You're Mine Seagull!

Hi there!
Samantha here, and today I'm sharing this funny card that made me smile the whole time I made it!

 

     

Of course, the seagulls reminded me of the birds from Finding Nemo! Ha!! And my youngest son and I always tell each other: You're Mine! So I thought it would be fun to turn that into a card for him! Ha!

Let's make this card together!
- I started by stamping and coloring the images with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers! Once everything was dry, I fussy cut them out!
- I used a different kind of grey for each seagull, it's just a subtle difference, but I like it! 
- I also added some pink cheeks to the gulls because...cheeks! lol!! 

- to create the background, I used some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and white embossing paste to add the tinted color! 
- then I used my palette knife to smooth it through the stencil! 
- I finished the card by combining the sentiments from two sets and heat embossed in white onto black cardstock, which I then fussy cut out!

Adding ink to white embossing paste is a great way to tint it!! I love adding blues for oceans (like here), or clouds, but you can add ANY color for ANY background! Such a fun idea!

I used Waves stencil (which I think is retired - so sorry!!). 

The seagulls are from Gull Gang, the speech bubble is from Say What?, and the part of the sentiment came from Tiny Letterings.

    

There is ALWAYS a fun challenge going on in the Create a Smile Stamp Facebook group page! It's fun and filled with prizes! I love seeing all of the incredible, unique and amazing inspiration!

~Samantha

      

    

      

Big Hugs for You Ice Cream Cone Card

Hi there!
Samantha here, and today I'm sharing a sweet, summery card...that you may find weird, but I still love how it came out! Ha!

 

     

I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw this ADORABLE planner spread!!! I knew I had to adapt it and make it into a card!!! 

Let's make this card together!
- I started by stamping and coloring the mouse and ice-cream cone and then fussy cutting them out.
- next, I chose the colors for my 'ice cream scoops' and stamped them a bunch of times onto some white cardstock! (I used Distress Oxide Inks and did the rock and roll technique on a few of the solid colored balloons!)
- I used the string image to add stripes to one of the balloons and the small polka dots to add some dots to a balloon too (they were all heat embossed in white)

- I attached all of my images together and popped them up with foam tape.
- and I know it gets weird, but I really like the one balloon floating away...even though it's supposed to be ice cream! lol! oh well!
- finally, for the background, I tinted some white embossing paste with Tumbled Glass Distress Inks and then used the stencil to add some light blue texture to the background!
- I finished the card off with some glitter on the balloons/ice cream!

You could totally stamp the ice-cream scoop images directly onto the card front (which I might have done, if I had a Misti! ha! But I don't trust myself!) to save yourself some time cutting out the circles!

The ice cream scoops (and balloon floating away!) is from the Floating Wishes stamp set! The ice-cream cone is from the A Little Treat set! That light blue background was created with the Waves Stencil! The adorable little mouse is from First Day of School! And finally, the sentiment is from the super versatile All About You stamp set!

    

There is ALWAYS a fun challenge going on in the Create a Smile Stamp Facebook group page! It's fun and filled with prizes! I love seeing all of the incredible, unique and amazing inspiration!

~Samantha

      

  

clean & simple ideas 6/7 * charming critters

Hello crafty people, Nicole here.

This is part six of my clean & simple cardmaking series about "how to spice up clean & simple cards". I hope you're still interested in some more tips :-)

For todays card I picked one of my favorite critters. This turtle with the heart is just so cute.

Clean and simple cards are super fun but because there is so much white (or blank) space on them, you don't want them to be boring, right?! I made a little series about my favorite ways to keep clean and simple cards interesting :-)

My sixth tip is CHARMING CRITTERS. It's a super easy one, right? ;-) Just pick stamps with amazing, sweet, super cute or very funny critters. They'll almost do the work for you, because they're such an eye-catcher.

Just go through your stash and pick those charming looking little sweethearts, give them a ground to stand on and you're almost done.
Here are some cards I made in the past... All of them are quite simple but the star of the show is an adorable critter.

   

   

 for the card on the top

• create a background using the stencil and some Distress Inks. By moving the stencil arround, you get that wavy look.
• die cut the background, stamp the sentiment and adhere the banner to your card using foam tape
• stamp your critter and color it. I used colored pencils.
• fussycut your critter and place it on the background using some foam tape
• add some interest with some clear droplets and a tiny bit on white gel pen

Stencil: Waves
Stamp Set: Lovely Critters
Die: Stacked Pierced Banners
Embellishments: Clear Droplets by Pretty Pink Posh

We LOVE to see what you create! Join us on Instagram using #createasmilestamps :-)

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a happy day :-)
Nicole

clean & simple ideas 2/7 * beautiful backgrounds

Hello crafty people, Nicole here.

This is part two of my clean & simple cardmaking series about "how to spice up clean & simple cards".

I love making series and I asked what you would like to see on this blog in our Facebook group "Create A Smile Friends & Family". Many of you were interested in tips on "how to spice up clean and simple cards". So here we are :-)

Clean and simple cards are super fun but because there is so much white (or blank) space on them, you don't want them to be boring, right?! I try to add an eye-catching element to my cards to keep them interesting. I picked ten of my favorite ways to spice up clean & simple cards.

What's a clean & simple card? 
I made a mini series on that too. You can find part one here -> clean & simple 1/4

My second tip is BEAUTIFUL BACKGROUNDS. I did some pretty basic coloring but the backgrounds really give the cards some extra interest. So lets spice up your clean & simple cards with happy and eye-catching backgrounds! :-)

I love Birkas Videos and she just made a new one about Distress Inks and stencils. She shows, how easy is it to make fun backgrounds with supplies you might already have on hand.

Look around you and get inspired! :-) Just try something new once in a while and take your time. A clean and simple card is not always a quick card ;-)

• pick and immage and color it the way you like it. You don't have to choose a special technique, basic coloring is absolutely fine for this type of card
• pick one or two Distress Inks colors and start with a soft blending with one of them
• take a stencil you like and add the same color but with more pressure or the second (darker) color
• arrange your card and add a fun sentiment

It's that simple ;-)

Lovely Critters / Kroküsse * Crokisses / cool cute: birthday tripple * Geburtstags-Tripple / stencils: focal point & waves

... to check out the CAS Video team! Here's Birkas Video I was talking about: in English and in German.

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a happy day :-)
Nicole

Ahoi! * clean & simple 1/4

Hi there, Nicole here.

I'm finally back with new projects for you! Because I love series so much, I prepared some for you. To start off, I'm gonna have "clean and simple" cards for every Thursday in April. So let's get started with no. 1 :-)

I got asked many a time how I make my clean and simple cards. To be honest, I do not have a recipe. It's just the way I love making cards, it's kind of "natural" for me. But I found some guidelines/instructions for you that might help :-)



If you want to make "clean and simple" cards, try to stick to (some) of these points.

• one focal point
• a lot of open space
• only one (or two) layers
• no or minimal embellishements
• minimal color palette
• simple, uncluttered and easy to recreate

If you want to improve your clean and simple cardmaking, try playing along CAS challenges. You'll find many inspiring ideas and get to practice at the same time.

1. stamp the boat and color it with watercolor pencils and a bit of water
2. take the stencil and apply pigment ink with a sponge dauber
3. move the stencil and add a second shade of blue
4. additional: add clear and matte texture paste to give the ocean a bit of texture
5. add accents like gloss on the windows
6. let everything dry and add your sentiment

Underwater Love / Waves / clear droplets

Create A Smile is moving and they are taking a break. The shop will be closed from April 8th to May 7th.

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon :-)

Nicole