Spring Flowers bring....!!

Happy Thursday already! Seems like this week has sped by pretty fast which is always a good thing---the faster the weekend comes the better, right? Wish spring would speed up too! I've had a superbly busy week (what else is new right) but I've had just an absolute blast making projects this week, just a really fun time! Nothing makes me happier than spending a few productive hours in my craftroom and I feel so blessed to be able to do this as a hobby, a business and a way to share my crafts with all of you. So thank you for that!! Anywhoo, onto my spring projects cuz' you know Easter is soon to be here :o)

All of the Elisabeth Bell images in this new Spring Collection for Whiff of Joy are super gorgeous but this is probably my most favorite of them all. Such a peacefully, sweet and innocent image! I paired her up with one of my new Alota stamps that I bought a bit ago---this is a flower oval that fits in my oval nestabilities, and there are quite a few different ones on the sheet---love them & you can see them here & there are circle ones too (just in case you'd like to buy them, hee hee).

I used this lovely, soft dp from Basic Grey's "Lily Kate" --so pretty & springlike. Of course I colored w/ Copics and I also used my Inkssentials blending tool on the edges of the image to rub in some soft blue. The sentiment is from the NEW PTI set (got all my new PTI goodies yesterday, wahoooo) "Tags for Spring". And those are Bella Baubles in Merlot too.

I had to add some sparkle of course, so there are some Diamond Stickles on the flowers too! (Click to make larger)

My second card uses another stamp from the Whiff of Joy Spring Collection too! Such a lil' cutie! I paper pieced her shirt (hadn't done that in awhile it seems) to match the fun dp's from Paper Trey Ink. This layout is from this week's Mojo Monday sketch #74. The sentiment is also from PTI and its their "Around & About Sentiment" set--so many cool sentiments in this set---I also stamped a small flower image included in the set in the center and added an Oyster Bella Bauble to match the ones at the top.

I also used some Flower Soft on her basket of flowers---adds such a fun & beautiful element to your cards & is so easy to use. If you haven't seen my tutorial that I did on using Flower Soft you can find it HERE. (it's also on my sidebar under tutorials) And to make her headband & bow glossy I used my favorite Diamond Glaze!

Hope you liked everything today & if you didn't order the kit the Spring stamps are now available for individual sale on the Whiff of Joy site. If you're interested in becoming a Guest Designer for Whiff of Joy all the details for that are here---deadline is March 4th!!

**Tutorial Alert** My DT sistah Danni has a tutorial up on Susana's store blog today that is all about "Spotlighting"--make sure and stop the blog HERE to check it out!!

hugz,

Suzanne

A La` Creme`!!

Bonjour friends!! Oui, I'm speaking some French for you today, hee hee! I took 4 years of French in high school & can read French fluently, but I don't speak it so well anymore sadly! I know you probably think I've lost my mind (oui, oui) but I had alot of French songs and sayings flying through my head when I was using my yummy new DCWV stack "La Creme"!! And I lovee black and cream together---very french & oh so elegant! So onto my projects for today all with this ooh la la French theme using H&M Stamps and for SUINK's challenge :o)!!

I wanted to make another set of 4x4 notecards because I've had soooo much fun making them last week! This time I made this set for someone special's birthday (can't say, shhhh secret) and made a matching box to put them all in. For this entire set I used H&M Stamp's "Coffee's Brewin'" stamp set, DCWV "La Creme" dp and PTI's vintage cream & black cardstock! And yes the gift recipient is a bigtime Coffee Lover, lol (unlike me, who prefers Cherry Coke) so this stamp set is perfect for you or those friends that are coffee addicts!

This box was made with my Cricut & the "Boxes, Bags & Tags" cartridge. I just gussied it up with some dp and this great sentiment and coffee cup image.

I tell ya, these 4x4 are almost too fun to make, hee hee! I stamped the couch image directly on the dp and the coffee/cup image was stamped onto the black cs using PTI's "vintage cream" palette ink (works beautifully on dark cs). The espresso machine has a nice thick coat of Diamond Glaze on it for shine & dimension!

I stamped out the coffee bag and then the beans again with the PTI palette ink. Both of the coffee cups have Diamond Glaze on top & they're popped with dimensionals! This entire set only took me 1 hour to complete and I had soooo much fun doing it! Hope the gift recipient loves it as much as I do!!

Today is also Whatchadoin' Wednesday Challenge #28 over at the Storage Units, Ink & More blog today! Today's challenge was to make a favor or treat for a wedding/shower or St. Patrick's Day. I used stamps from the "Goin' to the Chapel" set for my Wedding Favors. These could easily be used as favors at a wedding shower or at the wedding reception. I used my Nestabilities Labels 1 to create this fun favor box/bag and matching card! I stamped my images onto my cream cs with black ink and then accented the images with my gold Spica pens for sparkle.

This was made very simply by cutting out 2 labels 1 from my black cs and creating a small base inside of the two and attaching with Scor-tape. I didn't have any pretty wedding candies (LOL) but you get the idea of what you could put inside! I used my slot punch and threaded my cream ribbons and tied off---I added a small gold bow to the front too!

This up close view shows the shimmer from the gold Spica pen and that yummy dp from DCWV is flocked---beautiful!! I intentionally kept these projects fairly simple as far as assembly goes in case they would need to be mass produced. But when you use gorgeous products it looks like you've spent a ton of money$$ and time on them :o) Make sure and visit the SUINK blog to see the rest of the DT's lovely projects today!

Hope you liked my "la creme" projects today! I'll have a few Whiff of Joy projects for you tomorrow using more gorgeous images from the new Spring Collection kit.

hugz,

Suzanne

Spring Fling!!

Happy Tuesday friends!! Oh, how I wish I could say "Happy Spring" to ya too, lol! Looks like we've got a few more weeks of winter unfortunately & its supposed to be yucky and snowy here tomorrow! Dumb groundhog and his horrible predictions (giggle)!! To cheer ya up (if you're in a winter hating mood like myself) I've got a couple of spring projects for you today!

I also wanted to let you in on some news of mine too---I have been guest designing for Heather Rolin of H&M Stamps for a couple of months & I'm honored & thrilled to say that she has asked me to remain on the DT for the next 6 mos---Wahooooo! So thank you Heather for asking me and if you haven't checked out her stamps--whatcha' waitin' for!! LOL! She has a few new sets coming out next month so stay tuned for those too. I'll have some projects tomorrow using some of her fun sets that are in the store right now!!

My first project today is for "Try It Out Tuesday" challenge #6 over on Susana's Custom Art & Card Design store blog "Follow Your Heart"! This week's challenge was to use any of the new "Anki's Sweetheart" stamps to make anything BUT a card! And lucky me that yesterday's Technique Challenge #208 on SCS was a round-top box template---yay! Such a fun and easy project to do---just print out the template right onto your cs and cut out, a bit of scor-tape and its assembled! The dp is from DCWV new "Whimsey" stack (fabby spring papers) and all the cs is from PTI.

I chose the "Catherine with Butterfly" stamp for my project because she just looks so carefree & spring-like to me! The sentiment is from Verve Stamps "Fairy Tales" and then I stamped over it with their flower stamp from "Beautiful You". The circles including the background one were all made with my circle nestabilities and my hole punch. I punched 2 butterflies out of vellum with my MS butterfly punch and attached them---so pretty and delicate looking! I think this would make a wonderful Easter or spring treat box---mine is filled with those yummy strawberry Whoppers (oh so good) and tied off with ribbon from PTI!!

Make sure and head over to the store blog HERE, to see what the rest of the DT has come up with for their projects! And we'd love to have you join in too! Also visit the store's PaperCraft Planet site to join in on our sketch challenge contest we have running--all details can be seen HERE!

My second project uses stamps from Whiff of Joy's new Spring stamp kit which has been shipped out to everyone (so if you ordered it, it will be their very soon)! All of these stamps will be available for individual purchase at the end of this week at the Whiff of Joy site in case you're dying for some of these adorable Elisabeth Bell cuties! (I have not recieved my Medieval stamps yet, but hopefully this week & then I'll have some projects up w/ them too)



I used 3 of the new stamps (girl, tree stump and butterfly) on this card---the sentiment is from the "Party Animal" sentiment set. Isn't she just so adorable dressed up in her spring best--I love that their are a couple of images in this set that you can "sit" on things including this stump. All the papers are from Basic Grey's "Lily Kate" paired up with PTI's spring rain cs! I sponged my sky/cloud bg and popped the girl and butterfly up w/ dimensionals. The corner brackets are a Spellbinders die and the pearls are by KaiserKraft.


Check out the rest of the WOJ DT's blogs (on my sidebar) today for more peeks at the Spring Stamp Kit--they've got some beautiful projects up!



See ya tomorrow & hugz,
Suzanne

Sweet Peas!!

Happy President's Day (for those of ya here in the states)! Hope you're enjoying a day off! Kids and hubby are off today and we're going shopping for me (hee hee)---for a new chair for my family room and a new scanner! We didn't do much for Valentine's Day since the kids had sleepovers but hubby did buy me the ENTIRE new release of Paper Trey Ink goodies---wahooo! No candy or chocolate for me---just stamping goodies & I'm in HEAVEN!! Have you seen those beautiful buttons that match all their wonderous colors (225 buttons for only $5)!!? Ahh, anyway....onto my projects for the day---

PICTURES REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION--sorry!!

I lovee Karen Lockhart stamps---they're fun, elegant and so versatile for any project you might need. I've used the "Sweet Pea" stamp for all my projects today! (Remember if you buy 4 regular Lockharts from Susana's store, you get to pick out a Lockhart Itty Bitty stamp for free!)

I made a set of 4 of these notecards and a matching notepad as a gift set! Most boutiques sell these sets for $20+ and it probably only cost me a few bucks in supplies to make--who wouldn't love a gift like this!! And easy peasy to put together too :o)

I think navy and cream/white are so, so elegant together and such a great pop of color! The dp & cs is from Stampin' Up. I colored with Copics and then added a layer of Shimmerz in "Ultramarine" to the flowers for a soft shimmer. Also added a thick coat of diamond glaze to the vase! The layout I used on the card is from my sketch over on the "Fans of Karen Lockhart" site on PaperCraft Planet---its the February sketch of the month and you have until the end of the month to participate if you'd like. At the end of the month someone will win a PRIZE!!

Just a peek of the inside of the notepad. I buy 10 packs of these small white notepads for like $3 at Staples--they're by Mead. I use them for everything and they're so fun to make covers for--easy to do & so pretty too!

For the second card I changed up the colors a bit--so spring like! I loved this ribbon I had so I basically built my card around it :o) Lots of Cuttlebug Embossing on my cs, the photo corners are by Spellbinders that I added some yellow pearls to.

I love Flower Soft--I got to play with it at CHA although I already owned a few pots myself and really learned how to use it more effectively. Flower Soft pairs up wonderfully with all of the Lockhart stamps too. I colored my image with Copics first and then added 2 colors of Flower Soft on top. I also put Diamond Glaze on my vase again--love that look! But the Flower Soft just ROCKS---looks so pretty & realistic!

I did a tutorial for 7 Kids College Fund on using Flower Soft if you'd like to see it right HERE--they have all the kits and single pots in stock. I will also keep a link to the tutorial on my sidebar (its also up at the PaperCraft Planet site too). You can get Flower Soft kits at Pez-a-Doodle too! If you haven't tried it you shoud---the Starter Kit "Pretty Pots" is a great way to get started because it includes a little bit of everything in it including the glue!

Well, I'm off to go shopping and hopefully some playtime in my craftroom too!

hugz,

Suzanne

New Parents!!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! Yay its the weekend---wahoo!! I'm off today at my daughter's District Chorus concert and then meeting up with hubby. Hubby is wrangling my son & his friends at laser tag today and then we're meeting up to have pizza. Two of the boys will be spending the night to round out my son's birthday events!! What a Valentine's Day right? Actually I'm not into Valentine's Day that much---I've been married for almost 14 years now & I've always told my hubby that Valentine's Day should be everyday, lol!! The kids always get "Cupid" gifts but I'm more of a practical girl--no flowers or candy for me! I want stamp supplies, a new scanner and Japanese for dinner, LOL! We'll see if hubby comes thru..... :o)

Okay, sorry about the title of the post---but no, we're not expecting, thank goodness! My years of having babies are over--I like to borrow friend's babies and then give them back, lol!! But I still have lots of friends who are in the "baby years" so I can always use a great baby card. H&M Stamp Co. makes a wonderful stamp set that includes images for new parents, expecting parents and baby showers called "Miracle From Above". I love this image--such a peacful & serene looking new mom!

I used this past week's Mojo Monday sketch #73(I flipped it)--it's such a great sketch and so versatile too! All my papers are from SU (baja breeze) which is such a soft and neutral color for this kind of card. I colored her with Copics and then added Angel Wingz Shimmerz on her shirt for some nice shimmer. The pearls in the corner are from Kaiser and the color "Bliss" matches Baja Breeze perfectly (lovee pearls)!

If you didn't get a chance to check out the new stamp line "Anki's Sweethearts for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design"--make sure and check them out HERE. They are super sweet & super cute!!

Hope you have a super Valentine's Day (if you're celebrating) and a wonderful weekend! See ya back here on Monday!

hugz,

Suzanne

News!News!News!!

TGIFriday everyone--yay!!! I'm ready for the 3 day weekend--kids & hubby have off on Monday for President's Day! Riley had a wonderful birthday and got lots of fun presents including a NEW XBox 360 that he's been begging for (cuz' the Wii we have wasn't enough I guess, lol) and some military games to go with it. Thank you to everyone who wished him a happy birthday---he read them all (was a little embarassed) but I knew he loved it!! He's going lasertagging with friends tomorrow and having a sleepover so the fun continues (and on Valentine's Day no less), LOL!

Okay, onto the news of the day! We've been having sneaky-peeky's of a new illustrator's stamps over at Susana's Custom Art & Card Design store site on PaperCraft Planet all week and today is the day we get to announce who the illustrator is--YAY!

Introducing "Anki's Sweethearts" for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design (exclusively)

Isn't she just a cutie-pie? Our fellow DT sistah, Anki Bargman is the new Illustrator of these wonderful new stamps called "Anki's Sweethearts for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design"! She's a talented lady cuz' these stamps are CUUUUTE! They are available today at Susana's store (at 8 am PST) and you can see the entire collection right HERE! And stop by the DT's blogs today to see their creations too--we all used a different stamp on our projects today (blog links on sidebar)! And stop by Anki's blog and leave her some love--I know she's been anxious about this release!!

I used multiple colors of cs to echo the fun striped Cosmo Cricket dp for a beachy feel on my card. This stamp is called "Felicia" and I love her & her lil' crab friend! She's colored with Copics and I added diamond stickles to her shell headband and sand. There's also some Diamond Glaze on her crab friend so his shell is nice & shiny :o) The sentiment is from a PTI set and that lil starfish charm comes in a package of 6 ocean charms that you can get HERE. I tied it on with some more scrapper's floss & twirled the edges. Just a cute, fun friend's card to send!

Make sure and check out the rest of these wonderful stamps--you will love them all for sure!

hugz,

Suzanne

My Umbrella Friend!!

Happy Thursday everyone! One more day till the weekend--can I hear a Whoo-Hoo!!! Today is a special day in the Dean household cuz' my baby (Riley) turns 11 today! Oh my how the past 11 years have flown by---I had a wonderful pregnancy with Riley and ended up gaining 70 lbs with him (thankfully I lost it all in 3 mos) and he was just the cutest, fattest little guy! His nicknames were "Lil Man" & "Chunky Monkey" (he'll love that I told you that, hee hee) and he has just been the best son we could ever ask for. He's alot like his dad; patient, laid-back and think's he's Mr. Funny-Man!

He's obsessed with history and the military and loves to watch documentary's on TV(which can drive mom crazy, lol)--he can tell you any fact, from any war or anytime in history---he really just AMAZES me everyday! And he'll love this, but I ask him if he'll take care of me when he's rich & famous & he says "Yes, mom! I will buy you a house and buy you lots of shoes & purses!"--ah, my baby knows me well, lol!! I know he's on the road to growing up into an awesome, talented & wonderful young man!

We Love Ya Baby! Happy 11th Birthday to Ya!!

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

I have a tutorial up today on the "Follow Your Heart" Blog about using your punches in different ways! We will be having a bi-monthly segment on "Using What You Have" so we can dig out those tools & old supplies & use them in new & fun ways. Make sure and check it out!!

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

With this warm weather we've been having, I've been in a sunny, cheery mood so I had to use my new DCWV "Citrus" pack! I was naughty & ordered all of the new DCWV stacks that have come out (eek) but I love them sooooo much {If you're naughty too--you can see them HERE, lol}! This pack is just chock'full of fun & bright prints to use! I pulled out this cute Magnolia that I had gotten from the Magnolia Fall Kit---if you love her perhaps Diana will order her if she gets enuff requests :o) but you can find lots of other fun Magnolia's at Magnolia-licious too!


The sketch I used today is from this week's SCS sketch #215 (I flipped it)--great sketch to use with your Magnolia's. The sentiment is from MFT's "Rain or Shine" stamp set--perfect for this image! I added some fun MME buttons and threaded Scrapper's Floss thru and tied a bow--love that Scrapper's Floss!
Close-up shows the Diamond Stickles that I applied on her heart, raindrops & puddle. I also used Diamond Glaze on her boots & Shimmerz on her "leafy" umbrella! Isn't she just a cutie-pop!



If you haven't had a chance to enter the yummy WebCandy we have going on thru tonight at midnite(EST) on Susana's Custom Art & Card Design site on PaperCraft Planet! All the details are right HERE!!

I'm off to finish up birthday preparations and finish some work (hopefully)!



hugz,
Suzanne

Monochromatic Madness!

Hello Stampin' Friends & Happy Wednesday! Middle of the week already---eekkk--and I have so much left to do & not enuff time to do it all (as usual), LOL! I tell ya this weather we're having is CRAZY--58 yesterday and high 60's today--WOWZER! I'm lovin' it---bummer that spring isn't around the corner though!

Some NewsBitz for ya:
* I am skipping my 100,000 Blog Candy and instead gonna have a ginormous, gigantic Bloga-vers-ary Blowout Extravaganza in late March when my lil' bitty blog turns 1!!!! Sound Good?

*In case you haven't heard (where ya been,lol) but Elisabeth Bell announced what 4 stores she will be making illustrations/stamps for yesterday and one of them is Susana's Custom Art & Card Design---WAHOOOOOOO! So Susana will have exclusive stamps that noone else will get--how stinkin' cool is that!!! Elisabeth will also continue her illustration/stamps for Whiff of Joy too so don't worry!! Lots of EBell stamps for everyone!!! Can't wait....

*Speaking of Whiff of Joy---Katharina has sneak peeks of the new Medieval Stamps by Alison Acton on her blog and the opportunity to win them all, so hurry over and enter! The new stamps will be available to buy on Feb.14th--sweet Valentine's present for yourself! Mine will be here sometime this week (yay) and I'll have some projects up for you to see!
************************************************************

(you can click on the pictures to make larger)

Today is Whatchadoin' Wednesday Challenge #27---and its to make monochromatic cards! I love to do this--such a pretty look me thinks! I decided to make some fun 4x4 cards using a bunch of different SUINK stamp sets! I made these with Valentine's Day in mind but actually these 2 cards can be used for lots of occasions! The cs, dp & ribbon is from PTI (makes monochromatic easy when you use products from the same company). The cupcake card uses 2 stamps from the "Sweet Things" set--I put a Bella Bauble (merlot) on top of the cupcake on on the bottom of card---simple embellies! The heart card was fun to make using the "Will You Be My Valentine" set--I took the heart image and stamped around the circle 4 x using the matching PTI inks (plum pudding & lavender moon) and added stickles to them. The "hugs" sentiment I attached with dimensionals after punching out w/ my SU word punch.

Well, I was just gonna make 2 cards but I was having so much fun that I decided to make 2 more--hee hee! This time for St. Patrick's Day obviously, using the new SUINK set "Blarney Stone". All the dp, cs, inks and ribbon are from PTI again (gosh I love their stuff & they're coming out with bags of buttons that match all their colors for $5--sigh, can't wait)! I colored the lil' leprachaun with Copics and then used my gold Spica pen to color the gold accents and ground! The second card uses the same technique as the heart card above--I just stamped 2 of the shamrocks around my circle and then popped the sentiment up on top! Easy, peasy fun cards to make!

Make sure and stop by the SUINK blog to see the rest of the DT's fabby projects too!

hugz,
Suzanne

Smirk-a-licious!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope you're having a swell week so far. Sorry no posting yesterday--hadn't been feeling well and was trying to get a bunch of things done yesterday. My son's birthday is Thursday so I'm trying to plan his "paintball" excursion with friends and finish shopping for his presents. We've had some awesome, awesome weather here in VA since Saturday--its been in the 60's everyday in February, unbelievable!! I've had my windows open and have been enjoying the fresh air (which u know is my favorite thing next to stamping, lol). Unfortunately I know it isn't going to last and is supposed to get cold again later this week, but I'm takin' advantage for sure!!

PICTURES REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION--SORRY!!

Today is "Try It Out Tuesday--Challenge #5" over at Susana's Custom Art & Card Design store blog, Follow Your Heart. This week I challenged the DT to a sketch challenge cuz' I love 'em---nothing like a good sketch to get your mojo flowin'(see sketch above)!! If you want to participate in the challenge all the details are over on the store blog for ya!

I decided to use these new, fun stamps called Smirks that Susana is now carrying. I love, love them so much that I've gotta order more and they're only $3.95 so how can you not collect them all, lol :o) I decided to use the sketch to make a few notecards (2 of each design) as a gift for a friend. All the cs and dp is from Paper Trey Ink (new raspberry fizz/black & white designs).

This first notecard uses the Smirk "Fashion Gal"--isn't she a cutie with her lil doggie! The sentiment is from a Sweet 'n' Sassy set I've had and worked perfectly! I used Diamond Glaze on her purse and shoes and of course some stickles on her bows :o)

The second notecard uses "Party Gal"and she just cracks me up with her drink in each hand--zoom in to see her lil' olive in her martini, lol! I added Diamond Glaze to her glasses and some fun stickles to her purse! The sentiment is from Stamping Bella and the lil rhinestones you can get HERE.

Please head over to the store blog to see the rest of the DT's fabulous projects & join in on the challenge too! Don't forget to stop by Susana's store site on PaperCraft Planet to enter for some yummy new WebCandy and see sneak peeks of a NEW STAMP by a NEW ILLUSTRATOR--you will love 'em!

hugz,

Suzanne

A Girl & Her Dog!

Happy Saturday friends!! Yay its the weekend! I have a busy day today for sure---I'm off to do a friend's daughter's 7th birthday party today. She wanted a Valentine's Day Craft party so we're making VDay cards of course :o) Then tonight we have a dinner at another friend's house with my Lunch Bunch crew & hubby's---fun, fun! So that means on Sunday I will be sleeping in & resting---hee hee! Have any fun plans this weekend?

Just a quick post for you today since I've got ALOT going on today, lol! Love, love this Rubber Romance stamp called "Ally"--you can get her and others right HERE. Little doggie reminds me of my two cairns--so cute. Had to use my 2 favorite colors again---nothing like red & black to make it elegant. I heat curled my sheer ribbon again---gosh, I love that effect! The pearls are from KaiserCraft---one of my favorite embellies!! I layered a ton of black stickles on her top too--nice & sparkly!

Susana's Custom Art & Card Design has lots of new goodies in stock right now, including NEW Smirk stamps & Eat Cake Graphics Stamps (too cute, you must check them out!!).

Susana also has a NEW ILLUSTRATOR with new stamps coming--to kick off the big reveal (on Feb.13th) we are having a huge WebCandy giveaway over on the PaperCraft Planet store site. You can enter to win a $25 gift card to the store AND a hand colored/signed stamp by the new illustrator. You can see all the details and enter right HERE!! Hop on over there and check it out!

Have a great weekend & see ya on Monday!!

hugz,
Suzanne

Birthday Fold-Out!!

Thank GOODNESS its Friday, yes!!!! This has seemed like the longest week evah'!! I'm slowly checking things off my long to-do list that got longer while I was sick, lol---yay me! Now if the weather would get warmer I'd be set! Actually if the US economy could get back on track--we'd all be good, right! I'm hopeful that the times are a changin' for us all---yeah that was totally random but it popped into my head & I had to share :o) LOL

Warning--lots of photos ahead, lol!!!
So I've had this idea floating in my head for a few weeks but between travel, life, sickness, life & blah it was put on the back burner! As soon as I had recieved these cute lil Party Animal images from Whiff of Joy, I knew I wanted to use them together in an accordian fold-out card cuz' they go so well together! If you want to purchase some of these fun images and you're in the US/Canada you can get them HERE!

Not hard to make at all, just time consuming---I used my Nestabilities for all the shapes and stamped out 4 images (cake, mouse, flowers, presents & sentiment). The cs is from PTI & the patterned paper (on backside) is from Memory Box's "Sugar"collection. Basically it all is held together by strips of (PTI) ribbon with a loop at the very top so it can easily be opened or hung up!

These are just close-ups of the cute lil WOJ images---so much fun to color! I also added Shimmerz in pink poinsettia for lots of pretty shimmer.

I left the last block plain so I could fill in a message---the sentiment is WOJ too.

This is the backside of the fold-out card---so it looks pretty from both sides! Just a fun alternative to a regular card--I know I'd like to recieve somethin' like this in the mail :o)

Hope you enjoyed the project today---

Suzanne

Hearts and Candy!!

Hello everyone! Are you dreamin' of the weekend like me? I actually have a busy, busy weekend & I'm thankful that everyone in my house (including me) is on the mend from the nasty flu bug--blech! The only good thing about being sick and running around at CHA so much is that I've lost 8 lbs! Now I just have 12 more lbs to go---I'd like to lose it by May, but we'll see...I need to get my butt moving & exercise (stop procrastinating as I'm famous for), lol!

Anywhoo, are you tired of Valentine's projects yet? Sorry but I've got another for ya today---love making projects at this time of year cuz' I get to use my favorite color, red!!

I had to ink up this cutie-pie Tilda with Hearts that Diana from Magnolia-licious sent me! I know she's holding hearts but I have lots of ideas for this cutie for different occassions (can u say fill her skirt with other things, hmmm...)! So this gift set includes a card and a box of Sweethearts candy that I made a cover for (would also work on a box of Nerds candy too). That dp is so fun and its by Doodlebug Designs---you can't tell but the red hearts on it are velvety, love it!

This card uses this week's SCS sketch #214 which is a fun one to use (already made 2 cards w/ it)! The cute sentiment is from StudioG $1 stamp that I got from Joann's and I added some fun stickles to the sentiment & hearts. Those glitter hearts came in a large bag for like $3 from Michaels in the kids craft section--great find! (Copic colors at bottom of post)

So this is just a simple cover for a box of candy that closes with a ribbon bow--dimensions are 9.25"x 2.75" (scored at 4.25 & 5"). Quick and easy to make for your kids Valentines or just a sweet person :o) I left the heart (made with my heart nestabilities) blank so I can write a message in it! Do you likee? I likee---such a sweet & fun gift!

Thought I'd share a picture of my son at the Superbowl Party at my friend Alex's house. He's been asking for one of these drink helmets for ages, and my hubby finally relented. And yes, that is 2 cans of Coke (takes after his mom, lol) so he was on a sugar-high that nite for sure! Can't believe he'll be 11 years old next week---my baby is gettin' big :o(

See ya tomorrow,

Suzanne

Copics Used: R46, R29, R27, R22, R20, R81, R83, RV13, RV14, RV21, Y21, E99, E11, E00

Wedding Bells are Ringing!!

Happy Wednesday Stampers!! How's the week goin' for ya so far? I can't complain, I'm feeling better, the kids are better and we hardly got any snow---yay!!! Not to mention I'm getting lots of crafting done now that my mojo has returned to me, lol! Well hold on to your horsies cuz' I've got a LONG post for ya today---two sketch challenges!!

Today is Whatchadoin' Wednesday over at Storage Units, Ink & More---this is challenge #26 and it was a sketch challenge (head over to the store blog to see sketch). I rarely make long cards cuz' I find them quite challenging for some reason--definitely outside of my comfort zone, lol! I really loved how this turned out though & it actually wasn't too hard to put together, amazingingly!

The yummy brocade dp is by Basic Grey (Blush) & the fun polka-dots is by MME (Tres Jolie)--love the red tones. I wanted to make a Valentine-like wedding card with the new wedding set "Goin' to the Chapel". So many fun images in this set for weddings and anniversaries. I used the cute wedding cake for my card--I added some fun Diamond Glaze to the flowers, cake topper & cake stand.

To pop out the square from the front of the card I just used my square nestability on one layer. I also tried something new that I've been wanting to try (but scared, hee hee)--I melted the edges of my sheer ribbon so it curls using my heat gun, so fun & I love the way it looks!

This just shows a close up of the cake with Diamond glaze & the pearls I added around my circle. The far right shows how I decorated the inside of the card---I stamped the bride & groom sentiment & then added a box around it by tracing a smaller square nestability with my SU marker. In the bottom right corner I stamped the wedding ring image--so cute! Make sure and hop over to the SUINK blog to see the rest of the DT's gorgeous projects! If you'd like to join in, upload your projects to SCS using keyword "suinkwwc26"!

This is this month's Magnolia-licious DT sketch designed by the fabulous Cheryl Rowley! It was a fun sketch to work with! I used this cutie pie Tilda from this past fall called "Tilda with Sunflower" and she's in stock over at Magnolia-licious if you really love her :o)

While I was at CHA I got some wonderful samples of all the new My Minds Eye (my fave) collections--lucky me! This dp is from their new collection called "Bloom & Grow"--love the vibrant colors & patterns (but all of the new paper is yummy-scrummy I must say)! Of course I colored Tilda to match and used a fun sentiment from Verve Stamps "Feeling Groovy" set (which is on sale right now too).

Close up to show you the Flower Soft (in brown) that I used for the sunflower's center. I love this stuff and will have more samples to show you with all the new colors over the next week or so. My friend Marti has it coming in & you can pre-order from her store right here! I also added some Diamond Glaze to her shoes for shine! Make sure and visit the DT's blogs(Claudia, Cheryl & Suzy) to see their projects & you can email your project to Diana so she can put them in her gallery (ladydian@shaw.ca)

Make sure and check out the "Love Bundle" over on Magnolia-licious too! Diana has put together a wonderful grouping of 9 new Love stamps, ribbon & a surprise gift too for $89.45! A great value and all the stamps are versatile so they can be used for many occasions & projects!

Hope you enjoyed my projects today!

Suzanne

Make it Versatile!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am typing this up the nite before so my kiddo's might be home with me today due to the snow that was predicted----ack! I am SO ready for spring & flowers and warm weather, it's killin' me, lol! I guess it doesn't help that I'm still a bit under the weather, behind on all my chores & projects too :o) I have my son's 11th birthday, my Mom's birthday & Valentine's Day all looming in the next 10 days & have yet to get anything done for them, arghhhhh. Busy, busy....

Today's card was made for this week's Try It Out Tuesday Challenge #4 for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design. This week's challenge is to take a stamp that isn't necessarily made/used for Valentine's Day & use it! I love to challenge myself with the stamps I have on hand and use them in different ways, so this is always fun---makes what you have more versatile of course!

I chose Karen Lockhart's "Flowers in Chintz" stamp to use for my card & paired it up with this beautiful print from Basic Grey's "Bittersweet" dp. The sentiment & the heart image that I stamped over top of it are from SUINK's "Will You Be My Valentine" set. This sketch is this week's Mojo Monday #72--great for this image me thinks! I used a Blue Moon heart charm and white pearls for embellies.

Just a quick close-up that shows the Diamond Glaze I used on top of the vase & Stickles on some of the flower images. So I challenge you to pick out a stamp and make it work for a Valentine's Day card & upload it to SCS using the keyword "TIOT4". Make sure and stop by the store blog, Follow Your Heart to see the rest of the DT's lovely creations!

Until tomorrow....
Suzanne

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Monday everyone! Ugh, I am STILL sickie-poo with the flu bug! I spent most of the weekend laying around being sick, hope it passes soon cuz' I've got lots to do & catch up on :o) Did you stay up late watching the Superbowl? Our friends had a party (I hosted last year) but I didn't get to go since I was sick, but hubby & kids went over for a bit. I was sooo rooting for the Cardinals (I love a great underdog)! Anywhoo....

Since its February already (how time flies) its Project of the Month time for Whiff of Joy. This month we were to make a Valentine's Day gift/package which is easy peasy with all these beautiful stamps. I decided to make a fun candy pouch using my heart Nestabilities and "Melinda Hugging Heart Angel". (If you live here in the US you can order this beautiful stamp right HERE). I simply cut out 2 large scallopped hearts and adhered together on the sides with my Scor-Tape (love this stuff, strong like red-line tape but so much easier to use, just tear & peel). This pouch will hold 1 Ghiradellia chocolate or another small treat of your liking.

The yummy-scrummy dp is from K&Co's "Smitten" and I also added a ribbon hanger to my pouch so it can be hung on a hook or doorknob if you choose. Super easy & quick to make--you could whip up bunches in no time! Make sure and visit the Whiff of Joy homepage to see the rest of the DT's beautiful Valentine Projects!

Don't forget that the two new sets from SUINK are NOW AVAILABLE right here! Also, if you haven't entered in our fun WebCandy head over to Susana's PCP site to enter for some great goodies including a $25 gift card to her store.

I will have my Web Candy up this week (I promise) so keep checkin' back!

hugz,

Suzanne