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

School Spirit

 It's Christmas spirit week at my Grandon's school and he needed some themed shirts so he could "dress down".   It's hard to find a "tropical Christmas" shirt in Ohio in December!  Especially when you get the list on Friday afternoon for the following week.

Being Gram I knew had to get to work.  Here are the two shirts I created for the cause. 

This shirt is for White Christmas day.  

This shirt is for Tropical Christmas.  I'm especially proud of the tree trunk.  I didn't have any brown HTV and didn't want to spend $12 for a roll that I'd probably not use much.  I did some research and found out that I could use alcohol markers on white vinyl - and it worked!

Just a reminder that my Etsy store is open for business.  It's SusieLouCreates.  I have about 1/4 of my cards uploaded.  I need to work on the rest of my inventory.

Thanks for stopping by, Susan

Stamping Foam

 Have you tried Simon Hurley's stamping foam?  You can take any surface and make a stamp out of it.  You just heat up the foam block, press it into a textured surface, ink it up, and then stamp away.  It's a great way to stretch your supplies - dies, embossing folders, ribbon, even household items like sweaters, baskets, upholstery, carpet ... anything with texture.a

I took some dies and laid them out to make a patterned background.  I heated up the foam blocks (I have two taped together), and pressed them firmly into my dies.  I used one of the plates from my Stamparatus to apply even pressure  

And now I have a great background stamp.  The impression will stay in the foam until I heat it put again.

I inked up the blocks with Distress Oxide ink by swiping it across the blocks and then using a blending brush to move it around.  I lined my blocks up in my Stamparatus and pressed down.  I again used one of the Stamparatus plates to help apply even pressure.

Image 1 is the first stamp I took directly to cardstock.  I like the snowy look to the background.

Image 2 is one that I lightly misted the foam with water (without re-inking) and then stamped the cardstock.  The faded background looks like seeing the snow through a pane of glass.

Image 3 I misted the cardstock and stamped again. The subtle look will make a perfect backdrop.

You can get a 4-pack of the stamping for under $10.  It's a great bargain.  Be sure to check out videos by Simon Hurley, Gina K, and Jennifer McGuire showing how they use the foam.  On a Gina & Simon video Simon said you can use all six sides!  

Thanks for stopping by, Susan