Woodware Thank You Set

Hi everyone!  I'm taking a break from my craft fair projects to share the set of Christmas thank you cards I made for the Woodware sketch challenge.  I used up some lovely DCVW papers I had been hoarding and die cut some circles with my Nestabilities.  I combined the penguin from Snow Globe Magic and the sentiment from Wedding Words and colored the penguin with my Copics.  I made a set of 12 cards in probably less than an hour- love those quick but fruitful projects!  :)  Here's a close up of one of the cards:

Hope you enjoyed my project!  If you want to join the sketch challenge, link up through the Woodware UK blog here:


Woodware UK


Thanks for stopping by!
-Suzanne :O )

Woodware Christmas Tags

Hi friends!  The Woodware blog has been inactive for a little while due to some shuffling in leadership, and though I'm sorry that the former team has parted ways, I am very excited to be working with our UK counterparts!!  We're still trying to figure out how this will all work, but for now, there's a month-long sketch challenge on the Woodware USA blog!  I made a set of 10 tags using the sketch:

I didn't realize that it's more of an oval than a circle, but I wanted to use my Christmas Rounds stamp set, so I was a little loose with my interpretation of the sketch.  ;)  These tags were super easy to make!  I started off with my beloved tag die from My Favorite Things and then added some patterned paper (from my scrap stash- I don't remember the manufacturer) to the bottom half of the tags.  Then I added white ric-rac (although I had to use regular ribbon on a few as I ran out of the ric-rac) and a gold eyelet to each one.  The "To/From" sentiment is by Darcie's.  Lastly, I stamped the circular sentiment and teeny tiny present from Christmas Rounds and punched it out with my 1 1/4 paper punch.  The present was colored with my Copics and the embellishment was popped up with foam tape.  You can see a close up of the tag below:

I really had a fun time making these, and they didn't take more than an hour to create!  I love seeing my little batch of tags all ready to go!  :)  I hope you'll have a chance to play along with us, and remember, you have until the end of the month to link up.  


Woodware USA


Thanks so much for stopping by, have a GREAT day!
-Suzanne :O )

Snow Globe Rudolf

Hi friends!  Happy Columbus Day!  It's time for our Woodware challenge and this week is another "anything goes" theme.  For this card, I pulled out my Snow Globe Magic set and got to stamping.  This is a *super* cute set and I love that you can interchange the figures in the snow globe!  I chose the reindeer and colored the image with my Copics.  The focal piece was die-cut with my Nesties and added to the card with foam tape.  


Earlier this week I complained that I had lost my 'knack' for cardmaking, but I think I forgot how much I rely on sketches!  So now I'm happy with my cards again because I used this week's Sweet Stop sketch:

I went through my Christmas scraps and pulled out some by Provo Craft (green and white) and DCWV (red circles) and layered them on kraft cardstock.  I also added some American Crafts ribbon and twine (thanks, Nancy!!), topped off with a button from my stash.  I have a TON of Christmas scraps, so it felt good to use some of them up.  Plus, I'm really happy with how my card turned out, mostly because of the layout!  :)

I hope you'll have time to link up with our challenge this week, we'd love to see your creations!

Woodware Challenge #47

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great week!

-Suzanne :O )

Spooky Tot!

Hi everyone!  I'm behind with my Woodware challenge, but I still wanted to share it, even if it's late!  I used the brand new Spooky Tots set and chose the witch.  (I've been listening to the Wicked score non-stop for the past week.. I *may* have used it for inspiration on this card! lol)  After I colored old girl with my Copics, I cut her out and added her to some Halloween scraps that were in my stash.  The sentiment was stamped on a scrap of orange cardstock and punched out with my Fiskars oval punch.  I added some Making Memories brads to finish off the card.


I've been feeling a little rusty with my cardmaking lately- because September was such a weird month with the hurricane and then getting sick, I haven't been making cards very much.  I'm trying to get back into it, but I feel frustrated that I've lost the knack.. has that happened to any of you before??  Hopefully I'll get back in my groove soon, but for now I'll just have to keep trying!  :)


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


-Suzanne :O )

Woodware Fall Theme Card and Where I've Been!

Hi there, friends!  It sure has been a long time since my last post; September has been a crazy month!  Hurricane Irene came through at the end of August and while we didn't have much damage (just a few inches of water in the garage, which drained out once the sump pump was able to catch up with the water flow) our phone/internet was knocked out for a couple of weeks.  Once we had our internet back, I was getting myself ready to start participating in my design team challenges and then I got the flu last week!  I was out of work for an entire week (I can't remember the last time I was out sick for that long!) and didn't feel like doing anything.  I'm FINALLY feeling back to normal, but I still have a lot of catching up to do.


Above is my Woodware card, several days late.  We were asked to make a fall card, which actually stumped me, because I didn't have any obvious fall stamps from Woodware.  I did see some leaves in the Woodland Mushrooms set, so I pulled those out, along with the acorn, stamped them in various Colorbox inks, and created a pretty background.  The vellum sentiment is an old piece from a DCWV scrapbook kit, but I thought it was perfect for this card, so I layered it on a scrap of paper and made it the centerpiece.  To finish off the card, I added a felt pumpkin sticker (Target) and a shrinky dink sentiment I found in my stash.


It doesn't really feel like fall here in New York, but I am SO ready for it!  Fall is probably my favorite season and I am eagerly anticipating the change in weather- I've had enough of the high temps and humidity that have been plaguing us this week!  :)


I hope you'll forgive me for my absence and bear with me as I get my act together and catch up with my design team work, and get my mojo back for non-design team projects!  I can't wait to get back to posting regularly again, I've missed this!  :)


-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 )

Thank You/Sticker Resist

Hi friends!  This week's Woodware challenge is to use a new (to you) technique.  I thought it would be fun to use some of my peel off stickers for a resist technique.  It's not often that I get my hands messy, but for this card I did and I love the results!  This card was SO easy to make since it was only one layer.  First, I laid the sticker down where I wanted it and made sure each detail was stuck down.  Then I pulled out my Colorbox inks and gently swirled them around in rainbow order, blending colors as I went along.  To my surprise, I found this rainbow ric rac in my stash, and the colors aligned almost perfectly with my card, so I stuck that down on top and stamped the sentiment from Wedding Words.  To complete my card, I pulled off the sticker and voila!  A perfectly white chain of daisies!  :D


I hope that you'll have a chance to play with us this week- I always love learning about new techniques, even if I don't have time to try them!  :)


Woodware USA Challenge #40


Thanks for stopping by!
-Suzanne :O )

Merry

Hi all!  Are you ready for another Woodware USA challenge?  This week, we're using another fabulous sketch made by Kerry:

I've been gearing up for Christmas lately, and I interpreted the sketch as an ornament, so I pulled out my Traditional Christmas Greetings set and started off with the wreath.  I colored that with my Copics and then stamped the "merry" sentiment with Cranberry Colorbox ink in a circle.  I layered that on some scraps from my Christmas stash- love using them up!  :)  For the bunched up ribbon, I ran some adhesive from the circle to the top of the card, and then kept bunching up the ribbon in a messy pleat.  It was easy to do but adds a whimsical touch.  To finish off the card I added a bow instead of a star.  I'm not sure if it wound up looking like an ornament, but I love the way this card turned out!  We'd love to see your interpretation of Kerry's sketch- link up here:

Woodware Challenge #39

Thanks for stopping by!

-Suzanne :O )

Noel

Happy Monday!  It's time for yet another Woodware USA challenge, this week we're using Kraft, Red and another color of your choice!  I chose green so I could start making Christmas cards!!  These little penguins from Penguin Fun are a favorite of mine.. I've had a thing for penguins ever since the movie Madagascar came out. :)  

I colored these cuties with my Copics and added a little glitter for the snow.  I cut them out with my Nestabilities and matted them on kraft cardstock.  Next, I embossed some deep red cardstock with a Sizzix embossing folder and sanded it so the sentiment would show up (not sure if I succeeded there, but it says "merry christmas" repeatedly).  I matted that with white and kraft cardstock and added some green DCWV patterned paper on top of that.  To finish off the card I added my focal piece, stamped the sentiment from Traditional Christmas Greetings and added 2 brads from Making Memories.


I hope you'll have time to play along with us this week.. you can choose any color you like to go with Kraft and Red.. can't wait to see what you pick!


Woodware challenge #38


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 )

Snowball fight!

Hi there!  Time for another Woodware USA challenge!  This week we were asked to do some background stamping, which I haven't done in a while.  I went through my Woodware sets and decided it was time to start bringing out the Christmas stamps!  The mischievous boy from Winter Tots caught my eye, so I thought it would be fun to stamp him on the focal piece and stamp lots of snowball splatters to make my own patterned paper.  I colored Master Tot with my Copics and gave him a pile of snowball arsenal to complete the scene.  I used my Nestabilities for the square/scalloped square and some dark blue cardstock from my stash.  I came across some old (one of the first supplies I bought, actually!) holographic paper by Crayola that I actually picked up at the dollar store.  I wanted to see what it would look like embossed, and it came out pretty neat!  You can't see too well from the picture, but it's embossed with snowflakes and it has a rainbow sheen when you move the angle of light.  It's a little busy though, so I covered it with a strip of red cardstock and added a green gingham ribbon on top of that.  To the bow, I added two blue buttons tied off with some twine.  The bow looks better at this angle:

The snowballs were stamped with Colorbox ink on white cardstock and I like that it's a subtle background, but hopefully it makes you chuckle when you look closer.  :)  If you have time to do some background stamping this week, we'd love to see your creation!  Be sure to link up here:


Woodware Challenge #36


Thanks for stopping by!


-Suzanne :O )

Clowning Around Card & Tag

Hi there!  Welcome to another Monday challenge over at Woodware USA!  This week the DT is using another one of Kerry's fabulous sketches, but this one is particularly great because it's interactive!  Here's the sketch:

My thought process with this card started off with figuring out what to stamp on the tag.  I wanted it to be something fairly long, to match the shape of the tag, so I pulled out my Clowning Around set (even though I just used it for my 4th of July card!) and chose the tall clown.  I colored him with my Copics and gave him a bright, cheerful outfit to wear.  You can see in the photo below that I added the sentiment beneath him to balance out the white space.

Next, I created the pocket with a scrap of green cardstock, which was run through my Cuttlebug with an old embossing folder.  I added some orange gingham ribbon to the pocket before gluing the sides and bottom to my card.  I deviated a little from the sketch here, but I thought a star would be a cute little touch, and I used a portion of the sentiment "fun at the" to jazz it up.  The patterned paper is DCWV- doesn't it make you feel festive?!, and the blue cardstock was in my stash. :)  To finish off the card, I added more gingham ribbon to the hole in the tag and tucked it into the pocket at an angle.


I hope this card makes you smile, I'm really loving these clowns lately!  If you have time this week, we'd love to see your take on the sketch!  Don't forget you can be considered for a guest designer spot if you put an asterisk next to your name when you link up:


Woodware USA Challenge #35


Thanks for stopping by!
-Suzanne :O )

Cute Fluffy!

Hi everyone!  We're back this Monday with another Woodware challenge!  Can you guess what it might be..?  If you happened to guess paper piecing then you're right! :)  I really went to town on Fluffy here- you can see below that I paper pieced his body, scales, wings, and even his teeny tiny eyes, teeth and fingernails!

I cut Fluffy out, popped him up on foam tape and set him aside.  I layered the orange patterned paper that resembled fire to me (I believe it's by K&Co) on top of some green cardstock.  To that, I added some white cardstock and a strip of green patterned paper.  To make the sentiment embellishment, I stamped the sentiment with some green ink onto white cardstock and then cut it out with my Nestabilities.  I then traced that same die onto a deep red cardstock so it would mat the sentiment.  He IS cute, isn't he?! :)

After adhering all of my layers, I was ready to add Fluffy and a couple of orange buttons.  It took me a little while to get Fluffy all assembled, but I think it was worth it- I love his green stripes.  :)  I hope you'll have some time to play along with our challenge this week!  Link up here:

Woodware USA Challenge #33

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great day!

-Suzanne :O )

Fourth of July Parade

Hi everyone!  Here's my take on the Woodware USA Red, White, and Blue challenge!  I think I'm actually on time with my Fourth of July cards this year and this one is the last of 'em!  I just got my Clowning Around set in the mail last week and I couldn't wait to get it inky!  I knew I wanted to use a clown wearing patriotic colors, but when I went through my Hobby Lobby chipboard and saw the "Fourth of July parade" sentiment, the card just came together!    Don't you love when that happens?!  :)  I used lots of scraps and this sketch for my layout:

Of course I colored my clown friend with my Copics and then I added a punched star and a  chipboard star to finish the layout.  I really hope you'll have some time to play along with our challenge, and if not, just to take a look at the DT samples!  There's a lot you can do with Red, White and Blue!  :D

Woodware USA Challenge #33

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Suzanne :O )

Enjoy the little things

Happy Monday, friends!  Our Woodware assignment this week was to use the following sketch designed by our very talented Kerry!:

My card is pretty simple- I used lots of cardstock and patterned paper scraps and my Fiskars border punch to match Kerry's layout.  I stamped the flower pot from Garden Greetings three times and stamped the sentiment right below them.  I added the bee to keep things from being too symmetrical (plus he's cute!).  I colored the image with my Copics and added a shadow to ground the flower pots.  I wish I had used my normal white cardstock instead of a scrap because my colors bled a little bit (you can see it in the bee, especially) but I don't think it's too noticeable.  

I hope you'll have some time to play along with Kerry's sketch, we'd love to see your interpretation!  Link up here:

Woodware Challenge #32

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

-Suzanne :O )

Ted's Pretty Present

Happy Monday everyone!  It's time for another Woodware challenge; this week we are sharing our birthday cards!  We'd love to have you join along, so make sure you link up at the end of my post.  For my card, I used this week's Card Patterns Sketch:

I haven't played along with CP in a loooong time, but as soon as I saw this sketch I knew it would fit my little buddy Ted perfectly.  I grabbed my MME Quite Contrary 6x6 pad (it came free in one of those British mags- LOVE that!) and some white and kraft cardstock and got down to cutting.  I know I used that Labels 18 die on my last Woodware card, but when I was playing around with it, I realized it would make for a great background too, not just a focal piece.  I stamped Teddy several times on scraps to make his gift extra snazzy.  Martha Stewart has nothing on Ted.  ;)  After coloring Ted with my copics and paper piecing the present, I added a brad to the flower to make a dimensional bud.  To finish off the card, I ran a strip of kraft cardstock through my Cuttlebug and added two large Denami Design buttons to complete the sketch.  I wanted to add a sentiment but it just didn't look right no matter where I placed it, so I left it blank.  I think the pretty patterned papers hold their own without a sentiment.  :)

Again, I hope you'll have some birthday cards to share with us.  Play along here:

Woodware Challenge #31

Have a great week, friends!

-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 )

Eyelets and cupcakes, oh my!

Hi friends!  Happy Memorial Day!  I can't believe it's time for another Woodware challenge.  I haven't been posting much lately, but that's because I'm not making cards as often as I usually do.  I'm going through another card making funk... I seem to go through these phases where I run out of steam, but hopefully it clears up soon!  For now, I have my "use a forgotten embellishment" care to share; my embellishment of choice is the eyelet.  I have a several of those variety packs by Making Memories and they just sit collecting dust, so I pulled out a piece of Maya Road chipboard and jazzed it up with some lime green eyelets.  It makes a nice frame for my cupcake, I think.  :)  The papers were all from my scrap stash, so I'm not sure of the manufacturers, and the ribbon was also a leftover piece.  I *love* using up scraps, it makes me feel like I'm actually making a dent in my stash!  :)  

If you have some time this week, I hope you'll pull out your older/forgotten embellishments and play along with us!  Join up here:

Woodware USA Challenge

I'm off to a barbeque this afternoon and hope to get some relaxing in tonight- it's been a crazy weekend!  :)  Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all had a fabulous long weekend!

-Suzanne :O )

Congratulations

Hi everyone!  Welcome to another "anything goes" challenge at Woodware USA!  One of my co-workers just got tenure, so I made a congrats card for her.  To start off, I colored in the mouse-in-a-teacup image from the Micey Mice set with my Copics.  I'm not thrilled with the colors not matching the papers, but I did the best I could with my limited color choices.  :)  And speaking of, I used lots of new (to me!) papers from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary line.  One of the booths at the scrapbook show was selling tons of MME paper for 20 cents a sheet and it certainly didn't bother me that it's "old"!  I don't care about being new and trendy, pretty is timeless.  :)  The sentiment is from Wedding Words, which I stamped on a die-cut ribbon slider and attached to a turquoise ribbon.  For some reason my camera has a tough time with turquoise, but I promise it's a little more green in real life.  The cup is too, for that matter.  :)  


Our anything goes challenges are quite popular, so feel free to link up!  I hope you have a great week!  Thanks for stopping by!


Woodware Challenge #28


-Suzanne :O )

For the best teacher

Hi there!  Welcome back to another Woodware USA challenge!  This week, we were to use another sketch created by Kerry:

It's that time of year where people start buying teacher gifts, so I thought this might be the year I actually try and sell the teacher cards I've been talking about making for years but never produce!  :)  The School Tots set is perfect for such a card.  I used patterned papers by October Afternoon (Report Card), some colorful scraps of DCWV cardstock, and my old kraft cardstock stand-by.  All of the images were colored with my Copics, cut out, and popped up on foam tape, with the exception of the A+, which was stamped with Colorbox ink and cut out with a star shaped Fiskars punch.  To finish off the card, I stamped the sentiment to the side.  

I hope you'll have some time to play along with us this week!  Enter your card here:

Woodware Challenge #27

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

-Suzanne :O )