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

TCC #21 and a Party!

Hello Friends! We had fun morning taking the children to a pond a few minutes from our house - it was wonderful!! I bought a season pass and I'm sure we'll be hanging out there a lot this summer! I don't know why we had never been there before because it's only 5-10 minutes away and it's perfect for the children.

Ok, I wanted to quickly show you a card I made early this week for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #21 - I got my submission in late but it was a really neat sketch and I had fun making a card that was a bit different for me.

This card is for a friend of ours who happens to love trees!! Their business is trees and you can just tell it's the perfect business for them! I've had this American Crafts paper for while and it just seemed perfrect for the fun feel of the Papertrey Ink Father Know's Best tree. The buttons are again from my button tin - I love how perfectly that blue one matched!

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), American Crafts dp, Basic Black (SU!), Stamps: Father Knows Best, sentiment is from the Anniversary set (not available for purchase), Inks: Palette Noir, Landscape, Accessories: Corner Rounder, Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Ribbon (American Crafts), buttons, paper piercer

In other news . . . Paper Pretties is having a release on July 1st - and of course that means Stamping in Your Jammies!! Come join us Tuesday, July 1st at 8pm EST in the Paper Pretties Forum (remember to register or login!) for a fun night of stamping, chatting and of course new stamps!! There will be 3 challenges that you can participate in, issued by the super talented Charmaine! We always have a great time and I hope you can join us!

And don't forget about the Cutie Pie contest - here are the details:
Cutie Pie Contest!!
How would you like to be Paper Pretties Cutie Pie? I thought you would!! All you have to do is make a card using your Paper Pretties stamps and send it to Christie at christie@paperpretties.net, and she will chose a winner from the entries. Besides getting to call yourself a Cutie Pie, you will also get all the stamps from this release for free!! You have until June 30th at 8pmCST to get your entries in!! Good luck!!

One last thing . . . if you'd like to be the first to get the super cute Bunny Slippers Sophia - you have until June 30 at 11:59 pm to sign up for the Stamp of the Month Club. ETA: When you fill out the subscription form be sure to tell Christie that Julie sent you! :)

Have a great afternoon! :)

4th of July Preparations

Have you checked out the Kitchen Sink Stamps Project of the Month yet? Tammy Hershberger made a really neat centerpiece for the upcoming 4th of July! It looks like a lot of fun to make - I know my children would love to help me make one!

Our family has a 4th of July tradition that we love! The town that my parents live in, a very small square mile town right on the ocean, has the cutest little hometown parade! They've had it forever and we've been going ever since I moved here. My parents invites some friends, my brother and his family, our family and my in-laws to a pre-parade brunch and then we all head down a few blocks to get a good spot for candy catching (my children love that part!). The parade really only takes 20-30 minutes or so and is filled with lots of homemade "floats", a children's bike decorating contest on display, a kazoo band, a beach chair drill team, an alumni town band and many other fun things. (This picture is my dad driving his car in the parade last year with my nieces along for the ride. I think Emma plans on riding with Poppy this year)

After the parade the band returns to the town meeting spot (known as The Temple) and plays a concert while the children enjoy a free popsicle. We then head back to my parent's house for a yummy 4th of July barbeque lunch. We have lots of fun visiting, strolling down to the town square to look at the "Art in the Park" - an art show and sale made up of wonderful local artists - going to the beach, riding bikes . . . it's just perfect!! If you live in Maine or are visiting come on over to Ocean Park and check it out for yourself - you will love it! (Notice the candy running down Ethan's chin in the picture - lol!)

Last year we stayed overnight at my parent's house so that we could take the children down to the beach for the fireworks and we'll be doing that again this year! My children have been asking "When is it going to be the 4th of July?" for about 8 months now! :)

I said all that to say (hope you're still with me!), I try to coordinate our family "look" for the day by having some festive red, white and blue clothes. When I saw this post by Nichole Heady a few weeks ago where she actually stamped a t-shirt I knew right away what I had to do!!

So I pulled out my Kitchen Sink Stamps Playful Stars, Swirly Hearts & Stars, Ready 4 Any Holiday and Mix It Up! Monogram & Alphabet sets, got some Palette ink pads and started stamping!! I bought my t-shirts at Walmart and they were fairly inexpensive but still a nice quality. They were super easy to do and I just love how they came out! I still may go back and stamp the children's name on their shirt but I haven't decided that for sure.

I encourage you to give this a try, what a fun way to highlight your family or group! Maybe next year we'll make ones for our whole group! :)

Stamps: Playful Stars, Swirly Hearts & Stars, Ready 4 Any Holiday, Mix It Up! Monogram & Alphabet (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Inks: L'Amour Red, Beaux Arts Blue, Paris Lights (Palette), T-shirts: Hanes from Walmart

Prettie Doodlie Wednesday

Well two weeks ago Joni, the fabulous illustrator at Paper Pretties challenged us to "do something by hand," write something, draw something, doodle, whatever. Can I just say . . . Joni you're killing me! :) I've said it before, I stamp because I cannot draw - I don't even doodle well! LOL!

When I think doodling, I think Bellas. I'm not sure why but maybe because I've seen so many cute frames doodled around them, So I gave it a try. I've had this pretty SEI Dill Blossom paper that I got at Emma's Paperie for a while and since my card is going to Charmaine I thought she might like it since the colors are a bit earthy (in a funky sort of way - they really are!). I colored the Javabellas with Copics (sorry I forgot to take a picture of which ones).

Don't you just love the sentiment in that big "Bellafont"? I love that Em has so many fun sentiments but especially love the ones using the Bellafont (not sure if that's the official name)! :)

Ok, last week Danielle challenged us to use circles on our card - yeah! I can do that!! This week our challenger is Christie so be sure to blurf around and see what the other Prettie Girls came up with! Thanks for visiting!!

Cardstock: Stamper's Select Vintage Cream, SEI Dill Blossom dp, Stamps: Java Bella, Enjoy Life (Stamping Bella), Inks: Palette Noir, Accessories: Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Copic Markers, Spica Pens, Felt flower (SU!), Brass brad (Doodlebug)

Let's Think Christmas!!

Good afternoon! I'm just stopping in quickly with a Public Service Announcement. Kitchen Sink Stamps is counting down to Christmas! Did you realize that tomorrow it will 6 months until Christmas Day?? How many of you have started your shopping?

Let's start tomorrow - from June 25 - 28 three Kitchen Sink Stamps sets, Playful Christmas, 3 Step Holly & Mistletoe, and Snow Flurry will be 15% off. What a great way to start your cards - get them done now before it gets crazy! Buy a gift for your crafty friend, or yourself! :)

When I sat down to make a Christmas card I had a hard time thinking red and green amidst all the summery colors so I came up with the fun card using Playful Christmas. I think it would be such a neat non-traditional card. It would certainly stand out in your friend's stack of cards! I created the background paper by stamping the flower tree over and over again, turning it each time and lining up the edges to stay straight. The tree and sentiment are embossed with White Detail EP. The ribbon is white organdy with PTI Aqua Mist satin layered on top. The colors are peaceful to me so I think the sentiment is perfect.

Be sure to check out what the other Kitchen Crew made today, I know they will inspire you to Think Christmas!! :)

Cardstock: Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Shimmery White (Paper Accents), Stamps: Playful Christmas (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Inks: Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Versamark, Accessories: Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Organdy ribbon (SU! - retired) Nestabilities, White Detail EP (SU!), Swarovski crystals, Corner Rounder punch

ETA: I forgot to let you know that Tammy Hershberger did an absolutely fabulous KSS Project of the Month - it's perfect for the upcoming 4th of July. Go check it out!! I will have another 4th of July project coming on Thursday! ;)

Bunny Slippers

You have all seen Off to School Sophia, right? Paper Pretties very first Stamp of the Month Club stamp! In case you need a refresher, check out here, here and here. Well hold on folks . . . I've mentioned a few times that the July Sophia is adorable - wanna see?? :)

Meet Bunny Slippers Sophia! I just love that cute little face and the bathrobe?? Adorable right?! (remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

I used some beautiful DCWV Nana's Nursery paper that Christie sent me recently, it's just beautiful paper- I love it all!! And remember those Maya Road Chipboard Blossoms? I still have plenty of them left and am still having fun altering them!

Another great thing about the July stamp of the month? It means Off to School Sophia will then be available to anyone! Look for her release on July 1. For those of you who want to get Bunny Slippers before anyone else, go sign up for the Stamp of the Month Club!

Have a great day!

More Papertrey

Good morning!! Did you all have a good weekend?! Ours was pretty uneventful but sometimes those are the best kind right? :)

I wanted to share a couple Papertrey Ink cards. First, I made this card a week or so ago when I needed a baby gift card. It was pretty simple. I love that sailboat from the Bitty Baby Blessings! I paper pieced the sale from some Everyday Blessings paper and I used my Fiskars trimmer/scorer to add the scored lines 1/2" on each side.

Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Spring Moss, Everyday Blessings dp (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessing (Papertrey Ink), Inks: Palette Noir, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), Accessories: Dimensionals, Aquapainters,

Tell me friends, how much do I need a Scor-Pal?? I keep going back and forth - Scor-Pal or Janome?? I do have a regular sewing machine but don't really get it out that much to sew on cards since it's big and heavy. . . but it is there. What about the Scor-Pal? I see so many cool projects made with it - should I get one?? Seriously, please help me out here! :)

Ok, here's my second card. I found a cool thread in the Papertrey Ink Forum - they have a Casual Mid-Week Challenge. Neat huh? Kim Crawford posted this sketch and I thought it was so fun I gave it a try. As you can see I am still on a bright kick. Actually, this whole card's color scheme came from the ribbon - some yummy American Crafts ribbon I picked up at Target last month. The cupcakes are from It's a Celebration. I love how there are different "tops" for the cupcakes - this one goes well doesn't it?!

Thanks for visiting! I have a busy week ahead . . . my BIL will be in town for a couple days, he's just getting off the ship he works on and heading home to Thailand, we're going to look at Aaron's pictures from last week, plans for a couple get togethers with friends - lots of fun stuff!! :) I hope you have a great Monday!!

Cardstock: Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink), Green Galore, YoYo Yellow, Real Red, Stamps: It's a Celebration (Papertrey Ink), Inks: Paris Lights (Palette), Ladybug Red, Bahama Blue (Memento), Green Galore (SU!), Accessories: brads (Queen & Co.), Word Window punch, Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, ribbon (American Crafts)

Tagged . . .

My fellow Prettie Girl, Jessie tagged us so here goes:

What was I doing 10 years ago? Well, if I have my years straight, I had just moved to Maine from NY. I decided it was time for a change and since I LOVED Maine from all my growing up years vacationing here Maine it was! I decided while on vacation in July, came up a few weekends for interviews, took a job, got an apartment (4 houses from the beach!) and moved the first week in September. By December my parents had bought a house (that they would eventually retire to) just a few blocks away and I moved into that house.

5 things on my To Do list:
1. Get the children to pick up their room and mine! :)
2. Put the laundry away
3. Call the oil company about next year's heating oil (ouch!!!)
4. Get working on some swaps due soon!
5. Catch up on my Google Readers posts

Snacks I enjoy: Well I'm off snacks lately, but if I could have anything right now it would be a close race between Cinnamon Wheat Thins (have you tried them?? YUM!) and Peanutbutter M&Ms.

Things I would if I were a millionaire: Come on, we all know that's not happening right? :) But as you can imagine I would pay off all my bills and make sure my family was set. After that ... who knows! But it would be fun wouldn't it?!

Places I have lived: Albany, NY; Greenville, SC, Atlanta GA; Clifton Park, NY; Ocean Park, ME; finally, East Waterboro, ME - not very exciting!

I'm suppose to tag 5 other people . . . but I cannot do it - go read what the other Prettie Girls said, it's sure to be interesting! :)

Colorful Hibiscus

Good morning!! TGIF! :) This week really flew by for me, it seems like it was just Sunday! I had the urge to make a card that felt somewhat tropical. I think the bright card (especially the orange) from Wednesday's post got me in a bright mood!

This was a pretty fast and simple card (once I had a plan!). The stamps are 3 Step Hibiscus from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I used the smallest flower in the set and it was so super fast to stamp out these 3 flowers! The sentiment is also part of the set.

Here's what inks I used:
Yellow Flower - Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Real Red
Pink Flower - Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pink Passion, Rose Red
Orange Flower - Apricot Appeal, Only Orange, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red

The fun velvet rick rack was sent to me by Cindy over at Emma's Paperie - thanks so much Cindy! I had to break into it right away! :)

You only have a couple more days to get your entries in for the "What's Cook'n With Your Kitchen Sink Stamps?" contest - get stamping! Thanks for visiting today! :)

Cardstock: Textured White, Pink Passion (SU!), Stamps: 3 Step Hibiscus, Inks: (see above), Accessories: Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Velvet Ribbon (American Crafts), corner rounder punch, paper piercer

Picture Day!

I thought I'd show you what (other than children, house duties, life, etc.) has been keeping me from stamping more regularly these past couple of week! :)

Aaron had his portrait session today so next week we'll go back to see if he got any good shots. It's sort of a tradition that I make the children's outfit for their 1st birthday picture. When I lived in Atlanta for a short time after college a friend of mine taught me how to smock which is a lot of fun and fairly simple once you get the hang of it. It's so gratifying to be able to make something that I hope the children's children will wear some day!

If you've been to my house you know that I have 16x16 portraits in the dining room of each child's 1 year pictures - hopefully soon we'll have a new one! :) Have a great day!

Prettie Orange Wednesday

I'm done!!! I finished Aaron's outfit for his pictures - which are tomorrow, am I a procrastinator or what?! :) I'm happy with how it came out. I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow, he's going to look so cute!

Since I spent all day sewing I am late with my Prettie Girl DT Challenge. Two weeks ago Jessie challenged us to use bright colors and one of the colors had to be orange. I decided to use orange as my main color using some great Scenic Route Metropolis paper. When I thought bright colors I thought about Off to School Sophia! She is this month's Stamp of the Month and Paper Pretties so she will be available to everyone next month. Have you seen the adorable Sophia for next month?? Bunny Slippers Sophia is just too adorable!

The card is pretty simplistic but since the paper is such a busy stripe it was better to keep it simple. I used my Copic markers which I am still trying to get the hang of. I need to practice blending and shading! Once put together I stamped the lunchbox again, cut it out and popped it up with a Dimensional.

Last week Joni challenged to do something on our card by hand - write, draw, doodle, whatever you like. That should be interesting! Easy for her since she's Paper Pretties' fabulous illustrator! :) Don't forget to check out what the other Prettie Girls did today and what Danielle challenges us to do this week!

Thank you all who sent congratulations on my PTI Honorable Mention! It's was so exciting to see my name there with the other amazingly talented stampers! Be sure to check out all the submission - especially if you need baby gift ideas! :) Have a great night!

Cardstock: Orange, Aqua (Bazzill), Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), Metropolis (Scenic Route), Stamps: Off to School Sophia, Ink: Palette Noir, Accessories: Dimensionals, Nestabilities, brad (Target), Copic markers, ribbon (May Arts)

Yo-Yo's and a Sketch

I haven't much time lately to do challenges or sketches - something I love to do! Today was the day! I checked into a fun, inspiration blog Pursuit of Craftyness which is made up of some amazingly talented designers! There is always something fun there - today it was Quick and Easy Fabric Yo-Yo's. I've seen these before but never really thought about using them as a cardmaking/scrapbooking embellishment - until today! They are so easy to make, my 6 year old made one! I made this one with the fabric I am using for Aaron's outfit (the one I am supposed to be working on right now!) - it's hard to see but it's a light green and white stripe.

I used Paper Pretties' sweet Cuddle Me set. I love this image of Sophia- she looks so loveable and just precious! I paper pieced her dress, hair bow and "rug." I used the large oval from Sassy Circles, stamped it with Versamark on the dp, covered it with clear embossing powder, heat set it and then cut it out. I then had to line it up with my stamped image, stamp Sophia's feet and cut them out.

I used the first ever sketch challenge for Our Creative Corner, another blog with a fabulous group of designers! This sketch was done by Cindy Haffner. I changed the placement of the circle element because of the size of the yo-yo, but it was a fun sketch to work with!

Thanks for visiting today! Give those yo-yo's a try, such fun! :)

Cardstock: Green (Bazzill), dp is SEI, Watercolor paper (SU!), Stamps: Cuddle Me, Sassy Circles, Inks: Palette Noir, Versamark, Accessoires: Clear embossing party, ribbon (May Arts), Watercolor Wonder crayons, Aquapainters, Chipboard Button (Making Memories), fabric, corner rounder punch

Baby Wipes Kit

Hello! Did you all have a busy weekend?! Hope your Father's Day was wonderful! We took Daddy out to breakfast Saturday morning which was a nice treat! The children had made him a cake and cards at Grammy's on Friday which he loved getting! We also had my brother and father here most of Saturday doing some work on the house for us. The french doors leading out to our deck were rotting (along with the floor, the subfloor, the floor joists, the sill, the bottom of the walls and whatever else was in there!) so it had to be replaced - nice huh?! It's great though, to have my brother doing it for us - he got the new doors in and it's going to look great!

Ok, thought I'd share with you my submission for the Papertrey Ink Guest Star Stamper contest this month. I cut it very close - uploading my pics at 11:58 pm on the 13th! :) I wasn't really thinking I was going to submit this month but then I needed a shower gift and it just all came together. Sorry for the bad pics - but remember it was 11:50 pm! LOL!

This is a little kit to make your own baby wipes. I've been making them myself ever since my oldest was born - it's so easy, economical (cheap) and I think a bit healthier maybe. You can see the recipe in one of the pics - it literally takes about 5 minutes to make them (just the time to boil the water). I usually get the baby wash, oil and lotion at the dollar store so we're talking pennies a batch!

My printer died (any recommendations for a new one??) so I had to write out the recipe, which wouldn't have been my first choice! I love the little baby carriage image from Bitty Baby Blessings! I paper pieced it with some PTI patterned paper and used teeny brads on the wheels. I put the recipe card in a clear envelope, sealed it, cut the top off and punched 2 holes in the top to thread the ribbon through.

I covered the ugly labels on the baby oil, wash & lotion with Aqua Mist and patterned dp and used my Nestabilities, Borders & Corners Monogram Edition and Simply Alphabet to make new labels.

I didn't have a chance to get a container yet for them, so I used an antique glass canister I had. Although I love the look of using the glass canister I don't think it would be very practical for everyday use, kwim? I would use some kind of sealable plastic container like this one (it looks about the right size but I'm not sure without measuring). I used the sentiment "Bitty Blessing" on the top as sort of a pun - since changing stinky diapers is every mom's "blessing"! :)

Thanks for visiting today! I'll have more goodies tomorrow but I wanted to remind you of the new Kitchen Sink Stamps Contest - What's Cook'n With Your KSS. You have until June 25th to submit your creations so you've got plenty of time!! :) I can't wait to see the entries and hear who the winners are! Have a great day!

ETA: gail@cel-cpa.com said...

Julie, love your idea, what a perfect baby gift! Just one question, may be a dumb one, but how do you split the roll of bounty?

Not a dumb question at all - sorry I didn't mention this! I used to have my DH cut them on his little table saw (which does work fine) but now I just use a big sharp knife - serrated works best). I go slowly and keep rotating the roll until I get to the cardboard - it does fray the papertowels a bit on the edges, but nothing really to worry about! Thanks for the question Gail!

Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Stamper's Select White, Easter Blessings dp (Papertrey Ink), Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings, Simple Alphabet, B&C Monogram Edition, Inks: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss (PTI), Palette Noir, Accessories: Aqua Mist & Spring Moss ribbon (PTI), Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Brads, Copics,

A little "Pomp"

It's graduation time isn't it?! We are planning a little party for Emma since she finished Kindergarten this year. She wants to have a spelling bee - lol! Ever since she saw a little bit of the National Spelling Bee on tv last week she's been studying her word list book and drilling her sister on spelling words, it's too cute! :)

Ok, on to the card. Here's another one of the new sets released last week from Kitchen Sink Stamps. This is 3 Step Graduation - perfect for June! I also used Plaid Plus to make the bottom striped paper. It was easy to line up and I love the "pinstripe" effect it gives - makes the card more masculine doesn't it? I used some more of my new Memento inks available in the KSS store. The dark blue is Paris Dusk - it's a very pretty shade!

It's hard to see from the picture, but the "2008" is embossed with Silver EP. I kept feeling like this card was missing something but think it cannot take one more thing!

Thanks so much for stopping in!! Have a wonderful day! :)

Cardstock: White (Georgia Pacific), Silver (SU!), Red (Bazzill), Stamps: 3 Step Graduation, Plaid Plus, Inks: Going Gray, Paris Dusk, Lady Bug, Rhubarb Stalk, Palette Noir, Versamark, Accessories: Brads, Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Ribbon (American Crafts),

Prettie Old/New Wednesday

Good morning! We had such a nice day at the lake yesterday! The water was a good temp (not that I got in above my waist!) there was a nice breeze off the water and the children had fun playing with their cousins. My SIL and I decided we really needed to do this more often - our house is only 1 mile from the lake so what's my excuse? :)

Anyway, today is another Prettie Wednesday! I really look forward to these days - seeing what the other Prettie Girls have come up with and finding out what the new challenge is! Having said that, I'm not really thrilled with my card today! Jillian challenged us to Make It New - take one of your "oldest" stamps and make it new again. Ok, I'm thinking there's a reason they are my "old" stamps - I've used up all the goodness out of 'em - lol!! I bought this set to make Emma's 1st birthday invitations and thank you's - I just fell in love with the cute doodle-y feel. I still like it (which is why I still have it) but I think my brain was a bit fried from the heat and sun today!

Be sure to blurf around and check out what the other Prettie Girls came up with - I'm sure it will be fabulous!!! Last week Jessie challenged us to use bright colors and one must be orange! Today Joni challenged us to "hand do something" - whether it's doodle, draw, write . . . something on the card must be done by hand - not stamps. Ok, my card today would qualify! :) Have a great day!

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Lovely Lilac, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Stampers Select White (Papertrey Ink), Flowers for You (SU!), Stamps: Inks: Regal Rose, Lovely Lilac, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Palette Noir, Accessories: Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, corner rounder, regal rose grosgrain, Nestabilities, Aquapainter

One of Those Days!

Quick post . . . which I'm sure will be the case for many of us bloggers for the summer! :) We're headed to the lake today as the temps are supposed to reach 90's!! It's way too hot for June - lol! It's almost too hot to stamp! Is that possible?

Don't you love this cute set, One of Those Days from Paper Pretties? That little chick cracks me up (no pun intended - lol!) . This was a pretty quick card but I love the colors and that great paper from Imaginisce For Peep's Sake.

Have you checked out the Boutique lately? Christie has uploaded lots of inventory that was on the old site but didn't make the transition. Also, remember to check out the Stamp of the Month Club - it's a fun way to get a pre-release Sophia stamp each month and oh my goodness, wait until you see next month's!!! She is just ADORABLE! You will definitely want her! :)

Have a great day everyone - stay cool!

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), Imaginisce For Peep's Sake, Stamps: One of Those Days (Paper Pretties), Ink: Palette Noir, Accessories: Copic markers, dimensionals, Lemon Tart grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Bella Baubles

Meet Tim and Ti!

We added 2 baby goats to our little farm here this weekend! The girls named them Timothy and Titus (Tim and Ti for short) - cute, huh?! :) We need to get them fixed still and . . . get this, we need to still bottle feed them! I know - but really, it's not bad, they drink them right down and the girls love doing it!

Isn't this a cute one - Ti was giving Emma's hair a nibble! :)


Once they get a bit bigger their job at our house will be to reclaim some of our yard that is being slowly "reforested" - lol! They are hanging out with the chickens right now in what used to be the garden. The chickens are loving being out - we're enjoying lots of fresh eggs!

I'm still working on Aaron's outfit - thanks so much for your patience!! I will be back hopefully tomorrow with a fun card!

Fun Plaid!

Good morning!! It's a rainy, gray day here and I have lots to get done! I wanted to show you one more of the new Kitchen Sink Stamp sets that was released on Tuesday. It's called Plaid Plus and it's so neat!! I made the whole plaid on the background of this card and it was sooooo easy!! Check out Maria's awesome step-by-step tutorial - it's so thorough! I used some of my new Memento Dew Drops that are also available in the KSS Store. They are wonderful! They are dye inks (much like SU! Classic pads) so they can be used for anything and there are lots of fun colors! They are especially good for the Plaid Plus set because when you ink the long stamps you don't get lines on them like you sometimes do with the SU! pads, kwim?

I also used a new set called Other Important People which uses the same font as Whole Family and 3 Step Hearts & Roses so it coordinates perfectly!! You can pretty much say anything you want to with these sets - it's amazing!! Oh, and on the sentiment I also used Swirly Hearts & Stars which is such a fun complient to Playful Stars!!

I will probably not be posting for a few days . . . I need to finish Aaron's outfit for his 1st year portrait so that will take a bit of my time over the next several days! But I will be back next week with more fun things - hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! :)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), Brilliant Blue, Certainly Celery (SU!), Stamps: Other Important People, Playful Stars, Plaid Plus, Swirly Hearts & Stars (Kitchen Sink Stamps), Inks: Sky Blue, New Sprout, Paris Dusk, Bamboo Leaves (Memento Dew Drops), Accessories: Blue Taffeta, Dimensionals (SU!), Swarovski crystal, Nestabilities