Clean & Simple 80

One of the great parts about the internet is finding new (to me)challenge blogs. Thanks to a comment on my blog I found the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. There are times when I want to make a little work of art, but other times keeping it simple is just so much more effective. More and more I'm drawn to simple, elegant designs. Too bad the "cute" in my style always crops up!



I made this for Layout 80 at the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. The adorable image is Oliva from All That Scraps. There isn't much need for a rundown on "how to" as it is really simple. Thanks for looking!

Mojo Monday 127

I was able to sneak in a quick card today. :)


Usually cards take me seemingly forever to make, but this one came together quickly, thanks to the February kit from Life Preservers Scrapbook Club and today's sketch over at Mojo Monday!

I love how bright and cheerful these Basic Grey papers are. Inside I included a get well sentiment. It just seemed to fit.

Thanks for looking!

Paper Romance Design Team Call & Give-away

I'm back with another cute card. This one I did up for a Design Team call at Amy's Paper Romance. I absolutely ADORE the High Hopes Stamps, and sure wish I had a bunch more of them!



I know I don't usually take pictures of the insides of my cards, but thought it might be a nice change. Though I'm usually ready to be done with a project by time I get to the inside, I do usually "finish them off" so to say. I just like for the whole thing to be a package.



This one is currently blank, as I don't have a recipient in mind. This way when I need a quick card, I can pull this one out and write/stamp a message inside. I have quite a few cards in my stash waiting to be used.

Not only is Amy having a Design Team call, she's also got some goodies up for grabs. Check out this post to see what she has. Better hurry though! The give-a-way ends on the 20th.

Fluttering By...

Though this isn't Valentine related, it sure is soft and girly!

But I love that butterfly so! It's a die cut from the Graphically Speaking Cartridge from ProvoCraft. When the challenge at Practical Scrappers was to use a die cut this cutie came to mind immediately!

Though this is a simple card, I think it's elegant. Except for my horrible handwriting! I so wish I had a stamp that said something along the lines of "fluttering by" but I don't. You can bet I'm on a mission to find one though!



Anyhow, I cut the background and the wing outline from two different shades of pink and added a generous amount of glitter to the outline of the wings. Added some pearls down the body and viola... a delicate, beautiful butterfly! I stamped a flourish in a light pink to give a hint of it fluttering about. I scored a few lines across the bottom and tied a pink ribbon to give the bottom of the card a little bit of visual weight.

I really would like to make simpler cards like this more often, but I always want to add a ton of stuff to them!

Cool Cat

I found this cute floating cat when looking on line for digital stamps. She was a freebie, and now I wish I could find her again to share the link, but she's remaining elusive to google right now.



Anyhow, this was a quickly put together card made especially for a friend of mine. She is crazy about cats, and I thought it fit her nicely. I just added a few touches (coil metal clip) to add to the fun factor.

Thanks for looking!

Simple Good Wishes

I know it's been a couple days. I've been working on a project for a friend. I'm eager to share pictures of it, but I need to wait till after I've given it to her, just in case she meanders over here.

I threw this card together quickly today for one of the ladies at our Bible Study. Life is kind of a mess for her right now, and I just wanted to let her know she's thought of.



Though it's simple, I think it's adorable! I totally cheated and used a KCompany rub-on instead of a stamp. I found the package in the closeouts at Hobby Lobby and couldn't pass it up! I cut it out with my Nestabilities, and stamped on the Chipboard tag and attached it all to the card! I think I need to do more simple cards!

Simple Threesome

Wow! How about them Get Sketchy girls eh? My last post has more love than nearly any other post I've made to this blog! They sure know how to lavish the love!

I have to apologize for the quality of this picture. It was taken late the night before I needed them! I made two sets of these cute little cards. One in the blue pictured here, another in a yummy peach color. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about taking pictures before I wrapped up the peach ones, so you get to see the blue ones.



I made two sets of six of these to be prizes for the Baby Shower yesterday. Because of the quantity of cards, I needed a simple sweet design. The CAS08 (Clean And Simple) Sketch over at Splitcoast Stampers got me started. I used a Martha Stewart hole punch, then my wonderful scor-pal to emboss the lines above and below the holes, scoring the card fold at that time as well. Then I picked some general stamps from my TPC Studio Greetings set and stamped away. I tell you, having that embossed line does wonders for making sure your sentiment is straight! Then I weaved the ribbon, tied it off, and viola! A clean, simple, card.

One in a Melon

My stamps from High Hopes finally came in yesterday! In between chores today I've been working on a cheery bright card for my (hubby's) Grandma.



As you can see I've even done an envelope to match. Looking at the cheery yellow and orange, I think perhaps I'm wishing for summer?

Anyhow, the papers are just from my stash, not sure where any of them came from. I stamped the girl and colored her in with my Prisma pencils. Cut her and the green out with Nestabilities circle, and scalloped circle. Added some ribbons, a flower with button and a dangly thing I got from the Walmart clearance aisle. I pierced the scallop circle a little to give it a slight more texture.



I mimicked the main focal point on the inside for the sentiment. I think the scalloped oval plays off of a flower, or bites of watermelon. :)

Thanks for looking!

Smile

Whew! I finally got some time today to make a card. It's been a while since I've brightened my grandmother's day, so I wanted to make a simple card for her. This last week and a half has been unbelievably challenging for me. I've forgotten how spending some time on a simple gesture for someone else seems to brighten my own disposition as well! It doesn't hurt that we're actually warm and sunshiny today!



I started off by rummaging through my drawer of forgottens. This is a drawer that I stick things in and then forget about them! (Not intentionally, but that is what happens!) I found three stacks of vellum quotes that I can't recall ever actually using! That's where I found the smile sentiment. It's so simple and cheerful I head to my paper to pick out some coordinating papers. I think the hint of yellow helps add to it's cheerfulness.

I couldn't find a main paper that did the trick for me, so I created my own. Cut a square of white card stock, sponged some colors on it, and inked the edges. It was still missing something, so I stamped a few random flowers in white embossing ink and added clear embossing powder. The effect is very subtle, but just enough to add some details.

I decided to place the sentiment off center and add a flower folded in half to the far left side with a gem as it's center. I thought the dome button was the perfect addition to sit atop the "i". The card still seemed to be missing something, so I decided to add a ribbon. The fact that it's a sheer ribbon helps to not visually weigh it down. I'm happy with it, I think it's cute, and I'm sure it'll do it's job once it reaches it's destination. :)