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:

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:

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:

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:

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. 

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. ;)

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