A Lil' Elli!!

Hi friends & yay it's Friday!! We had the most beautiful weather yesterday here in Virginia--almost fall-ike (gasp) but I did enjoy it! Hubby and I had a fabulous dinner outside at one of our favorite restaurants and then took the doggies for a late nite walk--I even had to wear a fleece cuz' I was chilly--that NEVER happens in August. Hubby is playing golf today with work people & then we're headed out at 3 pm to do some shopping & dinner! Maybe I can twist his arm that I NEED to go to Michaels, hee hee---if he only knew what I bought online this week, omgoodness! Emma's Paperie got in all the new CHA goodies including all the new My Mind's Eye papers & of course I had to have them ALL along with some containers & 2 Martha Stewart punches, LOL! It was definitely a need in Suzanne's "book" :o)


I just have one pretty project for ya today! I used one of the fabulous new Whiff of Joy "Party Animals" to make a feminine baby card. This is "Fred Celebrating Elephant" but I've made her a girl that I'm calling "Elli", hee hee! As soon as I saw "her" I knew I'd use her for a baby's card--these stamps are so versatile for so many different occasions (invites, baby cards, birthdays, graduations, etc.)!! I colored her with Copics a lil' differently than usual--I left it a little dotty & not blended as well for a water-colored effect so it stayed soft. The layout is this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #98 and all the dp is from Stampin' Up.

I added some swirls that were made with the Spellbinder's "Shapeabilities-Flourish Accents" and accented them with pearls. The sentiment is in another Spellbinders set (that I use a ton) called "Double Ended Tags"--I added pearls to the ends instead of ribbon or brads. The roses are Prima mini roses which I just adore and I added some flower soft to her lil' bouquet. And what girl elephant can go w/o a lil' pink bow around their neck? Too cute!! Hope you like her!!

See ya back here Monday! Have a great weekend!


hugz,

Suzanne

A Birthday Bonanza Blog Candy!

Happy Thursday Friends! Decided to take the day off yesterday just hangin' around with the kids and bein' lazy, hee hee! I realized that there is only 5 more weeks left of summer vacation for them so I've gotta plan some day trips. We're gonna head down to Alexandria this weekend and do the "National Treasure Movie" tour of Mt. Vernon (George Washington's plantation home)--we have annual passes there & we just love it. If you're ever in the area it's a must see for sure--and plan to spend a whole day there! The kids are headed off to my mom's next week for 4 days too--my dad will take Riley fishing & sailing I'm sure, lol! So hubby & I will actually have a few days to ourselves, yippee!! Not sure what we're doing but at least a few dinners out by ourselves for sure!


BLOG CANDY!! I'm giving away the cute Whiff of Joy Stamp below "Bruno Bear w/ Present" and a $20 Gift Certificate to All That Scraps to celebrate my last week as a Guest Designer for them!!

To enter just leave a comment on this post ONLY answering the following question "What is your dream vacation destination & why?" by Sunday, August 2nd at midnite EST!! Winner will be announced Monday morning!! (one comment per person please)
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So today I've got a couple of birthday cards to share with you featuring the new Whiff of Joy "Party Animal" stamps! I love these lil' animals--so many perfect occasions to use them for, any celebration really. This card uses cutie "Bruno Bear w/ Present" --except I'm invisioning him as a "she" today for my card, hee hee. (These stamps are also available for pre-order at 7 Kids College Fund right HERE if you want to order them locally here in the states!)

I followed this week's SCS sketch #239 and fun dp from DCWV's "Pocket Full of Posies"--love the bright colors for a celebration card. The flowers are all Primas w/ Doodlebug glittered brad centers and the sentiment is from PTI's "Mega Mixed Messages" ( a MUST have set IMO)!! I added some diamond stickles to the present and on top of the sentiment for lots of shimmer.

Second card uses "Lou Celebrating Monkey" and I paired him up with some fun dp from Memory Box "Rhubarb Tart"--I liked the fun colors together & kinda jungly looking dp. I created jungle leaves with green Prima flowers that I cut--the green flowers work perfectly for doing this (another fun tip from me, hee hee)!! Just a few stickles on the present & the leaves--the sentiment is from Hero Arts "Thoughtful Messages" (I've had this set forever & use it ALOT)! So there ya have it--2 fun birthday cards to add to the stash (actually they're both for sale on my Etsy site, hee hee)!

Don't forget that Whiff of Joy is having pre-orders for their Fall Stamp Kit featuring 10 Elisabeth Bell images for $36 until August 7th right HERE! It's a fabulous deal!!

I'll see ya back here tomorrow!

hugz,

Suzanne

Birthday Fold-Out!!

Thank GOODNESS its Friday, yes!!!! This has seemed like the longest week evah'!! I'm slowly checking things off my long to-do list that got longer while I was sick, lol---yay me! Now if the weather would get warmer I'd be set! Actually if the US economy could get back on track--we'd all be good, right! I'm hopeful that the times are a changin' for us all---yeah that was totally random but it popped into my head & I had to share :o) LOL

Warning--lots of photos ahead, lol!!!
So I've had this idea floating in my head for a few weeks but between travel, life, sickness, life & blah it was put on the back burner! As soon as I had recieved these cute lil Party Animal images from Whiff of Joy, I knew I wanted to use them together in an accordian fold-out card cuz' they go so well together! If you want to purchase some of these fun images and you're in the US/Canada you can get them HERE!

Not hard to make at all, just time consuming---I used my Nestabilities for all the shapes and stamped out 4 images (cake, mouse, flowers, presents & sentiment). The cs is from PTI & the patterned paper (on backside) is from Memory Box's "Sugar"collection. Basically it all is held together by strips of (PTI) ribbon with a loop at the very top so it can easily be opened or hung up!

These are just close-ups of the cute lil WOJ images---so much fun to color! I also added Shimmerz in pink poinsettia for lots of pretty shimmer.

I left the last block plain so I could fill in a message---the sentiment is WOJ too.

This is the backside of the fold-out card---so it looks pretty from both sides! Just a fun alternative to a regular card--I know I'd like to recieve somethin' like this in the mail :o)

Hope you enjoyed the project today---

Suzanne

California Dreamin'

Happy Saturday everyone! Well, I made it safe & sound to California---the flight was smooth and Marti & I gabbed the whole way which made time pass quicker! Of course I travel across country to see sun & feel warmth and its raining---just my luck, lol! Oh, well! Marti has 2 classes today so I'm heading out to Newport Beach to take some pictures & do a little sight-seeing--see how much trouble I can get into, hee hee! And tonight I'm going to the SCS Cupcake Reception with Diana Crick which I'm really looking forward to---alot of people I am hoping to catch up with will be there! I'll share pictures with ya'll tomorrow for sure!

Well on Thursday the rest of my Whiff of Joy "Party Animals" arrived (the first batch got lost in the mail somewhere) so I had to ink one up before I left! I think this donkey is so stinkin' cute and I just had to make a baby card with it. If you live here in the states you can get this cutie-pie stamp from 7 Kids College Fund. All the dp, cs & ribbon are from Paper Trey Ink--love that polka-dot paper! Very simple card to make, just lots of layers--but I just love how it turned out! The sentiment is from PTI's "Limitless Labels" set.

This close up shows the stickles on her lil' bow & the diamond glaze on the balloons that I added.
I love that these Whiff of Joy stamps can be used for many occasions too--very versatile! Remember if you want to get the Spring Kit from WOJ you have until January 26th to do so---the images by Elisabeth Bell are fabulous, you will not be disappointed trust me :o)

Alrighty I'm off to do my sightseeing & maybe some shopping---well ok, maybe alot of shopping---hee hee! Have a great weekend!

See ya tomorrow,
Suzanne

Love Stuff!!

Happy Monday everyone! Here's to another super busy week, lol! Hope you had an awesome weekend! I got a bunch of stuff done & got to do some relaxin' so I'm happy. I had to work on a project that is being published yesterday and it was sooo stressful that I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack---so much pressure! Anywho, my brain is still recovering so onto my projects & news for today!

I made this Magnolia card a bit ago and I believe the layout was a SCS sketch challenge (?). This is "Tilda with Gingerbread" and I believe I got her from the Swedish site or was a gift from a friend (can you tell I'm having brain-freeze,lol). Anywho, she's from this past Christmas Collection and I think she's perfect for Valentine's Day or anyday that calls for love! Easy peasy card to put together---the dp is Basic Grey's "Blush", the buttons are from Michaels and I used "mint" Shimmerz on the background & her dress. The flower is by Bazzill and these are supercool---they come in white & other fun colors and you can ink them, paint them or stamp on top of them. I inked mine with Memento ink and then painted them with Shimmerz in the mint & pink poinsettia. Finished it off with another heart button tied with my favorite Scrappers Floss! The cute sentiment is from SUINK's "Will You be My Valentine" set!

NOTE: Magnolia-licious has the new Valentine Collection coming in and there are also a few Christmas Magnolia's with hearts that would work wonderfully for Valentines Day too!

WARNING---YOU NEED YOUR SUNGLASSES TO VIEW--LOL!! How's that for a bright birthday card? With all the gray & dreary weather we've been having, I thought I needed some "sun", hee hee! I've had these fun papers from Doodlebug Designs for awhile and wanted to use them on a monochromatic card! This is another fun image from the new "Party Animal" line from Whiff of Joy--this is "Molly Celebrating Sheep", isn't she a cutie-pop! The layout is from last week's Whiff of Joy Challenge Blog--simple and sweet. The corner embellishments are SEI white buttons with glitterdots on top. I added a bunch of stickles to the presents for some extra sparkle too!

Make sure and visit Katharina's blog for a SNEAK PEEK of a new special "SPRING STAMP KIT" that you can now pre-order on the main store site. All 10 of the stamps are by Elisabeth Bell & I assure they are all gorgeous. Whiff of Joy will be offering these kits 4 times a year and they are a GREAT VALUE---10 stamps for $37 and soooooo worth it! You can pre-order today until January 26th---after that date you can no longer order the kit, so if you want it go & order NOW!

See ya tomorrow!
Suzanne

Copics Used: Magnolia card--BG15,BG11,BG10,R24,R22,R21,R20,E33,Y21
WOJ card--Y000,Y11,Y13,Y17,YR00,YR12,YR16,YR17,YR18,C1,C2,C4,R20

Countrytime!!

Happy Saturday everyone! What's everyone up to this weekend? We have a few errands to run and then we are blissfully free---yay!! I'm going to spend some time craftin' and catching up on projects so that maybe I can actually get ahead, lol! Lots of projects & so little time....oh my! And I have a confession for you today------I am a hoarder of "alterable items", there I said it! I have an issue with picking up (many) items always with the good intention of using it--needless to say I have a cupboard full of items, lol! One of my New Year's resolutions is to actually use some of them--so keep on the lookout, ok. So, in that spirit I transformed one of my many "items" for ya today---

I have wood clipboards in many sizes in my cupboard and I really wanted to use this medium sized one. My home is kinda traditional & french country (I love french country)especially my kitchen, so I made this to match my kitchen :o) I had to use this new, fabby "Buttermilk Hen" from the new Karen Lockhart collection cuz' I love roosters & chickens! I painted the back & sides of the clipboard w/ acrylic paint and then attached this yummy dp from Chatterbox with modgepodge. After sanding the edges I inked all around with my Memento brown ink to distress it a bit. The cute hen was colored with Copics and I added a few Distress Stickles in "scattered straw" to the straw, lol!
The sentiment is from PTI's "Mailbox Greetings" and is perfect for this project. I'll probably set this on my kitchen desk but it would be great as a recipe holder too. The cool thing about these clipboards is that they came with a lil' removable stand so you can actually stand it up or hang it! I found mine at Michael's and they were under $2---great gift idea, me thinks!


My second project today uses another new stamp from Whiff of Joy's "party animal" line---I think this lil' mouse is just too cute for words! (If you're here in the states you can buy this lil' guy right here) I used this week's SCS sketch #210 for the layout which was kinda fun & made me step out of my box a little. This fun dp is from K&Co & I've had it for awhile--I love the bright colors! I paired it with matching colors from my Coredinations stash and added some fun scrolls made with this punch to the mix. The sentiment is from SU's "lots of thoughts" set and fit perfectly in this box! A few stickles and some rhinestones & its done---a really fun birthday card!

Make sure and check out Katharina's blog tomorrow for a sneak peek of the new WOJ Elisabeth Bell stamps that are coming out in February. I've seen them all & they are "adorable"--lovee them all!

I will also have some Valentine Blog Candy next week---so make sure and check back :o)

See ya on Monday!

Suzanne

Party Animals!!

Hi everyone!! The weekend is almost here--yippee! We have no special plans so hopefully that means some creative fun time in my craft room for me!! I have lots to get done before my plane trip to CHA in 2 weeks---ackkkkkk! Thankfully I'm flying with my friend Marti cuz' I HATE flying--I'm already dreading it & hopefully I don't scare the pants off of Marti or she won't wanna fly back with me, LOL! I can't wait to meet up with all my cyber-buddies in real life and have some fun! My friend Susana is rooming w/ me for a few days and roaming CHA together to check all the new goodies & I'll be bloggin' about it every nite for you, my friends!!

I FINALLY got my new Whiff of Joy stamps---seems the other package has gotten lost in the mail somewhere between here & Switzerland :o( so Katherina is sending me them again! Darn mail system, lol! Of all the new Party Animal images this is my absolute favorite one of them all---these lil' "Celebrating Foxes"are too fun & cute for words. (Altho' my friend Susana said they were cute "dogs"--lol). If you're here in the states and want to order some of these great stamps visit www.7kidscollegefund.com --Tab will have them all in stock soon for ya!

Now, I colored my "foxes" scientifically correct w/ Copics cuz' I'm anal about that and I googled the colorations of foxes (fyi: they come in browns, reds, grays & white). Actually I could just look out my back windows cuz' we have a HUGE fox roaming the neighborhood (red one) & I'm worried he may have rabies or attack the kids or doggies!

The layout is this week's Mojo Monday sketch which I just love--will use this one again! The sentiment is from SU's "lots of thoughts" set and I used lotsa glitter dots--oh how I lovee them! If you haven't tried them yet you should, lol--they're super glittery, come in lotsa colors and have flat backs so you don't have to punch thru your paper like you do w/ a brad! The fab & fun dp is from My Minds Eye "Tres Jolie" line!

If you haven't stopped by our "Fans of Karen Lockhart" site on PCP yet and entered for our yummy webcandy---you have until Saturday the 10th to do so! And check out the new Lockhart collection here too.

Until tomorrow my friends,
Suzanne