A Little Smile to Get By!!

Hello and Happy Tuesday to you all!  Hope you all had a great weekend…I know it was beautiful weather here in VA and up in CT.  I have to say though I got up on Saturday in CT and walked outside…and SAW MY BREATH in the air…ummm I don’t like that so much LOL.  Too cold for me although it was sunny and in the 70’s during the day.  A big thanks to Debby for hosting me at her awesome store “Inspiration Station” in Stafford Springs.  I had a blast with all the ladies, my roomie Allison and our 3rd musketeer Nancy!  The leaves in CT are already changing and I’m sure the trees will be beautiful in another week or so.  I also learned a new word while I was in CT…”Leaf Peepers” LMBO…I had NEVER heard that, ever!  I mean we have gorgeous fall trees here in VA and in the Shenandoah Mtns and Skyline Drive is popular in the fall here but we never call people that go to look at the foliage “leaf peepers” hahahahaha I love it!  Tis’ my new fall word to use….leaf peepers….what? you are going leaf peeping?  hee hee things like that make me SMILE   I’m all about having things to smile about…sometimes its just that one small thing in that particular day that changes everything.  And we ALL have days like that KWIM.  I always try to remember that whenever I’m dealing with someone even if they are difficult or being obnoxious or mean.  (does not include those that are ugly and mean for a reason…then I’m gonna go bat-to-bat with ya lol).  I figure maybe they just needed that one person to smile or say something nice.  So if you flick me off while driving, I’m gonna smile and wave at you.  If you are a nasty salesperson that hates their job and takes it out on me, I’m gonna say Have a great day!  I’m obnoxious like that LOL but I always say I will not allow ANYONE to let their unhappiness or nastiness invade my mood or change me…nooooo way.  And by responding nicely I know I did what I could and I can look in the mirror and be happy about it.  I’m not saying it happens 110% of the time but at least 90% of the time I am the BIGGER person, I am the HAPPIER person and if you don’t like it….well…sorry….can’t help you there LOL!  And we all know that in our lifetimes we have people that cross our paths that are there to test us…push us to the limit…and the only way we WIN is by choosing to not reciprocate their ugliness.  Put kindness out, and kindness comes back to you in many different ways…put nastiness out there and invite it back in --its the motto I live by.  So yeah you may TRY to rain on my sunshine parade but sorry…I didn’t invite you…you’re kicked out…and guess what…yep…I’m still SMILIN’

NewsBitz:

-The CMC Challenge Group has a fun “fall colors theme” challenge and you can join in until this Friday at 6 pm EST!  You can win a great prize from our sponsor AND get entered to win the monthly $50 GC from Oozak.com.  So hop on over and join in on the fun!!

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Sendin’ a Smile!!

Today I’m sharing a card I made just because…just because I wanted to use these new red papers by Bazzill Basics (this pad is all reds but it comes in other colors HERE & 10% off too) and because I wanted to share some smiles with all my friends.  It really is a card LOL…in the pic the backside of the card in white doesn’t show up much ugh for some reason.  I adore this sentiment “If you don’t have Smile, I’ll give you one of Mine”..beautiful!

The sentiment is from Verve set…its older but a fave of mine!  I distressed all my papers with my Zutter Distress machine and the embossing was done with a Couture Creations folder called “Fireflies” (these are 5x7 folders and they emboss deeply which I love).  The die behind the sentiment is from Memory Box called “Quinn Flourish”…I love the swirly shape of it and these dies cut beautifully too.  Some ribbon tied with my Bow Easy, button, and pearls finish it off.

I accented the sentiment with red Copic R29 and Stickles for some sparkle.  I used R24 and R22 to shade around the sentiment frame as well. 

That’s all for me today, hope this made ya smile and I wish you a wonderful day!!

Remember the Moments...........!

Hello friends & Happy Monday to you all!  How did ya'll enjoy that Superbowl last night----AWESOME right??  Lovin' me those Cheese Heads Green Bay Packers cuz' I DON'T like those Steelers so much (pleeez don't hurt me 'kay)!  Great game--down to the wire, the best kind!  AND Best half time in years---I loveeee me those Black Eyed Peas, Slash & Usher--they really rocked the house!  I was dancing & singing......much to the embarassment of my kids and their friends, LOL!  But of course the commercials are what get me laughing everytime---the Dorito's commercial (see below) was my fave LOL moment but grosser-out at the same time.  Whoever thinks that stuff THINKS JUST LIKE ME, ha ha ha---my brain is strange like that so I LOVE it when I see others who think the same way, LOL!  Cracked me up!  And then it was followed by Glee---gotta love that right?  Great night!  I am working (camped out) all day in my studio working on about 10 projects at once, lol, let's see how much I can finish up today.

Superbowl Commercial:

NewsBitz:

-Magnolia-licious has NEW Mini-Magnolias in stock at the store!  So many more awesome lil's to play & color with.  I just love them!  I will have a fun Magnolia project for ya'll on Wednesday!

-Looks like I'll be in San Diego the end of this month---IF you are interested in taking a Copic class from me on Thursday, Feb.24th while I'm there or maybe Wed. night possibly.  Email me if you might be interested--if enough of you are I'll teach a copic class for ya'll and it'll be FUNNNN! LOL!

-The Color Me Creative Classroom is getting ready to celebrate it's 1 Year Anniversary---stay tuned for lots of contests, parties and fun-goings-on there in March!!  While you are waiting come join our CMC Challenge Group (all are welcome) to test out those mad copic skillz you have, win some prizes and just have fun!

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Moments!

Today I'm sharing a card I did while on term for the Dirty Dozen Team for SCS last year.  This sentiment (by Verve) is my favorite sentiment of all times.  I have this on one of my bedroom walls---I think it's just beautiful and says everything!  You can find this Verve set HERE---it has lots of lovelies on it.

I don't remember the name of the paper I used but it was by K&Co.--I loved the soft taupes and greens in this card, very soothing.  Perfect card for someone special in your life.  The trim was done with a MS border punch and the matting behind the sentiment was done with a SB's pendant die.  I decorated it all up with some Prima roses, pearls and Pearl Swirls.  That large beautiful flower is by Prima as well and I love the sugary glitter topping it--so gorgeous and realistic looking.

I added some stardust Stickles around the sentiment as well for a little extra bling!  This shows you how you can take a pretty sentiment and decorate around it to really showcase it---makes for a nice card you think?  Not so hard either :)

See ya back here tomorrow for a fun blog hop.............stay tuned for that!

Simple Pleasures!!

Hello friends & Happy Half-Way thru the week, hee hee! Oh my, am I tired and wishin' it was Friday already. Riley had his dr's appt yesterday & we had to be outta the house by 6:15 am for the long drive in rush-hour traffic. At least we got some semi-diagnosis & a treatment plan for him, so we're crossing our fingers that this works. I dropped him off at school at 11 am and when he got home at 3:30 he had a blazing fever of 102 degrees---oh my! So he is officially sick w/ something, probably the flu virus that I had last week--hope hubby & daughter don't get it too! Just a busy, restless few days & I'm trying to play catch up! And wow & thanks to all you lovely ladies who literally wiped my Etsy store clean, LOL--I think I have like 3 things left in there so I gotta get busy filling it back up, hee hee! So lots of work to get done, and I have my new Dan Brown book sitting on my nightstand just beggin' me to read it, but I have to get my stuff done first so I can read it w/o any guilt (so no tellin' me anything about it if you're reading it, 'kay)! And a disclaimer for you today--this is a totally enabling post full of goodies, hee hee!

NewsBitz:

-Check out these fun & fabulous NEW Robin's Nest Tear Drops HERE available at SCACD--they're super cute & easy to use!!

-And if you haven't checked out these new Gillian Robert's Holiday stamps HERE--they are so stinkin' cute that I just want them all, LOL!

-Paper Trey Ink had their NEW Monthly release yesterday and there are lots of fab Holiday sets & great sentiments that are fab for all the upcoming holidays! Of course I got my order in straight away (Love that 1-click "gotta have it all" button, hee hee--although my checking account does not)!

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Today I'm sharing a vintage-like Magnolia card I made for my Magnolia-licious Mingle partner! This lil' cutie is "Jam Tilda" and she's available at Magnolia-licious as part of the NEW "Yummy for Your Tummy" Collection HERE! There are soooo many cute images in this collection that it's hard to pick just one I tell ya! This yummy dp is from Cosmo Cricket's new Mini Decks "Earth Love" (they're smaller 6x6 pads which are fab)--love the fall like muted colors in this dp that I've paired up with PTI cs! The sentiment is from Verve Stamps & I used my Nestabilities Circles & Mega-Curved Rectangles--love me my nesties! I cuttlebug embossed the background and the flowers are from my friend Nikki's shop HERE (she has a brilliant selection of flowers & charms & quick shipping too)!

Here's a close-up of this lil' cutie--I used R02,R01,R00,R000 & YR23,YR21,YR20 on her dress & socks and of course some diamond stickles on her hairbands & ruffles! A girl's gotta have some glittah'!!

I'll see you lovely ladies back here tomorrow!

hugz,
Suzanne

Mix-Its!

Happy, Happy Friday! I'm super-happy today cuz' I don't have jury duty--YIPPEE for me!! I'm so relieved and happy that they didn't call my number last nite---yeah!! What a relief I tell ya! I know I need to do my civic duty, but when your time comes up--yuck-0. I did not want to spend the day sitting in the courthouse, especially when I could be stampin', lol!
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Ok, first things first---the WINNER of my BLOG CANDY is..........
Here are your random numbers:
210
Timestamp: 2008-09-12 03:06:34 UTC

Linda Deline said...
"What a neat offer. I love WOJ stamps! My favorite movie isn't well known but I love it... Heart and Souls. It's a story about four 'souls' who were given a second chance if they helped someone on earth and didn't realize it until the time was almost up. Great movie. God bless."

Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who entered and left some great comments and great movies you all chose too! I can't believe I had so many of you enter--you all ROCK! And yes I do read every comment and email I recieve and I try to get back to everyone within a day if you've asked me a question!!

Because I had so many entries, I'm adding a second smaller blog candy (8 Whiff of Joy stamped images, 1 spool of ribbon and a bottle of stickles) and that second winner is...............

Here are your random numbers:
21
Timestamp: 2008-09-12 03:09:42 UTC

Theresa of lil-bitta life

Email me your addresses asap so I can get your goodies to ya!! **NOTE** I use the Random.org number generator and then manually count the entries editing out double posts and those "friends" who commented but didn't want to enter, just so ya know!!
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Most of the movies that were named were all some of my faves too, but here are my top 10 for ya:
1) When Harry Met Sally (we played the soundtrack at our wedding--its me & hubby's favorite movie evah)
2) Sleepless in Seattle (come on, when his son is on the phone to the radio host talking about his dad's new girlfriend, I still laugh my tail off, not to mention that I love Meg Ryan)
3) The Goonies (first movie I ever saw at the movie theater and I still love it)
4) Sixteen Candles (every girl can relate to Molly Ringwald in this movie)
5) Top Gun (let's just say I've seen it over 100 times!)
6) Steel Magnolias (You laugh, you cry--just all around great)
7) Meet The Parents (we laugh until we cry--too funny)
8) Breakfast at Tiffany's (love this movie so much, Audrey Hepburn was the best)
9) Indiana Jones--the first 3 (love action adventure and I love history--great mix of both)
10) Dirty Dancing (how can you not fall in love w/ Patrick Swayze and wanna dance at the same time)

Can ya tell I like romantic and comedy type of movies? What can I say, I love a happy movie--I don't wanna watch a movie and be depressed. I like action adventure too but I don't watch scary movies--I'm too much of a scaredy cat!! I've heard everyone loves the Mamma Mia movie so I'll have to go see that. I've seen the musical and absolutely loved that so I should like the movie too right! So there ya go--a little venture into my mind, scary right, ha ha!!

Today I'm showing you 2 different projects--no theme for ya today, hee hee! The first card uses Verve Stamp's new "Birthday Surprise" set--these birdies are just too cute! I wanted this card to be all monochromatic and very feminine (think all the pink will do, ha ha). All of the cs and dp is from PTI including the ink I used (berry sorbet and sweet blush). The corner scroll punch is from SU and I stamped out the presents and popped them up w/ dimensionals and added a few stickles. Great stamp set for birthday cards--you can dress them up elegant or make them super fun!


The second card is actually a postcard and a bookmark. Basically you write on the back like a postcard but the user can use it as a bookmark cuz' its small. I love this Guardian Angel from Whiff of Joy--her name is "Melinda reading Book". In my mind she's reading a memory book or scrapbook which is why I chose the "remember" sentiment from PTI. The dp is new from Black Market Paper Society. Is this leaf ribbon not the best thing--it's new from PTI and in their ribbon couture set. I just loosely attached it around the card and then added this metal flower brad to finish if off. And of course she's colored w/ Copics!! I also added some sparkle with my Atyou Spica glitter markers in clear and gold (if you click on the pic and make it larger you can see them).

Ok, onto to work on new projects. I got my Magnolia Fall Kit in the mail yesterday, and I cannot wait to stamp them up! Saturday our neighborhood is having a big Octoberfest Festival so we'll be there all day (wish I could go to the real one in Germany--one day maybe). Then I'm travelling out to my blog pal Marti's house (check out her blog and store Pez-a-doodles) to teach a Copics class which should be fun, although I've never taught a class before so we'll see...

Until then,
Suzanne

PS--Don't forget to stop by Jen's blog I{heart}2stamp tomorrow for her Saturday sketch and my card I did for it as her guest designer this month! It's a super fun sketch so go check it out!

Wedding Day!

Good Wednesday morning! My post will be quick today as I am going to pick up my kitty from the hospital. He had his surgery and is doing well--just has to recover! Thanks for all your sweet comments and well wishes, I soooo appreciate it (and yes the animal hospital is footing the bill--especially after my hubby had "words" w/ them--in fact they'll be footing his bills for the rest of his life!)!! So I have had 2 nites of no sleep and a sinus infection to boot---I'm just over exhausted :(

BLOG CANDY ALERT--If you haven't already entered for my blog candy you have until Thursday evening to do so. You can enter at the end of this post from yesterday.

If you missed it, Verve Stamps had a rockin' release party last night for all their new stamps and I was a Guest Diva this month (thankyou to Julee and Shannan)! I'm sharing two of my favorite projects from their new releases today. Make sure and get over to Verve and check out all their new sets--lovee them!

The first project uses Verve's new set called "Black Tie Birdies"--when I first saw it I knew it would make a beautiful wedding day card. The dp is new from Black Market called "Ebony & Alabaster" and the cs is all SU. I used my cuttlebug to emboss the white cs and then I stickled the birdies with black Stickles. Aren't these birdies the cutest--there are so many occassions you could dress these cuties up for.

I also wanted to make some bride-to-be earrings and jewelry box with this set. I thought it would be something fun for the soon to be bride to wear at her wedding shower or bachelorette party. I stamped the birdies on shrinky dink sheets with staz-on ink and heated them w/ my heat gun. I added some stickles to their bows and hooked them onto earring hooks from Michaels and added some beads. The tin for the jewelry box is from PTI and I just used the same dp from the card above to cover the top. The sentiment was embossed with white embossing powder and the silver frame is from SU's hodgepodge hardware. Just a fun, easy gift to give!

Also, CC Designs came out with all their new "spooktacular" stamps last nite too, so check them out. They are really cute! And yes, I ordered them cuz' I cannot stop myself--I need a stamp addict help group me thinks :)

Have a great day!

Suzanne

PS--I'm having a great time reading everyone's comments on their favorite movies! Quite a few of my favorite movies have been named too. I will list my faves for ya on Friday--I can't single it down to one, so I'll do my top 10 :) I'm a big movie buff!

Angel of Blog Candy!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Not such a great day here in VA unfortunately. The weather is stormy AGAIN and my cat had to have surgery last night. After what was supposed to be a routine vet visit to get antibiotics for a urinary infection my vet decided to take an x-ray just "in case". If you read my blog regularly you know that my "grumpy bear" Poncho cat was hospitalized 2 1/2 months ago for a urinary blockage and had to be hospitalized for 2 days. Well, guess what showed up on his x-ray--the animal hospital had left the catheter tube in his bladder!! Can you believe it, lets just say I was shocked and very angry. Our poor cat all this time has been in pain and now has to have surgery that he shouldn't have to have---I'm so angry and upset. After losing 2 of our animals last year I am just totally paranoid about the vet anyway and to find out that the animal hospital we entrusted our animals to did this---ughh... Anyway, sorry to bend your ear about this but I'm so upset that I'm a total disaster today--and ya know how much I love my animals cuz' they're my other "children but with fur".

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Onto better stuff--I have BLOG CANDY to post today! Yahoo!! The very lovely and generous Katharina Frei (owner of Whiff of Joy) gave everyone on the DT a different stamp to offer up for candy this month and since I'm pretty darn close to 20,000 hits I'm celebrating that too!!! I will have links all month long to my WOJ DT sistah's blogs when they have their candy up for grabs for ya too! My stamp is from the Guardian Angels series by Elisabeth Bell called "Melinda Hugging Heart"--isn't she a doll! The "candy" includes:

-1 unmounted Whiff of Joy "Melinda Hugging Heart" stamp

-6x6 Basic Grey "Stella Ruby" dp pad (lovee this paper--my bella sistah sent me some and its so elegant)

-1 roll of pink/polka dotted ribbon

-1 bottle of pink Stickles

-1 pkg of Prima flowers

-1 pkg of rhinestone/jewels

To win all you have to do is post a link onto your blog about the "Whiff of Joy candy" to mine (if you don't have a blog, dontcha worry about it, enter anyway) and answer the following question:

"What is your favorite movie of all time and why?" Cuz' ya know I like to know stuff about everyone--lol!! I will announce the winner on Friday afternoon (9/12) so your entries and links need to be in by this Thursday evening at 11 pm (EST)--okay!!

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My card today also features the same stamp I'm offering up (the blog candy stamp is not used, lol). I really wanted to color this angel in some "non-traditional" colors to show ya the versatility of it. You don't have to always make her pink and she doesn't have to be used just for "love" or Valentines Day. I used my K&Co "Blue Awning" dp to base my colors on--I love the navy blue in this paper paired with limey green and cream. She's colored w/ my Copics and cut out & popped up. I used my nesties to cut out the ovals and the "ribbon" is paper ribbon by K&Company--it actually comes in colors (the reverse side of this is rust) but I needed cream so I flipped it over. I layered a bunch of Primas together and attached around. And of course there is just a few Stickles on her wings and hairband--the hearts have pink liquid pearls on them to raise them up. The sentiment comes from Verve Stamps "Beautiful You" stamp set--if you haven't checked this set out you should, its lovely!

And you probably know by now if you visited Verve's blog yesterday that I'm one of their Guest Designer Diva's this month for their new releases--yippee! I love me my Verve stamp sets--what could be better ya know!! The sets this month rock!! Check out the Verve link in SCS to see all the DT projects, just type in verveSEPT08 in their search button--wait till you see what I made (hint...you can wear it)!! The release party is tonight at 10 pm (EST) so come and join us for a chat and to see the new sets in their entirety---you can chat w/ me too, hee hee!!

So enough about me and I've prepared you all with your to-do lists today (check out Whiff of Joy, enter blog candy, and chat w/ me at Verve's party on SCS tonite) LOL!!! Hope to chat w/ you all later...

Suzanne

Baking With Love!

Happy Monday everyone! Here's to another week right? This week is superbly busy for me and on Friday I have yucky jury duty (oh how I am praying it gets cancelled--can you pray for me too, pleaseeee!). On Saturday I am going to teach a Copics class at a blogger friend's house--she lives 20 minutes away and there will be a couple of others there who have blogs too (isn't the stamping world small when ya think about it) We're going to color our hearts out and hopefully they will be able to take something away from it all. BTW, I heard from quite a few of you who are also New Kids on The Block fans---I knew there were some of ya out there too, lol!

Ok, onto the card peoples!!! I bought this kitchen stamp quite awhile ago, but I did some research for you inquiring minds and I finally found it online again. It's from The Stampin' Place and you can buy it mounted or unmounted there. I had been holding onto to it, waiting for the right time to use it and when these new Magnolias came out I knew they would be perfect together. This is "Cowberry Muffin" Tilda--isn't she a cutie pie? You can purchase her from Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca (NOTE: the Tilda in the leaves I bought awhile ago from overseas, Diana does not carry that particular stamp)

I will not lie to you, this card took awhile to do. Not difficult, just time consuming to color everything, cut things and such. I added diamond glaze to the window and a few of the pots/jars for a nice realistic shine. I cut Tilda out and paper pieced her apron with this dp from SU called "Bella Rose"--love it cuz' ya know red is my most FAVORITE color! The muffin was also cut out and popped up w/ dimensionals too. I didn't have the right sentiment stamp (gasp...how can that be possible right?) so I printed "Baked With Love" directly onto the dp and then cut out with my Nestabilities tag die. Diana's webshop is going to sell ribbon with sentiments on it and I cannot wait--how cool is that! The little measuring spoon charm is from Karen Foster and came in a pack of 5 (spoons, spatula, cookie jar, muffin pan, & rolling pin). And because I love you guys so much, I went and found where you can get them--right HERE--they have all different kinds if you're interested (and yes I bought bunches, lol)!! I'm only here to enable you all dontcha' know--hee hee!

Well, that's it for me today. I have lots of errands to run including taking 2 of my cats to the vet and then kids to shuttle around--ya know the daily chores, ha ha! BTW, tomorrow night Verve Stamps is having their new stamp release party at 8 pm (EST)--you MIGHT want to check out their blog today for some sneak peeks (hint, hint...you really need to check it out so get on over there...hint, hint). You know how I love me my Verve stamp sets!

See Ya--

Suzanne

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!!

Dreamin'!!

Good Monday evening everyone! Sorry this is a late post today, but I was running around doing errands today and just couldn't get everything done--ya know how it is, right? I feel like I've been in and out of my hot car 50 million times today, and I'm still hot--feels like 100 degrees here today & humid (yucky). I just have to blab about my not sleeping again, ya know I'm an incurable insomniac & night crawler--never can get to sleep. Most nights I lay in bed thinking about card layouts and other ideas--I even keep a notepad by my bed to jot things down. I know there's others of you out there that do the same thing--come on & admit it!!! Last night I had a dream about Magnolia's at night in the moonlight and I actually remembered this morning and that is what my card is based on today--I actually made my dream into fruition--how about that! Hope you like my "dream" card!

This card uses Tilda on the pier again (I think its probably my favorite Magnolia stamp right now). If you're interested in ordering some Magnolia stamps you can get in touch with Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca to order them. Believe it or not, but this uses no one's sketches or challenges in it at all! I used SU's night of navy cardstock for the card base and bashful blue for accents; the dp is from DCWV "summer matstack". I drew my "water scene w/ clouds" and colored everything with Copics (there was a lot of coloring & blending in this one)--I really wanted it to look like the moonlight was shining down on her and the water. I used mostly dark blues for a moody, night look and lots of pale yellow & white for the moonlight. I used my Nestabilities to cut out all of the circles and then added diamond glaze to the water. I put diamond stickles on the moon and her wings too. I cut into the side of the clouds and glued the moon in between the clouds so it would poke out from the main circle image. The bashful blue cs is embossed w/ the CB swiss dots folder (by the way I got all the new ones from CutatHome today--yippee) and then I rubbed night of navy ink over the embossing for contrast. The sentiment is from Verve Stamp's "wonderful wishes-remixed"--I tell ya they have the best sentiments (I know, what a repeater I am)! I stamped around the sentiment w/ PTI's "borders & corners" stamp set and then cut it out and mounted it onto PTI's "lemon tart" cs. I thought the navy cs looked a little plain so I stamped it with versamark ink using the same PTI stamp set but w/ the circle stamp this time. For a final touch I added some layered Primas at the top with some MM brads. I'm very pleased with how it all turned out! Hope you all like it too!

Ok--I'm outta here to go make dinner for my hubby and move my sprinklers (no rain in site for us here right now). Until tomorrow...

Suzanne

PS--I just have to tell you about a new store I found (at least new to me) that you MUST check-out called 7 Kids College Fund. The owner, Tab, has the best stuff at great prices and she has all the new things in from CHA that you can preorder--yippee!! Make sure to check her store out. Her store is listed in my links, just click on the logo anytime.

PS--Make sure and check out Artfull Ila's blog--she's giving away some great Magnolia BLOG CANDY!! Check out all her fab creations while you're over there too!

Inspiration Everywhere!!

Good Saturday afternoon everyone! Hope you're all having a splendid day! It is hotter than hot here today--and we have a pool party to go to in an hour, lovely! Hopefully it will start cooling off a bit, we'll see. I just wanted to thank everyone again for participating in my blog candy--it was fun seeing what everyone's answers to the question were. Although I'm a bit embarassed to say how long it can take me to make just 1 card after reading all of your answers. But I'm an honest kinda gal and & I won't lie to ya'--it can take me anywhere from 30 mins (simple cards) to up to 3 1/2 hrs (most of my cards lie in between). Of course that's with interruptions like potty breaks, taking the dogs out and attending to my kids needs (or whines :)). I almost never leave a card for the next day, once I have my idea I like to run w/ it. I always pick out my stamp first and then move on to the dp, after that it's all up in the air as far as what I do next. If I really like a sketch challenge I'll try that out, but sometimes my cards take on a life of their own, ya know? I never glue down anything until I have all my elements in place, which can take me awhile because I like to fidget w/ it & try different things (not to mention my perfectionism butting in)! Anyhoo...

My card for today started with some inspiration I got from the cover of this catalog. If you've heard me blab before, you know how much I love French Country and toile fabric (even my craft room curtains are b&w toile)--love it! So when I saw this cover, I remembered that I had some BoBunny toile dp that would match (I have just about every toile dp there is on the market-lol). I also wanted to participate in 2 challenges again, the first one being the Sarah Kay Weekly Challenge and the Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #8. The Sarah Kay challenge is using a sketch and Spoon Full of Sugar is to make a card for girls using Sugar Nellie stamps. I really liked the chairs tied with ribbon/fabric in the inspiration piece so I tried to incorporate that into the card-I didn't have gingham ribbon to match so I just used white satin instead. This stamp is called "My Sweet Lil" from Sarah Kay that I got from Sweet 'n Sassy. If you're looking to get some of these stamps(becuz Sweet 'n Sassy is sold out right now) try http://www.7kidscollegefund.com/ because they are getting a whole bunch in on July 20th. I colored her with Copics and added Diamond Glaze to the hair bows and ball for shine. The cs and polka dot dp are from PTI and the ribbon is from American Crafts. The sentiment is from Verve Stamp's "Petals & Stems" set--they have the best sentiments & I just love them all. Lastly I added some colored buttons to finish it all off. Alright, I'm off to the pool--yippee me!! Hope you like the card.

The pictures above are of the basket of Blog Candy entries and the #1 winning entry from Peggy. Somewhere in my mess of a craft table I have Shannon's entry too, but I can't seem to find it...not surprising if you saw my desk :) Ladies, in case you are looking for my email its on the sidebar or here at sjdean@smartneighborhood.net.

Till then...

Suzanne

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

Down On The Farm!

Happy Monday scrappers! I don't like Monday's very much myself but you gotta start your week off positive, righto? I wanted to start off by saying a big "THANK YOU" to everyone who has sent me such lovely comments or emails the past few months on my creations. Nothing pleases me more than knowing that what I do is appreciated and well-taken by everyone and if I help you out along the way too, then great (or enable you in any way :)! I don't always get to respond to everyone all the time, but if I haven't personally thanked you, do know that I read every email and comment sent to me and appreciate them all. So thanks again & hope you continue reading my lil' ole blog!

Ok, onward scrappers-- My card today is with one of my new Sarah Kay stamps that I got from Sweet 'n Sassy (I got them all because I couldn't just pick a couple--lol). I am in love with these stamps--totally adore them! They are clear acrylic and stamp beautifully & so very detailed--lotsa fun to color too! I had a Holly Hobby room, bookbag and lunch box when I was little--my room was blue and white and soooo cute. Boy, do these stamps take me back (a long, long time ago--ha ha-really I'm not THAT old). I put this card together with the new Caardvark's challenge in mind, which this week is a "farm" theme. Do you think this is "farmy" enough? This image reminds me of a picture my mom has of me at my grandparents farm in NY when I was 3--I had on my fave overalls and had baby chickies all around me (wish I could scan the pic in). I loved spending the summer up there and getting to play with all the animals and run around barefoot all summer (course I still run around barefoot)! This was so much fun to color, I'll definitely be inking up the rest of these stamps this week! I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch #44 from last week (I must say I switched it up just a bit) because I thought it would showcase both the stamp and yummy dp. The dp is from Basic Grey's "Lily Kate" 6x6 paper pad--are those not the best papers to use--and the yellow cs is PTI's lemon tart, green & blue cs is SU's certainly celery & bashful blue. The flowers are all Primas with various brads and buttons are from an assortment I got at AC Moore. The little sentiment is from Verve Stamp's "floral whimsy" set--they have the most awesomest (is that a word--if not, I'm usin' it anyway) sentiments for sure. I only added a few stickles to her hat bow (gotta have a lil' bling in the country, right) and she's colored w/ my Copics. Around the white cs on the image & sentiment I rubbed Colorbox's Chalk CatsEye ink in light cream just to shabby it up a bit--love the chalk ink for that because you can layer it to get it the tint you want & it's small enough to get in small places.

Alright, I am off to blurf (you know, blog surfing) and catch up on everyone. Yes, I typed this at midnite again--you should know me by now & my night-crawling :) Have a great day!

Suzanne