super belated Thanksgiving

Hi everyone! Here are the Thanksgiving cards I've been meaning to post for over a month now- oops! I like how both of these cards turned out- I've really been working on my layouts, and trying to display multiple patterned papers on one card. I had the "forever on thanksgiving day..." quote sticker from last year and when I pulled out my supplies, I knew exaclty what embellishments to use with the quote. The house is by Maya Road and the felt heart and white heart brad are by Making Memories. The papers are all by DCWV and the copper brads are by Michaels. Hopefully you can tell that I used my cuttlebug, too :)

On the second card, I used more DCWV papers, a Making Memories leather flower, a Prima flower and a turkey stamp by Fiskars. Those are the same copper brads, and the orange one is Making Memories. I used my cuttlebug again, but you can see that I dont' have many embossing folders (I now own two- yay!) lol Anyway, I hope you enjoy my Thanksgiving cards even though I'm posting them so late. Thanks for popping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Jingle Bells

Hi everyone! It's been a minute since I last posted, mostly because I've been too busy to upload and edit my new photos. I promise I'll get around to that eventually, but here's a card from last year that didn't need TOO much cropping. I used the bells from Doodlebug's wedding stamp set and turned them into silver "jingle bells" :) The blue snowburst and red papers are by DCWV and the tree paper is by Rob & Bob Studio. The sentiment stickers (jingle bells and merry christmas) are by Pinecone Press. I really loved those stickers- they came on a 12x12 sheet with images, sentiments and faux ribbon- it made it SO easy to make cards last year :) Anyway, I hope to find time tomorrow to upload pictures of my RECENT projects- I'll probably be snowed in again so I'll have plenty of time! Until then..

-Suzanne :O )

Tamara's decor gift set

Hi everyone! I made this gift set for one of my besties last year for Christmas. I thought it would be fun to make a little decor set for her apartment, and since she lives in Florida, I thought sunny colors would be appropriate. :) I bought the wood frame at AC Moore, I believe, and it was pretty inexpensive (a couple of bucks, I think). I glued some K&Co paper onto it, then cut off the excess with a blade (I did the same on the inside of the frame since there was no glass). Then I used some Making Memories paint to distress the edges and added a couple of red buttons from American Crafts. The votive candle holders were really simple- I cut a couple of strips of paper, would them around the glass and added some more buttons. The glass wasn't straight around, so I kind of like how the paper turned up and made an X-like trim. Lastly, I took an old cocoa tin (given to me by the same friend I was making the set for!) and wrapped more matching paper around it. I thought it would add interest to randomly fold the paper and sand the folds for a distressed, worn look. I cut out a circle for the lid and added one last red button. Inside the tin was a candle, and I sent matching votive candles to go in the glass holders. The matching papers and red buttons really helped to keep the items looking like they should be a set. I loved how this project came out, so I thought I would share it here, even though it's old. :o ) I hope you enjoy it too, and thanks for popping by!

-Suzanne :O )

tagasaurus!

Hi everyone! I'm a little behind on posting this, but the fabulous and super talented Heidi Van Laar tagged me and now it's time to play along! (By the way, if you haven't checked out Heidi's blog, you should stop reading this immediately and go check it out.) Alright, so step one is complete. Yay! Step two is going to be a little more difficult, but I'll try:

Fact #1: I went on vacation for the first time when I was 19 or 20. My friend's family has a house in Maine and she invited "the girls"- we had a blast doing nothing! Up until then, our family "vacations" were soccer tournaments. We went all over the east coast, but never stayed more than 2 or 3 days, and rarely got to sight-see or do other tourist-y things.

Fact #2: I don't like chocolate. I can tolerate candy bars, brownies and chocolate chip cookies, but can't stand chocolate ice cream, cake, milk or dark chocolate. BLECH. :)

Fact #3: I was voted "funniest" my senior year of high school, thanks to my sarcasm. I've changed my attitude considerably, but I still love making people laugh.

Fact #4: I'm scared of the dark! A while ago, we lost power, and I had to light a candle so I could go back to sleep. (I usually sleep by the glow of my monitor or tv.)

Fact #5: I'm patiently waiting for Blossom to come out on DVD. It was my favorite tv show as a kid and I still have a crush on Joey Lawrence. Old habits die hard.

Fact #6: I'm a lazy crafter. I prefer store bought die-cuts to my Cricut machine and even to stamping. I hate the clean up afterwards and I'm always looking for fast, easy results.

Fact #7: I saved the weirdest fact for last. I love finishing things up, for example, shampoo bottles, post-it notes, lotion, you name it. Well actually, it's only things that take me a long time to finish, so if I ate a banana, that wouldn't give me the same satisfaction as finishing up a pack of brads. ;) I'm not sure why this is, maybe because it makes me feel like I'm cleaning out? I don't know, but it's definitely one of my quirks. :)

Well, I think I'm going to have a tough time with part #3, because a lot of people have already been tagged, but I will do my best. I hope to post my Thanksgiving cards soon, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading through my randomness and thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

simple thanks

thank
Hi everyone! I'm in the midst of editing pictures of the most recent cards I've made, including several for Thanksgiving which I hope to post soon. Today I wanted to post a card I made for my brother to give to a co-worker. I didn't want it to be too feminine, but he was giving it to a female co-worker so I didn't want it to be too masculine either (it's so hard to find that balance!) Anyway, I think I managed to do that with this card, which I left blank on the inside. I used papers from me & my BIG ideas, an old embellishment from Target's dollar spot, and a rub-on sentiment from Gartner Studios. I've had the circular embellishment for several years, when Target first introduced scrapbooking supplies to the dollar spot, and I didn't know quite what to use it for. I thought this would be an appropriate time to use it since it's sparkly (feminine) but has masculine tones. Plus, I LOVE that I was able to use something up :D As far as the layout, I've really been trying to find ways to display my patterned papers and let them stand on their own. I used some scraps and played around until I found a balance between all the pieces. I love this card's simplicity and I hope you will too. Thanks for popping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Friends!

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this card I made for my "secret sister" at the Paper Crafts website where I used to swap. For 3 months we had to send cards and packages but the other person didn't know who was sending the goodies :) This was the final card I sent, using Jess' favorite colors. It turned out to look very summery, but I really like how this turned out. I'm not sure who made the green and turquois papers, as I got them in swaps, but the magenta paper is by me and my BIG ideas. The orange tape is by Martha Stewart. The white "friends" rub-on is from Basic Grey, and the flowers are Primas. I used a circle punch by EK Success on white cardstock to put behind the flowers... I think the white accents work well with the tropical colors I used. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this card as much as I do. Thanks for popping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Wedding Shower Gift Packaging and Matching Card

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share what I did for my oldest brother a couple of weeks ago. He walked in the kitchen with a comforter and asked if I would wrap it for the wedding shower to which he was invited (lesbian wedding, he's one of the best men, and men are invited to the bridal shower- got it?) :) Okay, so my first thought was, where did you buy that? He told me Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and then I said "Okay. Did you use a coupon? I bet that was at least $100". To which he replied "No, and it was $250". So, being the amazing sister that I am, I went digging through the paper recyclable bin to find a coupon for BB&B. I couldn't find one, but then my mom looked in our Entertainment book (you know, the fundraiser book filled with coupons?) and she found a coupon. Whew! My brother took the bedding back to the store, "returned it", and then bought it again and saved himself $50. THEN I agreed to wrap it for him. :) By the way, Matty's not allowed to wrap anymore- the last time he did, my otherwise calm and easy-going brother got frustrated, punched a hole in the wall and had to get a couple of stitches. Nice. So, I went to see if we had any appropriate paper for a bridal shower, but found we only had anniversary paper. I pulled out my go-to-in-cases-of-emergency-blank-white-roll-of-paper and took out my Doodlebug wedding stamps (LOVE Doodlebug!). First I measured out how much paper I would need (a LOT as it turned out- I had to cut pieces to tape to the ends b/c the comforter was way bigger than the paper, but I made do) and then I randomly stamped wedding bells and "wedding". The "shower" stamp is by Rubber Soul and came from a baby set. (Don't you love when you can use bits and pieces from different sets!?) :D My mom is the ribbon lady when it comes to wrapping packages- I don't really have the patience for it, so she did that part, and then I swooped in with the decorative tag. I punched a black scalloped circle with my Marvy Uchida 3" punch and glued the chipboard tag by Around the Block (LOVE these tags, they're seriously amazing) to the circle. I tied some black polka dotted ribbon to the package, and voila! C'est magnifique! :) Then I turned my attention to making the card, and I wanted them to coordinate, so I used the wedding bells stamp again. I added some color with a gel pen (to the heart and flourish on the bells) and used scraps of paper to make up the layout. I painted a chipboard heart by Making Memories with some silver acrylic paint also by MM and added the "wedding shower" rub-on by Creative Imaginations and the front was all finished. I added a "best wishes" sentiment to the inside and I had made a quick and easy card to match the packaging! I don't know if my brother liked the gift wrap or the card because he's pretty quiet, but the fact that he asked me to make him a card was a compliment in itself, because he usually buys his own cards. (Remember my post about the "first birthday" card and how he rarely asks me to make cards? Well we had the same discussion again, and he seems to think it's only wedding cards that he buys on his own, so I'll have to keep track now) ;) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my ensemble- thanks for popping by! :D

-Suzanne :O )

Apple Picking!

Hey everyone! Just a quick post tonight- I went apple picking with my boyfriend and his family a couple of weekends ago and I just wanted to share a couple of pictures. I wish I had taken more, but I went apple picking two years ago and I didn't want the pictures to seem redundant. Anyway, enjoy us being goofy! Thanks for popping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Halloween bags

Hi everyone! I made these quick & easy bags last week to give my lovely co-workers a Halloween treat (leaf-etched candle holders with "pumpkin pie" candles). I bought the plain colored bags at Walmart (I believe Hallmark makes them- they were in the gift bag aisle and were only 20 cents a piece!) and randomly stamped them. The orange and purple bags feature stamps from Target's dollar spot, and the stamp on the green bag is by Inkadinkado. This was my first time using Target stamps, and I wasn't sure how that was going to go since they're so cheap- the spider didn't stamp perfectly, but otherwise they were fine. I thought they were going to be worse, to be honest. :) Anyway, I made coordinating tags using watercolor pencils, scraps of ribbon, googlie eyes and "Just for you" metal embellishments by All My Memories. This was a really easy project and sometimes I think the presentation is better than the actual gift! LOL My co-workers really enjoyed their bags and I hope you do, too! :D Thanks for popping by!

-Suzanne :O )

card collection: Halloween '08

Kylie's Halloween Memory Game

Hi everyone! First of all, Happy Halloween! I'm super excited about this post because I worked really hard on it and I LOVE how it turned out :D I made this little game for my brother's god-daughter (my god-niece, if you will) who just turned 3. I started this project before I started working in mid-September, so I was really ahead of the game, which is unusual for me. I was able to do the project in a couple of hours because it was super easy- yessssssss! :) I used a Marvy Uchida 2" scalloped circle punch, and a 1 1/2" circle punch from EK Success to make the bases for the playing pieces, and then I used bits and scraps of various embellishments to make the "matches". I had so much fun, I almost didn't want to stop at 24 pieces, but I figured that was enough of a challenge for a 3 year old- LOL! True to my character, I waited until the last minute to decorate the "box"- (an old Altoid tin) and so it didn't really turn out how I wanted it to. I would have painted it black if I had had more time, but my mom wanted to get Kylie's package in the mail. Maybe some day I'll learn not to procrastinate! ;) The best part about this whole project though was Kylie calling the other day to say "I love my memory game! Thank you soooo much! It's AWEsome! An' I found alllll de MAT-ches!" :D :D :D It totally made my day, she's such a cutie! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my memory game and had a happy Halloween! :D Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Putrid Punch

Hi everyone! A quick post tonight- these are the recipe cards I made for Heidi's swap on the PCMB. The checkered paper is Making Memories, the purple is by DCWV and the bone die-cuts are by K&Company. The polka dot paper I got in a swap and my mom had the gold brads sitting around in a drawer in my kitchen- how dare she hold out on me?! :D The stamp is by Stampin' Up! which I colored with watercolor pencils. I'm not too thrilled with how that came out- if I had it to do over again I would have stamped/colored on white paper and cut the image out. I added little googlie eyes to the frog (if I was in that "stew" my eyes would probably roll too! ;)) and used a scalloped square punch by EK Success. I love doing layouts like this because it helps me use up my patterned papers- yesssss! Anyway, I hope you enjoy, even though the recipe sounds so disgusting! :D Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Merci

Hi everyone! This is one of my first attempts at the "shabby chic" look. I got the blue/pink roses paper from my super thoughtful and generous aunt who sent me a box full of scrapbooking goodies she got at a yard sale. That paper and the blue plaid paper are Daisy D's and the cream swirls paper is by K&Co. The green photo corners and tag are by Making Memories. I'm not sure who made the paper ribbon (multi-colored circles)- I got it at a scrapbooking yard sale sponsored by my LSS, but there was no label on it. I used a stamp by Fiskars (birthday gift from my boyfriend :) ) and stamped it with some pink chalk ink by Colorbox. I'm not really a huge fan of tying thread through button holes- this was the first time I did it, and it was more effort than I like to put into my cards, so I'm not sure I'll keep doing it, but I'm glad I tried it. Anyway, I really like how all the different elements came together on this card. This really isn't my style, but it's so pretty and I just might have to keep dabbling! :) I hope you enjoy my efforts; thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Using Up Old Supplies

Hi everyone! I just wanted to do a quick post and show some cards I made recently with old supplies. The baby card I made from a card kit, and I can't even remember where I got it now- I want to say Joann's but I could be wrong. The inside sentiment is from K & Company.

The birthday card I made using some old balloon embellishments I bought on clearance at a greeting card store. The candles/cake paper came in a book (yes, a book) of patterned paper that I bought on clearance (loooove clearance!) at Walden Books. The lime green paper I embossed with my new Cuttlebug, which was a birthday gift from my parents. I haven't had time to play around with it much, but I'm sure it'll quickly become a new favorite tool! :D The ribbon is by Offray and came in a little pack that I bought at the dollar store (looooove the dollar store too, especially when they have scrapbooking supplies!).

It's interesting how "passe" these cards look to me, but I think it's fun to challenge myself to use what I already have. I have soooo many supplies and I really want to use my old stuff so I can use the things that are more my current style. These aren't my best cards, but I wanted to post them anyway.

I'm curious to know how you all feel about your old supplies- still love them? Are they gathering dust? Are you embarrassed to use them anymore? Maybe I should post a challenge on making your old supplies new... stay tuned! Thanks for stopping by, and leave a comment if you have a minute!

-Suzanne :O )