Peeking into the Woods...

Good Morning! Today, I am sharing a brand new set by Clear Dollar Stamps, being released on April 1st, called "Woodland Critters". You're going to love this adorable set, and it contains several new "critters" with coordinating sentiments and the possibilities are endless for this set! I have been inspired by our new CDS Team Designer, Shawne Arnold's knack for creating cards with super dimension and that catapulted me to create this dimensionals "Woodland Critter" card, using the Deer stamp. I enjoyed creating the layers and dimension to convey a whimsical and "magical" flavor to the card and have written the instructions for the card below. For more ordering information and more details about this stamp set, click here. And, don't miss seeing my fellow team designer's work on "Woodland Critters": Candy Fosta, Monique Hawrelluk, Kim Teasdale, Tori Wild. & Laurie Wilson. Stamp Sets Used: Clear Dollar Stamps "Woodland Critters"

Cardstock & Papers: My Mind's Eye "Bloom & Grow" Coordinating Designer Papers, Colormates Dark Outdoorsy Olive Cardstock, Paper Trey White Cardstock
Inkpads: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue & Baja Breeze Inks
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers: E02 Fruit Pink, E25 Caribe Cocoa, E27 Africano, E31 Brick Beige, E34 Orientale, C3, C5, C7 Cool Grays, Signo White Gel Pen
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Regular & Scalloped Oval Dies, Fiskars "Grass" Texture Plate, Sewing Machine, Thread, Stampin' Up! Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, EK Success Corner Rounder Punch, Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch Kit, Tsukineko Sponge Daubers, Cloud Template, Adhesives, Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares, All Night Media Mini Pop Dots, Making Memories Decorative "Button" Brads, We R Memory Keepers Xtra Large Eyelet, Walmart Heart Charm, Offray Satin Ribbon, Orange Jewelry Twine
Coloring Medium: Copic Coloring & Blending
Special Techniques: Basic Stamping, Machine Stitching, Paper Tole, Dry Embossing, Sponging

INSTRUCTIONS:
A 5"x 10" card base was cut from Paper Trey White Cardstock and set aside. Three square mats were cut to size: orange card front to 5" wide x 5" high, teal floral mat to 4-3/8" wide x 4-3/8" high, and the interior multicolor floral mat to 4" wide x 4" high. Using the same orange coordinating designer paper, I cut a strip by hand using an Xacto knife and straight edge to 4" wide x 1: high. Using an EK Success Corner Rounder Punch, I clipped all 4 corners of the three mats, as well as the card base. I glued the 3 square mats together, and then glued the orange horizontal strip across the bottom third of the card front. Using my Janome Hello Kitty Sewing Machine ; ) I machine stitched around all 4 sides of the 3 square mats, as well as across the orange horizontal strip, along the top and bottom.

To create the sentiment tag, I cut a piece of Paper Trey White Cardtock to 1.75" wide x 3/8" high, then stamped the sentiment using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I sponged the edge of the sentiment tag using a Tsukineko Sponge Dauber and Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze Ink. Using a Stampin' Up! Mat Pack and a Paper Piercing Tool, I paper pierced around the 4 sides of the sentiment tag. I embellished the sentiment tag using Making Memories Decorative Orange "Button Brads".

The main stamped image was created in the following steps. I stamped the deer twice onto Paper Trey White Cardstock and colored both using Copic Sketch Markers and blending the colors. I cut out one of the stamped, colored deer and the other deer I cut out using the Nestabilites Regular Oval Die. After cutting out the die, I hand cut the 3-layered grassy area out of Colormates Dark Outdoorsy Olive Cardstock, and then embossed them using a Fiskars "Grass" Texture Plate, and then to add a little focus to the dimension of the embossing, I sponged "Stampin' Up! Old Olive ink lightly over the three layers of cut out grass. Using the same Nestabilities Regular Oval Die I cut the 3 grass embossed pieces to fit the bottom of the stamped, colored deer image. Using Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares, I layered the 3 grass embossed pieces in place on the stamped image oval. Using a Tsukineko Spong Dauber and a Cloud Template (homemade), I sponged clouds above the grassy area of the stamped image oval using Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue Ink. The cut out and colored other deer image was then adhered overtop the other deer using the same Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares. These foam squares really add a lot of height to the dimension, and the beauty of these, is that they fold flat when mailing, and then pop right back up when the card is opened! I cut a teal mat for the stamped image oval using more coordinating My Mind's Eye "Bloom & Grow" designer paper and the Nestabilities Scalloped Oval Die. I adhered the popped up deer oval to the scalloped mat, and then to the card front. Using the same foam squares, I added the sentiment tag overtop the lower right edge of the stamped, popped-up deer image. The card was finished off by glueing the card front to the 5"x 10" white cardstock card base.

I am always amazed each time Clear Dollar Stamps comes out with yet another, whimsical, darling "Critter" stamp set. And this month is no exception. On April 1st, "Woodland Critters" will be available for purchase and it is as cute as cute can be. Several "critters" are included in the set: a fox, a raccoon and a deer along with some sweet sentiments. This particular sample of "Woodland Critters" was created for Laurie Wilson's Design Team Color Challenge: to use Black and White, with just a touch of a third color. I chose red, as it always pops against black an white. I had so much fun coloring the cutie pie raccoon and even more fun playing with all the black, white and red elements on this card. I'm sure that you will love "Woodland Critters" and it will be a great addition to your Clear Dollar Stamps "Critter Collection". For ordering information and more details about the stamp set, click here. And, don't miss seeing my fellow team designer's work on "Woodland Critters": Candy Fosta, Monique Hawrelluk, Kim Teasdale, Tori Wild. & Laurie Wilson.

Stamp Sets Used: Clear Dollar Stamps "Woodland Critters"
Cardstock & Papers: S.E.I. "Black Orchid" Designer Paper, Making Memories Black & White Polka Dotted Scrapbook Paper, Colormates Dark Berry Red, Generic Black Cardstock, Paper Trey White Cardstock
Inkpads: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers: RV23 Pure Pink, BG000 Pale Aqua, C1, C3, C5 Cool Grays, 100 Black and Signo Red Gel Pen
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Regular & Scalloped Round Dies, EK Success Photo Corner Punch, Stampin' Up! Small and Large Oval Punches, Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch, Adhesives, Zots, Scotch Pop Up Foam Squares, Sewing Machine, Thread, JoAnn's White and Black Square Brads, Making Memories White Mini Round Brad, Basic Grey Ambrosia Red Mini Round Brad, We R Memory Keepers Large Black Grommet, We R Memory Keepers Red Photo Anchor and Matching Mini Round Brad, "Bobbin" Red Varigated Ribbon.
Coloring Medium: Copic Coloring & Blending
Special Techniques: Basic Stamping, Machine Stitching, Paper Tole

INSTRUCTIONS:
A 5"x 10" card base was cut from Paper Trey White Cardstock and set aside. the card front was created using this method: A separate piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock was cut to 5"x5" and set aside. A piece of Sei "Black Orchid" Designer Paper was cut to 3-1/8"wide x3-1/8" high, and a piece of Making Memories Black & White Polka Dotted Scrapbook Paper was cut to 3-1/28" wide x 1-1/8" high, and a piece of Colormates Dark Bery Red was cut to 1-1/8" square. These three panels were then glued in place over top the 5" square white card front. I created the upper left White Photo Corner out of Paper Trey White Cardstock and the EK Success Photo Corner Punch, and then made the lower right Black Photo Corner with the same punch. Using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, I stamped the raccoon tracks vertically up the right white panel side, and highlighted with a Copic Sketch Marker, BG000 Pale Aqua. Using my Janome 3/4 Hello Kitty Sewing Machine, I stitched around each panel as well as the 4 sides of the card front using straight stitching and zig-zag stitching, and alternating black and white thread for contrast.

The sentiment was stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I punched the stamped sentiment out using the Stampin' Up! Small Oval Punch, and then punched a mat for it out of Colormates Dark Berry Red with the Stampin' Up! Large Oval Punch. The sentiment was glued to the card front in place, and punching a hole with my Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch Kit, I placed a Large Black We R Memory Keepers Grommet to the left of the matted sentiment. I thread a piece of "Bobbin" Varigated Ribbon through the grommet hole running it around the back of the card, and then looping the end over and securing with a Making Memories White Mini Round Brad.

The raccoon was stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock twice and colored and blended with Copic Sketch Markers..One of the stamped raccoons was die cut using a Cuttlebug and the Nestabilities Regular Round Die, and the second stamped raccoon was handcut out for layering. The red image mat was made with the Cuttlebug and the Nestabilities Regular Round Die and the white scalloped image mat was made with the Nestabilities Scalloped Round Die. Using a Signo Red Gel Pen, I dot-doodled around each scallop point of the scalloped white image mat. Using Scotch Pop Up Foam Squares, I popped up the cut out raccoon overtop the die cut raccoon. Then I glued the the raccoon image mat to the red and the white corresponding image mats.

To add balance to the card, I embellished with the JoAnn's Black Square Brad and the Basic Grey Ambrosia Red Mini Round Brads on top of the punched White Photo Corner, and then added a JoAnn's White Square Brad to the bottom right Red Square mat. To keep the eye flowing from the upper right White Photo Corner to the image and then down to the sentiment, I added a We R Memory Keepers Red Photo Anchor and Matching Mini Round Brad pointing to the sentiment, which leads the eye down to the right lower corner to the Black Photo Corner.

The card was finished off by gluging the card front to the 5"x 10" white cardstock card base.

"You Hoo! A Cute Little Fence!"

Also, today, I'm sharing a single stamp called "Fence" by Clear Dollar Stamps, that will be released on April 1st. When I saw this, I just had to have it! I mean the countless uses for this fence is just plain mind-boggling! For this sample card, I wanted to use the owl in the Clear Dollar Stamps "What a Hoot" stamp set and create a little scene. What a joy to draw, color, sketch, stamp and create with this little fence stamp! I know that it will get much mileage out of my stamp room! For ordering information and more details on the stamp, click here. And, don't miss seeing my fellow team designer's work on "Picket Fence": Candy Fosta. Monique Hawrelluk & Laurie Wilson.

Stamp Sets Used: Clear Dollar Stamps "Fence", "What a Hoot", "Designer Garden", "Bountiful Branches"
Cardstock & Papers: Daisy D's "Brighten My Day" Designer Paper, Paper Trey White Cardstock
Inkpads: Memento Tuxedo Black & Rich Cocoa Inks, Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Real Red, Sage Shadow, and Bashful Blue Inks
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers: Y11 Pale Yellow, Y21 Buttercup Yellow, Y26 Mustard, G21 Lime Green, G28 Ocean Green, YG67 Moss, #25 Caribe Cocoa, E27 Africano, E34 Orientale, C1, C3, C5 Cool Grays, 100 Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Label One Die, Sewing Machine, Thread, Stampin' Up! Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Tsukineko Sponge Daubers, Cloud Template, Adhesives, All Night Media Mini Pop Dots, Zots, Prismacolor Pencils, Paper Trey Satin Ribbon, Jolee's By You Button Flower Embellishment
Coloring Medium: Copic Coloring & Blending
Special Techniques: Basic Stamping, Sponging, Machine Stitching, Paper Piercing, Paper Tole

INSTRUCTIONS:
A 5"x 10" card base was cut from Paper Trey White Cardstock and set aside. A square card front was cut to 4-5/8" wide x 4-5/8" high out of Daisy D's "Brighten My Day" Pink Designer Paper and set aside.

The main stamped image was created in these steps; Using the Nestabilities Labels One largest die and a pencil, I traced around the outer edge of the die onto Paper Trey White Cardstock -- this showed me the area that I had to work with for the stamped scene that I was creating. I first stamped the white picket fence in place using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I added some dimension and shadow to the pickets using some Copic Sketch Cool Gray Markers. Then using Primsacolor Pencils first, I hand sketched the tree to the right of the fence, penciling in the branches and some of the tree wood grain. I added texture and a little depth to the tree branches and trunk using a variation of Prismacolor Pencils & Copic Sketch Marker blending. Using Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose Inks I stamped the flowers in the trees, using the small flowers in the "What a Hoot" stamp set, randomly around the sketched tree branches. I then added the stamped leaves, using Stampin' Up! Sage Shadow Ink. Using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, I stamped the little owl twice -- once onto the tree branch, and then again on a separate piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock. I colored both owls identically using Copic Sketch Markers and blending. I cut out the other owl on the separate piece of paper to use for popping up later. Using Stampin' Up! Real Red and Regal Rose Inks, I stamped a rose vine down the side of the white picket fence, and added a hand-drawn vine with tendrils using a Prismacolor Pencil. I added leaves the vine using Stampin' Up! Sage Shadow Ink. The grass was colored using various shades of Copic Sketch Markers in greens. I added the little brown bird on the left side of the picket fence, using Memento Rich Cocoa Ink and the little bird from the "Designer Garden" stamp set. The sentiment was stamped overtop the sky, flowers and leaves, using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.

To add more detail to the scene, I sponged "clouds" above the picket fence using Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue Ink and a Tsukineko Sponge Dauber with a homemade Cloud Template. Using Copic Sketch Markers in browns, I added more detail to the tree trunk and limbs. The cut out little owl was then popped up overtop the other owl on the tree branch using All Night Media Mini Pop Dots.

Since I used the largest Nestabilities Labels One Die, I wanted a mat for the stampes scene in the same shape. So, taking the largest die, I traced around it's outer edge onto another piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock, and cut it out by hand. I glued the stamped scene to the white matching shaped mat, and then glued those to the pink card front square. Using my Janome Hello Kitty Sewing Machine, I machine stitched first with a larger stitch around the 4 sides of the pink card front mat, and then around the stamped die cut mat.

To embellish, I added a strip of Paper Trey Satin Polka Dotted Ribbon to the lower right diagonal corner of the card, securing to the back of the card. I tied a matching bow knot to the center of the ribbon strip, and topped it off with a Jolee's By You Button Flower, securing it to the bow knot with pink thread. The card front was then glued to the 5" wide x 10" high card base, and then, using the Stampin' Up! Mat Pack and a Paper Piercing Tool, I paper pierced around the 4 sides of the white card front edge.

Whew! Another little honor...

I have been blessed with another blog honor, from a friend and fellow CDS Design Team member, Katie Renz. Thanks, Katie, for thinking of me and honoring my blog. I so appreciate your kindnesss!

It's Time for Some April Peeking...

Good morning! And it is a good one, indeed! Because! Today I can share with you two great new stamp sets by Clear Dollar Stamps. This first stamp set that I'm sharing is called "Silhouette Wishes", to be released April 1st and is the April Stamp of the Month (SOM) stamp set that is FREE with a $50.00 purchase from Clear Dollar Stamps. This set is going to be one of my favorites, and I'm sure one of yours, as it is perfect for any time of the year! I love nature stamps, and these branches, leaves and bird & nest is an all-purpose set that I know that I will grab, time and time again.

Our Design Team Coordinator, Laurie Wilson, always offers fun and interesting challenges to the team, and this card was made to satisfy three challenges: to have background stamping on the card, and to use a "Letter" or monogram or alpha on the card, and also for our inspiration challenge. Laurie chose three beautiful pillows from the Pier One website, and I chose this pillow to be inspired by. This versatile stamp was so much fun to stamp with and I know that I will be pulling it out to use over and over again. I'm sure that you will too. For ordering information and more details about this stamp set, click here. And, don't miss seeing my fellow team designer's work on "Silhouette Wishes, the April Stamp of the Month": Candy Fosta, Katie Renz. & Laurie Wilson.

All CDStamps LLC Stamp Sets Used: "Silhouette Wishes"
Cardstock & Papers: Daisy D's "Brighten My Day" Designer Paper, K&Co. "Remake Ocean Blues", Paper Trey White Cardstock
Inkpads: Stampin' Up! Night of Navy & So Saffron Inks
Markers: Sharpie Navy & Yellow Markers, Sakura Micron 01 Black Felt Marker
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Nestabilities Regular Square Die, Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch Kit, Stampin' Up! Large Oval Punch, Martha Stewart Doily Border Punch, Stampin' Up! Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Tsukineko Sponge Daubers, Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive "Yellow" Pearls, We R Memory Keepers Xtra Large Eyelet, Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, All Night Media Mini Pop Dots, Adhesives, Zots, Sewing Machine, Thread, Alpha Charm, "Bobbin" Satin Ribbon, Gold Elastic Cord
Special Techniques: Background Stamping, Sponging, Dry Embossing, Machine Stitching, Paper Piercing, Paper Tole

INSTRUCTIONS:
A 5.5" x 8.5" card base was cut from Paper Trey White Cardstock and set aside. I cut a piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock to 5.5" wide x 4.25 high and background stamped the leaves and bearries using Stampin' Up! So Saffron and Night of Navy Inks. then using the Cuttlebug and Nestabilities Regular Square Dies, I cut the navy blue square mat to 2.5", and the smallest white image square mat (diamond) to 2". Since there was no Nestabilities Regular Square Die the next size between the navy blue mat and the white image mat, I hand cut a square mat from Daisy D's "Brighten My Day" designer paper, to 2.25". I cut the lower navy blue horizontal strip to 5.5" wide x 1-1/8" high out of K&Co. "Remake Ocean Blues" Designer Paper, and then, using a Martha Stewart Doily Border Punch, created the lacy edge along the bottom of the navy blue strip. I glued the navy blue punched strip to the bottom area of the card, and the blue Swiss Dots embossed square to the upper right of the card front, and using my Janome Hello Kitty ; ) Sewing Machine, I machine stitched around the left, top and bottom sides of the card front, as well as the four sides of the navy blue Swiss Dots embossed square.

The main stamped image was created in the following manner. I first stamped the branch twice: once onto the die cut white image square, and again on another piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock, and did the same thing with the yellow bird. Using a Tsukineko Sponge Dauber, I sponged heavily around the four sides of the white image square using Stampin' Up! So Saffron Ink and then, "tipped" the edge of the same image square using Stampin' Up! Night of Navy Ink. Using the Stampin' Up! Mat Pack, I paper pierced the four corners of the image square using a Paper Piercing Tool.. The bird and branches that were stamped on the other piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock was then cut out carefully, and then popped up overtop the underneath matching stamped image using All Night Media Mini Pop Dots. I added "yellow berries" to the branches using KaiserCraft Self-Adhesive "Yellow" Pearls. The stamped and popped image was then glued to the gold mat and then they were both popped up overtop the navy blue embossed square using Stampin' Up! Dimensionals.

The sentiment was stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock using Stampin' Up! Night of Navy Ink and then punched it out using the Stampin' Up! Large Oval Punch, Using a Tsukineko Sponge Dauber I lightly sponged around the punched out sentiment oval. Using a Paper Piercing Tool, I hand pierced around the edge of the sentiment oval. I glued the sentiment oval in place, and then using my Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch Kit, I punched a hole to accommodate a We R Memory Keepers Xtra Large White Eyelet. Yellow and white striped satin "Bobbin" ribbon was thread through the Xtra Large Eyelet and around the back of the card and secured. A matching bow was tied to the ribbon strip, and an alpha charm with a KaiserCraft Self-Adhesive "Yellow" Pearl adhered to the middle of the "O", was secured to the ribbon bow using Gold Elastic Cord. The card front was then glued to the 5.5" x 8.5" white cardstock card base.

"Sunflower Songs" Sneak Peeks

Ready for a supercute stamp set that is beyond versatile? Then, you're going to want "Sunflower Songs" by Clear Dollar Stamps, to be released on April 1st. I love sunflowers, as they always sport a happy and sunny flavor to anything. Another single stamp by Clear Dollar Stamps, "Happy Mother's Day", is also featured on this card. I wanted to create a happy, hopeful flavor on this card using one of my favorite colors, yellow, and blue, lime green and white as a neutral. The "Sunflower Songs" stamp set has several different sunflower stamps; solid as well as outline ones that you can colorize, leaves, stems and sentiments that go along with the sunflower theme. I think that this stamp set will be one of my favorites to ink up, and you will, too! For ordering information and more details on this stamp set, click here. And, don't miss seeing my fellow team designer's work on "Sunflower Songs" -- Candy Fosta, Monique Hawrelluk, Katie Renz, Kim Teasdale & Laurie Wilson. For samples of "Happy Mother's Day", see Candy Fosta, Monique Hawrelluk, Katie Renz and Laurie Wilson's work.

All CDStamps LLC Stamp Sets Used: "Sunflower Songs" & "Happy Mother's Day"
Cardstock & Papers: Cloud 9 Design "Sunrise Smoothies" Designer Paper, Paper Trey White Cardstock
Inkpads: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue & Baja Breeze Inks, Adirondack Caramel Ink
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers: YG03 Yellow Green, YG67 Moss, Y21 Buttercup Yellow, Y26 Mustard, YR01 Peach Puff, R16, Apricot, YR24 Pale Sepia, E25 Caribe Cocoa, #29 Burnt Umber, Sakura Micron .01 Black Felt Marker, Zig Milinnium Black Felt Marker, Marvy Blue Grey Brush Marker, Bic Mark-It Key Lime Marker, Signo White Gel Pen
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug "Floral Screen" Embossing Folder, Nestabilities Regular & Scalloped Square Dies, Marvy Mega Round Punch, Marvy Giga Scalloped Round Punch, Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch Kit, Sewing Machine, Thread, Cloud Template, Tsukineko Sponge Daubers, Stampin' Up! Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Adhesives, Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares, Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Clear Dollar Stamps 1' Lime Green Satin Ribbon, Making Memories "Button" Brads
Coloring Medium: Copic Coloring and Blending
Special Techniques: Basic Stamping, Sponging, Dry Embossing, Machine Stitching, Paper Piercing

INSTRUCTIONS:
A 5"x 10" card base was cut from Paper Trey White Cardstock and set aside. Two square mats were cut to size: Yellow 4.5" and the Blue Dotted to 4.25" Both of these square mats were glued to a 5" x 5" piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock and then using my Janome Hello Kitty Sewing Machine, I stitched around the 4 sides of the Blue Dotted mat with a straight stitch using white thread, and then around the 4 sides of the Yellow mat using a Zig-Zag stitch with blue thread.

The main stamped image was created in the following manner: The 3 sunflowers were stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, and then colored and blended using Copic Sketch Markers. Using a homemade cloud template, and Tsukineko Sponge Daubers, I sponged the "clouds in the background" of the sunflower scene. I cut out the sunflower scene using the Nestabilities Regular Square Die and then sponged heavily around the 4 sides using Adirondack Caramel Ink. I cut a coordinating Yellow Square Mat using a Nestabilities Regular Square Die and then using the Nestabilities Scalloped Square Die, I cut a mat out of Paper Trey White Cardstock. I dot-doodled on each scallop point of the white mat using a Marvy Brush Marker, and machine stitched around the 4 sides of the sunflower scene. Using a Paper Piercing Tool and the Stampin' Up! Mat Pack, I paper pierced around the yellow square mat. The sunflower scene was then glued to the yellow paper pierced mat. Using Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, I popped up the matted sunflower scene square on top of the white scalloped square mat.

The sentiment was stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I cut out the sentiment using a Marvy Mega Circle Punch and then sponged lightly first with Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue Ink and then more heavily using Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze ink along the circle. I punched another circle out of coordinating yellow designer paper using a Marvy Giga Scalloped Circle Punch and glued that to the sentiment punched circle. Using a Signo White Gel Pen, I dot-doodled on each scallop point of the yellow sentiment mat. I machine stitched around the sentiment inner circle and then glued the two sentiment circles together. I cut the matted sentiment circle in half to create a semi-circle.

Using tape runner, I adhered a strip of the pretty Clear Dollar Stamps Lime Green 1" Satin Ribbon across the upper third of the card front, securing to the back of the card. Then I popped up the stamped, matted sunflower scene using Stampin' Up! Dimensionals over top the ribbon strip. Using Scotch Pop-Up Foam Square, I popped up the matted sentiment semi-circle on the lower right bottom of the card front, overlapping the sunflower scene. I added a matching bow knot to the ribbon strip, and embelllished the card front with two Making Memories Yellow "Button" Brads to the upper right corner. To finish, the card front was glued to the 5" x 10" white cardstock base.

This is the second card that I created with "Sunflower Songs", to be released by Clear Dollar Stamps on April 1st. This set has sunflowers that are outline stamps, that you can colorize as well as solid stamps, for basing stamping, which is what I've done with this card. I wanted to do some background stamping with the solid stamps as well as some paper tole. This stamp set is such a joy to create with, and it is such a sunny, happy collection of stamps...I know you'll love it and it will fast become one of your favorites. For ordering information and more details on this stamp set, click here. And, don't miss seeing my fellow team designer's work on "Sunflower Songs" -- Candy Fosta, Monique Hawrelluk, Katie Renz, Kim Teasdale & Laurie Wilson.

Stamp Sets Used: Clear Dollar Stamps"Sunflower Songs"
Cardstock & Papers: K&Co. Remake "Sunset Oranges" & "Grass Greens" Mat Pads, Making Memories "Chloe's Closet" Designer Paper, Paper Trey White Cardstock
Inkpads: Memento Rich Cocoa, Stampin' Up! , Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie & Green Galore Inks
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers: Sharpie Orange Marker
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Regular & Scalloped Oval Dies, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Sewing Maching, Thread, Adhesives, Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, All Night Media Mini Pop Dots, Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares, Zots, Pebbles Designer Ribbon, Making Memories "Chloe's Closet" Decorative Stick Pin, KaiserCraft Green Self-Adhesive Pearls
Special Techniques: Basic Stamping, Background Stamping, Machine Stitching & Paper Tole

INSTRUCTIONS:
A 5"x 10" card base was cut from Paper Trey White Cardstock and set aside. Two square mats were cut to size: Orange & White Polka Dot to 5", and White to 4.5" I cut two rectangular strips of equal size: Yellow Print to 2-1/8" wide x 4.25" high, and a plain White strip . Using Stampin' Up! Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie and Green Galore Inks, as well as Memento Rich Cocoa Ink, I background stamped on the plain White strip for the inner right panel. I glued the two rectangular panels to the White and the Orange & White Polka Dot square mats, and using my Janome Hello Kitty Sewing Machine, zig-zag stitched around the four sides using pumpkin colored thread. I cut a 3.5" wide x 4.25" strip from White Cardstock and using a Martha Stewart Border Punch, I created the scalloped edge on the left and right and these were glued to the card layers in place.

The sentiment focus was created in the following manner. Using Memento Rich Cocoa Ink, I stamped the sentiment onto Paper Trey White Cardstock, and then die cut using Nestabilities Regular Oval Dies. I die cut a green scalloped oval mat to compliment the white oval. Using the same Stampin' Up! colors again I stamped the sunflowers and leaves twice...once on the sentiment panel and again on a separate piece of white cardstock. I hand cut the ones that were stamped separately from the sentiment and popped them up over top the stamped sunflowers and leaves on the sentiment panel, using All Night Media Mini Pop-Up Dots. I Then glued the paper toled sentiment panel to the coordinating die cut scalloped oval mat and set aside.

To embellish, I ran a strip of Pebbles, Inc. Designer Green & White Polka Dotted Ribbon vertically down between the two white eyelet border edges, securing to the back of the card front. I attached a matching bow to the ribbon strip. I then popped up the paper toled sentiment panel with the green scalloped oval mat using Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares over top the vertical ribbon strip. To decorate, I added a decorative yellow flower stick pin from Making Memories "Chloe's Closet" and three KaiserCraft Green Self-Adhesvie Pearls to the bottom right corner for balance. To finish, I glued the layered card front to the 5"x10" white cardstock base.

A yellow horizontal strip was cut to 4-1/8" wide x 1-1/8" high, and a brown border was cut to 4-1/8" wide x 1-5/16" high. Using a Marvy Corner Rounder Punch, I clipped the bottom left and right corners of all 3 mats. Using a Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, I embossed the yellow horizontal strip. Using a Stampin' Up! Slot punch and after marking the center of the brown horizontal strip, I starting punching from the center outward, first to the right and then to the left so that the scallops on the border were be balanced and centered. I paper pierced 3 decorative holes in each of the brown scallop points. I glued the plaid, the burgundyand floral mats together, and then glued the yellow horizontal swiss dot embossed strip along with the brown horizontal scalloped border together and then on top of the 3 glued mats. Using my Janome Hello Kitty Sewing Machine ; ) I machine stitched around the 4 sides of the larger, plaid mat and the floral mat with the yellow horizontal strip at the bottom.

The sentiment was stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. Using a Marvy 1.5" circle punch I punched out the sentiment, cutting it about 3'4 from the top of the circle, horizontally. Using a paper piercing tool, I hand pierced around the semi circle sentiment mat, and then, using Stampin' Up! Apricot Appeal ink, I lightly sponged around the semi-circle and then again, a little more heavily using Stampin' Up! Only Orange. I glued the sentiment to the yellow horizontal swiss dot embossed strip. The stamped focal image, the toaster was stamped onto Swarthmore Watercolor Paper, and colored with Copic Sketch markers and blended. Using Nestabilities Regular Round Die, I cut out the stamped image, and then using a paper piericng tool, I hand pierced around the circular focal image. I cut a pinked circle burgundy mat for the stamped image using the Nestabilities Large Pinking Circle Die Set. I added Crystal Effects to the toaster to add dimension and interest to the toaster. I glued the stamped toaster image to the burgundy pinked mat and set aside.

Using Offray Brown 5/8" wide Satin Ribbon, I glued down a ribbon strip veritcally down the right side of the card, anchoring it to the back of the largest mat. I "v-eed" the end of the ribbon by folding the ribbon in half, and cutting a slant cut from the folded edge outward. I popped up the matted, stamped toaster image overtop the Offray Brown Satin Ribbon strip, and then added two bow knots to the ribbon strip above the stamped image. Using thread, I anchored sewed the three button embellishments and then adhered them to the card front using Zots. To finish, I added Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive "Bliss" Pearls to the flower centers of the floral print interior mat. The card was finished off by glueing the card front to the 5"x 10" white cardstock card base.

Clear Dollar Stamps Weekend Color Challenge 3/27-3/29

As promised, I have a new card to share with you this weekend. This is my "Purple Push". Let me explain that I am not, in any shape or form a "purple person"...in fact, it is one of my least favorite colors. So, you're most likely wondering why in the world would I create a "purple card'? The reason is simple...I am hostessing the Clear Dollar Stamps Weekend Color Challenge over on Paper Craft Planet, this Friday March 27th-Sunday March 29th and I decided that I would challenge myself as well as the challenge participants.

The CDS Weekend Color Challenge this weekend is NOT to create a purple card, necessarily...although participants are certainly welcome to do so. The CDS Weekend Color Challenge officially, is to create a monochromatic card -- the color that is used is the participant's choice. Now, this is a color challenge that should suit EVERYONE!! For those who are not familiar with a monochromatic card, it is a card that is strictly one color, but in different tones, hues or tints of that color. White may be used as an optional white for some eye relief and interest. So, since making a monochromatic card wasn't all that difficult for me, I decided to raise the challenge for myself by making a "purple monochromatic card". Thus, the "purple card". All in all, it turned out alright, I'm thinking...but I'm still not liking purple all that much.

I don't know what the weather forecast is in your area, but if it's rainy and gloomy, like here in Maryland, why not check out the Clear Dollar Stamps Weekend Color Challenge, if you haven't already? It begins Friday afternoon and you have until Sunday evening, 9:00 pm EST to submit your challenge cards. I will chose one card submission to feature on my blog the following Monday morning. So I hope that you have a chance to play. You can find all the details here.

Another great opportunity has rolled around to be a Clear Dollar Stamps Guest Stamp Designer! The monthly Guest Designer Contest begins this weekend and if f you're interested in entering the contest, Lori McCroskey has chosen purple as the criteria for a card submission! For more details on how to enter your card for consideration, click here and look for Lori's instructions. Okay, now for the deets on this purple card:

Stamps Used: Clear Dollar Stamps "Beautiful Butterflies" & "Genuine Love"
Cardstock: K&Co. Remake "Lilac Lavenders" Designer Mat Pad, Paper Trey White Cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Lovely Lilac & Elegant Eggplant Inks
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug "Floral Screen" and "Tiny Bubbles" Embossing Folders, Nestabilities Regular & Scalloped Oval Dies, Martha Stewart Lattice Border Punch, Stampin' Up! Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Copic Sketch Markers, Sewing Machine, Thread, Adhesives, Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares, Tsukineko Sponge Dauber, KaiserCraft Self-Adhesive "Lavender" Pearls
Techniques: Basic Stamping, Sponging, Machine Stitching, Paper Piercing, Copic Coloring and Blending

Directions:
A 5"x10" piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock was cut to size and set aside. Four square mats were cut to size: Dark Purple 4.75", Medium Purple Print 4.25", White 3-3/8", Very Dark Purple 3.25". Using a Cuttlebug and the Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" Embossing Folder, I embossed the Medium Purple Print Square Mat and then using the Cuttlebug "Floral Screen" Embossing Folder, I embossed the Very Dark Purple Square Mat. I glued the Dark Purple Square Mat to the Medium Purple Print Square Mat together, and using my Hello Kitty Janome Sewing Machine, stitched around all 4 sides of both mats. I cut two horizontal strips from Paper Trey White Cardstock to size: 3.25" wide x 7/8" high and using a Martha Stewart Lattice Border Punch, I created the reticulated top and bottom on the two horizontal strips. Using the Stampin' Up! Mat Pack and a Paper Piercing Tool, I paper pierced two horizontal rows along the width of each horizontal white strip. I glued the two punched horizontal strips to the Very Dark Purple Square Mat, and then glued that to the White Square Mat., gluing that to larger two square, sewn mats.

The sentiment was stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and then cut out using Nestabilities Regular Oval Die. Using a Tsukineko Sponge Dauber, I first lightly sponged around the edge of the sentiment oval using Stampin' Up! Lovely Lilac Ink and then more heavily using Stampin' Up! Elegant Eggplant. Using a Paper Piercing Tool, I paper pierced by hand around the edge of the sentiment oval. Using Nestabilities Scalloped Oval Dies, I mat a scalloped sentiment mat out of a very light lavender, coordinating piece of designer paper. I popped up the sentiment oval over the scalloped sentiment mat using Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, and then popped the layered sentiment up over the card front using Dimensionals, again.

The butterfly was stamped onto Paper Trey White Cardstock, then colored and blended with Copic Sketch Markers. I hand cut out the butterfly and then added KaiserCraft Self-Adhesive "Lavender" Pearls to the butterfly body. I popped up the butterfly slightly overtop the right upper corner of sentiment oval using Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares. To embellish, I added 4 more KaiserCraft "Lavender" Pearls to each corner of the card front. To finish the card front was then glued to the 5"x10" White Cardstock base.

What's Brewin'?

Hello everyone! I apologize for not posting sooner than this. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been experiencing shoulder pain...turns out that I have shoulder tendinitis, bursitis and arthritis. I've hit the Trifecta of shoulder pain! Well, I'm in physical therapy a few times a week, and taking anti-inflammatories and plan to get a cortisone shot early next week. So, that's what I've been up to, all this time...nursing a bum shoulder.

Okay enough of that droll stuff! I was missing participating in the Clear Dollar Stamps Weekend Color Challenge over on Paper Craft Planet, and decided, shoulder pain or not...I was going to play. The Weekend Color Challenge is being hosted by fellow Clear Dollar Stamps Design Team member, Monique Hawrelluck and she has chosen these colors for the challenge: Real Red, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Brown and White as an optional neutral. I decided that those colors shouted "kitchen theme"! I guess, because my kitchen is light blue, white and red -- but no chocolate brown in my kitchen, just chocolate occasionally. LOL

For this card, I decided to use the Clear Dollar Stamps set "Kitchen Clutter" which was released on March 1st. This stamp set has such cute kitchen utensils and objects and I love inking it up. I used the coffee pot for the card, so I wanted to create a warm, cozy, kitchen-y background. Initially, I wasn't sure if I was liking the colors for this particular concept, but as I progressed with the card, I thought that it all came together quite well. I have to apologize for the crummy photo, as I finished the card around 9:30 pm and the daylight was gone, so I may retake the photo and repost tomorrow, if I have time. IRL, the card colors, especially the coffee pot coloring looks sooo much better! Okay, here's the deets:

Stamps Used: Clear Dollar Stamps "Kitchen Clutter" & "Monkey Madness" (heart)
Cardstock: Colormates, Dark Autumn Red, Medium Belgium Blue, & Deep Coffee Brown Cardstock, Paper Trey White Cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Markers: Copic Sketch Markers BG000 Pale Aqua, BG15 Pale Aqua, B14 Light Blue, B32 Pale Blue, R29 Lipstick Red, R59 Cardinal, E34 Orientale, E25 Caribe Cocoa, E27 Africano, E29 Burnt Umber
Tools & Accesssories: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Nestabilities Regular and Pinking Round Dies, Marvy Jumbo Round Punch, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Marvy Corner Rounder Punch, Paper Piercing Tool, Scor-Pal, Adhesives, Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares, Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, Zots, Thread, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, American Crafts Grosgrain Polka Dotted Ribbon, La Mode Heart Button
Techniques: Basic Stamping, Background Stamping, Paper Piercing, Copic Coloring & Blending, Dry Embossing, Scoring

Directions:
I cut a piece of Paper Trey White Cardstock to 4.5" x 11" and then using my Cuttlebug and the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, dry embossed the lower third of the card front. he upper two-thirds of the card was scored in a lattice design, using a Scor-Pal. Using a Marvy Corner Rounder Punch, I created the lower bottom curved corners. I background stamped in alternating "diamonds" on the scored lattice background, using the heart from the Clear Dollar Stamps' "Monkey Madness" stamp set and Stampin' Up! Real Red Ink. I cut a strip of ColorMates Deep Coffee Brown Cardstock to 4.25" wide x 2" high, and another strip out of Colormates Medium Belgium Blue to 4.25" wide x 1.75" high. Using a Martha Stewart Border Punch, I created the eyelet bottom on the blue horizontal strip. Using a Scor-Pal again, I scored two horizontal lines across the top of the blue horizontal strip. I glued the brown and blue horizontal strips together and the overtop the card front as shown in the photo.

The main stamped image was created in the following manner. I stamped the coffee pot twice onto Paper Trey White Cardstock, coloring and blending with Copic Sketch Markers, identically. I cut out one of the stamped, colored coffee pots by hand. The other stamped, colored coffee pot was cut out using Nestabilities Regular Round Die and then using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, I stamped the sentiment above and below the coffee pot. I cut a blue round mat with a Marvy Jumbo Round Punch, and then I cut the red pinked, round mat using the Nestabilities Round Pinking Die. I popped up the cut out coffee pot overtop the other stamped, colored coffee pot using Stampin' Up! Dimensionals. I glued the white stamped, circular image to the blue and red mats, popping the layered mats up overtop the card front using Scotch Pop-Up Foam Squares for super dimension. To embellish, I sewed a La Mode Heart Button with white thread to the lower right bottom corner of the card front, and added an American Crafts Grosgrain Polka Dotted Ribbon across the blue, scalloped horizontal strip.

I probably won't be posting another card to share with you until the end of next week, BUT! I will have several new sneak peeks from Clear Dollar Stamps sets, to share with you beginning on Wednesday, March 30th. If you haven't played the Weekend Color Challenge hosted by Clear Dollar Stamps, you still have time to play this weekend! The color challenge is held from tonight through Sunday evening, 'til around 9:00 pm EST.

Hello Everyone!

Hello Everyone,
I'm sorry that I've not been able to post anything these last few days, as I am dealing with yet, another medical issue. I seem to have developed a rotator cuff (shoulder) issue and have an appointment with my orthopaedic physician tomorrow. Hopefully, this can be easily remedied with physical therapy. I am also busy these last few days starting my Clear Dollar Stamps' April Sneak Peeks. But I hope to have something to share with my faithful followers in a few days.

Sorry to disappoint, but will be back soon!

CDS Weekend Color Challenge Feature

Good morning! It is a very snowy one, here in Maryland...and in March! That is not a common thing in March here on the Chesapeake Bay. But, the Lord surprised us with a Nor'easter yesterday, moving up the Eastern Coast and they typically, bring us our largest snowfalls. I think that we have about 3 inches so far, but others on the Maryland ocean coast, are expected to have up to 10 inches. Bless their hearts!

Last week was a very busy week for Clear Dollar Stamps, with their release of 14 new stamp sets! If you missed all the sneak peeks from the Design Team, you can see all of the stamps on the Clear Dollar Stamps website -- just click on their logo to the right on my sidebar. And enjoy all that eye candy!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of hostessing the CDS Weekend Color Challenge over on Paper Craft Planet, and had a blast! The colors that I chose for the challenge were: Summer Sun, Real Red, Black with White, as an optional neutral. Well, some were a little stretched with this color challenge ; ) ... and some weren't...but all had fun! I decided, that today, I'm going to feature 2 cards from our Weekend Color Challenge. One card to be featured will be from our CDS Design Team and one card from all the participants in the challenge.

First, I want to show Laura's card for the Weekend Color Challenge. I chose Laura's card for several reasons -- I love the cheerful happy flavor of her card, and I am so longing for Spring and Summer! LOL Laura, used the CDS Stamp Set, "Too Fruity" for her card submission and did a beautiful job background stamping, alternating the cute strawberries with the whimsical ants. I love that she stamped the sentiment on the background stamped white panel, too. Factor all that in with the yellow and white polka dotted dp, the black and white gingham dp and red card base, along with her cute embellishments and you've got a winner! Thanks Laura for participating in the CDSWCC8!

We had 5 of our CDS Team Designers join in on the challenge, and I so enjoyed their company this weekend. Thanks to Gloria, Katie, Laurie, Monique and Shawne for playing along. Let me tell you...that when you've got to choose one card from the design team submissions, it is next to impossible! But, I've chosen Monique's card for the fact that she took some unusual colors and incorporated them into a Sympathy Card. Now how creative is that? Monique used a newly released stamp set called "April Flower of the Month, and did a wonderful job using Summer Sun, Real Red and Black and came up with a beautiful floral card. I love so many things about her card: the black card base with subtle hints of red and yellow, the designer script background on white behind the vase of flowers, the black vase of beautifully colored flowers and the subtle yellow bow ribbon. But my favorite part of Monique's card is how she cut out the flowers, and note that she didn't cut them closely to the flowers, and popped them up overtop the designer script background. I just think that that is a neat effect, and you can see another of Monique's cards on her blog here, done the same way but with the "Charlie Daisy" set, that was just released, as well.

As I said, the fun part of hostessing the CDS Weekend Color Challenge is visiting, chatting and viewing all the beautiful artwork...the difficult part is choosing who to feature on my blog. I must say that I loved each and every card submitted for the challenge and I appreciate the time that everyone took to participate.

Next week, my Design teammate, Shawne Arnold will be hostessing the Weekend Color Challenge, and we hope to see you back there, then.

Thanks, everyone!