Pretty Palette #66

Hi everyone!  It's time for another Pretty Palette challenge.  I hope you like this week's colors. 

I found papers in the Basic Grey paper pad Sweet Threads that fit the bill perfectly.  And I also found a sketch yesterday that I loved on SCS.  So I made the card and posted it yesterday!  I just couldn't wait to post it there!   It was a perfect sketch to use some new MTME products!  I used the Birthday Banner Triangle cut file for the triangle and scallop triangle.  The image and sentiment are from the new Magical Birthday Wishes digital stamp set.   I actually used my new Silhouette Cameo to print and cut out the sentiment.  I tried to cut out the image, but it just didn't work.  I have to work on that!  But I printed the image on my computer and colored it with copic markers.  I added some star dust stickles to the cupcake and then fussy cut it out.  It's mounted on dimensionals.  I just love this card!

This is the great sketch from SCS that I used.

Please stop by these blogs to see what the design team created.

MTME store

MTME blog

Mary Vogel

Romaine Rancier

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Never Seen Ink

This is the second to last challenge for Christmas Stampin' All Year Long 2011.  And I think this is my favorite week yet...use a new or old stamp that has never seen ink!  Boy do I have a LOT of those!  LOL!!  So today I used a new stamp that has not seen ink.  I'm pretty sure my friend Cheryl Rowley bought this for me.  She's always so sweet like that.  This stamp is called Comfort Cocoa from Impression Obsession.  I love their stamps!

I love this sketch!  It's from SCS a while ago.  I searched for the perfect one and this seemed to fit the bill.  I used Jovial paper pack from Basic Grey and colored the image accordingly.  I've been having fun using these flourishes from Want 2 Scrap.  I purchased these at my LSS, but I have an order coming my way from W2S any day now with more!  I love bling and these flourishes are very good quality and easy to use.  For more bling, I used Star Dust stickles on the cream.  This card is going to have to go to someone who appreciates home made cards! 

Stop by the CSAYL blog and play along!   There's not much time left before that big day rolls around!  Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Just Us Girls #72 - Color Challenge

Happy Saturday! It's time for another color challenge from Just Us Girls! Today, Kathryn is our hostess and she has chosen some really pretty colors...melon, light aqua, and kraft. Here's what I did with them.The damask is from Papertrey Ink's Damask Designs and the sentiment is from Just the Ticket, also from PTI. I stamped the damask in SU's groovy guava, cut and embossed with a nestie, and then I swirled some antique linen distress ink around it. The dp is Basic Grey's Marrakech. I made a small bow with some shabby seam binding from Debbie Marcinkiewicz's Etsy shop. A mini prima rose and some pearls finished it off. The sketch is from this week's Splitcoast sketch.

We have a very special new addition to our Just Us Girls team. Elise Durenberger. She is going to be a delightful addition to our team for sure! Please visit her blog and welcome her.

Stop by the JUGs blog and see what the other girls have created with these colors! Thanks for stopping in today and have a great weekend!

Recipe
Stamps: Damask Designs and Just the Ticket (PTI)
Paper: Vintage cream, kraft, Marrakech (Basic Grey)
Ink: Groovy guava, chocolate chip
Accessories: Nesties, tag die, seam binding ribbon, Prima rose, pearls, corner rounder, dimensionals

Happy Birthday PMS and an Announcement!

Happy Friday! This week went so fast because of our Wednesday snow day! Now I have a Super Bowl party to plan and get ready for! Who are you rooting for?

Tuesday was Paper Makeup Stamps 2nd anniversary and Katie is celebrating with this beautiful birthday fairy named Natalie. She's in the store only in digi form now, but may be rubberized soon.
Pretty, huh? I colored her simply in the PMS colors of pink and gray. The sentiment is from the Birthday Cheer set, and I punched it out with an SU scallop oval punch. I did lots of shading, added star dust stickles, and popped up the birthday cake. I purchased this cool Martha Stewart punch over the weekend and ran some gray taffeta ribbon through the holes. The sketch is from this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge.

We are having our monthly hop on Monday, February 7 to celebrate the birthday and all things we love about PMS. I hope you can stop by. Happy 2nd Birthday PMS!

Now for my announcement. I saw a design team call on the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long blog a few weeks ago and contemplated applying. I thought I really don't need to be on another design team, but I thought it would be fun to be on a team where I'll get my Christmas cards done! So I applied and MacKenzie Bruckler (the administrator of the blog) asked me to be on the team! I'm really excited because now I can use all those Christmas stamps that I never get to use. And I have soooo many wonderful stamps I've accumulated over the years. The other very talented girls on the team are:

Alyssa

Becky

Joan

Jodi

Judy

Kerry

Louise

MacKenzie

Patty

Taylor

Our first challenge will be on Friday, March 4 and will run every Friday. So I hope you join me and the other girls on our Christmas card making journey!

Thanks everyone for stopping in! See you tomorrow with a JUGs sketch challenge and a MTME year in review post from the design team.

M4TW - Black Friday Challenge!

Happy Black Friday everyone! Are you stuffed like your turkey today? Well, get out and shop! But before you go, you should play along with our Paper Makeup Stamps Makeup for the Weekend challenge! I'm the hostess and the challenge I chose is to make something shopping related with an option to use black on your creation. Here's what I did.

I used the Retail Therapy set from PMS. PERFECT for this challenge! I just love the sentiment! I don't pay cash for anything anymore! It's always on my debit card and sometimes on my credit card! Who carries cash anymore? LOL!!! Back to the card...I've colored the packages with various copics. The dp is All Dressed Up from DCWV and I paired it with Pink Pirouette cardstock. The sentiment is cut from a Spellbinder tag and I strung it with two different types of ribbon. The black glitter dots finished it off. I used the current SCS sketch for my layout, but flipped it.

Stop by the PMS blog to see what the other girls on the PMS DT have done. And then, let's see what you come up with! You don't have to use PMS stamps, but why not use them if you have them? This Retail Therapy set also comes in digi format, so you can have this set today to play with!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Retail Therapy

Paper: X-press white, pink pirouette, All Dressed Up dp (DCWV)

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, sahara sand

Copic Markers: RV13, 14, 21, 23, 25; W-1, 3, 5

Accessories: Nesties, die tag, SU folder, glitter dots, star dust stickles, dimensionals

A Cup of Christmas Cheer - PMS Review

Hi everyone! I totally forgot to do a post for my Paper Makeup Stamps review card! I had it done Tuesday night and posted it on SCS for their sketch challenge, but forgot to post it here! So sorry!

On Sunday, PMS released a wonderful group of Christmas stamps. I'm sharing one of the images today from a set called Christmas Cheer.The senitment on this is part of the stamp, but you could easily cut it off or just mask it and use the cup any time of the year! Pretty versatile! I used a retired dp from SU called Frosty Day. I love the orange (and the brown) colors in it. The image is colored with copics and I added some star dust stickles to the steam and the Prima flowers. I placed a brown candy dot in the middle of the flower and in the opposite corner. The ribbon is SU also. I used this week's SCS sketch for the layout.

The PMS blog has more reviews of this great release. Head on over there to check them out and visit the blogs of the PMS DT and leave them some love! Thanks for stopping in today!

Recipe
Stamps: Christmas Cheer (PMS)
Paper: X-press white, chocolate chip, Frosty Day sp (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, copic markers
Accessories: Nesties, SU ribbon, star dust stickles, prima flowers, candy dots, dimensionals

Paper Makeup Stamps Release Day Blog Hop!

Today is finally here....release day for the October Paper Makeup Stamps! If you've been following along this week, you would have seen all the great new images and sentiments being peeked.

You should have arrived here from Tangii's blog and saw her fabulous new Moody for Computers girl. If not, start at the PMS blog and then hop along getting the letters you need for your phrase. This phrase will get you 15% off the entire release.

I'm showing off the hilarious Flubu monster! I just crack up whenever I see him!

I saw Katie colored him green the other day, and I thought that was the perfect color for the way he was feeling. I didn't feel like coloring large spaces again (like my card yesterday), so I paper pieced again! Love that technique! And using the Xyron machine makes piecing it super easy! I used Basic Grey's Origins paper for this SCS sketch. I added SU's ribbon and hodgepodge hardward for accents. I also put crystal effects on the thermometer. Gosh, he's so pathetic looking, isn't he? This great sentiment (love the font!) comes with Flubu, too!

Now I'm going to send you to Maria's blog. She always has great cards to share! She'll be jealous that I have the Flubu monster today (she loves the PMS monsters)! Before you go, please take the letter "I" with you. Don't forget to join us tonight for the Release Party. We start at 9:00 pm EST in the PMS forum, so please join us!

Thanks for stopping in today! Happy hopping!

Recipe
Stamps: Flubu (PMS)
Paper: X-press white, Neenah white, kiwi kiss, Origins dp (Basic Grey)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, tea dye distress ink (Ranger)
Copic Markers: YG17, 21, 23, 25; E31, 33, 35; R22; W-5; Coo, 03
Accessories: Nesties, hodgepodge hardware, ribbon, crystal effects, dimensionals

Paper Makeup Stamps - Sneak Peek

I can't believe that we are sneaking another release from Paper Makeup Stamps again! Where has the time gone? We went from summer to fall in 0 to 60!

Today we are sneaking the new fairies we are calling the School Fairies. I have the boy to peek today...he's just so handsome! He reminds me of an English schoolboy...think of Prince William and Prince Harry. I colored him to match this dp I just purchased this weekend. It's the Communique Collection from Graphic 45. I wanted an old-school or formal look to this card, and this paper was perfect. It also sort of reminds me of a Burberry pattern. The layout is from this week's SCS sketch. The red pieces were run through Canvas Impression plate from PTI and I just added the black pearls. The sentiment is also a new one this month.

The PMS DT has some other sneaks for you to see, so stop by the PMS blog to link up to their blogs. We also have a fun new Halloween Kit for purchase now. You can see examples of that one here, and you can purchase it here. This release will be available for purchase on Thursday, October 7. We're having a fun release party that evening starting at 9:00 pm EST. You can get all the information on the Release Party button on the top right of my sidebar.

I'll be back Wednesday with another PMS sneak, and tomorrow with the group post for My Time Made Easy. Let me know what you think of our school boy fairy here and I'll see you tomorrow!

Recipe
Stamps: School Boy Fairy and sentiment (PMS)
Paper: X-press white, black, real red, Communique Collection (Graphic 45)
Ink: Adirondack black, sahara sand
Copic Markers: E00, 02; YR20, 21, 23; R20, 27, 39
Accessories: Nesties, canvas impression plate (PTI), pearls, star dust stickles, dimensionals

Thanks and Thanks

This is going to be a quick post tonight! I received a gift today from a student in our 5th grade that isn't even in my classroom! I thought it was so thoughtful, that I had to make a quick card to give to her tomorrow. I saw the sketch on Splitcoast Stampers today and it fit the bill perfectly! I saw a few teacher cards in the gallery with apples, so I decided to pull our my Apples to Apples and Everyday Thanks sets from Paper Makeup Stamps. The notebook paper is something I picked up at my LSS. I drew the red line with a red pen, then punched the side to look like it was ripped out of a spiral notebook (something I HATE when my kids do...I hate that ragged edge on their papers, but like it on my cards...go figure!). I doodled a little bit with a white get pen on the top and bottom of the red piece, added a little bit of star dust stickles on the apples and was done! I was having a hard time keeping all that white above and below the sentiment, but I had to let it go! I'm a "more" crafter, so let me tell you it was definitely difficult to let it go! LOL!!
(I see after I uploaded the sketch to this post that my notebook piece is larger than the piece should be! Oh well!)


Thanks for stopping in today! PMS has a great new challenge coming out on Friday, so make sure you stop by the PMS blog!

Just Us Girls Wild Card Challenge - Dry Embossing

Hi everyone! It's been a week since my last post...very busy week for me. I'll tell you about that later, but for now I'm here with the Just Us Girls Wild Card Challenge. This week Alicia challenged us to do some sort of dry embossing on our cards. That's easy with Cuttlebug folders, Spellbinders dies, and whatever else you use to dry emboss. I tried the letterpress technique with an Impressability which I saw on Gina K's Stamp TV video.

I inked up the Impressability (I don't remember which one) with Pink Pirouette ink, then embossed it onto Pink Pirouette cardstock. In the process, I cracked my C-plate because I had the incorrect sandwich! What a sound that made! But it came out very pretty, I think. Then I sponged some Sahara Sand ink around the panel to distress it a bit. The image is a new one from Paper Makeup Stamps called Faith, Hope, Love. I used Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery inks to color it directly on the stamp. You can't see it because the lace is covering it, but I stamped the grass image on the bottom. So easy, but very pretty! The crocheted lace I picked up at AC Moore. The flower was in my stash and was already spritzed with a sparkle spray that I cannot remember the name of (I'm at my cabin and can't look for it). I added the pretty pink pearls and was done. The sketch is from SCS and just what I needed...nice and simple.

I made this a sympathy card because of the deaths of two people I knew this week. My next-door neighbor passed away on Tuesday. She lived there by herself and was a lovely woman. She was from Spain and I loved to hear her talk! She loved to garden and we would always be talking over the fence about our gardens. Then, our best friend's mother passed away on Wednesday, less than three weeks after his father died. And she died on his father's birthday. His death was sudden and she had cancer and not long to live. We think he left early to get things ready for her in heaven! It was a very sad day for our friend and his family.

On a lighter note, I went to the Sex and the City premier on Thursday. There was a party before and after the show at a bistro next door to the theatre. So much fun! The movie was great, and there were about 100 women in attendance drinking cosmos beforehand! Afterward, my friend Maria and I went to The Chocolate Bar for martinis and sat outside. A great night out with the girls, and it was a lovely evening weather-wise.

So today I came to our cabin for the Memorial Day weekend. I'm sitting on our lovely porch writing this listening to the birds sing. It's so calming and lovely here. Tomorrow a bunch of our friends are coming out for the day. I've invited my stamping friend, Cheryl Rowley, because she lives about 15 minutes from here! It'll be a fun day!

Stop by the JUGs blog to see what the girls have in store for you. Teresa Kline and LeAnne Pulgiese shared their final cards with us today. They have been fabulous guests and I want to thank them personally for joining us for the month of May.

Thanks for stopping in today and have a great weekend!

Happy Earth Day!

Hi everyone! Today is April 22 and it's Earth Day! We've been doing so much to make our world a greener place, and Paper Makeup Stamps is getting the word out with a celebration sale! PMS has several images, sentiments, and wordart that are perfect for this celebration, and these stamps are on sale! You can go to the PMS blog to see which ones are at the sale price.

I have two to share with you today. I used Willow Tree and Green is the New Black sentiment. I love this willow tree! I stamped it in chocolate chip then colored the leaves in certainly celery. Very easy and quick to do. I swirled some sahara sand around the image while still in the die.

I used the SCS sketch from this week. I must say I was a little liberal with the sketch. That horizontal piece was just too big for my layout, so I just used the old olive ribbon in its place. The dp is from SU's retired Spring Break (appropriate for this time of year)!

Stop by the PMS blog to see which stamps PMS has on sale and you can also connect to the blogs of other PMS DT members to see what they have done with these "green" stamps! Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be back tomorrow with a Makeup 4 the Weekend challenge, so I hope to see you then!

Recipe
Stamps: Willow Tree and sentiment (PMS)
Paper: PTI vintage cream, old olive, Spring Break dp (SU)
Ink: Chocolate chip, certainly celery, sahara sand
Accessories: Nesties, old olive taffeta ribbon, chocolate pearls, dimensionals

Any Birdy Home?

Happy Sunday! It's snowing here in Buffalo, NY, but I'm thinking Spring today! I love birdhouses, so when Kristin from Artful INKables sent me this set to work with, I was delighted!This is from the February release and it's called Any Birdy Home? There are three lovely birdhouses in this set that are a nice size, two sentiments, two flowers and a leaf. They are a nice rubber and stamp very nicely.

I decided to use the Color Throwdown colors of brown, pink, and olive. My olive is SU's Kiwi Kiss. It matched my dp from Urban Garden. The pink is Pink Pirouette. I seem to be working with all retired colors! The sketch is from SCS. I just thought it looked interesting and I flipped it to accommodate my image. It's hard to see, but the white mat and the pink and green pieces are all sponged with Close to Cocoa ink. The background of the main image was also swirled with some Close to Cocoa ink while still in the die. I LOVE this ribbon. It's not wired, but it bends really nicely into any shape you want. It's from American Crafts and I got it a while ago probably from AC Moore. I finally used my Bow Easy to make the bow, too!

Well that's it for today. I'm at a baby shower for my dh's cousin's daughter, so no stamping for me this afternoon! :-(

The Think INK Tuesday challenge over on the AI blog is still going on until tomorrow. The challenge is to make something naughty or nice. Mine is obviously nice! You could win a grab bag of AI stamps for entering. Check it out here.

Thanks for stopping in today! Enjoy your Sunday, and have a great week!

Recipe
Stamps: Any Birdy Home? (AI)
Paper: Neenah white, chocolate chip, pink pirouette, Urban Garden dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, close to cocoa
Copic Markers: RV0000, 000, 10,21, 23; YG0000, 95, 97; E18, 37; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, tag die, diamond CB folder, ribbon, star dust stickles, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals

Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peek Day 3 - Word Art

Today is the final day of sneak peeks for the January release of Paper Makeup Stamps. We have some fabulous word art to show you today. PMS has such a vast amount of word art in their store, and there are quite a few that are in digi form if that is your preference. Here is the one I have to share with you today.Isn't this a lovely quote? I think it would be perfect for Valentine's Day, anniversaries, new baby, etc. Very versatile, indeed! I used yesterday's SCS sketch for this card and acted upon my New Year's resolution to use up some of my dp. This is a very old SU dp called Recollections...it's not even double-sided and the paper is very thin! They've come a long way! I paired it with cranberry crisp and mellow moss. I swirled cranberry crisp ink around the edge of the sentiment while it was still in the nestie die. I also used some sahara sand to tone it down a bit. I saw this trick used by my friend, Cheryl Rowley. Speaking of which, I was gifted this crocheted flower from Cheryl. I believe she crocheted it herself! Talented girl! I have three others to use as well! Thanks Cheryl! I think it made the card look more vintage. I added a Kaiser pearl to the center of the flower and smaller ones in the corner.

To see more of the Word Art being released tomorrow, please stop by the PMS blog. The PMS DT have once again created some lovely projects for you. Remember to comment here and on the PMS blog to have the chance to win the entire release and/or some free stamps! Stop by again tomorrow for our blog hop all day and our release party at 8:00 CST in the PMS forum. Thanks for your kind comments the last two days...I really look forward to reading them! See you at the hop tomorrow!
Recipe
Stamps: Word Art by PMS
Paper: Very vanilla, cranberry crisp, mellow moss, Recollections dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, cranberry crisp, sahara sand
Accessories: Nesties, handmade crocheted flower, Kaiser pearls, MS scallop border punch, Swiss Dots folder

Artful Inkables Tutorial

Hi everyone! I did a tutorial for Artful INKables today that is posted on the AI blog. I did it on coloring stamps with watercolor crayons. It is my first offical tutorial! I hope you stop by to see it and let me know what you think! My hubby took the pictures, so I hope they are ok! Here's the card I made for the tutorial.I used SU watercolor crayons in Regal Rose and Real Red for the flower part and Green Galore and Handsome Hunter for the leaves and stem. This stamp is perfect for this technique because you need a stamp with a solid image for the crayon to stick to. You need good watercolor paper for this to work, as well. You don't get the same effect if you use regular cardstock.

I cut and embossed the image with my new (to me) labels six dies. I like that the image and the dies have an antique feel to them. This fabulous layout is from yesterday's SCS sketch challenge. I just flipped it. It took me quite a while to come up with this design. I was trying so many different patterns and colors, and ended up with just the pink and brown. I used a cuttlebug corner die for the triangular pieces. I think it added to the antique feel.

I hope you stop by the AI blog to see how to do this technique and then let me know what you think! Thanks!
Recipe
Stamps: Love Ya Lots (AI)
Paper: Watercolor paper, very vanilla, chocolate chip textured, Bella Rose dp (retired SU)
Accessories: Watercolor crayons, nesties, cuttlebug corner die, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals

Thanks So Much Birdie!

Hi everyone! It's Thursday, so I have another Artful INKables creation for you. I love this set called A Bird's Song (I think it's one of my favorites of all the AI sets!). Here's what I did with it and the sketch from SCS yesterday.I started with this great sketch (but flipped it on its side) and Basic Grey's Indian Summer dp. I then colored the bird and leaves accordingly (although I'm not sure about the colors I chose for the bird!). The bird image and crushed curry mat were cut and embossed with nesties. I swirled some Marigold Morning ink around the edges of the image and sponges some Soft Suede ink around the edges of the crushed curry (it was just too bright!). The ribbon is soft suede grosgrain ribbon. I added the sentiment in Soft Suede ink and some star dust stickles on the leaves and bird's feathers.

The girls over at Artful INKables are having a Twilight blog hop on Friday. I'm not much into that series, so I opted out. But if you are a fan, check it out. There are a bunch of customers of AI that are participating too and it looks like it's going to be a great hop!

Thanks for stopping in today! I'll have something fun tomorrow for you, so please stop by again!
Recipe
Stamps: A Bird's Song (Artful Inkables)
Paper: PTI white, soft suede, crushed curry, Indian Summer dp (Basic Grey)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, soft suede, marigold morning
Copic Markers: Y26; E08, 71, 77, 93, 95, 97, 99; YR21, 23, 24
Accessories: Nesties, soft suede ribbon, star dust stickles , dimensionals