Christmas Gifts!!

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones and got some "relaxin" done! I have FINALLY finished decorating the inside of my house for Christmas (will have pictures for ya this week) and now I need to finish the outside. I won't get to finish the outside today cuz' it is COLD and sleeting outside--YUCKO! We have to run some errands today & then I finally get to go in my craft room--haven't done anything in there for 4 days--YIKES--I miss it :o) I have a great Christmas Gift Ensemble for ya today tho'!

Today I get to show you a sneak peekie of new stamps that Clear Dollar Stamps is coming out with tomorrow! The stamp sets I used are Ornament Accents and Ornament String. I had so much fun creating this matching gift ensemble and I lovee this dp from Basic Grey, just perfect with this set me thinks. Everything was colored with Copics, accented with Stickles and the cs is spring moss & Pure Poppy by PTI.

This is a tin of hot cocoa (Archer Farms at Target) that I wrapped in cs after running it thru with my Cuttlebug Embossing folder. I used my circle nestabilities to cut the circles and used PTI pure poppy ribbon to make all the bows. This tin uses the Ornament Accents stamp set. The bag is a frosted tie bag from PTI that I filled with mini butter cookies (my holiday fave & great to dip in hot cocoa) and then covered the front of the bag and used the Ornament String stamp for this one.

This is the Christmas card and tag I made--it matches and was super easy to make too. I used the Ornament String stamp on the card stamping various ornaments in a row for a different look. The tag was made just using my circle nestabilities and punching a hole in the top and attaching a loop of ribbon.

The last gift item is a gift card holder--you can find the tutorial here. These are so easy to make and so fun to give too. I'm whipping up a batch of these for holiday gifts this year! I just stamped one ornament from the Ornament Accents set (ONLY $3.99 for 7 stamps) and the sentiment on the front. This closes with a ribbon bow.

This is just an inside view of the gift card holder. I stamped the Ornament String in gold palette ink along each end to dress it up! Make sure and visit all my Clear Dollar Stamps DT sistah's blogs (on sidebar) for all the other sneak peeks too!

Well I hope you liked all the projects today & I hope you're enjoying this last day of the holiday weekend too! I'll see ya back here with some more projects for ya tomorrow.
hugz,

Suzanne

Happy Birthday Heather!

Hiya Stampin' Friends!! Is everyone super-busy this day before Thanksgiving? I know I am, and as you're reading this I'm probably headed down to my mom's (2 hrs south of me) for a few days. I finished 5 of my Xmas trees and all my other decorations (except outside) are done & I'm exhausted--whoooosh! Saturday we'll go to the Xmas Tree farm and get our 2 real trees and Sunday the outside decorations will get done (please let the weather cooperate)! My holiday luncheon is next Tuesday and I have a loooong list of stuff left to do, ahhhh!!
Alrighty, onto my cards for the day...

My first card today is a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER"!!! Hope your day is super special & fun! Heather Rolin is the WONDERFULLY KIND owner/illustrator for H&M Stamps and the DT is having a BIRTHDAY BLOG HOP for her. So if you're just stopping here & want to start at the beginning to see all the birthday projects you need to start with Carolina; if you want to see who's next in line then visit Tracy! Don't forget to stop by Heather's blog and give her some big Birthday Hugz!!

My card uses the H&M stamp set "My Favorite Valentine"--I think this puppy image is sooo adorable and I love to make my stamp sets versatile & the images in this set work for more than just one occasion. The dp is Basic Grey's "Cupcake", colored with Copics, stickles for accents and the sentiment is from PTI's "B&C Mongram Edition" that I bent on my acrylic block to fit the circle.

My second card I really have to put down in my all-time favorites (YILM, lol)--I love this image from Magnolia-licious called "Tilda w/ Hood"(she's on sale right now too)! The holiday coats on the Tilda's for their winter 2008 collection are just to die for--so cute & elegant. And I lovee these colors together, fun & dramatic all at once! I based my colors on this to-die for dp from Dovecraft (this is Hint of Pink). Have ya heard of them? No, well they're based over in the UK and no one carries them here in the US---well, until now that is, lol! Susana from Susana's Custom Art & Card Design has many of their design packs in stock and will be ready for purchase come this MONDAY and I tell ya the papers are delish & soooo fun! And the best part is no one else has it right now, so ya need to get some fast for sure! I colored w/ Copics and used Glitz Stickles on her fur trim. The snow is made with liquid applique which I applied after sponging on some lt. pink ink around her. The flowers are Petaloo's and the sentiment is from PTI's "Mailbox Greetings".

I hope ya liked everything today and I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving Holiday! I'll see ya back here on Saturday!

hugz,

Suzanne

Sledding Fun!!

Happy Tuesday friends! As my friend Susana says "I'm in a pine tree forest slash chaos" here at my house trying to get the majority of my holiday decorations up before I leave on Wednesday. We're going to my mom's house for 3 days (so no posties from me, I'm takin' a break) and will be back Friday evening. I will post my 8 trees for ya in a slideshow next week for those who are curious :o) Think I'll be finished in time for my Tuesday luncheon-egads I sure hope so, LOL!

I only got one card for ya today cuz' I'm soooo far behind on my to-do list right now! I got my new holiday Pink Cat Studio stamps the other and I realized I hadn't used my Pink Cat's in a super looooongg time (gasp)! I think these Lily & Billy holiday stamps Melissa came out with are super-cute & super fun to use. I paired it up with this fun snowflake patterned dp from Reminisce (frosted flakes) which matched up perfectly w/ SU's new pacific point cs. I colored with Copics and drew in a hill for them to sled down, lol! I stamped the sky with some snowflakes from PTI and the snow is from Martha Stewart (lovee this stuff). And isn't this ribbon gorgeous? I got it for $1 from Michaels & its the perfect addition to this card me thinks. I added some stickles and some liquid applique to Lily's fur trim for more dimension.

Hope you're all of to a great week and I'll see ya back here tomorrow! I'm off and running, lots to do ya know!

hugz,

Suzanne

Christmas Eye Candy!!

Hi everyone! I'm back with my promised card for ya! Hope ya like it! This card uses another new holiday stamp from Whiff of Joy--this one is "Herb with Bird". I think he has the most gentle & loving expression on his face, so cute! The paper is from Dream Street and the sentiment is WOJ too. I punched snowflakes from Vellum and cs and covered the smaller ones with glitter using sticky sheets (very fun to use).

All righty, I'm back to "busy-land" to finish up a whole bunch of stuff!

hugz,

Suzanne

I've Been Tagged & An Award!!

Good Monday Morning everyone! Hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine was crazy busy getting things started for the holiday season. There is no eye candy on this post, cuz' I was sooo busy yesterday I forgot to take pictures in the daylight, LOL! But I will have a post up here later this afternoon with a card for ya, so check back!!

This award was so kindly given to me by my stampin' friend Kim (love ya)! Here's some info on the award:

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement . Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.
Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who may then pass it on. I've seen this award do the rounds yesterday, so if you've already received this then your extra special :)

So my award goes to some of my SASSY stampin' friends(love ya guys):

-Christine
-Marti
-Susana
-Susan
-Danni
-Monica
-Summer
-Deb

I was TAGGED the other day by Barb (thank ya) & this isn't my first taggin' so I'll have to come up with some new random stuff about myself, LOL!

(1) My drink of choice is always Cherry Coke, ALWAYS!!
(2) I hate crowds & am terribly claustiphobic (the #1 reason why I shop online during the holidays)
(3) I love the smell of freshly baked bread
(4) I love ANYTHING zebra print (I have shoes, purses & sweaters & etc)
(5) I have Raynaud's Syndrome (basically it means my hands & feet are super-white & super cold all year long)
(6) I HATE being late for anything!!!
(7) I DESPISE unloading the dishwasher (this is my dd's chore now)--wierd I know!

And I have some DT news for ya:

Storage Units, Ink & More is looking for some talented gals for their Design Team! You can find all the details here. The deadline is December 7th!

And Whiff of Joy is looking for another Guest Designer too! All the details for entering are here. The deadline is December 6th!

Be back with eye candy in a bit---

Suzanne

Red & Green!!

Hello & Happy Sunday everyone! Oopsie & sorry, but didn't have the energy to post yesterday. I usually type my blog posts up the night before, which would have been Friday night but I was soooo exhausted from taking the kids to the movies that I ran out of steam. My daughter loved the "Twilight" movie with her 9 buddies & countless other teens streaming into the theater (good thing I bought the tix early) and "Bolt" was really cute & funny (the hamster steals the show)! Then yesterday was my hubby's 41st birthday so I had to do his bidding all day---LOL--not really, but he got to spend time at the Hobby Shop & we went out to dinner!(Happy Birthday Honey, you're gettin' old, hee hee)

So I'm going with a red & green Christmas scheme for ya today since I'm busy today putting up 2 of my 8 Christmas trees & some other decorations--my goal is to be finished by next Sunday,lol! My first card uses 2 of the new Holiday Magnolia stamps that I had to put together--I think they make the cutest Mrs. Claus & Santa I evah' seen, dontcha' think? They're colored with Copics (of course) & the dp is from Daisy D's, lovee the plaid! There's stickles on his buckles, lantern & fur trim and Santa's beard & Mrs. Claus' hair has white opal liquid pearls on it--I tried to do it justice in the picture, but it is so dimensional & shiny, just fabby! Ya likee?

Second card uses this wonderful candy stamp from The Stampin' Place called "Christmas Candies & Dish". I used the SCS sketch #202 for the layout and the dp is from Basic Grey & cs is Bazzill Bling. I colored it with Copics and added stickles to the wrappers. Just a fun & sweet Christmas card!

Remember if you love Karen Lockhart Stamps, join our group "Fans of Karen Lockhart" over on Paper Craft Planet and enter for the wonderful webcandy (until Friday) put together by Susana! And remember to upload your Lockhart cards with the keyword "FKLDEC" so we can pick a winner for the group site (details on group page)!

I've also been tagged by one of my fabby blog readers Barb, so I'll be back tomorrow with my "tagging" info for ya! Big Hugz Barb!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend and I'll see ya back here tomorrow!

Hugz,

Suzanne

An Itty Bitty Christmas!!

Happy TGIF everybody!! Hurray its the "busy" weekend before Thanksgiving here in the States. I am actually starting to put up all my holiday decorations this weekend so that by next Sunday I should be done (fingers crossed). We're going to my mom's for a few days at the end of next week for Thanksgiving but will be home Friday evening cuz' I want to go to our favorite Christmas Tree Farm to get our 2 real trees (the other 6 are fake) and get them put up asap! Does anyone go out shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving (known as Black Friday here in the States; people get up at 3 am to go shopping for great sales--its craziness)? I've never gone out on Black Friday because I hate crowds and pushy people--makes me nervous--which is why I do most of my holiday shopping online, no lines! All right enuff blibber-blabber & on to my news & projects of the day!

Sooo, has everyone heard about the Paper Craft Planet madness--if not, where ya been :) My friend Susana asked me if I'd like to start up a group for Karen Lockhart stamps a few weeks ago and of course I had to say "yes", hee hee. Today is our "grand opening" for "Fans of Karen Lockhart" and we have a great contest going on to win some extra special goodies to kick it off. To enter you just need to join our group and leave a numbered comment on the group (contest runs thru next Friday). We will have regular challenges & contests including a "card of the month" contest so if you love Karen Lockhart stamps you should join up asap & join me for LOTS OF FUN. If you're wanting to buy some of these awesome stamps, check out Susana's Custom Art & Card Design for her great selection.

I love Karen's Itty Bitty Line of stamps--they're super cute and fun to use. You can quickly whip up projects like I have with these stamps. (NOTE: Not all of her stamps are inchies/itty bittys, only if they have IB in front of the name, the rest are regular sized stamps) I wanted to make a holiday card gift set that includes 6 cards & envies(A2 size) and 6 tags. I used only 2 lines of dp (Basic Grey's Wassail & Memory Box's Frost) and SU and PTI cs. I colored with Copics & Spica's and added stickles here and there. The above cards use IB ornaments (which I stamped twice) and IB Snow Buddy. I used some of my new Nestabilities shapes and outlined with a Gold Liquid Pen on some of these. (NOTE: these metallic pens are awesome to use, easy nice flow and nice metallic shine)

I absolutely love this new Nestability Shape(Labels 1) its my new favorite me thinks. I added small jingle bells to my ribbon on the left and gold Robin's Nest dew drops to the card on the right. To see these up close you can really see all the shimmer from the Spicas. These stamps are IB Stocking and IB wreath.

My IB pie card uses another new Nestability shape (Curved Rectangles). I love this lil' pie--I made mine cherry, yummo! I used a smaller nestie as a stencil for my Liquid Gold pen for the outline. The sentiments are from PTI's "Rustic Snowflakes" & "Holiday Tag Collection"(this is a must have set for the holidays). The IB mittens are glittered up with stickles and the twill is from SU.

Above are the stamped envelopes--such a quick way to dress-up your envies. The clear box I used at the top to hold everything is from Clear Bags--lots of sizes & not expensive for a pack of 'em. Such a pretty way to box them up and give as a gift. I wrapped the box with my gold PTI ribbon and added a tag made with the nesties and IB wreath & attached with gold cording. You can see the tags if you join the PaperCraft group--they'll be up on the group site only (hee, hee)!

Sooo, whatcha' think? Wanna make some of these--they're quick to pull together I promise. So join up on my "Fans of Karen Lockhart Stamps" and I'll see ya there, okay! I'll be back tomorrow with some new projects and Sunday I'm taking the day off to run errands & do some holiday decorating! My daughter is going to see the "Twilight" movie with friends this evening while my hubby, me & ds see "Bolt". Anybody else out there big "Twilight" fans--I haven't read them yet but my daughter assures me they're fabby!

have a great day,Suzanne

Pixie Land!!

Happy Thursday to you all! The sun is finally out for a day & its supposed to be freezing w/ snow showers here tomorrow--ahhh, what gives! We never have snow before Thanksgiving--is global warming for real,LOL! Enuff about my weather--I have new goodies to share with you--yippee!

Are these pixies not the CUTEST you've evah seen? (no I don't say that alot, hee hee)These pixies are from a new line called Faerie Art Song and you can get them (there are many) at my friend Susana's store, Susana's Custom Art & Card Design. They are literally flying (hee, hee) off the shelves so get 'em quick!

NOTE: IF she is out of stock of the one you'd like, DO NOT PANIC--she has more coming in. You can email her at susana@susanascustomartandcarddesign.com and she will hold the stamp(s) you like when they come in so you don't miss out :o)



This first card uses the pixie "Kyra" sitting on her lil' moon--so whimsical & lovely! I paired her up with some of this gorgeous DCWV "luxury stack" dp and shimmery navy cs from PTI--just a gorgeous combo me thinks. I colored with Copics and added some navy ink around the edges with my Ranger Inkssentials blending tool (love this thing, if you don't have one rush out & get it cuz' it makes blending your inks so easy & soft)! If you click to make larger you'll see the diamond stickles and these cool GeoSparklers from Stampendous on her--they're like lil jewels for your cards. I punched some scroll punches and added some star jewels scattered around. The sentiment is from Verve Stamp's "Starlight Starbright" set--fits perfectly me thinks.

The second card uses the cutie "Bryony" sitting on her lil' mushroom--just precious dontcha' think! She's colored with Copics too but the bg was done with my Twinkling H2O's--second picture shows the shimmer better & then I rubbed some wheat colored ink around the edges. The lucious dp is from DCWV "Once Upon a Time" stack--perfect to use w/ these pixies. My layout comes from this week's SCS sketch #203. I added ribbon from PTI and some Primas with gold robin's nest centers. So if ya love faeries and pixies make sure and grab some of these!

Be back tomorrow with some big news, an invite and lotsa projects--so get ready for a lonnng post tomorrow!

hugz,

Suzanne

Winter Wonderland!!

Happy Wednesday everyone! It surely is no winter wonderland here in VA although it is brrrr....COLD & snow flurries in the air! I'm still hopin' for some sun today (wishful thinking perhaps). My kids are doing the snow dance every night, but I can definitely wait--I HATE WINTER so I'm just gonna say I'm waiting on spring from now on, lol! And because I'm so cold and have lots of holiday projects to work on I'm keepin it short for ya today (yes, really, lol)!



Today is Whatchadoin' Wednesday over at Storage Units, Ink and More and our challenge was to make a holiday gift bag. You can join in too and upload with the keyword SUINKWWC15 so we can all see! I decided that you can't really give a gift w/o a card right? So I made a coordinating gift bag & card! I really wanted to use some other images from SUINK's new "Aspen" stamp set and this one was perfect. She doesn't actually hold the mug of cocoa, its a separate stamp in the set, but I drew her arm in on that side and then added the mug (cut out & popped up & glitterfied)! Coloring is all Copics and the dp is from DCWV "Winter Stack". The sentiments are from SUINK's "Winter Thoughts" which you can get free with the purchase of 6 stamp sets--great sentiments in that set too!

The gift bag was just a plain white bag w/ handle that I literally cut down to size and added my own ribbon handle to the sides (SU ribbon). Plain bags are so much fun (& easy) to personalize & decorate for your gift recipients--not to mention how much cheaper than the store ones! The snowflakes are from my Marvy and Martha Stewart punches and I just layered them and added glitterdots on top. Just a fun, cheerful holiday gift set for you to give to someone special. Create a gift bag & upload to SCS so we can see all your fun holiday creations! And check out my DT sistah's wonderful creations over on the SUINK blog too!

I'm back to working on projects today & oh boy, do I have lotsa new goodies to share with you in the upcoming days--fun, fun!! BTW, my friend Susana is having a sale on all her HOTP stamps so go check 'em out (25% off) over at her store!! See ya tomorrow!

hugz,
Suzanne

Holiday Season!!

Hiya Everyone! If there isn't any sun today I may have to go buy myself an SAD light, lol! It's been dreary for 5 days and it's bummin' me out bigtime! I'm off to lunch today with my lunch bunch gal pals, which should cheer me up some :o) Oh, the holiday rush is coming fast I tell ya--I'm feeling the crush myself! Here's a couple of holiday cards for ya today!

This card uses two new stamps from 2 of my favorite stamp lines! I knew this new Tilda with Presents that I got from Magnolia-licious would pair well with this lovely Christmas Tree from Whiff of Joy. This was definitely a labor of love, but worth it--the tree was so much fun to color. I colored with both my Copics and my Spica pens--the second picture (click to enlarge) shows just how sparkly those Spicas are! The dp is from HotOffThePress and the cardstock including the shimmery gold cs is from PTI. The sentiment is also from Whiff of Joy--this set is great for mixing and matching for the holidays.

This card uses Storage Units, Ink & More new set called "Oh Holy Night". Just like all their other stamp sets you can really mix and match to create different scenes. I really like to use some of my non-holiday dp for some of my cards to mix it up and I adore this K&Co. "Blue Awning" dp. Colored with Copics and accented with some stickles. The scrolls are from my Marvy punch & then I added rhinestones to and buttons are Basic Grey.

Hope you like the projects today! I'll see ya back here tomorrow!

hugz,

Suzanne

Autumn Thoughts!!

Happy Monday friendly Stampers!! Sorry I didn't post anything this weekend, but the weather was so nasty with wind & rain that I couldn't take any pictures of my projects. So now I have a ton of things to share with ya this week, lol! I'm sharing two with you today!

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BTW, I have an announcement for ya too--I am a Guest Designer for H&M Stamps thru February, yippee!! You MUST check out Heather's awesome stamps, there's something for everyone I tell ya! I'll have a project with one of my favorite sets for ya tomorrow (didn't get a photo yet). And check out my fellow GDT gals blogs too(Dawn Easton & Cindy Lawrence)--they're super & fabulously talented!! And yes, I am SUPER BUSY right now, ROFL!!
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First up is my fall card using one of the new Holiday Magnolia's that I got from Magnolia-licious. (edited--I will add link asap when it lets me,lol). I adore this fall dp from SU--lovee the colors in it. I love this Tilda cuz' she can be for so many occasions and I paired her up with this beautiful "Covered Bridge Scene" stamp from The Stampin' Place. I love this covered bridge stamp because you can color it for any season you'd like--I can't wait to ink it up again for winter and make snow on it! I used my Copics to color and added some stickles (gold & copper) to her buttons and the leaves. I also got to use my new Nestabilities (seems like it took forevah to get them) to layer with--this is the Labels 1 set(my friend Tab who owns 7 Kids College Fund has all the new ones in SUPER CHEAP, great prices). The sentiment is from PTI's "Mailbox Greetings". You likee? Some of my friends who got a sneakie peekie of this card yesterday (u know who u r :o)) said it reminded them of "The Bridges of Madison County" and I agree. Where we lived in Maryland before movin' to Virginia there were quite a few covered bridges and they were just beautiful!

Second card is one I made with my new "Whiffies" (got that from my pal Susana,lol) which is Whiff of Joy of course! This new stamp is called "Herb with Baby" and the sentiment is WOJ too. I used my favorite My Minds Eye "laundry line" dp and colored with Copics. This layout was last weeks SCS sketch #202 & I used it for this card and another I'll share later in the week (I flipped the sketch around). I lovee the soft colors and these snowman images are just the cutest, IMO!! If you haven't ordered yours and you really want some, REMEMBER they will not be available for very long, so get ordering already, lol!! Two stores here in the US that carry them are Roses on Paper and All That Scraps if you're nervous about ordering from overseas (although you shouldn't cuz Katharina is fabulous & gets them to you super quick)!

That's all I gots for ya today! Hope your week is starting off well & see ya back here tomorrow...

hugz,
Suzanne

A Red, White & Blue Holiday!!

Yippee it's Friday, ladies! Ahh, I've been waiting not so patiently for it, lol! I'm having a few friends over on Saturday for some stampin' fun--you may know or visit some of these ladies in blogland, Christine & Marti! Lotsa chatting, stamping & they get to play with all my stamps, lol! And Sunday I'm gonna start putting up my 1 of my 8 Christmas trees (at least the 6 fake ones)--it takes me awhile so I have to start super early so that Thanksgiving weekend we can go get our 2 real trees. Yes, I am that crazy but I LOVE Christmas! I'm already picking out the new Christmas albums I'm gonna buy for my Ipod this year (Faith Hill, Enya & the new Burl Ives remix to name a few...)! So in my holiday spirit I've got some holiday projects done up in our patriotic red, white & blue...

This card and ornament use SUINK's new set called "Deer Ol Santa"--I love this set and the many ways you can mix and match the stamps. It reminds me of the original claymation Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer & Frosty shows (dontcha' still love those, I do)! Nowadays there are tons of Christmas cartoons/shows, but growing up w/o cable (GASP, I am that old, hee hee) I couldn't wait for the holiday show line up which always included Rudolph & Frosty!

The dp is from HOTP--lovee the bright blue! I colored with Copics and I sponged my nighttime clouds w/ Pacific Point SU ink. I wanted Santa to be holding the reins for his reindeer including Rudolph who has a red stickled nose, lol. I paper pierced my holes and then threaded red embroidery floss thru and taped on the backside. The sled rails, buttons and Santa's bag & buckle are glittered w/ my gold spica pen. If you haven't tried out these Copic Spicas, you really should cuz' they flow wonderfully & leave the nicest shimmer--if you don't want to invest in the set, buy one or two separately (I would go with clear, gold or silver first)!

Here's another coaster ornament for ya--I tell ya' I'm gonna use these 700+ coasters eventually, lol! For this one I just cut out the center with my scalloped square Nestabilities and also used the second larger nestie to cut out a layer of the same dp. The edge is colored w/ a copic marker and the inside embossed edge is too. I then took my liquid gold pen and edged all around. I cut a layer of clear acetate and attached to the back w/ adhesive. Then I stamped, colored & cut out my Santa again and attached him w/ a dimensional to the front on top of the acetate. The ribbon bow & hanger is from PTI (pure poppy).

I think this would make the cutest holiday gift for someone--an ornament and matching card & homemade to boot! So whatcha' think?

Don't forget tonight is the release party for PTI at 10 pm (EST)--maybe I'll see ya there!

hugz,

Suzanne

Awards Time!

I wanted to thank those of you who have nominated me for an award the past couple of months & I haven't acknowledged you on my blog. I soooo appreciate you thinking of me and glad you come to visit me often. Sometimes in my "crazy, type A, busy brain" I forget to load the awards up and thank everyone, so I apologize for that--

The award above was given to me by 2 very sweet readers, Wendalyn who is on the Spiral Whisper DT and Lori who is a member of our fun Magnolia-licious Yahoo group. Check out their blogs and give them some love when you get a chance! I'm not nominating anyone specific because I love ya all---so I'm handing this one out to everyone!

Thanks & Big Hugz Ladies!

Suzanne

Winter Town!

Hi everybody & Happy Thursday! Oh its a cold & dreary day here in VA--perfect for working on projects all day, hee hee! We had some major computer issues with our family computer last nite, seems that one of those trojan horse viruses ate our hard drive-aaacckk! I'm hoping it doesn't get my laptop cuz' my life is on here, lol--I'm faithfully backing it up though! Hopefully we will be able to save the other computer, we'll see...so aggravating ya know.

So here is my one and only creation for your eyes today! And wowsers it did take me awhile to do this, lol! I got my Holiday Magnolia's from Diana yesterday and couldn't wait to ink all these cuties up. This is "Dalecarlia Coat Tilda" from Magnolia-licious--this is the first image I saw that I knew I HAD to have, love her detailed coat & tilted head (btw Dalecarlia is a province in Sweden).

And I had to pair her up with another background stamp by The Stampin' Place--this one is "Winter Town". Ya know how I adore my bg stamps and this one was super fun to color too although it did take awhile. There are lotsa details on this card so click it to make it larger if ya need to. The snow on the house roofs is from my DecoArt SnowWriter, snow on land & trees is liquid applique w/ diamond stickles on top. The windows and skating pond has a smooth layer of diamond glaze on top for a nice glassy shine. There's also some extra Glitz Stickles on the icicles.

Everything was colored w/ Copics and Tilda was cut out and popped up w/ dimensionals. The dp is from SU's holiday line "Alpine". The inside sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farm's "Mona Lisa-Christmas Expressions". So whatcha' think--I lovee it & want to frame it for the holidays!

Some quick newsies for ya & then I'm done, lol! I got all my new Nestabilities from 7 Kids College Fund & can't wait to use them--check 'em out if you haven't already! And don't forget that Paper Trey Ink is having their release party tomorrow night at 10 pm (EST)--their new stamps & paper are a must have (at least for a fan like me, lol)! See ya tomorrow w/ some Red, White & Blue projects.

hugz,

Suzanne

Meet Herb & Lizzie!!

Hello, it's happy Hump Day already! I'm off to breakfast with some friends today and I'm excited! I never eat breakfast (bad, I know) I only drink a glass of chocolate milk in the morning. Not that I don't like breakfast, cuz' I do--just never have time to make anything, lol! Anywhoo, onto my Whiff of Joy projects today...

My first card uses Whiff of Joy's "Herb with Teacup"--isn't he just a cutie! Elisabeth Bell did a great job illustrating these new holiday images. The sentiment is from WOJ too, there are 6 sentiments in this "Winter Love" set. This fun holiday dp is from K&Co and the sketch is from the Whiff of Joy Challenge blog. He's colored with Copics and accented with diamond Stickles; the ribbon is SU. If you're interested in getting some of these stamps here in the US, please check out my friend Summer's store Roses on Paper.

The second card uses "Lizzie with Muff" and I think she's just darling. I colored her w/ Copics and added liquid applique to her fur trims--after drying I added stickles on top for shimmer. I also stamped the snowflakes in silver ink around her w/ a touch of stickles in the middle. The sentiment is from a second set from WOJ called "Christmas Wishes"--you can mix and match these sentiments which is really cool!! I used that yummy dp from Basic Grey's "Wassail"--lovee it and the holly leaves are from Prima!

Love all the new Whiff of Joy stamps, how about you? Make sure and check out WOJ's gallery to see all of my DT sistah's lovely creations. And Kimmie has her blog candy up and ready to giveaway so check it out too! And my mistake, TODAY is Whatchadoin' Wednesday over on the Storage Units, Ink & More blog (guess I was a day ahead of myself, lol)--so check out all the fabby ornaments the DT has come up with!
hugz,

Suzanne

Christmas Ornaments Blitzer-Rama!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Do you feel that....the pressure of the holidays to get everything done, lol! I sure do--I think I'm going to start putting up my 8 trees the week of Thanksgiving so I can relax a little in December(ha, ha)! I decided I'd help you out a little (or myself I guess too,lol) and give you some ideas for quick gifts for yourself or someone you know. BTW, I'm listing my top 10 Holiday songs for you--since everyone left me such wonderful answers for my blog candy, I thought I'd give you my answers too!

So here goes, my TOP 10 HOLIDAY SONGS ARE:

(1) Christmas Canon by Transiberian Orchestra (my absolute favorite)
(2) Christmas Day by Dido
(3) Baby It's Cold Outside
(4) Jingle Bell Rock
(5) O Holy Night
(6) any of the Nutcracker Ballet music
(7) Carol of the Bells
(8) Silver Bells
(9) Sleigh Ride/Winter Wonderland
(10) It's Christmas Time by The Carpenters

Of course there are many more that I love--I have over 1,000 Xmas songs on my Ipod that I put on rotation in my house starting the week of Thanksgiving! My most favorite of all music is Christmas Music & I cannot wait to start playing it! So with the holidays in mind, I'm sharing 3 Christmas ornaments that I made that are elegant, fun & quick to make for yourself, presents for those you know or even as present toppers!

My first two ornaments use coasters--if you are a regular reader of mine you know that I bought a box of 800 coasters back in the spring & am on a mission to use them all, lol! If you're interested in buying some too you can get them here (a box of 800 for $20)! I used 2 of my scalloped square Nestabilities to cut out & emboss this frame from my coaster. To make the gold outlines I used my Marvy Liquid Gold pen along the edges of the frame and inside on the embossed line. The star stamp is from PTI's "Silent Night" set which has such beautiful images and sentiments in it. I stamped it in Palette Gold ink and then highlighted it w/ rhinestones & gold Glitz Stickles and then cut out (it's stamped, cut out & embellished twice). I sandwiched my embroidery thread between the two stamped & embellied images and attached to the top so it swings freely. The gold ribbon is also from PTI. These are quick to make and what a beautiful ornament (in my opinion) to give as a gift.

The second ornament is made the same way except with my scalloped circle Nestabilities to cut thru the coaster. I stamped and punched out the snowflake from PTI's "Snowfall Additions"--stamped with SU baja breeze ink. I coated the snowflake w/ diamond stickles and added rhinestones to the center and around the frame. I watercolored the outside of my ornament w/ my baja breeze reinker and the ribbon is from PTI.

My last ornament uses my new Whiff of Joy stamps--YIPPEE, they came today! I was only able to play with this one, but I'll have more for you tomorrow. This cute snowman is "Herb" and I think Elisabeth Bell has done a fabulous job illustrating these snowman to make them lifelike and whimsical. If you're looking to order some of these fabby stamps here in the US, my friend Summer of Roses on Paper has them in stock!! This wooden ornament came from Michaels for $1 (I got bunches of course) I'm making bunches more for gifts too. I stamped "Herb" with black Staz-On ink and then colored with my SU markers (becuz' this ornament has a shinier finish my Copics wouldn't work). I then covered him with stickles for lotsa shimmer & sparkle. The fun ribbon is from PTI again--can ya tell I lovee their ribbons, lol!!

So whatcha' think? If you're looking for more ornament ideas head over to SUINK's blog because it's Whatchadoin' Wednesday & the challenge was to make ornaments--so some of my DT sistahs are sure to have some super ideas for ya! See ya back here tomorrow with some more Whiff of Joy projects.

hugz,

Suzanne

Blog Candy Winners & Pretty In Pink!!

Hello & Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend--I know it snowed where some of you are, but thankfully the weather here was pleasant! Alexa did wonderfully at her chorus concert and she even had a solo-at her age I would have been so nervous in front of all those people, but she was fine, lol!

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Alrighty, I'm sure you've been waiting anxiously to see who won the blog candies, so here we go:
Winner of the Biggest Blog Candy 'Evah is.....................................
Here are your random numbers:
18
Timestamp: 2008-11-10 05:03:48 UTC

My great stampin' friend Susan Dube!!! She was lucky number 18!! Congrats Susan & thanks for all the sweet comments!

Winner of the Recipe Gift Set & Images is...................................
Here are your random numbers:
227
Timestamp: 2008-11-10 05:21:01 UTC

Teresa Curtis
Congrats Teresa & hope this helps you with your recipe card & apron gifts!

Please email(on sidebar) me with your addresses so I can get these goodies out to you ASAP you lucky gals!

Thanks to everyone who entered and answered my "random" question--I really enjoyed reading everyone's answers! Isn't it funny how many memories we connect with a certain song or time of year--music is such an important part of life, which is why my IPOD has like 10,000 songs on it! I love listening to all kinds of music, but holiday music is the best! I'll give you my top 5 Holiday songs tomorrow! Don't worry if you didn't win this time, cuz I have some supah' blog candy to giveaway next month too!!
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Today I have a Pink Blitz for ya! I adore the new Magnolia's from the Pink Collection--you can get them at Magnolia-licious now! I think this girl is so sweet with her lil' head of curls and dress. The yummo-licious dp is from K&Co's "Smitten" line paired up w/ PTI cs. The flowers are some new ones that I got from Petaloo--aren't they fun! She's colored w/ Copics with a few stickles thrown in for sparkle! The sentiment is from Verve Stamps "Birthday Surprise" set.

The second card uses another fabby Rubber Romance gal named "Babs" relaxing in her bubblebath. Ahh, how I could use some time in the tub like this, lol! I have a huge, jacuzzi tub and I've only used it twice in 2 years---never enough time in the day, ya know! I colored w/ Copics and then took my liquid pearls (in opal & lt. pink) and painted over the tub & some of the bubbles for a nice shimmer. I also added diamond stickles and some clear dew drops to some of the bubbles for dimension & lotsa sparkle! The perfume bottle on the left is a stamp from Susana's Custom Art & Card Design that I colored, cut out and popped up w/ dimensionals--isn't it fabby? The sentiment is from Paper Salon and the dp is my favorite "Laundry Line" by My Mind's Eye.

Ok, I'm outta here but I'll be back tomorrow with some more projects. I'm hopin' my new Whiff of Joy stamps will come today so I can play--if you haven't checked them out yet it's a MUST SEE, so fabulous all of them! And Verve Stamps released all of their new holiday stamps last night so check them out--I love their sentiment sets!

hugz,

Suzanne

Saturday Fun!

Hi everyone & happy Saturday to ya! I am out today at my daughter's chorus concert and running errands, so no crafting time for me (boo hoo)! I will get all day Sunday in my craft room to work on a bajillion projects so I can't complain, lol! And this post will be super quick for ya too, I PROMISE!!

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BLOG CANDY ALERT--If you haven't entered for my blog candy yet, whatcha' waiting for? See this post for the details & to enter. You have until tomorrow (11/9) at midnite (EST) to enter & I will announce the winner on Monday!
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I've only got one project to share with you today--don't faint, it's ok, lol!! I love Karen Lockhart's images and her new Christmas trees are no exception. So detailed & a TON of fun to color which is one of my favorite things to do!! This tree is called "Della Robia" and you can buy it from Susana's store here. There are a few trees and they're all fabby! I colored it with my Copics and then used my Atyou Spica pens to highlight some of the berries & fruit--the second picture gives you a good idea of all the shimmer these pens give to your project (just click on it). The dp is from PTI as is the yummy ribbon. The layout is from this weeks SCS sketch #201--which was fun to use!

Ok, these are just a couple of the new stamps that are NOW AVAILABLE from Whiff of Joy--illustrated by the fabulous Elisabeth Bell! Now I hate to be a party pooper, but these stamps are limited edition so when Katharina is out of them there will be NO MORE, so get them NOW if you love 'em! These new snowmen/woman are just about the cutest snow people I've ever seen--I cannot wait to get mine (my mailman is seriously scared of me stalking him all of the time, lol)!! There are 10 new stamps & 3 sentiment sets that you are sure to LOVE!

Also, today is the last day for Diana's sale over at Magnolia-licious so check it out while you can! And The Stampin Place is running their sale thru tomorrow, so stock up now if you're in need!!


hugz,

Suzanne

Holiday Gifts!!

Happy Friday my friends---yeehaw, the weekend is here again :o) We don't really have any plans other than seeing my daughter's All County Chorus performance tomorrow afternoon. She's in so many singing groups I can't keep them all straight, lol--there is chamber choir, 7th grade chorus, all county chorus, district chorus & now she's trying out for State Chorus--ackk! I can't even remember my own name somedays let alone which chorus practice she needs to be at, lol! But she loves to sing so its all worth it (just wish she'd stop singing High School Musical songs--NOT my favorite--I'm not a fan, sad I know, lol)!

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BLOG CANDY ALERT--If you haven't entered for my BLOG CANDY yet please see this post to enter. You have until Sunday, Nov.9th at midnite (EST) to enter! Don't forget to answer the question too--love reading everyone's answers! Don't worry about double comments--I choose a number by Random.org and count by hand myself & I don't count a second comment, so don't WORRY :o)!! Don't forget to visit Susana's Custom Art & Card Design for her WebCandy--she has a separate stamp & goodies up for grabs too!
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Alrighty, I do not have any cards to share today (GASP) just some holiday projects for ya. This first project is a jewelry box gift set that includes a snowflake brooch/pin & earrings all made by me!! Over on SCS there is a tutorial for making your own paper pins & its super easy to do. I bought my pin & earring backs from Michael's jewelry section (lots in a pack for under $2). The snowflake stamp for the pin is from PTI's "Snowfall Additions" set that I stamped in versamark onto my cs and then embossed in white. After cooling I punched them out w/ my Marvy Snowflake punches that coordinate w/ this stamp set (cool, huh). I then put 2 coats of Diamond Glaze (letting it dry between coats) on the front & back of each snowflake to stiffen it up; the snowflakes are attached together with strong adhesive glue (E6000) as is the pin back. I then used my fabulous new Glitz Stickles to add dots to the ends of the pin and a silver pearl in the center.

The earrings were stamped using the same snowflake onto my craft shrinky dink paper w/ versamark ink. I then coated them w/ heat embossed glitter and shrunk these babies down to size. After cooling I glued the earring backs on w/ my E6000 glue and added a silver pearl center. I like how it turned out--whaddya think?

For the gift box I used the tutorial/template found here (my favorite lil box to make). I stamped the top & sides with snowflakes from PTI's "Snowflake Serenade" set in "ocean tides" ink. I punched out a few more snowflakes and layered them together w/ dimensionals w/ a white glitterdot in the center. The SU baja breeze ribbon is wrapped around the lid and attached w/ tacky tape. I also used PTI's "Holiday Tag Collection" (a must have) for the small tag and cut it out w/ my Nestabilities Tag Trio and attached w/ PTI's sheer ribbon. I think this makes an elegant & wintry holiday gift box!

My last project today is my "Project of the Month" for Whiff of Joy--we were challenged by Katharina to make a "candle" project. I decided to make a luminary because I love their softness and elegance. I used my "Melinda Christmas Angel" and stamped her on vellum w/ Staz-On ink . I also stamped some snowflakes and the "Joy" sentiment from PTI's "Snowflake Serenade" set. I colored the underside of the stamp w/my Copics so that the colors would be muted. I also used my new favoritest Glitz Stickles on the ends of the snowflakes & to the berries--these stickles are alot thicker & so much more sparkly!

I attached 2 strips of riding hood red cs to the ends of each of the vellum(8.5x11)--one strip I used my new Martha Stewart border punch on. After rolling the entire piece I attached it with tacky tape on the inside and then wrapped gold ribbon from PTI around the top & bottom. I lit mine with a battery powered tealights (Dollar store had them 6 for $1) so I don't burn my house down, lol. Wish the picture would've turned out better, but this was the best I could get with it lit! This is actually my second luminary cuz' my dog actually chewed the first one, no lie, she likes to chew paper, ugh! So I'm late with my project, but make sure and check out the rest of the WOJ's DT projects here---they are fabulous!! And the new releases will be available on Nov. 8th---you can see the peeks here--hope you've saved up for these! I'm anxiously stalking my mailman for my rubbah'--can't wait to ink these beauties up!

Enough from me today, lol! Check out the new online crafting forum Paper Craft Planet when you get a chance--it's hoppin' over there! Look me up & make me your friend :o)

hugz,

Suzanne