Simple Sheltering Tree Card

Hey There,

The other day I wanted to play with the new Sheltering Tree stamp set from the Occasions catalog so I made this really simple card that only took a few minutes to make....which is something I like.  The best part of starting something is finishing it...that is why I don't do cross stitch or other crafts that take weeks or months to complete...my attention span is just not up to that level.

Anyways, quick and easy....here it is:

The picture is a bit washed out.....but the green I used was Wild Wasabi....but it looks more like Always Artichoke in the picture.

Well, that's it for today....

Until next time, find some time for stamping!

Hugs, Cindy

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

SIMPLE CHRISTMAS TREE

Today I'm sharing with you the second card that we made at my monthly stamp club that was held last Monday.

It is very cute, very simple, Christmas tree! The tree is made using the mid sized pennant from the new Pennant Die for the always fabulous Big Shot.

I also used the Delicate Dots embossing folder for the card's front. I used the small circle from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack for the red glimmer paper, then I used the large oval punch to make slices from the silver glimmer paper. I punched the star using the retired small star punch and the trunk is just a 1/2" piece of Early Espresso. I stamped the Curly Cute sentiment in Real Red on Very Vanilla card stock and used the corner rounder punch for the corners. So easy....but I LOVE this card!!! I am going to make more of these to send out this year.

Here is a peek at the inside....

I used the pennant punch for the tree and a scrap of Early Espresso for the trunk....they are mounted on a piece of Very Vanilla.

Well, that's it for me today.....have a GREAT Christmas season and THANKS for visiting!!

Until next time....find some time for stampin!!

Hugs, Cindy

STOCKING PUNCH CARD

This weekend was suppose to be a quiet weekend of stamping for me....but sometimes things don't always work out like you plan. Steve was working and the kids were going to our church's high school retreat....which meant I would be "free" Friday evening and all day Saturday.

Well, Madison has been battling being sick for over a week now....we had her at the doctor's on Thursday and he was pretty sure she had mono. He had her tested for strep throat since she had a bad sore throat....but that was just to rule it out. When that did come back negative...we went in again on Friday so she could have a blood test to confirm mono. The results are not in....but long story short...she has been on the coach for 3 days now. Very weak and tired....and other classic symptoms of mono. She was VERY disappointed about not being able to go this weekend. I feel terrible for her.

Also, she is on the tennis team at school....and with her being so tired it has been really hard for her play and make it through practices, which are every day after school for a couple of hours. Anyways....we're praying that this will not hang on for much longer since this is going on the second week of her feeling crummy.

But yesterday I did spent the afternoon with my friend Jamie.....she scrapbooked and I stamped. It was GREAT!! Very relaxing and refreshing!

Here is one of the cards that I made yesterday....not a lot of stamping but I just had to use the new Stocking Builder Punch that is in the Holiday Mini....that was the main reason I even made this card :-D

The card is VERY VERY simple....pretty much ridiculously simple, but I like it. What do you think?

I used Red Glimmer paper.....which really jazzes up anything.

But because I am a cheapo....here is what I did before I adhered it...

I punched out a couple of stockings!

I just couldn't bear "wasting" all that paper in the middle ;-)

Well...it's late and I need to get to bed.

THANKS for visiting!!

Until next time....find some time for stamping!!

Hugs, Cindy

Hi Stampers,

The card that I'm going to share with you today is one that we will be making this Saturday at my "Awash with Flowers" stamp class.

The card's base is Daffodil Delight....which is quickly becoming one of my favorite colors!!! Then I used the always perfect Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder on a piece of Whisper White....around which I tied with 3/8" Daffodil Delight taffeta ribbon (very pretty stuff!!). I accented with Tempting Turquoise cardstock and also stamped the flower outline with Tempting Turquoise ink. The sentiment is from the Define Your Life stamp set and it is stamped with Basic Black. Very simple....and sweet!

Stayed tuned......I will be offering some card kits for sale shortly!!!

I better go....school starts on Thursday, so we are on a count down to get some much needed things done before then.

Until next time, find some

time for stamping!!

Blessings......Cindy

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Awash with Flower, Define Your Life

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black

Paper: Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

"Extras": 3/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta ribbon

MORE TRENDY TREES

Happy Tuesday!!

Well, I am still on a "3 in a row" kick.....I made another card pretty much exactly like the other one from yesterday. This time I just stamped the images right on the cardstock....no layers at all.
You can't really tell from the picture, but each tree is a different green color. First tree (starting from the left) is Always Artichoke, middle is Certainly Celery, and third is Old Olive. Each trunk is Chocolate Chip. Sentiment, again from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set, is in Certainly Celery. This card was a snap!

Then I couldn't resist putting in some CUTE pictures of the kittens.....The following pictures has Mama giving Bones some much needed lovin' and a bath...The kittens are now into EVERYTHING....and we are always finding them napping in unusual places......like this.....
Maybe he got tired of waiting for the birds to come home......:-)

Until next time.....find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

TRENDY TREES & CHIT CHAT

Happy Monday!!! Weekends are wonderful!!! and Mondays are great for getting back into a routine.

This weekend I had some free time to have fun. I have seen other stampers do this layout and I think their cards always turn out looking so great....so I wanted to give it a try.
There's really nothing to this card....The middle tree top was stamped, cut out, and adhered by a dimensional. The {friend to friend} is from the new Teeny Tiny Wishes set coming out in the new catalog. That's it!!

This weekend Andy also got his haircut.....he has had a buzz since he was about 10 months old. His hair is VERY straight and when he was young, if I let it grow long, he would look like a dandelion....his hair grew straight out from his head. Well, now when he gets a hair cut ( his dad does the honors) he usually likes to do something funky like a mowhawk or something....this time he did this....
He usually runs around like that for a few minutes and then Dad is able to finish the job. I'll start to worry when he does something weird and wants to keep it like that!!! Yikes!!!

Last night Bones was hanging out with me.....he is so adorable.....here's a few pictures....
Here he is on the computer (Hey look! He likes Splitcoast too :-D) .....then he got all tuckered out.....
Yesterday was VERY sad for my daughter (and me too).....we gave away our first kitten! He is going to a great home but it was hard to think about not seeing him again. Poor Madison cried and cried :-(

Well, I've got a Mt. Everest size pile of laundry waiting for me....mostly towels and sheets from our weekend of having 5 girls here! I think I hear it calling me :-D

Until next time....find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Trendy Trees, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Paper: Whisper White

NEW BLOG THAT I FOUND!!!

This weekend I have had some time to just do some cruisin' on Splitcoast. Well, in doing that I ran across a FANTASTIC blog. The link is listed below so that you can visit it. This is a GREAT site for getting some good CAS ideas.

Cupcake Martini

Also, this week my FTL47 Birthday card was picked on Splitcoast for a weekly CAS favorite. So, that was a big encouragement!!

Well, I need to get up and start getting ready for church.
Until next time.....find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

CLEAN & SIMPLE ~ FTL 47

Happy Saturday!!!

Well, I think I am finally getting back into the swing of having FUN stamping!!! This afternoon I created a card from the FTL 47 sketch. This sketch is from the Clean & Simple blog....this is a great blog for those who like doing CAS cards. She posts weekly sketch challenges and each Monday posts a 10 minute Monday card. Very cool blog, lots of ideas to case. Anyways....here is the sketch for this week...... And here is my card.....
You can't really tell from the picture, but I put Crystal Effects on the cherry....you can see a slight sparkle.

I don't use many primary colors....this card is made with Real Red and Pumpkin Pie. I wouldn't normally put these two colors together, but I'm so rut-prone that I forced myself to use colors that I don't usually use.

I am LOVING the new Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set coming out in the new SU catalog! I might add that I originally was going to make this a 4th of July card....using Night of Navy instead of Pumpkin Pie....but alas! The ONLY holiday (just about) that isn't included in that set is a 4th of July one! And since I can always use a birthday card....it was easily changed.

KITTEN UPDATE ~ I'll start with the runt...his name is Bones. He is absolutely the SWEETEST kitten ever to hit the earth!! I just LOVE that little guy!!! He is growing, still only about 1/2 the size of the others, but he can hold his own in the wrestling matches. The others are almost equally adorable!! I love each one.....but alas, we cannot have 9 cats!! I think that is getting into the category of "weird cat people" when you have THAT many cats. So, we need to find good homes for some of them. My daughter's friend is going to be taking one of them, but we still have about 3 that need good homes. All you have to do is see them and then you won't be able to resist them!!!

Here's some random pictures....First, here's Bones....
Here's another kitty in the flower bed....
Here's Mama and one of her sleepy babies....
Soooo cute!!! They are hard to take pictures of....they're always in motion. If you're local...come on by and take a look, you're sure to fall in love!! :-D

Until next time....find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Darling Dots
Ink: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive (the stem only)
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red DSP
Accessories: Scalloped edge, scalloped circle & 1-3/8" circle punches, deckle scissors, orange brad, Crystal effects

GRADUATION GIFT CARD HOLDER

Yeah!!! It's Friday!!! It's also high school graduation for my nephew today!! Here's my handsome nephew's senior picture.....

Congrats Paul!!!

Well, knowing that my nephew LOVES to eat, giving him a gift card was easy!!! What's better than a bunch of double-doubles to satisfy a never-ending appetite??!! In-N-Out Burger was the perfect choice!!

Well, looking at that gift card just got me to thinkin'! So....after thinking about what I could do, I decided to scale down the traditional criss-cross card to gift card size. It worked GREAT!!! Somebody has probably thought of this before me, but since I don't know who, I'm feelin' like Mrs. Smarty Pants! :-D Here's the finished product......
Once again it's CAS!! I started with Kraft card stock (my new favorite!!!) and used Not Quite Navy DSP. The belly-band is kraft and fastened with a SU' Designer Hardware Hooray eyelet. The "Happy Graduation" is from the NEW Teeny Tiny Wishes coming out in the new catalog.

If you're interested here are the measurements......
Cut two pieces 7-1/2" x 2-3/4" and score each piece at 3-3/4"
Cut DSP 2-1/2" x 3-3/8" (cut in two diagonally)
Belly band is 5/8" x 8-1/2" and score at 3-1/4" and 7" (these measurements puts the seam to the side....you'll need to change the scoring if you want it in the middle)
Instructions are the same as a traditional criss-cross card. If you don't know the instructions, click here.

Well, I better get going. We've got Paul's graduation this evening and then his graduation party tomorrow afternoon at 2pm. Probably won't get too much of a chance to stamp this weekend....Until next time....Find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings, Cindy

USING CLUB LEFT-OVERS

Happy Wednesday!!!

The other night was my monthly stamp club and I usually have some card supplies left over....so today I used some.

A couple of months or so ago, I joined a birthday sub-group of the RAK (random acts of kindness) group on Splitcoast....each month you're assigned about 5 names of fellow RAK-ers who have birthdays that month and you make and send them a card. It's a great motivation to make cards! I am terrible at making a bunch of cards and then never sending them!! So....being apart of BRAK (birthday random acts of kindness) gives me a "purpose" in making a bunch of birthday cards. All of that to say that below is a birthday card I made to send.
I must confess that I have gotten really spoiled (maybe lazy is a better word) by CAS cards. I find that most, if not all, of my cards are ridiculously simple......maybe I'm nuts but I LIKE them simple! They aren't much to write home about, but I just love the clean simplicity of them.

I might add that I die cut the flower from some white colored cardboard that came as packing material in something.....it was just too nice to throw away :-)

Tomorrow is my monthly scrapbooking class at Gloria's.....this is ALWAYS a fun time!!! I will post a picture of the two 12x12 pages that we make. Gloria always designs very fun projects for us. Now that I've got a few pages done I need to order pictures for them!

Well...I need to get going....my poor little son is not feeling well :-(
Until next time....find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Baja Breeze
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Textured Baja Breeze
Accessories: Clear Brad, Big Shot (of course), Build a Flower Bigz die, Eyelet border punch, corner rounder, junk cardboard :-)

STAMPIN' FOR FUN!!!!

Happy Friday!!

I just realized that it had been a LONG time since I stamped JUST FOR FUN!!! I was so busy getting ready for the Flatlander's that I didn't really have any time to be creative or to take part in SCS Challenges or any other other challenges for that matter. I have really missed that!!!

So, the remedy that....I made this card for the weekly SCS CAS Challenge ( CAS means....Clean and Simple). This week's challenge was to use just black and white and one color from the Bold Brights collection....I chose Real Red. This card couldn't hardly get any more simple!
Hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed making it!!!

Until next time,
Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Darling Dots
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black
Accessories: 1-3/4", 1-3/8", 1-1/4" circle punches, 1/4" red gingham ribbon

NEW WEEK, NEW CARD

Good Monday morning to you!! Hope your weekend was as great as mine!

Saturday we went out to the ski lake for an afternoon of fun with some friends. We spent the afternoon waterskiing, snackin', talking' & lazin'!! It was wonderful! The weather was perfect and the company refreshing!

Sunday we went to church......I just LOVE our church.....you can check out their blog which is listed on Blog List (Free Grace Church). This was mine turn in the nursery.......great way to get my "baby fix"!!. When we got home we spent the afternoon relaxing. The kids worked on their country reports for school and I did a bit of stamping. Steve had to work on Sunday.....which is ALWAYS a bummer!!!

The card I made on Sunday afternoon is a very CAS (clean and simple) card. Very easy too.....The leaves of the tree were inked with Old Olive and then I wiped off the top of the trunk and used my Chocolate Chip marker to color in the trunk....it just seemed to tedious to me to use a marker for all the leaves. It made this card go much quicker! Also, the stamp set Thoughts & Prayers is one of those sets that makes whatever you do look GREAT!!!
I think that I will make a few sets of these for my stash that I'm stockpiling for the Flatlander's Craft Fair on May 9th.....I'm trying NOT to completely FREAK OUT about that. I need to remember that steady plodding brings success!!!

Until next time,
Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers, Pocket Silhouettes (sentiment)
Cardstock: Whisper white, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate chip marker
Accessories: ticket corner punch , 1-3/4, 1-3/8, 1-1/4 circle punches, dimensionals

A CHALLENGE CARD

I have been having fun stamping this evening....the kids have been watching the old tv series "Get Smart" and I have been in my stamping room having FUN!!!

There is a website called Diva Coffee Break Designs and each week they post a challenge....below is the challenge for this week....This evening I made the following card for this challenge....sorry, the picture turned out a bit dark.
I had fun making this card.....it has been awhile since I stamped just for fun and not for the upcoming Flatlander's Craft Fair on May 9th.

Back to havin' fun!!!
Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

THIS WEEK "FLU" BY & FTL32

This week "flu" by!! I really mean FLU!! Andy was sick at the beginning of the week and Madison spent all of the week sick!! Andy is completely well and Madison stills has some very stubborn symptoms that just don't seem to want to go away....but other than being annoyed by the congestion and an occasional cough, she is doing pretty good.

Well, the other day the Clean and Simple Stamping website posted their "Fall to Layout 32". Here is a copy of the sketch:

Here is the card that I made for this sketch....it took me all of about 3 minutes!!!

The big shot just makes it SO EASY!!! I don't yet own the circle dies, but I just used a circle cutter (which mine is a MAJOR PAIN), but everything else is BIG SHOT!! I folded a piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die, making sure the fold was just inside the cutting line. The flower is from the Build a Flower Bigz die, which I topped off using the 1/2" circle punch. The image inside the 1/2" circle is from the Sale-A-Bration set Polka Dot Punches, the sentiment is from Sincere Salutations.

At my stamping club on Monday evening, we are going to be making a card almost like this....except I am going to use the 1-3/4" circle punch instead. I think if I would make the ladies use my circle cutter, they would all run out the door screaming in frustration....and I don't want that to happen. Here is a picture of my sample. They will be able to choose what color they would like the flower....we might have to make a couple of these little babies!!!

Until next time....
Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

I'M CHALLENGE CHALLENGED...in other words....Challenges are Challenging :-)

Each day Splitcoast posts a new challenge for each day.....Monday it's New Technique, Tuesday it's Color, Wednesday a sketch, and so on. I am not very good at their challenges....but I try. In fact, half the time I feel somewhat embarrassed to post my card.....these stampers on SCS are AWESOME!!! These challenges really stretch me.....but I keep telling myself that "no pain, no gain". Anyway....This week's color challenge was to use the colors Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, and Passion Pink. So I dug out those colors and since I was feeling behind thought I would try and combine the Color Challenge with the CAS Challenge (another challenge posted on Monday)...which was using paper piercing.

I think in my case....trying to mix the two challenges was like trying to bake a cake and make chili all in the same bowl!!! IT DON'T WORK!!!!

Funny that I put "Get Well Soon" on it, since the card itself needs the same sentiments :-)

Oh well, sometimes you have it and sometimes you don't!!! I'll need to go back to the drawing board on this one! But it was fun tryin'!!!

Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

THINKING OF YOU

Well, I think we are through the worst part of the kids being sick. I am taking Madison to the doctor's tomorrow....she just can't seem to shake her fever and sore throat. Also, she has been terribly congested, so she might have strep and/or an ear infection....something that might need some antibiotics. Poor girl!!!

I did get around to stamping a bit this evening after they went to bed. I made a real quick card before I went to bed myself. This is a perfect example of the type of card that we will be making at my Clean & Simple Class on March 14th. The medallion was something I had stamped at a demonstrator's meeting a long time ago....I just never used it. And using the Big Shot and Top Note die really makes things EASY!!! In fact, we will probably be using the Big Shot a lot at the class!!! (Gotta love that Big Shot!!)

I am hoping to get back into the full swing of things in the next couple of days.

Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

ENJOYING TIME WITH STEVE

With Andy & Madison away at camp this week it has allowed Steve and I a GREAT opportunity to just have some time together. We miss the kids and look forward to their return on Friday, but it has been so nice to just hang out with each other.

Since Steve doesn't quite appreciate stamping the way I do, I haven't stamped the last couple of days, opting instead to do things that we BOTH enjoy.

So, today I am posting a card that I made a few days ago. It uses the Inspired By Nature stamp set and the recently retired Bitty Basics Level 1 Hostess set. It also uses some Designer Series Paper (name unknown) from my grab bag. I love using the Horizontal Slot Punch to make the grass into cattails. I used Old Olive Ink and just stamped the grass twice, which is what made the lighter color of grass....SUPER EASY.













This is an example of a CAS (Clean And Simple) card. On March 14 I will be offering a Clean and Simple Stamp Class. So, for those of you that think stamping takes too much time or is too complicated....this class will be for YOU!! I am also offering this class for FREE to anyone placing an order of $25 or more (before tax & shipping) of current Stampin' Up! products. I will be posting more information about this class as the date gets closer.

Also, since I have had so much fun with the grab bag that I purchased at Gloria's, I have made some grab bags of my own!! I will be selling these at my monthly stamp club on March 9 and at my CAS class on March 14. I had fun putting these together....I think that whoever buys them will have fun seeing the what's in there!

Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

ONE BUTTON WILL DO

Well, I haven't yet gotten to making a Mojo Monday card.....but I did get to make my card for the Splitcoast CAS (Clean and Simple) Challenge. This Monday, the second challenge (CAS02) was posted entitled "One Button Will Do".....making a card using only 1 button. I don't use buttons very often, so I had to think about how to use even the 1. It's a different card than I'm use to making, but it's beginning to grow on me....I had some serious doubts when I first made it. I was afraid it looked too much like a funeral announcement.....Yikes!

I again used the stamp set "Say It With Scriptures" and "Organic Grace" a retired Level 1 hostess set from the 2008 Fall-Winter catalog. I started with a white base and just put a black piece on top and stamped it with white craft ink. I stamped the verse in white craft ink on black and lined it with a piece of white....then I just wrapped a ribbon around twice and tied a bow. I added the one button, sewed on with white crochet thread, so that it would fit the CAS02 challenge.....and Viola!!! This card only took a few minutes to make.

Stamps: Say It With Scriptures, Organic Grace (both sets are retired)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: White craft
Accessories: White satin ribbon, white button, crochet thread

I'm loving these CAS cards!!!

Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy

Elegant Thank You

Hope that your week is going well....the days seem to go by just too quickly!!!

I still want to stamp a card for the Mojo Monday challenge....I am going to work on making that tomorrow and will post whatever I make. If you want to take a look at the sketch for this week click on the Mojo Monday badge on the right side bar of my blog. Working from a sketch can just give a boost to your creativity.

Ok....Here is another card from last weekend.....it's been nice having something to post since I'm not a "chatty" poster. Also, it again is made with Old Olive paper and ink.....that is the best color for me right now. I'm going to have to force myself to use other colors :-)

I have been trying to keep my cards CAS (Clean and Simple)....and for the most part I really like how they turn out. Plus, they only take a few minutes to make. The Elegant Thank You stamp used on this card is one of my favorites!! It just makes whatever you stamp look elegant. It is one of the new stamps on Stampin' Up!'s under $10 page in the back of the new 2009 Spring-Summer Idea Book & Catalog (page 208)....if you haven't looked at that page you should!!! The stamps on that page are not only affordable but beautiful.

Stamps: Elegant Thank You
Ink: Old Olive (of course!)
Paper: Old Olive (again!), whisper white, retired DSP
Accessories: Rhinestone brad, Big Shot, Build a Flower Digz die, paper piercer

I am also submitting cards to the new Splitcoast challenge for CAS cards. A new challenge comes out every Monday....this week's challenge is "One Button Will Do"....you are to make a CAS card using only 1 button. This is just the second week of this new challenge, so it's just beginning. The CAS gallery is full of beautiful examples of VERY EASY cards that only take a few moments to make. So for those of you who think you don't have enough time to stamp.....CAS cards has now taken away your excuse!!!

Find some time for stamping!!!
Blessings, Cindy