Sassy Stampin'

Wednesday, June 13

Packed with Love - Play Date Cafe #136

Welcome to the Cafe for another week of color inspiration! This week we have a beautiful color story filled with rich berry hues:

Azure, Raspberry, & Blackberry

I was so excited to ink up a new set from WPlus9, Fresh Preserves. The sweet jam jar reminds me of one of my most cherished childhood memories: picking blackberries with my grandmother. She made the best jams and cobblers and they always tasted sweeter sitting around her kitchen table.

We hope you'll join us this week at the Play Date Cafe. Simon Says Stamp is joining us again as our sponsor and it's always fun to play along for the chance at such a great prize.

Big News: We are also holding an open Design Team call at the Cafe through July 1st and we would love to see you apply! This is an amazing team filled with caring and talented women - we are so excited to add some fresh faces and new designers to our team... we can't wait to see what you create!

Stamps: WPlus9 Fresh Preserves & Fresh Picked (sentiment)

Paper: PTI Kraft& Vintage Cream cardstock; My Mind's Eye - Fiddlesticks

Ink: SU! Perfect Plum; PTI Kraft & Autumn Rose

Tools: WPlus9 Preserves Jar die; PTI Mat Stack 3 & Doily Details dies

Sassy Somethings: Webster's Pages eyelet trim

Monday, June 11

Red Roses: CSS Group Post

Happy Red Roses Day! Clear & Simple Stamps is stopping to smell the roses today in honor of this fun holiday with projects featuring an array of floral sets from Collection 3. I thought it would be fun to make a sweet baby card and combine the Flowers set with Special Bundle.

I love the Flowers set and find new ways to layer the blooms and grasses each time I use it. I chose to pair the long stems with shorter grass and stamp in two shades of green for depth and interest. The roses were stamped in bright red. I also rolled the edges of a few of the medium blooms in a darker crimson to give the allusion of shading and variety.

To create a subtle sky I stamped a small strip from Hexagons Plus. I didn't want it to be solid so I staggered the strips to taper off. My stork was stamped onto Kraft Like a Rockstar and shaded with a white pencil.

For a finishing touch I stamped a quick label onto an envelope... a perfect touch for gift giving or delivering a bunch of red roses to the new momma. ;)

The team is filled with rosie inspiration... head over to their blogs to see what's blooming:

Clear & Simple Stamps

All supplies are CSS unless noted.
Stamps: Flowers, Special Bundle, Hexagons Plus, Labels 9 (envelope)
Paper: Kraft Like A Rockstar (cream & original); SU! Riding Hood Red
Ink: PTI Pure Poppy, Scarlet Jewel, Simply Chartreuse, Spring Rain, Dark Chocolate; SU! Always Artichoke
Tools: Ric Rac/Pinking dies, Special Bundle die-cuts

Sunday, June 10

Block Party - Home Sweet Home

Happy day! It's an outdoor grillin', popsicle eatin' kinda day here... a perfect opportunity to send the kids outside to play while I get crafty for the Market Street Stamps Block Party. (or should I say, "par-tay!!"?)

I'm SO very excited about the new Persimmons Studio stamps they just released... have you seen them? They are quirky and artsy and something a little bit outside of my typical "box"... they are going to be fab. I thought while I {very impatiently} wait for them to arrive, I would play along with another favorite MSS set... Home Sweet Home.

Lots of banner flags and some cute little "photo corners" accent my house scene. I paper-pieced and added some pop for the attic windows... a cozy summer cottage, don't ya think?

Supplies
Stamps: Market Street - Home Sweet Home
Paper: PTI Kraft, Vintage Cream, & Lemon Tart; My Mind's Eye
Tools: MFT Fishtail Flags & Photo Corners die-namics

Wednesday, June 6

Wheeeee! - Play Date Cafe #135

Hey, hey sweet friends! Summer time is fun time and this week at the Play Date Cafe our color story is FUN! Plus, we have a fabulous sponsor... The Craft's Meow! I used the ferris wheel image from Life Is A Carnival and combined fun patterned papers to take advantage of the bright colors.

Aquamarine, Poolside, & Clay

I also thought it would be fun to play along with The Craft's Meow sketch challenge. I turned the sketch and instead of a bow opted for a little banner across the top. So many options when you have a great sketch & a fun color combo... things just craft themselves! ;)

We hope you'll join us this week in the Cafe... we can't wait to see what you create!! Note: You can use ANY stamps or products to play along in the challenge each week. We always have a lovely variety of projects... cards, scrapbook pages, altered art, handmade jewelry, etc... make what you love and share it with us!

Tuesday, June 5

CSS {App} Sneak Peek

It's graduation season!

I hope you'll head over to the CSS App for iPhone/iPad users for some inspiration.

Hint: There's confetti! ;)

{Click on above graphic to learn more and download the CSS Daily App}

Sunday, June 3

Sending You - CSS Review Day 4

I hope this post finds you well-rested after a fabulous weekend! I'm back today for the Clear & Simple Stamps: Release in Review. Today the team is concentrating on showing off the background and sentiment sets from Collection 3.

I used the Flower Garden background set to create small patches... a fun way to use several of the patterns without things getting too busy. Next, I stamped the sweet vase and plant from All Occasions 2. I love that the All Occasions sets have not only a ton of beautiful sentiments but also these extra images. TIP: Stamp the outline first and then fill it with the solid image.

My favorite part of this card is the fancy edge created from using the Edgers 1 die-cut combo. Edgers 1 is a set of two dies (one for vertical oriented cards and one for horizontal). Included with the dies are a set of seven coordinating stamps.

Now, I'm "sending you" on your way to see the design team's projects... enjoy! :)

Clear & Simple Stamps blog

All supplies are CSS unless otherwise noted.

Stamps: Flower Garden, All Occasions 1 & 2, Edgers 1 die-cut combo

Paper: Kraft Like a Rockstar & On the Catwalk Cream; PTI Spring Moss; My Mind's Eye - Miss Caroline

Tools: Edgers 1 die-cut combo & Shapes: Circles; PTI Button Card & Doily Details dies

Sassy Somethings: Butterfly Garden 1 die-cut, ribbon

Friday, June 1

Floral Treats - CSS Review Day 2

Hi friends! So glad to have you back for another day of the Clear & Simple Stamps: Release in Review. Our focus today is on florals and butterflies. Collection 3 is filled with beautiful floral images, nature inspired themes, and butterflies galore... perfect for spring and summer creations.

I thought it would be fun to make a sweet table setting for a friend. This would also make a nice little package to take to a hostess, drop with a special secretary, or to gift as a small surprise to someone dear.

The Party Favor 5 die makes a small gable box from one sheet of 8.5 x 11" paper. It is all one piece and easily folds for sturdy treat packaging. TIP: To create the floral stamped wrap, I trimmed a strip of On the Catwalk Cream cardstock and adhered it to the die with low-tack tape. When I ran it through the die-cut machine, I had perfect score lines to coordinate with the box corners.

A small notecard stamped with Flowers completes the ensemble. I love the variety of blossoms included in this set... and I love the little strawberries.