Love

The orchid branch print stamp was one of my favorites from Memory Box in the last release. The clean lines of the orchid are so elegant. 

This is day 2 of my cards being shared over on the Memory Box blog.

 

The background is embossed using an embossing folder on the lovely Memory Box card. Sponge on Adirondack snow cap acrylic paint to soften and highlight the embossing. 

Stamp flower on white cardstock using black archival ink. Repeat multiple times on vellum. Color using white and purple watercolor pencils and paint with water brush. I love the effect of the watercolor pencils on the vellum. The color doesn't really absorb it move around on the vellum. 

Products: Memory Box Cocoa Bean C1714, Love, Orchid Branch Print G1718, Ranger Archival Black Ink, Watercolor Pencils, Embossing Folder. Memory Box Diamond Jewels.

Have a wonderful day! 

Suzz

Artistic Outpost Release - March 2011

There are four beautiful plates being released today at Artistic Outpost!

The wonderful sets include:

• Gatsby  features the main characters of the novel in photograph style with deco backgrounds.  
• Flapper Fashions is a wonderful collection of "flappers" wearing their fabulous stylish outfits!
• Huck Finn is a collection of collage and illustration images featuring Huck, paddle boats, and that friend of his Tom Sawyer.  
  Windows and Doors features some beautiful background and focal images along with lovely sentiments.

All of the new stamp sets are available both as unmounted red rubber sheets for $14.00 or pre-cut and mounted on EZMount cling foam for $22.99.

Here are some fun projects using the new sets:

The first card is from the wonderful Flappers Fashions. I selected one of the beautiful flapper images and framed her with some beautiful Webster's Pages papers and the sentiment and images from the Paris Exposition plate.

My second card uses the striking image from the Gatsby plate. He was so handsome and elegant I immediately thought of a wedding card.  I created a card that could be used as a thank you card for a groomsman in a wedding or even a card for a groom. The sentiment is from the Song Birds plate and the flourish in the background is from the Flappers Fashions plate.

The boys from the Huck Finn plate are so fun and inspired a card exploring and I could just see them gazing out across the water at the steamboats.

My final card is a triptych using the wonderful Windows and Doors Plate.

I stamped the image on acetate and embossed using gold embossing powder. Hand cut out the outside and the windows. I then stamped the sentiment on white cardstock. The frames were linked using jump rings. The birds are from the Song Birds plate.


The design team has created some really fantastic projects and cards which you can go see in the Artistic Outpost Gallery. The design team is also sharing wonderful projects on their blogs:  

*Lisa Somerville *Gerrie Johnnic *Lynn Stevens *Barbara Washington *Connie Paxman *Stephanie Severin*Judy Hayes* Louise Granlund

For a limited time, if you purchase all four of these sets, you'll receive a 15% discount.  Please note you must purchase all four to be eligible for the discounted price.  Simply use the code:  GATSBY during check out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Lilypad Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Lily Pad Cards Blog Hop!

If you arrived here from the very talented Mary Dawn's you are in the right place. If you missed any of the previous stops in the hop please go to  Lily Pad Cards to start at the beginning of the hop. This blog hop started yesterday and features seven blogs per day and it culminates on Friday, April 1, with the grand opening of Lily Pad Cards.   Lily Pad Cards is a new challenge blog that will feature interviews, articles, videos, challenges, great prizes, and more!


Although Lily Pad doesn’t officially bloom until April 1, 2011, you’ll be able to see a new sneak peek every day until then. And you’ll definitely want to drop by because there are three prize packages with a total retail value of over $800 - including a $100 gift certificate to a very popular online store! Go here for specific prize details and contest rules. 


The hop’s theme is Welcome because not only are we welcoming Lily Pad Cards to the neighborhood, but we’re also welcoming all of you to come in and join in all the fun. In the spirit of welcoming you to the new blog I created a fun little neighborhood to welcome everyone!

The little neighbors and their hood are all from Crafty Secrets - Fairyland.  I drew in the little doors on the mushrooms. :) The background and clouds are stamped using Hero Arts Friends Definition Cling. I hand wrote the Welcome on the sign and was pleased how it turned out. The background was sponged using dye inks and the image colored using watercolor pencils.


The next stop on the hop tomorrow morning  is the fabulous Alice's blog Alice's Little Wonderland you don't want to miss out all the other wonderful designers. If you hit a bad link, you can always go back to Lily Pad Cards and click on the next link in the hop. Please report any bad links to Inlinkz

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Happy Bee-Day!

I have been  playing with some twinkling H2O's and my new Memory Box stamps and created this fun project.

The flowers Gorgeous Mini Bloom B1761, Gorgeous Bloom  E1716, were stamped using Ranger Archival ink black. Spritz the H20's with water and use a water brush to color the images using a gold and beautiful orange Twinkling H2Os.

Color to add shading on the flowers (after they have dried) with a coordinating watercolor pencil.

Heat emboss using clear embossing powder. Cut out and fold the edges.

The stems and leaves were torn from book pages and sponged with brown dye ink.

The background was painted using white and blue acrylic paint daubers. The tiny bees and sentiment came from another new Memory Box stamp called Happy Bee-day. They were stamped using Ranger Archival Ink (Black). The bees were colored using watercolor pencil and a little glitter.

The edges of the background were also sponged using the brown dye ink and mounted on the Soiree Truffle paper from Memory Box.

Now onto some really exciting news!

Today is the start of a blog hop to celebrate a  brand new super fun  blog called Lily Pad Cards. There are some fabulous prizes up for grabs. There is also a wonderful blog hop that is being kicked off today and you don't want to miss out! Here is where you start on the blog hop: Vicky's.  The blog hop will be hopping starting today all the way through Friday of this week.

Have a beautiful week!

Suzz

CR84FN21- Live With Zest

The CR84FN21 challenge this week has some beautiful rich colors: garnet, cream and chartreuse. 

I finally broke down and picked up a set of the Hampton Arts images that goes with the Graphic 45 papers. I have been wanting a few of the sets and finally decided to pick up the Dixie Band set.

The background was created by overlapping two of the images from the set. Color the images using watercolor pencils and aqua brushes. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

 The lovely photos for this week are courtesy of Adam at Embrace Life Photo

For all the details on the challenge this week go to the CR84FN blog.

The wonderful CR84FN Design Team:

Deborah Frings * Sue Lelli * Meredith MacRitchie * Andrea Matthews *  Stephanie Kraft * Suzanne Czosek (me)  *  Heather Jensen * Mona Pendleton  * Lisa Somerville

Today is the last week for our wonderful Guest Designer - Deb Hickman.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Hope

Dave is sharing creations from each of the team over on the Memory Box blog in the next few weeks.  He shared Deborah's beautiful creations last week and this week he is sharing some of my projects. 

I love this beautiful Hope Collage stamp which has the lovely rose buds, script and the word Hope. I immediately thought of using pinks and grays. 

The background is  the lovely birch branch print G1720 stamped in Memento London Fog with a hint of pink. The flowers and sentiment are stamped multiple times and cut out to create the draping flowers and sentiments. The word hope was stamped using the same pink from the watercolor pencils and cut out.
I layered some embellishments (Prima, silk ribbon and stick pin)to add some depth.

Have a fun weekend!

Suzz

Chapel Road Artstamps Blog Challenge - Blue and Around the Edge

Today is my first challenge for  Chapel Road Artstamps at the Class Act Insider. 

The challenge is to use Chapel Road ArtStamps, the color blue and a punched border.

I used the beautiful butterflies from  Butterfly Square and  Butterfly Angle. The sentiment is from  Birthday Edwardian .

The challenge details are here: Class Act Insider. 

The design team have all created some lovely projects for the challenge and you can see them by visiting their blogs:

Barbara Washington
Chelsea Barnes
Gini Williams Cagle
Holly Brown

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Baby Buttons & Bows

The City Crafter Challenge this week is hosted by Linda and she has set the challenge to baby, buttons and bows! The Tuesday Trigger - A Citrus Celebration at the Moxie Fab World this week has the sweetest cupcake liners in lime green with polka dots. Combine those two things along with the mad hatter rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and this is what you get:

Recipe: 

1. Spray green and blue and yellow glimmer mists onto white cardstock. 
2. Stamp Artistic Outpost - Wonderland Collage using Ranger Archival Ink
3. Color image and background using watercolor pencils and blend with water brush. 
4. Spray Prima flowers with green glimmer mist. 
5. Stamp sentiment (Amuse) on same background. 
6. Die Cut Fleur De Lis Rectangles Spellbinders. Cut out center to create frame. 

Here is the pretty inspiration photo from Moxie Fab:

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Faith

Joy is hosting a challenge on her blog to highlight a card that inspired you. I spent some wonderful time perusing through Ellie's fabulous blog looking at all her beautiful work.  I was inspired by her various techniques and  I wanted to try using the dragging of the ink pad across the paper to give the rough textured look.

This card was made for someone special and is going to be sent off today as they are going through some difficult things right now.

I decided to use the easel technique and show off a hidden message.

 

The outside of the card looks a little plain but opens up to reveal the little message of faith and the same flowers repeating. 

 

Products: Hero Arts Elegant Weeds, Impression Obsession Right Bee, Left Bee, Verses Rubber Stamps - Mustard Seed - IN0226-E, Memento London Fog Dye Ink, StazOn - Stone Grey, Faber Castle Watercolor Pencils.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

CR84FN20 - Happy Birthday!

Such beautiful spring colors for  CR84FN20 challenge this week. 

Here is what they inspired:

Stamp Hero Arts Peacock in Ranger Archival black ink. Color with water color pencils and aqua brush. Accent peacock and flowers with glue and glitter. The background was stamped using the Memento Plum dye ink and spritzed on the stamp with pearl misters. The background (Hero Arts) was inked up with Memento Soft Plum and spritzed with pearl mister (Pearl) before stamping on the cardstock.

Here are the gorgeous inspiration photos for this week:  The pictures are courtesy of Adam at Embrace Life Photo

For all the details on the challenge this week go to the CR84FN blog.

The fabulous CR84FN Design Team:

Deborah Frings * Sue Lelli * Meredith MacRitchie * Andrea Matthews *  Stephanie Kraft * Suzanne Czosek (me)  *  Heather Jensen * Mona Pendleton  * Lisa Somerville guest designer Deb Hickman

 Have a wonderful Sunday!

Suzz

Distressed Images

I was getting my car oil changed yesterday and went browsing with my youngest DD. We were looking through the paintings in a home decorating section.  There were so many different beautiful pictures. I should have taken some shots with my camera.  One jumped out at me. It was painted to look like a blue stained wood background with beautiful white flowers draped overlapping across the wood panels. The texture on the wood and flowers looked like a chalky streaky texture. I loved the whole painting and tried to capture that on my cards for today.

I used the color palette from the JUGS challenge #76 - Color Challenge this week, Hero Arts challenge this month includes celebrating birthdays and the Card Patterns Sketch #107 to give me the colors and design and images to create my cards.

I ended up with two versions of the card.  I was pleased with the distressed streaky appearance of each of the cards.

The first card:

 

The background  was created by: Sponging cool blue adirondack acrylic paint in streaks across white cardstock. Sponging snow cap (white) acrylic paint across the blue paint. Taking a medium blue watercolor pencil and drawing lines in various areas. Apply water to smear into the background. Stamp wood grain background using Versamark Watermark ink and clear embossing. Sponge Weathered wood over to add a layer of shading in the grain. 

The second variation of the first  card: 

 

The first set of flowers: On the first card the stamp was covered in blue acryclic paint using a sponge to apply. I then stamped the woodgrain onto the rubber stamp to add texture.  I stamped it onto white cardstock and clear embossed. Because the paint had dried it took very little of the wood grain and the embossing.  Outline the flowers with medium blue watercolor pencil. Apply pink water color pencil to flowers and use the water brush to soften. Accent center of flowers with yellow watercolor pencil. 

The second flower didn't get the wood grain treatment but I applied the paint with a much streakier approach to give it more of the distressed wood paint effect. I also applied less watercolor to the flowers to soften it even more. 

Supplies: Adirondack Acryclic Paint Daubers (Snow Cap, Cool Blue), Hero Arts Large Pattern Flower, Hero Arts ClearDesign Birthday Sayings,  Hero Arts Wood Grain, Versamark, Ranger Distress Inks, Weathered Wood, Watercolor Pencils Faber Castle, Water brush, Clear Embossing Powder, Sponges, Charms, May Arts Ribbon.

Here are the challenge photos: 

I will be back later with CR84FN. Beautiful colors and I can't wait to share them! 

Suzz

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I wanted to create a special card to celebrate St. Patty's Day.  This card is also posted on the Outside the Box blog today and is for the Wee Memories - Challenge #47 Green is Here!

This will go in the cards box  for next years St. Patty's Days birthdays.

I started with stamping the lovely Memory Box Shamrock stamp using Memento Bamboo leaves onto music paper from a learning how to play the piano book. Hand cut and sponge the edges with brown dye ink.

Stamp background using Renaissance Tile (Memory Box) repeatedly using same green dye ink over white cardstock.

Stamp sentiment (Memory Box Happy Birthday Candle) using brown pigment ink.

Have a blessed day!

Suzz

Butterflies galore...

I was so lucky to receive some beautiful papers from the extremely talented  Jacqueline (thanks Jacqueline) and was inspired by her lovely butterflies and papers. 

The lovely stamps are from Class Act's Chapel Road Artstamps called  Butterfly Square and Butterfly Angle.  I stamped the on various papers and cut them out. Stamped on the background some script and butterflies in soft tan and light pinks to go with the colors of the paper.

Here they are floating off the card with one of my favorite quotes about butterflies. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

 

Suzz

Happy Birthday Lisa! x 2

Happy Birthday Lisa S and Lisa S! I have two extremely talented stamping friends who both have birthdays this month, and they are both Lisa's.  I created two different cards for each of them.

I had a hard time picking out what stamps to use for the first Lisa's birthday card, so I let the papers do the talking. There is this super fun paper pad called Wanted from Cosmo Cricket.  Gorgeous colors and designs on the papers. 

The papers basically designed the card and the sentiment is from a fun set from B Line designs which has the perfect sentiments. The card works for the Simon Says Stamp and Show your stars. (These stars are some favorites of mine and are almost all gone.) :(   They are from Christmas Trim that I purchased at the craft store.

The second Lisa is the one that introduced me to stamping.  Here is a cute card that I think she will like!

The images are from Crafty Secrets and I loved the sentiments and thought the Kewpie angels were adorable.   The circles were created with a mask and coloring the edges of the circle and pulling in the color with a water brush. Love how this turned out and definitely will be doing this again. :)

Lisa and Lisa, I hope your birthdays are wonderful!


Suzz

Cityscapes

Cath over at Moxie Fab World put forth a new challenge called The Cityscapes are on the Rise. I had created this skyline image awhile ago and it was sitting in my scraps box. I loved  the colors but set it aside as I had no inspiration for the design of the card.  Here is the end result.

 

The skyline was on one piece and I ended up cutting it into two circles and making a third circle to complete the design.   The skyline image is from B Line Designs and the map is from Cornish Heritage Farms and the sentiment Hero Arts. The images were stamped with Versafine Smokey Gray and clear embossed. The skyline is a combination of black dye ink and Rangers Distress Inks Wild Honey.  

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

CR84FN19 - Faux Metal

The  CR84FN19 challenge this week is lovely aqua, steel blue and gray.

I started with the main image from Class Act Chapel Road Artstamps. The set is called Butterfly Square. I thought it would look beautiful in  faux metal.   To create the faux metal: Ink up white cardstock using Versamark Watermark ink. Heat emboss with silver embossing powder (Judikins). Repeat four times until a thick coat of silver is on the cardstock. Ink up stamp with Versamark watermark. Heat embossing powder background until liquid. Place stamp into warm embossing powder and press down hard.  Let sit in embossing powder for a minute until cool.  Add a little touch of the alcohol inks to the embossed image.

The background was created using glossy cardstock, Ranger Alcohol Inks (Aqua, Stonewashed, Blending solution). Drip three drops of color and add three drops of blending solution. Smear on background. Repeat multiple times. 

Here is the wonderful inspiration photo: 

For all the details on the challenge this week go to the CR84FN blog.

For more inspiration go visit the CR84FN Design Team:

Deborah Frings * Sue Lelli * Meredith MacRitchie * Andrea Matthews *  Stephanie Kraft * Suzanne Czosek (me)  *  Heather Jensen * Mona Pendleton  * Lisa Somerville

And our wonderful guest designer:  Deb Hickman .

A special birthday wish to Lisa Somerville! Her birthday is this week! Happy Birthday Lisa!  

Have a blessed Sunday!

Suzz

Create your own Journey

I pulled together a few challenges and had a fun time creating a tag with a surprise.  Louise at Kard Krazy has a fun challenge for Tag Tuesday this week it is to have a surprise on your tag.  The City Crafter Challenge is In My Pocket and the JUGS challenge is to use acrylic smoosh technique.  Roll all those three challenges into one and this is what you get. :)

Here is the secret tag that hides in the pocket.

Here is the picture of both the tag with pocket and secret tag.

The background was created with Shabby Shutters re-inker dripped on the craft mat and spritzed with water and pearl misters Kiwi and swirled together. Drag the tag through that.  Spritz with Chalkboard Glimmer Mist Peacock Blue. Stamped the images (Tim Holtz Collection Stampers Anonymous Air Travel CMS102) using Ranger Archival Sepia.  I also have B Line Designs Ticket Duo and Telegram Duo stamped on the outside.  The inside tag uses the same SA set and a Hero Arts Sentiment.

I had to post today as I had a good friend send me an email saying.. ."Hello... Your blog is calling." Made me laugh. Been busy trying to catch up on projects before vacation. So not as much to share. :)

I will be back later with the CR84FN card.  Fun colors!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Suzz

New Blog Header

I created my new blog header as I really wanted to put something in anticipation of the spring flowers that we will be seeing in the next few months. The piece I created was inspired by the Stampington Publication Artist's Cafe. There were some beautiful mixed media art in there along with my  inspiration from the other day. This is also for the challenge from Embellish Magazine this month (Music and Colors) and the Hero Arts Monthly Challenge technique of layering.

The process started with a piece of white cardstock. Stamped partially the Antique Brocade Background from Hero Arts using brown pigment ink over entire surface. Paint the surface with a mix of Snow Cap and Cool Peri acrylic paint daubers from Ranger.   Tear vintage sheet music and tape down to surface. Sponge some of the same paint mixture over the surface. Sponge edges of everything with a brown dye ink.

Stamp hydrangea (Hero Arts)  and sentiment (Verses Rubber Stamps - QQ0846-F Mother Teresa Quote)  using Ranger Archival ink. Color Hydrangea using your favorite medium. (Mine is always the watercolor pencils) Sponge a little of the white paint onto the hydrangea to soften the edges.

The butterfly was left over from my cards the other day. All I had to do was change out the button.

Well I hope you enjoyed the new header. I am really happy with it.  Now I am trying to figure out how to re-purpose into a wall hanging. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Suzz

The Beauty in Neutrals

The Flourish challenge for Bring Back Beautiful is Neutral Beauty. I love working in neutrals because the shading and highlights are the focal points.  I had sitting in my scrap pile a stamped map background (Cornish Heritage Farms) in a lovely soft gray. As soon as I saw the challenge I pulled it out.

 

I decided to pull out my flowers from Hero Arts to layer them over the map background. This also applies for the Hero Arts Challenge this month which includes layering of stamped images. 

I stamped the flowers first using the Ranger Archival black ink.  I then colored them using a variety of watercolor pencils (black, brown, gray, and sepia). I highlighted with the white gel pen at the end to bring back touches of white. 

After I finished the flowers I really wanted to make the center pop, I decided to draw a box around the image using the same shades of watercolor pencils and add a touch of the aqua brush to soften the effect. I finished off with the bees (Cornish Heritage Farms) and the sentiment from Stampscapes. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Wee Memories - Woodland Friends Challenge

This weeks challenge over at Wee Memories is Woodland friends.  I had this wonderful fairy bunny image from the extremely talented  Kiara.   This is my woodland creature.  A bunny with wings definitely belongs in a woods with the fairies. 

 

 

I decided to create a shaker card as I had the sweetest little heart glitter. The papers are from Making Memories J'T Adore  and the stamps in the background are Hero Arts. The sentiment is from Memory Box. 

Have a fabulous Monday! 

Suzz

CR84FN18 - Everything is coming up Poppies!

Warm colors(yeah) for the CR84FN18 challenge this week.  We could use the sun here.  A little gloomy today and more snow coming down. :( Definitely spring... Snow, sun, warm soggy and then cold again. :)

This card is also for the Moxie Fab World Stamp It technique - Stamping with Markers and Cath's Get Daring with Tape Challenge.

Cover white cardstock with  Tim Holtz Tissue Tape. Stamp flowers and butterflies on tissue tape background using black pigment ink. Heat emboss using Clear embossing powder.  

Color flowers (Hero Arts)  and butterflies (Hero Arts)  with Copics. I didn't know how the Copic markers  would take to the tissue tape but it worked beautifully. It doesn't blend the same as it would on paper, but the effect is wonderful. 

 Here are the beautiful warm inspiration photo for this week:  The pictures are courtesy of Adam at Embrace Life Photo

For all the details on the challenge this week go to the CR84FN blog.

To see some other really beautiful uses of the colors go visit  the rest of the CR84FN Design Team:

Deborah Frings * Sue Lelli * Meredith MacRitchie * Andrea Matthews *  Stephanie Kraft * Suzanne Czosek (me)  *  Heather Jensen * Mona Pendleton  * Lisa Somerville

And we have a brand new talented guest designer for the month of March Deb Hickman !

Hope it is sunny and bright by you!  

Suzz

Hydrangeas and Dogwoods

Today's post is a combination of two challenges, inspiration from Jacqueline, and some scraps that have been in my inked backgrounds.  Jacqueline and her beautiful creations is the inspiration for my cards today.   Embellish Magazine Color Trends Challenge is to use music and a set of colors and Hero Arts monthly challenge includes using layering of your stamps.

 

Here is the inspiration photo from Embellish Magazine with the colors: 

The stamps are from Hero Arts and Inkadinkado. The backgrounds were pieces I had created awhile ago for other projects and leftover. They are inked from dye inks and water. 

I will be back tonight to post up my CR84FN card later! Have a wonderful day! 

Suzz

Butterfly in Flight

Kathy, Vicky and Deborah all put forth a fun challenge with a sketch and colors. To play along you need to link to Kathy's blog.

I decided to create a butterfly card using the colors blended into the butterfly. The butterfly shape is from a Fiskars shape template. The stamps are from the beautiful Class Act - Chapel Road Artstamps - Butterfly Angle, Birthday Edwardian,  Butterfly Square.  The inks are Ranger Archival Ink - Black, Adirondack - Peach Bellini.  The images are colored using watercolor pencils.

Here is the sketch and colors.

Hope you have a fabulous Friday!

Suzz

A Lucky Leprechaun

I created this fun card awhile ago and hadn't posted him. We have two (twins) St. Patty's Day's birthdays in the family. I am always struggling to come up with something fun for a birthday card for them.

This year I decided to pull out this cute leprechaun which I have had forever and never used.  I paired him with the fun mushrooms from Cornish Heritage Farms and added a few dragonflies. 

The colors were from a previous CR84FN challenge and I love the greens and blues together they make such a lovely color palette. 

I will add a cute sentiment from the Pure Innocence set about having a magical day and it will be ready to go!

We are planning on going away for spring break to warm weather (Yeah!) but means I have to get caught up on some stamping projects. Of course nothing I can share right now. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

One Ringy Dingy

One Ringy Dingy... Two Ringy Dingy... (I am showing my age here)

I created this card for a MFT challenge over on SCS. The little girl  is so sweet calling up her friend to just say Hi! (My youngest can totally relate to this!)

I combined the My Favorite Things Pure Innocence set with a Hero Arts set . The paper is Memory Box and I just love the bright colors mixed together. The numbers are Hero Arts and I tried to match the colors to the colors in the paper.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Suzz