Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Pinspired Challenge #2

Hello!

I feel so much happier that I've been able to do three challenges already this week.  Tonight, I went to the Pinspired challenge blog.  I wanted to make another Valentine's card to add to my collection - but I found that the colour scheme of the inspiration photo, mostly grey and white, wasn't all that conducive to a love theme.  I think I spent around two hours on this card - it's funny how some cards come together so quickly, and some are just a struggle.  This one fell into the struggle category, but I still enjoyed the process.  I did manage to accomplish a Valentine's theme...have a look :)

Here's the inspiration photo:



And the grey Valentine's card. 



I actually challenged myself to even try a "technique" (if I can even call it that!) by using a Q-tip and my somewhat dry white ink pad to colour in the embossed images.  It gave it a softer look and I really liked the results.

Hope you like it!  Thank you for coming to see me :)
Shannon

Monday, January 28, 2013

Thank You - PS Style

Hello!

I had a chance to play along with the Paper Smooches SPARKS Picture Perfect challenge tonight.  I thought it was appropriate to make a thank you card.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I am so grateful and thankful to everyone who has been so sweet and supportive toward me since I took the big plunge and started my blog last month. 

Here is the inspiration photo:


And here's my take:



Thank you again to everyone who has taken time time to look at my cards, and to those who have taken the time to leave me such thoughtful and encouraging comments!  I appreciate it so much!

See you again soon - I'm going to try to sneak in another challenge (or two?) this week.
Shannon

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Thank You! And TAWS Be Inspired #20

Hi everyone!

These past two weeks were one of "those" two weeks!  Never seemed to be able to catch up on anything.  And my crafting...and my blog went by the wayside.  But I was determined to change that this weekend.  I was able to get into my little craft room for an hour anyway.  As I said, I have had "challenge fever" lately, and it's been killing me to look at all the challenges and amazing, inspiring entries, and not being able to play along! 

Before the card though, I just wanted to take a minute to say THANK YOU to everyone who has left me a comment on my blog!  As a new blogger, I can not tell you how much they mean to me!  And I want to give a shout out to two people who have really made me smile and encouraged me so much with their comments - Barb from Barbles, and cm!  Thank you both so much for your sweet, kind words!  And cm, I'm so thrilled that I have inspired you to maybe start a blog - that makes me so happy!  I hope you do - it's a ton of fun, and I'd love to be inspired by your work too!  Thank you both again - from one Canadian girl to two others!

And, I would also like to thank The Alley Way Stamps for picking my card as a random winner for the TAWS Be Inspired #19 Challenge!  I was shouting from the rooftops when I found out I won!  Thank you TAWS!!!

And now for the card - it's a simple little one, for my girlfriend, who just had a baby girl last Friday.  I was inspired by the TAWS Be Inspired #20 photo.  Check it out here.


Hope to be back again tomorrow!  Thanks for looking!
Shannon

Monday, January 14, 2013

Going Retro

Hello!

As you may have read in my blog post yesterday, I have a case of challenge blog fever!  This time, I'm participating in the Retro Sketches challenge.  And this one threw me out of my box.  I definitely have a particular go-to look that I don't steer far from.  Try as I might to do something different, I always tend to revert back.  And this sketch is definitely not "that" look.  But I jumped in anyway, and here's what I came up with...
The sketch...



And the card



I used all Paper Smooches on this one.  I am loving the new butterfly set.  I think anyone would love it, no matter what your style.  There is a really nice variety of sweet to elegant.  Check out the set - it's called Flap Happy.  Sentiment is from Word Up, another must-have.

Have a good Monday!
Shannon

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Butterfly Love

Hello!

Today I made a card for the CAS(E) this sketch challenge.  It's the first time I've entered this challenge - and not the last!  Since I started my blog, I've been wanting to branch out a little more and try new things.  And card challenge blogs are just the way to find inspiration to stretch myself.  They are so full of amazing designs, and are such a good starting point for those days when your creativity needs a little jump start!

Here's the inspiration:



And my card...another one for my Valentine's stash!



Pretty clean and simple - the stretch for me was adding the little background strip in grey.  Normally, I would really shy away from doing this for fear that I would ruin the card.  But I went for it - and I really like how it turned out.  Subtle, but a little stretch nonetheless.  Baby steps :)
The butterfly and heart loop are from Paper Smooches, and and little background is from The Alley Way Stamps - they are actually snowflakes from the Christmas set, Fa La La, but I think they work well as little lights in the sky too!  The love you is from a Papertrey Ink set, I think it's called Little Bitty Bird.

Hope you like it!
Shannon

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Pinspired Challenge

Hello!

A new challenge blog has started up, and what an awesome concept!  Each challenge is inspired by a "pin" on Pinterest.  I'm playing along with their very first challenge.  Maybe you'd like to play too?  Check out the website.

Here's the inspiration photo:



And here's my interpretation.  Since The Alley Way Stamps is the sponsor, and since the Alley Way Stamps is one of my faves, it only made sense to use Alley Way Stamps! 


I made a cupcake out of a couple of sets.  I used the circles from Trees Company to create the look of icing, and for the cupcake liner, I used the tree stump, and stamped it upside down five times in a row.   I used the flower stamp from the Talk to Me set to create the border between the icing and the lining.  The adorable little Happy Birthday sentiment is from Cover Ups.  I just love this font size.

Hope you like it and hope you come by and visit again soon!
Shannon

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Ring-A-Ling

Hello!

Just sharing my entry for the SPARKS challenge.  As soon as I saw the inspiration photo here:


I knew what I wanted to do.  And it involved tracking down an old phone book.  I knew I didn't have one at home, but I thought I might find one at work.  I had no luck myself, but one of my awesome co-workers tracked one down for me.  Thanks to him, I was able to execute my plan!



Hope you like it!
Shannon

Monday, January 07, 2013

TAWS Be Inspired #19

Hello!

Playing along with The Alley Way Be Inspired Challenge #19 today.   Here's the inspriation photo:


I just love the sweet penguins, but I don't own any penguin stamps (YET!).  So I went with something a little different.  I mostly used Trees Company, and the woodgrain on the tree trunks is from Cover Ups.  And the end result is a little thank you card.  Those little birds are so sweet.


By the way, have you checked out the Alley Way Stamps blog lately?  If not, you should ;)  They are having 13 days of giveaways to celebrate their first birthday!  And all you have to do to win one of the daily prizes, which has been an adorable stamp set every day so far!) is answer a fun question.  I've been having a lot of fun entering!  There is also a 13% discount on any orders for a few more days.  AND if you order anything in the month of January your name will be put into a draw to win five free stamp sets - sah-weet!  Anyway, just thought I'd pass it along.

Hope to see you soon!
Shannon

Sunday, January 06, 2013

Dig It!

Hi!

Surprise!  It's a Valentine's card.  I know, I'm sounding like a broken record.  But I want to get as many designs together as I can before I start mass producing for the big card sale at work!

This one was inspired by several other's I've seen out there, using the ripped edges of brown cardstock to create dirt mounds.  I really liked this one posted on the Paper Smooches blog by Heidi Van Laar.  I haven't "ripped" for so long now, but it just works so well for this! 

The card turned out a little differently than I had planned, thanks to a small oopsie that I covered up with the sweet little dog...and voila, you'd never know it was there.  As they say, there are no mistakes in card making! 

I used Woofers and Tweeters (because I'm addicted to it right now!) and the heart in the circle is from TAWS, Trees Company (another set which I am addicted to!). 

Here's the card:



Hope you like it!
Shannon

Saturday, January 05, 2013

Whoooo makes life sweet?

Hello!

Thanks for coming back to see me!  Another Valentine's card (I'm pretty sure there are going to be a flurry of these still!).  This one uses Woofers and Tweeters and Sugar Rush from Paper Smooches.  The branch is from TAWS and the set is called Trees Company. 

And here it is:
(Please pardon the - ahem - awful photography!)



Thanks for looking!
Shannon

Friday, January 04, 2013

Heart Bouquet

Hello again!

More Valentine's for you again today :) 

I used the sweet pug again from Woofers and Tweeters and accessorized him (or her) with a heart bouquet. 

I am a little stressed about the grid patterned paper that I noticed far too late was placed slightly crooked (although to me it might as well be on a 45 degree slope because that's all I can see!).   Oh well, I'm not bothered by it enough to take it apart.  Repeat three times...there are no mistakes in card making!  Ha!

Aside from that, I was so happy with the results.  I think it's pretty adorable ;)



Enjoy!

Shannon

Thursday, January 03, 2013

My Universe

Hello!

I've got another entry for the "Anything Goes" SPARKS challenge.  I used Space Cadet for this one.  I just love this sentiment and all the fun images that come with this set.  I had seen so many amazing cards using Space Cadets, especially this card, that just knocked me off my feet by Kimberly.  I just had to have it.  And if you haven't seen Kimberly's work before, stop by and check out her blog - she is a creative genius! 

And here's my card:



Thank you so much for looking!
Shannon

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

SPARKS - Anything Goes!

Hello!

I've actually come to rely on the SPARKS challenges to give me inspiration (and they always do!).  So when I saw this week's challenge was an "Anything Goes" there was a little gasp!  What?  No sketch?  No colour pallette??  No picture ???  What am I going to do?!!!  And then I remembered - hey I can free-style! 

I'm on a Valentine's kick right now, so that's the theme I went with.  I don't sell a lot of my cards, but I decided that I would make a bunch to sell for Valentine's to my co-workers this year.

For this card I went with the *adorable* little pug from Paper Smooches Woofers and Tweeters (that set is a must-have!) and the I love you is from Word Up.



Hope you like it!
Shannon

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

My New Year's Resolution: 2013

My New Year's Resolution for 2013: Start a blog.  So I did!

I'm excited and a little nervous (not sure why!).  I have been thinking about doing a blog for a while now, but today I'm taking the plunge!

If you're wondering about the title of the blog - Chuchee is the name my Dad used to call me when I was small (and still does) and it's always been endearing to me.  Chu is my husband's last name.  So Chuchee Chu it is!

My blog will be a collection of the greeting cards that I love to make in my spare time.  You will see mostly a whimsical style, using stamps from two companies that I am in love with: Paper Smooches and The Alley Way Stamps.  I have been a huge fan of Kim Hughes and Paper Smooches for years, going back to her Cornish Heritage Farms days.  Her style and her stamps are perfection.  The Alley Way Stamps is a brand new discovery for me and I am already smitten!

Most of my posts are just for inspiration.  I just know that I won't be very good at posting supply lists and how to's.  But my cards are CAS and won't be hard to figure out :)  And I'm always happy to answer any questions - just leave a comment for me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

I thought I would share a few Christmas tags that I made for my very first post. 





Both tags use Paper Smooches and TAWS stamps (of course!).  Hope you enjoy!

I'm so excited to share more with you in the coming days and months!  Thanks for dropping by!

Happy New Year!
Shannon