Clear Dollar Stamps September Sneak Peeks Day 3

Ready for one more day of previews?? Today, I'm showing off the amazing Stamp of the Month for September. This set is free in September for any order over $50 at Clear Dollar Stamps. What a great set ... and for free!!!





Isn't he CUTE?! I just love him. This layout was very different from ones that I typically do, but I really love the way the card turned out.












When I first thought of doing a card with him, I just had a vision of a beautiful snowy owl. The white layer is embossed with snowflakes at the top and branches at the bottom, and the hand-cut branch is embossed with the same branch embossing folder. The snowflakes are also on the blue layer, and snowflake designer paper was used on the duel layers in the background.









Stamps : Whooo Loves You (September Stamp of the Month)
Paper : Paper Studio dp, Billowing Clouds, Cottonball White, Hot Cocoa, SU ballet blue
Ink : Memento Black, Copics (C1, C3, Y26, B21)
Accessories : glitter pen, Cuttlebug and folders, Cricut, SCAL, ribbon, self-adhesive crystals, pop dots
Technique : embossing, paper piecing (hand-cut branch)


Go check out the other samples at Lori's and Katie's blogs. The design team did an AMAZING job with all of the sets this month. I hope you will check them all out and grab some inspiration from these amazing artists.



Have a magnificent Monday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!


~*Shell*~

Clear Dollar Stamps September Sneak Peeks Day 2

Woohoo! Day 2! Today, I'm showing you an absolutely adorable set called Christmas Mouse and a coordinating one called All God's Creatures. I am just in love with this precious little mouse. :)


For this card, I started with a layer cut to be a 'mouse hole.' I stamped, colored, and cut out the mouse and put him on some pop dots in front of his home. I sewed around the layer and distressed it a little to make it look a bit ragged. Small, self-adhesive, metal dots were used around the hole. The little guy was, as usual, colored with Copics.

The sentiment from All God's Creatures was used on the white layer. That layer had ink applied directly to the edges and was layered on top of red and black.







This sentiment is SO perfect for this little mouse. And what a great sentiment for a Christmas card!!











Stamps : Christmas Mouse, All God's Creatures
Paper : Mud Pie, Night Eclipse, Cottonball White, SU red,
Ink : Memento Black, Copics (E31 E33, E37, R59, R99)
Accessories : self-adhesive metal buttons, ribbon, pop dots, sewing machine, Cricut, SCAL
Technique; sewing, edge distressing



Make sure you run to Lori's and Katie's blogs to see the other samples and preview artists for today. You don't want to miss any of them!!


One more tomorrow??? :) Can't wait to show you Preview Day 3!


Have a sanctified Sunday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!



~*Shell*~

Clear Dollar Stamps September Sneak Peeks Day 1

September!! Wow. Can you believe it's here already? And before you know it ... it will be (yes, I know, DON'T SAY IT ...) Christmas. How many of you have started your Christmas cards? Finished them? Yeah, I didn't think so. I started the year with the best of intentions. I was going to make 5 cards a month so that I would have 50 - 60 by the time I needed them in November. While it, sadly, lasted only a month, I am, actually, glad about that now. I can now use the beautiful sets that CDS is releasing on September 1 to create some very pretty, very meaningful Christmas cards. I had such a great time creating for our preview days!! I hope that you enjoy these creations as much as I enjoyed creating them.


Our Savior's Birth .... What a beautiful set. This set has some wonderful silhouettes as well as a beautiful star and some sentiments. This is an unusual card for Christmas, I know. The colors just worked for me, though. The large star was cut to match the small one (I will have the free .jpg file for that on Friday!!! Keep watching) on the Cricut and stamped the small one inside. I love the way it turned out. The Cuttlebug was used to emboss the side of the layer behind the Magi and the black background layer.


Stamps : Our Savior's Birth
Paper : Night Eclipse, Bee Pollen, Cottonball White
Ink : Memento Black, Glitter Gel Pen
Accessories: Self-adhesive gold dots, pop dots, Cittlebug and folders, SCAL, ribbon, label punch




Another beautiful image from Our Savior's Birth is featured on the front of this card. The light blue and white just call out 'peace' to me, and this card feels so peaceful.












The inside shows an example of a scripture from the set, Our Savior's Scriptures, which is made to coordinate with Our Savior's Birth. This is a very simple card that would be perfect to use with a gift bag or as a gift card on a boxed gift.









Stamps : Our Savior's Birth
Paper : Bashful Blue, white
Ink : Memento black
Accessories: silver cord, Cricut, SCAL, Cuttlebug and folder



My last one with this set. The beautiful star and silhouette of the manger were so wonderful to work with! The manger is nestled in the stable (cut with the Cricut), which is popped up a bit using pieces of pop dots. I used the Deep Sea cardstock as a background to simulate a perfect night sky. The set - Our Savior's Scriptures - was also used on the front of this card, along with a sentiment from the Our Savior's Birth set.




Stamps : Our Savior's Birth, Our Savior's Scriptures
Paper : Deep Sea, Hot Cocoa, Night Eclipse, Cottonball White
Ink : Memento Black, white pigment
Accessories: Cricut, SCAL, ribbon (Wild Ginger), oval punch, glitter pen, pop dots



Are you having fun yet??? I am ... and I've just gotten started!!!! :) :)



I love the easel cards, and Christmas just seems like a perfect time to use/make one. A Season of Wonder is such a beautiful, precious set showcasing Mary's love for her child ... the precious Christ. For this card, I cut the card and card layers using the Cricut. The beautiful star cut that I created for the last set of cards was used here without a stamp. The star stands high above Mary and baby Jesus.

The set, Christmas Inside Sentiments (John 8:12) was used on the inside 'holding spot' of the card.




Stamps :Season of Wonder, Christmas Inside (John 8:12)
Paper : heavy weight white, Night Eclipse, Bee Pollen, silver
Ink : Memento Black, Copics (B39, B21, B24, B29, Y11, Y15, Y17, W5, E31, E33, E37, E47)
Accessories: Cricut, SCAL, Shaplies (Penny Duncan), Cuttlebug, ribbon (SU), pop dots, Cuttlebug and edge folder
Technique: Easel Card





Another card with A Season of Wonder ... and perhaps, my favorite. The image was placed on nesting shapes with ribbon and designer paper behind (nesting layers cut using the Cricut). The Cuttlebug was used on the background layer, as well.










The inside was stamped with Christmas Inside Sentiments (Psalm 115:15) and embellished with a ribbon to match the outside.











Stamps : Season of Wonder, Christmas Inside Scriptures (Psalm 115:15)
Paper : SU red, Old Olive, dp, GP white
Ink :Memento Black, Copics (Y26, W1, W3, W5, E71, E47, E31, B93, B95)
Accessories: Oval punches, slot punch, self-adhesive pearls, pop dots, Cricut, SCAL, Shaplies (Penny Duncan), ribbon (SU gray taffeta), Cuttlebug and folder





I used the side step card to show off the set Jesus is the Reason and the set Blooming Background (which coordinates beautifully with the Jesus is the Reason set). Blooming Background was used to created the cut for the right side of this card. I cut it, and then, I used the stamp to stamp the image before adding it to the card and embellishing it. I LOVE the way it cut and stamped. With the clear stamps, it was easy to line up the stamp with the cut paper. And it made such a cool border!!! The tree, "Merry Christmas," and sentiment, as well as the cute flowers, are all from Jesus is the Reason.



Stamps : Jesus is the Reason, Blooming Background
Paper : Cottonball white, SU red, green
Ink : Memento Black, VersaMark, Copics (R46, G85)
Accessories : ribbon, crystals, pop dots, gold dots, Cricut, SCAL, ScorPal
Techniques : Side step card




So, today, you saw ....

Our Savior's Birth
Our Savior's Scriptures
A Season of Wonder
Christmas Inside Sentiments (Psalm 115:15)
Christmas Inside Sentiments (John 8:12)
Jesus is the Reason
Blooming Background



Each and every one of these sets will be available on Wednesday, September 1 on the Clear Dollar Stamps site.

Hop over to Lori and Katie's blogs to see more and to see others that previewed these sets today.



So, I'm dying to know what you think of these! I just love, love, love the sets. I am excited to use these for the rest of my Christmas cards. Hmmm ... guess I should get on those, huh?


Tomorrow ... more sneak peeks! Yep, more fun!


Have a super duper Saturday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!


~*Shell*~

CASing

I just loved this card that Lisa Lara made for the August CDS Previews. I couldn't resist CASing it (Copy And Stamp) for myself. Here's my take on Lisa's card.



I just loved her square, bright card. It put a smile on my face, and I had to try that concept myself.











Stamps - Spider Greetings - CDS
Paper - CDS green, yellow, orange, and black (sorry ... don't have the names handy at the moment), GP white
Ink - Memento black, Copics
Accessories - Circle punches, Cricut, SCAL, ribbon, pop dots, piercer




Go check out Lisa's work. She's a wonderful designer. She's inspired me over the last 3 months. :) Thanks, Lisa.


Have a fantastic Friday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow ...... REMEMBER ... tomorrow is Day One of Previews for the Clear Dollar Stamps' September Stamp Release!!! I can't wait to share with you!!




~*Shell*~

YeeHaw!!

I bought this adorable stamp on clearance at Hobby Lobby a couple of months ago. I've not picked him up until now, but what fun he is!




The background layer was distressed by crumpling and using a blade on the edges. I curled the edges in a little after sewing the layers together. Even the star is sewn.














The coloring of this image was a BLAST!! So much shading and opportunity for lighting effects. Great image.


You can also see the sewing of the layers here.








Stamps - Little Buckaroo from Stampabilities
Paper - Night Eclipse, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Yo Yo Yellow, White
Ink - Memento Black, Copics (E43, E47, E49, BG05, Y26, Y28, R46, R59, C3, C5, E11)
Accessories - Cricut, SCAL, sewing machine, pop dots, brads, ribbon, scissors to distress sides


Hope you have a terrific Thursday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!



~*Shell*~

Birthday Plans

My precious princess is turning 5 in just a few weeks! Yikes!! I can't believe she's already 5. Our lives have changed so much with her entrance into our family. She's truly a delight - as well as proof that God has a sense of humor. :)

This year, I'm wimping out a bit. I, typically, go all out for parties - games, crafts, full themes, and such, but this year we're doing a "Build A Bear" party at the mall. However, I am making the invitations. While I normally use the Cricut for more unusual invites, I chose a more classic style this year using the Build A Bear set frolm SU.

She loves them. I hope you like them, too. The most time-consuming thing is the coloring with the Copics.













I've done all of the stamping, and I've cut all of the pieces. The ribbon is on all of the pink layers, and the blue layers are embossed. Now ... I just have to color all of them and put the party details on the inside. :)














So, let me know what you think. I hope you have a wondertastic Wednesday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.



~*Shell*~

Summer's Children

There is a challenge on the Critter Sketch Blog (challenge # 28) this week that I thought I'd try. The project must incorporate stripes and red, and they would like it if it had a summer theme. I have a beautiful CDS set that I've not used yet, and I thought it would work well with this theme/scheme.



The set is Scripture Children. Both the silhouette and the sentiment came from that set. The flowers are from Hobby Lobby and were colored to match using a Copic (y21).








I hope this fits the theme well enough. I really like the look and feel of the card, though!



Here are the deets.....


Stamps - Scripture Children by CDS
Paper - SU red and blue, PTI striped dp, GP white
Ink - Memento Black, Copics (Y21), Basic Brown
Accessories - sponge dauber, Cricut, SCAL, Cuttlebug/folder, ribbon, flowers, pop dots




Have a totally tremendous Tuesday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!


~*Shell*~

Mojo Monday

Hi there. How are you this week?

My mojo today came from SCS ... the Clear and Simple Challenge. What a fun one this was! The challenge was to use white, kraft, and turquoise on a clean and simple card.


Here's what I came up with.




The spiders are so blasted cute. Did I just say that?! I HATE spiders, but these little guys just put a smile on my face.




Stamps : Spider Greetings by Clear Dollar Stamps
Paper : GP White, SU Tempting Turquoise and Kraft
Ink : Tempting Turquoise, Memento Black, Copics (BG01, BG05, C5)
Accessories : Ribbon, brads, pop dots, circle punches



Another fun project tomorrow. Don't forget that the weekend is to be filled with Clear Dollar Stamps' Preview Days! I can't wait!!!!

Have a magnificent Monday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.



~*Shell*~

Monthly Challenge Swap

Each month, as many of you know, I am involved in a monthly challenge group. The challenge is to create a project with goodies sent to us each month. August was my month to send. I was excited to be able to use one of our new Clear Dollar Stamp sets for the challenge. I sent stamped images, ribbon, embossed paper, acrylic leaves, and a leaf brad to each of the other 11 people.

You can see the creations they've made with these items here, here, here, and here.


And ... here ... is my challenge piece ....


The paper used is from Clear Dollar Stamps. The squirrel is colored with Copics (imagine that), and it's raised up on pop dots. My sewing machine was used all the way around the card.














Stamps : Autumn Critters
Paper : Wild Ginger, Melon Spice, Hot Cocoa, Mud Pie, white
Ink : Copics, Memento Black
Accessories : Cuttlebug/folders, acrylic leaf, leaf brads, pop dots, ribbon, sewing machine
Technique : Sewing, embossing




I hope you are having a phenomenal Friday and that you have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow! :)



~*Shell*~

Finally

Wow. What a few weeks. I'm so sorry for being MIA. Along with starting our school schedule and getting in the groove with that, I decided to rip up the carpet in my Mom's computer room before we installed her new computer in there. So, here I am. Hopefully, I can keep up to date on here for a while. Previews for Clear Dollar Stamps will be the weekend of the 28th, so make sure you check back then. There are some *great* new sets coming out in September!



I did this card some time ago and never got a chance to share.

The stamp set used is A Tweet Hello by Clear Dollar Stamps.











I LOVE the way this flower turned out. It just accented the card perfectly.













The image was colored with ... yep, you guessed it ... Copics. :)













Stamps - A Tweet Hello
Paper - GP white, SU pink and black, misc. dp
Ink - Memento Black, Copics
Accessories - brad, ribbon, flowers, circle punches, pop dots



Hope you're having a wonderific Wednesday and that you have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!


~*Shell*~

Use Those Thingies Thursday

Do you have things lying around that you thought were scraps to be trashed?? I was cleaning up - a little - around the Haven, and I found these ...


Hmmmmm ... what in the world could I do with these?? These are the negative images of the Shaplies I cut the other day for another card.












Well, this is what I came up with ...


The image is shadowboxed in the layers with pop dots holding the layers on. It's a huge image, but I used only a small portion on the card.






Stamps : Blue Cafe by Stamps Happen
Paper : CDS ( Night Eclipse, Mossy Woods), GP White
Ink : Memento Black, Copics (B39, R46, 100, B34, G24)
Accessories/Tools : Cricut, SCAL, ribboln, Shaplies (actually, the negative image), pop dots, brads/hardware, flowers




So, find a couple of things in your world that you think you can't use. Use them as a challenge and create something with them!! Use that for your mojo today.


Have a wonderful Thursday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!


~*Shell*~

.

Tooty Fruity Tuesday

Today isn't going to be a tutorial (I'm at a standstill with those at the moment). I am going to fill in on my Tuesdays with some "rootin' tootin'" project instead. If you come up with something that you'd like to learn about SCAL, please comment or contact me. I'd love to help you out and add it to the tutorials on here. :)

Today, I'd like to share a card that I made for the Friday F4A (free for all) Challenge at SCS. The challenge was to create something with the main image being something from the garden. Easy ... right? It was tons of fun for me!

Here's my submission ...



Stamps : Autumn Critters, Leaf Whimsey - both from Clear Dollar Stamps
Paper : GP white, CDS (Tangelo, Smoothie, Mossy Woods, Hot Cocoa, Night Eclipse), Martha Stewart dp
Ink : Memento Black, Basic Brown (distressing), Copics (YR00, YR04, YR07, E11, E15, E31, E33, E37, B21
Accessories : Cricut, SCAL, Shaplies (by Penny Duncan, like Nesties for the Cricut and SCAL), ribbon (HL), acrylic leaves, pop dots, sewing machine
Technique : sewing, distressing


I'd love to hear what you have to say!


Have a fantabulous Tuesday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!


~*Shell*~

Mojo Monday

Happy Monday!!! I love Monday; how about you? My Monday is generally spent at home educating my kids, recovering from my weekend, doing laundry, recovering from my weekend, stamping, and, yes, recovering from my weekend. No, I'm not a partier, but my weekends are almost always much busier than I really intend for them to be. I'm very involved in my church, so Sundays are often packed with church-related activities and responsibilities.

This weekend was one of those filled with activity and events. Because I knew that was going to happen, I created early. Ok, so, part of the reason I created early was because it was my precious hubby's birthday weekend, but I *did* create early. :)

This card was created for my hubby's birthday as well as for the Ways To Use It- Stick It Challenge on SCS. The challenge was to use pins or sticks on the project. Some suggestions were ...
Piercing
Use of pins, hat pins etc. as embellishments
Use of an image that is a STICK, limb or etc.
Sewing pins or needles or sewing images
Sewing directly onto a card

So, I chose to sew directly on my card. I've never done that, and I really love the look. I thought I'd have a go at it.



I used a zig-zag stitch around the card and thought that worked really well with the feel of it.











I wanted to set off that adorable spider with the fun polka dots and bright colors.











Stamps : Spider Greetings from Clear Dollar Stamps
Paper : SU (chocolate chip, gable green, black), GP (white), A Paper Studio (dp)
Ink : Memento black, basic brown (SU - for distressing green), Copics (Y17, Y11, R32, G00, G02, G05, E11, E15)
Accessories : Ribbon, pop dots, circle punches, corner punch, sewing machine
Technique : Distressing, sewing on card


Find a challenge to try today!! It's fun and gets your mojo moving!! SCS has a different challenge every day of the week.


Have an magnificent Monday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.



~*Shell*~

Clearly Inspired Challenge #16 and Free File Friday

Whew! What a week!! I'm sorry about the blog posts. Hopefully, that is going to get better. We started school this week, and with one in kindergarten and the other in high school, things get a little crazy around here. We just have to get our routine down and then, it will all fall into place .... I hope.


Clearly Inspired Challenge #16 is all about Cute and Fuzzy! My submission for this is not as fuzzy as I'd like, but I really thought it all turned out cute. :)




This started out as a submission for the Clean and Simple challenge (polka dots), but when I was finished, it didn't look very clean to me. I still liked the card, though, so here it is as my Cute and Fuzzy sample.











Stamps : Autumn Critters (CDS)
Paper :CDS - Pucker Up, Mossy Woods, Deep Sea, Wild Ginger, Cottonball White, SU - basic gray
Ink : Memento Black, Copics (Toasted Almond (E31), E33, Mud Pie (E37), Y38, Bee Pollen (Y17), G21, G24, B21
Accessories : Circle punches, SCAL, Cricut, buttons, ribbon (Mud Pie), buttons, pop dots, linen thread



And, as promised, here's your free file for the week. It's the petal to the Cherokee Rose. Use 5 of these to make one for yourself.
You can have fun with this, and I'd love to see what you do with it.


Have a freakishly fantastic Friday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!



~*Shell*~

Clean and Simple

The Clean and Simple challenge on SCS inspired me today when I finally made it to the Haven. I am not particularly good at clean or simple cards, so it was indeed a challenge for me.




I thought about using dp for the dots, but decided that wasn't really clean or simple for me. The Cuttlebug folder, Swiss Dots, was perfect, but ... I couldn't use it at the top of the card (it's a one layer card). AH! The dotted edge folder that came in one of the border sets works wonderfully!!

I'm in love with this spider from Spider Greetings released on August 1st at Clear Dollar Stamps. He's so CUTE! On my card, he hangs from a piece of PTI ribbon and is colored with Copics.

Stamps : Spider Greetings

Paper : MM White

Ink : Memento Black, Copics (BV00, BV08, C3)

Accessories : Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug folders, ribbon (PTI)

Technique : Clean and Simple

I've also entered this card in the Black and White challenge on Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings!

Sorry I didn't get anything posted yesterday. I ... ummm ... got stuck in my 14 year old son's closet for most of the day. Wow. Glad, so glad, to be out of there!

Hopefully, I will be posting a challenge for you tomorrow. :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.



~*Shell*~

Mojo Monday

What inspired you this weekend?? VSN mini was Friday night - for those who aren't well-acquainted with SCS, that's Virtual Stamp Night Mini. From 6 PM until 10 PM on Friday night, the hostesses presented us with challenges, one every hour. We had 45 minutes (during the challenge or later, if we needed to wait) to complete our project for that challenge. All challenge items have to be uploaded by 10 PM tonight (Monday) to be considered for the 'challenges.' This event was wonderful for the Mojo!!! I had a great time and created some very 'out-of-the-box' (for me) cards. Go here if you'd like to use the challenges to jump-start your mojo!



For this card, the challenge was state flowers. We needed to complete a project themed around our state, province, county, etc. flower. My state flower is the Cherokee Rose. Here's a picture of one.



The project features NO stamping, but is a shaped card using the Cricut and SCAL. A picture of a real Cherokee Rose was used to create the petals for my rose. Each petal is adhered separately to allow for dimension. Fibers were used to created the center of the rose.








I will post the jpg file for the petals on Friday.



The main event, VSN for August 2010, will be held on August 27th and 28th at www.splitcoaststampers.com. It's a great time with a lot of chatter, mojo, challenges, and inspiration. JOIN US!!!!


Hope you have a magnificent Monday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.


****Note - there will be no tutorial tomorrow, but I will post a project. If you have something that you'd like for me to highlight on Tooty Fruity Tuesday, please let me know. I'm running low on tutorial ideas!! :)


~*Shell*~