Monday, October 20, 2014

Getting to Know You Blog Hop

Warning: Long and picture heavy post! Find a comfortable position and stock up on food and drink before you start to read!

You probably have all seen some version of the Getting to Know You Blog Hop by now. Well, today it is my turn to tell you a bit more about my cardmaking process. Can you believe that the amazing and talented and extemely kind Anita in France of My Papercraft World has asked little old me to participate? I am so honored and still have to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming! To thank her I wanted to CASE Anita. She has so many inspiring cards on her blog (click here to see for yourself) that I couldn't pick just one so I combined some of the things that she likes (like rainbow colors, CAS design, and birds - just learned about that one) and made this:



http://keepintouchcards.blogspot.com


Stamps: DeNami (chick), Hero Arts (sentiment)

Glossy Accent on the beaks, Stickles dots between the sentiment.

Ok, let's get started on the questions!

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I have started my Halloween (almost done) and Thanksgiving (so far, only a prototype) cards which I exchange with the 7 Cardologists, my local stamping friends. I am also in the middle of my big Christmas card production. Unlike many of you I make them all the same and actually enjoy the assembly line method. We need about one hundred. Every year I vow that the next ones will be really simple and every year I add another layer and another step, etc. But this year they are rather simple and even one layer! This one is from 2012:


http://keepintouchcards.blogspot.com



What inspires your designs?

Mostly I am inspired by all you fabulous cardmakers out there. (I spend too much a lot of time looking at all your inspiring blogs - much more than crafting...) 
Sometimes an ad inspires me or some design or color combination. Recently I took a picture of the upholstering in a restaurant because I thought the pattern would make a cool card (haven't made it yet). 
Often it's a challenge that reminds me of a stamp or die that I have and that would be perfect. I use Pinterest mostly to pin cards that inspire me in one way or another. 
This card was inspired by a Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger:




http://keepintouchcards.blogspot.com



What method/process do you apply to each of your creative projects and how long does each take?

I usually have a certain stamp, die, or embellishment that I want to use. Then I work my card around it. I also love sketches and often use them as a starting point. 
I am mostly a slow crafter. It can take me a long time to find the right paper, ink color, sentiment, etc. (It doesn't help that I have a hard time making decisions.) But that doesn't mean my cards come out perfectly every time because at some point I loose patience and just put it together. Rarely a card just comes together easily and I am even happy with the result! Like the one above for Anita or this one:


http://keepintouchcards.blogspot.com


If you had to describe you signature style, what would it be?
I don't think I have a style. I follow a lot of CAS blogs and definitely lean towards CAS without achieving it most of the time, I believe. I admire white space on other people's cards but it makes me sort of nervous on mine. (The card for Anita is obviously an exception!) Sometimes I do Clean & Layered, other times I try to be artsy or do freestyle collage. When I asked the 7 Cardologists they all agreed that I had a style but couldn't pinpoint it either. Maybe YOU could tell me what my style is... ;) 
I do know that I like to adapt the style of my cards to the recipients. If I feel they don't really care for CAS I will add layers and embellishments, etc. 



http://keepintouchcards.blogspot.com


What are the three crafting products/tools that you can't live without?

I guess that would be my paper cutter, double stick tape/foam tape, and my stampsinksdiescuttlebugembossingfolderswatercolorsembellishmentsembossingpastestencils. ;)


http://keepintouchcards.blogspot.com


Additional tidbit about me that you may or may not be interested (not part of the official interview):

When I got my Cuttlebug it was because I really loved embossed backgrounds. For the longest time I thought I could live without  all those Nestabilities everybody else was buying. Then I thought, well maybe I would use these label dies from Sizzix and maybe those other ones, too, and then so many other companies started coming out with all these cool shapes and word dies and now I have quite a collection and an ever growing longer wish list. 

And now I get to nominate two lovely ladies. You will be able to get to know them better on November 3, when they will put up their blog hop posts. But you don't have to wait until then to check out their blogs and find all kinds of inspiration.

Dora B. from the 7Cardologists.
Knowing her personally I can tell you that she is just one of the kindest, most generous person out there. Every year she uses her time share week to rent an apartment for all of us to get together and stamp to our hearts content! Visit her blog and check out her beautiful cards like this one:





Cathy from Cathy's Card Spot.
Cathy is the master of gorgeous butterfly cards. They are colored so lifelike that you expect them to fly off the paper at any moment. Of course you will find lots of other things like delicate flowers and awesome cards for guys, etc. when you wander through her blog




So mark your calendars for November 3rd or better yet start following their blogs so you won't miss another one of their posts!

Thank you so much for sticking with me through this long, long post!

Have a great week and consider yourself hugged!
Susanne





12 comments:

Virginia L. said...

So nice to know more about you, Susanne! Your last year's photo card was quite elaborate (cute boys you have!). That is so awesome that you are doing one layer for this year's Christmas! Love your style!

Anita in France said...

Oh, Susanne, what a fabulous post ... how lovely to learn a little more about you ... and what a great selection of cards you've highlighted! Thanks so much for such complementary words (blush blush!) ... and for such an awesome style CASE! I just love that wee line of rainbow birds ... so cute, happy looking and fun! As for your style ... you do so many so well ... I couldn't narrow it down ... whichever one you choose, you always make it work beautifully and create something really special (as this post shows!). Thanks for being such a great tagee! Anita :)

Sarah G said...

What a great post, Susanne - I really enjoyed reading it. Your CASE for Anita is fabulous and I am so impressed by your mass production Christmas card approach - I definitely don't have the patience. I love your cards and your style. Someone described my style as 'eclectic CAS' and I think that is a great description for your designs too - a tendency towards CAS but with the occasional outburst of inkiness! I shall enjoy reading Dora's and Cathy's posts next week :)

Tracey McNeely said...

Fabulous interview and post Suzanne! Glad to learn a bit more about you and thank you for your visit to my blog today!

cm said...

Learning more about "Susanne-behind-the-scenes" = too much fun! The cards you've shared showcase how talented, creative and 'design and technique flexible' you are. I second Sarah's comment that your style is "eclectic cas" (which my style has also been dubbed, although my cards are nowhere near as AH-MAZING as yours!). I applaud your mass production approach (100? Eeek!), but all the 'new acquisitions' I have, I'm going full-on with variety (or so I'm hoping). Need to justify my spending (I've been weak on exercising restraint). Your blog is filled with gems galore, from words to photos, but one highlight, that had me laughing out loud was your choice of 'third crafting product/tool you can't live without. Hahahahahha! Brilliant!
Hugs~c

Shona Chambers said...

This is such a fantastic read and so nice to get to know you that little bit more. I had to laugh because I bought my Cuttlebug to do the same as yourself, lots of embossing but have become totally caught up in dies now and have hundreds on my wishlist. And your CASE of Anita is absolutely spot on, especially with those little birdies!!

Sian Ridley said...

Firstly - I love your CASE'd card - it is super cute, super CAS and super rainbow, a winner every time!

I had to laugh at your list of items that you couldn't live without - it's very similar to my own!

Cornelia (fun stamping) said...

Schoen etwas mehr von Dir zu erfahren. Dein Stil - Susanne Stil, was sonst! Man muss sich nicht immer in ein Schema pressen lassen;) Super Karten - auch mein Lieblingsbaum ist mit dabei! Du hast es immerhin schon zu embossing paste geschafft - ich hab hier immer noch ein Toepfchen rumstehen und schaffe es nicht es zu oeffnen....Nur weiter so! Bloggen macht Spass!

Manuela said...

schöner und lustiger Post Susanne und die erste Karte gefällt mir besonders gut zwischen den anderen schönen Karten.
(ja ist Zucchini, die Sorte heist "Sunburst" :-) )
Lg Manuela

Cathy said...

Hi Susanne, great CASE of Anita's card, I love it! Great idea to stick to one design for your chrissy cards when you have so many to do! I enjoyed finding out more about you too and your gorgeous array of cards, love your varied style. (Thank you for tagging me too :)) Cathy x

Kim M said...

Loved getting to know you better and see some of the great cards you've made. :-)

Darnell said...

First of all, superb job of CASEing sweet Anita! That isn't easy, but you rocked it, Susanne! And thank you for sending me the link to this post so I didn't miss it altogether. I saw Dora's tag and I'll go and check to make sure I saw Cathy's.

It was really interesting hearing about your assembly-line Christmas cards (that's a fantastic and HARD card you did in 2012) and your thoughtful creative process. Your beautiful green and blue poppy card is one of my very favorite cards you've done!! Big hugs, Darnell

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