thanks

Most of my scrapping time has been spent on pages of "vintage" pictures - okay, they aren't that old...but they are ones pre-digital that I've finally got scanned on my computer.

Here is a card for OperationWriteHome that I was inspired by Me, My Stamps, and I's design.

Thanks for stopping by.  Susan

birthday card

Haven't posted a card for a few weeks. Was going to work on several today but after doing 4 variations of this one, I've decided I'm not in the mood. It was a busy week at a horse sale so I think I'll find a movie to watch or veg out with my Kindle.



Thanks for stopping by, Susan

Cards 10-29-11

Here are my cards today - I can't believe I don't know who to give credit to. I've been trying to keep track of where I "steal" the cards I plan to CASE. I'm pretty sure both came from the OperationWriteHome.org blog.







I've been cleaning out closets. It's amazing how much stuff we accumulate because we "might" use it another day. I was also surprised how much scrappy stuff I found. But now my desk is cluttered again.

I've got one two more closets - linen and my clothes - and then I'm done (until next year). I've got 4 bags of stuff for Goodwill so far. My next goal is to go thru my scrap stuff and give away what I know I'll never use - yes, we all have those embellies, ribbons, papers that we keep but we know we aren't going to use them.

Gotta go check the crockpot - got some Buffalo chicken cooking (got the recipe from Pinterest). Plus I need to start working on my crocheting. I've got a project going for Christmas that I regret starting. It is way more work than I thought. I want to move on to crocheting borders for cards and scrap pages.

Have a great weekend...thanks for stopping by. Susan

Any Hero Cards 8-10-11

I started working on these hero cards this weekend and finished them up at lunch (okay, it was a long lunch :)



This is image was a freebie from Create With TLC. They've got a lot of great images over there.


Another great Create with TLC image - sorry it's sideways. I can't seem to get some of these right with when I use my phone to take pictures.


Sorry for the blurriness. I had another image for this but I didn't like the way it looked.


Another Create with TLC image.


Saturday is another all-day scrapbooking day at church. I also have book club and a breakfast date (with some friends). Going to be a busy day. Hopefully I'll my heritage album done...well, at least started!

In Memory...

of the 31 heroes who were lost in Afghanistan, I'm reposting one of my "any hero" cards. My heart is heavy for the families of these wonderful servants. May God richly bless their families with comfort and hope during this season of sadness.

7-23-11 cards

I was supposed to be working on special scrapbook but it is so overwhelming to me, I decided to play with cards. I had all these scraps on my table and decided to use them.



I got the idea for this card from a OWHer. Ann's only be cardmaking for a year and she does a wonderful job!




I love googlely eyes! This paper and sentiment are from Create with TLC.


Have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by and keep your heart open. Susan

Card 7-17-11

cards 7-10-11

I didn't do any scrapbooking today but I made some cards. I got several sentiments from Create With TLC and decided to create cards for my OWH box that's going out this week.

This first card was inspired by this one from on She Who Must Stamps blog. I've had the patterned paper at the bottom and couldn't find a good use - it looks like rain drops so it went great with this sentiment.


I just bought this heart paper and thought it was so cute.


The ribbon on this one is something I wouldn't have used before I organized my ribbons - it was hiding at the bottom of the basket before.


This is my favorite for the day and I copied it from here. This digi was Create with TLC and that's where the card came from. I love it...now I just have to get my guys to write some Any Hero notes to go in the cards for my OWH box!


I think that's it for today. It's only 7:00 but I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open.

Keep your heart open and let your creativity change lives around you. Susan

Happy Birthday to my beloved country

and my fellow Americans. I love living in this country.

OWH party challenges 2

Good morning. It's another day of partying! The challenges at OWH continue all day today. C'mon, you know you want to play along.

This first card is challenge #9 from Patricia - 1 ~ 2 ~ 3. One patterned paper, 2 images, and a sentiment with 3 words (or more). Easy, right - not so :)

I finally settled on (1) patterned paper - kept pulling out matching paper and having to put it away. My (2) images are the embossing on the green and the sentiment cut out from (matching) patterned paper - I think that's allowed. The sentiment stamped has (3) words.


Challenge #10 from Sandy was a challenge for me. I don't do well with "scenes". She challenged us to use the same stamp or image on 2 cards - using different seasons or holidays. You know by now that I LOVE the Stampin Up bench. I need to use the other chairs in this set (some day). So, here is summer and winter (hope you can see the snow flakes).




Challenge #11 - Kate showed us how to make these way too cute (and easy) pinwheels - yes, you will be seeing more pinwheels on my cards :P


I'm taking a break for now so I can go eat lunch. C-ya later.

I'm back. Here is Challenge #12 - Sarah challenged us to use fruit or food on our card. I've been waiting to use this cherry paper. I wanted to put something like "you're sweet" but my printer still is not working (out of ink). Forgot to got to Staples!


And challenge #13 - Linda wants us to use a bear in our card. I love bears. This is a copy of a card I did long ago and just loved it so I made several more to put in in my next OWH box.



Challenge #16 - Lisa challenged us to use a play on words. I created these two cards. The dog was so cute and his "ruff day" was more of a play on words than the squirrel's "nuts for you" but I liked them both.

Sorry the picture is out of focus - it's getting close to bed time :)

OWH weekend challenges

I will be updating this entry throughout the weekend. Operation Write Home is having a weekend of challenges and I will do as many as I can.

This is challenge #1 from Brenda . She challenged us to make cards using camouflage - one to send home and one to a hero. The left one is for a hero to send to his special someone. The sentiment reads "My hear is lost in yours". Not much to this card, the sentiment, the heart (above the "M", and a few teardrop dew drops. The card on the right is my any hero card - a note to a hero thanking him/her for their service. Not so much camouflage except b..ut it is kind of hard to read the "hero". I know, it's a stretch but I loved this paper when I saw it while looking for my camo paper.


This card is for challenge #3 at Tanya's blog (yes, I skipped challenge #2). I took this was literally - tie a yellow ribbon. The challenge was to use certain colors but I immediate thought about the yellow ribbon. I made this an AnyHero card.


If you have some time this weekend, join us. OWH is posting a new blogger's challenge every 2 hours throughout the weekend.

Challenge #4 from Carol is to make a card using a symbol of freedom that means that most to you. I chose to CASE this card from A Crooked Stamper's blog.

When I flew home from Germany (my stepdad was stationed there in the 80s), I remember seeing a giant flag flying at JFK and it brought tears to my eyes. I knew I was home.

Challenge #5, Holley challenged us to do vintage. When I think of vintage, I think of crochet flowers and lace. I need to go crochet two more flowers in pink to finish up these 4 cards!

This card is for challenge #6 - Marianne instructed us to use the moon in a card. I'm not so happy with the card but it does have a moon in it :)


This is for Challenge #8 - use the photo at Melanie's blog to inspire a card. This bench belongs on that porch or in the yard next to it! I was going to print her picture or use a picture of my house in the card but I'm out of ink in my printer - yikes!! I'll be running to Staples in the morning.


I'm going to try to keep up tomorrow but we'll see! Goodnight.

Happy 4th of July weekend

I hope you all are getting ready for a wonderful long weekend celebrating our independence. It's a special weekend for me too - today is my birthday AND I became a business owner today!! I signed the papers to purchase the insurance agency I've worked for the past 18 years (wow, am I really that old).

Is this pretty? I know, but some times I am amazed at how pretty something turns out. You've seen some of my attempts to go from brain to paper - and they haven't all been pretty! I actually got inspiration from this card at Me My Stamps & I.


I got these heart paper doilies from the thrift store for $.50. When I say this card, I knew I had to use them.


This card was inspired by one I saw on Crafty Steals. It was a card made from whatever the deal of the day was. That little frame gave me fits on the cricut. I really need to learn to use my SCAL program!


This card I made for work - to send to clients on their birthday. Since I became the boss today and I took the day off, I figured I should do something work related :)


God Bless America. Thanks for stopping by, Susan

Cards 6-26-11

Hello friends. I made some more cards inspired by the latest edition of PaperCrafts magazine.

This first card I stamped the cardstock to make my own "patterned paper". I like the effect. I know, I know, this is an old technique but it's new for me. I'm also trying to do more with layering with my cricut cut-outs.

Also, a shout-out to my crocheted flower!! I've got some done in different colors which I will be putting in my Artfire store soon.

This card I finished 3 times before I finished it. You know what I mean :P The second finish was to add the hearts and the third was to ink the top and bottom edges. I guess my style is not clean and simple because that always looks undone to me!

Oh, I used my roller stamp from Stampin Up. I bought 3 of these and this is the first time I used one.

Don't you love the butterflies? I cut them out of patterned paper in blackout and the put the patterned one out of vellum (yes, I'm still learning how to use my Cricut). I really think they are cute.


This is my least favorite card today. Just didn't come out quite like I wanted. The one in the magazine is sooo much prettier. I don't ink my embossing folder very well (or maybe my pink ink was too dark). Maybe I should have used pop dots and made the top piece stand up...maybe next time.


Hope you had a relaxing weekend and are recharged for the work week to begin. Thanks for stopping by, Susan

Cards 6-25-11

I've got some cards to share. These were inspired by cards in the PaperCrafts Magazine. I love that publication. Enjoy.









I'm still struggling with my camera. For such a fancy camera, I sure can't take a decent picture. I'm sure it is user error.

Keep your heart open and let your creativity change someone's life. Thanks for stopping by, Susan

cards 6-19-11

Had a great time at our first White-Dieterly family reunion in Van Wert, OH. I can't wait to go thru the pictures and scrap them! My Aunt Jo brought some family documents dating back to the 1800s. WOW. I'm going to get them scanned so I can scrap them too. I think it is so cool to hold a document that my great grandmother held and one that my great great grandfather signed. Too cool.

Here are my cards for today. This first one is inspired by Windy Robinson's design on page 36 of the newest PaperCrafts Magazine.

Have you seen the new Martha Stewart magnetic punches? That's what I used for the scalloped design (in blue). You can put these punches ANYWHERE on the page because the top and bottom are completely separate and then join together with magnets. I bought 3 - love them. I got them from Cherry On Top because they had a buy 2 get 1 free promotion.

This card is Teri Anderson's design in the same issue. I used string to create the flower - neat idea Teri.


Hope you all enjoyed Father's Day today. My dad has been gone for many years. My heart goes out to those who lost their father this year - I promise, it does get easier.

My father-in-law was disappointed that his card was not homemade. Oops...neither was my husband's (I didn't get him one). I was gone all day yesterday and it's been a rough week so I didn't get up to the scrap room.

Keep your heart open because your creativity could change someone's life. Thanks for stopping, Susan.

Cards 6-11-11

Good evening - okay, almost good night! I finally got back into my scrap room tonight.

This first card is a copy (well, an attempt to copy) Trish's card - she sent me a prize from the OWH blog hop and a card was enclosed. Her center flower was scored and folded and so very cute - couldn't figure it out so this is what I got.








I think the bulb in my lamp is making these look too yellow so I switched up and used the overhead light but it is missing a few bulbs - I forget to bring them upstairs :P



Tomorrow is my husband's family reunion and then we have my nieces graduation dinner (she's graduating from OSU tomorrow. Here is the card I made her.



All but the first card were inspired by the newest edition of Paper Crafts magazine (July/August 2011).

Thanks for stopping by. Keep your heart open... Susan