Wonky Street Book Cover

Hi Susan K. Weckesser fans! Dana Tatar here sharing a colorful book cover today. This journal cover was super fun to put together! I paired Susan K. Weckesser whimsical patterned paper and stamps with the Wonky Street Book Cover Kit designed by Neil Walker. I painted the cover with Ranger acrylic paint and added some textured designs with the Susan K. Weckesser A Little Bit Washi Stamp Set. I cut the sun and clouds from Susan K. Weckesser patterned paper and added a bit of doodling around the edges. I secured the houses to the book cover with adhesive foam for added dimension. Susan's papers make super colorful backgrounds! I added numbers and mini people to each house. The sentiment from Susan's What's Up Gnomey? Stamp Set was the perfect finishing touch.

I'm planning on filling this book with photos from my neighborhood get-togethers. Thanks for stopping by today!

~Dana Tatar - Susan K. Weckesser Creative Contributor

Alice In Wonderland Tea Tag Invitations by Dana Tatar

Hi Susan K. Weckesser fans! Dana Tatar here today sharing a set of tea invitations. Instead of creating cards, I used a shipping tag for the base of these invites. Tea parties always make me think of the story Alice in Wonderland. I used a set of paper dolls, Susan K. Weckesser patterned papers and Prima paper and flowers to create this fun tag set.

I cut some colorful circles and letters from the Susan K. Weckesser Live, Love, Create paper collection and paired them with some bold floral prints to build up layers on each tag.

If you'd like to make a set of tags like these for yourself, you can find the paper doll set I used HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!
~Dana Tatar - Susan K. Weckesser Creative Contributor

Wings Canvas

Hi! Dana here today sharing a canvas. Susan asked us to share why we create this month. Her motto "Create to live, live to create" really resonates with me and is a statement that I agree with. Whether it is stormy outside, or I'm just dealing with my occasional stormy mood, Susan's designs always bring a ray of sunshine into my studio. I love the happy projects that I create with her collections.

The design idea for this piece began with a Coco Chanel quote Susan shared with the team; "If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing." I thought this was a great motivational quote!

I had a lot of fun with my favorite Susan K. Weckesser Color Burst patterned paper. I have once again cut the colorful circles from the paper, slightly distressed the edges, and stacked them to form a caterpillar. I used the Susan K. Weckesser Live In Color Stencil with a black marker to add the little feet and antennae to the caterpillar.

I used the Susan K. Weckesser A Little Bit Washi and Tumbleweed Houses stamp sets to embellish the background of the canvas, which is a simple layer of painted tissue paper. I finished the canvas with some flowers and bright splatters of mist.




Thanks for stopping by today!
~Dana Tatar - Susan K. Weckesser Creative Contributor

Color Burst Christmas Tree Card

Hi! Dana here sharing a fun holiday card today. I had a lot of fun with my favorite Susan K. Weckesser Color Burst patterned paper. I have once again cut the colorful circles from the paper, slightly distressed the edges, and used them to form a tree.

I used the Susan K. Weckesser Live In Color Stencil with Clearsnap Smooch to add sparkly yellow garland to the tree. I stamped some washi designs onto the tree and around the border of the card using the Susan K. Weckesser ABC.123.Washi Stamp Set.

I cut the sentiment from a piece of Susan K. Weckesser Live, Love, Create patterned paper.


Thanks for stopping by today!
~Dana Tatar - Susan K. Weckesser Designer

Home Pennant

Hi! Dana here today sharing a canvas pennant that I created for my home. I'm an Air Force wife and move around a lot. My husband and I always tell our daughters that as long as we are together we are home. I started with a blank Canvas Corp Canvas Pennant and some Canvas Corp Rope and then added color with paint, stamps and Susan K. Weckesser patterned paper.

I used the Fly Away and Tumbleweed Houses stamp sets for the sun, cloud, the word "home," and the small house (below).

I colored the canvas with white, blue and pink acrylic paints. I added small circles of color using Yellow Clearsnap Smooch with a stencil and a white gel pen. I embellished several areas of the pennant with flowers and glass gems.

I stamped, cut and colored a small house to add to the bottom of this piece.



Thanks for stopping by today!
~Dana Tatar - Susan K. Weckesser Designer

Best Ever w/Core'dinations & TCW

This is a picture of my son Morgan during his spring photo shoot at school in 2nd Grade.  He had a lot go on during this school year.  He moved schools, houses, cities, moving away from all his friends and other family, and for Morgan change is hard.  He handled it, not the best way, but things got better as time went on.  He is defiantly stronger now, but we have a long way to go.  I always want the best for him, he is such a sweet kid, his his smile melts my heart.

I used the wonderful items from the September Birds of a Feather Kit to create this layout along with Susan K. Weckesser stamps and stencil.  I went for a masculine feel with a dark edge to it.  The pops of gold represent the light at the end of the tunnel, where there is dark there come light!!  I used a ton of the elements from the kit in unusual ways.  I used the twine on my strips as accent pieces along with the cork geo tags, and added a few other fun embellishments from my stash too.  I did add some journaling here and there on the strips too, but mostly they are part of the design.

 

Here you can see a hint of Susan K. Weckesser's "Beautiful Daydreams" cardstock and the Tags stamps I used from Susan K. Weckesser.  I used her brand new tag stamps "the Garden {what-not} collection" in gold and black ink on cardstock.  I cut out the shapes and layered them under the papers under the pictures.  Here you can also see one of the wonderful TCW stencils and some of the Core'dinations cardstock - companies we are partnering with!!

 

Above you can see some of the beautiful Gold Glitter Paste from Bo Bunny we got in our Sept kit used on a stencil from Susan K. Weckesser to create the dashed lines around the layout.  The gold glitter paste really pops here with all the dark elements I used.

Life may throw you curve balls, it may be hard, and it may seem that it is hard to get out of a funk, but I always try and remember there is light at the end; and it shines like gold glitter!!

Supplies used

Cardstock - Bazzill - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Patterned Paper - Teresa Collins - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Wood - Teressa Collins - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Glitter Paste - Bo Bunny - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Stickers - Heidi Swapp - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Cork - Studio Calico - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Twine - Maya Road - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Alpha Stickers - American Crafts - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Glitter Paper - Pebbles - Sept Birds of a Feather Kit
Papers - Susan K. Weckesser
Stamps - Susan K. Weckesser
Stencil - Susan K. Weckesser
12x12 Stencil - TCW
Cardstock - Core'dinations
Washi Tape - Prima
Texture paste - Prima
Ink - Prima
Metal - Prima
Pen - Recollections
Mists - Heidi Swapp & Tattered Angels
Adhesive - Scotch & Beacon

Enjoy!!

Autumn Create to Live Challenge - Mother Card

Hi Susan K. Weckesser fans! Dana here today sharing a card that I created for the Autumn Create to Live Challenge. I combined patterned paper and cardstock from our partners Canvas Corp and Core'dinations with the Susan K. Weckesser Motherhood is a Verb Stamp and some vintage embellishments for this card. I was inspired by the challenge inspiration block for the colors and theme of this greeting.

I stamped the image with Archival Ink and then added color with Distress Markers. I loved the spool of thread, pins, button and doily from the inspiration block, so I framed the image with those items.

We'd love for you to share your project based on the picture above. Write a blog post and link-up your project to the challenge submission on our sidebar to the left. After you post your project, make sure to tweet about it, share it on Facebook and Pin it as well! Use hashtag #createtolive when tweeting or pinning so we can find and share your posts. Your project can be anything you create using this picture as your inspiration. Using Susan K Weckesser Inc products are not required, but are ALWAYS welcome and appreciated. :-)

The prize for this challenge will be drawn randomly by Inlinkz when the challenge ends on 10/31/2014 at noon EST. The winner will receive The Garden {What-Not} Collection Stamp Set co-branded with Unity Stamp Company. We can’t wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by today!
~Dana Tatar - Susan K. Weckesser Designer

Sing Your Song Tag

Hi! Dana here today sharing a sweet and sunny tag that I created with the Susan K. Weckesser Sing Your Song and Fly Away stamp sets. I cut my tag from a piece of Live In Color Patterned Paper. I added texture by applying molding paste over a The Crafter's Workshop Labyrinth Stencil (TCW486).

I used the Susan K. Weckesser Live In Color Stencil to add X's down the side of the tag and flowers along the bottom.

I colored the stamped images with watercolor pencils and finished the tag with some colorful ribbon, trim and pearl accents.



Thanks for stopping by today!
~Dana Tatar - Susan K. Weckesser Designer

Gift of laughter

Definition of a gag gift:

A gift that is given strictly for comedic effect expecting laughter in return. 

 After all, a gift of laughter is the best gift of all. Gag gifts are as much fun to give as they are to get. Ironically, they require a little more thought than a traditional gift but gag gifts can generate loads of fun and cost very little. Take this fun and easy gift that I created. I think you can guess what is wrapped up under the tissue paper!

Did you know there is such a thing as gag gift etiquette? 

1. Make sure the gift won't offend the recipient by hurting their feelings.

2. Know your recipient and their personality.

3. Everyone attending ( if it's a party ) should be comfortable enough to laugh at the gag gift and it's recipient.

4. Gag gifts are very common and expected at birthday parties, especially 40th, 50th, and Over the Hill birthday parties.

To finish off the wrapping, I needed a small tag to attach to the ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon. Susan's Live in Color paper collection has a sheet of tags in it, so I cut one out and stamped the "smile" sentiment from the Insta-Cute stamp set on it. What could be easier?

Giving the gift of laughter is priceless, so lighten up and go for it!

waving hi from the hills of North Carolina

:)