Thanks Berry Much

(This is the 2nd post of the day - scroll down for a Paper Pretties Sneak Peek!)

Hello again and welcome to another Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday!! Today is a busy, busy day! It's the first day of school here at the Masse house! I wasn't really planning to start this week, but our books arrived on Friday and my children are just itching to start . . . Emma's eyes glazed over when she saw all the interesting looking books she'd be reading this year and it was all I could do to make her put them on the shelf and not sit right down and start reading!! LOL! So, I'll have Emma in 2nd grade, Anna in Kindergarten and Ethan in Pre-K - should be a busy year!

Ok, enough chatter . . . this week's sketch (FTL#57) on Clean & Simple Stamping looked like a lot of fun and I thought it'd be a great way to use KSS's Multi-Step Berry set! I used a scrap of white paper I had laying around, stamped a bunch of different berries on it and then cut them out with Nestabilities into about 1" squares. Yummmm, look at all those delicous berries! The card size is 4.25" square and I popped up the center square to give it some attention!

Please visit the other KSS Crew members to see what lovely creations they have today.

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

Remember when you place an order with Kitchen Sink Stamps use my coupon code (JULIE10KSS) to receive 10% off! Have a wonderful day!

Paper Pretties Sneak Peek - Day 2

Good morning and Happy Monday!! I'll have 2 posts today so stop back a little later for my Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday post!

If you follow the other Prettie Girls' blogs you know that on Tuesday, Sept 1, Paper Pretties is having their monthly Stamping In Your Jammies party!! The party starts at 8pm EST and will last until 10pm. We will have three challenges, so be sure to come and play along!! Besides the challenges, chatter, and all around fun, we will also be releasing 5 new sets, including Story Time Sophia! Sneak peeks started yesterday so if missed them visit these blogs:

Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Christi Thorsen
Christie Ortman
Frances Byrne
Jackie Rakoski
Jana Weaver

My peek today is one of the brand new sets called Pilgrimage - just in time for the upcoming (yikes, seriously???) harvest season! Isn't she adorable? I went with traditional pilgrim colors (if there is such a thing) when I colored her and I even scuffed up the edges of the dp and pulled out my sewing machine!

Again, visit the other girls to see what they have for peeks and be sure to come back tomorrow for another brand new set! One more thing . . . check out The Paper Clip for information about Paper Pretties' Back To School Promotion!!! Momma needs some new "school supplies" right?? ;)

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Brown (Bazzill), Ivory (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper: Papertrey Ink, Harvest Moon Pumpkin Patch (Art Warehouse), Stamps: Pilgrimage (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Nestabilities, Word Window punch, Ribbon (Crate Paper), Copic markers, sewing machine

Krafty Couch

Happy Friday my friends! We just got back from our annual camping trip which was so nice! We had perfect weather, a beautiful site and a really nice time!! It's always so much work to get ready and set up but then the days of relaxing by the lake and sleeping in the fresh air makes up for all of it! I may have 1 or 2 pics to share later but my camera battery died the first day (does it seem like I have trouble traveling with a camera???!!) so, we'll see!

Anyway, since I haven't given you much this week I'll share a card I made using Papertrey Ink's On My Couch set. I must say I am lovin' this set!! When we were in the PTI booth at CHA I kept picking up a few sets and debating which to get - I'm horrible at making decisions!! Oh it was tough but I finally decided on On My Couch and I couldn't be happier - this set is so much fun!!

This card is super simple but I love just seeing the pretty lines of the sofa (which was paper pieced with some retired SU dp). I added a little bit of shading to the cushions with a W03 Copic marker. I drew the simple line box around the image after stamping the sentiment at the bottom. I also used my new New Leaf ribbon that I picked up at CHA - great color - and some Rustic Twine. The pillow was colored with a Copics and embellished with a tiny Swarovski for some bling! I've got a few more I'll share in the coming days, I couldn't put it down! LOL!

Thanks so much for visiting this week even when I was away - course you didn't know that did you? hee hee!! I'll be slowly catching up with my Google Reader this weekend - hope you have a great one! :)

Prettie Scrappy Wednesday

Our Prettie Challenge this week from Frances was to create a scrapling. Have you seen them? They really are so much fun! Traditionally, scraplings are the little bit of cardstock that is left over when you cut an A2 sized card (5.5"x4.25") down to a square (4.25"x4.25") card. That means you are left with a 4.25"x1.25" bitty card. They may really cute little gift tags and it's fun to see what you can squeeze into a tiny space. Frances said we could make them a bit bigger (but no wider than 2.5") if we like, but being the "rules" girl that I am, I stuck with the original size! :)

For my stamps, I used the cute little moving truck from Home Sweet Homes set by Fat Cat Stamps for Paper Pretties. Wouldn't these be fun little cards to make and give to your friends to announce your move?

I started with a piece of Vanilla cardstock and covered it with some fun dp from October Afternoon! The truck was colored and cut out. I put some pewter brads in the wheels for hubcaps and then popped it up with foam adhesive. The sentiment was punched out and edged with a Copic marker to give it some definition and then popped up too. The ribbon is from SU! but I also colored it with a Copic to tone down the red a bit.

Please take a minute to visit the other Prettie Girls and see what scrappy creations they've come up with! Have a Prettie Wednesday!!

Cardstock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Road Map (October Afternoon), Stamps: Home Sweet Home (Paper Pretties, Ink: Memento, Accessories: Gingham ribbon (SU!), Twine (Papertrey Ink), brads, foam adhesive

Precious One

Good morning! Are you seeing a theme here lately? hhhmm, baby cards, I wonder if I have babies on the brain? LOL! Just 6.5 weeks more to go - with this heat I can honestly say, I cannot wait!!

Today is Kitchen Sink Stamps Monday and I have a CAS (clean and simple) card for you today. Yes, you can do CAS with KSS!! The sketch is FTL#56. The stamps are Multi-Step Baby from Kitchen Sink Stamps of course. I love how the sentiments come in lots of single words and phrases so that you can mix & match and make your own sentiment. The font even coordinates with other sentiment only sets like Other Important People.

Be sure to visit the rest of the crew members- you're sure t be inspired!!

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

Cardstock: Blue (Bazzill) Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Multi-Step Baby, Ink: Londn Fog (Memento), Starlit Black (Brilliance), Enchanged Evening, Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Ribbon (SU!), Brads

Registration for Stamping Around Philly OPEN!

I'm thrilled to let you know that Stamping Around Philly Registrations are OPEN!!

We're so excited to tell you about the amazing location we've secured for our Stamping Around PA event! A beautiful little inn, just an hour's drive from Philadelphia and the airport, in Fogelsville, PA. Our event will be held on November 6-7, 2009...just in time to get those creative juices working for holiday projects!

Visit Stamping Around to get all the details on this fabulous event! We've had a lot of interest for this location so register soon!! :)

Welcome Wee One!

When I got this adorable Elephant stamp from Rubber Soul I immediately thought of what a cute baby card it would make. Why are elephants good images for baby cards? I don't know but maybe because they are so cute!! :)

I used some new My Mind's Eye dp to make a cute congrats card for a baby girl. The sentiment is from a Rubber Soul clear set, Baby Collection.

It's hard to see in the picture, but I added a bit of stitching all around the edge of the card for a bit of interest.

Check out this gorgeous card Melissa Bickford made with the Rubber Soul Bicycle stamp - I adore that bit white space at the bottom and bling'd up trim!!

Thanks for visting today! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Spring Mist, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye, Stamps: Elephant, Baby Collection (Rubber Soul), Ink: Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink), Tuxedo Black (Memento), Accessories: Corner rounder punch, ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Brads, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dot embossing folder.

SALT Challenge - Jeremiah 29:11

Good afternoon friends!! Late post today . . . all this going to the lake is catching up with me - tee hee! I fell asleep last night around 9 pm and got no work done at all!! So today, we decided to stay home and get some work done (besides, it's supposed to be a teeny bit cooler today).

Anyway, the challenge this week is from Ruth. She chose a verse from Jeremiah 29:11 and her topic was Purpose. Read her write up on the Salt blog. She asks a question at the end of her post: "How does your faith make you think differently about your PURPOSE?" Great question! As a believer our PURPOSE is no longer to live for self but to glorify God. Everything we do or say should be for that PURPOSE alone. When I was young and would attend summer camp, we quoted the same verse before every meal: "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31).

I am also reminded of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday. As he was riding into the city on the back of a donkey, the disciples began to "rejoice and praise God with a loud voice" (Luke 19:37). When they were rebuked by the Pharisees, Jesus told them "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out" Luke 19:40. ALL creation praises God, shouldn't we?

The ATC I created today uses the verse Ruth gave us, Jeremiah 29:11. I used the cute little flower stem images from Everyday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink), after all the flowers certainly glorify God don't they?

If you'd like to play along with this week's theme, please leave a comment on the Salt blog so we can all see your creation! Have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Green (Bazzill), White (GP), Patterned Paper: Scenic Route, Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Pear Tart (Memento), Accessories: Buttons (Papertrey Ink & Pink Hedgehot Crafts), Ric Rac (May Arts), Twine (Papertrey Ink), Corner Rounder punch

Prettie Vellum Wednesday

Happy Prettie Wednesday!! Such a fun day! I love seeing how each of the Prettie Girls interpreted the weekly challenge. This week's challenge is from Christi - to use vellum, shouldn't be too hard right?

Have you noticed a clean & simple trend around here? I am just loving the clean lines and simplicity of CAS lately and this week is no exception. My card today used FTL#55. The stamps are from Paper Pretties, it's the new set, Summer Fun. This set has so many fun little summery images - it's a great add-on set for Make a Splash but I think it stands alone quite well too!

I used some Scenic Route paper from my stash - still some of my favorite dp! I put the vellum piece through my Cuttlebug with the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder and separated it from the dp by some SU! ribbon. The cute little fish from the Summer Fun set was cut out and popped up using foam adhesive and then covered with a layer of Glossy Accents. The final touch was a few matching Swarovski crystals.

Please visit the other Prettie Girls to see what they've come up with today! As always, thank you so much for stopping by - have a Prettie Wednesday!

Cardstock: Blue, Orange (Bazzill), Pure Luxury White (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper: Metropolis (Scenic Route), Stamps: Summer Fun (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Swarovski crystals, foam adhesive, ribbon (SU!), Glossy Accents, Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder

A Few Challenge Cards

Good morning! I wanted to quickly share a couple projects I made a few weeks ago for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges over on Splitcoaststampers. I didn't get all the challenges done but maybe a little over half, which was pretty good for me - I always forget to combine! :)

So the very first challenge was from Jen del Muro - to make a tag. I took it as a great chance to ink up my Scattered Showers set from Papertrey Ink which had gone unused too long! Tags are so quick and fun to create - this was a fun challenge!

Cardstock: White, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Green (Bazzill)
Patterned Paper: Daisy Buckets
Stamps: Scattered Showers (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Black, Bamboo Leaves (Memento)
Accessories: Dark Chocolate Twill (Papertrey Ink), Green ribbon (May Arts), rhinestones, rhinestone flower (Target), Dimensionals, Nesetabilities, hardware (WRMK)

Next is a card for my buddy Joanne's Inspiration challenge, The Happiest Hour. She provided a beautiful bit of fabric as inspiration. I thought of this dp by Paper Salon the minute I saw the fabric. The card ended up very bright with a lot going on . . . I wasn't sure at first about it, but the bright, happy feel of it totally won me over and I love it! :)

Cardstock: White, Hybiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink),
Patterned Paper: Paper Salon
Stamps: In Bloom, Life (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Memento
Accessories: Nestabilities, Foam Adhesive, Corner Rounder punch

I hope you all have a wonderful day - thanks for visiting!!

More Fun with Swashes!

Can you believe it's Monday again already??! The weeks are flying by and phew has it been warm here this weekend! This promises to be the hottest week yet for us here in the Northeast - I plan on being at the lake almost all week! You have to take it when it comes right?? The housework will wait for a rainy day! :)

Today I decided to try one of my ideas for Big Bold Swashes, one of the latest releases from Kitchen Sink Stamps. Remember last week I used it to make some swirling, falling leaves. This week, one of the larger swashes reminded me of waves so I went with a beach theme!

I used 3 Step Seashells which were cut out and attached above my "waves" (which I paper pierced again for some accents). I used a product that I spoke about a few weeks ago, Mudd Puddles - it's basically beach sand all premixed with glue which makes it super easy to use and attach to projects! I used Bahama sand here under the waves to give it dimension and a real beachy feel! The sentiment is from another new set, Words of Comfort & Joy - such a great addition to your KSS sentiments!!

Thanks for visiting today - be sure to stop by the rest of the KSS Crew for more delightful projects!!

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

Cardstock: Kraft, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Naturals White (SU!), Stamps: Big Bold Swashes, 3 Step Seashells, Words of Comfort & Joy (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Ink: Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Pixie Dust (VersaMagic), Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa (SU!), Accessories: Foam adhesive, Mudd Puddles sand, Aqua Mist ribbon (Papertrey Ink), paper piercer

Jackie's Birthday Hop!

Today is a special day so it gets a special Saturday post! It's Prettie Girl Jackie Rakoski's birthday! :) We're hopping again today so if you want to start from the beginning and follow through here's the list:

Jackie P
Jana
Frances
Jessie
Charmaine
Jodi
Julie (that's me!)
Danielle
Jackie R- the Birthday Girl!

I used this month's Stamp of the Month Club Stamp - Make a Wish from Paper Pretties. Sophia looks so cute in her party dress doesn't she?! I love thinking of all the color combos and paper piecing opportunities with this cute stamp! Today I pieced her skirt with some pretty Daisy Buckets dp (which I also used for the card). You can't see it from my photo, but I added some Glossy Accents to her shoes to make them look like patent leather, and a bit of clear Spica pen to her belt for some sparkle.

I hope you all take a few minutes to wish Jackie a very Happy Birthday but wait . . . your next stop is Danielle!! Have a wonderful Saturday!

Cardstock: Marigold Morning (SU! retired), Patterned Paper: Daisy Buckets, Stamps: Make a Wish (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Spica pen, Glossy Accents, Ribbon (May Arts), Sparkly Fluff (Our Craft Lounge)

Rubber Soul Friday

TGIF! It promises to be a beautiful day here and I think we're headed to the lake - yea!!

Two quick Rubber Soul cards to share with you today. First, this sweet little Gnome card - isn't he adorable!! I've had my eye on him for a while so it was fun to make up this quick 3.5"x3.5" card. The dp is from Rubber Soul's Garden Variety collection and I love the bit of red in the flowers! This card reminds me of a garden gnome - lol! :)

Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Garden Variety (Rubber Soul), Stamps: Gnome (Rubber Soul), Ink: Black, Bamboo Leaves (Memento), Accessories: Foam adhesive, corner rounder punch

Then a bit of a different look. Rubber Soul has this great stamp made from a 1939 World War II British poster, Keep Calm and Carry On. You can read all the background of the stamp here. It think it's such a neat thing to have a stamp made from a vintage poster and it's such a clean image I decided to try a little mosaic pattern. I just used a black marker to make some lines and then filled a few in with colored paper for a graphic look. Once I had a patterned I liked it was super easy to finish up this card.

Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink), Colored paper is from Rubber Soul, Stamps: Keep Calm and Carry On (Rubber Soul), Ink: Memento

Check out the wonderful tutorial Dani posted on the Rubber Soul blog this week on how to make Sunprints. It looks so cool - it'd be fun to try out before the sun goes away!!

Have a great day everyone!! :)

Little Boys

It's time for my Say It With Letters project of the month! This month Deb sent me this adorable Snail shape!! It's so cute even plain I think, but wait until you see what a few of the other dt members did with it! It's exciting to see how different everyone's work turns out.

I kept thinking of that poem, "What are little Boys made of?" Several months ago I had purchased a few vintage books from ebay for the purpose of using the illustrations in cardmaking and other crafting projects. There is something about these vintage images that they just can't replicate today - and I love them! But . . . I just cannot seem to bring myself to cut them!! I mean really, isn't it a sin to cut a book?? :) I know, I'm weird!

One particular book of nursery rhythms had the perfect image - and even had the little boy poem on it!! The illustrations are by Eloise Wilkins - one of my absolute favorites!! So instead of cutting up my book, I scanned it into my computer. This was perfect because I was able to scale it down a bit so that the whole little boy and his pups would fit! I also erased the text from the page and retyped it in a bit larger of a font.

I kept the snail pretty plain so that the image & poem would stand out. I painted the edges of the snail a light blue and then covered the entire thing (using my favorite Zip Dry glue of course!) with a cute plaid paper from Crate Paper's Cowboy collection. I distressed the edges with Papertrey's Chai & Chamomile distressing inks and then added some light brown Fun Flock to his antenna.

In looking through my bag of brown buttons (also from Papertrey Ink) I found this wonderful button!! I left the shank on it and used a glue dot to adhere it so that it's a bit raised and dimensional - love it!

The only thing left to do was trim down my printed image, round the corners and do a bit of distressing before adhering it to the snail. I added a few more buttons for a bit more dimension but left it otherwise plain.

Wouldn't this be cute hanging in a little baby boy's room?? We did not find out the sex of our baby but I think I might keep this until it's born just in case! ;) Although this baby will have more of a "space" than a room - lol!

Thanks for visiting today! Be watching Deb's blog to see how the other DT members altered their shapes - snail & whales and ladybugs! FUN! Of course, all these fun shapes and lots more can be found in the Say It With Letters' Etsy store. Have a great day!

Patterned Paper: Roper (Cowboy collection, Crate Paper), Ink: Tea Dye Duo (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Buttons, Twine (Papertrey Ink), Fun Flock (Stampendous), vintage image

Prettie Bermuda Suede Wednesday with a HOP!

Happy Prettie Wednesday!! Today our challenge from Jackie P was to use Soft Suede and Bermuda Bay (2 of the new SU colors) or something similar. I do not have the new colors . . . yet so I had to fish around to find something close which with my stash wasn't too hard! LOL!

Now why the Hop you ask? Well, today is Danielle's birthday and you know that every Prettie Girl gets their very own Birthday Hop!! So Danielle, this is for you - Happy Birthday girlie - hope you have a fabulous day!!! :) Here's the order just in case you get lost or didn't "start at the very beginning":

Jodi
Jackie R
Jessica
Frances
Julie (that's me!)
Christi
Charmaine
Jackie P
Jessie
Danielle - the Birthday Girl!!

Ok, on to the card . . . I thought these 2 colors together looked a bit western so I went with Howdy Girlfriend, from Paper Pretties of course! The sentiment at the bottom is a separate sentiment stamps, Boot Scootin'. The dp is from SEI and I made the little Happy Birthday flower with a Cuttlebug die and a small Happy Birthday stamp.

It's time to move on with the hop - your next stop is . . . Christi! Be sure to go to the end and leave Danielle some birthday love!!

Cardstock: Cream (Gina K), Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: SEI and Crate Paper (brown), Stamps: Howdy Girlfriend, Boot Scootin' (Paper Pretties) Happy Birthday (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Memento, Chai & Camomile (Papertrey Ink) Accessories: Cuttlebug die, Brad (SU!), pinking shears, Twine (Papertrey Ink), Copic markers, Spica pen

Check this out!!

Lucky Southerns!! :) (2 posts today - be sure to see my card & CHA pics just below!)

Vintage Picnic & CHA

While at the Super Show in Orlando last week I did manage to squeeze into the Papertrey Booth (I'm sure you've all heard about the long lines by now just to get in!) and pick up a few sets that I had been wanting - one being Vintage Picnic. I love everything about this set! I own a vintage tin picnic basket that I just love - it houses some vintage tatting threads in vintage candy boxes and it just makes me happy to look at it! (I'll try and get a picture of it up later today.)

So of course my first card with this set was inspired by my picnic basket - although the stripes on my box do not run diagonally, oh well! I used some fabulous October Afternoon papers to piece my basket and for the background. How about that fun pop of pink?! Just the right girly touch don't you think? :)

I used some beautiful Papertrey buttons (I picked up the cream/white mix at CHA). I'm looking forward to using this set a lot! Of course I also picked up the Vintage Picnic Sentiments which extends the set and gives you lots of options for sentiments!

ETA: Here's my inspiration basket - it's got a few dings and dents, but I love it nonetheless!! :)

Cardstock: Kraft, Sweet Blush, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Stamps: Vintage Picnic (Papertrey Ink), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Sweet Blush ribbon, Buttons,

Twine (Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities, Copic markers, Slot punch, Corner Rounder punch, foam adhesive

How about a few pics from CHA? Did I mention before that I took my camera the first day (which is a big bulky, heavy SLR) to CHA only to discover I left my memory card at home?? Total bummer!! But Kim was nice enough to take share her pics with me so I have just a few to share.

Kim and I (of course I hate this pic! When will I learn to keep my neck straight so as not to give the "turkey neck" look - LOL!)

It was wonderful to finally meet Kim Crawford in person! She was just delightful - although extremely exhausted by the last day of the trade show! :) She gave us some great tips of the "must sees" at the show! Thanks Kim!!

What a treat to meet Bev (aka Texasgranny)! We had pm'd a bit before the show so it was wonderful to meet up with her near the SCS booth!

THE Debbie Olson! We had met before but it's always great to see her sweet smile and spend some time chatting. Debbie is just the Best!! :)

We had such a great time chatting with Taylor and her mom, Linda for quite a while! We laughed and enjoyed the time so much!! (get a load of that awful angle of my wide self - lol!)

My buddy Joanne! It's always such a treat to see her sweet self and hang out with her and the MFT girls (THANKS so much Kim!!)! Funny how she only lives a couple hours away and we tend to meet up in far away places!! :)! Our next meeting though will be Stamping Around VT - she's teaching a fabulous for us there - YIPPY!!

Kirsten Dubosque, Joanne & I - it was my first time meeting Kirsten in person too and she is just SO FUN - even though it did take her a minute to recognize me with the blonde highlights (*wink, wink*) LOL!!!

There were MANY other wonderful people I was so privileged to meet or see again, but . . . the no memory card thing kept coming back to bite me! :) If I start listing people I will forget some - suffice it to say it was an amazing weekend and as we all know, stampers are THE BEST and SWEETEST people you could ever meet!! Well, that's all I have for today - thanks for hanging in with me on this long post! Enjoy your day and as always, thank you so much for stopping by!!