A few simple Valentine's cards

Valentine's day is fast approaching and I have to make about 15 cards for my daughter to hand out at daycare.  I wanted something cute, but simple to produce, so I created these two quick designs using some Basic Grey scraps, some stamps from My Cute Stamps and the largest of my rectangular Nestabilities dies.  I attached a rectangle of plain white cardstock on the back for us to write on/stamp on similar to what you would do with a regular commercial Valentine card (as opposed to one that opens up).

Even though I cut out and coloured three cupcakes for each card, I kept it simple by doing minimal shading (two shades of pink and just one of the brown) and not caring too much about going outside the lines since I was cutting them out.

Each of the cards will be a little unique as I am using up some older love themed embellishments from my stash.  On these two cards I found a package of love themed Teresa Collins Tilez and used those as my sentiments. 

Just another quick tip:  you don't necessarily *have* to have stamps that are specific to each and every holiday.  Here I used an owl from a Halloween stamp and paper pieced in colours to match my card.  You can easily adapt any stamp for any holiday or occasion if you use your imagination and make it work.

Supplies:
Stamps: Little Cupcake from My Cute Stamps
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Papers: Neenah Solar White cardstock, Basic Grey papers, Bazzill cardstock
Accessories: Nestabilities, Teresa Collins Tilez sentiment, Stickles, Copic Markers

Supplies:
Stamps: Little Cupcake (heart) from My Cute Stamps, Owl-O-Ween (owl) from My Cute Stamps
Ink: Versafine black
Papers: Basic Grey, Bazzill cardstock
Accessories: Nestabilities, Cosmo Cricket mini letter stickers, Cuttlebug heart die, Stickles, Copic Markers, Teresa Collins Tilez

FWF fun fold card Friday

Good Morning!!  It's Friday which means it's time for another Friends with Flair Friday post.  Just a reminder if you haven't participated before all you have to do is start at the Unity Blog and make your way through today's posts to find the FWF Blinkie.  Leave a comment for your chance to win some Unity Stamps.  The winner is posted in the FWF post at Splitcoaststampers.

Today I have two non-traditional cards to share with you--one is a swing card and the other a card using a clear base.

For my birthday themed swing card I used the instructions in the tutorial section at SCS---it's a bit tricky on the first try but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to follow.  I like to use double sided thicker weight cardstock so I don't have to decorate the main card.  The stamps are from the July 2010 Unity Kit of the Month (link below).

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday cake stamp from Unity Stamp Co July KOTM (Happily Ever After)Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Paper: K and Co
Accessories: Offray ribbon
For today's second card I stamped on a clear card base with turquoise Staz On ink.  I haven't quite decided what to use this card for yet but I was thinking of adding some kind of sentiment block to the front layer.  I love creating clear cards as you can create a lot of interest with all the different layers.  Just a quick tip:  to adhere the paper layer to the card base I paint a VERY thin layer of wet adhesive (Scotch Quick Tac) to the entire back panel of the paper--then when you see the back of the card you don't see any evidence of the glue because it covers the whole surface of the paper.

Supplies:
Stamps: Donna Downey "Embrace You" set (swirls) from Unity Stamp Co.
Ink: Staz On Teal
Paper: Rouge de Garance, transparent card base
Accessories: Pearls and flowers from Prima, Martha Stewart edge punch, Offray ribbon

Something sweet and cheery for a cold Monday

Wow, is it ever ccccoooollldddddd out this morning.  Without the windchill, it's a balmy -19 degrees Celsius (for my American friends that is -2.2 degrees).  Brrrrr!

So what better way to feel all warm and fuzzy than to share a brightly coloured card with some little smiley faced treats :)
For this card I used the remainder of the cover sheet from my collection pack of Echo Park Summertime paper.  Although the paper is really thin (compared to the actual papers in the package), once you layer it onto cardstock it still makes a decent card base AND it's a fantastic way to use up something that would otherwise be garbage.  I only managed to get one package of this fun line when it was released so I wanted to use up every last scrap I could!!

The stamps on this card are from the Sweet Kawaii set from My Cute Stamps.  I added some texture and dimension by adding some embossing and some dimensional foam tape to pop some of the elements.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Sweet Kawaii by My Cute Stamps
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  Echo Park, Basic Grey, Prism Simply Smooth, Georgia Pacific cardstock
Accessories:  Offray ribbon, button, Copic markers, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestabilities die

A Royal Celebration with My Cute Stamps

It's time for my first official design team post for My Cute Stamps.  I've been creating up a storm with my stamps and I'm in *LOVE*.  The stamps are so darn cute and so easy to work with.  I've also enjoyed working with clear stamps again as it makes it a lot easier to see where you're stamping.

For this card I used a shaped card base that I cut out using my Mom's Cricut machine and created this paper-pieced princess scene using stamps from "A Royal Celebration" set.

See you soon with some more creations :)

Supplies:
Stamps: A Royal Celebration Set from My Cute Stamps
Ink: Memento, Distress Ink
Papers: Basic Grey, Prism, Prism Simply Smooth cardstock
Accessories: Cricut cartridge (shaped card), Copic markers, Maya Road Trim, Stickles

Sew it's time for another FWF Friday post!

Happy New Year!!  Wow, I didn't realize it's been so long since my last post (blushing).

Welcome to another Friends with Flair Friday featuring Unity Stamps.  Today I'm going to share two cards with you that both have a sewing theme. 

For the first card I stamped with white pigment ink onto some kraft cardstock as my base and then layered some papers from Cosmo Cricket on top.  The stamps are from one of Unity's monthly kits (a GREAT value if you don't get them already!!) and the Cosmo Cricket Material Girl stamps.

Supplies:

Stamps: Cosmo Cricket Material girl set (sentiment) from Unity Stamp co., Cosmo Cricket Get Scrappy with Material girl set (stitch stamps), Together We Bloom April 2010 KOTM (thread spools) from Unity Stamp Co.
Ink: Colorbox White Chalk ink, Memento Rich Cocoa
Papers: Cosmo Cricket
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers

The second cards I'm sharing today was published in the December 2010 Cards Magazine.  For this card I again used the same sewing spool stamp with some papers from October Afternoon.  There is a close up of the card only below.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Together We Bloom April 2010 KOTM (thread spools) from Unity Stamp Co., sentiment from unknown Unity set
Paper:  October Afternoon Thrift Shop
Ink:  Memento
Accessories:  Copic markers, button