Artistic Outpost Release

I am so happy and excited to share the new release for Artistic Outpost. I have been happily playing with the new plates and finally get to share some of my projects.

There are three new plates being released:

• A Favorite Book - Featuring vintage images of children reading, this collection provides focal images of something we wish our kids would do more of....slowing down, being quiet, and enjoying a good book.
• Whimsical Melange - Designed as background and embellishment images, this collection features whimsical frames sized perfectly for cards and ATCs as well as unique scrollwork, pennants in two sizes, and other whimsical bits.  
• Typography - From Mark Twain to Winnie the Pooh to Bob Marley, this collection of unique sayings and sentiments includes our favorite quotes from some of our favorite artists and characters. 

My first card uses the sentiment from Typography and the beautiful image from She-Roes.  The papers are from Teresa Collins World Traveler. What a great sentiment for a friend who might need a little encouragement. 

My second card uses the wonderful Whimsical Melange images with the sweet Birds of a Feather plate. I used the Whimsical house to create a birdhouse.  I punched a hole for the bird to create his doorway. I added a few stickers to create a fun sentiment on the banner. I also stuck a little bedding in the hole for my bird friend.

My last card uses the super sweet images from Favorite Book and the banners are from the Whimsical Melange. The papers are Authentique and pages from an old book. I used white acrylic paint to soften the papers mixed with a touch of light blue acrylic paint.  I thought what a great set of images and sentiments for beginning of school or thank you cards for teachers and librarians. 

The design team has created some awesome 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 *Stephanie Severin*Judy Hayes* Louise Granlund


Thanks so much for stopping by!

Suzz

Garbage Retrieval & Some Halloween Fun

I have a class coming up for Halloween cards at my LSS.  I needed one more card for my class. I saw the lovely challenge over at City Crafter Challenge to use a dress or dress form and the wonderful sketch from Mojo Monday and it made the card come together quickly.

The papers are all from the new Authentique Halloween papers.  The stamps are from Artistic Outpost Vintage Halloween and Haunted Halloween.  I embossed using a black glitter from Zing on the little witch and the bats.  She is colored with watercolor marker and the background behind the bats using the same watercolor marker with water.

Quick and fun card!

Now onto my garbage retrieval... Last fall I was visiting a good friend for a stamping visit.  I happened to see this wonderful tag in her garbage.  The tag already had some wonderful elements using distress inks, masking and Halloween images. I pulled it out of the garbage and asked her about it.  It was a project she had given up on. I asked if I could have it because I loved how it looked.  While I decided to finish off the tag today.  

 

I think it turned out beautiful!  All I added was the Halloween, spider, a little glitter and the ribbons.  I think she will be surprised by her finished tag. :) 

That's it for today.. Hope you have a wonderful day! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

A new Fashionable Challenge

A friend shared a new challenge blog called Fashionable Stamping Challengess and this week's challenge is lace or ribbon. A perfect challenge for me. :)

The stamps are the lovely Stampendous Rosehips stamped using Coffee Ranger Archival ink.  The flowers are colored using watercolor pencils.  The main circle image is coated in clear embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

CR84FN37 - Pocket Tag

I had a lot of fun playing around with the colors for CR84FN this week. I pulled out my glimmer mists and made a few different projects. I am sharing one of the projects today and holding a few to share next week. :)

 I love the cute robots from Hero Arts and my daughter loves robots so this will be something she will enjoy. I created the tag using Hero Arts on the background and the robot.  The robot is colored using watercolor pencils.

The pocket is created using a cut up Glassine envelope and the same background stamp mounted on a black background.

The inspiration photos for CR84FN37:

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

The fabulous CR84FN Design Team:

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


Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Friendship

The Moxie Fab World Challenge is Fabulous Felt.  I don't know about you but felt is not my thing. Too cumbersome and clunky for my tastes. So a good challenge for me...  I decided to try to emulate some really pretty felt flowers.  The City Crafter Challenge is Friends this week and works perfectly for the project I had in mind.

I decided to make a wall hanging:

I have had this idea to create a wall hanging from a re-cycled piece of corrugated cardboard percolating in my mind for awhile.

I started with a heart sketch. (I did this just like in grade school with folding the paper in half and drawing half the heart and then cutting it out.)  I traced that on my cardboard and cut it out. I then pulled back the layers of the cardboard to expose some of the innards.

Layers of white acrylic paint mixed with pink acrylic paint smeared on and let dry.  Next up was to stamp the beautiful damask background from Hero Arts over the entire surface using black StaZon ink.

The sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps - FS1134-E A Friend Strengthens.  Stamped onto pink vellum die cut using StaZon black ink.  I layered a smaller die cut of white cardstock to make the sentiment pop.

The die cut (Spellbinders labels 21) is accented with some lovely stickers from Stampendous.  The hearts are punched from white cardstock and embossed using Stampendous Aged Silver Enamel Embossing Powder. (I am really addicted to this embossing powder.)  The wasps were left over from another project and I added heart brads embossed to match the hearts on the quote.

My lovely felt flowers are white felt cut with hash marks along the length and rolled up and stuck on glue dots on a circle of cardstock.  Then spritzed with Pomegranate glimmer mist and dipped in Crystal Ultra-Fine glitter.

Add tulle to hang with a tulle bow to put the flowers and gold leaves.

Have a wonderful Saturday!  I will be back later with my CR84FN challenge.

Suzz

Two Cards, Two Sketches and One Color Scheme

My inspiration for today's post was to use the warm colors from ColourQ challenge #99 with the sketches from PageMaps and Mojo Monday...   These two cards took me a really long time.... And lots of ripped paper and messing around.  I think my mojo is hiding and giving me a hard time. :)


The PageMaps layout:

Using the lovely Stella Rose from My Mind's Eye which works wonderfully with the colors this week at ColourQ.

and the Mojo Monday Sketch #205

Using the same papers and the wonderful Verses Rubber Stamps for my sentiment.

 Here are the sketches and color inspiration:

Hope you have big plans for the weekend.  We are planning on doing some housework and hanging out. Have a good one!

Suzz

Let us be Grateful

I used the sketch from the Moxie Fab World Challenge - The Square Sketch as my layout.  

This quote is a new Verses Rubber stamp called: Let us be Grateful - QQ0852-F.   I submitted this quote to them and was pleased they decided to create a stamp using the quote.  Verses Rubber Stamps was kind enough to give me a stamp to give away on my blog.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by August 31st 2011 11:59 CST.  I will use random org to select a winner of the stamp.  I will also include a few other goodies in the package.

The flowers are from Stampendous  Jumbo Cling - Rosehips CRS5022-R.  The roses are stamped in Black archival ink and colored with watercolor pencils.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Simon Says Stamp and Show Some Travel

Simon Says Stamp and Show some Travel is the challenge this week at SSSS.  I have two projects for the challenge this week.

How about a trip to London... 

 The images are layered from the Ephemeral backgrounds, Loverly London, Paris Exposition and London Underground.   The background is stamped on white cardstock and a touch of blue dye ink sponged in. The skylines were stamped over the ledger background. Then the bottom edge was sponged using vintage photo. The edges of the ivory cardstock is also sponged using the dye ink. I had fun accenting the word London and along the bottom with the Ranger white enamel.


This travel is in the verses uses on a new art journal I created for me.  (Although my youngest was already asking me about who this journal was for!) 

The Verses Rubber Stamps Sentiment - One's destination QQ0817-E seemed to work well with the travel theme. The flowers are from the Stampendous Jumbo Cling - Hydrangea.  I started with a sheet of music and added a layer of white acrylic paint.  Then stamped the flowers and colored using glimmer mists. Over top of the glimmer mists I sprayed Perfect Pearls Pearl Mister. Then I added damask images using grey ink and Hero Arts Damask stamp. I finished it off with a light stamping of script and sponged the edges.  

I loved how this turned out and decided to do the back page using the same method only switching out the flower for the rose jumbo cling and another beautiful Verses Rubber Stamp called World is a Book - MC0652-D.

Here is how the back of the art journal looked like before I added my cover:

 Here is how the back of the journal looks like now:

The journal was found at a Claire's(a costume jewelry store) and was on sale for a few dollars. I love the inside cover pages too. It has gorgeous rose swirls on the inside. I should have bought a few more for future projects. :) 

Hope your week is off to a good start!


Suzz

Quick and Easy Fall Card

I won't say how long it took to make this quick and easy card. LOL!

Very simple layering of distressed pattern papers. These are all from the Memory Box Valise 6x6 which I have to say is one of my favorites. It is all kraft paper base and the back side of the paper is kraft and makes a beautiful background as well.

The stamps are Memory Box - Vintage Record Sheet, Happy Fall, Wishing you a Happy Fall.

Inks: Ranger Archival Ink, Ranger Distress Inks - Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo


Have a wonderful Monday!

Suzz

Summer Days

I was inspired by some gorgeous paper I found at the store and tried to re-create the paper on my card for the CR84FN  challenge and the Simon Says Stamp and Show some Bling challenge:
 

The background is glimmer mist in a lovely yellow. I added a layer of vintage photo over the top and edges with a sponge.  I then stamped with pearl mist on the background a swirly design using pearl mist and added a few water spots using a mister. 

Stamp the flowers using brown pigment ink and heat emboss using Stampendous aged gold embossing powder. Accent with a little glimmer.

Stamp the dragonfly with versamark and heat emboss using gold embossing powder and glitter.

Stamp the sentiment using brown pigment ink and heat emboss using clear embossing powder.

Add a light touch of script using the dream text cling (Stampendous) and brown pigment ink.

The lovely  CR84FN36 colors are courtesy of Martha Stewart: 

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

The wonderful  CR84FN Design Team:

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


Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Geraniums & Text

I have been wanting to play along in the Simon Says Stamp and Show some bling all week, but it has been a busy week and had to wait until today.  I combined the City Crafter Challenge to use scraps with the colors and flower challenge from Embellish challenge.

 

The image is the Stampendous Jumbo Hydrangea cling CRS5005-R but I colored it as a geranium and I think it looks like a geranium. :) Geraniums are so beautiful and hardy (spoken like a lazy gardener)! 

The circle was my scrap and I stamped on it using the Stampendous Dream Cling CRR015-R in black ink and added a little peachy tan color to the background. 

The flowers are colored using a few shades of glimmer mist with a waterbrush. 

The background paper is some beautiful paper from TPC. It is wedding and anniversary and has a beautiful sheen to it. 

My bling is the accents on the flowers and all the glimmer mist and perfect pearls mister spritzed over the flowers and background.  

I added highlights to my flowers with the white gel pen and realized I hadn't embossed anything on my flowers which was part of the Embellish Challenge. So I decided to try something new for me and add low lights on my flowers using embossing powder. I took out my Versamark marker and added touches of watermark ink to my flowers and then heat embossed using clear embossing powder. I like the effect. It looks like a touch of dew on my flowers. 

Hope your Saturday is wonderful! 

Suzz

Class Act & Chapel Road Blog Hop

Welcome to the Class Act & Chapel Road Artstamps Blog Hop! The blog hop today will share the newest releases from both stamp lines. Please leave a comment on each blog in the hop for additional chances to win a free rubber stamp from Class Act. A random winner from all the comments will be selected.

Our theme is bright colors!  I pulled out my glimmer mists to create a background using greens, purples and
blues. I created a variety of projects using the background.

My first project is a card:

The second card was more of a mixed media effect and I included an old photo  of sisters:

Then I created a  little tag with some lace netting for the ribbon:

The next is a mini card with some lace trim and flowers.

My last project and one of my favorites is a bookmark.

Stamps: Chapel Road Artstamps

The next stop on the hop is the talented Sheila. Hop over and see what she has created for the hop!

If any of the links get broken along the way here is the list for the hop! 

Class Act

Suzanne (You are HERE) 

Sheila

Holly

Gini

Barb

Chelsea

Have a wonderful weekend!

Suzz

Yee Haw!

I love the fun colors for the ColourQ #98  and the City Crafter's Challenge Blog is to use scraps. I mixed those two challenges with the Wee Memories Masculine challenge and came up with this:

 

I pulled out some of my Hero Arts stamps to stamp the backgrounds and the fun Wild West set from Stampers Anonymous for my main image.  

The colors: 

Hope your week is going well!

Suzz

Got Gingerbread?

I saw this technique to create a pop up card with a platform over at Splitcoaststampers. I knew this would be a cute technique to work with these fun Christmas images that I have never used before but have been sitting in my stash for awhile.  So here is what I created:

I used this adorable Stampendous set called: Snowy Short Stacks.  This set is cute as you can mix and match the heads, bodies and feet.  So you can switch up the outfits on the images. I created my scene using the elf and two reindeer friends. They are colored with watercolor pencils. The pattern paper and little gingerbread  stickers are from American Crafts. The trees are punched out using an EK Success punch and stamped with  the Stampendous Cling Dream Text in Versafine Toffee.   The sparkly stuff is Ultra fine Crystal glitter from Stampendous.

This took a lot of time as I had some technical malfunctions but love the effect to create a scene.


This card is for the following challenges: Oldie but a Goodie - Great Outdoors, Ooh La La Creations Challenge - Oh Christmas,    and Paper Playtime - Anything Goes.

Hope your week is going well!

Suzz

Less Is More - One Layer Card

I saw some beautiful one layer cards and went to check out the challenge at Less is More. The challenge this week is one layer card with ink. 

I created a few different cards for the challenge:

The background is sponged with vintage photo, scattered straw, mustard seed and spritzed with Perfect Pearls Mister.   The trees and deer are from a beautiful Stampendous Christmas set. The sentiment is from Kodomo.


And then a series of mini cards:

These use a variety of distress inks and the images are from Class Act Road - Chapel Road Artstamps - Inchy Words, Inchy Designs.

Thanks for stopping by...

CR84FN36

Time for summery colors from the CR84FN  challenge this week.

A fun little birdcage with yellow and brown touches.

Products: Ranger Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Hero Arts Friends Definition, Sizzix Bird Cage & Bird, Embossing folder, Seam Binding, Ranger Distress Stains - Mustard Seed, Prima Flower, Maya Road Stick Pin, Yellow Acrylic Paint, Memory Box You are so Sweet

The beautiful CR84FN36 colors are courtesy of Martha Stewart: 

Love the quote and a great reminder for any of us who are great worriers.

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

The fabulous CR84FN Design Team:

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


Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Frosty the Snowman

The new Frosty and Friends plate from Artistic Outpost has so many fun vintage images and one of my favorites is this sweet snowman:

I had so much fun creating this frosty the snowman card. I knew right away I wanted to layer the image to give him depth. 

The image was stamped multiple times and cut and pop dotted to layer him and give him depth. The scarf, mitten and ear muff were covered in red fun flock. The snowman also received a light dusting of snow (glitter). His hat needed a nice shine so it was covered in glossy accents. To finish off the card the red velvet ric rac and bells added a fun touch.

Other products:  Ranger Distress Inks - broken china, Ranger Black Archival Ink, Stampendous Fun Flock, Ultra Fine Crystal glitter.

Have a lovely Friday!

Suzz

You Make Me Smile

This card is for my youngest as she does make me smile and the image reminds me of her.  She will be so happy as she usually looks at my cards and says pretty or cute but too vintage. LOL!  So this is a cute card more her style.  I used the fun colors from the ColourQ challenge #97 and the Hero Arts Monthly Challenge which is cards for kids.  I added a little doodling for the City Crafter Challenge Do Ya Doodle. (Very difficult to do!)

The stamps are all Hero Arts and the background uses a paint splattering which Sally shared on the HA blog.  The image is colored with watercolor pencils.  My doodling is the grass and the flowers. :)

The inspiration colors from ColourQ Challenge #97

 

Hope your week is going well... Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Simon Says Stamp and Show a Technique

The Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week is to show a Tim Holtz Technique. I bopped over to his blog as he just posted some fun techniques using the transparent illusions. I had some fun playing with the techniques this morning.  I created a few different pieces that I really  liked. Of course that means only one of them made it onto a card. :)

I am in the midst of working on the next Artistic Outpost release. Which means all my Artistic Outpost stamps are out and on my desk and they worked beautifully with the tag I created.

I stamped The Outpost image onto a tissue tape background and embossed using a copper embossing powder. The background panel is embossed using the Tim Holtz Embossing folder and  sponged using the Vintage Photo Dye ink.

The clear tag was sponged with alcohol inks and blending solution. The picture applied to the background and a light stamping over the front using StaZon ink.

Hope your week is going well..

Suzz

CR84FN35 Part II & Mojo Monday #202

Revisiting  CR84FN35 and the Mojo Monday #202 Sketch to create a new card with the sketch and colors.

I made a mistake last week and shared both cards for the color challenge so I am re-sharing the one that was supposed to be for the CR84FN challenge but I also made a new card using the Mojo Sketch.

My new card:

I used all new Memory Box stamps and Ranger Dusty Concord Distress Ink for my touches of purple. The bird squeaked in my touch of green and the sparkly silver embossing powder is my gray.

and my CR84FN card from last week

The beautiful CR84FN35 colors are courtesy of Creative Mint: 

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

The fabulous CR84FN Design Team:

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


Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Lovely Lavender

My mailbox smelled so wonderful yesterday. I received a beautiful gift package from Jacqueline!  I wanted to share all the goodies in my package with you.

She sent me this lovely tag:

I love how she blended the colors so beautifully and it is so serene and lovely.

A beautiful card

Jacqueline always mixes her dreamy collages together with such soft and lovely touches.

The most wonderful lavender sachets.

Which was the reason for the wonderful smell in my mailbox. Love that she stamped and created such wonderful sachets.

Thank You Jacqueline!

Suzz

Spooky Printers Tray

Here is one of my projects in the October Crafts N Things that is in stores now.  I had so much fun putting together an array of Memory Box papers and stamps into a spooky tray.

I pulled from my odds and ends to add embellishments.  I had a few favorite compartments including my fun crystal ball (Memory Box snow globe), and witches broom and potion bottles.

All the details on how to create the project are in the magazine.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz