Use It! #7/Card Patterns #11

Hi everyone! Here's the birthday card I made for my oldest brother. I'm going to be extremely short on time for a while (I'll explain why tomorrow!) so I combined two challenges into this one card. The sketch is based on CPS #11 and the "card parts" are from this week's Use It! challenge, hosted by Anja. She asked us to use:

1. a black or white card base (check! black paper from the dollar store)
2. 4 different papers by different brands (check! blue argyle- unknown; green- Miss Elizabeth's; brown- unknown; red- The Paper Company) I used all scraps- yay! (hence me not knowing some of the papers ;) )
3. a non-scrap item (check! I had a tough time with this until I realized I needed to think of something that was NOT in my craft space. Then I had the bright idea to see what was in the bathroom, and I thought gauze would make a fun background)
4. doodling (check! I'm not good at this, but I tried my hand at it around the edge w/ a silver Making Memories pen)
5. supplies you have laying around (check! I used some brads that have been sitting on my desk since Christmas. :-X Otherwise my desk is neat, I promise!!! :P

I also used a clear journaling sticker by American Crafts, some buttons from my stash, ribbon from Michael's, and stamps and a gem by Inkadinkado. This was a tough challenge for me, but I like the way the card turned out, especially with the gauze! :) Thanks for stopping by, hope you like my card!

-Suzanne :O )

Mojo #82

Hi again! I needed several thank you cards for people who sent food/gifts/mass cards for my grandmother's passing. I really wanted to make them all the same and use up my stash at the same time, so after some searching around through my supplies, I came up with some K&Co papers (except for the Basic Grey blue square and WorldWin brown and beige cardstocks), Mrs. Grossman clear stickers (thank you sentiment), American Crafts chipboard dove and ribbon from Michael's. I also used my Fiskars border punch and Shape Cutter (for the oval) and EK Success scalloped square punch. Once I had the first card done, the rest went pretty quickly. It still feels SO good to use up my older supplies :D Now all I have to do is fill out the cards! ;) Thanks for stopping by, hope you like my creations :)

-Suzanne :O )

TECC #64

Hi everyone! Quick post tonight- I made another thinking of you card for my cousin. I tried to make it masculine, but I don't think I succeeded. Eh. All supplies are Making Memories except for the brown cardstock (WorldWin), Hero Arts stamps (the stamp on the flower says Happy Wishes) and Colorbox ink. Hope you like it, thanks for stopping by :)

-Suzanne :O )

Use It! #6

Hi everyone! First off, I want to thank everyone who left condolences and kind messages for me, I appreciate it more than words can express. Your support certainly helped eased the pain of my loss, so here's a huge HUG and sincere THANK YOU to all of you. :)

Now on to more fun topics! This week's Use It! challenge was perfect timing- my mom needed a card to send her cousin who just had quadruple bi-pass surgery. He's in his fifties or sixties, so I didn't want to do anything TOO cutesy (but I couldn't help making it just a teensy-weensy cutesy- that's just my style!) so I knew the challenge would help me make this card.

Regan asked us to:

1.Go out of your comfort zone: check! Masculine get well card.

2.Use something you’ve been hoarding for a while: check! check! check! I'm counting the beige grid paper by Provo Craft that my super generous aunt sent me, the American Crafts ribbon (I only have 6 inches or so left- yay!) and the vellum sticker by K&Co that I put on the inside of the card, all as hoarded items. It feels SOOOOO good to use stuff- lord knows why I've been saving it! And there was a bonus too w/ the paper- it's a bit older, so for some reason I had tucked it away, thinking it wasn't really my taste, but I really wanted beige paper, so I begrudgingly took it out, and to my surprise all of the patterns are totally useable and fun! Yesssss :D

3.Use some of your new favorite things..paper, embellishments whatever: check! I've been obsessed w/ the DCWV Green Stack papers and chipboard.

4. Heat Embossing: check! I don't do this as much as I should, but I used white embossing powder on the Hero Arts sentiment. I think it looks really fun on the woodgrain background :)

If you are interested in playing along, I know Rae would *love* to see your entry! Please check out the blog: http://useitchallenges.blogspot.com I hope you all like this card as much as I do, and thank you to Regan for a fabulous challenge!! :D

-Suzanne :O )

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #63

I made this card for my boyfriend's mother and it's so her. :) I knew I wanted to use the "Queen for a day" sentiment (vellum sticker by K&Co) and crown from Maya Road for her, so I used those as a starting point. I went through my papers and pulled out a never-used-before pack by American Greetings that I bought at the dollar store (8 sheets of patterned papers, 16 sheets of coordinating plain papers and 2 sheets of stickers for a buck! yessss). I added some American Crafts ribbon and Darice gems and voila! A vibrant, spring-y birthday card was made. This is one of my better cards, so I hope Chris' mom likes it! Thanks for stopping by :)

-Suzanne :O )

Mojo Monday #81

I couldn't get a good shot of this card- the color isn't right in the first one, and the second one's blurry, but here's my take on this week's Mojo sketch. I flipped it around a bit because of where "enjoy" is on the tag, but I made this for my friend Lindsay, who's hosting a layout challenge, and I wanted the card to match the layouts I made. All of the paper and sticker supplies are K&Co except for the tag, which is Making Memories. I used a scrap of ribbon (I don't know who makes it), Deja Views brads and a scalloped circle punch by Stampin' Up!. This card was a bit of a challenge for me, as I'm not used to measuring things out. I usually just eyeball it, but I didn't think the background panels would turn out right if I didn't measure them. It felt so good to have free time to craft again, but now I feel like I can't get enough! lol I'll post my take on this week's Taylored Expressions sketch in a little while. Until then...

-Suzanne :O )

Just dropping you a line...

Hi everyone. I'm leaving today for a couple of days for my grandmother's wake and cremation service out on Long Island. Last night in between packing I just had to find a little creative time. My mom wanted another card to send to my cousin, and since I'm short on time this week, I combined two challenges: Use It! #5 and Card Patterns #9.

1. Dig out those OLD scrapbook die-cuts. The green square is a Colorbok die-cut (I have a HUGE stack of them) that I punched with my EK Success border punch.
2. Here's another OLD challenge.....

scrounge around and find a piece of patterned paper that you've been hanging onto for a minimum of two years. The yellow paper is by Provo Craft, one of the first pads of patterned paper I ever bought.

3. Think back to that tool or technique you used to use ALL the time.....

Bring it back to life. I'm not sure I ever had a technique I used ALL the time, but I haven't paper pieced in a while- the fish AND the bowl are both done using that technique :)
4. Have you bought something recently that was on clearance?

Let's incorporate that into this challenge too. The Amy Butler die-cut was bought on clearance ($1.97?)

I bought the fishbowl stamp at Goodwill some time last year for $2.99 and this is the first time I've used it- I KNEW it would come in handy :) I finished off with some buttons and Target ribbon. I also used Colorbox chalk ink for the sentiment and inking around the die-cut and some scalloped-edge scissors- haven't used those in a LONG time. I really like how this card turned out, I think that fish is super cute! Thanks for checking in... I'll be back to posting more frequently once this week is over :)

-Suzanne :O )

<3 Grandma

About a week ago, I posted the card I made for my grandmother's birthday. I'm happy to say that we celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks early (we surprised her with tickets to see Hairspray at West Point) because she passed away yesterday morning, ten days before her 94th birthday. We were never close when I was young, so I'm glad I got to spend her last eight months with her. I have many fond (and funny!) memories of our time together, and I'm going to miss her dearly. I wish her nothing but peace and love as she reunites with her family that she's been dreaming of for so long.

On a lighter note, I've been meaning to post this card that I made for Grandma to give one of her friends. We had gone out to lunch the day I bought the journaling stickers, which I showed her at lunch, and she asked me to use the bird sticker on the card:
I used mostly Making Memories Chloe's Closet products on this card: patterned papers (the beige polka dot is packaging from some MM product), clear overlay, journaling sticker, and brad. The Prima flowers and the American Crafts ribbon matched perfectly, so I threw those in there too. The outside sentiment is by Scrappy Cat and the inside sentiment is Hero Arts, stamped on another one of the journaling stickers.


I really like the look of stamping right on the sticker, it makes everything coordinate, without looking like I tried too hard! :) My grandmother was so cute, she used to send my cards back to me if I didn't sign the back. At first I thought it was a bother, but I think she liked to show me off! :) Once I saw that after I had stamped "Made by: Suzanne" she had written "my granddaughter" :)

Anyway, I hope you like this card as much as I do, thanks for stopping by.

-Suzanne :O )

Use It #4

Hi everyone! Here's my Use It #4 card. We were asked by the lovely Judy to use:

Scraps of any kind -

check! As you can see, I have many short scraps of ribbon, some are only about 2 inches! It was time to *use them*! I also only used scraps of paper on this card. The aqua is K&Co, the pink is Making Memories and I think the Easter Egg one is Provo Craft, but I'm not sure.

Punches and/or die cuts -

check! I used my Fiskars border punch.

Two or more different ribbons -

check! 3 ribbon scrappies were used :)

One or more embellishments that you once loved and use a lot, but haven't used for a long time -

This one was tough for me, but I finally came up with staples. I used to use them all the time, especially when attaching vellum, but I haven't in a while. So, I added tons of Making Memories aqua staples haphazardly, to look somewhat like messy stitching.

I'm not sure about the image, it came in a swap, but I colored it a bit with my watercolor pencils. I've been using mostly pastels for my Easter cards, so I thought it would be fun to use bright colors this time ;) Hope you like, and thanks to Judy for a neat challenge!

-Suzanne :O )