Gina K Blog Hop Day #3!

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!!

Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

Today I have 3 different projects to share with you with 3 different sets from Gina K!  Enjoy! *Remember that all stamps come in CLEAR or RUBBER now*

For this card I used the NEW StampTV Set “Merry Little Christmas” which is 2 sets of stamps…you get double the fun (along with cardstock & embellies).  I chose a cream, glittery navy & gold theme for the elegant religious stamps.  I used a PTI die that cuts 3 squares at a time out evenly and then stamped the scene inside each & embossed in gold.  (note: some embossed areas look clear but its the stickles on top of the ep & photographed weirdly lol)  Then I used my gold leaf pen to draw 2 lines with my ruler and dots and topped it with a gold bow.  The sentiment was embossed in gold as well.

**The Gold Leaf pen I have used on my projects, which is my FAVE, is by DecoColor Liquid Gold with a fine tip.**

This card uses the Free-with-3 set “Holiday Tags" set…so if you buy ANY 3 stamp sets from Gina K you get this set for FREE!! Yep my mind was on another weird kick and I used a tag sentiment in a different way LOL!  The sentiment is embossed in gold on the trunk of the Christmas tree…yup it is!  The Christmas tree is made ENTIRELY of one corner die cut (die by La La Land Crafts) many times.  Then I had fun decorating it with my gold leaf pen, gold bella baubles, bakers twine and red dots made with a hole punch.  The trunk is a SBs die as well and the sentiment was embossed in gold and then I traced the die cut with my gold leaf pen.  I accented the corners with more corner die cuts and added a bella bauble to each.  A bit of inking and stamping around the edges and some scrap holiday paper finish this card off…it was sooooooooooo much FUN to make!  Hope it makes you look at your dies a bit differently now!

The last card uses the StampTV “Merry Little Christmas” set again!  I used a fun combo of red, white and aqua for a wintry scene.  I stamped the main image with aqua ink and filled in with Stickles.  The papers are from MME “Winter Wonderland” and I used a Memory Box die cut for the swirlies…reminded me of swirling snow a bit.  The cardstock is all Gina K Luxury…such a great weight to use!!

That’s it for me today!  See you back here Friday! 

Now hop along to see what the fabulous designers below have created & leave comments for a chance to win!

• Gina K
• AJ Otto
• Beth Silaika
• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (that’s me, thx for stoppin’ by)
• Tami Mayberry
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Gina K Hop Day #2!

Quick FYI:  We are alive here in VA after Hurricane Sandy came raging in but stuck in our house...roads are flooded and blocked so we can't get out...schools and federal govt closed so kids & hubby are home with me.  As of 10 pm last night we had power still (as I'm typing this) but our back basement sprung a leak ugh.  The sump pump is working but water from the street has come in thru our water pipe and backed up so we are busy trying to deal with that along with the debris and mess left here.  Prayers to everyone who is dealing with this HUGE PIA storm...stay safe!

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!!

Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products & stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

My goal as of late is to look at stamps with a “different” view…yeah yeah my brain works well that way LOL!  So I used the NEW Gina K stamp set “Deck the Halls” illustrated by Beth Silaika to create a wreath/poinsettia like image with the ornaments instead of using the ornaments as…well…ornaments LOL!  I stamped the stamp unevenly a bit for a more vintage look which I like, more antiqued feel.  I used a small Spellbinders die to draw a circle on my cardstock, then I stamped around it very evenly with my ornament stamp so it was all spaced evenly.  I filled in the lines & dots with my Gold Leaf pen (I love my gold leaf pen with thin tip, its fabulous)!  Then I embossed the sentiment from the NEW “Merry Little Christmas StampTV Kit” in gold ep and popped above the wreath.  A gold bow and some corner diecuts (made with a LaLa Land Crafts corner die) finish it all off…I liked the subtle texture the diecuts made using the same cream cs.  Just another fun way to use this set!

This card uses the NEW Gina K stamp set “Simple Snowflakes” illustrated by Tami Mayberry!  I don’t much like snow..or ice..or winter (LOL) but I sure do like to use them on cards and such.  I stamped the main snowflake w/ sentiment in white Palette Ink and then embossed it in clear ep for a shiny look.  The other snowflakes I stamped so they looked like they were tumbling down…they were stamped in white Palette Ink too and then I added some Stickles to each for sparkle.  Around the black cardstock I painted on some tacky glue and then sprinkled on my fave Martha Stewart Snow Glitter (I have had the same bottle of this stuff for 4 years and I love it, use it A LOT in winter)!  I liked the frosty look it gave the card…then I topped it off with soft pink ribbon bow and button…I love pink and black together for the holidays

 Now hop around to my fellow designers to see what they’ve created! Don’t forget to leave comments for a great chance to win too!

• Gina K
• Tami Mayberry - Illustrator Simple Snowflakes
• Becky Oehlers - Illustrator Mistletoe Memories
• Beth Silaika - Illustrator Deck The Halls
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (that’s me, thx for stopping by)
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Give a Giftie!!

Happy Saturday everyone!  Are those of you on the East Coast of the US gearing up for the Franken-storm aka Hurricane Sandy?  Yikes looks like we are all gonna get some real bad weather…ick!  We are hooking up our generator to run our sump pump, freezer and fridges at least just in case we lose power….I think we are going to get a ton of rain and wind.  They’ve already cancelled school events including Riley’s last football game for next week in anticipation of the storm.  I sure hope I don’t see any ice or snow out of it…I’m soooo NOT ready for that yet, yuck!  I know my friends out west in Utah and Colorado were getting snow…it looks pretty in their pictures but only because it’s THERE & NOT HERE LOL!  I plan to get chores done and work done over the weekend…busy week ahead and I leave for Canada on Thursday so lots to do…yikes!  So those in Franken-storm’s path….BE SAFE!!!

We went to the High School’s last home Varsity Game last night and it was still 72 degs outside wowza gotta love that!  And what a nail-biter….down by 4 in last 1.5 mins … TOUCHDOWN ….whoot in last 40 secs.  OMGoodness…good game and so proud of these boys.  We are 8-1 this season…pretty darn good for a 3 year old school.  They put in the paper that we are now playin’ with the BIG BOYS LOL!  If you don’t know football in Loudoun County, VA is almost as big as it is in Texas…seriously!  The stands are packed, people are crazy and its super competitive here!  We have 3 quarterbacks that are seniors who have D-1 college scholarships already…last year one went to Stanford and one off to Duke.  This year we have quite a few boys on our team headed to college on scholarships…its awesome!  Riley’s freshman team is 7-2 and I’m so proud of those boys too…what a great fall they’ve all had.  Sad to see the season end though…it seems so short!  Now for off-season training LOL..Riley will be training with ex-Redskins all winter to get ready for next season…he’s trying to build a lot more muscle.  Not like he isn’t big enough I guess but what does his momma know huh?


NewsBitz:

-The NEW CMC Challenge is up and its "Anything Goes with a Twist of Orange"!  Our sponsor is Louby Loo Digital Designs with a great prize & don't forget you are entered each month as well for a $50 GC to Oozak.com so go enter..everyone is welcome to join in!

-My last classes of the year are in Guelph Ontario Canada starting Nov 5th thru Nov 10th...I have just a few spots open and you can see details at www.cmcroad.com --- I'd love to see you!

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Give A Gift!

Today I’m sharing with you….MY FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD OF THE SEASON….WHOOT! LOL!  I just haven’t been in a holiday mood yet KWIM…but I got oodles of new holiday paper pads and that inspired me.  PLUS I’m able to color again…I got my coloring-crafty-mojo back…yeehaw LOL!  I was super anxious to get at my new Christmas Story Magnolia images from Magnolia-licious too!

OMGoodness if you haven’t checked out the new Nativity Collection from Magnolia-licious…go NOW!  Sooooo sweet and wonderful!

I'm entering this into the following fun challenges:

Crafty Ann's Challenge (christmas)
Fussy & Fancy Challenge (anything goes)  
ABC Christmas Challenge (anything goes)
Lady Anne's Challenge (anything goes) 
Just Keep On Creating (christmas)  
Make It Monday (anything goes)

This little cutie is from the Christmas Story Collection 2012 and her name is “Tilda with Tag Gifts”…isn’t she a doll!?  I used new papers from Authentique “Festive” pad…love the delicate patterns. The red mat behind her is a SB’s die….the beautiful holly is a die from La La Land Crafts called “Holly Flourish Die” (they have beautiful dies that cut fabulously) and I accented it with red pearls as berries and inked the edges for dimension.  I also layered different flowers in reds and added those as accents.  The “BELIEVE” sentiment is from PTI.

I paper pieced her dress and then added shadowing with my Copics over it so it matched the rest of the image—the delicate pattern was perfect sized for her dress so I had to use it.  I added polka dots to one of the presents with a red Spica pen and also went over the berries in the paper with it to add subtle sparkle.  Stickles on her dress trim and around the image cuz the more sparkle the better in my world LOL!  Copics Used:  G99,G82,G20/ E44,E43,E40 / E59,E25,E31,E50 / E11,E00 / R29,R24,R22,R20 with W5.

 That’s all for me until Monday….I’ll be back with some Gina K releases for you!  So stay tuned for some more holiday good-i-ness!  Have a great weekend!

Spook-a-licious Fun!!

Happy TGIFriday everyone!  I hope your week has been great!  I have spent the past couple days in NYC…yep it was a secret getaway trip…shhhh!  Hubby sent me up there as a getaway…he’s been bugging me for over a month to go away hahahaha.  No really he thought I needed some time off with no distractions or any responsibilities for a few days…guess he knew my stress was high and that I might blow at any moment and he didn’t want to be around me when I did   No he’s a good hubby like that and after 18 years he recognized the signs and knows…so he happily sent me up to NYC on Tuesday where I met a couple of friends and had NO schedule for 2 days.  I walked around, shopped and took in a show….we saw “The Performers” which is an off-color comedy on Broadway…if you don’t like off-color you may not like it.  It appealed to my sense of humor and was really funny plus Henry Winkler (the Fonz) and Alicia Silverstone were in it.  Afterwards I got to meet them both….I was tickled pink…yup I let out a small squeak when I hugged him, The Fonz woweeee…he will ALWAYS be the Fonz to me from Happy Days. I was so thrilled to meet him seriously a great honor!  Sp it was a fun, quick 2 days…just what the doctor ordered.  Best part is I can color again, well I’ve been cleared for action anyway.  My wrist is still sore but I can hold my marker for a bit longer with out pain and weird jerks that send the color flying everywhere LOL.  I missed it so much…coloring for me is my ZEN…my way to get out of my head for a bit and relax…kinda like yoga or meditation for some I guess you could say.  And when you take that away….well I tend to let things build up a bit you could say…so I had no stress outlet.  And always at the end of the year I start feeling a bit burnt out…not that it hasn’t been a great year and all that, just a busy year and come end of Oct I start getting tired, the year catches up with me.  So that on top of not being able to color and some other things going on…well I was in a bit of a funk..ugh!  So the breather was good and after my trip to Canada first week of Nov to teach I am done for the year and can start to prep for the holidays…my FAVE time of the year…yup 12 trees going up again of course LOL! 

                   

If you got to NYC enough times you will see the Naked Cowboy…he’s always around & I’ve seen him a few times LOL! (he has undies on don’t worry)  And how about a huge M&M-Saturday Night Live for you in the M&M store in Times Square…only in NCY!!

So anyway we here in VA and on the East Coast are prepping for the Franken-storm hahahaha or Hurricane Sandy as its called.  Am I worried? Nah not that much…we will have groceries and hopefully not lose power and not be on the roads.  I’ve lived my whole life here so Hurricanes don’t scare me much…they are just a big PIA usually…its tornadoes that scare me more.  So we shall see what the week brings……everyone in its path stay safe & play smart please ok

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Spook-a-licious Hop!

Today we are having a Spook-a-licious fun blog hop with stamps and dies from SCACD!!! We invite you to hop along with us for some spooky inspiration! To add to the fun there is Blog Candy available on the SCACD store blog --2 FUN prizes-- and also another different Blog Candy at Quixotic Paperie store blog! When you are done hopping along be sure  to visit both the SCACD store blog and Quixotic Paperie store blog for details on how to enter for your chance to WIN! You can find all the stamps HERE--if you are in the USA, and HERE- for our International friends. The Dies by SCACD can be found HERE--if you are in the USA and HERE-for our International friends!! Happy hopping and shopping!!

So today the SCACD girls are taking normal-everyday stamps and decking them out in a fun & spook-a-licious way for you!!  WHY?  Ummm cuz Halloween is Wed and its just fun!!  I decided to model my card on one of my favorite tv shows “The Addams Family”…yup the original one with Carolyn Jones.  I loved that show and I’m hoping to take the family to NYC soon to see it on Broadway!  I used one of the newest SCACD stamps from Eyes of Fable Collection and this is “Vintage Eyes”….she got colored up Addams Family Style!!  Sing it with me…and I’m SORRY if you have it going thru your head ALL DAY LONG…LIKE ME! LOL!

They're creepy and they're kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They're all together ooky,
The Addams Family. (snap snap)

I used older papers from MME “Meadowlark” and inked them all with gray ink and distressed the edges.  Then I pulled out my creepiest embellies LOL…black tulle, flowers airbrushed black, a hatpin, black stickles and a Marianne Designs vine die.  I stamped a cobweb stamp around the main image & used Viva Décor Pearl Pen in black to add pearls to the web, her buttons & her hair.  Yes, yes I know Morticia wore only black but I HAD to have a bit of contrast in her hair and dress so I used Copics R29,R22,R20 with W5 to deepen it.  And I changed the pretty flower to my version of a Venus Flytrap LOL…they always had kooky, mean plants so I HAD to change it a bit!  The fun sentiment is from an old MFT set I had and it says “Totally Witchin’”.  The shine in her eyes isn’t wickedness hee hee but Diamond Glaze!

I'm entering this into the following fab spooky challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks (Halloween)

Art Impression Stamps (scary texture)

Cute Card Thursday (something scary)

Shelly's Images Challenge (spooky)

Crafty Creations Challenges (Halloween)

 

Ok so I am the last girly on the hop today…if you want to start at the beginning go to Danni’s blog HERE! 

And make sure to enter for all the yummy blog candies I mentioned at the top of my post!!

Let's finish up the song…let’s sing together LOL:

Their house is a museum
Where people come to see 'em
They really are a scream
The Addams Family.  (snap snap)

So get a witches shawl on
A broomstick you can crawl on
We're gonna pay a call on
The Addams Family. (snap snap)

Fly Fly Buttah-Fly!

Happy Tuesday my friends!  Hope you are doing swell so far!  We had a busy, busy, busy weekend but a fun one!  The kids both went to Homecoming…kinda sad that both of my kids are in High School, still trying to get on with that fact LOL!  Alexa’s BFF Grace came over on Saturday to get ready with Alexa so my bathroom was filled with girls, makeup, hair stuff and I was their lady-in-waiting helping out LOL!  These 2 have been friends since we moved here when they both started 5th grade…I remember them so clearly standing at the bus stop together all of 10 years old..sigh.  Now they are wearing makeup and heels and giggling about boys and college futures…time just swoops on by if you aren’t paying attention that’s for sure.  And my son who waits until the last minute to get dressed, doesn’t want to smile for the camera, is fussy…lordy he’s worse than a girl me thinks.  Alexa had a date for the dance…Jhavi is such a sweetie…but they are JUST friends, you got that, FRIENDS LOL.  I have obvs taught my daughter well since she says “I’m too busy to bother with a relationship, they’re too needy and clingy and I hate that…I just want to hang with my friends”…bwahahahaha straight outta my mouth I tell ya!  THANK GOODNESS some of what I say gets in that hard head of hers…hubby just rolled his eyes of course   Alexa's dress was deep purple too...it looks royal blue in pics but was really purple and so pretty...course mama picked it out, I've picked all 3 of her dresses over the past 3 years.  She just needs to admit that I know what will look best on her and leave it at that LMBO!!

James & I were the lucky chaperones of 14 boys after the dance at Buffalo Wild Wings…their fave place (blech me no likey but I had dessert heehee).  We were the ONLY parents chaperoning as usual and we sat at a booth next to the kids LOL.  They have trivia machines you can use and its projected on the tvs…so we played the boys…we won ALL 3 times hahahahaha!!  I call this group “The United Nations of Leesburg” because there are kids from every religion and race (Muslim, Bhuddists, Asian, African, Indian, etc)…its fabulous…but best of all they could care less about all that.  They hang together because they have similar interests and like each other…I LOVE THAT.  I hope they represent a NEW generation that doesn’t care so much about a person’s religion or race…instead they just see a human being…makes me a happy mom!  Now the ride home with 7 boys was another story…oh my…after all that greasy food there was some TOXIC ISSUES IN MY TRUCK.  Momma Dean (me) was about to barf but was laughing so hard…they kept saying “Sorry Momma Dean, sorry, sorry”.  Seriously it was bad, stinky blow up the truck kinda bad…ugh.  This is what I’m subjected to being around TEEN BOYS all the time LMAO!  OY VEY!

Then on Sunday we were all BEAT….we sat around and watched football all day and I was on Pinterest.  I like to pin billions of projects…it gets my mojo-creative-juices all fired up.  Then real life sets in and I realize I have time for 2 out of the 200 projects before the actual holiday arrives…bwahahhahaha…crafter’s issues I tell ya!

So enjoy the pics of our weekend below of the kids and such, it was a fun time!!
(If you get my blog by email click <HERE> to see slideshow)

NewsBitz:

-SCACD has lots of new, yummy paper pads in stock HERE!  Go stock up!! Run, hurry, run…….LOL!

-Pink Blog Candy Winner from this post is…………Pam Brown of “Pam’s Creative Corner”!!! Congrats & thanks to everyone for your fun comments…Pam email me so I can get the goodies out to you!

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FlutterBy!!

So I’m gradually starting to color images again…my wrist was pretty swollen last week so I didn’t do anything crafty to let it heal a bit.  So I colored 2 images yesterday and then felt I should let it be…so I used a cool butterfly stamp that my pal Marti gave me. I looked it up & its discontinued but Gina K has a mini-set that looks very similar called “Hope Is Faith” that is fabulous!!  I embossed the butterfly with black ep and then coated the whole butterfly with Diamond Glaze (my fave cuz once you put it down it doesn’t move around)…it makes the butterfly bend nicely when dry.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Make It Monday (anything goes)

Lady Anne's Challenge (anything goes)

Eureka Stamps (things w/ wings)

Fashionista Challenge (anything goes)

Challenges for Everybody (anything goes)

One Stop Craft Challenge (anything goes)

I used a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder for my cream cs and then inked it a bit.  The papers are from an older MME pack called  “Meadowlark”…I liked the creams and blacks…I’m on a black paper kick right now LOL!  The borders were done with a MS border punch.  I used my fabby Zutter Distress Machine to distress all my edges..I LOVE that machine…love love love it and use it most days!  The middle mats are done with SBs dies, the black one was embossed as well with Swiss Dots.

That’s it for me today…hope you have a great week!!!

Mixed-Up Pumpkin!!

Happy Friday to you all!  I’ve been a good girl this week and haven’t typed too much or did much creating as my wrist has been killin’ me and I want it to get better ASAP.  But I am cleaning the house today LOL, its that time again KWIM and we are having folks over tomorrow. After school Alexa is having her nails done so they will be purty for dance tomorrow (mama is too cuz mine look like crud).  And tonight hubby & I have to work at the concession stand for half of the Homecoming football game….oh joy joy…NOT my most favorite thing to do.  In the past I have gotten stuck working the fryer, but now I use my BIG MOUTH to say no way Jose…icky nasty, greasy job…I’ll do other stuff that requires NO lifting as my wrist is not able to lift much currently w/o dropping stuff and dr’s orders right? LOL!  So big homecoming game tomorrow and then apparently a bunch of teens (boys) back at my house to watch “The Walking Dead”…ick I pass on that show, I’m not into zombie stuff-killing-bloody shows! (BUT I’m sooo loving that new show Nashville…omg…its really good) Then we will get mums & pumpkies Saturday morning while Riley’s at football pic to decorate the porch & patio for Homecoming pics…which will consist of me telling hubby where to lift & put them since I cannot hahahaha!  Then Alexa’s BFF Grace is coming over to get ready for dance…I will corral Riley and help him get ready as much as he lets me..I’m sure there will be whining & yelling involved no doubt.  Then pictures at 5 pm in backyard with Alexa, Alexa’s date Jhavi, Grace, Riley, and Riley’s friends and all the parents.  Then we will tromp across neighborhood to get group photos with the LARGE group that Alexa is going with to dinner.  Then we will escort Riley & his pals to the dance..aka our duties as the neighborhood chauffeur.  Alexa and her friends are going to a bonfire party at friends house till 1 am after dance, then a sleepover at our house.  Apparently the boys are wanting to go to Buffalo Wild Wing after the dance so we will be taking some of them (14 boys in total…omg…shoot me)…oh how fun…oh yeah I may have a glass(es) of wine after all of that hahahaha along with many Advil!  I will post some pics up on Facebook Saturday evening if you follow me there and want to see before I get them on my blog next week!  I shall survive...I shall survive...I shall survive....you hear me chanting LMBO!

Yesterday I went to my pal Marti’s house for some mixed-media fun!  We made the project below…which was easy and fun.  I’ve been wanting to get into more mixed-media and see how to use all the products that are out there.  We also went to a class at the Queen’s Ink in MD on Saturday for an all day class with Wendy Vecchi—fun but my wrist was killing me by the end of class. Love the book we made too!  Marti is fostering kittens for same rescue I used to…before I collected 5 cats of my own and hubby told me I had to quit…LOL!  So the cat below reminds me of my cat Windy that passed away a few years ago…she liked my lap…she would be here at my house right now if I didn’t think hubby would divorce me heehee! Isn’t she a beauty?  Awwww….and her name is Savannah…one of my fave cities!

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A Mixed-Up Pumpkin!!

My friend Marti Wills has a chaotic life not unlike myself…we are also very similar in many BAD ways hahahaha…we also get along well even though we are both very sarcastic, stubborn and Taureans LMBO! Marti is the ONLY friend I have near me that is into crafts and the craft world like myself…thank god! We’ve been pals for about 5 years now and been to many of CHAs together too, yes yes she is the one that gets up at 3 am when I’m just going to bed…that is where we REALLY differ LOL!  So like a nice friend Marti (aka Smurfette) had the canvas painted in orange & dry when I got there…ready for us to play with LOL!  Then we ripped Halloween/Fall papers and some music sheets for the background. <See Slideshow at bottom for steps> We put the paper on with Gel Medium on the back and front till we got the look we wanted.  Then we sponged both acrylic paint in cream and Luminarte Silks (I used Harvest Sol) over the dried paper to make it more muted.  The swirly scrolls were done with a stencil and then we used Liquitex Ceramic Stucco mixed with Perfect Pearl powders to create the color we wanted (mine was an orange & brown mixed in).

What’s next with me & Marti-o?  We are gonna create with our Art Journals with different techniques so look for those posts every now and again too!

Find bunches of great Mixed-Media products at SCACD HERE!

You could cut out a pumpkin with dies or your e-cutter, but I like to use oval dies to make mine, I like the patchwork quilt look!  I distressed and inked all the edges and then put it together with foam tape for a layered look!  I curled my leaves a bit after inking them and added Stickles for sparkle.  Then I finished up with a twine bow, button and fall tag (sentiment from PTI).  The green-leafy scrolls were done with a Marianne Designs die.

A closer look of the background…so fun and easy to do…something I may try with my card backgrounds as well.  And YES this trip to Marti’s cost me $$$…meaning now I want stuff so I had to order stuff so that cost me $$ LOL!  But its ok I’m gonna have fun with them or Marti will come bop me on my head…she’s small, but SCARY sometimes ahahahaha!

My project now takes center stage on my family room mantel next to my mirror for my fall decorating…I just love it!!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

A Leafy Fall!

Happy Monday everyone!  Whoot whooot the last 4-5 days have been CRAZY & AMAZING!  Between both my Washington Nationals & Baltimore Orioles losing (boohoo so sad), then the Redskins BIG WIN the sports viewing has been nutters.  My hubby took the kids Friday night to the Nationals game and we were winning 6-0 only to lose…its been like a death in the family I tell ya but we are so proud of them for making it as far as they did…this is a team that no one expected to do anything yet they won their division and were #1 the MLB! I’m excited for next season!

Then Thursday night my me, my mom, Alexa and her BFF Grace went to see Jake Owen, Florida Georgia Line and Love-n-Theft in concert.  We got there by 2:30 to get our tix and were in line by 3:30 since it was first come for seating.  We were third in line…whoot!  We are standing there and the girls were across the street shopping when a large black man came up to me and started chatting asking why I was in line, what we were seeing and I’m like “it’s a country concert”.  Now I get approached by random people ALL THE TIME…literally any time I am out I do LOL!  So I figured he was just a random guy and I’m always nice & chatty.  He says “WELL I like country” like I offended him LMAO…and I said “Well its gonna be a great show tonight”…he says “I know, HI how are you cuz I’m the drummer for Jake Owen”…OMG SHOOT ME IN THE FACE LOL!  He was laughing and I felt like a big dummy hahahahaha!  Then Florida Georgia Line comes walking by OMG so the girls rushed back.  Not 2 mins later Jake Owen goes JOGGING BY and waved and said “HI LADIES” LMAO and then Florida Georgia Line walked back by AGAIN!  When they opened the doors at 7 pm I went running up to an empty ticket taker, ran into the theater (the usher told me not to run, then laughed so I kept running, AND GUESS WHAT!  OH YEAH BABY I GOT FRONT & CENTER AT THE STAGE…TOUCHING THE STAGE, RIGHT IN FRON FOR US!! It was standing only, no seats and I think my heart flopped outta my chest and onto the floor I was so damn excited…we were squealing & jumping hahahaha!  So my view of all 3 bands was from their feet up (see slideshow).  I touched EVERY BAND MEMBER including Jake Owen, Jake stepped on my hands a few times in his bare feet, yes bare feet.  I got a Jake Owen guitar pic AND Florida Georgia Line signed my iPhone case…it WAS HEAVEN, BEST NIGHT OF MY FREAKING LIFE. Alexa got a Jake Owen guitar pic thanks to my mom and we all got sprayed with beer..first time ever I didn't mind LOL since it was by Tyler from Florida Georgia Line!!  Literally it doesn’t get better than that…but wait, but wait….Florida Georgia Line is going on tour with LUKE BRYAN OMG OMG CAN U BELIEVE IT and they texted me and apologized for not recognizing me at the concert till the end and will MAKE SURE we get backstage next time. WHAT? WHAT IS THAT?  BACKSTAGE WITH THEM AND LUKE BRYAN…MY LIFE IS NOW COMPLETE CUZ SUZANNE MAY HIT THE FLOOR AND DIE AFTER THAT EXPERIENCE FOR SURE!!!  Yowza!  It’s like Christmas over & over & over & over hahahahaha!

Last note..remember my fall on my kitchen tile?  Well my wrist is sprained with a broken bone & a hairline fractured bone that they will not set because of fear of nerve damage.  So I’m in a brace with limited typing and crafting time ugh….but don’t worry I will still post & have stuff, it will just take me longer to do LOL.  I gotta heal cuz’ I’m off to Canada in Nov to teach for a week and I gotta be all better

Its Homecoming week for the teens with the game on Friday night and dance on Saturday so its busy, busy!  Alexa got a dress but we have to go get shoes and jewelry this week and Riley needs a new tie and shirt and a HAIRCUT LOL!  And tonight is Riley’s football game and its supposed to rain, ugh, so you know where I’ll be LOL!

 Jake Owen concert Video (so close I could grab his bum..but I didn't...I behaved hahaha):


Slideshow of Pics:  (if you get blog by email click HERE to see pics)
Remember my VIEW was from straight below all of them LOL, you can tell by the photos and look at Alexa's face at the stage...she was soooo excited!  So close we could see all their set lists and took them too LOL!


NewsBitz:


-THE NEW CMC CHALLENGE is now up HERE!  You need to have a touch of RED in your projects..so go join in for a chance to win!!!


-I also have a few Silhouette Cameos for SALE at the CMC Classroom if you’ve been looking to buy one.  Join the site and you can use the 20% off FALL coupon to apply towards it…go HERE to see details! I love my Cameo so much and can’t recommend it enough.  I only have a few for sale, it’s a test to see if I want to sell them but I have them in stock & ready to ship, no delays!

-Have you checked out the latest edition of "Through the Craftroom Door" magazine!!  Packed with fabulous articles, projects and free digis....go HERE to see more & subscribe.  You will not be disappointed!!

-My CMC Classroom is having a DT CALL!!  We are looking to add a few more DT people to our already fabulous & lovely team!  If you want to apply go to see all the details!

-Pink Blog Candy winner will be announced next blog post ok!  Stay tuned!!

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Leaves of Fall

This is a card I had done for the TouchTwin Challenge HERE (new challenge is now up)…join in and you can win 12 markers…whoot!  I used Gina K’s beautiful “Fall Foliage” stamp set on this card…its such a great set to use with so many different techniques!

I spritzed my stamps with rubbing alcohol then adding color with 2 TouchTwin markers R1 & YR31 and stamping down.  After stamping once I spritzed with rubbing alcohol again and stamped again for a lighter look.  I love the colors and fun technique of doing this.  You have to use rubbing alcohol or the blender solution to spritz with because the markers are alcohol based…with water-based markers like SU ones you could use water for a similar look.  Then I cut out a small oval with my SBs and stamped the sentiment and some more leaves, wrapped with PTI ribbon and topped with a bow, button & twine.  Real easy to make but so elegant too!

That’s it for me today….have a fabulous week and see you back here on Wed!  Its Homecoming Week here in the Dean household so busy busy busy!!

Happy Haunting!!

Happy Thursday everyone!  I will keep this short & sweet for you all today….cuz….I have hurt myself…again….LOL!  I cleaned the whole house yesterday, did laundry and made a crockpot dinner…I was sooo ahead of schedule which is so unlike me   The night before my camera USB cord broke so I had no way to get my photos to my PC laptop…the SD card reader broke a few months ago.  So I switched over to my Mac Air…ummm no internet…it won’t hook up to my wi-fi…SHOOT ME OMG I WAS READY TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK/MELT DOWN/TEMPER TANTRUM!!!  I love, love technology..UNTIL IT ALL BREAKS DOWN UGH KWIM!!  So I had to pick up a new USB this morning and get my pics uploaded and then I cleaned and cooked.  I was alllllmoooost finished with everything and I quickly came thru the kitchen…the dog's water bowl was nearby…they had slopped it all over on the tile…and YUP I went down, fast & HARD on the tile!  OMGoodness I fell hard on my right side so my wrist, forearm, elbow, hip & foot got it good…I’m bruised like I was run into by a train I tell ya.  So I think my wrist is sprained…not good…its pretty purple so I will go have an Xray this morning to make sure.  I have it iced & took Advil and am hoping for the best because this is my writing/coloring hand…I am not wanting a cast or sling right now arghhh so I’m praying its just bruised badly.  AND tonight I’m off to see Jake Owen & Florida-Georgia Line & Love-n-Theft in MD with my mom, Alexa and Alexa’s BFF Grace.  So sore hip and arm or not…I shall get my country groove on LOL one way or another!!  I’m so excited to see them all…it will be fun and in a smaller venue and I’m hoping to get right on up to the stage…yup front & center baby!!

So cross your fingers for me that the wrist is just bruised and I shall send you lots of love & kisses ok? LOL, I sure appreciate it!

NewsBitz:


-Do you LOVE cute paper?  I know I do!  My sweet friend Mindy Baxter has a line of Halloween & Christmas digi papers on Etsy HERE…they are adorable and I can already see I’m gonna be using them a lot this season!  She’s sooo talented—go check them out!!

BLOG CANDY---You can still register for blog candy at this POST HERE thru Friday night!  Thanks to everyone who has already and your sweet & funny comments…they always make my day!

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Happy Haunting!!

So today I’ve got this super-cute lil’ witchie poo called “Sweet Little Witch Cammy” from designer Chelsea Le…she’s only available in rubber at I Brake For Stamps HERE! I just love her soooo much and I made her for the current TouchTwin Challenge as well HERE..which is fall themed cards using monochromatic colors (go enter for a chance to win 12 TouchTwin markers…sweet).  I will give a <small> nudge to my pal Tina G for telling me to do her in blues when we were Skyping the other day…we skyped & crafted so even though she’s in Iowa its like she was sitting on my desk hahahaha LOL!  I was a little tired of using traditional fall colors so this was a nice break from that and I love her in blues.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Make It Monday (anything goes)

Crafting For All Seasons (costumes) 

Crafts & Me (anything goes)

Divas by Design (anything goes)

Paper Pretties (Halloween)

Simon Says Stamp Challenge (dies/punches)

All my papers were from my scrap-bin….I love to use scraps…cuz I gotta ton of them!  The sentiment and the swirly bats I stamped around her are from an older Inkadinkado set.  The circle die cuts are from a Spellbinders die and the branches are from Memory Box die “Leafy Branch”, I love that die.  Then I added some bats from my MS punch and added Stickles to make them sparkly!

She was colored in all TouchTwin Markers with the addition of Copic BG10.  I will put up the colors I used tomorrow, I left the list upstairs and am in no shape to run & get it LOL!  So check back for those if you are looking!  I added fun Stickles to her hair and bows and broom…a witch has GOT to get her bling on!! KWIM! bwahahahahaha

Ok that’s it for me!  My mom is coming so we can pick girls up from high school and head to MD for concert and she’s staying thru Saturday!!  Hope you have a great rest of the week!

Let’s Think Pink!

Happy Monday to you all!  Its Columbus Day here in the States and I believe it is or was Canadian Thanksgiving…so whatever you are doing I hope its fab!  That means my teens are home today since school is off…ugh…LOL…they will be sleeping in and disrupting my quiet me thinks.  We had a great weekend….we didn’t get to the Pumpkin Patch because of the weird weather but we had fun anyway.  Alexa and I made cakepops (see below) and we all watched “Haunted Mansion” with Eddie Murphy …Lex won’t admit it but she was skeered LMBO.  We’ve watched it probably 10x and she still gets spooked hahahaha and its more funny then scary—its also my most FAVORITE ride in Disney World too, I head there first after Space Mountain!  Then yesterday we went to the Orioles vs. Yankees baseball game.  So happy the Orioles made it into the play-offs!  I’ve been an Orioles fan since I was little growing up in MD…much longer than I’ve been a Nats fan.  So if it comes down to a Battle of the Beltway of Nats vs Orioles…I’m NOT sure who I’m gonna root for…ugh…but that would be a super fun match up!  We went online Friday night and bought play-off tix right away..I won’t say how much they spent cuz it was RIDICULOUS..but for sports fans like us it’s a historic game that we wanted to be at.  Unfortunately Riley is a Nats AND a Yankees fan (ugh…I hate the Yanks)…so I DID not sit by him at the game. LET ME EDIT THIS NOW TO SAY IT WAS FREEZING...50 degs & POURING RAIN FOR 6 HOURS AND GAME WAS DELAYED!!  I was frozen, soooo cold and sitting out in that for 6 hours was a huge test but we all did it...thats true fans for ya LOL!  Not sure I'd do it again but it was a good game riiiiiight up till the 9th inning when our pitcher got some pitiful throws out leading the dumb Yankees to a win ugh.  We did not get home until 2:30 am this morning so I'm beat...feel like a train ran over me many times last night! LOL...oyyyy!  If you saw some crazies in the stands off of first base with a huge “Gonna BUCKle Up” sign…yeah that was us LOL!  I didn’t get in any brawls with rude Yankees fans…darn it…so James was happy about that.  Last time I had a guy call me and Alexa “bit*&es” and I about took him out…I mean really?  It’s a game, let’s be nice and have good sportsmanship…calling women names cuz we’re cheering on the home team & say that in front of my daughter…ummm NO…I don’t play that game.  As I was getting into it with him…that would be me jumping over Alexa to stand nose-to-nose with him and yelling while he stood there stunned…my hubby & son came back from concessions and the look on my hubby’s face was priceless.  He had that “oh no not again…what are you doing & do I have to fight someone for you” look on his face LOL!  But seriously don’t mouth off to me like that in front of my kids…even the Yankees fans in front of him were booing him.  So no trouble at this game just 2 drunk guys beside me that kept falling on me...I seem to attract drunk men at events like stink on poop I tell ya LOL.  I was worried they were gonna knock me down over the rail half the time---ohhhh its always an adventure when we go to these things   And WHOOOT to the Nationals for winning their first game...awesome!!  So happy!

Below is a celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month from the Magnolia-licious DT…we are having a Blog Hop themed “Think Pink”…hope you will take the time to read all about it and see each DT gal’s projects! 

**And I have some SWEET PINK BLOG CANDY you can win as well if you leave a comment telling me simply what your favorite treat is!**

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Think Pink!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) is an annual international health campaign organized by major companies every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. The campaign also offers information and support to those affected by breast cancer. The Pink Ribbon symbol was used in 1993 by Evelyn Lauder as the symbol of The Breast Cancer Research Fund she founded and is used to symbolize the fight against the disease. We also honor those that have fought the battle and who are currently fighting the battle while raising awareness to ALL women to be aware of the symptoms and to be proactive against the disease. Want to find out more? The National Breast Cancer Foundation HERE for those in the US and globally at the PinkRibbon.org site HERE!

• In 2011 Nearly 1.5 million women across the world were told they had breast cancer
• One-third of breast cancer deaths can be decreased with early detection and treatment
• In the US 1 out of 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer over their lifetime, an estimated 527 women are diagnosed in the US with breast cancer each day

The Magnolia-licious DT wants to help promote awareness/early detection and share what this Think Pink Month is about with ALL women! We also want to honor all of those women that have or are currently fighting this disease and show our support in the fight!! So the DT has planned our own “Think Pink” Awareness Hop and we hope you can all join in with us. Each DT gal has created some Sweet-PINK treats and PINK Packaging to match using those beautiful Magnolia images.
You can find some Magnolia stamps that were created specifically for Pink Ribbon Awareness at Magnolia-licious <HERE> So have fun hopping along to see all the fabulous Pink-a-licious Creations and make sure to stop back by the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog to join in on the fun too!

So I decided to create a sweet Think Pink card featuring a beautiful Magnolia “Sitting Tilda” and the Magnolia Pink Collections “Strength Hope Cure” circle stamp.  Then for my Sweet Treat, Alexa and I made cake pops covered in the pink ribbons symbol sprinkles and matching tags and charms.  We had a ton of fun creating the cakepops..you can see our slideshow below LOL!

I'm entering this into the following fabulous challenges:

Challenges 4 Everybody (anything goes) 

Dream Valley Challenges (Go Pink)

Sentimental Sundays (anything goes)

A Gem of a Challenge (for the girls)

Drunken Stampers (pink)

For the card I used some scrap PTI papers all in pinks & whites of course.  I used SBs “Labels 16” die and embossed the white matting.  All of the papers were distressed a bit, the frilly mats were made with a Memory Box die “Quinn Flourish” (cut in half) and then I layered Prima flowers.  I stamped the Magnolia “Strength Hope Cure Circle” stamp and created a tag to hang below my pink ribbon bow made with my handy-dandy Bow Easy.

Tilda was colored with Copics R21,R20,R000 / E11,E00 / Y23,E50 & TouchTwin color BR104 / E42,E41,E40.  I added Stickles to her pink socks, bow and shirt trim…the flowers all got some sparkles too!

Here is the “Strength Hope Cure Circle” stamp I used..I colored each ribbon & then added Stickles around the circle for sparkle!

I had bought a BabyCakes cake pop machine at Wegmans and it was just waitin’ to get used (I have a slight machine addiction lol).  So Alexa & I fired it up and created pink & white frosting then sprinkled them with the pink-ribbon-symbol sprinkles.  I created tags that matched the one on the card and we made Shrinky-Dink ribbon charms.  I used the Magnolia “Pink Stitched Ribbon” stamp, stamped them in Pink Memento ink on Shrinky-Dink sheets, cut them out & punched a hole in top then heated them up with my heat gun till they shrunk all the way down.  Then we wrapped up the cake pops, threaded the tag and charm and tied them all off.  I think they came out so cute and who wouldn’t want to receive one of these!  We will be making some for Halloween too

Now leave a comment on this post by Friday, Oct 12th & tell me what your most favorite sweet treat is and you could win the PINK goodies below:

Blog Candy: Organic EOS strawberry crème lip balm & lotion set, a Magnolia “Strength Cure Hope Circle” stamp, a Pink Ribbon cookie cutter, a paper pad of Prima’s “Tea Thyme” and a Pink Deck of Playing Cards!

Hope you enjoyed the post today!  

Now make sure to hop on to Cheryl’s Blog to see her fabulous

Pink-a-licious creation!

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Here's a slideshow of me & Alexa makin' the cake pops :)