Silent Night!!

Happy Monday morning to you all! We survived the weekend and hopefull you did too, lol! Octoberfest was a blast even though we got a quick rainshower which the kids loved playing in--but it was steamy hot for sure. My Copic class was fun and hopefully the girls came away with some good tips and learned something! And my football team, the Redskins won their game yesterday so all is good!! But as always I'm sending out good thoughts and prayers to those who are suffering from the aftermath of big, bad Hurricane Ike! Hopefully that's the last of those kinda storms for the coast, here here!!

I'm just posting one card for ya today. I have lots to share with you this week though, so stay tuned. I actually colored this image at my Copic class I did on Saturday and knew I had to make another card with her. I love this Willow by Whiff of Joy (illustrated by the fabulous Elisabeth Bell)--she is definitely my favorite, just so beautiful and elegant for the holidays (not to mention that her dress is super fun to color). I wanted to use some colors that aren't always associated with Christmas but are lovely just the same. I chose to use this dp from Memory Box called "Frost"(absolutely love all their holiday paper) and incorporate the lilac colors throughout my card and image. **NOTE--I just found out that Christine from All That Scraps is carrying most of the Whiff of Joy stamps--yippee! So for you in the US this is wonderful!**

After coloring her with my Copics, I added sparkle with my Copic Atyou Spica markers (if you haven't tried them you really should)--a softer, finer sparkle than Stickles. The only problem is they don't photograph as well as the Stickles, so in real life this card really sparkles! The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms "Christmas Expressions" by Mona Lisa Moments--wonderful for Xmas. I also added pearls to the center of the dp's snowflakes to match the snowflake flowers by K&Company. I wanted her to look as though she was floating thru a snowy night--so whatcha think? BTW, sneak peeks of the new Whiff of Joy stamps will be coming real soon--wait until you see them, omgosh just so fun and beautiful!! Katharina will also be having sneak peeks on her blog too!

If you didn't go to Paper Trey Ink's release party last nite (super fun) then you should definitely check out their new releases. The stamps, paper and ribbon, oh my--I had to have it all :)

See ya tomorrow,

Suzanne

Christmas Blitz!!

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend so far. I got to spend time in my craft room today--yippee--because we are having friends over tomorrow and going to the pool for the day. I've been able to finish a lot of projects on my to-do list which always makes me feel better!

I made two cards for ya today and both are Christmas--what can I say, these stamps are too cute to not use right now! I have to tell you that I have more fun coloring these images--I just love it! Both cards use the new stamps from Whiff of Joy's Charlotte and Charlie stamps. And wait to you see what Katharina is releasing next week--omgosh, I looooovvvveee them! You need to hop on over to her blog to see some of the new stamps by Elisabeth Bell coming out, just so lovely--you'll want them all! I hope to have them in the next few days so I can give you some "peeks" and possibly some blog candy too!! Stay tuned....

Alrighty, onto the cards! These cards use "Charlotte Decorating the Christmas Tree" stamp--isn't she just a cutie all dressed up and "Charlie Building Snowman". I used Memory Box's "Winterberry" dp on both of these cards--I love that paper, gonna have to order some more ( I get mine from Ellen Hutson)! The images are colored w/ my Copics of course :)! I cut both the snowman and Charlotte on the stool out and popped them up on the cards for lots of dimension--it really makes your card feel extra special to have a 3-D element on it ya know. The sentiment on Charlotte's card is by PTI's "Holiday Wishes" set and the sentiment on Charlie's card is from Sweet 'n Sassy's "Snow Friends" set. Pretty much just layering of cs after that. I did want to make Charlotte's card a little more "vintage" so I inked the edges with brown Colorbox ink and added some corner brackets (SU punch) and buttons.

Ok, hope you like my lil' bit of Christmas for ya in August :) Have a great weekend! See ya Tuesday!!

Suzanne

Sleigh Ride!!

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm back in the saddle, as they say--it was great to go away and great to be home again. My dh and I had a wonderful time in Philadelphia and the weather couldn't have been any better, low 80's w/ no humidity and sunny, blue skies--the best!! We saw just about every historical site the city had to offer and walked for miles and miles (my feet will tell u the story)! The 2 pictures above are of the Liberty Bell and Betsey Ross' house (she sewed the 1st American flag ya know). We were able to relax and just enjoy each other w/o any outside distractions--a must every now and again. We always made sure to be back in our suite in time to watch the Olympics every night though--we're obsessed! Loved watching the amazing Michael Phelps swim and the US gymnastics team--we were cheering so loud, I thought the people across the hall were going to complain--LOL! Gotta love the Olympics!!

My card today uses another stamp from the Whiff of Joy line by Katharina Frei. I will tell you that these stamps are great to work with--nice, deeply etched rubber and stamp out fantastic, and fun to color (which is always my fave)! This stamp is called "Charlotte in Sled" and if you check it out on the website, you'll notice that the stamp has only one reindeer attached. Welllll, you know how I love to change everything up--so I stamped an extra reindeer, cut it out and popped it up with dimensionals to look like she has a small team of reindeer--just different & fun! This xmas dp is from Imagnisce's "Snowy Jo" line and the cs is SU's new "riding hood red" cs. All of the images are colored with Copics, stickles added to the jinglebells and snow/snowflakes. The snowflakes and sentiment are from Sweet 'n Sassy's "Snow Friends" stamp set. I added diamond glaze to the sled and some highlights w/ my Inkssentials pen. Hope ya like it and maybe get ya thinking about your Christmas cards (yeah right u say)!!

If I get all my chickies in order, I will be posting my BLOG CANDY on Monday for going over 10,000 blog hits thanks to all of you great blog readers/stampin friends out there!! I've got some great goodies to give away, so be on the lookout for that!

Until then...

Suzanne