Fall-i-licious!!

Happy Fallish Sunday! So the rain has passed and the sun is finally peeking thru. I think we got over 3 inches of rain yesterday--we definitely needed it, but I can do w/o the stormy weather that came along with it. I guess I'm starting to move out of my summer mood and fall (ha, ha) into autumn!! But I will miss the warm weather--winter and me do not get along!!

I have to tell you one of my dirty little secrets...well it's not really dirty and not really a secret to those who know me well!! I love New Kids on the Block (am I aging myself, hee hee) and have since I was a teen. I was one of those crazy, screaming girls (like today's Jonas Bros. fans...aka my daughter) who had posters all over my walls and went to every concert. My mom was and is the best ever--she waited in many long lines at ungodly hours in the morning to help get me good tix to their concerts and hauled me and my friends around to see them and follow their tour bus around (were we crazy or what). And guess who's going to see their reunion tour next month...ME and my MOM--yippeee (and this time I bought the tix)! I can't wait, alas we'll all be screaming women and moms now, lol!!! BTW, their new album is FANTASTIC--love it and listened to it all day yesterday while I was stamping. It got my mojo flowing! And my Jonas Brother loving daughter actually admitted she liked their new songs--aha, a future convert---ROFL!!!! BTW, this is not my "other" secret--that will be revealed tomorrow.

Ok, onto my cards as I've blabbed enuff about my obssessions (did I mention I'm also addicted to Cherry Coke, oh well that's a whole 'nother post, hee hee). Being in a fallish mood both of my cards today reflect that in case ya didn't notice--oh my, someone slap me cuz' I'm slaphappy!!


The first card uses a new Magnolia stamp that I got and I believe she's called "Tilda in Falling Leaves". If you are interested in buying any of these stamps you can contact Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca for ordering information. Her new webshop, Magnolia-licious will be ready to go in just a few days--how exciting is that!! I used some new dp from Memory Box called "Twiggy". I couldn't help but to paper piece her sweater w/ some of the dp. I colored her w/ Copics and used my nesties to cut out the circle and scallop circle frames. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado and I used my fall leaf punch to punch out leaves and attach them around the card. A few stickles here and there and some raffia tied around completes the fall scene. Do you like?


The second card is using one of the new Whiff of Joy stamps called "Willow with Cookies"---isn't she just the prettiest lil chef? I never look this good when baking--ha ha! This yummo-licious dp is from a new company called Black Market (not BM you party people & you know who I'm talkin' about, lol). This particular pack is called "rhythm" and I lovee it. Of course I got all of them cuz' I'm a paper addict, and ha ha that's the store I got it from :) You can get it from The Paper Addict or Gina K--it comes in 6x6 packs so make sure and check it out! She's colored w/ Copics of course and the rest of the card is just lots of layering. I used flowers from Prima and the ribbon and cs are from PTI. The sentiment is from Verve Stamps "Feeling Groovy" set--I lovee this set so much!!

Alrighty, enough outta me--go enjoy your day doing whatever it is that pleases ya! I have errands to run and get done.

Until tomorrow...
Suzanne

Schoolgirl Crush!!

Happy TGIF and Happy Labor Day Weekend--yippee! I hope you all have some fun planned for your holiday weekend. If the weather is nice we will spend some time at the pool for sure, but no big plans other than that. We have to finish getting school supplies for my daughter, because for some reason the middle school waits until today to send them out--aghhh! Just as an update, the other day when I took my two "lovely" children school shopping I seriously thought that I might have to leave them by the side of the road. Bicker, bicker, argue, whine....I thought my head would explode & by the time I got home it felt like it too. Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids to death but shopping w/ them is TORTURE--especially if they have to try anything on or wait (omgosh--the horrors) for their sibling to try something on. This is why I buy tons of everything so that I won't have to experience that (hopefully) again for awhile!!! LOL!

I'm sorry to report that I'm delaying the rest of the tutorial until next Tuesday. I ran out of sunlight today before I was finished w/ the card and I hate taking pictures w/o natural daylight. I know many of you will be going away or celebrating this weekend, so I will wait to post it until next week.

Instead I'm posting a card I made with my brand spankin' new stamps that arrived yesterday from Diana Crick (you can order them by contacting her at magnolia.us@shaw.ca). I could NOT wait to ink these cuties up. I used 3 Magnolia stamps--Cherry Tilda, Edwin with Glasses and the Ruler. When I saw this lil' Edwin with his glasses on I knew I had to have him--he looks just like my son. Of course my son HATES his glasses but I think he looks cute in them. Next year he'll be getting contacts, just in time for middle school (oh no, my baby) but he'll be really happy.

How cute do these two look sitting next to each other on their ruler? All I could think of was those cute, innocent crushes kids have on each other when they're young. And this sentiment from Verve Stamp's "Feeling Groovy" set was too perfect! The awesome dp is from Cosmo Cricket--I love the blackboard paper behind them and the argyle paper matched Edwin's sweater so perfectly too. All of the images are colored with Copics, a few stickles on the cherries and diamond glaze on Edwin's glasses. I really love how this one turned out! Hope you like it too!

If you haven't checked out the new Heavenly and Travel Magnolia collection make sure you do--you're bound to love them! If you're a member of the Magnolia-licious Yahoo Group you can see Diana's inventory on file, if not you can look at them here. Diana's webstore will be up and running real soon---can't wait!!

I will be back to post at least once this weekend--I plan on spending alot of time hanging out and relaxing with my family before school begins on Tuesday. Hope you all have a safe and fun weekend!!

Suzanne

Boo-Boo Edwin!

Good Tuesday Morning! I'm posting early today, because I'm planning on spending a good portion of our day at the pool with the kids. I need to work on my tan (he he) some more and actually finish the book I started 3 weeks ago!! I'd like to say I actually finished a book this summer-lol! Usually I read alot, but I've been spending tons of time in my craft room so I don't read as much as I used to. The great thing about having kids that are 10 & 12 is that they don't need me in the pool hovering over them, so I'm free to read and chat with friends. Love that! We're also going out for girl's nite again tomorrow nite, so I'm looking forward to some more laughs and just chilling out! Don't we all need that every now & then?


Ok, I made my first Edwin card yesterday--yeah!!! I have quite a few Edwin stamps but had yet to ink any up for a card (gasp)...I love these Magnolia stamps so much. They are so fun to color and cut out or paper piece. Remember if you're looking to order some of these adorable stamps for yourself, you can contact Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca and place an order. You can also join the Yahoo Magnolia-licious group (located on my sidebar)--it's a great group for ideas, inspiration and support! She's also taking pre-orders for the new fall Magnolia stamps--omg, I think I pre-ordered them all...LOL...you might be laughin', but my checkbook sure isn't!!! :)


I call this image Boo-Boo Edwin--he's so cute with his lil' band-aids--reminds me of my son so I'm calling this card "Ode to Riley" (my ds)!! He's always getting into scrapes and banged up; we should buy stock in bandages I think-lol! This sketch is from the Tilda & Co. challenge blog for this week. Pretty simple sketch that you can interpret in many ways--very versatile. I stamped both Edwin and the stone wall and then colored them with Copics and cut out (these are 2 separate stamps). The dp is from Basic Grey's "Cupcake" 6x6 paper pad. I paired it w/ some SU cs and just layered away. I stamped the 3 clouds (also from Magnolia) and popped them up with dimensionals--I also added stickles to the edges. The little caterpillar is from PTI's "pond life" stamp set--I stamped it and then added shadow to it with my Copics and then cut it out. I glued this lil' guy to the wall and added stickles to him for sparkle (gotta love those stickles). I had to add a buggy creature because my son is obsessed with all those creepy crawly things--yuck!! The stone wall and Edwin are popped up with dimensionals for a 3-D look--I hate flat images on my cards, dimension is so much fun.

The sentiment is from Verve Stamps "Feeling Groovy" which has song lyrics for sentiments--so fun!! I stamped it onto the yellow cs w/ SU's bashful blue ink. For a final touch I added Basic Grey brads to the corners--I didn't want this card fussy since it features a boy. My son gave it his stamp of approval--which is saying something-lol!!


Hope ya like it! Enjoy your day & I'll see ya tomorrow--
Suzanne

PS--I will start adding what size my cards are to the end of each post from now on. A few people have asked for a Copic list too--I will try and do that on some of my posts--I always use so many, that it's sometime a pain to list, but I'll try!! This card is 5.5 x 5.5 btw!!

Real Life Grind and Blog Candy!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am back from my too short vacay! We had a good time just hangin' out in Snowshoe, WV. I love to get away, but boy do I hate coming back to the "real life grind" as I like to call it. Ya know, laundry, grocery shopping and kids activities to run and do--there's no adjustment period when you get back from a trip, its just smack dab back into the middle of it all!! Oh, well at least its still summertime and I did manage to sneak a lil' time in the craft room, although my mojo was running slow today--it needs to get back up to speed-lol! Just a few more pics of our vacation above:

-my son Riley hangin' out in the hammock (that's some real downtime)

-Alexa & Riley w/ their cousin Jenna doing their version of "Charlies Angels"

-lookout tower at Droop Mountain State Park

-picture of my blog candy (see end of post)

Ok, my card today uses Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch #46 for this week. The only change I made was to move the sentiment off-center. I used another Magnolia stamp that I got from Diana Crick whom you can contact here at magnolia.us@shaw.ca to order Magnolia stamps from--I can't wait until her new online store is up & running. I really like this stamp because it reminds me of when I was little hanging out on the pier with my feet dangling in the Chesapeake Bay either fishin' or catching crabs--good times I tell ya! The dp is from Crate Paper (Sweet Branch Collection-Cherish) and I paired it with PTI's summer sunrise & lavender moon cs--I love the bright pop of the goldish yellow in this card (Enabler alert--Paper Trey Ink released all their new stamps for the month along with their new, yummy chocolate brown color cs, dp & ribbons--I've ordered mine, have you?). I used my new Martha Stewart ribbon slot punch (that I've been looking for forevah & they finally got in stock online) and laced my ribbon from Michaels thru and tied it off. Tilda is colored with Copics and her wings have diamond stickles on them. The background I colored with my twinkling H2O's for a real light shimmer. The sentiment is from Verve Stamp's "feeling groovy" set that I had won awhile back--it has song lyric sentiments on it & is so fun! Too finish it off I added MM brads in the corners and used my Ranger Inkssentials pen to make dots around the scalloped circle to match the ribbon. Not too hard of a card to put together I think--I'm working on more projects for this week so stay tuned!!

***Blog Candy*** I'm over 5,000 hits thanks to all of you who read and leave me so much nice feedback. So to celebrate I'm giving away blog candy that I know you'll love! It includes (picture of it all above):

-1 Sweet Ebony/Sugar Nellie stamp (flowers)

-2 spools of ribbon

-1 Cropper Hopper ribbon spool drawer

-1 6x6 pad of dp by Making Memories

-1 bottle of brads from Queen&Co.

-1 travel scrapbook (that you can alter)

-10 stamped Magnolia images

All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post by Friday at 11pm (EST) telling me "how long does it take you to finish a card/project on average?" No rhyme or reason, I'm just curious for curiosity's sake!! Please make sure your comments are not anonymous so in case you win I can contact you--I will randomly pick & announce the winner on Saturday afternoon. If you link my blog candy announcement to your blog you'll get an extra entry (just let me know if you do in your comment) Thanks for playing!!

Suzanne

Magnolia stamp, nestabilities, Inkssentials pen, MM brads, dp by Crate Paper, cs by PTI, sentiment from Verve Stamps "feeling groovy", Michaels ribbon, Martha Stewart ribbon slot punch, Twinkling H2O's, Copics, dimensionals, diamond stickles