Snow? Seriously!!

Happy Monday & Halloween to everyone! 

 How are you all doing this Halloween day?  I am doing pretty good although the weekend was a tad rough—between the snow and ice and my Redskins playing so POORLY it was just NOT good LOL.  I cannot even believe that we had snow before Halloween here in Virginia—that NEVER happens, EVER and it DISGUSTS me!  Seriously? What the heck is up with this weather, I cannot stand the cold & don’t care if I ever see snow again, never ever and whoever likes it---well I’m sorry but there “might” be something seriously wrong with you LOL!  I can’t even remember the last time it snowed BEFORE Thanksgiving for crying out loud—Mother Nature better get her act together or ELSE!!

The snow on my backyard patio—BLECH!!

Ok so I don’t have a project to share today but some stories and pictures for you instead.  The next 2 weeks will be a “tad” lean on projects here at my blog but I will post as often as I’m able.  I am working on my online Copic Class 5 shooting videos, taking pics and typing up manuals for the CMC Classroom.  It’s a large class and I have a lot to do for it so I will try to get projects done as I can to share with you. I’m crossing my fingers that it is done by Nov 12th for you all!  If you want to register I have a pre-signup deal going on until Nov 5th and you can save a bit of $$ on it if you are interested!

So let’s start off this post with some good stuff’s ok? LOL!  First I want to REVIEW the AWESOME TIME AT HAD AT LUKE BRYAN’s concert Friday night! OMG I have NEVER come so close to having a heart-attack in my life. My mom, me and Alexa traveled 3.5 hours south to Salem, VA to go see him (hell I would travel 15 hours to see him hee hee)!  It was the best concert I’ve been to all year (sorry Sugarland but Luke is hotter)—it was terrific.  Lee Brice, Josh Thompson & Matt Mason (Matt has an awesome voice, he's gonna be big--see his song here) all opened for him and they were really good especially Lee Brice who I really like (see his newest song here).  But of course the main attraction (for me & Alexa anyway) was Mrrrrrrrrrrr Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuukkkkee BRyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyan!! Whoohooo!  Oh girls he is even HOTTER in person, 6’3 feet of blue-jean hotness for real and the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen and the boy CAN SING!!!  I don’t know if I should ever be that close to him again, it was almost too much for me, seriously I was close to hyperventilating   And he looked RIGHT AT ME quite a few times while he was singing—Alexa says “OMG Mom he’s singing to youuuuuuu!”—yep ladies it was enuff for this girl to almost pee her pants or die.  It was a REAL good thing hubby wasn’t there cuz he might NOT have enjoyed it veeery much hee hee.  But seriously he can sing and put on a darn good show—I will be checking his schedule and going again, and again and again.  So please enjoy the slideshow below to see some major cuteness and if you don’t know who he is (GASP, what is wrong with you….check his song, my fave here).

Luke Bryan Slideshow (for email subscribers click HERE to see slideshows):


San Francisco!!  Oh boy did I enjoy my trip to the West Coast, the warm weather and great sites!  I spent the whole day in San Francisco with my pal Patricia of The Paper Temptress.  We parked (yes I drove, yikes) at Pier 39 and had lunch in a great restaurant overlooking the Bay and Alcatraz, I was giddy to see it up close. The next trip I will definitely do the tour but it was sold out when we arrived (boo hoo).  Then we did the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour of the city which I HIGHLY recommend because I didn’t want to drive thru the city and not get to see anything KWIM.  We had a fabulous guy guide who was singing and just plain fun and he took me to the BRIDGE—yes the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge.  Its been on my bucket list for a long time.  Why is it so special to me?  Well if you know my story you know that I NEVER thought I’d get to travel much anywhere so to travel to the West Coast and see such an iconic site was overwhelming for me, I was absolutely giddy and so thrilled to see it.  A beautiful site indeed!  We hopped off for a bit to walk thru the fabulous Golden Gate Park and thru the Japanese Tea Gardens there—stunning and so zen.  Then we traveled thru Haight-Asbury (home of the hippies and pot stores LOL) and I won’t say much about the “dead person” on the sidewalk, I kid you not, ucky!  Then onto the Painted Lady homes and to see other sites.  We sat at the top of the double decker bus and let’s just say that fog had rolled in & I was FREEZING LOL—but it was so worth it.  I did lots of fun touristy stuff and Patricia and I had the best time laughing and talking our way thru the city. I definitely plan on going back!!

San Francisco Slideshow:


Travel Stories?  Yeah I’ll share a funny one with you that might give you a great chuckle today if you need it.  You know that I attract FREAKS right, I kid you not they love me and I attract them like metal to a darn magnet—not sure how to turn off my magnetic field yet LOL.  My first flight was from Washington, DC to Denver at 6 am so I was looking forward to the 4 hour flight so I could SLEEP.  I was 12th person on the plane, got my window seat and got my blankie & pillow all ready to go.  I see this tiny, petite lady come down the aisle and she sits in the middle seat.  I’m like “YESSS” finally a small person next to me that won’t be loud or odd. Ha HA ha ha ha—NOTTT! Let me tell you she lived LARGE people---like she was 400 lbs or something. Everyone had their lights off, plane lights were off cuz its 6 am and everyone WANTED TO SLEEEEEEEPPPPPP, duh!  Well not her, no way---she had her light on and about 20 mins into the flight and into my SLEEP she taps me to ask me if I would mind turning MY LIGHT on for her.  Ummmmm NOOO NOOO NOOO and she had the nerve to be nasty and offended---REALLY?  Really—you are offended because I won’t turn MY light on for YOU because I MIGHT want to sleep?  Really?  So she huffs and turns her light off and I’m like “okay” all is good right?  Yeahhhhh, NO!  She turned her darn light on and off about 10 times over the course of an hour AND kept elbowing me, kicking me and then to TOP IT ALL OFF she has HER legs/feet under my seat in front of ME.  Have you EVER???  And she decided it was an excellent time to do crossword puzzles with a PENCIL, and ERASE REGULARLY so I was covered in eraser dust from head to toe, eeeewww.  But the last straw was when I was in our 2nd hour sleeping and she HITS me in my face/head with her LARGE PURSE—can you even believe it???  I was PISSED (excuse my french but I was actually beyond pissed at this point—do NOT mess with me when I am sleeping or I will eat you alive)!!  I sat up quickly, threw my stuff down and yelled  ‘What in the hell is wrong with you?” to the delight of the people behind me and the rest of the plane cuz I guess I was a “tad” LOUD LOL! I told her she was rude and for such a SMALL PERSON she sure LIVED LARGE and that I would APPRECIATE IT if she kept to her own space and to STAY THE HELL OUT OF MINE!!!  The stewardess of course came running over and I literally said “if she touches me in any way or bugs me or even looks at me wrong again, I will punch her and I’m not kidding!” And I guess I looked either SCARY enuff or CRAZY enuff that they believed me because she told the lady to please NOT bother others on the plane and to keep to herself.  Well that lady never made another noise or movement the rest of the flight cuz I believe that I had SKEEEERED the poo-poo outta her!  I’m not a mean or vicious person but I am sooooo sick of people not minding other’s personal space—it’s a HUGE pet peeve of mine.  Do not come into my space bubble and I won’t come into yours—its just plain RUDE and I have NO PROBLEM telling someone so LOL!  I made sure on the 2nd flight that she didn’t sit near me again but I’m sure she was trying to stay away from me too---I think she thought I was looney but I don’t care   The guy on the aisle told me he hadn’t laughed that much in ages and was glad I said something cuz she was bothering the poo out of him too LOL!  Geez-manezz people!!  Anywho the 2nd flight was MUCH better!

Ok—that’s enuff outta me today—I’ll share another funny travel story with you this week.  Cuz’ I got a few of them hee hee!  Have a fabulous day and hope its sunny in your neck of the woods!

hugz,

Suzanne

A Citified-Country Girl!!

A Howdy Hello and Happy Friday to you all!  Sorry I’ve been absent but I got back from San Francisco both jet-lagged and with a sinus infection.  So that meant I basically drugged myself every night with Nyquil to try and get cleared up for this weekend LOL—that meant no blog posts (well ones that made some sense anywho).  But I’m feeling better and happy to be off today at noon with my mom and Alexa to go see Luke Bryan in concert tonight.  FRONT ROW BABY—oh yeah—yep I’m wearing my big JUST IN CASE, cuz you never know when the drool might start LMBO!  I’m so excited that I’m just giddy I tell ya!  You can bet that I will have all kinds of pics to share with you of him

San Jose was fabulous---waving hi to all the gals out there, thanks for making my time there so much fun & enjoyable.  I got to go to dinner with my friend Irina Blount of La La Land Stamps on Friday night---it was so warm we sat outside at the restaurant to enjoy dinner.  Always good to catch up with her.  And San Francisco was everything I thought it would be and I got to spend the day with my pal Patricia of The Paper Temptress.  I MADE IT TO THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE (which I happily crossed off my bucket list)  I was so excited I was shaking, you have no idea what that meant to me.  To be able to travel and see so many things I thought I might not ever get to do or experience is HUGE to me and I am blessed and thankful for each experience.  I will ALL of my pics and YEP I have a few fun stories for ya on Sunday—it’s a release day so I don’t want to take up my whole post with my stories today hee hee (cuz it will be LONG)!  But I will leave you with a pic of the Bridge—there’s just something magical about it that I cannot convey but maybe the picture will.  Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

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Lil’ Bit Citified!!

Today is RELEASE DAY for SCACD featuring Victoria Case—this new collection of fabulous ladies is called “Classic Retro Crew”!  These gals are fabulous, with lots of sass and flash—I just love ‘em!  And there is a 2nd new collection called “Street Views”—some great town and city stamps that are perfect used alone or paired up with other stamps!  The DT is celebrating with a super fun blog hop so make sure to hop along the DT blogs today to see all these stamps in action.  You can always stop by the store blog HERE if you get lost!!

**These stamps are available overseas at Quixotic Paperie as well**

I got to use these two called “Sass & Swagger” and “City Skyline” on my project today!  I love the CITY but I love the COUNTRY too---I am comfortable in either place but I could never just have one in my life.  I don’t think I could live full-time in the city but I sure like to spend time there—there is such a great energy in cities.  Its exciting, rushed and electric and I love that feeling. BUT it can become overwhelming and too much so I need a dose of the slow, laid-back country life too to balance it all out.  I’m like that in many aspects of my life—a good balance of both keeps Suzanne a happy girl LOL.



I knew I wanted to use lots of black in my project—it can be both modern and flashy when paired with bold colors, just like a city!  My papers are from Kaisercraft’s “Chapter One” series (15% off right now) and I loved the pops of bright green and aqua with the blacks, kinda cool & slick!  The black cardstock was embossed with a large CB embossing folder and the card base is silver cs for more sparkle.  The sentiment is an older one from Sweet Stamps that I embossed in white on the black cs.  A few rhinestones add a bit more bling to it all—it’s the city baby so lots of bling is always GOOD! LOL!  I loved the graphic feel of the blacks and pops of color of the papers that I didn’t add many embellishments—it would’ve taken away from the main images.

I'm entering this one into the following fun challenges:

Charisma Cards (anything goes)

Crafty Purple Frog Challenge (sparkle)

Make It Monday Challenge (anything goes)

Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)

Karen's Doodles Challenge (emboss it)

So both the city skyline and the chic “Sass n Swagger” gal got colored up with Copics.  I envisioned her in black leather pants and jacket (I want Santa to bring me a black leather jacket for Xmas….hear that hubby…errrr….Santa) with a sparkly bustier.  Perfect for a night out on the town in the city!!  Both got coats of Diamond Glaze as well to make them shiny (her eyes did too).  Some of the city buildings I coated in diamond glaze and stickles to really make them pop.  One of my favorite views of the NYC skyline is from Central Park West—there are some huge boulders near the lake and when you look above the trees you see the gorgeous buildings of the city.  Its such a great juxtaposition of city and nature in one view—just awesome and that’s what this image reminds me of.  For copics I used:  C9,C7,C5,C3,C1 / W7,W5,W3,W1 / BG72,BG11,BG10 / E11,E00,E25,E31,E50 / G99,YG67,YG95,YG91,YG03,G20.

Ok so now you need to continue on this fun hop today and your next stop is 

ANKI BARGMAN’s Fabulous Blog!!

Have a great weekend!

Holiday Greetings!

Happy Monday everyone---today I’m off to San Francisco for the day with my friends!  I’m so excited as I have ALWAYS wanted to go to San Francisco and see Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, Curviest Road and Alcatraz!  Whooohooo—if you live there you may see me bee-boppin’ down the sidewalks like a crazy fool hee hee.  Next time I come out this way I want to hit Carmel and Monterey too but for now I will enjoy every minute in San Fran  

Tomorrow I head home—I get in around 8:30 pm and then I’m home for awhile until my classes in Chicago.  BUT YOU KNOW WHAT???  FRIDAY I get to go see Luke Bryan—FIRST ROW BABY---OH YEAH!!  I’m so excited that I can barely even think about it cuz it all just makes me GIDDY!!! LOL!  OMGoodness its gonna be a fun night and oh yeah I’m either getting up on that darn stage or I’m grabbin Mr. Bryan (in a very nice way ahemmmmm) hee hee.  We have to leave early as the concert is in Salem, VA (how appropriate for Halloween weekend ‘eh LOL) and Alexa gets to leave school at noon so you know she’s a happy girl. Third person in our little party is my mom and my mom is a bit like my hubby—she can be slightly overwhelmed..ahem..lol by myself and Alexa.  So she MAYYYY be trying to act like she doesn’t know us during the concert hee hee but that’s ok---gotta live in the moment KWIM and love every minute!  At least that’s how I live everyday!

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Holiday Greetings!!

 Today I'm sharing another fun & new release from Gina K--this time its the fabulous StampTV Kit called "Wishing You Joy".  It is another fantastic stamp set packed to the gills with great images and sentiments for the holidays.  Not only that but you get some Luxury Cardstock, patterned paper (which I used above) and brads & ribbons.  The paper is beautiful--I love the mix of violets, golds, browns and snowflakes--so elegant.



 I kept the design pretty simple because I think this would be a great holiday card that you could replicate multiple times easily to send.  I kept the colors to the violets with touches of gold for sparkle.  Those ornaments are so easy to color and I added gold accents with my Gold Sharpie Paint Pen.  I used my Spellbinders dies to cut my image and my scalloped matting.  Some gold brads at the bottom were added--but to bling them up I added Gold Stickles on top for sparkle.  A gold bow finishes off the card.


The ornaments were colored with Copics and accented with gold---the oval frame was colored with my Gold Sharpie as well and then I put Gold Stickles on top for more sparkle.  You can NEVER have enough sparkle during the holidays---or at least that's my motto LOL!  Hope you enjoyed this and gets you thinking about the upcoming holidays (oh lordy I'm not ready yet).

Now make sure and hop to all the DT blogs below for your chance to win a free stamp set—just leave a comment on each as you hop!  You are sure to get lots of fun inspiration today for this fabulous StampTV Kit set!

• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jennie Harper
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (that's me, thanks)
• Tami Mayberry
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

The 12 Days of Halloween--yay!!

Happy Sunday friends from sunny California!!  Hope you all had a fabulous weekend so far!  I am having a very enjoyable time in California--the weather is FANTASTIC, I love it!  No jackets needed unlike at home LOL.  Friday I picked up Patricia (The Paper Temptress) who I loveee and we hopped over to the store (ScrapGrlz) for a bit to get prepped and chat a bit.  Then I met up with Irina Blount (co-owner of La La Land Stamps) for dinner, who I've been friends with for awhile and it was so great to get to sit & just chat for awhile.  Usually we only get to chat via Facebook or at CHA which is always crazy. She's just the sweetest and I love her to bits!  Then yesterday was a day of classes--waving hi again to everyone that came, so nice to meet you all!  Today is another day of classes and then Monday is my trip to San Francisco which I'm so looking forward too---whooo hoooo LOL!  Then I leave on Tuesday morning for home!  So its been great and no weird incidents---sorry for the shortness of this post but I gotta get to bed at a decent time.  Jet lag is the WORST I swear, ugh!

And of course I have some travel stories already--duh but of course, but I'm too tired to type it all up LOL! I'll tell you alllll about it this coming week--no worries!

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12 Days of Halloween

12 Days of Challenges based on 'The Twelve Days of Halloween' for Betty's Stamps!!

Starting 17th October, a new challenge announced each day up until 28th October, all projects to be linked up by 30th October, winner will be announced 31st October.

Prizes will be given every day---so participate in lots of days if you can!!!

Here's the 12 Days...

17th Oct - An Owl in a Rotten Oak Tree

18th Oct - Two Trick or Treaters

19th Oct - Three Black Cats

20th Oct - Four Skeletons

21st Oct - Five Scary Spooks

22nd Oct - Six Goblins Gobbling

23rd Oct - Seven Pumpkins Glowing

24th Oct - Eight Monsters Shrieking (Preview day for Coquettes, please incorporate accordingly)

25th Oct - Nine Ghosts a-Booing (Release day for Coquettes, please incorporate accordingly)

26th Oct - Ten Ghouls a-groaning

27th Oct - Eleven Casks a-leaning

28th Oct - Twelve Bats a-flying.

Your projects can feature the item for that day, the correct number of times, or have the number and one instance of the item. i.e. twelve bats or number 12 and a bat!  Open to creative interpretation of course!!

So today I get to be a guest for Simply Betty Stamps and their super fun 12 Days of Halloween Celebration and Contest!  You can find all the details above and at the Betty's Stamps Blog HERE!  I used this super cute 'Witchy Boo Betty" that they generously provided for me---I just love her to bits.  She reminded me a bit of Sabrina the Teenage Witch so that's why I gave her blondish hair LOL!  She was a fun one to color too.  Today's challenge is *7 pumpkins glowing* and I apologize for my non-pumpkin card but I made it before I left and didn't realize what my day's challenge was until I got to California LOL--a little late to change it. But you get the idea anywho right? ;)

I'm entering this into the following fun challenges as well:

-Dream Valley Challenges (Halloween)

-Craft Your Days Away (Halloween)

-Sweet Stampin Challenge (Halloween)

-Delicious Doodles Challenge (Halloween/no orange)

-Inspire Me Fridays (anything goes)

My papers are a mix from Graphic 45 and PTI that I heavily distressed with my Zutter Distress machine.  And then I had lots of fun adding goodies to this card LOL--some black Magic Mesh and then a die from Spellbinders that I cut in half and added to each side of my image.  The sentiment is from an older set from MFT Stamps that I adore.

She got colored in Copics (but of course right lol) C9,C7,C5,C3,C1 / V99,V95,V91,V000 /E11,E00 / E35,YR23,YR20.  The swirls I stamped around the image are from PTI and then I added dots of stickler to the night sky for stars (and bling).  Her eyes (and kitty's eyes) got a coat of Diamond Glaze for shine too.

So hope you enjoyed this Totally Witchin Project and make sure to hop on over to Simply Betty's Store and Blog to join in on the fun challenges!  See you all back here tomorrow morning!!

Let ‘em Speak!!

Hello all my friends and hope you have some fabulous plans for your weekend!!  While you are reading this I should be flying somewhere over the US on my way to California---first to Denver and then onto San Jose.  And yep you know I’ll be all over Facebook posting weird pics and things/encounters I have during my travels cuz YOU KNOW its gonna happen people LOL.  Like Oprah always asked “what do you know for sure?”—well I KNOW FOR SURE that I will have some stories for ya.  Whether they are ha-ha-ha funny or noooo-she-didn’t-do-that I’m never really sure hee hee so we will see.  Not really sure what my family is up to this weekend---I asked and I just got blank stares from them all LOL.  Guess they don’t have any plans but I did tell hubby he could go to Costco for me we’ll see if that happens or not!

Ok I promised another song for you today---welllll I lied cuz I got two for ya!  One is a new single off of Kelly Clarkson’s album called “The War Is Over” (omgoodness I love it so much).  The second is by Montgomery Gentry—yep they have a new album, yeehaw and this song IS MY PERSONAL theme song cuz I say it often “Work Hard, Play Harder” in fact I’m jammin’ to it right now

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Gina K Releases Today!!

Today the Gina K DT is sharing projects done with the new October Releases “Strength & Hope” by Theresa Momber & “Basket Additions” by Melanie Muenchinger.  If you hop along today and leave comments you could win a stamp set yourselves, so make sure to do that today AND you get to see some awesome inspiration along the way.

I chose to use another image from “Strength & Hope” (you can see my other project using this beautiful set in the post below) for my project today.  This time I used the more traditional pink colors associated with Breast Cancer.  Portions of the proceeds from this set will be donated to Breast Cancer Research the first month of sales—so buy this with a generous heart.  I think we all know someone who could use an uplifting card made with stamps from this set—I know I sure do. I think this is a stunning image and has a very powerful message for us all.  I used soft papers by Melissa Frances that I distressed for a bit of a shabby chic look.  I added some cream tulle netting behind the image in a few places to soften it even more.  The tag was done with a Spellbinders die and I stamped the sentiment in soft pink.  The pearl swirls are by Prima.



The image was colored with Copics R21,R20,R11,RV10 / RV14,E42 and then I added some dimension with my Viva Décor Pearl Pen in cream to the centers.  The pearls on the sentiment were also done with the Pearl Pen.  And yep I added some Stickles in Stardust to the ribbon—nice & sparkly!



My second project uses Melanie Muenchinger’s set for Gina K called “Basket Additions” and yes this coordinates with her other Basket stamps sets—cute basket toppers for many seasons/occasions.  I used the other set called “Holiday Basket” taking the basket image out to pair with the fun holiday topper.  I colored the topper with Copics and then cut it out so I could pop it up for more dimension.  The basket was colored in green Copics as well to match my holiday papers by BoBunny.  The delicate holly vine is from Memory Box and I added small red pearls for the berries.  The images in the topper got coatings of crystal lacquer , stickles and flock for more texture and fun!

Now make sure and hop around to all the DT gals on the list below for a fun chance to win a stamp set and get some inspiration along the way!

• Gina K
• Melanie Muenchinger illustrator Basket Additions
• Theresa Momber illustrator Strength and Hope
• AJ Otto
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (that’s me, thanks so much)
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Janice Whiting
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy

For the Cause!!

Happy Thursday friends!  EEEKKKK!  I leave at 6 am tomorrow morning for San Jose and I have soooooooo much to do today (per the usual lol).  My main work is all done but as always its laundry, packing and organizing supplies. I also had to trash a suitcase—yep too many miles on it and zippers are broke and it looks like its been thru WW3 LOL!  TSA is not very nice to luggage eh’—so I’m off to buy a hardcase suitcase today which I’m hoping is still on sale LOL!  We’ll see how long that one lasts, poor things!  And I’m flying Southwest so I will fly to Denver first and then onto San Jose and yep I have to rent a car.  I’m taking MY Garmin GPS this time so I’m hoping it doesn’t lead me up to Seattle or Canada in my travels this time LOL.  I already have that funny buzzy feeling that something is gonna happen (shhh I won’t go into how I think I’m slightly pyschic, yes I really do) but I’m PRAYIN’ its funny stuff not the BAD stuff KWIM.  I don’t want to be involved in any kind of newsworthy or tragic event---I’m only up for fun kind of stuff ok I say to the higher ups somewhere up there LOL.  Hubby likes to poo-poo my psychic abilities at times but even he has to admit that I am right on the money with my predictions 95% of the time!  YIKES—so stay tuned for all that!!  And yes Suzanne is setting up her mobile office in the airport in the morning and you can follow me on Facebook cuz I usually am there posting weird stuff and funny pics along the way!  Hey I gotta keep myself entertained at all times LOL!  So for those in CA, I’ll see y’all soon   And you can come to a Copics class with me too---go to www.cmcroad.com for all the locations and info!

Ok---I love, love music—you know this right? I spend so much at ITunes that it ain’t even funny--LOL!  Then YOU MUST listen to this beautiful new song by Christina Perri HERE.  Its haunting and beautiful!  I’ll share another fave with you tomorrow LOL!

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Gina K Sneak Peek Blog Hop

We are very excited to extend an invitation to Gina K. Designs October Release Party. We have a fun evening planned for you - chatting, prizes, challenges, stamp sets reveal, design team shares, and most importantly, at the end of the party you will be able to go shopping!
If you came from Sharon Harnist’s fabulous blog you're at the right place. If not make sure to head over to StampTV where you will find a list of all those participating in today's hop.
Hope to see you at the party, here are all the details:

• When: Today, Thursday, October 20
• Where: StampTV Release Party Forum
• Time: 7 PM to 9 PM (CST)

So today the Gina K DT is sharing some sneaky peeky samples of the NEW RELEASES which will be up for sale after the release party this evening!  I cannot be at the party this evening (boo hoo) because hopefully I will be in bed at a decent hour since I have to be at the airport at 4:15 am tomorrow morning (ugh—double ugh).  But I am happily sharing my project made with Theresa Momber’s AWESOME set for Gina K called “Strength & Hope”.  A portion of Theresa’s profits will go to Breast Cancer Research for the first month of sales---so go buy this set for sure.

I know for most of you, like myself know someone personally or thru a friend or co-worker that is battling breast cancer. I have quite a few DT sisters and friends going thru this battle right now.  So purchase this set, help out and do your part—we women will ALL benefit from more research.  One in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetimes!  That means for every 8 of your friends or female relatives its possible that one of you will develop breast cancer---that is SCARY stuff!!  So please be proactive, do self-checks and visit your doctor regularly (and teach your teen daughter’s how to start this too---I am teaching my daughter to be proactive).



So I love, love this set “Strength & Hope”—it is awesome in so many ways!  I chose to use both this awesome sentiment by Ralph Waldo Emerson and the fabulous butterfly that incorporates the cancer ribbon.  The sentiment was cut out using the fabulous die set from Spellbinders called “Twisted Metal Tags & Accents”. I love the shape and swirls—you know how I love my curly-q’s LOL!  The In the Navy cs from Gina K was embossed with a CB folder. I kept the color palette to just navy and cream with a touch of light pink on the ribbon for an elegant look.  The pearls were made with my Viva Décor Pearl Pen in Cream.



I stamped the butterfly in navy Memento ink and then colored the ribbon in Copic Color R20.  The whole butterfly got a thick coat of Stickles in Stardust and then while it was wet I sprinkled my fave Deco Art Glamour Dust on top for extra bling-i-ness!!  So I have a special friend that I will be sending this to next week, hopefully it will cheer them and keep them strong in their fight!

Ok now you need to hop on over to Tami Mayberry’s wonderful blog!!

See you tomorrow!

You’re a Star!!

Happy Wednesday everyone—how the heck are ya!?  I am doing pretty good and staying super busy getting ready for my trip to California to teach this weekend.  Hoping the weather is very nice for me cuz you know I like it super sunny and warm.  This time I’m flying thru Denver instead of Chicago---so watch out Denver Airport hee hee---I spent a lot of time there too this year.  My last teaching trip of the year is to Bloomington, IL in November and then I’m done for the year.  I have had a blast this year traveling and meeting so many fun & awesome people but I have to say Suzanne is ready for a break that’s for sure.  Just some breathing time, I can finally unpack my suitcase---I have NOT fully unpacked my suitcase or packed it away since January of this year, LOL!  I’m going to add up all the miles I’ve done this year soon just for fun to see how far I’ve traveled—I’m sure it might be shocking LOL!  But I am blessed and so fortunate to have been able to do so this past year.  My first trip of the new year will be to CHA in Anaheim, CA and yep I will be teaching before the show again this year---I’ll have sign-ups at www.cmcroad.com very soon.

NewsBitz:

-Want to come to a Copics class with me?  Visit www.cmcroad.com to sign up for my last 2 locations of the year!

-CMC Copic Class 5 is up for pre-registration now HERE!  You can read the class description there—it is the largest of my online Copic classes and it is also my last one sadly but I jammed packed it with lots of fun stuff and some surprises that you won’t know about until it debuts   But if you sign up now before Nov.5th you get a bit of a discount—class invites will be sent out after Nov.5th!!

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Card Drive for Kids with Spina-Bifida

Join us for a Card Drive for Kids with Spina Bifida blog hop! Members of Gina K.'s Design Team have come together to host a hop where we will share with you cards we created for some very special kids! You can find more details on this special cause over at StampTV.

If you came from Theresa Momber’s awesome blog you're at the right place. If not make sure to head over to StampTV where you will find a list of all those participating in today's hop and more information on the card drive.  Create a card and CHEER a child up that may need some extra sunshine in their lives!  If you do you will be entered to win so head over to StampTV to find out how to participate!

I was thrilled to create a card for such a fabulous cause and I chose to create my card for Tanner who is celebrating his 3rd birthday in December—you can read his story HERE!  I used an oldie but goodie—in fact this was one of the first Gina K sets I ever bought a few years ago.  This is cute seal is from “Jumping for Joy” illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger.  I used some papers from my scrap pile in all boy colors that were bright and happy and used a circus-star theme.  The border was done with a MS border punch and the stars are done with my SU star punches and then I topped them with some red buttons.  The Gina K lipstick-red cardstock was embossed with a CB embossing folder “Polka Dots” and then I added rhinestones to bling it up just a bit.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

365 Cards Challenge (color challenge--pp has the green lol)

Forever Friends Challenge (anything goes but w/ animals)

KB CUte Monday Challenge (anything goes)

Stamptacular Sunday (anything goes)

And yep he got colored up with Copics (C grays) and then perched him on his fun circus stand (R24,R22,R20 & B37,B34,B32) and added stickles for some sparkle.  The seal got a thick coat of Crystal Lacquer to make him look nice & shiny!

I sure hope this brings little Tanner a smile when he opens it and maybe bring some rainbows into his day!  I also hope you all will make a card for one of these sweet children and cause someone to smile

Now you need to head on over to 

Melanie Muenchinger’s beautiful blog

to see what she's sharing with you today!

Feelin’ Better?!!

Hello friends and a Happy Monday to ya!  The weather was beautiful this weekend in Virginia thankfully.  We all had a fantastic weekend and it was highly enjoyable.  I went to Alexa’s Pep Rally on Friday afternoon and watched the cheerleaders do a few fun routines but the Senior Powder Puff Boys get the prize for their hilarious dance routine—I was ROLLING! (let’s just say big football guys in booty shorts doing a Beyonce dance is always a funny show) Friday night hubby and I sold football tickets for the high school football game with another couple who we are friends with (thankfully we were in a booth out of the wind lol). And YAYYYY our football team won it’s Homecoming Game so it was a great way to start the weekend.  Then my mom came up on Saturday and we spent the day prepping Alexa for the dance, LOL!  We got her hair done which turned out beautiful, the girl did a fantastic job turning Alexa’s vision out on her PIN STRAIGHT hair LOL.  Then I did her makeup like always—no department store makeup counters for her—I used to work for Lancome & Clinique as a makeup artist a looong time ago.  So I do her makeup with mineral makeup to keep it natural—she has gorgeous skin so why cover that up KWIM? (she normally only wears eyeliner & mascara everyday so to put a clown face of makeup on her is just funky)  Then she got dressed and transformed into a beautiful princes---totally stunning, freaked me out a bit as to how old she suddenly looked but I guess they all grow up huh?  Hubby, me and my mom took her to a friend’s house where the large group of 17 kids were meeting for dinner—all the kids brought a dish or two and the parents got to take video & pictures (yayy).  So I have a ton of pics below in the slideshow for you if you want to take a peek.  I’m really proud of this group of kids—they all have brilliant grades in school & take it seriously and they are all in a sport or other club at school.  Good kids and they were all looking fabulous.  Alexa had a “date” this year so she was both excited AND nervous, LOL, but he was really sweet and got her a hand-corsage in their high school colors.  After the dance they all returned to the same house for a bonfire, sweets and afterparty—then the girls all had a sleepover.  Riley meanwhile went to the Capitals Hockey Game Saturday night with friends—so Mom & Dad didn’t get to bed until 2 am.  So Sunday was pajammy day, football day and hang around the house day for us ALL! LOL—but lots of good memories were made this weekend! **And oh yeah I was on my BEST BEHAVIOR LOL, I only did a few things to embarrass her hee hee**

NewsBitz:

-I have a few spots open for my Copic classes in San Jose, CA this coming weekend--if you'd like to come.  Go to www.cmcroad.com for more details!


-Hmmm maybe some non-calorie blog candy below for ya ;)


Slideshow Below (if you get this by subscription you need to come to my blog HERE to see it):

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Somebody Need a Doctor???

Today the Magnolia-licious DT is having a super fun Blog Hop that we are describing a bit like this “We have "Only One Life to Live" "As The World Turns" at the "General Hospital" with the "Young and Restless" featuring Nurse Tilda & Dr. Edwin!”.  So some of the projects are a bit more Soap Opera-themed LOL!!  

Dr. Edwin is a Limited Edition Stamp at Magnolia-licious so snap him up now while you still can!

Basically the team all used either Nurse Tilda and Dr.Edwin or both (in either large or mini styles) from Magnolia-licious for their projects today!  I decided to create a Get-Well Set with my mini Magnolia stamps since I haven’t made one in awhile and sooo many people around here seem to be sick lately.  So I have a jar of soup that I decorated and a Feel Better Kit using both stamps!  You can find out all the details on the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog HERE!




I started making these Feel Better Kits a few years ago after seeing them on a blog—I tried to link the lady’s blog that originated the idea but she no longer has her blog online They are super easy to make and I have also made them with a closure tab to change it up a bit too.  So basically you only need a piece of cardstock measuring 3.5x10” and then score it at the 4.5” and 5.5” marks.  Then it fits a pack of travel tissues, a Chapstick (or other lip moisturizer) and a throat lozenger.  I used Mini-Nurse Tilda #307 (see larger size Nurse Tilda here) both from Magnolia-licious, on the front of this kit and colored her in more vintage colors to match the papers—E44,E43,E42,E41,E40 / E29,E31,E50 / E11,E00 / R29,R24,R22,R20.  I distressed the papers with my Zutter Distress machine and inks.  The sentiment is from PTI and then I used my Spellbinders dies to cut my mats out.  Finished off with a bow and button treatment for some fun.

Then to go along with it I have a jar of soup (nope not homemade sorry, I was too tired to do that LOL).  I used my Spellbinders again to cut mats out for the jar top and then added cute Mini Dr. Edwin from Magnolia-licious (he comes in regular size too).  The sentiment on the tag on the front is from Gina K and I anchored it with matching red buttons.  Just a fun Feel Better Set for someone who’s not feeling so good and cheer them up a bit!

Want some Blog Candy?  I haven't had any in awhile hmmm...so let's give away 2 Magnolia Stamps of your choice, a pack of Cryogen Cardstock and 2 Copics of your choice!! 

Just tell me "What soothes you the most when you are sick--what makes you feel better?"

Leave a comment by Friday, Oct 21st here on this post to enter!

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Now you need to continue on the Blog Hop to my friend Sharon Caudle’s Beautiful Blog!  

Have fun on your hop and finish up at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog! 

Buzzinnnn’ with Joy!!

Well hello and a very happy Thursday to you all!  It is raining again but that is a-ok as long as it clears out by tomorrow evening for the weekend!  Tomorrow night hubby and I have to take tickets for the first half of the Homecoming football game and then we can go and watch the 2nd half. Everyone that has a student athlete has to volunteer and I’m not really into the Concession Stand anymore LOL—I got assigned the dumb fryer ONE too many times and I hate it!  So we got ticket taking which is fine with me hee hee.

Today I have work to do, errands to run and then I’m having lunch with a good friend that I haven’t caught up with in awhile—this summer was just crazy and I feel bad we haven’t gotten together.  So it will be fun and we are going to a fave restaurant of mine that my hubby doesn’t care for LOL.  He’s not a big seafood guy and you all know I would eat it everyday soooooo my friend is like me and we usually eat the same things at restaurants LOL so it will be fun!  Get out of the house for a bit, change of scenery will do me good.  Then the homecoming fun starts tomorrow and thru the weekend!  Then I am off to San Jose, CA for the weekend to teach and see some sites in San Francisco—I’m sooo excited, I cannot wait.  I have had the Golden Gate Bridge on my Bucket List for a very long time, I’m giddy with excitement (I know, I know it’s a bridge but still).  And yep I’m sure I’ll have some travel stories LMBO—hopefully nothing too scary hee hee!

NewsBitz:

-Want to take a Copics Class with meeee? LOL!  I will be in San Jose, CA next weekend and then Bloomington, IL in November!  I'd love to meet you!  All info is at www.cmcroad.com !

-7 Kids College Fund has new goodies up!  Cute, new SWALK stamps here, Sew Ribbon tools and new La La Land stamps!

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Buzzinnnn’ with Joy!!

Ok this little cutie is sure to clear out any dreariness in your day today!  Isn’t she a cutie-patootie?  This is a stamp by Sylvia Zet for SCACD and her name is “Loli & Shellie”.  I love using black in my projects—it always makes such a statement whether funky fun or elegant.  Even though I used bumble-bee colors I wanted it to be more elegant than funky and perfect for any occasion which is why I left off a sentiment from the front!

I’m entering this into the following challenges today:

Top Tip Tuesday (designer papers)

Craft Your Passion (any occasion)

Woodware USA (anything goes)

Cutie Pie Challenge (Bingo—mine is glitter, flowers,p.paper)

The Pink Elephant Challenge (photo inspiration)

The papers I used are by Authentique in “Blissful” and I love the black, grays and yellows in this paper pad—such a great color combo.  Those fabulous borders were done with some awesome exclusive dies from Scrap Happy Ohio, she has some beautiful ones and yep you can buy them at her online store! I love the delicacy of this die and all those lil’ holes in each scallop popped out easily too.  The scrolls are by Cherry Lynn Designs and the flowers I just stacked some Primas together.  The lil butterfly is an embelly that I got a few CHA’s ago in a craft booth—I forgot I had them LMBO (that is not surprising if you see the state of my studio right now, ugh)!




Little Loli and her friend was colored with Copics – YR23,Y18,Y11,Y000 / C9,C7,C5,C3,C1 / E11,E00,R20 / YG67,YG03,G11.  I added stickles to her headband and tulips (I love tulips) and then on the cute snail I added Diamond Glaze to her shell and then sprinkled Glamour Dust sparkles in it (they suspend in the liquid—so cool).



So hope this cheered you and brought a smile to your face today   See you back here soon!  Have a fabulous day!