Christmas Blitz!!

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend so far. I got to spend time in my craft room today--yippee--because we are having friends over tomorrow and going to the pool for the day. I've been able to finish a lot of projects on my to-do list which always makes me feel better!

I made two cards for ya today and both are Christmas--what can I say, these stamps are too cute to not use right now! I have to tell you that I have more fun coloring these images--I just love it! Both cards use the new stamps from Whiff of Joy's Charlotte and Charlie stamps. And wait to you see what Katharina is releasing next week--omgosh, I looooovvvveee them! You need to hop on over to her blog to see some of the new stamps by Elisabeth Bell coming out, just so lovely--you'll want them all! I hope to have them in the next few days so I can give you some "peeks" and possibly some blog candy too!! Stay tuned....

Alrighty, onto the cards! These cards use "Charlotte Decorating the Christmas Tree" stamp--isn't she just a cutie all dressed up and "Charlie Building Snowman". I used Memory Box's "Winterberry" dp on both of these cards--I love that paper, gonna have to order some more ( I get mine from Ellen Hutson)! The images are colored w/ my Copics of course :)! I cut both the snowman and Charlotte on the stool out and popped them up on the cards for lots of dimension--it really makes your card feel extra special to have a 3-D element on it ya know. The sentiment on Charlotte's card is by PTI's "Holiday Wishes" set and the sentiment on Charlie's card is from Sweet 'n Sassy's "Snow Friends" set. Pretty much just layering of cs after that. I did want to make Charlotte's card a little more "vintage" so I inked the edges with brown Colorbox ink and added some corner brackets (SU punch) and buttons.

Ok, hope you like my lil' bit of Christmas for ya in August :) Have a great weekend! See ya Tuesday!!

Suzanne

Schoolgirl Crush!!

Happy TGIF and Happy Labor Day Weekend--yippee! I hope you all have some fun planned for your holiday weekend. If the weather is nice we will spend some time at the pool for sure, but no big plans other than that. We have to finish getting school supplies for my daughter, because for some reason the middle school waits until today to send them out--aghhh! Just as an update, the other day when I took my two "lovely" children school shopping I seriously thought that I might have to leave them by the side of the road. Bicker, bicker, argue, whine....I thought my head would explode & by the time I got home it felt like it too. Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids to death but shopping w/ them is TORTURE--especially if they have to try anything on or wait (omgosh--the horrors) for their sibling to try something on. This is why I buy tons of everything so that I won't have to experience that (hopefully) again for awhile!!! LOL!

I'm sorry to report that I'm delaying the rest of the tutorial until next Tuesday. I ran out of sunlight today before I was finished w/ the card and I hate taking pictures w/o natural daylight. I know many of you will be going away or celebrating this weekend, so I will wait to post it until next week.

Instead I'm posting a card I made with my brand spankin' new stamps that arrived yesterday from Diana Crick (you can order them by contacting her at magnolia.us@shaw.ca). I could NOT wait to ink these cuties up. I used 3 Magnolia stamps--Cherry Tilda, Edwin with Glasses and the Ruler. When I saw this lil' Edwin with his glasses on I knew I had to have him--he looks just like my son. Of course my son HATES his glasses but I think he looks cute in them. Next year he'll be getting contacts, just in time for middle school (oh no, my baby) but he'll be really happy.

How cute do these two look sitting next to each other on their ruler? All I could think of was those cute, innocent crushes kids have on each other when they're young. And this sentiment from Verve Stamp's "Feeling Groovy" set was too perfect! The awesome dp is from Cosmo Cricket--I love the blackboard paper behind them and the argyle paper matched Edwin's sweater so perfectly too. All of the images are colored with Copics, a few stickles on the cherries and diamond glaze on Edwin's glasses. I really love how this one turned out! Hope you like it too!

If you haven't checked out the new Heavenly and Travel Magnolia collection make sure you do--you're bound to love them! If you're a member of the Magnolia-licious Yahoo Group you can see Diana's inventory on file, if not you can look at them here. Diana's webstore will be up and running real soon---can't wait!!

I will be back to post at least once this weekend--I plan on spending alot of time hanging out and relaxing with my family before school begins on Tuesday. Hope you all have a safe and fun weekend!!

Suzanne

Copic Tutorial #2--Clothing/Objects

Ok, today I'm going to cover how I color clothing on my Magnolia image "Ice Skating Tilda". Of course you can apply this lesson to any object that you might want to color, I'm doing clothes this time. The picture above is of my well-worn Copic chart (from Sharon Harnist) that I printed onto my PTI cs and then filled in; and the patterned paper I chose to use. Whenever I color my images I always pick out my dp first (this is Imaginisce's "Snowy Jo" line and Doodlebug's glitter cs)--then I use my chart to pick out my Copic colors. My rule of thumb is that I pick 3-4 colors to use for each part of my image. I then take those colors and make stripes onto scrap cs to make sure they blend & look well together. I really try to pick my colors so they have a strong contrast to one another but are in the same color family. I've found that when I use colors that are too similar I don't get the effect that I want. Of course this is "my" personal preference--you'll pick your colors for your own preference. I'm just sharing with you what I do and like--in no way is anything I say in these tutorials hardened rules or the "only" way to color with Copics. You really have to use them by trial and error to figure out what works for you.




I chose 4 colors to use on her sweater (E07 Light Mahoghany, R32 Peach, R20 Blush,R00Pinkish White). Again I started w/ my darkest color E07 and colored the shadowed areas and edges of her sweater. Remember my light source/sunlight is shining down towards her, so the center of her sweater and skirt will be lighter in the middle.




Then I took my next darkest color R32 and colored over the E07 working out towards the center a bit. Remember to pay extra attention to the edges of the previous color--really saturate your paper each time and work in small circles over the edges really good to blend.



I'm using R20 now to work over what I have just colored and going towards the center just a bit more, making sure to blend real good. I follow up with my lightest color R00 to color in the center.



In this picture you can see the difference now that I have taken my lightest marker R00 and just colored and blended over the entire image. The last picture you could see definite lines between the colors--now the edges are softened and blended together more. You might want your image to be blended even more, but I like to have some sharper contrast on my clothing.



Onto Tilda's skirt--I chose BG45 Nile Blue, B00 Frost Blue, and BG000 Pale Aqua. Again, using my darkest color first BG45 I color the edges/shadowy areas of her skirt. I colored the underside of her skirt more than once w/ this color to make it a little darker because this area would be very shadowed.



Using B00 I color over what I just did spreading out towards the middle, making sure to leave the center (highlighted area) alone.



Then taking my BG000 (my lightest color), I color over the entire skirt area, really working the marker into the paper to saturate and blend those lines away. **Just a side note--when you're really saturating your paper this way, make sure to have something underneath. I use computer paper on top of my Scor-Mat so if the color comes thru the paper, it will not make a mess of anything.**
I color her mittens in the same way, using the same colors and add some color to the stitching of her sweater. Then taking my white Ranger Inkssentials pen I highlight a few places on her sweater. I also wanted to add some small white dots on her skirt for some extra pattern.


Alrighty, I hope you enjoyed this tutorial today. I use these steps to color all of my images whether they are people or objects. The only change that I make is where I want my light/sun to come from--just depends on my mood or preference that day.

Tomorrow I will do one more tutorial for ya. I will go over what the colorless blender is and how I use it and hair colors, and the finished image and card. If you want more detailed information or different techniques w/ your Copics, make sure to visit the Copic Guru, Marianne over on her blog--she's the "real" expert, I just aspire to be as good :)

Until then...
Suzanne

**If you are interested in ordering this Magnolia image or any others you can contact Diana Crick directly at magnolia.us@shaw.ca . Her webshop should be up and running real soon--can't wait!!

You Like Me, You Really Like Me...!!!

Ha, Ha--I've always wanted to use that Sally Field line (hope you all know what I'm talking about in the above title)! I wanted to make sure I gave a shout out to two people who gave me 2 more blog awards. I always feel so honored that anyone would give me an award, becuz' when I started my lil' ole blog I was thinkin' "who in the world is gonna wanna read about me and my crafting"--LOL! So I'm thanking each and everyone of you for coming by and making me feel appreciated for what I do--it makes ya feel good, you know!! I will be nominating a few folks for this award in the not so distant future---my brain is functioning so fast and on so many different things right now, I can't think too straight---ha, ha it's always like that, who am I kiddin'. Oh my, I really need to go to bed, I'm talking sideways now :)

Anywhoo, thanks to Jacqui who gave me her Javablu award--she's always visiting and leaving me nice thoughts and I appreciate them all! Stop by her blog and give her some love too!

The next award comes from Christine--the owner of All That Scraps and designer of the CC Designs stamps. What an honor that she chose me--I love her store (my checkbook can tell ya) and of course her stamps which I use alot and love to bits!

Thanks so much ladies---I'm in awe you chose me!

Nitey Nite--

Suzanne

Pumpkin Party!!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I am back with a quick post for you--this will be short, as I am working on tomorrow's tutorial and other projects on my neverending to-do list!

This image is from Inkadinkado and I just had to have it when I saw it on http://www.addictedtorubberstamps.com/ (not sure of its name). Our family goes to the pumpkin patch every year since our kids were lil babies and its our favorite fall thing to do, so this stamp reminds me of all the hayrides we've gone on to pick our pumpkins. This was really fun to color with my Copics too. The dp is from K&Co's "Fall Harvest" mat pad and the deep chocolate cs and ribbon is from PTI. This card is pretty self-explanatory, just alot of layering. I distressed the image with some Colorbox chalk ink just around the edges. The sentiment is new from PTI's "First Fruits" stamp set--this is my favorite font ever, I wish I could get more sentiments w/ this font. I'm very fond of old-fashioned fonts. I thought this card just needed a simple word to go with it as not to take away from the main image. For a final touch, I added dew drops to the corner and tied a bow around.

Alrighty, I'm off to finish up things. Hope you have a great day--its beautiful here and I have all my windows open with a nice breeze floating in---nothing bettah' than that!!

Suzanne

Copic Tutorial #1---Faces

Ok, here we go. I just want it to be known that I am by no means a Copic expert. I am only showing you how I color with my Copics--this works for me, but may not work for you. I am not trained in Copics but I do have an art background which helps me alot. You can of course use any colors, I'm just showing you how I do it. Today I'm focusing on faces/flesh--I don't want to overwhelm you w/ a super long blog and instructions. Tomorrow I will cover clothing and how I match up my Copics and pick colors.

The steps below are numbered per picture above (I have yet to figure out how to not get my pics to post only at the top--if you have any advice on that, tell me please). I first stamp my image with a Copic compatible ink--I use either Memento or Ranger Adirondack inkpads and my paper is always Paper Trey Ink white cs--great for blending w/Copics. This is "Ice-Skating Tilda" by Magnolia. I used these 3 Copic colors for flesh (E000 Pale Fruit Pink, E11 Bareley Beige, E00 Skin White), R20 Blush for the cheeks and my Ranger Inkssentials pen for white highlights.

1) I first use E000 to go over the face just once (I'm not worried about streaks right now, I have more layers to do) for a "base" coat.

2) Then I use my E11 to go around the edges of the face or where the face would be shadowed. This depends on where you want your "light source/sun" to be. I want my figure to have sun shining towards her so that the middle of the entire image will be lighter than the sides.

3) I then take my E00 and working around the edges of the face (not the middle) I color in circles making sure to blend into my last color and over it (always go over your darker color w/ your lighter color when blending). If you saturate your paper with color and work in small circles over the darker color you will be able to make your lines disappear.

4) I then take my lightest color again E000 and work over the entire face until all the colors are blended to "my" satisfaction. I try not to over color the face, so I usually only go over it once or twice just to blend--I don't want my face too peachy or dark.

5) I use R20 for the cheek color. I color a small circle on the cheek area just once.

6) I then get out my E000 again to go over the cheeks and around towards the edges to blend in to the face--kinda like makeup; you don't want the cheeks to be just round, dark circles on the face, so you blend them in. Usually you should only have to work over the cheeks once or twice to blend. Are you still w/ me? See in the picture how they blend better into the face now.

7) I did the same technique for her legs, using darker colors (E00 & E11) at the edges where they would be shadowed.

8) I then used the E000 to go over the entire leg, working in small circles to blend the colors together, making sure the middle of the legs are lighter. Remember the best way to know if you're coloring/blending enough is to turn your image over--you should have lots of ink actually coming thru the paper, this means its well saturated which makes blending easier.

I use my Ranger Inkssentials pen to highlight areas on the face and legs. This is totally up to you how you highlight--I like to just add one dot to the cheeks (some like more) and I added some to the rounder part of her knees too. Highlighting is a personal preference--I use it to highlight areas that would bend (knees, elbows and such) or to highlight a shadow in clothing (more on that tomorrow).

I will post a card later today for those who'd like to see some "finished" eye candy--lol. Tomorrow I will work on the clothing for this image, to show you more shading, how I pick my colors and etc. Hope you liked the tutorial--I'd love to hear feedback on it (was I too long winded, not detailed enough & so on) or any other questions you might have.

Until then...

Suzanne

PS--If you'd like to buy this Magnolia image or others contact Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca for ordering info.

Gimmee Gimmee, Trick or Treaty!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm posting early again today, cuz' I have tons of errands to get done. The kids need haircuts, new shoes and some more school clothes before school starts next week and my plan is to get it all done today (pray for me)!! My dd will be ok, but my son will start whining within the first 20 mins about how he hates trying on shoes, pants....etc.etc and he'd rather be playing and when are we leaving---ya know the usual stuff from a 10 yr old boy!! I will definitely return home with a migraine and exhaustion emanating from me--lol!

BTW, I finished organizing my craft room yesterday (took me 5 hrs) and I'm very happy w/ it now. I can find everything and everything has it's place--paradise for me!!

I've had this new MFT set for awhile and have been aching to ink it up. I know you all are probably tired of seeing my "gift sets", but I just love this one. I always make my kid's friends a "special card/treat" for Halloween every year and this will be the one I make for them this time. This stamp set is called "Monster Squad" by MFT and I used 3 of the images included in this set. Are these not the cutest lil' monsters you've ever seen? I based all the colors off of this fun Halloween dp by Imaginisce's "Hallowhimsy" line. I added some stickles to the trick-or-treaters and inked up the edges a little w/ some gray ink. I used my nesties to cut out the sentiment and the layers.

The little pail I got from the Target $1 spot--they were on clearance and I got 8 of them for $3; can't beat that! I just made a simple belly band w/ the dp around the pail. I stamped out the haunted house onto black cs w/ palette ink (new canvas) and then cut it out. I added a few strips of orange cs to the roof and some stickles in the windows. It's attached to the pail w/ dimensionals so that it pops a little. I made a matching tag and attached it with more Michael's ribbon. Didn't take long at all--which is good cuz I have 7 more to make, ha ha!!

Alright, I'm off to shop w/ the kids---wish me lotsa luck!! I'm working on the Copic tutorial, so hopefully it will be up on Wednesday. BTW, you can still vote for me (come on I need the votes badly!!!) over on the JustRite Stampers blog thru this evening. Even if you already voted, you can vote again today and I would soooooo appreciate it!!!!!!!

Until tomorrow...

Suzanne

Another Great Award!!

Ok, I forgot to put this on my earlier post because my brain has not been functioning correctly lately. I think its from the lack of sleep from watching the Olympics obsessively for the past 2 weeks--LOL!

This wonderful award came from my friend Kim and she was so sweet to give it to me. I am going to be a total rule-breaker (OMGoodness--nevah happens--me, no way; hee hee)!! I'm not going to pick 5 people to give this to--instead I'm giving it to everyone who faithfully visits me everyday, supports me and leaves me all kindsa nice comments to lift me up even on my worstest days!! You all inspire me everyday!! So thanks to you all!!! Love ya!!

Hugz,

Suzanne

How Does Your Candy Grow!!

Good Monday afternoon! I am in the midst of re-organizing my entire craft room and it is a disaster zone right now. I just got tired of stuff being everywhere and moving things to get to other things---YKWIM!! Of course my loving hubby had what he thought was a good solution--stop buying more stuff---Yeah right buddy-o, HA, HA--NEVER!!!! :) What I need is a larger room--but that's not happening!

I'm sharing a card I made last week with my new Pink Cat Studio stamps called "Limitless Limbs". Now my intent was to make another card with this set to show you the versatility and different ways to use it, but I haven't yet :( --I'll try to this week. I'm working on lotsa top-secret stuff....shhhhh....its a surprise!!!! I will have some tutorials this week on using Copics though. Ok...

I'll make this quick for you. Basically this set comes with different trees and all kindsa decorations for the trees. I chose to use the candy corn and pot for the tree to dress it up. I also added some dew drops to the tree for some added shine and dimension. The Halloween dp is from Heidi Grace (isn't it cute-a-licious), the brown dp and cs are from SU. The little ghost is a stamp I've had for awhile from Stampendous and the greeting is from MFT's "Monster Squad" set. I added some stickles (of course) to the candy corn, ghost and the o's in the sentiment. The brown twill ribbon is from PTI.

Hope you like it and I will make another card/project w/ this set again--its really fun to use! Ok, back to my mess so that hopefully later on today I can work on some more projects!

Till then....

Suzanne

PS--I still need your votes over at the JustRite Stampers blog for my teacher notecard box/cards--You can vote once a day. If ya wanna vote head on over there thru Tuesday evening--I appreciate it!!

Tropical Paradise!!

Good morning everyone! Hope you've had a good weekend so far. I'm feeling somewhat better today, just a little tired I guess. We have a funeral to go to later today, so I'm taking it easy until then. I'm feeling a little sad that summer is coming to an end too. Back to school routines for kids, evening activities and cold weather to look forward to---I just love the slower pace of summer and of course the warm weather. Me and winter do not get along--lol!

This card reminds me where I will be "wishing" I am come wintertime for sure! I have yet to get to Hawaii, but Maui is in the top 3 vacation places I'd like to go (Italy first, Maui second, Australia third). I might get there one day, but you know how I have a severe fear of flying--and all of these places are a long ways away from VA--I will definitely need meds for those flights :) Anywhoo, onto the card--

This Tilda goes by many names I think, "Hawaiian Tilda" and "Hula Tilda", but whatever, I just love her! The palm tree/beach stamp is from Magnolia too (I made the "sea" myself) cuz' I love the ocean. If you'd like to get some of these Magnolias you can contact Diana Crick directly for ordering info at magnolia.us@shaw.ca . BTW, I got a sneak peek at her new online shop that's coming called Magnolia-licious and it is PRETTY COOL--cannot wait, it will be finished soon, so stay tuned!!!

Ok, I stamped the images, colored them with Copics and cut lil' Tilda out. I colored Tilda a little darker than usual because I wanted her to look sun-kissed. And this sounds gross, but I actually cut her legs off (believe it or not, I actually felt bad--lol--me crazy I know) so that I could cut her grass skirt and fray it for texture. Then I "reattached" her legs with tape--all done by Dr. Suzanne (hee, hee). The tropical flowers are from Inque Boutique's "Cabana" stamp set that I stamped w/ SU inks and cut out, added Doodlebug glitter brads to the center and popped up w/ dimensionals. I stamped an extra palm tree so that I could cut out the top leaves to layer with the flowers. WARNING--LOTSA STICKLES AHEAD!! (I am in a crazy mood--me thinks I had too much rest)!! I loaded everything up with diamond stickles for lotsa sparkle. The dp is from SEI "dill blossom" line. I cocked the "scene" to the side, because I wanted it to look kinda like a vintage, travel postcard behind her. I also liked the dimension of having Tilda standing outside of the scene. The sentiment is from PTI's "Mailbox Greetings", and I used my oval nesties to cut the oval layers out. The last picture gives you an idea of the layering and dimension on this card--sometimes its hard to tell in a picture, so I took this from the side to show you.

Well, I hope you liked my lil' "Hula" Girl today. Have a great Sunday! Till then...

Suzanne

PS--If you like me, love me or just wanna vote for me (lol)--head on over to the JustRite Stampers blog thru Tuesday evening. I made it to the top 6 for my teacher notecards & box (see a few posts below) and you can vote for me on their blog. I appreciate it so much if you do!!

Last Days of Summer!!

Happy Saturday to everyone! I will keep my monologue short for you today. I am still sick and laying low today again, hopefully I will be up and running soon. My sister-in-law's father died yesterday, so we have a funeral to go to on Sunday, so I'm resting up today. Although he'd been sick for awhile it's always hard to lose someone you love.

Since I did so many fall and winter cards this week, I wanted to end the week with a summery project. Since we're in the last days of summer, sadly. I'm gonna miss it, that's for sure--I love the warm weather!

All of these projects use the new stamps from CC Designs--these two are called "Olivia's Birdies" and "Scenery Set". Isn't this little girl and her bird friends just adorable? The first card uses Crate Paper (Kaitlyn Collection) dp and PTI's plum pudding cs. I paper pieced her shirt and the rest of the images are colored with Copics. I used the ATS Wednesday Challenge Sketch #14 for this layout. The girl, birds and flowers were cut out and popped up with dimensionals. I added a few stickles to the leaves, her barettes and flowers. The ribbon is Martha Stewart and I used some purple Robin's Nest dew drops.

The second project is a thankyou card and gift. I wanted to do a square scalloped card using my scallop nestabilities (if you don't have these, they are a definite must have--I use them all everyday). I based this entire set on this yummy dp from Autumn Leaves called "MOD"--lovee the colors! I paired it up with SU cs. Everthing in this circle image was cut out and popped up with dimensionals (birds, flowers and birdbath). Aren't these birdies the cutest--I just am lovin' them (I know, I love MANY things). All colored with Copics again and some stickles on there for more sparkle. I sponged blue ink around this image and the first card to make a soft, blue sky.

The little gift is a "Ghiradelli" chocolate holder--I got this idea from my SU upline Kristin Knapper (do not know the original inventor--whoever you are, thanks for the great idea)! The dimensions for this are:

-1 pc of cs sized 2.5 x 8.25"

-score this cs at 2.25, 2.75, 5.5 and 5.75" (use that Scor-Pal if you have it)

-on the square that measures 2.5" you will need to make a slit for the candy (I used my SU word window punch for a nice long oval opening)--you will punch .75 from end of cs

-use a strong glue or tacky tape to tape this end down (see above photo) to make a pocket for the candy

-decorate outside however you'd like; mine closes with the ribbon band

******************************************************

Wouldn't this make a great party favor or small gift? I think its just precious. The ribbon is SU's groovy guava and the sentiment is from PTI's "Remember" set by Lisa Johnson.

Ok, I'm going to lay back down on the couch and watch some more Olympics and rest up!! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Suzanne

PS--If you liked my earlier project this week that you can see HERE, you can vote for me over on the JustRite Stampers blog (You can vote thru Monday). I made it into the top 6--yippee!! I was totally surprised and had entered on a whim, never thinking I'd make it to the finals. If you voted for me already--thanks so much, I really appreciate all of your support!!!

BLOG CANDY WINNER!!!!!

Drumroll........................The winner of the BLOG CANDY is......................................

Sue of Sue's Stamping Stuff!!!!!

Here are your random numbers:51
Timestamp: 2008-08-22 17:19:18 UTC

Congrats Sue--send me your email and home address so I can get these goodies out to you lickety-split!

*********************************************************************

Thanks to EVERYONE who entered and left me so many sweet and wonderful comments. It feels so good to know everyone supports you and likes what you do--I love ya all!

And by popular demand, the technique most asked for was "coloring/blending with Copics" followed up by "3-D items". I've been incorporating more 3-D items in my posts and will continue to do that. Next week I will do a 3 day tutorial on coloring with Copics--each day I will cover something new, so stay tuned!!

Thanks again everyone! Have a fabulous weekend!!

Suzanne

Spooky Sweets!

Happy TGIFriday!! I'm so glad the week is ending--its been a long one!! I'm still feeling a little under the weather with this summer cold, but hopefully its on its way out! I never get sick in the summer--YUCK--go figure! We don't have any major plans this weekend--yippee--just hanging out (maybe some uninterrupted craft time)! The weather is supposed to be beautiful again, but no rain in site (3 wks & counting here). Hope you all have some great plans for one of the last weekends of summer.

Continuing with my fall theme this week I just had to use my new stamps from Paper Trey Ink. I also wanted to use some of those "800" coasters I have (read below post) too. This is a simple gift set to put together; the box took the longest to put together, not hard just time consuming. I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch holes in all my coasters and then covered the outsides with Cosmo Crickets "Haunted" dp line. The coasters are held together with black ribbon (Michaels). I love this new set from PTI called "Spooky Sweets 2" which coordinates with last year's "Spooky Sweets 1" stamp set. I used 3 stamps on the box (scrolly circle, bat and sentiment)--the bat is from set #2 and I stamped it, cut it out and popped it up w/ dimensionals. The entire circle was cut with my nesties and then I added black stickles to the bat and some parts of the circle scrolls for lotsa sparkle.

The circle card was made with my scalloped nesties out of SU cs. I added the same dp to the front and stamped the black cat into the scrolled circle this time and used a small sentiment from set #1. Again I added black stickles and popped the circle up w/ dimensionals--the lt. orange twill (from Taylored Expressions) was tied around the card and the bag of candy. I just love these round cards--fun to look at and fun to make.

I think this gift set is Halloween Elegance personified--whatcha think? I really love how it turned out and I used 5 more coasters--yippee for me--LOL!! Hope you like it too. Make sure and check out all of PTI's new releases--they are really fab and so versatile (no I do not design for them or work for them--but love their products, and have most of them--heehee).

That's all for me--hope you have a great Friday!! I will be back to post the winner of my blog candy at 2 pm (I hope I can get that random number generator to work for me w/o alot of trouble)!!

Suzanne

What...More Christmas!!

Good Thursday Morning to ya! Hope everyone is doing well so far and I'm hoping all my blogger friends in Florida are staying safe with that Hurricane coming to town. I don't want a hurricane, but if we could get just a little bitta rain, that would be wonderful--it is pathetically dry and brown here in VA. I'm typing this up (last nite) while watching the Olympics again and feeling an increasing urge to get in my bed. I am extremely tired and feel like I might be coming down with somethin' not so good--hope it passes me by, we'll see...but it's definitely slowin' me down!

***********************************************************

***BLOG CANDY ALERT*** If you haven't entered for my blog candy here, you still have until 11 pm EST to do so. I will be picking a winner on Friday using that random # thingy (have yet to try it--hope I can figure it out--lol) and posting by 2 pm on Friday.

***********************************************************

I know what you're thinking...its August, what's with the Christmas stuff? I just really love my stamps from Whiff of Joy, they are so much fun to color and you know how much I love to color--I find it so relaxing. I had seen this Joy Fold technique card on All That Scraps blog and wanted to try it out. This stamp is called "Carol Singing Charlotte", isn't she the cutest thing? I so had to use this holiday sheet music dp (from Recollections last year) that I've been hoarding and paired it with the poinsettia dp from Daisy D's. I colored her with Copics and inked around the edges with my Memento dew drop in desert sand, highlighted w/ Inkssentials pen, black stickles on the music notes and diamond stickles on her furry cap. The clip and ribbon are both from Michaels, flowers are Primas. On the inside of the card I used some of my new Inkadinkado stamps for the sentiment and the ivy (Ornate Christmas and Winter Trails). I was quite pleased with the end result, whaddya think? I'm entering this into the Caardvarks challenge--you have to use something on your card with "music"--I think this works, yes?

I have a confession--I ordered 800 coasters from a restaurant supply store 6 months ago and they sit under my desk day after day after day. I have made it a personal challenge to make a project with them once a week to justify my purchasing them--lol! I thought the quilt stamps from PTI's "Quilters Sampler" would make a wonderful Christmas ornament. I wanted to make this ornament kinda country vintage so I really distressed/inked up the edges of the dp (by Memory Box). The quilt blocks are colored with Copics and mounted on many layers of cs. The reverse side's sentiment is from PTI's "Quilters Sampler Sentiments" and I just love it. I used my nesties to cut the ovals out. The buttons are from Michaels and the delish ribbon is new from PTI (yes I got my big box of new goodies yesterday--can't wait to share)--its their new poppy color, just a beautiful red and perfect for the upcoming holidays. I have a ladies holiday luncheon every year and I'm going to make these as their favors/gifts to hang on their trees. I need to make one for myself too--I am a Christmas fanatic and I have 8 trees (this year will be 9) that I decorate every December all in different themes (I will post pictures for ya in December) and yes I am that CRAZY, but I love it!!

Alrighty, I'm outta here! Much to do, lots to catch up on and blah, blah, blah--LOL!!

Suzanne

Back To School!!

Happy Wednesday Mornin' to ya!! I'm hoping the weather stays nice so we can get over to the pool today for awhile. Not too many more pool days left sadly, so I gotta get there while I can. The kids are each bringing a friend and then my son is having a sleepover at his friends house--hopefully he'll get some sleep (ha ha) so he won't be grumpy the next day--wishful thinking right?

******************************************************************

***BLOG CANDY***If you haven't entered for my blog candy yet, you can do so until Thursday 8/21 11 pm EST here.

******************************************************************

With all this school shopping, I thought it was also time to start a couple of my projects for the actual "first day". I always make my kids a special card to put in their lunchbox the first day, along with a "sweet" treat to wish them well. Today I made the card for my dd and a small gift for my son to give to his new teacher the 1st day.

The card was made using one of my Magnolia stamps "Tilda w/ Pencil" that I recieved from Diana Crick (contact her directly for ordering info at magnolia.us@shaw.ca ). I just got my new DCWV "Grade School" dp from Joann's -- it is so cute and perfect for school projects. I loved this doodly notepaper dp, it doesn't need too many embellishments to make it stand out. Tilda is colored with my Copics and then I used my nestabilities to cut the rectangles out of SU cs. I used the black rectangle like a chalkboard and outlined it with my Inkssentials pen. Tilda's jacket was paper pieced to match the corner brackets and I added yellow glitter dots to them for some sparkle. The little apple is a button I got from Michaels in a pack--I just cut off the back loop and glue dotted it to the card. The sentiment is from Gina K's "kindred greetings for kids" stamp set and I thought it was just perfect for this card. Hope you likee!

The second pictures are of a 3x3 notecard gift set I made for my son's teacher. Laurie Schmidlin did a fabulous tutorial for this box on SCS that you can see here--fun and easy. I will definitely be making more of these. Again the dp is from DCWV "Grade School" pack--lovin' it. I used my JustRite Monogram stamps to make the circles--I used the small letters to spell out "From The Desk Of" on the border and the "S" is from the Curlz font (JustRite is coming out w/ a bunch of new products that are fabulous--check 'em out). I stamped them 1 at a time with the different SU inks. The cute apple on top of the box and on the envies is from SU's "Tart & Tangy" set--I added red stickles to the apple for extra sparkle. All the circles were made w/ my Nestabilities from various SU cs. Really easy to assemble and put together. I made 6 notecards and matching envies for this set (I bought the envelopes from Michaels). I think everyone could use a set of notecards like this--great gift idea for anyone.

That's all for me today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project and card. Until then...

Suzanne

More Fall Fun!

Good Tuesday morning everyone! Hope your week has started off well. The weather has been beautiful here the past week, but we could really use some rain. Everything is so dry here and the leaves are already starting to fall off the trees due to the lack of rain. Fall will be here very soon, me thinks!

***BLOG CANDY ALERT*** If you haven't entered for my blog candy yet, you have until Thursday 8/21 at 11 pm EST to do so. You can enter for it here.

I'm continuing on my "fall" theme today (maybe the whole week, we'll see)--I'm having so much fun using my new fall stamps and paper. The first project is a notecard gift set that I made for a friend/neighbor who always takes care of our 4 kitties while we're away (and I take care of her 2 kitties when they're away too)--works out well. I wanted to make her a little gift to say thanks, and I thought some notecards would be a great gift. These are pretty straight forward, I make them all the time for different seasons & reasons. The stamps are Lockhart "itty bitty's" from Ellen Hutson's store (1 pumpkin stamp and the square border is a separate stamp). I used my Copics to color them in and punched them out with my scalloped square punch. I paper pierced around the rust squares for an added pop. The cream cs is from PTI, the rust cs is from SU, the dp from Fiskars (I think, I cut off the label, oopsie) . Pretty easy to see how to put together, just layering of the elements. I added a strip of dp to the cream envelopes and then put them in a clear box from Clearbags.com (love their boxes). I made a matching tag and added a sentiment from PTI's stamp set "mixed messages"--a great, versatile sentiment set; then I wrapped this bee-u-tiful sheer ribbon (Michaels $1 spot) around and tied a bow, wrapped some rafia around and attached to the tag. A simple, but elegant gift that anyone would love to recieve.

The second project is a card I made with my new stamps from C.C. Designs that you can purchase from All That Scraps. These stamp sets are just absolutely adorable--so cute you want to reach out and squeeze 'em!! This set is called " Bear Hugs" and I used the sitting bear and side bee from it. Are they not the cutest evah'?? They're colored w/ Copics and highlighted with my Inkssentials pen; I also added some diamond stickles to the bee's wings for lotsa sparkle. The light gold cs and ribbon are from PTI (lemon tart), the dp is K&Co. "johnny yanok--fall harvest" pad. I cut out the bear and bee and popped them up on the ovals (cut w/ my nesties) w/ dimensionals. The leaves are a stamp from Inkadinkado that I stamped in various colors around the border. The grass is another stamp from C.C. Designs called "SugarPlums Scenery"--lots of fun, useful images in that set too. And finally the sentiment is from Inkadinkado's "Autumn Foliage" set. The leaves were punches and I just bunched a few together and popped on dimensionals for the corners. So cute, lovin' it.

Hope ya like 'em all! From reading everyone's comments on my blog candy post, it seems everyone wants some tutorials on using Copics and/or watercoloring. I am planning on doing at least 2 tutorials, step by step on coloring images with Copics for ya--I'll do watercoloring later! Maybe towards the end of the week--we'll see how my week works out. I have lots more school clothes/shoes shopping to do for my kids (ugh...not fun at all...my kids are super-picky).

Until tomorrow...

Suzanne