by Susan Itell | May 2, 2016 | Uncategorized |
Yesterday was great…well kind of! I kept true to my jammies for most of the day and I left my cell phone out of sight…no tv…just turned up some music and organized in my work area…to me, that it a great day as it is super rewarding…it still looks like a HUGE mess but I can see the “light”….my goal is by Wednesday morning!
Your Funny for the day:
I have a funny for you….we arrived home on Saturday night around 10 p.m. so it was dark out…it was great to drive down our lane…come into the house and see out fur babies…We are super blessed to have an AMAZING couple that stays at our house while we are gone and they are great with the animals.
Our farm is a fun place to be, especially with a bunch of animals…except when it rains…having so many dogs (and they have 2 that they bring) can make it a long time when it rains…and it rained while we were gone.
When I checked in with her on Saturday morning to see how things were going, I received the usual….”perfect – everyone is great….but one question, were is the attachment to the vacuum?” I instantly said, no worries – please do not vacuum and then I heard….“it’s ok – we have had one hot mess but everything is ok…promise !!!”
We walked in and the house looked great…and then I noticed…there was glitter here and there stuck to the sofa and on the floors…I thought – hmmmm…this is strange (and I really ….REALLY dislike glitter…sparkles etc). WELL….one or possible more “perfect pooches” went upstairs to my work area and brought down SEVERAL containers of glitter and somehow got them open and had a HAY DAY!!!! I have been working to pull together products that I do not use to give to the local girls club and my darlings found the glitter!
What can you do but laugh….they are like toddlers when they cannot get out to play!!!! Rosie still has glitter in her hair so I think that she is the culprit! You know what it is like to get that up….you will see it for a while – I am still laughing!
Your reminder for the day:
Please do not forget to send a card for our Card Swap. You know that I adore sharing your work….you can make it whatever your heart desire and then I will send you a card that one of your cyber friends made! It is always a fun time to see what people are up to and you all always bring a smile to my face and an extra beat in my heart!
Send me ONE card along with a self addressed and stamped envelope but May 15th so I can send another work of art from their heart to YOU! This is always so fun to see. Please send it to and write on the outside of the envelope CARD SWAP to:
Susan Itell ~ 15002 Randall Lane ~ Williamsport, MD 21795
I have received several and you probably think that this is silly but I never peek until the cut off (May 15th) as I know myself too well…..if I peeked, I would not get anything done as I would be looking…smiling etc… I hope that you will send a card.
Below is YOU..scooting away to the post office to pop a card int he mail for the swap! Guess what? – YOU ARE FABULOUS!
Your “heads up” for the day:
Tomorrow I am going to share with you a super cute way to package note-cards like I shared with you yesterday. After all, we love making cards so why not make a super fun, cute and useful container for it.
I know that many of you do not care for making 3 -d’s but I will encourage you to give it a try – to me, it is that “icing on the cake” Giving handmade cards is just the best gift in the world, it is always well received and both you are happy and the lucky friend is happy to!
Sorry for no card today….just some chitter-chatter….how’s your coffee? 🙂 I love having coffee with you and I hope I made you smile….let’s have a great week!
Until tomorrow….happy Monday!
by Susan Itell | May 1, 2016 | Simple Saturday, Step it up Sunday!, Uncategorized |
Hello and I am back home…it has been a L O N G but FUN and R E W A R D I N G 4 days! Back to the grind on the home front but today I think that I might have some of you scratching your heads.
I say that because it will be super hard for you to tell a big difference between the 2 cards and you are going to have to keep an open mind and hopefully I will be able to walk you through the differences.
I had both John and Hannah stumped and they could not understand why there is a difference between the 2. When you hold them in your hand, you will see the difference. The end result is that Hannah is thrilled with the note cards as she needed a new supply from Mom!
Today I am using (3) products that are “walking the plank” ~ Itty Bitty Accent Punches, the deco Label Framelits and the Larger than Life Alphabet Stamp. Here are my thoughts about these products…
Itty BItty Accent Punches – a must have as they are always a perfect filler for here and there ! I bet I use one of them just about daily and there is not a replacement of them in the new catalog (I don’t get it but that is ok as there are tons of new goodies) 🙂
Deco Label Framelits – I really love and use the “nesting” framelits. I will keep these for my personal use as I find that I do use them often as I like the shape and they are practical for me.
Larger Than Life Alphabet Stamp Set – When this came out I adored it because I just love simple monograms like I am showing you today! I do agree that it is very expensive but the way that I justified it was….look at how many gifts I used then stamp set for. This make a wonderful and useful gift to give a friend, a package of personalized note cards handmade by YOU!
Now hang on to your hats….I have a ca-zillion pictures for you! Just take it all in and feel free to leave me a comment if you have questions….suggestions….or simply have something to say! Today is a day ALL ABOUT BEING HOME….and it will be a “jammies” day with NO GUILT!!!!!
I know that I fall short in responding to your comments, but leave me one and I will pop on and answer your questions! I hope that the pictures will help shed light to this FUN card….
The biggest difference is….the below (Simple Saturday) the green frame and the initial is adhered together with tear and tape and then adhered, POPPED UP on the front of a note card!
The below, (Step it up Sunday) is just one more step…I cut a piece of whisper white 1/4″ smaller , than cut with the deco framelits like I did above…..
Please use your “stacking framelits” to the max…in the below picture you can see how you can achieve a “ring” – a perfect sandwich to use!
Trust me…this new catalog is F A B U L O U S and there are L O T S of nesting framelits in there….this is G R E A T because framelits take up so much less room than punches and we are going to have L O T S of C H O I C E S! 🙂Â
Use the tear tape to adhere together… it is F A S T … it is E A S Y… it is S T R O N G!
The fun foam that you see in the below picture is not a Stampin’ Up! product, it is a product that I like when mounting a rather large area…I do purchase it from Amazon and I must say, I like the feel it gives to a card. Here is the link to the one I use!
2 more images of each below…..I hope that you can see the difference and then visualize or better yet, try to see which style you like….you must admit…the flowers and the pearls are the icing on the F U N cake!
Yikes – I have not looked in the “walking the plank” lists for the past couple of days….I am sad. 😥 The Craft Scissors are gone…..good think I am good to go!! Remember, when they are gone…they are gone!
Many thanks for your patience and understanding….my “joy tank” is filled to the max from the past several days….and it is great to be home….but it will even be better having a “jammies” day today!
by Susan Itell | Apr 30, 2016 | Uncategorized |
Good Morning! All is good but I am POOPED! I am going to do both posts tomorrow for you….actually as the sayings goes…things happen for a reason – I think that when you see them it will make sense and it is probably better that you see them side by side on the same day!
Trust me, this will make sense when you see them as at 1st glance you will think that they are the same..but they are very, very different in the technique! See you tomorrow…have a great day!
by Susan Itell | Apr 29, 2016 | Baby |
Can you say….I AM TIRED?!?! Yesterday was a day of intense but productive shopping and we are loaded to the max and heading to Durham today….We had a blast together and YEP (I sneaked some goodies in my IKEA cart for me) 🙂
I have told John that we are going to be playing “Adult Lego’s” with putting together furniture. It will be a fun family time and I am sure that there will be lots of “chuckles” to look back to.
I’ve checked in with our amazing house/animal sitter and all is great on the home-front – I forgot to mention yesterday….when we walked into Hannah’s lecture….she had a HUGE smile as Milo has made the journey with us…he is a very special little man and I truly think he was brought into our lives to make it easier on me with Eddie…..he is an Eddie in a Dachshund body!
Enough about me…..lets get to the FUN card! Now I need to to visualize this card in a different way as it was super hard for me to get a good picture of it but again, this is a card that can be made for many cards that you will need.
The reason it is hard to get a great “snap” is the fact that I can not stand it up because I cut 1″ off the front of it! WHY???? – Easy, it makes it a FUN and a bit different card and then the sentiment of “congratulations” is stamped on the back of the card!
Hopefully this makes sense and you can see that this is a FUN and different card but I totally suggest that you still use a 4″ X 4″ piece of scraps to “build” the focal part.
I know that I try to say with you ideas of taking extra steps to make a “stepped up” touch….and the White Gel Pen is one to do with this layout.
The hearts paper ~ from Have a Cuppa, is a keeper and I used a aqua painter to add a bit of Melon Mambo to make a quick pop!
The polka dot paper….LOVE IT – it is from the Bright Collection (you can see it in the line up below) and you already know that I adore this paper and it is a no-brainer as it is always a quick “go to” as we have then in all collections and YES – I will be offering them in my product shares!
I know…..I know that I am not the best in sharing with you the insides of my cards but I just had to today! I think that it is super cute….a simple stamp on the bottom with the banner piece of fun dots and then the main sentiment (from the same stamp set) – woot-woot – Works for me!
Here is the color combo that I pulled together for today! Let’s chat about So Saffron…..this is a color that I think many of you forget about (and that is sad) 😥 It is a color that works with a BOLD color like today and it also looks great with subtles….like Pool Party!
I invite you to S T R E T C H yourself and try a color combination that is out of your comfort zone….just try it and see how it feels. I think that we all get into “ruts” and stick with the “comfort zone” as that is something that is safe!!!!
Here are my friends……they are back!!!!! See you tomorrow……for our 2 day post – now you need to be easy on me…as you will have to “take it all in” and understand where I am coming from! Lets all have a great day! 🙂
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by Susan Itell | Apr 28, 2016 | Uncategorized |
Good morning! You must be thinking that I am running a pre-school as we have been working with shapes all week 🙂 Tomorrow we are back to the 1″ squares and I think that it will make you think out of the box ~ enough of this…lets get to the challenge with today’s card!
We have a sketch challenge from the super talented and oh so sweet Ginger Tovionen….a fellow pal that has something extra special….her daughter is also a SUD ~ isn’t that wonderful that they can share the same love and passion for paper-crafting!
I was able to see a sneak peak of what the design team came up with and WOW – there are some great cards…please go to the Pals Paper Art Website and see the fun and then make your own card using this super clean and fun sketch!
I think that the repetitious “thank you” works…just that good old fashion ruler and the stamp-a-ma-jig and I am good to go! I encourage you to try something like this ~ it is super effective and super fun to do.
I did not do it today (and I really can’t give you any other reason than, I forgot) 🙂 but I would also do the “thank you” triple time on the outside of the envelope!
You can see that I am using (3) products that are walking the plank…the decorative dots embossing folder (love this), the Big News Stamp Set, and the super sweet, Sweet Li’l Things DSP.
You will be seeing this FUN stamp set again tomorrow….I have been trying to show how you can make a stamp set S T R E T C H for your needs…..the way I look at it ~ you need to look at a stamp and say can I make at least 3 different cards with it? If so, it is a keeper.
I think that this is a sketch that you need to “save in that great mind of yours” as it is formula that you can use in a jif to whip up a card in a snap!
I also like adhering one of the rectangles flat and then the other popped up with stampin’ vitamins…they always do the trick for us!
You know folks, with the envelope liner framelits on the plank, we are going to have to be creative in jazzing up our envelopes – this does it for me! 🙂
One more peek of this sweet card and I say…”thank you”…”thank you”…”thank you”…”thank you”…”thank you”… for popping in today!
We are away being “a helping hand” to Hannah and making the “mother load” trip to Ikea to help her with her furniture for her 1st apartment! Yesterday we were both “proud as peacock parents” (and also my Dad and dear Aunt Jean were there) as we watched in amazement Hannah present her thesis…
Below is the “blurb” of her presentation from her college….now I as you – Is this over your head???? It is super clear to me that she has John’s genes…I am just excited to do the “Mom” touches on her new digs!
Hannah is a senior Biology major who has been doing research in Prof. Campbell’s lab. Her thesis is titled: Characterizing Paper-Based Genetic Networks as a Low-Tech Pathogen Detection Technique
Have a great day…I am – Ikea has LOTS of things for stampers like us!!!! YIPPEE-SKIPPEE!!!! Dad’s paying so I can sneak some goodies in the cart! (Hannah and I always love have John with us when we shop!!!!) 🙂Â
