Baby Booty!

Well Happy, Happy Monday to you all and last day of February!  Wow this month just flew right by me thinks, LOL!  I'm happy to be home--I got home late on Friday night from San Diego and slept like a dead person.  Saturday I went to lunch with hubby (kids were out with friends cuz they missed me soooo much, ha ha ha) and then over to the Apple Store!  Yep, Suzanne bought herself a NEW Mac Book Air--only 2 lbs and it will SAVE my shoulders and neck when I'm traveling.  My other laptop while it is great for editing photos and such it is just wayyyy TOO BIG and heavy for me to carry on & off airplanes all the time.  So I've been saving up for the Air and finally was able to get it---I'm so excited and I just love it.  I also indulged and bought hubby and me each a New Touch Nano (mine is red & snazzy)--his is for when he exercises and mine is for the planes.  Sometimes you have VERY annoying yakkers behind or in front of you that feel they NEED to have everyone in the ENTIRE plane hear their conversations for 7 HOURS--OMG!  Drives me insane that's for sure so this new Nano will help me drown them all out, LOL!  I also am starting to keep a journal on my Ipad called "Suzanne's Traveling Adventures"---its a collection of all the things that happen to me when I'm traveling and all the interesting people I meet.  I got about 25 people in the Denver airports to sing along with me to John Denver songs on my Ipad---it was definitely a YouTube moment (Alexa would've died, lol).  Good times!  When you spend that much time traveling you might as well have fun right?  I also met a real cowboy that was about 7 ft tall from Montana---his name was Clyde, hee hee.  This was only his second time on a plane and he was a weeee bit nervous but really nice.  I also shared a cab with an Apple executive so I gave him an inquisition about the new Ipad, LOL---gotta do it while I had him in a locked location.  But he was really nice and picked up the cab fare (and he was old enuff to be my dad, yes, lol).  But I figure I get to travel and I love to meet people and its always fun to talk and find out all about people---I have NO problem striking up conversations with anyone, LOL!  That's all part of the adventure as far as I'm concerned!  And to "Tammy Wright" who said she is a Southwest Airline Stewardess---watch for me soon on my way to Phoenix and Salt Lake City, LOL!  I'm flying down to Florida this Thursday for 5 days of classes, fun & sun---can't wait!

My New Mac Air Book and 2 Nano's ;)

My new baby!

Our cat Tucker (aka Trouble) made a new bed of my Mac Box, LOL!

NewsBitz:

-7 Kids is having a great deal on High Hopes Stamps--10% off thru March 4th using code HIGHHOPES10---see all the new ones HERE!  Also check out the new "Innocence" Primas that can be spritzed, sprayed and colored--they're beautiful!

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Baby Booty!

I made this shabby chic baby set for my stint on the Dirty Dozen DT for Splitcoast Stampers last year--you have to join the SCS Fan Club in order to see Dirty Dozen projects.  This was one of my favorite projects I had done and so much fun too.  I created a Welome Baby card and matching baby booties that could be used as ornaments, decorations or favors. 

I used papers from Prima (last year's line)--I loved the vintage prints and soft pinks and creams.  Perfect for a new baby girl!  I used some MS border punches for the pretty paper lace and inked all edges with creamy brown ink and my Inkssentials Blending Tool.  The pearls were all made with Viva Decor Pearl Pen (cream).  I tied a bow with wide cream satin ribbon and added some cream tulle as an extra touch.  The sentiment is by PTI and stamped in soft pink ink (sorry it didn't show up well in the pic).

Aren't these paper baby booties soooo cute?!  I just love 'em!  You can find a printable template for them HERE---there is also a pattern for boy booties too.  I used the same papers and inked the edges, Viva Decor Pearl Pen accents and buttons from PTI finish them off.  I think they would be cute tied to a baby shower present or for favors stuffed with little candies at a baby shower.

Hope you enjoyed this project today!  I will have NEW projects and challenges allllll week this week so stay tuned, LOL.  Even though I'm off to FL I will have lots going on here at the blog :)  Have a fabulous Monday!

Chocolate Bunnies!

Happy Friday my friends!  As you read this I should be flying back across the country (never sure what time zone I'm in, LOL) and will be home at 11:30 pm tonight.  San Diego has been absolutely delightful--beautiful sunny weather, loved the coast and great restaurants.  I really enjoyed my too short visit and hanging out with some old friends---I will definitely be making my way back there very soon.  I can see why everyone loves it so much.  My trip was fairly uneventful which is good for me, hee hee--my bags did get tagged at the airport "LATE" so I wasn't sure if they made the journey with me or not.  Which was a HUGE problem as all my class supplies were in one of my checked bags--so that definitely made me nervous.  Flights were easy--I had 2 Redskin players next to me on the flight to Denver (Rod Cartwright and Lorenzo Alexander) and not only were they very BROAD and took up a lot of space but they wanted to talk to me the whole time, LOL--I finally fell asleep on them (how rude of me, hee hee) cuz' I was beat.  I never sleep the night before I travel and I had to be up at 3 am and at the airport at 4:15 am.  Then had a layover in Denver where I had John Denver songs playing thru my brain, lol and yes I do love me some John Denver (I'm leaving on a jet plane and Rocky Mountain High, LOL)!  Flight to San Diego was smooth and I chatted with the lady next to me---I am OBSESSIVE about having to have a window seat.  So I really like flying Southwest as they have internet on most of the planes so I can work but also free seating.  I check-in early and get my boarding number and nab the closest window seat---I will CRY if I don't have a window seat, LOL.

And my Copic Class was in the coolest place--the Courtyard by Marriott is one of the oldest banks in San Diego and my class was in the old safe deposit vault.  See pics below--it was pretty darn cool and secure, LOL!  Waving hi to all the fun ladies who came out to class---it was so nice to meet you all and hope you had fun!  I will share more pics of my trip this weekend---I don't have time to upload and edit them all this evening, I'm tired, LOL!  So I'll be home for a few days and then I fly down to Florida for another set of classes---I'm excited to be sharing a room with my good friend Pat Jaynes and Dana Shaw.  I'm sure I won't sleep much and we'll do lots of chatting and giggling--I'm looking forward to it and I have 2 extra days there to soak up the sun and have fun :)


Slideshow of San Diego Pics:

NewsBitz:

-SCACD has some new rocking products just in from CHA that you need to check out! New Bo Bunny, My Mind's Eye & Prima 6x6 papers HERE!  New Copic 2011 Set of HERE!  New (fabulous) Prima Flowers HERE and NEW Earth Art Stamps HERE!

-Tomorrow is the last day for entries for a chance to be on my CMC Challenge DT! You can see all the details here---I'd love to have all levels in my DT so do NOT be intimidated.  The DT will rotate every 3 months and I'm easy to work with, LOL!

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Chocolate Bunnies--Yum!

Today I'm sharing a new card with you that I did for last week's Gina K Release using the cute stamp set "Chocolate Bunnies" which was illustrated by Asela Hopkins.  This set is so much fun to use--cute images and sentiments which are perfect for the upcoming Easter holiday.  The layout of this card was a sketch I had made (see below) for one of the release challenges and I was thrilled to see so many wonderful entries from everyone--they were beautiful!  If you've never been over to the Gina K Stamp TV site, well you SHOULD (lol)--there is a lot of fun resources, videos and projects there for you to get inspiration from.  Everyone is welcome!

My papers are some new ones but I have forgotten who they are by, LOL (I will check when I get home and post it)--I loved the mix of pastels with the chocolate browns, perfect with my images of chocolate bunnies!  The scrolls are dies from Marianne Designs and then I added Stardust Stickles to outline them for some bling! 

Don't they look yummy?  I colored them with Copics (E25,E31,E53,E51,E11) and then gave them a nice thick coat of Diamond Glaze to make them super shiny.  They have bows drawn on their necks but I wanted more dimension so I used some Bakers Twine in green/white from PTI to make small bows for them.  I also added some lil' fluffy bunny tail pom-poms, so cute!  The grass was made from a die from MFT--I love their dies, they cut beautifully thru lots of materials and the grass just rocks!  I scored about a half-inch in from each side of the grass and then put on some Scor-Tape so the grass would pop up over them.

Hope you enjoyed this Bunny Card today and I'm wishing you all a fabulous weekend!

A Lilac Lovely!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  As you are reading this I am flying (safely I hope, LOL) to Denver and then onto San Diego.  I should be landing 11 am CA time and then my class starts at 2 pm sharp so not much time to fool around (no flight delays please)!  But it will be nice to be in a warmer climate and see some green---I'm so sick of brown and white if you haven't heard, LOL!  So I will enjoy the milder climate for a bit and then I'm meeting my friend Val Stangle (Scor-Pal diva/Gina K DT sistah) for dinner.  On Thursday I have some work to do and them I'm meeting some old friends for a day of fun and then I fly out on Friday for home.

Can I just say how much I love my family?  LOL!  No really they crack me up and we usually have a really good time when we do things together.  We cooked breakfast for dinner on Monday night (chocolate chip pancakes & omelets, yum) and then we cleaned up having a sing-a-long to Journey's Greatest Hits, LOL!  I know our neighbors think we are NUTZ, hee hee---we're always singing, bantering, screaming and acting goofy in our house.  I'm sure some of you would think you'd entered into an alternate universe if you came to our house, LMBO!  But we have fun and that's what its all about right!  Here's a LINK of a video of our fave "Glee" cast singing a Journey song--it'll always make you smile I promise!

To answer my own question for my blog candy (yesterday's post below): My fave candy would be (I don't eat much candy, I don't really snack much and yes you can shoot me, LOL as one piece of candy does me for a whole week) BUT if I had to pick my top three it would be the Cadbury Mini Eggs (only available now), Godiva Raspberry Truffles or Twizzlers :)

NewsBitz:

-Upcoming CMC Class locations are Florida, Phoenix, Connecticut and Michigan!  Working on North Carolina, Utah and San Jose, CA!!  See all details at www.cmcroad.com!

-Post below this has some super sah-weet Blog Candy, so don't forget to enter for that!

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Lilac Loveliness

Today I have another sweet La La Land Crafts project for you today featuring "Fancy Dress Marci"!  Isn't she a sweetie?  I decided to use lilacs because I think they are so under-used in the papers and embellies these day and they are sooooo darn pretty!  I actually colored this cutie up for the NEW issue of the magazine "Through the Craftroom Door" for a copic article.  I'll also have a video and pdf as well for it.  Do you have a subscription yet of our mini magazine?  You can find out about it HERE!

I used some DCWV papers "Floral Dreams" and then used my Zutter Distress Tool to distress all the edges for a shabby chic effect.   The large border is from a newer MS border punch.  I layered lots of Prima flowers (rosebuds are from Wild Orchid).  I added a few stickles to the larger roses for some pretty sparkle. 

She's just so sweet that I want to squish you!  Copic Colors used:  V17,V15,V12,V000/E11,E00,R20/YR23,YR20,E50/C3,C1,C00.  The I added some stardust Stickles to the white sash and band on her dress, hair bands and roses on her shoes.

Hope you enjoyed this post and I'll have another one for you on Friday!  Have a great week!

It's a Small World!

Hello my wonderful friends and Happy Monday to you!  It's President's Day here in the US so the kids and hubby are home today.  I'm not sure what they are up to but I know I have work to do, LOL.  We had a bit of a scare here the other night.  The winds here got up to 65 mph and wild fires started near Skyline Drive in VA and in multiple places in Maryland.  My brother and his family's home was nearby and he evacuated his family but decided to stay (dumb butt brother of mine) to help the firemen.  It made me a nervous wreck as the fires were so large and out of control but thankfully while it got close to his house the winds died down and rain moved in.  Why do men always have to think they can be a hero?  Drives me nuts I tell ya and might make me want to start drinking.  My husband would be the same way but I would've bopped him over the head and dragged him outta there that's for sure!  We're not used to fires like this out here like those in CA are so it was very unusual and scary for us all.  Makes you think every time the wind blows and the ground is dry what can happen.  Not to mention I had a house full of 13 yr old boys who were having Nerf fights and playing video games all night---my nerves were very on edge that's for sure. UGH!  But its a new day and I've got lots of work planned to do before I leave for San Diego to teach on Wednesday morning.

NewsBitz:

-NEW LOCATIONS I will be teaching CMC Copic classes at:  San Diego this Wednesday, then Florida next week, Phoenix, AZ in April along with Stafford Springs, CT later in April.  See all the locations, info and registration info at www.cmcroad.com  Come on out cuz' I'd love to meet you!

-Winner of the Calendar Blog Hop (sorry I forgot, eek) is:   Scrapping Peg of "Ribbonrie"!!
Congrats and email me your mailing addy so I can get your goodies to you lickety-split!

-Could be a sweet treat in the post below, so read carefully!  I will have the winner announced by March 2nd so you have until March 1st to enter!

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Magnolia-licious Blog Hop "Its a Small World"

 

Today the Magnolia-licious DT has a super fun Blog Hop today using only...............you guessed it---the very cute Mini Magnolia stamps from Magnolia-licious!  All of the projects had to be spring themed too since we are all so anxious for some warmer & sunnier weather!  You can find all the details about the hop and how to join in at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog! 

I created a mini "Love Notes Wallet" for my project so I could use a ton of the Mini's on it.  Its a project I made to give to my daughter filled with tag that have pics of her and us and then I wrote special notes on the back of each tag.  This above is the front of the wallet (sized 1/4 inch larger than a regular ATC card) decorated with new papers by Memory Box.  The image is "MINI-Tilda with Three Flowers" perched on the "MINI-Spring Bench".  The sentiment is a mini-magnolia as well HERE!  I colored all of the images with Copics and used my MS nested flower punch to create the nested flowers.

DIMENSIONS/Instructions using the Scor-Pal: 

-Cut cardstock to 7x11" and then score long wise at 3.5" splitting the cs in half the long way

-flip cs and score every 2.75" (3 times across) to make the 4 pockets

-fold and crease all your lines nicely

-use very thin adhesive like the 1/8" Scor-Tape to adhere each pocket together only on the sides, allowing room for your tags/photos.  My tags measured 2.5x3.5" each

This is what the wallet looks like when fully opened.  All of the papers are by Memory Box "Brioche"--I absolutely loved the cheery colors and patterns, puts ya in a Spring mood for sure!  The frilly tops are the tags that pull out from each pocket.  I will put dimensions up soon on this project in case you want to try it out---I used my handy Scor-Pal and Scor-Pal Tape to create it out of 1 sheet of cs.

The first pocket features my all-time favorite "MINI--Secret Tilda" (she's sold out at Magnolia-licious at the moment) hiding a sweet present behind her back.  Again I kept all the elements the same thru-out---same papers and colors, punched flowers with pearl centers made with a Viva Decor Pearl Pen in red.  The shapes are all by Spellbinders and some were embossed with embossing folders for more texture.  The next image is called "MINI-Tilda Brings Flower"--isn't she sweet with her hair buns, I love her!

On the next two pockets I used the sweet "Mini--Princess Tilda" and then "Mini-Jam Tilda" (this one is sold out too, sorry).  Aren't these mini's so sweet and so much fun to color! There are 100's of ways to use these Mini's so I hope you give them a try!

 

Above are pictures of the tags that fit into each pocket.   On the front of each tag I added some pictures of Alexa and me along with some ink sponging.  Also the lil' flower garden image is a Magnolia Mini called "Lazy Summer Flowers" and the Mini sentiment that says "You Make Me Smile".  The swirls are a PTI stamp.  On the back of each tag I wrote a special note for her---this will go in her birthday card so she can have it for her collection of handmade items I make her each year.

So I hope you liked this project and might want to give one a try---I will have dimensions up later today for you if you want to re-create it!  

**For 1 Lucky Hopper Today:  Leave a comment telling me "What's Your Favorite Candy/Sweet?" on this post only and you could win 3 Mini Magnolia Stamps and a pack of this beautiful Memory Box "Brioche" paper!!  Enter by March 1st!!

Now make sure to HOP OVER TO

super sweet & talented Maureen Kuppe's Blog HERE!

Live With Zest!

Howdy Friends and Happy Friday!  Yay its the weekend--hurrah hurrah!  It was a balmy 70 degrees here in VA the past couple of days--just beautiful!  I spent yesterday out on the patio working in the sun and then we cooked out and enjoyed our outdoor fireplace for a few hours, it was splendid!  Today Riley, hubby and 5 other boys are spending the day at a local Paintball Farm, yay!  They decided against skiing since its been so warm and it would be slushy and they like to play war, LOL--boys will be boys right.  Then they'll all be sleeping over tonight (egads)!  Alexa and I are getting mani/pedis and going shopping for some spring clothes---a total girl outing for us thankfully.  Then we'll all come home to the chaos of boys playing video games, eating pizza and running thru the house shooting Nerf guns---give me lots of caffeine and Advil please, LOL!  But they'll have fun---all in the name of fun right!?  Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend!

NewsBitz:

-I still have a few spots open in my San Diego Copic class next week on Feb.23rd--it will be small and FUN! I also put up new info about copic classes in Phoenix, AZ hosted by my pal Tab (owner of 7 Kids College Fund).  You can find all the details on my website www.cmcroad.com --just scroll down to see registration info on both!

-Don't forget that I'm looking for entries for my NEW CMC Challenge DT!  You can find all details right HERE!  Its for all levels to use your Copics creatively and spread the word thru your beautiful work!

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Live With Zest!!

Today I'm sharing my Copic Creations Challenge project with you---I know I'm a few days late but better late than never right? LOL The challenge this time was to use warm colors and our fabulous sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps--they have some really cute digi stamps in their store!  I was thrilled to use one of their stamps called "Dottie Celebrate", there are lots of fabulous versions of Dottie for you to choose from!

Isn't she just fah-bu-lous!  I love her cuz' she's got some 'tude, LOL!  I cheated a bit but I did color her mostly in the "warm" color of red, hee hee---she called to be a raven haired beauty to me so I couldn't resist.  I used a CB embossing folder on the black cs and then cut various circles with my Spellbinders dies and layered them.  I had to add some fun bling with my Zva rhinestones swirls--this girl wanted BLING!  The sentiment is from an older Hero Arts set--fun sayings in that one!

I colored her up with Copics of course (R29,R24,R22,R20/C9,C7,C5,C3/E11,E00) and then got busy with some fun products.  She got Stickles on her dress because in my mind it was a sequined evening gown (lol) and the diamond glaze to her shoes and martini glass.  While the Diamond Glaze on the martini glass was still wet I sprinkled Glamour Dust on it so the sparkles were suspended in liquid.  Her pearl earrings were done with a Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White--love those pearl pens, great dimension.

Hope this party girl cheered you up a bit today and make sure to visit the Copic Creations Challenge Blog to join in on the fun and see the rest of the DT samples.  Also stop by Bugaboo Stamps and see their fabulous digis---some might want to come home & party with ya, hee hee!

Have a great weekend!

Frame It!!

Happy Thursday Friends--the weekend is almost here, yay!!  Thank goodness my migraine is starting to fade slowly away--not fast but it is on its way (thanks for the well wishes everyone)!  Are any of you all Gleeks?  That means are you fans of "Glee", LOL!  I must admit that I got sucked into it by my daughter, hee hee & now we all watch it together as a family along with Modern Family and Chuck.  We Tivo it and then watch them when we can---the people on that Glee show are STRANGE, so strange they make me laugh but I love the singing.  Yes I can say I've always been a bit of a musical and theater geek so I love shows that do the "singing" part really great.  It even made me like that silly "Baby, Baby" song by Justin Beiber--the Glee cast did it much better and it wasn't so annoying!  But I love a good show that will make me laugh--I'm all about the laughs these days.  Not so much in the drama and gore anymore these days--I need the relief of some laughs at nights and there is no better thing than sharing laughs with the family KWIM!

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Today is the last day of sneak peeks for the NEW Gina K Designs Releases this month!  They will be available after 11 pm EST in the store.  Make sure to stop by the Release Party tonight at 8 pm EST at StampTV--I'll be there so stop by and say "HI"!

Make sure to hop around to all the designers at the bottom of this post and leave comments---some lucky commenters will win some of these beautiful stamp sets!! YAY!

Today I'm previewing the Free with Three set called "Framed Greetings".  This stamp set you get FREE when you buy any 3 of the other stamp sets--awesome huh?!  I love the elegant feel of this stamp set and you can use your Spellbinders Nesties Labels 16 to cut the image out.  Also with the set you get 4 sentiments to stamp inside the circle so it's very versatile during the year!!

The papers I used are older Anna Griffin papers--I love the pretty pattern, so cheery!  I mixed a gingham ribbon wrap with a sheer black double bow--I tried the gingham bow but it was too busy for me, LOL. The sheer ribbon is just enough.  The white paper border was done with a MS border punch--it looks like ribbon though doesn't it?

So I used my Labels 16 to cut out my image and the black mat behind it--isn't that shape so fun and elegant!  I colored the image with Copics and then added some Stardust Stickles to the inner circle for sparkle.  The centers of the flowers got a black pearl treatment with my Viva Decor Pearl Pen.

Hope you enjoyed this post today---but make sure to hop around to the fabulous designers below and leave some comments as some of you might get to be lucky stamp winners :)  Join us for the RELEASE PARTY tonight at 8 pm EST HERE!

• AJ Otto
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Gina K
• Giovana Smith
• Janice Whiting
• Jennie Harper
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Suzanne Dean (that's me, thanks!)
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Valerie Stangle
• Vicki Dutcher

Dream Dancer!!

Happy, Happy Wednesday my friends!  Hope you all are having a wonderful week so far!  I'm having a blah-blah day today me thinks.  Energy is low and a great migraine is in town it seems which makes everything that much harder, lol!  Aren't migraines just joyful? I mean they are just fabulous to have--I love my ears ringing everytime loud noises (ahemmm.....teens & dogs) erupt in my ears.  Fuzzy vision which makes my copic coloring look BEYOND TERRIFIC!  And the dizzy feeling, you know like the kind you put yourself in as a kid twirling around the floor like a dummy!  Yeah it's great and I get so excited when they come to visit me---it's like a party in my own body going on right now, how can you NOT enjoy that!!  NOT--bwahhahahaha!  So anywho I will carry on as best I can albeit more slowly than normal and get the stuffs done that needs to be done!  And if anyone else is WANTING to join my in my own migraine party....well....I might recommend you visit your local dr instead, hee hee!

NewsBitz:

-Join me tonight at my CMC Classroom for a fun CHAT at 8:15 pm EST for an hour--everyone is welcome, chat is on main page at bottom!  Its always fun and a good time chatting about copics, crafts & life in general!  Also don't forget that I'm looking for entries for my NEW CMC Challenge DT--all details are HERE! 

-NEW Goodies at 7 Kids College Fund!  NEW spring CC Designs stamps HERE and fabulous NEW Whiff of Joy stamps HERE!  Check them out cuz' they are cute!

-Don't forget to check out Gina K's Blog today for more sneak peeks of the new stamps debuting this week and join in to win some for yourself.  I'll be back tomorrow with 2 more sneak peeks of the new sets as well.

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Dream Dancer

Today I'm sharing a card with you for the 7 Kids Challenge Blog--the challenge is to create a SQUARE CARD! Easy peasy for me, lol!  This fabulous image is from La La Land called "Marci Ballerina" and she's the same image I did on all 4 of my NEW Copic Coloring Videos (click on my Tutorials/Templates tab under my blog banner up top and then scroll down to see NEW 2011 videos).  I adore these stamps, not only cute but so much fun to color!

Isn't "Marci" just a doll?  I love her and I love her in these pretty blues too!  The papers are older DCWV from an old paper pack I have with no name on it, LOL (sorry).  I created a ruffled trim by putting Scor-Tape on the back of my paper and then ruffling the ribbon by hand and attaching it to the tape--I love how easy this is to do.  The border was made with a MS border punch and I used a CB embossing folder to emboss that center panel.  A pretty bow topped with some Prima flowers were added and the small sentiment is part of a PTI set.  That top element is a NEW Marianne Designs die that I added Stickles to for sparkle and some rhinestones for bling--kind of like a ballerina tiara I think!

This cutie was colored with copics of course (you can watch the videos--see link above) and I used B06,B02,B00/E25,E31,E50/E11,E00/C1,C00,B0000,E50.  I added stardust stickles to her flowers and ruffle on her tutu.  Diamond Glaze makes her ballet shoes and eyes extra shiny! 

Now make sure to hop on over to the 7 Kids Challenge Blog and see the rest of the fabulous DT projects and join in to WIN BIG ;)!!

Gina K Release Sneakie Peekies!

Happy Tuesday everyone!  How are you all today?  Did you all have a fantastic Valentine's Day yesterday?  I went out to lunch with a few of my friends that I don't see often enough and we had our own special "girls valentine's day lunch" LOL!  It was nice to laugh & catch up AND it was 64 FABULOUS degrees here in VA--wowza!  I got to leave the house without a jacket, how 'bout them apples--loved it.  Friday it will be 68 degrees here and I'm thinking that Suzanne will be getting some sun on the patio, LOL!  Then I was back home to get some work done when hubby called and told me to be ready to leave the house at 6:30 pm for a special "date"...hmmmmmmm...what the heck was he up to?  I quickly scrambled to finish a release project and get ready and get the kids fed--of course they are teens and they like leftovers so all was good!  Well he took me to one of my fave restaurants (just me, no teens, lol) and then to see a movie---awwwww--we saw the new Jennifer Aniston movie "Just Go With It".  It was really, really funny and if James denies he liked it to anyone---well he's LYYYING! LOL!  He laughed more than I did, LOL--it was funny and it wasn't crude at all--dumb reviewers, I never believe what they say!  I prefer to make my own decisions KWIM :)  So it was a nice way to spend time together last night.  We always do so much as a "family pack of 4" (that's what I call us,lol) and that is always fun and nice BUT it's also nice to do fun things by ourselves.  Thank goodness we still have lots to talk about, laugh together and like the same things--we've never lost that part of ourselves and for that I'm thankful :) So it was a great day!  But now back to the ole' grindstone today, hee hee!

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GINA K Designs New Sneakie Peekies!

Today is Day #2 of the Gina K New Release Sneak Peeks!  These new stamp sets will knock your socks off that's for sure and you will want them all (badly, lol)!  At the end of my post I've added the other DT gals who are posting today so you can get even more great inspiration and see these sets in action!  Make sure to visit Gina's Blog HERE everyday as well---she is giving away some new stamp sets this release and I know you'd love to win some!!

I'm lucky to be showcasing two NEW Stamp Sets today for you!  Hope you enjoy them!  These sets will all be released late Thursday (Feb. 17th) evening!

The first stamp set I'm showcasing is "Little Critters" illustrated by Theresa Momber for Gina K.  This set has some really cute little critters and fabulous & beautiful floral images.  I chose to use this gorgeous flower image and fern image from the set.  I'm so wanting it to be spring so I seem to be choosing a lot of images and colors that evoke that feeling :) -- just can't help it!  I chose some gorgeous SEI papers to set the color scheme of my card.  I make a lot of square 5.5x5.5" cards so its always nice to switch it up and do a different shape like this longer card. 

I cut my main image and mat with my Spellbinders circle dies and the mat behind that is Labels 15--I used a gold metallic pen to outline the labels 15 to match the gold foil in the patterned paper.  Just an extra element to make it super special.  Bow Easy was used on my bow (I use this lil' fabby tool everyday) and then I twisted a few Prima flowers together and added them to the center.  I used a super small Spellbinders die from the "Peony" set for the upper right embellishments--cut them from my olive green cs and then put a gold Bella Bauble in the center of each one. 

I masked my floral image and stamped the fern image in green ink behind it.  Then I colored and stamped two of each of the flowers so I could cut out one set and pop it up for a more dimensional look.  Of course the images are colored with Copics (Y38,Y35,YR20/G99,G82,G20) and then a few stardust stickles to give them a pretty sparkle.

Second project for today uses the new stamp set "Chocolate Bunnies" illustrated by Asela Hopkins for Gina K Designs.  This set is just squish-em cute and perfect for the upcoming Easter Holiday!  As soon as I saw this set I knew exactly which images I would use and how I would use them (love it when that happens, lol).  I wanted to create a really graphic but elegant Easter Card with a TWIST!  I love twists, LOL and this twist is the fun sentiment "Bite Me" along with his chomped on ears (done with a small paper punch)!  The sentiment is on a Spellbinders Fancy Tags die and then I inked the edges with brown ink--the corner embellies are also by Spellbinders and then inked them with white ink to make the embossing on them really pop!  The papers are all from My Mind's Eye "Lush" series (one of my faves)!

 

Here's this cute chocolate bunny all colored up--doesn't he look yummy (sorry bunny)!  He's colored with Copics (E25,E31,E50,E51) and then he got a nice coat of Diamond Glaze (crystal lacquer is the same).  Once the glaze dried I used my small round paper punch to give him a few bites on his ears, LOL!  The cream mat behind him was embossed with one of my fave Cuttlebug Embossing Folders "D'Vine Swirls".  I just adore this card and will probably be giving it to my teen daughter this Easter season---she has a fabulous sense of crude humor like me (a chip off the ole' block, lol) so I know she'll love it!!

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks today!  If you missed yesterday's peeks you can find a list on Gina's Blog HERE!  More peeks on Wednesday & Thursday--then the release party is Thursday evening, hope you can join us!

The other fabulous designers peeking stamp sets today are below! Make sure to 
leave comments on their blogs for some fun chances to WIN!!

• AJ Otto
• Asela Hopkins
• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Colleen Schaan
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Gina K
• Giovana Smith
• Janice Whiting
• Jennie Harper
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• ME (you are here, lol)
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

See you back here tomorrow!  Have a wonderful day & hope you get the chance to be crafty!

Feathers & Pluck!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone <3!  Hope that whatever you have planned with a loved one today is fun and fabulous and full of LOVE!!  I'm not much of a V Day girl, sorry, lol!  I think that love should be shown through-out the year in many small and big ways not just on Feb.14th KWIM.  I don't want flowers that die, chocolates that will add inches to my hips or jewelry I don't really need.  I'd rather have my husband get me a Dunkin Donut (boston creme only,lol) one Saturday morning a month & deliver it to me in bed with a 4 scoop Chocolate Milk.  Or give me a back rub when my muscles are sore from being hunched over my craft table for hours all day.  Pick up dinner from my favorite Japanese restaurant when I'm too dang tired to get dinner together.  Drive me 6 hours to an airport in a blizzard to catch a plane when he'd already driven 6 hours in it to get home.  Be a loving father to our children and be willing to sacrifice his golf game or rock climbing to spend time with them and me.  Take care of the kids, animals and house so I can pursue my dream of teaching art to everyone and travel away from home.  And basically be my best friend. the love of my life and the person that is my polar opposite thankfully so he can successfully put up with my craziness every day, LOL!  That's all I need through out my year and why I can skip over Valentine's Day because I get so much every other day of the year.  Love you much honey and thank you for giving me love every day of the year for the past 16 years!!!

NewsBitz:

-I will be in San Diego teaching a small Copic Class on Feb.23rd--I have a couple of spots left and you can see details and how to register at www.cmcroad.com.  I'd love to see you in sunny CA!  All my other locations are there too.  I will be announcing an ARIZONA date and time later this week, so stay tuned!!

-If you are interested in trying out for my NEW CMC Challenge DT you have until Feb.25th to get your entries in.  It is a rotating 3 month DT, all levels can apply and the only MUST is that you use Copics and show others how to love them.  You can find all the details in my CMC Challenge Group HERE (you must join the group to see---it is open to everyone).

-I've got 4 new videos on Copic Coloring--updated with my "flicking" technique.  Scroll down to below post to see them or enter "suzanne dean" into YouTube's search engine to see all of my videos (56 at last count, wow how did I get that many, LOL).  You can always find links to all of my videos, pdfs and articles by clicking on the Tutorials/Templates tab under my blog header above.  I try and keep it updated for ya'll ;)  I will have 6 NEW Copic videos coming in the next few weeks so look for that--they will all be new and updated--nothing like the classroom videos so don't worry!

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Today I get to announce a NEW CHALLENGE BLOG for the "House of Gilli" Blog and I get to be the first hostess, which is I am honored to do!  My fabulously good friend Anary Baumgarth is the artist and owner of the Gilli stamp line and I'm so happy & excited for her.  She asked me to be her Art Coordinator (right hand gal so to speak, hee hee) and I was happy to say yes and help her carry out her vision for this challenge blog.  Wini Bell is the DT Leader who will wonderfully organize and lead the DT gals for us!  You can find the NEW CHALLENGE and BLOG HERE---make sure to try & enter for some fabulous prizes including a free class from my CMC Classroom!!

This is my project for the challenge!  The Challenge is a RECIPE Challenge and you MUST use 1 form of sparkle, 3 patterned papers and at least 2 punches and/or dies on your project!  I used "Burlesque Gilli" for my project, I think she's super sassy and so much fun!  A great gal card to send to a good friend dontcha' think?  You can find the whole line of Gilli Stamps at Stamping Scrapping HERE!   The papers are by Basic Grey called "Marjolaine"--I loved the color combo as I think they match a peacock feather perfectly!

I used the oval and scalloped oval Spellbinders Nestabilities to cut out my image and mat it.  The scrolls and feathery leaves were made with Marianne Dies sold exclusively in the UK.  The black lacy border piece was made with a MS border punch.  A few elegant black pearls finish off the card nicely.

And of course she is colored with Copics, my favorite coloring tool of choice!  Copic Colors used: BG75,BG72,BG11,BG10/YG25,YG03,YG0000/C9,C7,C5,C3/E11,E00/R00.  I used Stardust Stickles on her peacock feather and ruffles/accents on her outfit for my sparkle.  Diamond Glaze on her shoes and eyes for some pretty shine!

Now I hope your creative juices are flowing and you are ready to get a jump start on this

1st "House of Gilli" Challenge with us all!

Family, Friendship & Love!!

Hello lovely friends and Happy Weekend to you all!  I hope you are having an enjoyable weekend and maybe getting some time for arts and crafts as well.  I am finishing some projects up this afternoon as well before we head out to Riley's favorite restaurant for dinner and then we're off to see the "Gnomeo" movie.  Alexa is already starting to sweat as she has to go to the movies with HER PARENTS--god forbid you know, LOL!  And she LOVES it when I laugh louder than everyone else, hee hee---hey I like to enjoy myself KWIM!  The price of these 3-D movie tickets will break the bank I do know that---this is why I prefer DVD's at home in our media room--much cheaper!  But it's Riley's 13th birthday so anything for him right!

On that subject he took a GIANT leap into manhood this morning (did you hear me crying, sniff sniff).  James taught him how to shave this morning as he was getting a bit of a mustache and I do NOT allow any facial hair in this house, LOL.  He was quite excited about it though, lol, although he would diiiiie if he knew I blogged about it (shhh we won't tell right?).  I'm not really sure I'm ready for my baby to be a teen to tell you truthfully.  It was a bit easier with Alexa (who will be 15 in April) as she was the first born and a girl although this first year of high school was more daunting for me than for her, LOL.  My last baby is now taller than me and is shaving---whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnne!  Where did the time go?  Just when you think you've seen enough legos all over the floor and a messy table after dinner, BOOM, they're all grown up.  So for those of you who still have youngun's at home--I know sometimes its hard but enjoy every minute of it!  Not too many more years before my two are off to college and I'm hoping I've taught them right and prepared them for this crazy world that we have to deal with---egads! The stress that kids bring you, LOL!

So BIG Happy, Happy Birthday Wishes to my baby...errrr..big boy Riley who will be officially 13 at 8:50 pm tonight.  I love you so much buddy and I look forward to seeing what joy the next year brings us!

Also a BIG Happy Birthday to my mom who turns 68 tomorrow on the 13th!  Hope you have a smashing day mom and I PROMISE to get your card out this week, LOL!  (she knows I'm always late even if I'm a cardmaker)!!

NewsBitz:

-YEP, I finally finished them!  Four NEW Copic Videos showing an entire image being colored (skin, clothing, hair, & watercolor-like backgrounds)  Hope you'll check them out below in full length version and hope you like them!  I used a fabulously cute NEW La La Land image for the videos. The links are:
La La Land Skin #1
La La Land Clothing #2
La La LandHair #3
Watercolor-like Backgrounds

-Still a few spots left for the San Diego Copic class on Feb.23rd --- see www.cmcroad.com if interested! I'd love to see you!

-SCACD has some NEW products in store including NEW Embossing Folders by Craft Concepts, Sew Easys, NEW Smooch Colors and fabulous 6x6 paper pads!  You will definitely find something you NEED or WANT, LOL!

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Family Love & Friendship

Today I'm sharing a new card with you featuring a NEW stamp by Carmen Medlin for SCACD called "Fresh Picked".  I loved the old-fashioned feel of this image so I kept the papers and accents elegant and vintage looking!  This card is for the Try It Out Tuesday Challenge which was to use either pink or red AND either white or cream.  I used red and cream and fabulous papers from My Minds Eye.

The images were cut out with Spellbinders Labels 1 (both the regular size & the Grand size)--love this shape and I embossed a smaller label sized die on the cream cs for more dimension.  The scrolls were done with some of my fave Marianne Dies (I just got the new awesome ones in the mail too-yippee).  I adore this sentiment from PTI--it says so much and I for one am VERY thankful for the awesome family & friends I have in my life.  I believe a life full of love, family and good friendship is a GREAT LIFE indeed!  I used my Bow Easy to create my bow and then added a few flowers to the center.  The main image was cut out and then added with dimensionals to the side.

This beautiful image was colored with Copics (R29,R24,R22,R20 and then deepened with W5/E43,E42,E41).  I added a few stickles to the bodice of her dress for some pretty sparkle.

Hope you enjoyed this post and make sure to stop by the SCACD Store Blog HERE to see more of the TIOT Challenge creations by the DT!  Have a great weekend!

**click on video to see larger)

Video 1 (skin tones):

Video 2 (clothing):

Video 3 (hair):

Video 4 (watercolor-like backgrounds):