Welcome to the Pumpkin Patch!

Hi everyone!
I'm nowhere near ready for fall yet, but I did get a head start on my pumpkin cards for this year!   I only made one of these little ghost cards but I think I'm going to make a few more.   Here's a few more pumpkin cards....

I wasn't sure if I liked the darker orange pumpkins at first - but they've grown on me.   I even did some pumpkins with googly eyes too!

And of course I had to do a fall inche card as well...

And then I started on some fall cards with my Cricut.   The apple was cut from the Preserves cartridge.   I swear I don't know how I ever lived without my Cricut :o).   I have so much fun with that thing!

There are lots more cards in my Etsy shop, so go take a look!   Right now I'm off to clean my craft room - again.  Sheesh.   Doesn't it seem like I'm always cleaning in there?   I hope you're all having a great week!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

More Medallion Cards

Hello Blogging Friends!
I thought I'd share some more medallion cards.   I'm finding these medallions kind of addicting!   It's a bit of a challenge limiting the design to a 2-1/2 inch circle, but as I start adding layers I begin to see something evolving.   I'm not really planning them before I start - just cutting circles and squares, digging in my stash of accessories and seeing what happens.   On the card above I used DCWV Green Stack paper.   The circles were cut on my Cricut, and the leaves and the label were cut on my Cuttlebug.   The label is a Nestabilities die and the leaves are Sizzix.   I also added some texture to the white circle on the medallion with the Birds and Vines embossing folder.

Here's another one!   Again, the circles were cut on the Cricut.   I used a Nestabilities scalloped circles (2 layers) to make the flower, cutting the petals by hand.   The leaves are a Martha Stewart punch, and I added paper flowers (the little red ones) and a chunky sticky-backed pearl for the center of the flower.

Here's a close-up of another one that has a bit more detail.   After cutting the circles I added a die-cut heart, punched flower, stickers (the Wisteria seed packet and the word Adore), and then I cut out a sparkly pink bird from a scrap of background paper and adhered it to the medallion with foam tape.   Ooh I also addes some pink rhinestones too.

I'm planning on heading back to the craft room tomorrow - after I run errands.   I'm working on lots and lots of pumpkins for fall cards and I'm thinking about making some as scrapbooking embellishments to put in my Etsy store too.   I can hardly believe it's almost fall!   The pool is getting cold now and my garden is starting to wind down, which is kind of sad, but it's okay.   Usually by the end of September I'm ready for a break from working in the yard anyway.   I do have a new flowerbed to plant with spring bulbs though.   I was thinking of planting a huge mass of white tulips there, but my hubby says he'd rather have red, so I'm thinking we'll have a huge mass of red and white tulips instead.   Marriage is all about compromise, right?  :o)

I'll leave you with another shot of something that's been taking up a lot of my time this summer.   Mind you, this was all harvested this last weekend, so you can see the vegetable garden is still going strong...

Yes, I'm still picking veggies pretty much every day - tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green beans, jalepenos, banana peppers, green peppers, eggplant, cucumbers and lots of herbs too.   This is the first veggie garden I've planted at this house so I'm quite happy with how much we got!

I hope you're all having a great week!   Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Long Time No Blog!

Hi Everyone!  Long time no see, huh?   I feel like I haven't been here for ages, so I'll get down to sharing what I've been working on.   I've been addicted to making these little inchie cards lately, and on this one I used some of those quilled flowers I wrote about a few posts back.    I learned to quill back when I was in junior high and I've been getting back into it lately.   It's relaxing to sit and cut and twirl paper while I'm watching tv with my family - and then I get to use the flowers on cool cards like this one.   This card is in my Etsy shop right now.

Here's another card I did a few weeks back.   This baby sold right away, so I'm thinking about making a few more for myself.   I just love the colors!    I've also been making sets of notecards with a similar design.   Like these....

I used all sorts of goodies on these cards - buttons, punches, dew drops, rhinestones, sticky backed pearls, epoxy stickers, etc.   They're really easy to make too.   I cut the little square out on the Cricut, tape them down to a piece of card stock, and then decorate each little square with something different. 

So what else has Mousemom been up to?   Oh lots!   My son started high school this year so now we have a new schedule (that starts quite a bit earlier than our old one - grrrrr) and I've been getting used to that.   I've also been out in the garden quite a bit.   We started a vegetable garden this year so I've been busy freezing green beans and tomatoes, and making refrigerator pickles and pico de gallo.   I've also been trying to get out and visit my grandmother more often.   She's 92 and has a lot of health problems and can't get out of bed anymore, so I try to visit a few times a week.   I've also been busy with card orders too - which is good because that's my favorite thing to do next to spending time with family and friends. :o)  

Well I hope you are all doing well!   I'm off to catch up on blogs!  Thanks for stopping by - see you soon!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

More Collage Cards

Hello Blog Friends!

I hope this post finds you all well and enjoying your summer.   I've been running like crazy with Vacation Bible School this week.   It's a TON of work but it's so worth it.   So far this week we've made little rainbow fish and bookmarks.  Tonight we're making faux aquariums of out blue plastic plates and foamies (gotta love foamies), tomorrow we're making jellyfish (I'll post pics of these later this week), and Friday we're making fleece blankets that are going to be sent to Africa through Samaritan's Purse.   I'm really excited about that one because all our little kidlets are going to make something with their hands and send it to another child who has next to nothing in this world.   The kidlets are excited about it too and keep asking every day if we're going to make blankets yet.  LOL.

So I thought I'd share some more of my collage cards today as I haven't been in the craft room much this week - well - except to cut foam bookmarks.   The one above was made using a ton of scraps in my handy dandy little scrap bin.  The circles were all cut on my Cricut, and the texty flowers were made with the Cuttlebug.   Other materials include stickers, chipboard, buttons, and sticky rhinestones.

Here's another one!   The little turtles and butterflies are from a sticker sheet I bought at the Dollar Store (gotta love the Dollar Store too).   Again I cut the circles on my Cricut, and added paper flowers, brads, clear dew drops, and some dry embossing with the Cuttlebug.   As soon as this week is over I plan on making a bunch more of these cards, both for my Etsy store and some to go in a gallery that my friend has just opened.   The green card above is still in my shop but this little bug one and the blue one I showed you last week have already sold.

Well, I'm off to finish prepping crafts for tomorrow night.   Thank you all for your sweet comments!  I'll talk to you soon!
Sue :o)

Collage Cards

Hello Crafty Friends!   
I know I've been a bit MIA lately but seriously - I've been busy!   We went camping, had a birthday party for my DH, had a 4th of July party (same day as DH party), and now I'm in the midst of preparing for VBS the week after next.   I betcha can't guess what I'm in charge of this year.   CRAFTS!   Ha!  You won't hear me crying about that --- well --- until the last day of VBS when I have to clean up the craft room at church after a week of little ones wreaking crafting havoc!   It's all good though.   VBS rules!

So I've been feeling a little stuck lately.   You know the rut of doing the same thing all the time until your mojo just leaves without saying a word?   That was me.   So as is often the case when I've got crafter's block, I went searching for some inspiration on blogs.   I found a really cool idea here on this blog - and boy - I spent nearly an hour looking over Christine's embellished paper doilies.   That was the jump start I needed - an idea - so I went to work and came up with this.....

Now I didn't do it exactly like Christine did, but I did use the idea of embellishing circles and using lots of layers and embellishments, and well --- I like it.   This is only one of six cards I fired off in one week.   I'll share more later - otherwise you'll be here all day!

I used a variety of materials on this card.   The circles were cut with my Cricut.   I also used some Nestabilities dies, punches, sticky backed pearls, die cuts from K&Co., dew drops, ribbon and oh yeah - the polka dots embossing folder for the Cuttlebug.   This is a lot different than what I usually do and trying something new really helped me get my mojo back.   If you get a chance go check out her blog here and be prepared to be amazed!

I hope you all have a wonderful, sunny, blessed weekend!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Pink Treats

Hello Everyone!   I thought I'd share a little project I made on my Cricut the other night.   I thought it would be cute to make a matching tag for the card this time.   Both the cake and the ice cream cone were cut with the Sweet Treats cartridge and I used DCWV Sweet Stack paper.

Now that I've really gotten used to the Cricut I'm finding that I like the images better when I add details to them before assembling.   For instance on the ice cream cone I used my stylus to add a crosshatch pattern to the cone, I added chalks to the edges of each piece, and then finally added highlights with my white gel pen.   I did the same on the pieces for the cake, and then added dots along the scalloped edge on the top of the tag.

I finished off the inside of the card with some punched hearts that I sponged with ink on one side and then accented on the other with the white gel pen.   I suppose I could have cut them on the Cricut but that would have require switching cartridges.   Looks like I'm going to have to get that thing (I think it's called the carousel) so I can avoid having to switch out cartridges in the middle of a project.

Well I hope you enjoyed my project today.   I'm heading back downstairs to play until dinner and then I'm going to work in the yard this evening.   My vegetable garden is really coming along and it's time to stake up the tomato plants and weed again after all the rain we've had.  I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Gift Tags

Hello everyone!    I've been on a bit of a tag making kick lately so I thought I'd share a few of my creations.   I actually have a whole container of them in my craft room but you can only share so much on your blog at once, right?   These tags were actually pretty simple once I got in the hang of making the rosettes.   I found a tutorial on making them here on Lolly's blog.   She is so fun, isn't she?   If you've never visited her blog before do so right now.   She's hilarious and actually very informative.

Along with rosettes I added some quilled fluffy flowers too (that's what I call them anyway) and I think they added a nice touch!   I used card stock to make the rosettes, quilling paper to make the fluffy flowers, and the tags were cut on my Cricut from K&Co. paper.

These tags were super simple to make too.   Much simpler than the rosette/fluffy flower tags.   I cut the tags on my Cricut (again K&Co. paper) and the flowers were also cut on the Cricut using A Walk In My Garden cartridge.   I added the buttons because ..... I like buttons.

That's all I have to share today.   I hope you're having a lovely start of summer.   Today is my son's last day of school and then (hold on a minute let me get a tissue) I'll have a high schooler on my hands.   Seems like just yesterday I was fretting about leaving him at preschool and now I'm starting to panic about college savings and just how much money it's going to cost to insure him when he starts driving.   :o)   God is good though and I know He's gonna see me through this just like He has everything else in life.

Have a blessed day!  Hugs!
Sue :o)

Give a Hoot!

Hello Everyone!   I just wanted to share some cards I made with my new Give a Hoot Cricut cartridge!   The images are on this cartridge are just too stinkin' cute!   I knew right away that I wanted to use my DCWV green stack with these images - especially with the card above.   Love that little bird background paper!

I used the same papers on this card and the sentiment is from SU.   So I'm having fun - right?   I'm cutting, gluing and assembling little critters - and then I got to thinking that these little critters needed some dimension.   So I broke out the chalks and my markers and my white gel pen and did this....

I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of doing that, but whatever ---- better late than never, right?   All I did was add decorative chalk around the edges of the images (I seal it with good old fashioned cheap hairspray), and then I added some accents with my white gel pen.   It adds something, don't ya think?   Oh, and on this card I used K&Co. background papers. 

Well, that's all I have to share today.   I have a nice stack of critters on my desk that need to be attached to cards, so as soon as I do that I'll have more to share.   I hope you're all having a great day!   God bless!

Sue :o)

Bloom!

Hey there!  I wanted to share this cute little project I made a few weeks ago.   I bought this wood shadow box/barn at the dollar store several years ago and it's been sitting in my craft closet waiting patiently all this time.  :o)   Just goes to show that sometimes hoarding is a good thing.  Before decorating I gave it a light sanding and then lightly washed it with white acrylic paint.  I wanted it to look whitewashed so I left some areas of wood showing through the paint.

Then I went to town with lots and lots of paper flowers.   Some were cut on the Cricut, some were cut on the Cuttlebug, some were punched and some were quilled.   It's amzing how many flowers you can make with paper, huh?

After filling all the little boxes with flowers, I added embellishments like quilled circles, buttons, and rhinestone dragonflies --- oh and dew drops too. (Can't get enough of those dewdrops).

I had a lot of fun making this bloom box and honestly it wasn't hard at all.   The quilling took the longest to do but I love doing it so it wasn't like work.

I hope you're all having a great spring/summer so far!   I'm excited because my son only has a week and a half left of school and then SUMMER VACATION!   I can't wait to sleep in and enjoy a little more relaxed routine.  Thankfully he decided against taking summer school this year so we don't have to be out the door by 7:15.   Yeesh!

I'm hoping to post some more projects this week.   I've been having some technical difficulties with my computer - or as my husband puts it "operator error" but it seems to be working now.   :o)   Have a happy Monday!

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Sunflowers!

Hi everyone!
Is it just me or are we ready for Spring yet?   I keep peeking around in my garden - looking for signs of life, and while things are definitely waking up - there isn't nearly enough green out there to suit me.    So the next best thing was to make my own flowers!   Granted, you have to wait until a little later in the season for sunflowers - but whatever - I wanted flowers so I made some.

Everything for this card was cut on my Cricut using the Walk In My Garden cartridge.   All these images are cute enough on their own, but of course I had to jazz them up a little.   After cutting everything out I used my chalks to add some depth to the leaves, the centers of the flowers and the edges of the watering can.   Then I used my stylus to add some texture to the flower petals, and I also popped up some of the flowers and leaves with foam tape.

And of course I had to finish the inside of the card with another sunflower.  (I can't stand it when the inside of a card is naked).   All the background papers are K&Co. and everything else is just scraps of card stock.

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Easter Creations

Easter is just around the corner so I thought I should get busy on cards!   I tell you - I'm really behind this year.  I haven't even started on Mothers Day or Fathers Day or graduation cards yet.   I think I'm going to have to camp out in the craft room for a few days and get caught up!  The card above was made with DCWV paper and pink cards stock.   The tulip stamp is from DeNami and the scripture stamp is from Clear Dollar Stamps.  

I just love the bright colors on this card.   The paper is from K&Co.  and the stamp is Stampendous!   Can you believe I got that stamp for 50 cents at an estate sale?  Bargain!

Here's another card I did with my Cricut.   Isn't that bunny sweet?   I think I'm going to use this as my official Easter card to family and friends this year.   The Cricut cartridge I used was the Woodland Wonders cartridge.  The papers are all K&Co., and I used the Cuttlebug and Nestabilities dies to cut out the scalloped ovals.

Well, I'm off to the kitchen now to try out some new recipes I found in my blog travels this last week.   After that it's either house cleaning, laundry or ----- more stamping.   Guess which one I'd rather do.  :o)

Have a great weekend all!
Hugs!
Sue :o)

Caardvarks Wedding Card Challenge

Hi everyone!
Here's my submission for the Caardvarks wedding card challenge.   I don't have very many wedding stamps, so I improvised with the help of my Cricut and Cuttlebug.   I just love my little bugs - love love love :o).   Anyhow, here are the deets:


The cake was cut on the Cricut using the Sweet Treats cartridge.   I cut everything out of white card stock, assembled all the layers, and then I added Crystal Stickles to the swirls and teen tiny sticky pearls to the base of each cake layer.   The little heart at the top of the cake and two butterflies were made with punches, and I added Stickles to them as well - because I like sparkles. 

 

The cake plate was cut from baby blue card stock, and then I used a sponge and some turquoise ink to add shadows to the edges.    

The rest of the card was pretty easy - just layers of DCWV metallic blue card stock, baby blue card stock, and white card stock.   The layer right behind the cake was made by running a piece of the DCWV metallic blue paper through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.   I have absolutely no idea where I acquired the blue and white striped ribbon, but I do know that the metal slide was made by Making Memories.

 

Well I hope you enjoyed my card today & thanks for visiting!   Hopefully you don't have too much snow if your neck of the woods!   I'm breathing a sigh of relief today because the weather men were calling for a lot more than we got.   My poor son though --- he SOOOOOO wanted a snow day.    Oh well - maybe next snow storm.   :o)    Have a great day & God bless!

Hugs!

Sue :o)

Cricut Fun

 

Hi everyone!
I've been having fun playing with my Cricut so I wanted to post some of the cards I created this week.   This one was made using both the Cricut and the Cuttlebug.   The vase and tulips were cut with the Cricut.   I used a sponge and some turquoise ink to add some shadow to the side of the vase, and I'm not sure if it showed up in the picture or not but I also added some details to the tulips with my ZIG markers.   The scalloped ovals and the corner accents were cut on my Cuttlebug, and I also added some sponging to the corner accents to give them some dimension.

 

Next, I did this cute little turtle card.   Isn't he stinkin' cute?   I sponge the sky and grass background and then added some blades of grass with my ZIG markers.   Then I added all my die cuts and embellishments like the googly eye on the turtle, the buttons on his shell, and finally two button butterflies.   I don't think I'm giving this one away.  Hee Hee.

This last one was made almost entirely from the Cricut.   I sponged  the background to look like sky and grass, and then  I sponged the edges of the flower pot and then popped the top part of the pot up on foam tape.   The flowers were all cut from scraps and then  glittered in the centers for some sparkle.   I did use a punch for the leaves, and then cut the word Thanks on the Cricut.

I hope you enjoy!

God bless!

Sue :o)

Valentine Inspirations

Hi everyone!
I'm back with a few more Valentine cards today. I've got a bunch of them really, but I haven't had time to photograph them yet. I found the inspiration for these two cards in the greeting card section at our local drug store. Imagine that! LOL. I hardly ever pass up a card display because I find they are awesome when it comes to finding inspiration for colors and layouts.

Both of the cards were made using the Cricut for the big hearts. On the pink, red and black card I used a bunch of my flower punches to fill in the heart, and then I added different "centers" to the flowers with brads, eyelets, dew drops and rhinestones. The embossed background on that card was made with the Cuttlebug and the circles and flowers embossing folder. I'm not sure if that's what it's really called, but that's what I call it. :o) The red card was made using a bunch of scraps from my red scrap paper stash, and the flowers were made with punches. I also used a few Primas in addition to the punched flowers.

Well, I'm off to get back to housework. I hope to be back with weekend with some more cards I finished up! Have a blessed day!
Sue :o)

Love (And a Lot of Snow) Is In the Air

Hi everyone!
I woke up this morning to lots and lots of white fluffy stuff. It's soooo pretty, but I only say that because someone else drove my son to school this morning. I'm sure I'll change my tune around 3 when I have to go get him. :o) Ah that's okay. Doing donuts in the snow and skidding through intersections is one of the joys of Midwest winters and I don't feel that I've actually experienced winter until one of those two things (or both) happens.

I'm getting started on some Valentines cards! I'm not sure if I'm going to put these in my Etsy shop, or if I'm going to keep them and send them to my friends and family. Can you tell I'm loving my Cricut? It took me no time at all to cut the letters, and then I sat and played for a few hours and got the cards finished. I used a variety of embellishments - buttons, punches, Stickles, brads - you name it. Whatever I found in my hefty stash of fun stuff to glue on cards, I used! I think my favorites are the punched daisies with pearl centers.

Well, I'm off to get some work done. I still haven't taken my Christmas stuff down yet. Can you say "draggin' your feet a little bit"? I've got a good excuse though. I decided the other day to start a major kitchen cleaning and I've been busy taking everything out of cupboards, reorganizing and scrubbing everything from ceiling to floor. Some people do Spring cleaning, but I never get that bug until winter time. I'm weird like that.

I hope you have a wonderful day and for those of you experiencing snowy conditions - be safe and stay out of my way! LOL.

Hugs!
Sue :o)

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone!
Well, Christmas break is drawing to a close and tomorrow morning we'll get back into the school routine. Sigh. I might be a little strange, but I honestly love it when my son is at home with me during the day. The house is too quiet when everyone is gone! Oh well - there's no getting around it, I suppose. I'm not qualified to teach him honors algebra, so he has to go to school. LOL!

Here's a card I did over vacation. The stamp is from Penny Black (my favorite). I used my new Cricut to make the layered frames for the little hedgie, and the flowers were made with good ol' punches.

I'm hoping to get back to card making tomorrow and to blogging on a regular basis again. I was blessed with a lot of new goodies over the holidays, so I should be ready to go! I also had a major organizing epiphany (LOL) over the last week so now my crafting area is better organized and easier to work in!

I hope you're all having a great day!

Sue :o)