TESC #79

Hi everyone! I'm getting closer and closer to the dates of my craft fairs, so I haven't been able to post much :( I used this week's Taylored Expressions sketch to help me make a set of birthday cards. I used tons of Making Memories papers (Boho Chic) and green cardstock by DCWV. The stamps are as follows:

Cupcake stand: Studio g
"Let's eat": Studio g
"yum scale": Stampin' Up!

I used my EK Success circle punches, my Fiskars border punch, and my Copic markers. I'm trying to get better at using them, but I don't have too many colors (yet!), so the going is slow. Hope you like my cards, and thanks for bearing with me! I hope to post a LOT more once my shows are done! :D

-Suzanne :O )

Use It! #23/Mojo Turns 100 Day 2

Hi everyone! I haven't been able to post much as work is SUPER busy and I've been slaving away at making cards for my craft fairs. The weather has also been wicked, so I haven't felt like doing too much! :) Anyway, here are some combined challenges- the sketch is Mojo Monday and the supplies list is from Regina's Use It! challenge:

1) What is old is new again-
check! I used OLDDDD DCWV brown (gingham?) paper and some K&Co company paisley papers.

2)The eyes have it-
check! Orange eyelets by Making Memories instead of candle flames! :)

3) Neglected stamps-
check! The birthday cake is a dollar bin goodie by Katie & Co. (Michaels).

4)Use a non scrappy item
check! I Cuttlebugged some transparency scraps! I took a close up shot so you could see the embossing. The embossing's not super crisp, but I think you get the idea ;)

I also added some scored-at-a-yard-sale ribbon and colored the image with my watercolor pencils. I used my Fiskars Shape Cutters to cut the white cardstock, a Fiskars border punch, and a corner rounder on the paisley paper. I used staples to keep my transparencies on ;) Hope you like these birthday cards; thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

follow-up to July 2 post...

Remember the apple thank you cards I made for my dad to give to his students? I said I would post all twelve of them and I never did, so here they are:Here's the link to my original post: July 2nd post

I also made nine of these:
DCWV papers, Colorbok chipboard, Hero Arts sentiment, buttons and brads from my stash, and my much-loved aqua ribbon from the dollar store :) I really LOVE mass producing cards, it's such a fun challenge! AND I love using my stash ;) Hope you enjoy these, thanks for checking in!

-Suzanne :O )

Use It!# 22 and TESC#77

Hi everyone! Here's my follow-up to the white ink effect tutorial. I used this week's Taylored Expressions sketch challenge for my layout and the Use It! challenge for my materials. June was hosting this week and she asked us to do 3 things:

1. Try a new technique...
check! white ink effect :)

2. Use a virgin stamp...
check! Michael's got a TONNNN of new clear stamps- these are from their Recollections line, a set called Meow Meow.

3. Use papers you have never used before...
check! I used some DCWV Pet Stack papers (I had only used the dog papers, so I thought it was time to use some cat papers!) :)

I used some cardstock scraps to add a ring of color behind my images and my watercolor pencils to color them in. The "celebrate" stamp is by Close to my Heart. So that's it... another set of cards made for my craft fairs! :D Thanks for stopping by- hope you have an amazing week!

-Suzanne :O )

My first *video*! and mini-tutorial :)

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first (lame) video and mini-tutorial! You will see my embellishments used on this week's Use It! challenge, where we were asked to use a new-to-us technique. I don't know if this technique has a name, but I'm calling it "the white ink effect". :) I'd never tried it before, so I thought I'd document my progress to show you how easy it turned out to be! :)

STEP 1: Stamp your image on white cardstock with Versamark ink. This ink dries slowly and is a bit sticky.

STEP 2: Sprinkle clear embossing powder on top of the stamped image. I used Super Fine Detail powder by Ranger, but any clear powder will do.


STEP 3: Cover the white cardstock with ink. I used Tangerine chalk ink by ColorBox. Swirl it around for even coverage- you want the end result to look like a piece of colored cardstock.


STEP 4: Use a baby wipe to clean off the embossed area. This will remove any excess ink to brighten up the white area.


That's it! Now it looks like you stamped the image with white ink on colored cardstock! Stay tuned to see how I used the "celebrate" pieces on my interpretation of the Use It! challenge.

Check out my very first video- it's super short and poor quality, but I'm thinking about buying a video camera to take my blog to the next level! :) Enjoy, and have a fabulous weekend!

-Suzanne :O )

Card Patterns #26

Hi friends! I used Card Patterns sketch #26 to help me make this bold & bright set of "thinking of you" cards for my craft fair merchandise.

The yellow cardstock is atd, the orange is WorldWin, the kraft cardstock is DMD, the lime green cardstock is Darice and the red flocked patterned paper is Paper Bouquet.

The purple flowers are Prima, the yellow and green flowers came in a swap, but they might be Imaginisce, and the blue chipboard pieces are by American Crafts. I stamped a Hero Arts sentiment on top of them. I also used my Cuttlebug on the kraft cardstock and an EK Success embossing punch on the yellow cardstock.

Hope you enjoy this set, thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Use It! #21/Mojo #98

Hi friends! I have another set of cards to share with you today. I used the Mojo Monday #98 sketch:
Then I gathered up my supplies to fit the Use It! challenge, hosted by Melisa. She asked us to use this picture for inspiration:
She also asked us to a tool we hadn't used in at least 6 months and some alphabet letters. My first thought was "ugh." I wasn't a huge fan of the colors used in the ad, I didn't know which tool to use and I really have no use for alphabet letters. Putting my negative energy aside, I figured I should just suck it up and accept that this is in fact a challenge.

I used the Mojo Sketch to help me settle on some papers and embellishments. I used some sunny yellow paper by Colorbok, blue patterned paper by Stampin' Up!, and yellow patterned paper by K&Co. I also knew I wanted to use that smoky blue ribbon by Offray (one of my yard sale scores!).

I decided to use my heat gun for my "old tool." I rarely use anything that takes too much effort, and for me, plugging in my heat gun, doing all that goes with stamping/using embossing powder, and waiting for my heat gun to cool off is too much. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to making cards. :) So anyway, I had decided to endure all the effort, and use some blue Pearlustre embossing powder by Stampendous to make some coordinating flower embellishments. I originally planned to have them in the center of the circle, but then I ran into the problem of where to place my alphabet letters. Darn those letters! :)

I figured I should go LOOK at my stickers to see which sentiment to use, and I ran into another brick wall. The reason I don't use alphabet stickers in the first place is because whenever I need to spell something out, I never have enough letters. Spelling "hello" on four cards is nearly impossible. Soooo, plan B was to just spell "Hi". I grabbed some old Making Memories rub-ons and realized the sentiment would have to be my focal point since the letters were so big.

I knew I still had to use the flowers (to incorporate my usage of an old tool) so I decided to set them off to the side of my circle and balance out my knotted ribbon. Once I was done assembling all of my layers, I was embarrased at my poor attitude, because the cards came out really neat! In a million years, I wouldn't have come up with the color combo, metallic embossed flowers or use of the rub-ons, but I'm really glad I went outside of my comfort zone! :D I guess that's what the crafting community is all about, right?

So, thank you, Melisa, you sincerely gave me a challenge this week! Thanks also to Rae, who maintains a fabulous website where fellow cardmakers inspire and challenge each other to USE what we have! :D Hope you like this set of cards as much as I do. Thanks for popping in and bearing with my lengthy post!

-Suzanne :O )

TECC #76 Christmas Cupcakes!

Hi everyone! This is a picture-heavy post, but that's because I just made a pack of 12 Christmas cards, and the stickers I used were so darn cute I wanted to showcase each one individually! :D

I bought the stickers at a dollar store a year or two ago, and since I've started to de-hoard, I figured I better USE them! As soon as I saw that the Cupcake Challenges were back, I knew I had to use the stickers in Taylor's sketch. :D

The cards are actually pretty simple... all of the papers are Provo Craft (Rob & Bob Studio Holiday Slab). I used my 3" Marvy Uchida scalloped circle punch to make the background for the cupcakes, and then I added a dot of DecoArt Glistening Snow Writer (dimensional glitter glue) to each scallop.

I didn't have the right sentiment, so I pieced one together from two different stamps. They're both by Inkadinkado... the first one originally said "Wishing you a merry christmas" and the second one originally said "you're so... sweet". I masked part of each to make my own sweet greeting :)

That's pretty much it! It was a lot of gluing because I had so many cards, but all in all, these cards were pretty easy to make. I hope you enjoy my yummy creations! :D

-Suzanne :O )