About Susan

Susan Cobb loves cardmaking. She’s been playing with paper for years, creating handmade card designs as well as scrapbook pages for Hot Off The Press and Paper Wishes Ideas Online. While she’s most well known for her innovative new techniques that have been featured in books such as Terrific Template Ideas, Susan’s Paper Engineering Secrets and Cardmaker’s Idea Book, Susan’s work has also been highlighted in magazines such as Better Homes & Gardens and Creating Keepsakes. In addition, this paper engineer is the creative genius behind the brilliant designs of Hot Off The Press’ twenty-one templates. Susan has two daughters and lives in Oregon with her husband Brian and their two cats.

Q & A with Susan:

What gives you inspiration?
A variety of things: Magazines, especially home decorating, taking walks outdoors and trips to my favorite gift stores. These all get me looking at different colors, shapes and textures and get me to think outside the box. It also helps to talk with other creative people and brainstorm together. I’m lucky to work with a lot of creative people!

What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment in terms of your work?
I’m particularly proud of my Susan’s Paper Engineering Secrets book and also the Paper Pizazz® templates I’ve designed.

Of the many techniques you’ve created, what’s your favorite and why?
I love folding paper. Also, I love pen work, like tracing the designs on a patterned paper to embellish a page or a card. Once I get started with that, I can’t leave it alone!

What’s your paper-crafting philosophy?
Afraid? Go ahead and try it! It’s just paper!

What excites you the most about the future of the industry?
That it’s always changing, which keeps me interested. There’s always something new just around the corner.

Susan’s advice for other paper-crafters:
If you want details, my Susan’s Paper Engineering Secrets book is where I tell all! Otherwise, I would recommend getting out your paper and just playing to see what you come up with. Practice helps with both learning techniques and using a craft knife.

Susan’s top Hot Off The Press product picks:

• sarabinders™. These innovative craft binders are so much fun to decorate and personalize–half the fun is coming up with all the ways I can use them! They also make great gifts that are from the heart.
• Cardmaker’s™ Citrus Creative Pack. A must-have for cardmaking! These bright, fun colors are perfect for birthday cards and tons of other occasions.
• Cardmaker’s™ Citrus Ribbons. These colors are so fresh and so fun to use and they coordinate with so many patterns and colors of paper, and of course with the Citrus Creative Pack!

Susan’s favorite project published by HOTP:
My favorite published project that I’ve done for Hot Off The Press is the “My Creative Process” page in the “about the author” section of Scrapbook Recipes for Journaling. This has a lot of the real me in it—journaling from the heart, my love for details and engineering in the “stitched” pen work and the small slide mount book with envelope pages inside.