Thoughts of You

Hi friends!  I know I still haven't done my "what happened in 2013" post, but I'm back today to share a quick card I made for my friend Lauren whose mother just passed away last week.  I think things are going to be tough for her for a while, so I wanted to send a card to let her know I'm still thinking of her.  I used this week's Poppy Sketches challenge to get me started:

I don't have any Cas-ual Friday stamps, but I didn't do a ton of stamping on my card anyway.  I pulled out all of my mint and peach scraps and started the card off by cutting varying widths of peach cardstock.  I used two shades for interest and made stripes on one end of the card.  Then I cut a long strip of Navajo Bazzill cardstock and cut it into a flag shape.  It seemed a bit too plain for me so I added some washi tape from Target and a bit of twine from We R Memory Keepers.  I clear embossed the sentiment and butterflies, all from Paper Smooches.  I added the Thickers to my banner and popped the butterflies up with foam tape.  For me this is a pretty simple card since I didn't use any patterned paper, but I wanted it to appear soothing.  :)

I hope you enjoy, thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O ) 

Sweet 16

 
Hi everyone!  Just a super quick post today- I've been very busy the last few days working on filling an order for 200 (yes, two HUNDRED!) Thanksgiving cards someone ordered through my Etsy shop.  I still have a long way to go, so most of my free time has been devoted to getting those cards made.

Today's card is one I made a while back for my cousin's sweet 16.  I knew I wanted to use this die-cut by K & Co, but it was so large and busy that I had to keep the background small, so I just ran some cardstock through my Cuttlebug and let that be enough.

 

On the inside, I used another die-cut and created my own sentiment with some Paper Smooches alphabet stamps.  Pretty simple, but I really wanted the focus to be on that fun cake!  Hope you like it, thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Wild About You

Hi friends!  Here's a set of Valentines listed in my Etsy shop that I wanted to share.  I made these last year with the intention of making a variety pack of different animal puns, but I only got as far as these zebra cards, so I decided to just sell them as their own set.  :) 

The stamps are Paper Smooches and the zebra tag/patterned paper are both KI Memories.

I added a heart with foam tape for some dimension.  The colors are really vivid, but I think it fits with the zebra theme.  I hope you like this set, thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Peacock Wedding Card

Hi friends!  Today was a snow day for me, but I really haven't gotten much accomplished today- one of those "just hanging out" kind of days.  I did go to Target and get some washi tape, though.  :)

Today's post is the card I made for my friend Andrea's wedding.  She asked me to make all of her invitations, save the dates, thank you notes, etc., so I'll try to post those items very soon.  She has a thing for peacocks, so I knew I wanted to incorporate that into her wedding card.  Her wedding colors were cobalt, black and silver, and her favorite color is lime green.  Hopefully you can see how I pulled all of those things into her card.  :)

I used lots of different Paper Smooches stamp sets and colored everything with my Copic markers.  The My Peeps stamp set came with only one feather so I had to stamp it several times- the bird is actually "bald" so you can make him a turkey, a peacock, a flamingo, etc.

The main panel was cut out with my Nestabilities and then I traced the shape onto silver paper and hand-cut it for a mat.  Here's a picture of me and all of my high school friends at the wedding (last July):

Hope you like my card, thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Boxed Cards

Good morning, friends!  I mentioned yesterday that my co-workers and I exchange small gifts with each other for Christmas.  I work with so many delightful people, and they all help me do my job in different ways, so I like to give them something from the heart as a way to show my appreciation.  I made 18 sets of cards this year and packaged them in clear boxes so they could see right away what was inside.  I get my boxes from Denami Designs whenever I go to scrapbook shows.  (The cards are 4" x 5.5".)

I used lots of stamps from Paper Smooches and on the sympathy card, a two-step flower from Basic Grey and a sentiment from Impression Obsession.  That card and the birthday card use papers from DCWV and the other two cards feature patterned papers from My Mind's Eye.  All of the cardstock is Papertrey Ink.

I kept the cards simple (because I was in a time-crunch, of course); the only notable technique is the one I used on the birthday card- I stamped the butterflies in a dark ink and then flipped the stamp over and used a lighter ink to color the images.

I tried to keep the colors limited to blues, greens and yellows to give the set a somewhat cohesive look and I'm pretty happy with the results, considering I made 72 cards in two days!  My co-workers really loved the cards, too, and I think they enjoy getting something practical to use!  :)

I hope you enjoy my card sets too, and have a great Saturday!  Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Hello Honey

Hi friends!  I surprised myself with this card AND this blog post!  I was feeling kind of tired after having to get up at 5am again, so I didn't think I would get any cards made tonight, hence the surprises.  :)  Perhaps I'll try a month-long personal challenge to blog every day...?  

Anywho, this card was inspired by a challenge blog I stumbled across several weeks ago called Young Crafters Unite.  Now that the holidays have passed, I thought I'd go back and see what the current challenge was so I could give it a try:

Since I've been feeling kind of "blah" about going back to making single cards again, I thought I should just dive in and get completely stampy.  I think the card turned out a little busy, but I'm okay with that because it's one of my first cards back and I have to cut myself some slack.  :)  

All of the stamps are by Paper Smooches (heart from Needle Little Love, bee hive, sentiments and bee from Bee Mine, honey comb pattern from Geo-Graphic).  In retrospect, I would have either stamped the background in lighter colors or left the stamped panel alone and not added the bee or flag sentiment.  In any event, the bee was colored with my old, dusty Copics- felt good to break those out again!  I didn't have any cardstock in a color close to the magenta ink, so I took a piece of white cardstock and rubbed my ink pad all over it to get a match.  I'm pretty crafty, huh?  (Pun intended!)  ;)  I cut the scrap into a flag shape and stamped the sentiment on top.  The cardstock is PTI Aqua Mist.

You can see the bee a bit better in the photo above.  Okay, so one Valentine's Day card down, many, many more to go!  :)  I hope you like this card, even with all the don't-know-where-to-look-first stamping going on!  Thanks so much for buzzing by!  heh.  I can't stop with the puns!

-Suzanne :O )

Bunny Tails

Hi everyone!  My aunt sent me a project via pinterest last week and I knew right away it was going to be my co-workers' Easter treat!  This is the original post:  http://pinterest.com/pin/267471665339367891/

My take on it includes a Paper Smooches bunny and their alphabet set.  I die-cut a grand Nestabilties Label 1 and folded it in half to make the topper.  I added a ribbon slider with sheer purple ribbon and stuck the bunny on with some foam tape.  A little Copic coloring and I was all set!  Here's a close up:

 


I used a 4x6 clear bag to package the donuts- all in all, a very quick and CUTE project!  I hope you get a kick out of these!  :D


Thanks for stopping by!
-Suzanne :O )

Welcome Baby

Hi everyone!  Here's a baby card I made for my friend last week using those adorable mama and baby elephants by Paper Smooches.  I paper pieced mama and added pink polka dots to baby.  The patterned papers are by atd and the die-cuts were all done with my Nestabilities.  I added some ribbon and gingham buttons to tie the card together.  The sketch is from The Sweet Stop:

I hope you like my card, thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Let's Party

Okay, so I'm on a Paper Smooches kick now.  Who isn't really?!  :)  I made this simple card for a bestie whose birthday is tomorrow.  I used lots of Lime Twist papers by MME and a sketch I drew out one day while I was listening to a presentation at work (she might have been a boring speaker!  LOL).  I colored the dog with my Copics and added a bling-y pom pom to his hat.  I like how this card turned out.. this is also my effort to start using some of the papers I hoard because I like them too much!  :D  Thanks for stopping by, friends!


-Suzanne :O )  

Let's shell-ebrate!

Hi friends!  How cute is this little turtle friend from Paper Smooches!??  I have to admit I've been neglecting my PS stamps.  They keep coming every month and it's hard to keep up!  :)  I made this card for my cousin who's turning 26 this week.  I decided not to try and tone down the cutesy since this is my style and it's what I do best.  I think it'll make him smile, don't you??  I used lots of patterned papers from Imaginisce's B-Day Bash line and kraft cardstock.  I discovered a little trick, by the way.  I had die-cut the kraft cardstock into a scalloped circle but the kraft got washed out behind the green circle, so I colored the scalloped circle with a dark brown Copic marker and voila!  A contrasting color in a flash!  :D  I'll be using that shortcut again, for sure!  The sketch is courtesy of Sweet Sunday:

I'm digging this week's sketch so much I think I'm going to use it again tonight to make another birthday card!  :D  I hope you like my spunky card, thanks SO much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

hopin' for carrots!

Hi friends!  I'm just popping in to share a silly card with you today!  This bunny and carrot are from a brand spankin' new Paper Smooches set called "a little lovin" and the present is from "santa paws."  The thought bubble was created with a little masking from the "sugar rush" set (I used the foam on the ice cream soda) and the bubbles from "birthday buddies."  This bunny cracks me up alone, but when I had the idea to make him look like he's REALLY hoping there's a carrot in at least ONE of those presents, he made me giggle even more!!  :D

The sentiment is from "sentiment sampler"- I guess I ended up using quite a few Paper Smooches sets for this one little card, but it's proof that all the sets are so interchangeable.  :)  The papers are MME Lime Twist and I used a scrap of lime green K&Co paper for the matting.


I hope you get a kick out of this card; it's going to my boyfriend's 17 year old brother- teenage boys are like the toughest of the tough for me when it comes to making cards, but hopefully CJ will smile when he opens his card.  :)  Hope you have a great day, thanks for stopping by!!


-Suzanne :O )

Way to go

Hi there!  I'm back again to share this card I made for my oldest brother.  He has spent the last four years taking classes to become a journeyman and he recently passed his certification test (he's a welder) so my family took him out for a celebratory dinner and gave him this card.  I made it when I still had my 4th of July supplies handy, so I thought it would be fun to group some stars together for the focal point.  The stamps are from Hobby Lobby and I used different Colorbox inks to coordinate with the MME patterned papers (Lime Twist- Fly a Kite).  I popped them up on different thicknesses of foam tape- hopefully you can see that in the photo below:

The sketch is based off of June's SFYTT, which I'm a little bitter about because I was too late to submit my card- rats!  I had the card made but I hadn't taken the picture and posted it in time, so now I'm out of the running for the grand prize in December, but that's my own fault.  I can always play again next year. :)  Anyway, onto the sketch!

For that bottom strip, I stamped the Paper Smooches sentiment a few times to punctuate the card's purpose.  My brother is a pretty humble and modest guy, so I wanted to get really festive with this card- it has been FOUR years, after all!  :)

I hope you enjoy this bright and cheerful card, thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Stack of Chubby Chums!

Hi there!  Just poppin' in to share the birthday card I made for Chris a couple of weeks ago.  I used Paper Smooches' Chubby Chums set and colored the chums with my copics.  Then I cut them out and stacked them on top of each other in order of weight.  The festive papers are DCWV's The Celebration Stack and the sentiment was pieced together from Chubby Chums and Sentiment Samples.  I also added some brads from my stash, but all together, it was a pretty simple card!  The stamps are so darn cute that I wanted them to take center stage.  :)  I hope you're having a great Friday, thanks for stopping by!


-Suzanne :O )

Nursing Home Card Kits

Hi friends!  I've been teaching card classes at the nursing home where my mom volunteers for the last 3 months, so I wanted to share with you how I do that.  On the first Saturday of the month, I bring 12 card kits and then my mom runs around trying to gather people up.  Having a sign up sheet wouldn't work as people don't feel well, fall asleep, have visitors, etc.  I think my biggest group so far was 10 people, but I always make 12 kits since I have lots of  DCWV/MME/K&Co stacks that give you 3 sheets of each pattern.  I get 4 cards out of each sheet, hence the 12 kits.  


Anyway, this first picture was taken so you could see my mass production in progress.  Tying ribbons or handling small objects is hard for the group I work with, so they basically just glue the pieces together.  Below you can see where I was adding the green brads to the sentiment so that the pink piece was already put together for them.  :)  

Here's the first kit, a sympathy card.  The paper is K&Co, the stamps are Impression Obsession and I'm not sure if you can tell I embossed the off-white pieces, but it's got a damask design.

Next up is a get well soon card featuring Inky Antics stamps.  More K&Co paper and lots of Nestabilities used here.  I also paper pieced the turtle's blanket to match the patterned paper.

I started my class off with this card as the layout was very simple.  A Paper Smooches sentiment and some DCWV patterned paper paired up with some bright cardstocks make for a fun thank you note.

Last but not least is this cutie pie hedgehog by Penny Black (he was a big hit yesterday!).  More Nestabilities and DCWV paper used here, along with Target's dollar spot brads.

I thought you might want to see how the cards would look when they were assembled, so I just layered the pieces quickly so I could photograph them (that's why they're not all lined up; I just wanted to give you an idea)  :)

A deep turquoise-y-green ribbon was added to this card at the last minute, right over the off-white piece.  I tied the ribbon right before I started the class- it needed that extra embellishment, even though I try to stay away from things they can't manage.  

My mom could only round up 3 people yesterday because the nursing home was running a Bingo program at the same time- I can't compete with that!! :)  It went well though, one lady was 101 (!) and one man had had a stroke, so he couldn't use his left arm.  My mom and I were able to give them lots of attention, which we can't always do when we have a larger group.  


It's a little time consuming to make these card kits, but I *really* love using up my older supplies.  I'm always amazed out how much I end up liking papers I desperately wanted to get rid of after I use them in a kit!  :P  It's been really rewarding to do these classes and give back to my community in a way that suits me.  I hope to keep doing these classes as long as I have people interested!  


Thanks for taking a peek into my latest card making venture!  Hope you're having a great weekend!


-Suzanne :O )


PS-  Have extra kits is fine with me, I'll just assemble them myself and sell them at my next craft fair! :D

You Rock

Hi friends!  My crafting mojo seems to have come back a little bit, but that's because there are so many birthdays in May and June that I have to create whether I want to or not!  :)  I made this card for my cousin's son who is turning 9, I believe.  I used lots of new-to-me papers by Imaginisce that I picked up at the scrapbook show a couple of weeks ago.  I believe they were 20 cents a sheet- I thought that was a pretty good price for a line that's only a year or so old!  I used the Sweet Sunday sketch for this week:

The sentiment is by Paper Smooches, but I'm realizing now that there's not a whole lot going on besides the patterned paper!  I hope you enjoy my card, thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

PS- Chris put my AC in today, so now I can craft in my room comfortably!  Yessss!