Stampin' Queen Creations features sbartist as Guest Blogger

Happy Friday everyone! I just wanted to share that the uber creative rubber stamp artist Lisa Rojas of the blog "Stampin' Queen Creations" is featuring yours truly as guest blogger today. I am so honored and thrilled to be crowned for the day!!!

CLICK HERE TO READ POST. 

Lisa is one of my creative idols and also one of the creative minds contributing to the new online publications Bella Crafts Quarterly. CLICK HERE to download the current issue. Did I mention that it's FREE to view online and download???

About my featured creation - a vintage beauty in blue.

This holiday image is from "Lovely Winter Blue Girls AP-2045" digital collage sheet from AlteredPages.com. I matted the image with distressed vellum cardstock to create a faux polaroid look, and since it has the sentiment included, there's not much to be done to create a beautiful card. I mounted this onto a base card made from glittery blue snowflake paper from a DCWV Holiday stack. It's the perfect finishing touch and added the right amount of sparkle. I topped it off with some vintage embroidered trim and a gold metallic bow. This year has flown by - I have just four weeks left to complete my challenge of creating one Christmas card each week this year....OMG - I've made 48 cards so far...WOW!!! Looks like I need a new challenge for the new year. Any suggestions???

Thanks so much Lisa for all your creative inspiration!!! Have a great day everyone :) Sb

An Altoids Tin is "REBORN" for Ink Stains 5th Anniversary Altered Altoids Tin Art Festival & Blog Hop!

WELCOME!!! Thanks for joining me helping my Altered Diva and friend Roni Johnson of "ink stains" in celebrating her five year blogiversary... altering altoid tins. I was so excited to be invited to participate in this special celebration because I too am a crafty hoarder  and love to artfully upcycle anything and everything!

Here is my altered tin - bringing spring and rebirth back to this empty tin box using one of my favorite rubber stamps a flower headed ostrich!

"Life is Precious!"

Please click the squares below to jump to all the stops on the hop. Special thanks everyone who is participating - please be sure to leave everyone some blog love {comments}...we love hearing from all of you! Enjoy :) Sb

Fond Memories of Childhood By the Sea for Anything But a Card Challenge #7

Hello! I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. Today debuts a brand new Anything But a Card Challenge... "From the Sea" OR use an Inspiration Picture. This theme is so much fun and should help balance out all the holiday crafting. Are you ready to CREATE and play along??? 

There's two weeks to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy. Anything But a Card Challenges is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using a brand-new challenge of incorporating the color "By the Sea" or Using and Inpiration Picture. Please click here to head on over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. I will have a project featured next Sunday for week two of the challenge. 

REMEMBER this challenge blog is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING... except for Cards. ATC's aren't greeting cards...so please link up your ATC's!!!

Anything But a Card Challenge 7 is "By the Sea" or Use an Inspiration Photo! You can use sea colors, ocean life, the beach or let the picture inspire you...the sky is limit!

I love this theme. Today I am sharing a vintage by the sea themed collage using teals, blues and green with natural embellishments - burlap, glass and sea shells. I used glitter to accent the sand in my vintage beach photo. I created a weathered wood feeling by tearing and distressting the edges of the painted map paper in the background.

"Wish You Were Here..."

I hope you are inspired to play along and I can't see what you create! Have a fantastic day - you'll find me at the beach!

The holidays are fast upon us - holiday crafting, baking and giftmaking are top priority... this elf is looking forward to New Year's and a LONG winters nap.

:) Sb

Merry Christmas from Whoville! Hooray it's Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches #186

Welcome to Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches!! Here's the latest Christmas card using sketch #186 and whatever items were in the bag with the Grinch papercrafting kit. I threw this and my basic toolkit in a tote and on the road we went to Thanksgiving dinner three hours away. This entire card is made from things in the paper crafting kit except the dangling ornaments with is a scrap DCVW paper and the punched decorative corners {an EK Success whale of a punch}. I had some torn strips of tree patterned paper and to make it look more dimensional I crumpled it up and layered it on top of my fussy-cut ornaments. The best part - it was great to craft in the car...especially after I used up my battery on my iPhone {LOL}.

What is Sketch it Saturdays at Unscripted Sketches? Every Saturday morning a new sketch is posted for the week. Flip the sketch, rotate it… create a card, a scrapbook page, a wall hanging, digital, paper, fabric, paint, anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are using the Unscripted sketch as the inspiration for your creation! And everyone is invited to join in the fun...and post your creation on their page for all the world to see!

Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a wonderfully creative weekend. Tomorrow a new challenge will debut at Anything But a Card Challenges ... see you then!

 : ) Sb

Vintage Beauty in Blue Christmas Card for Festive Friday #22

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!!! I want to give a special thanks to all of you for following along with me on my challenge of creating Christmas cards all year!

Welcome to the twenty-second and FINAL installment of Terri Sproul's 2012 Festive Friday Bloghop series. I'm so grateful to have been part of this creatively fun bloghop to help keep me on track, too. I have created an inlinkz of ALL my bloghop posts so you can catch up on all my posts up from all year. I still have a couple weeks of cards to go until Christmas...but this event is done for the year. I have created an inlinkz of my posts so you can catch up on all my posts up until now - just click the boxes below to see. 

You should have arrived here from Terri's Page. To get back to the beginning of the bloghop CLICK HERE. If you want to be part of the hop today...go over to Terri's and link up your holiday card.

Here's my final card - a vintage beauty in blue.

The vintage beauty is from "Lovely Winter Blue Girls AP-2045" digital collage sheet from AlteredPages.com. This image has the sentiment included, so there's not much to be done to create a beautiful card. I created a base card out of a glittery blue snowflake paper from a DCWV Holiday stack. It's the perfect finishing touch and added the right amount of sparkle, too. I like to make my cards without sentiment - so that I can customize for whomever I will be sending too.

**A TIP** I used a matte cut out of vellum to create a faux polaroid look. This is one of my favorite ways to highlight a photo. I distressed the edges with sandpaper and creamy brown chalk ink.

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Thanks for visiting!!!

The next stop on the Festive Friday Bloghop

is Angela at Midnight Crafting - CLICK HERE.

Have a fantastic Friday...and aI hope you enjoy your Holiday Season, too! Sb :)

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you are spending today with loved ones, family and friends - enjoying and celebrating whatever traditions you may have. I myself have a tradition of camping out to view the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with breakfast of my celebratory birthday pumpkin pie, while preparing my specialty...green bean casserole.

Enjoy - and I'm looking forward to getting in some well deserved creative time along with leftovers tomorrow. Sb : )

Wintery Wonderland Card for Sketch it Saturday with Unscripted Sketches #185

What a whirlwind this year has been...tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for especially for the challenge of creating Christmas cards all year for these weekly Unscripted Sketches projects. I am nearly complete and I have enough cards to last this year and leftover. Thanks to everyone for cheering me on and keeping tabs on my progress. I have only a few weeks left and I feel I should begin a new challenge for 2013. Any suggestions????

Today I am sharing my latest Sketch-It Saturday project for this week's sketch #185 and this week we have an additional "PIGGYBACK" challenge to use DRY EMBOSSING. This is fun and easy...so get out your embossing folders or stencils to make some beautiful texture - I invite you to play along...

**A TIP** You can also do dry embossing on a piece of craft foam using a stylus tracing stencils or chipboard shapes  -or- even freehand designs.

What is Sketch it Saturdays at Unscripted Sketches? Every Saturday morning a new sketch is posted for the week. Flip the sketch, rotate it… create a card, a scrapbook page, a wall hanging, digital, paper, fabric, paint, anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are using the Unscripted sketch as the inspiration for your creation! And everyone is invited to join in the fun...and post your creation on their page for all the world to see!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Friday is time to get CHRISTMAS CRAFTY with my final Festive Friday Bloghop and I have a featured December Daily Project over at Viva Las VegaStamps! Blog.

 : ) Sb

Greencrafting...A Perfect Time to Stitch Bits and Pieces Artfully Together

Hello and I hope you are having a fabulous weekend!!! Today's post features my greencrafted project for Challenge number SIX... "A Stitch in Time". Are you ready to CREATE and play along???

It's week number two of the Challenge SIX at "ANYTHING BUT A CARD"!!! ABAC is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using the theme "A STITCH IN TIME" for Challenge number SIX. Please click here to head over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. The best part...there's still another week to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy.

REMEMBER this challenge blog is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING... except for Cards. ATC's aren't greeting cards...they are mini-masterpieces! So please link up your ATC's!!!

Anything But a Card Challenge 6 is "A STITCH IN TIME"!

Challenge 6: "A Stitch in Time" - incorporate an element of time (clocks, dates, postage stamps, watches, calendars, watch or gear parts) AND/OR some kind of stitching - either faux or real!

I have a CONFESSION - I have been so busy with work, weddings and family events this month, I totally began this project as a card....YIKES!!! After a good breakfast and a second coffee yesterday, my bearings were rebalanced and I was ready to create.

I knew I wanted to use my new flying watch stamp for this challenge, but I didn't know what I was going to create. As I muddled about, my "ONE TOUCH RULE" began to take effect. This rule is pretty simple, if I pick up something in order to get something else needed for a project - IT"S getting used in TODAY'S PROJECT. This collage utilized many leftover items taking up residence on my craft table.

This project began as an empty carton that a set of holiday cards come in - REALLY!!!  I have a handful of these cards leftover from last year and it has a clear lid that will make a perfect shadow box. I will probably turn these cards into gift tags, since I have PLENTY  of handmade Christmas cards on hand {this elf has been quite busy all year}. 

So I've transformed this gem into a shadow box with some gesso, leftover painted paper and textured paper scraps, silver cellophane tissue, an empty perfume mini, a broken skeleton key, loads of miracle tape, some May Arts stitched grosgrain trim, and two of my new stamps from Plate #893 from Viva Las VegaStamps!... 

and here's my lovely creation....

To finish off I applied May Arts grosgrain stitched ribbon edging, and adhered some swirly metal photo corners - all using Helmar 450 adhesive.

This theme is so broad and has lots of fun elements - you can use one...or all of them. I hope you are inspired to play along and I can't see what you create - you still have a week left to create and link up! Have a fantastic day! Drop by next Sunday, November 25th for a new Anything But a Card Challenge to wash ashore... and remember...create anything and everything EXCEPT cards.

Starting tomorrow, please join myself along with the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team through November 25th for a week long event.... featuring the VLVS! December Daily stamp plate #1430. This event will be held over at the Viva Las Vegastamps! Blog...see you there!

:) Sb

Sparkling with Christmas Splendor for Angela Holt Designs Bloghop

I want to thank you so much for attending this fabulous Blog Hop hosted by Angela Holt Designs and sponsored by want2scrap. I am thrilled to be a part of this wonderful holiday extravaganza featuring want2scrap bling.

If you've arrived from DeeDee's UmWowStudio then you are hopping along beautifully!! If you have just arrived here, please start at the beginning of the blog hop by visiting Angela's Blog first. Follow this link to begin the hop: Angela Holt Designs.

I love papercrafts and card making - especially things that pop-up or move. I made a festive holiday kinetic accordion card using one of my favorite holiday papers from Memories Complete. This has woodcut snowflakes in white on a holiday word background and the want2scrap snowflakes add the perfect amount of dimension and sparkle. 

This kinetic accordion card has cut-outs that swing out when opened. The centers are embellished with vellum embossed using the Quickutz Goosebumps "Ho...Ho...Ho" die and rubbed with pearlescent Dew Drop pigment ink.

Detail of top left corner of card. I used the trimmed section to accent a partial snowflake on the edge. To ease closing of card, I gently sliced the gem backing where the bling goes over the folds.

For my second card this is what I call a "Throw-Away Collage". This is a festive mix of paper scraps, ribbons, stickers and bling - all of this comes together for a fun and festive holiday card.

The May Arts burlap trim adds texture and picks up pops of red with the candy stripe detail. The stickers are Crafty Secrets, Santa is cut out from a Rusty Pickle patterned paper and the finishing touch is the holly leaves with berries bling from want2scrap.

So far I have two projects complete using this Christmas Bling designed by Nina Brackett from want2scrap. I have the whimsical holiday tree left which will be used in my December Daily altered 7 Gypsies spindle that will be part of the Viva Las Vegastamps! holiday inspiration week beginning November 19th.

**SOME TIPS** You can cut apart this bling to work with your project. I gently cut the snowflakes with a craft knife to bend across folds of my kinetic snowflake card and also to fit over the snowflakes in the patterned paper. ALSO - you can color your bling! On my Santa card, I used a Bic Mark-It permanent pen to color the holly berries red - super easy and a perfect complement to the collaged green paper holly leafs.

Please click on these links to visit all the stops on the hop!

1. Angela Holt (Angela Holt Designs) -- http://www.angelaholtdesigns.com
2. Connie Mercer -- http://www.craftgoodies.com
3. Lorrie Simons -- http://www.pickledtinkcrafts.blogspot.com/
4. Tabetha Watson -- http://www.tabethascreations.blogspot.com
5. Jan Hennings -- http://papercraftpleasures.blogspot.com
6. Michelle Well -- http://histrulybeloved.blogspot.com/
7. Dee Dee Carton -- http://www.umwowstudio.com
8. Susan Brown -- http://www.sbartist.com {YOU ARE HERE}

Thanks so much for stopping by! This Christamas Elf is up to her ears in handmade holiday gift making... one great thing though - all the cards are done and will get mailed Thanksgiving weekend!

:) Sb

All that Sparkles with Christmas Splendor for Angela Holt Designs Bloghop

I want to thank you so much for attending this fabulous Blog Hop hosted by Angela Holt Designs and sponsored by want2scrap. I am thrilled to be a part of this wonderful holiday extravaganza featuring want2scrap bling.

If you've arrived from DeeDee's UmWowStudio then you are hopping along beautifully!! If you have just arrived here, please start at the beginning of the blog hop by visiting Angela's Blog first. Follow this link to begin the hop: Angela Holt Designs.

I love papercrafts and card making - especially things that pop-up or move. I made a festive holiday kinetic accordion card using one of my favorite holiday papers from Memories Complete. This has woodcut snowflakes in white on a holiday word background and the want2scrap snowflakes add the perfect amount of dimension and sparkle. 

This kinetic accordion card has cut-outs that swing out when opened. The centers are embellished with vellum embossed using the Quickutz Goosebumps "Ho...Ho...Ho" die and rubbed with pearlescent Dew Drop pigment ink.

Detail of top left corner of card. I used the trimmed section to accent a partial snowflake on the edge. To ease closing of card, I gently sliced the gem backing where the bling goes over the folds.

For my second card this is what I call a "Throw-Away Collage". This is a festive mix of paper scraps, ribbons, stickers and bling - all of this comes together for a fun and festive holiday card.

The May Arts burlap trim adds texture and picks up pops of red with the candy stripe detail. The stickers are Crafty Secrets, Santa is cut out from a Rusty Pickle patterned paper and the finishing touch is the holly leaves with berries bling from want2scrap.

So far I have two projects complete using this Christmas Bling designed by Nina Brackett from want2scrap. I have the whimsical holiday tree left which will be used in my December Daily altered 7 Gypsies spindle that will be part of the Viva Las Vegastamps! holiday inspiration week beginning November 19th.

**SOME TIPS** You can cut apart this bling to work with your project. I gently cut the snowflakes with a craft knife to bend across folds of my kinetic snowflake card and also to fit over the snowflakes in the patterned paper. ALSO - you can color your bling! On my Santa card, I used a Bic Mark-It permanent pen to color the holly berries red - super easy and a perfect complement to the collaged green paper holly leafs.

Please click on these links to visit all the stops on the hop!

1. Angela Holt (Angela Holt Designs) -- http://www.angelaholtdesigns.com
2. Connie Mercer -- http://www.craftgoodies.com
3. Lorrie Simons -- http://www.pickledtinkcrafts.blogspot.com/
4. Tabetha Watson -- http://www.tabethascreations.blogspot.com
5. Jan Hennings -- http://papercraftpleasures.blogspot.com
6. Michelle Well -- http://histrulybeloved.blogspot.com/
7. Dee Dee Carton -- http://www.umwowstudio.com
8. Susan Brown -- http://www.sbartist.com {YOU ARE HERE}

Thanks so much for stopping by! This Christamas Elf is up to her ears in handmade holiday gift making... one great thing though - all the cards are done and will get mailed Thanksgiving weekend!

:) Sb

It's Time for a New Challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges - Challenge No. SIX

Today debuts a brand new Challenge... "A Stitch in Time". Are you ready to CREATE and play along??? 

There's two weeks to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy. Anything But a Card Challenges is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using a brand-new challenge theme of "A STITCH IN TIME". Please click here to head on over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. I will have a project featured next Sunday for week two of the challenge. 

REMEMBER this challenge blog is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING... except for Cards. ATC's aren't greeting cards...they are mini-masterpieces! So please link up your ATC's!!!

Anything But a Card Challenge 6 is "A STITCH IN TIME"!

Challenge 6: "A Stitch in Time" - incorporate an element of time (clocks, dates, postage stamps, watches, calendars, watch or gear parts) AND/OR some kind of stitching - either faux or real!

Today I am sharing two cards: one is using postage elements and the other is using stitching. Make sure to come back for week 2 of the challenge to see my creation using CLOCKS on November 18th!

Here's a couple of creative cards using items from this weeks challenge....

This card is using stamped faux postage, postage cancellation stamps, and recycled sections of actual mail. The collage with the faux postage is a stamp - stamped on cardstock, then distressed and folded to resemble an actual envelope. This is bundled on top of two other recycled envy's for some added dimension.

This card uses stitched lavender cardstock, grosgrain stitched ribbon and hand stitching along the punched zig-zag border. **A TIP** This zig-zag border punch punched a repeated dotted line above the edge, which is perfect for adding a touch of hand stitching - and I didn't have to punch the holes myself.

This theme is so broad and has lots of fun elements - you can use one...or all of them. I hope you are inspired to play along and I can't see what you create! Have a fantastic day!

:) Sb

"All I Want for Christmas..." Gift Card Holder using Unscripted Sketches #184

Happy Saturday and welcome to Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches!! Presenting my latest Christmas card using sketch #184. 

This long card is perfect for a gift card holder. The patterned paper and stickers are Sandy Lion - a traditional Christmas color palette that's full of pattern and visual texture. I added some light blue American Crafts loopy satin ribbon to accent the sentiment sticker border.

**A TIP** Layer stickers to create elements. For the "All I want for Christmas..." element, I combined and layered three stickers together. For extra interest, I put in on vertically.

The arrow curiously points the recipient to see what's inside... a Merry Christmas indeed!

What is Sketch it Saturdays at Unscripted Sketches? Every Saturday morning a new sketch is posted for the week. Flip the sketch, rotate it… create a card, a scrapbook page, a wall hanging, digital, paper, fabric, paint, anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are using the Unscripted sketch as the inspiration for your creation! And everyone is invited to join in the fun...and post your creation on their page for all the world to see!

Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a wonderfully creative weekend! 

 : ) Sb

"Celebrating" the Season in Pink and Mint for Festive Friday #21

Welcome to the twenty-first installment of Terri Sproul's 2012 Festive Friday Bloghop. Wow - the year has flown by and November is here. My favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving, is just around the corner too! I have created an inlinkz of my posts so you can catch up on all my posts up until now - just click the boxes below to see. 

You should have arrived here from Terri's Page. To get back to the beginning of the bloghop CLICK HERE.

This lovely "Celebrate" card uses pretty pink and mint chocolate chip colors - not your traditional holiday colors. The base two-tone green diamond paper and the pink patterned diamond paper is Anna Griffin. These papers complemented perfectly with the K and Company "Peppermint Twist" chipboard ornament and peppermint swirls. I brought in the chocolate color with a scrap of hand painted brown paper bag for the matte and also a stripe on the pink American Crafts ribbon. Finished off with a small creme bow to top off my ornament and all mounted on a creme cardstock card base.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Thanks for visiting!!!

The next stop on the Festive Friday Bloghop

is Angela at Midnight Crafting - CLICK HERE.

Have a fantastic Friday...and a wonderful day! Sb :)

SAVE THE DATE for December Daily - VLVS! Stamped Inspiration Week

Join myself along with the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team from November 19 through November 25th for a week long event.... featuring the VLVS! December Daily stamp plate #1430. This event will be held over at the Viva Las Vegastamps! Blog... not a bloghop.

I myself will share a sneek peek of my December Daily project each day during this event. I've gathered up my old saved Christmas cards, holiday photos, my Viva Las Vegastamps! and my creative mojo to create a wonderful keepsake that I will be able to add to and enjoy for years to come.

See you then! :) Sb

Celebrating Twenty Years of Wedded Bliss!

Twenty Years ago today on Nov. 7, 1992...

I travelled to Jamaica and I got married to my best friend!

No - we didn't alope. We just wanted to have a small ceremony, and a week later when we returned, the whole family celebrated with a big party/reception. Not your traditional wedding, but it worked for me... and we didn't have to spend years saving for it or paying it off. Over the years we've been to at least as many weddings than we've been together, if not more, and sadly, most are no longer together. I consider us LUCKY that we found each other and we were both smart enough to HOLD ON TIGHT!

Where has the time gone...it just seems like yesterday.

And can you believe it??? We're still together and loving every minute of it!

Just wanted to share and shout out to the world that I am still totally head over heels for my prince charming... Mr. Brown! I'm so lucky and grateful that I found him so early in my adult life - and that we've been able spend our lives growing up together. This weekend we'll be attending a wedding - but we'll be celebrating and toasting the bubbly for 20 more years! :) Sb