No Tricks, Just Treatz!!

Happy TGIFriday to you all and the last day of September too!  I cannot believe it will be October already, wow summer is gone and fall is flying by.  I don’t even wanna think about the holidays, ugh, as much as I love them it is a super-busy time for me.  I stop traveling mid-November and will have off thru mid-January—although I have a ton of work to do I won’t be traveling and will be able to get some things done around the house.  And of course plan for my 13th Christmas tree—cuz’ yep I’m adding one this year LOL!  (shhhh don’t tell hubby—but it will be animal themed, I already got my zebra & leopard ribbons hee hee)  So lots to do in the upcoming months and we are considering taking the kids to Tampa for Thanksgiving (NOT my fave holiday) to stay and go to Busch Gardens—I have some free hotel nights & plane tix so we’ll see!

Ok want another cool travel story?  On the way home Monday from Tampa I had to fly back thru Chicago (Midway Airport)—yes I spend HALF my life in that airport cuz’ it’s a hub for Southwest Airlines.  Well I had a 2 hour layover and I was just beyond exhausted so I was kinda out of it LOL.  A guy that looked just like Indiana Jones (I kid you not) sits down by me and yes there were lots of empty seats but people for whatever reason LIKE to sit next to me LOL!  He obviously didn’t notice my tiredness and spaciness cuz he starts talking to me.  Well turns out he is a world renowned Geologist/Paleontologist who just finished a year-long world turn.  He has a super-armored case with him and he’s telling me stories and showing me cool stuff—so I got to see fossilized baby dino eggs and crystals. He had this high-tech microscope that folds up and travels, we had that baby out and we were examining everything.  It was like a cool history/science lab set up in the airport---people were like “what the heck are they doing?”.  But he was on his way to DC to work at the Smithsonian and present his findings.  See you NEVER know who may sit next to you and you will have missed a cool experience in that moment---so don’t knock that person who sits by you somewhere, strike up a conversation and be “open” to it. That IS the best part of traveling for me, the journey and the experience of course, but it’s the people that I meet along the way that make it so worthwhile !

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Only a Treatz Peeker!!!

Today I am sharing a project with the BRAND NEW Elisabeth Bell for SCACD “Holiday Peekers”—yep we’ve got holiday ones for ya!  You can see more of the DT inspiration at the store blog here and of course you can buy…errr see the whole line at SCACD HERE! LOL!

I got to use the fabulously cute “Pumpkin Patch Peeker”—she reminds me of my daughter at the patch.  Every year we go to the pumpkin patch wherever we live---yep even though they are teens we still go and have fun and do silly things and OF COURSE pick out some awesome pumpkins!  We have never missed a year and I plan on going for a long time.  Here in VA we go to a patch that is near the Blue Ridge Mountains—its beautiful there and we always have a blast.  This Halloween we are taking a bunch of the teens to a 10 pm Corn Field Maze done with flashlights---lots of fun and a good way to spend the evening.

I'm entering this into the following challenges;

4 Crafty Chicks (anything goes)

Crafty Ribbons Challenge (Halloween)
Rainbow Lady's Challenge (fall)
Southern Girls (anything goes)
Stampin' B's Challenge (fall/Halloween)

The papers I used (are on sale here) are by Apothecary Emporium—loved the fun prints and colors in this pack!  The sketch is from last week’s Cute Card Thursday, I loved the fun circle element.  The corner elements are done with a new Spellbinders set called “Shapeabilities—Twisted Metal & Accents”. The sentiment is from PTI and the die cut is from the same SB set I just mentioned.  I added a bow and some black Bella Baubles to finish it off.  Yep a few stickles to decorate and it was colored with Copics but of course!



Alrighty, as you finish this up I will be on my way to Ohio with my pal Marti to teach on Saturday and then home the same evening!  Have a fun weekend my friends!

Like Totally…Dudette!!

Hi my friends & Happy Thursday to you all!  I am busy getting ready to leave for Ohio tomorrow morning with my pal Marti---Marti is going to be my FB queen for the day and post any traveling mishaps that we mayyyyy incur on our 7 hour drive up hee hee. (let’s hope they are few & far between kwim)!

Ok I got a few more traveling stories for you---if you missed yesterday’s then read post below this ok LOL!  My good friend Tina (crazy banana girl from CMC chats for those that know what I’m talking about lol) came in on Saturday to Kansas City from Iowa and she roomed with me Saturday nite—poor girl huh? LOL!  We went to dinner Saturday night at a place near the hotel and while we were walking there a car pulls up next to use full of guys---drunk or “high” guys.  They asked us if we were going to the “hen house”---I’m like what the heck---Tina’s like “where the chicks live duh Suzanne” LOL.  Ummm no we are going to the restaurant---he says “well where’s the party”—umm I have NO idea---then he says “ok well we’ll see ya at the party”---yeah UMMM NOOOO!  The next morning Tina goes down to the lobby and comes back up and says those guys were on the elevator with her and they looked like death—they didn’t say a word so I’m guessing they found A Party LOL!  Weirdo’s—sorry Tina, they follow me!  And Tina says to me “I only have guys bow down to me when I’m with you”---ummm yeah NO I don’t dig that kind of bowing LOL!

Ok I fly to Tampa on a 6 am flight from Kansas City Monday morning.  This meant a 3:15 am wake up call (double ugh) and a 4 am taxi ride.  The taxi driver was quite perky and I asked him to take me to an atm—so we pull into this gas station and he’s like what can I get you? LOL—so he got me a Coke Icee while I used the ATM, never had that kinda service from a taxi hee hee.  Then we get in the car and he tells me about the person he had picked up before me.  He picked him up at this deserted building, the guy gave him a $100 bill and said he had no address but would tell him how to get wherever he needed to go (creepy #1). He said he was dressed in multiple dirty layers (creepy #2) and wouldn’t answer any questions (creepy #3).  So the taxi driver (Andre) kept all the inside lights on, LOL and finally they reached the destination---KNOW WHAT IT WAS????  LEAVENWORTH---yeah the prison people!!  He said he got out of the car went up to the guard gate & disappeared inside---guess he was CHECKING IN, LMBO---can you imagine, that’s just CREEPY, ICKY!  So he was so excited that I was normal (hmmm if he only knew) and just going to the airport that he had to buy me a Coke Icee hee hee!

Ok I have 3 more stories from this trip I will share with you over the next few days—one is unbelievable!!  Well most of them are but they seem to like to “find” me!!

NewsBitz:


-For those that have joined my cyber book club BookEndz over at the CMC Classroom (anyone is welcome to join)!  We are having our Wrap Up Party tonight at 8 pm EST for our September Book pick.  We will have some fun prizes, fun questions, fun chat and then announcement of the October Book Pick! Hope you can join us!!

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Like…Totally Dudette!!

So I got to pull out some more of those super-cute new Magnolia stamps from the “Winner Takes It All” Collection from Magnolia-licious.  This cutie “Skateboard Tilda” just stole my heart cuz I WAS SUCH A TOMBOY when I was younger and her stance & ‘tude remind me of myself!  And what do I like?  Yep, bright colors and zebra stripes so I had to use both on this card!!  I saw this Skipping Stones sketch here at my pal Amy Sheffer’s beautiful blog and I knew it was PERFECT for this gal!!

This card is being entered into the following challenges:

Penny's Challenges (anything goes)

Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)

Going Grey with Scrap-Creations (girly)

Make It Monday (anything goes)

So the papers are by Basic Grey “Lauderdale”—love the fun & bright colors and patterns!  I used my SBs Pinking Circles to cut out my mat circles and I embossed the aqua layer with my Zebra Cuttlebug Embossing folder—gotta have more zebra.  I used my SU star punches and layered them with buttons and swirls from Marianne Designs dies.  The sentiment is from PTI and I put a few colored pearls underneath for more bling!



Yep she’s colored with Copics—BG75,BG72,BG11,BG10 / RV14,RV13,RV10 / E59,E25,E31,E50 / E11,E00,R20 / YG25,YG03,G20 / forget the blues I used LOL but B21 & B34 were two of them.  I used Diamond Glaze on the skateboard and stickles on her shirt!  Hey even Tomboys can have bling




Hope you have a brilliant day and make it a great one!!

Home at Last...well for a few anyway LOL!

Hello all my friends!!   Sorry I've been gone for a bit huh? LOL!  Its good to be home but I leave again on Friday for Ohio to teach and my pal Marti is riding up with me---uh oh could be trouble in the making with the 2 of us ;)  But we will leave after classes on Saturday night and get home around 2 am on Sunday.  Then I'm actually home for like almost 3 weeks--shocker I know and I have a TON of stuff to finish and get done including Class 5 for my CMC Classroom which I hope to have ready by Halloween.  And for all of those that ordered DVDs they are coming this week finally yay and I will ship them out lickety split to you all.  They were a DISASTER to get done, oh my goodness what a horror story project but they are finished and just need to get them to the house now and get them out.  Plus I have Alexa's homecoming, yard work and other house stuff to finish before the winter sets in soon.

Ok of course I've been gone 6 days traveling--I left for Kansas City last Friday and taught then I was supposed to head home on Monday evening. But instead of sitting in airport I took a 6 am flight down to Tampa to visit friends and then came home this evening.  6 back-to back plane rides (VA to Chicago to Kansas City, Kansas City to Chicago to Tampa, Tampa to Chicago to VA) knocked the wind outta my sails that's for sure, oh my goodness am I exhausted and my skin is PARCHED.  So you KNOW I GOT lots of travel stories for ya of course---if I NEVER have a story something is terribly wrong LOL!

Last Friday I left to fly to Chicago and then onto Kansas City--the flights were smooth and uneventful and I slept most of the first flight.  Second flight--uh oh here we go!  I'm the 11th person on the plane and yep I'm in my 7th row window seat like a happy girl on my happy Southwest plane with my happy regular flight crew.  I'm settling in with my pillow and blanket when I see this woman get on the plane, she's smaller than me but she has on about 20 layers including a full length winter coat--like she's freaking going to the Antartic or something.  My skin prickled up and I tried to look away but its like I have a DARN BULLETIN BOARD blinking a message "SIT WITH ME CUZ' I LIKE FREAKS"!!  The whole freaking plane is EMPTY still but noooooooooo of course not, she sits .... errr lands her freaky self on me in the middle seat. I kid you not she had so many layers on and this huge backpack--I was like what is she hiding in that coat, it was scary!  The plane loads and I'm trying to get settled so I can go to sleep when I hear this low humming coming from the weirdo next to me----she's CHANTING people and fast and strangely.  Then when we take off she brings out this tray of oils and starts patting them on herself and taking some in her mouth---I'm looking at her with my mouth hanging open I'm sure like "what the heck?".  She turns to me and says "Don't worry, I'm saving us all" and I'm like "saving me from WHAT" cuz right now I wanna be saved from YOU!  FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY and she chanted the whole way to Kansas City, I thought I might kill myself for sure.

I get off plane and the lovely owners of The Scrapbook Page pick me up and we go to the store so I can do some work--totally uneventful.  Then I get to my hotel and get ready to have dinner with some gals that night (waving hi to Mary, Kathy & Gail) and that's uneventful.  Dinner was fantastic and the company was lovely, I get back and I'm in bed at 10:30 pm --- BONUS!  I text hubby that I'm in bed and settled for the night when I realize I put my license in my pocket after going thru security at the airport but I didn't remember putting it back in my wallet.  Now I love to travel but I also LIKE to go home and no license means no home so I roll out of bed and go check.  Now mind you this whole episode I'm about to tell you takes place in less than 3 mins ok LOL.  My purse was under a table attached to this huge entertainment center so I'm kneeling down to look in my wallet--and yep my license is in there so Suzanne is a happy gal and I rear up quickly (cuz god forbid I do anything slow--uh uh) and I slammed my forehead into the table so hard I fell backwards and almost knocked myself out--the whole entertainment center shook.  OMGOODNESS I AM IN PAINNNNNNN but I'm laughing cuz here I have no major accidents or incidents for the whole darn day and the last 5 mins of my night I almost kill myself.  Typical Suzanne Moment!  I go in bathroom and I NOW LOOK LIKE A UNICORN---I kid you not it was baddddd!  So I take a picture (yep that's what I did) and texted it to James hee hee. Then I run down hallway in my pjs to find some ice for my rapidly growing unicorn horn.  James calls and he's like "what the heck happened, you just said you went to bed, how did you bump your head in bed" -- LMBO!!  It hurt so bad--I was dizzy for two days afterwards especially anytime I'd bend over.  Now its a lovely huge circle of yellow & purple on my forehead--what a beauty!!

See so anytime you think you are having a weird or crummy day---you just head on over here and see what I've done & I'm SURE you will feel sooooo much better LOL!  Never a dull moment in my days that's for sure---I'll share some more stories with you tomorrow along with a project!

Have a  great day!

Pixie Dust

Happy TGIFriday my friends!  UGH--I am NOT an early morning bird at all and I am typing this up at 5:30 am at Dulles airport waiting for my flight to Kansas City.  NO sing-a-longs this morning LOL.  I plan on sleeping to Chicago and sleeping again to Kansas, got my blankie & pillow all ready to go!  I like to fly early cuz' the airports are quiet and hopefully the pilots are fresh KWIM (know what I mean).  And lets hope no space trash interferes with my travel--it would be just like the darn universe to throw that at me while I'm traveling.  I can see it now---actually I won't see it cuz' I will be sleeping hee hee.  Looking forward to classes and this is my first time to Kansas---oh hey maybe the Scarecrow & Tin Man will show up LOL (yep I've always been a huge Wizard of Oz fan).  I've got lots of friends I'm meeting and my pal Tina (crazy banana that she is) is rooming with me tomorrow night---tonight I'm going to dinner with some new friends and then hopefully an early bedtime for me as we have a full house both tomorrow & Sunday for classes.  I've been told to be on my best game err..... behavior LOL so I gotta get some sleep for that to happen LOL!  I fly home late Monday night--not sure how I booked a 6:30 pm flight but I must have been asleep when I did that, so I get home at 11:30 pm that night ugh!

Ok I hope you have a fabulous weekend!  If you are coming to classes, be prepared for fun, some dancing and lots of coloring :)  Hubby & kids are off to the Frederick Fair in MD since its the last day tomorrow--they always go every year.  I go on occasion but I got fair-ed out when the kids were small and even though its a nice big fair I can skip it every now and then (as long as they bring me home an Amish made Whoopie Pie LOL).

NewsBitz:

-If you wanna come take a Copic class or two with me you can see the rest of my fall schedule at www.cmcroad.com -- upcoming locations are Ohio, Chicago, San Jose CA, & Texas.  Then I am taking a break from mid November thru mid January from traveling so I can rest (lol) and gear up for the holidays.  But next year I am planning on hitting Vancouver, San Diego, Anaheim, Seattle & more!!  Stay tuned!

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Pixie Dust!

Today I'm sharing a project with you featuring those super-cute Sylvia Zet stamps for SCACD.  This cutie is called "Hope" and I have to tell you these gals are soooo much fun to color and their faces are too cute!  I needed some lively colors so I chose these fun prints from an older DCWV paper pad that I had bought ages ago and never used (ha ha story of my life 'eh).

I'm entering this cutie into the following challenges:

Little Miss Muffet Challenge (things with wings)

Moving Along With The Times (recipe)

Southern Girls Challenge (anything goes)

Crafty Creations (fairies)

Simon Says Stamp (dies)

Pretty simple layout and I used some of my new Cherry Lynn Designs dies (read more about them in the previous post) to layer my cute sparkly Prima flowers on top of -- the dies are called "Tropical Leaves" I believe.  These dies cut FABULOUSLY--one pass thru my Cuttlebug and they cut all the way thru each time, no shims or 2nd passes needed.  A few of the new Prima rhinestones finish off the card with sparkle.

And yep she's colored with Copics of course -- RV14,RV13,RV10 / Y23,Y21,Y11, YR23,Y15 / E11,E00 / E25,E50,E31 / C3,C1,C00 / E19,E18,E15,E11,E50 for hair.  I added Diamond Glaze to the hope chest's lock, all the berries and to her eyes for shine.  Some Stickles to her wings and shoes of course for more sparkle.

Did any of you have hope chests when you were growing up?  My sister did and she filled it with stuff for her wedding and house but I never did---I was ANTI-marriage (LOL) and anti-housewife so I didn't want to do that icky.  Then I got married and had kids early and did the housewife thing for 13 years---see you never know how life will turn out even with the best laid plans.  But that was the right path for me, I live with no regrets and am happy with my life even with all the crazy twists and turns.  I believe in always looking forward and never backwards--whats the point really?  But I think the idea of hope chests is cute but possibly outdated?  Not sure Alexa would like to have one either LOL!

Ok have a great weekend & pray no space trash hits me or anyone else this weekend ;) LOL!

The Fall Door!

Happy Wednesday friends—hope the week is being good to ya! Tomorrow is my last day at home before I head to Kansas City to the Scrapbook Page for classes so I got lots to do, hee hee.  Oh you ladies (and gents) in the Kansas City classes, watch out cuz’ it might be CRAZY ROWDY ahem…..I’m just saying LOL.  Well I will keep it contained in class but afterwards whoowheee it might be LOUD & CRAZY!  I’ve got quite a few friends coming and they are “similar” to me so I’m not sure what will happen!  But I’m just warning you—‘kay?!  If you missed the Chat/Party at the CMC Classroom last night then you might be confused LOL but it was fast, chaotic, crazy & FUN!  Just how I love it to be!! (hmmm sounds like my life ‘eh?) LOL!

I’m watching my fave fluff tv show “Housewives of Beverly Hills”—I LOVE it and I about died when Anderson Cooper said he was a fan too (love him, love his new show)!  These women are unbelievable and make me laugh—I could never live like that ugh—no fun me thinks!  And Glee started lasted night too, oh yeah, I love fall tv for sure.  But I don’t have enough hours to watch it all so I’m always behind on my TiVo LOL.  We have taped Ringer, Glee, Anderson (my Oprah replacement), Up All Night, Tanked, Castle, and more ugh. I’m still watching last season’s Chuck and Castle trying to catch up before the new ones start And then add in football (a whoot whoot for the Redskins win this weekend) and my travels and that leaves not much time for me, hee hee!  What shows are you looking forward to this fall?  I also can’t wait for that “ever after” show about Snow White and the fairytale characters by the creators of Lost—looks really good!

NewsBitz:


-SCACD has new embossing folders and Kraftin’ Kimmie stamps in stock—so check them out!
-Come take Copic classes with me—I’d love to meet you & they are always fun, www.cmcroad.com !  I’m all around the US thru mid-November when I then take a break until CHA in January LOL!  Then I speed around again

-Oh I’m gonna get you all addicted to Luke Bryan just like me ok!? I found this link to a video from his concert and I think I might’ve drooled all over myself LOL—I cannot wait to be front & center next month at his concert.  They may have to call security hee hee!  So watch this video—he ROCKS!! (‘scuse me while I wipe my drool off the screen)!

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The Fall Door!!

Today I’m sharing a fall card I made with a fantastic new Lockhart Stamp called “Autumn Gate”.  SCACD has a fabulous selection of Lockharts in stock—they have always been a favorite of mine, I like to color them and they are so elegant.  I use a few of them in all my Copic classes too.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:

I Brake For Stamps Challenge (fall-ing for you)

Anything Goes Challenge (anything goes)

Heart Song Inspirations (orange & buttons)

Make It Monday with Kraft Outlet (use kraft & fall)

My Craft Spot (fall leaves)

Stamp With Fun (anything goes)

I have been on a no-patterned paper kick as of late and I’m not sure why cuz’ you know how I LOVE paper.  Maybe because life has been chaotic & busy lately and I can’t handle anymore busy-ness LOL! And I love kraft cardstock with fall cards—always a bit rustic feeling!  But I used an oldie-but-goodie technique of scoring a basket weave pattern on my cs with my Scor-Pal—easy but effective.  The die I used (love these) is from Cherry Lynn and from my pal Betty’s NC store (hey she ships everywhere—see here).  These dies are FANTASTIC, they cut better than any I’ve used and they have so many delicate and fab designs.  You NEED to check them out, LOL!  I finished it off with pearls and a bow and button!

This image was a ton of fun to color and yeah I used a lot of Copics on it too, LOL.  The image got some goodies on it of course—Stickles on the wreath and lantern glass, Diamond Glaze on the pumpkins & lantern tops & ribbon.  A perfect image for any fall card occasion.  Hope you’ll check the Lockharts out---if you have Crafter’s ADD like me you will like to change it up now & again with different images like this

Ok I’m outta here to work on some projects and stamp out all the images for classes in Kansas City—at least 1500 images that is, yikes! LOL!  Have a good one!

Going Olde School!

Well a happy Monday to you all!  Hope you all had a brilliant weekend!  Mine was great, lots of fun and I’m still tired LOL!  I got back from NC Saturday evening and fell into bed around midnight.  Hubby and son got back yesterday from their camping trip in the Catskill Mountains to go to an RC Airplane Convention.  Riley said it was 90% men, 35-40 degrees and lots of plane crashing or in his words “AWESOME”—in my words “not so much” LOL!  Camping in the cold, yeah not so much for this gal, sorry!

Ok so Part Two of my Thursday evening story in Charlotte, NC with my gal pals Pat &  Dana.  You can read Part I in the post below <giggle>!  That evening we went out to dinner at Bonefish (if you follow me on Facebook you can see my menu post there—omgoodness it was so funny but not pc for my blog, hee hee).  So that started the evening off with a BANG (hee hee)!  Then on the way back to the hotel (I was driving) there is construction and blocked lanes and lots of traffic.  So my BRILLIANT friend Pat says “hey use the detour button on your GPS”—ummm ok so I did.  If your friend tells you to use a DETOUR—just say NOOOOO!  I kid you not it took us 30 mins to get to our hotel which is 1 mile down the road because my lovely GPS (it really does smoke crack I think) took us in circles and thru weird subdivisions. Yep the first detour went like this…..take exit to right, circle around and exit back up to EXACTLY WHERE YOU WERE BEFORE—OMGOOOOOOODDDDDDD!  So I hit the detour button again and it says to turn right and before you know it we are passing all these subdivisions and it takes me into neighborhood where it wants me to go down closed streets—yep closed.  We went around the neighborhood like 5 times and we were laughing so hard and YES I HAD TO PEE AGAIN really bad.  All I could think was the next day’s headlines would read “Out-of-town Women Caught Drug Running in Neighborhood, using Crafts & Craziness for an excuse” cuz that’s the kind of people that WERE HANGING OUT IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD.  We finally got out of the neighborhood and I said I’m just gonna drive down this road towards the light---don’t they always tell you to follow the light (or is that moths telling each other to go to the light to their death lol).  Come to find out we were less than a 1/4 mile from the hotel LOL—yep how long does it take us—30 MINS!!  UGH—shoot me now but it sure was FUNNY   So all of you that SAY you wanna travel with me---do you realllllly want to?  Can YOU HANDLE IT? LMBO!

 After our makeovers--Angelique (our guru), me, Pat & Dana

trust me you don't wanna see my before LOL!

NewsBitz:


-Wanna take some Copic Classes with me?  I’ll be in Kansas City this coming weekend (sorry the Chiefs lost but my ‘Skins wonnnnnn hee hee) but coming up I will be in Ohio, Texas, California and Chicago.  Check them out at www.cmcroad.com for more info!!  I’d love to see you!

-To all the ladies who came out to see me in NC at the Women’s Show—waving hi to you all!  Thanks so much and hope you all had fun and learned a bit—probably spent a bit too huh? LOL—don’t worry I did too, wayyyy too much but I won’t go there right now!

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Goin’ Olde School!!

Today the Magnolia-licious has a fun Blog Hop for you!!  We all took our Mini-Magnolia Binders (which hold all those cute mini stamps in an organized way) and decorated them all in different ways.  The only rule was to use only Magnolia stamps of course!  But we hope to inspire you to alter or decorate your own binders, scrapbooks, cookbooks, notebooks and more!  You can find out more on how you can win your own Mini-Magnolia Binder and gift at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog – so we hope you join in!!  If you’d like to start at the beginning of the Blog Hop then go to my pal Cheryl Rowley’s awesome blog here!

**Just a note: I used my Viva Decor black pen to create the mini pearls on the logo & added Stickles to the logo's wings, heart and halo! 

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

*Quirky Crafts (anything but a card)

*The Squirrel & the Fox Challenge (anything goes)

*All Sorts Challenge (alter something)

*Catch the Bug Challenge (create a scene)

*Inspire Me Fridays (anything goes)

*Wee Memories (no pattern paper)

Well where did my inspiration come from?  My own craft room of course and the logo on the binder---my studio is all black, soft aqua and whites and since this will sit on my hutch I wanted it to match everything.  So then I had to think how to fill the space, well my CMC Challenge Group is doing a sepia or all black/white challenge and I thought “hey” I’m gonna do that too, hee hee!  Then I decided to create one large scene but I wasn’t feeling it so out came the circle idea to make 3 fun scenes instead.  Yep that IS how my brain works, constantly tumbling around in its own craziness LOL!  But I really love how it turned out and it DOES match my room perfectly—sure hope you like it too!  All the stamps are from Magnolia-licious of course and then I used just cardstock, no patterned paper on this.

Isn’t this the cutest sailor you’ve ever seen? OMGoodness I’ve had these two stamps forever and never had a chance to pull them out---but NOW I do!  For my copic colors I used C9,C7,C5,C3,C1,C00 and BG72,BG11,BG10 on all the images. This cutie is “Dangling Sea Edwin” and “Sea Background” from the Bon Voyage Collection which I don’t see but I’m sure Diana could get them in if you WANT them!!  I used lots of Stickles and Diamond Glaze on my images to make them pop even more.  Also some Viva Décor Pearl Pen on the portholes screw-holes for more dimension.

Next up I made a fun summer scene using stamps from the Lazy Summer Days collection.  I used “Edwin on Bike” and then the mini version of “Tilda with Ice CreamCone”—the mini stamps are great for creating dimensional scenes like this.  The background is a summer background from Magnolia but it’s a much older one, but this “Butterfly Background” would be similar.  What I did was cut the background into pieces so I could use each piece of it in many different ways or by themselves—I store them in a baggie so they stay together.

The last scene also uses a large and a mini stamp—this is one of my fave stamps of Tilda, she’s so adorable and her name is “Tilda with Curls” from the FairyTale Collection.  The other one is a mini stamp called “Romantic Window”.  Again the mini’s are fab for using in scenes or by themselves.  I added Diamond Glaze to the window for shine and stickles to her shirt, socks and window frame.  I used Viva Décor Pearl Pen in ice white on the berries on the ivy in the window box.  All of the images got shaded with my Inkssentials Blending Tool with gray and aqua inkpads for a soft look around the scenes (love this tool)!!



That’s it for me and that’s the end of the Blog Hop! If you want to start at the beginning you will need to go to Cheryl’s fabulous Blog Here!!  So now you need to pop over to the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog to see how to join in on the fun!

And a Partridge in a ….!

Hello friends and a very happy TGIFriday to you all!  I am still down here in Charlotte, NC at the Southern Women’s Craft show and whooowheee is there a lot to see and do here.  You can buy food, get your makeup done, get new shoes AND be crafty all in one place---CHA needs this cuz at the end of the day I could use a MAKEOVER for sure LOL!  And yep I’m with my friends Dana & Pat and we couldn’t even get into the hotel without laughing.  Luggage falling everywhere, petite Dana trying to pull the luggage cart up the steep hill (not really but you would’ve thought it was) and into the lobby.  Then we TRY to get on the elevator and we are still laughing and the elevator closes before we can get on so Pat sticks her leg into the door and all I can picture is it closing and Pat slamming into the ceiling (chuckling here while I write this).  Now MEANWHILE I have got to peeeeee, like “Bridesmaid” bad kinda pee and I’m laughing my bum off trying to hold it in (remember I have a kidney infection so I’m in PAIN PEOPLE)!!  The door opens and Pat gets on and Dana & I are laughing so hard the door almost shuts again until Dana flies into the doors, by this time I’m almost on the FLOOR!   And the door shuts again—we finally load on the elevator making enough noise for about 20 people—I’m sure the front desk people thought we were INSANE!  Then we are standing there laughing and talking on the elevator for A WHILE when I look past Pat to see what floor we were on cuz it sure was taking a loooooong time LOL and she had NEVER pushed the button so we were just in the elevator NOT MOVING, LAUGHING and with me about to pee my pants—OMGoodness we really lost it at that point!  I ran for the door to get in as fast as I could.  And this is just in the first 15 mins, the rest of the day was a parody of sorts or comedy I guess.  Wait until I tell you the car story coming back from dinner, OH MY, but that will wait LOL cuz I’m still laughing and my sides hurt at this point!  So stay tuned…..

NewsBitz:

-BTW, OMG OMG OMG!  You know my slight obsession with Luke Bryan (yes I love love him and I will be front row center in Oct at his concert-whoop whoop).  Well GUESS WHAT!???  I woke up at 6 am yesterday morning to a TWEET from Luke Bryan---OMG yes he directly tweeted me.  He had asked a question and I had tweeted him back an answer and he answered me back. I SCREAMED so loud I wok James and the kids up--running around like a crazy girl shouting.  Yes it got me that worked up---here is my son "wow mom that's great, I'm going back to bed" in a deadpan voice LOL! But that's HUGE to me, HUGE!  Like he touched me cyberlly !!! If you follow me on Twitter you can see his tweet :)

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Partridge In A Pear Tree!!

Today is the last day of projects for the new Gina K releases and the DT is showcasing “My True Love Gave To Me” and “Cool Beans” (the free with 3 set).  I am not in the Christmas mode yet but I sure had fun making this card LOL.  I love the combo of cream and gold for Christmas, a simple but elegant pairing.  I used no patterned paper (gasp) but I did use a lot of dimension and texture instead.

The gold cardstock and cream die cut (made with SB’s Labels 20) got embossed with CB folders.  The image was embossed with gold embossing powder and then colored with Copics.  The image was die cut with SB’s Scalloped Ovals and then I used Gold Stickles to outline the edge it for more sparkle.  The sentiment was embossed in gold too and then I made a banner style treatment that raises up over the image.  Some Gold Bella Baubles finish it off.


Next up is the Free With Three Set (buy 3 stamps sets and receive this for free) called “Cool Beans”.  If you love coffee or any hot drink in general (for me its hot cocoa or Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider…mmmmmgood) then this is a must have set for you.  Full of funky & fun images that you will have fun playing with.  The papers are by My Minds Eye “Paris & Co.”—love the soft creams, browns and aquas.  I distressed the edges for a bit of shabby-chicness!  The border was done with a MS border punch and the circle dies are Spellbinders.  A few pearls finish it off.


I colored the image with Copics E44,E43,E42,E40 and then added Crystal Lacquer over the cup and saucer for shine.  The spoon got a bit of Stickles for sparkle.  Perfect for a coffee loving friend!!

Now make sure to hop around to the DT blogs and see their beautiful work and for a chance to win!  Have fun!

• Gina K
• Janice Whiting
• Jennie Harper
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (thank u 4 stopping by)
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith

Chummy Chubby Fun!

Hi all and Happy Thursday to ya!  While you are reading this I SHOULD be on my way down to Charlotte, NC which is a 6 hour drive for me.  But soooo looking forward to seeing my friends, doing some shopping and laughing of course.  I’m gonna TRY really hard to be good & on my best behavior BUT you know “stuff happens” LOL!  If anyone is going to the Southern Women’s Craft Show stop by Betty’s Stamping & Scrapbooking store booth at 4 pm today or 2 pm on Friday and say HI to me, ‘kay?  I’ll be there demoing Copics for a bit and chattin’ with everyone.  If not and you see someone either trip or wipeout on the floor with horrendous laughing following—well then you know you’ve probably found me   Yeah I’ll be on facebook the next few days with our hijinks of course!  Then next Friday I leave for Kansas City to teach for a few days—looking forward to it, been a few weeks since I’ve been on a plane and I miss it hee hee!

ITunes News---yep I’m a music and book addict!  If hubby saw those bills each month from Itunes & Amazon he might faint dead away…shhhh don’t tell hee hee!  It’s my “crack” LOL!  Have you gotten Lady Antebellum’s new album yet?  <swooooon> I love, love, love it---my fave two songs that you MUST listen to are “Own the Night” and “As You Turn Away”.  And I love a good rockin’ country artist too and Brantley Gilbert is one of my faves---his new album ROCKS (Kick it in the Sticks has been a fave but “Falling Into You” is sweetly good too).  Another song I cannot get enough of is Little Big Town’s “Kiss Goodbye”—you need to listen to it, reminds of me of old Boston mixed with country, so pretty!  Yeah its not new but I just love it—see video below!

Little Big Town Video:



NewsBitz:

-Wanna see me and take a class, cuz’ I’d love to see youuuuu!  I will be in Ohio, Chicago, San Jose and Waco, TX this fall.  Check them all out at www.cmcroad.com for more info!

-Tomorrow I will have two more projects showcasing the new Gina K releases!  But make sure to check out the DT samples today starting at Gina’s Blog HERE!

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Chubby Chummy Fun!!

Today is a fun challenge for the Copic Creations Challenge Blog!  Our fabulous sponsor is The Stamp Fairy—one of my fave digi stores (sending Gerda big hugz)!  She so generously gave each of the DT an image to use and I chose this cutie-pie “Chubby Scarecrow 1”---too adorable!  The Challenge is to color fur with Copics—one of my fave things to do and there are soooo many different ways to do this but I’m just showing one today!

I'm entering this into some fun challenges:

Digi Stamps 4 Joy (fall colors)

Paper Craft Star (anything goes)

Digital Tuesday Challenge (seasons & digi--my pic is fall)

Happileigh Scrappin Challenge (fall)

Make It Monday (anything goes)

So I used “Chubby Scarecrow 1” which is one of a set of cute fall bears for the fallicious season.  My papers are from Memory Box and I based my bear colors on them—I wanted to make him a chubby black bear.  I distressed all the edges with my Zutter Distress Tool and added some black pearls as well.  The sentiment and circle stamp are by PTI and then I used my SB’s “Pinking Circles” to mat them.  The cobweb border punch is by MS.  The sketch I found at Skipping Stones Design and was designed by my pal Amy Sheffer, she has fabulous sketches to jumpstart your mojo!

Of course he got colored with Copics—C9,C7,C5,C3,C1 / E57,E37,E31,E50 / YR18,YR15,YR01 / YR24,Y21,YR20,E08.  I left lots of lines in his fur to make him look well….fuzzy LOL.  I also kept lines in his hat so it looked like an old straw hat.  Stickles were added to the leaves, patch and straw for sparkle and Diamond Glaze on his nose & foot pad.

Now make sure to hop over to the Copic Creations Challenge Blog to see the DTs projects and how to play along and win!!  Have a great day everyone!!  See y’all tomorrow!

Ghost Reruns!!

Hi there and a happy Wednesday to you all!  I am running (or trying to) at about 225 mph today trying to finish all my chores and work before I leave early tomorrow morning for Charlotte, NC for the Women’s Southern Craft Show/CHA Supershow.  If you see a speeding BMW convertible with a crazy dancing woman driving---well then you know that would be me trying to get to Charlotte by 1 pm LMBO! I’m always running behind even under the best circumstances and I’m sure tomorrow will be no different!  I’m so excited to see all MY CRAZY friends and my *very special roomies* Pat Jaynes & Dana Shaw—we ARE the 3 musketeers LOL!  Charlotte, oh boy you better watch out cuz we are gonna TEAR IT UP (errr well at least I will be, they will watch and laugh)!  If you come to the show I will be at Betty’s Stamping & Scrapbooking Room booth tomorrow at 4 pm and then on Friday at 1 pm for a bit—so stop by and say HI!!!

BTW for all you ghost hunters you know that I had SOME big ghosty stuff going on in my house last year (including the video that shows “mr.ghost” throwing stuff at me).  I stopped mentioning it cuz’ I did get some weird exorcist-like people stalking me but I have had some stuff going on since then.  BUT NOTHING LIKE LAST NIGHT—OMGoodness was I creeped out!  I went to bed and my Ipad was on the floor next to the bed charging and turned off & closed—I had been asleep when I heard the beep-beeps of Words 4 Friends.  So I sat up and looked over the bed to see my Ipad cover wide open, words game open on the screen and tiles moving around by themselves.  I KID YOU NOT—something was playing the games for me.  So if you got game responses (Pat, Kim and more) last night it was NOT from me---I was so freaked I tried to wake up James but he was mumbling and telling me I was dreaming or on drugs (as if I need drugs to see stuff lol).  I WAS NOT—I was too scared to leave the room and get my Iphone so I could videotape it but it was STRANGE to see the tiles move around the screen and hey the words “it” did were pretty high scoring too so thanks LOL.  But “mr. ghost” please don’t do that cr*p again cuz’ Suzanne cannot take this kinda stuff, people already think I’m nuts and this only confirms it ‘kay?  Thanks much!

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Gina K Release Day #1

Today starts off 3 days of fun blog hops showcasing the

Brand New Gina K releases for September! 

Today the DT is sharing projects done with “Under the Weather” and “Holiday Basket”.   I did a card yesterday (see post below this one) with this fabulous set “Holiday Basket” illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger.  I love the versatility of this set and I decided to eliminate the basket this time and focus on the gorgeous poinsettias instead!  My papers are new holiday ones by Authentique and I used a holiday embossing folder and a border punch (EK Success) to play up the card w/o taking away from the image.  The pine branch die cuts are by Marianne Designs from the UK.  I colored two images of poinsettias and cut them both out and popped some of the flowers up for dimension.  Some of the petals got a coat of Crystal Lacquer for shine, some got Stickles in Stardust and then some more of those “Elements Earth Textures” by Art Institute Glitter in the flower centers for more texture (this time using Saffron—read more about these in yesterday’s post).  All the cardstock colors are from Gina K’s Luxury Cardstock line here! (great for embossing too)



This particular cutie is from the “Under the Weather” set illustrated by Rupa Shevde and the lil’ animals in this set are so cute (even if they are ill lol)!  I used some fun lavender shaded papers and some Spellbinders dies to showcase the image.  One of the sentiments I stamped right onto my patterned paper in dark purple ink.  A few rhinestones and a bow made with the Bow Easy finish it off.



This cutie got colored with Copics and then I added some Stickles to the pillow for sparkle.  The tissue box I paper pieced (then shaded with Copics) and cut out & popped up with a dimensional. For some more fun I added some real tissue to the box  

Now keep on hopping along to see more great inspiration using these sets---you are sure to find some new ideas and ways to use them!!  And you can win a set as well!

• Gina K
• Melanie Muenchinger-illustrator Holiday Basket
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (that’s me—thanx bunches)
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Theresa Momber