Oh My It's Double the Trouble at Simply B Stamps

...with today's preview. This week we are showcasing the wonderful Alice in Wonderland Chibis Collection.

Here's the Tweedles, aren't they funny, just like brothers, always fighting and bickering, lol!
I had real fun with card, embracing the blue, red and black and white colour scheme, and going just a little mental with the miniture playing cards.


This new line is from artist Alicia Bel  And all week long we will be taking you down the rabbit hole with the rest of the Alice gang, inspired of course by the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland! 


I have to say I love working with images inspired by some of my favourite characters in literature and film/television. I think it's important to take inspiration from the great works of the past and present, it's part of our literary history. It's also important to publicly declare your inspiration, I am completely against plagiarism in any form. 

Definition of plagiarism according to Dictionary.com

pla·gia·rism

   [pley-juh-riz-uhm, -jee-uh-riz-]  Show IPA

noun

1.

the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own originalwork, as by not crediting the author: It is said thathe plagiarized Thoreau's plagiarism of a line written byMontaigne. Synonyms: appropriation,infringement, piracy, counterfeiting; theft,borrowing, cribbing, passing off.

It's all about creativity, and taking an idea and running with it; I wonder how many great inventions would not exist if people didn't take inspiration from the works of others!!  An interesting thought!

That's all from me for today
Bye for now
Suzi
xxx

New Challenge at DICC and it's a tough one...

This week we have a fun but rather tough itinerary for our lasted challenge over at Desert Island Crafters Challenge Blog,  created by a very special guest - Jingle! 
Check out her itinerary:

1. Squirrel

2. Racoon

3. Monkey

4. Moustache

5. Gnome

6. Orange

7. Grass

8. Paper Piecing

9. Colored Pencil Coloring

10. Rainbow (interpret as you will)

Here is my card based on the Itinerary...

It took me a little while to come up with an idea for this card, but then I stumbled across the Gnome World Collection of images @ Pixie Dust Studio, and all my problems were solved. I combined 3 images from the Gnome World Collection along with Tweet Tree image.  I merged my images in Photoshop, and cropped the combined image to create a little scene.  My image is coloured with Letraset Promarkers/Flexmarkers before being layered onto Orange Vellum, which i then added to a Silver Mirror Card Blank.  To finish my card I added a computer generated sentiment.

I love how bright and cheerful this card looks, and it was great fun to colour.  Hope you'll be inspired to join in the Challenge @ DICC.

Thanks for visiting with me

Suzi

xxx

A Pixie Sketch and some Cute Bunnies..

Hi Pixie friends!  Welcome to Thursday...we have so much fun cooked up for you today!  Not only is today the release of the adorable new Bunny Tales collections, we have a fantastic Pixie Sketch for you! You are welcome to interpret the sketch as you see fit - flip it on its side, scoot the panels a bit, add a layer....as long as the sketch is still recognizable as the Pixie Sketch.

Ready to see it?

I turned the sketch upside down...

For my card I used the adorable Bunny Coupe image from the Bunny Tales Collection, isn't he fun!  I love the eyes on the Coupe.  I used papers by We R Memories that came free with a craft magazine, along with some white cardstock from my stash.  Bunny Coupe is coloured with Letraset Promarkers/Flexmarkers.  I used the Die-namics alphabet dies to cut out my sentiment.

And here is a look at the brand new Bunny Tales collection:

That all from me for now, to see some awesome creations by the Pixies hop over to the Pixie Dust Studio Blog, and don't forget to go get your Bunny Tales Collection, you know you want to!

Bye for now

Suzi

xxx

A Super Sweet Sneak Peek with the Pixies

It's nearly time for a new release over at the Pixie Dust Studio, so today I'd like to share with you one of my cards featuring and image from the 'Bunny Tails' Collection, which will be available in store tomorrow.

This adorable couple are called 'Bella and Buster', such a cute image perfect for an engagement or wedding card.  I used papers by Kate Knight which were a free gift with a crafting magazine, i added some of my favourite sequin waste, along with some pretty pearls, and beautiful butterflys.  My sentiment was computer generated and printed onto Letraset Saftmat before being added to a scrap of leftover paper.

Make sure you visit the rest of the Pixies to see the adorable sneak peeks they have to share with you, and come back tomorrow for release day, and a new Pixie Dust Studio Challenge.

Bye for now
Suzi
xxx

RIP Bagpuss, My Beautiful Boy

Today has been one of the hardest days of my life; we had to have our Beautiful Bagpuss put to sleep.  Baggy was taken ill over the weekend with a Blocked Bladder so the Vets had kept him in to give him some fluids, flush out his system, and some antibiotics.  He was very impressed with the collar or catheter they had to put on him, but he recovered well from the blockage.  He was looking much better yesterday, and they were just keeping him in for observation to make sure that he had eaten and drank something before they would let him home; we were expecting him to come home this afternoon.

We phoned the Vet this morning to check up on him, and were told that he wasn't very well, had a temperature and low blood pressure, so they were gonna give him more antibiotics and see what was wrong.

The Vet called us this afternoon to say that Bagpuss was a very poorly boy, they had the blockage in his bladder cleared up, but he had developed a blood clot on the spine, so his back legs had gone rigid; they had also found that he had a weak heart.

The blood clot could have been cleared, but the Vet said he would be poorly again in a day or two, and that the long term prognosis wasn't good.  Stewart and I decided that we couldn't let him go through anymore stress or pain, so the kindest thing was to put him to sleep.

I can't believe how much this hurts; Bagpuss was my best friend.  If I was in bed he'd be at the side of me, he'd want lots of petting, and then would settle down and sleep next to me; his deep purring used to send me to sleep.  If I was in the Living Room, he would be on the back of my sofa next to me, he had created his very own dent in the sofa, Baggy's Spot.  I can't believe that i'm never going to see him again, he was only 5 years old, so we thought he'd be with us for so much longer.  We got him 18 months ago, just after my birthday, and he'd been my best friend ever since.

We both loved him very much, Stewart called him 'My Boy' and had to give him some fuss every morning when he got up, or Bagpuss would sulk.  We are going to miss him so much, but he will be in our hearts forever.

Suzi

xxx

A Simply Burton Blog Hop..

It's Friday, so it's finally Release Day at Simply B Stamps, so you can now get you hands on the truly awesome Burton Chibis 2 Collection.  To celebrate we are having a simply burton blog hop.

We also have one last character to introduce you too, here's Burtonized Christian, is he scary or what!!!

You can get Christian along with the rest of the Burton Chibis Collection over at Simply B Stamps, they are available as digis too for a limited time, so hope over to the Simply B Stamps blog for all the details, along with some great discounts.

If you just stumbled across my post, then you'll want to do the full blog hop, here is the full list so you don't miss any stops.

Starts at SBS

Alison
Barbara

Betty

Cyndi

Lea

Rio

Sandy (Guest)

Suzi

Ends back at SBS!

Now all you have to do is decide which of these wicked images you want?  That is one tough decision, have fun deciding
Bye for now
Suzi
xxx

A New Burton in the House!!

Time for another sneak peek of a new Burton inspired image from the Burton Chibis 2 Collection available on Friday at Simply B Stamps.  I'm sure you remember Miss Betty Burton from the first collection, well Betty has created another new Burton character for us;

Introducing Miss Rio Burton...

Isn't she beautiful?  Just like the real Rio, and Miss Betty Burton is so like Betty I wanted to combine them both onto one card, showing just how beautiful both Mother and Daughter are.  I used bright colours for this card, because both Rio and Betty are bright, cheerful and wonderfully rich characters.

Not really much else i can say about my card, except that i love how it turned out, nearly as beautiful as my inspiration.

Bye for now
Suzi
xxx

Show us Your Irish with the Pixies!

Hello Pixie friends!!  I hope you are having a great week!  Are you ready for a fun new challenge with the Pixies?  This week, we invite you to.....

~Show Us Your Irish!~

anything that makes you think "Irish"....colors, images, embellishments, sentiments, patterned paper....there is no wrong way!

I used the adorable Lucky Pixie from the Breeze Collection for this week's card.  I used a mix of papers from my stash, with the main pattern featuring the shamrock.  I added faux stitching to all my paper pieces, before adding the adorable Lucky Pixie, who was coloured with Letraset Promarkers and Flexmarkers.  To finish my card off, I used a computer generated sentiment based on an irish saying printed onto Letraset Safmat to sticker.

Good times, good friends, good health to you..

and the luck of the Irish in all that you do.

Have a great week

Suzi

xxx

It's Pie Time!!

Yesterday Sweeney Todd did the Butchering, so Today it's Pie Time, and Mrs Lovett has been very busy in the kitchen today.  Not sure i'd want to eat any of her pies, you've have to be very very very hungry I think, lol!!

Introducing Mrs Lovett...

Isn't she adorable, so nice to see someone baking, not sure i'd want to try her recipes tho!!

My background is a digital paper from the 'Twilight Magic Paper Biggie' available at Scrap Girls Digital Scrapbooking Site.  I printed the paper and then trimmed and layered it onto a card blank.  I stamped my sentiment and added a dymo label to alter it to suit my card.  Mrs Lovett is coloured with Letraset Promarkers and Flexmarkers, and then fussy cut and adhered to the card.

Mrs Lovett will be available at the end of the week along with the rest of the Burton Chibis 2 Collection at Simply B Stamps.  Lots of time for sneaky peeks before then, some come back tomorrow to see what tempting treats we have for you!!

Bye for now
Suzi
xxx

The Burton Chibis are BACK!!!

It's my great pleasure to say that Simply B Stamps is releasing a second collection of Burton Chibis, Yes Burton Chibis 2 is coming soon, but before we let you buy them, how about a week of sneaky peeks!!!

What better way to start off than with a Deadly Dashingly Gorgeous Gent for you...

Mr Sweeney Todd

I have to say that Sweeney Todd is one of my favourite Tim Burton films, it's not for everyone tho, as it's rather heavy on the gore, but I love it!!

I had so much fun with this card, firstly i printed off a checker board floor paper with white walls, I then trimmed this and using a 'dripping goo' embossing folder embossed it.  I then went over the embossing with a Versamark pad before adding a deep red enamel embossing powder.  I'd been a little heavy on the Versamark, so had to scrape some of the embossing powder off the paper before i heat embossed it.  I ran the paper through the embossing folder a second time after I'd heat embossed it, before going over the paper with Fired Brick Distress Ink, I used a dry sponge to blend the ink a little.

Sweeney Todd is coloured with Letraset Promarkers and Flexmarkers, before being fussy cut and glued to the background.  I created a card blank from some black textured card, to which i added my background and image.  To finish the card off I created a sentiment with my Dymo label maker, using a quote from one of the songs in the film.

Like Sweeney Todd? then make sure you come back tomorrow for another Tasty Sneaky Peek!!

Bye for now
Suzi
xxx