Monday, August 29, 2016

August Release Giveaway winner!

Yay, thank you everyone so much for your lovely comments on our new release - we're so happy you love the new products!

So, who's the winner of our 15€ gift card?


We let random.org pick a winner:


and comment #6 was:

Congrats Florence! Please send an email to info@createasmilestamps.com to claim your prize!


For everyone who wasn't picked: don't forget that we have a monthly challenge going on (so two more days for this month and a new challenge on September 1st ;)

The current challenge can be found here:




Hope you all have a fantastic day!





Sunday, August 28, 2016

Stencils - Part 1

Hi everyone! If you don't already know, there's some new stuff on the site. Stop by the store and get your hands on some new stuff before it runs out.

Today, I'm starting a new three-part series, focusing on the use of Stencils. So let's get to it.




I wanted to do a card using vibrant colours as always but I thought I'd try a new (to me) colour scheme. Pastels! I started by putting down Distress Inks on my acetate sheet and squeeze some texture paste. I use a palette knife to mix the colours. If it's too vibrant, I'll add more texture paste and if it's way too light, I'll add a bit more ink. So, you can decide how strong you want your colours to be. 



I sprayed the stencil with a stencil spray. I couldn't find a temporary adhesive spray so I thought I'd give this a try. To be honest, I don't like it too much because it didn't stick too well. Or maybe I didn'T spray enough. I'll try again next week and let you know. 


I spread out my coloured texture paste in random parts making sure that the colours subtly mix. 


I've added some glitters and Glossy Accent to the sentiment to give it a nice shine and some water droplets like embellishments from Pretty Pink Posh. 










All Create A Smile products : 


Follow Create A Smile on Facebook keep yourself updates on all the happenings and if you're an Instagram addict like I am, you can follow Create A Smile using this name : @createasmilestamps ! :)

Thanks for stopping by,


Saturday, August 27, 2016

OPEN CALL - be part of our first mini-magazine!

Hello crafty friends,

these are exciting times.
We just started preparing our very first issue of Treasures  - a papercrafting mini-magazine and we want YOU to be a part of it!

So here's our



For our first issue of Treasures we're looking for papercrafting projects matching the following themes:

• (Festive) decorations
• stamped gifts (for any occasion!)
• Winter / Christmas
• open theme (anything you want)

You can submit as many projects as you like for each of the four themes, meeting the following guidelines:

• Use Create A Smile products as the main focus of your projects.
• Your creations may not have been published anywhere else before - neither in a magazine, nor on your blog or social media.
• Take your project-photos in front of a neutral background.
• Please don't add a watermark to your photos. (no worries, we won't use any photos without your permission and credits.)
• Please make sure to add your name and address to your email.
• ALL kinds of papercrafting projects and styles are welcome
• Add a list of supplies [product type: brand (name)  - e.g. Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)]
• Include a step-by-step tutorial
• Send your submission to treasures@createasmilestamps.com The subject line must include the theme you're submitting your project to.
• Submissions close on Saturday, September 17th 2016. EDIT: Open until September 30th!


What will happen next?

1) A jury of Create A Smile DT members will pick projects for the first issue. Decisions are made depending on multiple factors:
• originality and creativity (will readers have benefit/learn from the project and instructions?)
• quality of photos
• theme-based
• overall concept of the issue

This means that not being picked does NOT mean your project wasn't good. Maybe we just got multiple submission using the same technique/ same products. Maybe we get 30 projects for one theme but only 5 for the others. We HIGHLY encourage you to try again next time if we can't accept your projects for this issue!

2) Everyone who submitted will be notified via email whether or not the project(s) will be published.

3) If we picked your submission for Treasures #1 we will get back to you including some paperwork. We will also ask you for a portrait photo and your social media.

4) Everyone who's projects are published will get a printed version of Treasures #1 and will also receive a goodie-bag packed with fun Create A Smile products.


When and how will Treasures #1 be released and available?

The magazine, once printed, will be available at the Create a Smile store and will also be added to orders over 65€.
We think it will be available late in October/November.



If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message - we're happy to help!

We can't wait to see your creations!





Friday, August 26, 2016

It's Release Day! And Giveaway time :)

Welcome to release day!

We are beyond excited that the new release finally hit the store - YAY! Orders are already rolling in :)


In case you missed our latest post - here's a closer look at all the fun new products!

3 clear stamp sets: 
(well, 5 - but they only differ in language) 

• When you're not around / Wenn Du nicht da bist




• Time flies / Die Zeit fliegt





• Funky Feathers







4 Cling stamps!

• Balloons in the sky (15 x15cm)



• Sophisticated shells (11 x 15cm)




• Woodgrain (15 x 6,5cm)



• Under the sea (11 x 6,5cm)


2 stencils 6x6" :

 Concentric circles


• diagonal grid




Of course we have more inspiration for you:

 Anika created a super vibrant card using under the sea. Her background is perfect for thos (amazingly colored!) jellyfish from Glowing seaside. And the colors she used for her inkblending.... SWOON!






Here's a more classic card by Samantha. She used the diagonal grid  stencil for a quick and easy background. it's subtile and drws the exe to the focal point!



The next card by Nicole is similar, yet different. She used different cool cuts dies to embellish the card and the sentiment. I love how she added some buttons as flowers! I have never done that but sure need to try!




I also have a bunch of cards for you:

Card #1 is different from my usual style - I mostly use bright colors on fun clean and simple cards. This card has a vintage feeling (but I still kept it simple). The crocodile from When you're not around is somewhat cure, don't you think? I used the Color your Polka Cling stamp for the background and stamped some hearts unto the circles. 




Let's get back to bright colors! the  woodgrain background is perfect for every style to add texture to your backgrounds. in this case I used different products from the July release as well. I thinks the ombre woodgrain in the back adds a lot to this card.



What about a whimsy clock as a fun focal point on your card? Time flies offers you so many options to create your own clock / alarm clock :) I also used the starry night cling stamp for my background. subtile but fun!



Did you know that I am a HUGE Laura Bassen fangirl? I adore her! So when she said in one of her videos that she's been a sucker for monkeys from her young years I new that one day I would make a monkey. And when the set with sad critters came to my mind I knew this would work. That's the story of this cute little monkey (the sentiment says "come back soon").





I can hardly believe that this is the second vintag-y card in one post. But the lose tone on tone watercoloring on the sophisticated shells background works so well for a classy, elegant card. the die cuts from the pocket tag are the perfect match.




the last card is a bright one again. The funky feathers make just the perfect background for bird-images. I love to create my own patterned papers with solid stamps. So. Much. Fun. and you can pick your own color combos - so what's not to love about that?




Now this has been a HUGE pile of products and cards. We hope you enjoyed.

Let's get to the giveaway-part now.

We'd like to give away a 15€ gift code to one lucky winner :)


to take part in the drawing please:

• take a close look at the release and pick your favorite detail.
• leave a comment including one sentiment wording  (not a general type of sentiments) that you think we should make a stamp of.

the giveaway is open until sunday 6pm CET, we will draw a winner Sunday night :)

Good luck!
Have a great day!

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Combining some of my Favourite Stamps


Hi everyone, Justine here again with a video tutorial. I am really excited about this card and I had a lot of time creating it. I wanted to created a collage of colourful leaves since fall is approaching faster than most of us would like. but I wanted them to really pop so I thought I would make them stand out my stamping a black and white background.



  • when inking background stamps, lay them flat on your surface and ink them up. lay the card base on top of the stamps and smooth your hands over the base to get a good imprint of the stamp. If your card base is smaller than your stamp, protect your hands by placing some computer paper on top of the card base while pushing against the stamp. Doing this helps me get straighter backgrounds for those stamps that need to be straight






The new release of stamps will be release on Friday!