Gold & White Sparkle and Dazzle!!

Happy Tuesday to you all!  Can you believe December 1st is tomorrow? YIKES! I've got lots to do still including finishing decorating the house, shopping, wrapping and baking! Oh My! LOL! I hope to have most of all of that done by mid next week so I can just sit back (ha, ha) and enjoy the rest of the month without running around like a crazy person!  I've only got a few more trees to put up and we'll be hunting our real trees on Saturday so I hope to be done by Sunday with the decorating.  Looking for a great arm exercise and get great muscles?  LOL--well come help me fluff trees, put lights on, carry boxes and decorate the house for a week.  My arms just ACHE I tell ya so I'm burning calories and building muscle I hope since I have NO time this week to excercise, hee hee!  And yes I put up 95% of the decorations by myself--the family room tree is a family event and hubby helps me with the outside stuff!  Our cats LOVE this time of year I tell ya, boxes to jump in, ornaments to knock off and chase (or break) and Xmas tree skirts to sleep on, LOL!  They are enjoying it immensely, hee hee!  I just love the smell the house gets during the holidays---mulled cider, evergreens, cinnamon and baking--YUM!  The kids are hoping for snow this month like we got last year--can you say BLIZZARD!  NO WAY, NO HOW do I EVER want that much snow again--a couple of inches is okay as long as I don't have to go out, lol.  But no more than that, I'm not a snow girl! Although it's been super brrrrrrrrrrrr COLD outside the past few days, oh my, I've got the fireplace going (shhhh don't tell hubby, hee hee) and my electric blankie on my bed!!  I'm dreaming of spring already, lmbo!

NewsBitz:

-The MINIS are here, the MINIS are here!!!! LOL!  Yep, Magnolia-licious has the NEW MINI HOLIDAY Collection of Magnolia stamps in stock HERE but you better hurry cuz' they are sure to sell out!  They are so cute and tiny and fun to color--I just adore them!  I'll have a project tomorrow using them in a fun way!

-SCACD has some AWESOME CYBER SALES going on as well thru Dec. 4th so make sure to check them out on the store blog HERE where they are all listed for you! (sale on Petaloo & Prima, Kraftin Kimmie stamps, Gold/Silver Flower Soft, Viva Decor and more) You don't wanna miss out!

-7 Kids College Fund has some great SALES going on at the store thru Dec. 3rd!  All items in the Christmas Section HERE are 10% off--use code CHRISTMAS10!  Also Halloween items are 30% off HERE-- use code HALLOWEEN30!

-I was too tired to finish updating my Etsy shop last night, lol!  But I PROMISE to upload the rest of the projects this evening for anyone interested in buying my projects. There are some up on my site still if you want to check them out, but the rest will be up later this evening!  Thanks to those who already swooped in and bought some --wow!  I will send them out this weekend to you all--thanks bunches!

-Don't forget to check out my Holiday Special on all my Copic Classes at the CMC Classroom--see main page HERE for all the details!  Classes make great gifts for you and your friends!  Also don't forget to check out my 2011 dates/locations for my CMC Copic Classes on the road HERE--they're filling fast!

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Gold & White Dazzle!!

I decided to work with one of the fabulous new Elisabeth Bell for SCACD winter images from the new mini sampler release called "Flower Cheer"!  Isn't she just delightful?  I love her fancy hair and beautiful bouquet of poinsettias in that wonderful Elisabeth Bell style!  I chose to do her up in golds, creams and whites for an elegant holiday card.  Wouldn't this be fabulous to give for a Christmas wedding as well?

My papers are the new holiday Anna Griffin (The Georgette Holiday Collection)--they are all golds and silvers and are fabulously beautiful!  I saw them at summer CHA and just drooled, lol, and ordered them up as soon as I could.  They make every project super elegant and some of the papers are glittered, so pretty!  The poinsettias are from Petaloo here(25% off right now) but they were too white for me, so I spritzed them up with Smooch Spritz in gold so they really shimmer prettily IRL!  The centers of the poinsettias were bright yellow so I picked them off (lol) and added goldilocks Bella Baubles for the centers instead--yes I'm super picky and persnickety about the details of my cards, lol--can't help it!!   I also spritzed the mini rosebuds with the gold spray as well to match.

The pretty border was done with a MS border punch on PTI's new colored cardstock (love it) called Fine Linen--I ADORE this color as it's darker than the usual cream but so pretty & a great match to the muted gold tones in the papers.  The pretty tag/scrolly shapes on each side of my image are from Pink Paislee--they are called "Artisan Elements" & made of cream grungeboard and are so pretty to use.  You can paint them, spritz them and color them if you'd like--they have adhesive on the back.  I used one and cut it in half and placed 1 pc on each side of my image and added some gold Stickles for shimmer!  The scrolls were made with a Marianne Designs die of course :)

And yep, "Flower Cheer" is colored with Copics (gold-YR24,YR23,Y15,Y11 and then E31 over them to brown them up a bit/hair-E59,YR23,E31,YR20/shirt & flowers-E43,E42,E40)  I added stardust stickles (my fave) over her pants so they shimmer (hey a girl's gotta have some blingy pants).  The center of the poinsettias have a dot of gold Stickles too.  Then I stamped around the image with some of my PTI background stamps in gold ink.

Hope this puts you in a sparkling holiday mood for the day!  Make sure to stop by tomorrow for the NEW December Magnolia-licious Sketch Project that you won't want to miss!!

Gifts Galore!!

Happy Monday to you all!  Have you all recovered from your turkey-pie-stuffing-dessert-meal barrage, hee hee?  I know I ATE WAY too much that's for sure and I gotta run some extra miles this week me thinks.  I'm putting up all my Xmas decorations this week and I hope to be done by Friday so on Saturday we can go and "hunt" our real trees (2) at Snicker's Gap Tree Farm here in Virginia.  I'm praying for good weather on Saturday as well cuz' its not as fun when it's freezing cold and/or raining KWIM!  I went to Target yesterday evening to get some replacement Xmas lights and can I just say that place was "GUTTED", LOL!  It looks like the Friday shoppers took ahold of the store and emptied it I tell ya---I couldn't find much of anything so I'm hoping our Lowes has lights in stock or I'll be in TROUBLE--yikes!  Every year I struggle to find lights and why the heck the stores don't get more in boggles my mind I tell ya---when you start putting out Xmas stuff in August I guess the shelves get bare.  BUT RETAILERS HEAR ME NOW---I DO NOT shop for Xmas stuff in Aug/Sept! NO WAY!! LOL!  I also don't shop for Halloween items in July--it's just bizarre I tell you!  I don't get it at all and it drives me insane---looney, hee hee!  Does it bother you too?!!

NewsBitz:

-I am loading up over 50+ of my paper projects to my Etsy site--I have loaded a bunch up but more will be loaded this evening!  So if you are interested in purchasing any of them you can visit my Etsy Store HERE!  But remember I will have more up tonight after 10 pm EST, so check back!  I want to clear out my shelves, lol!

-Remember to check out my Copic Classroom CMC Holiday Special going on thru Jan. 4th--a great way to gift yourself or a friend to copic classes!  See below post or on the main page of my classroom HERE for all the details!!

-Teri of Spunky & Tadpole was my Gina K winner (see below post) but I haven't heard from ya yet!  I'll give you a week and then I'll have to choose another winner, so if anyone knows Teri please give her a holler :)

-I've got a FABULOUS blog post coming later this week (crossing fingers) that NONE of you will want to miss!  It's exciting, fun for you and fun for me, hee hee!  Just you wait :)

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Wine Lovers Celebrate!!

This gift set was made by me early in March for the magazine that I publish with my pal Marti, "Through the Craftroom Door".  But since it's gift giving time I thought it was the perfect time to share it on my blog with you all!  I created it with my mom in mind because she loves wine and has a glass at dinner a few nights a week (and no she's not a wine-o I swear, lol, she'll shoot me for saying that, hee hee)!  But she is a bit of a wine connoisseur and I thought this would be a wonderful gift to recreate for a wine-lover in your life!  The set includes a wine towel (to wipe up drips or wrap around wine bottle), wine glass charms, wine glasses and matching card!  The stamps are all by Paper Trey Ink's "Damask Designs" which is a timeless and traditional set to add to your collection (I loveee it)!!  This set was for Mother's Day but it's super easy to change/add any sentiment for any holiday or occasion you need it for!
 

 I bought a set of 4 wine glasses from Target that were of nice quality but inexpensive!  I cleaned them good on the outside and let them dry completely and then I've stamped directly onto the glasses with my PTI stamp using alcohol ink and a Palette Ink refill mixed together.  Instead of putting the acrylic stamp on a block I held it in my hand & dipped it into my ink mixture, then carefully wrapped the stamp onto the wine glass gently and lifted off quickly.  I love the watery look of the stamp on the glass.  Then I took a crystal clear Viva Decor Glass Gel Pen and added dimensional beads to my design on the glasses--gives it an extra sparkle!
 

I created my card base out of a transparency to echo the look of the wineglasses and it just looks COOL! LOL!  I used the PTI stamp set (Damask Designs) to create the background on the blue cs to make my own patterned paper to match.  The beautiful sentiment is from the PTI set "Mother" --you could easily change out the sentiment for any holiday/occasion that you need!  The pearl accents were made with my Viva Decor Pearl Pen in ice white (on sale 15% off now)---easy & fun to use!

Wine glass charms are so much fun to make and so easy too!  For these I bought all my supplies at my local craft store.  The ring bases are actually round metal earrings (bought in packs) that I added coordinating beads and charms to.  They easily hook on and off of your glasses and you can make them to match for any holiday or home decor!  You can buy these pre-made in stores in sets of 6 for upwards of $25---I made 6 of them for under $6!!  Great gift idea! And I loved that the charms matched the damask of my stamp set too!

The wine towel I bought plain and then I've embellished it with washable products.  The images were stamped on with Palette Ink which is perfect for fabric and washable!  Then I added some more pearl trim with the same Viva Decor Pearl Pen (that I used on the card)--these pearls are heavy duty and will NOT wash off!  So it makes a pretty addition to the set and is quick & easy to make too!

See ya back here tomorrow!!

Ski Bunny!

Hellooooo and Happy Saturday to you all! Are you "Black Friday" shopped out, lol?! I abstained of course from the mass mobs of people taking over all our retail centers, hee hee! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and I of course ate WAYYYYY too much which means I need to ABSTAIN from eating all goodies this weekend, LOL! We are putting up the first of our Christmas trees and decorations today and the Xmas carols will be playing loudly in our home and I'll be mulling lots of cider as well (yum)!  I heard that some of our friends north of here got some YUCKY SNOW during the holiday---YIKES!  Please, please, please keep it up NORTH as I don't want it, LMBO!  And if you did get it, here's sending some warm wishes to you all and be safe!!

NewsBitz:

-ICopic is having an extended Thanksgiving SALE thru Nov. 28th!!  All Copic markers are 10% off so shop now using code "FRIDAY" HERE!  They are one of my fave stores, great customer service!!

-I Brake For Stamps is having an awesome Sale Weekend as well--check out all the steals & deals HERE! (scroll down to see specials) 

-Winner of the Gina K Blog Candy Gift Certificate is TERI of Spunky & Tadpole!!!  Congrats Teri, please email me for details on your gift!  Thanks to everyone who commented and entered---its always fun to read all your comments and answers to the questions!  Looks like we all could use a $100 bill to use in some fun and charitable ways!

SUPER
HOLIDAY CLASS EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Want to take another Copic class or want to GIFT a class or two to a

friend this holiday season from Color Me Creative Classroom? This special starts 11/20 & will run thru

January 2nd, 2011!!

-Take any one class (Copic or Cricut) and get $6 off
-Take any two classes (Copic Only) and get $12 off
-Take any three classes (Copic Only) and get $18 off
-Take ALL four classes (Copic Only) and get $24 off and 2 Copic Markers of your choice from ICopic.com  (**IF you decide to take all three or four, please email me for an invoice instead of clicking each one--its easier for us both)

GIFTS-- If you want to give the GIFT of a class or two to
friends you can get the same deals as above. So if you GIFT 2

classes then you'd get the $12 off even if it's for 2 different

people! Send a class to 4 of your friends and get the $24 off and 2

copic markers as well! Just let me know by email if its a gift and

who to send them too :)

**(Register for classes and the refund/discount will be sent back to you via PayPal within 48 hours of payment received. If you want to pay by check or money order just email me for info on that)
**NOT good on previously purchased classes!

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Ski Bunny!!

Well we are officially in ski season it seems in some parts of the US and Canada, hee hee so I thought this card was quite appropriate!  I used a super cute NEW winter image from Victoria Case for SCACD called "I Heart Powder"!!  Isn't she a cutie?  And great for winter birthdays, events and the holidays!  See bottom of this post for the **SUPER SALE INFO** happening at SCACD!!

I think she's such a cutie and I had great fun coloring her to match these awesome papers from Bo Bunny called "Winter Joy"!  I LOVE this color combo--so cool and fun for winter!  TIP: To make the fun frame around my image, I punched bunches of snowflakes (outta my lilac cs) with my MS snowflake punch and cut them all in half. Then I put glue on the back of my image (oval) and added the halves of snowflakes around the oval frame evenly!  Makes a cool border around the oval frame I think!  The scrolls are from a EK Success punch and then I added stickles to each for sparkle.  The sentiment is from PTI--love the saying!

She got colored with Copics (BG72,BG11,BG10/V000,V12,V15) and then I added that cool Sparkly Fluff to all her fur trim (new color called daiquiri ice--love it)!!  Then I added diamond glaze to her boots and skis--the other white snow was done with my fave MS snow glitter.  I added a bit around the image for a snowflake effect!

**Make sure to check out the NEW Winter Victoria Case & Elisabeth Bell Collections for SCACD HERE!!**

**SCACD Stamp Sale Info**

Super stamp sale - Between Nov. 27th thru Dec. 4th Buy ANY SCACD Exclusive set OR 4 of ANY SCACD Exclusive stamps and get ONE free stamp from the Exclusive SCACD stamp line--(free stamp is store owner's choice). SCACD Exclusives stamps are those designed by Elisabeth Bell, Victoria Case, Carmen Medlin and Anki's Sweethearts. Find those stamp lines HERE!  For those overseas you can find the same deal at Quixotic Paperie HERE!

See ya back here on Monday!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Happy Wednesday everyone & Happy early Thanksgiving to you all as well! I know, I know---I've been absent but I promise I will be posting at least 4-5 times a week from here on out except maybe a few days over Xmas break!! LOL! But the 2 weeks off was much needed on my part--I was feeling a bit burnt out and really needed the time off to recharge my creative mojo and spirit (not to mention rest a bit, hee hee)! But I'm back and ready to go and craft and finish up my work!! So I hope you didn't mind me missing for awhile, lol! Hubby and I got back yesterday from our getaway and it was soooo very nice! We just went to Alexandria, VA for a few days--it's one of our favorite getaways and the weather was beautiful. We really just relaxed, ate some yummy food and enjoyed each other with out any hustle & bustle of holiday stuff, family and work commitments KWIM!! We went to Mt. Vernon on Monday and the weather was in the high 60's so we spent a lot of time walking the property and enjoying the fresh air and beautiful scenery (see some pics below).  I also snapped up bunches of pics of the Mt. Vernon Xmas trees--never know when you might need some great ideas, hee hee!

I'm home working most of today, then I have to hop over to Wegmans for some groceries and I know its gonna be JAM PACKED, yikes! I must wear my steel toed boots their as the crazy cooking shoppers will RUN YOU OVER (I kid you not) LMBO! But I gotta get some things for a few dishes I'm making to take to my parent's house on Thursday and I'm MAKING hubby go with me, hee hee! He's my protector and cart pusher thru the crazy masses of peeps :)

For those celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday I hope it's filled with fun, warmth, good food and lots of love with friends and family! And for those who are shopping early on Black Friday------welllll...........I'll just pray for you, LOL!! I won't be joining you but hope your shopping travels are safe, fun & full of great deals!!

**Blog Candy winner will be announced on Saturday---don't worry, I didn't forget!! **

Slideshow Pics for ya: (if you get this by email, the pics are only viewable on the blog site www.scrapbitz.blogspot.com)

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SUPER
HOLIDAY CLASS EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Want to take another Copic class or want to GIFT a class or two to a

friend this holiday season from Color Me Creative Classroom? This special starts 11/20 & will run thru

January 2nd, 2011!!

-Take any one class (Copic or Cricut) and get $6 off
-Take any two classes (Copic Only) and get $12 off
-Take any three classes (Copic Only) and get $18 off
-Take ALL four classes (Copic Only) and get $24 off and 2 Copic Markers of your choice from ICopic.com  (**IF you decide to take all three or four, please email me for an invoice instead of clicking each one--its easier for us both)

GIFTS-- If you want to give the GIFT of a class or two to
friends you can get the same deals as above. So if you GIFT 2

classes then you'd get the $12 off even if it's for 2 different

people! Send a class to 4 of your friends and get the $24 off and 2

copic markers as well! Just let me know by email if its a gift and

who to send them too :)

**(Register for classes and the refund/discount will be sent back to you via PayPal within 48 hours of payment received. If you want to pay by check or money order just email me for info on that)
**NOT good on previously purchased classes!

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Thanksgiving Wishes

This card I made for my parents for the Thanksgiving holiday--my mom loves these cute Magnolia stamps!  I used an older Magnolia called "Standing Fall Tilda" from the 2008 Halloween & Autumn Collection that is one of my favorites--I love her cute hat and scarf!!  Magnolia-licious is out of this stamp but two stamps that are just as cute and perfect for fall are Tilda with Fall Bouquet and Dalecarlia Coat Tilda!! This is the last fall card of the 2010 Year (boo hoo) and the rest will be winter, Christmas and all-occasion for the next month or so.  Can you believe I'm already working on Valentine's Day cards/projects?  LOL--how time flies huh?

These soft colored papers are from Kaisercraft "Up, Up & Away"--I love the mix of rusts, sage greens and creams.  Perfect for fall and other occasions of course :)  The edges of my papers got distressed with my Zutter Distress Tool (love that darn thing) and then inked!  The mini scrolls are from Marianne Designs and then I attached small fall leaves to them--the leaves were made with punches out of my gold cs and then inked with rust ink.  I added some Stickles to the leaves for extra sparkle of course.  For the corner treatments I used the same leaf technique but added small PTI rust buttons with a gold rhinestone on top for sparkle.  The elegant sentiment is from the PTI set "Autumn Tags"--I stamped the leaf circle first and colored it with Copics and then stamped the sentiment over the top (stickles on the leaves too)!

She's got colored up with Copics as well in pretty fall-like colors! (E17,E15,E13,E11/BG93,BG96/YR24,YR23,YR21,YR20/E29,E25,E31-hair)  I added stickles to the heart on her pants, hairbands and flower on the hat (the flower got a rust pearl in the center).  Then I added Diamond Glaze on her shoes for some extra shine.

Hope you enjoyed this post today and I hope you enjoy the holiday weekend!  If you haven't had a chance to check out the NEW Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog here, make sure to hop on over there!  They have a new inspiration challenge up for you all!

See ya back here on Saturday :)

The Mermaid Shimmy!

Hello and Happy Monday (or Sunday nite to those reading it early, hee hee) to you all!  I am still on vacation with my hubby thru tomorrow and I'm enjoying every minute of quiet I tell ya!  We've retreated to one of our favorite places in Alexandria, VA at the historic hotel The Morrison House!  We come here a lot in the fall to recharge our batteries and enjoy the city!  If you ever get the chance to visit you won't be disappointed---you can walk everywhere, it's dog friendly, lots of fun shopping and right on the water.  We love it and love all the great restaurants too although I must say I've over indulged a bit, LOL!  TODAY IS MY HUBBY's 43rd BIRTHDAY--WAHOOOO!  So a big Happy Birthday to my bestest friend and hubby and I'm so happy we get so spend some quality time together today--this trip is part of his present from me!!! Today we are off to Mt. Vernon (George Washington's homeplace on the Potomac) which we've been to lots but its always so pretty and so much fun. The weather is in the mid-60's so it's a perfect fall day to walk around and enjoy the property and see the Xmas decorations going up!  We're doing the "National Treasure" tour there so we'll get to see all the places they filmed in the movie including the basement--I cannot wait!! Tomorrow I'll be picking up the kids & dogs from my mom's and heading back home for a couple of days.  Then we will be heading BACK to my mom's (LOL) for Thanksgiving and come home on Friday!  I will start decorating the house on Friday and it will take me about 4-5 days to get everything up, but the Xmas tunes will be going at my house and I'll be mulling some cider as well (yum).

Now I was SUPPOSED to have a NEW SCACD card up today for you and I heartily apologize but I left my camera's SD memory card at home so I could not upload my pictures (*duh)! So it's a repeat card (from summer) but probably new to those are newer to my blog but it's the ONLY picture I had on something that I could grab :)

Check out the NEW stamps from Elisabeth Bell and Victoria Case for SCACD HERE!  So instead I'm sharing a card with you that's never been on my blog but was in the first issue of our (me & Marti's) magazine Through the Craftroom Door.  I'll share the SCACD card on Wednesday with ya--sorry!!  My bad!

NEWS:

-I have posted LOTS of NEW DATES & LOCATIONS for my traveling CMC on the Road Copic Classes for 2011!!  Make sure to check them out on my site www.cmcroad.com --- you can pre-register for them all (save your spot because they are filling fast)!!  More dates/locations to come :)

Also some Color Me Creative Classroom News for ya below:

SUPER
HOLIDAY CLASS EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Want to take another Copic class or want to GIFT a class or two to a

friend this holiday season from Color Me Creative Classroom? This special starts 11/20 & will run thru

January 2nd, 2011!!

-Take any one class (Copic or Cricut) and get $6 off

-Take any two classes (Copic Only) and get $12 off

-Take any three classes (Copic Only) and get $18 off

-Take ALL four classes (Copic Only) and get $24 off and 2 Copic Markers of your choice from ICopic.com

GIFTS-- If you want to give the GIFT of a class or two to
friends you can get the same deals as above. So if you GIFT 2

classes then you'd get the $12 off even if it's for 2 different

people! Send a class to 4 of your friends and get the $24 off and 2

copic markers as well! Just let me know by email if its a gift and

who to send them too :)

**(Register for classes and the refund/discount will be sent back to you via PayPal within 48 hours of payment received. If you want to pay by check or money order just email me for info on that)
**NOT good on previously purchased classes!

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Mermaid Shimmer!!

This fun card uses my two favorite colors (like my craftroom, lol) and one of my favorite stamp artists, Mo's Digital Pencil!  This cute digi image is called "Melia on her Shell phone"---I just adore her and she was so much fun to color & glitter up!!

The back layer of aqua cs (SU's retired soft sky--my fave color EVER) was embossed with one of my fave CB embossing folders (D'Vine Swirls) to replicate waves.  Then I added a scrap of flocked toile cream & black paper to fancy it up a bit.  The shells and starfish are actually buttons from JoAnn's--I just cut off the back shanks with my Tim Holtz Tonic Scissors (love them cuz they cut EVERYTHING) so they would lay flat.  They make great accents paired with the black pearls.

Wish you could see this in person because it's so pretty & shimmery IRL!  She's colored in Copics and then to give her mermaid tail more texture and shimmer I coated it with a thick coat of Diamond Glaze and while that was wet I sprinkled on two crystal glitters--one coarse and one fine.  So when you rub your hand over it you can feel the smoothness of the glaze and then the bumpy coarse glitter and it sparkles a lot too!  The shell phone and shells in her hair got diamond glaze as well---her shell top straps were done with Smooch paint (silver).  Such a fun and cute card me thinks :)--hope you enjoyed her!

I'll see you back here on Wednesday!!

Newsies & Holiday Break!!

Well hello all my fabulous friends! LOL--I've been gone awhile haven't I--geezzzzz!  Did anyone miss me?  NOT--lol!  Well after 3.5 months of travel and over 120 hours of teaching Copic classes I am DONE until the end of January!  I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of teaching and meeting everyone that came out to my classes---I thank you all for joining me and I hope I have helped you LOVE & use those markers even more now!  The classes in Canada and Buffalo were wonderful, the weather was beautiful (aren't I a lucky gal) and I really had fun.  Below is a picture of Niagara Falls from my Canadian hotel room--when I arrived this is the view that greeted me along with that beautiful rainbow! Quite a welcome dontcha' think?  I also got to spend some time with my grandma and other family which was really nice--but after 6 days away I was definitely ready to come home.  No place like home right?  For anyone looking to take classes with me I will be updating the site (www.cmcroad.com) & my calendar next week with a WHOLE LOT more locations and dates for 2011 so I hope to see some of you there!  If you need some recommendations or referrals I know most of my students would gladly give you some info :)

view out my hotel room in Canada of Niagara Falls--beautiful huh?

I am taking off from yesterday thru next weekend to recharge my batteries (mojo), rest a bit and spend time with family.  Hubby and I are off for 4 days to belatedly celebrate our anniversary and his upcoming birthday and then it's Thanksgiving.  Not my most favorite of holidays but always nice to spend with family.  Then I'll start putting up the first of my 10 Xmas trees, hee hee---hoping the weather is nice so we can go hunt our real trees soon as well.  Christmas is my FAVORITE time of the year--bring out the mulled cider, holiday tunes and trees and I'm a very happy gal :)  I'm NOT a Black Friday shopper though--NO WAY JOSE!!  I HATE crowds, lines, looking for parking and the crazy peeps that are out (no offense, lol)--I prefer to shop in my jammies and online KWIM.  So I will NOT be out shopping that day that's for sure!

Something else I'm obsessed with is MUSIC--I love to listen to all kinds! But my favorite song right now is by Sugarland called "Stuck Like Glue"--it is AWESOME!!! And highly addictive to listen too, lol! I call it me & hubby's song :)---although the video is a little stalkerish, lol (I'm NOT like that but I love the lyrics)! See video/music below!

Some New Newsies for ya:

-Blog Candy below for ya :)

-SCACD had 2 AWESOME mini winter releases last week featuring new Elisabeth Bell and Victoria Case stamps for SCACD!  You can check out these new winter cuties HERE & HERE!! You'll want to add them to your collection for sure!  Also SCACD has a new Facebook Page that you can join & keep up with the DT, new artists and releases and products==see HERE!

-7 Kids College Fund has some new goodies in stock as well!  CC Designs has some super pretty holiday stamps HERE and new dies as well that I NEEEEED, hee hee!  And oh boy those new Inkadinkado stamps are calling my name as well (uh-oh I'm in trouble, lol)!!

-If you haven't checked out the NEW Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog you need to hop over there!  2 challenges each month with fab prizes!!  And hey, let me know if you like the header banner okay?  I created that, hee hee---it was so much FUN!!

-What is Suzanne reading on her Kindle app on her Ipad (hee hee)?  NEW from one of my favorite authors Kate Morton "The Distant Hours" (she wrote one of my fave books last year called "The Forgotten Garden") so I'm really looking forward to the new one.  I'm also reading "Cleopatra-A Life" by Stacy Schiff which is REALLY good and eye-opening I tell ya (hint: she married her younger brother---ewwwww, lol)!

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And if you didn't hear the news straight outta Gina K's mouth on Monday--you can read all about it HERE!!  Yep, that's right---I'm now part of Gina K's DT (not the card club kit anymore)!! Yippeeeeee!  I feel so blessed to have been asked out of the tremendous talent out there and I am really looking forward to this new venture.  Gina has been a huge mentor for me since the beginning and I just adore her and I am thrilled to be on her DT--I'll be starting in January though since I'm taking the month of December off :) so look for projects then.  I'm sharing some below that I had previously done for you to peruse if you want to see!

To CELEBRATE I'm going to give someone a $20 Gift Certificate to Gina K's Store for leaving a comment today!  But you have to answer a question of course, lol--

"If you were given $100 bill what would you do with it?".  

Answer by Monday on this post for entry!!

**Don't forget to check out her awesome NEW RELEASES as well right HERE---they are gorgeous, cute and must haves!!  And she has the NEW Paper Pads by Basic Grey HERE (curio, marjalaine & jovial) as well--whoohooo!**

This card I made for our first issue of "Through the Craftroom Door" this past spring.  It uses the Gina K Set "Sending Sunshine" (aren't daffodils so cheery)

A card I made for my hubby for our anniversary!  I love this Gina K set "Farm Life" because you can color the trees for any season (wouldn't it look cool for spring and winter too?).

I love, love this beautiful holiday set by Gina K called "Blessed Season"--gorgeous images to use!

One of my fave shabby chic cards using the Gina K set "Botanicals"!

Hope you enjoyed the post and I'll have something new up for you on Monday 'kay!!!  Have a beautiful weekend!!

Sweet Holiday Friends!!

Hello friends & Happy Thursday!  These next few days will be lean here at my ole' blogger-rooni since I didn't have much time to create.  I spent a lot of time catching up on things, family stuff and then preparing for my classes in Canada and Buffalo this weekend. I will have one more post while I'm away and then not again until next Thursday (I won't be home until late on Tuesday and then I will probably sleep for 2 whole days, lol)!!  While you are reading this I will be making my way up the East Coast to NY towards Buffalo today--hoping to get to my grandma's by 5ish pm.  Then I have Friday off to spend the day with my family, then I'm teaching back to back classes in Buffalo (one day) and 2 days in Ontario, Canada at Stamplicity in Port Colborne.  I got a great hotel room overlooking the falls/river on the Canadian side while I'm there although it will be night by the time I get there & I'm usually so tired I just eat and sleep, LOL!

I am really blessed to be able to do this---from my wonderful hubby taking care of things on the homefront, my sponsor companies and those I work for as well helping me out, to all the fabulous friends and crafters who come out to see me and take classes.  I really appreciate you all!!  This is it for this year as far as traveling and I won't be back on the road until end of January!  If you know of a location that might like me to come visit, give me a holler.  Next up are LA and Nashville & possibly Texas---we'll have to see, still working on the details for those places.

For those who will be seeing me this weekend I've added the locations & addresses below for you in case you cannot get in touch with me.  My grandma does NOT have internet, lol, so I won't be able to touch base until mid Saturday.

Buffalo Class is at the Hampton Inn Buffalo South/I90
1750 Ridge Road West Seneca, NY

Canada Class is at Stamplicity in Port Colborne, Ontario
14 Clarence Street

**Coming on Monday** (I won't be taking part, but you won't wanna miss these)---

**SCACD will be having a mini release from 2 artists and will be having a blog hop as well!  You will want to check it out Monday morning on the store blog HERE!

Also on Monday the Magnolia-licious DT will be having a fabulous Blog Hop with the theme "Home Sweet Home"!  You won't want to miss the fabulous projects by the DT--start at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog HERE!

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Sweet Holiday Friends!!

Okie Dokie, you know how much I adore my furbabies (and I miss them soooo much while I'm gone, boo hoo)?  Well this image from Stampavie called "Xmas Puppies" just had to come on home to me, hee hee.  See the whole collection of them HERE!  I colored these cuties up like my Casey (my cairn) and her best bud who passed away a few years ago who was my 1st baby Trinket (black mini schnauzer).  I made this card for the current 7 Kids Challenge that is taking place right now (yes I'm a day late, lol) which was to make a thank you card!!  See the details and DT cards at the Challenge Blog HERE!  The PRIZE for participating this time--- a whopping $75 to spend at 7 Kids College Fund online store---WAHOOOOO!  You bettah go enter your projects NOW!!!

I used some more of those yummy Christmas papers from the Basic Grey pad "Jovial".  The light green cardstock was embossed with a CB folder and then inked.  The curvy red piece was cut with the edge of one of my SB's Nestabilities (mega labels 8) and then inked up.  I ink up all my papers and images with my fave Inkssentials Blending Tool.  The greenery was made using a new Jumbo MS Snowflake (scandinavian style) punch--I just clipped the snowflake into sections and inked them.  I love the design of the snowflake and knew it would be great for other things in my paper projects--a great way to use them in many ways!  Then I added some of those fab Petaloo poinsettia flowers.  The sentiment is from a new holiday PTI set!

Yep these cuties are colored with Copics (Warm grays on the left, Cool grays on the right). I paper pieced parts of  the stockings to give them some fun pattern.  Then added stickles to the image for some bling and holiday sparkle!  Aren't they adorable?  I just love them!

Now make sure to hop on over to the 7 Kids Challenge Blog HERE to join in on the fun and try and win that HUGE $75 gift certificate!!

Baby Bunny Slippers!!

Well Hello friends and Happy Tuesday to you all! Did you miss me? LOL! Sorry I haven't posted but I've been away as most of you know teaching in NC over the weekend! I left on Thursday and got back at 2 am on Sunday morning, then spent the day/evening celebrating my belated wedding anniversary with my awesome hubby! We went to a nice, romantic dinner w/o the kids and had some alone time. It had been awhile since we dressed up for dinner and got some time alone which was really nice (see pic below).  We are going away for a few days before Thanksgiving to celebrate our anniversary and hubby's 43rd birthday--that's my present to him :)  And what did he get me?   Well....................I got the AWESOME NEW IPAD!!!  I just love that man, hee hee---it was supposed to be for my Xmas present but he got it for me early instead and I'm thrilled although I haven't had much time to play with it yet as I'm trying to catch up on work, lol!  And yesterday I had over 6400 emails to go thru, invoices to send, cards to make and then help set up and attend my daughter's sports banquet--egads, life sometimes will kill ya, LOL!

Classes in NC were wonderful and I always feel so blessed to meet so many wonderful crafters and ladies--always fun!  And I had a few ladies who drove over 8 hours to come to class in NC from Kentucky--wow!  I'm so honored anyone would want to drive even 20 minutes to come take a class from me so thank you all!  Waving hi to all my new friends and they'll know what I mean when I say "Come to the DARK side, hee hee"!!  (you have to take a class to figure that one out, lmbo) I also got to spend some girlie time with my good pal Pat Jaynes who came in from SC and was my roomie in NC--we stayed up WAYYYYYYYYy too late (1:30 am) one night laughing and talking but it was worth EVERY Minute--love ya Pat!!  And thanks to Betty at the Stamping & Scrapbooking Room store for having me and helping out---awesome store if you ever get to visit, filled to the brims with new and fabulous products *and yes I got some for meself, hee hee*!

I leave on Thursday for my last CMC Copic Classes on the road---I will be in Buffalo on Saturday (still spots left for anyone interested) and then onto Ontario, Canada on Sunday & Monday.  I will be home late on Tuesday, phewwww.  I'm staying with my grandma for a couple of days to visit too!

**I will have the last blog candy winner up tomorrow--I didn't forget, I'm just too tired to do it right now, sorry! **

Me & Hubby before our Anniversary dinner

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Baby Bunny Slippers

New Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog Info

Well today I get to share a NEW CHALLENGE BLOG with you that I'm so excited about and I know most of you will be too!  As you know I have designed for Diana Crick at Magnolia-licious for quite awhile and very luckily too!  A bit ago she talked to me about creating a challenge blog for the store and I thought it would be a wonderful addition---it is called the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog and you can visit it HERE!  It has it's own very talented DT and there will be 2 challenges every month for you to join in on!  **It is VERY DIFFERENT from the main DT for Magnolia-licious and our challenges/blog hops will still continue to be on the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog twice a month as well---so you have the opportunity to do 4 challenges, 1 each week for both of these blogs!!**

The very first challenge is by the Team Leader Candy Mills and it's to use YELLOW & PINK on your projects along with a fabulous Magnolia image or two!  So we help you come play along with us all and get a chance at some great prizes.  For the Grand Opening today, Diana will be giving away some fabulous prizes to random commenters and linkers so you want to definitely visit the blog asap for your chance at that today!

I knew as soon as I heard what the challenge was that I was going to use this super cute image called "Tingla in Bunny Slippers" from Magnolia-licious.  When I saw a sneakie peekie of her at CHA this past summer I couldn't wait to get her and use her---she's just precious and I love her ruffly lil' panties and bunny slippers!  She is from the Autumn 2010 Collection which you can see HERE as well---lots of cuties that's for sure!  I used some older papers from My Minds Eye that I love and they had soft yellows and pinks in them which were perfect for the challenge!

Isn't she just squishable, hee hee?  Baby Tingla has stickles on her lil' ruffly panties and on her hairbow--I also added it to the flowers.  All my roses and flowers are from Prima but the rosebuds are from Wild Orchid Crafts (great source for flowers)!  I die-cut the scrolls from my Marianne Designs dies out of cream cs and then sponged on pale yellow and peachy-pink ink to soften them a bit.  For that I used my fave tool Inkssentials Blending tool which I use on all my images to soften around them with ink.  The edges of the papers were distressed with my Zutter Distress Tool as well and I added some pearls to the side for a bit more bling.  The ruffle alongside the one edge is my no-sew answer to ruffles, lol, since I HATE to sew.  I just add the wide 1/2" Scor-Tape to one side of my cs and then hand ruffle the sheer ribbon by attaching it along the scor-tape--easy and quick to do.  I like that it echoes the feel of her ruffly panties!  The sentiment is from PTI's "Baby Button Bits"!

She is of course colored with Copics (skin-E11,E00,R20/pink-R22,R21,R20/hair-E25,E35,YR20/yellows-YR21,YR20 and blender pen).  The background is also done with Copics in E51,R00,W00,E42.

Hope you enjoyed my sweet baby Tingla card for the NEW Magnolia-licious Challenge today and hope you'll stop by the new challenge blog HERE to take part too!!

Silver Ice Snow Flakes!!

Hello wonderful friends and a Happy Thursday to you all!  While you are reading this I am driving south to North Carolina for my CMC Copic On the Road classes this weekend!  I'm rooming with my friend Pat Jaynes (PJ) who has been a great friend to me but this will be the first time we meet :)  I always love meeting everyone in person and the classes are always fun!!  Check out the CMC Road website at www.cmcroad.com for upcoming classes for the new year 2011!  After I go to Buffalo, NY (still a few spots open) and Canada (sold out) next week I am done for the year until Jan. 2011!!  I'll be back with projects on Monday for you, so I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Today also is my wedding anniversary, hee hee!  We've been married more than 14 years and less than 17 years, lmbo (can't say exactly cuz' I wanna see if hubby remembers and he reads my blog, lol)!!!  And since he's reading this I want to tell him how much I really appreciate him as my friend, lover, husband, man and father of our children.  He truly is my best friend in the whole world and I love him more now than ever and I cherish every day we spend together.  I can tell him pretty much anything and he does listen most of the time, hee hee (well ok I don't ALWAYS tell him when I buy more shoes, lmbo)!!  He doesn't mind me waking him up at 3 am after I've read a scary book and make him check the house because "I thought I heard something"!!  He nods his head but NEVER rolls his eyes when I say "honey, I have this idea...."!!  He just calmly tells me "I Love You" when I'm super stressed and barking out orders to everyone!  He lets me be me, my type-A-crazy-never-sit down-outrageous-laughing-goofy-shoe/purse collector-clumsy-yelling-silly-humorous-loving-honest-wonderful self :) everyday and loves me for ME!  And for that I am ever grateful and I'm looking forward to the next 20 years of our life together!  Love You Honey!!!  We are going to a nice dinner on Sunday  (that he is planning--this is a reminder to you honey, hee hee) and then before Thanksgiving we are going away for a few days to celebrate both our anniversary and his 43rd birthday w/o the kiddos!!  So it will be a great start to the holiday season!

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Silver Ice Snow Flakes!!

Since it's Thursday I have my SCACD Try It Out Challenge for you today!  I challenged the DT to create holiday/winter projects with NON-TRADITIONAL COLORS (no red, green, silver & gold)!  You can see the DT projects for this challenge on the store blog HERE!  Yep I cheated again, lmbo--but I only used silver as accents!!  I kept my color scheme to cream, gray and gray-aqua with touches of silver here and there!  I used a brand new stamp by new stamp artist Carmen Medlin for SCACD--this image is called "Purrrrfect Friends".  I love me my kitties so this image just touches my heart!

I got to use bunches of new goodies on this card, hee hee, which I LOVE!!  Those beautiful papers are NEW from Webster's Pages called "Waiting for Santa/Sweet Season" (they come in 6x6 size), love the colors and patterns!  The fun die cut behind my main image is a new Spellbinders die called "Beaded Ovals"--love these new beaded die-cuts!  Then I used my new Jumbo MS snowflake punch (and the smaller one too) to create the snowflake embellishments.  I coated them with tacky glue and sprinkled that FABULOUS NEW Silver Flower Soft on them (have you seen it and the gold--awesome stuff & super glittery--a must-have for the holidays)!!  The sentiment is from a new PTI set and then I trimmed my snowflakes with large pearls and smaller pearls at the bottom!

Of course she is colored with Copics (BG75,BG72,BG11,BG10/C9,C7,C5,C3,C1) and then I added lots of stickles to her skirt so it's super glittery (hey its the holiday season, bling is big)!!  Another fun NEW product I used on this is the NEW Color Sparkle Fluff called "daiquiri ice" which I used on her scarf, mittens and kitty's scarf!! (5 new Sparkly Fluff Colors HERE--but this pale aqua is a must have I tell ya)  I love Sparkle Fluff---it's like flock but with sparkles and is fun to touch and easy to use!!  That's diamond glaze on her boots as well--I love to use it on shoes!!  And the bow was made using my fave tool the Bow Easy (best tool for $5 I tell ya)!!!

Hope you enjoyed this project today--although I HATE winter I really like how this card turned out!  Have a fabulous weekend and see you back here on Monday!!  Don't forget to stop by the store blog HERE to see the rest of the DT's fabulous challenge projects!!

Deck The Halls!

Hello wonderful friends and a Happy Tuesday to you!  I am typing this up the night before LITERALLY sitting in my fireplace in our family room as I'm freezing my bum off, lol!  We went to Alexa's last football game that she cheered at and it was 38 degrees, omgosh COLD I tell ya, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  Me no likey any weather under 60 degrees, lol, and those metal bleachers were like glaciers I tell ya!  After her half-time dance I had to leave, I just couldn't stand it anymore.  I had my seat heaters on and my feet stuck up on the heat vents in our truck, LOL--I couldn't feel my toes anymore.  So I'm SLOWLY recovering from my trip to Antartica (hee hee) by sitting by the fireplace!  If this is my harbinger of winter I swear I'm going to turn into a goose so I can fly south for the winter, lmbo!  BLECH--and no I don't want to hear from any of you that actually like winter (you crazy), lol!  If spring could come RIGHT after Christmas that would ROCK I tell ya!

NewsBitz:

-Winner of my "Christmas Memories" Blog Candy is Sassy Cricut of Sassy-Scrappz!!  Congrats and please email for the candy details!  Thanks to everyone for leaving such awesome storage ideas, I got quite a few that I might use and I will email you for permission to use them and your name in our magazine soon!

-You have until this coming Sunday to email me or leave a comment on this post here with your favorite recipe for soup--cuz' I love me some soup!  One lucky person will win the NEW cookbook by the Southern Plate lady Christy (but you have to leave a recipe, lol)!!

-I'm still reading every night and I just finished Danielle Steele's "Legacy" book on my Kindle and it was FANTASTIC!  I'm not a huge fan of her work, some of her books I enjoyed but a lot tend to be the same ole same KWIM but this new one was really good.  I'm also reading a book called "At Home" by Bill Bryson that is about the history of our homes from the beginning--it is EXCELLENT for those whose brain's work like mine, lol!  I love lil' tidbits and facts like why do we only have salt & pepper and why we call it "room & board"!  Check it out--it is worth the read!  My other book I just started is a sequel by Raymond Khoury called "The Templar Salvation" (lovin' it)--the first book is called "The Last Templar" (if you liked Dan Brown's books you'll LOVE these)!

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Deck the Halls!

Since it's the beginning of the month that means it's time for the Magnolia-licious DT Sketch Challenge!  This month our fabulous hostess is Barb Hardeman and she has challenged us to make SHAKER CARDS!  I love shaker cards but I hadn't made one in a bit so I was happy to dive in!  And I must admit I HAD WAYYYYY TO MUCH FUN making this card, hee hee!  Most of you know how much I love Christmas--I decorate our house with 10 (11 this year) Christmas trees including doing the outside up!  It is just my absolute fave time of the year!  SO making this card was like decorating a mini house for me, hee hee!  You can find all the details on this challenge and how to participate along with us at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog!

So my idea came along when I knew I was going to use the window from Magnolia to create a wintry scene--that transpired into a indoor/outdoor holiday scene!  So when you shake this card it creates a fun snowy scene outside the window! My stamps are all from Magnolia-licious!!  Diana does not have this window in stock yet but the Alota window HERE can be used in the same manner if you like!  The cute Tilda is called "Decorating Christmas Tree" and I just adore her--I only attached one of her feet with dimensionals so it really looks like one leg is sticking out a bit as she reaches up high to add the decoration.  I put diamond glaze and stickles on all the ornaments for sparkle and the tree branches got stickles as well.  The gold snowflake at the top of tree was a button but I cut off the shank on the back so it would lay flat!  The tree is from the Jingle Jangle 2008 Collection and Diana might be ordering some of these if you really, really want a tree like this let her know 'kay??!  And of course everything is colored with Copics of course :)

The Alota Window at Magnolia-licious is similar to the one I used!!  The shaker window was actually a long process but not hard to do--I drew/colored a forest and snowy hills first onto light gray cs with the snowy hills made of white cs.  Then I covered that scene with a transparency sheet so that when the card is shaken the snow wouldn't get stuck in the hills, lol!  Then I cut the paper from the window image after coloring and added a transparency behind it for the window panes.  Then I attached foam tape around the window frame on the backside, added my MS glitter snow inside and closed it all up.  The garland and window trim was made with Flower Soft "Vintage Christmas Mix"--for the garland I used the Flower Soft wires and added Tacky Glue to them then sprinkled/patted on the flower soft mix (I did this 3 times, waiting for the other layers to dry completely at first before adding more).  Then I was able to bend the wire and make a window garland.  I used PTI's thin gold ribbon to make mini bows for the end of each garland.

A side view so you can see the many layers of dimension on this card---it truly gives it a 3-D effect!

And then there is "Rufus" the Magnolia doggie--it wouldn't be a complete scene without a furbaby in it right? (afterwards I was thinking and I'm going to add this Magnolia "Cat" to the mix so it represents my 7 furbabies more, hee hee)  I used a sentiment from PTI's "Mixed Messages" and made a lil' sign for Rufus to hold in his cute mouth (his tongue got diamond glaze too).  Isn't he a cutie???

Hopefully I'll be doing this soon to my home, hee hee, BUT WITHOUT the snow!! I surely do love to DECK THE HALLS!!

Hope you enjoyed today's post and make sure to visit the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog to see the DT's fabulous shaker card projects!!