No Spring Skips it's Turn!

Despite the stop and go weather we've been having this spring (snow one day, warm the next) there is one thing that you can be sure of in the spring.

Baby animals! 

I especially love lambs. 

So when I saw these cards at my card group last month, I straight away asked my friend and card-maker, Shauna Hunt, if I could share them with you.

Shauna is a great photographer and enjoys turning her photographs (with a little photoshop help) into cards.

Below is the original picture.  Strategic cropping, a perfect sentiment and a filtered water-color look and you have a picture-perfect card!  Be sure to Click on the image above to enlarge and see the detail.

As the weather improves, and we head out to enjoy the world, be sure to take your camera and think about cards. This has always been a favorite technique of mine, started many years ago when I received a photo cards assignment form Paper Crafts Magazine.

If you don't fancy yourself much of a photographer, or simple don't have the ability to edit them, please visit my Studio 5 segment I did last year on Photo Cards.  There are many free downloads...just print and adhere to a card.

 

Didn't Shauna just capture the spring in this little lamb's step?  LOVE IT!

One Sticker - Two Cards

These are not your Mother's stickers...or my own, for that matter.  Remember the early days of scrapbooking / card making and your local store had rolls and rolls of stickers?

Yes, I have a small stash of those.  Bet you do too.

I found these 4-in-1 stickers a few years ago at a clearance store.  I bought 12 of them, thinking they would make a quick card.

Well, 2 years later and 12 hours before my card group met for lunch and exchange, I put them to use!  And yes, they really did make a quick card!

Even better, I'm going to get two months worth of cards out of these stickers.

When you have to make 12 cards every month, the trick is to keep your eye out for multi-packs.  Or in this case, a clearance price that makes it worth it.

Amazingly, I found these still available online: Memories Complete.  They are called Dollar Stickers. 

They are $1 each online, but I found a coupon code of 30% off (MC30).  They are located in Lindon, UT...maybe they would allow pickups?

 

I actually pulled out a stamp for this card!  (I really need to start stamping again.)  I needed some kind of sentiment to fit into the circle.  A few more great stash items: Prima flowers, some gem brads and the old 'little extra' standby, glitter glue!

Super quick, bright and just what I needed in my card file: Wedding cards!  It seems like everyone is getting married this month!

Look squarely familiar?

Am I getting lazy, or just enjoying putting together a quick card?

Maybe a combination of both?  Or maybe just need a fussy-break once in a while, Or maybe this paper was just too cute to pass up and it happens to be easy to papercraft with?

Enough of these rhetorical questions!

I had card group (follow link to watch a studio 5 segment I did on my card group card group ideas and how-tos.) this week and lately, it's been a challenge to make those 12 cards regardless of how much... 1. I enjoy making cards and 2. I love meeting with my card-making friends for lunch.

 After finishing up my February class, 'Cute & Colorful Squared' I picked up four of the other 3x3 squared sheets by Pebbles with plans to use it for my card group.

I started by separating the squares (love the perforation!).  Played around with the colors and decided to go with the green/brown combination.  I'll save the red/turquoise for another month!

I then choose the project from 'Cute & Colorful Squared' that would work best and went with the clipboard card.

I really liked how the yellow looked with the green/brown.  I was in a bit of a rush, so I found these yellow flowers from my stash and  these adorable green brads by Making Memories.  Other than that, I stayed true to the original template.  Super Quick and fresh and springy.

I used the Clipboard shape from Fabulous Finds, but had to adjust the shape a bit on Design Studio so it would be square.  I suppose you could just cut it out and then trim it to make it square as well.

'Cute & Colorful Squared' class had 8 projects using 16 squares and most of them are interchangeable!  Just think of the possibilities...and then make them and then email me your creations, I always love to see what you've come up with.

I'll be ready to ship more 'Cute & Colorful Squared' kits on Feb. 28th, so place your order now if you haven't already.

Life goes on

I feel a little guilty about this post, because clearly my sister's life (see post below) has not gone on...yet.  but it will. 

I, on the other hand had the luxury of coming home and resuming my day-to-day life.

On the way home from the airport Steven suggest we try a chinese buffet.  Really?  Steve is not much of a buffet person and very much not a chinese buffet person.  However, we are devoted watchers of CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood and they had a fun little segment on Chinese buffets and GUESS who took number 1 country wide?  Yup...CRAZY BUFFET in Taylorsville.  All I'm going to say is I think there may have been some bribery going on.  I felt a little ill for the next day. :)

We had a weekend get-away planned with some friends and so took the short drive down south to warmer weather.  This was such a tonic for me.  Sun, warmth and flip flops. 

Now it's back to work!  Cute & Colorful class starts next week, designing March's class, prepping for Studio 5 on Feb. 7th and last, and yes, kind of least, my cards for my card group.  I actually got most of these done earlier this month, so just a few finishing touches and I was done.

They looked so pretty drying on my piano, I decided to take pictures.

60% off and 100% perfect

I was in the Sandy Roberts a few weeks ago and my friend, Paula, who is always so on top of things and just a big awesome help, pointed out some adorable valentine paper by Making Memories, that was 60% off.

I have a hard time resisting just about anything that is 60% off. But I stood there, paper in hand, turning it this way and that and basically designing a card in my head.

"Valentine's is over, but this would work for a Wedding card...Those hearts would be really easy to cut out and have so much pretty detail."

I did the math. "21 hearts from each sheet of paper. 10 cards for .32 cents...plus the other paper, cardstock etc..., still really, less than .50 a card. Not including the envelope. Darn! Those square envelopes are so expensive!"

Yes, I really had all those thoughts as I stood in front of the paper turnstile, looking rather zombie-like.

I love it when I have an idea, go home and actually do it. Right away. Card club is always a great excuse to get cracking with cards. I took the hearts to bed. Made a big paper mess and finished everything up the next morning. Cutting it close, but I made it.

Since I bought more than 1 sheet of hearts, guess what? I made extra cards and I would love to share a few of them with you. Tell me about the best deal you got in a scrapbooking store and I'll send cards off to the winners. Be sure to check back and email me with your mailing address. I'll be posting the winners on Wednesday night. Good luck!

Can I make 12 cards in less than an hour?

That was the question I asked myself as I drove home from a Dr. appt with my daughter on Wednesday morning.

My Card group is usually the 4th Wednesday of the month, but we always get a bit confused on the months where there are 5 Wednesdays. So, it wasn't until Monday that I realized, "wow, I have to get my cards done!". And unfortunately, there literally wasn't a moment between that realization and the drive home to do them.

I do what I have learned to do when confronted with seemingly impossible tasks: I tried.

And as a Mom/multi-tasker/blogger I also decided to document the trying with my camera. Fortunately, I had all the bits & pieces cut for one my Nifty Thrifty Christmas Card Class.
Here's how it went...

1. Gather supplies.
2. Fold card bases and adhere red base.
3. Cut printed image into tag share, adhere tag topped and punch hole.
4. Thread twine through buttons.
5. Thread ribbon through tag hole.
6. Tie buttons around ribbon to finish tag.
7. Apply foam squares (yes, they are tiny, ran out of big ones) to back of tag and adhere to front of card.
8. Take picture...done!

Now, before you think I may be the consumate, professional, never-make-a-mistake card maker, let me share the REST of the story.

I'm taking pictures of the cards and realized that I didn't apply the glitz (diamond glaze on the heart, sprinkle with glitter). So I do that. I'm thinking, yes, it will still dry in time.

Caught up in my optimism, no matter how poorly placed, I decide to add the glitter glue to all the dots on the antlers and noses. "Surely, those will dry too.". It's now 11:35am. I'm supposed to be at the restaurant at 11:45. I go get ready while they 'dry'.

2 minutes later (haha) they are NOT dry. So, I carefully overlap them on a cookie sheet, almost panic when I bring them to the car, because the wind is blowing, but manage to get them in the backseat, making mentals notes to, even though I'm late, NOT to break heavily or to take a turn too quickly.

I'm doing pretty good, when after (in my mind) gentle turn, I hear the whole pan slide across the seat! Now, ladies, this is how accidents happen. DO NOT DO THIS! They are, after all, just cards. Not worth my life, right? But nooooo, I pull over to the side of the road to make sure my babies are all safe and die a little when I see that not only are they still not dry, but the glitter glue is now smeared all over the place.

I take a deep breath, re-arrange the cards and drive on. A few minutes later I'm in the parking lot debating. Do I bring the cookie sheet with cards INTO the restaurant (Thanksgiving Point Harvest by the way, nice place, linen tableclothes, the whole caboodle)?

I decide I will look less foolish if I carry two cards, back-to-back between each of my fingers (think Edward Scissor hands). It didn't work. I didn't care. THIS is important!

Did it occur to me to leave them in the car to dry and get them later? Yes, it did. One, I really didn't want to brave the nasty cold, windy weather more than I had to. Two, I thought the group would most likely want to swap out while we were waiting for our food. See, I'm NOT entirely impulsive.

So, I find my group, with all my cards fanned out from my fingers, enjoy the smiles and smirks coming from all my friends, carefully place them down in a corner of the room and sit down.

Ahhhhh, such is life. Wouldn't it just be boring if we never tried to do impossible things?

Eyes of Newt

I received this at my last month's card swap. Yes, sometimes one of us (usually Brooks!) does something extra for us, like this sweet little Halloween goodie box.

She got the label from Martha Stewart and I wanted to share the link with you. Go to step 3 to find the link to download the clipart.

Check out some more fun Halloween Favors here from Martha.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Studio 5 Card swapping Group & Simple cards to duplicate

Oh, well. That was just TOO much fun! I'm so glad I got to share something I love so much with everyone. If you didn't have a chance to watch, play the video below.


Also, I just found out Channel 5 is replaying the segment on the 4 o'clock news!

And our sneak peek winner is...Heather Godfrey! I know this was a toughy. I just didn't know how to make it easier. Heather, I'll email you with details about your prize.


I have a great article I put together for this segment at the Studio 5 website. Please visit to read all my tips, tricks and templates. You can also download the card templates here and save them on your computer. I'll be creating more of them in the coming weeks. I will also have card examples of each template as well.

Swap Heaven

It's always fun when you can share your passion for something with people who understand. It's hard to believe, but not everybody makes cards...yeah, can you believe it??

So, to get the chance, once a month, to ohhh and ahhhh over everyone's creative cards is just a pleasure for me.



Highlights for me this month? Well, I just adore the paisley embossing folder from Cuttlebug (top left and right below it). What I love about this is how 2 completely different looks can be achieved with the same design.

Sharon is always innovative with her cards and this month she really surprised me. (2nd top card from the left). I was familiar with these valentine words from Making Memories and I really had to do a double take. There was no way she used an entire sheet of these for each card and sure enough, she scanned the whole thing in! So cool.

Shauna's knots to keep the charm in place - clever! (top RH card) and of course, you just can't go wrong when chocolate is part of the mix. It's always great to have some of these on hand for little gifts...that is if I don't break into them first. So far, so good.

Lastly, I wanted to share a card made by another swap group I do on-line (center, Love birds card). Mindy beat me to the punch! I've been eyeing this die-cut (Cricut Joys of the Season cartridge) for months, planning to do exactly the same thing. The birds were designed for "Two turtle doves - Christmas application", but it works so perfectly for a wedding card.

Thanks for sharing ladies, you make my day!

That’s my door!

I was at my monthly card swap, exchanging our cards when this one, by Shauna Hunt, was passed to me.

I took a moment to look…my first thought was (sorry, this is the PC Pro in me) “where did she find that paper?” and “how did she do that?”. As I sat there puzzling, with the background buzz of 7 other gals talking about it, Shauna got my attention and said “don’t you recognize that door?”.
Oh my HEAVENS…that’s MY DOOR!

This was a shining moment for Shauna. As a photographer, Shauna, like all good photographers, looks at life through a lens. 2 years ago, she spotted my fabulous front door (It was actually kind of boring compared to years past) and took a few shots.

She created this great look by using my favorite photo editing software, Photoshop. After cropping the photo and removing the hanging lights and the reflection of the house across the street she took it through the watercolor filter (Brush detail 9, shadow intensity 1, texture 1 in case you want to re-create it) and printed it on watercolor paper she found at a local craft store.

Here are a few more hints from Shauna: “You have to play with the filter because it can really distort faces. There is a lot of black put into the picture when you use the watercolor filter so I keep the Shadow Intensity to very low numbers. It is fun to play with and each picture deserves individual attention to the filter details.”

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. I’d love to challenge you to photograph some of your holiday décor and play around with the watercolor filter. Maybe you’ll end up using it for next year’s Christmas cards!
~Sue

Anatomy of a swap & Give-aways!

I've had the pleasure to be involved in two swaps this week. I made 24 of these cute little gift bags (see below - they measure just 4" x 8") in the past few days.

1. I wanted to share with you what exactly a swap is.

2. I wanted to give away a "Christmas is Love" gift bag filled with papercrafting goodies to one lucky reader. (and there just might be some of Steve's famous fudge in it!) Just leave a comment!

3. I want to give EVERYBODY this "Christmas is love" digital image FREE! I designed this for WCMD (World Card Making Day) last year. Just email me and I'll send it to you.

Besides my treasured card group I've been participating in for over 10 years (love ya gals!), I also host PC Pro swaps for Papercrafts Magazine on their website every few months.

This month I hosted a Christmas packaging swap and finally got around (my aching tooth) to swap it all out. Here are a few pictures of how I do this.

First, I patiently wait for all the packages to arrive. 12 participants (I'm one of them). Once they all in-house, I start by making piles of each package; the BEST part is getting to see what everyone made! I Check for return labels, ziplock bags (for protection), extra postage and the little goodies I often get as a hostess (cute little tea bag gift, gum, chocolate and other little scrapbooking gifts...yes, I really SCORED this time).



Carefully, counting more than once, I make sure each person gets one of each, re-package everything, weigh and make sure there is enough postage. Sound easy? Yup, it really is! Would love to have you join any of our many, many swaps we post at the Papercrafts website. A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated...you should be getting your packages by the end of the week.

So, this was my choice for both of my swaps. The challenge with swapping is finding a cute idea without being bogged down with too many steps or time consuming techniques. Digital images are perfect for swaps...let the printer do the work! Add simple embellishments (jingle bells) or texture (Pop pieces up & glitter and Glossy accents to the heart).

What is it about making many of something that makes me smile. I feel SO productive!

I looking forward to the 'productivity' ending though and the 'relaxing' to begin...yeah, like Dec. 25th after dinner, as usual!

Blingy Christmas Card & Give-away

I was walking through Roberts Crafts a couple of weeks ago, salivating at all the wonderful Christmas decor already on sale when I spotted an unusual spray. It was covered in crystal flowers. I thought it looked familiar and remembered that a few manufacturers in the scrapbooking industry are selling these exact flower crystals in different sizes and colors.

Curious, I started counting (it was quick, I'm a little rainman in that department) and figured the cost per crystal. Deal! I put it in my cart and used my 40% discount and felt pretty pleased with myself!

Fortunately, these come off the spray really easily with some snip scissors. Two crystals are sandwiched together with a little wire, so once snipped they just fall apart.

I knew I wanted to use these for my card group cards, as I thought they would make a cute tree topper. When I found this paper from Basic Grey I knew I had my card. This paper just screams to be cut into cute little trees!






















One little glue dot and some Ice Stickles (from Ranger) dobbed in the middle and this card had all the bling it needed.














I've been playing with these crystals and there are tons of possiblities. I took some crochet thread and knotted a little center. I wired a bead through the center and if you have a super tiny brad that would work too. Unfortunately, the hole in the center of the crystal is pretty tiny, so reg. brads didn't work.

So, since I now have a TON of these cuties, I thought I would share them with you. I would love to hear or see what you end up doing with them. So please leave a comment here and next week I'll choose a few winners!

Oh Happy Day!

It's always a happy day when I have card group. Well, it is once I get there. Usually it's not so great before that. I'm running around, stressed out, trying to get my cards done in time! Oh come on! You do the same thing! Admit it!

Actually, I had plans. BIG plans. I actually cut all the paper pieces in advance. I stamped and embossed my owl guy (all 24 of them) and took them with my wee scissors and cut them all out on my drive up to Canada. So, I did ATTEMPT to be organized this month.

It was that last little stamping on the white piece that messed me up! So here are the details of my Happy Day Card.

Don't you just dig these cardstock colors? I've always been a huge Bazzill fan (still am), but lately I've been enjoying some really fresh colors from Prism. I used (#B558-D) Frosted Teal and (#OR041-E) Intense Orange here.

I normally don't love 'cutsie' images, but Owen the Owl here has just enough attitude to make him hip. Like he's just thrilled to have a birthday! Thanks Kim, just love your owls!

My first background stamp is from the same company that manufacturers Kim Hughes designs, Cornish Heritage Farms. One of my favorite and often used Large Polka Dot Backgrounder. The word stamp is from Hero Arts, Design Block Birthday.

Lastly, the sentiment "Oh Happy Day" is from Fiskars "Just between Friends" stamp set.










{thanks ladies for your cards this month, as always, just wonderful!}

Hope you're all having a Happy Day too, Sue