Clean and Very Simple

Here are 2 cards that I created.  They go beyond Clean and Simple ... they are Clean and Very Simple.  You see, I purchased this awesome cardstock a while ago (probably a few years knowing me LOL).  It is delicious kraft cardstock (12 x 12) with these lovely flower images along the bottom.  When I saw it I knew it would work perfectly for a few CAVS cards!   A stamped sentiment and metal embellishments that were colored with a Copic marker was all it took!

Fall To Layout 100!! Striped Best Wishes

I enjoy the clean & simple blog from Natasha and her gang so much!  Their Fall To Layouts are great inspiration and I use them often.   This week is their 100th Fall to Layout so I thought I'd play along.  They are having a blog hop so you should go and check out all the great cards created for this 100th layout.


My card is fairly clean and simple.  It is a vanilla card base with this wonderful striped designer paper on top (Cosmo Cricket, I think).  The oval sentiment and ribbon are Scarlet Jewel (Papertrey Ink) to pick up the darkest reds from the designer paper!   I used my "hi tech" decorative scissors to cut the scallop since I don't own any such punch or die!  The scissors work just as well for me!! 


If you love the sketch as much as I do, make sure you link your project up over at the clean & simple site so we can all see your creation!! 


Thanks for dropping in!
Donelda

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge #68 - Summer Sunshine

So I am interrupting my strawberry week with this bright and cheery card. I will have my last strawberry card post tomorrow (Saturday). Make sure you pop back in to see it!!

But today's card is for the Clean and Simple challenge on SCS. This week the challenge is a theme: Summer. I can hardly wait for it ... summer that is! We have had a very cold and wet spring so far. In fact, I just sat through a very wet and cold soccer game and it is supposed to snow on Saturday! Are you kidding me???!!!

So, I really enjoyed making this card, even though I'm not sure how Clean and Simple it is. I cut 2 pieces of green designer paper from my scrap bin with pinking sheers. Then I glued them onto the card and added the yellow polka dot ribbon (which I won from Fika's blog candy). Then I added the sun, which is actually a flower from Beautiful Blossoms (Papertrey Ink). Next, I sponged on the rays by using large post it notes. Finally, I added a small bit of yellow paper for the middle of the sun and stamped the sentiment along the hills (from Around and About from Papertrey Ink). The seniment placement is my favorite part of the whole card!! Well, I do like those sunny rays too!!

Remember, drop back in tomorrow to see my very last strawberry card!!

Have a great day.

Donelda

CAS Christmas branch

Nothing like creating a bit of 'christmas joy' when it finally starts to get warm here!!

I totally got my inspiration for this from Julie Ebersole. This branch is the small branch from Turning a New Leaf. The 'berries' are actually half pearls that were colored in using my Copic marker. The sentiment is from Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink).

I might need to make some more of these as Christmas gets closer!!

Have a great weekend!!

Donelda

Challenged to use Kraft

A few weeks ago, Susan and Mary Dawn had a fun time using Kraft in making Clean and Simple cards. It was a lot of fun watching Mary Dawn stretch Susan out of her comfort zone. And the results were amazing!! I loved Susan's first challenge card - masculine - so I had to make my own card using it as inspiration!!

Here is the end results.

The main card base has been 'spattered' with Chocolate Chip. All stamps are from Papertrey Ink.

Gotta love Kraft cardstock!! Have you made anything with it lately??

Donelda

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge 59 - Central Park in the Snow

This past Monday (actually Sunday night) the most recent Clean and Simple challenge #59 was posted. It was to use the inspiration of New York as your guide. I've never been to New York so I've never seen the beauty of Central Park in real life. However, a friend of mine has gone many times and shares her photos with me regularly!!

I chose this photo of Central park in winter from one of the sites Jen left as links. As soon as I saw the photo I knew I could use the new to me Papertrey Ink set called Through the Trees.

I inked them up with Chocolate Chip ink (SU!) and stamped them multiple times. I then took some markers and tapped on some colors like leaves. I did some tearing of strips of white cardstock and adhered them along the bottom of the trees. A simple sentiment was stamped across the bottom (from Made of Snow, Papertrey Ink) also in Chocolate Chip ink. I matted this on some dark brown textured cardstock (Bazzill) and popped this up onto a Kraft card base (SU!). (the mat looks crooked but that is just shadow from my light box. I recognize that my photos are not well lit ... I clearly need better or more lamps!!!)

While you can't really see it in the photo, I also added a bit of white gel pen to the trunks of the tree to suggest snow had landed on some of the branches, just like the photo!

Thanks for dropping in! Enjoy your evening!!

Donelda

Saturday Spotlight - Around the House

The recent Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential challenge was to use a household item on your creation that is not a craft item.

Well, I walked around my house and then it hit me.... this would be a great idea!

Hehehehehe!!!

Supplies: Stamps - Paper Tray, Basic Backgrounds:Retro (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White, Kraft (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Creamy Caramel (Stampin Up!), Jet Black (Ranger); Other - bandage, oval die (Spellbinders), dimensionals.

Hope you are feeling great!! This is a long weekend for us here in Alberta - tomorrow is Family Day so I am hoping to get some more crafting in this weekend!! Make sure you drop back in to check!!

Donelda

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge 53 - Candyland

Even though I didn't get last week's Clean and Simple Challenge done (well, I have now it is just not posted yet), I decided to do this week's challenge - Candyland #53. That decision was made when I started browsing through the Candy Blog that Jen had posted to use as inspiration. You see, I found this photo. I totally remember chewing Black Jack gum...and I loved it!!!

Because of the shape of the gum packages, I decided to create some scaplings. If you haven't seen them before they are acutaully a way to use the part you would cut off an A2 size card to make it a square card. These ones are cut down a bit more. I cut the main color, hand drew the oval and cut it out with my hobby blade. Then I used white embossing powder to really get a strong white for the lines and the sentiments. I hand drew the white oval with my white gel pen.

I have started dropping these cute little scraplings off on my co-worker's desks. They really seem to enjoy them!!

Supplies: Stamps - Paper Tray, Faux Ribbon (Papertrey Ink); ink - Versamark; Paper - all scraps; Other - hobby knife, white embossing powder, white gel pen.

Thanks for dropping in today. I hope you have a stampin' good day!!

Donelda

Masculine Love You card

Here is a masculine valentine I made. I spent the last few weeks trying really hard to create as many as I could. This one is very clean and simple. I used a strip of background paper that was left over from a whole bunch of older projects. I used this circle image from the Swirly Gigs smARTworks stamp set and bleach. I did some sewing along both sides and adhered it to some light cardboard. I then cut a heart out of corregated cardboard that is sponged with some blue ink. A simple sentiment and, voila, a simple, clean and simple card.

Thanks for dropping in to my blog. I hope you have a great day!

Donelda

Fall To Layout 76 - x 2

I was checking out the Clean and Simple blog and decided to try the latest fall to layout #76. I liked it so much, I actually created 2. I started out with gingham paper and then moved on to some jean paper. The jean paper is my favorite because I am totally getting into making masculine valentine cards!! Supplies: Stamps - Out on a Limb (Papertrey Ink - no longer sold), Beyond Basic Borders (Papertrey Ink); Paper - White, Black, and Buckaroo Blue, Red Riding Hood, Kraft (all Stampin' Up!); Ink - Basic Black; Other - hemp, black marker, dimensionals, crochet yarn, red heart button, wide black grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink). I can't wait to show you all of the masculine valentine cards that I have been making over the last few weeks!! Such fun!!! Donelda

Birthday Splat

This was such a fun card to make!! If you've been on T!m Holtz's blog, you've probably seen him use a can of air to move drops of ink around glossy cardstock. That is how I created this card.

dropped Read Red, Brilliant Blue, and Garden Green on glossy card stock and squirted it with the air. Then, I cut out parts of it using my 1" square punch. I added small mats to each inchie using the appropriate color.

A simple sentiment (from Birthday Basics, Papertrey Ink) was all it needed to finish the card using my favorite Clean and Simple layout!! Wouldn't this be a great birthday card for a male teenager!

Thanks for dropping in today!! I hope you enjoy your day!!

Donelda

Clean and Simple (CAS) - Crayon Cards

The Clean and Simple #31 challenge for this week is "Pop It Up". Well I can easily do that!! I actaully sat down last night and create 16 cards using dimensionals (I got on a creative run and didn't stop until late into the night...work is going to hurt today!). But unfortunately I didn't get any photos done. No fear, I've had these little cuties sitting and waiting to be posted! Very Clean and Simple!! The crayons are from Imaginisce (Teacher's Pet Collection - Crayons). I cut one of the crayons off so I could just stamp one at a time if I wanted. I stamped it onto scratch paper, water colored one in red and one in blue and cut them out. Then, I borrowed a red and blue crayon from my son and wrote the sentiment on the white card. Then using dimensionals, I strategically placed the crayon!! Enjoy your day!! Donelda

Sympathy Set with Fuzz

A while ago I received a great little package of goodies from a blogging friend Jessica G. One of the items in it were 2 little jars of - that fuzzy stuff - i can't think of what it is really called!! The girls have reminded me that it is called FLOCKING - sheesh, why couldn`t I remember that name!! It is so much fun to play with even if it is messy!! So, I decided to use the white on these flowers that come from the With Sympathy set sold by Papertrey Ink. The sentiment is from Garden of Life (also from Papertrey Ink) and is my favorite sympathy sentiment - the fonts are perfect and I like the size. These 2 cards are very Clean and Simple in style. Thanks for dropping in for a visit. Donelda

Sympathy Trio Set

More sympathy cards. Yes, it is one of those kind of cards that I'd rather have them at the ready than try to create them when my emotions are running high! I really like this image from smARTworks and it looks great using this multi-color ink pad by Ranger. Each of these cards are basically the same with some small differences in layout or embellishment. smARTworks is selling some of their overstock at 50% off -- what a bargain!! Unfortunately this sympathy set is not on the list, but the Kitty set I used HERE is on the list!! I hope I don't have to use these any time soon!! Thanks for dropping in! Have a wonderfully crafty day! Donelda

CAS26 - Shimmery Butterfly Birthday

So I did have a chance to create another challenge card. This time it is for the Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge #27 where Jen wanted us to use 'bling' on our cards. I had a ton of help with this card. First of all, many of you might recognize it. I totally CASED it from Lucy as you can see HERE. I few changes...but not many!! I loved her card and was wanting to try one of those die shaped cards. One difference was that I used watercolor paints to get the purple background. The beautiful butterfly is from the smARTworks set BF-04 Sm. Trio. After coloring the butterfly with pencil crayons, I smeared it with Star Dust Stickles!! This was a la Jennifer McGuire as you can see in her video HERE. If you haven't checked out all her videos, you must!! I really like the end results (but make sure you let it dry before trying to put the card together - don't ask my why I know this!!). Supplies: Stamps-BF-04 Sm. Trio (smARTworks), Birthday Basics (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), Versamark; Paper - Kraft, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper; Other - white embossing powder, Star Dust Stickles (Ranger), crochet yarn, Labels 1 dies (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), watercolor paints, paint brush. Well, that is one more challenge to add to my completed list. I also spent the evening sorting out my scrap bin and found a ton of great backgrounds and images I've colored in over the last few months. You'll likely be seeing them in the next few weeks as I hope to use some up! Thanks for dropping in! Donelda

Clean and Simple Challenges 23 and 24

While I was away, I missed a lot of great challenges. One that I really like is the Clean and Simple Challenges (or CAS) over on Splitcoaststampers. I completed CAS24 which was this Monday's challenge (I did 3 cards...I just couldn't stop!!) but then when back and did CAS23 as well!!

CAS24 - use the colors Yellow, Orange, and Turquoise.

Here is Card #1 and, actually, my favorite of the

bunch!! When making Clean and Simple cards, this is one of my all time favorite layouts!!

Supplies: Stamps-swirls inchie stamps by Inkadinkado; Cardstock - whisper white (SU); Ink - Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black (SU) Other - 1" square punch, dimensionals.

Here is the second card I made using these colors. My friend has lots of friends getting married and having babies so I have been trying to make a few baby cards, not something I do very often. I really like the look of the white stitching around the white block and then popped up onto a white card (white on white inpired by the CAS queen herself, Susan). Supplies: Stamps - All Year Through (SU!), Limitless Labels (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Yoyo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise (SU!); Other - sweing machine, white thread, dimensionals, orange button (Basic Grey), white floss (DCM).

This is my third card using these colors. No, that

yellow strip was not supposed to be there but

when I stamped the sentiment the first time it was crooked....of course!! Drat! So, I restamped it onto a strip of the yellow cardstock and added it to the card. Not as nice but will work. I do love the swarvoski crystals that I added to the centers of these awesome flowers!!

Supplies: Stamps- Garden of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White, Yoyo Yellow (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Yoyo Yellow, Only Orange, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Other - crystals (Swarvoski), dimensionals. And here is the card I made for CAS23 where we were giving this awesome site to use as a place to find inspriation! Wow, you could be looking all day!! I used THIS PIECE as my inspiration piece. I've never thought of doing this with this cow from Very Punny before! I laughed out loud when I thought of it!! Certainly not my typical style but it was fun!! Supplies: Stamps - Out on a Limb, Everyday Classics (Papertrey Ink), Very Punny (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Night of Navy, Whisper White (SU!); Ink- Yoyo Yellow, Night of Navy, Basic Black (SU!); Other - gingham ribbon, white gel pen (Signo), dimensionals, copic markers (pink, black). So, next I am going to attack some of the Loonie girl challenges and maybe try to get a card ready for the next Papertrey Ink blog hop (I've missed the last few of those too!!).

Have a great day everyone!!

Donelda

CAS20 - Paper Piecing

This is the card I made for the CAS20 challenge over at SCS. It is to use paper piecing on your card.

I actually made 2 - one without ribbon and one with. I can't decide which I like better. I like the plain one for it's simplicity...but the ribbon seems to balance the whole card. Opinions always welcome!! The flower center is gold microbeads. It doesn't really show up very well in these terrible pictures (it is rainy and grey out today) but it gives the card a nice bit of pizzazz in real life.

Supplies: Stamps-Flower Garden (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Chocolate Chip (SU!); Paper- Select White, Sweet Blush Bitty Dots (Papertrey Ink); Other-Sweet Blush twill (Papertrey Ink) 1/8" hole punch, gold microbeads.

Thanks for dropping in!

Donelda

Loonie Stamper's Challenge #42 - Father's Day Plaid

It is time for another Loonie Stamper's Challenge and it was Maria's turn to pick the challenge. She picked a great one...to use plaid on our cards!! I love plaid.

Since I lost my hard drive, it has really sapped my creative mojo and I haven't been doing much crafting these days. So, I sat at my craft table for some time, trying to get some plaid inspiration. I decided to look through my "scrap" bin and found some pre-punched circles that happened to have some great plaid on them!! The plaid is from the Chocolate Remix desinger paper from Papertrey Ink. Perfect!!

The card is a Clean and Simple card (easy to create when

trying to get your mojo back!!) with little need for explainations!! I plan to send it off to my dad in the next few days.

Supplies: Stamps-Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Paper-Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Chocolate Remix (Papertrey Ink); Other-1 1/4" circle punch.

So now, off to the Loonie Stampers to see what their plaid creations are:

Dee, Maria, Wendy, Jewels, Regan, and Char

Thanks so much for dropping in!! Have you made a father's day card yet???

Donelda

smARTworks - Subtle Monochromatic

Sometimes it is nice to make something really simple!! Like this rather masculine looking square card. Just one type of cardstock, one color of ink, and one stamp set!! In order to match the color of the stamped image, I sponged on the same color of ink onto a few strips of the paper to use as borders around the sentiment strip. Supplies: Stamps-Lock and Key (smARTworks); Cardstock-blue (gift given to me by a company with no manufacturer name provided); Ink-Bordering Blue (Stampin' Up!); Other-sponge. Have a great super simple day!! Donelda

I Love You

I love the simplicity of this card. Simple and sweet!! The designer paper and the heart are popped up with dimensionals. The heart was drawn and cut free-hand. I love the tiny sentiment at the bottom.

This was given to my sweetie!!!

Supplies- Stamps-Out on a Limb (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Kraft (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Cosmo Cricket); Other-light blue organdy ribbon (Michael's), 1" circle punch (Stampin' Up!), dimensionals.

Thanks for visiting again!! Donelda