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Of Goats & Lederhosen

Hi & Hello!
Happy Saturday! Hope your weekend is off to a creative start. I was in a silly mood and made quite a silly card today. This dapper little fellow is Guiseppe Forks, the newest member of the Toodles & Binks Stamps family. The image comes with a thank you sentiment, which I didn't use as I went crazy with zee buttons and zee bows.

Isn't he sweet? I can just see him speaking with an accent. His first name is Italian, his last name could be what, British? But all I kept thinking was lederhosen. Maybe goats led me to Heidi on the mountain? *shrugs* So the ribbon and bows appeared as my homage to the suspenders worn with lederhosen. My stream of consciousness has quite a few bends :)

I colored the image with the Copics you see above after stamping twice onto Neenah cardstock so that I could pop the goat up for dimension.

I used a Bazzill Avalanche textured cardstock base (see goats, mountian tops - lederhosen!) with a peek of Core'dinations cardstock in a bright, crisp green. Bo Bunny Double Dot patterned paper in Powder Dot Blue tops the card.

The image itself is die cut with Spellbinder's Labels Four.

I used a Stampin' Up! Slot Punch on the die cut then slid some Bashful Blue Taffetta ribbon by Stampin' Up! into the slots, and added bows and Dew Drops. The flowers are topped with Crystal Stickles.

Toodles & Binks Stamps are made in the UK but they gladly ship internationally. They are sold online at Stamp Galaxy.

 I think it is about time I posted a recipe, so look for that either later today or tomorrow.

Thank you so much for visiting!

It's Good News...

Hello again!
I am back with yet another card for today. I just has to share the newest Toodles & Binks stamp, Clive Cochran. Yep that is the rooster's name, and he has some good news to crow about!  The sentiment comes with the image, which is always nice.

Clive was stamped twice onto ivory cardstock, then colored with the Copic Markers you see in the photo below. I popped him up on some dimensionals as usual for a little 3D action.

I loved the sharp contrasts of the colors used and wanted the texture and color to be the star, so kept embellishments to a minimum, just using a scrap of May Arts ruffled grosgrain trim and some orange checked gingham ribbon (also by May Arts). The button is by BasicGrey.

The image and frame are cut with Nestabilities and also put on pop dots under the final layer.

The patterned paper is Orange Citrus Dot by Bo Bunny; it is layered with Stampin' Up! Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip all on a base of Stampin' Up! striped kraft paper from the Taste of Textiles patterned paper collection.

Note: A UK based company, Toodles & Binks sells unmounted (or on EZ Mount) red rubber and ships internationally. 

Thanks for stoppin' by! Happy creating :)

Love Grows & Craft Critique Call for Reporters

Hi everyone,
Hope your day is going well. Are you ready for spring yet? Since the time change I can finally feel spring coming. We have had so much snow and gray skies, which just makes me appreciate the sunshine all the more when it peeks out. I have created a resolve to ENJOY the sunshine and to get out more when the snow clears. The dogs, who have been cooped up inside the house for months, are feeling it too. They are so pale and have lost most of their spots.

  

You can really see this on hairless dogs - take a look at these summer and winter pictures of Freeway. If a patch of sunshine appears on the carpet or the bed, the dogs can be found there, contorting their bodies to the shape of the sunny pattern. They too are ready for spring and the visits to the dog park. It is still too cold to play outside, but soon my little furless friends, soon...

Today's card used the newest stamp by Toodles & Binks, Grow a Little Love. T&B is a new-ish company from the UK (they ship to everywhere though). The designs are very sweet, fun and different.This card is sweet and simple, but with a little unique twist on the ribbon embellishment.

The sentiment and the tree image come together. To fit on the A2 sized card I succumbed to the trend to cut and paste words onto the card. I used to think that it looked like ransom letters, but it has been growing on me.

The tree was colored with Copics and die cut with Nestabilities. To ground the tree I used a dot effect to create grass, using several shades of green and a Colorless Blender.

Have you grown tired of this Chatterbox Artilicious paper from the Fabulous collection yet? Could you even tell it was the same collection used here and here? It really has a lot of variety and can be used so many ways. Today's papers are Fabulous Voyage, Fabulous Vintage and Fabulous Buttons.

The pink tafetta ribbon (Stampin' Up!) was tucked into a loop and sealed with a sticky glue dot. Flower buttons (Stampin' Up! Button Latte) were added on top and centered with a flat back self adhesive pink pearl (Kaiser).

Craft Critique Reporter Call

Craft Critique is on the lookout for new reporters. I will  be staying aboard for the next go round and would love to have you join us. For details and how to apply, check out this post here on the CC site, but hurry, the deadline is March 13th! They are specifically looking for a guy and a digi scrapper this time around, as well as general reporters.

Thanks for stopping by!

Good Friends Always Have The Best Candy...

Hi everyone! A super quick post today, because as usual I am behind on my Christmas prep! I LOVE today's sketch challengeover at Splitcoast. It was perfect for this primary colors children's card (or for children at heart). I wanted to keep it sweet and simple like the new Toodles & Binks stamp Matthieu & Arthur that is available over at Stamp Galaxy.  There is a big debate - is Arthur a fox or a squirrel? I guess it depends upon how you color him! I will leave it up to you to decide. Either way I think this image is perfect for a young boy - something that is really tough to find in stamps. Can you tell that the illustrator, Genevieve Godbout, works for Disney? These two look straight out of a cartoon - just love them.

I colored these cuties with Copic Markers, then cut the shape from Spellbinders Label Onedie cuts. The sentiment is by Papertrey. 

I used the Copic Colorless Blender on the jeans to give them a stonewashed look, and also on the lollipop to blends colors that really were not meant to blend lol.

To complete the sketch I used 5/8 Real Red grosgrain ribbon by Stampin' Up! that is adhered to Bazzill cardstock with Scor-Tape - the tape is double sided yet thin enough that you do not get tape marks showing through the ribbon. I like how the texture of the ribbon and the cardstocks work together.

One last little toot - a big thank you to Susanna Boyd over at CardoftheWeek.com for making my Holiday House Gift Card Holderthe tutorial of the week *bouncin' in my chair*!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Here Comes Presents & Simone Winner (Prize Alerts)

 

Hello and happy Monday! It was a dreary and overcast weekend here; today has begun the same way. I already miss the sun. If winter must come I hope it brings some pretty fluffy snow soon. Here is one more thing to look forward to: Christmas! That is the theme this week at the House Mouse & Friends Challenge Blog, and there is a lovely prize package up for grabs for one participant thanks to our Guest Design Star Jennifer. You can see the challenge and the prize right here. 

 

 

I stamped the House Mouse Mice Elves image twice so that I could cut out a few presents and pop them up for dimension. After coloring with Copics I added Liquid Applique snow and Stickles in Icicle here and there. 

The Ho Ho Ho sentiment is a Cosmo Cricket silver Metallic Rub-On. It is a bit hard to see in the photo due to the metallic shine but you can see it better in the photo to the left. I learned the hard way that this rub-on does not like Bazzill's Dotted Swiss paper which makes sense as it is embossed hard to stick to. It is also very fibrous - almost like watercolor paper.

The textured cardstock and ribbon is Stampin' Up!'s Red Riding Hood, as is the Ski Slope patterned paper. I tried to make the panel look like a present :)

I tried to do a faux airbrush look with the markers by coloring behind the mice with B00 Blue Frost and BG10 Cool Shadow, graduating the outer edges by adding layers of the same color. The very edge is B02 Robin's Egg Blue. I then used the 0 Colorless Blender to blend and lighten and get the airbrush "look". 

Be sure to check out the HM&F Blog to see what the other DT members have made for you this week.  Each week they amaze me with their fun and creative cards. 

Toodles & Binks Simone Winner & Prize Alert

The fickle hand of fate has chosen Cheri Higdon as the winner of the new Toodles & Binks stamp Simone! Cheri please email me your address and I will send Simone to her new home :) Thank you to everyone who entered!

There is a chance to win three of the newest releases on the T&B Blog right here! Above you can see the newest one - this cute little boy and his squirrel do not have a name yet so head on over to the T&B Blog to try to guess and win him as well as Toodles & Binks Skate and the matching quote stamp.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzy

New Toodles & Binks Stamps

 

Isn't this image adorable? I love the cat holding onto her leg as she skates! This is Toodles & Binks Skate and is now available to order *here*.  Toodles is Kay's daughter and I am told this is the perfect likeness of her! Binks is the cat:) 

Here is the matching Figures of 8 Quotation - a cute little poem.

I have been asked where to get these stamps if you are not in the UK. Stamps Galaxy ships internationally to anywhere. They are unmounted red rubber - you will need EZMount or something to make it stick to your acrylic block ( a lot of people use Alene's Tacky Glue).

Be back in a bit with a card. If you have some free time come play at the Cabaret for Splitcoast Stampers VSN weekend! I am hosting a challenge at 2pm EST and there are lots of other challenges posted and more coming up!

hugs,

Suzy

Making Memories FaLaLa Meets Simone & Double Blog Candy Alert

This is the latest Toodles & Binks stamp .  I wanted a tall, skinny card just like her.  The big card also gave me the chance to add lots of pretty papers and buttons. I may have gone a little crazy with the embellishments ha!

    

She was so fun to color- I used the Copic Markers you see above. They are the same colors as yesterday's card as they also match the Making Memories Music Note and Scallop Circle papers from the FaLaLacollection that I used today.  The scallop Nestabilities trim around her is Bazzill's Dotted Swiss cardstock in Blissful.

The buttons are from BasicGrey's new Christmas collection Wassail and the waffle pattern flowers are Prima Press N Petals Christmas. The green matting is Stampin' Up!'s Kiwi Kiss. 

Everyone went vintage this year for Christmas and used yellowish olive, burgundy, cream and brown! I mentioned yesterday that the reddish orange brown of some of the papers in Wassail was impossible to match with the Copics perfectly unless you mix colors. Well I did find an ink that was perfect-0: VersaMagic Red Brick. I used it to sponge this card.

Last but not least, I added Crystal Effects to her boots.

The sentiment is by A Muse.

Do you like Simone? I think she is so funky yet chic. Would you like to win  her? Kay sent me an extra Simone stamp to give away. Just leave a comment here and I will pick a winner next Monday! To sweeten the pot I will throw in some Zoomz (like Dew Drops) and other goodies too :)

Whiff of Joy Blog Candy Alert

Its Kimmie's turn to offer up some Whiff of Joy blog candy! Enter to win Charlie the Chimney Sweep, a good luck stamp, on Kimmie's blog here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzy

Just a Little Sparkle...

 

Woo hoo I finally received my Toodles & Binks stamps! These unmounted red rubber stamps are the first two in the series, and are drawn by Disney Illustrator Geneviève Godbout. They are so fun!  I wanted to make a fun, cartoon like Christmas card using non-tradional colors with lots of bling. Ah I wish the true sparkle and glitz could be seen! This card is sooo sparkly!

 

I colored the images with the Copics pictured above. I then traced along the lines of Celeste The Fairy'swings and her cloud with Stickles Glue, and added some ultra fine glitter to her collar trim using a glue pen.

   Joel the Deerhas a bit of Stickles in the Holly berries and some Crystal Effects on the leaves and in his eyes, hooves and nose. I added a bit of White Opaque Gel Pen to both. The glittery blue cardstock is Doodlebug's Sugar Coated Cardstock. It is a sheet of blue paper covered with a layer of ultrafine holographic glitter. So pretty! It reminds me of a starry, clear sky. One word of warning though - Zip Dry glue had a bad reaction to this paper and it went right through to the front. I had to use Tombow Mono Multi glue. Test a patch of your glue on the paper.

The polka dotted embossed cardstock is Bazzill's new Dotted Swiss paper and I am so in love with it! I think it makes the perfect texture for fun snow hills (hand cut) and fluffy Oval Nestabilities  clouds.

I added lots of tiny silver stars and used an A Muse sentiment that says Wishing You a Magical Holiday Season. 

Hope you like this fun, cartoony card! Don't forget to enter my drawing to win a Whiff of Joy stamp if you haven't already entered - I will be picking a winner Tuesday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Suzy

Supplies List

Stamps:Toodles & Binks Celeste the Fairy and Joel the Deer; A Muse Magical Holiday Season Sentiment

Paper: Select White by Papertrey; Doodlebug's Sugar Coated Cardstock in Swimming Pool; Bazzill's Dotted Swiss paper in Salt.

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Ancient Page Chocolate

Accessories: Copic Markers; Stickles in various colors; Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter and Crystal Effects; Oval Nestabilities; Signo White Opaque Gel Pen.

Toodles & Binks Now Available to Order & A Call For Designers

         

Toodles & Binks is a new UK based stamp line from Stamp Galaxy. The line will consist of sweet, cute, whimsical characters and props. The stamps are unmounted red rubber and available to order! They will ship worldwide.

If you love cute stamps and love to color then heads up: Toodles & Binks is now looking for at least three design team members, one from the UK, one from elsewhere in Europe, and one from the USA.

You will need to have a blog to showcase your work and be active in forums like TwoPeas or SCS.

To apply please submit the following via e-mail to owner Kay Bolton at mrskbolton@aol.com:

1. Your name, blog link, mailing address and email

2. 3 pieces of work (via your blog is fine) using any of the the following stamps:
Sugar Nellie
Magnolia
Whiff of Joy
Spiral Whispers
Stampin’ Up
Penny Black

3. If possible, we’d like to see:

• a card
• a tag
• and another small project of your choice

Please put DT Application (your country) in the subject heading of your e-mail.

The deadline to apply is October 25 at midnight GMT

Announcing Toodles & Binks (Prize Alert)

Meet this cute little deer, he is one of two stamps soon to be released from Toodles & Binks Stamps, a new division of Stamp Galaxy, a UK based company. Kay Bolton and her husband have recently turned a hobby into a full time business on their farm in the rural Kentish countryside, where they manufacture the stamps. They are illustrated by Genevieve Godbout, who is French Canadian, living in London and working for Disney. Be sure to take a look at her blog to see her illustrations - when I saw them there was no chance I would pass up an opportunity to design for this company.

The name of this little deer has yet to be revealed, but he is available for pre-order at Kay's store Stamp Galaxy. The first 5 pre-orders will receive a pack of Zoomz as a gift (these are like Dew Drops).

Guess the deer's name on this post for a chance to win him! If no one guesses correctly there will be a random draw.

Hope you like him as much as I do!

Suzy