Sweet CAS in 5 or less :)

Hey y'all! I'm back again this week with another CAS card. This card was super fun to make and I hope you join in on the fun and use mine for some type of inspiration. :)

Here's the card I came up with.

I used two different Sweet Shop stamp sets: Chalkboard Sign and Warm Notes. 

 These sets are so versatile and those banners are just to die for! First, I stamped a tag I hand cut with the background stamp with a coordinating ink. For the bow, I used May Arts twine. It's a great twine to use! After stamping the greenery, I fussy cut around the images. 

The banners in Chalkboard Sign are too cute so of course I decided to use them. After stamping and cutting one out, I hand wrote "hello" with a matching color. After situating everything on the paper, it was all popped up on foam dots. 

For added interests, enamel dots and sequins traveled up the card and that was a wrap! :)

I wanted to also add a couple of cards to the end of this post to show you how much fun we had over this past week. The first two cards featured Under the Sea and the last featured Baby Love. 

Anywhos, I hope you enjoyed the post today. Show us all of your creations on Facebook and stop by my blog and say hello! :) See y'all soon and stay sweet.

Kristen

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Operation Organize: Sweet Stamp Storage! with Jennifer Stricker

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. It goes way to fast, right?

Jennifer here to help you GET ORGANIZED! This post I am going to focus on organizing your STAMPS! I know we all have a lot of them. It took me about four different systems to finally get it right.

There were a couple things that I had to take into consideration:
1) Space- I did not have table space for them, nor did I have any extra shelf space for them.
2) Accessibility- Will they be out and within reach.
3) Easy to see what I have- They can not be "hidden" in a drawer.
and
4) Have a way to index what I have- I don't want to fumble through the stamps themselves.

Boy....seems like a big task. DON'T worry IT'S NOT.

The first thing I figured out is that I knew I wanted to store my stamps in CD/DVD cases. I bought a few stamp sets a while back that came in CD cases and I thought it was genius. They are thin, don't take up a lot of room, you can see through them and label them.

So I bought CD cases where ever I came across them. I found a majority of them at the Goodwill. I never paid more than a few dollars for them.

Now onto organizing...
I divided my stamps into a few different piles. Design Teams, Holiday and Major Brands.
I first put all of my acrylic stamps in CD cases, then it was onto the wood. YES, I UNMOUNTED WOOD STAMPS. I know a sacrilege. I did keep some of my stamps on wood. Most of my "special" SU ones and the "artsy" ones that I mostly use for display stayed on wood (it just looks better). (Oh, side note: I microwaved the stamp for 10 seconds-rubber side up, and it just pealed off of the block). There is enough residue left that it stays sticky enough for an acrylic block, the wood will be hot.

Onto storage:
I found that I had some narrow space in my scraproom for some sort of racks/stands. Off to the trusty IKEA.

Here is what I bought (see the 2 in the photo):

It is called the Benno DVD Tower. It is really tall and narrow it is just under 8" wide and 80" tall. PERFECT for those wasted spaces in your room. It hold booth CD's and DVD's. I LOVE IT.

Onto indexing:
Now I won't lie this last step is a task. It takes a while, but the effort is well the results.
I stamped ALL of the stamps I have on white paper and put them in sheet protectors in a binder.

Then each CD case is labeled, and the corresponding image in the book labeled the same way.

 

 After all of the images are stamped I put the pages in the correct place in my index binder.

 

Now you have an easy way to see all of your stamps in one place, at your fingertips. The first thing I do now when creating, is grab my binder and look through it to find the images I want. It is SO EASY and convenient.

I hope this helps those who want too /need to organize their stamps. Please share with me what hints you have to a more organized space.

I hope you found this helpful.
Enjoy! Jennifer



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How To Start a Card {Theme Inspiration} with Lesley Croghan

Welcome to the Sweet Stamp Shop!! 

Lesley here, and I am excited to share my first post as a design team member. 

Nicole has asked me to share some ideas on how to "start" a card design. 

Starting is half the battle and I often don't know where to begin!!

For my card today, I based it on a "theme". I am a Grade 3 teacher and it is the end of the school year here in Canada, and so I went to work, creating a fun card for a teaching colleague using the School's Out set and the Distressed Chevron background.

This is how I started....

Step 1: I looked through my Sweet Stamp Shop stamps and found the adorable School's Out set.  

Step 2: I thought about colour-school buses are yellow...and so I went with yellow as my card base.

Step 3: For my design, I decided to use a classic layout. (measurements below)

Step 4: Find some coordinating papers, twine and inks.

Step 5: Get busy!

How to make this card:

1. Cut your yellow cardstock to make an A2 card (4.25" x 5.5")

2. Stamp the Distressed Chevron background in a darker yellow ink onto the card base.

3. Cut a strip of black cardstock at (2.5" x 5.5")

4. Cut some "School Themed" paper in a strip (2.25" x 5.5")-adhere to black strip and then to card base.

5. Cut black rectangle (2.75 x 3.75").

6. Cut white rectangle (2.5" x 3.5") and dry emboss. Adhere to black rectangle.

7. Stamp school bus from the School's Out set, onto yellow paper and fussy cut out.

7. Pop up rectangles onto dimensionals and pop up school bus too.

8. Stamp sentiment on white paper and die cut out with oval shape or punch.

9. Wrap Baker's Twine around bottom of the card and hold in place with small piece of tape. Cover tape with stamped sentiment on oval shape.

That is how I made my card for today! I hope you have fun, creating your own School Themed card. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Lesley

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Challenge Me Friday

Good Morning Sweet Friends!

It's Tracy back again with another Challenge Me Friday!  

Today I am going to talk a little about HOW to enter challenges.  My best tip about this is to follow all of the directions closely.  You don't want to be disqualified from a challenge because you forgot to link to the challenge or didn't add the challenge 'button' to your post.  Most challenges include the instructions and rules in the post or have a page on their blog/website that lists them.  Also, make sure your card fits into the challenge theme.  It may seem obvious, but it does happen where some cards don't fit the theme and then you are not eligible to win the prize.

This week, I made a card for the RetroSketchs challenge.

I love to make cards based on a sketch, especially when you're feeling un-inspired.  They are also fun because you can make your card look exactly like the sketch or just follow it loosely and add some of your own interpretation in there.

Cityscape

Have a great day!

~Tracy

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Throwback Thursday...Spectacle Spectacular

Hey everyone it's Danni here and I am back this week for Throwback Thursday...I know it is still new so I will do a little overview to make sure everyone is kept up to speed ;) Every Thursday I will be showcasing one stamp set (of the older sorts...aka Throwback) to help inspire you and bring to life again. This week I am featuring the ever so CUTE Spectacle Set!

 

Spectacle

But that's not all....there is MORE (and it just gets better)!!! This week the featured stamp is at an unbelievably, can't pass it up price!!!!! Snatch up Spectacle for only $3.50!!! Now that is a steal, doncha think????

I think this set is so much fun and all the sayings you could add...it is endless.

I love how different all the glasses are and had such a hard time choosing just one to use, so, why not use them all right??? Definitely the obvious choice I do think so myself. ;) and washi tapes are so easy and quick to use and very versatile that they seemed like the perfect pairing. Check out the fun border I made on the bottom of the card. Just pick out a few different colors and layer them down(or up whatever you prefer). How about those glasses???

 Or how about using washi tape with vellum for a subtle pattern like on my next card. Totally loving this...and it makes me want to go crazy making glasses.

Is  that  not cool or what??? Looking for more?? I have a bonus card on my blog(HERE) that I think you will all just LOVE!!! Can't wait to hear what you guys think of washi tape on vellum. Are you a fan? Make sure you shout to the world on Facebook(HERE) if you are!

And now is the time to hop on over to the shop(HERE) to get your super, incredible, cant beat it deal on Spectacle.

********Please note that Spectacle is on the Retired/Clearanced list and once they are gone they are gone!!!********

Make sure to come back tomorrow for Tracy's Challenge Me Fridays!!! :)

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Use What You Have Chellange #7

Hello Lovelies!

Ready for a new challenge this week? We didn't get too many participants last week but, I'm thinking that it had a lot to do with all the new release fuss - as well as the fact it's SUMMER! So, I don't blame you in the least being outside having fun - we'll keep on doing the challenges - and I'm sure they'll catch on! If you can, take a moment and 'share' our challenge with your friends - if you've played along you know, it really is a FUN and easy challenge (and you feel really good about yourself after b/c you've used OLD supplies - and that always puts a smile on my face!)

Ok are you ready for the winning card from last week?! It was so hard to make the choice - but, the winner is....

Samantha! Take a moment to go to her blog and check out the card in all its glory! She did an amazing job! HERE


Samantha - email us with your address and we'll get something sweet out to you! (info@sweetstampshop.com)

Also, if you participated in last weeks challenge - THANK YOU! We'd love to send you a happy COUPON for the shop if you'd like! Email us at info@sweetstampshop.com for a 35% off coupon! WHOA!

__________________________________

Here are a reminder of the rules - 

NEW PRIZE RULE - In order for us to have TWO winners we must have AT LEAST 15 entries in the challenge! If not, then we'll just award the one person who used their stash the best. SO, SHARE the challenge and get your friends on board!

Read through the directions carefully - we've changed just a couple things... (well, not really changed - just made more clear) 

You'll have until next tuesday to add your link below - your link needs to be to the direct post not to your general blog - and it needs to include -

1. A link back to our challenge (and optional - our challenge badge - see above)

2. A picture of your stash

3. A picture of your project

Some Extra Details -

1. You do not *have to* use SSS in your card or project - although, we'd love it! (and we can't feature your project in our marketing without you using SWEET! - so keep that in mind!)

2. You have until Tuesday at 10pm pst to add your link below

3. There will be ONE winner based upon most creative use of 'old stuff' .... and ONE winner drawn from all the participants. Winners will be announced the day of the new challenge - so, in this case... next Wednesday. Prize will be something sweet - lol. REMINDER - NEW RULE - In order for us to have TWO winners we must have AT LEAST 15 entries in the challenge! If not, then we'll just award the one person who used their stash the best. SO, SHARE the challenge and get your friends on board!

MOST IMPORTANT!!! Create whatever strikes your fancy - scrapbook page, project life - cards - altered art - home decor.... anything! Just be sure to use that old stuff in it!

(also, we had a question about multiple entries - YES, you can make as many cards as you like! BUT, it doesn't increase your odds of winning - your name will go into the hat 'once')

____________________

One of my most favorite 'sweet' ladies - Jessica P. is going to be creating along with us for the next couple months for 'Use What You Have Challenge' - So, we'll have lots of inspiration for you! 

Here's Jessica - 

I love this kind of challenge! I tend to forget about my stash items! (I store them in a different room!) Needless to say, I was excited to hear that I would be joining you all for the Wednesday challenge! I have come across a number products that I forgot I even had!

As I was digging through my stash boxes, I came across some Valentine Day flair buttons that matched wonderfully with Sweet Stamp Shop's Happy Bugs! The ideas were rolling, so I go to gather my supplies!

To start of the card, I planned on using the ladybug from the Sweet Stamp Shop's Happy Bugs and coloring the image with the same colors as the flair button. The ladybug image is stamped 3 times on a strip of cardstock that I planned on running down the left side of the card.

My original plan was to have a card with allot of empty white space. Once I started to lay it out, I thought the card needed more color. So off I went to look at my papers. Once I found the perfect papers, I attached the layers.

The final steps included making the simple sentiment banner and adding the flair button to the card.

 Wow, she did a great job didn't she?! Love that color combo! Head over to Jessica's blog to say hello (she's got a GREAT blog!) HERE

_________________________

Ready to see my stash - yikes. (one of these days I'll actually make a dent on it! - fingers crossed!)

I have a TON of washi tape - ok, maybe not a 'ton' - but, it kinda feels that way when I like (NEVER) use it. I love it for masking (see yesterdays post with the video) but, I rarely use it as it's intended (and it sits right on my desk! - so I should use it!)

Then, chipboard - it's really another topic all together. I'm not even showing you my actual raw chipboard stash (maybe next week!) - this is just parts and pieces of colored chipboard from different paper lines. I don't think I have the matching paper anymore, if I ever did.

But, gosh-darn-it-all ... I'm going to use it!

See what I made....

Sigh, I love how this card turned out! It's pretty simple (and it might have only taken me 5-10 minutes to make) But, I just LOVE it.


I used the 'Baby Love' set

It was perfect for this happy card. (I esp. like the 'breaking news' !)

Anyway, are you ready to throw your hat in the ring this week? We hope so!

Add your link below and we can't wait to see all your amazing creations with your old stash!

Happy Stamping!
N.


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Neon Products We LOVE!

BONUS post today! 

We just have so many awesome things to share with you - we need more days in the week! (so instead we'll just have a bonus post!) 

It's no secret that I'm kinda LOVIN' all things NEON these days. It's a fad that I wasn't too sure about in the beginning - then, my 80's childhood memories came creepin' up and BAM - I'm in love with all things NEON!

I've gotten lots of questions wondering where I've found some of my favorite neon products (and you know I'm a bit of cheap skate - so lots of these things were on clearance!) 

So, I thought I'd share what some of my favorite neon products are and where you can find them! (hopefully for a DEAL!) 

I've been using my hero arts neon ink for ages now (at least 8 months) and I love this ink! But, after using these ink pads for a while I can firmly reccomend that you do not need the full pad - you can buy this instead and save yourself $$. 

Neon Ink Sampler (from Hero Arts)

We also love our brand new enamel dots from Freckled Fawn - You can find those here (no deal on these - but, I'm thinking that these little babies are worth it!) 

The Colored Pencils and Oil Pastels - I've share with you before - you can find other blog posts (with videos) using those products HERE.

I'm a big COPIC fan! I especially love their florescent colors. They really are BRIGHT and very NEON! I know it's a bit of a $$ commitment - but, they're the best neon markers on the market. For serious! You can find these HERE.

I found that little set of acrylic paints at Michaels for .99 on clearance. BUT, I would have bought these new neon colors from Michaels house brand HERE. I think they're .50 each or so. (I just didn't need all that paint) 

Annette Allen and her new button embellishment biz (Clever Creations) - came out with super bright buttons - I especially like the pink and purple. You can find those HERE. 

So, you're wanting to see all this neon goodness in ACTION - aren't you!?! 

You know I have made LOTS of fun BRIGHT cards.... ready... Neon card round up!

 

We have a bit of a wish list - for a couple more neon products.... maybe some embossing powders - and some neon gems (we don't even know if these exist) - really we're open to anything neon! 

What's on your neon list?! We'd LOVE to hear! 

Have a BRIGHT rest of your day and come back here tomorrow for the new 'Use What You Have' challenge! 

Hugs, 

N.

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