Final CCS DT2 Card (sniff sniff)!

I made my final DT2 card using the Simply the Best stamp from the Friendship set from CCS. I chose this specific phrase because it sums up my experience working on the CCS Design Team 2. Laura (owner of CCS) is Simply the Best, the other DT2 gals (Jennie, Linda, Rebecca and Lisa) are Simply the Best, CCS stamps are Simply the Best, and the past three months have been Simply the Best!

Thanks for looking!
Shelly

Happy Holidays!

I missed wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, but now I can say Happy New Year!  It seemed like Christmas came and went with the normal business that we all experience this glorious time of year.  In what spare time I had, I was able to make a few creations.  Here are some of them:

CCS Blog Hop

Are you ready for another Creative Clear Stamps Blog Hop! I am so excited and this time EVERYONE can join and share their Creative Vision using their favorite Creative Clear Stamps. Be sure to stop by the Design Team members blogs: Laura, Jennie, Linda, Shelly (Yep, this is me!), Lisa, Rebecca as well as the very creative and talented Olga, Patti, and Theresa.      
                                                                      

Laura will also be giving away a new release to one lucky commenter from one of the blog comments, so be sure leave a comment at each stop. You just never know whose blog will be picked! You can look for the announcement of the winner over on the Creative Clear Stamps Blog: A Fairy Creative Place.

For the cards I made for the blog shown here, I used the CCS stamp set Holiday Sentiments.  The set is so versatile for the holidays.  The sentiments can be used on the front of cards as a focus or on the inside as a sincere sentiment to the person you're giving it to.

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

Family Photos

We took some family photos a week or so ago and here are two of them of my daughter Katie, her boyfriend Justin, and my 14 month old granddaughter Ashlin.  We took some other family photos of all of us and some of all of us with my mom, stepdad and sister and her family.

Advent Calendar

Okay, another post today.  My mom asked me to post a photo of the advent calendar I made using CCS stamps...so here goes:  I bought a magnetic wipe-off board with a easel back for the background.  The tins can be found in store's wedding aisle.  I punched scallop circles from designer paper to fit the lids of the tins and stamped numbers 1-25 on them.  Then put sticky-back magnets on the back of the tins so they are magnetized to the board.  I filled the tins and placed them on the board.  The topper was just made from designer paper and paper punch outs.  I also put magnets on the topper so it can removed for storage or to change it out.

It's the most BUSIEST time of the year....

I don't know about everyone else out there, but I have been so busy, I can hardly keep up with it all!  I made 58 felt floral and snowflake pins for my staff last weekend (I'll post photos of some of them later).  I literally spent 9 hours on Sunday in my craft room!  I also made hand-embossed glass ornaments for my fellow managers at work...only 10 of them, but still more time gone.  Yesterday was my center's potluck and we managed to get all 50+ staff into one room comfortably to eat and enjoy each other's company.  It was a lot of fun, but it entailed decorating the room, and baking goodies on Sunday AFTER I finally exited my craft room.  Today was my administrative holiday get-together with more potluck (and baking).  I'm also on a hiring committee and have interviews three out of four days this week.

On top of that, we sold our GMC Yukon Denali a week ago and are now down to using my Beetle for winter driving as my hubby's Mustang will NEVER see snow.  Having one vehicle is more difficult than we imagined, so we're already on the lookout for a used car for my husband to drive for winter.  Tomorrow night is my step-son's Christmas program and he lives an hour away.  Straight home from work and on the road.  About 4 inches of snow fell today so the roads are a bit dicy...should be a fun drive.  Can I say AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Upcoming Blog Hop and Goodies!

Creative Clear Stamps is having another Blog Hop that can feature YOU and your Creative Vision! Our current Design Team Jennie, Linda, Shelly (me), Lisa and Rebecca will be sharing with you a project created using our favorite CCS set.



We also want YOU to participate by creating a project using YOUR favorite Creative Clear Stamp set. We are all going to link them together over on the Creative Clear Stamps Blog and that is not all..... Each customer that participates using CCS stamps will receive ONE of the brand new releases coming out in January. It is just Creative Clear Stamp's way of saying THANK YOU for helping us grow!

Here's what you should do:

1. Create a brand new project FEATURING ANY stamp from our line of Creative Clear Stamps. This project should not include stamps from any other stamp company.

2. Email Laura creative-vision@hotmail.com and let her know you will be joining the hop. Include a link to your main blog. Also include your full name and mailing address - so Laura can send you your FREE new Release in January. All links must be given to Laura no later than December 16th.

3. On the 17th, make sure your CCS Blog Hop project remains in the top position for the day on your blog.


Doing these three things will qualify you to receive ONE Free New Release. Laura, owner of CCS, reserves the right to disqualify any project or blog hop link that does not follow the guidelines of this special offer.


Our customers are the best and we appreciate you. So mark your calendar's for December 17th and hope you can hop along to a free stamp set soon!

Thanks for looking!
Shelly

All Wrapped Up!

For this cute little reindeer all tangled up in sparkly lights, I used a stamp from the Jingle Jangle set from CCS. The sentiment is also from that set. I highlighted the string of tangled lights with glitter pens and colored the reindeer with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. Behind the sentiment is a scallop square with two bronze brads. There's also a scallop circle that I wound brown floss around for extra texture.

Check out the Creative Clear Stamps website and you'll see that you can collect badges on the site and become a guest designer for January!  What an exciting opportunity...go check it out here.   Also have a look at the CCS blog for some great ideas and challenges.


Thanks for looking!
Shelly

Naughty or Nice?

Hmmm, interesting question to ask with the holidays coming up.  Anyway, here's the round card I made for the tutorial over on the CCS blog.  It's a cute little card, if I say so myself!  I used my circle cutter for the circles and my Sizzix snowflake die for the flakes.  The sentiment and image are from the CCS Jingle Jangle stamp set.

Thanks for looking!

Shelly

SNOW?

That's right, we had our first measurable snowfall over the weekend.  So, I stayed indoors and created a couple of cards and cleaned my craft room.  I'll have a tutorial over on CCS this Thursday and I will post a photo of the finished product here, so come back soon!

Thanks for looking!
Shelly

Here's some of my newest creations:

Ho Ho Ho!

So my card-making is slowly getting up and running again after being sick.  I'm planning on getting my groove back on tomorrow to whip up some stuff for some challenges, so stay tuned!  In the meantime, here's a cute little Ho Ho Ho card I made using CCS Jingle Jangle stamp set.  This little Santa is just so roly-poly cute!  Doesn't he look like one of those little garden gnomes you see around?

Thanks for looking,

Shelly

New Blog Design and Award!

So, it all started about 2 1/2 weeks ago...I came down with flu-like symptoms.  Now remember, I am a manager in a good-size child care center (100 children 75+ staff/volunteers).  Although I try my best to steer clear of the ill-feeling little ones and staff, sometimes it does catch up with me.  Anyway, I got pretty sick and took a couple days off to get better.  I was feeling a lot better, went back to work and a few days later, felt sick again.  I took a couple more days off (Thursday and Friday a week ago) and used the weekend to recoop.  I felt 95% Monday with just a mild cough and went to work as usual, worked the week and felt a bit under the weather again on Thursday evening.  I drank some of that nasty Theraflu to knock me out, woke up Friday feeling okay, went to work and slowly went downhill.  By Saturday morning, I thought I was going to die!  My husband insisted I go to the doctor, and he didn't have to twist my arm much to get me to go.  Long story somewhat short, I now have bronchitis and have been put under doctor's orders to be home resting until Wednesday.  That being said...I'm resting, but I'm also bored!  Hence the new blog design.  See, and you thought I would never get to the end of my story.

Now for the award part of the post.  Jennie, one of CCS DT buddies gave me an award:

This award actually made me smile as well.  Thanks Jennie!

Now on Jennie's blog, she has some great examples of the projects she creates and she made mention of 5 things people didn't know about her.  One of those things was that she is not into sports.  I am similar to her in that I am not much into sports and my idea of sports is listening to Nascar as my husband watches a race in the family room as I create in my craft room.  That being said, I do have to mention that I have actually met Jack Roush from Roush Racing.

My husband and I are actually car buffs and I had a pretty fancy Mustang (yes, those are pink stripes), but traded it for something I could drive in the snow (yep, we get lots of here in eastern Washington!).  I actually still see my car driving around town as another gal bought it and LOVES it the way it is!  It might be fast, but I sure love my Beetle.  Top down in the summer, snow driving in the winter.

And the winner is..................

Geri (redwasher1) who posted the following comment:

"Hi Shelly, what lovely cards, the sentiment is fantastic! Love that bow!"

Geri wins the Sentiment Single "Be You" that I used in my Blog Hop cards yesterday. Woo Hoo Geri!!!

Geri, please email your info (name, address, etc.) to creative-vision@hotmail.com and Laura will get your stamp in the mail to you.

A BIG THANK YOU goes out to all of you who commented and looked.

Have a Happy Halloween! Here's a sweet photo of my granddaughter Ashlin in her monster costume!

Shelly

Blog Hop Time!

Thanks for stopping by! Blog Hops are SOOOOO much fun! You get to see new and creative ideas and projects, check out designer's blogs and enter to win free stuff! For this Blog Hop put on by Creative Clear Stamps (CCS), each Design Team member will be giving away some blog candy consisting of one of the great stamps in the Sentiment Singles line from CCS. The one I will be giving away is the Be You stamp. I've included pictures of just a few of the cards I've made using this stamp. It has so many possibilities! I think my favorite card is the one with the shoes and purse. I found this CuttleKids die set on clearance a few months back and have never used it. I saw the designer paper in my pile and CB folder and just thought it would make a great backdrop for the Be You stamp. It just gives a sense of individuality and fun! Anyway, check out the other CCS DT member's blogs for even more chances to win (five chances in all...WOW!). Just leave a comment on each site you visit and remember to become a follower on the CCS blog.

Here's the links to the other DT member's blogs:

Lisa

Linda

Rebecca

Jennie

The winner will be announced Friday and can't wait to see what you create with your own Creative Clear Stamps!

Thanks for hopping by!

Shelly

More blog candy up for grabs...

I found a site giving away not one, but two different blog candy prizes. They're on the Twinkles Glow with Stamps site. Check out the pics below. Also, watch here on MY blog soon for some great blog candy being given away by Laura over at the CCS blog. I'll have more info on that later in the week.

Here are some fun holiday cards I made...

It seems like the weekends around my house are busier than the weekdays! I managed to squeeze in a few cards after going to my step-son's last football game of the season. The teams in his league (5th and 6th graders) got to play in the Washington State University stadium (Martin Stadium) and it was quite fun despite the cold, windy weather. I think I'll have to go back and see one of the college games this season. Okay, on to the cards. I am slightly behind on some of the challenges I like to do each week over at StampTV, so they are on my list along with getting some new designs ready for the CCS Design Team. Here are the two I made today. One is a tone on tone embossing challenge and the other is a snow challenge (anything to do with snow).

Check out my candy holder tutorial on the CCS Blog!

I did a tutorial on making a sweet candy holder for the holidays. You can find it over on the CCS Blog. Here's a photo of the finished product:

Whirlwind Weekend

Whew! What a weekend! My granddaughter's first birthday was on Saturday at my house, then I held a Stamp Camp on Sunday. I came down with a "bug" on Thursday, so although the weekend festivities were fun, I probably would have enjoyed them more had I felt better. So, today I'm home to recoop from being sick and from the busy weekend. Oh, and tonight I am scheduled to teach a 1st Aid/CPR class (I teach 1st Aid classes to child care providers in my area...8 people tonight!). I'm hoping to get a few cards done today as well. In the meantime, here's a couple I made last week.

Thanks for looking. Check back later in the week on my blog and on the CCS blog for my first tutorial and other great projects!

Shelly

Gobble Gobble!

This week for the Scallop Challenge, I couldn't help but use the turkey from the CCS Turkey Day set. His tail feathers were perfect for scalloping! What do you call a group of turkeys like this anyway? A flock, a gander...I just wasn't sure so I looked it up. They're actually called a rafter, a gang or a gobble! I think these guys are definitely a GOBBLE! I created this gobble by using a mask. The masking technique is very simple. Stamp your first image onto your card, then stamp another of the same image onto a Post-it note. Next, cut out the extra image and use it to cover your original image on your card. You can then stamp another image slightly over the original without overlapping images.



Card Recipe:
Stamp Set- Creative Clear Stamps "Turkey Day" set
Paper- Stampin' Up Really Rust, Kraft, Kiwi Kiss
Ink- Kaleidacolor Pumpkin Patch
Misc.-Scallop punch, corner rounder, green brads

THANKS!
Shelly

Cute Turtle Card

Here's a cute little birthday invite I made using stamps from Creative Clear Stamps. I used the Surprise Party clear stamp set. The set includes the cute little turtle, numbers, Date, Time, Location, etc. stamps.


Check out the CCS blog HERE for more great card samples and ideas. Keep checking on the CCS blog site for some special stuff!

Thanks for looking,

Shelly