Brick Wall Birthday Card

Yesterday I finally had a bit of time to craft and so I have a card to share today! It was more fiddly than usual but I do like how it turned out. The little banners cut out the letters and I thought it looked better when I inserted them again in another color rather than leave them empty.

Stamps: None!!!
Dies: Poppystamps
Other: Brick stencil (TCW)



Challenges (as always, click on the links to be dazzled by what the DT created and by the gallery and to find out the rules on how to play along):


Time Out Challenge #58 Home Sweet Home Photo Inspiration







Seize the Birthday (no topping)







and since the banners are all cut from snippets I am hopping over to


Pixie's Crafty Workshop Week #232






Be well my friends and thank you for stopping by,

50th Wedding Anniversary in White and Gold

Hi there!

Today's card I made for friends who just celebrated their 50th Anniversary! What an accomplishment, huh?

I stamped the background with Delicata gold ink and cut the big heart out of a patterned vellum snippet (from a chocolate box). The numbers are also cut from a snippet of gold card stock and then hammered with a Tim Holtz distress tool. Little hearts are also cut from snippets. This is a 5x7 card because I didn't want to cut off any of that background...

A new to me challenge "Use Your Stuff" celebrates their 200th post this week and the theme is "Celebrate". So, I am sending my card over there! And, of course, with all those snippets used it has to play in the Playground!

Stamps: Stampin' Up (background swallows and swirls), SSS (sentiment)
Dies: W9Plus (big heart), SSS (banner, tiny hearts), not sure where the numbers are from...


Challenges (please click on the links to get inspired by the DT's and gallery entries, and to find out about the rules):


Use Your Stuff #200 "Celebrate"
(ETA: This card was one of the Top 3! Woohoo!)

Pixie's Snippets Playground #203


And if you are still here I just wanted to say that my heart is breaking with what happened in Paris! I have once lived in this magical city for 18 months and I will always have a very soft spot for it! My heart goes out to all the victims, their families and friends!

Hugs,
Susanne

I think you are amazing...

Last month I was the lucky winner of a blog appreciation giveaway over at the sweet, creative, generous, and famous Virginia of "Yes, Virginia..." !  (I had a lucky streak there, I know!)

Look what I found in my mailbox! So many fun goodies!

This is the card I made with some of the gifts to thank her for her generosity (Virginia, I hope you have received it. I mailed it almost 2 weeks ago and couldn't wait any longer to post it because I wanted to enter it in your challenge!)
Isn't that hedgehog bringing mail full of love the cutest? That's how I felt when I got my mail from Virginia - that it was full of love!

Stamps: Penny Black (hedgehog), CAS-ual Friday (sentiment), Hero Arts (friends background)
Dies: Nestabilities (circle), Die-namics (scallops)
Other: Faber Castell Polychromos


Challenges (click on the links to find out about rules, prizes, etc. and to find inspiration in the awesome galleries)


Virginia's View #19 "All Things Colored"







Pixie's Snippets Playground - week 198
Every paper of the border was a snippet!







Btw, I think you are all amazing for stopping by and leaving me comments!

Wishing you a great weekend,
Susanne

Thanks a ton

Every month my friend Gundi from papierelle gives out a prize to one of the commenters of her most visited post of the previous month. Isn't that a great idea? I was the lucky winner of the prize for the month of August. So, a few weeks ago I got this in the mail:

Two cute Christmas stamps and a Christmas embossing folder! Just the right thing to put me in a Christmas mood! The dragonflies on the card are really sparkly. It was all packaged with love in that sweet little bag she made.

This deserved a "ton" of thanks so I got out a NBUS set from Clearly Besotted and made her this card:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted (whale, sentiment)

Dies: Memory Box (waves), Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps (clouds), SSS (frame)

The waves are cut out from a photocopied picture of lake water, a leftover from one of the calendars I always make for my family (told you I keep every snippet)! The whale is stamped on glossy paper and fussy cut.


Challenges:


Pixie's Snippets Playground - week 197
The waves and the clouds are snippets







Time Out Challenges #41 'Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile'
Since the whale wears a big smile I thought I would enter here too, focusing on the word "smile" and bring a touch of blue into the see of autumn colored entries... ;)







Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes"







Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday "Stamp"







Simon Says "World Cardmaking Day"







Happy Little Stampers "October sketch"








Thank you for visiting and leaving me a comment!

Hugs,
Susanne

NBUS New Home

Quick, quick, another card before the door closes on the NBUS #5 challenge hosted by the fabulous Darnell! Don't panic, you still have until the end of today (Friday, started writing this on Thursday but didn't have time to finish and post it), so go ahead, pick something from your "Never Before Used Schtuff" pile (because I know you have one), make a card and post it!

I should have at least entered one card per day to make a dent in my Mt. NBUS but unfortunately time would not allow it... My card actually features two NBUS: The Brevilla Houses and the Arbocello tree, both from Memory Box. Cut out the tree from a scrap of watercolor paper and watercolored it.

Made this for my friend who recently moved away. The airplane symbolizes the hope for many visits back here!

Stamp: Winnie & Walter (sentiment), Inkadinkado (airplane)
Dies: Memory Box (houses, tree), Sweet 'n' Sassy (clouds)



Challenges:

NBUS #5 (second entry)







Pixie's Snippet's Playground #194 (second entry and also closing soon!)
The tree and the clouds are cut from snippets







Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Die Cuts"







Memory Box #4 "Terrific Trees"







Wishing you all a fun and creative weekend!

Hugs,
Susanne

Four (!) graphic triangle cards

Yes, you read that right! Today I have four cards for you! I think, that's a first!

I love geometric patterns and have many graphic stamps and embossing folders. So, of course, the current challenge over at Virginia's View really speaks to me and I wanted to play. The fairly new Pinterest Inspired Challenge features triangles so I pulled out a triangle embossing folder that I had never used.

Inked the EF in different Distress Inks, spritzed it, and "stamped" it on watercolor paper. Spritzed and stamped it again to get lighter colors. Then I made cards of my backgrounds. I thought the Design Teams could pick their favorite card from this collection.

A close up so you can see the vellum

And all together!
Which one is your favorite? Mine is card #4!

Stamps: Winnie & Walter (sentiments on cards 1 and 3), Altenew (sentiment on cards 2 and 4), Mama Elephant (Triangles on card 4)

Other: Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug)

Challenges:

Virginia's View Challenge #18 "Geometric Patterns"

Pinterest Inspired Challenge "September 2015"

Darnell's NBUS #5
In addition to her usual generosity, this time Darnell has many sponsors! Click on the link to find out more! It runs until the 18th!






Pixie's Snippet's Playground #194
Because Miss Di celebrated her birthday last week, this week's prize is extra generous! The infamous Crazy Bird stamps, dies and accessories! Am I the only one in blogland who doesn't have them yet...?
My snippets are the vellum on card 1 and the labels on card 2 and 4!





I really appreciate your taking time to visit my blog and hope you come back!

Hugs,
Susanne

Feathery "Thinking of You" for the Muse

Hope everyone in North America is enjoying their long weekend! It's very hot and dry here, feeling more like summer than fall!

When I saw Carol's card for the Muse Challenge #131 I was immediately inspired to bring out my feathers from STAMPlorations again! Since we had company I only had a chance to make a card this afternoon, entering in the last minute! But that's nothing new, right?

Here is Carol's fabulous card

and my take on it

Stamps: STAMPlorations (feathers, sentiment), Hero Arts (background strip)

Other: Caran d'Ache (watercolor crayons)

I used the same feather set as Carol, almost the same layout and the same colors! 

The background was made with watercolor crayons scribbled on a piece of card stock and blended with a moist baby wipe. It's quick and easy and I like how it looks. Added a strip of background paper that I found in one of my snippet boxes (yes, I have several - don't you?) and mounted everything on a blue card. 

Challenges:

Muse Card Club Challenge #131

Pixie's Snippets Playground #193

(where Sarn is prefect this week and I heard there was lots of chocolate to be found...)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Make It Colorful"

Wishing you a fantastic week,

Susanne

Graphic Friend Card

Remember this card? I didn't use all the tinted Liquitex Heavy Gloss Gel and couldn't just wash it down the drain! So I quickly grabbed another stencil and sheet of card stock. This weekend I made this card from it.

Stamps: SSS (sentiment)
Dies: SSS (you)
Other: Stencil (Hero Arts), Liquitex Heavy Gloss Gel, Marvy Ink


Challenges:


Time Out Challenge #37 (Friendship is Golden)






a2z scrapbooking (August Challenge - Texture)
Use at least one main image from Hero Arts - stencil
The texture is from the gel and the die cut



Muse Challenge #129 
Fabulous card by Anita Bowden






Pixies Snippets Playground Week #190
The "you" is cut from a snippet and the golden strips are also snippets!


Click on the links to find out all the details and get inspired by wonderful design teams and galleries!

Thanks for taking time to stop by! Your visits and comments always make my day!

Hugs,
Susanne

Two Cards with a Gingko Leaf

With the kids home during the summer I don't have as much time to create but this year I have gotten better at making cards with little snippets of time!

Today I even have two cards for you! They are similar and feature both a gingko leaf die cut from Impression Obsession that has been living in my NBUS pile for too long! I had a scrap of green, watercolored paper and there was room for two leaves thus the two cards. Hard to see is that I gold embossed around the edges of the leaves. Should have taken a close-up - dang! Now it's too dark...

Stamps: Hero Arts ( woven square), Stampin' Up (sentiment

Die: Impression Obsession (leaf)

Stamps: Altenew (sentiment), burlap background unmounted/unknown

Die: Impression Obsession (leaf)

Other: Washi (Ranger, Stampin' Up, Little B)

Challenges:

Time Out #36 "CASE Alice"

Inkspirational #87 "Anything Goes with Kraft"

Since I used a snippet for the leaves I am popping over to the 

Pixie's Crafty Workshop 

to say hi to Parsnip (hope he remembers me because I haven't been there in so long...)

This week, the queen of the Playground, Di, is a Guest Designer at "Less is More" this week I am also sending my cards there wishing Chrissie a very Happy Birthday!

"Less Is More" #234 "Use snippets on a CAS card"

Now, look at that! The challenge stars have aligned wonderfully for me today! 

Let me know if you prefer one card over the other!

Thanks so much for visiting! Absolutely love reading your sweet comments!

Hugs,

Susanne

OCC "Stretch Your Stamps 2" - Thinking of you

Just popping in with what is probably going to be my last homework for the current Online Card Class. This card was inspired by a video by Yana. She stamped a foliage frame with white pigment ink and after it dried she stamped over it with colored ink. I couldn't find any colors that looked good on mine so I left my leaves white. Check out my embossed frame around the sentiment - I really should do that more often...

Stamps: Hero Arts (leaves), sentiment unknown
Punches: Carl CartaCrafts (flowers), McGill (butterfly)

Since foliage, flowers, and butterflies are summery I am entering this to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge where the theme is "Summer" and because the punched shapes are from snippets I am also playing at Pixie's Snippet's Playground.

Hope you are all well and have a great week!
Hugs,
Susanne

OCC "Stretch Your Stamps 2" - Baby

Another quick post to show you my version of Donna Mikasa's technique of "painting" with water. Instead of a flower like she did I used stars and made a baby card.

Stamps: All Night Media (little angel), C Dee's (star)

I know, it's the same layout and even colors than homework that I made recently but I had to use blues for the night sky. And I really love that layout and the messy thread thing. Think I mentioned that before...

The piece of shimmery vellum is a scrap, I also "Wink of Stella'd" the stars and white strips on the side.
Then added various embellishments from my stash.

Skipping over to Pixie's Snippets Playground with this. Two in one week - and the week is not over yet! Have to make up for all the time that I didn't play there...

Hope you do at least one thing for fun today,
Susanne

OCC "Stretch Your Stamps 2" / SSS "Sparkle" / ATCAS "Gold"

On day 5 (yes, I know, I am behind again) Jennifer McGuire showed us how to use different colored embossing powder on outline stamps. She used a delicate flower from Clearly Besotted that I don't have - I used a very old Stampin' Up vase! Since I had everything out I embossed it twice and made two different cards out of it.

Stamps: Stampin'Up (vase), Avery Elle (best wishes), Hero Arts (you're the best)

Since the result is very sparkly I am sending this to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Make it Sparkle" and because the layers are snippets my cards can go over to Pixie's Snippets Playground. It's been too long since I played there - hope they will still let me in ;) ! And as there is different golds on those cards I am also entering them to the Addicted to CAS challenge "Gold"!

Hope you have a great week and come visit again soon!

Hugs,
Susanne

Butterfly Challenge

Hello dear visitors,

There is a new challenge that gives those of us in snow covered areas glimpses of spring and summer: The Butterfly Challenge created by Mrs. A. For the first challenge she would like to see butterflies with flowers. I hope a photograph of a flower will be accepted because that is what I have today. For all the rules and beautiful inspirations click on the link. You still have six days to play in case you are inspired...

I used a Martha Stewart punch (probably my favorite one) for the greeting. Do you see the pearl in the star? The blue butterflies are cut out from a piece that I colored with metallic gelatos (oh, that means I can send it over to Pixie's Snippet's Playground, too). 

And now I have the pleasure to welcome a new follower: 

Melissa from Oh smudge!

Not only does she create wonderful CAS cards and is the creator of the popular CAS-ology challenge but she is also a very talented photographer and regularly shares tips about how to take better photos over at the Sweet Stamp Shop! I feel very honored that she follows my little blog!

The welcoming quote for Melissa is by George Lois

Creativity can solve almost any problem. 

The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.

Make the best of your day and know that you made mine by coming over to look and maybe even leave a comment...

Susanne

Punches: Martha Stewart (Happy Birthday), All Night Media (butterfly corner), McGill (large butterly), Marvy (small butterfly)

Other: Faber Castell (Metallic Gel Sticks)