Rough & Tumble Friday!!

Hi everyone & Happy, Happy Friday--wahoooo! It's 75 degrees here today & sunny and I am lovin' life!! :o) Nothing better than being able to have your windows open, nice breeze & sunrays coming in--LOVE it! Do you have some awesome plans for your weekend? We're putting in our veggie garden tomorrow & then off to do some clothes shopping on Sunday (I like that, but hubby is not so thrilled, LOL)!

Gotta get ready for my birthday(hee hee--I like to pick out my own presents) & my daughter's birthday. My daughter is having 3 girls for a bday sleepover next Friday (ackk..she'll be 13--am I really old enuff to have a teenager, hee hee) & they want to go to the movies & raise alot of heck probably--and then we'll take her to the Baltimore Zoo/Inner Harbor on Sunday (her bday is April 25th) like she wanted. She wants a laptop (hee hee, not sure about that, maybe) and gift cards--easy peasy.


For my birthday (May 3) I am going to VEGAS baby (wahooooo) with 3 of my girlfriends and I CANNOT wait! We leave on May 1st and come back 4 days later---good times for sure! We're staying at the Bellagio & I'm hoping to get a spa treatment in (cuz' I never get to do that it seems) but no gambling--I don't like to lose my hard earned dollars so gambling does not appeal to me at all! I will be 35 (egads, that's gettin' closer to 40--eeekkkk) and this will be my first trip to Vegas! Does that "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" still work? LOL--just joshin' ya--we're not THAT CRAZY, hee hee! Anywhoo....I've got a few rough'n'tumble boy projects for ya today!!

So my first project is a Kids Get Well set--I adore this lil' dinosaur (Denny Dinosaur) from Whipper Snapper (I've had him for awhile now) and he's perfect for a get well card. I wanted to make some more get well sets cuz' they always come in handy & are quick-n-easy to make. I got this idea originally from my blogger pal Sandy(see her site for dimensions) and you can see my original one here. I just left out the throat lozenger on this one and replaced the regular chapstick with some LipSmackers fruit flavored chapstick---much kid friendlier!
The dp is from DCWV "Nana's Kids" and lil' dino was colored with Copics & then I added some Shimmerz to him too. Isn't he a cutie-pop--I love him! The sentiment is from PTI's "Mega Mixed Messages" set (a must-have set in my opinion--use it everday it seems) !

Inside view-- travel pack of tissues and LipSmacker chapstick! Great lil' set to give to someone that is sick, recovering or not feeling well! These sets are for sale on my Etsy site (on sidebar) if you're interested! Hope you like it!

Second card uses this cute lil' Eat Cake Graphics stamp that I have been dying to use forevah'! He so reminds me of my son--always tearing into my boxes in the recycling bin & creating something out of them! This lil' guy's name is "Casey" & there are lots of other cuties in this line of stamps too---right HERE at Susana's Custom Art & Card Design Store--(Casey is only $3--can't beat it). I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #82 for the layout--perfect for this image! The dp is from DCWV "Nana's Kids" again--love this dp, so bright & cheery! I added a Basic Grey button to the center of my ribbon bow & tied it off with yellow Scrappers Floss.

Those stars are lil' brads I had and I cut the back shanks off with my Tonic scissors (cut thru anything) and attached w/ gluedots! I, of course had to add some diamond glaze to his lil' plane for some more texture--I just love how it turned out! This would make a wonderful birthday card for someone special!!

Last but not least, I get asked alot about how I take my pictures so here ya go. I bought this light box off of Ebay last year (it came w/ 2 lights but I don't use them cuz' they make my pics more pink than I like). I laid down some white cs inside & I set it up on my kitchen table along with my Ott Lite (love, love it)! The Ott light simulates natural daylight so I can take pics at anytime of the day. One tip: the light SHOULD NOT be directly over or shining directly on your card or else your pictures will look washed out!!! Put the light in front of your card/project pointing down so the light is indirect!

I use a Panasonic Lumix camera with a 10x zoom--I have a Canon Rebel XT too, but I mostly use my little Lumix--it takes wonderful pics (if you saw my slideshow below of my vacation pics--they were all taken with my Lumix). Then I just upload them to my Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 & adjust the colors/contrast if I need to, crop the pictures & add my watermark. Hope that helps you some :o)

EDITED TO ADD: MY 2 new Copic Video Tutorials are now up on my sidebar--video 6 shows how I color images/objects black & video 7 shows how I color white images/objects!!

Alrighty, I'm done now--hee, hee! Have a great Friday!

hugz,

Suzanne

Boo to You!

Happy Saturday to you all! We have battened down the hatches here in VA for Tropical storm Hanna---lots of rain and tornadoes to watch out for. I get to spend the day in my craft room and hopefully we don't lose any power or get any flooding from this. We need the rain, but can do w/o the wind and such! Hope wherever you are, the weather is good!

I get to share 1 of my "secrets" with you all today--next week I'll share the next one, lol! I got asked to be the Guest Designer for Jen del Muro's blog every Saturday for the month of September--woohoo! I have been visiting her blog for awhile and if you're not familiar with her, then you should be (ha ha)! She has fabulous Saturday sketches of which I will be a part of every Saturday this month. She's also an uber-talented artist and is a DT Member for quite a few companies. So make sure to take some time checking out her blog and of course my sample card for this Saturday--she's giving away some yummy BLOG CANDY too. I used one of my new Whiff of Joy stamps "Willow with Lantern" and made a Christmas card--I lovee it and hopefully you will too!



Ok, onto my projects for the day. I decided to go with a Halloween theme since I have all these new fall stamps and dp just sitting here begging me to be used--lol! The first card uses a new stamp from Spiral Whisper from their Max & Millie line--and yes this is another new company that I've sniffed out by blurfing way too much and am now obssessed with. I ordered 2 batches of stamps--I just couldn't help meself! And the artist Janet Roberts has stamps that she made in honor of her cairn terrier--and I have 2 cairns, so I love that.

Isn't this lil' witch the cutest? I used this dp from MFT and I really loved the colors in it and I wanted to pull out the hot pink from it to use on her dress. She's colored w/ Copics and I cut her out and popped her up. The layout is from the Friday Sketchers blog #18--great layout me thinks. The bats are from a Martha Stewart punch and I just folded their wings up for a 3-D pop! I made a moon w/ one of my circle punches and added yellow stickles for shimmer. The cute sentiment is from CC Designs--perfect with this image.







The second project is a "Boo"! In our neighborhood at Halloween, we neighbors "boo" each other which is basically done anonymously and you leave a small treat at their door and then they have to go and "boo" someone in return. Really fun and the kids love to do this--one runs up and rings the doorbell while the other kid does the "goodies drop" and then runs off! I thought this would be a great treat for that. The ghost/pumpkin stamp is from Whipper Snapper Designs called "Peek-a-Boo Ghost", isn't that the cutest lil' ghost ya evah saw!!! (I know, I say that about everything) Following up on my promise to start using my 800 coasters, ahem...which is now like 750...hee hee, I made this into a cute doorhanger. The dp is from SU's new Halloween line and the ribbon is from Michaels. I added a few stickles and the background was done with twinkling H2O's to make it just a little more spooky.

The cute lil' treat bag I made from a tutorial on Amy Rysavy's blog--I changed my bag to a clear one and put Halloween M&M's in it. The sentiment and cobweb are from PTI's "Spooky Sweets" sets 1&2. I found these cutie-patootie spider stickers at Michaels (Sandylion) and attached one to the front. Not scary, but cute so its appropriate for all ages. This treat bag would be great for all holidays or party favors--really quick and easy to make. (I may update this with better pics later cuz' it was getting stormy when I took these)

Hope you like the projects today! I'm still stuck here in rainy VA, so I'll be stamping the day away so I'll have lotsa things to share with you. Until tomorrow...

Suzanne

PS--The Whiff of Joy Design Team is having blog candy this month--each DT member has a different stamp and goodies to give away. Today is Inge's turn, so make sure and check it out. Mine will up on Tuesday.

Dyno-Mite

Good afternoon everyone! I'm Baaaaaaaaack!! I have a really quick card for you today--it's fun & super-easy to make. I think it would make a great invitation for a kid's birthday party, but today I made it just a birthday card. The tutorial for this triangular fold card is on the Scor-Pal website; even if you don't have a scor-pal you will still be able to follow the directions. If you haven't been on their website, you're missing out on some great projects--they have tons--so get your buns on over there!! The stamp on this card is from Whipper Snapper Designs--have I told ya how much I love their stamps (ok, I know just a few times right..). This is one of their many dinosaur stamps (I have 3) and the sentiment is too. I think they are just cutie-pie delicious and great for kids. I colored the dino with my PrismaColor pencils and blended with gamsol--a really fun technique if you haven't tried it. Gamsol is an odorless mineral spirit that you apply onto a paper stump (a rolled-paper pencil for blending). It's really easy to do and to control the amount of color you want. Inky Antics has these supplies if you're interested in them (no, I don't work for any of these companies & I don't get commission--I wish I did though, cuz' it would save me money--lol)!! I used my nestabilities to cut the scallop circles out and embossed the blue with my cuttlebug folder and popped them up with dimensionals. And there is stickles involved of course!! The inside is just layered cardstock, stamped sentiment and punched balloons, accented with my signo white pen. (Paper Trey Ink has nestabilities if you're interested in knowing what they are or ordering them).

Well, back to work on my baby scrapbook--I've gotta get it done by tomorrow night (looks like another late couple of nights for me). Hope you enjoyed the card!
Night to all,
Suzanne

Whipper Snapper stamps, SU solid paper, Imaginisce pp, Prismacolor pencils, gamsol, Michaels ribbon, cuttlebug emboss folder, nestabilities, balloon punch, signo pen

Light Hearted

Hello fellow Stamp-Addicts! It's finally a lovely, spring day here in VA--gives me more energy I think when the weather is nice (means I can drink less Cherry Coke-haha). I wanted to make a fun kid's birthday card today, something lighthearted. I love these stamps from Whipper Snapper Designs--I don't think I've said anything about them before, but they are great (I can repeat myself many times, you'll see). They have such a great selection of "critter" stamps and I think their faces are adorable. I used my Copics again today. Sherrie's Card Creme blog has 2 great tutorials to watch on shading/blending with Copics--gave me some good tips and hopefully my shading is improving :)

Does the spring weather energize you? I feel like I'm reborn when it gets warm again--I hate the cold more and more every year. Someday, I will live where its warm all the time, at least that's my dream. Warm weather makes me want to use brighter colors and do more lighthearted & fun papercrafts. My other card for the day is a "bella", latte bella to be exact. As you know I really love my "bellas" from Stamping Bellas (see me repeating again)! Even though I don't drink lattes or coffee (yuck)--I think she's just a fun image to play with. I like to drink hot cocoa so I'll pretend that's what she is drinking. I need a bella image that is behind a disastrous, messy desk with crafting supplies all over and many open Coke cans surrounding her(and her many pets scattered about)--now that would be my bella image. Not very glamorous or fantabulous, but oh so true!!

Well, that's all for me now, time to cook dinner and get the kid's homework done (by them, not me). Happy Crafting!

Bella Card--Stamping Bella, Prima flowers, Michaels ribbon, MM brads, Copics, stickles, Basic Grey 'sultry' pp, SU solids

Turtle Card-Whipper Snapper turtle/frog stamp, Michaels ribbon, MM brads, SU sentiment, Copics, SU solids, Scrapbook Wizard pp