Happy Birthday, Suzy!

Good morning everyone, and welcome to my stop on the surprise birthday blog hop for Suzy of So Suzy Stamps! You should be arriving from Josefine's awesome blog where you heard all about the prizes, yes? In case you just stumbled in this Monday morning, let's review; the amazing Justine gathered a whole bunch of Suzy's friends plus former and current Design Team members together to celebrate Suzy turning 40...again...because 40 is the new sexy, after all. We also have three (3) amazing party favors up for grabs! Just leave a comment on every blog for a chance to win:

• $20 So Suzy Gift Certificate from justinehovey.com
• Bunkie Bag from Simply Charming Everyday
• Original MISTI from My Sweet Petunia

Winner will be announced February 22nd!

Ok, on to my card! Now I've had the great pleasure of knowing Suzy for three years now. I was on her original Design Team, have attended card classes at her house, survived grocery shopping with her (never, EVER try to touch the cart. EVER.) and attended Creativation with her and some other fabulous ladies just last month. She is a seriously funny, classy lady with a boat-load of spunk and sass, even if she does kill electronic devices on a regular basis. So keeping all of that in mind I grabbed my Suzy stamps and came up with this:

One classy dame with a glass of champagne! (I know it's a martini glass, just go with me on this.) I started off by stamping the Tulip Background in Versamark ink on the front & inside of my card base to give it that fabulous watermark look. Then out came my MISTI, Versafine Onyx ink, the Martini Lady and the Happy Birthday stamp. I always use my MISTI with solid stamps like this because it takes me so many tries to get the image perfect.

Of course, I also have no patience for drying times, so I added clear embossing powder over the top and heat set it. A little stitching thanks to the stitched rectangle dies and this gal was ready for the card base.

To add height, I added a layer of fun foam behind the panel and attached it all to my card base. Then this lady needed some bling! Fizzy bubbles from the glass with the Nuvo White Blizzard and a necklace and earrings using the Nuvo Soft Gold. While those dried, it was time to make the inside panel.

With the Mirror Image stamp celebration happening, I could not resist pulling mine out for this card. Using it, I added another martini champagne glass to the inside but heat embossed this one in gold glitter powder. Sparkly awesomeness!

And the sentiment? Hehehehehehe...unfortunately, it looks like it's retired (dang it, Suzy!) but it's a classic:

After all, what's a birthday without a little snark? Some more Nuvo drop bubbles and this card was done! You can find all of the supplies I used linked below.

Now you're off to sweet Martha's blog. I'm positive she's got something amazing for you.

Happy Birthday, Suzy!

Supplies Used:

Martini Lady	Happy Birthday Fancy	Tulip Background	Mirror Image Rubber
Pale Gold Nuvo Crystal Drops	Glitter White Blizzard Nuvo Crystal Drops	Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER CLEAR Fine Detail ClearEP1	Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad VF-82
Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Watermark VM-001	Lawn Fawn LARGE STITCHED RECTANGLE STACKABLES Lawn Cuts Dies LF767	Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	*Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# SCHOOLHOUSE RED SR1
MISTI	Foam Sheets 1.5mm 4	Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Runner, Clear, 1-Pack (62127)	Mono Multi Liquid Glue Carded, 0.88-Ounce

InLinkz.com

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Creating Yourself Paint Splatter Card and Giveaway Winner

Greetings from the land of moving boxes! I just wanted to pop in and share a fun, paint splatter card I created for the ClearSnap blog:

Are you loving it? I'm loving it - so artsy!

I started by die cutting a piece of Neenah Solar White cardstock with the largest Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle, then spraying it with some ColorBox Spritzers in Pumpkin Pie, Putty, and Grasshopper.

I let it sit for a minute (the sprays dry really fast!) and pulled out one of my Unity sentiments. I wanted something creative-themed to go with my paint splatters, so I chose one from a set I picked up a million years ago (give or take), stamped it on vellum diecut with a smaller stitched rectangle to match, and used some yellow Wow! embossing powder to go with the bright background.

A smattering of Pretty Pink Posh sequins and this card was done. I mounted the panel on a top-folding, A2 card made from my favorite Mocha layering paper from Hero Arts.

Also, we have a winner from the Meticulosity blogiversary party:

Mary Holshouser

Congrats Mary! There's an email headed your way, and I even found the box with the prizes in it! LOL Guess you didn't need to send coffee after all. ;)

I'm linking up to Unity Friends with Flair for the first time in forever. I'll be back tomorrow with an a2z Scrapbooking post and on June 1st be sure to join me for the So Suzy Stamps blog hop!

Happy Crafting!

a2z Scrapbooking Birthday Blog Hop Bash

Hello everyone, and welcome to a2z Scrapbooking Birthday Blog Hop Bash!!! You should be arriving from Greta's lovely blog. If this is your first stop you'll want to begin at the a2z Scrapbooking blog so you don't miss out on any of the fun and beautiful creations we are sharing today.

I love a good party, and what's a good party without balloons?? 

I started with lots of white cardstock. Lots. You'd never tell now, right? ;) So, the card base is a standard A2 top-folding card that I cut from a piece of 8.5"x11" paper. The remaining strip I then cut in half and trimmed a bit, giving me my 4"x5.25" card front that I added texture paste to with the Arrow Pattern stencil. The last piece I smooshed with my Hero Arts neon inks in Green, Orange and Yellow. I love these bright colors, especially popped against the white. When the ink was dry I die cut some balloons and then added the stars in black for contrast. Where did they come from? The versatile Hero Arts 'Thanks' stamp and cut set.

I love all the texture and layers! I die cut a banner for my 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from the Glow Girl stamp set, then heat embossed it with some gold embossing powder. I added some fun foam behind my card front for uniform support, then added on my balloons and sentiment with foam tape. I left the balloon strings loose for added fun!

Now your next stop will be Kelly's blog!

Be sure to leave a comment on every blog to be entered into the random drawing to win a $25 gift certificate to the store. You have until Sunday, April 26th at 11:59pm EST to leave your comments and the winner will be announced on the a2z Scrapbooking blog.

Happy hopping!