Santa's Coming to Town!!

Happy Tuesday to you all! Well the wrist still hurts & is swollen but I'm doing ok---I have a high tolerance to pain so this is okay, won't stop me from doing what I want, hee hee! Got some projects done so that was good--just took me a little longer than usual :o) Hubby & I had a fabulous mini Anniversary vacation and it was nice to just be alone with no chores or kids around, lol! We had some awesome dinners, went to Great Falls National Park & hiked a bit in the beautiful fall weather we've had (in the 70's which I LOVE)! Below I have just a couple of pics for ya--I always forget to take pics when it's just us, lol!

NewsBitz:

-I will continue to keep this up everyday, but I am having a Holiday Crafter's Open House on Saturday, December 5th from noon til' 5 pm (come for an hour or three, but drop by if you can) I will have my 10 (yes 10 this year) Xmas trees up, house decorated, mulled cider brewing & lots of sweets to eat along with lots of fun chatting & meeting other crafters from this area! (I live in Leesburg, VA right off of Rte. 7 in the Lansdowne on the Potomac neighborhood)

-Susana's Custom Art & Card Design is having some delicious BLOG CANDY to celebrate a new upcoming release of Elisabeth Bell stamps on Nov. 12th!! They are beyond fabulous & you will WANT them all, hee hee! So stop by the store blog HERE to enter for the yummy blog candy!

-A new NewsBitz I'm starting is to spotlight some awesome Etsy stores (besides my own, hee hee) for the holidays that I've ordered from & think have fabulous products. There are so many great handcrafted items on Etsy--so I thought I'd spotlight some for ya!!
First up today is Bare Bumm Bath soaps--super cute bath cakes, smell totally awesome & make great gifts for yourself & friends. They are all vegan, paraben & chemical free--my daughter and I tried them out already & they're fabulous, love them! Check them all out HERE (and they look cute too & come in cute lil' glassine bags w/ twine & tag)!

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Try It Out Tuesday #43--Make A Scene!!

So today is Try It Out Tuesday #43 for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design and I challenged the DT to use a stamp from the store and create a scene for it! I decided to use this cute Victoria Case for SCACD stamp "Santa & Friends"--isn't he the cutest!!? I chose to use a background stamp I've had from The Stampin' Place "Wintry Lamp Scene" to create my scene (this scene works fab with Magnolia stamps too)! The dp is by Imaginisce paired w/ PTI cs--sentiment is from PTI's "Tree Trimming Trio" set, triple ribbon bow was made with my Bow Easy & is SU ribbon, Bella Baubles accent the card.

Here's a close-up cuz' there's alot of details goin' on with this card, hee hee! I added MS Snow Glitter (my fave) to the entire snowy background and white Sparkly Fluff to all fur trim on Santa & squirrel. Diamond glaze on the house windows and lamp lights, stardust stickles on presents and other accents. Spica pens on Santa's belt, boot-laces and ribbons (gold & silver). I just lovee this card--Santa in his village, I mean how can you go wrong?!! Now make sure & stop by the store blog "Follow Your Heart" to see the rest of the DT's Scene Cards!!

Second card uses a cutie-patootie new stamp by Lockhart Stamp Co. "Mitten Kitten Star"--kitties & Christmas, a great combo me thinks (and there are 3 of these cuties to choose from HERE)!! The layout is this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #113 which is a fun one for sure! I used some new PTI holiday papers paired with PTI's Ocean Tides cs. Image was colored w/ Copics, both backgrounds was embossed with CB embossing folder and I added some fun flat snowflake buttons & glitter dots to the top. I also added a mini red button to the center of kitty's bow and stickles to the stars! Just a fun, cute holiday card!

Some Anniversary Pics:

Hope you enjoyed my projects for today! I'll be back tomorrow with some fun Magnolia Christmas gift ideas!

Silly Me!!

Good & Happy Monday to you all! This will be short and sweet cuz' silly ole' me has hurt herself, hee hee. We got home yesterday evening from picking the kids & dogs up from my parents and I decided that the doggies needed grooming & baths, LOL! (cuz' I'm anal & when I think something should be done, then it needs to get done RIGHT AWAY, hee hee) Anywho, after grooming them both & giving Baylee (my smaller cairn) a bath, I finished up bathing Casey & slipped lifting her outta the tub. Well I fell on my left hand in quite an awkward position & have probably sprained my left wrist (thankfully I am right handed)--but I'm hoping aspirin & ice help quite a bit (but the dogs look cute & clean, LMBO)!!

That being said, my blog posts this week will not be super word-y since it's hard to type and I will use most of my left wrist strength to get my crafting done (no a sprained wrist will NOT STOP ME, lol)!! So I won't be commenting on everyone's lovely projects this week like I like to do---so don't think I'm ignoring you--I will visit to see what loveliness you've created though! So I promise to be back tomorrow with a couple of fun projects for you, 'kay!! But please read my newsbitz below for a lil' bit of fun info!!


NewsBitz:

-Starting today, Susana's Custom Art & Card Design is having some delicious BLOG CANDY to celebrate a new upcoming release of Elisabeth Bell stamps on Nov. 12th!! They are beyond fabulous & you will WANT them all, hee hee! So stop by the store blog HERE to enter for the yummy blog candy!

-I will continue to keep this up everyday, but I am having a Holiday Crafter's Open House on Saturday, December 5th from noon til' 5 pm (come for an hour or three, but drop by if you can) I will have my 10 (yes 10 this year) Xmas trees up, house decorated, mulled cider brewing & lots of sweets to eat along with lots of fun chatting & meeting other crafters from this area! (I live in Leesburg, VA right off of Rte. 7 in the Lansdowne on the Potomac neighborhood)

So just email me if you'd like to come & I can email you directions, I'd love to have ya & meet ya! I'm also having a children's mitten & hat tree, so if you'd like to bring either or both to donate that would be fabulous--they will be donated to a local Women's Domestic Violence Shelter for their children.

Some More Fun!!

Happy Friday & Helloooooooo Weekend!! I'm still on my mini vacay, but needed to post a couple of things for ya today! Have a fabulous weekend & I'll see ya back here on Monday!

NewsBitz:

-Susana's Custom Art & Card Design Store is back in business today, after being closed this week for vacation time! She has lots of NEW yummy goodies in store too--Smooch Spritz, Glittered Buttons, Prima Say In Pearl and Jewel Flower Centers & more!! New Elisabeth Bell release coming to the store soon as well, so stay tuned!

-Diana of Magnolia-licious is offering a subscription to the new Magnolia Inks magazine for a year--this is a limited offer so take advantage now--see HERE for details!

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Try It Out Tuesday #40

No you're eyes are not deceiving you--we are doing our Try It Out Tuesday on Friday this week since Susana's store was closed earlier this week, hee hee! And I've challenged the DT with a sketch (you can see it HERE on the store blog) which is always fun! I used the cute Victoria Case for SCACD image called "Winter"--love her doggy friend! The dp is by Imaginisce and image is colored with copics, sparkly fluff on her fur trim, some stickles & MS Glitter Snow. The snowflakes are SEI chippies and sentiment is from PTI! I think she's just a cutie!

Make sure & stop by the store blog "Follow Your Heart" to see the sketch & the DT's lovely projects & join in the fun as well!

Second project is for the November Magnolia-licious DT Sketch--this month's sketch was created by the lovely Kerry Donovan-Casey! I decided to use some of the new yummy Basic Grey "Nook & Pantry" papers with this super cute Magnolia image "Oops Tilda" from the Yummy For Your Tummy Collection (available HERE at Magnolia-licious). She's colored w/ copics and then I stickled her dress and socks for sparkle--she is just the cutest lil' girl, reminds me of the Campbell Soup kids. Make sure & stop by the Magnolia-licious Highlites blog to see the sketch & join in the fun to win a FREE STAMP of your choice!!

Have a fab weekend & see ya on Monday!

Polar Bear Hugs!!

Hiya Friends! Today I am off to celebrate my marriage with the hubster with my newly cut & dyed hair, hee hee for 4 days! So I will keep my chitter-chatter short & sweet for ya! Please make sure to read to the end since there is some important info for ya!!

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NewsBitz:

-I know I promised everyone I would do a pic tutorial on the pop-up card--sorry, I ran out of time, but I will have it up next week for ya!!

-Susana's Store will be back open tomorrow at noon! So get your shopping on, lol!

-I'm having a Crafter's Open House on December 5th from noon until 5 pm---all details are on the post below! Email me if you're interested in coming--I'd love to meet ya!

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NEW Pink Cat Studio Digi Release

So today is another fabulous release of Pink Cat Studio Digi stamps for ya--Melissa has been a busy gal! I used this super cute image "Lily Riding Polar Bear" (Billy rides one too, hee hee)--I just adore the sweetness of this image--fabulous! I decided to make a round card and matching snow globe ornament! The paper is by Heidi Grace and cs by PTI.

So I told you I had many, many ideas for these BoBunny Clearly Party Favors, bwahahahaaa! And they make PERFECT Snow Globe ornaments---just trim around the edges and attach to your image--the Nestabilities Circles fit around these fabulously! I stamped my image, colored with copics and then cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals on the patterned paper. I added some MS Glitter Snow on top of the image and then covered with the Favor pocket--then added some cardstock circle rings (made w/ my nesties) on top making sure to sandwich in my silver cording on the back to hang! Cute, huh?!!! And VERY EASY to make and lots of fun too!

So I had to make a matching circle card--this would be a wonderful gift for someone! The only difference on this is I put Sparkly Fluff on her fur trim and some glittered snowflakes! I just love it!

So the second card has a special meaning as you can read below! But this is a new digi image that Melissa created specially and I created a baby card with. The papers are K&Co, image was colored with Copics and then I added stickles to parts! Gingham ribbon is by PTI that I just love! If you'd like to buy this card, it is for sale on my Etsy shop and to whomever buys it I will put that money towards (and match it) the Memorial Fund below!

This week has been a very sad one as DT member Sarah Anderson’s 3 year old son Henry passed away. Little Henry was unable to overcome a virus that made him ill last week. Lorie Ames has organized a way to donate for a memorial for Henry. Henry loved his local zoo and visited it almost every day in the summer. As a memorial, trees will be planted there in his honor. Melissa at Pink Cat Studio has created a digital stamp to help raise funds for a tree for Henry. All proceeds from the sale of the digi stamp, minus Paypal costs, will go towards the tree.

If you would like to donate towards the tree, please visit this webpage to purchase the digi stamp right HERE! Another way to donate to the memorial is to print out this form and mail in your donation directly--form is here!! Please write on the form that the donation is for Sarah Anderson’s son Henry. Once all of the money is collected, a tree and location will be selected. If you have questions about the form please contact Lorie Ames. Lorie will be in contact with Sarah along this memorial journey to ensure that her wishes are followed.

To contact Lorie, please visit her blog HERE! If you don’t know Sarah and would like to learn more about her, please visit her blog HERE! Thank you for your help to raise money for a tree for Henry.


See ya back here tomorrow with 2 fun projects for ya! Have a goodie!

Doggie Holidays!!

Hello & Happy Wednesday to you all! This will be short and sweet for ya today! I have to finish a couple of projects, pack for the kids, pick them up from school early and head down to my mom's! So lots to do and not enough time to get everything done--ack! Hope you all have a wonderful day--and make sure & check back tomorrow & Friday--I will be pre-posting with lots of fun projects for ya!! And oh yeah, Happy Anniversary to me & hubby too---gotta fit that in too, LOL!


NewsBitz:

-Don't forget tomorrow is the Pink Cat Studio Digi release--more fun images and a special one too that you won't want to miss! Check back here tomorrow!

-Please say a special prayer for Sarah Anderson (sairabee on SCS) and her family for the loss of her sweet angel boy Henry who was 3! My heart aches for her & her family today--I can't imagine the loss of a child--such a horrible tragedy :o( If you'd like information on how to donate to the Memorial Fund that was set up, you can do that HERE!

-I will be having a Crafter's Holiday Open House on December 5th at my home from noon until 5 pm!! If you are in the area & would like to come I'd love to have you---just a fun way to meet other crafters nearby, chat & have some holiday sweets! I will be having a Mitten/Hat Giving Tree, so if you'd like to bring a hat and/or mittens for a child under age 12 that would be fab! I will be donating all of them to the local Shelter for Domestic Violence Sufferer's Children! If you think you'd like to come just email me and let me know, and I can send you my addy!! It's sure to be a fun time--so just drop by for an hour or three!!

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Doggie Days!!

Oh boy, as soon as I saw this cute doggie digi image "Bismarck" from Mo's Digital Pencil I had to have it! This doggie looks like my beloved mini schnauzer Trinket who I lost 2 years ago--we always kept her a lil' shaggy like this cuz' she hated the groomers so much, lol! I still miss her so--she was a wedding present from my hubby and I miss her everyday! So anywho, I had to make my Bismarck into a black schnauzer, hee hee. I used the sketch from "A Spoon Full of Sugar #76" for my layout and the fab papers are new from Graphic 45.

The sentiment is from PTI's "Vintage Ornaments" (yes, this is my fave set), cut out with my Nestabilities Ribbon Trio and then I added some punched holly (from my MS punch) w/ PTI buttons for berries. All the papers were distressed with my Tonic Distress Tool & Distress Ink pad.

I colored this cutie with Copics, added white sparkly fluff to the fur trim on the cap and Shimmerz (new Antique Lace ) to the very LARGE BONE, LOL (my son says its a dino bone, hee hee)! And of course there are some stickles on there too :o) Wouldn't be one of my cards w/o some stickles, hee hee! I basically made this card just for me, LOL--it will sit in my craft room cuz' I love it so! Hope you like it too!

A "Rough" Day in the Life 4 of my 5 Cats!! LOL

Here's my cat Poncho all curled up for a mid-day nap--his favorite past time, LOL! He's such a cutie--always in the same room with me and follows me around along w/ the dogs. No such thing as private time in this house, LOL!

And here's my hubby's cat Trouble....er...I mean Tucker, LOL (cuz' he's always in trouble)!! He thinks he's a dog most of the time, is always into or on something he shouldn't be but he sure is a cutie. He decided that this game box was just the right dimensions for a nap, LOL! If there's a box around, Tucker will be in it :o)

This is my daughter's cat "Tinkerbell" (Tucker's sister)! She's almost as naughty as him, but in a more sly way. She is constantly howling in the middle of the night because she has a TREASURE for someone, usually a hairband but once she dropped a dead spider on Alexa's bed--that was PRICELESS, LOL!
And this is sweet Millie (Poncho's sister)! She is a big scaredy-cat, afraid of her own shadow but as sweet as can be! Never doing anything bad, she's the quiet cat of the house always hunting down our bugs, hee hee!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells!!

Hello Stampin' Friends!! So tomorrow is my wedding anniversary and I don't have a card yet, lol--think I might have to buy one (gasp)!! I know that's horrible, but usually the ones in the store have the best sentiments so I want something really good ya know. Trust me I don't buy cards very often though :o) The kids have off of school today again for voting day so I'm taking both of them for haircuts after Alexa's District Chorus tryouts in the morning.

I'm getting my hair done on Wednesday--yay--I think my roots are 10 ft. long now, LOL! I like to have my hair cut but I'm just too antsy to sit in the chair for very long so I don't get it highlighted very often--my ADD setting in, LOL, plus I don't likee the smell! I know most people like to get pampered & get their hair done, but it's just not really my thing, hee hee! A little bit of my tomboy still lingering with me I guess. Hey, waxing hurts and haircolor smells!! And girlies don't even get me started on my nails--the horror! They always wear a nice coat of whatever medium I'm working in--glitter, stickles, glue & black ink, hee hee! I always envy those of you who have nice nails, I've tried but it's useless cuz' they're always chipped & broken a day later! The only thing I really like to get done are massages--those I could have everyday, LOL, but only manage maybe twice a year! So what are your favorite pampering things you like to get done? Or are you like me and just never seem to pull off the whole pampering thing? (although I would NEVER leave the house w/o makeup, GASP, people would be frightened, hee hee)

NewsBitz:

-Susana's Custom Art & Card Design is on vacation until Friday of this week, so you can window shop but no buying until Friday while she's on vacation, 'kay!

-Have you seen the fun new Penny Black SlapStick stamps yet HERE! They're etched rubber but have the image on the backside so it makes alignment super easy! Cute too!

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Jingle Bells

Today I have a few Christmas projects for you to hopefully get you inspired--only like 50 days until Christmas--ACK! This card uses a fabulous image from I Brake For Stamps called "Large Bells" (there is a smaller one too)--remember if you want to place an order there, use the coupon code "SAVE10SUZANNE" to get 10% off your entire order!! I love the elegant feel of this stamp don't you? I colored with Copics and this layout is this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #111--fun one! I embossed my red cs with a new Cuttlebug folder called "Victoria" which I just LOVEEE! That pretty holly border was done with a MS border punch I got at Michaels--it's so delicate & pretty! I created a bow with this fabulous gold-wired ribbon and added a Prima Jewel Flower Center to the center--these are fab to put on your bows and/or flowers!

I colored my images with Copics of course, added stickles to the leaves and greenery and liquid pearls to the berries. To really make the bells stand out, I added a nice thick coat of diamond glaze to them. Hope you like it too!

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Santa Gnome Favors

OMGoodness, as soon as I saw these cute lil' Santa gnomes from Bildlamarna I just had to have them--my friend Nikki has them in her store HERE! SHHHHHhhh, but I have a slight Santa fetish, hee hee---I love them all and the cuter the better! I love his lil' squat self and big nose, lol--too cute! Today on SCS they're doing a holiday tutorial on making matchbook favors--but I did mine yesterday & of course I had to make my own dimensions to fit my image & candy :o) So this set is a 4x4 card and a matchbook candy favor!

I colored this "Santa w/ Lantern" with copics, added some stickles and puffed liquid applique to his hat trim! The sentiments on both are from the PTI set "Vintage Ornaments"! So cute he is!


So my lil' matchbook holds 2 Starburst candies inside, but would also fit any other smaller candies too! Wouldn't these be great for treats for kids or a special party at your house--they're very easy to make & put together!

Hope you were inspired just a bit today! I'll be back tomorrow with some 'animal fun' projects for ya!

Harvest Pilgrim!!

Happy Monday everyone & a wonderful beginning of November!! I have lots to share with you this week so I hope you'll stop by everyday! Tecnically I will be out of town this Wednesday thru Sunday to celebrate my wedding anniversary but I will have blog entries pre-posted thru Friday for ya! I'm looking forward to some time away without the kids (they're going to my parents house along w/ the doggies) alone with the hubster!

Did everyone have a fabulous weekend? My daughter left with friends on Saturday to go trick-or-treating and will be back today--she went on a friends boat for the weekend as well. I have some Halloween pics below to share with you of our house and my son & his friend. I won't have any pics of my daughter until she gets home today since she dressed at a friend's house and she has to email me some, hee hee. Both of the kids have off of school today & tomorrow (ACK) for school in-service & voting day, so they only have school on Wednesday before they go to Grandma's--short week for them!

NewsBitz:

-I was thrilled to double my goal of $200 for my Charity Blog Hop thanks to you all! The Lost Dog & Cat Rescue will be recieving over $400 to help all the animals in need--and we appreciate it so very much, that will feed and vaccinate alot of animals this winter! So thank you, thank you to you all from the bottom of my heart--I'm just thrilled for the shelter and so thrilled that all of you took the time to donate to a cause near & dear to my heart!
So the winner of the HUGE Blog Candy is............Lori Aragon of My Comfort Cottage(please email with your address so I can get your goodies out to ya)

-All Etsy orders I have recieved up to today will be mailed out today--if you order anything after Tuesday, they will be mailed out next Monday due to my vacation!! Thanks!

-The NEW Magnolia Links magazine is for sale at Magnolia-licious now--get your copy HERE before they're gone!

-I will have a quick pic tutorial of how I do my pop-up cards up tomorrow or Wednesday for ya!

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Pilgrim Harvest

Since I saw the Spooky Collection from Magnolia--I knew I would use this "Witch Tilda with Pumpkins" as a lil' pilgrim girl! She's just too cute to be a scary witch, hee hee, and this makes her very versatile for fall! I paired her up with the "Large Pumpkin & Leaves" (which is on sale) to make a cute Thanksgiving card & matching pumpkin table favor! Both of these stamps are available at Magnolia-licious!


I used Basic Grey's "Indian Summer" papers paired with PTI cs (orange zest, scarlet jewel, dark chocolate)--I love the warm, fall colors in these papers! This lil' cutie got colored with Copics and then cut out & popped up in front of the large pumpkin. I added some flourishes around the frame with PTI's "Fancy Flourishes" set and some stardust stickles to her petticoat trim and pumpkin. To create the multi-colored shading around the edges I used my Inkssentials Blending Tool & SU inkpads--if you don't have a airbrush system (or you do like me, but am too lazy to pull it out, hee hee) this is a great & fast alternative to get soft shading around your images. The sentiment is from PTI's "2009 Autumn Tags" set along with the ribbon--double bow was tied with my Bow Easy. The pretty center jewel is from Prima's "Say It With Pearls"--see HERE.

I just adore this lil' cutie! Her shoes & the lil' pumpkins got a coat of diamond glaze too! Colors used on her dress are E49,E47,E44,E43,E42 and R37,R35,R32--pumpkin colors are YR18,YR15,YR12,YR01,YR00 and YR24.

So I of course had to make a lil' pumpkin favor box to go along with her! I cut out 3 ovals with my oval nestabilities, shaded the edges & layered them together with dimensionals. I cut out a stem & the leaves are from a MS leaf punch. Some ribbon, a button, twine and another sentiment from the same PTI set finish the front off!

This is the side view--I made a 3x3 box to attach to the pumpkin that you could fill with lots of fall goodies (I put some tulle & a gourd in mine)! Wouldn't these be cute sitting on your holiday table at every place setting! They're super easy & quick to make too! (3x3 box is a 7x7" pc of cs scored at 2 inches on every side) Hope you enjoyed all the projects today & love them as much as I do :o)

Here are my Halloween pics (click to make larger):

Merry & Bright Pixie!

Hi everyone and Happy Sunday to ya! Just a short blog post today--recovering from last night's late activities and too much candy in the belly, LOL! Make sure & check out my post from yesterday if you haven't already, it was packed with pink loveliness!

NewsBitz:

-Check out the NEW cool Smooch Spritz--fun colors, cool bottles & awesome metallic shimmer (Buy the set of 8 for the price of 7) ! Susana also have these AWESOME Glitter Buttons in stock now--they are SUPER glittery, I just love them!

-Susana's Custom Art & Card Design is going on vacation starting this Tuesday, which means the store cart will be closed until Friday (Nov.3-5th). So if you want to order something & need it in a jiffy--make sure & do so by Monday!

-One of my new favorite stores A2Z Scrapbooking has an AWESOME sale on Copic Sketch sets--check them out HERE!

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Copic Creations Challenge Blog

So today is November 1st (already, my time flies) which means it's another Copic Creations Challenge!! This time we were challenged to color red/auburn hair on our images---easy peasy I say, hee hee! I pulled out one of CC Designs Swiss Pixies "Gretel" which I hadn't had a chance to ink up yet and made her a Christmas Pixie instead--she's super versatile which I love of course! Her hair color is actually a bundle of Copics I made for Susana's Store that you can buy HERE (E19,E18,E17,E13) and I added a little of YR23 for some golden touches.

I stamped some Christmas holly from a holiday Inkadinkado set so Gretel would have a place to sit--stamped the corners as well, and then added stickles to the leaves and red pearls (A2Z Scrapbooking has a fabulous selection of pearls HERE) to some of the berries. The dp is by Memory Box called "Spiceberry" and the sentiment is from the PTI set "Vintage Ornaments". And I was soooo excited to finally find the Martha Stewart holly punch--I double punched the holly from 2 colors of cs and then added more red pearls for the berries. A cute holiday card for my stash! Hope you like her too!

Now make sure & stop by the Copic Creations Challenge Blog HERE to see the rest of the DT's projects and to join in on the fun as well!

A Pleasin' Pink Parade!!

Happy Saturday & Happy Halloween!! Are you celebrating today or getting ready for a spooky evening, hee hee? I'm still prayin' that the rain holds off---kinda messes with the walking around the neighborhood with everyone ya know. Hubby is off to the store to buy our candy--we're late doing it, but hopefully we'll get it 50% off today, LOL! If it rains I'll be setting my cauldron full of candy out on my porch, snuggle up with my fireplace & watch my favorite Halloween movie "Hocus Pocus" (yes, I really do love it & watch it at least twice in October, hee hee). Both the kids will be gone, so hubby & I will eat our homemade sloppy joes & dig into some of that bad, bad candy that's entering the house :o) (I get dibs on all the tootsie rolls--my fave) Since I had Halloween cards up yesterday, I decided to totally go opposite today with girly pink cards, LOL!


NewsBitz:

-My Charity Blog Candy ends tomorrow at midnite, so if you want a chance to enter--you can read all the details HERE! Winner will be announced on Monday morning!!

-Have you seen the new Prima "Say It With Pearls" jewelry for your cards--they are beautiful & great to use on your cards (I like to put them in the center of my bows)! Check them out HERE!

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TuTu Cute!

So my first pink-a-licious card today use one of the cutest lil' ballerina Digi images from Mo's Digital Pencil called "Two TuTu's"! Since my daughter danced ballet up until last year (sob) I had to have this--I love their lil' chubby legs, hee hee! I used all My Minds Eye papers along with PTI's shimmery gold cs. And I used some sheer pink ribbon to create a tutu ruffle around the main image WITHOUT SEWING (ya know I don't sew, hee hee)--so how did I do it? I created a frame on the back of the image with Scor-Tape then pleated my ribbon around the frame tacking it to the tape as I went--a perfect ruffle w/o needle and thread!! I distressed the edges with my Tonic Distress Tool and added a sentiment from Verve Stamps "Beautiful You"(I only stamped part of the sentiment).

Their lil' tutus got a coat of my Quickie Glue Pen and then MS crystal glitter and the star wands got gold glitter. (I find that I CANNOT use my Stickles on my Digi images--it smears the ink & makes it muddy for some reason even after letting it sit for 24 hours so I have to use regular glitter--wahhhh) The stars on the sentiment were crystal, but I sprayed them with adhesive & sprinkled gold glitter on top to match their wands. The edges of my image got a spritz of Gold Smooch Spritz (new & available HERE)--the sentiment got a spritz of the Vanilla Smooch Spritz--very soft & shimmery! Aren't they just tutu cute (couldn't help meself, hee hee)?!

Second card is my non-traditional Christmas card which uses a fab image from the Whiff of Joy Henry Christmas Mouse Collection called "Henry Mouse with Christmas Bauble" sold HERE! I think these mice are super adorable & I had to color this one up first since I love Xmas ornaments so much! I love to use non-traditional colors on holiday cards--makes such a statement! I embossed my black cs with a limited edition (only available last year, sorry) ornament folder and added a strip of DCWV Xmas paper with all the colors in it. I added a bow made with my Bow Easy and some punched snowflakes with lots of glitter dots--love those things!

Here's this cutie up close! I added diamond glaze to his ornament, stickles to the ornament top & berries and sparkly fluff to his fur trim on his cap! I think he's just adorable!

Last card in this pinky pleasing parade is another CAS (clean & simple) card I made (I made a set of 2) using the Lockhart stamp "Rose of Sharon"! I'm having a blast making sets of CAS notecards I tell ya and Lockhart stamps make it so easy to do--so many to choose from too! The image was colored with Copics and then I added some stickles to the flower centers. The dp is My Minds Eye that I cut into strips and added to white glossy cs. Wrapped it with sheer pink ribbon (same that I used above) and topped it off with a double bow. Easy peasy, notecards whipped up in a jiff!

Hope you enjoyed the Pink Parade today! If you're celebrating this evening I hope you have a blast & stay safe! I'll be back tomorrow with my Copic Creations Challenge Card since it will be the 1st of November (gasp-already)!!

Spooktacular Fun!!

Happy Spooky Hallow's Eve & Friday to ya!! Thank goodness for weekends--we all need a bit of a break I think, hee hee! So happy to hear from alot of you that battle with their spouses over the lights & temperature too---I knew I couldn't be alone, LOL! I have just resigned myself to the fact that we will always AGREE to DISAGREE and things won't change--I will always like to be warm and have lots of light and my hubby is obviously a cold-blooded bat, bwahahahahha-perfect for Halloween! My kids are super excited about Halloween tomorrow--this is my daughter's last year to trick-or-treat so her and her friends are having a spooky sleepover after treating to celebrate. But it's supposed to rain here (1st time it's ever rained on Halloween since my kids have been born)-so I'm really crossing my fingers that it doesn't! And we have to turn the clocks back---ugh--my least favorite time of the year--I hate the dark!! Well today, I have a few spooky cards for ya--my last for this season and then we'll move on to the next holiday.........

NewsBitz:

-My Charity Blog Candy ends on Sunday--so if you haven't entered you can go HERE to read all the details! I appreciate all the donations so far--it means a ton to me :o)

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Spooky Magnolia Collection

I got my cutie-pie Magnolia Spooky Collection stamps in yesterday from Diana of Magnolia-licious, so I had to hurry and ink some up for ya! I used yesterday's SCS Sketch #252 for both of my layouts today--it's a fun one! This is "Witch Tilda" with her friend "Owl"--I just love them, so cute together (and they're both on sale too)! The papers are all by Basic Grey's "Eerie"--some of the papers make awesome backgrounds for your spooky scenes like what I've used here. The sentiment is from MFT, buttons by PTI and Martha Stewart Cobweb punch for the corners.
Witch & Owl were colored with copics and then Tilda got stardust stickles on her dress and hat band, diamond glaze on her boots and Owl's eyes. Spooky Boo to You!!

Second card uses a fun stamp called "Haunted House" from I Brake For Stamps--I love coloring spooky houses and this would make a great background stamp as well. Remember if you order from I Brake For Stamps, use the Coupon Code "SAVE10SUZANNE" to get 10% off your entire order! I used the BG "Eerie" papers again and the same sketch just turned on it's side. I colored with Copics & my Spica pens and the ghosts got stickles added to them--so it's really sparkly IRL. I used a fabulous large bat punch out (thanks to my pal Cheryl Rowley for sending me them) to stamp my sentiment on & inked the edges w/ silver ink. A few more smaller bats and some black rhinestones finished this Halloween card off. I adore it :o)

Have a fabulous Friday & I'll see ya back here tomorrow with 2 more projects!

Hanukah and some Christmas!!

Happy Thursday to you all! Wow--I got so many responses on my new blog!! I'm glad you all like it as much as I do :o)--it certainly represents me well! And it was so much fun working with Veronica--if you have the chance to do your blog with her--you'll love her!!

So while I was sitting here uploading and editing my photo's I got into a mock/serious argument with my hubby and thought I'd share (he'll love this, LOL)! Do any of you argue over the thermostat and the lights in your house? OMGoodness this is an ongoing battle in our house, hee hee. I like the house warm which means when I'm at home during the day I want to be comfortable, not freezin' my tail feathers off ya know and NO I don't wanna wear extra clothes like an eskimo (said to hubby everyday in the winter)---and sometimes I have to sneak the fireplace on & turn it off before hubby gets home--LMBO! He's such a stickler for the temperature in the house and we have programmable thermostats, but I'm always overriding the program :o) which hubby doesn't like (now granted I don't waste electricity or gas, but a gal's gotta be warm & our bills have never been outta hand)! I KEEP reminding him that natural gas is half the cost it was last year, so you know what that means??!!! MORE FIRES in the fireplace, LOL!

Moving onto lights--I like light and the sun. If there is no sun, then there MUST be ALOT of light in my house! If I'm on the main floor in the great room (which is our family room, kitchen, eating area & foyer) I want those lights on, not just in the family room but the ENTIRE room and/or any room I can see from there must be lit in some way, hee hee! And yes we have those energy efficient (yuck I hate them cuz' they have to warm up before they light all the way) bulbs in every room thanks to the hubster! I will leave the kitchen (no lie, ask my mom--she's seen him in action) to use the powder room for a minute & come back & he'll have turned the darn lights off in the kitchen--omg! Like he saved 1/2 cent on electricity for that one minute--UMMM NOOOOO! He follows me around when he's home & we have a "War of the Light Switches" whenever he's home!! LOL! The kids just laugh & I do too MOST of the time, but it can get seriously annoying!! So just curious if this happens in your house as well--here at ScrapBitz you can tell ME all about it :o)!! (And NOTE to hubby--NO, you do not get to speak your side of the story on MY BLOG--ha--LOL)


NewsBitz:

-7 Kids College Fund is getting some cute new lines of stamps in for the holiday season. In 2 Stamps preorders can be seen HERE. And Tab has Ladybug & Friends stamps coming soon as well!

-Don't forget to stop by the Pink Cat Studio blog HERE to join in on the fun Betty Bio/DT Contest! The DT make their own Betty's (in their likeness) and you have to match them up with the DT gal (mine is so easy, come on, just look at this blog & you'll know which is mine, hee hee)

-Today Mo's Challenge DT has a fun challenge for you up on their blog HERE! Stop by & join in on the fun!

-Still time to enter for my Charity Blog Candy--all the details are HERE!

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Pink Cat Studio Digi Stamp Release

So today Melissa (owner & designer extraordinaire) of Pink Cat Studio has more holiday lovely Digi Stamps for ya (she's been busy) over at the Digi Store HERE!! I will tell you now, that I don't celebrate Hanukkah--we celebrate Christmas but I have always been very open about all religions and belief's with my children--I believe in a little bit of everything. So I had to do a little research on this Jewish holiday to make sure I didn't muck it up any (sorry if I did). I couldn't help but want to use this cute image of "Lily Dreidel". I used the traditional colors of blues, whites, silver & gold for my entire card. Lily was colored with Copics and then I added silver Smooch to her flowers and belt--the dreidel got touches of gold Spica pen on it. I used my Shimmery Silver cs from PTI and embossed it for the back panel along with my favorite Dovecraft holiday paper. I made my own hatpin using some beads I had on hand, made a double bow w/ my Bow Easy and some Primas stacked up & topped with silver glitter dots. Isn't she lovely!!?

Second card is another CAS card (Clean & Simple)--I'm just loving coming up with ideas for these, hee hee! I wanted something that was elegant, made a statement but was easy to mass produce! So I embossed my white cards with the CB embossing folder "Morocco"(a new fave) and printed out this lovely digi stamp "Bird Star of David". Simple but lovely! I colored with Copics and then added some gold Inspiration Paint on top with some stickles on top of that so it's super sparkly! I wrapped some pretty & sparkly PTI gold ribbon around the corners to finish it off!

Last project is a gift within a card--a one-stop shop! I picked up these fab BoBunny Favor Circles from Taylored Expressions (she's out, but I found some HERE)--I also got the heart ones, I have so many ideas for these, hee hee! So I decided to create the card around the favor box! These two cuties are "Lily & Billy Hot Cocoa"--aren't they adorable & drinking my favorite winter beverage (well next to the Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider-yummo)! I filled my Favor Circle with yummy marshmallows and then on the inside of the card are 2 Hot Cocoa packets--1 for the recipient and 1 to share!. The papers are from Imaginisce Polar Expressions--perfect with these images and I added a bunch of snowflakes to the top; sentiment is from PTI(Tea for Two) bent up in the middle w/ dimensionals--too cute.


Both of these images were colored with Copics, then I added white Sparkly Fluff to Lily's fur trim and blue Sparkly Fluff to Billy's trim! Some diamond glaze on their mugs and then I used Liquid Applique to make the marshmallows in their cocoa puff up--too cute! These would be perfect for a friend or a child for the holidays--I'd love to get one of these myself, hee hee!

Hope you liked the projects today! Now make sure & hop around to the other PCS Digi DT's blogs to see all their fab projects for today (Maria, Tori, Vicki, Inge, Alicia, Kerry, Emily, Mackenzie, Tracey, Kristen)! And of course you can buy all of these HERE at the store!

See ya tomorrow!

What's Black, Red & White??!!

Hello Stamping Friends--it's the middle of the week already!! Are you all set for Halloween (for those that celebrate)? I still have to go get candy and candles so I'm a bit behind--but hopefully the candy will be on sale when I pick it up on Friday, LOL! Alexa is going trick-or-treating with a group of girlfriends and then she'll be at a sleepover with them all (thankfully not at my house--oh teen girls hyped up on candy--not fun for me, hee hee)! Riley is trick-or-treating with friends and then going to a party at a friends house afterwards until 11 pm! Hubby and I will be eating our usual after the festivities--homemade sloppy joes toasted with mozzarella cheese melted on top and fried potatoes--YUM!

So do you like my new blog look? I AM IN LOVE with my blog, hee hee---I just adore it and think it is totally a great expression of ME!! Veronica of VKDesign Co. is MAH-VELOUS to work with--she runs with an idea, is fast and comes up with the best stuff. If you're thinking about a blog reno--you should check her site out--I HIGHLY recommend her! Not only did she do my blog, but she added the pages at the top (tutorials & all about me pages), my signature, a watermark, my Etsy Shop banner and a business card pdf file! LOVE IT--that's me sitting in my favorite chair (wish mine was zebra, hee hee) with my laptop with dogs & cats sitting with me. I had her add some copics and papers since those are my main tools :o) and if ya know me you know how much I LOVE my zebra print!!! Perfecto job Veronica---thank you so very much! (If you drop by her site, let her know you love the work she did here!!)

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NewsBitz:

-My Charity Blog Candy is running thru November 1st--stop by HERE to see all the details!

-Check out my Pumpkin Patch Pictures on my "All About Me" page (tab above)

-Pink Cat Studio Digi stamp release tomorrow--more holiday loveliness!

-Pink Cat Studio is starting a fun CONTEST today HERE!! Melissa asked the PCS Digi DT to create a Betty that best represented themselves! If you can figure out which DT team gal matches each Betty Bio picture, you can win FREE DIGI STAMPS! FUN!!

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60's Candy Girl

First project up today--all with the theme of my favorite colors red, black & white--is a fun Magnolia card I made especially for the lovely Diana Crick who is of course the owner of Magnolia-licious & a great lady to boot! So I set out to re-create a 60's Soda Shop!

I used 3 new stamps from the Yummy for your Tummy line (love these stamps) to create this fun 50's scene! I used these stamps "60's Tilda", "Kitchen"(which I used as a soda & candy shop counter) and "60's Table" (which I used as a stool for Tilda and they're all available at Magnolia-licious!! The dp is by Paper Trey Ink and the white cs was embossed with a new CB embossing folder "Morrocan". I added black pearls for knobs to all the drawers and added diamond glaze to the jars, lollipop and door windows. I drew in some candy in the one jar with my sparkly Spica pens--gotta have some goodies :o) Bow was made with my Bow Easy & then I added a new Say It With Pearls by Prima center jewel (love these--see them here)!

Isn't she just a doll--I adore her? I cut out all the elements & popped them up on dimensionals for lots of POP! And she got some fab stardust Stickles to her dress and hair bows--gotta have bling! So this card will be off in the mail to Diana this week--she asked the DT to make her some red, black & white cards to go in her new kitchen & I was happy to oblige!!

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RBW Notecards--CAS

And I had to continue on my quest to try & make more Clean and Simple cards (CAS) and since I had these papers & markers out already--I decided to use the same color scheme! I pulled out my Lockhart Itty Bitty stamps "Apple" and "Cherry" and created a fun & cheery notecard set in minutes--4 of them too (GASP)! Colored these images quickly, mounted them onto cs and added stickles to the border edge. The sentiments are from the PTI set "Everyday Button Bits" and then I added a few red rhinestones to finish it off! I even stamped some cute lil' images on the matching envies--this set is for sale in my Etsy shop too! Clean & simple, Easy Peasy!

Hope you enjoyed the projects & the NEW LOOK today! See ya back here tomorrow with some Pink Cat Digi Stamp releases!

I'm Still Here!!

Happy Tuesday to you all! I'm here, I'm here--LOL! Nothing major going on just alot of STUFF ya know so I wasn't able to get a post up for yesterday. Dumb blogger wasn't letting me upload pics on Sunday night and by 11:30 pm I'd had enough so I just went to bed! We had a good weekend, Riley is much better and we managed to get to the Pumpkin Patch on Sunday. The weather was absolutely perfect for the pumpkin patch and we had a great time, nice to see the sun again after days & days of rain! I will have pics for ya tomorrow of our fall adventure!

I'm so thrilled & touched by all the donations to the Lost Dog & Cat Foundation that have been pouring in from you all--I made my first goal and had to set another, hee hee!! It makes my heart sing to know this wonderful animal rescue will be getting much needed funds to keep helping all those abandoned & at risk animals this year!! So a big thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this along with me, I really appreciate it and the animals will benefit greatly! You still have until November 1st to enter for the Charity Blog Candy and all the details are HERE! If you do donate, please make sure & come back to my blog and leave a comment on that post so you're entered for that HUGE BLOG CANDY!! Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

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NewsBitz:

-New Blog is coming this week---so stay tuned--I'm so excited for you to see it, it's very ME!! Can you guess what it might look like?

-Charity Blog Candy Post HERE for all the details!!

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Try It Out Tuesday #41

So since it's Tuesday that means it's another Try It Out Tuesday Challenge #41 for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design! This week I challenged the DT to use metal elements on their cards--could be charms, metallic paints, metallic papers, etc.! I chose to use a new Victoria Case for SCACD stamp called "Kringlet"--isn't she just a lil' cutie!! This sketch is this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #110--really liked this sketch this week!

My papers are by 3 Bugs In A Rug--aren't they fun?! I added some mini jingle bells to the bow and also one to end of her elf cap (I cut off the paper bell)! A few felt SU snowflakes and I stamped a sentiment from PTI onto my cutout hearts (heart nestabilities) and I used my Gold DecoColor pen to create a border around the white heart & add dots to!

I colored her with Copics and then added stardust Stickles to her dress, diamond glaze to her heart and eyes, and Gold Smooch paint to her dress trim and bell on her booties! Such a cutie don't ya think!

Now make sure & stop by the store blog "Follow Your Heart" to see the rest of the DT's fabulous projects for today!

Second project uses a favorite Lockhart stamp called "Snowlady" (there are a few in this snowman line)--I just adore snowpeople!! For this card I kept it simple--white & navy blue and lots of texture. I couldn't help but make a set of cute earring to match--I used shrinky dink paper to create them, added color with my Prisma pencils and some stickles for sparkle. The bottom of the earrings have small snowflakes attached that I made with my shrinky dink paper as well.

I embossed the white card with a Cuttlebug Folder and added a fun sentiment from the new PTI set "Vintage Ornaments". The snowflakes were all made with my punches and I added my fave Martha Stewart Snow Glitter to the white ones. The dark blue paper is actually royal blue mirrored cardstock--really shiny & pretty. The snowlady is colored with copics and then she got some Stickles on her for lots of sparkle! Just a fun holiday set!

Hope you enjoyed my projects today--and I promise to be back tomorrow with more :o)

Charity Saturday & BLOG CANDY TOO!!

Happy Saturday Friends! I'm taking the weekend off so my next post for ya will be on Monday!! I just need some down time & some sleep, hee hee! But thought I'd remind you of a few things around blog-land and give you some info on some of my favorite charities and how you can win some fabulous BLOG CANDY!

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**If you haven't entered the "Find-It Holiday Lockhart Blog Hop" yet, you have until tonight at midnite EST to hop along, count the hearts and leave a comment on the store blog (all details HERE)! Winner will be notified on Sunday!

**Also, the Magnolia-licious DT hopes you decide to join in with us on our Clean & Simple Card Challenge! You can find out all the details on the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog HERE!

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As you know I'm a huge animal lover and would spend most of my waking time taking care of them if I could and have a household full of animals much to my hubby's chagrin--oh wait I do have a houseful, LOL! My dream is to own some property one day to foster animals that are in need of a home for awhile and give them a safe & love-filled home! So I wanted to let you know of 2 charities that I participate in and would love if you took the time to check them out as well! Especially in this time of recession, charities and especially animal charities are taking a hurting!

The first one is a simple & fun way to donate by going to this web site FreeKibble.com HERE! You simply answer a trivia question about dogs & there is another site for cats everyday--no matter what your answer they donate 10 pieces of kibble (dog/cat food) to rescue shelters. You can sign up for their email reminder and they'll send a reminder to your email everyday--this is what I do. Such an easy way to donate & fun too!!

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The second charity is a local rescue here in Virginia that I volunteer with called Lost Dog & Cat Rescue! All of my cats but 1 have come from them and I've fostered animals for them as well as donated much needed items. Right now they're having a charity drive to try and raise money as they are a NO-KILL shelter and have a lot of animals they're taking care of right now. They are based here in VA but they travel up and down the East Coast to take in animals--but without help from us they cannot take in as many animals especially with winter coming so soon and so many in need!

I would be so thrilled and honored if all my blog readers would donate just $2-$5 each (more if you'd like, but not necessary) to this charity! If I could raise $200 that would be a fabulous gift for my heart and all those animals in need. Go HERE to see the donation page!!

So if you can spare 8 or 20 quarters I would be so happy and if you do, please leave a comment back on this post and I will enter you for some very special Holiday Blog Candy just for all the donaters as a thankyou! The deadline for this is November 1st!!

Blog Candy will Include:

--new Holiday Martha Stewart punches and Hydrangea punches to make your own flowers
--MS snow glitter
-- Basic Grey "Eskimo Kisses" paper pad, sparkle fluff, diamond glaze,2 stamps by Victoria Case donated by Susana of Susana's Custom Art & Card Design
--2 Stampavie stamps of your choice, 2 Cuttlebug Holiday Embossing Folders and a $15 gift certificate to 7 Kids College Fund
--2 Magnolia stamps & 2 accessory stamps
--Your choice of 2 digi stamps from Pink Cat Studio Digi Store
--some Whiff of Joy stamps, a Lockhart stamp and MFT stamp set
--ribbon, pearls, stickles, Primas & more

The animals & I thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!

hugz to you all & have a fabulous weekend,
Suzanne

Clean & Simple!!

Oh Thank Goodness it's Friday, whewwww! I swear this has been the longest-never-ending week of my entire life, LOL! I'm so thankful for the weekend, Riley is feeling better & getting stronger so that's good. The weather is supposed to be nice so we're going to try and get to the pumpkin patch on Sunday if he's doing well! Saturday we have a date with friends of ours at my favorite Japanese restaurant so that will surely be fun and nice to get out of the house! We have to get last minute stuff for Halloween as well like candy, candles and some miscellaneous stuff for the kids costumes but nothing major to get done which I like :o) Anyone have any exciting plans for this weekend (that is if you're not a sickie-poo like 1/2 of America, lol)!?

Okay, moving on today I have another Blog Hop for you featuring the Magnolia-licious DT and the theme this time is "Clean & Simple" cards--I struggled with this, but it was a fun challenge (you know how I like my layers & embellies, hee hee)


NewsBitz:

-Don't forget to participate in the "Find-It Lockhart Holiday" Blog Hop!! You can start here on my blog (post below this one) and hop along to count all the hidden hearts and leave your comment on the store blog HERE to win a fabulous prize!!

-If you've ordered from my Etsy shop--all the orders will be put in the mail to this morning! Sorry that I've gotten behind on that this week, but you'll get them ASAP!

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Magnolia-licious DT BLOG HOP
"Clean & Simple"

Welcome to the Magnolia-licious DT Blog Hop--today the DT has created some fabulous "Clean & Simple" cards for you! All of these fabulous stamps can be found at the fabulous Magnolia-licious store HERE! This was a hard one for me since I'm so used to using lots of layers and embellies but the fact is, is that you can create beautiful & lovely cards with not alot of materials (hmmm...who woulda thunk it, hee hee). I think I found the key to this challenge for me anyhow, was to pick materials that I could add texture to & use one bold color to really make it pop!

For this card I paired up kraft cs with white & red--a little bit country and all cute!! This cutie pie is "Waiting Tilda" & she is probably my most favorite & most-used winter Magnolia stamp--I really just love her!! To create texture I created a diamond pattern on my kraft cs using my Scor-Pal and then where the diamonds met I paper pieced a hole each time. The white cs got embossed with a Cuttlebug snowflake folder as well and the entire card got a good spritz of Shimmerz Spritz (in baby's breath)! The fabulous gingham ribbon I got from Michaels & made my bow with my Bow Easy, and the sentiment is from the PTI that I stamped with my glue pad & added red glitter to. Easy peasy :o)

Here is this lil' cutie up close & personal--I set her on the ribbon and then her sweater dress & cap trim got a good dose of stardust stickles for some extra bling! Whatcha' think?? I like her alot and of course red is my fave color, hee hee! :o)

Second card uses another cute Magnolia stamp called "Tilda w/ Huge Bunch of Roses" and that's a whole lotta roses, hee hee! I used some Basic Grey dp as my starting point for this card and colored Tilda to match with Copics. If you click on the above picture to make it larger you'll see that the background white cs was stamped lightly in pink with a birthday sentiment over & over from the PTI set "Around & About Sentiments"--so obviously this is a bday card, LOL! I embossed the white cs behind Tilda with my CB Swiss Dots embossing folder for more texture and added a few pearls. I really like that the small frame of dp is bold & bright--grabs your attention paired with the white!

Here's this cutie close-up--I had to add some stickles to the leaves & you can't see it here but the roses have Shimmerz on them in Pixie Dust for a subtle sparkle. I had to use a bit of sheer ribbon to make a 3-D bow for these flowers--so cute!

Well, I hope you liked my Clean & Simple Magnolia cards for ya today---I think I spent more time figuring out these than I do my multi-layered cards, LMBO! But I like 'em!!

Now if you're coming here from Sharon's blog then I'm the end of the road for the hop, but if you're starting with me, make sure and start the hop with Kerry! And make sure and hop over to the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog to get all the details on how you can join in on the fun as well!!

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Clean & Simple Holiday Cards

Since I was working on some Clean & Simple cards, I decided to try and create my "mass" holiday card that I will send out to my friends for the holidays. I wanted something that was elegant, simple & of course easy to make lots of but have a nice impact as well. So I pulled out a few of my favorite holiday Lockhart Itty Bitty stamps "Wreath" & "Ornaments"! I embossed the background (3/4's of it) with a new Cuttlebug embossing folder called "Victoria", spritzed it with Shimmerz Spritz in baby's breath & stamped the bottom with sentiments from the PTI set "Signature Christmas".
I cut out my images with my Nestabilities Labels 1 and used the FABULOUS PTI set "Vintage Labels"to stamp the red lined label inside--these stamps fit within the Labels 1, how cool is that!!

Both of the images got Flower Soft (shamrock green) on the greenery, the ornaments have gold spica pen accents as well! Easy to make & put together! So if you're on my holiday list for Christmas cards, this is what will be in your mailbox, LOL (minus my mom, sister, bosses, & grandma--they get multi-layered goodness, hee hee)!

Well hope you enjoyed the blog hop & my clean and simple cards for ya today. And I hope I inspired you to try to make some as well! See ya back here tomorrow with just ONE (GASP) project for ya!

hugz,
Suzanne

A Packin' Post!!

Hiya & Happy Thursday friends!! This is a jam packed post for you today, including a BLOG HOP & a NEW RELEASE, so I will keep my chitter chatter to a minimum & the supplies will be in recipe form for ya! Glad to know that I'm not the only paper and craft supply hoarder, hee hee---I knew it was a widespread sickness!! Some of you buy megapacks of paper (never even heard of those thank goodness) and some of you buy 4-5 sheets of each---whoa nelly!! You all gave me a good giggle--yesterday was a very long day so it was fun to read all your comments as they came in!! The sad thing is, if there is a 12 step plan I think we'd all FAIL!! LMBO!

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So today we have a fun "Find-It Lockhart Stamp" BLOG HOP from Susana's Custom Art & Card Design DT for ya! The "Find-It" part means that you have to find something in all the DT's projects that are hidden and the hidden picture is a PINK HEART!! Each DT gal has a different number of hearts hidden in their projects so you have to keep track as you hop along. When you're done hopping, hop over to the store blog HERE to leave a comment for a chance at a fabulous prize AND if you are picked randomly and have left the right # of hearts in your comment, you can win an ADDITIONAL PRIZE!! All details are on the store blog as well, 'kay!

(Hint: all the hearts are in my first project picture below)

Well, Mr. Brown (UPS) came just in time yesterday bringing all my new PTI goodies so I quickly switched up my plan for what I was going to do. I decided to make holiday notepad planners using two of the fabulous Lockhart Stamp Co. Christmas Trees "Cranberry & Popcorn Tree" & "Della Robia Tree" that you can find HERE! Karen Lockhart makes the best holiday stamps as you will see when you hop around to the DT's blogs!! And ALL of my projects today fit in the Paper Play Challenge this week to use your favorite embellishment--well duh, mine is all about BLING, hee hee (rhinestones, pearls, glitter, stickles)!!!

As you probably know I am a manic list maker and no time more than the holidays--we've all got lots of lists to keep, so these can come in super handy. They're thin & easy to store in your tote or purse. The lil' notepads are from PTI and I just made a simple cover for each planner, very easy to do (PTI has a downloadable template HERE, but I just made my own since I had issues downloading it).

This tree was embossed in Gold Zing embossing powder & then I lightly colored w/ my Copics in a few areas. I also added some stardust stickles to some areas for sparkle.

This shows the inside; on the left I took one sheet of the notepad and drew lines with my Gold Spica pen to create a section that can list names and a small box that can be checked off. The right side holds the actual notepad so you can make lots of to-do & to-buy lists! I love these!

RECIPE: Zing embossing pwdr, gold spica pen, Graphic 45 holiday papers, PTI cardstock, PTI "Take Note" stamp set, Lockhart "Cranberry & Popcorn Tree" stamp, copics, PTI Vintage Cream notepads, PTI ribbon, Fiskars border punch, Bella Baubles in Goldilocks, Nestabilities, Scor-Tape

Since my first planner was very traditional I decided to switch it up and make this one very trendy & sassy! Nothing says that bettah' to me than hot pink & black for Christmas!! I colored this tree with pink and gray Copics, then added stickles and diamond glaze to some of the ornaments. All of the patterned papers & cardstock are from Paper Trey Ink as is the ribbon.


This one I made the inside a bit different--I put the notepad on the right and made a small pocket on the left so you could slip receipts or notes in. Easy to do with some leftover cs & dp and a little bit of Scor-Tape.

RECIPE: Lockhart "Della Robia Tree" stamp, PTI papers & ribbon, stardust stickles, diamond glaze, spica pen in black, scor-tape, rhinestones, Inkssentials blending tool, PTI white notepads

Well hope you liked my holiday planners that I made for the HOP today!!
**Now to hop along on this BLOG HOP you're next stop is DIANNE!! **
If you get lost along the way, the blog hop list is on the store blog HERE!

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Pink Cat Studio Digi Stamp Release

So another fun Digi Stamp release from Pink Cat Studio today as well--so much eye candy!! These new images are just holiday fabulous I tell ya! This card I did above uses "Snowflake Fairy Lily" & I think she's just a beauty! I wanted to keep all my colors limited to white & soft aqua (SU soft sky) to match some of my favorite Heidi Grace papers (yes, that I hoard) for an icy, frosty feel! I printed her out and colored her with copics (don't ya love her frosty hair, hee hee) and cut her out so I could pop her up. I cut a circle with my Nestabilities from the center of the card and replaced it with a transparency that I stamped snowflakes on with Staz-On ink. My snowflakes are a mix of punches and SU's felt snowflakes that I glittered up with my Martha Stewart Snow Glitter (love, love that stuff)! I added lots of clear rhinestones and pearls to everything for lots of sparkly bling and of course some stickles. The sentiment is from PTI that I added more frosty Snow Glitter too! A fun & frosty holiday card for ya!

Second card uses the new digi stamp "Lily Winter Coat"--I love that Melissa is making some Lily's for all the digi stamp lovers out there! Isn't she just a doll dressed up in her wintry finery?! I used some of my favorite Basic Grey "Wassail" papers to make a traditional holiday card. I distressed the edges of my cardstock and layered Lily using my oval nestability shapes. Lily has sparkle fluff on her muff and hat trim--so fuzzy & sparkly and the cute birdies got diamond glaze on them! I made a double bow with my Bow Easy and added a mix of flowers that I had in my stash. The lil' "JOY" sentiment is from a PTI set as well. Now make sure & stop by the Pink Cat Studio Digi Store HERE to see all the fabulous digi stamps and projects by the DT!

Would you like to try digital stamping for free? Melissa has created an informative tutorial to show you how easy it is to download and print digital stamps. In the tutorial there is a free digi stamp that you can download and try out.

Here is a link to the tutorial if you would like to give it a try: http://www.pinkcatstudio.com/Digital/Tutorials/DigiStamps_TestItOut.htm

Melissa also has a fun CONTEST going on at her blog HERE--so make sure & stop by to enter!!

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Whew, I'm tired now--how 'bout you? LOL! I'll see ya back here tomorrow with ANOTHER BLOG HOP from the Magnolia-licious DT, so come back tomorrow 'kay and get some rest, LOL!!


hugz,
Suzanne

Need a Lift??

Happy Wednesday everyone!! How are you all doing? Seems everyone in cyberland is sick with something, including here in our house--blech! Wonder if germs can spread thru the wires, LOL! Sending everyone out there get well wishes & lots of cyber chicken noodle soup for ya all (or tomato soup if you're like me and can't stand chicken noodle soup, LOL)!

I'm just gonna blurb quickly about something I was thinking yesterday & laughing over (at myself of course) and wanted to know who else out there is LIKE ME!! I was working on one of these cards and using some paper I've had forever and I was being so careful to not use too much, LOL, thinking omgoodness I need to save some for another time. Now, when I get paper I always buy 2 of each sheet or paper pad (seriously) so that I always have extra--yes I admit it I am a PAPER HOARDER, hee hee! I almost never use the 2nd piece and/or have lots of scraps letf--this has left me with a TON of paper but I cannot STOP myself from doing it. The thought of running out of that paper while I'm working on a project or wanting to use it again (which almost NEVER happens, lol) kills me and so I keep ordering 2 of each. The craft stores LOVE me for sure :o) Anyone have a 12-step plan for paper hoarding--cuz' I need help badly?? I've gone on many paper-buying hiatuses but to no avail--I think I'm a hopeless cause! So that being said, "who else is just like this, so I know I'm not alone, hee hee?"!!


NewsBitz:

-Celtic Woman of "Paper Trail" was the lucky winner of a new Quickie Glue Pen!! Email me your addy so I can get it out to ya!! Congrats!

-Due to sickies in my house right now, I didn't get to participate in yesterday's "Try It Out Tuesday" but the DT did a fabulous job creating Table Setting projects & decorations. Make sure & check them all out on the store blog "Follow Your Heart" for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design Store!!

-New Digi stamps coming on Thursday from Pink Cat Studio--stay tuned!

-A fun & prize-filled "Find-It" Lockhart Stamp Blog Hop on Thursday starting here at my blog and hopping along the DT's blogs for Susana's Store!!

-Another fun BLOG HOP on Friday that the Magnolia-licious DT will be bringing you featuring "Clean & Simple" Magnolia cards!!

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"Got Patience?"

My first card for ya today uses a new digi image from Mo's Digital Pencil called "Patience"--as soon as I saw this I HAD to have it (good thing digi images are instant gratification, hee hee)! Being the mom to 5 cats, this just brought a huge smile to my face. We've only had cats for 4 years, but I can so imagine my kids doing this if they were smaller, LOL! I used the Friday Sketcher's Challenge sketch #74 from last week for my layout and my dp is from DCWV "Kitchen Stack". I colored her with Copics, added a few stickles & some diamond glaze on her bottle. The scrolls are from this punch here and flowers are all by Prima. This sentiment from PTI's "Everyday Button Bits" was just too perfect and I had to use it along with alot of my fave pearls!

Just another quick view of this lil' cutie. Copic colors on the cat were done w/ both the warm & cool grays. Her pants were done with B04,B02,B00,B0000 and reds were R08,R05, R02. Dontcha' just love her? Too cute--Mo has a way with her pencil that's for sure!

Second card uses a fabulously cute image from I Brake For Stamps called "Noah's Ark" and I just adore it! (if you order from them please use this coupon code "SAVE10SUZANNE" to get 10% off your entire order, 'kay)

When my son was born I painted an entire wall mural with a whimsical Noah's Ark (when my scanner is working again, I will load a picture of my mural) in his room. It was heartbreaking to leave it when we moved, but so fun to do. So of course I had to make a baby card with this image and I paired it with this cute dp by K&Co "Itsy Bitsy Baby Boy". The sketch is this week's Mojo Monday Challenge #109--such a fun sketch to use. The lil' sentiment is a rub-on from SU and then layered it with my oval nestabilities. I used my Bow Easy to create my bow and I HAD to add some fun matching buttons and some stickles on the image :o)

Here's a close-up of this cute image that I colored with Copics. I added stickles to the water & roof! So cute & perfect for a baby me thinks. Both of these cards today are for sale in my Etsy shop!!

Hope you enjoyed my projects for today! I'll be back here tomorrow with Blog Hop & some new releases for ya!!

hugz,
Suzanne

A Clown Party!!

Hiya Friends & welcome to another week!! Ah, who likes Mondays--not me! Mondays are always overwhelming to me, start of the week, start of another busy schedule & events & work ya know! The weekend always seems far, far away on Monday, LOL! The rain has FINALLY cleared out & it's supposed to be in the mid 50's & 60's this week with sun, which I'm happy about--I almost forgot what the sun looked like :o) We had a laid-back weekend not much going on which was nice, and hopefully the weather stays nice for the upcoming weekend so we can get to the pumpkin patch--always one of our favorite fall events! So fingers crossed for sunny & not-too cold weather this weekend! Well I have ALOT of stuff to share with you this week, so today I just have one fun project for ya!!

NewsBitz:

-If you have problems viewing blogs (especially blogger blogs like mine) I recommend to you, to download Mozilla/Firefox for your internet viewer if you have been using Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer has a TON of issues and sometimes flags blogs as "bad spots" & will not let you view them--you WILL NOT have that issue w/ Mozilla I promise you. I have had it for a year (it's free HERE) and it's faster & problem free--I love it, and you will find most people say the same thing.

-Magnolia-licious now has the holiday Magnolia stamps for pre-order from these NEW collections "So Snowy", "So Jolly" & "Under the Mistletoe" right HERE! And they are C-U-T-E--hard to pick a fave!

-7 Kids College Fund NOW has High Hope Stamps for sale HERE! Tab has a fabulous selection & if you see something that she doesn't carry she's fab for taking recommendations :o)

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This fun digi stamp was released by Pink Cat Studio last Thursday & I just fell in love with the fun owl clowns. You can buy this "Owl Clowns on Unicycle" right HERE! Aren't they fun? They're colored with copics and then I added some diamond glaze to their owl-y eyes! These fun, happy papers are by WeRMemoryKeepers--perfect for a birthday card. I used some American craft ribbons, cuttlebugged the one layer of cs and added a fun sentiment (by PTI "Round & About Sentiments"). I also used my Quickie Glue Pen to add glitter to different areas on the owls! Perfect bday card for anyone in your life!

I'll see ya back here tomorrow with some Thanksgiving projects!!

hugz,
Suzanne