Hey there! Sorry for the absence here on the blog this last week. My car was in for service and that just threw me off - I am in the middle of Lil’ Inker Designs release prep and Easter cooking. The family is coming over tomorrow for brunch - yay! If you have any great recipes to share, I would love to hear about them, because I am not sure what else to make.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hi really quickly and post a reminder about the Ugliest Card Ever Hop for Monday, April Fool’s Day. If you missed my original post, you can read all about it here. One huge clarification: you should be posting your own ugliest card, not somebody else’s - that would just be mean - but thanks to those who asked! 
Happy Easter!
Suzanne
Just popping by to let you know that I’ve posted a card over on the Neat and Tangled Stamps blog today - it’s a card that was inspired by Day 5 of Pattern Play. Head on over to check it out!
Thanks & Happy Monday!
Suzanne
I have been a bad card class student and am playing catch-up on my homework! I was inspired by Shari Carroll’s video on Day 4 of Pattern Play, so tonight I made this card using the March Simon Says Stamp card kit.
I combined 3 patterned papers and lots of stickers on this one, and no stamps! I was inspired by this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, but I am not really sure this qualifies as CAS - what do you think? Yay or nay, please help me decide! Edited to add: CFC girls…I linked up, but you are free to give me the boot if this isn’t quite CAS enough. 
How was your day? I went to breakfast this morning with my family for my sisters’ birthday, to a place that is only a couple miles down the road, but have not visited in nearly 9 nine years! I think I need to start going there more often - the pancakes were divine! I was able to squeeze in some work, and spend the afternoon shopping with my hubby…so fun!
All in all, a pretty good day!
Suzanne
I am back with a card for Day 3 of Pattern Play, this time trying to use up some hard to use patterns. I tried breaking up this bold pattern using Kristina Werner’s technique tonight.
I used some Amy Tangerine papers from American Crafts and rounded the top edge of the paper before trimming it into 4 sections. Then I stamped and diecut the feathers and sentiment from A Muse Studio’s Make a Wish set, later adding some gray twine and pearly rhinestones. This patterned paper is double-sided and the green paper is the coordinating paper on the backside of the rainbow pattern:
I love the bright colors on this so much!I am going to have to try this out some more, because I had all kinds of ideas of how to break up the pattern.
Thanks so much for stopping by - hope you have a great day!
Suzanne
Day 2 of Pattern Play really took me out of my comfort zone, but the technique that Jennifer McGuire shared with us was too awesome to go untried. I did my best to find a good background stamp for emboss resist on patterned paper, and this great Flower Bursts image from Hero Arts was the one with the most open and filled space.
I used patterned paper from Doodlebug Designs’ Sugar and Spice line (ETA: Thanks, Bobby, for suggesting I show the original pattern. You can view it in 12×12 form here.) and a Framed Fonts sentiment from Avery Elle, as well as some Distress Inks - don’t see those much around here, either! Below you can see how I made this card twice using lighter and darker shades of Distress Ink:
You may also notice that the shine from the clear embossing powder is gone, and that’s because I also used Jennifer’s ironing technique to remove it - GENIUS!
Anyway, I think I prefer the darker green color since it makes the patterned paper stand out more, but these matching cards will come in super handy this weekend for my twin sisters’ birthday! Even into their 30s, I feel like I need to give them the same thing.
So what do you think? Not bad for my first try, and now I think I need a whole new suite of background stamps for this technique! And with all the green going on here, I am entering this in the elegant emerald challenge over at Moxie Fab…
Suzanne
