by Susan Itell | Oct 15, 2015 | Birthday |
Today is not only a Pals Paper Art Challenge~ it is a super fun sketch for a very special day as my "peep" James turns 25 today! Wow ~ that is super hard to believe and I try to remember the "special times" and famous memories that he has not only given to John and I but celebrate his accomplishments that he always gives!
Here is the sketch that we are to work with this week and I do hope that you try it. I am super excited to see everyones interpretation of this fun sketch. Please find some "me time" and play along. It is super simple to upload your work, just go the the site and a quick click and you are done!
I know that it is hard to come up with Masculine Cards…but just think if how you could easily change up the Designer Series Paper and colors of paper to fit for many cards that you might need. Because the stamp set is a photopolymer set, it is super easy to make the pattern in a cinch! This is from the good old – "Age Awareness" Stamp set – what a FUN one!
You know that I am a HUGE lover of "sentiments" and each and every time one comes out – you can bet that it will be arriving to Randall Lane! This is from the Hello You Thinlits Dies ~ I just think that they always make a statement and they make it super easy to make a card!
I have had so many questions about the Vanilla Coaster Board and I will do a video on how I use it but I am a lover of it as it adds that extra special touch that really "sets off" your work. I do usually "double it up" and I use the "green glue" to adhere them.
TIP ALERT: – Remember that you can just put the glue on….set it side to "set up" and then at the end, simply adhere!
This was not only a super card to make, it was fun! It uses minimal products and it is rewarding to stamp sentiment after sentiment and know that you can get it "just right" because you can see through the stamp because it is a photopolymer!
Because I did not want to make it too fussy, I just added the fun candle print paper to the back flap! You know men, sometimes they think that fussy paper is too feminine but this paper works with this layout.
You know me by now…I adore, love, my friend = The white gel pen….
Could not…would be be without it!
It is the "icing on the cake" for many of my cards as it always adds a great interest, a depth, a FUN factor that is nothing more than a little time….and WOW – what a difference!
Thanks for popping in today, please let me know how you like this card. I think that it is a keeper for just about anyone. We all need Birthday Cards throughout the year, and I think that this is one that would be a fun card to have on hand in many colors…."just in case"!
Pop back tomorrow….I know you will smile! Have a fabulous day and I truly wish that each and everyone of you could meet my dear James….one thing I have always said about James since he was a little tike….
"If there were more James' in the world, it would be a happier place"!
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by Susan Itell | Sep 3, 2015 | Birthday, Fall Cards |
Thursday fun…and it is a color challenge this week! September is here (even though it still feels like summer) and when I hear "September" – I think of Back to School….Fall is around the corner….and I get SUPER excited to see leaves change their color!
I was doing the "happy dance" when this stamp set came out in June..WHY??? Well, it is beautiful and the detail work in the stamps is stunning and then when I saw that there were matching framelits….WOOT-WOOT – BUNDLE TIME!!!
Here is the palette that we are working with today and I hope that you can join the fun! Please pop over to the Pals Paper Art Website to see what the other designers came up with this week!
Let's get going….I have lots of pictures for you today and I am going to share with you some tips as when you look at this – it really is a simple card….(I think that I will do a video for you on this one as it is truly a fall festive card that was super fun to make!) This is just a regular A-2 size card…..good old = 4 1/4" X 5 1/2"~
Before we get to the tips…here you can see up close the bundle that I worked with today.
(The card I did yesterday, these framelits work with that stamp set that I used…Lighthearthed Leaves Stamp Set Yesterday I "fussy cut" the image but there is a framelit that I could have used…I wanted to show you how you can do either/or and it will work "just fine"!
- After I stamped the tone on tone I gave each leaf a good workout with the bone folder – I went back and forth in all directions to make the paper as soft and subtle as possible. This is key to get a great look, you can see how the naturally curl up!
- The scoring…SUPER FUN! I did the vertical one EVERY SCORE LINE and then I turned it and did it in that direction, EVERY OTHER!
- The sweet bow is from "pulling" threads apart from the Burlap Ribbon…this is one of my favorite effects to do especially in the fall.
- I simply cannot get enough of these "word sentiments" – "thanks" worked perfectly today but what I think makes it is…using the vanilla coaster board!
- Lets get to the beloved envelope! How about this! I thought, what the heck – give it a whirl and it worked. I simply took a piece of scrap Old Olive and scored away and adhered it just like I would normally do for DSP! Fun…..right!?!?
Well…thoughts my friends? Would you like me to do a video on this card? I think that this is a fantastic fall card and you could have sooooo much fun with using different colors and different sentiments. Wouldn't this make a fantastic masculine Birthday Card!
Many thanks for all of the great comments yesterday! You all make me smile and wowzers – you all are LOVIN' the new catalog and I am going to be LOVIN' sending you your goddies. Thank you….I deeply appreciate your vote of confidence in me. I truly love what I do!
Please think of me today, I am going to the Doctors and I am sooooo hoping that I can get this immobilizer off and get going…it is getting a "tad" old!
Please remember to check out the weekly deals, the clearance rack and use the hostess code of YHNMUJNJ and I will be happy to send you your embossing folder with the qualifying order! Enjoyt he day…make someone smile and I will see you tomorrow!
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by Susan Itell | Sep 2, 2015 | Birthday, Fall Cards, Super Easy |
Good Morning…..well….did you sleep? Did you have fun looking at the new catalog? My poor catalog looks like it has been through a war as it has been flipped through so many times….I guess I should say that it is well loved!
From the feedback I have had, you all love it and I do as well – soooooo many bundles (woot-woot, an instant 15% off – you can click here to see them in one spot, the new designer series papers are "off the charts", and one of my new favorites (truly must have) are the black and gray ink pads – they are fabulous!
Let's get to why you are here and let me explain the title for todays post. Sometimes we need to have a card that can be for many different uses….that's what I call a good old "multi purpose card"…WHY??? EASY = it is super clean and simple and can go for both masculine as well as feminine and all you have to do is change up the sentiments – PRESTO = DONE!
I needed to make a card for my children's God Father…and this is also a tough time of the year for him as next week will be a year that he lost his Dad so I wanted to make something that I could wish him Happy Birthday but at the same time be able to write him a heartfelt note letting him know I'm think of him.
The color of this card is the wonderful neutral, Sahara Sand….I thought that this would be a great pick to use with the mossy meadow and the liner from the Farmers Market Designer Series Paper.
The 2 stamp set that I used are both keepers, the Lightheart Leaves and Cottage Greetings (love both of them – very, very versatile choices).. I know that it is not recommended to use the Aqua painters with regular card-stock but if you "practice and get pretty slick at it" – you can make it work!
Now let's chat on 2 things!
- You can see that I used (2) greens….have fun mixing up the colors when you watercolor – I ued Mossy Meadow and Old Olive and then Rich Razzleberry as the Blackberry was too darn…again, play and test as sometimes you need to tweak things!
- Did you see where the sweet ribbon/treads came from…yep – so easy….just pull the treads from the 5/8" ribbon – works like a charm.
I had to do a bit of scored lines…you know I love to do that as I find it super effective. I "touched" on the new Black Ink….well it is fabulous (now I still have a love affair with the Memento) but this is a super rich, dark and leaves such a precise stamp…you can see the crispness on the card!
I say…."One Sweet and Clean Card"….what do you think? Because I wanted to have the envelope match, I used a piece of Sahara Sand with the Envelope Punch Board. I just love this piece of plastic – and it helped me also make the liner for the envelope from the Farmers Market Designer Series Paper.
Now we need to have some fun…..I said the other day that we need to play a game….and the game is called – "HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW SUSAN" I just love games!….Take the new catalog and see if you can pick out the 10 favorite things that you think I would just have to have.
On Friday I will share with you my picks and have a video for you…this should be fun – it will be super hard to narrow it to 10…but we will have fun…..(I'll give you a freebie of one of them – one of the products are in this post) – remember, it is going to be hard for just 10 and it will include anything in the new catalog!
Since we all seem to be family and if you want to leave a comment with the picks – I know that we all would love to see how well you think that you know me and my style!
Thanks for sharing time with me today, remember the offerings of rewarding you with orders you place with me and this new catalog but please remember to use the hostess code of YHNMUJNJ for you to get the fun freebies from me!
You will love tomorrows card (I think) – and I hope to see you back!
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by Susan Itell | Aug 28, 2015 | Birthday, Watercoloring |
I know…I know – this is a weird title for todays post but today is a very special day for a very special person….my wonderful "Aunt Jean" and she is turning 88 today! I have blogged about her before and trust me…if we are all so fortunate to be 88 – you want to be like "Aunt Jean" ?
I knew that a sweet card like this will not only make her smile, she will look at it for days and days with joy. She misses James so….as he lived in Raleigh, the city where dear Aunt Jean lives….I have shared with you what a "keeper" James is…he would have dinners with her….go change light bulbs for her….clean the gutters for her….they truly had a special relationship (which totally warms my heart)
There are 2 stamp sets for today….the FUN You're Sublime and Endless Birthday. Don't forget that we have so many different stamp sets that can work well together and I also think we go through times that we "have a creative block" so mixing things up makes you "pep" up!
You can see in the above image, there is a sentiment above the adorable wheel barrel of flowers. I simply took a piece of masking tape (I just use that blue low tack tape) and then stamped it up with Versa Mark as before we get to watercoloring, we are going to heat emboss this on the Watercolor paper.
I love to heat emboss when I am using the Aqua Painters as the "embossed edge" as a "dam" and the watercoloring does not seem to run as much. (now realize there are many times that we like that messy look, but today I wanted to try to keep it contained!)
Please do not get overwhelmed when you see the long list of products that I used for todays card. The best analogy that I can give you is….when you see a recipe that has a TON of ingredients….most of the time we shy away – BUT – if we try it and through the process we say, "Now that wasn't too bad" than you will come back and do it again! The same is with these products.
When you are watercoloring…you seem to use lots of different colors to get the "just right look" BUT GUESS WHAT? – any look is great – no stressing just practice and practice and you will get more confident and be super proud of yourself!
I had lots of fun coloring this for Aunt Jean. Coloring is soooooo relaxing to me – I have absolutely no clue as to what is right and what is wrong….I just GO FOR IT and I hope that you give it a try as well.
When you are trying to get a different contrast in colors…let the lighter shade dry quickly (it doesn't take too long) before adding a deeper color. In the list below, you will easily be able to tell the colors that I used.
To add ground, I used the Sahara Sand and then went over with the Crumb Cake. Because the Endless Wishes Stamp set is a photopolymer, it is super easy to curl the sentiment to get it "just right"
The overall card size is a 4 1/2" Square (I've been hooked on this size lately) and I think the color combo (Pool Party, So Saffron and Soft Suede work together well.)
I wanted a special little touch so I thought that a button and a simple Bakers Bow would be perfect….what do you think – was it a fun touch!?!?
I know that having a fun envelope in the Pool Party with these fun polka dots will make Aunt Jean smile.
Here is a fun fact that will make you smile – she is a DIE HARD "Tar Hills" Fan…..as she went to Chapel Hill and still goes to watch Basketball Games and even drives a TAR HILLS BLUE Car….is that too cute or what!
Later in September I will be driving Stanley (the horse) to Raleigh for a show and Hannah will come to meet me and guess what??? – we will stay with Aunt Jean as we both think that she is the best thing since sliced bread!!! It is not only FUN to stay with her, it is a joy as she is so beautiful in many, many ways….being with her is a life lesson!
Bring some sunshine to someone today and I do hope that you are blessed to have a special person like Aunt Jean in your life!
Until tomorrow!
p.s. – HJ….if you are popping on today, can you please email me…..I had an issue with your address and do not know how to get in touch with you!
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by Susan Itell | Jul 27, 2015 | Birthday, Super Easy |
Good Monday morning to everyone…I felt like a bear in hibernation as I slept…slept…slept! It is wonderful to be with my beautiful daughter and as she just said to me as I am typing – "Mom, it feels us being together at a horse show…it's a slumber party"!
I scanned some of the comments and I want to tell you that I fell asleep before the plane took off and I woke up when it landed. Brian and I chatted and laughed up a storm before we boarded the plane (actually we were like little kids looking at You Tube Videos and laughing) but we were not sitting together so the fun ended and time for sleep!
At the end of the post, I will unveil who won the 25 swap cards and also who won the paper pumpkin kit and refill…I do adore the upcoming months and you simply cannot go wrong with it being 1/2 right now! Lets get to the card!
I must say, it feels great to be blogging a card that I created! This I did just before I left and I think it is a "keeper" – You know when I say that…I mean I really like it!
What is not to love with this stamp set Watercolor Words, it is so fresh and fun…and it allows you to use so many different color combinations to play with but today we are playing with the classics….Black & White with a POP of color = Cucumber Crush.
Here are a couple of quick thoughts of why I think that this card is a keeper!
- Love the odd size, it is 3 1/2" X 7"
- Love the clean and classic color combos….(so easy not to have to think….black – white – POP!)
- Love the fact that I can let the heart dsp be the impact of the card
- Love the sentiment, what is not to love with this fun and fresh font
- Love the POP of cucumber crush!
- Love the heart I punched out with the itty bitty accents punch and then used the Epoxy sticker right over top to make it have a touch of "fun bling"
- Love the fact that you can take a simple piece of paper….flag it with the Triple Banner Punch…add some white dots and quick, easy – DONE!
I only had a 6" wide piece of DSP left so I needed "plan B" to pop in to add pizzazz to the back flap of the envelope that I made with the envelope punch board! I just added a "snip" of black to help me cover up !
Just think of all of the different DSP's we have to make a fun card like this – truly the sky is the limit! I encourage you to have fun, give it a try…I know that you cannot go wrong!
Now to the fun part….WOOT-WOOT – who won the 25 cards! I learned a lot from scanning through your comments! I adored you responses and to me it is clear that we need to work on sympathy cards and watercoloring….these seemed to be a challenge for many!
And the winner is……Christine T.
(please email me your address and I will send you 25 swap cards!)
Guess what???? To me, that is GREAT NEWS as now I know that I need to work on that for you and I will…please never hesitate to email me and ask me to do a specific card/project for a blog post.
Now to the next winner of the May Paper Pumpkin and refill…..I am very happy that many of you took advantage of the 1/2 off offer! Remember, it is available for a while so please give it a try!
WOOT-WOOT to Stephanie W from Wisconsin! She WON!
Thanks Stephanie and welcome to the fun orange box club – I know that you will love the upcoming offerings and if it is not for you…..simple – you can stop at anytime!
Tomorrow is COMPUTER DAY for Susan (Hannah works all day so I will be at the hotel)….I have sooooooo much to catch up with so hang tight if you have emailed me – I will be going through all of the things I have been missing etc…
Until tomorrow!
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by Susan Itell | Jul 14, 2015 | Birthday, Super Easy |
We all need birthday cards to send so here is a super quick and easy Birthday Card that you can whip up using minimal product and the best thing is – it comes as a BUNDLE!!! The stamp set is super fun and filled with some great sentiments!
This is another swap card for convention (I like to have several different themes) so each day this week I will share with you swap cards and then when I get back from convention – I will have LOTS to share with you!
The base is a note-card and using the Cherry on Top DSP Stack makes this a fast and very duplicable card as it has (4) sheets of each pattern!
Let's get to it…this will be super quick as you know what today is – TUESDAY – which means weekly deals! You can click here to see the offerings this week and make sure that you do not wait for certain items as they are limited to the quantities that Stampin' Up! is offering.
Look how silly simple this is…(2) pieces of fun paper….stamp the sentiment in Bermuda Bay….pop another one out in the coordinating color of watermelon wonder….stamp the stamp again in another coordinating color, Hello honey…..cut – adhere – DONE!
You could easily eliminate stamping the 2nd time but I think that this adds a cute touch. The great thing is that it is a cinch to cut out, not detailed at all. (remember, its those little extra special touches that make a difference)
Lining the outside of the envelope is also festive and fun and with the size of this paper, you can line (2) envelopes from a sheet of paper…and actually if you line it like this and use the note card size….you will have some extra that you could use a punch to use up the paper!
While you are checking the weekly deals this week…make sure that you pop into the clearance rack – (hopefully some new goodies might be in there)!
Thanks for popping by, please do not forget to share my blog with your family and friends….I love new subscribers and you know we always are having fun! You can click on the button on the right and never miss a post.
See you tomorrow!
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