birthday scrappies

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post a few birthday cards I made... some were for challenges, which I LOVE because they make me try new things. For all three of these cards I used scraps, which I've been doing a lot lately. I have an accordion folder STUFFED with scraps, so I've been trying to whittle that down. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something, but then I look at my drawers filled with 12x12 sheets of paper and I realize I'm never going to be able to use it all! LOL I'm feeling too lazy to list all of the products I used, but if you have any questions, just ask! I hope you enjoy my latest creations! Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Amateur photog

Hi everyone! I wanted to share with you this picture I took a few days ago. This flower is in my backyard, I have no idea what kind it is, but I thought it was gorgeous. I'm not a fan of photo cards, but if I was, this would be a great photo to use- I could use a rub-on sentiment somewhere on the left side and I would be all set! When I saw how this picture came out, I was reminded again of how grateful I am to my boyfriend for buying me this camera! :D I hope you enjoy.. thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

First Birthday Card

I have two brothers- my oldest brother doesn't usually use my cards, but my other brother does. Friday night my oldest brother went to go shopping for his friend's son's birthday party the next day, so in the course of chatting with him about what he was going to get for a gift, he asks if I can make a card! We bickered back and forth (lovingly, of course!) for a bit about how I thought he didn't like to use my cards, but he swore that wasn't true and that he just used one for his girlfriend's graduation (I know I didn't make one), but anyway, long story short, he needed a card for the next day. I didn't want to be crunched for time Saturday morning, so I made the card Friday night even though I was tired and planned on watching bad tv :) I bought the chipboard hippo in a pack of 18 or so from Walmart a year or so ago, and a couple of months ago I found matching paper on clearance, so I put them together (don't you love when you find matching pieces!?) :D I was looking through my swap items and I found this tiny orange hat, which was the perfect size for my hippo friend, so I glued that on him and added some colorful gems :) I matted the piece on mint green paper from the same paper pack, and traced and glued more of that paper on a Basic Grey chipboard "1". I stamped tiny cupcakes on the paper and filed the edges so it would fit perfectly over the chipboard. My only regret is that I didn't ink the "1" with black ink so it would stand out better, but I guess there's always room for improvement. I had a rub-on that said "Happy Birthday to You!", so I used that for the inside of the card. My brother has known his friend Louise since they were in kindergarten together, so I wanted to make this card especially cute :D I hope she and her husband liked it! I hope you all do, too! Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne : O )

PS- when Michael was born, the birth announcement said "There's a new sherrif in town!", which I thought was SOOOO cute. So what did my brother get for Michael's gift? A cowboy hat and outfit, of course! TOO CUTE! :D :D :D

Cards for Heroes

Hi everyone! I'm a big fan of the Hero Arts blog (I have a link posted to the left) and I thought I'd post this information on my blog. What's written below is by Jennifer McGuire... I hope you'll consider donating some cards :) It's a great reason for me to use up some of my many, MANY Christmas supplies! Especially after Christmas, I go nuts buying things on clearance and then I have way too much stuff :) Ok, here's Jennifer explaining everything:

-Suzanne :O )

I heard of a great website called Cards For Heroes. This sites mission is “to support our nation’s armed forces by sending greeting cards on which deployed troops can write home, as well as cards full of gratitude sent to injured heroes recovering in hospitals.” I started talking to Sandy Allnock, the site’s generous and talented president, and we thought that it would be fun to collect the holiday cards for this weeks Hero Arts Blog challenge.

If you would like to participate, you can send your card(s) to the address below. (The cards can either have a message written in them for a soldier, or the cards can be blank so that the soldiers can write in them and send them home to their families.) We will collect them and send them via Cards For Heroes to soldiers overseas. (For all of you stampers who aren’t in the USA, you are welcome to still send them in to us or pass them on to a program in your own country. I am collecting a list of contacts for each country, so you can also email me at jennifer(a)heroarts.com if you would like that information.) On September 30th, we will randomly pick three winners from the cards that were sent in and will send the winners a Hero Arts Let It Snow Clear Design stamp set (see image below)! So, send those cards in. Here is the address:

Jennifer McGuire
Heroes Card Drive
PO Box 428612
Cincinnati, OH 45242

Fabulous Fall

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some handmade embellishments I made for a swap (fall themed, of course). The embellishments are maybe 2.5" x 3.5"? I should have measured before I mailed them off, but I didn't intend to make them ATC size, I just wanted them to be big enough to accommodate the Autumn Leaves stamp. The paper is DCWV, the brads are by Making Memories and the ribbon is by American Crafts. I really had fun with this project because the was the first time I was able to craft in my bedroom (I had to move all of my supplies into my bedroom when Grandma moved in). It was so nice to have everything I needed at my fingertips :) This was a great project for using up some ribbons, too! I've had most of these ribbons for a couple of years now, so I was glad to use them up so the people I send cards too don't have to keep seeing the same ribbons year after year! :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little embellishments. Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Congrats card

Hi everyone! This is a quick little card I made for my brother's girlfriend- she just started a new job as a counselor at a drug rehab. I didn't really know what to use as an image, but I've decided I have to start showing off my patterned paper more- let THAT be the focal. :) I was thinking I wanted to do black and white with a couple of pops of color, so I pulled out the black and white papers from my scrap folder, and then I found the pink chipboard flower in my "junk drawer". I only say that because it's my drawer of things I don't know where else to put. I had one last jewel laying around, so I used that as the "flower bud". I had a strip of green paper in my scrap folder and I used the reverse side of a photo mat to match the flower and also frame the black and white paper. On the inside, I used a rub-on that says "congrats". The pinks and green are much more vivid in person, of course, but I always end up making my cards at night when the light isn't great. Hopefully you get the idea, though :) I just wanted to share this simple, but dramatic card- I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by :)

-Suzanne :O )