Hello You!

When I was at the very impressive Impressive Ideas grand opening the other day I came across an interactive die by My Favorite Things Die-Namics.  It is called the Interactive Trio card and when cut on your handy dandy die cutting machine makes a little 3 window panel...but instead of having full cut outs of the "panes" it creates a score line so you really get a cute little flap.

So cool!

I spent way too much time making this card but it was very fun to do.  I CASEd (copy and steal everything) one by Stephanie Klauck at MFT but mine is a bit different...mostly because I didn't have all the stamps she used in her card.

Here is mine:

I used Things With Wings stamps by My Favorite Things

as well as the Scripty Sayings sentiment, "hello you", by Lawn Fawn.

 I stamped the sentiment with VersaFine ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder (a favorite technique!).  The butterfly and ladybug were colored with Copics and the little flowers were colored with Wink of Stella Pens.  I also added a layer of Clear Wink of Stella to the butterfly and ladybug.  Can't have enough shine now, can you?!

So when you open the little flaps you see a little scene with oh-so-cute owls. I didn't have a tree stamp that would work (yes, I have tree stamps but none that would work for this scene) so I drew the little tree limb.

I love the little owls...they are actually two separate stamps...and they are looking at each other.  Too cute!

I used some Distress Ink to sponge around them to get a bit of a sky look....and I added Wink of Stella to nearly everything!

Lastly, layered the scene and windows on top of a piece of green cardstock and mounted onto white Neenah for a finished A2 sized card.

This took a while to do...but I'm not giving up on it...want to play with these little windows and flaps again soon! Maybe today! ;)

Happy Crafting!

Birthdays, Birthdays!

This is a week for birthdays for us. Tomorrow my sweet little, adorable and a little goofy granddaughter turns 4.  These last 4 years have gone by so quickly...scary how the time flies!
I made her this little card with a Penny Black stamp set called "Mimi in Paris".  Taylor loves animals so I thought she'd like this little one with a puppy on it.

I stamped the images on white cardstock and then masked them so that I could use some distress inks to make the background. I also punched some clouds out with masking tape and used those on my sky.

I used mostly my new Chameleon pens to color with a little Copic coloring thrown in.  I find the Copics challenging to get nice blending like the pros but the Chameleons which are supposed to be much easier to use were not for me! LOL! I need lots of practice.  But I don't think Taylor will notice my less than perfect coloring.
And then I used some liquid applique for the puffy stuff on the little poodle.  I finished off with some clear Wink of Stella to add a little fun and glittery sheen.

Happy Birthday, Taylor!
And Happy Crafting!

Oh, and I entered this in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge which you can read about HERE.

Beyond the Sea....

I have been oh-so-lucky to spend part of my winter at the beach for the last three years.  I have a wonderful friend who has a house in Laguna Beach, FL just west of Panama City Beach. Oh, how I love the white sands and emerald green water of the Gulf. It is truly a happy place for me and I love being down there in the winter. It's not tropical in the Florida Panhandle in the winter...it's not sunning yourself on the beach kind of weather but I love the cool crisp air and the sound of the waves. And the winter sunsets are so spectacular! Happy. Place.

Anyway, I always make a few cards for my friend as a little additional thank you and they are done with a beachy or ocean theme.  This is what I came up with for this year:

I made several different versions before setting on this one....I tried different backgrounds...different ways to do the little sea turtle...etc.  But was pretty happy with this fun and cheerful card when it all came together.
I used Lawn Fawn's Critters Under the Sea for the turtle and coral. They were colored with Copics and cut out to adhere to the little water scene which was done with Ranger Distress Inks and blending tools.  I used a die from Paper Smooches called Stitched Flourishes to do the little flourish behind the turtle...I thought it made it look like there was movement and of course, there is...the turtle is swimming! LOL! And the little turtle was popped up on some foam tape to give a tad of dimension.  Since these will be mailed, I presume, I didn't want too much bulk.
I used some circle dies from Lifestyle Crafts and cut the scalloped circle from a Spellbinder die onto some orange paper which I embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder called "Tiny Bubbles".
I used a sentiment from an old stamp set that a friend gave me.  There is no name on the set so I don't know who the manufacturer is and Google did not help me! I set the stamp up on my friend, MISTI which made stamping the image in the very same place (since I made multiple cards!) very easy!

I brushed some clear Wink of Stella glitter shimmer over the turtle and the coral and added some glossy accents for "bubbles".
I think my friend will like them.  I would love to receive one of these! :)
They make me want to head south and back to the beach!

And that is it for today...it is wet and gloomy here in Atlanta. We have had so much rain recently but it certainly has helped with all of the pollen!

Happy Crafting!

It's Beginning to Look...

...a lot like I"m getting more and more behind! LOL!!! I actually do not stress about the holidays any longer. What will be will be. I used to love all the decorating and baking, etc. But now I throw a tree up and barely bake...although my daughter does insist on some fudge each year! My family just tries to stay away from the sweets and since I have the biggest sweet tooth of all I just don't do all the baking any longer because I am the one who least needs to eat it! But I do love it. So I burn a pumpkin spice candle in my kitchen and pretend...while I get out an apple to eat! HA!

Tomorrow is St. Nicholas Day which we have always celebrated.  The children put out their shoes at night and then St. Nick comes and fills them with treats if they've been good...or switches and coal if they've been bad. I think I heard through the grapevine, though, that St. Nick may not come until tomorrow night to my grandkids as St. Nick's helper has not finished getting treats for the kids! LOL!

Well, here is the first Christmas card I have made this year.  At this rate I will have 2 done by December 31! LOL! But life is good, isn't it? No complaints! I've been doing other necessary things...like napping...and drinking coffee...and important stuff like that.

Here is the card I made with the Simon Says Stamp card kit for...what was it? November?

I used printed paper that came with the kit...and just cut a piece down to make a scene.  And NO...this was not my idea.  It was Shari Carroll's of course.  That woman always provides me with some AWESOME inspiration. Yep, she does.
The sentiment is included with the stamp set in the kit and has such a cute and fun look to it.

I added a little clear Wink of Stella shine to the tree:

And that is it for today!

Happy Crafting!

You're So Cool and Project Life Week 2

I have been sitting with laptop in hand working on my digital Project Life for 2014.  I am loving doing it but I do miss the feel of paper and the mess of glue and glitter and paper scraps everywhere!  (sort of...)  I'm going to try to make some time for some actual scissor, glue and paper crafting sometime soon but today is a fun day with the grand kids so we will see how much energy I have after my time with them! (usually it's not much!)

For the paper crafters I do have a card to share....but first I want to share Week 2 of my Project Life for 2014.

I used to January kit from Traci Reed and a template or two from Lily Pad for my photos.  It still takes me several hours to do these pages but it is something I can do while watching the Atlanta Braves on TV (or the Military History channel....what is it with men and the History Channel?  I mean...I like history as much as the next...but do I really have to watch re-enactments of the Battle of the Bulge again and again and again??  Of course, if it's not the History Channel then it is National Geographic and I have to endure yet another Gazelle getting eaten by a lion.  Really??? LOL!).

I diverted...sorry....

Anyway, Project Life is moving right along....

And now onto PAPER.  Here is the card I promised I'd share....made from elements from the Simon Says Stamp Card kit for August which is sadly out of stock.  The cute stamp set shown below is still available HERE.

And here is my card:

I colored the ice cream and hearts with Copics and then put Wink of Stella clear glitter over it at the end.  I also die cut a circle with some We R Memory Keepers paper backed burlap.  It cut so easily!

The sentiment "you're so cool" was stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Of course, you knew that.

Here is a closeup:

 

and that's it for today....hope you all have a wonderful day...and Happy Crafting!

I Scream You Scream...

We All Scream For Ice Cream!
My dad taught me that saying when I was a little girl.  I thought it was so clever then and I'm still loving it.  And when the Simon Says Stamp Card kit for August included that sentiment I thought "HOW FUN!".

Here is the card kit for August...it's just too cool! LOL!

Check the stamp set out with the cute little frozen treats!

Love those bright colors...this is just a very happy kit!

I cut my sentiment apart so I could have a wider space between the top part and the bottom.  The ice cream cone was done heat embossed with white embossing powder and colored in with some water colors.  I added some Wink of Stella to the cone for a little more sheen!

 See how shiny it is?  Too fun!

 I think sometimes the card correlates with exactly how fun it is creating it.  I had fun stealing it from
Yana Smakula HERE although I now see that I took some liberty with her creation and made it my own.   Yana is Ukranian.  I love the "international-ness" of our craft and art.

That's it for today...I hope you are getting ready for lots more from this great kit because I got on a roll with it!

Happy Crafting and keep Creating!!!

Let's Shell-ebrate!

I was in need of a few Birthday cards so came up with this nifty little one which worked up pretty quickly and easily.
I love turtles.  Always have.  Sadly I don't see them around as much anymore! :(  We live on a small river and used to see more turtles but come to think of it...I don't think I've seen even one this year!  Come back, little turtles!
Anywho....here is my card:

I used the Paper Smooches über-cute set Party Posse for the cutest little turtle.  I colored him in with some Copics for some simple blending and paper pieced his shell from the My Minds Eye Lime Twist pad which also provided the dotted background paper.  I used a postage stamp die from Simon Says Stamp to cut out the middle and used foam tape to adhere the paper to my white card base.  The banner was cut with a Simon Says Stamp die and also adhered with a bit of foam tape.  I used some Wink of Stella clear on the little party hat to give it some extra shine.  I started to color in some of the dots on the background but then I said..."Susan, leave it alone! Enough is enough!"  But after I said "ENOUGH!"...I decided to put some Glossy Accents on his shell.  LOL!

Here is a closeup:

There are coordinating dies that go with the stamp set which makes for care free cutting! I like that! :)

I think little Toby the Turtle is cute...don't you?

Happy Crafting and Happy Sunday!

Wimbledon!

I love tennis!  I am a recreational and league player...I have been playing competitive tennis for 22 years.  I have spent thousands of dollars on racquets, shoes, clothes and lessons.  Am I getting any better?  Heck no!  I think I'm getting worse!  LOL!!!  But I love the sport so much I keep plugging away.  Right now during the summer I am on 2 tennis teams and actually have a match tonight.  Win or lose there will be another match just around the corner.
Here is a picture of my tennis team.  I love these ladies!

I am amazed by professional tennis.  Such a different sport.  For one thing the athletes playing singles are out there by themselves.  No coaching (in most situations) during a professional match (although they have introduced coaching between sets during some of the women's tournaments).  But mostly the player is out there alone and has to figure everything out themselves.  I play doubles now so I always have a partner out there who tells me "Move, Susan!", "Pick up your feet, Susan!", "Focus, Susan", "Stop sticking your butt out, Susan!".  LOL!  Not really...we are all pretty supportive of each other and know that we are all trying our best.  Some days ya gots it and some days ya just don't.  Let's hope today I do!

Anyway...to Wimbledon.  My favorite player on the men's side..Rafael Nadal of Spain is out.



He just won the French Open and so maybe was out of gas a bit.  I'm sad.... The defending champion, Andy Murray is out, too.  But two champions... Federer and Djokovich are still in.  So we will see if one makes it to being the one to hold the trophy.  The woman's side has become interesting.  The great American, Serena Williams is out, but our neighbor Eugenie Bouchard from Canada is playing her semifinal match now and has a very good chance to win the tournament.  We will see.....The women's final is Friday.

OK, you can tell I love it and follow it.  Don't ask me to discuss much of anything about the World Cup.  I try to like soccer but it just doesn't happen.  LOL!

OK, enough of tennis (for now!).


My other love is paper crafting, of course and here is a card I made recently with elements from a Simon Says Stamp kit I had on hand.   I stamped with Simon Says Stamp and Hero Arts ink.  The yellow flower is actually a leaf stamp that I stamped several times and then cut out to make the flower.  And yes, it was NOT my idea...I stole it.  LOL!

Plain and simple...and mostly flat except for the enamel dot on the yellow flower.  I also used my Wink of Stella clear pen to go over the flowers to give it a little extra sheen.

That's it for today....Bouchard and Halep are still in the first set and even at 4-all.

Happy Crafting, Keep Creating and yay, TENNIS!

Life is a Beach!

I love the beach.  Going to the beach is probably my most favorite place in the spectrum of  "naturey" kinds of things.  I love art, history and architecture and am happy wandering around Europe and seeing all it has to offer but if I have to choose a spot of nature I'll choose the beach over a lake or the mountains or a canyon or a river any day.  In fact, I have nothing against those other places and enjoy visiting them, too.  Well, I do have a problem with the mountains.  Getting there is a problem.  Winding roads and me just do not get along.  Even if I drive.  Blech. 

Back to the beach.  We are fortunate to take a family vacation for a week to the beach each year.  We all love it and look forward to this getaway each year.  I've been to a lot of beaches in my life....Cape Cod, Southern CA (San Diego and LA), Atlantic City, Long Island (New York), Virginia Beach...most of the east coast of Florida, and even beaches in Hawaii, Italy, Spain and Greece (ok, I did love the Mediterranean and the beach there off of Crete) but my favorite go to beaches are on the Gulf of Mexico.  The water is so pretty to me and I love, love, love the white sand.  You just don't see that at many beaches. 

Sigh......wish I were there instead of metro Atlanta suburbia right now.  LOL!

A friend of mine commissioned me to make some cards for her recently.  She has some beach property and has need of cards to send to renters.

This is what I came up with using some Hero Arts stamps I've had.  (Note to self...time to get more beachy stamp sets!)

I inked the blue background with a variety of Distress Inks and then spattered it with some water to react with the ink.  That is so much fun and I love watching the color of the Distress inks move away.  (It takes little to impress me sometimes!)  I stamped the fish and crab in black ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I used some ink daubers and colored them in with additional Distress Inks and then colored in some of the scales and other areas with some Distress pens.

 

The "sand" was done with some kraft paper torn and inked.  And finally the sentiment came from the Girlfriends set by Art Impressions.
And lastly I used some Wink of Stella clear glitter over the little critters.

I think she will like then!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is right around the corner.  Although my own father, whom I adored, has been gone a long time I am surrounded by really great dads.  My son in law is a wonderful and very involved father to his 3 little ones.  I think he gets a little overwhelmed with them sometimes but he plugs through it!  He is a hands on, diaper changing, story reading, juice fixing, fort building, tickling, rough housing, baseball coach,  "you can ride on my back" sort of dad.  When he walks in and sees Taylor he always says "Hello, Beautiful!" to her.  So sweet.  He loves his children and his family and I know his kids will grow up with a great role model. Here he is with 2 of his 3.  :)

I made this card using a cut file from the Silhouette store which was designed by Jennifer Lane (Jenni Cripps).  She does some amazing stuff!

Simple card here....just cut the front out and backed it with some foam adhesive and some printed paper.  The word "dad" has a little Wink of Stella clear on it to give a bit of a sheen.  I stamped "You're the best" with a Papertrey Ink stamp and "Ever" is a Penny Black stamp.  I heat embossed with some clear embossing powder over some black versafine ink.

And here it is:

I love how simple this is....and I love the tools.  They cut so well!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

You Are Loved

Valentine's Day is just around the corner!  I need to get making cards! 
Actually, I did make this card yesterday with items from the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for January which you can see here:

Here is a card I made inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Vicky Papaioannou at Clips-n-Cuts HERE.  I loved the confetti heart die she used (a Simon Says Stamp exclusive) which I don't have so I used a file from the Silhouette Online store and cut it with my Cameo.

I found a coin envelope file at the Silhouette Online store, too which I thought was really cute.  One thing I've learned (a Susan tip) is to get rid of score lines which are cut on the Silhouettes (Cricut does it, too) as I find that when you fold you often get a torn look.  It's because the "score" lines are really perforated and I think the cuts are too deep and go through the entire paper.  I just cut my shape and then score them with a regular manual scorer.  Those of you not into paper crafting (Becky, Niki, Donna) may have no idea what I'm talking about and that's ok! LOL!

But those of you who are into the paper arts...well, you will know what I'm talking about!

The "you" is cut with red cardstock from a metal die from a Simon Says Stamp Exclusive which also comes with some great stamps.  I added a few crystal sequins and a heart punched from cardstock.  I also used a red Wink of Stella to go over the heart and the die cut to give it a little non-messy sheen.

The little tickets came with the kit and are made by Fancy Pants.  They are so cute and slid right in the coin envelope! 

I liked this card so much I think I'll make another!

Happy Crafting!

The Excitement Begins

My little grandkids are so excited that Santa will be visiting soon.  One wants a "Teenage Mutant ENGINE Turtle Secret Sewer Lair" (LOL!) and another wants "Minnie Mouth Toyth".  Too cute.  I love those kids.

I spend some time playing around with my toys and made a few more cards to get out.
Here is one I did which is a very proud, albeit shameless, CASE-ing of a Darlene DeVries card.  I did change out the printed paper but it is definitely her design.  I used the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month for December which you can see here:

I love the Doodlebug papers...so happy and festive.  Sadly the kit is sold out! 

Here is my card:

 I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder.  The little mittens were stamped with Stampin' Up ink and then I used a green Wink of Stella pen to give it a bit of shimmer.  And I used Glossy Accents on the little hearts.

It was a fun card to make....sometimes you just find a design you like and it is so much fun to duplicate and to also put your own touches on it.

Happy Crafting and Happy Holidays!

Simon Says Stamp Card Kit-September

I am behind on all my crafting....I'm 2 weeks behind on Project Life...I am a month or two behind with my Simon Says Stamp monthly card kits...and there is no reason except a bit of laziness! LOL!!!  But life is grand and there are not complaints here.

We are still on baby watch....My daughter is due with my new little grand-pumpkin in a week.  But she usually goes early so you know what that means...  It would be sort of ironic if she goes over her due date, you know?  A friend of hers in about 9 days post due date but unless it is medically indicated will not induce.  I admire that.  I would be shrieking "Get this watermelon out"!

I did make a few cards with the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for September the other night.  Here is the kit:

To be honest (my husband hates that saying...he says it implies you are usually NOT honest) it was not my favorite.  I liked the stamp set and I loved the papers and the wood veneers but I found the chalkboard printed papers just a bit difficult to work with.  Sort of a challenge, you know....  The papers included were from My Mind's Eye.  They had some great printed words on them but they didn't always cut well for standard cards.  Wah, wah, wah.

But I did have a great time trying...and here are two I came up with...both inspired by cards I saw posted elsewhere.  If you inspired me...well, thanks!

The first one was made with the Simon Says Stamp exclusive Expressions for You die and stamp set. 
I cut the "you" out with some coordinating paper and then used the stamp that said "make me smile" which I heat embossed with some white embossing powder.  I just masked off the "smile" since the printed paper already had "smile" on it.  Would make sense to say "You make me smile smile" now, would it?  ;)

 I added a few little blingy things and that was it for this card.  Simple and easy (once I figured out how to use that paper!).
The second card was made with a full printed sentiment....I just trimmed it and colored it with some Copics and Wink of Stella Glitter ink and added an inked wood veneer bird to the top of it.  I also used a little Wink of Stella glitter ink to the little bird for a little sheen.  I love the Wink of Stella brush tip glitter pens....they give the sheen of glitter without the mess!

Here you can (maybe) see the glittery sheen a little bit.

I'm entering the first card in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge HERE and the Simon Says Stamp Using a Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Product HERE

Happy Crafting!

There's a Baby on the Way!

Sometimes you make a card and you just love it, right?

Most of the time I go...'eh...' after I make a card but the one I am sharing here for my daughter who is expecting babynumberthree in less than 3 weeks I JUST LOVE!  We had a little get together with some family and a few of her friends last night and I made the card for that occasion.

I made it with the Lawn Fawn set Plus One. It's just such a cute set!

I used some older KI papers I had.  Some of the clouds were punched out with a Fiskars punch and some were cut out with my Silhouette Cameo.
I used Copics and Wink of Stella pens to color the beak on the stork and the little bag the stork is holding.  I added a bit of yellow rickrack for an extra burst of color.

I loved my little clouds.

And I loved my little sparkly bird. ;)

Below is the sentiment I put on the inside of the card:

I made an envelope with my We R Memory Keepers Envelope board and then stamped it to jazz it up a bit.

And lastly, when I was in New York recently I went to this great paper shop and bought these really small envelopes that are great for gift cards.  I stamped and colored the outside of the envelope for just a little bit more fun and just paper pieced the little "bun"!

And that's it.  I think it was perfect for the occasion and she loved it so that's a bonus!

Happy Crafting!

A Goodie!

I love bright and bold colors!  I can do pastels...but muted colors sometimes are difficult for me!  I was totally happy making this card.  Bright and bold.  So me.  That's my personality too...bright and bold.  HAHA!  Maybe not.  Probably a little too bold sometimes...but I don't know how bright! Heheh...

Have you all seen this wonderful video by Linda of her internet shopaholic ways?  My friend, Donna, shared it with a few of us addicted folks and it's also floating around on Facebook.  This is about a crafter named Linda who watches YouTube crafting videos and then has to go buy the stuff that was used in the video.

 It is hilarious....and I am so right there with her.

Case in point.  Inktense pencils.  Saw Jennifer McGuire using them...saw Darlene of Darlene Designs use them...saw others.  Had to have them.  Waited until I had a 50% off coupon at Michaels one day and went and bought them 'cuz I HAD TO HAVE.  Sat here in the case.  For. A. Long. Time. And. I. Mean. A. Loooong. Time...

Finally opened them to play with them and I LOVE THEM.  What in the world was I waiting for??? I love water color pencils but sometimes the color is PASTEL OR MUTED!!! These are so bright and intense.  Inktense is what they are called.  Water soluble.  And you can blend with them.  But since I still have not mastered the whole blending thing I just colored my flowers.

Here is my card:

  
The flowers are from a Hero Arts set that comes with the Sizzix dies. Love that.  I used Archival Ink since it's water proof and then colored away with the pencils using my Aqua Painter.  Added a bit of Wink of Stella glitter pens to parts of the flowers and the bees wings.  The chevron background is so bold, isn't it?  It's from Amy Tangerine....as is the green dotted paper which I cut with Martha Stewart fringe scissors.

The little banner is from the Stampin' Up Itty Bitty Banners set which also has some awesome dies.

And that's it for today.

I do love the Inktense pencils and I think I am glad I have them in my collection now.

And today I saw Kristina Werner (another favorite blogger) talking about Memento Luxe inks.  They are really vibrant pigment inks.  Oh my....  I do have an ink addiction...and a pen addiction....and a paper addiction...  *yawn....

Happy Crafting!

Ooooh La La...New Pens!

I went to Scrapbook Expo on Saturday and the "had to have" things for me were these pens by Zig.  They are paint pens with  GLITTER in them (sorry, Donna...but I love sheen!)....it is a very fine glitter that stays put!  None of that big chunky stuff that ends up on your face, of course!  Anyway, the pens are called Wink of Stella and this is what they look like:

Wink of Stella also has glitter markers that are sold on Amazon and at Joann.com but these I purchased are pens with a brush tip.  Waaaay cool!!! 

And here is a card I made with them....

This cute little bunny stamp is from Stampotique that I borrowed from a friend.  Isn't he cute?
and here is a close up and now you can better see the sheen...

I love new stuff!  What will they come up with next?!

Happy Crafting!