This card uses the fun, new set “Sweet Strawberries” illustrated by Theresa Momber!  I don’t know about you but I like to kick back on my patio in the summer and have a glass of wine or a nice, cold drink like a strawberry margarita (or pineapple pina colada) on a weekend night!  So I couldn’t wait to ink up this image and create the fresh feel of summertime!  A few strips of patterned scrap papers, embossed red cs (pure luxury lipstick red), some leafy scrolls and pearls finish this cool-treat up!



The image was colored with Copics and then I added some dots/striations to the drink to replicate frosty bubbles and the glass.  Then I added a thick layer of Crystal Lacquer to make it smooth and shiny.  The strawberries at the bottom I colored up, cut up and then added with dimensionals.  A frosty treat to enjoy indeed!



My second card uses Tami Mayberry’s “Vintage Notes” and I decided to make a love note project…it could be a Valentine’s Day card or just a special card for a loved one.  I distressed all my papers for a shabby-chic look and I stamped the notepad page image onto patterned paper.  The sentiments I stamped off once time so the ink impression was a bit softer…the “it’s the little things you do” sentiment is from the new “One In a Million” stamp set (free with the purchase of any 3 stamp sets from Gina K).  Then I die-cut a few hearts, added some twill ribbon, scrolls cut with my Silhouette Cameo and a fun button to finish it all off.

• Gina K
• Tami Mayberry - Illustrator Vintage Notes
• Theresa Momber – Illustrator Sweet Strawberries
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean (that’s me..thanks for stoppin’ by)
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Happy TGI-Friday everyone! Whooot whooot…it’s the weekend…it’s the weekend….its gonna be a rainy weekend in VA…darn it all!  Tonight Alexa is expecting 18 of her closest friends (yep girls & boys) for a birthday party outside on the patio/cabana.  We are grilling and they are hanging out there then the boys will leave at 12:30 am and the girls are camping out (if its warm enuff).  So I have a busy day tomorrow getting ready for that and finishing up all my work. And then this weekend we are going to buy Riley a new bed…at 6’3” he has SERIOUSLY outgrown his twin bed hahahaha…like the Giant in the midget’s bed.  He’s also moving down to our finished basement in the back room for his new bedroom…he’s super excited as its twice the size of his bedroom now.  So I have a busy weekend taking care of teens, cooking and moving…oh yeah the joys LOL!  But that’s ok cuz’ come Tuesday morning I am off to Vegas baby for a few days to celebrate my birthday…I cannot wait to see my friends and hang out for a bit.  I get home from Vegas and then hubby leaves for Vegas for a convention….our schedules just never match up and we’ve never been there at the same time LOL!  Oh well…but he has informed me that he is NOT to be my first call if I get in trouble…whatttttt meeee?  Nah I’m not trouble….hahahaha   And I'm not really a gambler either but I do allow myself $50 at slots...so far I've won a few thousand $$ that way but if I lose the $50 I walk away--if I win a lot of money I also walk away...I don't like losing money.  I prefer to see the shows, lay by the pool and then go dancing...not much of a drinker either...if I have lots of Cokes I can go for hours...and hours...and hours! LOL!

Alexa had a great birthday…her words not mine LOL.  Thank you to all for her lovely birthday wishes!  She got a new iPhone as her big prezzie…she’s wanted one for years but I finally decided she was mature/responsible enough for one this year LOL. Don’t get me started on how many phones she’s ruined over the past few years…dropped in toilets…dropped on ground…etc.  So she better love this phone like its her best baby cuz if its ruined Momma is not buying her a new one.  Also with age 16 means she is now allowed to date…oyyyy..not so thrilled with that one I must say.  And the boys must meet my very strict approval rules or it’s a no-go…that’s how this momma rolls.  They aren’t scared of her dad…but they are skeered of me hahahaha…just the way I like it!!  Ok you all have a fabby weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday ok!

NewsBitz:

-My next Copic classes are in Baltimore, MD on May 20th...these are copic COLORING classes...we color and learn all techniques and are totally interactive ummm and yeah fun!!  If you'd like to come go to www.cmcroad.com to register or see what other dates I have coming up!


I was never real good with those tongue twister sayings LOL…my tongue surely gets twisted and I sound like a freak hahaha!  But this cutie is having a great time with seashells by the seashore…she’s a BRAND NEW Elisabeth Bell for SCACD “Peekers 3” image that are out now to purchase!  This cutie is called “Seashell Peeker” and I think she’s just darling!  This whole card was inspired by some old photographs I had from the 30’s and 40’s, shabby-chic, romantic & feminine.  The DT & Guests are having a fun Blog Hop today to showcase ALL these new images…go to the Store Blog to start at the beginning!




I used papers from Prima (gosh all their new collections are so beautiful) called “Almanac” ---this one is 15% off at SCACD (check out the Sun Kiss one too..ooohhh lovely).  I distressed and inked all my papers…my layout started as a sketch and then as usual took a life of its own hahahaha.  The scrolls were done with a Magnolia Doohickey die and bow done with Bow Easy.  The sentiment is from a PTI set.  The peach cs was embossed with a CB Jumbo Embossing folder.



She got colored with Copics:  YR02,YR00,YR000 / C9,C7,C5,C3,C1 / E11,E00,R20 / E50,E35 / BG10,BG11,W3,W1,YR00 on shell.  The seashell was colored with a few colors and then I put a healthy dose of Diamond Glaze on top and sprinkled with Glamour Dust…I freaking love that stuff!  Then her swim pants and hat accents got Stickles for sparkle.  The sand element was done with Art Institute Earth Elements Textures…they are like chunky pieces of herbs and nature & smell so good…I love using them for texture.  How do you attach them…well I use the best darn glue ever (I kid you not)…ScrapPerfect Best Glue Ever!!

Helllloooo all my friends and a joyous Wednesday to you!  Today is the BIG DAY here in the Dean household!  My daughter Alexa is turning 16 today…wowzers…I cannot believe I’m saying my child is 16.  It truly feels like just yesterday when she was running around in pigtails screaming at the top of her lungs her favorite word “NO” LOL!  She was cuter than pie but boy-o was she (hmmm still is) high maintenance hee hee.  She never played with toys much…she was more active and liked to play games more than play with toys and she could never, ever entertain herself.  Thank goodness for dance and gymnastics as they kept her busy.  And smart…oh yeah she’s smart…but just not just smart but very clever…so clever that sometimes James & I look at each other and say “how the heck?”.  And she’s very much LIKE me (god help the world)..stubborn, hard-headed, a Taurus to the end, talented, smart, sweet, funny and empathetic.  She’s a beautiful dancer, talented gymnast, fabulous singer and we have lots of fun together these days.  Yeah we still butt heads regularly…I mean hello, she is a TEEN KWIM!  But I am happy with what I see in her and the woman that she is to become.  I hope that I’ve taught her over the years self-respect and how to have a healthy self esteem…things I think that are important for girls to have.  That its OK to be yourself, not give people that don’t like you for dumb reasons the time of day, to be smart and voice your feelings and opinions while being respectful and aware of other’s feelings.  That the most important thing is to look at yourself in the mirror every morning…and truly look at yourself…if you love what you see, what you’ve done, the kind of person you are, how you’ve treated others..then you’re doing ok!  I hope she pursues her love of Marine Biology..works with the animals she wants…travels the world…makes lots of friends…tries new things and has fun with her life.  I would love for her to wait until her late twenties to get married, have kids and all that jazz….spend time now doing what you want and enjoy every minute.  Live everyday like its your last is my motto and I repeatedly tell the kids that…I sure hope its imbedded in their brains..you just never know but I hope that I live a life that they respect and admire and have shown them how to live a good life.

So happy birthday to our baby girl….16 is a big number…keep your head held high, be proud of yourself, love yourself, have fun and know that we love you more than life itself.  We are happy to have you in our lives, a part of our family and we are blessed to know you and love you.  Wishing you many more fabulous birthdays!  I was so glad to have spent just mom & Alexa time in California…every minute was enjoyable and I treasure the memories we made!  And NOPE we didn’t get you a car, but hopefully a trip full of memories and a party with your friends is even better than some car keys, LOL!  And no worries we got you a few fab prezzies too Tonight we are off to the Melting Pot to celebrate for dinner and then we will all watch the Washington Capitals hockey game (hey its Stanley Cup playoffs) together cuz that’s how the Deans roll!!

And a shout-out to all my Cali friends who came out to class and Bobbi who flew in from Hawaii to see me…I loved spending time with you all and I enjoyed the classes with you & hope you did too.  And special thanks to Shell for hosting me, I love ya and if you are in San Jose go visit her shop at ScrapGrlz.  Also to my wonderful friend Patricia (The Paper Temptress) for spending time with us…it was super fun!  And to Irina Blount (La La Land) for having dinner with us…as always it’s a blast to spend time with you when we ARE NOT working LOL!  And I will share more stories this weekend with you all about our travels but below is a slideshow of pics for you to enjoy!

NewsBitz:

-Wanna come take a Copics class with me?  My next classes will be in Baltimore, Montreal Canada, and Connecticut---all the info is up at www.cmcroad.com or you can email me if you have questions.

-SCACD has a new Elisabeth Bell release today (blog hop is Friday) and these are the Peekers #3 Collection…they are summer adorable & you will want a few for sure! So make sure to go check them all out HERE!

Slideshow of pics: (if you get by email u must come to site to see them)

So today’s card is actually my birthday card to Alexa…totally inspired by her.  Sassy image, cool-beachy colors and bold and fun!  I used this cute Saturated Canary digi stamp called “Pink Punkette”…she’s modern and sassy and smart just like my daughter so I had to use her!




I used some fun papers from Kaisercraft….Alexa’s fave colors are blues…especially beachy blues.  I believe she may have been a mermaid in another life…she’s always loved the water like me but she likes to swim in it, surf, snorkel and generally just be in it LOL.  So these colors suit her to a “T”.  I used some PTI stamps “Just the Ticket” for the fun ticket accents stamped with white Palette ink on black cs.  I distressed all my papers with my Zutter Distress machine..a tool I cannot live without.  The large flowers are Petaloo.




The “16” got cut out with my Slice machine and then I coated it with Diamond Glaze and sprinkled my fave DecoArt Glamour Dust on top for a fun look..instead of sinking it suspends in the liquid.  This lil cutie got colored with Copics and then I added Diamond Glaze to her eyes, earrings and skirt and threw in some Stickles for more sparkle.  The stamps I stamped around the image are from PTI as well…just a fun element to add on.



That’s all for me today..I’m off and running…Alexa has an orthodontist appt at 12 (yes I know but it was the only appt I could get before he left on vacay) and then I drop her back off at school. Then I have to run to mall to pick up a present, pick up an ice-cream cake and head back home to wrap and get ready to leave for dinner at 4:30…oyyyy! Crazy day…what else is new huh? LOL!  Have a great day!

Happy Monday my friends! I am on my way flying across country towards home today with my daughter and hopefully she's letting me sleep hahaha. We fly to Salt Lake City and then on home and should arrive around 11 pm EST...whew and the I have a FULL day of work to do and some errands to do on Tuesday for Alexa's birthday on Wednesday.  Then she is having a party in the backyard for her girl & guy friends...then the girls are sleeping over in our large tent outside. LOL! I'm making them all fun nightshirts using the Silhouette and heat-transfer vinyl...I'll share when I finish them up!  Never a slow or dull moment for me that is for sure!

We had a blast in California, it was a great time and we spent plenty of nice quality time together which was nice & I hope Alexa has a lot of fond memories of this trip.  She says "you're such a cool mom...you've taken me to Chicago and San Francisco all by yourself...most mom's don't do that" LOL.  Then she follows that up at dinner telling someone that most of her friends want her to hang out sometimes but she'd rather hang out with me instead...so her friends call her a dork LOL.  The teacher asked in her English class for everyone to write a paper on who they most admired...amazingly Alexa wrote about me...it was lovely, probably one of the most touching things I've ever read.  So I guess in 16 looooong years I have been doing "something" right, yes?  Cuz as parents we never really know or feel like we are getting thru sometimes to our kids...especially teens KWIM!  So it was great to celebrate her 16th birthday with this trip...something I'll always remember!

Stories?  Oh yeah I got bunches but will save them for my next post.  Let's say some involve naked man parade on bikes, pot pipes, soupy fog, lost cars and more hee hee....WARNING: my hubby & mom may not want to read them hahahaha!  But it was all good and Alexa got to see some very "unique" things and a beautiful area to boot!

Hello and happy Wednesday to you!  Middle of the week blahs yet?  I’ve got too much to do to be in the blah-moment LOL…lots of errands today and last minute packing.  I gotta get up at 3 am tomorrow along with my lovely daughter to fly to California….I’m certainly not a morning person, do not speak to me unless asking me yes/no questions only…I’m not purty trust me LOL and I have no issues with that.  I readily admit that NO ONE should EVER be up at 3 am unless you absolutely have to…it is sometimes my bedtime hahaha.  And if I’m nasty in the morning you AIN’T seen nothing till you’ve seen my daughter….oyyyy…we avoid each other at all costs in the mornings cuz’ we can go at it…like 2 tigresses   So I will wake her, tell her to get her bum going, make sure she has her stuff and that’s pretty much it till we get to the security line LOL.  Once I’m thru security and have a full, cold-icey glass of Coke and sitting in my terminal…then I’m ok and ready to talk.  Soooo we shall see how it goes in the morning….hey, just be glad you don’t have to deal with us two right?  Poor hubby, he has to get up to drive us to the airport…cuz YES YES I insist on being there 2 hours early…it’s the way I do it and I fly enough to know LOL.  It gets me thru security, the airport isn’t crowded and I’m stress free…I don’t like to fly all stressed and rushed and due to cancelled flights I’ve had to do that a few times…ME NO LIKEY that!  And yep hubby will say AGAIN “why do you have to be there so early?” and I will give him an evil eye and he will shut up & look away quickly and just drive cuz HE’S learned to NOT mess with me in the morning, on my way to the airport…that’s just the way I roll….errr travel….errrr fly LOL!  Anywho looking forward to California and let’s hope I get a rental car that GOES…last time I had the gas pedal TO THE FLOOR and that bugger wouldn’t chug down the freeway…thought I’d get run over.  So I will request a FAST car LOL…Alexa is already frightened…yes sometimes “she” feels she need to parent me…hmmpppfffttt AS IF

Ok so after I got my class prep done and laundry done and emails done, I felt that I could guilt-lessly sit down and begin to play with my NEW Silhouette Cameo machine.  Thanks to all my FB friends who have been giving me tips & tricks, I sure appreciate it!  And I will say this FOR SURE was easier than my Cricut…I easily chose a few images from the HUGE Silhouette Library (I subscribed for $14.99 a month which gets me 50 images a month, any over that are only 75 cents each).  They loaded right into the Silhouette Studio softward on my laptop and I was ready to go!  I love, love that I don’t have to purchase cartridges to then only use 5 images off the cartridge know what I mean!  Then after a small blade glitch…apparently I hadn’t pushed it down all the way LOL and it was ready to go.  Now I didn’t do anything incredibly difficult yet but I’m gonna take my online classes first before I go merging images and such hee hee so I learn CORRECTLY!  But so far I’m loving it and boy it’s lightweight too and slim….I love that its not as bulky and heavy like the Cricut was (anyone want a Cricut…I gotta sell my Expression for like $50 LOL?)  So if you are on the fence about getting one…research it and watch my blog cuz’ I’ll be using it a lot and you know I’m always honest..butt honest about what it can do and my mess-ups hee hee.  So far 6 of my friends have ordered one too LOL…let’s see if any of you all will join me in the Silhouette Craze!!!??? (Tinnnnna)




 So what did I choose for project #1?  Yeah one of the most intricate designs they offer LMBO…oyyyy…why do I do this to myself I ask?  Its called “curved basket ornate” in the online library!  But it was soooo pretty and so elegant…right up my alley.  So a friend on FB said to always “double-cut” intricate designs…thank you soooo much…cuz when I peeled the design off the mat it left most of the poke-out parts on the mat so I only had to poke a few out which was nice.  Another tip they told me:  de-stick the mat a bit, pat it with your hands a few times cuz’ its VERY sticky and that will help too.  Now putting this baby together…hmmm…hahahaha…the lil’ tabs that are SUPPOSED to hold it together…well they don’t!  So Scor-Tape to the rescue…love that darn stuff…and it worked well once I got it going.






Then I made a handle…it comes with a handle but it was pretty plain and I had to gussy it up, I added some border trim with a MS punch and ink.  Then I had fun decorating it a bit with some Prima and Wild Orchid flowers, some tulle and some scrolls done with my Marianne Designs dies…cuz yeah I have a ton of dies, I still love them & will always use them….duhhhh LOL!  And that was it, it was done…so its all ready for a pretty gift or goodies to be put inside.  Didn’t take very long and I love the very intricateness of the design…so delicate.

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope you had an awesome weekend!  The weather has been beautiful and we spent most of it outside..to the detriment of our allergies LOL but whatever.  I prefer fresh air than to be cooped up in the house & yep I got all my windows open too…I’ll vacuum every day but I prefer fresh air to A/C any day!  I will keep them open till its sweaty hot and then hubby forces me to turn it on…all my neighbors have turned their A/C on already…CRAZY I tell ya!  So we just did outside chores and we have a bunch more to do…we have some trees coming in to be planted in a few weeks…some more annual plants to put in and a few pickets on our fence to fix and then we will be finished…I think…hahahhahaha!  (hubby is cringing cuz’ he knows I’m never really “done”)

Alexa and I leave on Thursday morning for Cali…we gotta be at the airport at 4 am…she’s already groaning about that LOL..but I’m an early morning flyer so she will have to get with the program.  And I warned her that she better not cause me ANY issues traveling…lord knows I have enough issues of my own when I travel (LOL) I don’t need ANY extra ones.  But I’m sure something will happen..and yep I will be reporting in hahaha.  And you can always follow me on FB and Twitter cuz I regularly put stuff up on there…much to Alexa’s detriment!!  But we’ll have fun I know, looking forward to it.  And if you are near San Jose---you can come take a class with me on Saturday…just email me if you are interested..I’d love to see ya!  I know there is a Psycho Donut place in San Jose and I mean to get myself there cuz you know how I love my donies.  And I’ll be having dinner with my friend Irina Blount (of La La Land Stamps) too which I’m looking forward to.

Ok so I told y’all I ordered myself a Silhouette Cameo Machine…yeppers I did…crafty peer pressure is rough I tell ya!  Everyone raving about them for the past year…made me go and research and purchase one.  Well it arrived on Friday & I resisted opening it cuz’ I knew I had a ton of work to do.  BUT today I will be PLAYING with it so who knows what I may or many NOT be able to create hahaha!  For those that asked what classes I signed up for…I signed up for (2) a Beg and an Advanced Silhouette Class at Jessica Sprague’s online classroom…so I will actually learn how to use the machine & all its capabilities (no puttin’ it in closet to gather dust like my Cricut..darn that beast…LOL).  So we shall see….if you buy one or own one…let me know…tell me what you love the best or love to do…or mistakes you made that I should not hahahaha!  I’d love to hear!

NewsBitz:

-New Copic Class registrations are up for my CMC Classes on the Road--- Connecticut (June) and 2 spots in Ontario (August & then Nov) are now up at www.cmcroad.com.  I’d love to see you…and I’ve added a new “Hair Only” class to the line-up which is a 3 hour fun class on all styles of hair (esp hard ones) and hair colors!

Today the Magnolia-licious has a fun Blog Hop for you called “Lots of Luscious Lace”…that’s right…lots of fun lace accents on our Magnolia projects.  Either fabric lace, paper lace, handmade lace accents and more to create super feminine & girly projects!  So you can find all the details on the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog and hope you will stop by and join in the fun with us!  I went with girly, frilly pink Disney Princess style of a birthday card



I’m gonna tell a secret…shhhh…I’m not a big fan of lace…GASP..I know.  I don’t like to wear lace as its too itchy and sometimes I think it’s a bit too frou-frou for me so I don’t use it much even though I have a basket full of different kinds…cuz’ hey you never know when you might need it right…good thing I did!  But I do like girly stuff so this wasn’t too big a stretch for me.  I used a few cute new stamps from Magnolia-licious from the “Princes & Princesses Collection”…this is Tilda Catching Stars and in the background is Princess Castle.  I used lace that I lightly airbrushed pale pink and added a strip of 1/4” Scor-Tape to the top and then gathered it to make frilly corner accents to my image (I’m not a sew-er so Scor-Tape always stands in nicely & quickly).  I also made some paper lace using a Jumbo MS border punch and aged it a bit with some ink.  The papers are all by Magnolia in the new 6x6 packs here…so cute cuz they match this collection of images too.  Then I added some rhinestones, flowers and sparkle to the project.  I distressed all my papers and inked them for a bit of vintage, shabby-chic feel too.  The “Make a Wish” was done on my Slice again and then stickled up all sparkly and pretty…I’m getting a lot of use out that Slice now..I’m so proud of myself LOL!


Isn’t Tilda Catching Stars adorable? I just love her!  When you stamp her she has stars next to her hand….but since I cut her out I did something different.  I cut the stars out (yep those teeny-tiny things lol) and then I took a transparency sheet and cut 3 strips…added a star to each strip and then pasted the ends of the strips on the underside of her hand and added Stickles.  So they have a bit of magical dimension to them!  I stamped the Princess Castle in pale pink and added stardust Stickles to it in a few places…I didn’t want it to take away from the main image so I didn’t color it at all.  Tilda was colored with Copics: RV11,RV10,RV000/ E11,E00,R20 / YR24,Y21,E50.  Suzanne Tip: to create the ripped up look on my image…I first cut the castle image out (stamped on Cryogen) and pasted it on my pink sparkle cardstock.  I let it dry for about 10 mins (I use a wet glue..3M Scotch Quick Dry adhesive cuz its always been my fave)…then I ripped up the edges…it rips up very thinly and rolls…giving it that delicately torn & rolled, scroll look.  Just in case you wanted to try it LOL..that’s how I do it. (then I ink all the edges with my Ranger Inkssentials Blending Tool..a must have tool for me)

Happy TGIFriday to you all!  I will keep this short and sweet (or try at least, lol) cuz’ I got a house full of hackers—sicklies—and I have a sinus migraine that is ready to blow my head wide open!  Sure love spring but it brings a nasty, ugly visitor with it…yep pollen…and all the fun allergy suffering it brings!  So my eyes can only focus and my brain will only make sense for so long hahaha!

Ok so I leave next Thursday for San Jose, CA to teach (if you want to come to class I have a couple spots open) and I’ve decided to bring Alexa with me…oyyyy…LOL!  Nah her 16th birthday is on the 25th and she’s never really been to the West Coast…we flew over on our way to Maui last year…but never been to Cali.  So I told her she could come…we get in early Thursday and I’m gonna take her shopping and pool sitting lol.  Then on Friday we are meeting up with my friend Patricia (Paper Temptress) and are going to Santa Cruz, driving up to Monterey and Carmel…I’m so excited as I’ve always wanted to drive along the coast and Carmel is tops on my list.  Then I teach on Saturday and on Sunday I’m taking Alexa into San Francisco to do the touristy things I got to do last fall.  So it should be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it.  Then we fly home Monday afternoon…she’s been warned (as she well knows) that I get the window and I sleep half way…so she’s not to bug me LOL..no worries she’s used to my flying rules   Then the following week is my birthday (May 3rd…but shhh I prefer to think I’m a Cinco de Mayo baby..heehee) and where am I going?  Yup…VEGAS baby!! LOL…oh trouble…trouble!  Naww I’m a good girl and I’m not a gambler so I will see a show and sit by pool and hang with some friends that will be there with me.  I also have a business meeting one day so I will be doing some work…some…but the rest will be play for 2 days…a treat to myself and to see some friends I haven’t seen in a long time.  So I’m excited..then I’ll be home for the weekend to celebrate with my family.  Anyone wanna come to Vegas…come celebrate with me on May 1st?? Girls only though hahahaha!

Alrighty, I am working hard today to finish all my chores & work! Yesterday I did a ton of spring cleaning and I’m sore but its good to get rugs cleaned, baseboards scrubbed and clutter put away but I’m SORE!  So more to do today, then a Zumba class for me & Alexa and Saturday some outside work.  BUT THEN I’M GONNA PLAY…with….my NEW Silhouette Cameo…yep I got one!  From a girl that NEVER used her Criut much….that darn thing would make me so mad & I’d get frustrated I finally just shoved it in my closet.  But all my friends & FB pals raved about their Silhouettes…so I researched it and I must say it appealed to me.  No more cartridges, you buy single images to cut, it cuts like butter, I can cut scanned images, and more.  So I went and ordered it and signed up for 2 online classes…so darn it I bettah love it!  I’ll let you know & if you see me using it on my projects you’ll know I love it LOL!  So Saturday I want to PLAY with it…I’ve warned hubby already hahaha!

Today some of the SCACD DT Gals are doing a fun Blog Hop just for fun…just because!  So we all broke out the NEW SCACD Susana Loves Stamp Lines “The Eyes of Beauty & Dreams Collection”.  I’m last on the hop so no more hopping to do, but to start at the beginning go to Danni’s Blog Here!  And make sure to stop by the store blog *HERE* to enter for a Mystery Prize..oohhhh!



I used some beautiful papers by “   “ cuz I love the elegant black/white/yellow patterns!  This sassy gal is called “Sunny Eyes” and she was a ton of fun to color!  I used some dies to create the fun circle mats and then embossed some.  The yellow cs is embossed as well….my motto is “the more elements of texture the bettah”!    So that means some fun feathers…Vegas style baby…yayyy! LOL!  She’s colored with Copics and I added some Diamond Glaze to her eyes and sun pretties! The sentiment is from a PTI set stamped in white ink!

Well helllooooo everyone!  Whew its been awhile huh…I told ya I was taking some time off LOL!  My family is super serious about keeping me away from my computer when we are away…I have to sneak it LOL…its BRUTAL.  And to TOP IT ALL OFF…I had NO flippin’ cell signal at the beach and the internet was slooooooow like dial up almost..yeah y’all remember dial up (Helloo….you’ve got mail that takes 50 mins to upload a picture) hahaha!  It was KILLING ME I tell ya…I’m so used to tweeting on Twitter, poppin’ in on Facebook, reading all my emails, texting my friends that I had some serious withdrawal people!  Hubby just kept laughing at me…he was like “you’ve got a serious problem when you are getting so angry cuz you can’t use your phone!”…but I WAS NOT HAPPY!  I even considered breaking my stupid AT&T contract and going on a shopping spree at Verizon but DANG IT I am holding out for the iPhone 5…I don’t want another 4 LOL…so I finally resigned myself to the fact that I couldn’t use my phone unless we went off island.  And a local dude told me one night at dinner that NO ONE on Hilton Head Island uses AT&T cuz there is no signal…dang it!  But by the middle of the week I got used to not checking in but for sure as soon as we left Monday morning I was all OVER my phone while James drove hee hee…he just rolled his eyes (something I’m VERY used to after 18 years together KWIM).  So there was definitely NO posting to my blog since uploading pictures was a no go…so I’m posting today for ya!

Did I have a good time on Hilton Head Island with my family though?  You betcha’ bum I surely did   The weather was awesome, sunny & in the 80’s every day but one and I soaked it all up.  I could so be a beach bum..seriously…just sitting there with my bum in the sand every day, reading and enjoying the sun and water.  Yeah I might get bored after a bit, but I’d like to try…darn gotta start playing the lottery more…need to win the Mega-Lottery! Can’t win if we don’t play yes?  We didn’t do a whole lot…not like we usually do when we are there for 2 weeks in the summer…I think we were all needing a major break.  We didn’t even go shopping…GASP…I know I must’ve had a brain injury I tell ya!  So we did lots of beach days, some major challenges at the Putt-Putt courses (and arghh James came in first both times, but I did get 3 almost-hole-in-ones LOL).  We went to Tybee Island, GA one day to hang out and eat at the Crab Shack.  And yes we ATE A LOT OF ICE CREAM—Hilton Head Ice Cream….homemade…brownie cheesecake chunk is my fave…fresh made brownies in each scoop…omgosh its heaven on earth!  Thankfully we did a bit of bike riding to work it off, but I think I still got some chunks to work off in the next few weeks hahahaha!  But vacation is about sitting back, enjoying who you’re with and getting some R&R…and that WE DID!  We also went to see “21 Jump Street” (funny but violent) and “Mirror Mirror” (cute but not as funny as I woulda thought).  So yep I’m back home and working up a storm…lots to do as usual!

 I’ll leave you with a little Alexa-ism today (oh lordy she had a ton of them and she will KILL me for sharing…but hey I gotta do it).  We had the late evening news on one evening in our hotel room before we left for dinner….Alexa goes “Hey Mom, I didn’t know Martha Stewart did the news now?”….hahahaha…it was Diane Sawyer!  I told her she might be spending just a WEE bit too much time in my craft stuff LMBO…oyyy the poor girl!  We laughed for a long time over that one!

NewsBitz:

-I will be in San Jose, CA next weekend and I have a few spots left in my classes if you’d like to come! Its sure to be a good time and my darling daughter will be there, part of her 16th Bday present is a trip to San Francisco so we will be spending some time in the area (San Fran, Carmel and Monterey).  She’s super excited   All details for classes including upcoming classes in CT, Baltimore, Montreal and Ontario Canada are up for registration at www.cmcroad.com

-The CMC BookEndz Wrap Up Chat is tonight at 7:45 pm EST to discuss the March book selection and announce the new April pick!  Its always fun…and the gals always bring their wine & chocolates..LOL..cyberlly of course, no worries!  All are welcome to come join in!

Today I’m sharing my DT project for the Magnolia-licious April Challenge!  Our hostess was the fabulously awesome Ruby Montes and she’s challenged us to create baby projects using all those new stamps from the newest collection “Princes & Princesses” (here at Magnolia-licious).  I created a fun boy’s gift with a card and a matching bib!  You can find all the details at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog on how to join in and see the rest of the DT’s magnificent projects!





Isn’t he a cutie?  This one is called “Edwin with Airplane” and he reminds me soooo much of my son when he was a toddler…he had plump lil cheeks and sweet curly brown hair (hey he was close to 10 lbs when born) and he LOVED anything with wheels or wings LOL!  Sigh…now he’s a size 14 shoe and 6’3…no more little in him..but he’ll always be my baby!  I used ALL scraps from my scrap pile…I’m always so proud of myself when I do that LOL!  I wanted to use fun, boyish, bold colors…with new baby girls you want all those pastels, but with boys you can go FAR out!  I used my SB Star dies and embossed some of them with different embossing folders then added buttons to top them off.  I used my Slice machine again (yay me…I’m on a roll I tell ya) for the B-O-Y letters and added a fun button to the center of my O.  The layout was from a challenge 2 weeks ago, but dang if I can remember (sorry ‘bout that…guess I’m getting old eh)!




I know…he’s so cute you could just squish him…well I could hahaha!  I colored this cutie with Copics and added a few stickles here & there (yes everyone’s gotta have a bit of sparkle).

I haven’t colored on fabric with my Copics in a long time!  If you want to try this I have some videos on YouTube that I did a few years ago (the main video is HERE, now remember its an old video LOL so its not like my newer ones so there could be dogs barking lol)…its really fun to do and YES you can shade on the fabric with them!  I use VersaCraft Ink which is what quilters use to stamp patterns on material…it works well with Copics and its washable and non-toxic!  I heat set my material first then stamp, color with Copics and then I heat set it again to set it.  I used another Magnolia stamp from the Bon Voyage collection called “Airplane”..this image goes so well with this lil’ Edwin stamp! I sewed (GASP I KNOW) some buttons and used my Viva Décor Pearl Pens to add some accents to the bib.  The “BOY” letters are from a PTI set.  Everything on the bib is washable and non-toxic so perfect for a lil’ baby…you can always snip off the buttons if you have a “gobbler” LOL!

Alrighty that’s it for me…hope you liked this project!  I’ll be back later this week with some blog hops for Gina K, SCACD and Magnolia-licious AND some pics of our vacay if you’re interested!  Have a great one!