It’s the 9th, which has been the day of the month when the Cloud9 Blog Hop has started for the last year, and I write this post with a heavy heart. You may have seen the earlier post on the Cloud9 blog letting everyone know that this will be our last hop. It hasn’t taken off as well as I would have liked, and I’d really love to see more folks playing along in Dawn’s Monday Mood Board challenges, so this is not a goodbye…it’s more like a hope-to-see-you-on-the-other-side-of-town.

Because I am currently away with possibly unreliable internet access (I wrote this post several days ago before we left), I wanted you all to know that the hop will be delayed until the 13th, but it will run for a full week this time.

This month’s theme is ANYTHING GOES - I used my Blanket Stitched Blooms to make this cute flower pot for the challenge this month. I hope you will join us!

xoxo,
Suzanne

Hi everyone! Just posting a card that I made for this month’s Cloud9 Blog Hop! I’ve combined some Crate Paper goodies with some Wplus9 diecuts and stamps - I was inspired by the colors and the circular shapes in the inspiration photo for the month.

Hope you can play along with us!
Suzanne

Hey there! Just stopping by really quickly to let you all know that the April Cloud9 Blog Hop goes live today at 10am and lasts through the 12th. I made my card today using the colors from this month’s inspiration pics and Wplus9 stamps, of course!

I’ve had a crazy week that included a whirlwind trip to Chicago on Friday and Saturday…all I can say is that I am SOOOO looking forward to a vacation soon. Hope all is well with all of you!

Hugs!!
Suzanne

And another weekend comes to an end. I have no idea where the time went, but I was happy to sneak away to make this card for Dawn’s Monday Mood Board:

Hi there! The Cloud9 Blog Hop starts today and our team has so many fun projects to share!

Our inspiration photo for this month totally stumped me, or maybe I should say that I stumped myself because I chose the photo. LOL! I won’t tell you how many failed attempts at watercolor I made before tossing that idea out the window. I hope you all have much more luck than I did, because this image is gorgeous:

I decided to use an older Wplus9 set called Ever After on this card. It was released before I ever found the company and I first saw these flowers on Amy Kolling’s blog several weeks ago in this post. I lucked out and found the set for sale on Splitcoast, and am going to be hanging on tight to this one. The frame and sentiment were cut using Label Layers 1 die and its coordinating stamp set, Filigreed Frames. I also added some marks in light brown around the sentiment using a circular droplet image from Folk Art Flurries.

Oh and by the way, I totally took your advice, Leigh Penner, and decided not to hoard these new Crate papers!

Suzanne

I’ve plopped the Pioneer Woman’s lasagna in the oven and jumping onto the computer really quickly to post a card that I made this morning for Dawn’s Monday Mood Board challenge, which was to use navy, coral and kraft on a project using at least one Wplus9 image:

I started off with the Basic Grey PB&J patterned paper, along with the glassine baggie and doily, and just started layering until I had a good idea for what I wanted to do. Then I pulled out my Wplus9 stamps and decided to stamp the leaves from Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions in navy onto the navy paper, and then I went ahead and stamped the frame from Brothers and Sisters in peach, adding the sentiment from Very Vintage Greetings in navy and the heart from Sweet Nothings in kraft behind it (I stamped off once before adding the heart).

The SU! ribbon seemed like the perfect addition since I thought I needed more kraft, and then the gold sequins from Neat and Tangled finished off the card.

So, are you going to watch the Oscars tonight? Any favorites? Last night we watched “Argo,” and I think I liked it much more than either “Lincoln” or “Zero Dark Thirty,” so my fingers are crossed for the hometown native Ben Affleck.

Have a fun night!
Suzanne

Every now and then a new die that totally blows my mind comes out, and this is one of those times. I am super duper excited to be a part of this special blog hop for Laurie Willison of Soapbox Creations, who designed this awesome Card Hanger Die for use on gift bags. She is so sweet and talented, and I am in awe of her on this day. (I am also mildly impressed with myself for having kept this a secret for as long as I did!)

As card makers, we spend a lot of time and put BOATLOADS of love into our cards, and then we get a gift ready for a party… but what happens to the card? Usually, it gets put in an envelope and hidden away, and if you’re like me and have a tendency to use bulkier items like ribbon and flowers on your cards, they don’t always fit nicely into an envelope. With this new card hanger die, you can proudly display your cards on the outside of your gift bags as a decoration!

I’ve made a few projects for the hop today to highlight several other reasons why I love this die. It gives you the ability to match your wrapping to your card. Do you see how I used Laurie’s die to cut from papers matching the patterned papers that I used in my cards? (I also love that it helps me to reduce my patterned paper stash a little bit more!)

You can also hang your card two ways. Laurie talks about this in the video that is available on her blog today, but I thought it would be fun to show you both ways. Above you can see how I trimmed the gift bag so that the card actually slides into the bag, but below you can see how the entire card is hanging on the outside of the bag.

I also used the die to create the large yellow flower on my card below. The center of the die is shaped like an oval, which is easily put together to make a large bloom:

Of course, all of my gift bags are brightly colored, but a safe bet is keeping a stash of kraft or white gift bags handy and ready to decorate. Adding the die to several bags is SO easy, and you can be ready with a gift in no time.

Please check out Laurie’s blog for more info on how to purchase this die. Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win one of these card hanger dies. One winner will be randomly chosen from the comments on the 4 blogs in this fun hop today! Be sure to leave some love for my Kansas girls here:

Thanks so much!
Suzanne

I am reporting from storm central with a card for this month’s Cloud9 Blog Hop, which starts today at 10am. I have been passing the time with cooking, crafting and QVC (because normal TV has ceased to exist with all the network coverage of the snow). This month’s inspiration photo was a fun one for me - the simplicity in each of the treat bags, as well as the stripes in the background, are what I tried to incorporate into my card.

I used two different Wplus9 sets on my card: Background Builders, Hearts and Love You More, as well as the Timeless Tags die.

I hope you’ll join in on all the fun…the hop lasts for three days, so you have plenty of time to join us.

XO,
Suzanne

We had a snowy day today so I worked from home and then I played in my craft room…I made this card for three different challenges this week:

3. Ardyth’s Anniversary Hop for Darnell

I was pretty lucky when it came to Paulina’s dash, because a lot of these supplies were on the floor and easily accessible, and I had an idea for what I wanted to do when I started. I think I would have preferred to add some bling and perhaps more washi tape to the top edge of the pink panel, but that’s they way it goes sometimes! I was already at 11 minutes, 52 seconds. Not very good.

The washi tape is kinda hidden but it’s there - I love using it as a border underneath cardstock. The stamps and tag die are from Wplus9.

Happy Anniversary, Darnell!

Hugs,
Suzanne

I am throwing my hat into the ring for this month’s CARDS Blog Challenge, which is to create a card using Chartreuse, Aqua and Light Grey.

I used the Paper Heart collection from Crate paper and Love You More from Wplus9 to make this card. I diecut and glittered the hearts to make the banner using a Xyron and added some matching pearls to finish off the card.

There’s still a little time to join in on the challenge - and there’s an awesome Paper Smooches prize up for grabs!

Thanks for stopping by!

XoXo,
Suzanne