Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Sparkling Angel


Hi everyone!
I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted! Christmas really got the better of me this year! Maybe next year I'll get wise and get started on everything in October instead of November. Yeah right LOL! I'm one of those people who work better under pressure.

Despite my lack of posting I have been stamping a lot. I just put around 30 new cards in my Etsy shop today, and this is one of them. I just think this angel is the cutest little thing! She's from Stampin' Up! and I stamped her once on white card stock and then I embossed her on the patterned paper, cut out the dress and paper pieced it onto the stamped image. I also colored the little flowers on her dress and added sticky blue rhinestones to the centers. I LOVE this paper from K&Co. too. I felt like I'd been neglecting my punches for awhile too, so I made the little flowers in the corners, punched some leaves and then added baby blue sticky back pearls to the centers of the flowers. I swear these little sticky back pearls are so addicting - which reminds me I need to make a trip to Michael's this week for more. Hee Hee!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We're actually not done celebrating yet because my sister and her family were in FL over the holiday so we're celebrating with them this weekend. And wow is it going to be another busy weekend at that! We're getting together with friends on New Years Eve, then we get together with my husband's family on New Years Day, and then my whole family is coming here the day after that. Yikes! I'm going to need a vacation soon. LOL.

Take Care & God bless!
Sue :o)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

It's Snowin' and Blowin'





Hi everyone!
Boy I've been neglecting this blog, haven't I? I've just been so busy! The good news is I've gotten a lot done over the last week and I should be (I hope I am anyway) able to relax very soon.
I don't know about your neck of the woods, but it's snowing and blowing like crazy here in Indiana! After Bible study this morning I had to walk over to the office (just across the parking lot) and I swore the wind was going to knock me off my feet! The temps are supposed to drop tonight too and everything is going to freeze! Ugh! My poor hubby has an hour's drive home in this yuck too, so if you have a minute please send up a little prayer for him for safe travel.
I don't have any cards to show today, but I will soon. In light of the magical winter wonderland outside, I thought I share some photos of my magical winter wonderland inside. LOL. I love, love, love snowmen and have quite the collection. This is only a smidge of them though. I hope you enjoy AND that you're warm, safe and happy wherever you are.
God bless!
Sue :o)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Is It Christmas Yet?





Oh wow, I hope not. LOL. I am so not ready for the best holiday of the year. I'm going on the third day of decorating my house, but of course I'm doing other things as I'm decorating. That's why it takes me three days to get it all done. My Bible study group is hosting a Ladies' Tea at church in a few weeks and we've been preparing for that, along with shopping and cleaning and working on my lessons for Sunday morning children's worship. Whew. Sometimes I think I'm involved in too many things. My husband would nod and laugh if he heard me say that. And to boot my son has been sick and at home for the last two days! He had 102.6 fever last night. He's okay now though, so Mom can relax a little.

I have a few Christmas cards to post today, and much more in the works. There's a lot on my desk that still needs to be photographed, and I will get to it eventually. I'm very excited because my father in law gave me an early Christmas present this year - he told me go out and buy the Cricut and some cartridges - so I did! I've been having a lot of fun playing with it and can wait to start showing some of my creations.

Stamp Credits:
The Snowmen are Great Impressions
The Nativity is from Clear Dollar Stamps
The Holly Berry is Penny Black

I'll try to post again soon. In the meantime, God bless!
Sue :o)

Monday, November 23, 2009

Cherry Pie




Hi Everyone!
I hope you all had a great weekend! I spent a lot of time in my craft room on Saturday and got caught up on custom orders. Among other things, I wanted to get some non-Christmas related cards done for my Etsy shop, and here's one of them.

The cherry pie stamp is from Pink Cat Studio. I embossed and colored it on watercolor paper, cut it out and then added Diamond Glaze to the cherries to make them shine and Stickles to the whipped cream. The piece of pie is popped up on foam tape, and I added dry embossed paper and red striped brads as accents. I just love the cherry background paper too (DCWV)!

I'm not going to have a lot of time in the craft room today. I have to go pay our real estate taxes (groan) and I need to get some shopping done (double groan). I guess I'm weird because I absolutely hate shopping - except for at the craft store and unfortunately I don't need to go there today.

I hope you have a great day! Hugs!
Sue :o)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Polar Bear



Hi everyone!
Here's a card I made yesterday with one of my oldest stamp sets. It's from SU and I think it's perfect not only for Christmas but for winter cards too. All the papers are Die Cuts With a View, and I added blue and silver star brads as accents.

I'm not sure how I managed to get a whole Saturday where I don't have something going on at church or with family, so I'm taking advantage of it and playing in my craft room today. Hubby is up on the house putting up lights, so I'm laying low. :o) I don't go on the roof!

I hope you're all having a great weekend!
God bless!

Sue :o)

Friday, November 20, 2009

Twinkling Christmas Kitty




Hi everyone!
I'm taking a little break from making Christmas cards and I thought I'd post one I just put up in my shop. I just love this stamp from Stampendous! I've been challenging myself to find some different ways to embellish my cards, so today I went searching through all my little drawers and found these wonderful sparkly little rhinestones. I thought they'd be perfect for Christmas - sort of like Christmas tree lights. I also found a corner punch I forgot I had! LOL. It's amazing what one can find in their own stamp room, isn't it? I also did this card a little differently in that I didn't emboss the image on watercolor paper. I stamped it twice on regular white card stock and then cut out the kitty and the star and popped it up on foam tape. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Alright, I must get busy again. I've got an order to get in the mail, I need to get my cards and paperwork from this week in order, and someone from church ordered a bunch of sympathy cards. It'll be a busy day! I hope you're having a great one!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Holiday Hustle and Bustle







Hi everyone!

Just a quick post today as I'm heading to bed shortly. It's been a busy week, but busy in a good way. Yesterday, we finished up all the Christmas shoeboxes at church and delivered them, and now they're on their way to children all over the world. It's hard to believe there are children who have nothing - and I love working on this project because it reminds me early in the season that Christmas is about Jesus and his love for us, rather than presents and running ourselves ragged. I also love working on this project because one of my best friends - let's call her Mz. Nastypepper - works on it with me, and we always have a great time together. :o)

Anyhow -- I thought I'd share some Christmas projects I've been working on here and there this last week. The first card is another snowman trio from Great Impressions. I told you it's my favorite stamp :o). This was a custom order for one of my customers and I have to say I may need to make a few more for msyelf - if I have enough eyelets leftover from this one. The second card was made with a High Hopes stamp. Isn't that the cutest nativity scene? I stamped that one in Memento tuxedo black ink and then colored with my watercolor pencils, and I found that beautiful gold embossed background paper at Joanne's. And finally, the last picture is a set of really simple Christmas gift tags made with nothing more than a Martha Stewart snowflake punch, scalloped edge scissors and card stock. I have some in my Etsy shop, and I made some more for myself.

Well, that's it for tonight. Tomorrow I have some shopping to do in the morning and then I plan on working in the craft room non-stop. I hope you're all staying well in your neck of the woods!
Take care and God bless!

Sue :o)

Friday, November 13, 2009

Red Velvet




Hi everyone!

I'm just squeezing in a quick post today before I get busy down in the craft room. I've used this holly stamp (Stampin' Up!) quite a bit this year, but this time I paired up the image with red velvet paper. Boy, it just screams Holly Jolly Christmas. I wanted the velvet paper and the holly stamp to really stand out, so I didn't do a lot of layering. I kept the inside of the card pretty simple too - just some Christmas plaid and green and white card stock.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Snowmen Christmas Tags


Hi everyone!

I wanted to share some cute snowman tags I made the other day. I'm as crazy about snowmen in the winter as I am about pumpkins in the fall. I actually used snowmen faces like this a few years ago when I was asked to come up with a quick kids craft at church. The kids loved the googly eyes! I cut the face out with my Nestabilities scalloped circle dies, added the eyes and glitter, handcut the carrot noses and then used a marker to make the mouth. Then of course I had to use the MS snowflake punch on the one tag. The holly on the other tag was handcut by me.
I hope you're all having a great week!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Snow Buddies




Hi everyone!

Boy I've been neglecting this little blog all week, haven't I? Busy, busy, busy! Ah, it's all good though. I'm getting my house cleaned up, my paperwork in order, and shopping for the Christmas shoebox project which I'm in charge of at church. This weekend we have our big Thanksgiving dinner at church and next week I have to wrap up and deliver all the Christmas shoeboxes to a church in Illinois. Whew! I may have to start drinking some energy drinks or something.

Any-whoo, I did get some stamping done this week and I'm finishing up a lot of projects for myself and for my Etsy shop. I always swear I'm going to start Christmas stamping in July so I'm ready by December, but --- I never do. LOL.

I think this card turned out so cute! The stamp is from Great Impressions and it's one of those I seem to reach for all the time. It's stamped and colored on watercolor paper, and I sponged the edges with both both turquoise and navy blue ink. I found a few scraps of heavy duty foil card, so I punched some stars and added them around the snowmen.

I hope you're all having a great week, and please - if you haven't already done so, take a moment today to remember our veterans. We are so blessed to live in this country where we are free to worship God without fear of persecution, and I'm grateful to the men and women who fight to protect that freedom. May God bless you all too, Friends! Have a beautiful day!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Friday, November 6, 2009

One of Those Nights...





Oh my goodness - please tell me you've had one of these stamping nights too. I got this stamp (High Hopes) a few weeks ago and I've been dying to use it because it's so darn cute. So I finally sit down to play. I emboss the image and then get almost all the way done coloring it in, and then I see something. The base board on the floor behind the moose is lopsided. I didn't emboss it straight. No, problem right. I'll just turn the paper a little - straighten it out and cut it again. Wrong-o! I chopped the image too close and shaved off part of the wall socket. Sigh and move onto plan B - and mind you, I don't want to color everything again - I want to make a card. So I embossed it again, this time straight - sort of anyway. Then I cut out the colored moose and layered it on top of the new one. It looks like I meant to give it dimension but really it's just a flub-up. LOL.

So I'm excited! I got one cute moose card done. Let's make another. I ruined two sheets (front and back) of watercolor paper trying to emboss it again but never quite got a good clean image. So I think - I'll just stamp it with Memento ink, let it dry and then color with watercolor pencils. Stamp it two more times without getting a clean image and I'm getting really close to cussing. LOL. Finally I got it and sat down to color. I used my handy-dandy watercolor pencils and then moved onto blending with my aqua painter only to discover that on the bow I accidentally grabbed a regular old colored pencil and not a watercolor pencils. I'm getting to the point I don't like this moose anymore but I persist anyway. I will have moose cards for Christmas darn it! I ended up using my markers to color over the wrong kind of pencil and finally --- finally I have 2 moose cards.

Ah I guess we all have those kinds of stamping sessions, huh? LOL. On the blue card I used a chipboard snowflake with a button and glitter as an accent, and on the red one I used Diamond Glaze on the Christmas lights to make them look glassy. Both Christmas sentiments are from Stampin' Up!, and as I mentioned before, the moose stamp is from High Hopes. I bought it at
7 Kids College Fund - one of my FAVORITE places to buy stamping stuff. Go check them out - especially their Nestabilities dies!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Friday, October 30, 2009

It's The Great Pumpkin!







Well, I've been making cards all day today -- I just haven't had time to take pictures. So instead I thought I'd share some pictures I took tonight at the Pumpkin Guy's house. That's what we call the guy who makes an awesome display like this every year. His whole front yard is filled with HUGE pumpkins that he carves and then illuminates from inside with car headlights. These babies are way too big for candles. Every year he has a theme and this year's is, as you probably already guessed, Charlie Brown! Last year's theme was Dr. Seuss and the year before that he did the Seven Dwarfs. The neat thing about it (other than the smile it brings to your face) is that he doesn't charge a fee to see the pumpkins. He does it just for people to enjoy, and boy do they. We've never been there when there hasn't been a ton of people.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween tomorrow. My son is too big (and cool) to go trick or treating anymore, and if he decides to go anyway he certainly won't want Mom going along. Sniff sniff. It seems like just yesterday he was dressed up as Cookie Monster and was barely able to climb the porches to knock on the door and I had to hold his little hand every step of the way. Oh well, they grow up fast. Thank goodness for scrapbooks so we can remember when they were little!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #2







Hi everyone!

Here's my submission for challenge #2 at The Play Date Cafe. What a BEAUTIFUL color combo this week. I haven't had my fill of pumpkins yet, obviously! The pumpkins are made of scalloped ovals I cut on with the Cuttlebug and Nestabilities dies. I stamped each oval with an autmn spray stamp and then sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink before assembling them into pumpkins. The "grass" was a scrap I found in my stash, and the leaves were punched from card stock and then I used my paper piercing tool to add some texture. Oh the little crystal moon was something I found in my stash too. The background is just black card stock run through the Cuttlebug with the swirls embossing folder.

Stamp Credit: Stampin' Up!

Click here to check out this week's challenge at The Play Date Cafe!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Another Quick and Simple Christmas Card


Hi everyone!

Here's another quick and simple - and shiny Christmas card! This one is pretty straightforward too. I embossed the image (Great Impressions) on watercolor paper and then colored it with my ZIG markers. The snowflake punch is from Martha Stewart and I attached the button with Diamond Glaze. The shiny snowflake background was made by taping the turquoise foil paper to a piece of light blue card stock and then running it through my Cuttlebug with the snowflakes embossing folder.

I'm happy to report that I did find a place to purchase more foil paper and card stock! I found the link on True's blog for The Paper Temptress. Oh my goodness. This place is to-die-for as far as paper goes. I'm sure I will be spending a lot of $$$$ there in the future.

Today is the first day this week I am able to stay at home and play in my craft room, so I'll be working on cards all day today and hopefully listing a bunch of new ones in my shop on Saturday or Sunday. Be sure to pop in for a visit!

I hope you're all having a lovely day!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Quick and Simple Christmas Card




Hello everyone! I whipped up this card last night while playing around with a bunch of foil paper I found in my stash. It was super simple and I just love the results. The image was embossed and colored on watercolor paper and then cut out with my nesties. I taped the gold foil paper onto a piece of white card stock and then ran it through the Cuttlebug with the snowflakes embossing folder. The rest is just layering.

Now I have to ask - does anyone know of a good place to buy more foil paper (or foil card it's called sometimes)? I only have a limited stash of it and well ---- I want more! LOL.

I hope you're all having a happy Tuesday!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Stamp Credit: Penny Black

Monday, October 26, 2009

Isn't This Sweet?


Let me state right away that I did NOT make this beautiful card. One of my sweet customers sent it to me for Halloween! I love it so much I just had to share it with everyone. Isn't that sweet? Thanks V.!

I also have some other fun stuff to share today - links to the wonders I find while trolliing the internet instead of doing housework. LOL. (Honey, if you're reading this - I did do housework today). Be sure to check out these fun finds!

Click here to see an awesome paper storage idea.

How many of you remember your mom carrying one of these beauties - or maybe it was just my mom. LOL.

I have several of these wonderful little pendants - and I want more!

If you love cake you MUST visit this awesome cake website. Be sure to explore!



That's all for today, folks! I'm still getting over this yucky cold and thanking my lucky stars it wasn't the flu! I hope you're all having a great Monday!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #1







Hello everyone! Here's my submission for The Play Date Cafe challenge #1. I have to say that the colors for this challenge are not ones I'd think to use but I'll darned if I don't love them! I guess that's the purpose of color challenges, right --- to get us to think outside the box! My card is on the cutsie side and pretty straightforward. The stamp is one of my favorites from Penny Black. I embossed it on watercolor paper, cut it out with my scalloped oval Nestabilities dies and then colored it with a combination of watercolor pencils and my ZIG markers. The papers are from K&Co. and I made the flowers with punches and some brushed nickel (looks like it anyway) brads. I'm including a picture of the inside of the card too. I always finish the insides of my cards because it's sort of a let down to look at the front of a pretty card and then open it up and see nothing inside. I think it's fun to make the inside of the card a surprise too!

I hope you're all having a beautiful day. It's rainy and gray here today but I have lots to keep me busy inside the house - so I don't mind! Thanks for stopping by and please visit again!

OH (one more thing)! If you'd like to play along with the color challenge at The Play Date Cafe click here to go to Julie's blog for all the information! There are prizes involved so don't miss it!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I Finally Got Her Done!







This is the Halloween card for my niece -- isn't this little witch the cutest? She's a digital stamp from Enchanted Inspirations. You can find a link to Michelle's blog on my sidebar. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this image - it was just finding time to sit down and do it!

I printed 3 copies of the image - 2 on white card stock and one on purple. I wanted the dress to be a vibrant purple and I just wasn't liking what I came up with using markers or watercolors. So I paper pieced the dress instead. I just printed it off, cut it out and the glued it down on one of the white images. Everything else is colored with my ZIG markers. I used the second copy printed on white to color in and cut out all the little candy corns on her dress. The stars I colored with my silver gel pen and I went over the little polka dots with a copper gel pen. Oh and do you like the little fringe at the bottom of her dress? Once I cut the purple dress out I turned it over, added a strip of double sided tape and then cut little pieces of black embroidery thread and stuck it into the tape. Once that was done I turned it over and gave it a trim.

The rest of the card was pretty easy. I sponged the witch's panel with both black and navy blue ink. The flowers were made with a combination of punches and Cuttlebug dies. Oh and that orange and gold polka-dotted paper I got at the Target Dollar Spot.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sue :o)

Quick & Simple Birthday Card







Hi Everyone!

I wanted to share this card I made last night for my girlfriend's little boy. It's nothing new in the way of techniques, but I just love the way it turned out. The stamp is from High Hopes Rubber Stamps. I embossed it in black with clear power and then colored with my ZIG markers. Then I just used a leftover piece of wrapping paper from the gifts and used it as background paper.

I just ordered some more High Hopes stamps from 7 Kids College Fund and I can't wait to get them. Their images are SO adorable and really fun to color. I also ordered some beautiful flower stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps so I should have plenty of fun stuff to play with next week.

As for this week -- sigh. I just got over a cold and then I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a headache. I'm praying it's just allergies from the change of season but I feel lousy. We'll see what I get done today.

Hope you're all having a great day!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Fall Decorating







I might be a little behind in the game, but at least I got it done --- almost anyway. :o) I didn't get much done in the craft room this weekend so I thought I'd share some pics of my favorite fall decorations. I love pumpkins and have a collection of them on my side table in the dining room, but my favorite is the big glass one shown in the second picture above.

I'm hoping to get to work on a Halloween card for my niece tonight. I was going to do it this morning, but I left to get an oil change and somehow ended up at Target, Kohls and Joanne Fabrics. I never did the oil change BUT I got a new purse, two new pairs of jeans and a bundle of craft stuff that I just couldn't live without. Somehow I don't think my husband will be as impressed as I am! LOL!

I hope you're all having a lovely day!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Enjoy The Season




Boy it's been a crazy week in my house! It seemed I had somewhere to be every day of the week. It was all good though. One of my gal pals (and volunteerism motivators) asked if I'd come and help out the book fair at her daughter's school and of course I just had to do it. This is the same school my son went to when he was in elementary school (I was PTO Prez there for 2 years too) so it was nice to go back and visit with the teachers and staff again. I love the school book fairs anyway so it didn't take much motivating by my friend to get me to do it. I worked half a day yesterday, went shopping with one of my best friends this morning, and now tonight we have my nephew spending the night!

This is a card I did earlier in the week. I used some more Christmas chipboard pieces like I did on my last post. The holly stamp is by Penny Black (scored at the estate sale a few weeks back) and I added some buttons and silver star brad. The papers are all DCWV.

I'm really hoping to get busy on some more Christmas cards this week, but already my week is looking like its going to be a busy one. We have a potluck after church tomorrow and then we're going to dinner with family in the evening (better wear eating pants), and then I've got nothing but errands on Monday and 2 school convocations to attend during the rest of the week. Sigh. I don't know why, but it always seems that Fall is such a busy time in our lives! I'm sure I'll find time to stamp though. I always do!

I hope you're all having a great weekend!
God bless!
Sue :o)