Hippy Fun

Of course, there's work to be done, but I couldn't help but play a little tonight. I was feeling a little stressed and stamping simply for the fun of it helps me to unwind. I think it is focusing on the process at hand and seeing where it will take me is so consuming that it helps the "gotta do this, gotta do that" fade into the background

I put on a girlie movie (which turned out to be really crummy) pulled out my "Just So Hippy" set from Gina K --- that was waiting patiently for me on my desk --- and reached into a delicious new paper purchase, then opened my browser to Jen's Sketch for You To Try and got stampin'.

The hippo was stamped on confetti white paper then watercolored with Basic Grey ink for the body and regal rose for the toenails. The toenails were then coated with spica pen for a nice sparkly pedicure.

This is so cute, it almost makes me want to be late sending a card to my good friend who is just about to turn 35! But, instead, I'm going to get my big but in gear and make her something equally cute for the occasion!

Guess I should get back to work around here...

Edited to add: If you're loving the "Hippies" as much as I do, you'll want to stop by Melanie's Blog as she's running a contest right now where you can win free stamps. RUN!

Prettie Wednesday!

Oh my lord! (Or as my two year old would say "Oh my O!" which just makes me laugh) What is this a Post-a-Palooza? I haven't posted this much in one day since I first started blogging and was just so bubbling over with excitement that I couldn't wait a single moment to blurt everything out!




I forgot, its Prettie Wednesday! Which means I can share the card I sent to Charmaine for our color challenge two weeks ago! I'm overdue to send out Julie's Valentine challenge from last week, but I'll get cracking on that.


Here's what I sent for the color challenge which was pale blue, pale yellow and apricot. I couldn't help but make a sweet Sophia for that week's sketch challenge using Soft Sky, Barely Bananna and Always Apricot.




I'm actually up on the rotation for posting a challenge this week. And its going to be a sketch challenge. The challenge is to use "the sketch" you know, the one I've been hooked on for two weeks now!



Maybe this will be my last hurrah and then I can finally move onto another sketch? HA! If you play along with us, be sure to comment here with a link to your creation, or email it to me if you don't have a blog/gallery. There's candy in there for someone who plays along!

Be back at 4ish with the winner of the Prettie Candy!

Glad you liked them....

So glad that so many of you enjoyed browsing the Paper Pretties Stamp Gallery over at SCS and it looks like many of you are fans of the new images! I know I sure am.

Of course, Jillian's nestie heart frame was a big hit (I knew it would be!!) I've special ordered myself some heart nesties as a result - you enabler! I think its funny that some of you even selected my Paisley Sophia as I wasn't even sure I liked it enough to post it. Isn't it funny how that works?


In any case. The lucky winner of the FREE Paper Pretties Stamp is Val at Post #51!! I've already emailed Val and her stamp will shortly be on its way!!! But, it seems like many of you really like these little babies. And we're so glad!!


Lucky for you any one of you could win our next set or releases for free!! All you have to do is go pick up a set of Paper Pretties stamps at the boutique and send in a creation to Christie. One winner will be selected as our Cutie Pie and will receive our next releases for free!

Keep checking that gallery "Prettiestamps" at SCS to see what we come up with next and thanks for dropping by!!

Playdough Pouch Tutorial

As I mentioned the other day, my son has a severe nut allergy, so I'm always looking for fun things to do for Valentines that don't involve candy! When I saw teeny playdough packages in Valentine colors, I thought they'd be a fun candy alternative for his preschool class.

I like to use gender neutral stuff for class prizes to make life easier for the teachers so that they didn't hear "I don't WANT blue, I want PINK!!" (I'm a daycare provider, so I know how keeping things simple makes all the difference!) Wild Wasabi and Real Red to the rescue!

To start you'll need a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock measuring 4 1/4 by 11. Score it at 4, 5 1/4 and 9 1/4. I then used a corner rounder to round off the top two edges. Stamp the front and top pieces and secure a glue dot on the bottom inside to tack on your playdough (or whatever your prize is for that matter)

My main image holds the little treat box closed, just make sure to put dimensionals only on the bottom or you'll secure the whole thing closed! ;-)

The main image is stamped on Shimmery White with Brilliance Black ink, then watercolored with Basic Grey, Wild Wasabi and Real Red inks.

I can't seem to do a project without ribbon, but I didn't want to use up a ton because I'm afraid these will end up destroyed by the children, or tossed in the trash (GASP!) so I incorporated just a little bit with a cute side tie I saw on Charmaine's blog a few weeks ago. This is a 1 inch circle punch out in wasabi that I folded in half and then punched with a hand punch to make a little slot for my ribbon. Perfect, a touch of cute, but I don't have to worry if it gets tossed.

I really wanted to add a scalloped border, or some cerise designer paper or something, but held back as I have 22 of these to make - and a long to do list around here so I streamlined. But I figure if I made 130 Christmas cards, I can crank out 22 valentines quickly!

Oops, I almost forgot, here's a little side view of the project to see where the dough is hiding!

Have a great day everyone!

Sweet Bugs!

I think these Love Bugs from Paper Pretties are just too cute and I've been loving playing with my stamps since they arrived... but its so fun to finally be able to share. I host a weekly challenge over at the Paper Pretties Forum and this is my submission for the week.





Between cutting, and matting and paper piercing and watercoloring and scalloping, there were a lot of details to this card, but it was super fun to make and I had a blast watercoloring these buggies!



If you're up for a challenge (and this week its an easy one I promise..) swing by the Forum to get your assignment for the week!

Same Sketch, More Cards

I'm sure by now, you're tired of seeing cards with this same sketch, but they keep jumping into my head. And, I love how quickly you can move when you already know where everything will go.

This card is for my cousin who has two baby girls that were baptized this past weekend. I ordered this set "God is Love" for the occasion.

The card base is so saffron, covered with so saffron designer prints. Close to cocoa was used to watercolor the boat and close to cocoa paper for the matting. I was a little impatient to do the watercoloring and didn't wait enough time for the brilliance ink to dry -- so I covered my boo boo with some stickles to brighten up the smudge and it worked like a charm!

Turns out my little sketch also works for Elzybells! Of course I snatched up two of them at the most recent release. I thought this was an adorable get well image, and as I clearly have a shopping addiction (wink) so the shopping girl cracked me up.

This is soft sky designer paper on soft sky cardstock. The image was stamped with Brilliance Graphite Black ink and then colored in with my Copic markers that I picked up from Paper Pretties. The bottom edge was scalloped by using my corner rounder punch with the guard removed.

Admittedly, her hair is all wacky here... I didn't have the colors I needed for her hair, but of course, they are on their way to me now... I'm attending CHA and I can not wait to get myself into the Copic booth to learn all sorts of new marker skills. And then I'll fix this hair. Till then, she's just sick in bed with some bed head! LOL!

Come on, anyone want to play? What do you have that you can work into this layout. If you use it, I'd love to see a picture!

Cleaning House...

I'm off to clean my stamp table -it is truly a disaster right now...And its time to eliminate some clutter. Wondering if these samples would be of interest to anyone... they're collecting dust here for me and I'm tired of looking at them, want to clear some space to make new things.

There's an altered frame, some Genie Bags, a whole bag of swaps I've collected, some 2,5,7 10 boxes etc etc.

Free to a good home if anyone wants them. Just post a comment and they're yours.

**Edited to add -- these were already claimed amost as SOON as I posted. I'm glad that you girls all like my stuff so much that youre so eager to have my oldies but goodies. I'll do this again once I get tired of my next round of samples!**

It's Candy Time!

So, you may have heard, or seen that Paper Pretties released three new stamp sets last night Wade E Bug, Love Bugs and Sealed with a Kiss. You can see them over here.

To celebrate and share the Prettie Love... I'm picking up the tab for one of you to receive either a Love Bug or the man himself, Wade E Bug which will be shipped directly from Paper Pretties to your mailbox!

To win, all you have to do is pop over to this gallery and tell me which of the samples if your favorite! (No, you don't have to pick one of mine, really, I swear!!) It could be a Wade, The Love Bugs, SWAK or one of our first releases....Cuddle Me or Snowflake Kisses. Just browse through and attach a link to your favorite one and of course let me know what makes it your favorite!!

This contest will be open till 4pm EST on Wednesday!! At that time, with random.org's help I'll select one winner and Christie will tuck the stamp set into the mail for you!

Happy Browsing!

Do your children have allergies? If so, beware the Kissables.....

Mine does. A severe nut allergy. So, it makes all these candy giving holidays (halloween, valentines, christmas, easter) really difficult for us.

I've always loved Hershey Kissables because they were a "safe" choice for him and those are really hard to find, especially in chocolate products.

Well, they went and changed their ingredients. And now they're NOT safe (they now contain shea butter - which is a nut product) however, it is not declared on the list of allergens (you know -- how when you read a product it will say CONTAINS MILK or CONTAINS NUTS) So, if you have children with a nut allergy - beware the product has changed and personally, I won't be serving them to my son anymore.

Boo. I'm off to Vermont Nut Free Chocolates to see what I can find.

In the meadow.....

I figure one day my two boys will nicely build a snowman like this. Right now I build it, and then they attack it. Which is fun for them, but maybe not so much for me! I'm sort of an indoor girl if you hadn't already guessed. (wink.)



I mentioned earlier this week that I had another card in mind for the Weekend Sketch Challenge over on Beate's blog and I finally got a chance to put it together on Sunday night. I'm not sure about you, but once I have an idea in my head, I have to get it out on paper or else I can't move on....





I stamped a piece of cardstock with the snowman image from the Gina K set "Got Snow" so that when some time presented itself, I could move quickly.

The image was stamped on Shimmery White paper with Brilliance Graphite Black ink. Then I used my fancy girl Copic Markers that I've purchased at the Pretties Boutique to color in the children's snowclothes. I stamped the image again on Eclipse Tape - trimmed them out, covered the main image and then sponged a sky all around using Soft Sky ink. (Truth be told, I held my breath while I did this, and gave a big sigh when I pulled off the tape and it was sucessful!!)


When I was finished, I added some snow (and sparkle) with my baby blue Stickles. The main image is matted first in soft sky, then double matted with So Saffron and then I added a scalloped border with the help of my slit punch.

The sentiment was matted on soft sky and then all edges were corner rounded. I couldn't help but deviate slightly from the sketch by adding some ribbon, that top corner was looking awfully lonely!

Here's Wade!

I've been just dying to show you this cute little fellow... Meet Wade! Wade E. Bug that is. Wade is one of the new images released by Paper Pretties tonight! He is featured in two of the three sets tonight, the third set is Luke and Lexi that you saw on my earlier card today.

This paper is Cupid from Cosmo Cricket and I used my nesties for both of the circles. It is nearly impossible to see here, but the ivory circle has been both cut and embossed with the nesties, I love that added detail of the embossed ridge. Wade was colored with my prismacolor pencils and blended with a stump and some gamsol. Photo corner punch was used for one corner and I added three SU buttons with some hemp twine for a little detail.

Be sure to stop by the other Prettie Girl blogs (see the links to the right ---->), as well as our fantastic guest designers to see lots of samples of the new sets. And of course, be sure to stop by Paper Pretties tonight at 8pm CST to join in on the fun, and to pick up the new stamps of course!

Someone will be elected our first ever Cutie Pie tonight, and someone will win a coupon for 40% off a single item at the Pretties Boutique! You can join in on the fun at the Paper Pretties Forum which is beginning right now at 8pm CST (that's 9pm EST) however you will need a login and password for the site (really its easy peasy!) so if you aren't already signed up, be sure to stop in a little early to get signed in.

If you're over SCS you can browse for other samples using either Prettiestamps or Paper Pretties as key words. And if you upload any Prettie Stamp samples to the gallery, be sure to use keywords so that we can see them!

Its Finally Here!

You've been seeing Sneak Peeks of the three new stamp sets from Paper Pretties, and now we're showing full cards.

This is a joy fold card which I learned how to do on Beate's blog. The card is held shut on the left hand side with the cute little piece from the Precious Metals Hardware Kit that I picked up over at the Paper Pretties Boutique.

The image is stamped on whisper white with brilliance ink. I paper pieced the ladies dress, and the man's pants (out of sahara sand.) To make his pants look more like fabric, I sanded the face of the cardstock to give it a little texture.

The rest of the image was colored with my Prismacolor pencils and then blended with gamsol and a stump.

There are SO many sentiments in this set, I made mine a generic "love you" type card, but sentiments are also included for Valentines Day as well as Happy Anniversary. When you flip open this card, the inside reads "...but mostly kisses."

I'll be back tonight at 8pm CST with a second card using another of the stamps which will be released this evening! Don't forget, that there is also a blog candy contest going on. To enter, go shop around at the Paper Pretties Boutique and send your top favorite three items to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com and one winner will receive a 40% off coupon for one item this evening!

New friends...

When I initially started this blog, I just did it to keep track of my work, and to share recent work with my family and card clients. I really had no idea where this would all go.

It never occured to me that I would make so many friends online, and that I'd be travelling across country to attend CHA. In fact, I can remember last year reading about Julie Ebersole's trip to CHA and was just floored. I clearly remember her story about meeting an idol -- and there are so many people that if I meet them in LA in a few weeks, I'm going to be the same way. Gushing, in awe and will probably come off as a total dork.

There I go again.... down a path.

So back to new friends....as you know, I recently picked up the "Just so Hippy" set over at Gina K Designs. Then, to my amazement, I was selected for their upcoming team WAHOO!!!! I've had such fun working with the the stamps I already own from Gina K and now my two most recent additions as well. I'm really so pleased with the images, how well they were designed, and produced. The images stamp so beautifully onto paper that they're a joy to work with. I can't wait to see what comes next!

In the last week or so, I've been emailing and trading posts with Melanie, the illustrator behind (pardon the pun Mel, I couldn't help myself) the "Just So Hippy" set. She's so sweet, and has mad talent! She's one of the original Dirty Dozen girls for goodness sakes. Yet today, she marks little old ME as someone that makes HER day. And wow, what great company I'm on in that list.

I won't pass on the tag because I know so many people have been tagged already. But let me just that I'm truly honored! I'm really excited to be working with you in the next few months!!

And, I'll say it again just love writing here, and I love all the friends that have come by to say hello. I'm always in shock when one of the biggies drops in to say "Hi."

Thanks for sharing this journey with me, thanks for sharing your talents with me. I'm so looking forward to meeting so many of you in the not too distant future. If you're doing to the show post a comment here so I can look for you!

A girl can dream right?

When I saw this cute Stampendous Stamp over at Eclectic Paperie, I added it right to my basket because I thought it was so stinkin cute.


My mother and my brother's girlfriend both gave me gift certificates to Eclectic Paperie for Christmas, so its okay when I have those "just gotta have it moments" over there (yes, those come pretty frequently for me)! Thanks Mom, Thanks Molly!!!

So, even though its only January, and there's still snow on the ground, and its freezing cold... a girl can dream of spring right? I can't wait for polo shirts, and capri pants and a fresh pedicure and tulips and grass beginning growing in my yard all these things!!

This card is for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. When I saw the layout, I knew it would be okay to dig my "spring" stamp out a wee bit early. The image is stamped with Stazon ink then watercolored with ink that I pulled off the lid of a few of my pads - pretty in pink, regal rose, cert celery, so saffron and sage shadow. The designer paper is Spring Fling from Stampin Ups spring/summer cataogue.

I stamped the flower to dot the I twice, trimmed out the second one, watercolored it and mounted it up on a dimensional. You can't really see it here, but I added a little shine here and there with my spica pen.

The top and bottom borders are paper pierced (trust me, its easier to do this before you assemble your card rather than as an afterthought, but I carefully picked it apart and used my mat pack and paper piercer for a quick row of detail.

I feel like I'm sorta cheating using a ribbon where the second panel goes, so I'm sure I'll be making another card with this layout. I had my Gina K "Got Snow" out to make a second card but my pillow was calling my name. However, the shimmery white panel is already stamped with the image, just waiting for a few minutes free time!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Happy Stampin'.

Thank Goodness Its Friday!

Honestly, I thought the day would never come. My husband has been travelling all week, and before that, he extended his business trip with a few days skiing in France. (Lucky guy!) Its been a long nine days. Stamp filled - oh yeah, but lonely.

Admittedly, my stamps have kept me very busy. Here's another sneakie peekie for you. Don't forget, that there's a quick and easy way for you to get a chance at a 40% off coupon for Paper Pretties Boutique! All you have to do is go browse the store and send a list of your three favorite items to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com. One of you will win a coupon code for 40% off one item on Monday night! Get goin!

To any of you that did purchase either Cuddle Me or Snowflake Kisses in our first launch, we're dying to see what you came up with. If you're posting on SCS be sure to put Paper Pretties or Prettiestamps as a keyword so we can look at them together (you can also search the gallery with that too!!) And, if you've made any cards with Paper Pretties stamps then please don't forget to enter the Cutie Pie contest. One of you will win all three stamp sets from our upcoming launch for free and will be named our first ever Cutie Pie! Details are over on the Paper Clip.

Need some more Prettie?

While of course I love the images in the three new stamp sets that Paper Pretties is releasing on Monday, I'm also super excited about the sentiments that will be available as part of these sets.

For those of you that may not have worked with acrylic stamps before, I'll quickly mention that they are flexible. For instance, in this card, I bent the stamp into a slight half circle to make an arched sentiment. There is a second half to this sentiment that you'll get to see when I show this card in full on Monday.

We're also giving away some Prettie Candy! To enter this contest, go surf around the Paper Pretties Boutique and tell us what your favorite three items are by sending a note to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com. One lucky winner will be picked at random and will receive a gift certificate for 40% off one regularly priced item on Monday night!

Don't forget the Prettie Girls are all posting sneakie peekies today and tomorrow and we hope that you'll mark your calendar for Monday night to join us for a Prettie Party over on the Forum when all three new sets are released!

If you love ribbon like I do, be sure to swing by here to see the new arrivals! While there are so many to choose from by this one and this one are two my favorites....

Lastly, for for something a little more "peeky" and not so "sneaky" go look over to here to see the gorgeous card Christie made!!

Prettie Sneaky Peek

On Monday, Paper Pretties will be releasing THREE new stamp sets. I've been having fun playing with them, but so far, I can only show you some sneaky peekies of what I'm up to.

Be sure to check around the other Prettie Girl blogs (you'll find a list of links on the sidebar to the right) to see a glimpse of what we're doing. We will each have one full card for you on Monday and all three sets will be unveiled and available for sale Monday at 8pm CST!

Hope you'll join us on Monday night 1/28 over at the Paper Pretties Forum on the Party thread. **If you're not already registered - you'll need to create a logon to join us, don't worry, its quick and easy!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a blog candy announcement.....

Double Take

When you first look at these cards, they don't look much alike at all. However, look again and you'll see its the same layout.

I've had a sketch class on my mind for a while, just no time to do the samples. When I made this little hippo card the other day with Pun Fun I knew I'd found a sketch I could use over and over.

The background paper here is from a retired simply scrappin kit that I've had kicking around a while. The Hippo is watercolored with Basic Grey reinker and his accents are colored with Bashful Blue (no blue toenails like the pink cutie I made the other day). This new striped grosgrain ribbon I can tell is going to be a favorite for me!

I've had my Sale A Bration preorder for about a week, and haven't had time to play (shocking I know considering the stamps are die cut - a huge mini catalogue benefit if you ask me!!!) I'll admit to being a total skeptic when I heard that SU was selling rub ons. I thought, ick. Then, I saw them all over the new catty, and decided I had to at least try them.

Well now I can safely say, I love this product. This was SO easy, the hardest part was figuring out which rub on to use...and in the end, I just love the effect. The only thing is, it isn't going to work for my usual mass production of cards, so I'll have to save them for the special ones. It does make for one speedy card though, and I think the effect of the black swirl across the rose red paper is so crisp.

Can Google Reader Be Imported

Before I tear my hair out trying to find the answer riddle me this.

I follow a LOT of blogs on google reader (which by the way I LOVE)My question is.....Is there a way to share my "hourly" I mean "daily" list of blogs here rather than having to go update a blog roll with a bazillion links?

I figure someone out there might know a better way....

Hippy Day!

I had such fun playing with my "Just So Hippy" set from Gina K last night. I have two cards to share, but I'm still tweaking one, so you'll see it in the next few days....

I decided that I was going to create a background for the giraffe by masking and sponging all around the giraffe. To get started, first I stamped the giraffe onto whisper white cardstock with brilliance graphite black. Then created a mask by stamping the image again onto Eclipse Tape, trimming that out carefully and applying it over my giraffe on the cardstock.

Then I sponged a background using Soft Sky for the top and Certainly Celery for the bottom. Once I was happy with how that looked, I peeled off the mask and colored in the giraffe with my SU markers.

To get into all the nooks and crannies, I applied crayon to the tip of my blender pen and colored with it that way, rather than crayon direct to the paper. The hearts here are colored in the same manner with Pretty in Pink crayon.

I stamped the heart and the "Love You" onto Pretty in Pink paper and trimmed it out. Tied a piece of silver cording around the base of the heart and popped that piece up on a dimensional. Once it was in place, I coated the heart, and the knot in the cording with Diamond Glaze to make a really shiny balloon. I tied a small piece of gingham ribbon at the tail height and secured with a glue dot.

The card base is covered in the polka dotted pattern from the Certainly Celery Designer paper and then there is a border of Certainly Celery and Soft sky matting for the main image. A strip of scallops is tucked just on the right hand side of the panel which I created with my slit punch.

The word window punch makes cute little tabs, which I placed on the left hand side of the panel and secured with a silver brad to coordinate with the silver cording.

I just love this color combination. So springy despite the fact that its freezing here!!!

By the way, if you too have already purchased this cutie-patootie set you'll want to be sure to swing by Melanie's blog. She has some truly outstanding projects using the set, and she's posted a tip sheet over on the Gina K member forum too.

A bunch of Ding Dongs!

Oh goodness, I laughed so hard at all the Ding Dong moments that you all were willing to share. I'm so glad I'm not the only one that does these things.

Many of these made me laugh, literally, laugh out loud in my kitchen. You girls sure do like your bellas!

Okay without further ado, the winner as selected by random.org is #34.

Pegg S said...
My ding-dong moments are usually injuries! I am kind of a spazz. Thankfully I'm not as bad now that I'm an adult! But the other night, we had just gotten a new tabletop grill - I plugged it in, not realizing that the switch was on. Of course I touch it and burned my hand... OK not so funny! :)~pegg

Pegg, I'm emailing you now to get your snail mail address!

Everyone take it easy okay? Bwah!!! Seriously though, thank you all for playing! This was a blast!

Pinked Out Sketch

I had so much fun with Jen's Sketch for You to Try that I couldn't wait to see what she had in store this weekend. Sure enough, I loved it and tonight set aside some time to see what I could come up with.

I can not believe I still had two scraps of last years "Loves Me" paper leftover for my first card. This sketch made it super easy to pull together a quick card that was on my to do list anyways. This uses the Pun Fun stamp set I used on my Beate's weekend sketch challenge on Saturday but this time, I used the cute little hippo.

She is water colored with Sahara Sand, Basic Grey and Pretty in Pink classic ink (notice the cute little pink toenails!) matted on Sahara Sand then I had a square nestie mat. The buttons are finished off with a touch of pink gingham ribbon. I added shimmer to the balloons, bow tie and toenails with my glitter pen.

I've been wanting to make a tulip card for a few weeks now, since I noticed really soft pretty pink ones on a recent trip to Whole Foods. Tulips in the supermarket remind me that this cold, snow won't last forever! I pick them up every chance I get! And LOTS when they're on sale! That day I lucked out and I bought two dozen for only $12! Hooray. Coincidentally, that same day, Shannan posted this beautiful card to her blog.

This paper is so similar to the Loves Me from last year, this year it is called "Spring Fling." I know I'll be using a lot of this in the months to come. I actually don't own this set Garden Whimsy, but my good friend Rachel does. The sentiment here is from My Favorite Things Essential Sentiments. There are so many amazing little sentiments in there and this little "hello" fit perfectly in that empty corner....

As a mother of two boys, I love any chance to make something really PINK because I don't get too much of that around here! More like Lightening McQueen, Thomas and Transformers.....

Have a great day everyone!!

Quick can still be cute.

I needed a quick card today for a birthday party that my son was heading out to. You would THINK that with the amount of cards I make, that I'd have this handy, but the stash was depleted.

Lucky for me, Beate's back to her weekend sketch challenges, so I knew exactly what to do.

I knew I wanted to use my new Pun Fun set from Stampin Up which I bought for expressly this purpose. And because I love to watercolor lately.

The image was stamped on Confetti White paper with Brilliance Graphite Black ink. I watercolored with Basic Grey, Old Olive, So Saffron and Soft Sky reinkers.

I covered the flames out the back of the rocket with my Sakura Stardust pen. The three jumbo eyelets were set with the help of my Crop O Dile and the sentiment "Happy Birthday" is from Eat Cake also by Stampin Up.

Again, I got this done in a half hour, so I'm really excited, but I know I want the chance to play with this sketch again at length. I have so so much on my to do list right now (its mass production time again...) So, I'm not sure I'll be able to do it this week, but its filed into my "go to's" for the next time I need to start something fresh.

Can I just say I've been having SUCH a laugh reading all the ding dong moment posts below. So many of these are things that I've done. There's also been a few doozies that will take your breath away. Be sure to read through for some good laughs. I have absolutely been the one to put the milk in the pantry and the cereal in the fridge, so that gave me a good laugh in particular.

Here's another one from me. Last week, I woke up on the couch at 2 am. Stumbled upstairs to take out my contacts, and found the case full of cleaning solution, which I promptly dumped out. Looked up into the mirror to take out my contacts, and realized my glasses were on, which means, that I had dumped my contacts, you've got it, down the drain! Of course, last pair, expired prescription, so now I've got to fit an appointment to the eye doctors into my crazy schedule. So NOT what I needed right now. Hey, at least my funky red glasses are so cute in the meantime!

Ding Dong Candy

I recently ordered some new Bella's to play with and when my package arrived I realized that foolishly I had ordered TWO Daisyboardabella's. That's what I get for not paying attention. So one of you lucky readers will get to have the other one.

To enter in this contest, you have to share one "ding dong" moment of yours! HA! This should be fun. I'll collect comments to this post till Monday at 8pm EST and then I'll have Random.org help me pick a winner!

Please be sure to leave your email address if you don't have one attached to your profile or else I won't be able to get your the goodies!!

That Made My Day

Cassandra from http://www.fortheartofit.blogspot.com/ emailed me yesterday and tagged me with a "You Make My Day" award. How sweet is that?? Let me say that it truly made my day, so thank you Cassandra!

All of you who swing by to say hi all the time make ME so happy! Thanks for keeping me company, for all the support and encouragement. So, consider all yourselves tagged!

I've been a busy little bee tonight, but lots of stuff can't show (a Prettie Girl Challenge Card, packaged up swaps to mail out, and worked on Prettie Stamp samples for the next launch!) I'm sorry, I know that's rotten!!


Hey, don't forget, we're having a contest over there for guest submissions using the new Paper Pretties Clear Art stamps, you have a chance to win all the new releasees for free!! You can read more at The Paper Clip.


I did participate in this week's layout challenge over at SCS and since I don't have anything to share from tonight's session I'll share this....This sweet little Sophia is stamped on Watercolor paper and painted with reinkers and a brush. She's matted on my tricky double square punchouts turned into a rectangle! The designer paper is Blush from Basic Grey that I've had kicking around forever. It was perfect for this little sweetie.


I'm also posting a card I made for our weekly challenge over at Paper Pretties. The challenge this week is titled "Play it Again."

Basically either take a card that you have but maybe don't totally love yet and kick it up a notch, or, if you don't have any "almosts" laying around to make a card and then go a step beyond to see what you can do to just add a little more.


As an example, here's my before. I mean its okay, but I didn't love it yet.


With the addition of some paper I already had lying around, and with a quick scalloped border I really liked how it came out. Want to play? Join us over on the challenge thread.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'lll be stamping again most nights of the week, and look forward to sharing all the new goodness that has arrived in my house with all of you!

Speaking of new goodness....

Paper Pretties is moving a whole bunch of inventory over into the Sale Category to make room for all the fun new things we'll be ordering while at CHA! More things will be added over there every day, so be sure to continue swinging by to see what new things have been added!!

For the Birds....

I bought Always from SU because I loved this sweet little bird with the flowers all over its belly. But really, birds aren't for everyone. So in designing this card I created one version with the bird, and another with the beautiful scripted heart.



Following Beate's lead, I've embossed these images. Since I didn't have So Saffron Craft ink, I stamped the images with So Saffron Classic, then used my versamarker to coat all that ink then applied my clear embossing powder and hit it with the heat gun for a nice raised, and shiny image.




The paper here is Le Jardin Designer Paper from Stampin Up, the card base is So Saffron and there is a Mellow Moss mat in there as well. Both cards are finished up with scraps of Very Vanilla 5/8 width grosgrain ribbon. I just had to switch up were I applied the ribbon to accomodate the heart image.....

I've officially used up all the yellow paper in this designer paper collection, now I've got to move on the the blue and green papers in that pack.

Have a great day!





correction: I had earlier listed this paper was retired, but HOORAY it isn't. I didn't check my catalogue, but didn't recall seeing it. Yeah, this means I can make lots more of these because I'd like to keep more on hand for those somber occasions that one of my more typically whimsical cards isn't appropriate.

Prettie Wednesday Returns!

We're back!!!! You may remember that the Prettie Girls (a.k.a. the Paper Pretties Design Team) had been issuing Wednesday challenges this past fall - each week one of us takes a turn issuing a challenge, and forwards our creations to another girl on the team.

This week, the challenge was issued by Christie and its a color challenge: light yellow, light blue, and apricot. How springy and fun! I can't wait to play. We'd love for you to play along, please let me know if you do by adding a comment on this post with a link to your creation. You can find all the girls blogs in my sidebar to the right. ----->

So, looks like Masse and I are on the same page, because we both created red Snowflake Kisses creations for the day. My card base is Real Red from SU and the designer paper is the now retired (sniff sniff) Cerise paper from SU as well. The stamp set is the newly released Snowflake Kisses stamp from Paper Pretties.

The mittens are stamped with Brilliance Graphite Black ink on Watercolor Paper and then colored in with reinkers. The muffs of the mittens were given some fluffy with Liquid Applique which I picked up at the Paper Pretties Boutique. The sentiment fits perfectly on the round tab punch and I notched the edge of the main image with my slit punch to create a little space for the ribbon tie.

Lastly.....I did post my challenge for the week on the Paper Pretties Forum as well called "Play it Again" basically it is a challenge to kick an existing creation up a notch, or make a card in two versions a before and a **more** version. Hop on over to the Forum to see the challenge and hopefully to play along, there will be a prize from the Boutique for one lucky player!

I am SUCH a sucker for a sketch challenge. I couldn't wait to make another card with Beate's layout.

This time, I pulled out my Cornish Heritage Farms Kim Huges Collection stamps. When Alli was doing her samples with these for the release, I immediately added them to my cart. Thanks Alli (wink!)

I've had these stamps for too long for them not to have been broken out of their packaging yet.

This is the Loveland collection of paper from Scenic Route. I use it just about every chance I get. The cardstock to match is Bazill Berrylicious and I picked it all up at my local scrapbooking store - Right at Home.

And I've got a little stash of Target Mailboxes that I decided would be super cute to go with this card. This year, the mailboxes have a cover that just comes totally off, rather than the little hinge they had last year. It makes it even easier for you to alter them!!

So Glad!

I'm just SO glad that Beate is back to her weekly sketch challenges. I really did miss them, and all her daily inspiration!

So, armed with my fantastic new Hippy Hooray stamps from Gina K and an amazing sketch from Beate I just had to pick through my stash to find the right paper for a baby card and a matching clear paint tin for a client order. Turns out, I had some Crate Paper Baby Bee (honestly my favorite for baby projects) that I didn't remember I still had tucked away ... I got it over at the Paper Pretties Boutique.

The image is stamped with Stazon Timber Brown and then used my Marvy Oval to punch that out, and added a border with my Giga Scalloped Oval. That sweet giraffe is colored in with my Creamy Caramel and Blush Blossom SU Watercolor crayons and then blended with a blender pen. I then added a piece of SU Hodgepodge to tie on a little ribbon.

I'm sure most of you know this, but I'm going to mention it because when I started (um...not that long ago actually) I couldn't figure out how to get my big chunky crayon into those teeny fine spaces. The trick is to color onto the tip of your blender pen and then apply the color to the image that way.

The scalloped border down the left hand side was made with the help of my handy slit punch. I know there are tutorials out there as to how this is done, but if you're not familiar, let me know and I can show you how its done another day.

I can hardly believe it!!

Wowie! How excited could I possibly be! My eyes nearly bulged out of my head last night when I went over to check my email and saw a note from Gina! (If you're not sure what I'm talking about... go check my post below!!) Oh Happy Day! I'm so excited about this wonderful opportunity!!!

Have I mentioned how much FUN I've been having with my new sets from Gina K's most recent release ....

So, this is the perfect opportunity to share another card I worked on this weekend. I'm laughing as I write this because Jen is going to think that either I'm insane, or a total stalker. Because, I just can't stop with this sketch.

It is (yes, once again) her Sketch for You to Try from this past Saturday. But honestly, it really does make for charming cards and I've always been a huge fan of her work. And, I'm loving my new Gina K stamps for a cause set.

I will say though, I'm being a good doobie playing in my box of existing paper. (Honestly, there's so much in there... its embarrassing.) But, when you have a lot of paper, it gives you lots of options. Great sketch, great stamps, great paper. I'm really excited about this card.

Its nice to be back in the swing of things after such a long break around the holidays. It feels so good to be stamping on a regular basis.

Oh WOW!

If you have a moment, swing over here and let me know what you think!!!

Want to be our Cutie Pie?

Christie announced a new program over at Paper Pretties, you now have a chance to become our first ever “Cutie Pie!” The winner will receive all of the stamps sets from the next release and will have a Spotlight on the Paper Pretties website. For a chance to win, all you have to do is submit your original artwork using Paper Pretties Stamps! Entries should be submitted to Christie@paperpretties.net by January 26th.

I created this card using the new Cuddle Me set and its going to someone on the Paper Pretties RAK list!

I have to say that I had so much fun at Friday's launch party, had a lot of laughs and made some new friends. Love that!

I announced a swap last night over on the Paper Pretties forum, you can find all the details here. Psst.....you'll need to register for the site to be able to see the post!

And later today, I'll be issuing a challenge for the week. You can use any item available in the Paper Pretties boutique to play.... just check our Challenge Thread for details later today.

So much NEW over there! How fun! Hope you'll come on over and play....

I did it again....

I just loved Jen's Sketch for You to Try so much, that I had to crank out another one this morning while the boys watched Bob the Builder!

This uses the Gina K's new Stamps for a Cause Set. When I heard that the set was for diabetes, I had to have it, then I saw the images, and was hooked. Someone very close to me was recently diagnosed, and I wanted to help support the cause. And, I know she'll just love this card for her collection!

I just love sketch challenges, it so simplifies the creation process when you have a sketch

you know will work. And, I've been saving this paper from Cutie Pie Designer Series collection for just the right card! I'm so glad because I just love how this came out.

Quick Details: Card base is kraft, Bashful blue main panel is stamped with the sentiment in Brilliance Graphite Black ink, and the top and bottom borders are paper pierced. The baby blanket is stamped in cutie pie designer series paper and paper pieced. The stork and the baby are colored with SU watercolor crayons.

Its Snowflake

I've been loving all of Jen Del Muro's Sketches, but just haven't had any time to play along. When I saw todays, I knew it would be perfect for my new friend Snowflake.

This uses the Wintergreen Designer paper from Stampin Up. I bought some for a project, didn't use much, and now I feel compelled to use it all up. The colors are perfect together, WHY didn't I use it before now?

Snowflake is colored with my SU watercolor crayons and blended. The snowangel was given some depth with light blue crayon, then dazzling diamonds were added. The sentiment here is from My Favorite Things Essential Sentiments. I pulled out a few more of those crystals that Christie sent to me - love those thing -- because I felt like the sentiment was just hanging out all lonely down there. I was going to add ribbon, but had already used my last scraps of Soft Sky double stitched (no worries, more is on its way!)

My darling sister and her husband gave me a lightbox for Christmas. And is sure came in handy tonight, otherwise I would have had to wait till tomorrow to post this!! Oh, the possibilities of night photos! Hooray! Thank you, thank you guys, I love it!

Snowlake Bling

I'm not sure if you happened to see the new last night, but the surprise we've been keeping is that Paper Pretties now has its own line of clear stamps. Two sets were released last night which you can see right here.

By the way, Christie announced our Guest Design contest which will run through the 29th. You can send your Paper Pretties Stamp creations in for a chance to become our first "Cutie Pie." The winner will receive our our next set of releases for free and will have a Prettie Spotlight featuring her creations!

Entries should be submitted to Christie@paperpretties.net by January 26th

Okay, now onto the card details. This is another card using the Snowflake Kisses set. The card base is Kraft, with a black border on some fun aqua paper I found in my stash! I ran the solid piece through my cuttlebug with the snowflakes embossing folder. Don't you just love when you find goodness you already own! See its good to be a paper hoarder! Now I can shop in my stash!

The snowflake was colored with prismacolor pencils, then very carefully trimmed out, coated in dazzling diamonds and blinged up with these awesome crystals I received Christie. You can't see it too well here, but its mounted on shimmery white paper, so in real life its pretty shimmery all over!

Be sure to stop over to the other Prettie Girls and our four amazing guest designers to see what they've come up with. I've got lots of "Prettie Goodness" to come, and a blog candy contest will start on Monday, so come back soon.

Off to another crazy weekend with the boys... have a wonderful weekend!

The Secret I've Been Keeping.....

The cat's out of the bag! The secret I've been keeping for so long is now out! Hooray!

Paper Pretties now has its very own line of stamps!

You can read all the details about the new arrival on the front page of Paper Pretties. I hope you'll pop on over to the forum to join us for the launch party going on right now!

Two new stamp sets are being released tonight and they're already available for sale in the Pretties Boutique.





Gotta run... I've got a party to attend! Come join me.....

Its A Prettie Party, and You're Invited!!

When: Friday, January 11, 2008

Where: In our brand new Prettie Forum

Who: Everybody who loves to stamp!

Why: To see if anyone found Snowflake and find out where he's been hiding. There will be games, prizes, we’ll announce a customer submission contest, and LOTS of fun!!

Please note, you’ll need to register as a user to the site, so please stop by a little early to make your way into to the Forum. All you need to do is click on “register” below the member’s login. If you’ve already registered then you just login and head to the forum! Once in the Forum, look for “Parties” and we’ll all be meeting there at 7pm CST.

Come join in the fun and see if anyone found Snowflake and won the Grand prize!!!

Speaking of Snowflake, the LAST clue can be found on Christie's blog.

Remember that since this is the final clue you should submit your final answer to the search with all the words included! You must have your answer submitted by 5:00 pm CST to be entered for our grand prize draw.

Have fun, and looking forward to seeing you all at the party!

Illuminated Notes

I've been meaning to make a notecard set with Illuminations for a while now, and you know how that goes. So much on the to do list.

However, last night, after my "to do" list was cleared, I picked out some paper and pulled together these matching cards.

The colors I used here were Blue Bayou, Old Olive and Rose Red and the image is the Illuminations Stamp set from Stampin Up.

After I stamped each image, I used my versamarker to trace all the lines, then embossed with clear embossing powder for some shine. Impossible to see here....

If I haven't said so nine million times, can I just say I love the Designer Series Prints paper. I just wish there was a pink version so I could make pink "Hope" cards. I can tell you I'll be adding a pink version of this just as soon as my Berry Bliss paper arrives next Monday with my first New Catalogue Order!

Have a great day!

Day Four - We're Nearly There!!

Today’s clues are posted by Charmaine and Jana head on over there for a chance at today’s daily prize! Don’t forget that Julie Masse. Joanne and Jillian have also posted clues this week. Be sure to collect all the clues to register for the grand prize!



If you haven't been playing all week, don't worry, its not too late to join in. Julie Masse gave away two of the clues yesterday, so it isn't hard to catch up!!

Yesterday's winner was Cassandra Crossfield. Head on over Charmaine and Jana's blogs, unscramble those two clues and get your answers set in for your chance to win!!

Please be sure to stop by PaperPretties.net on the 11th at 7pm CST to see what it is that we’ve been searching for all week and to see if you’re the winner of the grand prize!!

Quiet Embrace

You know me, I'm a sucker for monochromatic, and a huge fan of River Rock. So, when I saw this polka dotted paper from the Ginger Blossom Designer Paper from Stampin Up I knew I had to add it to my collection.

This is a quick card, but I think that the little blossom here was looking for a nice quiet, subtle treatment. I'm finding that I'm using my scalloped nestabilitie squares are just perfect for so many of the images I already own.

Last night I was on mass production mode again, lots of umbrella cards, lots of these... but truth be told, the real thing that got in the way of my stamping, is that my husband and I are planning a trip to Las Vegas! Hooray!!!

I've been once on business, but saw mostly the inside of a convention center, my husband has been on a bachelor party and for business as well. I'd love any advice you all have as to fun things to do while we're there, places to eat etc.

Clue #3 - The Search for Snowflake Continues

Thanks for joining The Prettie Girls on day Three of our Search for Snowflake. Today’s clue will be posted by Julie Masse and the prize today is a Bella Trio: pompombella, snowbunnybella, and veggiebella!!

Remember, I posted a clue on Monday Jillian posted a clue yesterday. Be sure to collect all the clues to register for the grand prize which will be drawn on Friday!

Psst...Here's a hint, Julie Masse is actually giving away the last two day's clues so you don't have to track back to have all the correct answers to enter for the grand prize!!

Christie has postied the winner of Tuesday's prize on her blog, so be sure to pop on over there too!

Have a great day everyone!

Paper Pretties - Shipping Prices Glitch Fixed - Go Shop Again!

Okay, new websites have glitches, and it seems there was one over at Paper Pretties. The good news is that it has been resolved! Hooray!

Christie posted today that the shipping calculation glitch has been fixed. So, if you were shopping the sale, and scared off by inflated shipping rates, please try again....Everything is fixed up now and we'd love to have you visit again!

Very soon we'll be glitch free, and don't forget, I'll be back in the morning to let you know who has tomorrow's clue, and what the prize of the day is.

Ladies, I'm so bad at surprises, I can't even begin tell you. Luckily, I'm bound to secrecy. This time, you'll just have to wait.

Change it Up.

I had so much fun with "Rain or Shine" from MFT the other day, that I just had to give it another go. This time, I broke out my Bali Breeze Designer paper from Stampin Up. All the colors here are so rich and vibrant. QUITE a different look from the subtle, quiet card I'd made the other day. I couldn't wait to get started!

The dress, skirt, boots and doggie sweater were all paper pierced. I watercolored the girls skin on her legs and hand, as well as the puddle and the dog's fur. The umbrella was stamped in Versamark then embossed with clear embossing powder. The slit punch made quick work of a scalloped border for the fun teal patterned paper.

The sentiment is inked up a little at a time for perfect placement within a 1 1/4 circle, then I layered that with a 1 3/8 taken with teal circle and a scalloped circle in old olive.

Lots of layers of dimensionals as the scalloped border is bumped up one level, then the main image panel is bumped up on two sets, and the umbrella had to be bumped up on three stacked sets of dimensionals. My husband loathes dimensionals, as those little white hexagons get static clung to me and then travel all around my house. I always hear him yell "Aaargh! HEXAGON!" It only makes me laugh, but I don't think he thinks it funny. You should have heard him groaning as he watched me apply layer after layer of those babies on this card!

Wanna Play? Want to shop?

Oh my goodness, they weren't kidding when they said "New Items Being Added Every Day!" over at Paper Pretties. Right now, all regularly priced merchandise is 25% off - that includes things like Bind it All, and even Copic Markers! A whole boatload of ribbon has been added in there, and there are lots of stamps... the list goes on. The sale runs through January 10th!


Now, don't forget that we're on day two of the search for our friend Snowflake. I received a clue yesterday and today’s clues is posted by Jillian Winters and the daily prize is the My Favorite Things Be Mine set. This set isn't yet available at MFT (It will be launched tomorrow night!!) but it was in the December Paper Pretties Kit.

If you didn’t collect yesterday’s clue, please be sure to visit scroll down my blog a little to find yesterday's clue. Remember, you’ll need all the clues to register for the grand prize!


Yesterday's winner was Mary Olin! Congratulations to Mary, and thanks to everyone that played!

Rain or Shine - I love this set!

Lest you think I'm not stamping, I wanted to share this card I made with the MFT set "Rain or Shine" I have been stamping lots lately, its just all "super secret squirrel stuff!" Which, I'll be able to share with you soon, real soon! (wink!)

So, surprise surprise, what color palette did I use again (oh, are you so tired of it yet? I'm sorry, because I'm not done with it yet....) Soft Sky and River Rock, and I pulled out some Fall Flowers designer paper. I love that stuff and still have loads of it. I thought it would make for a cheery umbrella, raincoat and boots.

The umbrella itself is stamped with versamark on Soft Sky cardstock, then coated with clear embossing powder and hit with my heat gun. The image is stamped with Graphite Black Brilliance ink, then watercolored with reinkers and a waterbrush. The only finishing touch I'll put on this card is my diamond glaze for the puddle that I ordered from Paper Pretties.

Its a shame that I've had this set for weeks, and this is the first I've been able to play with it, but its such a cute set, I really look forward to using it again! In fact, I think I'll be making more of these, with different paper tonight!

Join the Prettie Girls on the Search for Snowflake! Prizes Every Day!!

After a quick break from our Wednesday challenge, the Prettie Girls are back!!



And this time, we have a challenge for you! Please join us for daily challenges, and collect the daily clues, unscramble them and submit your answers to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com for the chance at prizes along the way.



At the end of the week, you’ll need to put all the clues together and send your answer to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com for a chance at the grand prize!


Our dear friend Snowflake is missing, we looked where he was last, and found a note with these letters "E S P T R I E T" if you know what it means, please send your answer to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com



Today’s prize is the Paper Pretties Premium Expectafellabella kit!



By the way....don't forget to stop by Paper Pretties to see the new website. Right now, through the 10th, you can receive 25% off all regularly priced merchandise by using the code nwss25

Its a Sale!!

Who doesn't love a SALE?? You can receive 25% off all regulaly priced merchandise at Paper Pretties starting tonight at midnight. Just enter coupon code nwss25.

New merchandise will be added every day, and the sale goes on until January 10th! Be sure and check it out!

If you haven't been over to Paper Pretties in the last few days, you'll want to stop by now. The new website is up and running, and I'm loving it! Be sure to stop by Paper Clip for the latest news and events.