Archive for Release

REVIEW: Lucky Charm

General, Party Favors, Release, St. Patrick's Day•on February 3rd, 2012•2 Comments

JANUARY/FEBRUARY RELEASE IN REVIEW

Everyone could use a little good luck charm. And with the latest release, we are creating fun projects with the new Lucky Charm set. At first, it may have you thinking St. Patrick’s Day, but if you take a closer look at the set you will unlock a few fab finds that expand your options while creating.

All week long we will highlight products from the current release, featuring fun tips and tricks, new ideas, and an amazing celebration on February 5th.  So mark your calendars and come be our guests.

Now let’s take a closer look at Lucky Charm….

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Lucky Charm

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We focused mainly on the small clover circle image to stamp in a row for the focal point on our card.  We left an opening wide enough for a simple greeting to create this CAS-style card.

For the favor box we stamped the background text from Quotes II around the base.  Then assemble the Party Favor 2 box with Simple Adhesive, and tied a matching ribbon into a bow. To complete the favor, we added a simple tag from the Tags 1 die cut that has been stamped with a frame and sentiment from the Trendy Tags set.

But wait there are so many more wonderful options with the Lucky Charm set!  It comes with a full size tag frame that coordinates with the Tags 1 die cut.  It also has a polka-a-dot top and bottom frame filler to add even more detail to your tags, like the example we shared here.

There is a super fun rainbow image that pairs well with the pot-o-gold from the Taglines set, that was featured in this cute project by SW Editor Amber Daigre here.

And in case you missed all the fun and excitement on the Runway Inspired Challenge blog, you can see even more amazing creations from Cristina Kowalczyk, Sarah Jay, Jennifer Rzasa, Angeline Yong, and Laura Bassen here.

Good Luck Card + Favor Box Supply List:

WANT TO SEE EVEN MORE? Visit with CSS design team members all week long for additional {Release in Review} inspiration from the current collection, starting with:

Kim Duran

Laurie Willison

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Review: Lucky Charm Gallery

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Looking for more inspiration?
Download the CSS Daily Papercrafting App {2.0} available on iTunes

Download the CSS Daily App, for more inspiration from the CSS design team

and view over {600} project ideas in the archives. Each day brings a new

project direct to your iPhone/iPad/ or iPod Touch for a bit of papercrafting on the go!

{You can download the CSS App from iTunes here}

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REVIEW: Love Cupid

General, Release, Valentine's Day, Wedding/Anniversary•on February 1st, 2012•3 Comments

JANUARY/FEBRUARY RELEASE IN REVIEW

Take a closer look! We recently released our first collection of the new year, and we invite you to join us as we take a closer look. All week long we will highlight products from the release, featuring fun tips and tricks, new ideas, and an amazing celebration on February 5th.  So mark your calendars and come be our guests.

Now let’s take a closer look at Love Cupid….

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Love Cupid

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We love the versatility of the Love Cupid stamp set.  The mix and match sentiments allow for so many possibilities from Valentine’s Day, weddings and anniversaries, to a simple love note. We’ve paired the half damask image with the Quotes II background text for a delicate layered image on the die cut heart from the Shapes (Hearts) die cut combo set for the card’s focal point. We finished the card with a precious banner stamped with a sweet sentiment – perfect for a special loved one.

Download the CSS Daily App, for more inspiration from the CSS design team and view over {600} project ideas in the archives. Each day brings a new project direct to your iPhone/iPad/ or iPod Touch for a bit of papercrafting while on the go!

With All My Heart Supply List:

WANT TO SEE MORE? Visit with CSS design team members all week long for additional
{Release in Review} inspiration from the current collection, starting with:

Stephany Zerbe

Lori Tecler

Dana Grothaus

Laurie Willison

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Review: Love Cupid Gallery

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Looking for more inspiration?
Download the CSS Daily Papercrafting App {2.0} available on iTunes

{You can download the CSS App from iTunes here}

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Little Critter Collection

General, Release•on January 5th, 2012•9 Comments

January/February Release

Today is the big day!  Little Critters are here and oh boy are we excited to share this fun release with you.  There is quite a bit to see, as we are releasing TONS of new stamps, die cuts, twine, and brand new Copic Trios.  Grab a cup of coffee, tea, hot cocoa….and spend a little time with the CSS design crew as we take you on a journey through today’s release…

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Little Critters Collection

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To give you an idea of what to expect there are (8) signature die cuts, (12) brand new Copic markers and (3) Copic Trio sets for pre-order, a fun addition of Baker’s Twine to the Simple Notions line of accessories, a new combination series of dies with coordinating frame stamps, and (12) new stamp sets to kick of 2012 – CSS Style!

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Design Team Inspiration

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We couldn’t kick off a release day without sharing a little project with you.  How about some coordinating mini cards and lollipop treats? The Tags 1 die cut is the perfect size for these miniature tootsie roll pops. We punched a hole in the opposite end so that it would become a slider for the lollipop stick. Pair it with a coordinating Little Critter card and you have an instant Valentine’s Day treat.  These are perfect little surprises to leave in side lunch bags and coat pockets.

The designers have been busy creating fun release day projects to share with you. Click on each of the links below to see what our design team members have been up to with the newly released Little Critters Collection. Be sure to visit with each designer for more details. We will share the Design Team links again at the end of the post because it’s a long one packed full of goodies, and we don’t want you to miss a single thing.

Laura O’Donnell /  Dana Grothaus /  Tracy Schultz / Laura Bassen

Lori Tecler / Laurie Willison /  Kim Duran / Stephany Zerbe / Amber Daigre

Join us every 2nd Tuesday of the month to see how each designer interprets a monthly group project.  Feel free to join in on the fun and upload your CSS projects to our Flickr gallery. Visit the blog January 10th for all the details.

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Style Watch {New Year, Products, & Trends}

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Be sure to visit with Amber each week on the Style Watch as she’ll bring you a fab new project influenced by the current trends of the season, and shares a few of her infamous tips and tricks with the latest CSS products. Join Amber all month long as she dives deep into the new products that have just released in the Little Critter Collection. And be sure to visit her blog Damask Love for more details…

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CSS Daily App on iTunes

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Looking for more inspiration?
Download the CSS Daily Papercrafting App 2.0 available on iTunes

{You can download the CSS Daily App 2.0 from iTunes here}

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January/February Release

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Now that you’ve seen a little bit of eye candy, here is the release in it’s entirety. We have organized the release by categories to help navigate your way…

SIMPLE CUTS – Signature Die Cuts

{Build-a-Critter Die Cuts}

That’s correct, die cuts to build your very own critters.

This fun little chart below shows each of the critters assembled.

Owl/Kitty ($35)

The Owl serves as the base critter for all of the additional critters.

You must have the Owl base in order to create additional critters.

Bat/Bee ($25)

Fox/Raccoon ($30)

Have you caught the critter craze and want it all?

Complete Build-a-Critter Collection ($90)

COORDINATING STAMPS & DIE CUTS

Shapes: Hearts ($35)

This set comes complete with (6) graduated heart shaped die cuts

and (6) coordinating heart frame stamps.

LITTLE CRITTER COLLECTION


Little Critters ($40)

Little Critters ($24)

Little Critters Too ($24)

Taglines: Critters ($24)

Critters Sentiments ($24)

Party Elements: Critters ($15)

Considering planning a Little Critter party,

or creating fun little valentines and want it all?

Complete  Little Critter Collection ($151)

ALPHABETS

Alpha Duo ($24)

This alpha set is like getting two alphabets in one. It comes with both

an open outline stamp and a solid stamp for each letter and punctuations.

BACKGROUNDS

Each of these backgrounds sets are build-able.

This means you can continue the pattern top or bottom, left or right.

Background Basics 1 ($24)

Hearts Plus ($24)

The single hearts here work with the heart die cut shapes.

Quotes II ($15)

HOLIDAYS

Both holiday sets coordinate with the Tags #1 die cut.

Each come with a different frame element that fits the larger tag die.

Love Cupid ($24)

Lucky Charm ($15)

PARTY FAVOR DIE CUTS

Each party favor is one complete piece. They were specifically designed this way so that:

  1. Your bags/boxes will have a stronger base – the integrity of the favor is more reliable.
  2. Your bags/boxes will have a perfectly polished and finished look by having fewer seams.
  3. You can easily cut and assemble your bags/boxes much quicker.
  4. You will use less adhesive when constructing your bags/boxes.
  5. And they are just plain cute!

Party Favor #1 ($30)

Party Favor #2 ($48)

Party Favor #3 ($40)

The handle openings were designed to be on the sides of the party favor to allow for more versatility when creating and embellishing the favor. In addition, the handle openings are perfectly proportioned to fit Clear and Simple Stamps ribbon.

Finding it hard to pick a favorite party favor and want to get them all?

Complete  Party Favor  Collection ($118)

You’ve made almost through the entire release,

and you’ve discovered that you want it all…

Complete  January/February Release ($520) – stamps & die cuts

COPIC MARKERS

Copic has introduced (12) brand new colors.

Pre-order your set today – shipping late February

EX6-12 ($84)

With new markers, comes a few new trio sets that are created to

take the guess work out of blending. Pre-order Only

Green Trio 4 ($18)


Violet Trio 4 ($18)

Earth Trio 9 ($18)


BAKER’S TWINE

We’ve added {15} colors of baker’s twine.

Want to give each a try?

You can purchase a Designer Mix of Twine ,

which includes 1 yds of twine in each of the (15) colors.

Designer Mix Twine ($3) – 15 yds/1 yd per color

Individual colors ($1) – 3 yds

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Design Team Blog Hop

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We have had so much fun sharing our first release of the New Year with you. Be sure to visit with each designer for more inspiration, and uncover fun tips, and tricks along the way with the new CSS stamps and dies cuts…

Laura O’Donnell /  Dana Grothaus /  Tracy Schultz / Laura Bassen

Lori Tecler / Laurie Willison /  Kim Duran / Stephany Zerbe / Amber Daigre

Thank you for visiting with us on release day.

You can shop online {here}

Preview: Alpha Duo

3D, General, Pet/Animal, Release•on January 3rd, 2012•3 Comments

JANUARY/FEBRUARY RELEASE PREVIEW

It’s Day 3 of our release week previews, and it’s all about the alphabet – Alpha Duo. You may have noticed the playful open outline style font popping up on a few of the release week projects.  Today, we are going to focus on sharing a bit more about this fab font…

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Alpha Duo

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What makes this release super fun is the fact that a matching alphabet set will be available in the same font style used in several sets.  This way you can create your own custom words and sentiments to work with any project you may have in mind.  But that’s not all… In fact the name itself says it all!

We created one stamp set that includes both the outline letters and the solid letters.  Now you can:

  1. Two-step stamp your alphabets,
  2. Stamp letters with the open outlines and color them in or paper piece them, or
  3. Simply stamp them in any color with the solid letters – all from one stamp set.

We have designed the Alpha Duo set in a way that makes it super easy to line up your letters so that you can quickly create words that will stamp in a straight line.  Each letter is equally sized and spaced.

For this card we spelled out the word “congrats”, and stamped it in Brown Leather Satchel ink for the outline. We then stamped the solid letters in My Favorite Blue Jeans ink, stamped off once onto scratch paper, and then stamped onto the card base on the corresponding letter. We stamped off some of the ink because we wanted the color to be soft and subtle.

To add a little fun element, we skipped the letter “o” and replaced it with a popped up mini Kitty image from the Taglines: Critters set. The sentiment underneath “on your new ‘lil critter” comes from the Critters Sentiments set. This set is jammed packed with sentiments that will allow you to create for all sorts of occasions.  We chose to use a combination where we could create for welcoming home a new pet.

And with new pets, you have to have a few treats and snacks on hand. This first treat is an altered cat food can.  We simply cut a strip of designer paper, and die cut a heart from the Shapes: Hearts die cuts.  A small strip of Haute Red Couture cardstock was adhere behind the strip and the entire band was adhere to the can of food.

Next we cut a thin strip of Kraft Like a Rockstar cardstock, and stamped the sentiment from taglines: Critters in Brown Leather Satchel ink. The strip was cut down on both ends to have notched ends, and adhere to the open heart portion of the band with dimensionals.

Our next treat is a little kitty snack pack. We took small glassine bags and filled them with cat treats. The bag is held closed with a clear seal on the back side.  A strip of Haute Red Couture cardstock was cut and notched along one edge.  We scored the other end at .5″ and adhere the strip of the top flap of the bag. A heart was die cut from the Shapes: Hearts and adhered to the strip. A thin strip of Kraft Like a Rockstar cardstock was cut, and stamped with the sentiment in Brown Leather Satchel ink. The end of the strip was cut along the same diagonal and the notch on the larger strip, and adhered with dimensionals.

These would make great treats you can bring with you on the go and just tear the bottom open to share the treats inside with your new little kitty.

We featured one of the three Party Favor die cuts yesterday {view here}.  And today we are sharing a peek at Party Favor #3, because you definitely need a little carry tote for your snack packs!  This fun favor bag is a bit larger than Party Favor #1, it too is a one-piece cut, that has slits on the sides of the bag to incorporate a bag handle.

We love that the handles are on the side of the bag instead of the front – this opens up many more options on how you can decorate and embellish your bag fronts. We kept the design simple and wanted it to mimic the card.

Since the sentiment used on the favor is a smaller sentiment than the Alpha Duo size, we used a great technique with our Copic markers to achieve similar coloring on the letters in the word “snack” to closely match the stamped letters from the card.

Palette Blending is a great technique when you want to blend two colors together so that there is a smooth transition between the two colors and not a hard, rough line.  We also like to use it to add shading in small areas.

When you use this technique with the 0 colorless blender pen, you create softer, pastel like color palettes. To try this technique on your own you would:

  1. Stamp your sentiment, and select your colors.
  2. Puddle some ink from your marker onto a piece of plastic.
  3. Take your blender pen and lift ink off of the plastic.
  4. Apply the color to the image.
  5. Make sure to repeat step 3 and 4 in order to achieve consistent coverage on the image you are coloring.

You can always go back and add more layers until you achieve your desired color.

Are you getting excited?  Release day is almost here! We have a few more projects to share with you tomorrow but until then check out the CSS Daily App on iTunes for more bonus peeks and hop around to visit with the CSS design team even more previews…

WANT TO SEE MORE? Visit with CSS design team members all week long for additional peeks at the new sets releasing for January/February:

Stephany Zerbe: visit her blog for a little fun with the Little Critters and Critters Sentiments stamp sets.

Dana Grothaus: visit her blog and take a peek at the Hearts Plus background, Shapes: Hearts die cuts, and the Love Cupid set.

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Supply Lists

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Congrats Card Supply List:

Snacks Party Favor Supply List:

One Cool Kitty Food Can Supply List:

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Preview: Alpha Duo Gallery

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Looking for more inspiration?
Download the CSS Daily Papercrafting App {2.0} available on iTunes

{You can download the CSS App from iTunes here}

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Preview: Party Favors

3D, General, Release•on January 2nd, 2012•7 Comments

JANUARY/FEBRUARY RELEASE PREVIEW

And the celebration continues with Day 2 of our release week previews. Today features a crafting staple that has elevated our love for papercrafts….die cuts! In a few short days we will be releasing (8) phenomenal new die cuts, that are each unique in their own special way.  We have two of the dies to share with you from our Shape Series and our Party Favor Collection…

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PARTY FAVORS + SHAPES

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We are excited to introduce two new series of Simple Cuts in the CSS die cut collection. The first being, the Shapes Series of Hearts.  The Shapes: Hearts set will be available for {$35} and comes complete with a coordinating frame stamp for each of the six sizes.  Yes, that is correct – with our new shape series, every die cut comes with a coordinating frame stamp set.

The six graduated sizes allow for many creative uses, like making aperture card fronts. We simply adore the fun shape of these hearts.

You can easily add a bit of texture by stamping color on color with the woodgrain background from the Background Basics 1 set we introduced yesterday {view here}.  The damask frame comes from the Love Cupid set that will be showcased later in the week along with our sweet little owl from Taglines: Critters peeking out behind the heart opening.

Inside is a punny message with a silhouette heart from the Hearts Plus background set. More on this set in a moment…

The second die cut comes from the Party Favors Collection. This series offers great packaging for party favors, mini note cards, special gifts, and just about anything creative you can fit inside. Our fun project today uses Party Favor #1 . We will have {3} different Party Favors available on January 5th, but what we absolutely love the most about each party favor is that they are one complete piece.

And there are definitely several advantages to having one fluid cut:

  1. Your bags/boxes will have a stronger base – the integrity of the favor is more reliable.
  2. Your bags/boxes will have a perfectly polished and finished look by having fewer seams.
  3. You can easily cut and assemble your bags/boxes much quicker.
  4. You will use less adhesive when constructing your bags/boxes.
  5. And they are just plain cute!

Party Favor #1 will be available for {$30}. Here is the little favor in action, carrying a few fun, mini note cards for Valentine’s Day.

When you get a closer look, you can see lots of little details. The woodgrain background along the yellow strip, the love poem quote stamped in the heart die cut, the outline heart frame stamped directly onto the box, the curved sentiment along the heart shape stamp, and of course the adorable little owl hoovering above the branch. Each of these fun images are part of the upcoming release.

Inside the party favor is a set of mini note cards.  Each note card is stamped with a background bar from the Hearts Plus set. This stamp set is a great background builder that has {6} heart builders and {8} single heart images.

We stamped the “handmade just for you” sentiment from the Craft Room set and finished the card back with a single heart image.

We’ve enjoyed sharing more previews with you today. As the week rolls on we will get to share even more of what’s to come on release day. Be sure to mark your calendars for January 5th. For bonus peeks download the CSS Daily App on iTunes…

WANT TO SEE MORE? Visit with CSS design team members all week long for additional peeks at the new sets releasing for January/February:

Stephany Zerbe: Check out her awesome, CAS style with the Taglines: Critters stamp set.

Laura O’Donnell: Get a fabulous peek at Party Favor #2 and the Love Cupid set

Laura Bassen: Visit her blog for an adorable shape card using the Build-a-Critter: Owl die set

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Supply Lists

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Whoo Loves You Card Supply List:

From the Heart Party Favor Supply List:

Be Mine Mini Card Supply List:

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Preview: Party Favors + Shapes Gallery

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Looking for more inspiration?
Download the CSS Daily Papercrafting App {2.0} available on iTunes

{You can download the CSS App from iTunes here}

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Let’s Celebrate 2011

Copic, Dec, General, Holiday, Release•on December 1st, 2011•7 Comments

Customer Appreciation Month

We are celebrating 2011 with gifts.  We have an annual tradition at Clear and Simple Stamps that we decided to share here on the blog.  Every year we like to recognize our customers during the holiday season with a special gift – a limited edition stamp set.

Every customer who has purchased from CSS during 2011 will receive a free sentiment stamp and a holiday card handmade by the owners.  Those customers who have spent over $100 will receive a free Limited Edition Sentiment set.  In previous years we have done a “Thank You” and “Thinking of You” set, this year we are gifting a “Celebrate the Season” set.  And for those customers who have spent over $300, you will receive a bonus surprise gift.

This special sentiment and stamp set are not available for sale.  You will only receive these as an online/web store customer of Clear and Simple Stamps.  We truly appreciate your business and hope you will join in the celebration of 2011… read more