Christmas Tags

I have two wonderful grandsons - one is in 1st grade and the other is in daycare (he's 3).  I made Christmas tags last year for my older grandson (the younger was at a sitter's and I didn't think about doing it for him) so this year I'm doing it for both.  Because my grandson goes to a private school, at least 1/3 of his classmates are from the previous year so the tags needed to be different.

My youngest grandson loves nutcrackers (he calls them nutcracks).  When I saw Concord & 9th's Winter Wonderland nutcrackers on a card that Jennifer McGuire made I knew I had to have this die set.  It did not disappoint.

Here is a sampling of the tags I made.  I finished 25 tags and still have 10 more to do.  I think the rest of them will be with snowmen instead of nutcrackers!

These guys are very small but not hard to assemble - even the teeny tiny pieces (even with my big fingers).  I started by die cutting the pieces out of various cardstock colors and then matching them up when I assembled.  The next round I cut several from the same color combo and then assembled - much easier (especially for color challenged people).  

If you haven't seen this die set from Concord & 9th, check it out.  It comes with the nutcracker, snowmen, a car with a tree on the roof, a snow globe, and tiny snow flakes.

There's a stamp set that coordinates with it but I didn't get that.  This snow globe ended up in the trash because I didn't do a good job of assembling it (in the picture the glue is still wet and visible).

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you get to spend your Thanksgiving with those you love and who love you.  Susan

Christmas Card Class

 Our local scrapbook/cardmaking store - Made on Main - had a card class this year.  The ladies that went said it was so much fun.  Unfortunately I missed it because my husband had surgery the day before and I needed to be with him all day.  But I did get my kit and it was fun putting them together.

Here are the 12 card designs we made (2 of each card). 

The nativity was my favorite ... so much so that I immediately bought the Hero Arts Looking Glass dies so I could make these again.  And I bought a few of the other Looking Glass die sets.  

It is a shame that some many of the local craft stores have closed so it is a real treat to have Made on Main so close (25 minutes from me).  They have also opened a retreat center for weekend craftiness.

If you are local to the Columbus, OH area, be sure to check out Made on Main in Ashville, Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by, Susan

Cards from the summer

 I have a few cards to catch up on.  These are some that I worked over the summer but didn't take time to photograph or post.

This last one I used the tissue paper from an Altenew package for the background.  I love when our companies send us a little extra that we can create with!

Thanks for stopping by, Susan 

Word Card Making Day 2022

 It's Word Cardmaking Day and I finally found time to get to work!  Well, to be honest, I've been in my room a lot but working on other things.  I've been working out card boxes and folios and such for Christmas gift giving.  I'll show those later.

But onto what really matters ... the card I made today.  Yes, card - singular.  In fairness I managed to make two of these and it only took me four hours.  Okay, not really 4 hours but I had to clean up my room first.  I had the scraps of said card boxes and such all over the place and had to clean them up before I could start a new project.

I decided to do the PinkFresh Studio's challenge and made a card using mailing their products.  I LOVE how this turned out and will definitely be making more in this same vein.  PinkFresh has really great products and as I thought about the elements I wanted on this card I was happy that most were from them.

This card uses the following PinkFresh products:  Daisy Wreath stencils (I love their laying stencil sets), Folk Edge Circles (another absolute favorite), You sentiment, Leafy Branch.   The "are amazing" is from Stampin Up Expressions stamp set.

Funny story ... I had to redo the sentiment circle because the stamp says "you are amazing" and I covered the "are" instead of the "you" and didn't notice it until I was ready to post the picture.  I'm glad I saw it before hitting "publish".

Thanks for stopping by, Susan

You’re so bright

 I’ve had these sunglasses from Stamps of Life for quite some time and have been looking for a card to use them on. I love how this came out. 

Bonus: I used up some patterned paper. 

Thanks for stopping by, Susan

New crafty goodies

 I love when crafty goodies come in the mail. I’ve got some in the mail box but it is raining so they’ll have to wait. 

I did play with stencils for a Pinkfresh floral background stamp and the Pinkfresh rose bunch stamp. 

Thanks for stopping by, Susan

Birds and Flowers

 I'm trying to use up some of my stash - backgrounds, flowers, birds ... things I've created while playing with new stamp sets and dies.

I'm trying to use different elements other than flowers on my cards.  So today's examples are with birds...and, oh yay, flowers!

Thanks for stopping by.  Susan

More cards

 I haven't posted for awhile and when I looked back, I haven't made many new cards for awhile.  I was working on my Grandsons' scrapbooks.

Here are a few new cards.

Thanks for stopping by, Susan 

Cards with a purpose

 So much is going on in our world and without faith in God it could be very frightening.  But I know He is control even though I don't understand why.  Praying for the people of Ukraine. 

I have seen cards all over Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #CardsforUkraine.  It is our way of showing support to the Ukranian people in our own small way.  Here is my card that show my support.

On a light note, those of you from Ohio know how hard it was to make a card with these colors as they are Michigan State colors.

I've seen a lot of sweet birds on cards lately.  In my search for some, I now have this layered stamp along with several bird dies.  Hopefully you will see more bird cards from me soon.

This layered stamp, die, coloring stencils, and embossing folder set is just lovely.  I said I wasn't going to buy more flowers but I just love this set.  I also broke down and bought a daffodil laying die set.  Daffodils are my favorite flower so I just had to have it.

I'm off to celebrate my grandson being named "student of the month".  Thanks for stopping by, Susan.

New Cards Part 3

 Here are the last of the new cards and these are my favorites.

I wasn't sure about using the black background but it helps to pop up the purple flowers.  I love this set from Altenew.  It is from one on of their new releases.

These flowers took forever to put together.  And those little purpose flowers - oh my.  I ended up coloring the dark part of the flowers rather than try to match up all those teeny tiny pieces.  But the end result of the bouquet is lovely.  I bought this die set from Hobby Lobby - next time I'll pay more attention to the number of dies in a set!

These three color variations are so pretty as well.  This is another Altenew laying die set.  I really need to stop buying flower dies and stamps but they are all oh so pretty!

Now that I've got caught up on the cards and envelopes on my table I can start playing with some of the new products I've bought recently.  We have a great LSS near me and they carry some of my favorite brands - Altenew, Hero Arts, Simon Says, Spelllbinders.  Went shopping with a friend and enjoyed having the time to really look through all their products. 

If you are local to the Columbus, Ohio area, check out Made on Main in Ashville.

Thanks for stopping by, Susan

New Cards Part 2

 Additional cards that I was catching up on.

Flowers, flowers, flowers ... it looks like Spring has sprung here.  I'm certainly ready.

Thanks for stopping by, Susan

Lots of new cards for the Etsy Shop

 I've been busy but made the mistake of not decorating envelopes after finishing the cards.  My cards started stacking up so I had to take some time to create envelopes to match the cards.  Today I finally sat down to catalog, photograph, and post to my store.

I'll post a few each day over the next couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by, Susan.

Sorry ... I'm back

 So I promised I'd do better with posting on this blog but it's been quite a while.  I was sick (flu) all of November and part of December.  Once I started feeling better I got the ChV.  I'm assuming it was Omicron since it was just more flu-like symptoms, but it knocked me out and I didn't feel like doing anything including crafting.

I just had to share these cute cards I made my Grandsons for Valentine's Day.  The trackhoe is the Valentine's card for my Grandson's class - I made 24 of them.

I've got other cards finished but I haven't done the matching envelopes.  I'll get those up here soon.  Right now I've got 10 cards to make for a local resident rehab place just down the street from me.  I have the ideas now just to get the work done.  It looks like I'll be hand delivering them instead of mailing them!

Thanks for stopping by.  Wishing you all a wonderful 2022 - and don't be discouraged that it is said "2020 too"!  I saw that on FB and thought it was funny.  Susan