Making Some Changes

We are making changes around here at Gooseberry Cottage <sigh> I suppose there is no more "cottage", but I do have this great space so I really shouldn't complain!  =)

However, that doesn't mean there aren't changes a'brewin!  After A LOT of deliberation, I think Gooseberry Cottage is going to be saying good-bye.  (But you can still find us!)



I have decided to focus and concentrate my efforts in just a FEW areas instead of MANY!  Hmmm, imagine that!?!

I will be leaving it up for a bit, but for the most part it is going to be inactive.

HOWEVER, I won't REALLY be gone, but I am condensing everything and moving it over to my website.  So there will still be a blog, I will still have all my goodies, it just won't be here at Gooseberry.

I probably just should have changed my hair color, but why not go for the gusto and make a cyber change instead!

Thank you to everyone who stops in to see all of our cards and the moves!  I hope to see you over at Greetings From Suzanne!

Until then,

Happy Stamping!

Suzanne

Zombies

Zombie Card

Well, I guess I can't necessarily call this guy "cute" but he is definitely not TOO scary!  I had a lady request some zombie invitations for her son's birthday party so I came up with this little guy and then found out he is going to be 17!  Eek!  I should have asked that beforehand, huh?  LOL   So the SCARY zombie card will be coming next week, but in the meantime I have this "cuter" version laying around!  

I did an overlay of tissue paper over his face to make it look like nasty skin and I think it added a nice touch and the googly eyes, well, how can you NOT have googly eyes?

If you would like this googly eyed zombie, please be sure and check him out on Etsy.  I did only make one and once he is gone I don't think I will make another one.

Buy The Googly Eyed Zombie

Have a great Labor Day!

New Classes Announced!

Work never seems to end!!!   My daughter is up visiting from Arizona this week before she goes back to college and she totally nailed it when she said, "Mom, you are the busiest person I know who doesn't have a job."  Silly girl, doesn't she know by now that her mother is never without a million things going on?

The latest goings on in my life is planning out the next 4 months of classes and the next 2014 Girls on the Go Retreat in Bloomfield, NM!

I have been busy getting things planned and put up all over cyber space and I am POOPED!   However, I am happy to report that I am all up to date for the most part.  I just realized I still need to update the app, but that can wait until tomorrow!  =)

If you are interested in attending a class or if you would like to enjoy some decent summer weather in Bloomfield, NM, check out our classes and the Girls on the Go Retreat!   More details on the Retreat will be coming soon!!!

Card Classes!

Cards for the Birthday Card Class in September

Gooseberry Cottage Moved

Moving never seems to end, you know?   And although there are times when I feel like a traveling gypsy, this time Gooseberry Cottage got to get in on the fun!

Yep, we finally got her over to the new place and talk about an amazing feat!  One that I am glad I was not present for!

You can see all of the fun games by checking out the entire move on our Moore of This and That blog, but I will leave you one little picture just to give you an idea of what she had to go through to get home!

In Colors

I am loving the new In-Colors!  As a special little kick off, I did a last minute class featuring the new In-Colors while I am down in AZ for the week.  I am pretty sure that Strawberry Slush and Coastal Cabana are my favorites!

Wedding Dress

This card was AMAZING to make and a total hit!  My mom wants me to make up a couple of these in different colors as a Big Sister card...which reminds me, I have to make these today!!!!   eeek!

I will definitely post pictures of the new styles as soon as I am finished, but I am definitely missing the flowers from SU.  The ones you find at the store are just not the same and way too big.  (BUMMER)

Peacock

This card glitters like there is no tomorrow!!!  The picture does not do it justice, unfortunately, but she is a beaut!  I used the metal sheets from Elizabeth Crafts and talk about fun!!!  I do need to use LOTS of tape when taping it down, but so enjoyable.

Christmas Cards

I may be living in New Mexico now, but that doesn't mean I have forgotten my AZ ladies!!  Here are some of the wonderful Christmas cards I have whipped up for the ladies to make at the end of August!

Birthday Card Class - New Mexico

Well I am hoping to start up another class here in New Mexico and these are the first batch of cards I have done up.  How sad is it that I am at a total loss for getting this kicked off???  I realize it is always pretty painless when you live in area where you have friends and family you can bribe/threaten to come to a class and then drug them into thinking this is the BEST THING EVER, but in a new place where I know virtually no one, ugh!  It is a bit daunting.  Looks like I better concoct up some sort of perfume that will make the crafters follow me like the rats from the Pied Piper!  =)

Even if I don't have anyone coming to the first couple classes, I will still have some cute cute cards!

Fun Purse Cards

This stunning card was BEYOND fun to make!  It is heavy as all get out, but so worth the extra postage.  I just love the way it opens up and was a BIG favorite at the Open House!

Opening Up

Totally open!

Fairy Card

I am sooooo in love with my new fairy card!  Talk about fun to make and I just love the added texture that the Liquid Pearls make.  Can I just say that I totally had Loreena McKennitt's To the Fairies They Draw Near on repeat while I made this card?  =)  It just seemed so appropriate!

I left the inside blank so that way it could be used for anything!  Love, love, love!

Open House and Boutique

The house is ALMOST finished, but even though we still have a lot to do in the back, the front of the house is pretty much finished.  WHICH led me to having my first Open House since I moved to NM 14 months ago.

You can check out some of what we have been doing at our personal blog and as for the Open House, well you can just just stay right here!

Most of the cards

Cute coasters I made

More cuteness

Love the Fairy Card!

YUMMINESS!

I don't really know a lot of people here in Bloomfield, but my Grandma and Papa T came up from Arizona so they could see the new place and check out all of the new cards!   Talk about making my day!

All in all, it went very well and I am most pleased with all of the cards.  Now to get everyone in the mood for classes in New Mexico!

Cute as a Bug

I have been diligently trying to use some of my DSP paper so I can rationalize buying more so I have been on a DSP crusade!

Bees

Lady Bugs

Simple, cute and easy to throw together I think I am going to hang out with the Spring Sampler stamp set and my DSP paper and have a good time using it all up so I can buy more!!!

Father's Day

I may have missed 21 birthday's in the last month and a half, but I barely made it for Father's Day!  Thankfully my Father-in-law is out of town for another week and I was able to finagle a few more days to get all of the cards done!  I will wholeheartedly admit that I was inspired and definitely CASE'd these guys from some nifty cards I found around the internet!  When you remember it is Father's Day last minute, you can't beat the hard work of others!

Candy Dots

I have been able to spend two glorious days in my studio and it looks like tomorrow will be another of the same!  I am BEYOND excited by all of the play time I have been able to get in and the catch up I am able to  do.

With my Open House, Retreat, Card Class and the birthday's that I have missed (21 of them!) I am in dire need of some great studio time!

With all of the cards I have made over the last two days, I must say I am just so tickled with the new candy dots!

Here are a few of the cards I made that I enjoyed playing with the dots in.

I loved Tina's Poppy card and I had to CASE and tweak it just a bit, primarily to use the Candy Dots with the brads.  I have missed playing with the Vellum Card Stock so I went ahead and embossed the Poppies onto the Vellum and colored the back of the vellum using markers and the Blender Pen.  I love the soft look of the poppies on the card and what better way to attach the vellum to the paper than with the Candy Dots and brad?  I did two similar cards, one with a sentiment in Garden Green and the other plain.  I thought the Garden Green needed to be brought to the top so I changed out the Candy Dots and used Garden Green instead of Early Espresso and I think it turned out nicely!

I also added a small Garden Green border on the bottom of the card and framed it in with the pearls.  It looks AMAZING in real life!

When I saw the Gingham wheel in the new catalog I knew I had to have it to make cards for my mom!  Her birthday is next week (Hope you aren't reading this, Mom!) and the wheel had to come out.  I swiped the side of the card and added the Melon Mambo candy dots to jazz it up a bit!

Love, love, love!!!

Playing in the new studio

The hubby is off working and the new kittens are back in their little crate so I have lots of time to play in my new studio with some of my new stamps!

I am not necessarily a "wheel" kind of gal and even though I have a few of them I don't really use them all too much.  However, when I saw the new Shop Around wheel in the current Stampin' Up! catalog I knew I had to have it!

So I figured I would have a good time tonight and play with the wheel.

I did up two cards using the same colors and theme, but switched them up just a bit.  Each of the cards were created with Raspberry Ripple as the card and ribbon color and Crumb Cake as the 1st layer color and the ink for the Shop Around wheel.

With the first one I used the Dress Up dress form framelit and added a flower from the flower trim that was in the Spring Mini Catalog.  I thought the pearls under the Raspberry Ripple ribbon was a nice touch to help jazz it up just a bit.

The second card uses the same colors, but I had this wonderful stamp that I had bought a couple of years ago that I have never used and thought this would be the PERFECT time to use her.  I framed in using the Labels framelits and stamped and sponged her in Crumb Cake.  I absolutely LOVE the flower ribbon trim so I decked her out in the trim.

Both of the cards use the same sentiment on the inside from the sentiment stamp set "Feel Goods" and it just seems to go PERFECT with the cards.

Needless to say, I am having a ball and can't wait to play with some of the other new colors and stamp sets I got!

Happy Stamping!

Suzanne

New Studio is Finished!

Well, we are ALMOST finished with the new house and we have been SUPER busy, but it is starting to slow down.  The most important part though is my studio is now fully operational!

Moving and Renovating

There never seems to be a dull moment in my little life lately and I will whole heartedly admit I do not like it!  But we have taken on another project and we are totally redoing a trashed house and getting ready to move in to it.

The good news is I will have a HUGE studio again and I am beyond happy with that.  PLUS we do get to bring Gooseberry Cottage with us so that makes me happy!

If you would like to follow along on our little adventures, please be sure and check us out on our Moore of This and That blog.  I promise that after looking at the pictures of the pig pen we acquired you won't feel so bad about NOT dusting this weekend.  =)

Enjoy and please wish me luck, I am going to need it!!!!

Suzanne

Fun Quote Friday's

This is for you, Laura!  =)

Sunflowers

I absolutely love the potted flower cards!  I know there are some brave souls out there who know to make the cute little pots with just some paper and their paper cutter, but I am so much more lazy than them.  So I cheated and I use the Spellbinders Flower Pot framelit.  My life is definitely better off for it!

I made a slew of these up for an order and talk about lovely to look at!

It just screams SUMMER!

Speaking of which, it is official! We closed on our new house today and tomorrow starts full blown renovations!  The house is TRASHED and there is a lot of work that needs done to the inside and the outside.  While hubby finishes up the school year and graduation parties, I am going to be working on the inside of the house.  (Hoping this means I will be off the hook on doing the outside stuff!!!!)

Paint, carpet, cleaning, dry wall, door jams, a left behind trashed piano, nasty bugs, weird stains in odd places, and we are pretty sure something big is living in the yard.

The great news is I am taking the cottage with me, but I will be going back to the in-house studio.  The house has a great split floor plan and I get half the house for my play area!  Ikea and I had a great time over the weekend while I was in Arizona!

Which means, I will be able to hold classes again!!!

I may be quite MIA over the next couple of weeks, but I will post before and after pictures so you can "feel" my pain!  =)

Plus, I need to get this finished so I can play with all of the new stamps and colors Stampin' Up! is coming out with!  Hello!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!!!
Suzanne