Monday, August 31, 2009

Tulips For You Thank You Card


Happy Monday everyone! I just finished adding some new cards to my shop so I thought I'd post a picture of one of them. This is an OLD stamp from Great Impressions and it's one of my favorites. I used watercolor pencils and an aqua painter on this card. I tend to reach for my markers all the time so I forced to use something else - just to keep myself from getting in a rut. The papers are all K&Co. I taped the first 2 layers together and then ran them both through the Cuttlebug with the circles embossing folder and then I added some punched flowers to the corners. Simple!

I just wanted to say that I am having SO much fun blog hopping lately! I've had my Etsy shop for a year now, and before that I was only browsing on Etsy, Flickr and Ebay for inspiration. Then I joined Split Coast Stampers and that' when I discovered blogging. Now I just love getting up in the morning and looking around at what everyone else has created. I'm surprised every day by the talent out there! I've got all my favorite blogs listed on my side bar, so check them out!

Well, I just heard my evil, wretched dryer buzzing from downstairs so I best get down there and fold before things get wrinkled. :O) I wonder if there's a way to break that buzzer. It's really annoying!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Pumpkin Card







Well, I was busy the other day making paper pumpkins so I had to find a way to use them. This is one of the cards I came up with. The pumpkin was run through the Cuttlebug with the swirls embossing folder and then I lightly sponged the edges and the embossed areas with Chocolate Chip ink. The background paper isn't even background paper - it's wallpaper I rescued (?) out of a book of wallpaper samples that was about to be thrown out at the paint store. A lot of stores will give you their discontinued books of wallpaper samples, so don't be afraid to ask! Free is good! Finally, the flowers were made with paper flowers, some brass findings I bought on Etsy, and mustard colored brads I had in my stash. To finish it off I did some layering inside the card and added a little mini pumpkin. This card was my favorite out of the bunch I made. I just love the warm colors and the textures of the dry embossing and wallpaper and brass findings. This one might end up in my own stash instead of the my shop. :o)

I hope you're all having a lovely day today. It's gray and rainy here - the perfect day to do laundry and work in my craft room. I was hoping to get out in the garden to start dividing up some plants for my church's annual plant exchange, but alas - it's too soggy for that kind of work. Oh well - I guess I'll just have to stamp all day!
STAMP CREDIT: Stampin' Up!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Getting Ready For Fall Fun







It dawned on me yesterday that Autumn is right around the corner, and when I had this realization I promptly gasped and ran to my stamp drawers to see what I have that could prove useful for this time of year. Apparently I'm more of a Spring girl because the pickings were slim. I promptly went to my computer, ordered some new Autumn/Halloween stamps - and while I was at it - a few Christmas ones too - and then I promptly went back to my craft room to play. I figured while I'm waiting for my new stamps to arrive I could at least get started on some embellishments and here's what I came up with.

The large pumpkins were traced from a template and cut by hand. After gluing the stems onto the pumpkin part, I ran the entire gourd through the Cuttlebug with an embossing folder. I used the swirls on one pumpkin and the circles on the other. I then moved on to the little pumpkins which are so simple to make. All you need is an oval punch, paper, and a pair of scissors. Punch 3 orange ovals and glue them together. The first two ovals go side by side, and the third goes in the middle - slightly lower than the other two. Then you just cut the stems by hand and glue it onto the back.

After making the pumpkins I was really getting in the Autmn mood. I grabbed some die cut leaves from my stash and sponged them up in fall colors. I pulled out my flower punches and my bag of orange designer paper scraps and I went to work on some flower embellishments. Then I found a chipboard tag and covered it with background paper, added some punched leaves and the word FALL.

Finally, I got out my watercolors and my aqua painter and played around with some other designs. The stamped leaves are from Stampin' Up and the pumpkin and the pear are my own designs. Obviously I'm not an artist but hey - I had fun while I was doing them and that's what's important, right? :o)

I hope you got some inspiration from my ideas and that you're having a great week so far! Don't forget - there's a sale going on on my shop right now. Everything is either marked down or has free shipping! The sale will run through the end of this month and then starting in September I'll be adding LOTS of new creations!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Week 3 Winner & Sale Announcement


Hi everyone! Before the day gets away from me I better announce this week's winner! The lucky winner of the snowmen Christmas card pictured above is...

Terry T.!

I have your address Terry, so I'll mail it out tomorrow morning. Congratulations!

This week I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop! Every item is either marked down or it has free shipping. Now would be a great time to stock up on cards! The sale runs through August 31st. Click here to visit my shop!

I've had a great time celebrating my 1 year anniversary with Etsy and I hope you have too! Thank you to all my customers and my blog followers. I love papercrafts in a BIG way and sharing it with you makes it all the better. I'm looking foward to another year!

Be sure to check back here later for a new project! I finally have a day I can spend at home so I'm in my craft room working on new stuff for my shop!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

A Time for Praise


I got nothing done in my craft room today, but that's okay. Sometimes we all need an ink-free day to refresh ourselves. I went to church with my family today, then my son and I went to visit my grandmother who is in a nursing home right now - recuperating from an injury. It makes me sad to see her getting so old and fragile. It got me to thinking about life and how quickly time passes and how sometimes we lose sight of what's really important. Then I happened to noticed today's Bible quote on my side bar and it just hit home - what IS really important. The quote changes daily so I'll type it again:
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10 (NIV)

Without that promise nothing else in my life would matter. I can live joyfully because not only does God take care of me here in this life, but He's provided for me for eternity! As most of you know, I am an avid gardener and I love flowers. To me - flowers are presents from God - a colorful reminder of His beauty and creativity. Today I'm putting a picture of one of His creations instead one of my own. The work of my hands is nothing in comparison to HIS! I hope you enjoy!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Button Flowers











Yeah, I'm still stuck on those buttons! Well, I made the buttons flowers so I had to find a way to use them, right? I decided to go with a bigger card than I usually do because I wanted to try to use all the button flowers. I'm not sure what you call this kind of card, but I made it by taping 2 cards together. I cut the flower stems and leaves by hand and then ran the leaves through different Cuttlebug embossing folders. The papers I used are K&Co. and the 3 dimensional stickers are also K&Co. This is exactly what I had in mind when I was making those little button flowers a few days ago! It's so fun when what I make jives with the way I saw it in my head when I started!

Stamp Credit: Clear Dollar Stamps

Well, it's the first day of school where I live, and I've got the house all to myself today. I really like it when my son is home during the summer, so it always takes me a few days to get used to a quiet house. It's going to take me a few more days to get used to getting up that early again too! Yikes! We were both dragging this morning!

I hope you're all having a great day! Now that I've got all this time on my hands I might be back later with another project!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Blog Candy Alert

Julie's Open Window is offering up some AWESOME blog candy to celebrate getting 100 followers! You'll definitely want to go check it out and enter this drawing! Click here for all the details!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Anniversary Celebration - Week 3







This week's anniversary celebration give away is this adorable Christmas card and you can win it by doing at least one of the following:

1. Leave a comment here on my blog.
2. Place an order from my Etsy shop.
3. Convo me from my Etsy shop and let me know you'd like to be entered in the drawing.

If you do two of the three things, you'll be entered twice. You don't have to be a customer to enter the drawing either!

This week's prize measures 5.5 x 5.5 and it comes with a coordinating envelope. As you can see in the pictures above, the inside of the card is decorated as well!

Beginning this Sunday evening, August 23rd and running through the end of August- there will be a BIG SALE in my shop. Every item will be either marked down or have free shipping. If you have your eye on something, you'll want to check back on Sunday!

I will announce the winner of this week's giveway on Tuesday August 25th and I will post it here on my blog.

STAMP CREDITS: Snowmen/Great Impressions -- Sentiment/Stampin' Up!

Have a great day!
Sue :o)

More Button Goodness







I made this card yesterday while in the midst of my button binge. :o) I've had this idea in my head for quite some time so I decided to take it out and bring it to life, and I have to admit I like it. I was going for a vintage look and I think I got it - only I wish I would have used a lighter ink to sponge the edges of the panel with the buttons on it - and I would have antiqued all the papers instead of just the main panel. Oh well - that's the fun of experimenting!

I'm a little sad today because it's the last day of summer vacation and tomorrow morning my little boy --- sorry --- my junior high hunk is headed back to school. Sniff Sniff. It's going to take some time to get used to getting up early again and to having a quiet house during the day! Whatever will I do with myself? :o)

Be sure to check back here later. I'll be listing this week's anniversary give-away this afternoon and depending on how many noisy teenagers show up here today I might get some more button cards finished up!

Sue :o)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Buttons




I have a confession to make. In addition to hoarding paper - I also have a serious addiction to buttons. Okay, maybe it's not terribly serious. I don't steal other people's buttons and I don't lose sleep over it if I lose one of mine. But I love them! I love the colors, the shapes, and the textures and I love sinking my hands into the big old bowl of them I have in my craft room. I used to try to keep them organized by color in one of those plastic boxes with the little dividers, but the messy girl in me just couldn't comit to that kind of organization so now they all commingle in one place waiting for me to use them. The only problem is - I like them and I don't always want to part with them. LOL.

So today I got it in my head that I was going to use the buttons - take them out of the big pretty bowl and actually use them on a project. I've had this stamp set for awhile, and when I bought it from Clear Dollar Stamps I envisioned using buttons in the centers of the spirograph-ish swirls, so I decided to start with that. I stamped the image in different colored inks, cut them out with my Cuttlebug and scalloped circle Nestabilities dies, and then sewed two buttons (one stacked on top of the other) into the center of the image. I don't sew so it's a miracle I managed this task - and an even bigger miracle I was able to find a needle. After the buttons were sewn on, I layered the images onto coordinating scalloped circles of card stock. Now I just have to find a way to use these babies! I have an idea in my head, but I wasn't able to get to it tonight but I'm planning on it tomorrow. I hope you'll check back to see what it is!

Sue :o)

Week 2 Winner!


The lucky winner for this week's card and tag set is.....

Vicki J!

This must be your lucky month girl! I will get the card/tag out to you right away!

I'll be back later with a project I'm working on, and tomorrow I'll be listing the new item up for grabs in my anniversary celebration!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Monday, August 17, 2009

White Butterflies




I'm sure I'm no different than most of you out there. Sometimes I get in a rut in the craft room and feel like I'm doing the same thing over and over again. I get bored and feel uninspired. That's where I was this weekend, so I did what I usually do when I'm in a rut and I clean and reoganize my craft room. Usually a neat workspace is enough to get me going again, but that still didn't do it so I had to search for an alternate route. I decided to pull out a few of my old issues of Somerset Studio and browse the pages for inspiration and that finally did it! Now, I have to say I'm no good at the kind of artwork I see in Somerset Studio, but often I get inspired by the themes and color combinations I find there. In the particular issue I was reading, the theme was WHITE and that's what gave me the idea for this card. I've had this "crackle" paper in my stash forever and this Stampin' Up! set has been on my desk for awhile and instantly I thought about putting the two together. I embossed the butterflies in white on cream card stock, cut them out and then adhered them to the card on foam tape. Then I added some pearls since I was rolling with the white theme :o) and then embossed the sentiment in gold to give the card some more sparkle. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Stampin' Up!
Paper: DCWV, cream and white card stock
Ink: Clear embossing ink and white embossing powder, gold detail embossing powder
Accessories: Cuttlebug, embossing folder (I don't remember the name of it but it's like little squares), deckle scissors, and mini pearls (Michael's).

I'm hoping to get some more time down in my craft room today, but I'm not sure if it'll happen. The kids go back to school later this week and as soon as mine gets out of bed we're going to get the rest of his school supplies and then I need to do some house cleaning. (UGH). We were literally running all weekend and I got nothing done. I seriously fear someone is going to come to my door today and then we'll all have to hide and pretend like we're not home! LOL.

I hope you have a great Monday! God bless!
Sue :o)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Play Time







Boy do I have a sleepy kid on my hands today! My son was at a lock in last night at church and from the looks of it they didn't sleep. I picked him up at 7:30 this morning and he slept until after 1. Now he's just lying there with sleepy eyes watching tv. LOL. Needless to say I think it'll be an early night for him tonight.

I finally got to sit in my craft room and play today! The first one is another Penny Black that I use often. The second card is a little out of the ordinary for me but I bought the tags the other day at Joanne's and wanted to see what I could do with them. That stamp image is from The Greeting Farm. The last one is by High Hopes Rubber Stamps, another one of my favorite stamp companies.

Well I'm off to make dinner and then (hopefully) back to my craft room!

Hugs!
Sue

Etsy Anniversary Celebration Week 2







For those of you who are new to reading my blog - I am celebrating my one year anniversary with Etsy this month with a drawing for free cards every week and a big sale the week of August 23-30th. This week's prize is a cute little Christmas card/tag combo.

The image on the card was embossed, colored and glittered on heavy watercolor paper, and I added colorful chipboard embellishments as accents. The inside of the card is finished nicely but left blank for your personal message. The tag was stamped and colored, and then I added red and white striped ribbon and a cute little chipbard tag that reads "naughty or nice".

All you have to do to enter the drawing is one of the following things.

1. Leave a comment here on my blog.

2. Place an order from my Etsy shop.

3. Convo me on Etsy and let me know you'd like to enter the drawing.

I will draw a winner next Tuesday, August 18th and post it here on my blog!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A New Card







Boy it's been a busy day but I managed to get one card finished in addition to working on orders and the project for this week's giveaway. Have I mentioned I love Penny Black? :o) I swear I could sit and color these little critters all day long. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Penny Black
Paper: DCWV
Ink: Colorbox black, ZIG markers
Accessories: paper flowers, mini buttons, MS leaf punch, SU big flower punch

Well, it's off to start dinner now and then off to the youth group lock-in at church. Our youth minister said he only needed me until around 8 or 9, so maybe I will get to stamp some more. Either that or I'll have a huge headache (teenagers can do that to you) and I'll go straight to bed. :o) I hope you all have a great night!

God bless!
Sue :o)



Anniversary Celebration - Week 1 Winner!




The winner of this week's giveaway is.....

Vicki J.!!!!

I will put your cards in the mail tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow morning I will be posting the next giveway. What is it? You'll have to check back tomorrow morning to see it, but I will give you a little hint. Think Jingle Bells.

Once again I want to thank all my customers and friends who visit this blog and my Etsy shop. It's a lot of fun creating, and sharing it with you makes it even better!

God bless!
Sue :o)

Monday, August 10, 2009

Manic Monday




I might sound crazy for saying this, but sometimes I love it when Monday comes. We had a busy weekend. Saturday morning we went to the zoo with my sister in law and thank goodness we went early because by noon it was in the 90s and humid. I fit in grocery shopping and errands after that, and then my nephew came to spend the night and he brought a little buddy with him. LOL. It's amazing how late two little boys can stay up giggling. Unfortunately I had to get them both up early on Sunday so the little buddy could get to church with his family and I could get my nephew back to my brother's before we had to go to church, so I think their late night probably caught up with them yesterday afternoon. It caught up with me pretty early last night too. :o) We had my sister in law over for dinner and then I crashed.

I did get to spend some time in craft room today. I was finishing up an order for a customer and trying to clean things up a little. Tomorrow I'll be finishing up the order and then hopefully working on some new stuff for the shop before I have to go chaperone for a few hours at a youth group lock in at church. They're doing a photo scavenger hunt and needed a driver, so I volunteered. We'll see how that goes. LOL.

I don't have any new cards to post today so I thought I'd share a few pictures I took this weekend at the zoo. We were at Brookfield and they have a beautiful butterly garden that I love to visit. Not only are the butterflies beautiful but the place is full of flowers too! Now only if I could stamp in there... LOL

I hope you're all having a nice Monday! I'll be back tomorrow with paper creations!

Sue :o)

Friday, August 7, 2009

Christmas in August?



I got some new Christmas stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps the other day and I just couldn't wait to get them dirty!

I was going for a softer look on the first card, so I used watercolor pencils and an aqua painter to color the image. I also used some Stickles on the star and the halo. I got some new Spellbinders dies too so I used them on this card. I made the die cut, embossed it and then kept it inside the die and sponged it with navy blue ink. That way the white shows around the edges. I popped that piece up on foam tape, then cut out the image and popped that up on foam tape too. The little sentiment in the corner reads "His perfect gift."

Since I did a "soft" card I figured I might as well do a "bright" one as well. I colored this image with my ZIG markers and then cut it out with my Cuttlebug and more Spellbinders dies. I also embossed the green paper with my Cuttlebug and the argyle embossing folder. Boy, I had some major ribbon issues with this card. For some reason I could not get it lined up. Grrrr.

Thanks for looking!
Sue :o)

Bubbly Birthday Card



Here's a card I did this morning using High Hopes Rubber Stamps. I just love this little fish! All three of them were embossed and colored on watercolor paper and then cut out and adhered to the card on foam tape. Other cute touches include glitter on the flish, polka dotted dry embossed paper, birthday background paper and clear dew drops that look like bubbles. This card is in my Etsy shop right now! Don't forget to enter into my drawing for free cards this week! I will be drawing a winner on Tuesday night and posting the results here on Wednesday. Get the details here!

Well, it looks like I got my gardening done in the nick of time this morning! It's clouding up now and the radar is showing thunderstorms heading this way. My cat Mouse didn't even protest when I made her come inside so that's usually a sign that we're in for rain. We were planning on going to the zoo tomorrow morning but now I'm not sure that's going to happen as they're calling for rain tomorrow too. :o( I guess there's always next weekend.

I hope you're all having a happy Friday. I'm off to play in my craft room in between loads of laundry.

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Happy at Home




I've been playing around with different blog descriptions lately and so far none of them have really expressed what I wanted it to. I was finally hit with inspiration yesterday though. As is often the case, it came when I least expected it - and when it came, I knew it was what I'd been looking for. I have been running like crazy lately and yesterday was one of the few days I didn't have to go anywhere. I thought to myself "Ahhhh, it's so nice to be able to stay at home today." That's when it hit me. I am happy at home! I love my craft room, my garden, my family, my cats and birds (not necessarily in that order LOL) and I just love doing the house-wifey thing in general. So it's official now - my blog description is Happy at Home.

I'm including some pictures of my garden this morning. Next to papercrafting, gardening is my favorite hobby and I love to go outside in the morning and just wander around the yard to see God's handiwork. It's always a surprise to see what's blooming. If you'll notice in the picture of my front porch there is a mound of marigolds growing right at the base of the stairs. Some seeds must have fallen in the cracks down there and lo' and behold they took root. I didn't have the heart to pull it when I saw it coming up, and I'm glad I didn't. It just looks like it belongs there doesn't it?

I'll be back later with some more paper creations! I hope you have a great day!

Sue :o)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Week 1 - Drawing for Free Cards





To celebrate my 1 year anniversary on Etsy, this week I am offering up for grabs these two adorable cards! Penny Black is one of my favorite stamp companies, so I thought it would be appropriate to use their stamps for this week's drawing. Both cards measure 4.25 x 5.5 and they come with a plain white envelope. You can enter by doing one of the three following things:

1. The easiest - leave a comment here on my blog.
2. Place an order from my Etsy shop.
3. Convo me on Etsy and let me know you'd like to be entered into the drawing.

If you do two of the three - you'll get entered twice! :o) I will do a random drawing for the winner of these cards next Tuesday, August 11th and post the winner here on my blog.

I have had such fun selling my creations on Etsy for the last year and I've met a lot of wonderful people. This is just my way of saying thanks to everyone! Oh! I forgot to mention that select items are marked down in my shop right now - go have a look!

God bless!
Sue :o)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Back In Town!



I'm finally back in town after a few days away. We went up to Wisconsin this weekend so my hubby could take a finger-style guitar workshop at the University of Wisconsin School of Music. He loves playing guitar and of course had a great time. I'm going to post a link in my sidebar later on for his YouTube channel, so you can see for yourself how awesome he is! :o) As for me and my son, we did a lot of relaxing. We went to the art museum yesterday and walked around the lake front taking pictures and just hanging out. I absolutely love going to art museums and I have to say the one in Milwaukee is just fantastic. When I go to the art museum in Chicago I tend to linger near anything from the Impressionists, but there wasn't much of that at this museum and it forced me to explore and find some new inspirations. There was one gallery with pieces made from found objects and OH MY did I love that. My son really liked the gallery with all the glass pieces best. Oh and we both had a great time looking at the abstracts and talking about what we saw in them.

All in all it was a good weekend but I'm glad to be back home! I've got a bunch of new Christmas stamps on order so I'll be getting busy on holiday stuff for my shop. And of course, this month is my 1 year anniversary with Etsy so I'll have a lot of fun going on with that! I'm going to start some give-aways on Wednesday August 5th so be on the lookout!

Have a great Sunday everyone! God bless!
Sue :o)