Saturday Sketch and a Peek!

Sorry to say I never got my Prettie Peek up yesterday. We had a massive wind/rain storm here Thursday night that knocked out power all over our state and NH. Thankfully we never lost power in our house but I know that some are still without!

It's time now for The Sweet Stop Saturday Sketch #45 and I've combined it with my Prettie Peek!  Maaarvelous Darling is the newest Sophia stamp for the month of March over at Paper Pretties. This image just makes me giggle!! Seriously, if you have girls isn't this just typical?  This sketch worked out so well with the stamp and I had the chance to have a little fun with the center panel. I cut the rectangle almost all the way around Sophia, but then used my scissors to do an "out of the box" technique with her cape. Very fun!  To see more Prettie Peeks today, please visit Jana, Christi and Jennifer!

The Paper Pretties release is March 1st, there will be 7 new sets (3 of them exclusively digital!) so be sure to check them all out!  Today, head over to The Sweet Stop to see today's sketch and all the pretty cards from the Sugar Babies!  We'd love for you to play along too!! If you do, leave us a link so we can check it out!

Korin Sutherland
Jodi Collins
Nicole Anderson
Ann Clack
Audrey Gonzales
Andrea Vernagus
Candace Mitchell
Renata Elenbaas
Lisa Hjulberg
Nancy Brown 

Have a wonderful day my friends.  Thanks so much for visiting, it really makes my day!! :)

Cardstock: Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink), Ivory (Gina K Designs), Baja Breeze (SU! retired), Patterned Paper: How Fortunate (Lucky Me from My Mind's Eye), Stamps: Maaarvelous Darling (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Glossy Accents (Ranger), Copic markers, foam adhesive, pearls (Zva Creative), flower (Prima), Ribbon (Amercian Crafts), Nestabilities

A Sale and a Sketch!

Hello again! I have lots to share today but I'll try to keep it brief.

First, I have a sale to tell you about! Maria over at Kitchen Sink Stamps is having a 3 day sale. By using promotion code HOT you will get 15% off your order July 23 - 25 - how cool is that?! And to put you "in the mood" I've made a card to show you.

Did you realize that the holidays are coming up soon!!! Time to get going on some Fall-themed cards. This 3 Step Turkey Trot set is so fun!! What a great looking turkey you can make with 3 step stamps! The set also has a beautiful 3 step pumpkin, some leaves and swirls and some fun sentiments! I used some pretty October Afternoon paper to compliment the fallish colors of the turkey.

I used some great new Memento inks that Maria is now carrying, the colors are wonderful and they work so well with clear stamps! I know lots of people are using the Memento Tuxedo Black with their Copic markers with great success.

Cardstock: Brown ( Bazzill), Vintage Cream (PTI), dp is October Afternoon, Stamps: 3 Step Turkey Trot, Inks: Cantalope, Potter's Clay, Rich Cocoa (Memento), Accessories: Brown Velvet ribbon (Strano), ribbon (May Arts), Hardware (We R Memory Keepers), Corner Rounder punch

Also, don't forget about the What's in your Kitchen Sink Contest for this month. I hear there are some beautiful entries! You could win free stamps so get working and enter!! You can view all the rules here.

Next, I'm also playing catch up today . . . I finally got a chance to complete the Card of the Week Community Sketch Challenge #4! The sketch is challenging but that's a good thing!! :)

I used Pond Life from Papertrey Ink to make this fun birthday card. The paper is some I picked up on sale - it's DCWV Nana's Kids matstack. It has glitter pages and embossed like these circles.

Here's a close-up of the fish, I added some Crystal Effects to give them some shine and texture.

Head over and give the sketch a try!! Be sure to upload it onto the Card of the Week Community site for a chance to be the Featured Winner on Saturday!

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Cool Caribbean, Shimmery White, Nana's Kids matstack (DCWV), Stamps: Pond LIfe, Pond Life Sentiments, Inks: Cantelope, Summer Sky, Pear Tart (Memento Inks), Accessories: Nestabilities, Crystal Effects (SU!), ric rac (Michaels), brads

I'll be back later this afternoon with my Prettie Wednesday Challenge card so until then . . . have a great day! :)

Hello Friend!

Good Monday morning!! I hope you all had a great weekend! It's Monday so it's Card of the Week Sketch Challenge time! The sketch this week is pretty straightforward but this means there are tons of things you can do with it - and I can't wait to see what you all come up with! Be sure to upload your creations to the Card of the Week Community Photo Gallery for a chance to be the featured artist this weekend!

Here's the sketch created by Page Plan designer Renee Morris-Dezember. That large area in the center is like a wide open canvas!

I pulled out a stamp I haven't used in forever! It's from Stampendous - I just love this cute little Ollie owl. The paper is more from my Summer Matstack from Jillian - there are so many different papers in there! I chose to hightlight the blue in the background paper because the blue added a bit of a refreshing touch to the browns and kept it from looking too fallish. The sentiment is from Birds of a Feather from Papertrey Ink and I colored the image with my Copic markers. I tried to get a bit artistic on Ollie's feathers but looks like I need a bit of practice! :)

I'll be back a bit later today with another sketch card - did you see??? Kitchen Sink Stamps is the sponsor at Card Positioning Systems this week!! I'm so excited to see what the designers over there make with the fabulous KSS stamps! Go check it out and then come back later to see my card! :)

Cardstock: Brown (Bazzill), Bashful Blue (SU!), Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Summer Matstack (DCWV), Stamps: Ollie Sunflower (Stampendous), Birds of a Feather (Papertrey Ink), Inks: Burnt Umber (Palette), Accessories: Ribbon (Target), buttons (my button tin), Dimensionals, Linen Thread (SU!), Corner Rounder punch, Copic markers

Hydrangeas in Bloom

Happy Monday! First, a quick announcement . . . my second Product Review was posted over at Paper Pretties last night, please go check it out! It's in the Product Review Forum (remember to login or register in order to see it!). As an added bonus, Christie has put the product I reviewed (along with a couple other goodies) on sale for the month of July - 25% off so don't miss that!! You can also read about it on the Paper Pretties homepage.

On to today's card! It's the second week in the Card of the Week Sketch Challenge! We had some great entries last week and Mary Jo Price-Williams' card was the featured winner! Here's this week's sketch from Lesli over at Page Plans. Lots of possibilities here! I went a little outside my comfort zone today . . . I don't often do vintage-y cards but I've been itching to use some beautiful new Webster's Pages paper I picked up over at Emma's Paperie and it just sort of went from there.

My hydrangeas are just blooming now outside and they inspired me to pull out my Kitchen Sink Stamps 3 Step Hydrangea set. Now my hydrangeas are white (they start out celery and turn to white) but aren't the pink ones pretty? I did a bit of sponging on the edges of most of my cardstock layers and a bit over the top of the hydrangea to achieve the "weathered" look. It took me a few tries to get all the paper layers worked out but I just love the colors in the pretty Websters paper! The sentiment is also KSS but the set is called Other Important People - I love that it coordinates with other KSS sets and expands them nicely! Head over to Card of the Week and give the sketch a try - you could be this week's winner and have your card featured on Friday!

Finally, the new theme for July's What's Cook'n With Your Kitchen Sink Stamps contest was announced (as well as last month's winners!) - be sure to read about it and enter for your chance to win!

Cardstock: Brown (Bazzil), Rose Red (SU!), Spring Moss, Vintage Vanilla (Papertrey Ink), Raspberry Truffle Yummy (Webster's Pages), Stamps: 3 Step Hydrangea, Other Important People (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Inks: Blush Blossom (SU!), Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss (PTI), Old Olive, Latte (Adirondack), Accessories: Copper brads (We R Memory Keepers Coppered Out Hardware, Ribbon (May Arts), sponge

Sorry for the long post! Hope you're holiday was great and that you enjoy your Monday - I'm playing "catch up!" :)

Star-spangled 4th!

Two posts today?! Yup, my 3 older children are at Grammy's today so I got a chance to try the Card of the Week Sketch Challenge again - which incidentally is from the wonderful ladies over at Page Plans - which is where our Prettie Guest DonnaBaker is also a Guest Designer for the month of July - yea Donna!

Funny story . . . when I sat down to make this card this morning I thought "shoot I don't have any 4th of July dp!" At about 11:30 I heard the mailman beep his horn (which he only does when he has packages!) so I go down to see what goodies have arrived and lo and behold there's a wonderful little goodie box for me from Jillian!! As if that weren't exciting enough - I open it up and there is a fantastic DCWV Summer Mat Stack in there with some adorable patriotic paper - how awesome is that??!! So I could finish my card now! Thanks so much Jillian - I LOVE everything in it!! Here's a pic of the goodies, her cupcake card is just beautiful!!

Anyway, this card is totally different from my other sketch card - isn't that the wonderful thing about sketches? The possibilities are endless! This time I reached for my Kitchen Sink Stamps, Playful Stars, Swirly Hearts & Stars and Ready 4 Any Holiday (which has tons of sentiments for all those holidays that you usually don't see!). Now I know the ribbon on this is kind of tacky - my mom got it free when she ordered zippers or something like that - but I kept it thinking someday I would find a use for it . . . it just seems to say 4th of July! :)

Head over to Card of the Week and give the sketch a try and then upload it in the Gallery there - Susanna could end up featuring your card on Friday!!

See you tomorrow with a few pics of what I did this last weekend! :)

Cardstock: Real Red (SU!), Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), dp is DCWV Summer Mat Stack, Stamps: Playful Stars, Swirly Hearts & Stars, Ready 4 Any Holiday (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Inks: Ladybug Red, Danube Blue (Memento Ink), Yoyo Yellow (SU!), Accessories: Dimensionals, Swarovski crystals, ribbon (no source), Tag Corner Punch (SU!),

Sneak Peeks & Sketches!

Good afternoon everyone!!! Sorry I am so late today!! I came home and crashed last night after a long, fun day (more on that later!). :)

Are you ready for some new stamps??!!! Paper Pretties is releasing 2 sets Tuesday July 1st during Stamping In Your Jammies?! Here's a little sneak peek for you . . . you may have already seen some adorable cards from the other Prettie Girls - go check them out!!

Did you see the new Paper Pretties Guest Designers?? They are fabulous! Carolina Buchting, Kirsten Dubosque, and Donna Baker. We are also welcoming back Jackie Rakoski for another term as guest designer - we just love her! ETA: Oops I'm very forgetful today! :) We are welcoming back Colleen Harshaw for another term as our Prettie Pages girl. I've been amazed by her created scrapbook pages over these last months and now she will be issuing scrapbook challenges in our Forum - yea! I also forgot to post a BIG welcome to our new Prettie Girl Jodi Collins! She's made some gorgeous cards already and I know she'll be a great addition to our team!! Welcome everyone!

Be sure to check the post below for lots more Paper Pretties news . . the Cutie Pie contest closes today - so get your submissions in to christie@paperpretties.net ASAP!! You don't want to miss a chance for FREE stamps??!! Remember also to sign up for the Stamp of the Month club before 11:59pm tonight in order to get Bunny Slippers Sophia before everyone else!

My card today uses a great new sketch from Card of the Week Community - have you been there?! Susanna Boyd has put together a wonderful site for paper crafters to meet new friends, share their creations and be inspired!! Go check out this first Sketch Challenge and submit creation based on it for a chance to win a spot as the Featured Designer on Friday! My card isn't exactly like the sketch but it was fun to get inspired by it! I'm hoping to try an idea I have for another card with this sketch!!

Thanks for visiting today - I hope to see you all Tuesday night at the release party! :)

Cardstock: Regal Rose (SU), Stampers Select White, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), db is from the Paper Salon Sorbet line, Stamps: Soaking up the Sun (Paper Pretties), Inks: Palette Noir, Accessories: Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Brads (Queen & Co.), Copic Markers, Corner Rounder punch, colored rafia