Sunday, July 20, 2014

Hello (gangster) - need a break?

Hello everybody,

Tanja here with my first post for Create A Smile.
I found some awesome inspirations during the last days. That's why I created this card.
Oh - it's not only a card. It's a little gift. Because the card includes a button.

But first back to my inspiration. I would like to share it with you.
I got one inspiration from Christine. She made a card and I could not stop thinking about it. So I decided to create my beaver with this technique. And I LOVE it.  The other inspiration came from Jessa. On the Release Bog-Hop (I also used the beaver for my card then) she wrote that the beaver looks a little bit  like a gangster with his sunglasses. And she was sooooo right. That made me laugh out loud.

And like on the Release Bog-Hop  I used Comfy and Friends in the Woods.


Friends in the wood


Let's have a look:  
You can see the card with the button on it here.



And here without the button. OOOOPS - suddenly the beaver is a gangster no more.
No way. He is a cute little guy yet.


Here's an example what you can do with the button.
Maybe as a gift for a cute little (gangster) human-child??


Thank you for visiting my first DT post for  Create a smile. Hope you had fun!
Take care of yourself.

Hugs
Tanja 

Saturday, July 19, 2014

On Vacation!

Hey Ladies, Anni here with my first DT post for Create a Smile! Exciting, isn't it?
Today I want to share a card with you that I made using the set Comfy! I LOVE this set with all the relaxing images.
When I made this card work was totally busy for me and I was trying to go on vacation in my head to leave the stress behind. I was dreaming of a sunny island with a beautiful beach that sparkles in the sun.


I created the beach by tearing kraft paper. Then I added stickles for the sparkle and the structure and some sequins for shells.
For the water I die cut a wave border and used it as a mask. I added distress ink and water with perfect pearls.


So what do you think? Did I create the perfect happy place?

Friday, July 18, 2014

Distress Markers + Mists = a Colorful Card

Hello!

Samantha here, and I'm super excited to be sharing my very FIRST post on the Create A Smile blog today!!

I have had the pleasure of stalking following Christine's blog for a while...and I am constantly BLOWN away by her talent, creative eye, coloring skills and about a million other amazing talents that girl has! And I was SO SO SO surprised and humbled and STOKED when she asked me to be part of this incredible team!

A little bit about my card style, so you and I can get acquainted like we're on a first date!
I LOVE bold colors! I LOVE lots of white space!
I'm currently addicted to embossing paste, vellum, and sewing on my projects!
Sometimes you'll see a scrapbook layout from me, but if that's not your thing...well, I mostly do cards, so we can still be friends! :D

Ok, only the reason you're here: my card!


I decided to combine both of the new releases: Comfy and Friends in the Woods!

Do you love it?
I hope so!

I colored the images with distress markers onto watercolor paper, then cut them out and popped them up on that grey, polka-dotted banner.
I stamped the sentiment onto a vellum piece then stitched it all onto the misted background.


And don't you just LOVE that background? super fun aqua/mint color! My favorite!

So that card is pretty much me in a nutshell!
Have you ordered the new, inaugural release stamp sets yet? No?! Well what are you waiting for?
They're CUTE. They're HIGH QUALITY and they're so so so so FUN to play with!

Thanks for stopping by!
Catch you next Friday!
~Samantha

Thursday, July 17, 2014

A story and a card.

Hello friends,

I'm here today with a bit of a story for you. It's a sad story, full of adventure and elves--and lost stamps. So settle in, and get some tissues ready.

Once upon a time, there was a talented, lovely (very pretty, if I might say so) woman who lived in Germany.  Her name was Christine. She started a stamp company named Create a Smile, and asked another lady (who resides in Western Australia), to join her team--we'll call this woman, Linda.

The Australian girl (Linda) was SO happy. Excited and surprised, and more than a little flattered that she'd been asked to join the team!  'What an honour!' she thought. And she began to prepare herself for her important task as Design Team member.

Christine drew the most wonderful, sweet and fun images, that were then taken into the forest by elves, and turned into stamps. The elves wouldn't reveal the age-old magic they used to create these stamps, but it was magic for certain.

After some time, the stamps were returned by the head-elf, to the German artist.  She then attached her stamps (using grosgrain ribbon and twine, of course) to long-distance-flying-geese, to be transported to her Design Team all over the world.

The geese, well-accustomed to such distances, flew swift and strong across oceans, over mountains and through cities.

They delicately dropped their important parcels into the mail-boxes of their intended recipients.  All across Germany and America, the design team received their magic German-drawn, elf-made stamps.

But the goose headed to Australia got confused. Flying upside down (because we all know that Australia is upside down to the rest of the world), can be confusing for a goose.  The winter winds combined with the upside-down country proved too much for the poor bird (he was also a trainee long-distance-flying-goose), and the stamps took much much longer to reach Linda than originally expected.

One week passed, another, and another! All feared for the goose and his precious parcel.

The goose was found wandering in circles, honking and schnattering to himself, high up, in the northern desert of Australia. Frightened and in need of a drink, he was terribly lost and unsure of how to make the rest of his journey. A koala laughing meanly, from a gumtree nearby, suggested he try the Ghan (a large train that travels from the North of Australia, down to the southern city of Adelaide).

And so it stands now, that the goose is walking the streets of Darwin, trying to earn enough money for the train ticket.

And Linda has no stamps.  

I told you it was a sad story.

Sad, Sad, Sad.

------oooOOOOOooo---------


So the card I made to share with you today, is just what you'll need after that story, I think.

I used the digital version that we've been working with while we wait for the stamps (*sob*)

Ok here it is:



I could use a bath and a break.

I'll bet the goose could too.

See you again soon lovelies--I'll keep you updated about the stamps :)



Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Inspiration by Cindy Lovell

Hello best readers of all times! :)

It' wednesday - that means you get some awesome inspiration by our Guest Designer.
Cindy Lovell, our Guest Designer for this month created a beautiful card using Friends In The Woods.

Look at this beauty! The ombre stars and the colors are beyond adorable!

This is what Cindy says:
"To keep the focus on the cute fox I kept this card pretty simple!
I created the background by using Simon Says Stamp star stencil and distress inks.
I mainly focused on the color orange,because of the fox itself. To pop this little cutie up, I layered him on two stars that I die cut using Spellbinders Circle dies. I sponged the bigger one with the same orange,that i've used on the star stencil.I spritzed some water ontop,so it wouldn't look too plain. A few enamel dots and a couple gems and I call it done!"



I'm sure you agree that this card is eye-catching and fun!

Thanks Cindy, for this awesome inspiration!



Find this set in our shop:


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Friends in The Woods: Brown and Green?!

Hello Crafters! 

It's Kelly here for my first official post as a Create A Smile DT 
**Squeeee**

Did you have a chance to hop along this weekend for our first release? I sure hope so there was some serious inspiration being offered :) 

If you don't know me, it's nice to meet you, and you probably don't know my style. That's okay, I'm going to tell you :) I love to look at stamps and see different ways to use them. I'm super crazy about my stuff matching and when I share it's almost always three cards. Super simple, middle of the road, and kinda busy. Busy is open for interpretation because my busy is still pretty CAS. ha! I'm a fussy cutter and I love stickles. Now that we've got the basics down let's get to the goods. 

When I sat down to create I could not stop thinking about a card I saw by 
Tanja Kewel-Neef.  during the hop this weekend.  It was such an adorable card, truly beautiful design and it was brown and green. BROWN AND GREEN people! I could not think of two colors I dislike more together. But here I am staring at her stunning creation thinking "How on God's green earth did she make that look so good?" I decided maybe I had been too judgmental of this color combo and decided to give it a go. 
First up: Kinda Busy

I stamped and trimmed that sweet owl out and colored him with distress inks. Actually everything is colored with distress inks. I used Hero Arts Tweed stencil on the 4 and their star stencil for the background. I have a niece turning four soon and I thought that sentiment was perfect. 

Second: Middle of the Road


I used the hammock from the comfy set to create my hills then colored with more distress in. The branch is easy to turn into a tree by adding a few more leaves and Mr. Squirrel is perfect just the way he is :) 

Last: Super Simple


I used the mirror technique to get my two hedgehogs to fall in love. I had some hills left over and I thought they would make a cute little scallop edge. I added some interest with a white gel pen and stickles. The heart was hand drawn. 

What did I learn? I CAN like brown and green together. I like it better tempered with another color, like the pink. I also have to use the brown sparingly. In the Gallon/Quart/Pint rule brown will always be my pint :) 
Big thanks to Tanja for being so awesome at crafting she made me think I could do it too! 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you found something to inspire you :) 

XoXo

Kelly 


Monday, July 14, 2014

Make it soft + Happy Birthday Sam!

Happy Monday everyone!

This is our first regular post after we released our first two stamps - yay! You can go shopping at www.createasmilestamps.comnow!

This blog has inspiration each and every day - so make sure to subscribe. (If you ever tried to subscribe via email and it didn't work - that problem is fixed now!)


First of all I'd like to give a big Shout out to Samantha - it's her birthday!

Samantha Mann

Happy birthday Sam, we hope your day is awesome and all of your wishes come true!

I planned to make a birthday card - but I didn't - LOL.

Let's talk about colours today. There are colours that we tend to use and combine, right? (Turquoise works with EVERY combo if you ask me!) Light blue and red are my fav christmas color combo, white and kraft are good for classy cards... and so on. There are soft colors, bold combos,...
But something we all want to achieve is to create well balanced cards.

I learned a lot about colours and their use by watching my favorite cardmakers create. Today I'd like to share a lesson that I learned from Debby Hughes. She's one of my favorite artists ever and she's the queen of soft. All of her cards are inspiring and make my jaw drop.

Today I created a card with a SOFT background - because that makes your main images pop. 
  • pick 1-2 very soft colours to create your background (stamping, Paper-layers, coloring,...)
  • add some texture for interest
  • white on white adds interest without distracting
  • make your main image POP!
For my card I used Simon Says Stamp "Sea Glass" cardstock and ink. I stamped the swim-ring to crate a soft background pattern. Bazzill Vellum and Ranger Enamel Accents added some white on white texture. I picked shapes that make sense on that bach-scene - I tore the vellum to waves to give them the shape of a sandy beach and thought of little cobblestones in the sand when I added The enamel accents. I stamped the image in black (black lines make it pop) and colored with Copics with colours that are less soft, but not bold at all.









What's your favorite colour combo? Do you prefer soft or bold colours (or does that depend on the occasion you need the card for?) Do you use pinterest for color-inspiration?

Well, that's it for today.
Hope you got inspired to create your soft background!

Have a crafty good time!
Christine

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Blog Hop Winner!

Wow, what an AWESOME hop we had for our first release!

Did you hop along and see all the super fun creations by our team and guests? (And really, we had the best guests ever!)

Okay, so we randomly picked a winner from all those comments along the hop who will receive a 15$ Gift Certificate to our store.



Our winner is... 

*drummroll*

Carol, who left this nice comment on Lucy's Blog


Carol, please message me to info@createasmilestamps.com within 7 days to claim your prize. 
Thanks everyone for supporting our start!

If you're not a inner this time, to can still go shopping in our store. :)

Friday, July 11, 2014

Countdown "0" - Release & Blog Hop

Welcome to the Create A Smile First Release Blog Hop!


Today's the day - our stamps are finally for sale!! 

We’re thrilled you are joining us as we begin this great adventure! We truly love the fantastic paper-crafting community (YOU!) and are so excited to be bringing something new to you all!

These are the facts:
Create A Smile are releasing our first two stamp sets TODAY!! You can find our store at www.createasmilestamps.com 
We have TWO fun sets filled with super cute images, available for purchase.



You can win a $15 gift-certificate for the store



All you need to do is hop along and leave comments on all the fantastic and inspiring stops (one comment per person, per blog please!). We are honored to have the most talented girls as guests for this hop. You will for sure be inspired and impressed by their creations.

We’ll pick random winner from all the comments - so the more blogs you visit (and leave a comment on) - the more chances you have to be a winner!
You have until Saturday (July 12th) 8am CET - that's 2am EST. The winner will be announced on the Create A Smile Blog on Sunday (July 13th)


These are your stops on the hop:

Good luck, have fun!