Prettie Changes

A couple of weeks ago we took a break from Prettie Wednesday challenges due to some big happenings at Paper Pretties.  If you haven't heard by now, Paper Pretties is under new ownership and is now based right here in the US!!  Yea!!  There are new flat rate shipping rates and since it is US based the shipping will be much faster!  You can check out more details on the Paper Pretties site.

The hard part . . . I've decided to "retire" from the Paper Pretties design team.  I have been so blessed over the last 3 years to be a Prettie Girl - I have learned a LOT, met amazing people, had SO much fun and loved it all!  But it's time to step aside and move on.  I know that the new owner has LOTS of fun things planned, new products, new stamps, new lines, etc. and you will not be disappointed!  I plan on watching and cheering them on as everything unfolds - I may even shop a bit! *wink*

Thank you so much to everyone for your support!  I'm a bit melancholy today but I'm excited to see what lies ahead! :)

Prettie Wednesday Hold

Hello friends!  I don't have a Prettie Wednesday post for you today, we have a little 2 week break mostly due to the Big News.  But I couldn't leave you with nothing today . . . I've had this image colored for a few months but finally got around last night to putting a card together with it. (Sorry for the bad photo!)  I intentionally left off the sentiment so that I could add one when I need it. The image is You're Fantastic from Paper Pretties, it is definitely one of my favorite Sophia stamps!

I also wanted to let you know that there is a new challenge up at Children's Challenge Corner.  Do you have kids that love to craft with you?  Well, CCC is perfect for them!! We have fun challenges and prizes just for them!  We'd love to see more kiddos over there!

Have a great day!

Cardstock:  Raspberry Fizz, Black (Papertrey Ink) White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: You're Fan-tastic (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Rhinestones (Kaiser), Ribbon (SU- retired), Copic markers

Celebrate

It's time for a new Prettie Wednesday challenge - this one from Jane, and she wants us to make a trifold card.  Sometimes it good to be pushed - I hardly ever make trifold cards.  So I went and found this great tutorial on SCS and came up with this cute one.  Be sure to begin today on Christie's blog!

Instead of using patterned paper I simply used cardstock.  For the red, I added some scored lines and added dots to the blue.  The Featured Sets this week are Lady Liberty and Canadian Girl, both from Paper Pretties and more coming in rubber!  Both will be 40% all week.  As you can see, I used Lady Liberty.  Wouldn't this make a great invitation for a 4th of July picnoc?

Next stop is Jana's blog!  We're headed out to the beach today and then swimming lessons so I better get a move on!! Have a great day! :)

Happy Birthday Jane!

 I have 3 posts today:  Tiffany's Doodles Sketch Challenge, New KSS Crew Challenge and Happy Birthday Jane!  Thanks for putting up with me today! :)

Hello again, are you sick of me yet today? LOL!  Well, even though I have several posts today I definitely wanted to be part of the special Birthday Blog Hop for Prettie Girl Jane!!  She's such a wonderful member of the Paper Pretties design team and I wanted to take this opportunity to wish her a very special Happy Birthday!

Here's the order of the Birthday Hop, just in case you need it:

• Christie Ortman
• Julie Masse
• Jana Weaver
• Jackie Rakoski
• Frances Byrne
• Heather Lee-Reppen
• Wendy Bond
• Jennifer Greco
• Jane Matsumoto –The Birthday Girl !!!!!!!!!!! 

For Jane's card I used Happy Birth Day Lamb from Paper Pretties. I love how this image can be used for different occasions - it's a great birthday image, but also suitable for a baby card!  I used Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #116 for the layout and some bright, fun paper from American Crafts.  When I saw the big dot paper I thought it would be perfect for the 3 circular images on Taylor's sketch  - don't you love it when that happens?!

Next up, Jana - and don't forget to leave Jane some birthday love at the end of the hop!!  Thanks for sticking with me today!

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: American Crafts, Stamps: Happy Birth Day Lamb, sentiment from Happy Birthday Bugs and Fishes (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Buttons (Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities, Copic markers, Glitter (SU!), foam adhesive, rhinestones (Taylor's Tiny Twinkles), Embossing Folder (Quickutz)

Prettie Sketchy Wednesday (PWC106)

Wednesday already?!  Those Monday holidays make the week fly don't they?  Since today is the first Wednesday of the month our Prettie Wednesday challenge is another great sketch from Frances! 

The featured sets this week are Ahoy Matey and Summer Fun both from Paper Pretties and both at 35% off all week!  Be sure to visit Christie's blog first so you don't miss any of the fun!

I used Ahoy Matey for my card today.  I love the sweet boat image but I'm not sure if I like my card - lol!  I wanted to do a bit an old Americana look and I love the papers and sketch but it's the distressing that's distressing me . . . (hee hee!).  But I don't hate it and I didn't want to start totally over again (just wishing you could erase ink sometimes). As you can see I turned the sketch on it's side for my card. 

It's time to hop over to Jana's blog for some inspiration!  Thank you so much for all your encouraging words and visits each day - I truly do appreciate them!  Have a great day!

Cardstock: Kraft, Vintage Cream, Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup, October Afternoon (Report Card collection), Stamps: Ahoy Matey (Paper Pretties), Ink: Black (Memento), Weathered Wood Distress Ink (Ranger), Accessories: Ribbon, Scalloped edge punch (SU!), foam adhesive, Nestabilities, Copic markers, paper piercer

Prettie Krafty Wednesday (PWC 105)

Happy Prettie Wednesday!  Today's challenge comes from our girl Jackie and it's a color challenge - Red, Kraft & Green!  The featured sets today from Paper Pretties are Right on Par and Coffee Cool - both of these sets are 35% off all week!

My card uses Right on Par.  This set is awesome for all those fellows in your life who golf!  I don't have many - just my brother and brother-in-law, but still it's fun to play with this image and these colors!  It was a challenge to make it not turn out Christmas-y -LOL!  I was wishing that my hubby was a golfer because I think it would have been perfect to tie a golf tee in the twill instead of the button, but alas no tees in our house!  :)

Take a hop over to Jana's blog now and see what's she's got for you!  Have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Kraft, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup, Stamps: Right on Par (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Twill (SU!), Twine, Button, Scalloped die (Papertrey Ink)

Prettie Wednesday . . . revisited!

So sorry I never got back yesterday with my Prettie Wednesday card - Wednesdays are our busiest day here and it just never happened! But I couldn't just not post so . . . .  Remember the challenge was to make a card inspired by your blog banner and the 2 sets featured this week are Look Out World and Beach Bum. 

My blog banner is pretty "girly" I think - or at least not easily translated into a boy-ish card - lol!  But I think I managed to come up with something that works.  I used Beach Bum and went with the basic colors of my blog and the arching shape of my banner.

I scored the cardbase every 1/2" to mimic the background of my blog - the green stripe. I think this little image is just adorable - anyone with boys I'm sure can totally see their little guy here with his goggles and flippers on! *grin*  The waves at the bottom are just the negative space of a scalloped border - love that dp!

Thanks for coming back today!!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Cardstock: Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Woodland Collection Mini Dot (TCP Studios), Stamps: Beach Bum (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Copic markers, Medium scalloped die (Papertrey Ink), rhinestones (Taylor's Tiny Twinkles), Clear Glaze pen

Prettie Banner Inspired Wednesday

Hello my friends!! Sorry to say I have yet to finish my card for today. But I can tell you that the Prettie Challenge today is to make a card inspired by your blog banner. The featured sets from Paper Pretties this week are Beach Bum and Look Out World and as always both sets will be 35% all week!

Head over to Jana's blog - I'm sure she has some eye candy for you! :) 

Prettie Perkie Wednesday (PWC103)

It's Prettie Wednesday and this week's challenge is from Wendy.  She wanted us to make a card using only colors from the Earth Elements palette (SU! colors or similar).  The featured sets this week are Look Who's Perky and Happily Every After from Paper Pretties and both sets are 35% off all week!  If you arrived here from Christie's blog, great!! If not, head over there now to start the hop!

I actually am a bit challenged when it comes to these colors, I have a hard time getting excited about the color palette (except when Fall rolls around) but then I found that this Jillibean Soup dp that I love has Earth Element colors in it!! Love it!  So for my card I used Look Who's Perky.  It's a fairly quick card, the final size is 3.75 x 5."

I stamped, colored and die cut the main image and then diecut the Kiwi Kiss frame slightly bigger.  The frame was paper pieced and added with foam adhesive.  I tied a piece of ribbon around one side of the frame and added a few black rhinestones (I had no idea when I bought those how many times I would actually reach for BLACK rhinestones!! ). 

Here's a shot of the inside which is where I put the sentiment and another strip of the dp.

Take a hop over to Jana's blog now and enjoy the rest of your day! Thanks for visiting! :)

Cardstock: Ivory (Gina K Designs), Patterned Paper:  Juillibean Soup, Stamps: Look Who's Perky (Paper Pretties), Ink: Black (Memento), Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Glaze Pen, Stardust pen, black rhinestones (Kaiser), paper piercing tool

Prettie Sketchy Wednesday (PWC102)

Once upon a time . . . it was Prettie Wednesday #102!  This week's challenger is Frances and since it's the 1st Wednesday of the month that means it's a fun sketch!  The featured sets today from Paper Pretties are Story Time and Aloha Sophia.  Both of these sets will be 35% all week!  Please be sure you started today's hop on Christie's blog so you don't miss anything.

I recently picked up this adorable storybook themed paper from Reminisce which I thought would be so cute with the Story Time Sophia stamp.  How cute are those castles?!!   I wanted to show them off in the background so after I had colored Sophia, I used the circle Nestabilities to cut her out then my scissors to cut away the top half of the circle.  I adhered her to the card using foam adhesive - makes her sort of look like she's floating on a cloud, doesn't it?

Next stop on the hop is Jana's blog!  I have a lot going on over the next few days and a few big projects I need to get done so bear with me if I happen to "quiet" for a day or two - GOOD things are coming though!! :)  Thanks so much for visiting my friends! Have a great day!

Cardstock: Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink) White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Castle In The Clouds (Reminisce), Stamps: Story Time (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Copic markers, Nestabilties, Pure Poppy Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), foam adhesive, rhinestones (Taylored Expressions)

Release Day Birthday Bash

I have 2 posts today, The Sweet Stop Saturday Sketch will be posted at 7:00 a.m. - thank you!

Good morning!!  It's May 1st and time for the Paper Pretties release!  The whole team has lots of Pretties to show you but we also have a special birthday to celebrate.  It's Christie's birthday today so in honor of her all our release cards for our hop today are birthday cards we made for her and mailed to her last week!   To make sure you get to see everything today please start on the Paper Pretties home page.  When you get to the end on Christie's blog you can give her a little birthday love!

For my card today I used the brand new rubber set called, Your So Sweet. The yummy cake and fun sentiment are separate stamps in the set which makes it very versatile! I stamped the sentiment on the inside of my card and colored it in using Copics.

It's funny, I made this card a couple of weeks ago even though the sketch reminds me of the one I used for Monday's card.  I added a fun little glitterfied ring around the image panel which I simply made using Nestabilities and some glitter.  I also added a bit of Glossy Accents to the cherries and a bit of slitter to the cake plate.

Your next stop on the Release Day/Birthday hop is Jana's blog.

Christie, (if you are actually reading this - lol!) I hope you have a very happy birthday!!  I've been so blessed to know you, to "work" for you and most of all, to call you my friend!  You deserve to have a special day filled with love and happiness!!  Thank you for all you do - love ya!! :)

Cardstock: Kraft, (Papertrey Ink), Pretty In Pink (SU!), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup, Stamps: You're So Sweet (Paper Pretties), Happy Birthday from Make a Wish (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Copic markers, Nestabilities, Brads, Glitter (SU!), Glossy Accents (Ranger)

Bubbles, Bubbles . . .

TGIF my friends!! I'm off today to CKC in Manchester so it's a great day!!   I'll be helping out at the Paper Crafts Magazine Make & Take table so if you are going please stop and say hello!  Kim Hughes will be there - how fun is that?!

Today is the last day for Prettie Peeks since tomorrow is the Paper Pretties release - it's May tomorrow!  My preview today is of a great new sentiment stamp called Bubbles Everywhere.  It's a great one to pair up with Bubble Time Sophia as well as Bubble Time Cooper (which is a new digi stamp being released tomorrow also).

Ok, now here was my thought process for this card.  "Bubbles, bubbles everywhere . . ." remember that scene in the Disney version of Cinderella when she is scrubbing the floor and singing??  Remember the bubbles floating all around her with the little reflections of her in them?  Well the great thing about this being a digi stamp is that I was able to resize it so that I could punch out a couple of smaller versions of Cooper to add behind epoxy "bubbles!"

Once I colored the cute image with my Copics I used my Nestabilities to cut it in a circle.  I then cut a scalloped circle from clear cardstock and layed it over my image for a bit of a bubble effect.  The smaller bubbles between the epoxy image bubbles are just a big blob of Glossy Accents.

For more peeks today please visit Frances and Jane and don't forget to check out the Paper Pretties homepage tomorrow for a look at all the new stamps available - all the Prettie Girls have made cards just for the release!  Have a fantastic Friday my friends!


Cardstock: Spring Rain, Clear Cardstock (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Basic Grey, Stamps: Bubbles Everywhere, Bubble Time Cooper (Paper Pretties), Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Glossy Accents (Ranger), Spring Rain Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), corner rounder punch, Epoxy stickers (Making Memories)

Prettie Punchy Wednesday (PWC101)

Hello friends! Time for another Prettie Wednesday challenge, this time from Heather. Today's challenge is to use punches for your card - die cuts or Nesties don't count! What?? No Nesties??! Yikes! ha ha! I don't have that many punches anymore but I came up with something.

Today's featured sets are Rainy Day Friend and Soakin' Up the Sun. Both sets are 35% at Paper Pretties all this week.  Today's hop starts on Christie's blog so make sure you don't miss a thing!  For my card today I used Rainy Day Friend because I just love this set!  The images are so cute and just fun to work with.  I wish I looked this cute skipping through the rain - it's rainy and cold here now, where are my polka dotted boots?!  LOL!

Can you tell what punches I used?  Well my scalloped edge punch of course, and a corner rounder punch as well as a scalloped circle punch to make the distressed dp flower. And how about that fun plaid? Love it!

Hop on over to Jana's now and see what she's come up with today.  We'll be back to Prettie Peek tomorrow and I'll have one on Friday.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Cardstock: Innocent Pink (Gina K Designs), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: We R Memory Keepers, Stamps: Rainy Day Friend (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Scalloped edge punch, corner rounder punch, scalloped circle punch (SU!), Copic markers, Clear Glaze pen, brad

Splash!

It's time for the Prettie Peeks to begin since May is almost here.  You can check out more peeks from the Prettie Girls all week and on Saturday all the new images will be available at Paper Pretties- some in rubber, some in digi.

My card today uses one of the new digis being released, Bubble Time Cooper - isn't he adorable?  I was totally inspired by his old fashioned wooden tub for this card - love the woodgrain!   It's hard to photograph but the bubbles got several coatings with my Clear Glaze pen - they looks so shimmery! I also used a clear epoxy sticker over my sentiment to give it a "wet" look.

Take a few minutes and visit Frances and Jane today - they have peeks too. :)  Thanks for visiting - have a great day!

Cardstock:  Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup, Stamps: Bathtime Cooper (Digi), sentiment from Make A Splash (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Woodgrain Impression plate, Button, Twine (Papertrey Ink), Epoxy sticker (AMuse), Corner rounder punch, foam adhesive, Copic markers, Clear Glaze pen

Prettie Dotty Wednesday (PWC100)

It's Wednesday and time for another Prettie Wednesday challenge - our 100th!!  I can't believe it really.  I remember when we started these challenges.  It started as a way for the design team to do something fun together, a sort of team building exercise.  We even mailed our cards to each other for each challenge - it was fun!!  Well, the challenges and rules have evolved over the years but they are still are tons of fun and I'm thrilled to be here for the 100th (I don't think there are more than a handful that I've missed!). 

In honor of our 100th Prettie Wednesday we're giving you a gift - from today until the 24th all stamps in the Paper Pretties store are 40%!!  How's that for big?!  Wooo Hooo!!  But before you go shop . . . the challenge today is to create a tag and include polka dots on it.  If you didn't start today on Christie's blog, hop over there first!

I used Penny For Your Thoughts for my tag - it was a "no brainer" considering those great polka dots on one of the pigs! What a fun set this is!!  I took the colors from the cute Jillibean Soup dp. 

Hop on over to Jana's now for more Pretties!  Have a great day!

Cardstock: Pretty In Pink, Soft Sky (SU!), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Egg Drop Soup collection (Jillibean Soup), Stamps: Penny For Your Thoughts (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, foam adhesive, word window punch, scalloped edge punch, ribbon

It's Jana's Day!

It's been a while hasn't it?  It's been almost a month since we celebrated a Prettie Girl's birthday!  We can't have that!  So let's party today with Jana - it's her birthday!! :) I'm so thrilled to say Jana is my friend - not just a pretend one, but a for real one!  It's been a while since we've met up but hopefully this summer we'll catch up while she's here in Maine!

Ok, enough talk, let's party!!  You need to start the birthday hop at Christie's and then end on Jana's so that you can leave her some birthday love!  I had to pull out Sassy Shoes - I just love these images!! (sorry, I think it must be sold out!).  The layout is Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #69 and the dp is some yummy My Mind's Eye  As you can see I paper pieced the main part of the shoe.  Love those big dots!!  The rose was also paper pieced and has a bit of chunky glitter added for some drama!

The sentiment is actually in 2 parts and it's from Bubble Time and I stamped the flower again under the sentiment with Sweet Blush ink.  The rest of the sentiment is on the inside of the card - it seemed very appropriate for a birthday!

Ok, so take a hope over next to Jackie's blog and be sure to wish Jana a Happy Birthday at the end!  Have a wonderful day my friends and Happy Birthday dear Jana!!

Cardstock:  Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye Stamps: Sassy Shoes (Paper Pretties), Ink: Black (Memento), Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink), Accessories:  Copic markers, Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Ribbon (Papertrey Ink) Glitter (Martha Stewart, Foam adhesive, corner rounder

Prettie Spring-y Wednesday (PWC99)

Wow - this is Prettie Wednesday #99!! I can't believe that we've been doing this that long! Well, today's challenger is Jackie and the featured sets are Holy Mackerel and Surf's Up which will both be 35% off all week in the Paper Pretties store.  If you didn't come here from Christie's today, go ahead and start there so you don't miss anything.

The challenge is to create a card for Spring Break - 'tis the season you know!  Well, we don't really take Spring break here (I'd rather push on toward Summer break!) as much as I'd love to go sit on a warm beach, but here in Maine April 1st is opening day of fishing season.  So Holy Mackerel was actually the prefect choice! How cute is Snowflake (that's the penguin's name) with his fishing pole and bucket of fish!  My favorite part is his checkered hat.  I love the argyle dp (October Afternoon) with him - gives it a masculine feel doesn't it?  Even though I know most of you are saying, "sure without that huge bow" - LOL!

It's a pretty clean & simple layout since that's how I pretty much do things these days, but with that great dp you don't want to overdo it!

Click on over to Jana's blog now and see what she came up with!  Thanks for visiting!

Cardstock:  Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss (SU!), White (Neenah), Patterned Paper: Report Card (October Afternoon), Stamps: Holy Mackerel (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Copic markers, Brads (Pink Hedgehog Crafts), Old Olive Ribbon (SU!), foam adhesive, corner rounder punch

CAS Hope

This week's CAS challenge on SCS was to use only a sentiment stamp (or verse, etc.) on your card.  Since my latest scripture stamp was just released over at Paper Pretties, I couldn't wait to play along!  The stamp set is called Overflowing With Hope and also includes a larger version of the dove  you see on the scripture stamp.  The dp is some Jillibean Soup I picked up at Wholly Scrap! last weekend - holy cuteness is that stuff ever great!!

I think a CAS layout is perfect for stamps like this - they make you focus on the message of the scripture and this one could be used for encouragement or a sympathy card.  The black scalloped layer is the new Papertrey Ink Felt and the medium scalloped die. It cuts like a dream!

Time for school  . . . thanks for visiting today!!

Cardstock: Kraft, Vintage Cream, Black (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup, Stamps: Overflowing With Hope (Paper Pretties), Ink: Memento, Accessories:  Nestabilities, Copic marker (W03, W00), Corner Rounder punch Ribbon (SU!), Scalloped die, Black Felt, Vintage Button, Twine (Papertrey Ink)