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 ) 

2 Cute Release Day

Hi everyone!  It's time for another digital release, this week, it's this adorable little raccoon!  I colored my guy in purple, reminiscent of the Care Bear Cousins!  :D  Head on over to the 2 Cute Design Team Blog to see what the other girls did!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Time for fall!

I am SOOO ready for fall- the change in temperature, the turning of the leaves, long sleeve shirts, football games and hot apple cider!  Fall has always been my favorite season so I thought I'd see what I could do to incorporate it with this week's Woodware Challenge!  We were asked to use 3 PAPERS, 2 EMBELLISHMENTS and 1 IMAGE.  


I wanted to see if I could use Mary & Friends for a fall theme, rather than the spring-y colors I would normally gravitate towards.  I figured paper piecing her outfit would be a good way to incorporate some fun patterned papers and warmer colors.  I started off with some pretty new papers by DCWV (Harvest Gathering Matstack) and used those same papers to paper piece Mary's dress, hat and kitty.  (Who doesn't love an argyle cat?!)  I colored the rest of Mary with my Copics and cut her out with my Nestabilities.  


Next, I die-cut a leaf with my Cuttlebug die, roughed it up a bit and inked it around the edges with some Chestnut Colorbox ink.  I added a red button for a not-so-obvious embellishment.  For my second embellishment, I pulled out some dark sage ribbon from my stash.  It was all wrinkled but I kind of liked that- it reminds me of fallen leaves.  Instead of stopping at 2 EMBELLISHMENTS like we were supposed to, I got out of control and couldn't resist adding two brads by Basic Grey.  That turquoise panel looked lonely without them!  <>  ;)


To finish off the card, I stamped the stampingscrapping.com sentiment with more Chestnut ink.  There's a lot going on here, but hopefully this card isn't TOO busy.  I hope it inspires you to start making fall cards!  If you get a chance to play along, we'd love to see your creation!  Link up here:


Woodware Challenge #41


Thanks for stopping by!
-Suzanne :O )

Thinking of you

Hi friends!  It's time for another Woodware USA challenge- I can't believe how fast July went by!  This week it's anything goes, so make sure you link up:

Woodware USA Challenge #37

I dug out some super old Basic Grey paper for this card.  I think this paper was actually from the first Basic Grey pad I ever bought back in 2006- I really need to work on finishing up my old(er) papers!  The image is from Mary & Friends and was colored with my Copics.  The sentiment is from stampingscrapping.com and my sketch was based loosely on this week's Sweet Sunday sketch:

I had a super busy weekend- wedding on Friday night, a scrapbook convention on Saturday and a bridal shower yesterday... I love seeing friends and of course, the shopping for more supplies, but I'm exhausted!!  :)  I got some new papers by Simple Stories- the kind I love so much I'll probably never use!  LOL  I also got quite a few stamp sets, so I'll be breaking those out soon.  I hope you all have a great week and will have some time to enter one of your creations over at Woodware USA!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Cocoa's thinking of you!

Hi friends!  I'm playing along with my first Cocoa challenge- isn't he cute?!  He's one of the star attractions at Sweet 'n Sassy stamps, and I couldn't resist picking up a bunch of his sets, so you'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future!  This particular set is called Love from Cocoa, and I also used Gifts from Turtle for the sentiment. The challenge was to make a "thinking of you card", and I also paired it up with The Sweet Stop sketch:

In my continual effort to de-hoard, I attacked one of my many DCWV paper stacks. These papers are from one of the summer stacks, but I thought they had more of a spring feel, so out they came!  I have 11 more of these to make, so I can start to restock my Etsy store.  Cocoa was colored with my Copics, but I'm just realizing now that I forgot to add the flower embellishments!  Oops!  I got so carried away with all of the layering I forgot to finish my sketch, but that's okay.  I'll probably add some buttons or something later.  :) I hope you enjoy my card, thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Laughing Deeply...

Hi friends!  Just a quick post on a simple card today- I went to a rubber stamp show yesterday, so I'm itching to play with some of my new stamps!! :D  This card uses lots of scraps, with a computer-printed image.  I picked up this book of 388 butterfly images (published by Dover, they come with a CD for your computer, have you seen them before?) at a used book store for $10.  A little pricey, but I figure I'll get some good use out of it, especially for occasions like sympathy, where I have a tough time finding the right image to use.  After I printed the image, I realized I was left with a lot of white space, so I stamped the sentiment by Fiskars.  To my disappointment, the top half of the quote looks crooked, but hopefully I'm the only one who notices that. ;)  


I hope you're all enjoying your weekend... I'm off to put together my new unmounted stamps- this is a first for me, I always buy clear stamps!  The stamps are really cute and funny- just my style- so stay tuned for some quirky cards, courtesy of www.starvingartistamps.com! :D


-Suzanne :O )

Dry-embossed Thinking of you

Hi there!  A few days ago I was looking at www.cleardollarstamps.com and found that I really loved the stamps illustrated by Laurie Wilson.  I checked to see if she had her own blog, and sure enough, I found it at http://clearlydelightful.typepad.com  She does monthly challenges on the 5th, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  She's giving away a free digital image to everyone just for participating (you can see the images here:  http://doodlepantry.com/)!  Sweet, huh?!  Here are her stipulations, if you want to play along:

TO BE A PARTICIPANT do the following 4 things (super easy stuff!):

1. Follow the challenge theme with a project or card --The theme is to 1. Use DRY EMBOSSING and 2. Use some YELLOW color on your project. (Note: the yellow does not have to be on the dry embossing)
2. Post MUST be dated within the time frame of the challenge.  Please, no past creations, create something new 
3. Use Mr. Linky Widget to share your creation post (direct link to actual post)
4. YOU MUST Leave a comment on THIS challenge post AND mention which Doodle Pantry image you want for free just for participating.

*****Entries due by April 19, 2010***** 

I knew as soon as I read the dry embossing part what I was going to use.  I've had the flowers in a can/sentiment for a long time, just sitting in my stash from a swap, and you know I've been on my use-it-up kick lately, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to see it used.  Of course some of the flowers happened to be yellow, so this challenge almost *wasn't* a challenge to me!  hehe  This was such a simple card- I used some scraps of cardstock, a bit of yellow patterned paper by K&Co, an oval embossed Nestability, and some of my new-to-me antique buttons.  Note: I just went shopping in the town where I went to college and scored some pretty lace, a couple of jars of buttons, bulk ribbon (50 yards a spool!) and some old sheet music at the antiques stores they have there.  It never occurred to me  to look for card making supplies in an antiques store, but I'll certainly have to go back every now and then!  :)  Anyway, my card came together really quickly, thanks to the challenge and the swapped focal piece!  Hope you enjoy, and hope you check out Laurie's images- they're super cute!!

-Suzanne :O )

Autumn-themed cards

Hi friends!  It's actually SNOWING here in New York, but I've been meaning to welcome the season with these yummy fall cards.  This is by far my favorite time of year- who doesn't love apple cider donuts and the chill in the air and mountains covered with brilliantly-colored trees?!  :D  The first two pictures are of packs I displayed at a show.  The bottom three are thank you cards I sent out for my birthday gifts.  :)  The top one says "so thankful", but it's hard to tell with the gold ink on the dark green cardstock.  I used lots of scraps and K&Co die-cuts to make for easy assembly.  The plaid paper is DCWV, which was really easy to pull colors out of for matting :)  I also used some Melissa Frances chipboard covered with Doodlebug Sugar Coating (top picture), a Hero Arts stamp (thinking of you), Making Memories metal signs (white thank you messages), and paper by Paper Reflections (top picture).   I hope you like these festive cards, thanks for stopping by!

-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 )

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 )

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 )

Just Stinking of You

Hi everyone! The super-talented Heidi is being featured on caardvarks (go check it out! it's a sketch challenge sponsored by Hero Arts- how fun is that?!) and I couldn't miss a chance to play along. I made this card for my cousin who's serving in Afghanistan, so if this card makes him smile just for a second, it was worth it ;) The chipboard skunk (how adorable is he?!) and papers are by DCWV (Green Stack), the cardstock is WorldWin and the letters are Making Memories. Super simple card, but I love how it turned out. Huge thanks to Heidi for a fabulous sketch! Thanks for stopping by!! :D

-Suzanne :O )

lots of sketch challenges

Hi all! I don't usually post pictures of more than one card, but I've got a few challenges I want to participate in, so bear with me. I also want to point out that I added a quick comment section to the bottom of my posts. If you don't have time to write a comment but feel like one of the quick comment options suits what you think about my card(s), please feel free to click your mouse on the appropriate box. I always appreciate any and all feedback!! :)




The first one uses Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #57. I made it for Social Work Week (I promise I didn't make this up, in fact I didn't even know about it until one of the counselors at work mentioned it). We're having a celebratory lunch in my office on Thursday in honor of my school's social worker. He does so much and is a pleasure to work with, so he deserves some recognition. In thinking about how to make him a card, I wasn't sure what kind of image said "social work" to me, especially since I wanted to keep it masculine. A week or two ago I bought some Blackboard chipboard by Cosmo Cricket (Get Happy) and I knew it would work perfectly for this card. I chose the chair to represent the students who come to see him, so hopefully he doesn't look at his card and think "ummm... what?" LOL! All of the patterned papers are K&Co, the black paper came in a spiral notebook I bought at the dollar store (score!) and I believe the brads are Making Memories. The sentiment is Fiskars.


Next up is Card Patterns sketch #4. It's not my favorite card.. I don't know what I was thinking with the color combination. I think I was fine until I added the pastel yellow, but for some reason I wanted to use that scrap. At least I can recognize my mistakes now! :) Anyway, this card is for my cousin who's serving in Afghanistan right now. My mom has been sending him a card every week, so I try to keep them light-hearted but still masculine (hence the poor choice in pastel yellow). The teal paper is DCWV (Recycled Stack- first time using these FUN papers!), the brown cardstock is Making Memories and the yellow and orange are scraps. The chipboard tag is Miss Elizabeth's (from Dollar Tree), the monkey sticker is Me & My Big Ideas, and the ribbons are from Target's dollar spot. The sentiment is Hero Arts (LOVE this set of stamps!) I used my Cuttlebug on the orange paper and my Fiskars Treading Water punch for the scalloped border, to which I added some dark green brades. I think I'd like this card better if I'd used a sunny yellow, and not a pastel yellow. Eh.


Last up is my take on Sketches! {by tamara} #84. I can't believe how much St. Patrick's Day stuff I have left over... I made 8 or 9 cards and I feel like I put back as many supplies as I started with! Yikes! :) I'm sure the papers are familiar- shamrock paper is Provo Craft, orange polka dot is K&Co, yellow polka dot is Making Memories and the pot of gold and plaid papers are DCWV. The clear sticker sentiment is Reminisce and I got the giant sparkly shamrock in a swap, so I don't know who made that. I used a circle punch by EK Success and a Stampin' Up! scalloped circle punch as well. All in all a fast and easy card.

Hope you like these cards and thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )