What's Black and White...

...and black and white... and white... and white... and white... and white?! Penguins in a snowstorm!!! Or, to be more specific, the brand spankin' new Eyelet Outlet Penguin Brads in a couple of snowstorm cards. Like these:

I'm always excited when a finished project turns out looking EXACTLY like the idea that was in my head. And this was one of those times! I knew I wanted loads of diecut snowy hills stretching far into the distance with Penguins the only creature in sight. I wasn't absolutely sure if a landscape or portrait card would be best, so I decided to just make both.

My second card features fewer Penguin Brads, but I've compensated by adding Snowflake Brads, to get a little more action into the scene.

I hope that you'll be inspired to make something fun today; and I also hope there is less snow than this where you live!

Later, Gator

Did you know that in addition to The Ink Pad's entire line of exclusive Michelle Ward Stencils, all of those beautiful New-York-Centric images are available in stamp form too? In most cases, you can choose between classic woodblock and cling-backed. Either way, they've got the same thick, deeply etched, red rubber than makes for the very best impressions. Because hey, it's The Ink Pad and when it comes to stamping, they don't mess around! Today's card, which can be found in full on The Ink Pad Blog, uses three different stamp sets and one stencil. Just watch out for the alligator, k? :) 

baby it's cold outside!

but we're warm and cozy over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ because we're making cards that feature winter garments like hats, coats, mittens, mufflers, snow boots... even xmas sweaters, ugly or otherwise! my card features the cuuuuuuuutest possible giftwrap which i found at the discount store:

hello kitty trimmed from giftwrap discovered at Five Below; patterned paper: glitz design, pebbles, basic grey, doodlebug; snowflakes cut from american crafts POW glitter paper with hero arts die; snowflake gems and enamel shapes: eyelet outlet; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape

when i want to use something like a flimsy piece of giftwrap on my cards i first run a piece of plain white cardstock through my xyron machine, then i gently place the delicate wrapping paper on top, avoiding any wrinkles. now i have cardstock weight paper i can use as is OR i can fussy cut... as i've done here. i used this week's sketch saturday (#588) as a guide to placing all my elements.

hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see stephanie's card, then start planning your own masterpiece!

We're Leafy and Wreathy...

...on The Ink Pad Blog today, where I'm showing off a card that has collage, negative space, three different styles of Eyelet Outlet Leaf Brads, gel print goodness and... well, let's just say it's got all my favorite things except gelato! So why not hop over and see? ♥

Fa-La-La-La-Latte

One of my favorite new Eyelet Outlet brad styles is the Holiday Coffee Cup, because the only thing I love more than caffeine or Christmas cards is the combination of BOTH! :)

Since the Holiday Cups are red, white and green, those are the colors I built my card around. I thought about adding in some everyday Coffee Cups in either white or red; and possibly some Coffee Beans, but after I added the Poinsettia Washi, I found that I wanted a bit of pink and mint green, too. I did place a Holly Brad next to the cups though. And snipped apart a red Pearl Bling Strip to hyphenate my sticker sentiment.

I'm joining the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop, which runs through this Friday, November 8th. Maybe I'll see you there!

And now I think it's about time for some coffee-loving in real life... can I get you a cup? ♥

November/December Classes...

...at Paper Anthology have been posted and there are some AWESOME ones this time around! Oh and if you attended the eighth anniversary party over the weekend, be sure to check out the newsletter post because the names of the five lucky raffle winners are in there! Meanwhile here's what I'll be teaching the next two months:

Vintage-Style Collage Ornaments

We’ll combine vintage paper, collage techniques, stenciling, modeling paste, gems, flowers, doilies… in short, we’ll combine ALL of my favorite things and use them to decorate your choice of three small papier-mache ornaments that will make beautiful holiday gifts, *IF* you can bear to give them away!

(NOTE: There are many additional ornament shapes, including bells, angels, stockings, mittens, birdhouses and more; but only two or three of each style. Students will get to choose on a first come, first served basis.)

 Heavenly Hero Arts Holiday

What do you get when you mix beautiful brand new Hero Arts dies with Prima Marketing's “Angelique” collection papers from the vaults? Three bright and beautiful cards that shimmer and sparkle in their own unique way!

Just a reminder that Paper Anthology is located at 717 Highway 46 in Kenvil, NJ and all the details for all the awesome classes can be found on the website! ♥

hopefully this is just a metaphor...

our challenge this fortnight at shopping our stash, that is. because it's called, "here comes suzy snowflake" AND this is the forecaseted to be the first week of really cool temperatures here in new jersey. if it actually SNOWS HERE i am going to have to re-write the brief in favor of a much more tropical theme, but let's see how it goes!

i like to think i've hit all the stash-busting categories witht this card! i used my neglected tim holtz snowglobe 2 die set that i got at paper anthology in january; i LOVE this set but it has very, very, verrrrrrry many tiny parts and thus it's not something i bust out every week. on the other hand the tiny parts mean i used up LOTS of scraps. and finally, i chose two well-hoarded basic grey patterned papers, woohoo! oh and just in case that was not snowy enough, i added in a stacked set of diecut snowflakes AND some extra-fab eyelet outlet snowflake brads. ta-da. :)

be sure to head on over to SOS and see the amazing inspiration that awaits you, then start planning your own snowy masterpiece! ♥