Hello Everyone!

I was checking my class lists for the next few weeks and I noticed there are lots of spaces available! It's probably due to vacations and such, but check your schedules if you are in town, there may be classes that you want to sign up for! This Thursday evening my Mastering the Basics #4 at 6:30pm is only half full. If that is one you would like to take give us a call at The Stamp Art Shoppe! (916) 773-4378 We will be working on cards using stamp kissing, layered emboss resists, water-ink stamping, and acrylic block backgrounds. As always I have a full class for you guys full of tecnique and ending with four beautiful cards. I hope to see you there!

Susan

More cards for you to see!

My trip to the Bay Area was nice. It was good to see my Aunt and Uncle. My uncle has been sick with shingles for several weeks and he is on the mend now and trying to regain his strength. Poor Guy. He had them bad! We had a nice visit with them though.

I went through old pictures with my Aunt and I learned so much about my family. I got some great pictures of my great grandparents and my grandmother when she was a child. So much history! It inspired me to make a heritage album. I don't have hardly any pictures of my mom's family. I wish I did.

Have a good evening!

Susan

Laura's Sketch #27

I am so excited to be participating in the Ultimate Card Showdown over at 2 sketches 4 you! Happy one year anniversary, Ladies!

I made some boo-boos last night on my post and I changed them, but... the permalink is still wrong. I don't know how to change it -I am no computer wiz, so I decided to try again. So, bear with me as I repost my pics from yesterday!

I used Magenta patterned paper for this card, and Hero Arts stamps. I colored my images with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol (for blending pencils), and Stickles from Ranger. I also used an American Crafts glitter pen for the brackets on the sentiment. My border punch is a Martha Stewart. The ribbon is from Michael's

I don't have anything wonderful to say tonight except that I saw my adorable grand-nephew tonight and he is such a joy! We had dinner for my brother's 49th birthday. So thankful my bro is here with the family now soaking up all the love he has missed over the years.

Here is a little more detailed photo:

Goodnight!

Susan

2sketches4you Card

Another post! Can you believe it? I had to try another sketch! This is addictive! This one is from 2sketches4you. There is a link in my blog list to the right. Enjoy and be inspired! I used My Mind's Eye paper, Autumn Leaves and Hero Arts Stamps, Adirondack and Color Box inks, Prima flowers, American Crafts buttons, and Kaiser Craft crystals.

Catch ya later!

Susan

P.S. I am so happy for Kris Allen winning American Idol last night! I feel a little bad for Adam, but not too much! He will be just fine! He has had enough exposure to make it big! I can't wait to hear what Kris does!

Make some cards!

Hello! Today was one of those days where it is noon before you know it and you are still in your jammies! A friend stopped by for a cup of coffee, and needless to say, it was noon and I hadn't even eaten breakfast! So my whole day was a little off! It was worth it to visit with a good friend though. Thanks! I don't get that kind of opportunity everyday, so I'll take it!

I have been making a lot of cards lately. It feels really good to be making them. I was holding back a little bit and trying to make stuff for Etsy and classes and gifts and things. I really missed making cards. It is always nice to have a few "just in case cards". I find I always need a "Thinking of You", a sympathy, friendship, and a few birthdays in my stash. Especially teenager birthday cards! They take a little more thought. I have been trying to challenge myself to create more and more elaborate cards, but I find that they just are not my style. I am such a simple girl. I do put a lot of detail in my cards, but the overall design is quite simple. That is what my heart creates, so I need to go with that. As my son's kindergarten teacher always used to say, "You can't get blood from a turnip!" So, I guess I will stick with turnip juice!

I was playing around with Copic markers and some grunge paper. Not together! I might try that in the future though! I went a little Stickles crazy too. They add a little dimension to the flowers and bring them to life a bit. Well, I hope you enjoy my eye-candy. More to come soon!

At the price of cards these days, it is worth it to know how to wield the mighty stamp! It is my goal to inspire others to create their own cards. I often browse down the card aisle at Target or Walmart just to see what my competition is. I have to say, there are some cute cards out there. The big card companies are even getting wise to complaints about prices and the they are offering simpler cards for 99 cents. They are also not playing fair by laser cutting beautiful patterns. Whatever. Those are the expensive ones anyway. You can't beat the love that goes into a handmade card! No one says you can't buy a card and embellish it up either! Why not? The card police are not going to come and take you away to paper jail! Have you ever seen those sets from Michael's in the $1 section? They usually have a nice paper base and you can embellish them up with sentiments, rhinestones, etc... You can even give them as a gift!

I met a sweet lady last week who said that she has all of her cards in a box! I was a bit shocked! Okay, some of my cards are in a box too, but I do use them! I just make them faster than I can use them! Come on people! We need to give them away so that we can make more! That's the fun of cards! They are not works of art, they are just cards. Let them fly and be free! Make room for the new cards on the block! If you are looking for inspiration, check out the Hero Arts blog and join the flickr group pool. So many amazing cards!

Now, go and get yourself some inspiration! Make me a card!

Susan

American Idol - Top Three

Okay. I have never really cried before when an American Idol contestant is sent home. I always figure it was their time to leave and they will be fine, right? Well tonight I actually cried when Allison was singing! Maybe it is because a friend of mine was sad about a death in her family and she is about the same age as Allison and I was sad about that. Maybe it is because I have teenagers and I know how they process things and I could see how emotional she was and I felt bad for her. But honestly, she sang so well with no holding back for that final song that I thought, "Yeah! You go Girl!" I was so proud of her! She will do well and I'm sure she will hear from her real soon. I am so glad that Kris Allen was safe. I know he is not as good a singer as Allison, but I always loved whatever he sang and I would certainly buy an album that he made. He will probably go home next week, but he is such a cutie he deserves one more week. Okay real quick. Wasn't Chris Daughtry hot?

I have no pics to post today. I have made some cute Mother's Day cards, but I can't post them yet! I'll be sure to post them next week.

I am taking a Magenta class tomorrow at The Stamp Art Shoppe. I am really excited because I love to color and they do a lot of coloring. I expect to learn some new techniques and polish up some old ones. I will have to post my projects!

Well, it is late, and I am tired. So, goodnight!

Susan

Hey Bloggers! How's it going? Just a quick Sunday night post to catch up! I am totally pooped out from working all day yesterday at the snack bar for the "Thunder Invitational" track meet at the high school. I didn't even get to see my own son in his event! I was immersed in snack bar duties. It is hard work but it is fun. I met some really nice parents and kids that were there to help out. I adore the head coach, Matt Eckman too. He has such a wonderful way with the kids and the other coaches. He had a huge smile on his face the whole day no matter what was going on! The kids and other coaches really seem to respect him and he seems to bring out the best in everyone. That is a special person right there. There was a young man running the snack bar who was exceptional as well. He is a senior I believe. I don't know his real name, but everyone called him "Big Red". He managed both parents and kids with ease. That is not a simple task between kids with their attitudes and parents with wanting to run the show. Three cheers for Red! He handled everyone with grace and poise that I don't even have! I am glad that my son is around such incredible people everyday!

Hey just a quick note about my classes this month. My class on April 21st is full, but I have a class this Thursday, April 2nd at 10 that has several spaces open if you are local and interested. The cost of the class is $25 and you will make 4 beautiful cards plus learn some really cool techniques. These are the last classes of this schedule.

I am currently working on my samples for the next schedule. They should be really fun! I am always excited when I am creating new classes! I am teaching a Macho Cards class, an inchie class, a mini card class, and a summer-themed card class. I tried to put a little bit of everything in these clases, wedding, birthday, graduation, father's day, friendship, etc... I try to pack as many fun techniques in the classes as I can so that my students are exposed both to different techniques and products as well. It keeps everything fresh and fun! I also try and give people lots of ideas for using things they have or things they want to buy. Especially in times like these, we have to consider the many uses of an item and try to get the most use out of everything. I think that was what really hooked me on stamping, the versatility and multiple uses of the images.

My pretty Little Girl canvas sold! I also sold another one that was more wedding-ish. Both to the same person! They were only up for a couple of days! I have put a few new items up on Etsy this last week, but it seems to be a slow week. I have to get busy with some new stuff this week. I have several listings that will expire next week so I think I will let them expire for now. They have not received a lot of interest and I think I could probably sell them at work. They are on the plain side for the Etsy crowd and I have learned a lot about how to take better photos since I originally listed those. I could also repackage them a little bit more attractively and try to relist them with new photos.

My photos tonight are of our doggie Hank, a robin in our pear tree a couple of weeks ago, and the wedding-ish canvas that I sold last week. Thanks for checking in on me!

Oh dear, I just looked at the clock! I am going to turn into a pumpkin! I was going to go to bed early tonight! Oh well. What else is new? I will be fine. Have a wonderful day tomorrow!

Susan

Tag Crazy!

Wow! I have been making tags like crazy for my Etsy Shoppe! I have even had some more custom orders! I have been in the cave for hours and hours everyday! So much fun! I have sent orders out to many states in the US and to Canada, Hawaii, and Australia! Pretty amazing!

I have added a new feature to my blog. I added a slide show from flickr. I hope you enjoy it! I will load more photos soon. For those of you who are blog-savvy, please be patient with my slow learning! I still can't figure out how to load my pictures on my page where I want them! Ahhh! It says"layout", but they never seem to go where I want them! They screw up my paragraphs too! If you are reading this and can help me, please comment and give me a clue!

Enjoy the new photos of some of my Etsy items and a cute photo of some conversation hearts. Check out my shop: http://www.qdesigns.etsy.com/ I try to post new things every day or two.

Well, guess what? I am tired again! I have to start posting earlier when I have not fried every brain cell!

Good Night!

Susan

Phewwww!

I just finished two projects and shipped them off to The Stamp Art Shoppe to be displayed for January classes. That is a weight off my shoulders! It is so hard to get any personal stuff done when it is this time of year! The framed Paper Heart Quilt is one class and the card will be another where we make 4 Valentine's Day themed cards. I have 2 other classes as well, but they will be towards the end of the quarter. The new calendar comes out the end of this month so check out the Stamp Art Store website for dates and times. You can always leave me a comment with your email address and I will send you the dates.

I have a couple of weeks to finish other projects and get things in order for the holiday. I am hoping to get a few things up on Etsy as well, but I think I have kinda missed the window for Christmas and I need to move on to Valentine's Day! I do have a few cute things I just need to put the final touches on that I can put up in the next few days.

*CRAFT TIPS*

I was making some Christmas cards (for me!) and I was thinking about Stickles. You know the little teeny bottles of wonderfully colored glitter glue? I love those darned things, especially this time of year. Since I have used them so much lately I realized that they require some instruction for the newbie. So if you are a Stickle newbie, listen up.

The regular Stickles have a nice fine tip to write with, but honestly they look better if you put just a thin coat and smush it around with the tip. The new Distress Stickles have a fatter tip, but you can do all the same things with them I promise, and not as many clogs in the tip. All of them take FOREVER to dry if you glop it on thick. My advice is to do a really thin coat and add more if needed. If you are covering a large area I like to use my finger to spread them out. Like I said, you can always add more.

If you are covering something like lettering where you want a fine line, it works well if you do a practice run on some scratch paper just to get the feel of how fast they come out and how much to squeeze. Then, work kind of fast, don't hesitate. Kind of like writing frosting on a cake. If you slow down the frosting gets thick and gloppy.

If you happen to get too much-it happens-keep toothpicks handy. They are invaluable to remove extra stickles and spread them out along a line or shape. If I am going along and I get a blob and then a skip, I just go back over it with my toothpick and smooth it down and spread it along the line. It is also a good idea to have a pin lying around to unclear clogs. I don't get too many, but every once in awhile... I hope this helps and make sure to use them ALOT so you get lots of practice! Just a little advice from your friendly neighborhood crafter!

We got a huge Christmas tree last weekend. We started decorating it, but we will finish tomorrow. Nick's girlfriend came with us and helped decorate and put up the lights. What a sweetie! Finally someone besides me who wants to decorate! We had fun tromping around the tree farm arguing about the trees, bossing each other around about how the tree goes in the stand, fighting over how the lights go on the tree. Good times! We even took both dogs, and packed a picnic lunch to eat up there! The weather was beautiful! Seriously, it was a fun day.

Well, I am about to turn into a pumpkin, so I'm callin' it a night.

Joy to the World!

Susan

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

Last Saturday we went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm out in Wheatland. We joined Michele (Nick's girlfriend) and her family and had a great day. It was sunny and warm, just beautiful! I love photos from the pumpkin patch. The blue sky against the bright green and orange of the pumpkins is gorgeous! So I had to take lots of photos-193 to be exact!

These are a few of my favorites. I loved the photos of the flowers too. They had mums and roses and sunflowers all over the grounds. I took lots of photos of the kids too. They had so much fun. Michele's dad mentioned how funny it is that last year the Pumpkin Patch was "lame" but this year it is cool! The little lovebirds will do anything to spend time together now! I benefited from this bargain! I love the pumpkin patch!

Just had to show a picture of the little tag at the top of the page that I made one night. I was just playing around and it turned out cute. Hope you like it!

Gotta go for now! Have a good week!

Susan