Monday, November 23, 2009
















Wow! It's been busy around here! I didn't realize so much time had gone by since I last blogged! Here's a little football update for y'all. Our Rocklin Thunder boys have been winning every game! They won against Roseville a week ago and that finished our regular season with a perfect 10-0! Last Friday night was the first game in the playoff series and we beat Elk Grove 35-7! We move on to the next round and face Atwater at home next Friday night. We would then move on to Grant the following week provided they win this week too. (Of course! They are Grant!) Looking forward to the game!

Okay enough of that football stuff! I started working at The Stamp Art Shoppe 2 days a week! It has been great so far. I love to see the customers in the store and I am learning so much hanging out with Sandy. She is amazing! So if you are in the area on a Thursday or Friday, stop by and say hi!

I am working on new classes! They will be Valentine, Spring/Easter, Mother's Day, and maybe another surprise or two in there! If you have enjoyed my Inchiewonderland classes and the Paper Love Quilt, keep your eyes open for the new calendar coming out the first of the year! There might be an Inchie Valentine project you will want make! I hope to see you in class!

Today I went to Apple Hill with my girlfriends. It was a lovely day of estrogen therapy! We started out with wine tasting, and moved right on to lunch! My kind of day! Took a few photos that turned out pretty good. They might seem like weird things to take pictures of, but they caught my eye. Enjoy!
Susan

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Great Inchie Gift Idea


Good evening!

I just wanted to share a great idea for Christmas gifts. In my Inchiewonderland class we made this framed Christmas Art piece. It was very easy to make and I think it came out really cute. I wanted to use my 1" punch to make a pattern of paper for the background, and it just grew from there. I embossed ans stamped on most of the papers and added little Christmas images here and there. Once you get the hang of it you could whip out quite a few with no time at all. I used a lot of images from Art Warehouse stamps and the papers are from everywhere. I just tried to keep the colors somewhat matching. Mounting the squares on parchment and then the brown paper really made the colors pop. Who would have thought brown would be the color to do that? It always surprises me how that works! They looked really nice in the black frames. Let me know if you make some of these Inchie art pieces!


My Rocklin Thunder boys play Roseville tomorrow night! Last game of the regular season and we are expected to win easily. I am still looking forward to it tho! Hopefully my son will get some playing time if they are ahead by a few points. It's been so hard to be second fiddle this year. :( We will find out Saturday night or Sunday who we play first in the playoffs. I heard we may have home field advantage for one or both games. That would be cool.


Well, gotta get to bed!

Susan

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Sierra Foothill League Champs!







Whewww! My football boys are 9-0! We beat Del Oro for the very first time last night! We are SFL Champions for the first time! When we Win next week against Roseville, we will have a perfect record for the first time! I am so excited that my son is a part of such a talented team! Go Thunder! I am exhausted today from cheering for hours and and jumping up and down! I get so excited I can't sit or stand still! I will have a perma-grin for the next week at least! On to Roseville and then District play-offs. I have a feeling we could do some serious damage this year! I am clearing my calendar for the games!

Got a couple pictures of my Christmas cards from my classes. I wanted to do a class where we focused on embossing and Christmas Cards are great for that because it makes them so elegant. We did a couple of fun techniques like layering over clear embossed images and using Versamark and glitter embossing powders. Not to mention some of the traditional colors and techniques. The classes were fun and I am now done for the year! I am looking forward to focusing on classes for the new year! I have some really cool stuff planned for my students!

Speaking of my students... I have to give a shout out to all my wonderful Stamp Art Students! You gals rock! I can't tell you how much I enjoy teaching and creating classes for you all. You are so positive and supportive! Mwhah! ;*

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend at the anniversary party for The Stamp Art Shoppe! Lots of fun and new treasures there this weekend! Make sure to come down and check it out! Starting next week I will be working there on Friday and after that on Thursdays and Fridays. So, hopefully I will see you in the store as well as in classes!

Have a great day!
Susan



Tuesday, November 3, 2009







Good Evening!

I have a couple of pictures tonight of a tag I made recently layering Christmas related stamps. I especially like the way his eyes and glasses turned out! Here's a quick description of what I did. I first stamped the Santa image (Santa Collage, Rubber Stampede) on a manila shipping tag in brown ink. I then layered Christmas themed stamps all around him being careful not to stamp on his face. I used some classic colors like red and green, and I added blue, gold, and black here and there for variety. When the inks dried thoroughly I colored the face of the Santa with a a couple of shades of peach and flesh toned colored pencils. I colored his eyes light blue. Ok, here is one of my favorite parts! I took a white pencil and shaded over the lenses of the glasses ever so slightly so that they appear to have a little glare. I then used a gold gel pen to color in the frames. When dry I used the clear glaze pen on the lenses to add a bit of clear sheen to them. I then used Waterfall Stickles - the tiniest amount - to add a sparkle in Santa's eye. I also added Frosted Lace Stickles to his beard and snowflakes. I love the way he turned out! I encourage you to try some of these techniques at home! It made a flat image come to life!

Football note:
My boys are 8-0! They are just steamrolling the competition! We play Del Oro this week and they will be tough, but we will be tougher! Go Thunder!

Hoping to see some of you at the Shoppe this week!

Susan

Thursday, October 29, 2009











Helloooo!




Wheww! Lots to share tonight! First here is a couple pics for you. The pics are of my project for Art Bytes at The Stamp Art Shoppe. Sandy is celebrating her anniversary of the store by hosting these fun mini classes. Mine is an accordion card for the holidays. You can put at least 3 pictures in it and write a little note or two to special family and friends. It is great for families to share pics and catch up. It will fit in a regular A2 envelope although you might need extra postage to mail it. I will be teaching two classes on Saturday November 7th one at 2 and one at 3. I hope you can join me for one! The classes are under $15 and will be 45 minutes or less.

Call Sandy at Stamp Art to sign up (916) 773-4378. You can also check out the website for more info on other classes. There are so many to choose from! They are filling up really fast so don't delay if you think you are interested.
Okay, enough business. My Varsity football guys are undefeated! 7-0 and they were televised on Comcast Sportsnet last week! It was a nail-biter! Tomorrow we play Oakmont at home and it should be a good game as well. Go Thunder! Our dinner went well last week. I think the boys enjoyed the enchiladas and the treats we made for them. I couldn't resist making a little candy holder to cheer them on to beat one of their rivals! They really appreciate those little things. My son told me that he had an awesome dinner this week as well - lasagne and garlic bread! Mmmm! Wish I was there!
Well, I must say goodnight. It has been a long hard week and I must rest so I can be at my cheering best for tomorrow's game!
Susan

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Pretty Papillon




Fall is most certainly here today! We have been hit with a huge storm! Unusual for us this time of year to have one so big! We have received over 2" of rain in our area! It has been a wee bit chilly at night and in the morning, but nice during the day until yesterday. The house felt sooo dark today while it was storming. It makes me want to turn on all the lights!


Okay so my dear friend, hosts a "Paper Play" group at her house once a month where my friends and I go to make cards and other projects. Last month she gave us a beautiful napkin and challenged us to use it on a card. The colors were so neutral and beautiful! I love how mine came out! I started out with a general idea of where I might put the napkin down and that was it. I was sure it would turn out lame. But I have to say once I got the papers down something kicks in and ideas just came to me! Note to self: Trust yourself! I love the new Rock Candy Distress Stickles that I used on the butterfly. So yummy! Enjoy the photo!


On a more personal note... We are heading in to week #6 of football season and we start our league games this week. I am very excited because we are 5-0 and our offense looks unstoppable! We have scored over 40 points every game! Go Thunder! Next week we host all 65 players and coaches at our home and with the help of four other families we will feed this brood! We are playing one of our rivals - Granite Bay. Wish me luck! I may be a bit quiet until that is behind me!


Well it is time to hit the hay and catch up on some missed sleep. I hope your week is filled with lots of stamping and paper crafting! I know mine will be!




Susan


Thursday, October 8, 2009











Hello? Anyone there? I don't know if you are there, but I'm finally back! I have missed you so! I just got back from Cambria - Artsea 2 - and I have beautiful projects to share with you all. I am still adding finishing touches to them so give me a day or two! Here are couple of photos from the Halloween card class I just finished teaching. I have a couple of kits available if you are interested leave me a comment and your email address and we can work out the details. Enjoy!








Susan

Monday, July 13, 2009
















Wow! Sorry it has been so long since I blogged! I can't use my usual excuse of being crazy busy. Hmmm.... Things have actually been kinda slow around here. Everyone is on vacation and putting off hair appointments and classes. So, I have been home a LOT! I have been cleaning and catching up on things that have been pushed aside for waaaay to long. We have had our share of drama too, which I won't bore you with right now. I think it is being handled now so I feel I can concentrate on something else a little bit. My son has had a little problem with his blood. His counts aren't right and he has to be tested every week to see if they have improved. So far, they have not. The numbers are not alarming off, so the doc feels it is something benign like a virus or something. Hopefully it resolves soon. It doesn't appear to be affecting him in any way physically tho, so that's good.

The only pics I have to post are of Nick and Dave's trip up to see his dad in Oregon. A nice little getaway for them. Nick came home with new wheels to drive! Grandpa and Dad worked a trade for some work Dad did to Grandpa's truck for an old Jeep Cherokee. It has a few problems they will have to fix, but it is pretty nice! Dad is the Jeep Guru, you know! They don't call him Diamond Dave for nothing!
The mountain in the photo is Mt. Shasta. It is so beautiful. I don't ever get tired of seeing it. Nature is a wonderful thing.

There is one little picture of Baby Molly. She is Michele, Nick's girlfriend's new puppy. Isn't she cute? We had her over the other night. She is still so tiny that she sits in your lap the whole time! She is going to be fun!

I am sorry I don't have anything crafty to post about. I have not been in a crafty frame of mind with all our drama here. Now things have settled down I am getting back in to the groove. I will post something soon! Have a great day!

Susan

Sunday, June 14, 2009











More cards for you to see!








My trip to the Bay Area was nice. It was good to see my Aunt and Uncle. My uncle has been sick with shingles for several weeks and he is on the mend now and trying to regain his strength. Poor Guy. He had them bad! We had a nice visit with them though.








I went through old pictures with my Aunt and I learned so much about my family. I got some great pictures of my great grandparents and my grandmother when she was a child. So much history! It inspired me to make a heritage album. I don't have hardly any pictures of my mom's family. I wish I did.








Have a good evening!








Susan

Friday, June 12, 2009

More Stampin' Up Cards!
















Here are a few more cards to look at! As you can tell I go for a simple look! Multi-layered cards are gorgeous, but I just can't seem to move away from the simple styles! Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think!










I had a great class out at the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville, today. It was my last Macho Card class. Everyone was so sweet and patient. Thanks, ladies! A special thank you to Miss Kendal, who helped with passing out supplies.










I am making a trip to the Bay Area tomorrow with my mom. My favorite Auntie is moving to Tennessee! Boohoo! I love her to pieces. She has always been my guardian angel and I don't know what I would do without her! Thank goodness for cell phones and the Internet. At least we will be able to stay in contact. I will have save my money for a plane ticket to Tennessee at least once a year.










Well, I better go. I have to get up early!










Goodnight!










Susan

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
















Good Morning Blogging World!










I wanted to add a few more cards for you all to see! I have not completed any challenges yet this week, so I thought I would show you all what I have been working on instead. There are a couple more baby cards and some simple cards that I made with my Stampin' Up sets. I just wanted to crank a few out and use up some supplies! I hope you enjoy them!










Susan

Monday, June 8, 2009







Here are some more cards to look at! I hope they inspire you! These are some baby cards I made for a friend. Enjoy!






Susan

Saturday, June 6, 2009

This and That...











Good Evening!
I hope this evening finds you all happy and well. I am a little bit sad tonight. I just found out that my cousin passed away yesterday. He was a year older than me and had been close when we were kids. He has been pretty tortured by his demons as an adult and his off and on addiction to drugs finally took him. So sad. I hope he finds the peace he deserves now.
Okay, enough sad stuff. No disrespect, but I just can't dwell there for too long. Yesterday and today I have been on a cardmaking craze! They are all pretty simple, you know me! But they are cute nonetheless! One card is a graduation card for the friend whose daughter graduated last weekend. I took her announcement and photocopied the mascot and then colored it with Copic Markers. I am still learning how to use them, but I think it turned out pretty good. There is one baby girl card that I made for a friend of my mom's. She has a lot of friends who are expecting grandchildren so she asked me to make her a bunch. I will be showing them over the next few posts. There is one Mother's Day card in the bunch too. It is the one from my sweet little Michele. My son's girlfriend has decided that she likes to make cards too! She does extremely well! I have hardly shown her anything and she just gets in here and goes to town!
Enjoy the cards and I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who left comments about my little cupcake card! You are all so sweet! Thanks! Have a great weekend!
Susan

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Laura's Sketch #27

I am so excited to be participating in the Ultimate Card Showdown over at 2 sketches 4 you! Happy one year anniversary, Ladies!




I made some boo-boos last night on my post and I changed them, but... the permalink is still wrong. I don't know how to change it -I am no computer wiz, so I decided to try again. So, bear with me as I repost my pics from yesterday!
I used Magenta patterned paper for this card, and Hero Arts stamps. I colored my images with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol (for blending pencils), and Stickles from Ranger. I also used an American Crafts glitter pen for the brackets on the sentiment. My border punch is a Martha Stewart. The ribbon is from Michael's
I don't have anything wonderful to say tonight except that I saw my adorable grand-nephew tonight and he is such a joy! We had dinner for my brother's 49th birthday. So thankful my bro is here with the family now soaking up all the love he has missed over the years.
Here is a little more detailed photo:
Goodnight!
Susan