Clearly iStamp

Day 4 of October sneak peeks!

Day 4, and the last day before we swing the store doors open on October releases!

.................................................................................................................................

Winged Whispers by Kim Teasdale

What a gorgeous little set!  Watercolor them, emboss them, or just stamp as an outline, and you will have a card any friend or family member will love!

Designed by Kim Teasdale

Go to Winged Whispers

Go to Winged Whispers Idea Gallery

(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Winged Whispers are: Kim, Katie, Linda, Tricia, Nancy, Sarah, Candy and Laurie (links on left sidebar). 

.........................................................................................................................................................

Carnation -  January Flower of the Month by Vicki Conquest

These are the last two for your collection!  You now have January through December and you can start creating marvelous calendars, gardening books, and much more for all the flower lovers in your life!

Designed by Vicki Conquest

Go to Carnation - January Flower of the Month

Go to Carnation - January Flower of the Month Idea Gallery

(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Carnation -  January Flower of the Month are: Katie, Sarah, Candy and Laurie (links on left sidebar). 

.........................................................................................................................................................

Pansy - February Flower of the Month

Designed by Vicki Conquest

Go to Pansy - February Flower of the Month

Go to Pansy - February Flower of the Month Idea Gallery

(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Pansy - February Flower of the Month are: Angela, Cassie, Candy and Laurie. (links on left sidebar). 

.........................................................................................................................................................

Ok, I'll be honest, I am not a rooster fan, but this is a must have stamp for me!  I just think he is the cutest little critter!  I think you will agree!

Rooster

Designed by Laurie Wilson

Go to Rooster

Go to Rooster Idea Gallery

(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Rooster are: Angela, Katie, Nancy, Cassie, Candy and Laurie. (links on left sidebar). 

.........................................................................................................................................................

More little word stamps for you to add to your collection!

You're the best

Go to You're the best

So happy for you

Go to So happy for you

Let's party

Go to Let's party

Go to the Idea Gallery for these stamp sets!

(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designer featuring samples on her blog for Individual Word Stamps is: Katie. (links on left sidebar). 

.........................................................................................................................................................

Tomorrow is the big day!  We'll see you then!

Hope your day is filled with blessings and stamping galore!

Lori

Day 3 of September sneak peeks!

Hello Everyone!

Day three of sneak peeks are here!

........................................................................................................................

Dog Days by Kim Teasdale

Isn't this just the cutest little set!   My daughter is going to go nuts over this set.....and you won't want to miss out next month to see what accessories might be coming for this cute little canine!

Designed by Kim Teasdale

Go to Dog Days

Go to Dog Days Idea Gallery

(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Dog Days are: Kim, Angela, Katie, Linda A., Tricia, Nancy and Candy. (links on left sidebar).

.........................................................................................................................................................

This is another customer request....planes, planes, and more planes!  We hope you like them!

Flying By by Laurie Wilson

Designed by Laurie Wilson

Go to Flying By

Go to Flying By Idea Gallery
(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Flying By are: Trudy, Katie, Linda A., Sarah and Candy. (links on left sidebar).

.........................................................................................................................................................

Glory Days by Laurie Wilson

Designed by Laurie Wilson

Go to Glory Days

Go to Glory Days Idea Gallery
(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Glory Days are: Katie, Sarah, Stacy, Candy and Laurie. (links on left sidebar).

.........................................................................................................................................................

Howdy Partner by Shawne Arnold

You do not want to miss out on this adorable little cowboy set!  You have to take a look at all the samples.....simply adorable!  Wouldn't this be a cute party set?

Designed by Shawne

Go to Howdy Partner

Go to Howdy Partner Idea Gallery
(Links will active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Howdy Partners are: Angela, Linda A., Nancy, Sarah, Candy and Laurie. (links on left sidebar).

.........................................................................................................................................................

Rock On by Derrick Schaffer

A stamp set by our guest Illustrator:  Derrick Schaffer.  I have known Derrick since he was four or five!  Derrick just turned 16 and is the son of Lorie Lee, our very excellent customer service person here at Clear Dollar Stamps!  He has always been very talented at art....so we gave him a try.....I think his set ROCKS!

Rock On

Illustrated by Derrick Schaffer

Go to Rock On

Go to Rock On Idea Gallery

(Links will be active October 1st)

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for Rock On are: Kim, Angela, Trudy, Katie, Sarah, Cassie, Stacy, Candy and Laurie. (links on left sidebar).

.........................................................................................................................................................

See you tomorrow for more great sneak peeks!

Hope your day is filled with blessings and stamping galore!

Lori 

Day 2 of October Sneak Peeks!

Are you ready for day two of October sneak peeks.....then let's get started!

.....................................................................................

Baking  with Charliene

I can think of plenty of uses for this set, can't you?  I just love the sticks of butter with the sentiment "buttering you up"!  I can think of a lot of times I could use that card!  The samples for this set are just adorable!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this stamp set are: Kim, Angela, Katie, Sarah, Stacy, Laurie (links on left sidebar).

.....................................................................................

Christmas Blessings by Lori McCroskey

This is another customer request!  More card insides or focal words for the front....I hope you enjoy!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this stamp set are: Kim, Angela, Katie, Linda Anderson, Stacy (links on left sidebar).

.....................................................................................

Christmas Scriptures by Lori McCroskey

Just in time for Christmas cards!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this stamp set are: Trudy, Tricia, Cassie, Laurie, and Nancy (links on left sidebar).

.....................................................................................

Holiday Nutcrackers by Laurie Wilson

We have needed a nutcracker set for some time, and it has been requested many times.  I think Laurie did a beautiful job on this set!  The samples are gorgeous and the possibilities with this set are endless!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this stamp set are: Kim, Trudy, Katie, Tricia, Cassie, Stacy, Laurie (links on left sidebar).

.....................................................................................

Value Verse for October:  John 3:16 

Our value verses are sold at 20% off retail every day!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this stamp set are: Angela, Linda Anderson, Tricia, Stacy, Laurie (links on left sidebar).

.....................................................................................

Meet us here tomorrow for day three of sneak peeks!  Remember all of these are available on October 1st!

Hope your day is filled with blessings and stamping galore!

Lori

Let the sneak peaks begin!

New stamps are coming, once again, at Clear Dollar Stamps!  Fall is just the perfect time to start working on all your Christmas projects and getting caught up on your scrapbooking!

Make sure to check out Katie's tutorials every week....you are sure to get some great ideas!

..............................................................................................

Available October 1st:

We are so excited to announce our new Illustrator, Wendy Hall!  You are just going to love her adorable Illustrations!

A little about Wendy:

My name is Wendy Hall (more often than not know as Louby Loo in the Stamping world). I was born and bred in bonny Scotland but have lived in the United States for the past ten years. I have been creating and illustrating for as long as I can remember. I am a trained graphic artist, but spent a big part of my life using these skills in a more technical aspect. I am delighted that I can now spend time creating what I love. It bring me so much joy to create these illustrations and be able to share them with you.

Her first design for Clear Dollar Stamps is Billy and Maggie Fall fun!

We have had so many requests from all of our loyal customers for cute little kid stamps.....and we think we have found just what you are looking for!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this set:  Wendy, Stacy, Katie, and Laurie (links on left sidebar).

..............................................................................................

Patchpal Scarecrow by Shawne Arnold

Oh my goodness!  Is this simply the cutest scarecrow you have seen!  Shawne added kitties and pumpkins, to make the cutest set!  Just perfect for fall scrap pages, cards, and projects for your kid's classes!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this set:  Kim, Trudy, Tricia, Sarah, Cassie, Stacy, Laurie (links on left sidebar).

..............................................................................................

With Thanksgiving

I thought this would be the most lovely table place card at a Thanksgiving table!  I am so thankful to God for everything he has done and does for me every day!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this set:  Kim, Tricia, Nancy, Sarah, Cassie (links on left sidebar).

..............................................................................................

October Stamp of the Month by Laurie Wilson

Free with a $50 order!

Simple, yet elegant, this set will make adorable and quick cards and projects!  You do not want to miss out on this set!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this set:  Angela, Katie, Linda Anderson, Tricia, Nancy, Candy, Laurie (links on left sidebar).

..............................................................................................

We have a guest Illustrator this month:  Heather Rolin!

Let Us Gobble Together

Heather sent me these little turkeys and they were just too cute to resist....and I thought you would think so too!  A hunter turkey, a jazzer-turkey, and a stuffed turkey.....how perfect for so many cards and projects!

Our other Designers that are featuring samples on their blogs for this set:  Kim, Angela, Trudy, Cassie, Stacy, Laurie (links on left sidebar).

..............................................................................................

See you here tomorrow for more great sneak peeks!

Hope your day is filled with blessings and stamping galore!
Lori

Product Focus... bring on the mulberry paper

Hi friends, its Katie here closing out another week with you.  Don't the days seem to fly by?  Well, today I want to focus on one of those products that are fun to use, but you might not use them all the time.  If you didn't know this already, many people use mulberry paper to create things like tear animals, but mostly tear bears.  I do not have this skill, but I do love the "organic" look of mulberry paper and I think it adds a different look to your cards, so my goal is to incorporate it into my card making.

For today's tutorial I tried a couple of things that I hadn't ever done before with mulberry paper.  I stamped, embossed, and colored right onto my mulberry paper. One of the unique things about mulberry paper is the way that it works with water, kind of a yin/yang thing going on with it.  Water allows it to tear so easily but on the other hand water doesn't disintegrate it either.  You'll see what I mean as you go along.

I decided that the mulberry paper was going to be my main canvas, but I wanted some color and interest to it so I decided to do my stamping directly on it.

As I mentioned earlier, water is remarkable when it comes to mulberry paper.  I decided that I wanted a somewhat diagonal version with 1/2 representing greenery and the other half representing the ocean.  All I did was take my waterbrush or also referred to as an aqua painter and "draw" my line. 

After the wet line is drawn, its super easy to separate and the tear will fall right where your water line is.

If there are some of the larger/thicker fibers in there just use a pair of scissors to cut it or as I did just pull it a bit and it will pull from the side with the least resistance.

Next it is time to color/stamp my pieces.  I decided to spritz my pieces because I wanted my color and my images to spread.  The mulberry paper can get very wet without tearing even though it can tear quite easily... get the dichotomy here?

This particular section is going to be my ocean so I used a sponge and my dye ink pad and sponged on some blue.

Next up is my "seaweed"...

This time around, I stamped with my image and then spritzed.  Keep spritzing until you get the look you want.  Then restamp if you want

You could set the mulberry paper aside to dry, but you can also use your heat gun to make the process faster.

Now its time to put the background together.  I placed my mulberry pieces onto a piece of white cardstock and attached them with just a little bit of adhesive in the centers because I am going to do some stitching with this one.

Pull threads to the back and just tape down.

I then took my brush and wet my mulberry edges and gently tore the edges.  You can see where I've already torn above my brush.

Here's a close up... if there is too much resistance just add more water.

Now for my main stamped image.  I decided to emboss and it worked fabulous on the mulberry. 

I also decided to use some Copics too... you must have a light touch due to the absorbency of the mulberry, but you can't be too finicky either. 

The fun part of coloring is the way the color spreads and blends.

I also used the waterbrush and my ink pad to add other color. 

The blues on the mane of my seahorse was colored with Copics, the rest of my seahorse was colored with ink and the waterbrush.  You can also use other markers to color as well.

Remember to put something under your mulberry paper because colors do soak through.

So here is my card base.  I decided to add some twine before adding my main image.

Here's a close up of the mulberry paper.

And the finished card.

Thanks for hanging here with us at Clearly iStamp and have a great Friday and a continued wonderful weekend.

Katie signing off for Clearly iStamp.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Products you can find at Clear Dollar Stamps:

• Under the Sea Stamp Set
• Mulberry Paper
• Aquapainter/waterbrush
• Copics
• mini mister
• Inks
• Scor-Pal products (scor-mat)
• ATG tape
• Jute String

Other products use: CTMH cardstock and ink, starfish charm, SU! word window punch

Tuesday's Technique - embossed medallions

Hi friends!  Its Katie here to welcome you to another fabulous Tuesday. Its time to get your embossing powder and heat gun out again.  I just love this technique, but I seriously have a soft spot for embossing!  The process is so magical and the results are amazing.

It always looks like a ton of stuff, but this is really quite simple.  The star of the show of course is this fabulous little set called Art Deco Medallions.  This is such a super versatile set and is really a must have.

Let's get started.  All you need is a piece of cardstock and to be honest, the color doesn't really matter since its going to be entirely coated with embossing powder.

Take your Versamark ink pad and just brush it across your piece of cardstock.  Just make sure that the surface covered is large enough for your stamp.

Next just pour silver embossing powder on top of the inked area and tap off excess.

Then use your heat gun and melt away.

Then quickly pour more embossing powder on top... your first layer NEEDS TO BE STILL WARM.

Use your heat gun and melt again.  Repeat this one or two more times for a total of 3 or 4 layers.  Your embossed area should look like the picture below... smooth.

Make sure your stamp is ready to go on your block and you have space ready to go to stamp.  You have to move quickly.

As soon as the powder has melted, set your cardstock down and quickly and firmly stamp your image onto the embossing.  Gently lift off.

Next, take a 1 3/8" circle punch to cut out the image.

And there is your embossed medallion.

Just a little side note here... see that cheese clothy looking thing in the picture below?  Well, that little thing is a glitter and/or embossing cloth that is fabulous.  It works great.  It is a Scor-pal product and Lori carries them at the store... when you get it, unfold, cut to desired size and just wipe your glittery surface.  When it no longer picks ups just throw away and grab a new piece.  You can get yours HERE.

So now that I have these great medallions, I decided that they would make a great Christmas card.

I continued on with love of embossing and decided to create strings for my Christmas ornaments, but this time I decided to use the Versamark embossing pen.

I decided on some pretty paper from Cosmo Cricket... and another side note here... the paper is pretty, but one of the things that I do like about these mini decks is the extra space that they provide when tearing the sheets off... its the little things sometimes.

Ok, so now for the fun stuff.  I just took my embossing pen and a ruler and made a mark on my paper.

Add embossing powder...

Shake off...

Heat and melt...  Here's a tip for you.  I embossed on some thin paper and it did warp a bit afterwards.  All I did was use a brayer to roll my paper smooth after I glued it to my cardstock.

I positioned my medallions so I would know where to draw my next line.

Before I attached my ornaments I tied ribbons and then just attached them at the very top of my ornaments with a tiny glue dot.

Then I used more glue dots to attach my ornaments to my card front.  And then I added just a bit of glam with the Basic Grey Bling It right into the center of my ornaments. 

That's it for me today and I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! 

This is Katie signing off fro Clearly iStamp.

Items you can find at Clear Dollar Stamps:
Clear Stamps (Art Deco Medallions stamp set)
Versamark Ink Pad (reinker)
Versamark Pen
Embossing Powder (silver)
Scor-pal products
Cosmo Cricket (Mini Deck Jolly by Golly)
Acrylic Blocks
Atg tape
Ribbon (Ivory Woven/Iredescent 1/2")
Basic Grey Bling It

Other items used: CTMH cardstock, heat gun, glue dots, paper cutter, 1 3/8" circle punch, ruler, brayer

A Clear Box of Treats with a recipe

Hi friends...its Katie here and I want to wish you a happy Friday.  Today, I've got another favorite recipe of mine to share with you and a great way to present it.  For today's example, I used my gift as a house warming or hostess type of goody, but this recipe and presentation would be awesome as a holiday gift too.

Let me start with the recipe.

Russian Tea Cake Cookies aka Mexican Wedding Cookies

2 1/4" cups Flour
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 chopped walnuts

In a bowl mix all ingredients except 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  Use mixer then gather into a ball.  Regrigerate for 1 hour.  Roll into 1" balls, bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Roll in powdered sugar while cookies are still warm.  Roll again when cool.

Mix until it starts forming into a ball in the mixing bowl.

Remember to refrigerate.  Then roll into balls  (this is my last batch... since I forgot to take a picture)

You could make them even smaller than these since they turned out (for me) as a 2 or even 3 biter.  Now for my 9 year old son... they are a one large mouthful.

Here's what they look like after baking.

I went the full 15 minutes and I could have probably gotten a minute or two less, but they still turned out great.

Now time to roll in the powdered sugar.  I always roll twice if not 3 times and definitely get your first coat on while the cookies are still slightly warm...  AND... the left over 1/2 cup of powdered sugar is never enough for me.  I just keep the bag handy and add as much as I want.

Now, you need a great container.  I had originally planned on altering a plastic container that I had, but it just didn't work... trust me you don't want the details.  Well lucky for me I had these  on hand.  I used my last one so  I'll have to grab some more.  Lori carries a good variety of plastic boxes that come to you just like this - nice and flat.

Just fold and go.

The box measures 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and I decided to cut strips to attach to all 4 sides.  I really wanted most of the box to show so the cookies would be very visible.

I grabbed a spare coaster and cut it just smaller than 3 1/2" square and then wrapped it with wax paper.  This I placed on the bottom of my clear box.

Now just fill with cookies and finish decorating. 

I managed to fit in 26 cookies.

I used a newer set called Nice Neighborhood... love these house images.  I used these Copics (BG72,R59,E37,C-3,BG93) just colored 2 layers and that was it.

Well that's it for me and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.

This is Katie signing off for Clearly iStamp.

Items you can find at Clear Dollar Stamps:

• Nice Neighborhood stamp set
• Memento Black Tuxedo Ink
• Cosmo Cricket
• Labels one Nestability
• Copics
• Ribbon (brown/turquoise sheer)
• Clear Boxes
• ATG tape

Other items used ( circle and scallop punches, Papertrey ink cardstock and ink)

A Card in a Box Tutorial

Hi friends!  Its Katie here to welcome you to another Tuesday.  I hope your day is treating you well :) 

Today's tutorial is a box that is a card or whatever else you might want to use it for.  I've made many of these over the years and they are super cute.  Another project where the sky's the limit.

The two stamp sets that I am using for this project are Words of Gratitude and Art Deco Medallions.  This project also has some fun random stamping as well as some fun designer paper.  I pretty much went from my designer paper to pick my ink colors.
So let's get started.

You will need 2 main pieces of cardstock.  The actual box measures 7 1/2" x 7 1/2" and the lid measures 4 3/8" x 4 3/8".

I decided to random stamp before creating the score marks.  If you want a bit more detail about the process of random stamping, CLICK HERE.

I started with my largest image first and picked the medium shade.

Next I picked the middle size stamp and picked the lightest shade of ink for this image.

And finally picked the smallest stamp and picked my darkest ink for that one.

Now its time to score.  Easy... just score 2 1/2" all the way around.

Flip your cardstock over to create creases for your corners.  I flipped the cardstock because these creases are going in the opposite direction of the main box. 

Just make sure that when you are scoring your corners that the corners are aligned.  Do all 4 corners.

Next, I cut the corners off and this just creates a nice fold for inside the box.  You don't have to make a pencil line, just cut from score mark to score mark.

Now just fold up on those corners.

And there is your box.

Now its time to make your pockets on the inside.  The pocket base needs to measure at least 2 1/8" wide by 12" before your use the edge punch.

Of course I had to make my measurements a little small so I thought I'd show you exactly where it is on my Fiskars cutter. 

So cut your scalloped cardstock in 2 5/16" sections.
Then cut your designer paper (Marakech - Basic Grey) to 1  3/8" x 2  3/16"

I used the 1/8" scor tape and placed it on 3 sides of the designer paper.  Make sure it is flush with the very edge, but the pieces don't have to cover all of it.

Remember to place the non tape side up (this is the opening of your pocket)

Grab whatever sentiment you want to use and stamp on a piece of cardstock measuring 2" x 2".  The mat for this stamped piece is going to measure 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" ( in this case I used the blue). 

Once its all put together, I used pop dots and then attached to the center of the box.

Here is the box with the pockets and the center attached.

The tags that I created were made with a 1 1/4" circle punch and the scallop border is a 1 1/2" punch.
Just glue together and then use a hole punch to create the holes.

I left these blank, but you could hand write whatever sentiment, stamp an image, whatever you want.

Now its time to create the lid.  Remember... 4 3/8" x 4 3/8".

Score at 7/8" on all 4 sides.  I love my scor-pal but there are times that a stylus and the Fiskars works perfectly!

Cut on dashed lines.

Adhesive...

I used more scor tape and added it to 3 sides of my lid.  I did this to keep my ribbon in place.

I cut 24" of ribbon, found the center and matched that up to what is going to be the back of my lid.

Then tie in a bow on the front.

Here is the outside of the box.

And when its open.

There you go!  I hope you enjoyed it and I certainly hope that you have a wonderful Tuesday and as always, thanks for joining me!

Katie signing off for Clearly iStamp.

Products you can find at Clear Dollar Stamps:

• Art Deco Medallions
• Words of Gratitude
• Scor-Pal products
• Acrylic Blocks
• Inks
• Basic Grey (Marrakech)
• Ribbon  (for this project - Blue/Light Blue reversible satin)

Other products used: CTMH cardstock and ink, EK Success punches, SU! punch, paper cutter, embossing stylus

Stamp Spotlight - The Many Faces of the Flourish

Hi Everyone!  Its Katie here welcoming you to another Friday, which means we are coming upon another weekend which could be a yay or nay.  I worked many years on weekends and they were just like any other day to me so I completely get you guys that are doing the time.

But its not quite the weekend yet, so I wanted to feature another stamp set that I find very versatile and I hate to admit it, but is relatively new to me.  Its called Elegant Flourishes and has been on my wish list for a very, very long time and I wish I had gotten it much sooner, so seriously, if have or haven't seen this set, it's a MUST HAVE!!! But fear not... it's mine now (muuwahhh)

So, the point of today's post is to share with you 4 very different cards that all feature this very set.  I tried to make them different and they are, but I must admit I was in a pretty clean and simple mode when creating these so bear with me.

As you can see there are some lovely flourishes in this set along with several sentiments and little flowers to go along.  Seriously, lots of versatility going on here.

My first card features the very largest flourish stamp in the set and I chose to create a non traditional color holiday card.  There are no layers to this card (gasping, I know) and I chose to add the Basic Grey Bling It to give it some pizazz.  My thinking was to use the rhinestones as little "holly" bits.  Imagine this same card in a deep green ink with bright red pearls or rhinestones... love that idea, unfortunately for me I just had pink and green which I still likey :)  I finished off this card with a little Merry Christmas sentiment that can purchased independently.

My next card was created because I had seen several of these little birds created from buttons out on blog land and when I saw this one flourish in the set, I immediately thought "plumes" and bird plumes at that.  My buttons are from my general stash at home and then I created the accessory parts of my bird with some plain old markers that I had lying around.  Here's a little quick how to.

I first decided on some super cute paper from the Mini Deck 6x6 pads by Cosmo Cricket.  This particular one is called Early Bird.  I then grabbed coordinating buttons and placed them where I thought they would work best on my cardstock.

I then stamped my single flourish 3 times to create the tail feathers.

After the flourish was stamped, I put my buttons back on with glue dots and then grabbed my pens and drew in a beak and the legs.  Then I used a sharpie to create the eye.

For my next card, I created a sympathy card using Versamark ink and silver embossing powder.  Again, I kept this super clean and simple.  I used another flourish image that to me looked like brackets and I paired it with another Clear Dollar set called Words of Sympathy.

Using Versamark and embossing powder makes such a statement and I just love, love how it looks.

And finally, one last card.  I again paired it with the Cosmo Cricket, but this time grabbed the Jolly by Golly, which is really  a holiday paper, but as you can see I didn't' create a holiday card.  I created a fun and bright card instead.  For this card, I didn't use any of the flourishes, but rather several of the accessory images - the 2 flowers and a straight dotted line that I used as a stem.

Well, that's it for me and if you don't have this set, click away as fast as you can to grab it up.  If you do have this set, I hope I have sparked some new ideas for you.  Please feel free to comment and leave links to your own work... we'd love to see what you've created!!

Thanks again for stopping and spending your time here at Clearly iStamp. 

Katie signing off for Clearly iStamp.

Items you can find at Clear Dollar Stamps:

• Elegant Flourishes stamp set
• Merry Christmas sentiment
• Words of Sympathy stamp set
• Cosmo Cricket products
• Basic Grey embellishments
• Versamark ink
• Embossing powder
• Inks
• Acrylic Blocks
• Scor pal products
• Atg tape
• Markers

Other items that were used:

• CTMH inks and cardstock, PTI cardstock, misc buttons, misc markers, heat gun

A fresh change! Introducing CDS FEATURED FRIEND

by Clear Dollar Stamps, LLC

We have decided that in order to keep things FRESH, we want to change things up a little, for the better!

Our Guest Designer Challenge, which has been extremely popular, is going to be tucked up on a shelf for a while and we are going to introduce our new program, Featured Friends!

The FEATURED FRIEND details are below:

1. We will scout the internet via popular stamping forums and galleries, our color challenge group over at PCP, and blog visits/comments here and on CDS design team blogs.

2. We will select ONE person to FEATURE each month on the 10th of every month.  NO challenge entries, NO contests!

3. We look for creative individuals who are currently creating and posting with Clear Dollar Stamps images, and who are FRESH and FUN people!

4. The FEATURED FRIEND will receive ONE free stamp set of his/her choice from that months releases, as a gift!  No samples required, but of course, if you are selected to be a CDS Featured Friend, we know that you will probably WANT to use your new stamps and show them off eventually!

5. The FEATURED FRIEND will get a full blog post dedicated to featuring THEM, right here at Clearly iStamp.  We will select some projects from his/her online gallery or blog and display them here along with making sure to link their blogs, galleries, and telling everyone HOW we found them, as well as telling everyone a little bit ABOUT them.

6. The Featured Friend will be notified via email approximately 2 weeks prior to the 10th to be informed that THEY are our selected Featured Friend, and will be asked to answer a few questions about themselves and their stamping life.

So just keep on creating with CDStamps and posting on your blog and public galleries, and we WILL find you!  Who knows.... YOU could be the next CDS FEATURED FRIEND right here!

THE CDS FEATURED FRIEND FOR SEPTEMBER 2009 is

TERRICA TURNER!!

We found Terrica on SCS.  She started making a Charlie the horse book and posting all the pages for that in her SCS gallery, as well as creating many more fabulous works of art using CDS stamps.

We asked Terrica a few stamping questions so that we all could get to know her better.  Here is a little about Terrica:

1. How and when did you discover stamping?

I went to a SU workshop and was hooked in 1999. My husband was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and I used stamping as a therapy to deal with everything.

2. How would you describe your stamping style?

I like to make each creation for the individual person and put their personality in it.

3. When did you discover Clear Dollar Stamps?

I only discovered CDS less than a year ago but the art was so great and the quality too that coupled with the low cost, I became a dedicated customer right away.

4. What do you like best about Clear Dollar Stamps?

It is hard to pick just one thing but I guess it is the samples of the cards that the great design team puts out, that reels me in and I end up with a huge wish list!

5. Do you have any other hobbies other than stamping?

I also like to scrapbook and cross-stitch. I spend a lot of money and time reading and listening to audio books as well.

Here are some of Terrica's work using Clear Dollar Stamps below, and click HERE to see Terrica's SCS gallery.

One of the many adorable Charlie pages in her Charlie book. This is the Charlie gardens page.

Isn't this spaceship just too cute for words?  She used the Lost in Space stamp set. I love the hanging stars across the top and she did a fabulous job on the coloring and sewing.

Oh I just squealed at how darling this ballerina card is!  Look at the precious sewing and that cute designer paper! She used the My Little Ballerina stamp set.

What a pretty fall looking card she made using the Sunflower Songs!  This was her entry for the September Guest Designer Challenge, and she did an awesome job at the challenge.

And a final note from Terrica:

I am so excited that you want to feature me!!  Thanks for being part of such a great company!! Terrica

Hope your day is filled with blessings and stamping galore!
Lori