WEEK 11 ART DECK PROMPT!

THIS WEEK's PROMPT: "Everything old is new again."

Hello ladies! This week my thoughts have been swirling around the idea that "everything old is new again" (which, incidentally, is also a great song by Barenaked Ladies, if you are so inclined!)

And so - loving pinking shears (so reminds me of my Gram!) and batik fabrics and the colors gold and magenta together...my doodling pens (always/still)....and fairy/angel wings again...and cigar boxes and labels...and using bottle caps to stamp paint circles...and patterned papers I have been HOARDING but decided to USE IT UP instead...and how much do I love this DYMO labeler? I think we had one in our house back in the 70s - but surely it was not a toy or something I used in my crafting. I love seeing these labels on scrapbook layouts and in art journals. So yep--I went to Michael's with a 40% off coupon and bought the 7 dollar Label Buddy version (and it is a piece of junk--but I am making it work!) I bet the high-end ones are AWESOME? anyone have the cadillac version? And THANKS CYNTHIA for the inspiration to "distress" the labels by bending them all up before peeling off the backing....love that look!

So what have you "brought back" into your art that you haven't tried in a while? Or what "new trend" is one you have embraced the second time around? What 'retro' style is appealing to you?

Show us your cards!

Happy Sunday! Off to a family picnic now....TTFN!

Favorite Photo Friday! {#4}

Little Miss loves her rubber duckie. I love that. He goes in the car with her, sits on her highchair tray while she eats, is held in her hands while she watches her Elmo and Baby Prodigy videos. And when she is not here with us, he sits patiently on the edge of the tub and waits for her to return. xo

Layouts for Looksies!

So inspired by Cynthia and the Leading Ladies that I have been getting some pages done & posting things on SIStv! SO ITCHING TO GET MY HANDS ON THE KIT!! In the meantime...here are some scrappies.

I am noticing my favorite "style" right now is more art/journal-y than "clean scrapbooking" - and I really am loving it. SO LOVE the doodling and all these SHARPIES and WRITING ON THE PHOTOS and FAUXLAROIDS and just messing around with all my stash. Sometimes it is just about the PLAY. I think what had kept me from getting more layouts done was that I didn't have a story ready to tell or the perfect journaling figured out or all the "gotta haves" that trip us up and keep us from JUST DOING IT. So I decided to JUST FORGET ABOUT the self-imposed rules and do it for FUN for a bit. I still will document the stories that need to be recorded....but there is plenty of room in my EMPTY BOOKS for these kinds, too.

And that is making me happy.

Miss Mikayla Models "The Mermaid"

How much cuter does this girl look in this apron than I do? She could wear it as a SKIRT!

I am insisting she donn it while we scrapbook her dance pages and our new project - "Mikayla's shopping bag book" - a little something we came up with to pay homage to her love for shopping and put her "shopping bag collection" to good use.

(Mikayla came up with the idea to spell out her name using letters cut from her favorite stores' shopping bags. We will make a scrapper out of her yet!)

And the moral of the story is...

...you've got to

And I am SO GLAD I DID! I took a risk and "auditioned" to become a LEADING LADY for the Technicolor Postcards Design Team and I got a part! Weeee! I am so excited and honored to be chosen by Cynthia as part of her dream. The other Leading Ladies can be found here, here, here, here and here. Can't WAIT to get my hands on the KIT!

Favorite Photo Friday {#3}

Friday again already? Still no laptop (wahh!) - but luckily I have loaded quite a few photos to Shutterfly in the past 10 months or so....thus I have this FAVORITE available to share. This pic was taken at my sis-in-law's 40th birthday party last December (hence the princess crown!) From the left, my nephew Landon, brother-in-law Larry, birthday girl Lynne, my hubby Rob, my nephew Ethan. Love you guys! xo

These happy smiling faces always make me grin.

Week 9 Prompt!

This week's prompt is brought to you by the number 9. : )

Week 9....and I am SO EXCITED to have my niece Emily and her friend Avi join our little art deck challenge! Welcome, girls!! Emily and Avi are headed back to college this week - (go Wolverines!) - and they will be joining our little art project when they get settled in. (I love that they decided to schedule time each week to work on their cards! Yay!)

And in the spirit of LOVING ART...this week's prompt is "NINE THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR ART." I was sitting pondering this week's prompt-so happy with the Love, Elsie cardstock stickers I bought a while ago...and I wanted to USE THE WHOLE PACK! Silly I know, but I really do love playing with paper and stickers and ink and pictures and words.

How about you? What do you love about your mini canvas creations? Can't wait to see your cards!

Art Deck CatchUp! Weeks 4, 6, 7 & 8

My morning was spent catching up on my art deck cards....and then somewhere along the way today we lost our internet connection and so I can't email/Twitter or post from my laptop--something has gone terribly awry! (Borrowing Rob's to post these--hoping the connection lasts!)

I hate when I get this far behind in my cards....so it is making me happy to be all caught up again. (The internet thing? Not making me happy.)

I also noticed today that I like AIMEE's PROMPTS better than mine! (especially loved Week 8!)

SERIOUSLY. How fab-tastic is this going to be?

[double click on the WORDLE above to enlarge. Then go here and create your own! FUN!)

Get yourself over to Miss Cynthia's blog and look at her SNEAK PEEKS of her crafting kits - briliantly-named "Hitchcock Blonde" - that will debut next month (I CANNOT WAIT!) SERIOUSLY.

How much do you ladies want to play with these papers??? SERIOUSLY! The names alone have sold me - VERTIGO and STRING OF PEARLS. No, seriously.

And Kristina Contes is the debut guest designer. SERIOUSLY.

So happy & excited for you, Cynthia! The WORDLE above is captured from your blog URL today.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted, Staycation, All I Ever Needed!

uh - how about I have been singing the WRONG LYRICS all these years to this song (in my head....likely I can follow along just fine if the song is actually PLAYING!) The "All I ever needed" line is incorrect. I would so embarrass myself in front of Wayne Brady if I ever made it onto "Don't Forget The Lyrics!" Guess I should cross that off my "100 things to do before I die" list.

HOW MUCH DID I LOVE THE GO-GO's back in the day? Yeah. Not ashamed to admit it. (Do they still print Tiger Beat magazine?)

OK - SERIOUS BUSINESS NOW! Official DAY ONE of my Vacation/Staycation!! woohooo!!! Little Miss has arrived bright and early (and she did not stay awake on the ride over so I guess naptime is EARLY today! Couldn't you just watch kids sleep for hours? Gorgeous.)

Last night I started my STAYCATION BOOK! (oh yeah. ANY excuse to play with paper and MonoAdhesive.) Made an official journal/travellog/scrapbook WITH ONLY STUFF FROM MY STASH! Photos below! weeee!!! so loving it!

Started with just a gorgeous piece of Daisy D's cardstock for the cover....some corrogated cardboard I had laying around....and two binder rings. Started cutting papers and making pages. Masking tape (how do I love thee???) and sticker and rub-on letters... STAYED UP TIL 4:30 playing (it's sick, I know! Should NOT have had a SBUX at 7 pm!) Last night's page? Titled "Staycation Eve." I amuse myself! (or it could be that hysteria is settling in due to sleep deprivation.) BUT IT IS MY VACATION! I CAN STAY UP AS LONG AS I WANT!

I used only papers and bits that pleased my eye. Labeled pages with VERBS to indicate all my STAYCATION PLANS. "DO" "SEE" "PLAY" "SEW" "BE" "WRITE" "GIVE" - guess you could say I decorated myself a nice little vacation house for my LISTS for my STAYCATION week. (Are you sick of the word "STAYCATION" yet? OK I will stop. maybe.)

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUTS to my sister Niki (yesterday) and Brother-in-law Lar (today!) Can't wait to see you both and celebrate properly! (and you, too, Max! xoxoxox)Swirls!

Favorite Photo Friday {#2}

Picture postcard perfect, isn't it? Taken with a simple point and shoot camera on a day trip to the Cayman Islands during our first cruise back in 2004- a fabulous Cohen/Gilman family vacation. How much do you just want to float in that water? Heaven.

Happy Happy Friday, all! My staycation has officially started. Woohoo! I am already in my sarong and I will be celebrating every day for the next 9 (count 'em!) days. Heaven. I may even post MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY!

Weeeee!!!!!!!!!!

PEACE. LOVE. JASON.

so much to catch up on.....American Idol concert last night (yeah--I was THAT CLOSE to him!)....Cynthia's big reveal today....funny CraftNight mishap tonight....

...but I am so dang tired after three late nights in a row I have got t o get to bed!

I leave you with my pretty, pretty, pretty and so charming and sweet JASON CASTRO!

DAMN I wish I would have felt those DREADS!!

I wanna be a DESIGN TEAM girl!! Don't you?

Big BIG props to my seriously-talented and artsy friend CYNTHIA of Technicolor Postcards for throwing her hat into the ring of CRAFTING KITS to be offered on her ETSY SHOP.

Cynthia is promising "five paper designs and one custom rub-on. The kit will feature Technicolor Postcard designs with some other wonderful manufacturers and of course some handpicked vintage embellishments. And a little more. I am gonna do one add-on. This will be designed by my debut guest designer."

Weeeee!! I cannot wait (and yes, I submitted as a Design Team candidate. I will keep you posted!)

If you haven't already, check out Cynthia's blog and you will find yourself enthralled with her uber-cool sense of style and design sensibilities. I met Cynthia at Inspired in April (thanks, Aimee , for introducing us!) and fast became a loyal follower of her blog. (My only complaint is she doesn't post often enough! Yes I admit to being a total blog stalker....but you know how impatient I am for my fixes!)

Here's to FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS and your muse and living a creative life! I am so excited for you, Cynthia!

Here She Is!! Miss Tiny Art Lady has Arrived!

Wow. My very own Kal Barteski Custom Tiny Art Lady! (Be kind, remember, the camera adds 25 pounds....har-dee-har-har.)

Seriously. How cool is this? Just arrived in the mail today!!

Now how on earth do I display her? I am afraid to SCRATCH it. hmmmm....I am thinking a clear frame -- no mat-maybe just those simple two pieces of glass clipped together things? Anyone have any good suggestions?

Thanks again, lovey. She ranks up there with the best presents ever : ) {smooch}

Favorite Photo Friday! {#1}

Ok Stella and Cameron---I am not nearly the photo-tog you two ladies are....but I wanna play!!
(also great motivation to TAKE MORE PHOTOS. Sheesh. I really don't take enough VARIETY)

So here is a little share for you. Lunch at CAKE with the fabulous STELLLA!!! Delish. Lovely field greens salad and a hummus/pita/pizza. I've been making my own version of it since having it for lunch a few weeks ago now...Rob loves it and that makes the wifey in me very happy! (recipe below!)

(PS - how much do you love the rustic wood table? And the individual bottle of Lorina sparkling pink lemonade? Oh my life should be this good everyday! Except without the balled up straw wrapper ruining this beautiful foodie-shot! Oh--and that one stray chunk of feta on the plate. See what I mean about not being that GOOD at this photography stuff?)

Back to the recipe......

My Version of the Lemon/Garlic Hummus Pita Pizza

Ingredients:

Hummus

Roasted red pepper (did you know you can do this right on the burner of your gas oven? Cut your pepper in half, remove membrane and seeds; lay skin-side down on burner, turn flame on and roast til pepper skin blackens/scorches and pepper softens to desired consistency --use metal tongs to turn (like toasting a marshmallow over an open flame).

Steamed spinach - squeezed dry (cool or room temp is fine)

Feta cheese

black or calamata olives (optional)

Blend up a batch of Emeril's hummus

Spread a heaping serving onto a Pita or Naan bread

Top with spinach

Slice the red pepper and olives and sprinkle over spinach

Sprinkle feta on top

Cut into wedges and ENJOY!

More Mosiac Fun

Another fun MOSAIC inspired by Cameron. And I JUST NOTICED we picked the same photo (for different questions!) and I ALMOST chose the same pic for my last question. TWINS!

1. Mexican War Streets Home - Bright Colors And Decorated In A Pittsburgh THeme Pittsburgh, 2. a little rust, 3. I Wanna Grow Old with You, 4. marble{licious} ........, 5. Brooklyn, 6. Sugar Rain...................Sugar Snow, 7. bookshelf spectrum, revisited, 8. Princess Painting, 9. Rose in the Bouquet, 10. HAITIAN PARADISE, 11. Manayunk, PA: Flowers, 12. My Studio

The questions & answers:
1. name of birth place--Pittsburgh
2. country where you live--USA
3. favorite kind of house to live in--Old
4. one word to describe your style of decorating--eclectic
5. favorite town for a city trip--New York City
6. favorite country for a holiday--Mexico (so far!)
7. favorite piece of furniture--Alexa Sofa
8. favorite kind of garden--maze
9. favorite flower--pink roses
10. a historic place you visited and liked very much-- Labadee, Haiti
11. where would you move to if you had to? Manayunk (city in PA)
12. favorite room in your house--my studio

WASSIMA Art Deck - Week 7!

OK - I haven't put mine together yet....but I have the PROMPT*!

Woke up EARLY (6:30 am) because I couldn't wait to get back to reading "Breaking Dawn" - (seriously, ladies - if you haven't started this series--what are you waiting for?) And I was pleasantly surprised to see the SUN had returned (after a dreary overcast day yesterday)...and I had just enough French Vanilla Creamer to make an iced coffee in my new Starbucks cup....and at 1pm little miss will be arriving and I cannot wait to try the new outfit on her from the O'Tooles (thanks! pics asap!) and I had plenty of time to scrap a few more pages in Sirryha's book, plan the shopping bag scrapbook for Mikayla, and there you have it---a perfect day and today's prompt!

*Week 7 Prompt: A Perfect Day. What would yours be? Mine always involves a NONWORK day, reading and/or some sort of creative endeavor, and/or family fun time. If I were a hockey player, I think I would have just experienced a HAT TRICK! If i were a baseball player - I'd have racked up a triple play? (Am I getting ANY of these sports analogies right? Have no idea where they came from, as I don't BEND let alone engage in strenuous exercise.)

On other happy notes:

• Shouting out CONGRATS to two creative inspirations who are EXPECTING BABIES!! First - Karalenn (Penelope Crackers!) - oh Karalenn please join our art deck journal again!! I miss your enchanting paintings!! And second- Ali Edwards! This news makes me so happy...feeling the baby love mojo so strongly these days.
• Speaking of baby love.... Sirryha is STARTING TO WALK! Took a few steps for her daddy for the first time on Friday - and I witnessed it too, yesterday. WOW. Time is FLYING by. How can she be ONE already?
• Big CONGRATS to Amy for her entry into the publishing world with her Somerset acceptance for her fairy house!! So excited and happy for you. So, so, so love your VISUALIZATION practices! Cynthia....I am continuing my visualization for good health for your mom....thanks, Amy, for the idea! It reminded me of the visualization Gildna Radner recounted in her book about her ovarian cancer. You can read it described here (sorry, couldn't find a direct link to the book passage)...this idea has always stayed with me in the back of my mind (and I read the book over ten years ago)...thanks, again, Amy for reminding me to pull this out and bring it back into my life!

I could go on, for some reason today! Feeling much love and gratitude to my family and INSPIRED PEEPS for sharing all their artistic gifts and nurturing me along the way...you are all a blessing to me!

Swirls!

~Sooz

Flickr Mosiac Fun

THE PICTURES:

1. Black-eyed Susan, 2. No-knead bread, 3. the gateway, 4. Green apple, 5. DSCF1170flkr, 6. water droplets in the shower - o.k. bokeh, 7. Bali Ha'i, 8. 14th August 2007 / Day 226, 9. Close your Eyes and Sleep, 10. dawn passion, 11. Temperal Paradox, 12. sooz and sean

THE STORY:

Oh how I love Flickr and the Mosiac Maker from BigHugeLabs. I can get lost in Flickr for HOURS - makes me wish I had a real camera and was artsy with photography (but not enough to really LEARN all about it. ISO and FStops and Apeture? Oh no....too much math or something involved there. But I SO admire good photography.)

Flash to the posting from Emily Falconbridge's blog (she-goddess, herself!) about her photoshoot with BFF Tara Whitney (another goddess!) and the talented BohoGirl/Denise (and yet another goddess!). How much do you love her photos? LOVE her writing and blog, as well. How cool is the story of them meeting via internet and then Tara planning a photoshoot for her and Em? Oh there is magic in this internet world of artsy women! LOVE THAT!

So...back to the Mosiac Maker. I always wanted to try this and then Denise had this fun thing on her blog - you answer questions that lead to photo selections on Flickr, and it becomes a mosiac of you. How cool, huh?! (Check out Emily's too--she did it with her hubby. Love it! I am SO going to get Rob to do one!)

Oh--here are the questions (and my answers in green):

1. What is your first name? Susan

2. What is your favorite food? Bread

3. What high school did you attend? Gateway

4. What is your favorite color? Green

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Vince Vaughn

6. Favorite drink? Water

7. Dream vacation? Bali

8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Peaceful

10.What do you love most in life? Passion

11. One word to describe you. Paradox

12. Your Flickr name. Sooz126

How's that for FAVORITE PHOTO FRIDAY, Stella and Cameron??