CAS52 Inspired by kmahany

This week's CAS52 challenge is inspired by kmahany's sweet mushroom card. Love this layout as it gives smaller stamps a chance to shine.

I started with PTI's Day at the Beach, a cute set I haven't done justice to since I bought it last summer. Of course, I had to pull out the bold brights because I just adore all these gray, frigid days of Ohio winter...the blah, colorless landscape, the air crystals that somehow don't even have the spirit to sparkle, the heavy iron sky. It reminds me of the lyrics to a Jimmy Buffett song: "I shot six holes in my freezer, I think I've got cabin fever,...I've got to go where it's warm!" Well, this card takes me there.


BTW, I had planned on putting tiny rhinestones on the flip flops but didn't have orange or bright green ones in my stash. I almost fainted. Must go to Michael's ASAP! (Yes, I could just color the clear ones with sharpies...don't be all logical, people! I want to shop.)

Next up, Everyday Button Bits. This set came to live with me in my last order, mainly because it's stinkin' cute but also because I did a PTI button share run by Krystie Lee and have dozens of the things sitting unused. Ever since I got the set, I've wanted to try to use the images without buttons though. I'm a closet rebel, I guess.



The balloon card uses only the largest balloon on the three-balloon stamp. I used 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches to make the balloons. They looked a bit too plain, so I added black gemstones (Hero Arts). Not sure I like the effect, but it did make the card more visually balanced. The color is berry sorbet from PTI. Yummy.

If you haven't played along with the CAS challenge yet, give it a go with some stamps you haven't used yet. Come on, you KNOW you have some.

I think I'm putting on some Jimmy Buffett when the kids head off to school. I need some tales from the tropics today. "I blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top, cut my heel, had to cruise on back home...." Rock on, Parrotheads.

MargaritaVille Live

A Study in Contrast: Subtle and Bold

Today starts the Papertrey Anniversary Celebration, so it's appropriate that I have a couple of cards with PTI stamps today.

The little tree from Through the Trees (Papertrey) stumped me at first, but I soon realized it would be perfect for a grid card. Brilliance Pearlescent Beige ink is so lovely and subtle and shimmery when stamped on white cardstock, I just had to make a go of it with the little rhinestones that match so well.



I tried several sentiments before finding one that was the right scale (note: the three-line sentiment in Through the Trees is TOO BIG!). This one from Floral Frenzy (another PTI set) fit perfectly. It also allowed me to decorate the inside of the card:



I really, really like subtle cards like this, but sometimes I like to cut loose with bold, bright color. So I made this:

I should have stuck with the Floral Frenzy sentiment, but otherwise, this card works for me too.

Subtle? Bold? In general (not just in this instance), which do you prefer? Inquiring minds want to know.

Supplies
stamps: PTI
paper: PTI white, SU passion pink, basic black
ink: Brilliance, Palette noir
accessories: dimensionals, square punch, rhinestones

Blog Award

This is the second post today...please scroll down to see Sunday's card!

TrishG of Encourage Joy was kind enough to give me a blog award! Thanks so much, Trish, for thinking of Simplicity. You're supposed to pass it along but I dislike playing favorites. Last time I did, it felt sort of weird. Instead, I'm inviting all of you to participate!

So here are 10 random things that make me happy. Please share something that makes YOU happy in the comments. It's amazing how uplifting it is to read about other people's happy things. Happiness is contagious and a disease I love catching!

1. Feeling the Lord at work in my life.
2. Books. Real paper books. None of that Kindle or Nook stuff for me.
3. Mochas. Because I'm drinking one right now and it's all that's keeping me upright.
4. My husband's cooking and sense of humor.
5. My children's hugs and the funny things they say.
6. Fountain pens.
7. Our gas fireplace.
8. My friends' hugs...even when they come through cyberspace because my friends are all over the world. How lucky am I to be blessed with so many friends?!?!
9. The people who help my children learn and grow.
10. Quality stamps.

Oh, man. I could go on and on. But now it's your turn. Please share something that makes you happy and share the joy!

When Mom Asks for Birthday Cards...

I do my best to comply.

My mother called last week asking for birthday cards to send to her former coworkers. She retired as a dental hygienist last fall and moved out of state, so she wants to do something nice to stay connected with her friends. Here's the first card I made for her...very different from my usual style, but very appropriate for the southern ladies who will receive it.


Here's the inside. Dark cards really do need a liner.


Working outside my usual style every now and then is so much fun, especially when I know that I'm not sending the card. I adore these Anna Griffin stamps, which work so well on this style of card, but I need to challenge myself to use them on a more "LateBlossom" style card. Even so, this card is pretty simple (note the only embellishment is ribbon and the layout is pretty clean), and I really do like how blush blossom and bravo burgundy look together.

I tied the bow with my new Bow Easy, courtesy of Bahb. It's a great little tool, and it didn't take me long to figure it out.

Supplies:
stamps: Anna Griffin, PTI (sentiments)
ink: bravo burgundy, PTI vintage cream
paper: SU bravo burgundy, blush blossom, PTI vintage cream
accessories: ribbon, Bow Easy, MS lattice border punch

Fishy Love

I've been on a punch crazy lately and found this Martha Stewart fish jumped right into my cart at Michael's last week. When I got it home, it BEGGED to be made into a Valentine, and who was I to argue with a fish?


I had to search my stash for three solid hearts in stackable sizes, but one advantage to being obsessive having lots of stamps is a good choice of basic designs. The tiniest is from PTI's Limitless Labels (the row of hearts, masked to only ink one), the next is from a Hero Arts set, and the largest from a Clear and Simple Stamps set I won as blog candy.

Ann (you know which Ann you are), these colors are for you.

Supplies
stamps: PTI, Hero Arts, Clear and Simple Stamps
ink: SU passion pink
paper: PTI white
accessories: MS fish embossing punch, dimensionals, black half-pearls, ribbon

CSS and Pocket Silhouettes...a Match Made in Heaven

When I ordered a few sets of kid-themed stamps from Clear and Simple Stamps on the recommendation of my friend Susie Berker, the nice folks at CSS threw in a set of Thank You stamps for free. Isn't that sweet?!? You should know that I'm extremely picky about clear stamps, but CSS makes high-quality photopolymer clear stamps that are simply adorable and a delight to use.

I needed to make some thank you cards, so I pulled out Pocket Silhouettes (one of my very favorite SU sets EVER!) and the "you are too kind" stamp from CSS. Using the Gina K paper that Bahb sent me, I made a color-varied set of 4.25" square cards that had me giggling with glee at midnight!

My colors were based on what tiny gemstones I had on hand. These are an amber color, so I used Brilliance beige for the flowers and Palette dark chocolate for the sentiment. Warm and wonderful, don't you think?

These hot-pink gemstones worked well with Brilliance orchid and Palette Noir ink.

Brilliance lavender ink got clear gemstones...all my purple gemstones are too red to go with lavender.

Brilliance ice blue and pale blue gemstones make this the most subtle of the set.

Then I went with Brilliance Mediteranean blue and dark blue gemstones for a bolder look.

And of course, Brilliance rocket red with red gemstones really stands out.

Can I just say that having lots and lots of gemstones in lots and lots of sizes is a major blessing? My life would be so dull without bling....

Supplies
stamps: SU Pocket Silhouettes, CSS Thank You
ink: Brilliance, Palette
paper: Gina K white
accessories: lots and lots of tiny, tiny self-adhesive gemstones

A Birthday Choo Choo and Many Thanks to Bahb

The first of many children's birthday cards I will make from Clear and Simple Stamps Boys set, recommended to me by my online stamping buddy Sue Berker.

This choo choo sold the Boys set for me because I have a son obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine (if you don't know who Thomas is, don't ask...you're better off not knowing). Thomas is blue, but I made his friend James, who is red "with shiny new paint."* A stamper can get fab inspiration from her children's obsessions.

You can't tell from the photo, but I used Gina K Luxe paper rather than PTI paper for today's card. There's a funny story behind this.

A month or so ago, I put Gina's white and off white paper and a bow easy in my cart. When I realized the stamp set I wanted was out of stock, I chose to wait and place the order later. A week or so later, I received a package from Gina K Designs.

Huh? In the box were the three items I'd placed in my cart and a note of thanks signed by a name I'd never seen. It was all very confusing, but I figured I must have had a brain fart and placed the order after all and the note was simply from Gina's customer service department.

Last weekend, I received a lovely email from Bahb, who kindly comments here frequently. She asked if I'd received the package from Gina K she had sent, and she signed her real name to the email. It was the same name as the one on the note in the box.

Mystery solved! I am not going crazy, and Bahb is a total sweetheart! Thank you, Bahb, SO VERY MUCH for sending me three things I absolutely wanted from Gina K! I'm having so much fun playing with them, and will show results of that play here on Simplicity.

I've wanted to try Gina K's paper for ever so long, and after years of using PTI white, wow, is it strange to try something new. Gina's paper is very, very smooth, so using Bic mark-its or sharpies feels totally different and is taking a bit of practice to get used to. But the huge advantage of it over PTI is that there is no bleed-through, meaning you can color on one-layer cards and not have an unsightly mess inside! How totally cool is that?!?! OLCs coming soon....

Supplies
stamps: Clear and Simple Stamps, PTI
ink: Palette noir
paper: Gina K luxe white; SU real red
accessories: various markers, ribbon, dimensionals

*Will I ever purge these snippets of movie lines about Thomas and his friends from my mind? Or will I be the annoying old lady in the nursing home singing "Thomas the tank engine, rolling along, doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo" off key and in a fake British accent at two o'clock in the morning? Sigh.