Snow Dancing!!

Happy Friday my friends!  As you read this I will be driving the 10.5 hour drive to Nashville today--here's praying for an uneventful drive, lol!  I enjoy the quiet but this will be my longest trip to date so we'll see how I do.  They are calling for snow in the morning but it should be gone and out of here by the time I hit the highways.  On Sunday I am on a mission to find Mr. Tim McGraw, LOL, I know he's just dying to meet me, hee hee!  Although my mom has given me strict orders to search out Brad Paisley for her, hee hee!  But I'll keep it short and sweet for you today as I have lots to do and need to get to bed a bit earlier than my usual 1 am :)  Hope you all have a great weekend!

NewsBitz:

-Want to see where I'll be next?  Visit www.cmcroad.com to see the next upcoming copic classes!

-7 Kids College Fund has LOTS of new & yummy products in the store!  Pre-order all the NEW Spellbinders dies HERE (30 of them, yikes, lol), NEW Bildmalarna cuties HERE, and fab NEW Sizzix Embossing Folders HERE!

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Snow Dancing!!

Yes, yes, yes---I am very late with my Copic Creations Challenge project & I apologize!  But here is this cutie for you all!  Our sponsor this week is the lovely Prairie Fairy and they have sooooooooooo many cute digi images for you to choose from.  They gifted each of the DT gals 1 image and I chose this fun and whimsical "Morley Dancing" image--isn't he cute!  They have lots of images with him in funny poses, lol!  Since for most of us it's still winter (bah humbug, lol) I wanted to do a more masculine birthday card as I don't make many of those. (course this would work well for a gal too)  The challenge was to do something different & fun on our cards/images---I chose to paint with my copic inks.

These papers are by Memory Box (older) and the brown decorative border was done with a MS border punch.   The large snowflakes are punches that I coated with MS Glitter Snow and then added a bow treatment to one of them.  The sentiment and twill ribbon are from a PTI and the image was cut with SB Nesties Labels 15--I love that shape.  As usual I softly blended the outside of the image with my fave Inkssentials Blending tool (with foam)--love, love that lil tool!

So most of this image was colored with Copics EXCEPT his boots and antlers--those I painted with the Copic Refill Inks.  How?  I used a plastic artist's palette and put 1 drop of C7 and 1 drop of E53 into separate areas.  Then I wet my paint brush with rubbing alcohol (you could use Colorless Blender too) and very lightly started making strokes onto my image, keeping the area wet with the rubbing alcohol to blend it nicely--it took a lil' while to get the look I wanted.  I dabbed off a lot of ink each time on a paper towel and slowly added a bit of color layer by layer slowly until I was happy with it.  It is a much longer process than just coloring with copics, lol, but it was fun.  I finished off the antlers and boots with a coat of Diamond Glaze for shine.  The ends of his scarf got some Sparkly Fluff and his boot cuffs got white Doodlebug Flock and then more MS Glitter Snow around him.  Cute isn't he?  He looks like he's having wayyyyyyyyy more fun in the cold snow than I would, LOL!

Make sure to hop by the Copic Creations Blog to see the rest of the DT's projects and join in on the challenge with us too!  Have a fabulous weekend!

Snow Day!!

Happy Snowy Friday everyone! "Snow, Snow Go Away--never come another Day!!"--LOL!  Well we're in the major snow belt today and expected to get upwards of 30+ inches--can you see I'm sooo thrilled--NOT!  I am ready to jump on a plane I tell ya & head south!  And get this, my hubby says to me last night "let's leave in the morning for a ski resort so we can be snowed in?"....ummmm...ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDIN' ME was my not so quiet response! LOL--I mean really, if I'm going anywhere it will be to a VERY WARM island and I'm not comin' back until Spring arrives! :o)  He enjoys the cold obviously, while I can not tolerate it at all any more--blech, blech, blech!  But I braved Wegman's last nite at 10 pm to miss some of the crazies that come out and snatch up all the food, hee hee---I wanted to make sure I had all my supplies for Super Bowl Sunday ya know.  Chili, cheese dips, tortillas, stuff to make guacomole, pizza supplies, etc!  You watching the Super Bowl?  I'll be rooting for the Saints "GO SAINTS", but I'll be working all day on projects as well!  They called off school today and hubby is working from home, so I'm sure come Monday I will be literally pulling my hair out, LOL!  Doesn't the school board know that to keep myself SANE, I NEED the kids to be in school everyday--ack!!  Lordy help me please..................hee hee!
And since I might as well join in on the wintry weather, I've got a wintry post for ya today!

NewsBitz:

-7 Kids College Fund has the Brand New Penny Black stamps in stock at the store HERE!  They are Ca-Ute--the new bears are my fave though :o)

-Want a chance at a Guest Designer Spot for Mo's Digital Pencil alongside the Dream Team?  You can find all the details HERE!  Hope you'll try out!!

-I'm also in love with Couture Cardstock (insert swooning here)! I discovered them at CHA and love, love, love all their pretty cs colors, variety of textures and prices.  They also make a great white cs that is great for Copics that I'm learning right now to use called "One Sheet Wonder"--it's pretty darn good so far I tell ya!  You can visit them HERE (I just got my 50 lbs of paper the other day & I LOVE it...shhhh don't tell hubby, lol).  And if you want to replace your SU "riding hood red" that I'm almost out of, well Dervish & Rudolph are pretty darn good matches (and yes I got some of each ;o) )!!

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Winter Friends

I've had some of these cutie pie CC Designs stamps from 7 Kids on my desk for awhile and finally got to put one to good use!  I used some soft new papers and cs from PTI to create a wintry shabby chic card for ya!  This sweet Swiss Pixie is called "Nora" and you can find all of these cuties HERE!  I tattered up some newsprint paper (K&Co) and distressed all the papers with my Tonic Distress Tool and then used Distress Inks (I use Old Paper and & Vintage Paper) to ink the edges up.  I punched some snowflakes out, inked them and added some MS Snow Glitter.  The ticket is from a Hero Art stamp set HERE that I love to use---the inside sentiment is from a PTI set (forgot which one, sorry).

I colored her with Copics (BG11,BG10,V12,V00) and added some stickles to her wings and some MS Snow Glitter to the snowflakes floating around her and at her feet!  I just love her and hope you do too!

See ya back here tomorrow!

Wheeeee!!

Hello Everyone & Welcome to the middle of the week!!  Is January over yet?  I swear I'm ready for April aleady--I need more sun, more green & more warmth, it's driving me crazy!!  The South is just calling my name, can you hear it shout "Suzanne, move here it's warm!", LOL!  Well ok, if you can hear that than you're just as crazy as me and we're in good company together, hee hee!  But unfortunately there are a few more months of cold weather ahead so I just gotta bear down & deal with it.

Below I have a few answers to a BUNCH of questions about the "Belly Fat Cure" (see book HERE)--I am officially down 9 lbs today & I am soooo psyched!  Last nite we had cheeseburgers, skillet fried potatoes & some blackberries & a pickle--low sugar ketchup included (and that stuff is pretty darn good)!  I love being able to eat real food, just watching my carbs & sugars--I'm not good with the willpower stuff, I lack that gene, lmbo!  You can access Jorge Cruise's site & blog right HERE!

-You do get to eat sugar, but only 15 grams or 5 grams per meal!  You will be AMAZED to see how much sugar is in stuff--I was eating a week's worth of sugar in 1 day people!  CRAZY--no wonder the weight around my hips & stomach wasn't budging!

-Carbs are limited to 120 grams a day which is easy peasy!  You can still eat butter & bread--yay for me!  When you eat too many carbs & sugars it creates insulin excess in your body which tells your body to HOLD onto all the fat not get rid of it!  I'm proof and I'm a born natural skeptic, but I've lost almost 10 lbs just by following this! 

-I use Stevia now and it's really good--it's a natural sugar!  Any fake sugars like Splenda or Aspartame is really bad (I did know this for a long time)--they cause cancer in lab animals, so think what it does to your body!

-I was able to give up my soda by taking caffeine pills once a day so I didn't have withdrawal, but coffee & tea are allowed on the plan. But not milk (wahh), only almond milk which is ok but not great--guess I'll get used to it--who knew milk had so much sugar in it!

-Don't laugh but I'm making this delicious chocolate cake with chocolate icing with Stevia, soy flour, cocoa & black beans--yes, black beans, but I'm told it's YUMM-i-LICIOUS!  I'll let ya know :o)

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NewsBitz:

-Make sure and stop by Susana's Custom Art & Card Design store blog HERE to enter for the Yummy Blog Candy for Victoria Case's new fabulous release!

-Next Monday, the Magnolia-licious DT will be having a fun "Pretty In Pink" Blog Hop for ya--so get your pink stuff out & ready to go!!

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Wheeeee!

Today I have a card for you that represents all things winter, cuz' yeah it's still winter whether I like it or not, lol!  Poor little "Edwin on Sled" was feeling neglected so I had to pull him out & use him before Spring comes--you can find him HERE at Magnolia-licious!  I knew as soon as I pulled him out that he'd be perfect for a stair-step card (you can find directions for this kind of card HERE).  The tree is a Spellbinder's die--I cut 2 of them, bent the 2nd one & attached it with scor-tape so it was 3-D!  I added some DecoArt SnowWriter and MS Snow Glitter for the frosty accents.

The dp I used on this card is from Magnolia--love the colors, it matches my SU soft sky (hoarded paper) perfectly and I paired it with some chocolate brown cs to ground all the light colors a bit.  The sentiment is from the PTI set "Rustic Snowflakes"--love this set!  The snowflakes were done with Marvy & MS punches & then I added some MS snow glitter.  I cut the snowy hills free-hand :o)

Little Edwin was colored with Copics (BG75,BG72,BG11,BG10/E25,E44,E43,E42,E41) and then I cut him out & popped him up with dimensionals!  He reminds me of my son who loves to ski, sled & snowboard outside till his nose freezes, lol!  Hope you liked my frosty winter card as well!

I'll see ya back here tomorrow!!

Gina K "Card Club Kit" Blog Hop!!

Good evening my friends!  I usually post in the mornings but tonight is a special Gina K Card Club Blog Hop put on by the DT!  So lots of fun stuff for you this Sunday evening!  I was so lucky & super thrilled to be asked to be on this DT--what an honor since I admire Gina so much.  She's so kind, talented and I admire her a lot both as a person & a business woman!!

Now you're asking what is the Card Club Kit right?  Well Gina K & Jessica Fick will have special card kits available for purchase that go along with the new stamp sets for each release.  These kits (see HERE) have pre-cut cardstock, card base and ribbons included along with step-by-step directions on how to make the card featured for the kit!  So kinda a one-stop shop--you can buy the stamp set and then buy the card kit and VOILA you've got all the makings for 4 beautiful cards!  Fabulous huh!!  And there is alot of fun coming with these card kits so stay tuned!!

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This message is by our DT leader Jessica Fick:

Welcome to our very first GinaK Card Kit Club blog hop!

We have assembled an amazingly talented group of designers who will be sharing some cards on their blogs tonight, based on December's Card Kits. For this month's hop, I've challenged each artist to design their projects using the same basic sketch and measurements of my class card, but to put their own personal touches on them adding whatever embellishments, patterned papers, etc. that they would like to use!

We know you're going to be thrilled with what each of them came up with for us!

Bev Gerard {Warm and Wonderful}

Colleen Schaan {Life is Good}

Sankari Wegman {Tech Talk}

Suzanne Dean {Warm and Wonderful}

Valerie Stangle {Lovely Shelf}

So let's get started!!

I absolutely adore this new stamp set called "Warm & Wonderful" by Rupa Shevde for Gina K--it has awesome winter images but also some very sweet sentiments that can be used for a lot of special occasions. (See the matching Card Club Kit for this stamp set HERE and see Inspiration Samples HERE)  For this first card I followed the original sketch by Jessica except I flipped it.  I love the sled image (I'm searching endlessly for a real antique sled that I can put on my porch but no luck yet) so I just had to use this one!

I colored with Copics (R29,R89,R24,R22,R20/C5,C3,C2) and then added stickles to the rails on the sled for sparkle.  The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's "Eskimo Kisses" which pairs up beautifully with Gina K's cs "Cranberry Tart" & "Green Apple" colors.  The striped embossing was done with my CB "Candy Cane" embossing folder and the shapes were all done with my Oval Nestabilities.  I colored the mittens from the set and cut them out---I cut off the string part of the image so I could attach some matching embroidery thread to them instead.  Then I just popped 'em up with dimensionals, added some stickles and finished off the card with a bow made with my Bow Easy.  A perfect winter card for a loved one or friend!!

My second card I just used the hot cocoa mug image---I LOVE hot cocoa in the winter, my favorite for sure!  I buy the bulk boxes of the gourmet mixes by Land O Lakes--so yummy & of course I have to have marshmallows AND whipped cream on top, LOL!  This time I followed the sketch a bit, but changed up my main image shape!  I stamped the cup image twice on my white cs in aqua and then stamped another image separately, colored it in with copics and then cut it out.  (copics used R89,R85,R83/E25,E31)  I traced the aqua mugs with stardust stickles for some sparkle, and then on the cut-out cup I added liquid applique to the marshmallows and heated it to puff them up & then smooshed them a little w/ my finger to make them more marshmallow looking, hee hee (make sure you do this first before adding diamond glaze or stickles to the image--trust me when I say it will melt them when you're heating it up--don't ask how I know this, LOL)!

Then I added a healthy coat of diamond glaze or you could use the Crystal Laquer that Gina sells HERE (does the same thing), to the cup for shine and added it w/ more dimensionals! I used a CB "Snowflakes" embossing folder on the white background and then added some stickles to the snowflakes for more sparkle, layered some more Gina K cs in "Ocean Mist" and wrapped it with a ribbon & bow.  I purposely left off a sentiment, so that this can be used for a get well, birthday or thank you card--perfect for many occasions!

Now if you're hopping along in order, up next is the very talented Valerie Stangle!  But if you're starting with me the hop list is above for you to follow!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday evening!!

Baby It's Cold Outside!!

Happy, Happy Friday everyone!! Yay, Yay my favorite day of the week, hee hee! And my hubby comes home tonight from a work trip--don't mind being alone but I'm just a weensy-bit of a scaredy cat at night by myself, LOL!! Plus I can't watch any of our tivoed shows when he's not here cuz' he doesn't want me to watch them w/o him!! I don't watch a ton of tv, I find that doing all my computer work in the evenings & reading I just don't get to watch most shows nowadays. But I do make time for my old standby's like HGTV, Bones, Grey's Anatomy & Chuck. (used to love CSI until Grissom left) But I started watching "Drop Dead Diva" & oh my goodness, I LOVE IT!! It's hilarious & even my hubby enjoys watching it with me--I like that there is no drama, stress or violence in it, just a good time! I just don't want to spend my evenings sitting on the edge of my chair, stressed out & then having a nightmare any more ya know--there's enough stress in the world already w/o me watching it on tv (this is why I stopped watching Lost, 24 & Heroes). I just don't enjoy them anymore and when I do have free time I want to laugh not cry, LOL!! And there seems to be such a lack of comedies on tv anymore--they're all action & drama, arghhhhh! I also Tivoed the new show "Modern Family" last nite which is supposed to be a hoot, but I haven't watched it yet so I'll let ya know :o) What's your favorite TV show on tv right now?

And if you want a good laugh, check out this YouTube video that I saw on CNN 2 nights ago! It's good clean fun & will make you chuckle out loud I promise!! Cracks me up! The link is HERE!

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NewsBitz:

-Okay, this time I have the link for ya since Tab got them up yesterday at 7 Kids College Fund. You MUST check out these fabulous new stamps from Penny Johnson right HERE--they are sooooo cute & will melt your heart I know! I want them all, hee hee!

-Susana's Custom Art & Card Design has a new Double Release coming on September 29th with images from BOTH Elisabeth Bell AND Victoria Case! To celebrate--there will be BLOG CANDY on the store blog HERE from the 26th thru the 28th, so make sure & stop by to enter (what can ya win--how about a set of each of the releases, yay!)

-Stay tuned to Pink Cat Studio's new Digi store HERE! Melissa will be releasing new images weekly--how fun, huh!!

-For those of you who subscribe to my blog & would like to have it delivered as soon as it posts (instead of late that evening or next day)--my friend Amy of Pickled Paper Designs has easy to follow directions on how to change that on your subscription if you're interested below (thanks Amy cuz' I had no clue, hee hee)!

Change your Feedblitz delivery settings from "Nightly" to "Hourly." Here's how:
- go to http://www.feedblitz.com/ and log in
- click the "subscriptions" tab
- you'll see a drop-down box in the right corner. It says "Pick One of Your Subscriptions." Choose "ScrapBitz"
- In the main portion of the page, you'll have a list of options, such as "New," "Your Subscriptions," "Restore," etc. Choose "Scheduling."
- Where it says "How often do you want FeedBlitz to check for new articles?" I expect you'll see "Nightly (using the configured time zone)" If so, use the drop-down box to change to "Hourly."
- Be sure to click the "Update Schedule" button for your change to take effect.

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Exciting News for Ya!!

I'm so excited to share some special news with you today!! Mo of Mo's Digital Pencil has put together a DT (or Dream Team as she calls us, hee hee) & she asked me to be on it!! Well, of course I had to say yes cuz' I soooo adore all her images--they really are a joy to color!

And as soon as I saw this image called "Kai in the snow" (you can make the baby a girl or boy) I had to have it. He reminds me so much of my son, who was such a lil' butterball when he was little--it just brought the sweetest memories back to me! I colored him with copics and then added the snow with my favorite Martha Stewart's "Snow Glitter" (love that stuff--I get mine at Michaels). The dp is by Paper Salon & the snowflakes are punches that I have and then I covered them w/ tacky glue & dipped them in the snow glitter & crystal glitter. That fun sentiment is from PTI's "Snowfall" set--perfect me thinks!

Here's a close-up of this lil' chubby cheeked cutie! I put some diamond glaze on his boots and that's white sparkly fluff (buy HERE) on the pom-poms & scarf fringe (so soft & fuzzy)! Love this lil' guy!

Second project is another one I did for the new Pink Cat Studio Digi Stamp store! I bought a bunch of these long notepads from the $1 spot at Michaels awhile back & they have magnets on their back so you can put 'em on the fridge! I thought this To-Do List & matching card would be perfect for lil' teacher or hostess gifts for the holidays. I used "Penguin Candy Cane Swing" & isn't he a lil' cutie? To make the notepad topper I just basically made a scored wrap for the top by measuring it out & scoring & attaching it w/ scor-tape. Very quick & easy to make!


Here's a close-up of the image--I used diamond glaze on the candy canes & then put some liquid applique (heat set so it puffs up) on his lil' elf hat!! So cute! If you haven't delved into the digi stamps yet, you really should give it a try. Melissa has very simple & easy-to-follow directions on learning how to use Digi Images right HERE on how to get started!! You'll be addicted for sure!! LOL

I'll have a quick post up for you tomorrow & then I'll see you all back here on Monday!

hugz,

Suzanne

Winter Hello!!

Happy Thursday everyone! How ya doing today? I am trying to catch up on my to-do list which magically never seems to shorten, LOL! My neighbors are having a porch built so my manic dogs have done nothing but bark for 3 days straight--they're driving me crazy!! I love 'em, but sometimes....there's something to be said about having a quiet house :o) Last night I got to go to dinner with a group of my gal pals and saw "Bride Wars"--oh my, it gave me a good laugh, fun, fun!! Definitely a chick flick but oh so funny and I needed some good laughs! Anywhoooo....

***Don't forget to enter for my BLOG CANDY on this POST until Friday at midnite (EST)*** I've been using alot of spring colors lately--wishful thinking I guess (giggle), but it still is winter unfortunately! And I have lots of winter images that want to be inked so I need to listen to them, hee hee! This cute Magnolia image is "Skiing Tilda" and she's in stock over at Magnolia-licious. I used to love to ski (wasn't an expert but I could manage ok) but now I have such an intolerance for being out in the cold--just not fun for me anymore. I'd rather sit in the lodge by the fire reading a good book!



This layout is from this week's SCS sketch #211 which was fun to use. I had to use this beautiful Memory Box dp that features snowy hills--I embellished it with some Ice Stickles. I colored with Copics (listed below) and distressed the edges w/ my Adirondack brown ink. I glittered up some of my snowflake punch-outs with my MS snow (love that stuff and it's sooo much better than the real cold snow)! The fun sentiment is from PTI's "Snowfall". Hope you likee!



hugz,

Suzanne



Copics Used: BG75,BG72,BG11,BG10,E49,E25,E33,E53,R20,E00,E11