Spring cards

I intended these cards to have a Spring feel to them, but once they were done they seem more Hawaiian to me! Not sure if it's the color combo or the flower stickers, or both, but they did turn out sort of Hawaiian.

- Susan

Passport

For an international spy birthday party we created these great trifold passports using 12"x6" black card stock. Inside we glued linen look paper and throughout the party the children received a stamp from each country they 'visited'.

My husband put together a name badge using photoshop and a Cars 2 wallpaper image. We gave each child a spy name - our son, the birthday boy, was Secret Agent Jack Mustang.

Of course every spy needs a great pair of sunglasses to hide their identities.

The outside had this great compass stamp which we embossed. For the lettering we used a stamp and outlined with a gold sharpie.

We made 16 for the party - thanks Susan and Tanel for all your help.

Washi Paper Cards

These cards use a variety of gold washi papers to add color, texture and a reflective quality. I also added a few dimensional flowers.

- Susan

Clean and Simple Card Set

Here is another card set I made recently. This one is a clean & simple style with embossed flowers and a sentiment stamped in 3 different colors.

- Susan

Card Sets

I've been working on a few card sets in preparation for our upcoming craft sales. Here is a recent favorite.

The background is a blend of stamp pads swiped onto watercolor paper. I then stamped and embossed the central flower. I thought about adding a sentiment but decided to leave it off so that the cards can be used for any occasion.

- Susan

Retro Home Card

This week's Tuesday Trigger challenge is a retro home-sweet-home inspiration. I chose to use my very favorite Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 paper to build a retro little house.

The main part of the house is an old wallpaper sample (on top of a watermark-stamped card) and the rest of the house was made from Circa 1934 scraps.

I also stamped a circle & heart, because home is where the heart is, and finished up with a row of Circa 1934 flower stickers.

I have previously posted a few Circa 1934 birthday cards and a banner card.

Thanks for looking, hope you like the card!

- Susan

Mardi Gras Card

Let the good times roll!

- Susan

Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 Cards

Here are a few birthday cards made with the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 line, which I am sad to say is discontinued!

All the papers coordinate very well with kraft & black.

- Susan

Collage-style card

This collage card was created with a tutorial from Josie Cirincione. The background is a kraft card, layered with a distressed bridge score card sheet, and topped with an image from Stampington.

I love the look of this card, and loved the process, but I'm not quite sure what occasion or sentiment this card would suit.

It does look good, though! :)

- Susan

Banner Card

This card was inspired by the Sketch For You To Try, except I turned it sideways. I haven't done much with banners but I like these triangle flags on twine.

Once again, I am using the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 paper.

- Susan

Archery Collage

This mixed media collage is for the Collage Obsession Sport challenge. I chose archery because I had this fun image from Green Paper Packages.

- Susan

Tuesday Trigger: Chiclectic

Today is Tuesday Trigger day over at Moxie Fab. This week's photo inspired me with it's blue, black & orange color scheme, as well as the overall ornate feel.

Here is my card for the challenge:

- Susan

Cosmo Cricket Card

I made this card for the Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge using paper from the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1949 line. I am so disappointed that this line is being discontinued, it is so pretty! Luckily, I was able to pick up a paper pack and some stickers before it's all gone.

I plan to add a sentiment to this card over the 2 red squares, but haven't decided yet what it will be. One of the cool things about this paper is that it's really gender-neutral and occasion-neutral, so it can be for anyone, anytime!

- Susan

Valentine for my boys
Tomorrow morning my sweet boys Jack (almost 5) and Evan (2 1/2) can share this card but enjoy their own bag of treats to celebrate Valentine's Day. 

The stickers "I love being your mom" would be great in a Mother's Day scrapbooking page but I decided it was the perfect sentiment for how I feel about them. 

I used letter stamps with gold ink to write their names and lots of hugs and kisses. Of course there was room for some ribbon and paper hearts as always, this time on the card and the treat bags. 

I think I'll let them have some pink chocolate covered pretzels with their breakfast tomorrow!

Girly Birthday Cards

It seems that we're always attending kids' birthday parties, so I wanted to make some cute cards to fit the occasion. Kids cards can be cute and fun without even having any cartoon characters! I love the great graphics on these focal point stickers, and they blend perfectly with patterned paper from my stash.

- Susan

Library Notebooks

These notebooks have a library theme. The one on the left has a collage bookshelf cover, and the inside pages are vintage card catalog cards.

The book on the right has a laminated card catalog card for the cover, and blank index card sheets for the pages.

Perfect for the book lover!

-Susan

Craft Show Table Setup

We had a great show this morning at the Starbucks in Olde Raleigh Village. Met some nice folks and even sold a few things too.

Here are a few pictures of our setup at the show.

- Susan

Cherish a fine romance

You could use this as a gift box for your Valentine. 

The rub on transfer says "Ours is a fine romance" and the K&Company embellishment says "Cherish". 

The ribbon is brown and blue and I reversed the ribbon on the bottom to show more of the contrast blue.

This would also be a sweet place to store small romantic tokens from your beloved

- like the handwritten cards that come with flowers.

Trinket Box

I created this trinket box as a place to store stamps or ticket stubs. 

You could also use it to store memory verses or other quotes that you want to turn to for inspiration.

Laminated Mini Notebook

These mini books are 2 1/2 inches wide by 3 inches tall, with a 1 inch book ring at the top. The laminated covers make them perfect for use anywhere that might get a little messy- the garage, the kitchen, the glove compartment, and even your purse!

The inside contains 50 blank index card pages. I make them in a whole heap of patterns, with a chipboard back cover (also laminated). They come in very handy and also make a great little gift.

-Susan

Good news comes in fours... 

sometimes in life it seems like everyone is expecting - 

this was a fun way to create personalized cards using the same theme. 

Welcome baby!

Mini Collage on Canvas

This collage is made on a small 4 inch square canvas. The background is original pages from a 1920s magazine with some rub-ons and painted added. The key is from an ephemera pack I bought and the metal disk was a fun clearance find at the hardware store!

-Susan

Cigar Box Collage

This collage is created on the lid of a wood cigar box, with holes drilled and threaded with twine for hanging.

The background is a mix of original vintage papers and printed vintage images, covered with gesso, paints and inks.

FLY is spelled out using old Scrabble tiles, and the focal point bird is painted orange with some distressed and silver accents.

- Susan

(this lovely bird is posted at Collage Obsession)

Upcycled Wallpaper

Yes, I said wallpaper!

I used some wallpaper pieces found at a scrap resale store to make these cards. They wallpaper had great color and pattern, so the challenge was finding ribbon and other embellishments to coordinate.

The bird & leaf cards are all-occasion, and the tan card has a "thinking of you" tag with checkmark options to choose from.

- Susan

Green Paper Vintage Collage

This lovely lady is from the Green Paper Packages February Challenge. The additional papers used are also from the Green Paper site online gluebook class. I love these vintage images, and they all blend so well together.

-Susan

Cupcake Card

I made this card for the Tuesday Trigger challenge. I think I may have gone a little overboard with my layers and patterns on this one, so I might try again with a simpler design. But I do love the pink embossing on here!

- Susan

Willy Wonka Card

This card was inspired by the movie theme challenge at Casual Fridays. The combo of this gear-themed paper and the sweet treats felt very Willy Wonka to me. It also gave me a chance to try embossing my filmstrip stamp!

-Susan

Matchbooks

These are another cool way to use up small scraps and small stickers or other embellishments. The cardstock is folded matchbook-style, with notepapers stapled inside. These can be done with and theme and make great gifts!

I've also done the same with paint color samples from the home store. When we paint a room I always ended up with lots of rejected samples, and they are too pretty to throw out.

- Susan

Bookmarks

These bookmarks are a great way to use up scraps of fun paper that I'd just hate to throw out. They're laminated to make them extra-sturdy, with a little touch of ribbon at the top.

I haven't figured out yet how to photograph laminated papers without getting a funky glare or sheen on the image.

-Susan