Tea Time!

Hello everyone and a very happy Wednesday to you all! I am still in sunny, wonderful South Carolina! The weather this week has been sunny and hot--just the way I like it! It is so nice to wake up everyday and NOT have a schedule or to-do list waiting for us, KWIM?! So far we've gotten to the beach a few times (as it's a 3 minute walk for us from our house) and gotten some burns already, lol. Yesterday we played mini-putt putt (yay-I won, hee hee) and went for a 6 mile bike ride along the paths/golf course here in Palmetto Dunes. Bikes are the way to get around here and ours are getting a great workout :) We also went to Jump & Phils for dinner and sat outside among the trees and had a blast. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited---wanna know why??? Cuz' next week I'm going to meet 2 (yes two) of my favorite authors--YAY! Next Monday I'm meeting Kathryn Wall and then on Wed. I'll be meeting Mary Kay Andrews! If you haven't ready any of Kathryn Wall's books then you're missing out--they are mystery/action novels all set here in Hilton Head and the main character "Bay" is a private investigator. I'm finishing up her newest book now (I saved it for the beach) and it's fabbo and since it's on my Kindle I have to go buy it so she can sign it, LOL! The books are really good--I've read them all and they are page-turners for sure. Mary Kay Andrews is on Tybee Island, GA and she writes some great books too--her "Fixer-Upper" was excellent and she writes the "Savannah Blues" series as well. So if you're looking for some great summer reads--I guarantee you'll love them! I'm so excited that I'm giddy--and of course I'll share pics with you.

We're going to Dafuskie Island on Thursday for the day to do some sight seein', crab eatin' and beach combing and a little ghost hunting, hee hee! I cannot wait to get there and we'll be making a trip to Folly Beach near Charleston as well next week, the place the last (most excellent) Karen White book "On Folly Beach" was set! Yes, my hubby LOVES toting me around to all my book places, LMBO!

And below is a mini-slideshow of some fun pictures for you! If you're in Hilton Head Island, you MUST go and get Hilton Head Ice Cream--it's the BEST I tell ya! It's all made fresh there and the Brownie-Cheesecake is the best ever--see why I need those long bike rides. Anywho, my lovely daughter never seemed to master the art of eating an ice-cream cone and I have the pics to prove it--as it melted and ran down her face and arms (and yes she is 14, lol)!  Okay, onto the pictures (of our friendly resident Mr. Charlie the alligator) and projects, lol!

And oh--let me know if you notice anything different about me, LOL!  Winner of the last blog candy will be announced tomorrow :)

Slideshow pics:

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Tea Time!!

Isn't this gal a cutie?  LOVE these Kraftin' Kimmie stamps and guess what?  My friend Susana carries them in her store HERE!  This one is called "Gabrielle"--I love her dress and teacup so much.  I paired her up with some great papers from Kaisercraft's "Lilac Avenue".

This is a sketch from someone but I can't remember who--that's what I get for making projects ahead of time, lol---sometimes I forget the deets!!  Anywho, I used a SB nestability (Mega Labels 8) to create the shape on the striped bottom part--they're great for doing that with.  The swirly leaves are another SB's die called "On the Vine"--I love this die!  You can use it as it is or cut pieces off or even cut just the leaves off--I've done all three before so it's very usable & versatile!  Then I took stickles and added them along the vine/leaves and some pearls on the vine as well. The bow was done with my fabby Bow Easy and the sentiment is from PTI's set "Tea for Two" (I put it on my acrylic block in a curve to match the curve of the circle--easy to do with acrylic stamps).

Whenever an image has large eyes like these stamps (or Victoria Case's) I always add some Diamond Glaze to them to make them shiny & realistic!  I also added some diamond glaze to her teacup & saucer--her petticoat got some blingy stickles! And she is of course colored with Copics!  I just love her & hope you do too!

I'll be back tomorrow with the Magnolia-licious DT Sketch project for July!!  See ya then!

Splash!!!

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a fabulous weekend and spent some great time relaxing! I am in Hilton Head Island for the next 2 weeks and I'm trying to enjoy every minute--I do love it down here sooooooooo much! One of these times I'm not gonna come home, LOL--I think I should just stay! So far we've been to the beach and down some walks/bike rides and eaten some yummy food!  If you're ever down here you MUST stop and eat at San Miguel's Mexican Cafe--the Enchiladas Del Mar are the BEST ever--we eat there at least 2-3 times while we're here.  It sits on the harbor and we always eat outside for the best views (and great people watching, hee hee)!  (I'll have some pics up on Wednesday if you're interested too)

Today is another beach day for us and then we have plans to go Putt-Putt golf later.  I have my own oceanic project for you today!  Remember the 80's movie "Splash" with Darryl Hannah?  I just loved that movie and have recreated some of that below!  Hope you enjoy & I'll be back with another project on Wednesday for ya!

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Splassssssssh!!

This fun card showcases one of my favorite Mo's Digital Pencil called "Melia on her Shell Phone"--isn't she a cutie mermaid!? Love her!  This project was originally in our magazine "Through the Craftroom Door" months ago but I just had to share her with you!  I love the aqua, black & white color scheme--matches my craftroom, lol!

The background was embossed with one of my fave CB embossing folders (D'Vine Swirls) that to me replicates waves and I added some pretty brocade paper.  Those shell/starfish embellishments are buttons that I cut the shanks off the back and added to the card.

The image was colored with copics (but of course, lol) and then I added diamond glaze to her shell bikini, in her hair and her mermaid tail.  When the glaze was still wet I sprinkled MS crystal glitter on top for this super sparkly and textural look!  I softly inked the edges with my Inkssentials Blending Tool and added a few pearls to finish it off.

Hope you liked her and drop by Mo's Digital Pencil to see what new images she has up--I'll be stopping by there soon too (wink)!!  Have a great week!

Carousel Dreaming!

Hello everyone and a very happy Friday to you all! While you are reading this I am hopefully on the road with my family to Hilton Head Island, SC for 2 weeks--YAY! I have been counting down the days and hours and I'm so excited to get there! We have to drop the dogs off at my mom's on the way down (she's my dog-sitter, lol) and then we'll be stopping overnight in NC just to break the trip up a bit. Ever traveled with two arguing siblings who are both teens and drive you NUTS--well that's why we're breaking it up into 6 hour segments, LOL! Then we'll be at our rental house in SC on Saturday--gotta check in and get groceries and all that good stuff so we can start the vacation on Sunday :)

Anywho, I have lots of post scheduled for while I'm away so please stop by regularly to check in!  I'll also be adding vacation pictures here and there in my posts if you want to see those as well, LOL--I have a little bit of a surprise for you when you see me--you might not recognize me, LOL!  Want to guess what's changed?  The correct guesser (1 correct guesser will be picked randomly) will win a $25 gift certificate to 7 Kids College Fund when I get back home!!

This is a long post so make sure to scroll down to see the new Elisabeth Bell for SCACD Release project and Blog Hop!!

NewsBitz:

-Winner of the Magnolia Blog Candy (from this post here) is Eleanor Jenkins of "Stamping in Virginia"! Virginia, email me at sjdean@smartneighborhood.net with your info so I can get the goodies out to you when I get home!  I had sooooooooo much fun reading what everyone would do with lottery winnings--thanks for entering and giving me smiles.  I would give money to all my relatives, move to SC, travel Europe for the summer and donate bunches of money to all my favorite charities and then JUST CHILL & RELAX, lol!

-Winner of the I Brake For Stamps Gift Certificate (from this post here) is Donna of "Indiana Inking"!!  Email me your info so I can get the $20 gift cert. sent to you ASAP!  Thanks to all for entering and telling me about your backyard projects--looks like a lot of you will be very BUSY this summer :)

I have the Copic Summer Special still going on at the Color Me Creative Classroom thru June 28th!

Get $10 off your total if you sign up for 2 classes and get $20 if you sign up for all 4 classes---only Copic classes, not Cricut. Once you sign up & pay your monies will be refunded to you in 48 hours. This will not happen again until 2011, so if you want to learn how to use those Copics over the summer--it's a great deal! (if you need to pay by check/money order please email me separately so we can arrange that)

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Well today is the day everyone!  The new release from Elisabeth Bell for SCACD is available at Susana's Custom Art & Card Design today HERE--these are too cute I tell ya!

BLOG HOP!!

And the SCACD DT along with Quixotic Paperie's DT and guest Susanna Boyd are putting on a DELUXE BLOG HOP today for you to show off these new images.  I'm first on the hop and then you'll need to hop over to my buddy Marti's Blog HERE.  If you get lost, stop by the store blog HERE to see the entire blog hop list and links!

So I get to show off this fabulous and beautiful carousel horse in the new collection is called "Carousel Dreams"--isn't it gorgeous and FUN to color too!  There are so many variations and colors you can make this image to fit many occasions--I decided to create a Welcome Baby card for you today.  But it would be fabulous for birthdays, thank yous, invites and more.

All my papers I've used are NEW from Memory Box called "Gossamer"--isn't the name fabby too--and the soft colors and patterns are to die for!  I love Memory Box papers, great quality and beautiful designs!  I distressed all the edges with my Zutter Distress It tool (it is one of my fave new tools I tell ya, lol) and then I lightly inked the edge with a light brown SU ink (creamy caramel-my fave).  The double bow was done by wrapping 2 colors of ribbon around my Bow Easy tool and then I added a Prima Pearl Center to the middle of it.

That fun scroll is a chipboard piece by Maya Road--see them here--there are soooo many cute designs and they are fun to embellish too.  I painted mine with cream acrylic paint, spritzed it with the new Maya Road Mists (in Iridescent Pearl) and then rubbed some brown ink on them.  These new Maya Road Mists are SUPER sparkly and such pretty colors--they don't clog and have a shaker ball inside (no weird smells either, lol).

I colored this beauty with Copics and then I added Viva Decor Pearl Pen (in cream) to the centers of each flower to create small seed pearls.  The saddle and other straps all got some stardust stickles for sparkle--gotta have a little baby bling, lol!

Hope you liked the project today and now you need to hop on to Marti's Blog HERE!  I'll be back on Monday with a new post for you so have a great weekend!

Sunny-Flower!

Happy Wednesday everyone--hope you're staying cool! It's been in the 90's here in VA and while I like it warm, it is definitely HOT here and humid, lol! The air conditioning vent in my craftroom is NOT working, no air is coming out and I have a fan in there but it is really unbearable. I've been working on projects with sweat dripping down my face & neck--ewww--not fun!  Hope to get that fixed when we get back cuz' I can't stand it.  I'm finishing up projects so make sure to check in on my blog while I'm gone, I will have projects up almost every day for ya including releases!  I have lots of laundry to do today, lists to make and start packing and get some errands done cuz' Friday is almost here--yikes!  I so cannot wait to see the beach,sun and ocean--I'm very excited can ya tell?  LOL!

NewsBitz:

-I loaded up 45 projects to my Etsy Store (see here) so if you're interested in anything I've made the past 6 months a lot of it is up for sale.  If you purchase anything before Friday I will make sure it gets in the mail to you before I leave, purchases from Friday on will be shipped out on July 12th since I will be away.


-I have the Copic Summer Special still going on at the Color Me Creative Classroom thru June 28th!

**EXTENDED 7 more days!!  Due to a few that asked for an extension on this for 1 more week, I'm offering it until June 28th!  That is the last day to qualify for the savings--I will not have this special again until next year!!**   

Get $10 off your total if you sign up for 2 classes and get $20 if you sign up for all 4 classes---only Copic classes, not Cricut. Once you sign up & pay your monies will be refunded to you in 48 hours. This will not happen again until 2011, so if you want to learn how to use those Copics over the summer--it's a great deal! (if you need to pay by check/money order please email me separately so we can arrange that) 

-Do you love those "Humorous Senior" stamps from I Brake For Stamps as much as I do, LOL?  Well Della (owner extraordinaire) is having a FUN CONTEST to name the new release of Senior Stamp--have some fun naming them on the store blog HERE and you could win the stamp and have it named by you too!  FUN huh?!

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Sunny-Flower Days!!

I used another beautiful flower image from I Brake For Stamps--this sunflower stamp is from the "Rare Image Garden Sheet" (so many beautiful images on this sheet)!  I paired this image up with some pretty papers from Paper Trey Ink (polka-dot dp) and My Mind's Eye (brown dp).  I wanted to give the image a feeling of a vintage seed packet but prettier of course :)--sunflowers just make you smile don't they?

Remember if you purchase any stamps (or digi stamps) from I Brake For Stamps or I Brake For Digi's use the coupon code "SAVE10SUZANNE" to get 10% off your entire order!

The curve on the cream cardstock was done using the edge of one of my SB Nestabilities (Mega Labels 8)--using them as borders is a cool way to use them.  The image's corner pieces were done using a corner punch and then cut into 90 degree corner pieces.  The double bow was made using my fab Bow Easy tool and the sentiment is from Paper Trey Ink.

The image was colored with copics and then accented with Stickles for some sparkle.  That fun center of the sunflower got a coat of nut brown Flower Soft so it pops and is full of texture--love it!  The edges of the image got ink distressed using my Inkssentials Foam Blending tool (use it everyday)!

Hope you enjoyed today's project and it cheered ya some!  Make sure to stop by on Friday to see the new Elisabeth Bell for SCACD release from Susana's Custom Art & Card Design--they are fabulous!

Sweet Summertime!!

Hello everyone and Happy Summer to you all!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend, a great Father's Day and a kick-off to summer!  We had a nice time visiting with my mom and watching Alexa graduate 8th grade (see pics below) with both of her grandmother's.  She also was presented with the Presidents Award of Excellence for keeping a straight A average all 3 years in Middle School!!  On Saturday we spent the day at a park her in VA that runs along the Potomac River--we took a nice long hike/walk thru the woods which was fun (I've got the pics below, hee hee).  Then on Sunday we celebrated Dad's day--my hubby wanted to go to REI (his fave store, lol), then to get some Mexican food at Rio Grande and we finished it off with a 3 mile run for me & him, LOL!  Then HE (not me) got Dairy Queen to top it all off.  He is better at keeping weight off (hate that about men don't you?) so I gotta watch it a bit more than he does.  I had a Weight Watchers juice pop instead :)-- only  a few days until we leave for the beach, I CANNOT wait!  I just love South Carolina, when I cross the border into that state I feel like I've arrived home---I can't really explain it, but it's true.  The smells, the water, the Spanish moss dripping from the trees--I LOVE it all!

Our Weekend Pictures:

NewsBitz:

-I have the Copic Summer Special still going on at the Color Me Creative Classroom thru today, June 21st! Get $10 off your total if you sign up for 2 classes and get $20 if you sign up for all 4 classes---only Copic classes, not Cricut. Once you sign up & pay your monies will be refunded to you in 48 hours. This will not happen again until 2011, so if you want to learn how to use those Copics over the summer--it's a great deal! (if you need to pay by check/money order please email me separately so we can arrange that) **EXTENDED 7 more days!!  Due to a few that asked for an extension on this for 1 more week, I'm offering it until June 28th!  That is the last day to qualify for the savings--I will not have this special again until next year!!**

-I will be loading up about 50-60 projects to my Etsy site this evening around 10 pm est (June 21st)--they are projects that have been made over the past 6 months.  Any orders that come in by Thursday, June 24th I will make sure they get out asap before I leave on Friday for my 2 week vacation.  If orders come in after Thursday, they will not be shipped out until Tuesday, July 13th.  You can view my Etsy site HERE!

-There is some yummy Elisabeth Bell Blog Candy going on at the SCACD store blog---check it out HERE!  The new release is this Friday!!

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Sweet Summertime

Today I'm sharing a project with you that I did for the Magnolia Ink Magazine--this project and tutorial I did are in the new issue called "Fun in the Summer Sun" (you can buy a subscription to this magazine HERE).  This is a Scor-Pal tutorial called "Accordion File Folder" that I re-did for the magazine using some newer Magnolia stamps and I was thrilled to be featured in the magazine.  I had a lot of fun making this accordion file folder--I wanted it summery, sweet and romantically vintage looking.

These stamps I've used are available at Magnolia-licious and they are "Tilda with Flowing Hair" and "Spring Fence" both from the So Hoppy Easter Collection.  I colored my images with Copics to match some of my favorite papers from GCD Studios called "Ella Blue".  The flowers are all from Prima with some pearls I added to embellish them a bit more.  The large pearl center on the flap closure is a Prima Pearl Center--I just love using those!  You can find the tutorial for this accordion file folder at the Scor-Pal site HERE or my tutorial is HERE (if you don't have the magazine to follow along).

I just adore this sweet image of Tilda holding a flower basket--too cute!  I added some diamond glaze to her shoes and stickles to the flowers and grass.  All of this is colored with Copics (E43 thru 40 on her and the blues are B02 thru B0000).

And this is what it looks like when it's opened!  I used white envelopes and trimmed the top with some pretty trims made with a Martha Stewart border punch (then I distressed them with some brown ink).  The closure on this stays closed with a Basic Grey magnet--I love using those, they work perfectly.  And to hold it all together I used the super strong Scor-Tape!!

Hope you enjoyed this project and if you don't have the magazine yet, you can still try your hand at this project--it's really fun!

Newsies!

Happy Sunday and Happy FAther's Day to all those fab dads, uncles, brothers & grandfather's out there today! And a special shout-out to my wonderful hubby who is the best father in the world to our kids--love ya!!

I have had a wonderful time hanging out with my mom & family. We watched Alexa graduate 8th grade on Thursday night and have spent the rest of the time hanging out, shopping, eating and talking--GOOD TIMES! I will be back on Monday with some new posts, but I wanted to list some newsworthy items for you before then!

NewsBitz:

-I have the Copic Summer Special still going on at the Color Me Creative Classroom thru Monday, June 21st! Get $10 off your total if you sign up for 2 classes and get $20 if you sign up for all 4 classes---only Copic classes, not Cricut. Once you sign up & pay your monies will be refunded to you in 48 hours. This will not happen again until 2011, so if you want to learn how to use those Copics over the summer--it's a great deal!

-Susana's Custom Art & Card Design will be having a fabulous Elisabeth Bell release this Friday, June 25th (and a fun Blog Hop too)! But for now you can enter for some AWESOME Blog Candy at the store blog HERE!

-SCACD also has some fab new products in store--Maya mists and chipboard shapes (so fun, love the laundry bits and the Mists are the sparkliest, prettiest on the market), new papers by Memory Box (love these) and Dreamweaver pastes & stencils!

-7 Kids College Fund has all the new CC Designs stamps in stock now HERE--they are CA-UTE!


Okie Dokie--enjoy your Sunday and I'll be back on Monday with a new project and winners from the last 2 Blog Candies!!

Horsin' Around!!

Hello & Happy Thursday to ya friends!  My daughter has her 8th grade graduation tonight so that's exciting--I'm sure I'll cry even though I'm not much of a crier, lol!  She's excited although her last day of school is tomorrow and she has her big Algebra I exam--no rest for the weary, huh?  I don't understand why they schedule such a hard exam on the last day of school when in my opinion, the kids have all checked out and are done with school.  They should've had the exam a week or two ago, but what do I know, I'm just a mom right? LOL!  My mom comes into town tomorrow thru the rest of the weekend--she hasn't been up in awhile so it will be nice to visit.  I'm going to take her antiquin' and then to lunch on Friday while the kids are in school and then we'll have grill out for dinner :)

Just so you know, most of my posts from here on out will be every other day and not much on the weekends--with vacations, travel and taking time to enjoy the summer I try not to post too much and keep my workload down just a bit.  But come the middle of August I'll be back posting 6 days a week, so don't worry and enjoy your summer too--get outside, play & relax a bit, we all need it!!

NewsBitz:

--Don't forget I'm running a SUMMER FUN SPECIAL at the Color Me Creative Classroom until June 20th!  Sign up for any 2 Online Copic Classes & get $10 off OR sign up for all 4 Online Copic Classes & get $20 off the total. (not good on previously purchased classes, for Copic Classes only, refund via PayPal)  If you don't have PayPal and would like to pay by check or money order, please email me and we can arrange that.  I ALSO still do REFERRAL BUCKS--refer a friend or two, and if they successfully sign up and you let me know beforehand via email, you get $5 in referral monies back!

--Today Paper Romance is having their Thursday Challenge---so hop over to Amy's Blog HERE to check all those gorgeous creations & stamps out!

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TIOT--Horsin' Around!!

So today is Thursday which means it's a Try It Out "T" day (we run it all week, half the DT posts on Tues. and the other half on Thurs.).  This week is Challenge #72 and it was to use lots of Viva Decor products on our creations--easy peasy!  I used a fabulous Elisabeth Bell for SCACD stamp called "At The Horse Show"--I love this lil' equestrian gal.  My daughter played with all those Breyer horses when she was younger and took a ton of horse riding lessons, something she still loves to do!  Make sure to stop by the store blog HERE to see the DT's projects and to join in the fun with us!

I used some of favorite papers from DCWV's "Linen Closet"--I love the soft colors and I distressed the papers with my Zutter Distress-it-all tool and some ink.  The layout is from last week's Friday's Sketchers--I liked all the layers although I deviated (surprise, surprise) from the sketch just a bit :) The sentiment is from a Clear Dollar Stamp set that they give their designers--I loved the saying though!!  I used the Viva Decor Pearl Pen in cream to create pearl buttons on her jacket and pearls on the papers and ribbon--love that stuff!

She's colored with Copics (E44 thru E40 for the pants, B01,B00,B0000 for the jacket) and then I accented with some stardust Stickles.  The watercolor background was done with Copics W00,W1,B00 and the Colorless Blender.  She's such a cutie!!

Alrighty, I'll be back with some new stuff on Monday for ya!  So enjoy your weekend!

Skater Boy!!

Hello and Happy Tuesday to you all! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and your week is going well. Riley came home from a sleepover on Saturday with some kind of stomach bug and it seems that I have it now as well. I was really ill yesterday and I'm feeling a bit better today--just praying no one else gets it. Especially Alexa, as she has her exams this week and graduation on Thursday--blech! So although I'm moving slower than normal I'm still trying to get bunches of stuff done, lol! I have lots of projects to get ready to pre-post for while I'm gone--only 9 more days until my Hilton Head Island vacations!  YAYYYY-I'm soooo ready for it!  Although I do think it's harder "getting ready" to go on vacation than to just stay home, lmbo, but so worth it!  Beaches, alligators and hot humid weather---HERE WE COME!

I worked most of the weekend but I did find time to get to the pool with the family and do some reading!  I just finished Karen White's new book called "On Folly Beach" & it was MAGNIFICENT!  She is one of my favorite authors--you open her books and just fall right in.  I read it in a day and can't recommend it enough---all of her books are fabulous, not a bad one in the bunch I tell ya!  I'm hoping to meet her at a reading when I'm down in SC for vacay--fingers crossed!

NewsBitz:

-Don't forget I'm running a SUMMER FUN SPECIAL at the Color Me Creative Classroom until June 20th!  Sign up for any 2 Online Copic Classes & get $10 off OR sign up for all 4 Online Copic Classes & get $20 off the total. (not good on previously purchased classes, for Copic Classes only, refund via PayPal)  If you don't have PayPal and would like to pay by check or money order, please email me and we can arrange that.

-Paper Romance has newly released High Hopes stamps by Dustin Pike in the store now--see HERE!  Spend $25 or more and get 10% off your order--use coupon code PRChallenges

-7 Kids College Fund has new goodies too!  All those NEW Cuttlebug Embossing folders, Tim Holtz embossing folders and Penny Black stamps--see all HERE.

-Today the NEW FAN CLUB GALLERY on Splitcoast Stampers is open featuring all the Dirty Dozen DT projects for the month of June!  This is my last month (sadly, boo-hoo) as a member of the Dirty Girls and I have to say that my projects this month are some of my faves!  The theme this month is "So Inviting"---so everything is an invitation and I definitely did some "outta-the-box" invites---so hop over there & check them all out.  If you're not a member (why the heck not), you can find info on how to join HERE!

-Don't forget I have Blog Candy going on in the post below until this Friday---so don't forget to enter!

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Skater Boy!!

Since today is the 15th of June that means it's another Copic Creations Challenge!!  This month our sponsor is Stampavie and the challenge was to color on any paper other than white cardstock!  I love this challenge and I picked "kraft cs" to color on because I love the look of Copics and a white highlighter pen on it.  The stamp I used is by Stampavie and is called "Skateboard Dude"--find it HERE!  You can find out all the info on the challenge, how to join in on the fun and see the DT projects on the blog HERE!

Since I've been making lots of girlie stuff, it way high-time to do a rough & tuff BOY card--they're always FUN!  I picked some bright colors and papers from both Basic Grey (Lime Rickey) and Cosmo Cricket's (DeLovely)--I love the circle theme.  The background turquoise cardstock got embossed with a NEW Tim Holtz embossing folder that I LOVE (shhh...don't tell but I got them all, lol)--this one is called "bricked" and it comes with the "woodgrain" folder too!  I love the brick background on this skater card!  My kraft cardstock is from Paper Trey Ink--I love their kraft!  That fun arrow was hand-cut by me, lol, because I thought I had a punch like this but I didn't (GASP) and then I inked the edges and added some white dots with my Sharpie Poster Paint Pen (in white w/ extra fine tip HERE).  The "brother" word was done with my Slice and "Words & Expressions" cartridge--love that SLICE!! A few Robin's Nest baubles in white finish it off.

Isn't this skater boy the cutest--I just love him!  Copic Tip: When you color on kraft you need to remember that the kraft cs is more fibrous so it sucks Copic ink in quickly and blending is a little different.  It also dilutes the vibrancy of the Copic colors, so you want to stay on the darker/brighter side when choosing your colors--the lighter colors leave a very faint bit of color, so keep that in mind!  I used some stickles on his skateboard and added some white accents with my sharpie pen!  Then I cut the image and it's layers out with my SB Nestabilities dies.

Now make sure to hop over to the Copic Creations Challenge Blog to see all the DT's projects and to join in as well for a fabulous prize!!

Silver White Fairy Princess!!

Hello everyone and a Happy Sunday to you all!  Sorry I've been MIA for the past few days but it's been crazy busy here at the Dean household!  I had a Copic Class to teach, kid's appointments, finishing the next issue of the craft magazine and Dirty Girl Projects--YIKES!  My daughter also had her semi-formal 8th grade dance on Friday night (see slideshow pics below)--she looked so grown up and pretty.  She got her hair done at the salon to look like Lauren Conrad's (star from The Hills--see here) and I think she's a young dead-ringer for Lauren if I do say so myself.  I loved her dress, it was perfect and age appropriate for her!  She had a BLAST and then had a sleepover at a friend's with 4 other girls, went to a pool party yesterday and then a graduation party that night.  Her social calendar is hopping, LOL!  I still find it so hard to believe that she graduates middle school on Thursday evening and will be off to high school in the fall.  It feels like she just graduated from elementary school---all in a blink of an eye I tell ya!  And my son--oh my gosh he's now the same height as me, when the heck did that happen?  LOL--I don't like it one bit--he'll always be the baby to me :)

Anywho, I have a busy week ahead as well---working on projects for while I'm on vacation, checking homework in the Copic classrooms and then my mom is visiting on Thursday thru the weekend to see Alexa graduate.  I'm hoping to drag her around for some "junkin' & antiquin'"--I'm on the lookout for some goodies, LOL!  Then next week I'm off to South Carolina--I cannot wait!!

NewsBitz:

-Summer Fun Special!  Want to take a Copic class or maybe 2?  Now until June 20th if you sign up for one class at full price you can pick a second class and get $10 off!  So stop by the Color Me Creative Classroom to sign up!  (if you sign up for all 4 classes then you'll get $20 off the total---you will be refunded your savings after signing up & paying for the classes / does NOT include the Cricut class / counts only for new class registrations, not previously paid for classes)

-Search high & low and you may find some Blog Candy that I left behind!!!  Read well :)

Alexa's Slideshow Picures (must view them at blog, not thru email):

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Silver White Fairy Princess!!

Today I'm sharing an elegant Magnolia card I made--instead of sleeping the other night I had visions of card creations floating through my brain, LOL!  And this was one of the ideas and I'm thrilled with the results!  I think this Magnolia stamp called "Lady Tilda" from Magnolia-licious is just beautiful and I made her into a Silver-White Fairy Princess!  I love almost-all-white cards because they're so elegant and you have to use a lot of texture to create some dimension and interest on the card.  This also works for this week's challenge at the Magnolia Birthday Bash Blog which is to use BLING on your projects (easy peasy right, lol)---head over there to join in on the fun!!

For this card I just used white cardstock and shimmery silver cardstock from Papertrey Ink.  There are many layers on this card--8 or 9 I think which brings in the dimension.  For texture I used a brand new Tim Holtz embossing folder (regal flourishes) which I just love!  I used SB nestabilities (Labels 8) to cut out the 2 elegant shapes behind Tilda--I traced the larger one with a silver Spica marker and the smaller one got outlined with stardust Stickles.  One of the edges of the white cs on the card also got outlined in the Stickles as well.  I wrapped the middle with silver ribbon, I left off the bow because it would've looked too busy. 

This lil' beauty is colored with Copics (C grays for the dress) and I added stardust Stickles to the silver parts of her dress and headband so they were super sparkly.

The flowers are a mix of white roses, white flowers (from the wedding section in Michaels) layered together.  Then I snipped off sections of the white chandelier glass garden flowers (buy here) and placed them beside the flowers.  I used Scor-Tape and glue dots to arrange them the way I wanted.

Just a side view to show the dimension---I used thin and thick dimensionals for different levels of dimension.  I just love how this one turned out---so pretty!  Hope you like it too!  Would you like to win this image and a bag of beautiful ribbons & pearls?  Leave me a comment and tell me "If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you did with the money?"---you can enter for this Blog Candy until Friday, June 18th!

Have a wonderful day and I'll see you back here on Tuesday!

A Light for Dad!!

Hello & Happy Thursday to you all!  Hope this week is treating you well and you're looking forward to the weekend!  Last night I went to the movies with my girly-friends to see "Sex & the City 2" which was fun---it was both a great break for me and a nice escape from my reality, hee hee.  Beautiful clothes, beautiful city and some of my fave characters all on one screen--I couldn't ask for more ('cept maybe an awesome girl's trip like they had--minus the jail part, lmbo)!!  Then I came home worked out for 45 mins and stayed up until 3 am working---yikes, lol!  Hubby is in NYC city (he left yesterday) and won't be home till late tonite so I'm on the homefront by meself!  Alexa and I are going to get pedicures after school today so she's ready for the semi-formal dance tomorrow night and I just get a treat for my feet, lol!  After working out so much, the foot massage will be SO worth it!!  Sorry so short today but I'm short on time and gotta get this posted lickety-split for ya!

NewsBitz:

-Like Candy?  Well make sure to see the post below (it's kinda hidden and it ends on Friday)!  Also Amy at Paper Romance has some awesome Blog Candy up for grabs as well--you can enter for it HERE.

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TIOT--A Light for Dad!!

Today I'm sharing a card with you that I made both for my dad for the upcoming Father's Day and for the SCACD TIOT Challenge #71 (which is to make a father's day card, hee hee)!  So a two for one--my fave!  I used a fabulous Lockhart stamp called "Striped Lighthouse" from Susana's Custom Art & Card Design (SCACD) one of my fave stamps and paired with soft beachy colors and a vintage feel.  This one I truly love!

The background cs (blue-gray) was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder (forest branches) that I think is more masculine and vintage.  The papers are a mix of Basic Grey papers from "Granola" and "Manilla" that I distressed with my fabby Zutter Distress machine.  The twill ribbon is from SU, button and sentiment by Paper Trey Ink.

The image was colored with Copics and the I added a nice coat of diamond glaze to the sea so it's shiny.  I had to add just a lil' bling in the sun rays and light on the lighthouse with Stickles.  The sky was done with blue SU ink and my fave Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool (one of my most used tools)!  Hope Dad likes it as much as I do, lol!!

Make sure to stop by the SCACD Store Blog "Follow Your Heart" to see the DT's fabulous projects for this TIOT Challenge.  And you can join in the fun as well!  See ya back here tomorrow!

A Summer Float!!

It's Tuesday and and a beautiful day here in Virginia again!  I have had the windows open for two days not and it's fabulous--no humidity and a nice breeze, perfect I say!!  This morning I'm off with hubby to meet with our landscaper about our backyard makeover---hallejuah Suzanne says!!  After 4 years of living with "NOTHING" in our backyard 'cept grass, a garden and our fence we our having a makeover my friends.   So be prepared for before and after pictures on my blog this summer as it comes to fruition!  What will be out there---a cabana with a bar (not the drinking kind, but eating kind so don't get the wrong idea people, lol) so like a screen porch w/o the screens set away from our house, an outside tv, stone fireplace, heaters and flagstone patio with landscaping and lighting!  Supposedly it will be done in 30 days from start to finish and I can't wait!  We love to be outside so we will be spending a ton of time in this space I do forsee!

Do you all have any fabulous outdoor projects planned for the summer---if you do, let me know and one of you will win a $20 gift certificate to spend at I Brake For Stamps!!!


And I've mentioned before how much I love music and with teens in the house we always have to watch the MTV Awards and last night was hilarious with Betty White, Sandra Bullock and a HILARIOUS dance performance by Tom Cruise as his alter ego from the Tropic Thunder movie (crude, but funny and yes demonstrates my sick humor, lol).  So if you dare, watch the video below from the MTV awards--I betcha' will laugh out loud!!  (I'm still giggling)

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Summer Float!!

My project for you today is a fun one and should give you a lil' giggle!  I LOVE, LOVE working with these Humorous Seniors stamps from I Brake For Stamps!!  If you follow my blog you've probably seen bunches of these senior projects along the way!  This one is called "Floating Wilma" and isn't she just dah-ling!!?  I created a fun lil' gift card holder to match as well!  If you buy any stamps from I Brake For Stamps make sure to use the coupon code "SAVE10SUZANNE" to save 10% off your entire order!!

The papers that I've used on this card are from Cosmo Cricket's "DeLovely" and I lovee them--in fact I'm ordering a second pad of it, 'cuz I've used most of it already here & there!  The colors are so cheery and fun!  The sentiment is from PTI's "A Day at the Beach" along with a starfish stamped next to it from the same set.

I quite like the layout on this card---it came together kinda by accident but I like and think it's fun!  I added some pearls along the edges for some extra bling, but the papers provide most of the embellishment for the card.

And here is a close up of "Floating Wilma"--hee hee!  She is of course colored with Copics and then I've coated her float-ee with a thick coat of diamond glaze.  The water got sprinkles of stardust stickles to make it shimmer.  If you look closely you'll see her lips and toe-nails are all the lovely shade of RV14, LOL!  I mixed in some W3 gray into her brunette hair to make it a bit gray too!

Here are some close-ups of the gift card holder---I whip these up regularly because they're quick, fun and you can very your designs.  I originally found the tutorial HERE and then I change up how it closes--this one I've made to look like a mini-wallet with a tab closure.  A Basic Grey dual magnet keeps it closed.  It's hard to see here but I used the same PTI set on the inside and it says "You Deserve It".  On the outside of the tab that's a Prima jeweled flower center (love those).

Hope you enjoyed today's projects and I hope to see you back here either tomorrow or Thursday--depends on if I get my butt in gear, LOL!  Have a good one!

Pastel Pretty!!

Good Sunday evening to you all--I hope you've had a fabulous weekend so far! I actually took most of the weekend off from crafting and just spent some time with the family, running errands and catching up on some reading! All in all it was pretty relaxing which is good so I can gear up for a very busy week ahead of me. My daughter has her 8th grade pool party on Thursday and then I'm taking her for (a much needed, lol) pedicure/manicure. On Friday evening she has her semi-formal 8th grade dance Friday evening--which is the same day that I'm teaching a Copic class, hee hee and then have to whisk her off to get her hair done (curled & up--which this mom sucks at,lol)!  And all among that I have LOTS of projects to get done--YIKES!  I already have to-do lists written up for each day for the next 2 weeks so let's hope I can stick to the plan (never happens for me)--so cross your fingers, LOL!  And the next issue of the magazine has to be done, edited and to the printer by Friday and I am happy to say I am 80% done with my part of this issue--for once I'm a bit ahead with something, hee hee!

NewsBitz:

-Our July/August issue for the "Through the Craftroom Door" will be sent out by the printers starting this month--so if you have yet to subscribe and really want to, make sure to do that quickly (by the 16th of June) if you want the paper copy for this issue.  After the 16th we only send out the pdf file and then the next issue would be paper for you---that's if you order that option so just keep that in mind!

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Gina K Blog Hop--Embossing Technique with Botanicals

So the Gina K DT's are doing a fun Blog Hop tonight featuring the beautiful "Botanicals" stamp set and most of us have done a fun technique with this set.  I was to do embossing resist and I did that a bit, lol, more to say on that below!  My papers are a mix of Basic Grey and TrimCraft along with some shimmery silver cardstock to match the silver embossing powder.  I kept everything soft & pastel for a more delicate look.

That fun bow started off with me making a bow using my Bow Easy, then wrapping ribbon around the front--TIP: I never waste ribbon by wrapping it all the way around, I just wrap the short edges and attach it with Scor-Tape--it never shows because I always tack that side down to my final card base, so why waste ribbon right?  Then I attach the bow right on top!  I used my shaped nestabilities for my printed paper cut-out and for the fun design on either side of the image (die cut it out of cs, clipped it in half and then attached it to the underside of the image).  I added some pale pink Dew Drops to the card and for the middle of the flower--I love the soft glass look on the card.

So this is how I did the main image panel with my version of emboss/resist, lol--I stamped 2 of the flowers with versamark ink and embossed them with silver embossing powder.  Then I inked up the word panel stamp from the Botanicals set with pale pink ink and stamped over the embossed image lightly--I like a worn look when I do this so it doesn't stamp clearly all the way!  The ink doesn't stick to the embossed image, then I inked up my Inkssentials Blending Foam Tool with gray ink and softly inked the edges and worked in towards the image.  To finish it off I paper pierced the edges with my fabulous Tim Holtz ruler (pre-spaced holes in it).  I love the softness of the whole card & hope you do too.

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Blog Hop Details:

Tonight we are featuring the new Botanicals stamp set with a special technique themed blog hop event!  Please visit these designer's blogs for their project using a variety of techniques all made with the Botanicals stamp set:

• Jessica Fick
• Suzanne Dean
• Colleen Schaan
• Bev Gerard
• Jennie Harper
• Sharri Seffens
• Donna Baker
• Lee Murphy
• Nina Brackett
• Erika Martin
• Brenda Turner
• Giovana Smith
• Tina Gilliland
• Carla Suto
• Linda Payne
• Kay Simmons
• Vicki Dutcher
• Karen Knegten

Then, for even more samples with the Botanicals stamp set, visit the StampTV gallery here: botanicals.  To view more information about the free card kit that is included with the purchase of the Botanicals stamp set, click here.

See ya back here on Tuesday!