Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to my U.S. friends.  We had a slightly rainy and cloudy day today but it was a lovely day with my family.

I have been busy working on projects that I can't share... :(  I had to create a few things for a December publication. So strange to be creating Christmas cards when it is 90 degrees outside. :) 

I did create two little projects from some scraps that I generated while working on other projects.  The paper was dragged through re-inkers on my craft mat mixed with a little water.

I created an ATC and a mini-card using a new set of stamps from Stampin Up. While taking the Zindorf class(so much fun!) she included a lovely set of stamps as part of the class. All the flowers and berry stamps are from the Stampin Up.

 The birds are from a B Line set which has several sizes and types of birds to be used. I colored everything using the watercolor pencils and the images are stamped using Vintage Sepia.

Nothing too complex but I enjoyed playing with the new stamps!

Have a lovely week!

Suzz

Play Date Cafe Challenge #31

It's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge!  The colors are from Julie this week and they include some of my favorites.   Here are the inspiration photos:

This project started with misting up some tissue paper with various shades of purple glimmer mist which turned into these flowers.  They were so fluffy I thought of decorating a container. I pulled out a little pail to decorate.  Unfortunately the flowers were too big for my pail.

I still liked the idea of using the pail and decided to swap out my flowers for Prima Roses that were a lovely white.The butterflies and the center of the roses are inked using glimmer mist. I sprayed it onto my craft mat and dipped the roses into the glimmer mist. Then I dragged a few sheets of white cardstock through the glimmer mist to pick up the rest of the ink.

Here is a view with the top removed:

The butterflies were punched out using my Marvy Uchida punch. The sides were stamped on the pattern paper using various shades of green, brown and light green ink. The flower stamps are all from Memory Box and the sentiment is from Paper Bag Studios.

Hope you enjoyed my little pail, I had a lot of fun creating it. (By the way I keep thinking of that song "There's a hole in the bucket Dear Liza Dear Liza" from some play we did during school. Isn't it funny what you remember?)

The design team created some beautiful projects, go check them out!  

Sarah Anderson

Stephanie Kraft

Ruby 2 Shoes

Savannah O'Gwynn

Mona Pendleton

Julie Ranae

Lisa Somerville

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous Thursday!

Suzz

Tag Tuesday Challenge #53 - By your own hand

Louise's tag challenge this week is to doodle or write something on your tag.  I had grand visions of doodling, swirling, hand drawing....

Well... it amounted to me using some stickles to create some trails from my butterflies. :) So much for my delusions of grandeur... :)

The tag slides into the pocket. The paper is part of the fantastic Webster's Pages 6 x 6 pack. Loving every sheet of this pack.

The Tag is stamped on Making Memories Paper. The image is from B Line stamped using a brown pigment ink and colored with watercolor pencils.  It is a quote from the Secret Garden and the flowers are part of the stamp.

I stamped it twice and colored the flowers on the second image to cut out and pop dot. I used the remainder of the second stamped image and die cut the butterflies. The edges of the butterflies are sponged with a little orange die ink.

As I said before my doodling is the stickles trail of sparkles on the butterfly.  The dill on the extra piece on the bottom is a new Memory Box stamp.

Here is a nest update. My hubby told me this morning that the eggs had hatched. So we snuck out to take a picture while momma was out gathering some worms.

They look a little hungry but so sweet. Have a beautiful day!

Suzz

Hero Arts Monthly Contest - Dads, Grads and Birthday

I was so excited last Thursday to find out that my father's day card for my DH from my kids was selected as one of the  Fab Five Winners on the Hero Arts blog!

I am entering into the Hero Arts monthly contest another Father's Day card, but this time it is for my dad.

There is a fun little message snuck into the coffee cup... I played with re-sizing again. To create the coffee cup I had to stamp it and photo copy and re-size. I went looking for a coffee cup stamp and didn't have any and had to make do with the one I had in the Hero Arts Father's Day set.  

When you pull up the steam you can see the message inside.

I had to laugh because I showed my husband he said "But will he know to pull up the message?". Husbands are so practical. :) 

All the stamps are Hero arts. The inks are Hero Arts Shadow Ink -Soft Sand, Ranger Distress Inks, Stormy Sky, Memento Rich Cocoa, Versafine Black Onyx, Versafine Smokey Grey, and StaZon Azure. 

The tools and lines on the coffee cup were colored with my watercolor pencils.

So sorry I haven't been visiting my blogging buddies or producing any cards. I have had some things happening at home and I did get to go to the Zindorf class which was wonderful.  So I have had a little crafting time.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Suzz

Play Date Cafe Challenge #30

It's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge!  The colors were selected this week by Mona and they are so soft and very pretty!  Here is the inspiration photo:

I played around quite a bit and ended up with using this lovely peacock from Hero Arts.

 Love the fancy tail on the bird! The peacock is stamped using versamark and  is embossed using Ranger Lettuce embossing powder. The background is created using Alcohol Inks Sunshine Yellow and Lettuce.

The accents on the peacock is pink liquid pearls.

The gorgeous paper on on the background is Webster's Pages 6 x 6 pack.

The challenge this week is hosted by me. :)

Our wonderful guest designer is Maile Belles, and her blog is  Simply Stamped by Maile Belles

The rest of the design team has created wonderful projects for the challenge. Go check them out!

Sarah Anderson

Stephanie Kraft

Ruby 2 Shoes

Savannah O'Gwynn

Mona Pendleton

Julie Ranae

Lisa Somerville

Looking forward to everyone's entries.  Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Blog Candy Winner!

Quick post.

I wish I had a card to share too, but we have been busy this weekend and I was teaching on Saturday, Sunday (sunday school)  and teaching today so my time was spent cutting card kits instead of creating.

Any ways without further ado....

Random org number generator selected number 7! 

That comment was from Jacqueline! 

I will send out your goodies soon! I am off this week from work so it will definitely get in the mail.

I did have one picture to share. Not card related...

We have hanging baskets we hang on our front porch and for some reason the birds like the one at the end on the side of the house.  Look what they do every year:

Which means we lose those flowers every year. They hang under the porch so it doesn't get rain or water unless we take them down to water them. So we leave it alone to not stress out the mama bird. :) And when I took this picture I had to stand on the chair sitting on the porch and reach over and click.

Well have a lovely day! Thanks for stopping by and leaving comments. They are much appreciated!

Suzz

Tag Tuesday challenge #51 - Inspiration from Home

Louise's tag challenge this week is to create a tag inspired from something in your home.   I had to think about this for a little bit and I decided to use a few items from our dining room as an inspiration.

I paired them up for the photo. :) The flowers and wrought iron basket usually sit in the center of the dining room table.  The angel is usually on the side buffet.

The background and my tag shape was stamped and cut out  for another challenge but never used. It was the closest stamp I had to the wrought iron on the basket.

The hydrangea is from Hero Arts and I stamped it multiple times with a mask to create the draping effect. I wanted to capture my angel on the tag somehow but forgot I even had an angel stamp until I was digging around in my misc stamp drawer and found this tiny angel.  She is sweet and I don't think I have ever used her before.

I am really excited because next week I am going to take a class with the fabulous Michelle Zindorf.  Love her work and I am hoping to pick up a few techniques.  In addition my good stamping buddy Lisa is going too so quality stamping time with a friend!

Thanks so much for stopping by... I hope you have a lovely Friday.

Play Date Cafe Challenge #29

It's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge!  The colors were selected this week by Sarah and they are lovely!  Look at the inspiration photo:

The colors reminde me of the greens found in the grass and early flowers and the light blue skies.

I was inspired by these colors and the beautiful Webster's Pages and decided to create my own background.

The background is sponged and a combination of Adirondacks Citrus, Memento New Sprout and a little distressing with Memento Rich Cocoa.

The background chicken wire is from Art Impressions and is a resist using clear embossing powder.  The roses, flourish and birds are all Hero Arts stamps. 

The sentiment is from Verses called Dreams of Wings.

The flowers, flourishes, birds and sentiment are stamped using Versafine Vintage sepia and colored using  watercolor pencils and waterbrush. 

The challenge this week is hosted by Lisa

Our wonderful guest designer is Heidi Van Laar, and her blog is  Van Laar Designs

The design team created a wonderful variety of cards and are great inspiration!

Sarah Anderson

Stephanie Kraft

Ruby 2 Shoes

Savannah O'Gwynn

Mona Pendleton

Julie Ranae

Lisa Somerville

Now, time to celebrate!!! I just realized that I reached 100 followers (Thanks Barb!) and  I want to celebrate with blog candy.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post by May 16th 11:59 PM CST and I will use the random number generator to select a winner. 

The blog candy is still being accumulated but I know it will include a Hero Arts 4x6 clear set of stamps, ribbon, a package of embellishments(gems/pearls), and some more goodies. I am cleaning up my craft space and I am sure I will find some more fun items to include.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Moxie Fab World Challenge - Three Cheers for Chairs

Cath over at the Moxie Fab World Challenge is hosting a challenge three cheers for chairs. This is not my usual card style so I am giving it a try...

The challenge is to use a chair on your project. I looked up online some chairs and printed out an image and then cut it into separate pieces to trace and stamp on. The standing lamp was fairly simple to piece together and that lovely doily lace stamp makes the perfect rug!  All the stamps are Hero Arts with the exception of the sentiment which is memory box.

I hope you like my little scene. I wanted to add a pool of light under my lamp but when I got to this point I was afraid of making a blotch and decided to play it safe and leave the lights off. :) 

Thanks for stopping by... Hope you are having a lovely Monday! 

P.S. here is a picture of my youngest in her 1st Communion dress!

Suzz

Father's Day card before Mother's Day?

Hero Arts monthly challenge for this month is Dads, Grads and Birthdays.   I just bought this really fun paper from Creative Imaginations called Real Wood Collection for the express purpose of making a birthday card (his birthday is in May)  and a Father's Day card for my DH.  He is the best fix it man around! 

So here is his Father's Day card... After I started working on it and it started to take shape I realized it was similar to my MIL card but all I can say in my defense is the kids are going to love giving it to their dad and I think it is really fun!

I started with the wood panel and stamped the tools stamp from Hero Arts Father Day set across the front and colored in the images using my trusty watercolor pencils. I added a few highlights using my white gel pen.

I added a sentiment and another row of tools. I then embossed the background on grey cardstock.  I decided I needed some hardware on my card front. I had this cute handle sent to me as a RAK and thought how fun if I made a little drawer. Then I was thinking why not make some large tools to include in the drawer?

So then I set about photocopying and re-sizing (around 350%) until I had a size that would stand up in my tool drawer. After I had the size I wanted, I used it as a template and traced it on the different colored cardstock and cut them out. They are sponged around the edges to give them depth. The red is also embossed to give it texture.  

Each tool has a stamped message on the reverse side with room for them to write their own message to dad. The biggest issue is that everyone already wants the saw. :)

I shared the last picture so you could see I made accordian sides on my card to allow room for other goodies to be stuffed in the drawer.

I forgot to mention that we had a book for the kids that was a 3D tool box and had little books in the shapes of the tools and this reminds me of it and I bet it will remind him as well, since we both spent a few hours reading those books with all our childern. :)

Tomorrow is Tanya's big celebration so there won't be any stamping for me. I actually was happy I had time to play at all today.  Have a lovely Saturday and a lovely Mother's day. (Although I have plans to stamp and hope to be sharing something then!)

Suzz

Play Date Cafe Challenge #28

Look at the gorgeous color combination from  Julie for the Play Date Cafe Challenge this week.

Yummy pink, black, grey, and white. I love this mix of colors. I immediately thought of Valentines Day. :)

I even pulled out my heart punches and started a mix of hearts. But then I got distracted by this beautiful new stamp from Stampendous called Ranunculus Field and started of stamping that and playing with my watercolors.

The flowers are stamped using Versafine Black Onyx and colored using my watercolor pencils and waterbrush. I accented them with Crystal Stickles from Ranger.

The edges are sponged using Memento Rosebud. The background is a lovely stamp from Verses which has the entire How do I love Thee poem from Elizabeth Barrett Browning which I stamped using the Versafine Smokey Grey.

The scroll work is the Fleur De Lis Pendants from Spellbinders. The grey cardstock is embossed using a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Victoria.

The challenge this week is hosted by Ruby

Our wonderful guest designer is Ashley Cannon Newell, and her blog is  A New Design

The rest of the design team created beautiful projects for the challenge. Go check them out!

Sarah Anderson

Stephanie Kraft

Ruby 2 Shoes

Savannah O'Gwynn

Mona Pendleton

Julie Ranae

Lisa Somerville

Hope you get a chance to play along with these beautiful colors! Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Card Patterns Sketch #62

Well... I had a few minutes of free time last night and decided to create a card for the Card Patterns Sketch #62. The sponsor this week is Hero Arts and they have a lovely prize of Hero Arts stamps.

The sketch is:

and I created this:

The kick off was the Field Trip paper. I had it sitting out on my desk from a Yellow Bicycle Journal tablet School.  I thought of field trips my children go to where they take them to the nature center and then everything flowed from there. :)

The background is Hero Arts Antique Brocade clear embossed with a sponging of Ranger Distress Ink Wild Honey and Memento Rich Cocoa. I used the same inks to sponge the edges of the journal paper.
The flowers and butterfly are Hero Arts inked up with Versafine Toffee and Vintage Sepia. Add a little stickles, lace trim, ribbon, and twine.  To finish it off you need to go pull some dead branches off the dead bushes by the front door. (We lost all of our dwarf Spirea)

Well have a lovely Wednesday!  I will be back later tonight with the PDCC challenge and the colors are very pretty!

Suzz

Happy 1st Communion Tanya!

My youngest Tanya has her first communion on Saturday. We had a practice last night. How sweet to see all the kids in her class practicing a song for their communion and how to enter and leave the church.  

I had asked Tanya what type of card I should create for her for her big day. She answered "Don't make me a modern card" I wasn't sure what she meant by modern so I asked her "What do you mean?" She said "Like all that old stuff". LOL! She didn't want a vintage or shabby card.  Too funny. She likes most of my cards but once in awhile when I get too vintage pictures mixed in, she doesn't like it.

I had made a few cards previously using a little girl and she liked how those turned out so I went down the same path and created this:

The background is a Cuttlebug folder with little crosses.

The little girl was stamped multiple times. She is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa twice and Memento London Fog once.  She was stamped multiple times to allow me to get the colors closest to a white dress and brown hair. She is pieced together. Her legs on the stamp have tights and I know my little one is going to be going bare legged with fancy shoes so I cut the legs off and flipped them over and colored them.

My favorite is her little bible created from a scrap of white cardstock and hand written. :)

Thanks for stopping by...

Hope you have a lovely day!

Suzz

Tiddlyinks Challenge #2 Happy Mother's Day

My friends Donna and Kiara are Coloring Friends for Tiddly Inks and they both have created some inspirational cards for Tiddly Inks.   I happen to have one image from Tiddly Inks provided to me by another good friend.  I decided to join in the Tiddly Inks challenge using this sweet image and to celebrate Donna's and Kiara's Coloring Friends announcements. This is not my usual forte but I find it is good to switch up and try different things.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts and I wanted to hang little tags. I tried a few arrangements and ended up hanging them all together. I have to fess up that the flower ended up with a button due to my excessive coloring which caused a little bleeding that the blender couldn't get completely out.

The pattern paper is Cosmo Cricket - Garden Variety.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a beautiful Sunday! 

Suzz