Stay Cool!

Are you staying cool today?? Summer had just arrived in Maine before I left - the hot, humid, sticky days started on Monday and today was supposed to be another one!

Today's Paper Pretties release sneak peek is from a new set called Summer Fun! It's a great set to add to Make a Splash - so many fun images related to summer!

I used some bright and summery dp from American Crafts - I just love the colors! I cut out 3 squares with Nestabilities and used the popsicle, drink and one of the sentiments from the set. After coloring the images with Copic markes, I added some glossy effects to both of them - it's difficult to photograph but it looks really neat IRL!

Another element that's difficult it see - I added a ghost flower on the ribbon. I punched 2 holes through the center to make it act more like a button, threaded the ribbon through and tied a knot. To finish it up I just added a few brads at the top.

Have you visited the other Prettie Girls' blogs lately (there's a linked list over on the right sidebar? The Prettie Peeks abound and there is some great stuff!! The Party is tomorrow night at 8 pm EST - be there for a FUN time!!

Cardstock: Blue (Bazzill), Pure Luxury White (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper: American Crafts, Stamps: Summer Fun (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Ribbon (American Crafts), Ghost Flower, Brads (Pink Hedgehog Crafts), Nestabilities, Copic markers, Glossy Accents

Ahoy!

Today I'm sharing another card I made for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges on SCS. This one is for KristieLee's Clearly Creative challenge - to use clear cardstock. I don't use it enough - but funny I've used it twice this week! :)

The cute little boat is an image from Unity Stamps, Beach Days and Sun Rays set - cute!!

The waves were made with scalloped Nestabilities - just the part that you usually throw away! :) On the inside I added the sentiment from a Papertrey Ink set, Bitty Baby Blessings. I drew a blue border around the edge with a Copic marker and a thinner yellow border with a Spica pen and made sure that the inside panel was bigger than the outside one so that you could see the border through the front.

Come back tomorrow for another Prettie Peek! Thanks for stopping by!

Cardstock: Clear, Lemon Tart, White (Papertrey Ink), Blue (Bazzill), Stamps: Beach Days and Sun Rays (Unity Stamps), sentiment from Bitty Baby Blessings (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Ribbon (Martha Stewart), Copic markers, Spica Pen, Nestabilities

Prettie Embellished & Sneaky Wednesday

Welcome to another Prettie Wednesday!! This week's challenger was our girl, Jodi and she challenged us to use our favorite embellishment. This was fun - but I had to decide what my favorite embellishment was! LOL! I came up with more than one - first, I love bling! All types, glitter, rhinestones, anything shiny. Second, I love buttons, old, new, big or small - love 'em!

Now the sneaky part?Well that's because today you are getting a super sneaky peek at one of the new releases coming out on August 1st at Paper Pretties! Introducing Make a Wish! She is the newest Stamp of the Month stamp - adorable or what??!!! I had so much fun coloring the image and embellishing it to my heart's content. What girly girl wouldn't love a card with lots of pink, lots of sparkles, some flocking, flowers and buttons?? ETA: I forgot to say that the sketch is Clean & Simple's FTL#51 - although the card turn out very clean or simple in the end - lol! :)

Here's the info on the Release:

On Saturday, August 1st, Paper Pretties will be having their monthly Stamping In Your Jammies release party! The party starts at 8 pm EST and will last until 10 pm EST. We will be having three challenges, so be sure to come and play along!! Besides the challenges, chatter and all around fun, we will also be releasing 2 new sets, Aloha Sophia to the public and introducing our new Stamp of the Month. Sneak peeks start today!! Hope you can make it to the party!! :)

Cardstock: Raspberry Fizz, Aqua Mist, White (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Raspberry Fizz dp (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Make a Wish (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (SU!), Fun Flock (Stampendous), Flower die (Cuttlebug), Button (Papertrey Ink), Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Copic markers

Hi Ho!

I know most of you out there now this, but . . . it's almost time for Back to School!!! As a homeschooler, I'm a bit excited - excited about new books (I LOVE fresh, clean, new books!), new subjects, new concepts, etc. I'm also a bit sad to see the vacation end, worried about how hard it will be to get back into a routine, wondering how it will all work with a new baby in October. . . so many things.

Off to School Sophia from Paper Pretties is perfect for this time of year! I used a sketch from the sketch swap at Stamp New England in March. It's by Vicky Cook - great sketch! The little green mat under her feet is a set I often forget about but that is so versatile!! It's Sassy Circles, also from Paper Pretties, and has some great circles and ovals to use for making backgrounds and mats and all kinds of things!

Isn't that dp perfect? It's from October Afternoon's Cherry Hill collection - love it! I'm also excited that this qualifies for a couple more of the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges over at SCS - I'm having so much fun!!

Stay tuned for Prettie Wednesday and news abou the upcoming RELEASE!! My posts will be pre-scheduled starting today - I'll be headed to Orlando tomorrow for a few days at CHA. If I get time, I'll try to upload a few pics. Have a great week everyone!

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive (SU!), Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Cherry Hill (October Afternoon), Stamps: Back to School, Sassy Circles (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Nestabilities, Ribbon (May Arts), Copic markers, foam adhesive

A Box for my Blocks

Good morning!! How's that for a title? I thought maybe it would grab your attention and you'd come check out the cool little box I made this weekend to hold the wooden berry blocks we made at Stamping Around CT using the beautiful new Kitchen Sink Stamps!

I really wanted to do this weeks ago when I first made the blocks, but the Dare To Get Dirty challenges over on SCS this weekend pushed me over the edge with LodiChick's It's in the Bag (you have to be a member of the Fan Club in order to see the challenge so if you're not . . . why?? ha!). The challenge was to make creative packaging with some premade or made up box or bag.

I started with a scratch piece of paper and my Scor-Pal and measured and scored and cut until I got the box how I wanted it. Then I used a piece of clear cardstock to make my final version. It's difficult to get a good picture of, but on the top edge I used pinking shears to get a decorative edge (since my corner round died this weekend - boo!!).

I then decided to make a belly band of sorts to go around my box. I first made a piece of "gingham" using Plaid Plus from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I wish you could see a bit more of it because it came out so neat! I then took a strip of cardstock a bit narrower than the gingham and stamped it randomly with images and words from Multi-Step Berries also from KSS. Don't you just love how bright and real those berries look - yummmmm!!

Once I had my box all assembled and the belly bands on I added a ribbon handle by using a slot punch and a brad to hold the ribbon in place.

I suppose there are many other uses for a little box this size - or it would be easy to tweak the measurements to suit you needs. If you're interested in a template for my box, please leave a comment or send me an email, I'd be happy to share! :)

Here a couple extra pics I took last night trying to get a better view of the clear cardstock.

Remember to please visit the rest of the KSS Crew for their wonderful creations today! Also, check out the Kitchen Sink Stamps Blog today to see who the winner of this month's contest is . . . who could it be?? Did you enter???

Maria, Dee, Lynn, Tammy, Lori, Angela, Makiko, Connie, Lisa

Cardstock: White, Clear (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Plaid Plus, Multi-Step Berries, Ink: Black, Hibiscus Burst for the gingham (Papertrey Ink), see my berry colors HERE, Accessories: Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Brads, Slot punch, Pinking shears

Live Green

This has been such a busy week and I had so much to post that I even have a Saturday post - yea!! :) I've been trying to get a lot done before I leave next week for CHA - can you say excited???!! Let me know if you're going too - I'd love to meet you!!

I made this card with a cute little new stamp from Rubber Soul, Live Green. Did you know that Rubber Soul has a category of stamps called "Eco" - they all have cute little images with fun eco sentiments! For my card I also used some Rubber Soul paper, Hoop-La! It just seemed perfect for Froggy!

I used another piece of cardbord because of the whole "green thing" and did some piercing around the one side of the image (I cannot seem to stop piercing these days - lol!). As I looked for something for the bottom corne (looked awfully bare !) I rememberthese cute chipboard shapes I got from my sweet friend Charmaine. They are from the Mr. Campy line and so neat because they are called "Chalkboad" - the black coating acts like a chalkboard that you can color ove with colored pencils. As I looked at it though I decided I like mine black to tie in with the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping in today - have a wonderful weekend!!

Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Hoop-La (Rubber Soul), Stamps: Live Green (Rubber Soul), Ink: Black, Pear Tart (Memento), Accessories: Paper piercer, Mr. Campy Chalkboad shape, cardboad

Relax

Happy Friday friends!! Anyone have big plans for the weekend?? Today is the day to pick a winner of my Jules Jewels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . here is the result from Random.org:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

2 

Timestamp: 2009-07-24 04:17:01 UTC

That means Debra Lois you won!! Please send me your mailing address and I'll get your prize right out!! Congrats!

Ok, on to my project. I am so late in posting my dt project for Say It With Letters, bad, bad, bad! And I'm not happy with the pictures - it was very hard to photograph due to the glossy cardstock, but trust me when I say it looks better IRL!

I took a cue from one of the papercrafting magazines and had one of my children (Anna) hold the project while I tried to photograph it.

The shape is She Shell Seashells from Say It With Letter - so perfect for this time of year and where I live. To cover the shell I used a Faux Mother of Pearl technique that I first tried long ago. I love the result you get and how you can make it different by what color inks you use!

After gluing on my background paper I looked and found this great photo of one of my children's toes at the beach (I'm not even sure whose feet they are - lol!) :) I did a bit of tweeking to the photo - all things I've been learning taking the awesome Jessica Sprague free class!

I then needed a frame for the photo. I cut a very plain frame from a piece of cardboard and then added the sand. I found this company that sells sand pre-mixed with glue in a variety of colors and mixes from Michele Kovack's blog, Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker. The company is called Mudd Puddles and the produts are so neat! Thanks Michele!! :)

Finally I added a few shells my sister-in-law brought back from Florida, some flatback pearls and a bit of ribbon to finish it up.

I just received my next project from Deb - can't wait to working on that one! Take a minute to check out Deb's blog to see the other projects from the design team and of course visit the SIWL Etsy store to see all the fun shapes available!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

SALT Challenge: Romans 8:28

Good morning! First let me say that if you are here for the Paper Pretties Birthday Hop, please scroll to the post just below.

It's time for another Salt Challenge (actually, I missed the last challenge 2 weeks ago due to Stamping Around CT) and this week's challenger is Nikki. Please take a few minutes to read her thoughtful post on the Salt blog. Our theme this week is Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose." While this was a very familiar verse to me, it really made me stop and think about how to go about this challenge! As I searched around for inspiration, I came across a sermon by Charles Spurgeon, entitled The True Christian's Blessedness - a very worthwhile read! In the second part of the sermon he explained the verse word by word and when he got to the word "together" his explanation was something I had never heard or thought of before:

We must understand the word "together," also in another sense. "All things work together for good:" that is to say, none of them work separately. . . . Remember, it is not the one thing alone that is for your good; it is the one thing put with another thing, and that with a third, and that with a fourth, and all these mixed together, that work for your good. . . . We know right well that there are many things that happen to us in our lives that would be the ruin of us if we were always to continue in the same condition. Too much joy would intoxicate us, too much misery would drive us to despair: but the joy and the misery, the battle and the victory, the storm and the calm, all these compounded make that sacred elixir whereby God maketh all his people perfect through suffering, and leadeth them to ultimate happiness. "All things work together for good."

Sometimes, often times, we cannot see all the things that are working together for good, we simply must trust God and His perfect plan.

So my card focuses on that part of the verse "all things work together for good." I printed the text on my computer and then used my new In Bloom set from Papertrey Ink. It turns out the card took me much less time than my search for inspiration! Ha! But that's the neat thing about doing these challenges, the things you learn!

If you'd like to play along with our challenge, please leave a link in your comment on the Salt blog post! Have a great day!

Cardstock: Kraft, Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), White (GP), Patterned Paper: In Bloom (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: In Bloom (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Ripe Avocado, Plum Pudding (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Nestabilties, Paper Piercer, ribbon, buttons, twine (Papertrey Ink), Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Hop for Jessica!

Hello again! This is my 3rd Paper Pretties post this week, can you believe it?? What a busy week we've had!! But we couldn't just not acknowledge our Prettie Girl Jessica's birthday now could we? No way!! Hopefully, you arrived here from Jessie's blog but if not you can start at Christie's blog so you don't miss any of the birthday goodness from the Prettie Girls!! :) If you get lost along the way or a link doesn't work, here's the list:

Christie
Christi
Danielle
Frances
Jackie P
Jackie R
Jana
Jessie
Jodi
Julie (that's ME!)
Jessica - the BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Since we all know that Jessica loves butterflies I wanted to incorporate at least one butterfly into my card . . . now is when I'd bought one of those nifty butterfly punches you all use so beautifully! I also remembered that most month's when we have our Prettie Release parties, Stamping In Your Jammies, it seems that Jessica is usually having Chinese food for supper - lol! So I took out my Flirty Fortunes set from Paper Pretties which I just love!! and got to work. (I had to use this pretty picture I took in my front window - my hydrangeas are bursting with big beautiful blooms and it makes me sooooo happy to see them!!)

Ok, the card, I stamped the take out box on dp and cut it out minus the handle. Then I used some wire I had to form a handle by wrapping it around my paper piercer which tapers on the end to get a nice spiral. The butterfly was stamped from the Flutter By Sophia image, colored, cut out and added to the take out box.

Your last stop on the hop is Jessica's blog - go and leave her some birthday love!! Have a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jess!! :)

Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink), Kiwi Kiss (SU!), Patterned Paper: SU- retired, Stamps: Flirty Fortunes (Paper Pretties), sentiment from Eat Cake (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, wire, ribbon (SU!), Swarovski crystals, paper piercer

Prettie Sketchy Wednesday with a Hop!

Good morning!! It's another Prettie Wednesday and today we are posting with Jessie's wonderful sketch. BUT . . . there's a twist! This is also a little "Feel Better" Blog Hop for Jessie . . . surprise Jess!! :) Poor thing had a big date with the dentist on Monday for some tooth but we're happy to report she came through beautifully! It still can't hurt to give her a little pick-me-up and send a card for well wishes though, right? You should have started on Christie's blog - but if you didn't head over there so you don't miss anything!

I made my card using Bunny Slippers Sophia from Paper Pretties and some bright, cheery paper from Imaginisce. I colored Sophia with Copic markers and added some Sparkly Fluff from Our Craft Lounge that I picked up at Stamping Around Connecticut last weekend to the collar and cuff! Love that stuff!

Now it's time to hop over to Jackie R's blog and if you follow to the end be sure and give Jessie some "feel better" love! Hope you're mending fast Jessie!!

ETA: If you haven't already done so, please see my post HERE and comment for my Jules Jewels (aka Blog Candy)!!! I'll be drawing a winner on Friday!!

Cardstock: White (GP), Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Imaginisce, Stamps: Bunny Slippers Sophia (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Summer Sunrise ribbon, button, Rustic Twine (Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities, Copic Markers, Sparkly Fluff (Our Craft Lounge), brads

Thinking of You

Good morning! We had another gorgeous day here and the children and I enjoyed a little time at the lake yesterday morning - aaahhh I love summer!!

My card today has a lot going on with color and pattern but I think in the end it all works - let me know! *wink*! I used Giving Thanks Sophia from Paper Pretties and some fun paper from Daisy Buckets I've had in my stash for quite a while now. I stamped Sophia, colored her and cut her out so that I could use the dp oval as my background. I love coloring this Sophia - her big wide dress is so fun to try things on - color with Copics, make patterns with Copics or even paper piecing! I added dots with a white gel pen to each scallop on her dress.

Thanks for visiting today!! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Soft Sky (SU!) White (GP), Patterned Paper: Daisdy Buckets, Stamp: Give Thanks (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, accessories: Copic markers, Nestabilities, Swarovskki Crystals,

KSS Project of the Month - Take 2

Good morning! We had such a beautiful weekend here - seriously beautiful weather and I love it!!

As promised, I have another version of my Kitchen Sink Stamps Project of the Month. If you missed last week, check out my Fruits of Summer blocks here. Today's blocks are quite a bit different but just as easy to make! I used Multi-Step Kittens & Pup, Multi-Step Ducks & Pigs, Multi-Step Baby and Playful Alphabet Buddy.

I started with the same wooden blocks that I had painted white but I sanded the edges a bit and also used some distress ink to grunge them up a bit - totally NOT my style but I thought I'd give it a try! :)

I also made a block using the baby shoes from Multi-Step Baby - I think it would make a really cute baby gift to personalize it with the baby's name and date of birth!

Ok, so here are the ink colors I used for each.

Pup: Step 1 - Platinum Planet (Brilliance), Step 2 - London Fog (stamped off 1x) (Memento), Step 3 - Starlit Black (Brilliance), Step 4 - Jet Black Chalk Ink (VersaMagic)

Kittens: Step 1 - Platinum Planet (Brillance), Step 2 - Pearlescent Beige (Brilliance), Step 3 -Close to Cocoa (SU!), Step 4 - Coffee Bean (Brilliance)

Pig: Step 1 - Blush Blossom (SU!), Step 2 - Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink), Step 3 - (Adirondack), Step 4 - Chocolate Chip (SU!)

Baby Shoe: Step 1 - Platinum Planet (Brilliance), Step 2 - Bordering Blue Craft ink (SU!), Step 3 - Bordering Blue dye ink (SU!), Step 4 - Night of Navy Craft (SU!)

Thanks for visiting today!! Remember if you are ordering to use my coupon code (JULIE10KSS) for 10% off Be sure to check out what the rest of the KSS Crew made for today.

Maria, Dee, Lynn, Tammy, Lori, Angela, Makiko, Connie, Lisa

Don't forget that you have until Friday, July 24 at midnight to get your submissions in for KSS Crew Challenge #15!

Happy Birthday Dad!

This week's sketch challenge on SCS gave me the opportunity to play with a beautiful new stamp I received from Innovative Stamp Creations. The nature inspired stamps they have are simply beautiful!! I definitely will be picking up the Serenity stamp from the latest release this week - it's just stunning and reminds me so much of the boardwalk up to the beach at my parent's house.

Tomorrow is my father's birthday (and my mother-in-law's - how funny is that?!), so I thought this beautiful stamp would work well for a masculine birthday card. The stamp set is called, Birch Tree Paintings. I stamped the image using on Watercolor paper and used ink pads to color the tree. I sort of forgot when I was coloring that tree was a birch tree - oops. So I took my Fresh Snow & Vintage Cream ink pads and colored over the tree to mute the browns and make it look more birch-bark like. I think it worked pretty well.

Check out the Innovative Stamp Creations blog to see all the lovely samples their design team has made with the newly released stamps - truly inspiring!! :) A huge thanks also to ISC for being such a great supporter and donor to Stamping Around!!

Cardstock: Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink), Watercolor paper (SU!), Patterned Paper: Kate Collection (Crate Paper), Stamps: Birch Tree Paintings (Innovative Stamp Creations), sentiment from Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Stazon, Accessories: Copper brads, aquapainter & ink pads

Bellarific Friday

TGIF again!! :) I had a bit of time to play with week's Bellarific sketch - YEA!! The sketch was just perfect for this adorable stamp, One Piece Circle we received on the Stamping Cruise (thanks Em!!) I think this stamp is adorable and I had fun searching through my paper stash to find something appropriate.

Another purple card too!! I added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the waves for the "bling effect" - gotta have the bling baby!! :)

Hope you all have a great weekend! Please remember my Jules Jewels (aka Blog Candy) post just below - I'll keep it open until next week sometime.

Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend!!

Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: American Craffts, Stamps: One Piece Circle, Enjoy Life (Stamping Bella), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Bella Baubles, Nestabilities, Copci markers, Dazzling Diamonds glitter,

Happy Hello & Blog Candy!

Good morning!! What a great week it's been here!! I'm loving the beautiful sunshine!

I recently got this adorable Bicycle With Flowers stamp from Rubber Soul and just couldn't wait to use it! Such a striking yet simple image - I love it!! And then I found the perfect dp - also from Rubber Soul, called Meadow's Edge.

Hey I just discovered the Rubber Soul has a brand new blog!! It's a great place to find inspiration and see some beautiful cards. I subscribed so now I won't miss a thing!! :)

And why not celebrate? How about some Jules Jewels courtesy of Rubber Soul!! One lucky winner will receive this cute set, A Day At the Zoo, just leave me a comment - tell me what color makes you happy! Me? I love the colors in this card, the Tiffany blue color and chartreuse green - happy, happy, happy! :)

Have a beautiful day my friends!

Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Meadow's Edge (Rubber Soul), Stamp: Bicycle With Flowers (Rubber Soul), sentiment from Papertrey Ink, Ink: Palette, Accessories: Copic markers, Nestabilities, Paper piercer, Dimensionals, Brad (Pink Hedgehog Crafts), Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Prettie Recycled Wednesday

Happy Prettie Wednesday my friends! This week we are bringing you Danielle's challenge - to use a random item in your house or yard and create a background.

I immediately thought of using cardboard, we have plenty of empty cardboard boxes around here! *wink, wink* And what does cardboard remind you of (besides new stamping goodies people!)? Yes, moving! I took out Home Sweet Home by Fat Cat Stamps for Paper Pretties. I simply cut my piece of cardboard to size and then peeled apart the layers. The beautiful Cosmo Cricket paper gave me my color palette - and how cute is that moving truck?!

Thanks for visiting today - I so appreciate each and every reader!! Please visit the other Prettie Girls to see what ingenious backgrounds they came up with!

Charmaine, Christi, Danielle, Frances, Jackie, Jackie P, Jana, Jessie, Jessica, Jodi

Oh and a HUGE congrats to my sweet friend Charmaine and her family on the birth of their new baby Isabelle! I can't wait to meet her!! :)

Cardstock: White, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou (SU!), Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Stamps: Home Sweet Home (Paper Pretties), Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Accessories: cardboard, Copic markers, sewing machine, ribbon (SU!)

Clean & Simple Story Time

Good morning my friends! We're enjoying another sunshiny day here in Maine for which I am very thankful!!

I added a bit of sunshine to my card today. I used the CAS (#23) challenge on SCS this week and took my inspiration from this art work. I used the simple layout and block of color surrounding the art as well as some primary colors from the piece to color my image. The image is Story Time Sophia from Paper Pretties which is this month's Stamp of the Month Club stamp. Adorable isn't she?? The Stamp of the Month Club is a great way to be able to get these adorable images automatically - it's like a present in the mail every month! :)

And if you are a member of the Stamp of the Month Club or just have purchased Paper Pretties images, remember to upload your cards in the Paper Pretties Gallery!! We love seeing your art - you may even get chosen for the Prettie Card of the Week!! :) Have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Pure Luxe White (Gina K Designs), Stamps: Story Time (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Copic Markers, ribbon (Michaels), Nestabilities