To the Beach!

Happy New Year! Who's ready for some fun in the sun? When planning this release, poor Suzy never knew that she'd have more snow than I did by now...ROFL

Ah, the beach...I've never tried surfing, but they sure seem useful for drying your bathing suits! Hehehehehe These are super fun to color and with a little masking I was able to stamp the surfboard a second time. I tell ya though, I am so looking forward to the Mirror Image Rubber so I can make a whole string of beach houses!

New stamps used: Surf Shack, Bathing Suit Line, Sandy Toes

I used a mix of Copics and Spectrum Noirs, then added accents with Glossy Accents, white gel pen, and clear Wink of Stella. Because who doesn't love polka dot bikinis and sparkly glitter suits?

This guy turned out big, so I made a 5x7 card base for it and used a woodgrain embossing folder on the white mat layers. The inside got some ivory linen cardstock and a couple oldie-but-goodie stamps: Starfish and Careful What You Wish For.

Colors Used (SN-Spectrum Noir, C-Copic):
Surf Shack - SN: IG1, IG2, BGR1, LG3, LG4, CT3, GG1
Sand - SN: EG1, EB4, GB2, TN1, TN2
Surf Boards and Bathing Suit Line - C: YR68, YR12, Y17/SN: TB5, TB6/C: R85/YG13/SN: DR6, CT4/TN7/C:YG21, G02, SN:BT6
Background - SN: BT1

We've got new release fun in the So Suzy Stamps shop today - free shipping with orders of $25 or more! Time to stock up for warmer weather. If you shop, tell Suzy I sent you. ;)

Happy New Year Crafting!

Mountain Plains Crafters Graphic 45 Giveaway

Good morning everyone! We're having some fun with Graphic 45 papers, die cuts, and metal over at the Mountain Plains Crafters blog. And since it's the holidays, we had to giveaway a little present, too! How about some paper and metal embellishments?

Just head on over to the MPC blog to see what the gals came up with and find out all the details! It's easy, promise. ;)

Me, I love G45 paper but never have any on-hand when I need it! So I went beachy with some scrapbook pages and the lovely By The Sea paper pad and embellishments.

Lots of die cuts, distressing, chipboard buttons, twine, and there's a sailboat charm around somewhere...I think...it was really late. LOL

I don't think I'll be back before Christmas, so have a wonderful holiday season!

Beach Time and a New Contest

Hey there everyone; have you seen that we have a new contest up at Mountain Plains Crafters? This time it's all about the beach! Be sure to head on over to see what I and the rest of the Design Team came up with, and all entries must be in by tomorrow.

Speaking of entries, I'm sharing my dear friend Barbara's card here today so she can enter. We get together once a week for a night of crafty goodness, silliness, and coffee so I knew she had a tropical card to enter. Of course, I got the big doe eyes of "help me enter...puuuhhhleeeeeessssseeee". Since she doesn't have a Flickr account, blog or the like I checked with the DT and am posting it here for her!

Check it out:

Would you believe the palm tree is actually one of those tub stickers so you don't slip?? I love it when we get uber-creative!

Be sure to join in the fun and get your beachy cards in! Happy Crafting!

DeNami Summer Splash Blog Hop

Good morning everyone! Welcome to the DeNami Summer Splash Blog Hop! Are you feeling all warm and summery yet? You should have come here from Barbara's blog. If you didn't, remember you can always head back to the DeNami blog to check out the full list of participants.

When: The blog hop starts on July 14th at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until July 15, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).
Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!
Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

Ahh summer...in our house that means time to head to the beach! Which, incidentally, is where I am now as you're reading this. Yes, I might be rubbing that in just a touch. It also means that our kitties get left home alone though I always think they have a mini-vacation themselves. Can you guess where this card is heading? ;)

Kitties at the beach!

Hey, I'm convinced it would happen. After all, there are yummy fishies to be had! Those cute little watercolor representations of my furry babies were made with the Cuddly Cats and Kitty Toys stamp sets, absolute must-haves for kitty lovers everywhere. The 'sand' was created with some Tim Holtz Distress Paper, the 'surf' features the Fiskars wave punch, and the 'sky' is from a My Mind's Eye paper pack. The handwriting is mine...try not to judge.

Jasper, Liam, Cassie, Rowan, and Lochlan

I miss my little ones, but I'll see them tonight with fresh catnip! I hope you enjoy my lovely little beach scene, now you're off to Emily's blog for some more summer fun!

Happy Crafting!

p.s. Don't forget the big Christmas in July on Etsy sale is going on now through the 21st! Stop on by and see what goodies we've stocked the shelves with!

FWF Friday at Unity - Sun Sand and Sea

Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend to begin. We're having a yard sale this Saturday and Sunday (all you local followers, stop by!) and the weather is set to be GORGEOUS! Oh, and hey, happy first day of summer!

I don't know about you, but when I think of summer I think of the beach. So when I saw Unity's beach stamps, they had to be mine. Bonus: no surfboards or palm trees, YAY!! That's become a pet peeve of mine lately, too many companies including those in paper packs and embellishments. Please people, I live in the Northeast. We don't have palm trees at our beaches!

This card started off with white cardstock...before I went to town with my Distress Inks. :) Tea Dye, Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Bundled Sage created the perfect balance of sand and sea. Then I broke out my new Perfect Pearls and Perfect Pearls Mists that I found at Michael's, on clearance, and I had a coupon. Woot! I used Bronze for the seashell frame, then stamped the sentiment with SU Midnight Muse.

 The seashells were stamped on ivory cardstock I had in my stash with CTMH Bamboo, then the edges were inked with Distress Stain in Frayed Burlap.

 Before I put all the layers together, I spritzed the base card with the Perfect Pearls Mist in Cappuccino and my "ocean" got a spray of Perfect Pearl. Then everything was attached and I popped up the starfish for some added height.

Yes, those are my fingers...no, I don't have a manicure. I'm sure that breaks a rule somewhere...LOL

The result? A pretty, shimmery, beachy card that glitters and glows without the use of glitter. My husband was impressed. LOL

Look at that sparkle! Yowza!

 

Finished card

Now I'm off to dream of the beach...I'm linking up to Unity FWF.

Happy Crafting!

Flowers and Stamps and Birds, Oh My!

Hi everyone! Yes, I know, I've been absent again...I'm also still waiting for the power to come back on from Wednesday. We had some massive thunderstorms up here in Upstate NY, complete with a few tornadoes! Oh yeah, fun fun...thankfully no one was hurt and everyone's possessions are safe and sound. It certainly makes you stop and appreciate life for a bit though, doesn't it? It also makes you hook up the coffee pot to the generator for your morning dose of caffeine! LOL

Despite all the excitement, I did manage to finish up a gorgeous wedding invitation order and I got my latest Unity Stamp of the Week in the mail. Now, I love stamps. I love getting new stamps to play with. However, I think this is the very first time I opened the envelope, saw the stamp, and RAN upstairs to immediately make something with it! The heck with no power, I had plenty of sunshine and ink pads don't need electricity. So what's the stamp that made me run upstairs? This little beauty:

I might have yelled 'squee'. Can't prove it though, the boys weren't home and the cats aren't telling. O.M.G. You have to understand, my family has gone up to the coast of Maine since my baby sister was 5. We always go and feed our leftover french fries to the seagulls at the beach and watch the little sparrows hop through the outdoor patios looking for leftovers. So this little stamp and saying made me think of all those fun times again. So instead of starting with a card, I decided to make a little canvas piece for myself.

Eek, mind the camera phone picture...

I used my Distress Stains in Tumbled Glass, Bundled Sage, Evergreen Bough and a bit of Frayed Burlap to color in my little canvas after stamping the bird with the Distress Paint in Picket Fence. This is a fun technique; stamp in acrylic paint onto canvas first, then let it dry. You can speed up the process with a heat gun, but only if you have power...which I didn't...so I attempted to be patient and let it dry. The paint resists color so you can then go color-crazy over the top of it! I just kept layering colors until it had the beachy feel I was looking for. Once everything was dry, I simply stamped the sentiment onto the canvas using my Memento ink.

Did I mention the canvas has a cute little easel? I scooped a whole bunch of these up at Joann's on Black Friday. They were so cheap, I couldn't not buy them!

Yeah, I love it. I'm keeping it. Look at that, I made something for myself for a change! LOL

I mentioned flowers, didn't I? Well, the baby poppy plants I added to my garden last year are starting to bloom. Yowza! Aren't they beautiful?

I'm linking up to the Unity Stamp Friends With Flair and Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Happy Crafting!

Time for the August OOTBS!

Yay, it's sample box time again! We contributed once again, this time to the August Sand in Your Shorts sampler box. Want to see what I made 100 of this time?

Lighthouse Note Card in a Glassine Bag, Stamped with a Shell

What do you think?? I stamped a pretty lighthouse scene in sepia ink on my favorite speckled card stock, then added in some color throughout the scene. The lighthouse keeper's house, stripes on the lighthouse, the rocks, and the ocean...much like the wildflower cards I have in the shop.

Lighthouse Note Card

I wanted something pretty to tuck them in, so I picked up some glassine bags. They're pretty, stampable, and reusable!

Stamped Glassine Bag

Close-up of the Seashell

They looked so pretty when I tucked the card, envelope, and shop note in the bag. It made me wish I was back on the beach!

Finished Package

Do I have you wanting one yet? The sampler boxes go on sale TONIGHT right on the website. Snag one while you can! If you miss out, drop me a line...I might be persuaded to make a few more. ;)

Enjoy!

Water Fun Monday

I hope everyone had a drier weekend than I did! We've had rain nonstop since Tuesday...welcome to summer?!? All this water everywhere has me dreaming of the beach and inspired this paper.

Warm sunny days, waves lapping at the shore...yeah, I'm ready for the beach! In the meantime I have to go stack some blocks for my son to knock down.

Happy Crafting!