The Prettie Girls are Back

Its Wednesday, so that means its Prettie Girl Design Team Challenge Day! This time, I get to show you my card I created for Kristine for my "Scare Yourself Challenge."

While there are some patterns I LOVE from the Uptown Collection, but others that I just say "ummmm??" about. As in, what's going on with all those circles? And, those stripes were just not me. I'm generally not a big fan of purple, so put those together, and voila - the perfect ingredients for my "Scare Yourself" challenge card.

Once I embraced all this craziness I set to work creating a double pocket card. I learned how to make them on Beate's blog. (Which is funny because she doesn't like purple either!)

For the pocket card, I used my In the Spotlight set which is one of my favorites, I just haven't had a chance to use it in a while. I wrote a quick note to Kristine on it, and tucked a little something for her in the front pocket.

Here's another thing that I'm sort of afraid of. Hodgepodge. I can't ever seem to figure out what fits inside. So, scrap that, I put something on the outside and then used that Hodgepodge to thread through some May Arts polka dotted ribbon to soften up all those dots and dashes!

I received a beautiful card in the mail from Julie Campbell. She included a bunch of birthday prizes for me! How sweet! To see what scares Julie, be sure to swing by her blog. To be honest, its something I'm afraid of too, but she made it look super easy and totally cute!!!

Be sure to stop by the other Prettie Girls: Alli, Christie, Jillian, Charmaine, Julie C., Julie M., and Kristine what fears they had to overcome!

Christie will be issuing the weekly challenge today, and I totally welcome you to join us! If you play along with us please post me a link or send me a picture so I can see what you've been up to!

Stamping In Your Jammies!

Last night was the October Stampin In Your Jammies session for Paper Pretties. Its a virtual stamping party with three challenges - one at the top of each hour!

Lucky me, my Paper Pretties kit arrived yesterday containing several new stamp sets (VeggieBella, ExpectaFellaBella both from StampingBella and By The Seashore from MFT)!

I was itchy to play with my new rubber, so this was a great excuse! It was so nice to be able to open stamps right up and get cracking... no trimming! I have to say, that's so handy....

The first challenge was to create a sour cream container...they're a quick little treat if you need a party favor. This one could hold some chocolate covered coffee beans, M&M's any little trinket related to coffee....

I've had an Au Chocolat card in my head featuring My Favorite Things "Hot Stuff" so it was a no brainer for me to use that for my sour cream container. I did sorta feel like I was cheating by using designer paper rather than stamping something.... but hey, I was pressed for time!

The next challenge was a color challenge to use Rust, Dark Purple and Straw. I had this Basic Grey Mellow Paper that was just what I needed for this challenge, as well as some Bravo Burgundy I haven't used since my Christmas cards from LAST year! My brand spankin new Veggie Bella from Stamping Bella - featured in Paper Pretties September Card Kit - was perfect for this task! I loved coloring her in and paper piecing her overalls out of Close to Cocoa paper. The sentiment reads "Simple Joys" and is part of a longer PaperTrey Ink sentiment. I inked only the portion I wanted with my Choc Chip marker and then punched it out with my Word Window punch.

I'll admit that The last challenge really scared me when I first saw it. It was a sketch challenge that I wasn't sure WHAT to do with. Then, I remembered that my package of goodies contained the My Favorite Things stamp set in the October Paper Pretties kit.

I grabbed my marvy uchida giga scallop and mega plain circles and got to work. Instead of the undulating wavy image in the sketch, I used a scallop border with the scallops pointing up.

The sentiment "Friendship" is placed on a 1 1/4 circle of Very Vanilla and matted on a 1 3/8 circle of Close to Cocoa. A little "Three For You" flower accent with a cute polka dotted brad that I got at the Paper Pretties Corner Store was the perfect touch!

I was right up to the wire to post this for the challenge, but when I came down to clean up, it needed a little something. So, beyond the deadline for posting to the Paper Pretties group site, I eyeletted the scallops around the circle and on the scalloped edge and added faux stitching to the saffron panel. Oh, and I carefully doodled around the sentiment to fill in some empty space.

If you're a Paper Pretties Member, I hope you'll join us for next month's SIYJ! It was really fun and I hope to see you there!

Leftovers

I promised my Fall Flowers attendees, and the girls who bought the at home kit, that I'd work on some easy samples of some cards they can make with the leftovers from their class. Everyone went home with at least a half a pack of Fall Flowers paper. So, I'll continue to rotate some possible ideas in.

First, I have this cute 3x3 thank you note. The post office won't mail this size, but they are super cute if you need a little gift card to tie to something, or to hand deliver, place in someone's mailbox etc. You get the point.

I also recreated a card I'd made before with Flower and Flourishes. My card was a modified case of a card we'd done in a demonstrator workshop and I simply loved it. Last time I switched it from the Palette O Prints to the Linen Prints paper... this time, I changed the paper to Fall Flowers and used my edge distresser like CRAZY to rough up the matting for the image and sentiment.

The card base for the 3x3 is Sahara Sand, the card base for the larger card is Old Olive. Stamp sets include "Thoroughly Thankful" and "Flowers and Flourish" The first card was colored with SU Many Marvelous Markers, and finished off with River Rock double stitched ribbon. The second card was stamped using Old Olive and Always Artichoke ink. An Ice Rhinestone Brad was used in the center and tied with the Very Vanilla wide grosgrain ribbon.

Have a great day everyone!

Thank you and a WINNER

Thank you to everyone who dropped in to help me celebrate my birthday with a little blog candy for YOU! I loved reading everyone's birthday memories, and I'm totally floored as to how many of you share birthdays with your children or a sibling!

The lucky winner receives a $15 Gift Certificate to the Paper Pretties Corner store. As selected by random.org, the lucky winner is #14! Jana Weaver! Congratulations Jana! Please email me at stampedbyhand at comcast dot net to claim your prize! Everyone else, if you don't read it already, be sure to stop by Jana's beautiful blog!

Don't forget that right now, Paper Pretties is waiving the membership fee till Wednesday the 31st! What a great time to sign up for one of the subscription clubs!

Tonight, my fellow Prettie Girls Christie, Charmaine, Jillian, Julie Campbell, Alli., Julie Masse, and Kristine and Paper Pretties Members will be participating in Stamping In Your Jammies! There will be challenges at the top of the hour and we'll be playing along from home. I'm so excited. I've really missed my stamp table. This afternoon I've got to clean up my work area since I'll have only an hour to complete each challenge! I'll need to start in a clean place since I'm sure I'll make a big old mess!

Embarassing....

Okay, remember how the other day, all my Prettie Girl friends were posting their bouncing brayer cards. And I didn't have mine. Well, Christie sent me a picture. Oh boo. I had hoped that it was hopelessly lost in customs and would never arrive.

So, while I'm so embarrassed to post this card, I'll do it anyways. As a lesson to try new things. I'll post some cards I made that I DO like in my next post.

Go ahead and give the bouncing brayer a try. Surf around the Prettie Girls (links on the sidebar) sites to see what they made. My jaw dropped open when I saw Alli's card. She totally nailed it. Its gorgeous.

This week's challenge came from Julie Masse and it is to use Chipboard on your card. Mine this week is for Jillian and I did it last night. SO fun. I have a lot of chipboard, and tend to hoard it, but I used three pieces on last night's card. You'll see my "Scare Yourself" card that I sent to Kristine later this week and my chipboard card to Jillian next Wednesday. Be sure to come back to see them. I'm not embarrassed of either of those cards, in fact, I really liked them both!

While blurfing around this morning, I see that many of the Prettie Girls have had their latest packages from Christie arrive. I had my mail stopped while I was away for the wedding. But, I'm going to be stalking Mr Mailman to see what's waiting for me!!

SEW Great!

Two of my friends (who also happen to be my largest clients in both my daycare and stamping business) dropped by today with a super SWEET birthday delivery. A Janome Sew Mini! Repeat after me "Shut UP!"

Oh My Goodness, I'm literally bouncing with excitement. These girls know me very well. If I had thread anywhere in this house, I'd be sewing up some cardstock right now, but I've GOT to get packed for the wedding, pay bills, do laundry, finish some projects etc. I can't WAIT to get playing with this next week.

They also treated me to this gorgeous Z-Fold card. I love that these girls love to stamp as much as I do. Its a sickness ladies, and its totally contagious. Rachel made this with the Level 3 Hostess Set Simply Scrappin Kit "Happy Me." I can't take any credit for the card design - she's as crazy addicted to blog reading as I am and now she's teaching me things!

To top it off, they arrived with an icy cold bottle of wine - get this - named "Mommy's Time Out!" Love it!! I'll plan on giving myself a Time Out on Sunday night post all the festivities!

Thanks so much girls! I consider myself lucky to have such good clients, but every day, I'm just so thankful that we've become such good friends as well.

I'll sew you up some thank you cards next week!

Hooray!

Today is my new friend Julie Campbell's birthday! She's one of my design team friends - I'm working from my mom's laptop, and my blogger is all funky, so I can't include a link. But you can find her over there on my Prettie Girls list!

I'm also happy to let you know that Paper Pretties is running a promotion called the Happy Halloween Hoorah! Between October 25th (today) and October 31st Paper Pretties is waiving the membership fee on all new subscription boxes! Head on over to www.paperpretties.net and sign on up!

I'm officially on wedding duty and won't be checking back in till Sunday or possibly Monday. I'll have some pictures to share, details of my birthday celebration and will be picking a blog candy winner. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Wednesday Prettie Girl Challenge

You may remember that last week, we started posting the Prettie Girl Wednesday challenge and we'll be posting the cards we receive from our other Design Team buddies.

Two weeks ago, Charmaine challenged us all to try the Bouncing Brayer technique, now let me just say, this one was TOUGH for me. So rough in fact, that once it was finished, I tucked it into an envelope and mailed it to Christie (um.. along with a replacement GOOD card because I was just horrified with my creation!!) I never remembered to take a picture of it! Duh!

So, I don't have a photo to show you of my most embarrassing card yet. When it arrives at poor Christie's house, I'll have her send me a photo to share with you. However, we'll have to wait till she picks herself up off the ground after rolling around laughing at this one. Eesh.

But, even though I found the challenge hard, I'm still glad that I gave it a try, and learned something new. I'm also even that much MORE in awe of the super cute things that some of my Design Team friends have unveiled using this technique.

Be sure to stop by the other Prettie Girls: Alli, Christie, Jillian, Charmaine, Julie C., Julie M., and Kristine have come up with!

Julie Masse is issuing this week's challenge, as soon as its listed on her blog, I'll update this post with the details.

I totally encourage you all to play along with us. Although challenges can at some times be scary, its a great way to try new things, stretch your limits, and in some instances, have a laugh. And, I love getting mail from the Prettie Girls, it so makes my day!

November Project Club Project

I couldn't close up shop around here until I had my November project club project planned out. My girls are just so great, and I wanted to be sure I had something lined up and can order supplies for our next class.

I've been itchy to make one of the card totes I had seen on Leslie Miller's blog "Running with Scissors." Hers totally stunning, and rich with detail, but I skipped the faux stitching here to make it easier for my girls to complete their project quickly.

We always get to gabbing, which is of course half the fun!! I promised myself that I'd take it easy on them this round.

This particular tote is made with: Le Jardin Designer Series Paper and So Saffron cardstock, a little bit of the River Rock double stitched ribbon, a chipboard flower, button and a scrap of hemp twine I found on my table tonight!

This little tote holds four matching cards, and all supplies are from Stampin Up. You can read a full tutorial on Leslie's blog.

The cards uses the Thank You from Much Appreciated as well as the main image from Simply Said.

This is a "go to "layout for me, which I believe first saw on Valerie Stangle's website. It works for just about anything, and I go to this layout often. I like to say that I "Stangled" this card.

Have a great day! Off to do one zillion loads of laundry! What a rainy wet blah day we're having here today. So dreary!

'Fraidy Cat Winner

I'm so glad a few of you played along this week with the Paper Pretties Design Team challenge "Scare Yourself." The participants were:

Alison Filo, Liz N., Sandy, Tricia and Rachel

As selected by www.random.org was number one - Alison!

Alison, can you send me your snail mail address and I'll get your Au Chocolat off to you in the mail?

Thanks to everyone who played, and somone on the Paper Pretties Design team will be posting the latest challenge TODAY! I'll be back later to give you an update.

Snow Days

This card makes me think of those really pretty days when the world is coated in snow, but its bright and sunny out. You know, in the beginning of the season when you say "I love a day like this, its so pretty" rather than come February when I roll over and say "Ugh. Snowing again?"

I've been looking at this little snowman the last few days while working on my big project below thinking he's the perfect size for a really darling smaller sized card. So, voila, a triangle trifold card.

I learned how to make these on Beate's blog a while ago and I really do love them. So clever! Here's a link to the tutorial she wrote.

I picked up some great new seasonal paper at my last trip to my local scrapbooking store. This particluar selection is by Reminisce. The colors are similar to Ruby Red and Old Olive and sorta Tempting Turquoise-ish too.

I know I've mentioned it before, but remember, this set is currenly only available as part of the Paper Pretties subscription. Subscribers to the My Favorite Things boxes will recieve this as their November box!

Okay, on to the details.....I stamped the MFT "Baby Its Cold Outside" on shimmery white with Stazon and then colored with some Prismacolor pencils. Then aquapainted the snowman with some soft sky refill. Lastly, with the help of a glue pen and some dazzling diamonds, added some fresh glistening snow! I used some May Arts ribbon which Christie sent down to me! How did she know its my favorite?


Have a great day everyone!

Fraidy Cat Candy ends TONIGHT!

Don't forget to enter the 'Fraidy Cat Candy contest. All you have to do is create a card and send it to me either a link to your gallery, blog or email the card to me and you have a chance to win a 6x6 assortment of Au Chocolat paper.

Contest ends tonight at 11pm EST! Enter here

Big Projects - One Step at a Time

Whenever I have a large job to work on, I like to divide it up into as series of small, achievable tasks. If I do it one step at a time, it isn't so daunting. And, I don't get bored doing the same thing over and over. (Which for me, is a problem!)

I had an order for 35 custom tea tins for party favors for a friend. The client had requested a Fall looking paper with the words "Broadway 07" and a music note. Beth Silaika came to my rescue creating a file that I could print out and punch with my SU punches. (Thanks also to my friend Rachel who printed them for me, my printer is kaput right now!)

First I spent one naptime cutting up all the paper to cover the tins, it went surprisingly much faster than I'd thought. The next day, I cut out all the circles and scalloped circle discs. That night I used the three for you flower punch to punch enough little flower embellishments for all the tins and assembled the discs.

Last night, I cut the slider die with my cuttlebug (thanks to Charmaine for showing me the combination of the scalloped flower and c.b. slider! ) then attached the flower adornments and tied all the ribbons. Today, I'll do the second batch.

Once I'm finished, I'll have to cut the 35 circles with my coluzzle for the tin tops, which to be honest, I'm sort of dreading, but that will have to wait till next week. And, if I cut 10 a day, it will only take me a few days to finish them up. I just have to remind myself that the bulk of the work is done at this point! Phew!!

The project as a whole has taken a lot of time, but I think my client is really going to like them. And it wasn't as bad as initially anticipated. I've only worked on it for about an hour or so and each time I stop I think, "That wasn't so bad!"

Signed Up! Come join me!

I'm so excited, I've been meaning to get over to Paper Pretties and sign up for the Copic Color Club and the Nestabilities Now Club, and with the list of "to do's" I've got going on, its just slipped my mind. But tonight I clicked a few clicks and I'm in!

While you can join us at any time, if you want to be in on the first months's shipment in November, you only have until October 31st to sign up! I can't wait for my first box to arrive! What are you waiting for??

Depending on which package you select, each month, you will receive 6 Copic sketch markers or 1 set (5-7 dies) of nestabilities.

The subscriptions run for 6 months and at the end of the 6 months you will have 36 copic sketch markers in a nice range of colors and/or 1 complete set of nestabilities (20 - 28 dies) and another 1/2 set (10-14 dies).

Each month in the member's only gallery, one of our very talented design team members will post a project using the copics and the nestabilities to inspire you.

And don't forget you have a chance to win $15 off the price with a gift certificate to Paper Pretties Corner store by entering my "Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Candy to YOU" blog candy contest below.

Happy Birthday to Me... Happy Candy to YOU!

How did another year go by in a blink?? My actual birthday is Friday, and I'll just leave you guessing as to how old I'll be. Its just a crazy week around here, so I thought I'd offer this up a little early.

Its my birthday, but YOU have the chance to win!

I'll be gathering comments on this post till Monday the 29th at which time I'll have random.org pull a number. The lucky winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to Paper Pretties Corner Store to pick up a little birthday present from me to YOU!

The store has just been stocked with lots of goodies for you to choose from. AND if you've been thinking about signing up for the Nestabilities Now Club or the Copic Color Club you could even use this gift certificate towards your first months subscription fee!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post answering this question... "What was the best birthday celebration you've ever had?" Please think about leaving me your email, I've had so many problems with people winning candy, but never coming back to claim it!

I'm so late in posting this page. I made it for my Fall Flowers Card class last weekend, and thought that anyone that came to the class, or purchased the make at home kit, might like some ideas as to what to do with their remaining paper.

You'll have to pardon the scalloped circles over my guys faces...my husband and I agreed not to post the boys photos. Hope you all understand....

Its a two page spread, but I've photographed them individually so you can see the details.

I used my Priceless swirls on Old Olive for the background and then layers of Fall Flowers designer paper for matting. The letters were stamped with Big Deal Alphabet which I then trimmed out and mounted on old olive paper.

I used the chipboard F to trace onto a piece of the Fall Flowers paper then added a white border, and faux stitched it.

I love the Three for you Punch and used it to add a little Really Rust flower accent to the "a." Here's a closeup for a little more detail.

The right hand page has a 8x10 photo trimmed down for one large focal image on the page. This is a really easy page in that there's only a designer paper border down the right hand side and a small scalloped edge of really rust that I created with my slit punch then created eyelets with my crop o dile.

Two small ribbons because I needed...just a little something.... Overall the left hand page was so busy that I wanted to leave this one a little more simple.

The layouts are modified versions of Di Hickman's sketch challenges. What a great site when you need something to help you get kick-started.

Happy Days

Yesterday I had to make a quick card for my friend's Au Pair who is returning to Costa Rica in two weeks.

She's such a nice girl, I've used her a lot for sitting in the past year, and she's taken my older son on many adventures with his best friend.

We're all sad to see her go. She's really enjoyed coming to stamping classes at my friend Erica's house, and we all pitched in to get her her own little collection. I was in charge of a card for her.

The sentiment reads "Happy Days" to remind her of her many happy days here in Massachusetts.

What I was really excited about was that I had only 20-30 minutes to come up with a design and execute. With that deadline, I was so pleased with what I came up with. Left to my own devices and no deadline, I would have fooled with it a little more, but the boys were calling me!!

He SO doesn't get it......

My dear sweet husband took our eldest to the pool today while the little guy napped. He said to me as he left, "Don't stamp. Just relax!" I looked at him in astonishment and laughed and said "But to me, stamping IS relaxing!" It was funny.

However, instead of stamping, I took a shower and worked on my toast for little sister's wedding next weekend! I needed some peace and quiet to focus.

Playing on iTunes and buying a ton of fun music. cha-ching. This is going to add up quickly if I buy everything I want, but its soo fun.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I'll have new goodies the first half of the week, a blog candy contest will be announced as well.

Don't forget to enter my 'Fraidy Cat Candy contest below to have a chance to win some Au Chocolat paper. Come on, its such an EASY challenge!

'Fraidy Cat Candy!

You may have seen the Paper Pretties Design Team challenge that I posted the other day titled "Scare Yourself."

Well, we have a player! Allison from "Stampin when I Can" has created a card for the challenge.

To up the Ante, I'm now offering 'Fraidy Cat Candy! If you play along on our design team challenge, you'll have the chance to win something you are most certainly not afraid of - a 6x6 assortment of Au Chocolat designer paper from Stampin Up.

You have till Tuesday night at 11pm EST to leave a comment including a link to your Scare Yourself creation on either your blog, SCS gallery or wherever you post! For each card you make for the challenge, you'll earn a chance at the prize!

Come on, come out and play, don't be afraid!

Liz Nakata - this challenge is calling your name. You know you can't pass up Au Chocolat!

Cherished

If you know me in real life, or have been reading here a while, you know exactly who this card is for. My sister.

Actually, yesterday's Cherished card (the green one with Baroque paper) is also a wedding card for her. I've put her on notice not to come over here till after the wedding. So she doesn't spoil her surprises and I can share some new stuff with all of you!


My little sister is getting married. Next Saturday! So much to do for all of us between now and then. A tux to pick up for my eldest son, services of the spa variety, UM A SPEECH TO WRITE! And a scrapbook to be finished. But I couldn't be happier. She's a truly wonderful person, I'm honored to be her Maid of Honor (I refuse to be called a Matron, even though I AM married!) Her very soon to be husband is such a very nice guy. And he totally adores her! She's going to be a stunning bride, and the details of the reception are just over the top gorgeous. I can't wait. Is it the 27th yet? Can I blink and it will be here? We're going to have so much fun dancing the night away!

Details: All supplies Stampin Up. Card base is Ruby Red 5 1/4 square card. A layer of chocolate chip. The top is the swirl from Baroque Motifs stamped in Close to Cocoa with the small flower added in ruby red. The bottom panel is Close to Cocoa stamped with Tres Chic also in close to Cocoa. I used the swirl stamped off once and then stamped onto the Very Vanilla, added "Cherish" in Chocolate chip and cut it out with my Key Tag Punch. Hand cut a mat for that in Chocolate Chip and tucked the whole thing up on dimensionals. Finished off with Choc Chip wide grosgrain ribbon.

Try Something That Scares You!

After seeing so many stunning cards made with the Baroque paper from Stampin Up, I succumbed and purchased it. But, I must admit, its been sitting in my storage since then. And Um... yes, that was in July. That's bad.

When I opened up the package, I decided it was just too far out of my normal "style" and wasn't sure if I'd ever use it. The other day, as I prepared for my Design Team challenge with The Prettie Girls, I said to myself "Come on. It's only paper." I leafed through the package and found two that I liked. I've been meaning to use my new Illuminations stamp set from Stampin Up. (I bought it specifically to make a wedding card for my sister.)

All supplies on this card are from Stampin Up. The colors here are River Rock for the card base, Old Olive Matting and Very Vanilla. The card is finished off with Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon. Which I love. **I'm sure you've seen this comment before, but River Rock is tough to capture in a photograph. The color is gorgeous, it just for whatever reason, photographs sorta bland.**

Edited to add... as I had mentioned, I went back and added another "C" popped up on Dimensionals today. I like that extra layer in there for a little "pop." I changed the top picture, but here's a closeup of the "C" itself, I just think its so pretty!

So, here's my Design Team challenge to the Pretties this week. Find something in your collection that is out of your traditional style, either stamps that you have but don't use, or paper you haven't yet been brave enough to use, or a color ink pad that you own, but don't use. (I have one of those --- Taken with Teal.)

I'll be playing again and will have a new card to send along to the Prettie Girls. Each Wednesday, we'll each post our previous challenges (whoops, I posted mine too early in the week, please follow down to see my challenge cards below) and one of us will issue a new challenge for the week. The Prettie Girls are Alli, Christie, Jillian, Charmaine, Julie C., Julie M., and Kristine . And, we hope you'll follow (and possibly even PLAY!) along.

I'd love to see what you've come up with. Post here with a link to your blog or SCS gallery (or wherever you post for that matter!)

Come on, what's really to be scared of...its only paper, stamps and ink. Be sure to check back next Wednesday to see what we all completed last week!! Most of all, Have fun!!

Baby! Its Cold Outside

Here in New England, the weather can change in an instant. Last week, we had to break back out the capri pants and the t-shirts, this week, its back to sweaters and jackets for the bus stops, and we're peeling layers off in the afternoon. Its totally not unheard of for snow in early November! I'm just not ready for that.

But I am ready for this.

"Baby Its Cold Out" from My Favorite Things will be in the Paper Pretties class kits for people that subscribe to the MFT boxes. I think that it is totally spectacular that Paper Pretties members receive previously unreleased My Favorite Things stamps. They aren't even yet available from My Favorite Things! So swing on over and visit the Pretties site and sign on up! wink

The lady and snowman were stamped with Stazon on Whisper White. I colored them both in with a few Prismacolor pencils that Christie sent me. (Oh goodness, I love them and I'm coveting the full set!) I didn't have an orange yet, so the carrot nose is an SU marker Only Orange. I love that the little hat is a separate element so I was able to have that extend outside of the little bordered box the image is in.

The image is double matted, first in kraft cardstock, then a larger square of Bayou Blue that has been paper pierced and then stitches added with a white gel pen. That whole piece is popped up on a layer of dimensionals (I seriously go through a ton of those things... its crazy.)

The card base is a 5 1/4 square card that I stamped the small snowflake from the set randomly in Bayou Blue across the top.

The bottom half of the card is a piece of the Bayou Blue designer prints to me resembles snowflakes and of course, coordinates beautifully with the double stitched Bayou Blue ribbon from Stampin Up. Its matted on whisper white for a little "pop" off the coordinating card base.

Hope you like it, and look forward to seeing more of this little baby from me! I want to get myself some liquid applique so that I can make those boot tops nice and fluffy!

Prettie Fun!

Every week, over at Paper Pretties, Kristine issues a challenge to all of the members. Two weeks ago, the challenge was to incorporate pink ribbon.

You know me, I LOVE pink, so this was easy for me. I had just picked up some of the Basic Grey Infuse paper and was itchy to play with it. Thought it would be a fun autumnal, yet still pink card....

Turns out that the color of the flowers in there is precisely Regal Rose and I used my last scrap of the Stampin Up wide width grosgrain ribbon. (Gotta get some more of that....) My little Dainty Bella is dressed in a river rock dress and carying sparkly flowers courtesy of my Sakura Stardust pen.

Last week was too crazy for me to get a chance to play in the weekly challenge, but I can't wait to see what Kristine has in store for us today. If you're signed up as a member for Paper Pretties, I look forward to seeing your creations this week over on the Paper Pretties site.

If you're not a member... hey, what are you waiting for? Come on and play!!

Prettie Wonderful News!

I'm so excited to finally be able to share my news with you! A few weeks ago, Christie Ortman invited me to join her design team at Paper Pretties!

Paper Pretties offers a card class kit in a box. Each month, subscribers receive a new stamp set (either My Favorite Things, Stamping Bella or Rubber Romance) as well as cardstock and embellishments to make six handmade cards. You can choose from the either Petite or Premium Package and select which stamp company package you'd like to receive monthly!

This past week, I received a gorgeous card from my new friend, and fellow Prettie Girl Charmaine.

This was for our weekly design team challenge to use Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky and Very Vanilla.

I've been emailing with all the girls on the team and they're absolutely wonderful. Please be sure to check out all their blogs! I can't wait till we all get to meet up in person!

Christie Ortman, Julie Campbell, Julie Masse, Alli Miles, Kristine Reynolds and Jillian Winters and Charmaine Ikach I'll be adding quick links to their blogs on my right hand side later on this week. Crazy day today!

This is a photo of the card I made for my friend Julie Masse for that same challenge!

So, you'll be hearing a lot from me about my adventures over at Paper Pretties, but some of my work will only be available to members at Paper Pretties.

Treat yourself to a little Prettie each month, and go subscribe now! Hope to see you there!

Meet the Prettie Girls

How sweet is Christie? She just set up a whole index devoted to bios and photos of The Prettie Girls! This is such a fun and talented group of women, I'm just so excited.

While I'm on the subject of Paper Pretties, Christie just announced two new subscription plan! Introducing the Copic Color Club and the Nestabilities Now Club. Its a great way for you to get your hands on the products you've been drooling over - but couldn't fully afford.

Here's how it works....its a subscription plan whereby you'll recieve either one set of Nestabilities each month, or six Copic markers per month. Each month, you will receive 6 Copic sketch markers or 1 set of nestabilities. The cost for the Copic Color Club is $36.00 per month (shipping included).

The cost for the Nestabilities Now club is 30.00 per month(shipping included). If you are already a Paper Pretties subscriber you can add these to your membership and receive a $6 discount (because you'd be combining shipping with your existing club kit.)

In additon to dividing the full cost of the product over several months, Christie's plan is a great deal because shipping is included in the pricing listed above!!

And, members will have access to monthly design team projects featuring these products! I'm just deciding if I need to sign on to one, or both clubs.

PS - If you do go sign up for the Copic Color Club or the Nestabilities Now Club, be sure to tell Christie Joanne B. sent you! ;-)

Today was my Fall Flowers Card Class. It was so much fun to sit and visit with my friends, and I think everyone was really happy with their creations. (Kristin and Kristyn - it wasn't the same without you girls! Missed you so much!) I made a LOT of progress on the kits for you girls that will be making them at home. Now I need to write up all the directions. But for tonight, I'm going to hit the couch and watch some TiVo. I'll be asleep within minutes I'm sure!

Cut Cut Cut!

I've been busy cutting all the paper for my upcoming Fall Flowers Class tomorrow. I'm so excited to see everyone. And to the girls that purchased the kits to complete projects at home, I've also been busy trimming up all your paper and will hopefully get to stamp all your images tomorrow.

I know that at least one of you was interested in a list of stamps that I'll be using so you can see what you might want to buy to make additional cards at home. Karen, I'll type that list up for you tonight and email it. If anyone else is interested, please email me at stampedbyhand@comcast.net and I can cc you as well!

In addition to finishing up my class prep tonight, I'm hoping to get a few projects out of my head and stamped out on paper! I woke up in the middle of the night with great designs in my head, then poof they vanished. Don't you hate that. I need to put a scratch pad next to my bed so I can scribble them down while they're still clear.

Be sure to come back tomorrow, I'll have news, and something new for you too!

Got Freckled!

So, take a look around and what do you see? I've been Freckled! I've been emailing Beth at Freckled Fun Designs for help with a blog banner. She's been so great, and so patient with my kanoodling on the design. And, super fast turnaround! She's the best.

If you read her other blog "Freckled Fun" you'll enjoy reading about Beth's adventures with you count them SIX children. She's also the host of the Sunday Featured Stamper Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers and a design team member for Hanna Stamps. Where she finds the energy and time is beyond me! Beth, you gotta bottle a little of that and sell it, because I need some of whatever you've got!

Beth's on my must read list daily and I have to say I'm LOVIN my new Freckled Fun blog banner. And, um a watermark that I have to learn how to use. Wish me luck.

Thanks Beth!

No Mistakes!

A friend, and fellow SU demonstrator in my local demonstrator group has a saying that I love "There are no mistakes in stamping!" And she's right. I've learned that as I have an "oops" that I can simply modify my original design, or there are a number of ways that I can try to fix things if they didn't come out exactly how I had planned.

Normally I'm not a fan of showing my "oopses" but I thought it would be fun to show you how I recovered from this one and came up with something I really love instead! I apologize, this is a long one, but I wanted to show you my full process today.

Today I sat down with my watercolor brushes, reinkers and my new set "Thoroughly Thankful." I wanted to use the large square image for a scrapbook spread I've been working on.

First, I stamped the image with Stazon timber brown onto Confetti White cardstock. Then I put drops of reinker into a little tray I had picked up at the craft store over the weekend. I selected Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Creamy Caramel and Ruby Red for this project.

Personally, I found the teeny leaves too difficult to work with, I'm so embarrased to show you this picture, its awful! But, I liked how the pumpkins had come out, and I knew that with a little imagination I could salvage the piece and end up with something I was happy with.


I also had gone WAY too dark with the old olive on the bottom little leaf, and it was a smudgy mess!

First, to fix the icky small leaves, I remembered that I had seen the sentiment "Thankful Thoughts" added onto the block in the Idea Book and catalogue and got out my paper trimmer. I added an old olive mat and stamped the sentiment on a piece of confetti white. A little adhesive, and bang, those blah leaves were covered over! Nice.

Then, to cover the dark, smudgy leaf. I stamped that portion of the block again onto confetti white and trimmed it out just around the border with my snips. Then, I pulled my So Saffron ink pad out, pulled a speck of ink off the inside of the lid with my fine watercolor brush, and filled in that leaf. I also added a dab of so Saffron to both the solid brown leaf and the green leaf just above now yellow leaf to brighten them up a little bit and add a few highlights.

When I adhered the revised yellow leaf back to the rest of the completed image, I also flipped its orientation so it points the other way. While I was at it, I filled in my sunflower petals with So Saffron ink too! I added a dab of white gel pen to the left hand side of the apple for a little shine, and darkened the right hand side with a little bit of Purely Pomegranate ink.

Then, when it came down to it, I decided to not to use this as a part of the scrapbook page anyways. I wanted to make it into a card. Grabbed for a piece of Old Olive and the Fall Flowers Designer Paper from Stampin Up that I just love so much. I faux stitched around the Old Olive mat with the help of my handy dandy paper piercer and mat pack, then used a white gel pen for faux stitching between the pierces.

With this big image, a square card was needed. This is a 5 1/4 square with a mat of the Fall Flowers designer paper measuring 5" square. My horizontal slot punch was used to get the ribbon just around the right hand side of the card.

Still felt a little naked to me, so I added three antique brads to the bottom right hand corner, again courtesty of my mat pack and paper piercer.

Not originally what I had planned with this stamp set today, but its a keeper anyways. So, the next time you have a "whoops" take another look and see what you can do. Like my friend Barbara says "There are NO mistakes in stamping."

Boxed Out?

I don't think I showed you this one yet, and forgive me if I have. I think these are just so adorable! And, of course, easy to make! You can buy the empty tins at Specialty Bottle and I like the 8 oz size. The fours are teeny!

The top is created with the following punches: Scalloped Circle - and I used my little tiny hole punch to add a faux eyelet to each of the "humps" of the scallop, Then I stamped the creepy crawly spider with basic black on pumpkin pie cardstock and punched it out with my 1 3/8 circle punch, lastly stamped the spider again on whisper white, this time with basic black craft ink and punched out just the spider with my 1 circle punch.

I adhered the designer paper by applying one small strip of sticky strip on each corner and made sure that I was lined up straight along the bottom as I rounded each corner.

All punches, stamps and ink were all from Stampin Up for this project, as well as this fun polka dot designer paper. I've got to get my act together and make some Halloween cards with this. Maybe tonight?

I filled my other versions with Hershey's Nuggets, but this version is filled with candy corn of course!!

Dottie K, to answer your question, the Peppermint Tin I showed yesterday I think would be adorable filled with starmints (those peppermint swirl candy - my grandmother is totally partial to those) right now, this one is filled with leftover custom M&M's from my sisters shower.

A client had asked me to price them out and for the job I was quoting, it was going to be $950 of M&M's. Now THAT's a lot of candy. The problem is that you can fit a LOT of M&M's in there(about 450) they're small, and they nest together.

So, if you're going to make them, fill them with a candy that has packaging on it, like a peppermint, or taffy or gum or something. Or something naturally large in size like lollipops, or fudge. But not something small.

I know I said I wouldn't be posting regularly with all I have going on? But really, how can I help it when I have such great readers! I'm picking up some photos for a scrapbook page that I should have for you tomorrow.

Mass Production Time

So, I'm back, but last night I was on major mass production mode, making many many copies of stuff I've shown you all before... which isn't really all that exciting for you to look at now is it?
However I hadn't yet shown you this fun tea tin I made for my open house a few weeks back.

This version uses Basic Grey fruitcake paper, which I'm having a litle love affair with, its SO pretty! I recieved an order for 35 more of these, only with different paper. The tins are on order, the paper is on order and now I have to sit and wait as the deadline approaches! YIKES! Hope those trucks get here soon!

I've recieved lots of questions about my "source" for tins. My friend Rachel gets all the credit for this one. Specialty Bottle. Lots of fun stuff there. Thanks Rachel for a sweet find!

I might be a little quiet around here over the next few weeks. I have a super two secret projects that I can't show you - as they're for a blog reader! And, I have a bajillion orders to fulfill from that Open House. I was so sick with that stomach bug that I fell dreadfully behind, and its keeping me awake at night that I haven't made more progress.

But, I promise, I'm still here, still creating. I'll still be posting things, maybe just not as frequently as I'd like. But don't you worry. Good things in store. Good things.

Happy World Cardmaking Day

As many of you have probably heard, today is World Cardmaking Day. Can I just say that my husband almost fell off the couch laughing at me when I mentioned that the other day. However, he must really love me because he agreed to leave early for a birthday party today so that I could pop in at a scrapbooking store in Hyannis on the way to my grandfather's birthday party.

The store was beautiful, and lucky for my wallet I visited the store with my two year old son, so there wasn't time for too much shopping. I managed to get out of there having only spent $20 (and five of that was a gigantic Cookie Monster sticker for the Little Man.)

After my grandfather's 80th Birthday party we then hopped on a ferry boat to Nantucket. My mom, sister, the two boys and I are working on some last minute planning for the wedding etc etc. So I'm sorry to report that there will be no cards till Monday as I left my laptop at home.

So, go make a card, visit the many stores that are having sales to celebrate WCMD. In fact, be sure to go visit my friends at Paper Pretties before items get sold out! For whatever reason I can't figure out how my mother's MAC so I don't know how to make the word Paper Pretties a link --- so its www.paperpretties.net and then click on "The Corner Store."

But, don't forget about me, because I'll have new goodies to post for you next week! Promise.

Happy Columbus Day Weekend! Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Happy Everything. See you Tuesday!

A Sale! A Sale! And Congratulations Charmaine!

My friend Julie just told me about a great sale that they're having over at Paper Pretties this weekend. If you read Julie's blog, you know she's a Design Team member for Paper Pretties.....

Then, when I hopped over to link up this post, I saw that they've announced Charmaine from Oodabug Alley as the latest member of their design team! How exciting! Congratulations Charmaine! I first found Charmaine's blog through Beate's blog and immediatley signed up to get updates on her blog because her work is totally darling!

To celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving there will be a sale on Saturday, Sunday and Monday over at The Corner Store. Any one regularly priced item at 25% off! Plus if you're a member, you'll get 25% off the Member Price - an already 10% discount - for an overall discount of 35%

So, hop on over to Paper Pretties and check it out. Christie has some REALLY cute stuff. I think I'm going to have to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving myself this year! wink!

Side Tie Tutorial

Here is the promised side tie tutorial for the 2, 5, 7 10boxes. Only one of my friends last night braved the boxes. Everyone else was very busy making multiple treat tins to fill up to have on hand for hostess and teacher gifts...

So, if you're brave enough to make the box (trust me, they're fun and easy!) You'll score, fold and trim out the piece as outlined in the tutorial on splitcoast.....

However, before you go and adhere it shut you'll fold it flat on the left hand side and insert your slot punch all the way in and punch.

This will punch through the front of the box, and through the side as well.

Then you'll repeat the same step onto the top flap. Then stamp, embellish and assemble the rest of your box as per the directions.

When it comes time to close the box, you'll just run ribbon through the slot punch and tie it on the side. Voila, quick and easy!

If you make me one, be sure to send me a link, I'd LOVE to see the side tie in action!

20% off Simply Sent Kits

Stampin Up is celebrating World CardMaking Day with a special offer on Simply Sent Kits. These kits feature everything you need to make at least 10 gorgeous handmade cards.. okay, you'll need adhesive too, but other than that, its in the box!

Die cut stamps and precut cardstock help you to be stamping in minutes, the kit also contains embellishments, ink and envelopes! October 4th (today!) through October 8th they are on sale for 20% off! Great gift to yourself, or a great gift to tuck away for a friend for the holidays

You can find them in your catalogue on pages 12-14. If you don't have one, you can find them online here. Contact your demo today to place an order, if you don't have a demo, I'd be happy to place an order for you! You can contact me at stampedbyhand@comcast.net

Boo For You!

Tonight is my monthly project club meeting. I'm so excited to have the girls come over tonight. I'm finally feeling like myself again! Hooray! Its been a long week.

Tonight we're making tin treat tins and 2, 5, 7, 10 boxes. This is the Halloween version of the box. While I loved the look of the tied ribbon through the center like Jenn had done on her tutorial on Splitcoast, it was a little too difficult to do in a workshop. So, I picked and pulled my box apart (thank goodness I had made my sample with snail just in case... if I'd used sticky tape, I would have had to start from scratch.)

Tomorrow, I'll show you tomorrow how this is done but first I want to show my girls in class. Come back tomorrow to see a tutorial on how to close up this little box, as well as the finished winter and Christmas versions.

Obviously, my jumbo cartridge needs a reinking.. this black is sorta dull. My question is, do you like it black, or should I wheel it in Pumpkin Pie instead. Anyone? Anyone?

Go Pink!

I saw this over at my friend Julie's blog and thought it was a fantastic reminder to all of us. I've turned my website pink for the month in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month. You can learn more about this initiative by reading here.

You can read about Susan G. Komen for the cure at this address: Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Hello my friends!

A family friend asked me to create a name frame for her girlfriend for her birthday. She wanted something pink and girly, and I thought this fit the bill.

I created new photo mat using my Petal Prints Designer Paper from Stampin Up.

The top space is for Katie to add a picture of herself and her friend to complete the gift. I added a flower from In the Spotlight and punched it with the five petal punch topped off with a Certainly Celery button that has a snippet of hemp twine. Then, the opposing corner has the Photo Corner punch with some scraps of the Designer Paper and a few brads. (I lined them up all neatly like that with the help of my mat pack - love that thing!)

I stamped the word "friends" using my Big Deal Alphabet with Regal Rose ink on Whisper White, then mounted it to Regal Rose paper and trimmed it out so that it has a little border. The "e" features two little flowers from the Three for You punch each with a little brad in the center. Here's a close up, because I really like this part!

The ribbon across the middle is the Fairy Tales Ribbon Originals from Stampin Up. I borrowed a design element from my friend Charmaine over at Oodabug Alley (hi Charmaine!) I loved her idea to use the scalloped punch from SU behind my Cuttlebug Slider die.

I have to say I was always aggravated that Cuttlebug doesn't offer a little larger mat for that to add a layer, but now I'll just use the scalloped circle instead! The "happy" in the center is from "Its All Good" from Stampin Up, and I punched it out with my 1" circle punch.

Lotsa punches, and lotsa pink, but that's just my style I guess..... I was SO happy to be healthy enough to stamp. I went to see the doctor yesterday who prescribed me a nice healthy does of antibiotics, and I'm already feeling SO much better. Good thing because I have a project class to get ready for! Thanks for all your well wishes!

I'll update the next post, but to anyone that was wondering, that pretty green floral paper I used on my "kind" card is Stampin Up from the Uptown Designer Series Paper collection.

By the way, please pardon the glare of my end table in this photo. No matter how I shot it, there was either my reflection or the reflection of a table or something. Its so hard to get a clear shot of a glass piece!

You all are so kind to me!

I thank all of you for your patience with me while I'm sick. Can you even BELIEVE I haven't kicked last weeks stomach bug yet?

Here's a quick card I pulled together earlier last week. You've seen this layout and paper selection from me before, but my dear friend Janine was kind enough to let me play with this sentiment. I love it. Might need the set myself!

I haven't stamped in days, you KNOW I'm feeling bad if I don't even have the energy to stamp. The to do list is getting scary. Off to see the doctor this afternoon to see what's UP?

Lucky for me, I had all these photos stashed up of things I hadn't shown you yet. They're new to you, but old to me. Antsy to play...

Send some good health vibes my way okay?

In my rush to post, I forgot the details here! This card base is Wild Wasabi and the pattered paper is from Stampin Up's Uptown Designer Series paper collection. Finished off with Wild Wasabi Double Stitched ribbon.

A little something for me....

When getting ready for my open house last week, I sent the files for many of my favorite cards I've made to the local photo store. I picked up a little brag book at Target and switched out the paper in the front.

Now I have a quick little reference book to carry with me to show people my work, or a handy little book to pull out when I want to recreate something I've done before, search for a layout that's worked out before etc. Never mind the fact that it was so fun to flip through and see some of my favorite things I've done all in one place.

I call my ready made business "just a little something" because I find that whenever you're heading out to a party or meeting up with a friend, you'd like to have just that ...just a little something... to bring along.

What I've found along the way, is that I look at my creations and think well it needs ...just a little something... a brad, a ribbon, button. And what a difference that little something can make sometimes. Isn't it funny how that happens? I was thrilled to find this sentiment tucked inside the new SU hostess set "So Many Sayings".

This was fun to do. I totally encourage you to make one for yourself, its a quick and easy treat - for yourself!!

I Love Pink!

I love all things pink and girly and glittery, so isn't it funny that I'm the mom to two boys?

Lucky for me, the sweetest little girl comes to my home four days a week, and I've been watching her since she was only 9 months old. She's now a funny, vibrant, chatty little three year old! She's like a sister to my boys, and probably the closest I'll get to a little girl of my own.

This stamp set is from MFT and called "A Birthday Princess." I stamped the princess on Whisper White with Stazon and paper pieced the little ballerina's dress with the Petals and Paisley designer paper and filled her body in with my SU Blush Blossom marker.

The card itself is a triangle trifold and Beate did a wondeful tutorial on how to make them which you can find here.

I'm now the proud owner of a Coluzzle (really what took me so long) I cut two circles, one for the main image, and one for the frame. Then I ran the frame through my Xyron sticker maker and then stuck the stickey part in my powder pal, coated the frame with Dazzling Diamonds.

This little cutie pie is secured with some May Arts Pink Polka Dot ribbon which I bought at Cindy's Starlit Studio on Ebay. Goodness, I insisted on a WHOLE roll of it, and since, haven't put much of a dent in it. Whoops. Glad I ran across it, I'll have to start remembering to incorporate it into projects.

Altered Candy Finds a Home!

I noticed this morning that I just cruised past the 30K mark (thank you thank you!) and it was time to draw the blog candy winner.

So, off to random.org and this is what I got: 11.

Then, I counted down the list, and number 11 is CraftyMomof2. I just about fell off my chair laughing. Congratulations Meri! I'll pass off your goodies on Thursday night! I swear, it wasn't rigged. If I knew how to get a screenshot of the selection from random, I would have done it. But I don't, so you'll just have to trust me.

While I'm here, I wanted to welcome back Dottie K! Its always so nice to have you stop by, you make my day!

Liz, thanks for your phone call the other day, we had such a nice chat! I'm so sad you don't live closer, but its always nice to see you drop by here "virtually." Let me know if you had any trouble with the instructions for the altered comp book.

Julie Masse and I got a chance to touch base on the phone on Friday too! So funny after we've been emailing and posting for months and months that we finally chatted! Can't wait to hear what you bought in your express order and how your samples come out for World Card Making Day!

Have a great day everyone!