Easy Peasy Cards

You can't get any cleaner and simpler than these two cards.  I whipped these up for two birthdays I celebrated last weekend.  I stamped the greeting and then carefully chose the optimal spot to punch.  Notice I like having the word "cake" visible in both cards.

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!  We're expected to have a heat spell - Indian summer has arrived now that it's fall. 

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Everything Nice, Birthday Bliss

Ink:  Early Espresso

Paper:  Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride, Hostess Level 1 In Color DSP Pack

Accessories:  1" Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Get Ready for Fall

This is one of the cards I gave my sister-in-law as her birthday present.  Fall isn't quite quite here yet, but I've already transitioned in my mind.  Actually we never had a full-fledged summer here in Northern CA; it stayed pleasantly cool and comfortable.  

This card uses a retired stamp set called Branch Out.  I loved that set and wish it hadn't retired so soon.  Have you heard of a product called Flower Soft?  The Fall blend makes this tree come alive as if it is part of a tranquil scene in New England during leaf peeping season.  The muddy red boots and tire swing complete the scene.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Branch Out (Retired), A Little Birthday Cheer (Retired)
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black
Paper:  Early Espresso, Whisper White, Old Olive
Accessories:  Early Espresso Marker, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Modern Label Extra-Large Punch

Faux Watercolor

I made this card for my sister-in-law's birthday which we celebrated this weekend.  I used the stamp set Inspired by Nature and colored the flower and stem with markers.  Before I stamped it on watercolor paper, I gave the stamp a light spritz of water and then stamped.  This technique gives the image a "watercolored" effect.  My favorite stamp set Afterthoughts is making its weekly appearance.  This card is 3.5" x 6".  I like this size; it's great for images that are long.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Inspired by Nature, Afterthoughts, Tiny Tags

Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Pink Passion (Retired), Old Olive, Versamark, Early Espresso

Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Watercolor, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Linen Thread, White Embossing Powder, Jewelry Tag Medium Punch, Paper Piercer

Circular Greeting

I'm making a stash of graphic simple cards to give to my friend for her birthday next week.  She's getting the two from yesterday's post; this'll be the 3rd design.  I traced a big circle in pencil and followed the outline to place the colorful dots; this wasn't a situation to wing the dot placements - I tried that at first and my circle was more like a wonky oval!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Celebrations (Retired)

Ink:  Early Espresso

Paper:  Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories:  1/4" Circle Punch

Graphic Duo

Revisiting the bold and graphic design style with these two cards.  I masked the Happy Birthday stamp from the Hostess Level 1 set Afterthoughts so I could stamp it on one line vs two lines.  The striped card is made from scrap strips of Melon Mambo and Whisper White mounted on an Early Espresso background.  I've got a lot of birthdays coming up in September so building up my stash + want to give my friends cards as their birthday gift. 

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Afterthoughts

Ink:  Early Espresso

Paper:  Whisper White, Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry (Retired)

Accessories:  Circle Punches:  1 1/4" and 1"

Embossed Organic Outlines

I never sell my retired stamps but that will have to change soon.  Otherwise I may be a great candidate for the reality show on hoarders.  I recently went over my inventory of stamps and separated the current from the retired stamps.  One of the sets I came across was Organic Outlines.  Organic Outlines never took off and retired way too early.  Lately I've been seeing lots of bedding designs like this:

My card is based on the gray, white and yellow/greenish pillow to the right; Organic Outlines had just the right images to mimic the design concept of the pillow.  I'll probably hang onto this set for a while, even though it's retired.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Organic Outlines (Retired), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Versamark, Basic Gray

Paper:  River Rock, Going Gray, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Accessories:  Modern Label Extra Large Punch, Circle Punches:  1" and 3/4", White Embossing Powder

How Old?

Here's graphic birthday card #2.  This time I repeated the numbers motif and added the sentiment in the middle of all the swirling digits.  I need to use other stamps from the hostess set Afterthoughts soon or they'll feel neglected.  This is a good masculine birthday card.  I'm getting better at making male cards!  This blog has been great at stretching my comfort zone and making me utilize new design concepts and color combinations.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Afterthoughts

Paper:  Sahara Sand, Marina Mist, Baja Breeze, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Island Oasis DSP

Ink:  Early Espresso

Accessories:  Timeless Type Alphabet Sizzlits, Alphabet Simple Numbers Bigz Dies

Graphic Birthday Card #1

I just bought the Sizzix Timeless Type Alphabet Sizzlits and got a little crazy with them over the weekend.  I made 4 cards using the alphabets and letters!  Do you like that I repeated the stacked on top of each other imagery with the tea cups and then the letters spelling happy?  It's bold, graphic, clean and simple.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Morning Cup, Afterthoughts

Paper:  Kiwi Kiss (Retired - sad face), Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Real Red, Daffodil Delight

Ink:  Basic Black, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Timeless Type Alphabet Sizzlits

Casing Carroll's Clear Card

While I was perusing Shari Carroll's blog this weekend, I was inspired by another one of her cards.  I replaced some of the Hero Arts elements with Stampin' Up elements and this card is the end result.  The small piece of designer series paper is called Island Oasis and is from the Summer Mini Catalog.  Items from this mini will be available thru August 31.  It's not too late to place an order.  Click here to go directly to my online ordering website.

I've had the opportunity to see the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog and it is chock full of great stuff - including...LETTERPRESS PLATES!  I placed a sneak peek order of mainly Halloween stuff on Monday and am impatiently waiting for my order to arrive.  I'm getting ready for my Halloween Treats and Favors class on Sept 25th.  If you're interested in attending, RSVP to my Bella Confetti group here.  If you place a $75 online merchandise total order, you can attend my class for free!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Inspired by Nature, Full of Life

Ink:  Stazon White, Basic Black

Paper:  Island Oasis DSP, Crumb Cake

Accessories:  Linen Thread

Box Card

Shari Carroll is a talented stamper with great ideas.  I originally saw scrapplings posted on her blog a while ago.  The other day I saw another creative idea called the Box Card.  Shari has a video on her blog with all the steps.  Click here to view the video.  The card folds flat so you can mail it.  I love it!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Aviary, Afterthoughts (Level 1 Hostess Set), Trendy Trees

Ink:  Versamark, Peach Parfait, Real Red, Early Espresso

Paper:  Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze, Greenhouse Gala DSP, Whisper White

Accessories:  Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Basic Pearls,   Basic Rhinestones, White Embossing Powder

CAS FTL #101

Another week, another Clean and Simple Blog Layout challenge. 

Hope you all had a good weekend. I had a lot going on, but still managed to work on my weekly blog projects.  I try to do as many of my blog postings as possible on the weekend in case the week gets busy.  So far I've been able to stick to my weekly goal of 4 to 5 postings; I've built up a good stash of cards and projects.  It's been great!  No more last minute crunches to crank out birthday cards. 

Stampin' Up Supplies Used: 
  

Stamps:  Birthday Bakery, A Little Birthday Cheer (Retired)

Ink:  Versamark, Stazon Black

Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Play Date DSP, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Accessories:  1 3/4" Circle Punch, White Embossing Powder, Markers:  Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait, Marina Mist

Graphically Masculine Birthday Card

Inspiration comes unexpectedly.  For instance, I was at Starbucks the other day and saw their bold and graphic, beige and black paper napkins.  Since I have a hard time coming up with masculine cards, I thought I could incorporate Starbuck's simple bold design.  I used a Cricut cartridge called Simply Sweet to cut out the letters.  Three non-fussy elements to do the job of wishing any male in your life Happy Birthday.  How easy is that?

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Birthday Bliss

Ink:  Basic Black

Paper:  River Rock, Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories:  Stampin' Dimensionals

CAS FTL #100

The Clean and Simple blog just reached its 100th layout milestone.  It's been fun participating in the challenges each week and I look forward to the new layouts each Thursday.  This stamp set is called Tropical Party and is from the Summer Mini which will be available thru August 31st.  I used a simple technique called Paper Piecing on this card which is a quick and easy way to add splashes of patterned color to a stamped image.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Tropical Party, Full of Life

Ink:  Early Espresso, Rose Red, Peach Parfait

Paper:  Whisper White, Island Oasis DSP

Accessories:  Daffodil Delight 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Edge Border Punch

Breaking Out Forest Friends

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This card utilizes a layout by Kristina Werner and also a design concept by my friend Lynda who featured a peek-a-boo owl on her card.  The color combination is from Stampin' Up's Play Date Designer Series Paper.  I can't believe this is the first time I've broken out the Forest Friends stamp set.  I first bought it when it was offered in a mini catalog.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Forest Friends, Woodgrain Background, On Your Birthday

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede

Paper:  Old Olive, Soft Suede, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, So Saffron

Accessories:  Circle Punches:  1" and 1 1/4", Corner Rounder Punch

CAS FTL #99

 

I'm having so much fun participating in the Clean and Simple Blog layout challenges.  The color combo for this card came from the latest Stampin' Up catalog.  I didn't have to do any thinking to come up with this card!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Morning Cup, Teenie Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Stazon Black, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise

Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Accessories:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder, 1" Circle Punch, Aqua Painter