Merry Snarkmas Blog Hop! Have Yourself A Snarky Little Christmas

Thank you so much for hopping along with me today!

You're in for a snarky treat and could be the winner of a $25 So Suzy Gift Card! Just be sure to comment at each stop along the way and a winner will be announced Monday! Thank you, Suzanne for sponsoring our hop!

Providing you with some snarky holiday inspiration today is:

Aimee  <--- You are here!
Kara
Salima
Josefine

If you're a fan of the So Suzy Podcasts, like I am, you may have caught "Using Snark The Right Way" Although I'm a long time fan of snark, and that's what initially drew me to Suzy, I picked up a lot of great tips from this podcast. The best tip I learned is to surprise them with the snark. In other words, keep the exterior of the card traditional, and slap them with snark on the inside!

That's exactly what I did with the card I'm featuring today.

As I mentioned in a prior blog post, I'm a fan of cutting my stamps so I can better customize them. That's exactly what I did with this sentiment from So Suzy Stamps This sentiment is definitely getting a lot of love this year from me! 

Using Spellbinders Contemporary Strip Shapeabilities and A2 Devine Eleoquence Card Creator die cuts, paired with paper from DCWV  I pieced together my card front using two different patterned papers. I stamped my Christmas Tree layered image from Hero Arts using Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, and Pine Needles. I embellished them with Red Berry Crystal Drops from Nuvo and a few swipes of Clear Wink of Stella. I popped the tree image using a few strips of foam tape. 

Now for the snark! The second half of this sentiment captures the spirit of the season (see what I did there). Stamped onto the same striped paper used to feature the sentiment on the card front, I departed from a traditional white interior. I stamped and fussy cut (yes, fussy cut) a wine glass, colored the liquid portion with Golden Sunset Nuvo Crystal Drops then once it dried, I colored over it with a red marker. 

Thanks so much for hopping along today! I hope you enjoyed my feature card and would love your feedback! Be sure to leave comments along the way to be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card to So Suzy Stamps! Be sure to leave your comment by December 12th 12pm Pacific Time Zone (3pm EST)

Your next stop is with Kara! Tell her I sent you!

Aimee  <--- You are here!
Kara
Salima
Josefine

Update! Congratulations Lisa! You're the winner of a $25 So Suzy gift card! Josefine will he in touch with the details!
Thank you everyone for hopping along with us! We wish you a Snarky Christmas and Sarcastic New Year!

Girl Talk - Snarkfest

I love making coordinating card sets! Even if they're not always going to the same recipient, I think it's fun when papers, layouts, images, or sentiments align like the stars! Ha!

Today I have a witty set for you using the same image from Unity Stamp Co called Give Love - Laugh Lots. While this set comes with great sentiments I opted to pair the image with sentiments from So Suzy Stamps.

My first card features a So Suzy Stamp sentiment (say that three times fast) called Size Matters.
I stamped my image in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it with Spectrum Noir Markers. The sentiment was stamped using Versa Fine Black Ink. I simply mounted my 3.75 x 5 card front onto a corresponding color solid card stock mat, then mounted to 110 lb card stuck cut at 4.25 x 5.5 (just cut an 8.5 x 11 piece of card stuck in half and fold in the middle). I couldn't leave well enough alone and adhered some bling by Recollections.

For my next card, I used a sentiment from So Suzy Stamps called Faked A Sarcasm. Using the same inks as my first card, I stamped the image and sentiment, colored with Spectrum Noir markers and adhered bling from Recollections. All measurements on the second card match the first.

While the inside of my first two cards contain blank matted card stock, I did have to include an inside sentiment on my last card. Following the same techniques used on the first two, this time I paired my image with a sentiment called Good Friends Know.

While I love the sentiment as a whole, I feel that the last part of it makes a great punch line for the inside of a card. So hold onto your seats, make sure you're sitting down......I cut the sentiment in half. Yes, I cut my stamp. It can always be put back together if I want the sentiment whole again, but I actually do this with a lot of my stamps to provide more flexibility. It makes it easier than having to ink up just part of a sentiment, stamp it, then hope you cleaned it well enough to now ink up the other part and stamp it somewhere else.

Doesn't this make for a fun card with the sentiment split up? Don't be shy ladies. Grab your scissors. Admittedly I've only ever cut red rubber stamps.

If you are going to cut them. don't worry about a clean cut, or trimming them down after you cut them. Keeping them a bit imperfect at your cut line and not trimming them further makes them easier to piece together if you wish to put them back again. The pieces will fit just like a puzzle.

I think this makes a great coordinating set. I plan to list it in my Etsy shop as a three piece offering and think the coordination adds to the appeal. Let me know what you think!

Wine Bottle Gift Tags

With the holidays upon us, spirits will be high! Gifting a bottle of wine or champagne is perfect for many occasions. But don't give it naked! Dress it up with a wine bottle gift tag. These are quick and easy and I've created three different styles to show you today.

Using a tag die from Little B, I cut out some patterned foil paper from DCWV and stamped it with a sentiment from Hampton Arts. I fastened an eyelet and tied some gold ribbon that can then be tied to the bottle.

Simply stamping a simple To: and From: on the reverse side makes this ready for giving! 

The next tag is a very simple one. The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Co called Sorry Wine Does That. Because I used textured paper, I used my MISTI and stamped it multiple times to get a dark, crisp image. I then simply decorated it with Nuvo Crystal Drops from So Suzy Stamps. Using my scoring board, I scored a line at 1.5 inches so it would lay nicely on the bottle. 

The final tag is a lot of fun. Using a sentiment from So Suzy Stamps called Size Matters, the sentiment is embellished with leopard print gems. A scalloped boarder is adhered around the round bottle neck opening and features Nuvo Glitter Drops in Gold. A lace boarder is adhered around the base for a little added flair. 

Dress up your hostess gift this season with a quick and easy bottle gift tag!

For Her Eyes Only - Snarkfest

Need a great stamp set for your inner circle? Check out these sets from Unity Stamp Co. This three piece card set was made using the PMS Peggy set and She Used to Care set.

For the first card, the image is from the PMS Peggy Set. I stamped her in VersaFine using my MISTI to get a dark image. I then tore one edge of the paper. Using Distress Ink I dirtied up the card front, then inked the edges. The image was mounted on printed paper and using the design on the paper, I placed a handful of copper embellishments. The sentiment, from the She Used to Care set was stamped onto a pre-cut tag and mounted with foam tape. 

The second card in this set, utilizes the image from the She Used to Care set and sentiment from that same set. 

I stamped my image on white card stock, then cut it out using the Postage Stamp Die Cut set from Simon Says Stamp. I then mounted it on solid card stock and trimmed it flush with the edges of the die. This was mounted onto striped card stock and accented with Nuvo Crystal Drops from So Suzy Stamps. I tied hemp twin around the base and mounted the card front onto an A2 size card using foam tape. The sentiment is stamped on white card stock, then mounted on solid card stuck and adhered with foam tape. 

The last card in this set features an image from Hampton Arts. Stamped on a 3.75 x 5 inch size white card stock with VersaFine black ink. The edges and background are shaded using Distress Ink. The image was then mounted on printed card stock. The sentiment from the She Used to Care set is stamped on white card stock, adhered to another, larger piece of card stock, and embellished with Nuvo Crystal Drops. The image card stock was also embellished with matching Nuvo Crystal Drops. 

Overall I was hoping for a shabby chic look to this set. I love the sentiments and know they would be appreciated by my sarcastic group of friends. How about yours?

CYCI#138 Shaker Challenge - Warm Winter Wishes

The crafters on the Can You Case It Team have a wonderful challenge for us this week featuring one of my very favorite kinds of card to make: Shakers!

I was intimidated by shaker cards for a very long time, then I finally buckled down and made one and now they are one of my very favorite types of cards to make!

They look complex and time consuming, but once you have a few under your belt, you'll find they are one of the quickest to put together and give you a lot of bang for your buck. People will think you spent hours on a single card, when they really take no more than just a few minutes.

There are tons of great tutorials online, so I encourage you to hop on YouTube and check them out!

Here is my design for this week's challenge

The image is from Unity Stamps. I stamped it onto white paper and colored it using colored pencils.

It's not visible in the photo, but I colored the little snowpeople and the snow they're standing on in

white Wink of Stella for some extra shine.

I then used ordinary silver sequins for my filler. I had some left over snow flake brads from last Christmas so I popped a sentiment onto the front with some silver edged ribbon, inked the edges and adhered it with a pop dot.

I always try and be cautious with the height of my card front when making shakers because you already gain some depth with the adhesive used to create the shaker window and you want to make sure they'll still fit in an envelope for giving.

For the inside of my card, I printed a simple sentiment on my home printer, inked the edges and adhered it to a white A2 sized card.

If you're still nervous to try a shaker, check out the awesome offerings by Queen & Co and Jillibean Soup who make pre-cut adhesive foam shapes and fun shaker element that take some of the guess work out!

These cards are available in my Etsy shop.

The Ton Blog Hop!

Have you guys hopped along with Effie and the ladies over at The Ton? Check out the amazing DT creations and enter to win!

Twenty two new stamps and 8 gilding products were released. You can hope along here!

The order of the hop is as follows:

1. The Ton
2. Ruby Naz
3. Lisa Harrolle
4. Jessica Frost-Ballas
5. Virginia Lu
6. Keeway Tsao
7. Amy Tsuruta
8. Emily Midgett
9. Laura Sterckx
10. Vera Yates
11. Laurel Beard
12. Eunji Jung
13. Kymona Tracey
14. Mayline Jung

Just leave a comment at each stop along the hop for your chance to win a $25 gift card!

Quick Card - Truly Rest

Today I wanted to share with you a very quick set of cards I made, using images and stamps from Unity Stamp CompanyFor this card, I used the Truly Rest image and sentiment.

To make this card, I cut strips of blue cardstock into 12 x 3 inch strips. I then stamped 3 images onto each strip, using VersaMark and heat embossed the entire strip using Nuvo Embossing Powder in Classic Gold. I like to assembly line out my cards when possible and this was a great way to do so. I was able to stamp, then sprinkle, then heat emboss 3 images at a time this way.

I then trimmed my images into 2.75 x 2.75 inch squares and inked the edges in both a light and dark blue, smudging the corners for an additional distressed look. I then trimmed a piece of patterned paper into 3 x 3 inch squares, and a piece of green solid card stock into a 3.25 x 3.25 inch square, then matted my image.

I then selected two different patterns of washi tape, one in a blue and green chevron and one in blue polka dots. I placed one piece of the wider chevron washi tape at the top of a yellow 3.75 x 5 inch piece of card stock, and two strips of the thinner polka dot washi below it, leaving very little space in between.
Using blue dye ink, I stamped the sentiment onto my yellow card stock. I then placed my matted image at an angle atop my washi tape. I glued that piece onto a 5.25 x 4 inch piece of patterned paper and adhered it to my 5.5 x 4.25 inch craft card base. I placed 3 dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops in Midnight Blue.

If you haven't checked out the Nuvo line, you can shop at So Suzy Stamps for a wide variety of embossing powders, Glitter Drops, and Crystal Drops.

I kept the inside of my card simple. I matted a piece of white cardstock measuring 3.75 x 5 inches onto a piece of solid green card stock measuring 5.25 x 4 inches.

Using a bit of an assembly line, I was able to make 9 cards (2 sets for my Etsy shop at 1 for charity) within about 90 mins. I did let the Crystal Drops dry over night before packaging them.

These cards remind me of the hope Spring brings and I feel both serenity and cheer when I look at them! Let me know what they make you feel!

So Suzy Stamps Guest Designer - Wedding Season

Hey Everyone! This is my last submission as Guest Designer. I appreciate all of the kind comments and encouragement from all of you and hope you found some inspiration in the cards I’ve shared.

To wrap up, I thought we could start thinking about wedding season, which will be in full swing before we know it. I’ll be featuring three cards I made using the Bride and Groom image paired with the Just Married arrow stamp.

For each of my cards, I used Versa-Fine black ink. I find it to be the boldest and crispest statement that provides excellent coverage without bleeding, no matter what paper stock I use. Even with the Versa-Fine, I still used my MISTI and stamped each image multiple times to ensure bold coverage. I then positioned the sentiment stamp above the image and stamped it in the same.

Each was adorned with Faber Castell Texture Gems but you could use Liquid Pearls or the new Nuvo Crystal Drops which would be stunning.

Here’s my first card.

I colored the brides dress in gold Wink of Stella. Look at that shine.

I then decorated the swirls with dots of Texture Gems. The image was mounted onto gold glitter card stock and onto a white card base. I added a few drops of the Texture Gems to the tails of the sentiment.

For my second card, I followed the same process, this time covering my card base in vellum featuring gold hearts. I layered an ivory and gold ribbon over the vellum and adhered a lovely gem I had in my embelly stash. I used fewer Texture Gems on the swirls, and adorned the ends of my sentiment as I did on the first card.

For my last card, I switched up my gold Texture Gems for white. 

The consistency was a bit different and a bit thicker. 

At first I was worried about seeing a bit of a dollop or point to my dots, but they dried

giving that nice rounded dot.

I covered my card base in pink glitter paper and gold mirror paper. 

I colored the bride’s bouquet in both dark and light pink Wink of Stella 

and my sentiment in gold and pink Wink of Stella.

I then wrapped a gold striped ribbon across the bottom for some added bling.

This stamp provides many opportunities to customize your card to suit the wedding colors 

of the couple you will present it to. 

Play around and have some fun!

So Suzy Stamps Guest Designer - Elegance

Hello Everyone! While you’re reading this, I’m freezing my tush off in Minnesota! I hope you’re all keeping warm!

This week I’ll be sharing three cards I made using the dress form stamps as well as some glitter embossing powder, PearlEx, and lotsa bling! I hope you like them!

For my first card, I used the Dress Form Set. I stamped it in light grey, twice across the card front, trimming the edges so I wouldn’t have a half dress form hanging off the edge of my card. I then stamped the Elegance sentiment in black Versa-fine ink. I adhered a strip of grey and white polka dot ribbon around my white card front. I mounted my card front onto grey card textured card stock, then onto a black and white damask print patterned paper and onto a white card base. I tied a bow with another piece of the polka dot ribbon and adhered it to the front, then attached three rows of pearls. Quick and simple with a lot of elegance, just like the stamp says!

For my next card, I used each of the dress form stamps and aligned them using my MISTI then individually stamped them in a rainbow of colors using Distress Ink.

I then used Versa-Mark to stamp the BE sentiment and heat embossed it using glitter embossing powder. I used the stitched rectangles die to give some texture to my boarder then inked the edges. I mounted it on purple shimmering card stock then inked those edges as well. Then I mounted it to a white card base. Just look at the shine!

For my final card of the week, I broke out my PearlEx. These are the same as Perfect Pearls, but come in a larger variety of colors for a cheaper price. For this card, I used Dress Form 2 – Simple Swirl and the Confidence is Sexy sentiment stamp.

I ran a piece of black card stock through my embossing machine, again using the stitched rectangle die cut. I stamped my image and sentiment in Versa-Mark and layered on various colors of PearlEx using a standard paint brush. I then misted a little water over the surface to set to PearlEx. I mounted the card front onto my purple shimmery card stock then onto a white card base. I adhered a few gems to help fill the space above the sentiment. I always struggle with my bling placement, but try to stick to the rule of using an odd number based on a blog post I read forever ago about how the brain reacts to odd or even numbers of things. What is your rule for bling? Share it in the comments!

So Suzy Stamps Guest Designer - A card for all Seasons

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a fabulous week!

Things were very busy around here! I got a last minute invitation to attend an Anime/Martial Arts exhibition and although I didn’t feel that my cards were a good fit for the venue, sales greatly exceeded my expectation. Not only did I sell out of an entire line of cards that I wasn’t even advertising, but I picked up a custom order as well. You never know when you’ll be in the right place at the right time to make that sale! Plus it’s always good to get out of our comfort zones from time to time!

Let’s get to this week’s cards! I’ll be featuring a bunch of different stamps I used to make Spring, Summer and Fall themed cards and hope you like what you see!

For my first card, I cut three strips of white paper measuring 4 x 1.5 inches. I then used the Bride and Groom stamp set on the corner of my strips and stamped just the swirl from the bride’s dress in Dusty Concord, Cracked Pistachio, and Mermaid Lagoon Distress inks. I stamped Butterfly 3 in the same colors and ran them through my Scan N Cut.

I then mounted my strips onto a piece of dark pink card stock and stamped the Small Merci in Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and adhered the piece to my white card base.

I used a few pop dots to give my butterflies flight. I adorned them with a single white pearl from Hero Arts and added a row of pearls to underline my sentiment. I love the Spring Feeling this card gives!

My next card for the week has a Summertime feel. I again cut three strips of paper but this time I used the Wedding Dress stamp to create my swirls. I stamped them in Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, and Chipped Sapphire. I then stamped the Daisy Doodle in the same colors and blinged them with some clear rhinestones. I used the Bonjour stamp for my sentiment in Chipped Sapphire.

I adhered the three strips, light to dark, on a piece of patterned paper, then mounted them to a solid blue piece of card stock and onto my card base. Leaving a small boarder around each. I used pop dots to adhere my flowers and voilà!

   

For my last card of the week, I bring you a Fall inspired card. Fall feels like a lifetime away, but the colors are lovely and the options in Suzy’s shop for Autumn theme stamps are as abundant as the leaves on the trees!

For this card, I stamped my three white card strips in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Festive Berries Distress Ink using the Blowing Leaves stamp. I stamped the Line Leaf 1 images in the same colors and used my Scan N Cut to cut them out. I then stamped the Autumn sentiment in Festive Berries.

I adhered my card strips to a green embossed leafy patterned paper and onto a white card base. Leaves were popped up with foam dots.

I’d love to see your take on this layout using your So Suzy Stamps and the new line of Ink Bites!

So Suzy Stamps Guest Designer - Tulip Love

I had the pleasure of being a Guest Designer over at the So Suzy Stamps blog. Here's one of the designs I shared.

Suzy has an amazing range of stamps in her shop that work so well for romantic themed cards. My favorite are the Paris themed stamps. The sentiments are beautifully scripted and replace apostrophes with hearts, and who doesn’t love hearts!

For each of the cards I’ll show you today, I used the Tulip Stem stamp.

The first card features the Mon Amour stamp. I love this stamp with the O replaced with a heart. The size is great and the script is beautiful!

To make this card, I simply cut a piece of white card stock, inked the stem up in both Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and the flower and sentiment in Victorian Velvet. I used 100 lb card stock which did tend to bleed a little with the distress inks but I think it lends itself to a softer, more romantic sort of stenciled or airbrushed look. I then matted my white card stock on two shades of pink and adhered it to a white card base.

For my next card, I paired the Tulip Stem with the J’Adore sentiment. I stamped my stem in Mowed Lawn and the bottom half of my flower in Festive Berries Distress Ink and the top in Worn Lipstick. It gave it a nice Ombre effect. I then stamped the sentiment in Festive Berries.

I mounted my image on a distressed red card stock, then onto another deeper red card stock, and further distressed the edges using a sanding block. I then mounted it onto a white card base, keeping a 1/8 inch boarder.

What’s a So Suzy card without some snark? For my last card, I again used the Tulip stamp and this time paired it with the Common Sense stamp from the Snarky section of the shop.

I again stamped my stem in Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and used both Seedless Preserves and Milled Lavender. I then stamped the sentiment in Seedless Preserves and mounted it to dark purple card stock onto a lavender base card.

If you haven’t picked up the Tulip Stem stamp be sure to do it right away! It’s so beautiful and makes a lovely focal point for cards of any occasion. I hope you enjoyed the clean and simple cards this week and I’ll see you again next week featuring another set of cards! 

You can pick these up at Suzy's shop in Bloomfield NM or check my Etsy shop for a similar design.