RELEASE DAY!!

Happy, happy Friday to you all!! This has been like the longest week of my life, LOL--or so it seems! Only 7 more days until we leave for Hilton Head Island for 2 weeks---woohoo--I cannot wait! But I've got sooo much to get done before we leave--work projects, lotsa errands, and 5th grade graduation events for my son! Tomorrow my son sings at the Frederick Key's game (minor league baseball) with his chorus so that should be lots of fun & on Sunday I have my next Copics class. If you're around the area & would like to take a Copics Class with me, my next class will be July 26th (1-4:30)--email me if you're interested--you'll learn alot & have a good time I promise!!

**If you haven't entered for my 200,000 Blog Hits BLOG CANDY, you still have until tonight at midnight to do so right HERE! Winner will be announced on tomorrow's blog post!!
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So today is RELEASE DAY for Anki's Sweethearts for SCACD-series 2--YAY! All stamps are now available at Susana's Custom Art & Card Design! Anki did a wonderful job on these images--they're all fabulous! Today I've used "Emilia" so sweet with flowers in her hair & her lil' basket ready for a picnic. I created a fun stair-step card for her using Basic Grey's "Wisteria" dp--I wanted it to look like she was in a field of wildflowers! The sentiment is from a Heidi Grace set (from AC Moore)--love it! The whole card was spritzed with Shimmerz Spritz (baby's breath). The DT (on sidebar) has more projects using these sweet stamps on their blogs today, so hop around to see them all! So don't delay...hurry & get your own Anki's Sweethearts to play with!


My second cards for ya today are some fun beachy notecards I made using Lockhart Stamp Co.'s "IB Sand Bucket"-available at Susana's store! I just love these colors together, so peaceful & beachy (my rec room is painted in these soothing colors)! I embossed the baby blue panel--so pretty; image is colored w/ Copics & popped w/ dimensionals. Then I spritzed the entire card with my fave Baby's Breath Shimmerz Spritz (a must-have)--nice and shimmery! I made 4 of these notecards using sentiments from PTI's "Mega Mixed Messages"--2 thankyou's, 1 hello, & 1 birthday! If you love these they are available for sale (I have 2 sets for sale) in my Etsy shop, link on sidebar! I just love 'em, might have to make me some too--LOL!

Alrighty, I'm outta here--I have lots to do! I'll see you all back here tomorrow! Oh and thanks for all the uplifting & funny stories you've left me--I've had some great laughs, LOL!

hugz,

Suzanne

Watercolored Rain!!

Hello & Happy Wednesday Friends!! Doesn't a three day weekend just make the week go faster, LOL! We had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend--really fun and relaxing! We went to see "Night at the Museum 2"-which was better than the first IMO!! Then on Monday we headed down to DC to the Smithsonian of American History & had lunch down there too. Great weather all weekend until Monday night-nasty storms & lots of rain, blech (rain today & yesterday too)!! News on the weight loss front--lost 2.5 lbs & have lost 1" around my waist and hips, .5" around each thigh (in the past 7 days)--so that totals 5 lbs lost so far! Woohoo---the fat is starting to move, hee hee! Slowly, but surely its a comin' off ..... :o)

So I'm a day late for the Try It Out Tuesday challenge for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design (due to electric & internet issues) but I got it done. I challenged the DT to only color their stamped images by watercoloring only--fun challenge! We all get so used to whipping out our Copics but sometimes it's good to mix it up! I used one of the new Victoria Case for SCACD stamps "Singin' in the Rain"--isn't she a cutie & perfect for watercoloring! I watercolored using my SU reinkers and then added some diamond stickles on the puddles, polka-dots & umbrella!

The papers are from Paper Trey Ink as is the Get Well sentiment (Around & About Sentiments). I cut out & popped up the umbrella for more dimension & added some Bella Baubles (String of Pearls). Perfect for a get well card!! Make sure and stop by the store blog "Follow Your Heart" to see the rest of the DT's absolutely beautiful watercolored projects!!

The second card today is just a fun card/invite I made thinking of summer parties & barbecues to come--this would be a perfect invitation for either! Not hard to mass produce, simple, fun & elegant! I used Lockhart's Itty Bitty stamps (hamburger, hotdog & pizza) and they're actually watercolored, lol! Very hard to do on these little images (pizza toppings were done with Copics though)! I paired them up with PTI's kraft and red cs & twill ribbon. The background was embossed with my Cuttlebug embossing folder to add some more texture! Perfect for a simple invitation!!

I hope you're having a fabulous day & I'll see ya back here tomorrow!!


hugz,

Suzanne

Spring is a Comin'!!

Happy Weekend my Friends!! Have any happy plans in store for the weekend! We're staying home today cuz' we're going to the Washington Capitals game in DC tomorrow (that's hockey for those of ya not in the know, hee hee)--should be a good time! And they're calling for ice and snow on Sunday too--blech---where's my Spring?

BTW, thanks to all of you who found info for me on hatpins & accessories--I appreciate it! After much searching I found a company who sells the hatpin, endcaps & other accessories--if you're interested you can find them HERE !!!

Today the H&M Stamps DT gets to show their sneakie-peekies of the 3 new stamp sets that will be available for purchase on March 1st!! I'm previewing "Seasons of Trees" for ya today which is a really fun & versatile set! Included you get the tree and different images to put in & on the tree--I'm using flowers (for spring) but there is leaves and apples too and fun things to add on. I used the grass stamp, birdhouse, and small bird for my tree! Cuz' I'm soooo longing for Spring ya know :o) And I had to make my birdie a bluebird!!

I used Basic Grey's "Euphoria" dp which I thought matched the tree a bit and I love the fresh, springlike colors! I popped my tree up on dimensionals, colored it all with Copics and added these fun Stampendous flower stickers to the flower centers and around the card! The sentiment is from PTI's "Mailbox Greetings" set--very appropriate me thinks! Check out my DT sistah's below for more sneak peeks today!

Carolina - http://www.creativepad.typepad.com/
Julia - http://www.createwithjulia.blogspot.com/
Heather K – www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=91956
Heather R. - http://www.hlr976.blogspot.com/
Makiko - http://www.makinkstudio.blogspot.com/
Maria - http://www.scrapsbym.blogspot.com/
Melissa - http://www.instampingmode.blogspot.com/
Tracy - http://www.tracylynn00.blogspot.com/

My second project today is a fun little "Baby" set I made using one of Karen Lockhart's Itty Bitty stamps called "Goodnight Moon". Oh I loved reading that book to my kids when they were itty bitty's themselves--such a soothing nite-nite book! Whenever I give baby gifts I always include a couple of nice books and this is always one that include with my gift! Anywhoo....

I wanted to use soft baby colors that were "gender neutral" because its easier to have these on hand without a "girl" or "boy" color to tend with. The polka-dot dp is new from PTI--comes in a stack of all their lovely colors and I paired it up with their "Lemon Tart" cs and Aqua Mist twill ribbon. I colored my moons with my Copics, added some fun stickles to the moon's and popped 'em up with dimensionals. Just a fun card and gift tag that you could make multiples of, the new parents could use a set as thankyou's or even baby announcements!!

The pearls are from Kaiser and the sentiment is from PTI's "Mixed Messages" set--a great set to own! Make sure and check out Susana's Custom Art & Card Design for the entire selection of Lockhart stamps (buy 4 regulars & get an itty bitty free, free shipping over $100 too)!!

Make sure and visit my SUINK DT sistah's Colleen, Carolina & Laura for some more sneak peeks of the new sets out on March 1st! Lots of new stamps out there for ya to buy, oh my!!

Have a great Saturday,

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