Clean and Simple Thank You Cards

There was a need posted on SCS the other night for Thank You cards. The poster has a similar situation to what my family went through earlier this year. A loved one was going in to hospice with the knowledge that they would be leaving their earthly body soon. When my (step) mom passed away on Easter Sunday of this year, my family and I had a lot of people to send thank you cards to. It's hard to send cards to people that aren't handmade now that I make cards. I had a wonderful giver on SCS send me a pack of thank you cards and will never forget the loving generosity of that one act. So, when I saw this post the other night I knew that this was a way for me to "pay it forward". Losing a loved one is unbelievably painful, and it's amazing how small things, like sending people who made a difference a handmade thank you card, can help make you feel a little better. I don't mean for this to be a heavy post, but it's a good reminder to try to do things for others and cherish the ones you love.

These are both One Layer Cards (OLC) that would definitely qualify as Clean and simple (CAS). I wanted them to be cards that expressed peace and calm. Sorry the pictures aren't the best, my cameras was about to die, so I was hurrying. I also had a drop of water fall on the text on the floral card right before I was photographing it... ugh.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Beachy Thank You

Stamp Set: Seaside (retired) and Simply Said

Paper: Crumb Cake (aka Kraft)

Ink: Craft Whisper White, Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip

Accessories: uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen

Floral Thank You

Stamp Set: Elements of Style and Simply Said

Paper: Whisper White

Ink: Soft Sky and Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Martha Stewart Ribbon

Have a great day.

Christel

Here we go again with the Craft Fair stuff!

I have already started to plan for this years SnowFest Arts and Crafts Fair in Simi Valley. Beth (kaitysmom on SCS) has made these really cute sleeves with M&M's in them for a while and I have admired them. I finally ordered some of the bags (they are 1x8) and put a few together yesterday with the M&M's that I had on hand. I plan on selling these at the craft fair for $1.50 each. What do you think?

Christel

I'm back...

Wow, I have been so remiss in posting. Sorry about that, for those of you who actually "follow" me. I was able to do some crafting while I was in Mississippi, I simply didn't have to time to post stuff to my blog.

This is a card that I made for no particular occasion in mind. It came in handy when I needed a card for friends who graciously hosted us in Albuquerque on our way back to California. I am happy I photographed it just after making it, I plan on making more like it. I will add the supplies I used shortly.

Have a great day!

-Christel

A few of my favorite things...

So, I have decided to post a project made with some of my recent favorites. An altered composition book using a tag and a paper flower. This was made as a birthday gift for my sister-in-law, Virginie. Walmart had composition books on sale for 25¢ for back-to-school. This was a very cost effective gift, but the recipient would never know that with how dressed up it looks.

Have a great day!

Christel

All supplies used to alter are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Stamp Set: Artistic Etchings

Paper: Shimmer White Cardstock, Spring Silhouettes DSP (retired) and an old book (for the paper flower)

Ink: Wild Wasabi and Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Kraft Taffeta Ribbon (retired), Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon (retired), Baja Breeze Corduroy Button (retired), @ the office reinforcement label (on hole in tag), Pentel RSVP Pen and Composition Book

Busy in Mississippi...

Well, it's been a while since I posted on my blog. We left CA on June 24th and life has been crazy since then. I have had the chance to make a couple of things in the past few days and will post photos as soon as I can, hopefully tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a photo of me with my brothers and one of my sisters (plus Ian). My sister Angela was not able to make the canoe trip this year. I'm the one in the middle... NOT!

Have a great day.

-Christel

My new obsession...

I have been having so much fun making these accordion flowers/fans this past week. This one was a little large to put on a tag, and since I have 4 weddings coming up in the next few months, I thought I'd put together a super fast wedding card. I can't tell you how much I love this new Level 3 Hostess Set, Occasional Quotes. I love how simple the card is, yet it has a presence.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! except the yarn on the button and the flat glue dots.

Stamp Set: Occasional Quotes
Papers: Kraft Cardstock, Spring Silhouettes Designer Series Paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip and Whisper White (used a dauber to apply to the fan)
Accessories: Large Clear Rhinestone, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, 1 1/2" Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, Chocolate Chip Corduroy Button - on the Last Chance List right now for 1/2 OFF!, White Chunky (Essentials) Glitter, flat glue dots and yarn

Have a great day!

Christel

Tags with flair

n

I was looking through the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog the other night with a friend and she pointed out that there were these cool accordion flowers/fans that were displayed on one of the pages. She asked me how I thought they were put together and I just started playing with a scallop circle until I got it.

The next day I looked online to see if I could find out how others do it. I found a great tutorial by Kelly Lunceford, here. Now, I have tried it her way and my way, it gives a slightly different look, depending on which way you do it. In the samples above I did it Kelly's way on all but the tag that has the Eiffel Tower. On that one I punched out 3 scallop circles with Stampin' Up!'s 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch out of my old book that I have used for some of my paper flowers in the past. I folded it in half, opened it up, rotated it and folded it in half again at the next scallop. I kept doing this until I had folds in all of the scallops. Be sure to fold between the scallops. I then cut on one of the lines to the center of the scallop and then folded the scallop back and forth like an accordion. I did this to all three of the scallop circles that I had punched and then I glued them together with Crystal Effects. I like using Crystal Effects because it's a strong glue and it doesn't leave a "tacky" residue if you go outside the lines. I used flat glue dots that I have, placed in the center of the "flower" on the front and back to hold it together. It takes a little practice to be able to do it easily. One thing about going the route of the scallop circle/circle punch is that you can get smaller flowers out of it. I might try to do a picture tutorial to show step-by-step what I did, if anyone's interested.

I would use these as either a replacement for a card when being placed on a gift (just write on the back) or I would just throw it onto a card base for an instant card. I really love how they turned out. I think that the Eiffel Tower one is my favorite, what's yours?

All of the supplies that I used were Stampin' Up!, except for the flat glue dots. I used Artistic Etchings Stamp Set, Shimmery White Cardstock, Sahara Sand Cardstock, Spring Silhouettes DSP, various corduroy bottons, Linen Thread, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Twill Tape (colored with my Baja Breeze ink pad), Champagne Shimmer Paint, Chocolate Chip Ink, Baja Breeze Ink, Soft Sky Ink, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 3/4 Circle Punch, Table Setting Bigz XL Die and Sponge Daubers.

Have a great day!

-Christel