Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you have a clean and simple day full of love and friendship!



Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Palette Noir
paper: SU real red, PTI white
accessories: Martha Stewart small hearts punch, glue pen, Scor-Pal

Resistance Is Futile...and Pretty

If you don't have PTI's Through the Trees yet, resistance is futile. And once you have it, resistance is fun...not to mention, pretty.

The birch trees were stamped in VersaMark ink (first time I used it in a year, actually!) and embossed with clear embossing powder. Then, I masked the edges of the image with post-its, sponged on bashful blue ink, and wiped the excess off the embossing with a tissue. I stamped the sentiment and birds in Palette Noir.

See. Resistance is both futile and pretty!

Supplies
stamps: PTI Through the Trees
paper: PTI white
ink: VersaMark, Palette noir, SU bashful blue
accessories: clear embossing powder

It Started with a Mistake

It started with a MISTAKE, folks. The shadow stamp--which is four blocks on one stamp from Hero Arts (discontinued)--inked up funny. I was trying to make a card for the CAS53 challenge. I needed a nice, smooth aqua background, but the Ancient Page ink pad, which is sort of wet, was leaving edge lines on the stamp. So I tried swirling the pad on the stamp and stamped it. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! Swirly underwatery look! AND I WENT WITH IT!!!!



I grabbed my fish punch, the A Muse coral stamp designed by JulieHRR herself, and the sentiment that fit best space-wise and font-wise (PTI's Friends 'til the End). How fun is this?!?!

But please, please, please tell me I'm not the only human of the AR/OC grammarian type to be bothered by missing punctuation in sentiments. Adding a comma by hand would look just weird here and it bothers me.

Once I finished this card, I used SU's cool caribbean with the shadow stamp, which inked up beautifully, and made the second card on this post. I really like both cards for different reasons.

Mistakes can pay off if you turn your head sideways and squint.

That's Simplicity Wisdom. So go out and make some mistakes and see what happens.

Through the Trees in One Layer

For once, I suspect that I blinged where I ought not to have blinged at all. But I still like this clean, one-layer card.

And the sentiment is utterly wonderful, don't you think?

Supplies
stamps: Through the Trees (PTI)
paper: PTI white
ink: versamagic
accessories: rhinestones (Hero ARts), Scor-Pal

CAS53 Candyland Inspiration Challenge

I didn't think I would be able to do this week's challenge, but since Tuesday turned into a snow day, I dove right in! The inspiration was CandyCrate Retro Candy's website. Yummy!

My first card was inspired by Cinnamon Red Hearts. As soon as I saw them, I thought about Martha Stewart's mini-hearts punch. I punched it out in white, then punched the negative out with a circle punch. Matted on a red scalloped circle, it's adorable! The sentiment is Hero Arts, and I used my Scor-Pal to score a few lines.


For card #2, I took my colors from Lucy's Predic-a-Mints. Such a fun, retro combination! The shadow stamp and sentiment are from Hero Arts. I just had to add a bit of stickles to the flowers, which were punched out of pretty in pink cardstock.


Finally, a Shamrock Taffy card using PTI's Limitless Labels and the Martha Stewart small scalloped circle punch. And a little bling. Of course.

Such a fun and flexible challenge! Jen always does such a great job week in and week out. The world of CAS is very fortunate to have her providing us with so much inspiration!

It's another snow day today, and my craft room is set to order, so I'll be making stuff while the children build a snow fort outside my window. Yeah!

Another Thank You Note

Yesterday, I started re-arranging my craft room. Sometimes my OCD is really annoying.

Anyway, today's card makes me happy. That shadow stamp (part of a discontinued set from Hero Arts) is PERFECT for grounding images like trees. I particularly like how the "grass" establishes an imaginary margin of white on the card but the big tree spills over that line and off the card.



Thank you for visiting my blog, and special thanks to those who take time to leave a comment. Your kindness really motivates me!

Have a great Tuesday!

Supplies
stamps: PTI (Through the Trees, A Day at the Beach), Hero Arts (shadow), Clear and Simple Stamps (sentiment)
ink: river rock, old olive, chocolate chip, summer sun
paper: PTI white, summer sun
accessories: circle punch

Thank You Note Set Using Hero Arts Three Ferns

These one-layer cards are 4.25" square and super simple. My thank you card stash was depleted by the holidays, and I needed some quick and pretty cards. This stamp by Hero Arts begged to be used, and who am I to argue with a stamp? They are tenacious, as anyone who's tried not to buy one can attest.

I used SU's soft subtles and cool caribbean to create the color assortment. Here's another case for having tons of bling lying around, but obviously you could just buy clear bling and color with Sharpies or Bics or Copics if you want. The sentiment is from my complimentary Thank You set from the nice folks at Clear and Simple Stamps.

Simplicity Tip: Don't be afraid to be a MOTO. MOTO is an acronym from my husband's Air Force days and stands for Master of the Obvious. The term is used as an insult in the military aviator world, but it deserves better. Too many times, I stare at a stamp and wonder how to make it look special or creative. When I try to force the image to do something other than the obvious, sometimes I just waste a bunch of paper. Cards like those in today's set use the stamp in a very obvious way. But if you get good impressions, make smart color choices, and embellish just a bit, obvious can be special and creative, too. Embrace your inner MOTO, and make something obvious yet beautiful. You have my permission.

Here's cool caribbean.



And pale plum.


Apricot appeal.


Blush blossom.


Barely banana.


Almost amethyst.



See. Channeling your inner MOTO can result in something beautiful.

Make Monday a great day!