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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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!