the way - the background is made by stamping a tiny solid circle that is included in the set in white and River Rock ink. It makes a really quick and easy background!


Here's another...



Cup of Tea


CDS STAMPS USED: Circle Somethings
CS/PAPERS: Pink, White, Kraft, Chocolate CS
INK: Chocolate, PTI Fresh Snow
ACCENTS/TOOLS: Oval Nestibilities, Ribbon, Brads, Sponge, Scalloped Border Punch, Word Window Punch


This time I used one of the full circles as my background, and a coordinating half circle for my cup. The steam is actually the cup's handle stamped twice. This color combo is so soothing. It's one of my favorites!

Check out the other designers' blogs to see more of this set, and others!! And meet me back here tomorrow. I have SO much to show you!!


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Cross Stitch Update!

Hello Friends! I just realized that I never showed you my finished project! I found the perfect frame at Hobby Lobby (50% off!!) and was able to frame it myself, and it is just perfect on the little quilted tablerunner on my end table - even now that all the Christmas decorations are put away. The pattern is Little House Needleworks Blessed are the Meek, and it's stitched on 28 ct Mushroom Lugana with the included colors. It was a quick stitch and I just *loved* it! I'm working on a little Bent Creek snowman right now that I'm (attempting) to stitch over one. And I *must* work at least 15-30 minutes a day on my daughter's stocking, but I'm finding this one much more work than the others that I've done... maybe I'm getting old... :-)

Thursday starts Clear Dollar Sneak Peeks so be sure to stop back!!

Blessings!

Tricia

Monday, January 25, 2010

PaperTrey Blog Hop - Inside Out

Tonight's PTI blog hop challenge to make a "total package" was a great one for me. I hardly ever decorate the inside of my cards. I guess I'm usually in too much of a hurry! But they look SO nice that I think I might have to make the time more often. :-)

I used the Everyday Blessings set to make the outside panel and for the bottom of the envelope. The sentiment on the outside is from Vintage Picnic Baskets, and the birthday saying on the inside is from the Quilter's Sampler set. I just love being able to combine images!

To decorate the inside of my card, I simply copied the style of the front by matting a piece of cream cardstock on black, and then I added a little extra strip that I had cut off of my stamped front panel. Here's the card front alone...

Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy hopping!!

Blessings!

Tricia

Hoppy Birthday!

I found a fun challenge and sketch to play along with this weekend! The challenge was the Sweet & Sassy Digi Day Challenge over on PCP, to use a frog or princess image. That was hard! I have an extreme lack of frogs and princesses in my collection, LOL!! I finally found this little guy from the December Stamp of the Month by Clear Dollar Stamps and paired him up with the Cupcake from the CDS set Birthday Celebrations. I paper pieced the bottom of the cupcake and did some creative inking and stamping to change "happy birthday" into "hoppy birthday". A super fine line marker like my Zig .01 Millennium pen comes in really handy some days!! ;-)
One of the fun things about the digi day challenge is that you get a free (really cute) digi stamp. My friend, Laurie, said that she prints out a page of digi images at a time, just like we might stamp a page of images for a friend to color later. I really liked that idea. I have a few really cute digi-stamps on my computer that are just begging to be used, but I forget about them because I don't see them. I think I'll try out her suggestion!!

The sketch that I followed was from the "Sweet Stop" - also by Sweet & Sassy. And I'm very proud of myself because I used flowers on my card and I haven't done that for quite awhile. I seem to get in ruts and have to challenge myself to change things up every once and awhile. :-) How about you? What have you found that you just don't use anymore?? It's amazing how fun it can be to pull out some of those gems!

Thanks for stopping by! There is LOTS going on here this week!! Tonight is the PaperTrey blog hop, Clear Dollar Sneak Peeks go from Thursday through Sunday and there is both a Clearly Inspired Challenge and Paper Garden Fifth Friday Challenge on Friday! Be sure to subscribe or follow my blog so you don't miss anything!! :-)

Blessings!

Tricia

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Paper Garden Romantic Garden Walk

Welcome to the Paper Garden Projects Romantic Garden Walk!!
(Do my cute little Hedgehogs count as romantic? They're adorable, anyway!!)

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and take a stroll through the blogs of all the Paper Gardeners for some "heart-felt" inspiration.

As you visit, subscribe to each Gardener's blog, if you haven't already, and take note of each designer's name and their "Romantic Word" . Once you finish your garden tour, send an E-mail to custserv@papergardenprojects.com with the list of designers and their Romantic Word.

Everyone who sends the correct list of designers and words will be entered in a random drawing to win a sweet Valentine prize!! You need to send an e-mail to the address above; please don't leave your list as a comment. You have until midnight (EST) on January 26 to sent your list.

And the prize? The super cute Penny Black clear stamp set called Every Which Way... which just happens to be the set I got to play with for today's Garden Walk!!! :-)


For my project today, I decided to alter a little empty notecard box that I found in my stash using some of the papers and doo-dads from the Valentine's Paper Kit that Cathy just put up in the store. I love this kit!! I've made a ton of cards with it, in addition to this project. In fact I think I've almost used it up... and that's a lot of paper!!!



Here's the box with the coordinating set of little 3x3 love notes. I used the little hedgies with hearts and followed the same basic layout for each of them. They are colored with Copics and were very quick and easy. One little design note... I added some *texture* to each hedgies balloon with a white gel pen. One has dots, another stripes, and another hearts. It's a quick way to make something looked paper pieced, without all that cutting and pasting. :-)

Here's another picture of the box from the side. That yummy ribbon is part of the paper kit, too!
Oh, I almost forgot!! My romantic word is heart. Now off you go! Don't forget to gather your words and designer names for a chance to win this adorable set!! And don't forget to come back next Friday for our monthly Paper Garden Challenge!

Here's your list:

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Blessings,

Tricia

Sunday, January 17, 2010

I'm in love...

...with Penny Black Mousies!!! This little critter is from the Penny Black Transparent set called Every Which Way, and I just adore him! (or perhaps her, since she's mounted on a pink card???) I used some cardstock, dp and ribbon from the new Valentine Paper Kit from Paper Garden Projects and made sure there was stitching and some pearls so I could enter it in Joanne's challenge. ☺ My mousie is colored with copics, and the stitching on the side of the main panel... well, it's there because my image moved in the nestibilities die when I cut it and I needed to fill in space. ROFL!! I like the look, though!! Don't you just love mistakes?? They expand your creative horizon!!

Thanks for stopping by! Oh - don't forget that there's a Valentine Garden Walk on Saturday! Be sure to stop by to be inspired by the Paper Gardeners and be in the running for a wonderful prize!!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Precious Baby

It's sketch challenge time over at the Clearly Inspired Challenge! Yay! I changed it up just a little by using ribbon instead of paper for a few of the layers. The stamp set is called Toybox Time and it's a new January release from Clear Dollar Stamps. It's filled with cute vintage looking toys. Just perfect for a card for the "younger set".

My dp, orangey cardstock, dewdrops (which I colored with copics to match!) and ribbon are all from a paper kit from Paper Garden Projects called "Frosted Winter". I thought they were the perfect colors for this card. I love having kits with coordinating paper and embellishments. It is so easy to put a quick card together when everything matches!!

Be sure to join us for the challenge. You have a week to enter and then we'll let you know the random winner and the Top 5. See you there!!

Blessings,

Tricia

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Make a Wish

I was so glad to get a few minutes to play today. Especially since I got a new paper pack and stamp set from Paper Garden Projects. Have I told you how much I love these paper packs?? Oh, yes, I probably have. BUT IT'S TRUE!!! This package has buttons and dewdrops and ribbon and cardstock and adorable designer paper by Pink Paislee. And it all coordinates. Which I love even more. :-) I don't think it's on the website yet, but keep watching - it should be there shortly, or you could choose one of the others that are already there!

I used a new transparent Penny Black set called Every Which Way for the dog. I stamped an extra balloon on dp and added a string so he looks like he's floating away. I colored him with copics and added some sponged clouds. The sentiment is from another Penny Black set called Critter Party and the sketch is for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope to have more fun things to share over the next few weeks!!

Saturday, January 09, 2010

A Little Bit of You

Click on the picture if you'd like to get a closer look!

Remember the digi file of the cute bunny that you could get if you played along in the challenge over at Laurie's Clearly Delightful blog?? Here it is! I actually figured out how to make a duo... kind of like the trio card that Laurie made. On my Mac, I just had to pull the picture into a document, resize it, duplicate it, and then choose "flip horizontal" from my menu and it made the second one face the other way. Aren't they ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE???????? You just have to go play along in the challenge! I used my copics to color the bunnies, some BG Wisteria paper for the background, a little stitching, and some edges cut with an old set of Stampin Up deckle scissors as embellishments. Nothing too fancy! The sentiment is Verve cuz my Verve stamps have been feeling neglected. I'm going to give this to my Mom on Mother's Day, because she is so sweet & I would like to be like her! :-)

Friday, January 08, 2010

Using Up My Stash...

Remember the Amelia paper that I had found in my stash? I used it again on this card, to make a matching card and decorated clothespin that I sent with the Chubby Chickadee notebook. The little snowman is from a Clear Dollar set called "Snowman Wishes" that I've used over and over and over again this winter. BTW - is it snowing there?? We have quite a few inches and are expecting quite a few more tonight. It's beautiful outside!! And even prettier because I am *inside*!!

I've been cleaning up my crafty / office area today so that I can get to work on my bookkeeping and design team responsibilities. I have two more piles to go through, so I'd better get back to work!!

Blessings!

Tricia

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Bunny Card

Laurie from Clearly Delightful is having a fun challenge this month and giving away the most adorable digi stamp of a bunny that I have ever seen! Her challenge is to make a card with a bunny on it, so I decided to pull out the Clear Dollar Stamp of the Month set from December and play with it some more. I absolutely love this set, and, did you know that some of the Stamp of the Month sets from last year are actually for *sale* right now on the CDS website under January releases (Check pages 5 & 6, I think...)??? I snatched up one yesterday, and I have at least 3 more on my wish list if I happen to have some extra money dropped in my lap in the next little while... :-)

Seriously, these are *such* cute sets! Check out the sale - you'll be glad you did!!

OK, back to the card. I'm in a clean out mode, so the dp is some scraps from SU and a craft kit that I bought last spring, and the buttons are from the craft kit, too. Can you believe how much *stuff* we accumulate? WOW!

The Scripture sentiment for my card is from another of my favorite CDS stamp sets - Pretty Little Scriptures. I love putting verses on my cards. That way I can use it for many different occasions, just by adding another sentiment inside when I'm ready to send it. I'd like to make a lot more cards with Scripture verses this year!!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Thankful for You

I have another card to share with you today from the Home is Where the Hearth Is set from Clear Dollar Stamps. I just love the versatility of this set! For today's card I made a potted plant and used the So Thankful for you sentiment. Isn't the swirl on the vase pretty?? I did some extra stamping on the background paper to add some interest and then cut out my focal image with the long rectangle scalloped nestibilities die. A perfect card for one of those thank you notes that we haven't written yet! ;-)

Details...

So Thankful

CDS STAMPS USED: Home is Where the Hearth Is
CS/PAPERS: Soft Suede, Mustard, White, Moss DP
INK: Artichoke, Mustard
ACCENTS/TOOLS: Ribbon, Nestibilities Long Scalloped Rectangle, Sponge