Woo-hoo!

Hi friends!  I'm back to share another card for the Poppy Sketches challenge!  Here's the most current sketch:

The sponsor for this challenge is Lawn Fawn, so I pulled out of my four stamps sets and puzzled for a while over the X in the middle of the sketch.  Then it occurred to me that I could overlap some logs and I went to work creating a scene with my Critters in the Forrest stamp set.  

I did a lot of paper piecing with scraps and then stamped the "woo-hoo"s in Versamark and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  I did the same thing with the bottom sentiment and added a couple of brown gems over the book plate die-cut.  I also decided to get crazy and stamp the envelope, too.  :)

I hope you guys enjoy my card, thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

I'm back!

WHOWWWWWW!  That's me blowing the dust off my blog!  lol  I haven't been around for over a year, with good reason.  A LOT of good things happened last year, but I'll save that for another post because there are tons of pictures I want to share.  :)

I was looking around at some blogs the other day and spent some time looking at Lori Tecler's blog.  She always has a TON of cards to share and I love how simple her style is.  While looking at her posts, I came across one for Poppy Sketches, which appears to be a new sketch/color combo blog.  I thought I'd ease back into blogging by participating with their second sketch:

I have quite a few cards to make for May/June birthdays, so I used the sketch to make my brother's birthday card.  I pulled out my Stampendous stamps since they're sponsoring this time.  Here's my take, with the Changito Bday stamp set:

I started off by die-cutting the red polaroid frame with my Papertrey Ink die.  I stamped the image on my X-Press It cardstock and colored it with my Copics.  I haven't used my Copics in quite a while, so hopefully this doesn't look too awful!  :)  I cut the cardstock to fit behind the frame and then turned my attention to the gray cardstock from Bazzill.  It looked too plain but I didn't want to add patterned paper, so I took some of the small images from the stamp set and used my Versamark ink pad to clear emboss a pattern on the background.  I think it's the perfect solution to adding interest but not color.  :)

Instead of a literal circular element, I chose to tie a knot with some teal ribbon and add a cupcake charm (which I've had for ages!) with some baker's twine.  Any time my mom gets a bakery box, she saves the twine for me.  Isn't she cute?  :)

Here's a close-up of the image.  That wraps up this card for me.  I hope you like it and I will be back very soon to share all the things that happened in 2013 since I last blogged.  I stopped blogging partly because I was busy and partly because I thought no one was even reading my posts, but I realized that this blog is for ME.  It's amazing to look back on my old posts and have a record not only of the cards I've made, but of my creative progress and the things that were happening in my life at the time.  Yes, this blog is mostly just crafty, but it is also part diary, so I need to keep it going for myself.  I can't wait to catch up and keep my blog current!  :D

-Suzanne :O )

Money Holder

Hi there!  The pictures above are of a money holder I made last summer for my boyfriend's brother.  There was a last-minute scramble to come up with a gift, so I told my boyfriend he could just give cash and I would make it look pretty.  :)  Because we were in a rush, I don't think this is my best work, but I still wanted to share the idea.  

I started off with a bunch of supplies by Clear and Simple Stamps and some papers by K & Co.  The tri-fold card was made from this die:

As you can see, the die comes with that swirly shape, so I cut out some orange cardstock, stamped the robot from the set below in orange ink, and trimmed it out:

I stapled a scrap of ribbon and stamped a sentiment from the same set on the orange cardstock; the banner sentiment is from this set:

On the inside, I used another scrap of the blue polka dot paper that was used on the banner and stamped the sentiment from a retired set called Celebrate.  I glued the strip of paper down on the sides and bottom so I could stick in the money in on top.  I used a lot of different sets to pull this together, but this could easily be mass-produced or used for gift cards!  I hope you like my project, thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Hang in There!

Hi everyone!  Unfortunately this is a card with not such a happy background story- a good friend of my brother's just found out her three year old son has leukemia.  She was asking for donations of diapers, gift cards for food, and toys so she could make do while at the hospital.  My mom and I sent a package and I thought it would be nice to send a handmade card as well.  I tried to use lots of bright, happy colors (all papers are from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist collection).  The sticker is another one from my dollar sticker book- I thought this monkey would be good for a boy card.  Everything else was all pinks and purples!  :P  For a finishing touch, I added some old clips by Making Memories.

 I hope you like my card, and if you're the praying kind, please send prayers to Louise and her family.  Christian is supposed to be coming home on Saturday and will continue chemo treatments, but any well wishes sent their way would be much appreciated!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Paint the Town

Hi there!  I hope everyone is having a good week so far!  Today's card is the one I made for my dad's birthday, back in August (I told you I was way behind in my posts!).  I kept the layout simple, using up some old scraps (I think the striped paper is K & Co) and stamps by Penny Black.  I think I did a pretty good job coloring this piece, but I remember not being thrilled with how the flower pot turned out.  I suppose there's always room for improvement, right?  :)  

That's it for today, I'll be back tomorrow to share some zebra-themed valentines!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

It's Your Day

Hi everyone!  I made this card a while back for my brother (who's a welder) when my mom found out there was a national tradesman's day.  I found the image online, printed it out, and added the sentiment by Clear and Simple Stamps.  The papers are all A Boy's Life by Echo Park.

It's a pretty simple, but I think my brother appreciated it.  :)  I hope you like it too, despite my "cheating" by using an online image!  heh  :)  Thanks for stopping by, friends!

-Suzanne :O )

Happy Birthday Pardner!

Hi everyone!  It's been a hundred years since my last post, but I've been focusing most of my energy on my Etsy shop.  I just saw the sketch challenge at The Cat's Pajamas blog, and I thought I'd use it to make my brother's birthday card.  Here's the sketch:

I used some papers from the Birthday Bash collection by Imaginisce and the adorable outlaw penguins from TCP's "It's a Western Thing."  I colored my friends with Copics and added a little gray shadow to ground them:

My cousin's birthday is right around the corner, so I made a similar card with the same stamp and papers:

The inside sentiment reads "happy birthday, pardner!"  LOVE that!  :D  It's so hard (for me) to make masculine cards, but I think I did okay here.  I hope you get a kick out of these guys and thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Vintage Thank Yous

 

Hi there!  I hope you're having a nice weekend.  :)  I just wanted to pop in and share some cards I made a while back that I never got around to posting.  I remember that these cards were made for my aunt and uncle, but I can't remember what for.  Apparently I decided to go with a vintage theme, which is not my typical style.  I think these cards are soft and pretty, though!  :)


For the top card, I used patterned paper by K&Co and some old pages from a book.  I think the flowers came to me in a swap already layered, and I thought the cream color would look nice on a shabby card.  The stamp is Melissa Frances, stamped in chocolate ink.


The second card uses more (brown) paper by K&Co, and the blue paper was from Me & My Big Ideas. The argyle scrap is DCWV, and I think I cut the kraft cardstock out with my Nestabilities when they were new to me, that's how old this card is!  :)  The sentiment is Hero Arts and the brads are from Michaels- perfect for a masculine vintage card.


I have this thing about not deleting cards off my camera until they're safely posted on blogger.  Irrational as that may be, I can now clear these off my camera card!  :)


Hope you have a great Sunday, thanks for stopping by!
-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 )

Celebrate!

Hi friends!  Today is my dad's birthday, so I'm sharing with you the card I made for him!  I went to CKC Valley Forge on Saturday and picked up some Simple Stories papers I had been eyeing online for a while.  This card was SO easy to make since their papers include 4x6 pieces that only need a touch of embellishing to look finished.  I matted some Imaginisce patterned paper (green) on kraft cardstock and layered the Simple Stories block on top of that (it includes the red polka dot part!).  Then I colored in a super cute image by Pink Cat Studios with my Copics and cut those little guys out.  (Don't they look like the just got caught doing something naughty, like eating the entire birthday cake?! LOL)  I layered the dinosaurs with foam tape and added some orange brads by Making Memories and that was IT!  Aside from the coloring, this card probably took me 10 minutes to make, but it looks so much more complicated than it is!  I have another scrapbook show at the end of this month, so if I see more SS papers, I'm going to snatch them up- I LOVE them!  :D  


I hope you enjoy my cute little card, thanks for stopping by!
-Suzanne :O )


PS- The inside was stamped with a starving artistamps sentiment- "have a DINO-mite day!"  hehe :)

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 )

Birthday Turtle

Hi friends!  Just a quick post tonight.. I made this card back in May for Chris's birthday (the card my parents gave him).  I started out with that cutie pie turtle from Sweet 'n' Sassy stamps.  I colored him with my Copics and cut him out with my Nestabilities.  The patterned paper is MME- the blue paper is actually the reverse side of the star pattern, I just flipped the die cut around so it would mat the image.  The green patterned paper is K&Co and I punched some stars out of cardstock scraps.  (I've been using my star punch a lot lately!)  I added some buttons and twine in the same colors for a monochromatic embellishment.  


I hope you enjoy my festive card, thanks for stopping by!


-Suzanne :O )

Your birthday popped up!

Hi everyone!  Just a quick and simple card to share with you today.  A while back I had hosted a swap for making focal pieces and this popcorn image was my submission (with the black mat).  I used a stamp set by Clear & Simple Stamps called Bucket-o-Popcorn fun which I love because you can fill in the oval with whatever sentiment fits the theme of your card!  :)  There's also a coordinating set called Popcorn Extras:

Fun, right??  :)  I colored the image with my Copics and used ColorBox mint ink for the sentiments.  


Since my focal piece had been made already, all I had to do to make this card was emboss some red cardstock and mat it on a piece of black cardstock.  It was so fast and easy- this card took less than five minutes!  Now I just need to find time to make more focal pieces!  ;)  I used this card for my cousin, who just turned 21.  It's hard for me to make cards for men around that age- I try to stay from anything too cutesy, but I can't help using puns!  :)  I hope you enjoy my calorie-free card, thanks for stopping by!


-Suzanne :O )

there's no tie

 

Hi friends!  I can't believe I'm actually ahead of the game with my father's day card, but here it is!  I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch, which was quite a challenge will all those pieces, but I'm glad I took it on.

I started out with lots of scraps from MME's Lime Twist (Out of the Blue) collection.  I cut the scraps into strips and then die-cut circles from the end of the strips to make the scallops.  The image is by Penny Black, and as soon as I saw that little guy in the set, I knew he would make for a cute father's day card.  I didn't have the sentiment I wanted, so I picked up an alphabet set by Studio G for $1 and made my own.  I don't usually like to do that because it's time consuming, but I figured it might be a good idea to have an alphabet stamp on hand for times like this.  :)  

I added some warm brown gems to balance out the card since I realized afterwards I probably should have put the sentiment to the right side of the card.  The inside of the card has more scraps which I die-cut with my Nesties and added a sentiment by Studio G.  

I hope my dad likes this card... he's always been into dog shows even though we haven't had a dog in our house for almost 30 years, so I think this card will be up his alley.  It's a little cutesy, but that's my style- I think masculine cards will always be tough for me that way!  

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

-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 )

Masculine Mushrooms

Hi friends!  Can you believe it's Monday again?  That means it's time for another Woodware challenge!  This week we're sharing masculine cards, a category that's always tough for me.  I pulled lots of earth toned scraps for this card and used an image from Woodland Mushrooms.  I was originally going to stamp it with black ink and color it, but then I got the idea to try stamping it with my gradient ink pad by Adirondack (Cabin Fever) and I really loved the result!  I think it adds to the earthiness and simple always seems better to me with masculine cards.  I die-cut the focal point with my Nestabilities and traced around the same die onto some brown cardstock and cut it out by hand.  I love that the matting compliments the die-cut and isn't the same exact shape, only bigger.  (See how the corners are rounded on the mat?  A happy accident- I will definitely be using this tracing technique again!)  The sentiment is by stampingscrapping.com (love their Nestie-matching stamps!) and I added a blue ribbon to finish off the card.  


I hope you'll have some time to show us your take on this challenge!  Add your card here:


Woodware Challenge #30


Thanks for stopping by, have a GREAT week!  :D


-Suzanne :O )

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!