Bee Happy!!

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a good, restful weekend (like me)!! I had a relaxing weekend at my mom's just hanging out and chilling--felt good, but doing nothing tires me out--lol!! I'm used to doing something every minute it seems. I got to eat my yum-o crabs w/ lots of Old Bay on them too and we celebrated my "older" brother's birthday (he's 43) & I'm a much younger (34)-lol!! I couldn't wait to get in my craft room today and work, I really missed it. I'm like a strange addict ya know--when I've been away too long it eats at me until I can get back in there and work/stamp :) Anyhoo....

The first card up today is just a fun little card I made with one of my Stampendous bee's from their "Bee Happy Collection". I thought this was a great summer stamp especially this week when everyone is gearing up for Fourth of July picnics and barbecues. I think it's a great image of summertime cuz' most people love watermelon at their summer picnics (except me--I hate all melons, weird, I know)!! The cs is from Bazzill and the dp is from DCWV's "summer matstack" which I thought had just the right "watermelon-ee" colors in it. The tag sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy's "Bee Happy" stamp set and the tag is from my new nestabilities tag set that I got from Cut@Home. I cut and popped the watermelon and added Diamond Glaze to it for lots of wet shine and their are some stickles on the bee (of course). The actual sketch layout is from Lauren Meader's Saturday sketch which I usually try to do cuz' they're always fun!

The second card is made with PTI's "Boards and Beams" stamp set--which I LOVE!! You probably remember the pop-up card I made with this set before but with the farmhouse instead. This is the "city" house which reminds me of homes in Old Town Alexandria, VA--historic row homes that are so elegant & quaint. I really wanted to use this new dp from Basic Grey called "Lily Kate" that I just got. I'm posting this card over on the OCC blog (Our Creative Corner) whose challenge this week was to use Basic Grey paper. The cs is Groovy Guava from SU. The images are colored with my Copics and I stamped the topiary trees and dormer twice, colored them and then cut one set out & popped it with dimensionals. The trees have some stickles on them and the windows are coated with Diamond Glaze again. The sentiment (which I adore) is another one I got from Rosie's Roadshow. If you haven't checked out all her great stamps, especially sentiments, you definitely need to. I used my Nestabilities tag dies again to cut the sentiment out and the satin ribbon is from Offray. These two cards didn't take too long to put together--which is good because I'm working on some other things I want to share this week.

Don't forget that Wednesday night is the release party for My Favorite Things--you can check out the forum on SCS for sneak peeks. I love the "gotta have it all" package you can get that includes all the new stamps--I'll be getting that on Wed. nite!!

See ya tomorrow!

Suzanne

Bee Happy card--Stampendous bee stamp, Sweet 'n Sassy sentiment (Bee Happy), DCWV dp, Bazzill cs, Copics, Diamond Glaze, Michaels ribbon, Nestabilities tag die, nestabilities circles, stickles, dimensionals, Ranger Inkssentials pen

City Home card--PTI "Boards & Beams" stamp set, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment, Nestabilities tag die, Offray ribbon, dimensionals, Copics, stickles, Diamond Glaze, Basic Grey "Lily Kate" dp, SU cs, MM brads

The Queen of "Cut & Pops"

Happy Friday everyone! I know ya'll love the weekends as much as I do! Yes, once again it is after midnight and I am typing this (crazy, you're thinking, uhhuh...come on & admit it)!! I knew I wouldn't have time in the morning to get it done and then I'd stress because I really wanted to get it done--lol!

I have 2 cards for ya today, both of which I made yesterday. I actually made 4 cards yesterday, that's a record for me! It usually takes me between 2 & 4 hours to complete 1 card--I'm pretty slow I guess, how about you? But that includes figuring out what I want to do, products I want to use and playing around with the layout until I like it--I'm pretty meticulous and somewhat of a perfectionist so that always makes it more difficult. If I have to make multiples, the others always go much faster of course.

The first card I made is for the Ismaki Challenge #25 that you can see here. I really like the sketch they came up with this time, really different. I also love the fun colors in this dp from Memory Box (summer)--fun & bright. My stamp is from Magnolia (yes, again)--this is another one that I'd forgotten about. Love the cake she's holding. I used Diamond Glaze (next to stickles, its my fave) on the icing, candle and her shoes (so they look like patent leather)--love that shiny look. I cut her out after coloring her w/ my Copics--I feel like the "Queen of Cuts" because I cut and pop-up everything. I love to have depth & dimension on the card--layers give cards so much for interest and I just love it! The flowers are from Prima and most of the ribbon is Offray. The sentiment is from Hero Arts--I like that pop of black mixed in with all the other brights. Just a cute, fun birthday card!

The second card I think I'll give my brother this weekend for his birthday (maybe)--I have such a hard time letting my "babies" (creations) go! Does anyone else have this problem? In my last post I told ya'll how much I love eating my Maryland crabs (gonna have some this weekend) so I just had to break out this set from Gina K called "Just Be-Claws" (even the name is cute)! This set is not one of her new ones, but new to me because I just ordered it. I know most people color their crabs red, but live blue crabs from this area are actually a bluish-gray and don't get red until ya cook em' (just some local tidbits for those not in the know) and I wanted mine to be "alive" not cooked--lol!! The dp is from Fiskars (Kimberly Poloson) that I've had for awhile, but hadn't used yet & cs is from SU (blue bayou & river rock). I stamped my crab twice and colored him w/ Copics. I cut out both claws and popped them w/ dimensionals (see, told ya I like to cut & pop) on top of the second colored image. Crabs are always wet and shiny, so I had to apply Diamond Glaze to him (he was askin' for it, I swear)!! I used my circle & scalloped circle nestabilities and just layered. I wrapped 2 pieces of raffia around the bottom of the card and attached the circle w/ sentiment on it w/ glue dots. I love it but I might have to keep it for myself & find something else for my brother, cuz' he'll probably just toss it--OH NO, a crafter's worst nightmare--the HORRORS!!!! Maybe I'll just pick him up a card from Target instead--lol!!

Alright, scrappers--hope you all have a wonderful, sunny weekend! I'll be back on Monday with some new stuff!!

Suzanne

Retro Dressing!

Good afternoon everyone! It's almost Friday & the weekend--yippee! We are going to my Mom's house for the weekend tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it, but I won't be in my craft room for 3 WHOLE days (boo hoo)! I have yet to pack, because I like to do everything last minute (as is my way in life-hehe), but I'll get it done before everyone goes to bed.

My card for today uses the weekly sketch from SCS that you can find here. I don't always get to do the sketches over there but I really liked this one. I also got my brand spankin' new stamps from Gina K (finally, the mailman was tired of me stalking him-lol)!! If you haven't had a chance to check them out, take my word, they're really cute! When I saw the sneak peeks for this set "Retro Boutique", I knew it would be in my cart first and foremost! Love all the images (and there are lots--shoes, purses, etc) in it. I paper pieced this entire dress and purse w/ dp from Basic Grey(sultry) and cs from PTI. I stamped the shoe and perfume bottle (parts of a larger image)and then colored them with my Copics, cut them out & popped em' up w/ dimensionals--the purse is also popped up w/ dimensionals. If you look closely, the shoe and purse have small rhinestones (a muse) and there's some stickles thrown in too! I really like how these 3 colors play off of each other--very retro looking. The sentiment is from the same set and I added more rhinestones to the ends. Hope you likee!

I will try and post once more before I leave at noon tomorrow--depends on how fast I can get my brood (including dogs) out the door--lol! My doggies love going to grama's house-they get to run around with her 2 dogs and tire themselves out--its a mini vacay for dogs I think!!

See ya tomorrow--

Suzanne

Retro dress--all stamps by Gina K, a muse rhinestones, stickles in cotton candy, dp by Basic Grey (sultry pad), cs by PTI, nestabilities, circle punch, Copics, dimensionals

Doggone It!

Hi everyone! I'm posting late today I know. I went to lunch with my "lunch bunch" girlfriends today and when I got home I had the worst migraine (not from my friends--hehe). I think its sinus related again, so hopefully I'm not getting another sinus infection. Anyway it seriously dampened my creative mojo!! It was nice to get away today w/o children and have "big girl" talk--lol!! I love my kids, but I'm still not used to having them home all day--and my daughter is constantly following me around pronouncing that she's "bored"(arrrgggh)! I'm glad she has lots of ballet classes to keep her somewhat occupied and we're going to my mom's house for the weekend, so that will be fun! Can't wait to get my hands on some Maryland Blue Crabs--my absolute favorite food in the whole world. I grew up very close to the Chesapeake Bay and my mom has pictures of me cracking open a crab in my high chair--lol--I've loved em' my whole life I guess! I'll eat anything w/ crab in it, in fact today at lunch I had a soft-shell crab sandwich (yum-o)!

I also had a bit of good news this morning--I actually WON something (first time evah')!!! I won a new set from Verve Visual that I really, really wanted--I'm so excited about it. You can see my winning entry here (I had to name my favorite song lyric for a stamp) because the new stamp set has sentiments with popular song lyrics on it--LOVE IT--Can't wait to get it!! Check out their new sets when you get a chance.

Speaking of Verve Visual, my card for today features the Mojo Monday sketch from the owner Julee over on her blog. Loved the layout again this week. I hadn't used my dog stamp set from MFT yet (Friends Furever) and hadn't broken out my Pet Stack dp from DCWV--so I thought I'd combine the two for the sketch. My doggies aren't this big, but I just love the image--so cute--and ya know I love all furry creatures (except maybe rats-ugh)!! Pretty simple card to figure out--cs is from SU (except the lemon tart from PTI), brads are from Basic Grey, some stickles just on the collar and I colored with Copics. I also used my Fiskars "threading water" border punch--love that thing--to make the scalloped border and my cuttlebug "swiss dots" folder on the bg paper.

Alrighty, I have lots of blurfing to catch up on--lol! I'll see ya'll tomorrow!

Suzanne

Black Rocks!!

Good morning ladies! Hope your week is gearing up well--my morning has been much better than yesterday (at least so far--lol)! I am only posting 1 "eye candy" today, because I'm out of the house for most of the day with the kids, so I won't get to be in my craftin' zone till tonight :(

I had pulled out my stash of Magnolias the other day, seeing that I had forgot how many I had-lol and found this little cutie in there and not inked up yet! I wanted to go w/ a different color palette for her than the softer colors I usually use w/ the Magnolia stamps. Ya know I love my DCWV paper pads--I think I have them all (and the 2 new ones are on order-hehe). This paper is from the "All Dressed Up Stack" (love it) & it has lots of black and bold prints in it. My most favorite color in the whole world is black--I just love it. I've been using it more lately, because I really love the drama and contrast of it with other colors--of course black goes w/ everything!This one is colored w/ my Copics and I added stickles and some highlights w/ my Inkssentials pen (by Ranger). The sentiment is from Gina K's "Kindred Greetings for Him"--I picked "You Rock" cuz' I thought she had a little bit of rocker edge goin' on w/ her colors--lol! The layout I used is from Taylor's blog "Taylored Expressions" & its from last Friday's Cupcake Challenge (I'm a little late w/ my entry-haha)! The brads are from Making Memories and their circle backs are from Club Scrap, & the flowers are from Prima. Hope you likee it! Me likee it--lol!

The second picture is of my son, Riley--he is now a semi-high red belt, just one step away from getting his black belt! He was so proud to have passed his last test--it was 2 1/2 hrs long! His black belt test will be in about 6-7 months and its 5 hrs long w/ an essay test too--but he really loves it! Pretty soon my baby will be taller than me (he's 10 now) and won't wanna hang w/ his momma, but for right now he still thinks I'm cool-lol!

Hope ya have a good one!

Suzanne

One of Those Days...

Happy Monday (I guess)! Another Monday, another week--I'm not a fan of Mondays I must say! Mondays always start with an impossibly, long to-do list for the week & seems overwhelming at times, ya know. And its been one of "those" mornings, if ya know what I mean--the kind where you probably should never have gotten outta bed! I woke up to kitty puke on my floors (yuck) and then went outside with the dogs and stepped in doggy doo with my new slippers (not a good start). Then I dropped an egg on my kitchen floor which proceeded to splat all under the fridge and then burned myself on the pan--this is when I should've just sat my bottom down-lol! After all that, I decided I'd go in my craft room and get some things done. I had finished my beach card yesterday so I wanted to take a picture of it to post. Somehow it got lost--yep that's right, I lost my new card in my craft room. You know how Jeff Foxworthy says "you know you might be...", well mine would be "you know you might need to clean & organize your craft room" and then you wouldn't lose things--lol! After a wasted 20 mins of looking, my son found it out on our kitchen desk--go figure! Guess I need to organize some tonight!

Ok, the first card is with the new Pink Cat Studio stamps called QT Hooty Owl--they are so cute, all of them. I stamped my owl twice and his ballons 2 more times because I knew I wanted him to hold a bunch of balloons (he only holds one on the stamp) and I wanted to pop up his wings and one of the balloons. He's colored with Copics and the balloons have stickles on them. I tried paper piercing for the 1st time--can ya believe it? I had bought my paper piercer and some templates awhile ago, because I like seeing what everyone does with it on their cards, but had yet to try it. My templates I bought at Michaels and they are just the plastic canvas grids found in the needlepoint section (square & circle shapes for $0.49)--I read about this tip from someone's blog (can't remember who)--definitely makes it easier to line up! The cutie patootie dp is from DCWV "Nana's Kids-glitter" and cs is from PTI (lavender moon, plum pudding & lemon tart) and those wonderfully sparkly, glitter brads are from Making Memories--lovey them.

The second card (this is the one I lost-lol) is my beachy keen card as I call it. So wish I was there! This stamp set (You Are My Sunshine) was the "free w/ three" set at Gina K's last month (buy 3 stamp sets get this one free--although this month's free set is different)--now you can buy this set at her site. I like the stamps that came in this set & the sentiments are great too. I really wanted to use soft, beachy colors for this card. I used my Copics again to color and then went over everything with my C1 copic (cool gray) to tone everything down evenly. I put Diamond Glaze on the water (2 coats) to make it glassy and then added a little bit of diamond stickles to it with my finger when it had dried for some extra shimmer. The dp is from Cosmo Cricket (I think--I only had some scraps of it left) but I thought it looked like cabana stripes, so I colored the beach umbrella to match. The cs is from PTI (aqua mist,berry sorbet & lemon tart). The berry sorbet cs I embossed w/ my cuttlebug folder and then rubbed over it w/ a cream ink from Colorbox chalk ink (Cats Eye). I added a little shell to the beach and a starfish to the sentiment (both I got in a pack of shells from AC Moore). The beads I thought looked like sea glass and just add a little "somethin" to finish it off. Hope you likee them all!

Hopefully the rest of my day will go smoother & hopefully you all are having a great day! I'm off to craft some more...

Suzanne

Magnolia Crazy

Hello Scrappers! Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. Yes, I am once again typing my blog post at 12:30 am because I DO NOT know how to go to bed--lol!! I just wanted to get it done because we have a busy day coming up. We're going to the nursery to buy plants & shrubs & then we'll try and get over to the pool for a little while. The kids went to bed early tonight since they were up way too late last night (after 1 am I think) because my daughter had a friend sleepover--and boy was she a grumpo today--so they went to bed at 9pm. Gave me lots of time here in the craft room to finish up some things in peace! My two cards today are with Magnolia stamps. I have had these sitting in a box for awhile now and just got them inked up (I didn't realize how many of these I had--oh no)! It's so funny to see everyone going crazy over the Magnolia's now that they are going to be sold here in the US soon--could've saved me some money if I had waited (but I'm not good at waiting for anything)since I ordered mine from overseas--lol! **Fantasy Film for those not familiar is a thin kinda cellophane that comes in multiple colors. You ink up your stamp w/ a permanent ink (I used Staz-On) lay a few layers of fantasy film on top, then cover w/ parchment or a thin fabric and iron on medium heat for a bit. I always peek to make sure it's fully stamped (when the stamp comes thru the film). Pull off and cut out what you need; in my case it was just the mermaid tail. The film does not stick to your stamps (I've tried them w/ rubber & acrylic). The fantasy film also comes w/ instructions--not hard at all, but gives a great effect**

This first card is made with 2 Magnolia stamps (I do not know any of the names because they do not come in a package w/ the names when you order them from the home company overseas) and I'm too lazy to look it up for you (sorry)! Some of these stamps are newer, but some are from last year too--I just buy what I like, not always what is new--if you're curious you can see their catalog online here. Anyhoo, this card has 2 stamps that I stamped separately instead of masking. For some reason I always want to cut my girls out because I think they look so much more real in 3-D! So I stamped & colored the bench (w/Copics) and then stamped & colored the girl and then cut her out (she's popped up w/ dimensionals). I followed Lauren Meader's Saturday sketch (I flipped it around) to make the card. The cs is from PTI (boy do I just lovee their colors) and the dp is from DCWV "Nana's Nursery-baby girl". I just adore any kind of prints with cherries or strawberries so I had to use these. When Alexa (my dd) was a baby she had the cutest little strawberry dress with matching beret--just the cutest, but now she hates pink (ugh--preteens, I tell ya!). After I got the card assembled I added the Prima flowers and buttons. The middle of the flowers are pearls from Ellen Hutson's online store--I made the green leaves from some green Prima flowers by cutting the petals off and shaping them into leaf shapes. The sentiment & the bee are from one of PTI's new stamp sets called "flower garden sentiments"--lovin' em! I still felt it needed something so I added some white dots around the cs with my Inkssentials pen and voila!

The second card is with a Magnolia mermaid that I bought ages ago w/ good intentions to use it, but then forgot (uh, what else is new)! I have had this fantasy film (in waterfall) for just as long, because I bought it knowing I would use it on her tail when I had ordered the stamp. I got my fantasy film The Art Institute Glitter but I see you can get it from All That Scraps now(very easy to use) and so pretty on cards. The cs is once again PTI's (aqua mist) and the dp is by American Crafts (Elegant-formal). I love the contrast of these two colors together--so dramatic. I'm calling her Moonlight Mermaid because it's as though she's sunning herself at night in the moonlight! I colored her with both my Copics and my twinkling H2O's for lots of shimmer. The flowers are by Prima (daisy doodles) with pearl centers again. The sentiment is from Verve Visual's "wonderful wishes" stamp set and I thought it was so appropriate w/ this card--just lovin' it!!

If you too have a love affair with the "Magnolia's"--get on over to the new Yahoo group and join up. Always fun to cyber "hang-out" with others who share the same passion! If you're looking for Magnolia's here in the US, Diane from Scor-Pal will have her online store up & running soon. Details from Diane (which originally came from Lauren's blog):
“The MAGNOLIA-licious web site will not be online for several weeks but we have inventory and are sending out product now. People can contact me at magnolia.us@shaw.ca I will send them a catalog persay of all the images we have. They copy and paste into a new document what stamps they would like and send this to me. I then call them and we complete their order. The Tilda and Edwin images are $12.00 and the others range from$9.00 to $14.50 for the very large stamps like the “swing”. The stamps are mailed from Blaine, WA for US customers and Surrey, Canada for Canadian Customers. The prices are at par.”

So there you have it for today--I'll see everyone on Monday!

Suzanne

Strawberry Magnolia--Mannolia girl & bench;PTI cs, sentiment & bee; DCWV "Nana's Nursery--baby girl" dp; Copics, pearls, Primas, buttons by SEI, dimensionals, stickles, nestabilities

Moonlight Mermaid--Magnolia Mermaid; PTI aqua mist cs, American Crafts dp, Fantasy Film in waterfall, Primas, pearls, Verve Visual sentiment, nestabilities, Copics, Twinkling H2O's, dimensionals.

Pool Fun!

Hi all & Happy TGIF!! Yeh, for the weekend, right? We spent the day at the pool and tonight we're going to dinner. Our club has jazz nights outside on Friday night w/ a special dinner menu, so we're gonna get over there since it will be cool tonight, not too hot. So everyone is showering (except me, cuz I always have to be the last one :)) and we'll leave at 6:30. I have to be back in time to at least "party" a little at Gina K's release party tonight--can't wait to see the new stamp sets! Her party starts at 8 pm (Eastern time), so maybe I'll se ya over there!

Just a quickie today (that sounds bad, no)--I made this card yesterday with the sketch from Julee's Mojo Monday sketch #42. I love these little changito monkey stamps from Stampendous--especially this one with his floaty! I'm always in need of boy bday cards for my son's friends, so I thought this would work great with Julee's sketch. The dp is from Memory Box's summer pack (so love those papers) and the cs is SU. Of course there's some bling (stickles & dewdrops)--gotta have that water shine!! The sentiment is from Gina K's set "Jumping for Joy". Hope you likee!

I have some other projects that need finishing up and then I will post them this weekend. We don't have a lot planned other than going to the nursery to get some plants/bushes for outside. We're also taking the kids to see "Kung Fu Panda" tomorrow night--my daughter is having a sleepover with a friend tonight so she'll probably be nice and grouchy tomorrow (cuz they never go to sleep before midnite) & she'll be grumpy & complaining--yippe for me--lol!! Alright, see ya around this weekend & have a good one!

Suzanne

PS-Notice my new watermark on my pictures--I finally figured out how to get it on my pictures (only took me 2 months to do it-lol)! I think I'll have to make it a little bigger next time--trial & error I guess. Beth over at Freckled Fun Designs made it for me--she's fantastic!

Changito Monkey by Stampendous, stickles, nestabilities, sentiment by Gina K, dp by Memory Box, Copics, dewdrops, SU cs

Home Again!

*********PICTURES REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION***************

Happy Thursday everyone! It's another beautiful day here in VA and we are getting ready to go to our Club's pool for the day. The kids are bringing friends so they won't be hollering or bothering me while I get some reading done. I love to read and have a huge stack of books that have been piling up the last few months, so I have lots to catch up on.

Onto today's project! I must say that I just love, love,love how this turned out. It was very labor intensive, but I adore the end result! This is a new stamp set from PTI called "Boards & Beams" and I just think its so unique. It has 2 houses included, this one and a city townhouse, lots of sentiments and accessories (trees, fences, stone, etc.)--just lovin it! The dark plum paper is new from them too, called plum pudding--it goes so well with their other colors like the spring moss that I used for the card base. I stamped and colored (w/ Copics) everything and then cut them out to figure out how to lay out the card. I added stickles to the trees and diamond glaze to the windows to make them shiny like glass. The background paper behind the house is stamped with a small stamp from PTI's "corners & borders-square" that I inked up with the plum pudding ink and stamped on the cs. I had originally gotten the idea for making this card from the Ismaki challenge website (although I didn't follow their sketch exactly) for a pop up card so I'm going to enter it over there too. The front of the card has PTI's new patterned 6x6 cardstock layered on the front with some more stickled trees and another sentiment. This card works wonderfully for someone who has just moved in, but the stamps are versatile for so many other things too.

Ok, I'm off to finish getting everything ready to go to the pool. Hope everyone has a great day & I'll see ya tomorrow w/ a new project!

Suzanne

Boards & Beams--PTI stamps, cs, dp, & ribbon;stickles, diamond glaze, dimensionals, Copics

Wild About Apricot!

Hello Everyone! I hope everybody is having glorious weather today--its 75 degrees here w/ a breeze and all my windows are wide open, love it (cats love it too)! Today is the first official day off of school for the kids and we slept in and we're still in our jammies--lol! It's a great day here!!

I decided that I'm in love with the color Apricot. I've never really used it before, but I pulled out my SU designer 6x6 paper pack and pulled out some. Believe it or not, but I had never even opened my pack of Apricot Appeal cs (gasp)! And I just love it paired up with Bashful Blue--be-u-tiful if I do say so myself! So I decided to make 2 cards using these colors.

My first card is with one of my new Sugar Nellie-Sweet Ebony stamps called "Kitty" that I got from Funky Kits. They are the only retail store that sells them, but they're in the UK so they cost a little bit more (but I'm addicted) & they're releasing some new ones this month that I must have!! I decided to use this green floral dp from DCWV (Pocket Full of Posies), because I just loved the bright shade of green. I wanted to pull out the apricot and blue colors from the dp, so thats what led me to use SU prints pack. The image is colored with Copics of course and a little bit of stickles here and there. The sentiment is from Verve Visual's "Filigree Fantasy"--love their sentiments! I'm entering this card into a challenge over on "A Spoon Full of Sugar" which is a challenge blog for Sugar Nellie fans.

The second card is for the weekly MFT (My Favorite Things) sketch challenge over on SCS which you can find here. Once again, I had this set "Can Ya Dig It" from MFT just sitting there & not inked up so I really wanted to use it. It has so many great images to play with, but I love the main image so that's what I used along with the bird stamp,plant stamp and sentiment. I double stamped her hat and the bird and lifted them with dimensionals so they would be 3-D and leave shadows on the card. Her dress is paper pieced with the SU prints pack, apricot dp. I just love the apricot and blue together, so soft and calming. The background dp is from DCWV "Pocket Full of Posies" too. There are a few stickles and Primas thrown in and I used my Copics too. I've been using dew drops alot lately too and I really like them. I use Scotch's Quick Dry Adhesive glue when I'm crafting--it's wonderfully strong, dries quick & dries clear. I buy 3 at a time at Michael's and its the best glue I've ever used for cardmaking--it will adhere anything!

Alrighty, I'm off to finish some more projects. I'm so excited because I got my new PTI stuff today and I'm off to use it--lovey the new plum pudding color they came out with--fantabulous in person! If you haven't checked out their new stuff--giddy on over there--lol!

Don't forget Gina K is releasing new stamps on Friday night--she has sneak peaks on her blog. I cannot wait--the retro images will be coming to my house, for sure!!

Till tomorrow...Suzanne

Sugar Nellie Card--"kitty" stamp set by Sugar Nellie, sentiment by Verve Visual, dp from DCWV, dimensionals, Copics, stickles, nestabilities, ribbon from Michaels, SU cs

MFT card--MFT's "Can ya Dig it" stamp set, DCWV & SU dp, SU cs, Copics, dimensionals, dew drops, stickles, Fiskars "threading water" border punch, Prima flowers, brad

Last Day of School--Yikes!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Sorry I was MIA yesterday, but the kids had their end of year picnics and my daughter had a poetry presentation to attend. They're done with school for the summer--as I've said before, its a mixed blessing. No more school stuff, but lots of "I'm bored", "he touched me", "can I..."'s in store for me (aka no quiet stamp time)-lol!! We're having a sleep in & stay in your jammies day tomorrow (a Dean tradition) and go nowhere!!! yippee!!! Thursday we'll head off to the pool with friends and hang out. We have nothing on our calendar, blissfully, this weekend--how exciting is that? Love it!!

Ok, this first gift card holder is one of 3 I made for my kid's teacher presents. They hold Starbucks gift cards inside (they also got a box of 6 notecards made by me). I just love these gift card holders, they're so quick & easy to make. If you read regularly, you'll remember the one I made previously w/ PTI stamps. The measurements for this are 4 1/4 by 11", scored at 3, 51/2, and 8". I'm not real good on instructions but the original tutorial is here. I used my teachabella from Stamping Bella and the dp is from Fancy Pants (celebrate/play). Accessories included Prima flowers, stickles (but of course), American crafts ribbon, Copics, & some diamond glaze on the apple. I colored the chalkboard black which colored over the ABC's originally on the stamp and wrote over it with my white Inkssentials pen to say "thanks". On the inside I used PTI's "polka dot basics" w/ SU ink to stamp a random pattern. Hope they liked them.

The second card I made for a bella sketch challenge over on SCS. I have had this "craftybella" for awhile & she's never seen ink, so I had to get her out (she was lonely). It took me a second to realize the thing on her right is supposed to be a jar (I made mine paint)--guess I had never examined it closely enough--lol! I just love this new line of dp from American Crafts called "spring & summer scones"--nice bright, summery colors. I used my cuttlebug a little, added some stickles and there is diamond glaze on all the jars. I added the matching sentiment and some buttons to tie in the "crafty" theme.

I'll have some new projects to post tomorrow. I got the rest of my stamps from Funky Kits in & I'm real excited to get them inked up (Sugar Nellie-Sweet Ebony). I wanted to see if anyone has any particular projects or stamps they wanted me to use in the next month or so--leave me an email or comment and I will try my best to try and do some (always looking for new ideas).

Until tomorrow...

Suzanne

Weekend Blitz!!

Happy Fathers Day & Sunday everyone! Yes, I am typing this blog at 12:30 am because I cannot sleep--I think I drank too much caffeine (gasp), so I decided to get this done & finished. I need some serious sleep therapy or something because I really like sleep alot, but I just can never get to sleep. We had Alexa's jazz recital today (5 hrs total w/ rehearsal before) & it pooped me out, you'd think I'd be ready for bed. But I just had to get onto PTI's release party and order all my new things right away, because I guess I'm psycho that way :)!!! So that has led me here...

I'm posting 3 cards today and a picture album of Alexa's dance pictures (all these pictures were taken at rehearsals this week). I think some of them turned out pretty darn good, considering we couldn't use any flash. Everytime I watch her dance it just amazes me...she's worked so hard to get where she is and she's so talented. God did not give me the "dancing" gift, I guess my gift is more of the creative, artistic variety (trust me you do not want to see me dance, I'm not a very coordinated person--I can't even follow an aerobics class-lol)!! She has to stand en pointe for a good minute or so in this dance & she does it so gracefully w/o any wobbling--so very hard for those dancers to do--just amazing!! I wish I could show you video of her dancing because its just beautiful (I'm just a little bit proud, ya know...wink)!! Anyhoo...

My first card is a card I made for my grandma's birthday (I made a couple but this was the final winner). I just love these "House of Mouse" stamps--this one is called "chamomile tea" and is so cuuuuute!! I love this little, sleepy bunny. It's colored with my copics to match the yummy, damask dp from Anna Griffin. She makes the most elegant & beautiful papers to work with--love them! The cs & ribbon is from PTI.

The second card is a birthday card I made for my dh's grandfather's 85th birthday. He has a home on the beach so I thought that this lighthouse stamp from Inkadinkado was appropriate. I love the sketched look of their new stamps. I colored it with both my Copics and my Prisma pencils with OMS/stumps--I liked the final watercolor look of it. The dp is from K&Company, the cs from SU. Just a little bit of stickles on the water & light (just a little-lol).

The third card I made was just a quickie bday card for my dd's friend. I love these new stamps from Gina K called "Froggie & Friends" & this sentiment just makes me laugh. There are a ton of stamps & sentiments in this set--lots of fun. I stamped this little turtle so it looks like his back end is flying up w/ the balloons. With this stamp set you can add the balloons to his tail and a party hat to him--lovin' it! The dp is new from American Crafts called "Celebration-Popcorn". This new line of paper & ribbon is so bright & fun---love the prints because they're smaller & just perfect for cards. Sometimes you get 12x12 paper and it's beautiful but the pattern is too large for some of your stamped images. Once again my image is colored w/ Copics & some stickles(had to throw some in somewhere) & squares/scallops were made with my nestabilities.

Ok, that's a long enough post for now. We have Alexa's ballet recital today and then a quick dinner out for my darling hubby. He's golfing in the am before the recital with his new personalized golf balls (gifted from the kids)--lol! Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Suzanne

PS--Don't forget to check out PTI's new June releases!!

Here is the ballet album (double click on it to bring it to full screen)

Friday Surprise!!

Happy TGIF! Ahh, it's almost weekend time and only 2 more days of school left. No more getting up at 6 am--yippee--we get to sleep in (we are a family of sleepers here)!! Two dance recitals this weekend and then we are officially done,well, except for camps. My daughter has to take 4 weeks of ballet camp (required at her level) and my son is taking 1 week of golf camp and 1 week of tennis camp. We'll probably go to Rehoboth Beach for a few days, and then my dh and I are taking an 8 day trip by ourselves this summer (so looking forward to that)!! The rest of the time we will chill--so need that--just doing whatever we want! Love Summer :)

Today's project is actually the one I was working on the other day -- you know the day the extreme heat here fried my brain-lol! This was the New Technique Challenge on SCS for this week and you can find the tutorial for it here. I just love doing challenging cards and this one was a little bit challenging--once you get one done, I'm sure it gets easier the second time around. I think I was overly challenged because I changed some of the dimensions and it was kind of trial and error the first go-around. The pop-up element was just calling for a cut-out popper and I was just dying to use my new stamp set "Jumping for Joy" by Gina K. I just love this little bear--looks like he's cannonballing into the pool (my son's fave activity). When I saw this tutorial I just knew it would make a fantastic invitation--and what better than a summer invite to a pool party, really fun to recieve! I've had this Frances Meyer pool paper forevah and dug it out of my stash to use for the background dp. The yellow cs is PTI's summer sunrise. I printed the words out on my computer on PTI's white cs and then colored them in w/ my Copics. I added some pool waves and drew some "splash water" onto the dp and then cut it out and pasted it behind the bear. Lots of stardust stickles on this card--love the sparkle! Hope you likee it--go see the tutorial and try one for yourself. I know I'll be making more of these in the future.

I will try and post at least one project this weekend. We will be running around to recitals and trying to celebrate Dad's Day somewhere in between-lol. Until then...

Suzanne

Pool Party Invite--Gina K stamps "Jumping for Joy" (invite words, bear, beach ball), computer font, PTI white & summer sunrise cs, Frances Meyer pool dp, Doodlebug Designs polka-dot dp, Copics, American Crafts ribbon, stardust stickles, dimensionals

Cherry Fun!

Happy Thursday everyone! It's almot TGIF--yeahhhh!! I don't know why I'm excited, we have my daughter's jazz recital on Saturday and her ballet recital on Sunday--which of course is Father's Day. Whadda day to have a recital, huh--I know most dad's would rather be fishin' or golfin', not watching dancing right? We'll probably celebrate Dad's Day next week by giving my dh a golf day and then dinner. The kids still have to finish their cards for him (add that to my ever mounting to-do list)! Then Tuesday is the last day of school. I'm both elated and depressed--no more projects or homework, yippee, but that also means no "alone" (aka quiet stamp time) time for me and my son & daughter fighting everyday (yuckO)!! Thank goodness for the pool and camps!

Todays project is one of my favorites so far this month because it involves cherries (ya know I love my Cherry Coke-lol) and I just love the summery colors. I picked up this cherry platter, dishtowel & coordinating spreaders in the Target $1 spot (love that place) a couple of weeks ago. I just loved the colors and vintage look of it all and knew it would make a great gift. I used the cherry stamp from SU's "Tart & Tangy" set to stamp a random background on PTI's lemon tart cardstock. The aqua cs is also from PTI (aqua mist) & the red cs is from SU (the colors all matched the platter perfectly). The sentiments are from Hero Arts "Thoughtful Messages" which I got from Stamp Desires (this set is great, so versatile). I also adore these cherry rhinestones from Heidi Swapp that I got from Ellen Hutson--they added just the right amount of bling to the card and label for the spreaders. Of course I used my nesties again (best money I've spent--I use them everyday) and the images are popped up with dimensionals. I think this will make a great thankyou gift or hostess gift this summer.

Ok, now I'm off to finish up my kid's teachers gifts so I can mark that off of my list. Hope you check out Pink Cat Studio's new stamp sets today--I'm ordering mine ASAP!! See ya tomorrow-

Suzanne

Vintage Cherry Gift Set--SU "Tart & Tangy" stamp set, Hero Arts sentiment, Heidi Swapp cherry rhinestones, nestabilities, Michaels ribbon, SU's soft sky inkpad, real red & old olive markers, PTI's lemon tart & aqua mist cs, dimensionals

Moo Cow

Hi ladies! It's finally a beautiful day here in VA, not too hot--yippee! The dogs got to go to the creek today & play so they're not pouting anymore :) The picture above is of one of my 4 cats, Tinkerbell (aka Jigglypuff) snoozing yesterday--she sits up when she sleeps like Garfield--too funny! And since my card today is black & white, she matches--lol! Anyhow thought I'd share it with you!

My card today is another My Favorite Things challenge card--I seem to be on an MFT stamp kick this week. I loved the sketch that you can find here and I've had this set "Punny Farm" forevah & had yet to ink it up (what's wrong with me)! I love cows--in fact I have "classy" cows & roosters in my kitchen--I say classy because there's only a few and they're very French Country. My husband doesn't like any cutesy stuff and my collection is limited to a few, but I still love them. One of the first presents my hubby bought me after we got engaged in Vermont was a big, fuzzy, stuffed cow from the Ben & Jerry's store up there and I've loved them ever since. And since red & black are my fave colors, I put them all together. The paper is from Imaginisce's "Black Tie Optional" dp line which is one of my all time favorites. Other than that it's a pretty simple put together card with many layers (all cs is from SU) and some embellies. I used my Copics and oval nestabilities as usual, but notice I didn't put any bling on this one (oh my)!

Hope everyone is having a good week so far--I'll post another "interesting" project tomorrow. Don't forget tomorrow is Pink Cat Studio's release for their new stamps--check em' out cuz' they're really cute! Also, Paper Trey Ink's "June" releases come out on the 15th --you can check out the sneak peeks here.

Suzanne

My Favorite Things "Punny Farm" stamp set, Nestabilities, MM brads, Michaels ribbon, SU cs, Imaginisce "Black Tie Optional" dp, dimensionals, Copics

Hot & Hotter

Hello fellow scrappers! Is it blistering hot where you live? It's 99 degrees (feels like 115) here--I like the warm weather (yes, I know I was begging for it), but this is ridick (oh no, its so hot my brain is uttering my kids slang--ha ha)!!! My dogs desperately want to take a walk down to the creek, but I just can't do it--they'll have to wait. Speaking of animals, my Poncho cat came home last night and so far is doing well--we just pray he doesn't have another blockage or it'll be surgery for him, but I'm glad to have his grumpy self home :)

My card for today was not the original card I wanted to post, but the other one will have to wait (logistical probs on my part, must be the heat). This stamp set is from MFT (My Favorite Things) & its a mini set called "Hey There Cupcake" & I just think its so stinkin' cute. I have been wanting to do a window card with motion for awhile and I thought this image would be perfect! I love this new birthday dp from Imaginisce called "All Kinds of Happy"--I love Imaginisce paper & trust me I have tons! I used my nestabilities to make the circles,scallops & cut-outs (if you don't have some of these, they are a must have I tell ya'). The sentiment tag is a nestability too. Of course I stickled those cupcakes to death to match the glittery paper (cuz' ya know you can never have enough sparkle) and the cherries on top are pearls from Ellen Hutson's store.

Don't forget if you love Pink Cat Studio stamps as much as I do--Melissa is releasing new sets this Thursday (6/12) including a new Billy dress-up set & cutie-patootie owl set (I have to have them)!! Check out all the sneak peeks on Melissa's blog--too cute!

Okey-Dokey (oh my, the heat really has zapped my brain today-lol)--I'm outta here. My daughter has rehearsals for dance tonight and I have been running errands most of the day and finishing up card projects--I'm pooped! Now I must see to dinner so I'll see ya tomorrow--

Suzanne

My Favorite Things "Hey There Cupcake" stamp set, Copics, stickles, Imaginisce "All Kinds of Happy" dp, SU cs, MM brads, pearls, American Crafts ribbon, Fiskars threading water punch on corners, nestabilities

Thank-you sets

Happy Monday afternoon ladies! This post will be pretty short & sweet. I'm not feeling up to speed today, just tired & stressed I guess (worried about my kitty-see last post). I've been working on my thankyou cards & gifts and I'm almost done. This week we have lots of dance practices for my daughter--both of her recitals are this weekend, so I pretty much have to get my craftin' done before they get home from school. Not to mention my son's field day, end of year school picnic & teacher gifts to finish up (overwhelming when you type it out--lol)!

I got my new stamp sets from MFT and I just love them. I thought this set (Here's The Scoop) was so appropriate for my "lunch bunch" gal pals thank you cards/gifts. They were so sweet to make us dinner every night after I had surgery and sent me the most beautiful smelling flowers and a case of Cherry Coke!! We go to lunch the last Wed. of every month and most of us usually try & get some yummy dessert--we all like our sweets, so this stamp set in particular works great! I'm making 4 versions of this card with different colors, but this is the first one I finished. The dp is from Memory Box(Sugar Collection)--love the colors! I of course had to paper piece the chair--it was just calling out for it-lol! The sentiment in the set is actually straight, but that's the great thing about these clear stamps--you can bend them around for your needs. The solid cs is from PTI (lavender moon & spring moss)--they work wonderfully with this Memory Box paper which I also got from MFT. This layout is from a contest on Jen del Muro's blog--it's really cute, I love the half circle element. The little gift bag is from PTI and it's filled with Ghiradelli & Dove chocolates--fitting for the "sweets" theme dontcha think? The ribbon is from Michaels and the dp is from the same "sugar collection" and of course some of my favorite Prima flowers.

Ok--gotta go finish up some more projects and then I'm off running around for the evening. See ya tomorrow!

Suzanne

My Favorite Things "Here's The Scoop" stamp set, PTI glassine bag, solid cs (spring moss, lavender moon), Michaels ribbon, Memory Box "Sugar Collection" dp, stickles, dew drops, SU rhinestone brad, nestabilities, Copics, dimensionals

Fur Babies

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you've had a glorious weekend so far. It is hot & humid here (feels like 110 deg), but at least its sunny & I love the warmth! I'm a little sad today unfortunately. If you're a regular reader of my blog you know how big of an animal lover I am--I am a mom to 6 furbabies (2 dogs & 4 cats). Last year was rough because I lost my siamese kitty, Windy to cancer in the spring (she was my baby) and then this past fall I lost my mini schnauzer, Trinket to cancer too (both were 12 & were my 1st babies). We ended up getting another cairn puppy & 2 rescue kitties (all my cats come from rescue organizations, which I truly believe in) to complete our family. My furbaby cat Poncho (the one I mentioned in a post below--grumpy boy) who only loves me :) had to go into the hospital last night with a urinary blockage & will be there at least 3 days. They said if we hadn't brought him in he would've been dead today--so I'm pretty worried/stressed over this--puts a small cloud on my mood :( But hopefully he will recover and return to his usual grumpy, bossy self that I love so much. Ok onto my project (enough doom & gloom)--

I made this doggy gift set for a friend who just got a new beagle puppy (she also lost her dog this past year) and its her new baby! What better way to greet a new furbaby than with a cute gift set that has doggie treats!! I just ordered this new paper from Love,Elsie(KI memories) that's all doggy & I just love it & had to use it--the colors are so fun. The treat bag (holds organic doggie biscuits) is from PTI and I covered up the window with the paper because I didn't like the dog biscuit package showing thru & then stamped the outside randomly. The stamp set is from CTMH (Puppy Love) which appropriately had a beagle stamp included. The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms (Kim Hughes,Pet-tootie sentiments) and all the cs & ink is from SU. I really like the cheerfulness of it--too cute. Hope you like it too!

I have some great projects up my sleeves that I will post over the next week so be on the lookout. I'm off to the pool for a little while to cool off--see ya tomorrow!
Suzanne

Close to My Heart "Puppy Love" stamp set, Kim Hughes "Pet-tootie" sentiment, Love Elsie (KI Memories) dp & heart chipboard sticker, SU ink & cs, American Crafts Ribbon, dimensionals, nestabilities, Fiskars threading water border punch, PTI kraft window bag

Saturday Sun

Good afternoon ladies! Dontcha' just love the weekends, especially when its sunny outside--it makes me feel happy. This will be a short post today, because I've got lots of things to get done. I'll have some new projects tomorrow--I'm so excited on some of the things I'm working on & can't wait to share! By the way, "Sex & the City" was fantastic in my opinion--I haven't laughed that much at a movie in a long time. It's always nice to see a "big kids" movie with my hubby or friends--seems the only time I get to the movies anymore is to see "kids" movies. Not that I don't enjoy them but its nice to see grown-up ones too! We'll probably be seeing "Kung Fu Panda" next, so the next big kids movie will probably be on DVD (sigh...).

The first picture is just a cutie pie pic of my two boys (Riley & dh) at the Washington Nationals baseball game last night. They had front row seats behind homeplate in the President's box (perks of my dh's job)--so Riley & dh were on tv all night. Sadly the Nats lost, but they had a good time anyway!

The second picture is my card for the day. I finally got my Sugar Nellie-Elizabeth Bell images from Funky Kits from across the pond (UK)--I just adore these stamps. I got 4 and I'm waiting on 2 more that have been backordered. This card is for my grandma's birthday (I think--at least 1 option-I might make a different one). These images are so much fun to color with my Copics. Her hat bow & hair bow are paper pieced, which I love to do, but this one was pretty hard to cut out. The sentiment is from Hero Arts which I got from Stamp Desires along with a boatload of new stamps (House of Mouse & such)--can't wait to ink them up too. The dp is from Basic Greys "two scoops" paper pack (love the colors and it pairs well with SU's blue bayou). Ok, I'm done for the day--time to enjoy the weather and the family. We're going to the pool tomorrow for the day, so I will be posting late tomorrow.

Have a great Saturday!

Suzanne

Elizabeth Bell's "picking apples"stamp, Basic Grey "two scoops" dp, SU's blue bayou & pretty in pink cs, Copics, Nestabilities, Fiskars "threading water" punch, Hero Arts sentiment, Prima flowers, pearls

The Winner Is....

Drumroll please--the winner of the blog candy is:
Pugmama -- She said she'd bring a generator and lbs & lbs of coffee to the deserted island!

I had time to post this morning before I left so you wouldn't have to wait. Please email me your snail mail address (and real name) so I can get this out to you ASAP. Congrats & hope you enjoy all your "gifts"!!! Thanks to everyone who entered--I had quite a few laughs reading the entries and appreciated all the nice comments. Next blog candy will be at 5,000 hits--we'll see how long it takes me to get there. I probably won't get to post a project today, too much going on and I'm seeing "Sex & The City" with my gal pals tonight. My dh got tickets for the Nationals Baseball game tonight, so he & my son will be having their own fun tonight. I'll be back tomorrow with a new project--see ya then!

Suzanne

email me at: sjdean@smartneighborhood.net

Hoarding or Saving?

Good afternoon everyone! The weather is calm today, but steamy hot (95 degrees w/ humidity)! I'm looking forward to going to our club's pool this weekend and chilling out. The only thing we have going on is my son's semi-black belt ceremony for Tae Kwon Do to go to. He's only one step away from earning his black belt, but that will be 6 more months or so. I'm going to see "Sex & The City" with a group of my girlfriends tomorrow nite. We're having dinner first and then catching the movie--I'm looking forward to a night out with the gals! My daughter is going to a slumber party so it'll just be my son & hubby home alone to do "guy" stuff (whatever that is).

I had mentioned the other day about my hoarding, but I don't really like that word so I say "saving"! I'm not really a hoarder of most things (I easily can purge thru most stuff & I'm definitely not a pack rat), but I do "save" my scrappin' supplies. You'd think they were never going to make them again by the way I buy and keep doubles of everything. I always buy 2 or 3 sheets of my patterned paper & ribbon, but then I'm afraid to use it--just doesn't make much sense--I want to make sure I have enough on hand for the next project--ha ha! I have all these wonderful papers and its like I'm saving for a rainy day or something--gotta stop that. My new motto is to use what I get and not worry about it so much--silly me!! Do any of you "save" your supplies and not use them? Hopefully I'm not the only one :) So is it really hoarding or just selectively saving? Hmmmm....

Ok, onto the project of the day. I made this 3x3 card box with matching notecards for a challenge for My Favorite Things (MFT) that you find out about here. You have to use their stamps and make a 3x3 card & matching envie--I took it one step further and made the box too. You can find a template for this 3x3 box here (scroll up to top of page). I just loved this "Ride Em Cowgirls" set by MFT when it came out & rushed to order it. Once again, this is the first time I've inked it up--surprise, surprise. (MFT released their new stamps last night & guess who ordered more!) The patterned paper is by Paper Trey Ink (PTI) called "bitty baby blessings" (small pack)--I thought the colors and pattern would work wonderful with the cowgirl theme. Her dress is paper pieced and she's colored with Copics. The kraft paper that the card bases/box base is made of is by PTI too--really a nice weight. To make the envelopes, I just deconstructed one of SU's 3x3 envies and made my own template. I made the little sheriff star badges into stickers with my Xyron sticker maker for envie seals. The box closes with a Basic Grey magnet snap. I'm happy with how it turned out & I know exactly who I'm going to gift it to!

Remember, if you haven't entered for a chance to win my Blog Candy, please do so before 11 pm tonight so I can post the winner tomorrow afternoon!! Good luck!

Suzanne

Kraft paper, dp, cs, ribbon, stamps all by Paper Trey Ink, Copics, stickles, Basic Grey snap. Xyron sticker maker, tacky tape