Getting’ Saucy!!

Helllloooo my friends and Happy Sunday!  I’m enjoying a relaxing weekend watching the Olympics, grilling and doing some drawing in my sketchbooks.  I have a busy week ahead so I’m enjoying the down time while I can LOL.  But I have a bajillion things going on of course…it wouldn’t be normal if I didn’t…I’m gonna read, gonna grill and make some Hershey-Cream-Cheese Brownies (nom nom), got my supplies to start canning and make some pickles, jams and apple butter, sketching, gardening and watchin’ Olympics.  How about those US Olympic outfits…me no likey..I get they were modeled after the 40’s Olympics but hey let’s modernize a bit..no berets…we aren’t French…let’s have baseball hats and ditch the bobby socks and shoes PLEASE ugh!  Like someone said on my FB wall discussion…they looked like flight attendants or should be on The Love Boat LMBO   We are HUGE Sports fans in the Dean household so the Olympics are on all the time.  Thursday night our family room 55” tv DIES…OMG are you kidding me…the NIGHT before the Olympics?  We have tvs in a few other rooms and a HUGE 80” tv in our basement rec-room (I refuse to watch sports on it cuz I feel like they are life size & it makes me a bit sick LOL) but I watch most tv in the family rm KWIM…the tv that died was 12 years old so it had a good life.  So Friday I went shopping with hubby for a tv…oy vey..I’m a girl that just likes a good picture, no gadgets, simple color tv…hubby, well not so much.  So we came home with a 55” Samsung Smart TV top of the line of course hahahaha but I will say the LED picture is very nice but we were in the store soooooo long I finally sat down and played games on my phone!  So we are set for the Olympics now and enjoying them! 

Ok…so I love a good book, a good story, a good movie, good music, etc!  If you love a great human-interest story read this HERE about a German couple who have traveled the world for 23 years in the same vehicle.  Seriously cool and makes me go hmmmm I think I’d like to do that for awhile.  For books…read the All Saints trilogy, the first book is Discovery of Witches and the 2nd one is Shadow of Night…oh so good, can’t wait for the last one.  Music…check out my boys Florida Georgia Line HERE (I love their song Get Your Shine On), I’ve known them for a bit and they are AWESOME!  And for movies, well the family and I are going to see “The Watch” with Vince Vaughn tonight…hahahaha..I can’t wait!  Those are Suzanne’s recommendations for ya hahahaha!

NewsBitz:

-Pre-register for my “All About Hair” online class at the CMC Classroom if you need some help with hair, we will do many types and colors!!  Read more HERE!  All other classes at CMC are on SALE thru Aug 24th.

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Ohhhhh La La La---Tongue In Cheek!!

So today is my Dare to Get Dirty Challenge over at Splitcoast stampers here…I was lucky enough to be a Dirty Girl on the Dirty Dozen team a couple of years ago.  So to thank fan club members every year the Dirty Girl Alumni host a week of fun challenges where you can win some super-awesome prizes from your favorite craft companies and stores!!  If you aren’t a fan club member you can see how to join HERE…and then hop on over to my challenge today and join in on the fun.  I can’t say what the challenge is…but it has something to do with a CERTAIN POPULAR BOOK LOL (I did read half of it in the interest of seeing what all the hype was about but it truly wasn’t my thing, I need a better storyline but I see the appeal <wink>).

I HAD to do this image..it was too perfect…a little fun and a little naughty!! (perhaps a card for my hubby’s anniversary hmmm? hahahaha)  Not my usual mode but sometime you just gotta switch it up, put your tongue in your cheek and laugh a little…that’s what I did and it was FUN!!  The digi image is by Saturated Canary called “Grey Tie” and I used a mix of Copics and TouchTwin markers to color it.  The sentiment is by Verve Stamps (hahaha perfect me thinks), papers are a mix from MME and Kaisercraft and buttons by PTI!

She was colored with Copics and TouchTwin markers – Copics C9,C5,C3,C1/E11,E00 and TouchTwin R1,R2,RP9 / BR104,BR95(eyes).  I added some Stickles to the whites of her eyes and bottoms for fun.  A Black Spica pen on some of her hair for a hint of subtle sparkle in her hair.

Hope you enjoyed my “tongue in cheek” fun for today…and hop over to SCS and join in on all the fun with us ok!!!

Xmas in July!!

Happy Thursday everyone!  I am running in a million directions today trying to get a million things done…you know, the usual LOL!  Yesterday Alexa was in the dentist for almost 2 hours…I took my laptop and mobile-wifi so I could work.  Wellllll my mobile wi-fi was missing cuz I forgot I had taken it out of my bag hahahahaha, not a happy girl was I!  So I went next door to my fave Dunkin’ Donuts…how ironic that the dentist is surrounded by a donut shop and a fro-yo place huh? LOL!  So I got me some yummy donuts and yep went into the dentists with my donie box…hey I haven’t had cavities since I was a teen…shocker I know with all the sugar I eat and drink huh   Today Riley has football practice/weight-lifting again and its gear day…so he has to get fitted for all his gear so that means not one…but TWO trips back and forth to the high school since they couldn’t possibly do it all at once…oh no arghhh.  And my kids go to the new highschool…Alexa was the first freshman class to start there 3 years ago and its 15-20 mins away one way across town so its not super close.  So it’s a 40 min drive each time just for one roundtrip…seriously cuts into my day.  I’m hoping to get a carpool going with a few of his friends here in our neighborhood since its dumb for us all to drive each day KWIM.  So its just one of those kinda weeks where I’m trying to cram 30 hours of stuff into each day…dang it, someone needs to invent more time…cuz I’d buy it in truckloads!

Ok so let’s finish up with Travel Horror Story #2….the trip home from CHA! LOL!  My flight left at 1 pm from O’Hare (not my favorite airport for many reasons).  My flight was on one of those new HUGE airbus planes that holds 330+ people..right there that’s a problem…too many dang people LOL!  The plane was brand new, very spacious and I was stuck in the middle of 3 rows, in the middle seat…ugh!  Surrounded by two HUGE college football players OF COURSE…but they were very quiet & polite till I got ‘em goin hee hee!  Everyones on the plane and BOOM…someone seat is broken…plane is now delayed 30 mins so they can fix it…its going downhill and I can feel it.  The plane is going to DC then continuing onto Dubai so 75% of the plane were foreigners..which is FINE…but most did not have a huge grasp on the English language…hence some luggage arguments with the stewardesses.  PEOPLE DO NOT ARGUE with the stewardesses, it delays the plane and will get you kicked off.  OMG I was ready to scream…I WANT TO GO HOMEEEEEE!  I apologized to my seatmates that it was all my fault, I am airplane cursed and we would not be going home in a timely manner.  Finally plane is ready to take off…apparently there are storms along the way so our home airport is delaying flights…another 30 mins sitting on runway…you see where this is going…oh yea.  By this time 6 rows in front of us a 2 year old girl starts screaming…not the joyous, cute kind but the ear-splintering-vicious-mad screaming!  She’s hollering for her mama…where’s her mama?  2 rows in front of ME sitting with her husband with EAR PLUGS and drinking wine…EXCUSE ME…WTH is going on?  The girl is seated with her nanny and the nanny is smacking her butt and yelling…this went on for the WHOLE 2 HOUR FLIGHT OMGGGGGGG!  Her parents never checked on her, never tried to soothe her…nothing.  Everyone on the flight was on edge and I have NEVER EVER wanted to smack someone so hard in my entire life.  What parent does that?  How can you ignore your child?  Seriously my eardrums were blown, I had a migraine and I was ready to attack these people…that’s disgusting to me to ignore your child…let alone the whole FREAKING plane was being disturbed.  I was pretty shocked and nothing really shocks me much.  I have NEVER been so happy to exit a plane…I was running over people to get off LOL!  I am for sure Plane-Cursed, so if you ever get on a flight with me…I’m just a-warnin’ ya now LOL!

NewsBitz:

-Summer Sale at the CMC Classroom is ongoing thru Aug 24th on all classes---stock up now!  Also the online  “All About Hair Class” is up for pre-registration Here and will debut at the end of August!  See the new CMC Classroom Newsletter HERE as well for other fun newsies!

-I’ll be in Ontario Canada in a few weeks teaching at Scrappin’ Great Deals…I have a few spots in each class including the hair class if you want to come.  Those gals are crazy-fun and we always have a good time.  See info on those classes and other locations at www.cmcroad.com !!

-SCACD has all the NEW CHA paper packs in stock, some are holiday themed from Basic Grey, MME and more!  Go HERE to check out the paper-yumminess!

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A July Christmas!!

So if you are feeling the dog days of the hot summer…some frosty Christmas projects should cool you off…for a bit anyway LOL!  The Magnolia-licous DT Challenge this month, hosted by the talented Janiel Corley, is to create a Christmas project using the Magnolia stamps (the DT all used the fab mini-Magnolias from Magnolia-licious ).  You can find all the challenge details at Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog (still time to join in to win a $25 GC to Magnolia-licious—whoot whoot).  I chose “Mini Ice Tilda” for my project cuz’ she’s one of my fave from the collection last year! (she’s available in the reg size here too). Plus its NEVER too early to start on holiday cards…at least if you are me LOL!

I'm entering this into the following fun challenges:

Belli Challenge #148 (Xmas in July)

Crafts & Me Challenge (anything goes)

Pink By Design (Xmas in July)

Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)

Stamp n Doodle (Xmas in July)

Ladybug Crafts Ink Challenge (Xmas in July)

I used some older papers because I love, love hot pink, white and black for some fun holiday cards…a bit different & whimsical!  I used some trusty, old MS snowflake punch and punched out snowflakes from white & black cs…then glued them around the main image to create a fun, frosty background.  The swirls are from a Heartfelt Designs die called “Bella Rose”.  I coated the white snowflakes and around the circle image with my fave MS Snow Glitter and tacky glue.  The sentiment is from PTI stamped with white Pallette ink onto black cs.

Hope you can join in with us and stop by the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog to see challenge details and see what the DT made to get you in a holiday-frosty-mood!

Color Me Fabulous!!

Hi everyone & Happy New Week to ya!  How have you all been?  Been awhile, sorry about that but CHA sucks up every last bit of my energy and then when I get home I have to recoup and spend some time with my family.  So mission accomplished…I got home Thursday evening after a HELL of a plane ride (both to Chicago & home LOL).  Then I vegged in my chair Thursday and on Friday I went to Riley’s Redskin camp to see him play and get him packed up.  He had a blast but was definitely exhausted after a week of super-hot practices 3 times a day.  We went to a local crab shack and has some yummy MD Blue crabs after picking him up and then I believe he passed out in his bed face first…and I was soon to follow LOL!  On Saturday we went to see the Washington Nationals play (awesome game & yes we won) in DC which is always fun.  Then Sunday I took the day off to just read, yep in my chair and just read…I finished the 2nd Discovery of Witches book called “Shadow of Night”, which I HIGHLY recommend as its super good!  I can’t wait for the last, epic-battle third book to come out…sadly it will be at least a year till that happens…sigh!

So my trip out to CHA….well now…I was at the airport by 3:30 am on Monday to find out 15 mins later that my flight was cancelled…oh yeah, bad start to the morning!  Suzanne the Travel-Cursed HAS STRUCK AGAIN!!  Course the line to reschedule a flight is super long so hubby was on his phone, I was on my phone and we managed to get me on a flight to NY an hour after my original flight. Those in line didn’t get to Chicago till 8 pm that night..oy!  Problem was that once I got to NYC they had us sit on the tarmac..the hot tarmac...and sit…and sit…so I was really going to be late at this point.  Apparently the “catering cart” aka the peanuts & water was not on board, so we had to wait…with no air-conditioner and no drinks on the plane while they tried to console us.  I was not consolable at this point…I was HOT TO TROT…lemmee tell ya.  I took a poll of the 30 passengers & marched up the aisle to tell the pilot that no one CARED if we had food and wanted to go—at that point I WANTED to be arrested to get off the plane KWIM.  Everyone on that plane missed their connections, I had to cancel my class and we were sweating our asses off…seriously?  This is the state of airline flying today…makes me wanna smack myself in the face I tell ya…I was not a happy girl AND my iPhone was dying…and that peeved me even more!  I did meet a very nice older man and we conversed while planning our revolt and our appearances on CNN that evening LOL…found out he owns the largest sail-boat and engine company on the East Coast.  Never know when I might wanna buy a boat know what I mean hee hee   So I could’ve driven to Chicago in 12 hours…the same amount of time it took me to fly…its usually a 1.5 hr flight…but it took almost 11 hours for me to get there.  Can you believe it??  Seriously bad..but my awesome taxi-driver Sami made me feel better and we rocked it all the way to the hotel.

So long story short…I had a blast at CHA and I will tell you more stories this week!  The pictures tell a good story themselves though!!
Slideshow of pics (you need to come to my blog to see them):

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Color Me Fabulous

So today I’m sharing a project I did for……wait for it…..my NEW Online CMC Copic Class called “All About Hair” at the Color Me Creative Classroom!  I  have this class up for pre-registration NOW and have it ready to view by late August.  I’m currently shooting the videos and such but I have about 50 hours of work left to do to finish it first.  This is one of the Saturated Canary digi-images I use in the class and she’s called “Color Me Wonderful”.  We will use a myriad of images and do dread-locks, ethnic hair, pixie cuts, pony tails, big hair, boys hair and more in all different hair shades….so if you are fearful of coloring hair on images then you might want to check this out.  We will break it down step by step and get you confident in coloring hair!  AND I will use BOTH Copic and TouchTwin markers in the class…I will have comparison colors up in the registration so you can pick & choose which markers you want to use. So stay tuned!!

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

 Make It Monday (anything goes)

Simon Says Stamp & Show (hey girl)

Stampalot Challenge (crafty passion)

Fat Pages Challenges (anything goes)

Inspire Me Fridays (anything goes)

I used NO designer papers, just cardstock scraps on this card…I had envisioned this card the night before while I was reading my book…so you could say it was inspired by “glaem” (don’t know what that is…read Shadow of Night).  I cut simple strips of cardstock into strips…placed the strips in a starburst pattern on my black cs and taped it in the middle & glued the ends.  Then I added Stickles to some of the strips for sparkle.  The main image I added a black circle (cut with 2 SB dies) on top with dimensionals to focus on the image and create a “world” for her like the sentiment suggests.  The sentiment I created in Word with the Kristen font!  The white swirls were made with a Memory Box border die (Valencia) that I clipped apart to create individual dies and then made sparkly with Stickles.

This image got colored with Shinhan TouchTwin markers (and 1 Copic marker E49).  I added Diamond Glaze to her eyes & markers for shine and some Stickles on her skirt.  I love how Krista draws hair…its both fun and a challenge to figure out how I want to color it and make it flow.  And btw Krista, the artist for Saturated Canary is super sweet and fun to be around….and she’s the same height as me…finally someone that isn’t shorter than me LOL! ** Curious about the TouchTwin markers…head over to my CMC TouchTwin Group HERE to find some resources including a color-comparison chart **

That’s all for me today…I’ll be back this week with some more CHA stories for you!  Stay tuned for the “All About Hair” class at CMC for the pre-registration deal….it will be up by Friday to pre-order.

Pearls of Wisdom!!

Happy Monday my friends!  While you are reading this I will either be at the airport at 4 am or flying in the air to Chicago on my way to another CHA!  So excited to see everyone and see new goodies…always extremely exhausting though.  I call it the CHA Hangover when you get home, you’ve had a great time, you haven’t slept, you probably ate things you usually don’t and your feet and legs feel like they are gonna fall off and you are so tired you can’t see straight…yep that’s a CHA Hangover LOL!  I have pretty much every hour planned with something…working at Angie Hunt’s “Little Darlings Booth (with my friends Ruby, Angie, & Mindy) or coloring with Jeanne Streiff at Impression Obsession with the Shinhan Markers or walking the floor or having meetings.  Then there are the lunches and the pre-dinners, the dinners, then the dessert & drinks each night…oy vey…and somewhere around midnite or 1 am you might be lucky to fall asleep LOL!  But I have NO roomies to keep me up (no snoring, no waking at 3 am…as much as I luv em I found I have to have quiet and some rest or I am miserable & sick)…so I have a corner suite to myself to pass out in every night   I will be posting on Facebook with pictures of people and new products so you can follow along with me there as I probably won’t have any time for a new blog post till I get home!  So if you are gonna be at CHA..come find me…say hello as I’d love to meet you!  And yes let’s all pray that Suzanne has “FEW” travel stories…nice, quiet flights, no meanie TSA agents, no falling, and basically no harming of myself LMBO…that’s right I’m keepin’ it boring this time…..errrrr……I hope….yeah right who am I kiddin’ hahahahahaha!

I’m actually hoping for a QUIET plane ride cuz my family is trying to drive me nuts…literally…well then again when aren’t they.  My son leaves on Tuesday for Redskins football camp (overnight for the week) and between being a nervous wreck that he’ll get hurt and that hubby won’t remember stuff, I’m a ball of nerves.  I have him all packed up and lists for them and went over everything…but what scares me is---that blank look they both give me when I talk.  I’m never sure if anything is getting thru KWIM…it drives me nutters I tell ya!  Then I get told I’m too Type-A and I need to calm down…well I’m so sorry…I am packing for my trip, getting the household in order and doing endless laundry AND getting Riley ready for his camp with NO HELP!  But I’m done…I did everything I could…its now in their hands…god help us all LOL…so let’s hope he gets there with everything and that no one forgets anything.  Mark that up with trying to coordinate Alexa’s schedule of babysitting and such since she’ll be home alone…yeah a teen home alone…not good…so I’ve packed her with stuff to do this week including babysitting LOL.  So I’m BEAT already and I haven’t even made it to CHA yet…this bodes….well it bodes something, not sure what <snort>!  So this Type A mama is off the clock and headed to CHA to see friends, work and have some fun….yahooooooo!!

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Pearls of Wisdom!!

So today the Magnolia-licious DT has a fun Blog Hop planned called “Hip-2-Not-Be-Squared”…so no regular square or rectangular shaped cards allowed. They have to be fun sized and shaped! You can find all the hop details at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog AND how to join in on the fun with us to win!  I chose to use a newer stamp called “Pearl Tilda“ (find the mini version here) and I decided to go all very frilly & feminine with this card…perfect for a lil’ girl or big girl in your life!

BTW…have you see the new Magnolia Turning Leaves stamps that are up for pre-order now at Magnolia-licious?  If not, you better hurry on over cuz they are CA-UTE!!

I cut a clam-shell from my Silhouette Cameo machine out of pink cardstock…the image I used cut a frame and detail-work and then I glued that onto a piece of pink cardstock for more texture…then put both on a regular square card base that I trimmed to match the shell shape.  I inked all the edges for a distressed look and added some pearls and stickles for pretty bling.  I cut a few mats out of cream cardstock with my Spellbinders, embossed both and inked them as well for the background behind the main image. “Pearl Tilda” got mounted on top of a sea of tulle…that I burned with a match, it curls and distresses the tulle and is so MUCH fun to do hahaha!  The swirly scrolls are a Memory Box die that I also inked and added Stickles to.

She got colored with Copics: R20,R21, Colorless Blender/ E11,E00 / YR20,E50,E35 /E44,E43,E42,E40.  Then I stickled her tail-fin, her bikini top and her cute friend’s fins too.  I added a few small pearls to her hair in place of coloring what was drawn there for more bling.

Ok that’s it for me…now you need to hop on over to my fab friend Janiel’s Blog to continue on the hop!!

Wanna Hula with me?

Happy Friday friends…yay its Friday right?  Another fun summer weekend perhaps?  I am busy prepping for CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) and I leave bright & early Monday morning so lots to do before then.  I think hubby & son are headed to Delaware for the day tomorrow to go to an RC Plane show…that’s their big hobby that they share.  James builds the planes and Riley flies them, some are as big as a darn car!  All I gots to say is…hubby NEVER EVER says anything about my craft supplies cuz’ all I gotta do is point out to the garage and he SHUTS right up LOL!  He has a lot more $$ invested than meeee in his hobby stuff, hee hee!  My key to a VERY happy marriage…separate bank accounts….yes sirreeeee!  It’s the key to MY happy marriage anyway, no comments about new shoes, makeup, etc and no one checking in with me to see what I’ve spent.  Now we do have a joint house account but for our “own” stuffs we have our own accounts and we find that it works very nicely!  And if I THINK he should pay for something that I NEED, hee hee, well then I just use his account although he has NO access to mine…but he makes 100x more than me so that’s fair eh? LMBO

So I saw my Luke Bryan last week…OMG it was so hot (yes he was HOT too)…104 degrees for the outside concert…I was so hot that I literally passed out/blacked out a few times but I persevered for Luke but boy was I ill.  He’s so good in concert, we had an awesome time even though I had to go back to my mom’s house to take a COLD shower…and not because he was hot (LOL) but because I was a sticky, sweaty, icky mess…ewwww!  A few pics for ya below to heat your day up!  And NO worries…I’ll see him again next month..oh yeahhhh!  I’m either a really great groupie or perhaps verging on stalker?  Naw I’ll go with a huge fan   I mean there are very few peeps I would stand outside in 104 deg heat and be physically ill but still SHAKE IT hahahahahaha!

For those going to CHA….come seeeee meeeee! LOL!  I will be at my friend Angie Hunt’s “Little Darlings” booth helping out (she’ll be in the new exhibitor area) and I’ll be with Jeanne Streiff at the Impression Obsession booth coloring with the Touch Twin markers.  And I’ll of course be rambling around the floor…you’ll know me cuz I’ll have on heels (yes, yes I wear them always), will have a Coke in one hand and probably tripping and making noise LOL!  But I’d love to meet you!  And there are always large groups of us going to dinner, so you could always tag along or see (or really HEAR) us at dinner time hee hee!

 

NewsBitz:

-Come by to the CMC Challenge and see our current theme “Navy Blues/Dark Blues”…it runs thru next Friday! Make sure to see our fabulous DT projects and our fab sponsor is Sweet ‘n’ Sassy Stamps!! Also the Summer Sale on ALL Classes goes thru Aug. 24th so stock up on ‘em now!!

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Hula Hula!!!

Today I’m sharing a fun, tropical card using a great Saturated Canary digi image called “Ani”…isn’t she a doll? (want some digis…go to Krista’s blog HERE to get a code to save 30% off of your order thru 7/19).  I just love her and since one of my fave places on this earth is Maui, well I’m sayin’ she’s a Maui Luau gal doing the hula for y’all LOL! 

This is also my FIRST challenge card for the Shinhan Touch Twin team which I am happy & proud to say I am now a member of!  The challenge this time is to use the Colorless Blender and a Beachy Theme!!  See the challenge details HERE and join in on the fun with us!

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks (stripes) 

Digi Doodle Shop (summer) 

Paper Crafting Journey (summer) 

 Fab-n-Funky Challenges (summer holiday)

Clear It Out Challenge (yellow) 

Everybody Art Challenge (summer)

So I used some fabby papers from Trimcraft “Boho Chic” (a huge 6x6 paper pad filled with glittery and fab patterns) for a tropical feel.  I used some strips of pp to create a different background.  The fun, frayed grass skirt-like embellie was done with my MS fringe scissors and then I inked the edges for depth.  I used a Marianne Designs vine die to loop in thru the fringe and also inked the edges and added Stickles for sparkle.  The sentiment is from a PTI set!

She got colored with Touch Twin markers…yes they are alcohol markers and work just like Copics and work with them!  If you have Copics already do not despair, I’m not tellin you to switch nor am I.  But I am using these in conjunction with my Copics and teaching how to use them as an alternative…they are fabulous and they offer some color combos that Copic doesn’t.  I have a Touch Twin group at CMC HERE if you want to stop by to see some info, some resources I have including a color comparison chart and soon-to-come videos.  For my Colorless Blender technique I chose to use it as a paintbrush—something I love, love doing.  So for the very palest colors I used my Colorless and touch-tipped to the markers and created a pale color to use on my image.  I added Stickles to her grass skirt, her flower in hair and the lei, some diamond glaze on her eyes for shine.

That’s it for me…I’ll see you here on Monday with a fun Magnolia-licious Blog Hop!!  Have a fun weekend & stay cool!

It’s a Good Life!

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!!

Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

Today the DT is showcasing stamp sets “The Good Life” & “Assorted Greetings”

This fun card was created with the new Gina K set “The Good Life” and what a fun set it is to use…filled with so many great images to create scenes.  My hubby & I are “RV dreamers”…meaning we hope to get an RV once kids are in college and start traveling around when we can.  We go to all the RV shows and know what we want but we know at this point in our lives we have NO TIME to use it LOL so we keep dreaming until that day comes!  So I HAD to use this fun RV camper image for my card and these papers from Authentique's "Carefree" totally inspired the color theme and feel (luv it when paper does that for me).  The foliage is a Spellbinders die that I cut out of dk cream cs and then inked up for a fall-like feel and added Stickles for sparkle.  The sentiment I stamped onto the woodgrain paper and then tied it on with twine for a rustic feeling.

Remember all these stamp sets come in a choice of either clear stamps or rubber!!!!

I had to paper-piece the image a bit (the center panel and those curtains for fun) since it brings more of a whimsical feel to it all!  I added stickles to the windows and crystal lacquer to the wheels.  The image was colored with Copics: R08,R05,R02/E44 thru E40.

The second card uses TWO of the newest sets “Assorted Greetings” (which is the Free with 3 set---buy any 3 sets and get this one for free) and “Pretty Patterns”.  I decided to go a bit CAS and graphic with this one for fun!  I stamped the border pattern at the bottom of the card and on the bottom of the sentiment circle.  I just made a simple mat with some pattern papers and then a belly-band to pull it all together.

That’s it for me today, see you back here on Friday!  Make sure to hop along to see the designers fab projects & leave comments for a chance to WIN!!

• Gina K
• AJ Otto
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Suzanne Dean (that’s me, thanks for stoppin by)
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

I do, I do, I do!!

Hi all & Happy Tuesday!  I have two days of Gina K release projects for you…I will be back later in the week with pictures from the concert (cuz I know you are dying to see my Luke Bryan..yes, yes I know LOL).  I’ll have some other goodies for you too, so make sure to check back later in the week

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

Today we are using two of the new stamp sets“I Do” and “Tropical Nature”

For this card I decided to go neutral and monochromatic and create an elegant wedding card using the new set illustrated by Becky Oehlers called “I Do”!  Lee Murphy has a fun StampTV challenge going on HERE and its for monochromatic projects so go check it out for a fun chance to win too!  I kept my colors to cream, dark cream and white….the patterned paper is from Basic Grey’s “Cappella” paper pad.  And I basically did lots of layers…key to these one tone cards is the texture and layering that gives ‘em interest to make people want to look again.  I embellished with two bands of ribbon, some pearls and Stickles for sparkle.

I stamped two of the images (tux and dress) onto dark cream cardstock with cream ink and then I cut them out.  I added Stickles to the dress and the tie, Crystal Lacquer to his shoes and then I used my white Sharpie Poster Paint Pen to add buttons and pearl necklace.  Behind those images I stamped the wedding rings twice to they were interlocked with cream ink onto light cream cardstock.  Both of the mats were done with Spellbinders dies Labels 13 & 16 (the dark cream mat got embossed with a CB emboss folder, the other cream mat got Stickles around the border).  Just a fun way to play with a few of the images in neutral tones but they each have something to make them special.

The 2nd card was inspired by 50’s vintage travel postcards and my love for Hawaii using “Tropical Nature” illustrated by Theresa Momber.  I have a collection of vintage travel posters and postcards that I keep down in our rec-room, they are so much fun and have beautiful, faded colors!  I used a Marianne Designs die for the leaf foliage cut from green cardstock and then inked with brown ink to distress it a bit.  The pattern papers were from my scrap pile and I distressed the edges of those as well. I stamped the sentiment in white ink directly on my green cardstock (fresh asparagus) and then distressed the edges a bit too for a worn look.

I stamped the main waterfall image onto Kraft cardstock and then colored with Shinhan Touch Twin markers just a bit…when you color on kraft with markers you have to use more vibrant colors or they just fade away into the cardstock.  Then I added stickles to the waterfall and water for sparkle and to accent I used Liquid Applique to create foamy-bubbles that pop up where the waterfall hits.  The waterfalls in Maui are stunning…we hiked to 6 of them and it was something I will always treasure so to me this represents those falls and takes me back (mmmm I wish LOL)!  To distress around the image I used a few of the leaf images lightly in green ink and a distressed-vintage postage stamp in brown ink on the edges.

Alright that’s it for me today…hope you enjoyed the projects and now hop along to the fabulous designers below and leave comments for a chance to WIN!!

• Gina K
• Becky Oehlers – Illustrator I Do!
• Theresa Momber – Illustrator Tropical Nature
• AJ Otto
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (that’s me, thanks for stoppin’ by)
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Monster of a Good Time!!

Hi all and Happy Friday to you!  I am off to my mom’s with the two teens and both doggies today….then this evening we will be front & center for Luke Bryan concert…yahooo..errrr I mean yeeeehawwww right on LOL!  I’m so excited, me wuvs that Lukey boy, yes I do!  And its gonna be a hot night too (not just from the singer…ahem hee hee) but because of the weather…so I cannot wear my new cowboy boots as I don’t want sweat dripping down inside of them LOL.  I’m thinking jean skirt and sandals and cotton top…the cooler the better yay!  So I’ll be doing the cowgirl thing and my son will be fishing and boating with my Dad while me, my mom, my neice & Alexa are at the concert.  Then we’ll head back home on Saturday to my darling hubby who doesn’t mind me drooling over country stars when he’s NOT around!  If you want to see something really cool check out this artist and what she’s drawing to music HERE….super cool!  By the end of 2012 I will have seen Luke Bryan 6 times…that’s not stalkerish is it? bwahahahahaha

I hope you all are staying cool….it is still in the 100’s here with humidity that just sucks the life out of you.  And hoping those that were w/o power from the storms have it back…I know my brother was going on a week w/o power and its gotta SUCK big time!  For those that are going to CHA….well I’m excited cuz its only 9 more days away and YES I will be there…I’m always there…like a dinosaur hahahaha!  So if you are on the way there, look for me and stop by and say HI ok!  Hoping its cooler in Chicago but my luck it won’t be

NewsBitz:

-The SUMMER SALE is still ongoing thru Aug 24th at the CMC Classroom, so if you’ve been wanting to take a class or two now is a great time to get them.  You don’t have to log in them now, you can hold onto the class once you’ve paid until you are ready to start!

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Monster Ball!!

Today I’m sharing a fun birthday card with you that I think would be perfect for a gal or guy…although I made it specifically for a guy LOL!  Do you hate making guy cards?  Here’s an easy tip…leave off the girly embellies like ribbon, flowers and fussy trims and use fun geometric shapes, distressed papers and twine, rope and studded/button trims instead…you can never go wrong with those!  I used a cute monster stamp from SCACD’s new line called “Sweetly Odd Curiosities Collection” and this lil’ one is called “Monster Bash”.  These cute monsters are cute for everyone in your life and the sentiments they come with are perfect too!

I followed my own rules and kept to fun shapes as most of my decorations on my “guy” card and kept the colors fun but manly too! (great for a gal too)  The papers are older Kaisercraft but I love the colors and patterns.  The black cs got embossed with a CB folder for more texture and then I used my circle & pinking Spellbinders dies to create fun mats and rings for my project.

He got colored up with….SURPRISE….Shinhan Touch Twin markers…yes I surely did!  And I highly recommend them too!  I am on the Shinhan Team with some fabulous friends and talented ladies (check out the announcement post today here) and so excited about it as I think these markers are the first ones to really give Copics a run for their money.  The ink is fabulous, they work just like Copics AND they work WITH Copics.  So if you have Copics you can add on to your collection with these Touch Twin Markers or if you are starting out you can get these a bit cheaper than Copics…so something to consider.  I have a Touch Twin Group at the CMC Classroom HERE that you can join…I will have some videos and more resources there by the end of the month for everyone including comparison charts and color combo lists.  And if you need to know more stop by the Shinhan site or Challenge site to find out everything!  I used the following colors on my card: Touch Twins - BG57,G68, Y35,RP196, GY47,GY167, CG9,CG6,CG3,CG1,CG0.5 and Copic BG10.  Find a great selection of Touch Twin Markers at SCACD here too!
Then I added some white dots to his aqua skin for fun and a good coat of Diamond Glaze for shine.  Stickles on some parts of the cake and some of the rings for sparkle..yeah even a guy’s card can sparkle

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your family and friends and STAY COOL!

Land of the Free!!

Happy Tuesday to you all!  Hope you have a fabulous week planned.  I have a FANTABULOUS-WONDERFULLY crazy week ahead of me LOL!  Tomorrow we are heading to DC to see a Nationals baseball game with hubby…his firm has a box (so that means some yummy food and private bathrooms, I luvee that) and hope the weather is good.  Its my first game that I’ve been able to go to this season so I’m looking forward to it…we are huge baseball, football and hockey fans and we can get pretty rowdy hee hee..so hope the co-workers in the box don't mind us!  Then tomorrow is 4th of July here in the US so we are headed BACK into DC to see the stars on the mall (including Javier Colon…my buddy..from The Voice) and then the National Fireworks.  Bonus of having a husband that works for a firm that owns a ton of buildings in DC?  Well we get prime viewing from the top of one of the buildings with an awesome view of the mall…we bring a cooler and chairs and don't have to worry about parking and all that crazy jazz that happens down there on the mall…can’t beat it!  Usually we are in SC for 4th of July so this is first time we’ve been able to see them in DC in awhile and I’m looking forward to it.  Let's hope nothing I or my family does makes the NEWS ok?  mmmmhmmmm LOL...so if you are watching the celebrations on the Mall and you see me...well just keep it to yourself ok...heehee!

Thennnnn to cap off the week I am headed down near my parent’s home in MD with Alexa (my mom & neice too) on Friday to see…..wait for it….come on shake for it…..yes you know….LUKE BRYAN!!  (if you…sadly…shame on you lol..don’t know who he is…well I linked a video for you to see…and drool with me hhahahaha)  Whooooowheeee I’m so excited to see him AGAIN…and guess what (shhhhh don’t tell him)…but I have tix to TWO more of his shows before the end of the year…hahahahaha!  No I’m not a crazed fan…I just appreciate his singing, his songs…..ok ok his looks, his smile, his eyes AND his songs LOL!  Seriously if you like country music then you gotta see him in concert…he puts on a rockin’ show!  I cannot wait….squeeeealllllll

My Luke-y video:

So here’s wishing you an awesome week and weekend! And if you live in or are from the US…then Happy 4th of July to you!

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Lady Liberty

Today I’m sharing a special 4th of July project using some special Magnolia stamps from Magnolia-licious…I’ve used “Liberty Tilda” and “Freedom Background” on my card.  I kept my card very vintage and Americana feeling…I love that look and actually at one of our past homes my rec-room was done all in the Red, White & Blue with primitive Americana decorations.  If you haven’t added these awesome stamps to your collection GO HERE to do that!
 This card is for all of those that sacrifice day in & day out serving and protecting our country---we applaud you and thank you for all that you do and give!

I'm entering this into the following fab challenges:

Incy Wincy Designs (patriotism) 

Made Especially For You (4th of July) 

Make It Monday (anything goes) 

Make It Monday with Kraft (anything w/ kraft cs) 

My Craft Spot (4th of July) 

Paper Playtime (dies + RWB) 

Gingerloft (RWB)
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges (those that r important to us--our armed forces for me) 

I used some scrap papers that are years old, BUT the blue-on-kraft background paper was done with the “Freedom Background” Magnolia stamp..I just stamped it in navy on my kraft cs and distressed with my Zutter and some ink.  SUZ TIP: The banner was created by HAND…yes you do NOT need the banner dies to make this…I just cut out a triangle shape from cs to fit the letter stamps I had on hand (by PTI) and used the first shape as a template to make the rest.  I then inked the edges and punched a small hole in the top of each…then used my bakers twine to link them and tie them off with bows.  My Bakers Twine is red and white…so I inked it so it was more vintage looking with my SU ink..I did the same with my buttons as they were not dark enough.  The star shapes are from SU punches, the swirly die is by Memory Box…the die reminded me of twirly-whirly fireworks fun!!

Liberty Tilda was colored with Copics:  B39,B34,B32 / E11,E00 / R29,R22,R20,W5,E31 / E25,YR23,YR20 / E43,E42,E40 / W5,W3,W1,W0.  Then I added Diamond Glaze to her stone tablet and handle of torch and a few Stickles for sparkle!!

That’s it for me…wishing those in the States a safe and fun holiday week and weekend!  See you back here on Friday!!