Shop Til' U Drop!!

Hello everyone & Happy Thursday to you all! I love short work weeks, means the weekend is that much closer right?  LOL--although I still have lots of prep work to get done, but I hope to take Sunday off to spend some time with my KINDLE finishing my awesome book I started :)  Alexa is off to the beach with a group of girlfriends this weekend and its supposed to be beautiful weather so she'll have lots of fun.  I'm just hoping my pointer finger on my right hand feels better soon---yesterday I was fixing my industrial stapler (the kind that go thru chipboard) and YES I sent a large staple thru my finger and almost out the other side---owwwwieeee!  It is still hurting me and it's totally what I call a "Suzanne Accident"!  I mean how dumb was I to hold my finger over the stapler hole, LMBO---geez, not real smart me thinks!  Dumb thing bled for an hour and swelled up like I got stung by a bee---and yes my tetanus shot is still good, lol!  But I don't have time for that so I wrapped it up real good and got on with my work and my typing AND the piles of paperwork from the kids schools sent home for me to fill out (ugh the worst I tell ya), hee hee!  So note to you all---don't DO WHAT SUZANNE DID, keep all fingies away from tools with holes that shoot out stuff!! :)

And back to school my kiddo's have gone and so far so good!  Alexa loves her new highschool and Riley was happy to see his friends in 7th grade!  I have some pictures below--since we've moved here I always take their pics in front of the front door and it's fun to look back to see how they've shot up and matured.   Riley has gained 8 inches since last fall and is now officially taller than his mom & wearing a size 11 shoe--egads!  When the heck did that happen--my baby is growing up quick I tell ya!  Below my NewsBitz I have a short slideshow of the kids before school the first day and some pics of Alexa cheering at the football game last night!  Enjoy!

NewsBitz:

-I have a few new locations going up for my Color Me Creative Classroom "On The Road"--including Greensboro, NC and CT!  Stay tuned for those!  Also if you are close to the Medford Area of Long Island, NY we'd love to see you in the class in October!!

-SCACD has some awesome new products in stock including these COOL NEW BUTTON machines by Epiphany Crafts (I've got some coming to meeeee), awesome new Spellbinders (love those beaded circles) and Holiday Papers here!

-Work your way to the end of the post to win some shopping goodies of your own!!

SLIDESHOW: (if you subscribe you have to come to the blog to view)

******************************************

Shop Til' U Drop!!

I have a confession for ya, hee hee---- I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE to SHOP! LOL!  Although these days I'm more of an internet shopper because (1) I can do it in my pjs (2) I can shop late at night (3) I don't have to fight crowds/traffic KWIM!  But I am definitely a marathon shopper when I have the time, lol!  So this card and project fit me to a "T"!  I have been dying to use this "Tilda Goes Shopping" from Magnolia-licious (and she's in stock too) since I got her and I had seen this fabulous template for a shopping bag/purse tote on Lauren Meader's blog and knew they would go together perfectly!  And I pulled out more of those yummy My Mind's Eye "Lost & Found" papers to use (yes I got all the color stories they offered cuz' I am a MME's addict, lol)!

And I'm staying true to my word and entering this into some challenges!  Two of the main ones are the SCS sketch (see link below) and the Moxie Fab World Challenge which was a inspiration picture challenge of red lipsticks above.  I don't wear red lipstick (it makes me look goth, lol) but I love pink lipstick and it reminds me of the fab cosmetic counters at the malls which MEANS SHOPPING like my project below!!  Also entering the Fab'n'Funky Challenges which is to create anything you like--fun!

So to create a fun city-like scene for my "Tilda Goes Shopping" I also used this fun Magnolia stamp called "Edwin's Town" which I'm sure Diana will be restocking  (Houses on the Street stamp would be cute too--see here).  My sketch is from yesterday's SCS sketch #297 which was a fun one and perfect for larger sized images.  The fun lil' sentiment is from one of my fave Gina K sets called "Retro Boutique" and no card of mine is finished until it gets some of my fave Marianne Designs scrolls on it, LOL!  The background was embossed with a new "CB folder set "Heritage" which I just love!

Tilda was of course colored with copics (R02,R00,R0000/C5,C3,C2,C1,C00/hair:E25,E31,E50).  I colored "Edwin's Town" as well but I kept the colors very, very light and soft so Tilda would really stand out--the windows are all stickled too!  I added stickles to Tilda's one shopping bag and then gave the other pink polka-dots for fun!  Tilda's boots & locket have diamond glaze on them and then I used my Viva Decor Pearl Pen in white to give her a pearl necklace.

This cute shopping tote was made using a My Time Made Easy template called "Tote-All Package" by Lauren Meader.  If you've never been to her blog or her store site you are MISSING OUT!  She was one of the first blogs I followed 3 years ago and she continues to pack in tons of great projects on her site.  This template is in her store and you can print the pdf file or a SVG cut file for your cutting machines after you buy it---very easy to make!  After I cut out both of my tote panels from my pink cs I embossed them with my CB "Heritage" folder and used my fave Scor-Tape to put it all together (lovee that stuff).  Then I added a panel of cs from MME--it already had the cool glittery border attached to it (score)!!  I gave it some ribbon handles and a bow and added some more fun scrolls and a button to finish it all off nicely.  This would be so cute filled with lots of yummy treats, gift cards or other medium sized treasures--its a nice size!

Since I'm unable to pull together myself and some awesome blog candy for my million hits (maybe I'll save it for December and make it REALLY BIG whatcha' think) I will continue to give away candy at least once a week!!

**So this week I'm giving away a $10 gift certificate to My Time Made Easy (you can get 2 templates with that or a stamp set) AND a Marianne Designs Die Scroll set AND a Shopping Tilda stamp!

So tell me "WHAT WAS YOUR MOST EXPENSIVE SHOPPING PURCHASE THAT MAYBE MADE YOU FEEL A BIT GUILTY or JUST GIDDY, lol?" and whether this is a 2 thumbs up or not project, lol!  Leave me a note by Sunday night on this post only to win!!

Have a great Thursday!

Perfectly Plummy Petals!!

Hello again & happy Tuesday! I'm off and running again today--my goodness! Riley has another dr's appt today & then goes to see a pediatric pulmonologist on Thursday--ack! Poor kid! Hopefully we will get this resolved real soon---thanks to everyone for their well wishes, they're very much appreciated! On a cheerier note, I finished an awesome book last night called "American Wife" (loosely based on Laura Bush) so now I've started the "Jackie & Bobby" novel and my book club selection "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society"--I'll let you know how they are, hee hee!

NewsBitz:
-Copic Class Schedule is as follows: Sunday, August 23rd and Sunday, September 20th at 1:00-4:30 at my house! Email me for all the details!

-PDF file for the below totebag template is right HERE (will also be on my sidebar under pdf files)

-Whiff of Joy is now accepting pre-orders for their fabulous Fall Kit until August 7th--order your's HERE! (10 Elisabeth Bell stamps for $36)
********************************************

So today is Try It Out Tuesday for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design and I've challenged the DT to create a gift of any kind using one of the *NEW* Elisabeth Bell for SCACD stamps! I decided to use this cutie-patootilicious fairy called "Spunkette"--isn't she adorable?! I paired her up with this fabulous plummy dp by Cloud9Design and used my totebag template to create my gift and matching card!

I've made a totebag template/directions for you right HERE if you're interested. After coloring "Spunkette" with Copics twice & cutting her out--I added her to this fun flower for the front of my bag. The top flowers are all Primas--the mini roses were white & then I added iced lavender Shimmerz to the tops of the petals and then threaded the stem thru 2 more Prima flowers. The circle has a transparency front that I stamped with PTI's "Fancy Flourishes" stamps in white Palette Ink.
This is what the inside holds--some fun & pretty fairy goodies!! I forget where I picked these up, but I knew I could use them for something fun, lol! So the gift holds a body butter lotion, 2 lipgloss lollipops, & Body Splash in Raspberry Swirl--smells YUM!

Here is the matching card I made to go along with the gift--I purposely left off a sentiment so it could be given for any occasion. I added a fun ribbon treatment to the corners and some lavender glitter dots to the bottom!

And of course no fairy is complete without lots of shimmer, hee hee! I used both diamond stickles and iced lavender Shimmerz on her skirt petals, wings & flower! Her hair was colored with the SJD Copic Bundle "Blonde Hair 2" and the purples were done with the "Lavenders Bundle" along with the new V0000 copic color.

Now head on over to the store blog "Follow Your Heart" to see the rest of the DT's fabulous projects!!

Second project today (staying in the same pleasing plum color scheme, lol) is a set of notecards I made using one of my absolute favorite Lockhart Stamp Co. stamps "Tulips" since they are my favoritest flower! I made 4 of these A2 sized notecards lickety-split using PTI's dotted dp and cs. Tulips were colored with Copics (same lavenders as above) and then a coat of iced lavender Shimmerz on top of the petals. Fun & pretty notecards to send out to a friend dontcha' think? Both of my projects today are for sale in my Etsy shop--on sidebar if you're interested!

Hope you enjoyed my projects today! Below are a couple of informative photos/directions that I was asked to share:

To create a shaped card like the one's I made HERE with your Nestabilities all you need to do is crease your cardstock and place onto your die cutting machine (mine is a Cuttlebug--love it). Then take your shaped die (this is a Scalloped Circle Nestability) and place on top of cs positioning the die just a "tad bit" over the edge of the crease so it creates a fold for the card.
And this is what it looks like when you're done--a nice shaped card that's ready to decorate!

To create a decorative edge using Nestability dies like on this card HERE; just pick your die that you want to use (I'm using Labels 1) & slide your cs thru the die (needs to be cut to size of the die) so only the edge of the cardstock is underneath the die. Then roll thru your machine--this leaves you with a beautiful edge for your cards.

Hope that was enuff' info for you today & I didn't lose you along the way, LOL!! See ya back here tomorrow!


hugz,

Suzanne

Party Time

Hi scrappy girls! Hope the day has gone well for everyone. We have had some scary weather here in VA today--severe thunderstorms & tornadoes sweeping thru the area have been very frightening. I'm sure that those of you in the midwest are used to more severe weather, but it's not very frequent here. They held the kids longer in school today because of the weather, so my kids were home late but safe, thank goodness. Trees are down behind my house & things are scattered about but we're all safe and the house is ok.

Onto my projects of the day! After all this heart-pounding weather I decided that I wanted to make a party set. (Please ignore the piece of tape on the bottom of my totebag--I had to pop that on to make it stand up properly while the glue dried so I could get a picture) My daughter is going to a birthday slumber party on Friday nite for a friend and we got her a gift card, so I knew I wanted to make some kind of holder for it. I had seen this little Land's End-like tote on Lauren Meader's blog (someone had given it to her as a gift) and I just had to make it. I have tons of these totes around the house that we use for everything for trips and such and I just love their durability/looks. I quickly ordered up the papercrafts book from Amazon that was mentioned and got to work (Paper For All Seasons). It definitely took some time, but once you have the template traced & cut-out and you do one, I think the ones after that will be easier. I had already made the card so I knew what colors I wanted to use for the tote handles/bottom. The stamp on my card is from Pink Cat Studio's "farm animal stamps" that I had ordered last month, but had yet to ink up. They're really fun and happy stamps & always versatile--I just love Pink Cat & Melissa the owner is beyond talented & nice!! The dp is from DCWV "blossoms & butterflies stack" (got mine at JoAnn.com), the ribbon is from American crafts. I love their sets of bright ribbons--I have a bunch but don't use them very often, I'll have to try & be better about that-lol! I made a matching tag for the tote bag just to coordinate the two--I think it turned out fun & fabulous myself :) If you're interested in the book, I will tell you it has lots of fantastic paper projects in it--I will definitely be showcasing some more over the next few days. I got mine at Amazon for $19.95 if you're interested.

CC Designs had their release party last nite & of course I ordered some more stamps (can't seem to help myself). Get on over to All That Scraps and check out the new sets, really cute, especially the "froggy & friends" set. My Favorite Things is having their big release party tonight too & I'm loving the sneak peeks I've seen this week--I'm sure I'll be adding some more stamps to my collection!! (I do not work for any of these companies, just love the stuff & like to enable others!)

Hope you likee everything! Have a peaceful & relaxing evening & I'll see ya around tomorrow.

**Blog Candy** entries are due by 11 pm tomorrow nite!!

Suzanne

Cardstock is SU, dp is DCWV(Die cuts with a View), Copics, MM brads, American crafts ribbon, stickles, nestabilities, dimensionals