What...More Christmas!!

Good Thursday Morning to ya! Hope everyone is doing well so far and I'm hoping all my blogger friends in Florida are staying safe with that Hurricane coming to town. I don't want a hurricane, but if we could get just a little bitta rain, that would be wonderful--it is pathetically dry and brown here in VA. I'm typing this up (last nite) while watching the Olympics again and feeling an increasing urge to get in my bed. I am extremely tired and feel like I might be coming down with somethin' not so good--hope it passes me by, we'll see...but it's definitely slowin' me down!

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***BLOG CANDY ALERT*** If you haven't entered for my blog candy here, you still have until 11 pm EST to do so. I will be picking a winner on Friday using that random # thingy (have yet to try it--hope I can figure it out--lol) and posting by 2 pm on Friday.

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I know what you're thinking...its August, what's with the Christmas stuff? I just really love my stamps from Whiff of Joy, they are so much fun to color and you know how much I love to color--I find it so relaxing. I had seen this Joy Fold technique card on All That Scraps blog and wanted to try it out. This stamp is called "Carol Singing Charlotte", isn't she the cutest thing? I so had to use this holiday sheet music dp (from Recollections last year) that I've been hoarding and paired it with the poinsettia dp from Daisy D's. I colored her with Copics and inked around the edges with my Memento dew drop in desert sand, highlighted w/ Inkssentials pen, black stickles on the music notes and diamond stickles on her furry cap. The clip and ribbon are both from Michaels, flowers are Primas. On the inside of the card I used some of my new Inkadinkado stamps for the sentiment and the ivy (Ornate Christmas and Winter Trails). I was quite pleased with the end result, whaddya think? I'm entering this into the Caardvarks challenge--you have to use something on your card with "music"--I think this works, yes?

I have a confession--I ordered 800 coasters from a restaurant supply store 6 months ago and they sit under my desk day after day after day. I have made it a personal challenge to make a project with them once a week to justify my purchasing them--lol! I thought the quilt stamps from PTI's "Quilters Sampler" would make a wonderful Christmas ornament. I wanted to make this ornament kinda country vintage so I really distressed/inked up the edges of the dp (by Memory Box). The quilt blocks are colored with Copics and mounted on many layers of cs. The reverse side's sentiment is from PTI's "Quilters Sampler Sentiments" and I just love it. I used my nesties to cut the ovals out. The buttons are from Michaels and the delish ribbon is new from PTI (yes I got my big box of new goodies yesterday--can't wait to share)--its their new poppy color, just a beautiful red and perfect for the upcoming holidays. I have a ladies holiday luncheon every year and I'm going to make these as their favors/gifts to hang on their trees. I need to make one for myself too--I am a Christmas fanatic and I have 8 trees (this year will be 9) that I decorate every December all in different themes (I will post pictures for ya in December) and yes I am that CRAZY, but I love it!!

Alrighty, I'm outta here! Much to do, lots to catch up on and blah, blah, blah--LOL!!

Suzanne

Back To School!!

Happy Wednesday Mornin' to ya!! I'm hoping the weather stays nice so we can get over to the pool today for awhile. Not too many more pool days left sadly, so I gotta get there while I can. The kids are each bringing a friend and then my son is having a sleepover at his friends house--hopefully he'll get some sleep (ha ha) so he won't be grumpy the next day--wishful thinking right?

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***BLOG CANDY***If you haven't entered for my blog candy yet, you can do so until Thursday 8/21 11 pm EST here.

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With all this school shopping, I thought it was also time to start a couple of my projects for the actual "first day". I always make my kids a special card to put in their lunchbox the first day, along with a "sweet" treat to wish them well. Today I made the card for my dd and a small gift for my son to give to his new teacher the 1st day.

The card was made using one of my Magnolia stamps "Tilda w/ Pencil" that I recieved from Diana Crick (contact her directly for ordering info at magnolia.us@shaw.ca ). I just got my new DCWV "Grade School" dp from Joann's -- it is so cute and perfect for school projects. I loved this doodly notepaper dp, it doesn't need too many embellishments to make it stand out. Tilda is colored with my Copics and then I used my nestabilities to cut the rectangles out of SU cs. I used the black rectangle like a chalkboard and outlined it with my Inkssentials pen. Tilda's jacket was paper pieced to match the corner brackets and I added yellow glitter dots to them for some sparkle. The little apple is a button I got from Michaels in a pack--I just cut off the back loop and glue dotted it to the card. The sentiment is from Gina K's "kindred greetings for kids" stamp set and I thought it was just perfect for this card. Hope you likee!

The second pictures are of a 3x3 notecard gift set I made for my son's teacher. Laurie Schmidlin did a fabulous tutorial for this box on SCS that you can see here--fun and easy. I will definitely be making more of these. Again the dp is from DCWV "Grade School" pack--lovin' it. I used my JustRite Monogram stamps to make the circles--I used the small letters to spell out "From The Desk Of" on the border and the "S" is from the Curlz font (JustRite is coming out w/ a bunch of new products that are fabulous--check 'em out). I stamped them 1 at a time with the different SU inks. The cute apple on top of the box and on the envies is from SU's "Tart & Tangy" set--I added red stickles to the apple for extra sparkle. All the circles were made w/ my Nestabilities from various SU cs. Really easy to assemble and put together. I made 6 notecards and matching envies for this set (I bought the envelopes from Michaels). I think everyone could use a set of notecards like this--great gift idea for anyone.

That's all for me today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project and card. Until then...

Suzanne

More Fall Fun!

Good Tuesday morning everyone! Hope your week has started off well. The weather has been beautiful here the past week, but we could really use some rain. Everything is so dry here and the leaves are already starting to fall off the trees due to the lack of rain. Fall will be here very soon, me thinks!

***BLOG CANDY ALERT*** If you haven't entered for my blog candy yet, you have until Thursday 8/21 at 11 pm EST to do so. You can enter for it here.

I'm continuing on my "fall" theme today (maybe the whole week, we'll see)--I'm having so much fun using my new fall stamps and paper. The first project is a notecard gift set that I made for a friend/neighbor who always takes care of our 4 kitties while we're away (and I take care of her 2 kitties when they're away too)--works out well. I wanted to make her a little gift to say thanks, and I thought some notecards would be a great gift. These are pretty straight forward, I make them all the time for different seasons & reasons. The stamps are Lockhart "itty bitty's" from Ellen Hutson's store (1 pumpkin stamp and the square border is a separate stamp). I used my Copics to color them in and punched them out with my scalloped square punch. I paper pierced around the rust squares for an added pop. The cream cs is from PTI, the rust cs is from SU, the dp from Fiskars (I think, I cut off the label, oopsie) . Pretty easy to see how to put together, just layering of the elements. I added a strip of dp to the cream envelopes and then put them in a clear box from Clearbags.com (love their boxes). I made a matching tag and added a sentiment from PTI's stamp set "mixed messages"--a great, versatile sentiment set; then I wrapped this bee-u-tiful sheer ribbon (Michaels $1 spot) around and tied a bow, wrapped some rafia around and attached to the tag. A simple, but elegant gift that anyone would love to recieve.

The second project is a card I made with my new stamps from C.C. Designs that you can purchase from All That Scraps. These stamp sets are just absolutely adorable--so cute you want to reach out and squeeze 'em!! This set is called " Bear Hugs" and I used the sitting bear and side bee from it. Are they not the cutest evah'?? They're colored w/ Copics and highlighted with my Inkssentials pen; I also added some diamond stickles to the bee's wings for lotsa sparkle. The light gold cs and ribbon are from PTI (lemon tart), the dp is K&Co. "johnny yanok--fall harvest" pad. I cut out the bear and bee and popped them up on the ovals (cut w/ my nesties) w/ dimensionals. The leaves are a stamp from Inkadinkado that I stamped in various colors around the border. The grass is another stamp from C.C. Designs called "SugarPlums Scenery"--lots of fun, useful images in that set too. And finally the sentiment is from Inkadinkado's "Autumn Foliage" set. The leaves were punches and I just bunched a few together and popped on dimensionals for the corners. So cute, lovin' it.

Hope ya like 'em all! From reading everyone's comments on my blog candy post, it seems everyone wants some tutorials on using Copics and/or watercoloring. I am planning on doing at least 2 tutorials, step by step on coloring images with Copics for ya--I'll do watercoloring later! Maybe towards the end of the week--we'll see how my week works out. I have lots more school clothes/shoes shopping to do for my kids (ugh...not fun at all...my kids are super-picky).

Until tomorrow...

Suzanne

Autumn Greetings!

Happy Monday Morning everyone! I don't know about any of you, but I feel like summer just flew by! Oh where does the time go? Fall clothes and school supplies are out in the stores even though the weather is still in the high 80's. I really do like fall, I love the crisp cool air and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Summer is my most favorite though as I'm not a lover of winter and unfortunately with fall comes the winter. And as much as I love my kiddos I'm very ready for them to go back to school, so I can have the days to myself again to get more things done. No more bickering or "I'm bored" comments--at least until they come home, lol!

Since I've been busy getting school supplies and clothes for my kids this weekend, I thought I'd break out my fall papers and colors. I love this new Tilda image with her bottle of wine and basket--very autumnal looking or as my stampin friend Susan said, she looks a little Tuscan. And of course, Italy is the place I want most to visit in the whole world so how perfect :) She's colored with Copics and I paper pieced her skirt to match the dp from Me&MyBig Ideas. I cut her out and popped her up with dimensionals onto the cream cs. The card bg and base is SU cs that I stamped with Verve Stamps "filigree fantasy" in versamark for some extra contrast. The sentiment is from SU's "Lovely Labels" set. Pretty basic layout, just lotsa layers.

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Ok, onto the big news!! I'm over 10,000 blog hits so that means BLOG CANDY!!!! To enter you only have to answer this question:

"What stamping/craft technique would you most love to learn about?"

Not a trick question--just curious--ya know how I like to ask my questions and read everyone's answers and maybe learn something new. So just leave a comment on this post by Thursday 8/21 by 11:00 pm (EST) with your answer!

Wanna know what you can win? Here's the list (picture above):

-a Brand Spankin' New, Whiff of Joy stamp called "Charlie and dog (I stamped it out on cs with my own stamp so you could see it in its full glory) very generously donated by Katharina Frei

-Me&MyBig Ideas paper pad (Cornucopia which I used on the card above, of course this paper pad is brand new, I used my own--don't worry)

-1 spool of Halloween ribbon and 1 pack of small fall ribbons by KI Memories

-1 pack of fall Primas

-1 Halloween(cobweb & spider) acrylic stamp

-1 Memento inkpad in Tuxedo Black

-15 stamped images (your choice of a combo of Magnolia, Whiff of Joy or Sugar Nellie images)

Sound Good--then enter!!! Thanks to all you wonderful blogging/stamping friends out there for always being super supportive, kind and wonderful to me--I appreciate and love you all!!!!

Suzanne

***If you are interested in buying the Magnolia stamps, please contact Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca for ordering information****

Blog Awards!

I wanted to make sure I posted these awards that I got from my blogging friends, before I forget again. The first award came from Irina whose creations are always inspiring, and leaves me the nicest comments, thank you. The second award came from my friend Jackie and Sara (Sairabee) both are always so supportive and wonderful. Make sure you check out their blogs when you get a chance. The rules are below:

Here are the rules of the Award:
1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award. Quite simple really it is a way of saying thank you to those who take time out for wonderful comments to boost your day.

Ok, I'm nominating these wonderful bloggers/stampers for both awards (I like to combine):
Lauren Meader--the first blog I ever read and always inspiring and creative
Rach of PaperCrafts--lovely work and just the most beautiful coloring
Jen del Muro--super nice and has the best projects and layouts
Carolyn/Cammie King--beautiful work on her blog for sure
Jody Morrow-- always a hoot at the release parties and super creative

There are of course 100's more who are just as deserving, but I don't have all the time in the world--lol! Thanks to everyone who come to read my blog--I love ya all!!

Suzanne

Sleigh Ride!!

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm back in the saddle, as they say--it was great to go away and great to be home again. My dh and I had a wonderful time in Philadelphia and the weather couldn't have been any better, low 80's w/ no humidity and sunny, blue skies--the best!! We saw just about every historical site the city had to offer and walked for miles and miles (my feet will tell u the story)! The 2 pictures above are of the Liberty Bell and Betsey Ross' house (she sewed the 1st American flag ya know). We were able to relax and just enjoy each other w/o any outside distractions--a must every now and again. We always made sure to be back in our suite in time to watch the Olympics every night though--we're obsessed! Loved watching the amazing Michael Phelps swim and the US gymnastics team--we were cheering so loud, I thought the people across the hall were going to complain--LOL! Gotta love the Olympics!!

My card today uses another stamp from the Whiff of Joy line by Katharina Frei. I will tell you that these stamps are great to work with--nice, deeply etched rubber and stamp out fantastic, and fun to color (which is always my fave)! This stamp is called "Charlotte in Sled" and if you check it out on the website, you'll notice that the stamp has only one reindeer attached. Welllll, you know how I love to change everything up--so I stamped an extra reindeer, cut it out and popped it up with dimensionals to look like she has a small team of reindeer--just different & fun! This xmas dp is from Imagnisce's "Snowy Jo" line and the cs is SU's new "riding hood red" cs. All of the images are colored with Copics, stickles added to the jinglebells and snow/snowflakes. The snowflakes and sentiment are from Sweet 'n Sassy's "Snow Friends" stamp set. I added diamond glaze to the sled and some highlights w/ my Inkssentials pen. Hope ya like it and maybe get ya thinking about your Christmas cards (yeah right u say)!!

If I get all my chickies in order, I will be posting my BLOG CANDY on Monday for going over 10,000 blog hits thanks to all of you great blog readers/stampin friends out there!! I've got some great goodies to give away, so be on the lookout for that!

Until then...

Suzanne

A Whiff of Christmas!

Good Sunday morning to you all! As you are reading this, I am on my way to Philadelphia w/ my hubby (no kids, no dogs, & no cats--yeehaw)!! We are really enjoying our downtime and I'm sooo looking forward to walking around the city and eating some great food. We love to eat good food and we love all kinds of food, so its always fun to find great, new restaurants in different places. Last night we went to a fondue restaurant and it was really fun, but I ate wayyy too much...will definitely have to walk all these calories off while we're away :) I will probably only have 1 more post for ya while I'm away, but I'll be back next Sunday with some new stuff and some pics for ya.

I got my new stamps from Katharina today for A Whiff of Joy (a great perk of getting to be a Guest Designer for her)--I just had to ink them up and share one project with you before my vacay. They are sooooo cute--I love them all---go check them out when you get a chance!!! I also love that she included some cute boy images in her stamps (his name is Charlie and hers is Charlotte). This particular image I used is called "Winter Charlotte w/ Cat"--ya know I'm always partial to stamp images w/ animal friends on them!! I used traditional holiday colors for this card--you can never go wrong with green & red, ya know!! I love this new dp from Imagnisce's "Snowy Jo" line, the colors are softer and the patterns are really nice.

This card is 5.5x5.x5" and I used SU always artichoke cs for the card base. I wanted to give Charlotte a scene to stand in front of, but I didn't want it to overpower her--so I stamped a Christmas tree from the SU set "Tis the Season" onto PTI's spring moss cs, then added liquid applique (heated to puff up) to the tree and ground. I also drew small snowflakes with an SU marker and then added diamond stickles to the snowflakes and on top of the liquid applique. Charlotte was colored with Copics and then diamond stickles were added to her hat trim and muff (I love my sparkles)! I cut her out and added to layers of dimensionals (one on top of the other) to really pop her up from the "scene".

The skinny piece of red cs was embossed with one of my CB embossing folders and then I wrapped some sheer white ribbon around it and tied off. The sentiment is from SU's set "Circle of Friendship" and layered onto cs that was punched out with my circle punches and scalloped nestabilities. I placed the sentiment on top of a red Prima flower and then layered with the scalloped circles and placed on top of the bow's knot. For a final touch I added 3 red dew drops to the top of the card--ta da!!!

I hope you like it and hope it gets ya in the Xmas spirit (at least for a few minutes, right)! Make sure and check out Katharina's stamps when ya get a chance. I will share more projects with these stamps when I return. Have a great week and see ya soon!!

Suzanne

Welcome New Baby!

Happy Friday everyone! As you are reading this I am probably trying to herd my children and dogs outta the house to go to Grandma's. It's a 2 hr drive so I like to get there before Friday rush hour traffic starts (and if you know anything about Washington, DC traffic, ya know what I mean)!

I made this cute little baby card yesterday after I had recieved in the mail a new Precious Moments stamp I won off of Ebay. I thought it would be so cute on a baby card or gift with these sweet lil' boy and girl angels. I watercolored the image with my SU inkpads and aqua painter then added shimmer with my Yasutomo watercolors and some diamond stickles. The card base was made on SU's soft sky cs and I just used my scallop circle nestabilities to make the hinged card. The dp is from Basic Grey's "Lily Kate" paper pad. The sentiment is from PTI's "limitless labels" stamp set and it was stamped in soft sky ink and then cut out w/ the nesties. I added this wire satin ribbon (that's why it stands up so nicely) and added the sentiment to its center so it could be wrapped around a gift or giftbag. Just a quick and easy baby card--didn't take long to make at all. Hope you likee!

Ok, I will try to have a couple of posts set up while I'm gone so you don't miss me too much--LOL!! I will also try and post some pics of our trip---cuz' ya know my laptop and camera go everywhere w/ me! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Suzanne

Jumpin' for Joy!

Happy Thursday afternoon everyone! I hope your week has been swell so far. I am really looking forward to some time away--the kids go to my mom's tomorrow for a week and my dh and I are headed to Phillie on Sunday for 5 days. Since it was kind of a last minute trip we didn't want to go far and we're bigtime history buffs so we're looking forward to all the historical sites Phillie has. We're staying at the Ritz Carlton and I have big plans to spend a few hours at their spa for my treat--can't wait!!! After the past 6 months we've had with my "cancer" scare, relatives sick, pets dying and then my hubby's scare the other night--this will be well worth the money spent for some relaxing and enjoying each other.

I'm on a Magnolia "kick" right now and I'm inking up some of my Magnolia stamps that have been lonely! This little "tomboy" Tilda reminds me of myself when I was little. I was such a tomboy and always wanted to be like my big brother (who is 9 yrs older)--the dirtier I was the better :) (If you want to order some Magnolia's, please contact Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca )

This fun and cheery dp is by Cloud9 Design (Sunrise Buds) and I paired it with some Bazzill cs I had. I always like to pick out my dp first and then match my Copics up with it to color the images. I stamped both Tilda and the fence, colored them w/ Copics and then cut them both out. Now on the Tilda stamp she is holding a jumprope, but I cut it off and attached embroidery floss for a more "real" looking jump rope effect. I used my Nestabilities to cut out the scalloped squares, and embossed the rust cs with my CB swiss dots folder for some texture. All of the images were attached w/ dimensionals for a nice 3-D effect (ya know my usual stuff). The sentiment is from SU's "Sweet Serendipity" set and I thought it was perfect. I punched out 2 butterflies w/ my PaperShapers punch and layered them together and then spiffed it up with some dots and stickles on the wings--then it was attached to the sentiment. The ribbon is from PTI (lemon tart) and the brads are Basic Grey. I added a few more stickles to her wings and some highlights with my Inkssentials pen. Just a fun, cheery summer card---Just what I needed!!!

Thanks to everyone who asked about my hubby--he's doing well and hopefully this will be a warning to him to slow down a little (better said right). We'll be enjoying some downtime that's for sure.

BTW, can you believe I'm almost at 10,000 blog hits already!! Seems like I just hit 5,000 and gave away blog candy. So when I get back from my mini vacay it will definitely be BLOG CANDY time--so stay tuned!!

And if you haven't checked out Diana Crick's new Scor-Mat for your Scor-Pal, ya really should. I have it and it's fantastic--allows you to work right on top of your scor-pal--lovin' it!!! And if you don't already have a Scor-Pal (gasp), whatcha' waiting for!!!! Also check out all the new stamps MFT released last nite, wickedly cute and into my cart they all went (sigh...when will I ever have enough...sadly, never--lol)!!

I'm taking the kiddos to my Mom's tomorrow so I don't know if I'll post or not. I'm trying to have some posts done for while I'm away, so we'll see...

Suzanne

By The Seashore...

Good Wednesday Evening everyone! I am doing a double post because I'm so excited to have finished this card that I couldn't wait to share it. My card that I posted earlier was not up to my own usual standards--not that I think its bad, just average for me.

My mojo was not flowing this morning because I did not get any sleep last night. After having dinner with my girlfriends last night, I returned home around 11 pm to find my husband having chest pains. So off he went to the emergency room, white as a ghost and in pain--I couldn't go because we couldn't leave the kids alone. So I sat up until 4 am when he came home--apparently he is just under too much work stress and that's what they think it was--whoosh, I finally exhaled. Unfortunately, my hubby's family has major heart health issues that run in the fam and his Dad died 2 years ago of congestive heart failure--so we were scared! Thankfully all his tests came back fine, so he just needs to de-stress a little. We're going away for the week w/o the kids so we'll have some relaxing time to de-stress ourselves. So...anyways I'm sure you've heard enough of all of that, but I just wanted to explain my "stressed-out" mojo issues!

This card was an idea I've had for about a week and I finally found all my supplies to complete it. I keep a notepad in my room of layout ideas and card ideas--let me tell ya', that notepad is packed. My brain works overtime, but my body does not--lol! I love this dainty Tilda in her sundress wading in the ocean--just so summery and melancholy to me. I do love the ocean and the beach! I wanted to keep the colors soft, so I watercolored her and the sandcastle with my SU inkpads and Twinkling H2O's (and some soft sponging on the sky). The soft and lovely dp is from Crate Paper's "Blue Hill" line--love it, been hoarding it!!

My card base is made w/ PTI's kraft cs and then I cut out ovals from my 2 dp's to create a double frame for her. This was double--mounted (2 stacks of dimensionals on top of each other) to my card base, so it could act as a frame with my image underneath. I then used one of my Fiskars border punches to cut a strip of dp and mount that on top of the frame to create a topper for the card. The fisherman netting I found at AC Moore along with all of the shells. I just wrapped the netting around the frame and attached w/ glue dots--the shells were attached w/ glue dots too. The sandcastle image is from Gina K's "Just Be-Claws" set--I added some stickles and popped it up w/ dimensionals. The sentiment "cherish" is from SU's "Warm Words" set and I stamped it on vellum with SU's sage shadow ink. I backed it w/ white cs so that the words stood out and bent the vellum slightly so that it kinda bubbles out a little.

For final touches I added stickles around the oval frame, bottom of her dress and the bottom of the sentiment. I also added one more pearlized shell to the very top of the oval frame. I am so pleased that it actually turned out like I had envisioned in my head. You know how sometimes you have the greatest idea, but the interpretation does not always turned out the way you planned. Hate that :) I hope you like it as much as I do!

PS--This card is 5x6" and if you were to mail something like this, I would mail it in those clear boxes you can buy from ClearBags (love them) so it wouldn't get smooshed or damaged.

Have a great evening! I'm off to the MFT release party from 9-11 EST pm to buy more goodies!!

Suzanne

Edit--Thanks to all who asked about my hubby--he is good and has an appt w/ a good cardiologist after we get back just for another checkup. thanx

Beary Happy!

Good Wednesday Mornin' to ya! It's a bright, sunny day here in VA and we are off to the pool today. We didn't get to go yesterday because it was so overcast and drizzly, but I'm getting my "sun" on today! Not too many more days left to spend at the pool with the kids getting ready to go back to school after Memorial Day, so I gotta get it in now! Hope it's sunny where you are today.

Just a quick card today that I made for a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in awhile. I know she's been going thru some tough times, so I thought this card would cheer her up a bit! This is a "Gruffie" stamp from House of Mouse called "Digging Up Dirt" (sentiment is from them too) which you can see here. I think these bears are so cute and fun and the sentiment is perfect! I colored my image with Copics, and the background is watercolored w/ SU inkers. The cheerful dp is from DCWV's "Blossoms & Butterflies" paper pack paired up with some Coredinations cs. I added some stickles to the plant, dirt and sentiment flowers for lots of sparkle and the shovel has diamond glaze on it. In the corners are some of those yummy, sparkly Glitter Dots that I got from Gina K--love them! The flowers are Prima w/ a Doodlebug brad in the center and the ribbon is from Michaels. Like I said, just a quick & easy card today. I have a more time consuming project to show ya tomorrow that I know you'll love.

Don't forget that MFT (My Favorite Things) is having their release party tonight at 8 pm EST on SCS--always a fun time and there will be 5 new "fall" stamp sets released tonite. I've seen all the sneak peeks and they are "wicked" fun!! Make sure and check them out.

Also, Pink Cat Studio released 2 new stamp sets today (mine have already been ordered-lol). Melissa really outdid herself w/ these stamp sets and packed tons of stamps into each set. You really should check them out!

Ok, enough chit-chat and enabling for ya--we're off to the pool for the afternoon. Hope ya have a great day! Until tomorrow...

Suzanne

Boo-Boo Edwin!

Good Tuesday Morning! I'm posting early today, because I'm planning on spending a good portion of our day at the pool with the kids. I need to work on my tan (he he) some more and actually finish the book I started 3 weeks ago!! I'd like to say I actually finished a book this summer-lol! Usually I read alot, but I've been spending tons of time in my craft room so I don't read as much as I used to. The great thing about having kids that are 10 & 12 is that they don't need me in the pool hovering over them, so I'm free to read and chat with friends. Love that! We're also going out for girl's nite again tomorrow nite, so I'm looking forward to some more laughs and just chilling out! Don't we all need that every now & then?


Ok, I made my first Edwin card yesterday--yeah!!! I have quite a few Edwin stamps but had yet to ink any up for a card (gasp)...I love these Magnolia stamps so much. They are so fun to color and cut out or paper piece. Remember if you're looking to order some of these adorable stamps for yourself, you can contact Diana Crick at magnolia.us@shaw.ca and place an order. You can also join the Yahoo Magnolia-licious group (located on my sidebar)--it's a great group for ideas, inspiration and support! She's also taking pre-orders for the new fall Magnolia stamps--omg, I think I pre-ordered them all...LOL...you might be laughin', but my checkbook sure isn't!!! :)


I call this image Boo-Boo Edwin--he's so cute with his lil' band-aids--reminds me of my son so I'm calling this card "Ode to Riley" (my ds)!! He's always getting into scrapes and banged up; we should buy stock in bandages I think-lol! This sketch is from the Tilda & Co. challenge blog for this week. Pretty simple sketch that you can interpret in many ways--very versatile. I stamped both Edwin and the stone wall and then colored them with Copics and cut out (these are 2 separate stamps). The dp is from Basic Grey's "Cupcake" 6x6 paper pad. I paired it w/ some SU cs and just layered away. I stamped the 3 clouds (also from Magnolia) and popped them up with dimensionals--I also added stickles to the edges. The little caterpillar is from PTI's "pond life" stamp set--I stamped it and then added shadow to it with my Copics and then cut it out. I glued this lil' guy to the wall and added stickles to him for sparkle (gotta love those stickles). I had to add a buggy creature because my son is obsessed with all those creepy crawly things--yuck!! The stone wall and Edwin are popped up with dimensionals for a 3-D look--I hate flat images on my cards, dimension is so much fun.

The sentiment is from Verve Stamps "Feeling Groovy" which has song lyrics for sentiments--so fun!! I stamped it onto the yellow cs w/ SU's bashful blue ink. For a final touch I added Basic Grey brads to the corners--I didn't want this card fussy since it features a boy. My son gave it his stamp of approval--which is saying something-lol!!


Hope ya like it! Enjoy your day & I'll see ya tomorrow--
Suzanne

PS--I will start adding what size my cards are to the end of each post from now on. A few people have asked for a Copic list too--I will try and do that on some of my posts--I always use so many, that it's sometime a pain to list, but I'll try!! This card is 5.5 x 5.5 btw!!

Red Alert!

Good Monday afternoon fellow scrappers! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was really good--not much going on but some chilling. We didn't get to the zoo yesterday because my dd was invited to a sleepover so we'll go another day. I did get to go shopping and get some new things!! I got a brand new leather chair for my craft room that is extra cushy & comfy--so much better than my old one (now my hiney won't all asleep as much-lol)!! I also got 2 roll-ee carts w/ bins for my craft room too--I now have all my acrylic stamps in drawers separated by company and labeled. Oh how I love good organization. I also treated myself to the rest of the Copic markers I was missing so now I have them all except a few of the grays--yippee!!! I love shopping (for me stamping)!! :)

Onto my card today--I realized that my last few cards have all been in the blue family so I didn't want to be redundant. So I whipped out my favorite color--RED!! When all else fails, just use red to liven things up--ha ha!! This is one of my new Sugar Nellie stamps called "Letter Box" from FunkyKits by Elisabeth Bell--I just love her images. If you get a chance check out her blog and store--beautiful things to be found there. She's also designing stamps for Whiff of Joy that should be coming out within the next month or so. You can visit her blog or Katharina's for previews of these luscious stamps!

This sketch was created by Katharina Frei (Whiff of Joy) for the Papertake Weekly Challenge. I used my new Cosmo Cricket "Honey Pie" dp for this card paired with PTI's vanilla and kraft cs. The image was watercolored with my SU inkpads and the background/sky was done with my Yasutomo shimmery watercolors. I double stamped the mailbox and envelope so that I could pop them up w/ dimensionals to give the image a 3-D appearance. I added a few stickles to some of the flowers and diamond glaze to the mailbox, some leaves and the butterfly. I distressed the edges with Memento ink in desert sand. The sentiment is from SU's "circle of friendship" set and just layered with cs circles cut out w/ my nestabilities. I paper pierced the corners of the card and around the sentiment to match the "cross-stitch" look of the dp. I also added a few highlights w/ my Inkssentials pen. The scalloped border was done w/ my Fiskars "threading water" border punch.

That's it! Hope your week is starting off well and I'll see ya back here tomorrow!!

Suzanne

Stylicious!

Happy Saturday afternoon everyone! I hope you're enjoying your weekend so far. Can you believe its August already--oh, how the summer does fly by!! I am in a much better mood today after spending 5 hours fixing up my blog last night. What a stressful, mess that was--and it's all SiteMeter's fault (lol)!! But I'm not one to dwell on bad stuff, so I'm moving on....for now...no, really I will!!

I needed to make a quick card today to get my mojo back up to speed after last nite's fiasco (see I'm not dwellin') and this sketch challenge by Our Creative Corner fit the bill! Really a cool sketch, get over there and try it out for yourself--very versatile! I'm just lovin' on navy and white right now--my closet is filled with these colors this summer and I just think its so elegant and striking. Never can go wrong with this color combo, me thinks!

This card took me under 30 mins, so it's definitely not difficult to put together. I love, love this "Retro Boutique" set from Gina K. I'm not really a dress person, but I love to see them and I love how everyone in the 40's & 50's looked with these full skirts and beautifully patterned sundresses. I've tried them on but I think they make me look hippy :( oh well, maybe when I lose 15 lbs (he he he), so instead I'll just stamp with them!! I triple stamped this dress; first on white cs, then SU's night of navy cs and finally the dp by Sassafrass Lass (Serendipity-blue boutique). I cut the top of the dress from the navy and the skirt from the dp and glued them onto the white stamped image (Ya know how I love my paper piecing). I used my Copic Marker (B39 which matches SU's night of navy perfectly) to color the small band at the bottom of the dress. For a final touch I added a small pearl (love them) to the waistband. The navy polka dots on white was done with PTI's "polka dot basics" set and SU ink--I resisted using my CB swiss dots folder cuz' you're probably sick of seeing it (but I love it so much). I used my nesties for the circless and just popped everything up w/ my dimensionals. The sentiment was cut out with my nestie tag trio and wrapped with white satin ribbon from Offray. That's it--it's done! I'm lovin' it!

Hopefully no more computer issues for me this weekend! We might try and go to the Baltimore Zoo tomorrow with the kiddos since the weather is supposed to be nice. And thanks for all the sweet and wonderful comments you sent me about my new Guest DT position with Whiff of Joy--I so appreciate your support!! Can't wait to get those stamps and share with you!!

See ya around tomorrow and Enjoy your weekend!

Suzanne

Happy News!!

Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't get this posted last night, but Katharina hadn't put it up on her blog yet and I didn't want anything said before she did! Although some of you have already found out and given me some sweet "Congrats".



Ok, Katharina Frei who has started who own company "Whiff of Joy" with the most cutie-patootie-licious stamps has asked me to be her Guest Designer for 2 months--YIPEE!!!!! Remember this card, well that's the one I entered into her contest for the Guest Designer position. I'm really excited and can't wait to show some creations with these stamps--so fun!! And I'm so pleased there's some cute boy stamps--my son will be happy about that! I'm still dancing around my floor with excitement--can't wait :)



So be on the lookout, there's gonna be some Winter/Xmas cards coming soon! And while you're at it, go check out her new stamps--I know you're gonna want them!!



Ok, I will be back later to post some "eye candy" for you. I'm getting ready to leave for lunch soon , but promise to be back!!



Suzanne