CASification Inspired by Colette Copeland

Every time I buy the Stamper's Sampler, Take Ten, I swear it will be the last one I buy. Each issue seems to showcase mainly cards with a collage-y, artsy, brown appeal. While these are lovely cards, few of them can be reproduced in ten minutes (as the name of the magazine implies). Very few are what could be called "clean and simple."

But I keep buying the magazine, like a gambler putting one more nickle in the slots, eternally hopeful that this will be the ONE that pays off big. And with a little CAS ingenuity, each one does, which explains why I keep buying them.

Consider this card from Colette Copeland. What a pretty, alliterative name! Anyway, her card really is CAS from the start, but the style is very vintage artsy, just like her other lovely cards showcased in the article "Scraphappy," which starts on page 84 of the Winter 2010 issue of Take Ten.


The idea of a shape with a sentiment strip placed over it struck me as VERY useful, in a CAS sort of way. First, I knew I'd have to change the scale of the image, seeing as I am lazy and don't like cutting shapes by hand (as Colette did here) and don't have Nesties or other dies. Sorting through my punches, I found this sun punch and paired it with a tiny sentiment from Sign Language. When I reached for cardstock, SU's In Color Crushed Curry raised its hand and said, "Pick me!" The result: my first card with a current In Color that I truly, absolutely love:


Immediately, I saw huge potential in this idea. How often do you wonder what the heck to do with all those tiny little sentiments that get lost on a 4.25" x 5.5" canvas? Giving them opportunity to state their sentiment boldly is tough because they are so small. But gosh darn it, they're cute. Here is a perfect formula for making these tiny stamps say what they have to say with gusto!


Come on, you knew there had to be a Christmas card in this idea, didn't you? And how about looking forward to spring?


And here's a heart, smaller than Colette's and plain, but oh so CAS.

What do you think?

Supplies
stamps: PTI Sign Language
ink: Palette dark chocolate
paper: PTI white, SU crushed curry, bashful blue, almost amethyst, regal rose
accessories: dimensional tape, assorted punches

Design Note: The sentiment strips are just a quarter inch high. I cut them with a quilting ruler and craft knife for precision.