HI! My name is Suzanne Reynolds, originally from Buffalo, NY, married with three grown children, and five grandchildren, and reside with my husband in the Phoenix Metro area. I was a part of the workforce for many years in accounting and technology, a workaholic, and worried about how my time would be filled after my retirement in 2012.
Paper crafting was not new to me but blogging was... click here for My History Scrapbook and see some of my old scrapbook pages from 30 years ago and note the changes and advancements of paper crafting and tools available.
It didn’t take me long after leaving the workplace to take out my stash of old cardstock, design papers, stamps, and embellishments to create my Christmas cards. My daughter got me hooked on creating cards for challenges and I liked developing clever ways to utilize materials and trying both old and new techniques. Of course, I had to get updated supplies… this was easy because my daughter was a CTMH consultant and I think I kept her in business.
In 2015 the owner of the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge asked me if I wanted to join as a DT member. I was hesitant at first but she encouraged me and I was off and running. Liked it so much that I joined AHSC and Heart2Heart as well. What a fun time I had combining the themes, colors, and sketches all in one card.
I wanted others to have fun in combining challenges... so Double Trouble was born in May of 2018. Things 1 and 2 and 3 started the ball rolling and a short time later four DT "Sneetches" were added and are still putting up with the shenanigans at Double Trouble. The clipart and the humor for this challenge were perfect for combining challenges and I particularly enjoy creating the clipart based on our challenge as much as creating cards.
But wait, let's not stop there... In Jan of 2024, we acquired the management of Try Stampin' on Tuesday Challenge (now known as Try a Sketch on Tuesday) with Melanie Richards as co-owner. So retirement has been confirmed and I have transitioned from a work-aholic to a craft-aholic and looking forward to managing both challenges as well as continuing to promote other challenges.
My name is Melanie Richards. While my mother was teaching me how to cook and clean, my grandmothers were teaching me to knit, crochet, and sew at a very young age. I learned to love the needle arts, especially sewing and quilting, which I have been doing for more than 65 years. Along the way, I have learned many different forms of not only sewing but also crafting.
I was raised in a military family and married a military man so I have enjoyed living in different places around the globe. In my youth, traveling meant that I attended numerous schools and several colleges, finally graduating with a BS in Economics and Finance and an MBA in Legal Administration.
In 2006, my late husband, Bob, and I retired to the Phoenix, Arizona Metro area from Olathe, KS. My new neighbor, Suzanne Reynolds, dragged me away from my Bernina sewing machines, kicking and screaming, and introduced me to a Cricut and her paper crafting hobby. Since that time, I have immersed myself in making cards. I now give cards for all types of occasions (and no occasions) and will donate a bundle as I can. Sometimes my cards undergo close scrutiny by my handsome cat, Sluggo, who is my constant companion.
I have fun trying new techniques and fun folds but especially enjoy card challenges and have served on several Design Teams in addition to serving as an Administrator of three challenges. After relocating from the Phoenix Metro area to Eastern Tennessee in 2022, my stash is completely unpacked (but not completely well-organized) and I am eager to continue making cards. My favorite pastimes are reading and traveling, but I especially enjoy the fellowship of friends with whom I can share the joy of creating. (If you live in Tennessee near the Chattanooga - Cleveland area, I would enjoy hearing from you.)
I am hoping you will become a regular contributor to our challenge!
I took up paper crafting around 2005 - I started when I was introduced to stamping at a creative party. I prefer to make cards although I do some scrapbooking as well.
My hope is that my creations inspire others to explore new ideas and techniques.
Cardmaking is easily my favorite hobby and way to spend my extra time. I've taken it through a few different avenues, including teaching stamping in classes and being a guest designer for a couple of different companies and a challenge blog. I ventured out into the world of sharing on social media through my blog and on Instagram a few years back and I have enjoyed it very much!
I do one-minute videos about once a week on Instagram for the enjoyment of my followers to watch a card quickly come together. It's been a lot of fun!
I've been stamping using primarily Stampin' Up! products since 2000. I love to read science fiction, go hunting for geocaches, and travel the world on cruises. I love to make cards to celebrate life’s milestones, and to scrapbook to re-live the cruises me and my husband take around the world (20 so far).
I also LOVE to learn new things... be it card making techniques, or new software programs to design cards! I joined TSOT in 2016 and Double Trouble in 2018 as a Design Team member, and love seeing the creativity of all the wonderful crafters who play along in each new challenge!
Dies weren’t a thing at that time, so fussy cutting was the order of the day. I also chuckle at the current trend of doing slimline cards as I was doing those long before they became the trend. Learning about rubber stamps, die cutting and embossing was a whole lot of trial and error with YouTube and some amazing clever crafters playing a large role in my current abilities. When I found StampTV and Gina K. my skills took off.
I have made a bunch of online friends who are very supportive and my card making has improved immensely. And after so many years crafting, I now consider myself to be reasonably adept. My hubby indulges me and has created an amazing craft room that has a ton of storage space and several stations to work from. He also indulges my penchant for buying new supplies; however, I am generally careful to buy only what I truly need and will actually use.
Before Covid we did quite a lot of traveling, but lately not that much. Hopefully we shall begin to travel again at some point, but we are both getting older and less inclined to want to undergo the stress of long flights abroad. My daily life mostly revolves around card making and these days I am willing to experiment a lot, sometimes with great results and sometimes with some unexpected ones. No matter what, I find card making immensely satisfying.

Then I bought a Cricut and this amazing journey truly began. I joined the blogging world in July 2010 and focused mainly on card making and entering card challenges. I've been on a number of design teams which has helped me grow as a crafter and explore new techniques and crafty tools.
I am a Copic colorist and have taught Copic coloring at a local scrapbook store, but I love my cutting machines (Intra-cut, Gemini, Scan N Cut, and Silhouette). I'm happiest when I can combine my coloring skills with wonderful images, papers and fabulous cut files or die cuts to create fun and inspirational projects.
I’m so excited to join this fun and unique Double Trouble design team.
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