Monday, September 30, 2013

Guest Designs for October Cocoa Daisy's Kits | Sweater Weather

Hi All! I am back with my designs for Cocoa Daisy this month as Guest Designer. A huge shout out of thanks to Christine and Emily for the invitation to create with Cocoa Daisy!!

Obviously, I was excited to be invited to guest over at Cocoa Daisy, but was even more excited when I saw the kits and the color scheme, the wood veneers, the awesome stamp sets (serious love for the stamp sets), and the exclusive CD patterned paper designed by Stephanie. She rocked out those patterned papers, didn't she? If you haven't already seen the kits and these exclusive patterned papers designed by Stephanie, head over here now:

Kits are for sale to the general public starting today!


Now, onto my designs >>>>>>

Love this super cute patterned paper from Lawn Fawn. The colors  are some of my favorite go tos and the animals? Adorable!
I used the leaf stamps from the stamp kit and fussy cut them out to pop-dot for added dimension. Decided that the chili pepper one made for a great fox's tail. ;)



This layout was inspired by the name of the paper line. I cut out the triangles from the LF patterned paper sheet and placed them around my page to resemble trees in the woods. A little machine stitching for the trees' branches.

I cut the title with my Silhouette and fussy cut the exclusive wood log pp to make the "o"s in the title. Pop-dotted those too. The puffy geotag sticker is from Skipping 5 and is in the main kit this month. Love those too!


 


Decided to create some fall wall/table art using this quote from Albert Camus. I used another exclusive 


 The layout below was really fun to make. I used my silhouette to create the circle design and love that my Silhouette actually didn't completely cut the cardstock all the way through, so I was able to give the page a bit of dimension and a place to hide a little journaling.

I love this Amy Tangerine wood veneer  cards and had fun using the stitched heart stamp in the main kit along with some Mr. Huey's to distress.


 Here I used mist to sort of paint/blot on the mist and then stamped over it with that awesome chevron stamp!

 Little bits of fussy cuts to some of the Lawn Fawn paper again--
 --and then the addition of journaling and those fun Fancy Pants 3d floral embellishments. A little bit of stitching and done!

 So, for this layout, I knew I wanted to fussy cut the patterned paper and add stitching. I stamped with several colors to make the trees and the used the leaf stamp for the rest of the design. I was tickled that the leaf stamp fit perfectly beneath the cutout in the pattern. Really have to say I loved the overall effect this achieved.  I journaled all about our favorite things about fall here in the Ozarks in flip out journaling card beneath my photo.
 Clean and simple little card made by fussy cutting the sentiments and little bird from the LAwn Fawn paper in the main kit. A few pop-dotted for added dimension and a bit of stitching at the bottom of the card.
Love that little birdie!! ;)

 The soft colors of this exclusive patterned paper in the main kit went really well with this pic of our puppy (now old fella). I decided to cut it out into a fun aztec/tribal like design to showcase the photo. Little bits of stamping, stitching, and misting. Really love the soft feel to this one. :)






 The trend is tribal of late and I decided to make a layout focusing on it. The journaling talks about a few places I have seen this trend and the $1 poncho I scored at youngest son's school thrift sale. We are using it as a rug in our cabin.


I made a flip out journaling card and stamped the inside with a few of the stamps in the stamp kit and machine stitched a border to resemble a rug. Had a little bit of fun hand stitching with the baker's twine included in the kit too! ;)


Well, there ya have it. My gallery with Cocoa Daisy's Sweater Weather. All of my designs were made with the main kit as well as the stamp kit.

To see what the other Cocoa Daisy designers have created with these kits as well as the add-ons go here  for more inspiration! :) I am certain they will inspire you! :) 

>>>>>>>>> Kits go on sale live to the public at midnight EST/11PM CST tonight!!<<<<<<<<<


BBL! 
Suz






Sunday, September 29, 2013

Newest Collections from Elle's Studio & A Few October Elle's Studio Sneaks

Hi all!





Dropping in with you today to remind you that Elle's Studio's newest collections including >>  Penelope 


and >> Noel  as well as >>> 2014 will be in the Elle's Studio store this Monday, Sept 30 (tomorrow), and will be available for purchase at 8AM PST (10AM CST)! Be sure to drop in and say hello on the blog and check out the inspiration in the Designer Gallery too! And a little reminder about the newest kits available: the >> Layout Kits!!











I am really getting into the holiday spirit with the cooler weather finally creeping into our area; Halloween, fall, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas (thanks to the Noel collection)! So while I am here, I figured I'd share a few sneaks of my  Elle's Studio October Design Team creations (You know, to help get you into the fall festive spirit-and maybe Christmas too!) ;)




 Don't forget to set your calendars for 8AM PST tomorrow! 

Happy Sunday! I will be back soon with some more designs! :)
Suz


Saturday, September 28, 2013

Road Trip & Sharing a Sneak of October's Cocoa Daisy Kit | Sweater Weather

Hi everyone! I am back from a fun and busy weekend road trip to Minnesota to visit some dear friends. Got a chance to check out the Mall of America, (Finally! I was born and raised about an hour and a half from there and had never been! Long overdue visit to say the least! LOL) Scrapfest, Archiver's, and collect some goodies from the October Afternoon Warehouse sale! Seriously awesome deals there. So happy I drove instead of flying. More room for the stash! ;)


This little piece of decadence was divine (and thankfully shared three ways-LOL). It was a chocolate amaretto cake from a little local Italian restaurant run by three Lebanese brothers who gave us the best service and smiles.
I took this pic along from the MOA to show my boys a bit of the scale of the mall and all of the fun things it houses inside it. 
And the Lego store here?!! Beyond fabulous! Ginormous Lego figures. Compare their size to the  people below-Wowza.







The OA Warehouse Sale was very well organized and had fabulous discounts on all items up to and including Travel Girl. I bought a bit for myself and some for my local scrapping besties too. Oh, and I cannot forget to mention that the adorably cute Brinkley made an appearance and walked the aisles welcoming customers in the cutest way! Love that pupper!




 And I got a chance to visit Big Bowl again. I loved that restaurant when we lived in Chicago and have missed eating there so was happy to get a chance to indulge again. :)




Anyways, now I am back in my scrap space hunkering down with the fabulous October Cocoa Daisy Kit  "Sweater Weather." This is the perfect month for me to guest design there as the colors in this collection and the theme is right up my scrap alley. Serious love for this kit. Truly. The pairing of patterned papers with embellishments and stamps is fabulous!


So here we go. Here are a few sneaks of what I have been creating with this kit:










So very thankful for the invite this month! A special thank you to Christine and Emily for this lovely opportunity to crate with this awesome kit!! :) :)


Happy Saturday all! Grab a cup of cocoa and head on over to Cocoa Daisy & join in the chat from 7-9 PM CST  TONIGHT for the reveal of  Sweater Weather! Would love to have you join us! :)


 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Sharing Some Thoughts | Glitz Design: Wild & Free Collection


Hi All! I am back to share with you some of the latest COGC store items; the Glitz Wild & Free Collection. I love that this line has a nice mix of pastels along with bold, graphic lines and patterns.
For this layout, I used the Wild & Free Alphabet and Word Stickers  and the Wild & Free 6x6 Paper Pad as the foundation to my layout.

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Can I just say...the alphabets in the sticker sheet? I love them all and love that they are varied in size!
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I pop-dotted the "Be Yourself" and the two circle sentiment stickers for added dimension.
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The "wild at heart" square  (top right) is a fold up journaling card. This will house some personal thoughts about my sister Linda. A bit about what she would say to me, to her kiddos, to her friends and family left behind. Things like:

Be Brave.
Be True.
To Others.
To Yourself.
Be You.

She lived her life that way.
Daring to be different.
To be brave.

To stand out in a crowd (even at the slight embarassment of her family members and friends). ;) 
To wear what she wanted to wear. 
To say what she wanted to say or what needed to be said and what needed to be heard.
To be true to herself and true to others. IMG_6511
In this photo she was actually skiing 360s down the mountain on our last Christmas vacation together. She was always goofing and making people smile and laugh until it hurt. This picture was taking only weeks before she passed on. 
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I am sharing with you this because I think that while it is fun to play with pretty paper and pretty things, it is also important to never lose sight of the reason why one scrapbooks

Sometimes it isn't about using the newest product, or trying to re-invent the wheel. 

Sometimes it is simply about leaving a recording of our lives. Or in this case, my sister's life and the impact that she had on others.

I am sharing this layout with you today because I wanted to share a little bit about how I use product to showcase, if you will, my life. My family. 

In this layout, I decided to add a bit of Stickles to the dreamcatcher in the top left corner. I did this not only because it made the dreamcatcher look as if snow had fallen on it, but also to symbolize the bling my sister often wore that she was so fond of. The more bling (jewelry-expensive or cheap, it didn't matter, only that she was wearing lots of it) the better. The sequins, of course, are also meant to symbolize her bling. The onward and upward circle sticker represents what I know she would want us/me to do in our lives.
 To move onward.
 To keep climbing up the mountain of life. (Or in this case skiing it.) 

The "be brave" sticker represents that she would want us to be happy and to be brave and adventurous and to keep on living. loving. laughing. 
These are just some of the words I think she would say. 

No, these are the words I know she would say.

Thank you for reading along this far while I shared a little bit of my heart here today. I appreciate you listening and hope you make the most of this Wednesday and that you find yourself a bit braver and bit more adventurous and a bit more true today. :)

xo,
Suz

Friday, September 20, 2013

Come On Get Crafty | It All Started With A Sketch | Winner!

Sorry for the late hour. I have been away from my computer today. The winner of the spot in the Come On Get Crafty Online Class, It All Started With A Sketch is........




Pascale CreaCollage!!! Please email Nicole at comeongetcrafty@gmail.com to notify her that you are a winner and to get login and class info. Thanks so much!!


Happy Friday!!!

Suz

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Guest Designs for September With Citrus Twist Kits | *Magical

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday. Today I am back sharing several of my Guest Designs using September's Citrus Twist Kits, Magical.

This kit was such a joy to create with! I have nearly killed the kit after several projects, many of which are shown below:







This was my take on this month's sketch below:

 I rarely do a two page layout, but these chalkboard stickers from the embellishment kit were begging to become a collage of all things fall.
 Here is a close-up of the left side of this two page layout:

I used a white Sharpie Poster Paint marker to journal on the chalkboard stickers. Really like the effect it had on each.

 I loved the graphic lines of this Fancy Pants Designs paper (below) and couldn't wait to stitch and stamp on it and pair it up with the DL embellishments and enamel dots included in the kits.


 And who says you can't create a boy layout and have pink and flowers on it? ;) For this layout I placed a sheet of vellum over the Hello Again paper to tone and soften down the pink hues. Then I misted (drew with the applicator of the mist bottle)  some circles and added drops of mist and let dry. I stitched in a circular/oval pattern to attach vellum to the pp beneath and then began layering and adding embellishments. Journaling about this little Nook on our home, and my son's and cat's affinity for it, was placed on shipping tag beneath the photo. I raised up a few of the Carta Bella Hello Again stickers for added depth.


I'll be back with a few more of my September Magical creations soon including a PL spread. Be sure to check out all of the awesome kits that are available this month at Citrus Twist 
here:


Suz