Catchin' Rays!

Have you checked out the Paper Pretties main page today? If you have you saw the post about the Guest Designers this term and I am one of them! I was asked by Jessie to stay on as a Guest Designer for Paper Pretties another term and I jumped and the chance, I am still not completely over the fact that I am back again! The Pretties Girls are some of the best and I am thrilled that I will be joining them until September! Woo-Hoo! Okay...now to the reason you came her today, another sneak peak of some more wonderful stamps that are begin release tomorrow night at 8pm EST in the Pretties forum. I created this bright summery card using the main image from the Soak Up the Sun set that is to be released along with some wonderful sentiments and Off to School Sophia. Now look at Sophia in this pose, I am telling you this girl has the life! I love the palm tree in this set too, look how detailed it is, it goes perfectly with this great lounge chair. There are four great sentiments with this set and for this card I decided to use 'Catchin' some rays' which completely describes the scene. I hope you like it, there is only one more sneak peak coming so get ready, the release is almost here! Be sure to stop by the Paper Pretties forum tomorrow night and join in the fun for three great challenges to be hosted by Charmaine!

Stamps: Soak Up the Sun from Paper Pretties; Paper: Whisper White, Green Galore, Pink Passion; Ink: E00 Skin White, E31 Brick Beige, R20 Blush, RV13 Tender Pink, V000 Pale Health, Y11 Pale Yellow, Y28 Lione Gold, YG03 Yellow Green; Accessories: Pink Passion brads, Yellow brad, Calypso Prima flowers, Paper Piercer

Gift Tags

The first time I saw this set from Paper Pretties my attention drew to the main image of Sophia an her cute little dog Soakin' Up the Sun but the second thing I saw was this adorable beach bag! So when it came time to make my first card I just had to use the cute beach bag! I decided to make two fun gift tags, perfect for a beach party gift or a card attached to your hostess gift at the next BBQ you attend. This new set from Paper Pretties is a lot of fun, I have been enjoying myself while creating things with this set so make sure you come back to see what else I create! Also, if you haven't signed up yet you have until tomorrow to sign up for Paper Pretties Stamp of the Month Club! Not only will stamps arrive at your door step every week but you will get these stamps before anyone else can! I invite you all to join in on the Pajama Party on July 1st in the Paper Pretties forum, there will be all sorts of fun and we would love to have you celebrate the release with us!

Stamps: Soak Up the Sun from Paper Pretties; Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Bliss Blue, Aqua Mist, Cloud 9 DP; Ink: B12 Ice Blue, B21 Baby Blue, B24 Sky, BG10 Cool Shadow, BG13 Mint Green, R20 Blush, R22 Light Prawn, RV13 Tender Pink, Y13 Lemon Yellow; Accessories: Mavry Giga Square Punch

Baseball Birthday

Thursday was my brothers 16th birthday and he is all about baseball so I decided to pull out my cute Changito baseball stamp and create a fun card for his birthday. I wanted to go with a car theme, but all my car stamps have girls driving them not guys! I used some scraps around my room for this card and a Gina K. 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from the Tickle Your Funny Bone set and I think it turned out nicely. He seemed to like it, of course he liked the movie money more then the card I am sure, but it was nice to give him a card that has something to do with his sport. Come back later today for some sneak peaks at the soon to be release Paper Pretties sets!

Pretties Bella Kit!

As I mentioned yesterday I am ready to share my creations using the March Stamping Bella Kit from Paper Pretties. This box of goodies arrived a while ago but I haven't had a chance to play with these things yet until now! I created the sample card from the March Stamping Bella Kit and my own take on the box supplies. I love the color combination that Christie put together plus all the matching embellishments, love it all! Do you see the coloring technique I used here? I am starting to figure it out but apparently you can use the Colorless Blender marker from Copic to remove color from an image and I gave it a try yesterday, I still need to work on it, but I am learning as I go.For my take on the box contents I went with a simple card using the brown and teal cardstock to layer this great designer paper. I think the paper and the colors really work nicely together, I didn't add any embellishments to this card since I thought the paper and the bright colors seemed to be enough. Hope you enjo them!

I also have some exciting Paper Pretties news the next release will be taking place on Tuesday July 1st at 8pm EST. Please stop by and join in on the fun, Charmaine will once again be hosting three challenges for us and if they are anything like her past challenges we are in for some fun! And there is more!

The Cutie Pie Contest is BACK!!

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!!

Plus Christie will soon be announcing the new Guest Designers for Paper Pretties so be sure to stop by the website to see who is joining the team for a few months and sharing their creativity with us all! And if you haven't yet check out the Stamp of the Month Club and get these cute stamps sent to your door step once a month!

Stamps: Savyshopabella from Stamping Bella; Paper: Bazzill Cinnamon CS, Bazzil Bahama CS, Bazzill Lakeshore CS, Bazzill Lizard CS, Ultrasmooth White CS, Daisy D's Sheheazade DP; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, BG05 Holiday Blue, E00 Skin White, E25 Chamois, Y11 Pale Yellow, Y13 Lemon Yellow, Y28 Lionet Gold, YG03 Yellow Green; Accessories: Chatterbox Olive Ribbon, Bazzill Sparkle Brads

KIT Club

Last Saturday my SU! Demo hosted our KIT Club meeting and we had a blast. I thought I would share with you two of the three cards we created at the meeting. They aren't so much my style but I had a lot of fun getting together with the girls and chatting it up while stamping a bit. The first card we used watercolor crayons and paint brushes to add a little bit of color as we went, I like how light the image came out and how crisp the final card is. The second card we used markers and colored pencils again for a watered down look to the image. We also used a fork to create the super cute little bow on this card. Definitely something different but a lot of fun to try! We also did one more card that I think I will share this weekend or next week sometime. Tomorrow I am going to post my March Paper Pretties Premium Bella Box card both the card from the kit and my own version, so stay tuned ladies! More to come!

Be Happy Sophia

Well today is Wednesday so you know what that means....Pretties Wednesday! That's right boys and girls today I am posting my creation for the challenge Joni (our wonderful illustrator!) issued to create a card with a something you doodled on it. For this challenge I drew out a few different things, but I ended up just drawing a boarder around my main image and adding a sentiment. I decided to write 'Be Happy' on this card because Sophia is just so happy in this image, a great pick me up card! This image will be released in July as part of the monthly release but Off to School Sophia was the Stamp of the Month Club first stamp, be sure to check out the SoTM Club, its a great price for some wonderful stamps to arrive on your door step once a month!

Stamps: Off to School Sophia from Paper Pretties; Paper: Whisper White, Real Rust, Brocade Blue, Basic Grey Scarlet's Letter DP; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, B21 Baby Blue, C1 Cool Gray 1, E00 Skin White, E97 Deep Orange; Accessories: Crystal Effects, Prima Flowers

Gina K. Thanks

This month Gina K. Stamps released all sorts of amazing sets and issued two challenges with their release party. Both challenges were sketches so I decided to try out one of the layouts. I think this card really works, hope you enjoy it! I love this Basic Grey paper, its called Stella Ruby and the colors are so bold and wonderful. Hope you like the contrast, I think the colors really bring the card together, plus I love the way I colored in my rose image, what do you think?!

Stamps: Spring Blooms from Gina K. Stamps; Paper: Certinaly Celery, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Stella Ruby Basic Grey DP; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, R20 Blush, RV13 Tender Pink, G24 Willow, YG03 Yellow Green; Accessories: 5/8 Brown Grosgrain Ribbon

Going Black and White

Every now and then when my new stamps come in I get all excited and share my new rubber with my family. My Mom and Sister especially love to see what I am creating up in my room so I update them on not only my new supplies but also my newest creations. This past weekend I was showing my mom these super cute Magnolia stamps that I ordered from Dream Cottage (main website for these great stamps) and she loved this particular image, Tilda in France. In fact she looked at it for a while then said this image would look great on a black and white card, do you think that sounds good? I would love to see something.....so I got coloring! I used two greys to create the tones in this image and I think it really works. The greys I used were C1 and C7 from Copics and to be honest it was all I needed, to get darker tones I put layers of ink and the really dark areas I used the C7 for. Hope you like this card as much as I do, my mom issued an amazing challenge, I will have to let you know her thoughts on the final creation!

Pretties Wednesday!

Orange you glad today is Wednesday?! That means another wonderful challenge with the Paper Pretties Girls! This week the challenge was to create a bright card with orange as the stand out color. I pulled out my Off to School Sophia and got going! I love how playful this image is, you ladies are going to love her too! Now remember this adorable Sophia will not be released to the general public until July, but she is included in the new Stamp of the Month Club through Paper Pretties, which you need to get in on! Thanks for the great challenge girls, I love these weekly get togethers!

Father's Day!

So here it is, I forgot to take a picture yesterday of the card I created for my Dad for Father's Day so today I borrowed the card to photograph it and share it with all of you. I tried to go for something simple with several colors that seem to go nicely together. I used some DP from a Paper Pretties Box and the super cute image from Gina K. Stamps called Hiking With Dad....love it! I ordered two single Dad images from Gina's Kindred Spirits line and I just had to color this one, the other I ordered is called Just Me & My Dad. At the end of this week Gina is releasing new stamps, so parties to come! Hope you enjoy my Father's Day creation!

Challenge Time!

So today I created two cards, one for my Dad for Father's Day and a card created using Danielle's Weekly Challenge on the Paper Pretties forum. The Father's Day card I created is simple using some Gina K. Stamps, but I forgot to take a picture of it, so I will be taking a picture of it tomorrow and posting it here for all to see. After we had dinner and went to the movies to see Indiana Jones 4 I came home and got crafting. This weeks challenge features a fun sketch using triangles! I pulled out my Sealed With a Kiss set from Paper Pretties as the main image on the card and got going. I used some fun black and white paper from a Specialty Cardstock pad that I purchased yesterday from Michael's. Enjoy ladies and thanks for the great sketch Danielle!

Stamps: Sealed With a Kiss; Paper: PTI Lavender Moon, MM Black, Whisper White, PTI Kraft, Me and My Big Ideas DP; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, BV02 Prune, C1 Cool Gray, C7 Cool Gray, E00 Skin White, E31 Brick Beige, R20 Blush, V04 Lilac, V12 Pale Lilac; Accessories: Black and White brads

Baking Tilda!

Today I decided to give one of the 'Friday Sketchers' sketches a shot. A few weeks ago a group of ladies from all over the globe started a blog that features sketches every Friday. Not only do they post a great sketch to try each week, but they also share their creations and randomly draw one participants name to win some great stamping prizes. I hope you like my entry for this week, I was able to use some paper from my great paper stash sent my way from Christie at Paper Pretties and a few of my Primas. I also created a few other cards today that I will post over the next week so stop by, you may even see a Father's Day card coming in the mix!
Stamps: Baking Tilda; Paper: PTI Craft, Paper Salon Cross Hatch DP, Bazzill Olive CS, PTI Lavendar Moon; Ink: BV00 Mauve Shadow, BV02 Prune, E00 Skin White, E31 Brick Beige, E35 Chamois, R00 Pinkish White; Accessories: Big Brads, Primas

Framed Flowers

I thought it was time to share another Gina K cretaion I made for one of the wonderful swaps hosted by Joanne B through the SCS forum. This card I created to showcase the stamp set called Framed Flowers, the images are bold and solid but a lot of fun to ink up. I went for a classy look with all sorts of fun scallops and dots and simple white grosgrain ribbon. I am workng on getting those stamps that are growing dusty on my shevles some ink time. In fact I have some plans for a few Paper Pretties stamps this weekend as well, and then who knows what will come! Maybe even a My Favorite Things card or a another Magnolia creation. Oh I can't wait to get stamping some more ladies, did I mention that my Paper Pretties Monthly box arrived last week so I have the Mother's Day Stamp set and all sorts of goodies to use with it....stay tuned!

Make it New Again

Its Pretties Wednesday! Jillian's challenge from two weeks ago was to make it new again, take a stamp that was one of yours first and create something. Well....I decided that since I have not been exploring all of my stamp lines that I should do so and the line that I seem to be using the least at the moment is my Magnolia's. So this card is created from a stamp that was from my first order of three Magnolia stamps. I love this line but I never seem to have a chance to play with them! Isn't this image adorable! Perfect for the weather we have been having in New Jersey too....hot, humid and gross! Do you love the Primas? I picked them up last ngiht at Michael's and I love them! They come in these super cute and jam packed tins of flowers! Hope you enjoy!

Finding Friendship

I joined a Gruffies card swap over on SCS so I thought I would share the card I created for it. This Gruffie is called 'Finding Friendship' and it is SO cute! If you haven't seen the Gruffies stamps yet, you really should check them out. I ordered 5 different stamps a few months ago and I have yet to ink up two of these, which is not a good thing, but I am getting to them! All of the stamps from the Gruffies line are adorable, I ordered mine from HM Stamps. HMs stamps has excellent customer service and Dick, the store owner, keep all his customers posted through wonderful monthly newsletters. Hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

MFT Guest Designer Challenge

With each MFT stamp release Kim holds a wonderful challenge where one person is selected to be a Guest Designer for My Favorite Things based on an item they created for a challenge. Last night I gave the challenge a shot and I love how my card came out! I used Prima Sprites as my inspiration and went from there. The challenge was to create a card using black cardstock and black embellishments, but I had no black paper! I had to stop by the store before trying this challenge and I am glad I made that trip to the store! Hope you enjoy it!

Last one....

For now...This card marks the end of the my cards for Manda's Monthly Bella Card Swap,but have no fear I signed up for another Manda swap, but not a monthly. We had a theme of our choice in one of the spots and I had to go with my Savy Shopabella which I love, a simple but fun card. I love these colors, as you can tell I am sure, I use them all the time and I think they work for so many things. Hope you enjoy this card, hopefully I can post my MFT Challenge card, the challenge is to use black cardstock and black embellishments, so I had to take a trip to the store tonight. Hope to see you here again tomorrow!

Pretties Wednesday!

Today is Wednesday so that means its Paper Pretties Challenge time! This week I am sharing the baby card I created based on Jana's Baby card challenge. I used the Cuddle Me Sophia for the main image and paper pieced her dress and bow to match the background. I then mounted the background paper on white paper and scalloped the base. The to add a bit more I used 5/8" thick grosgrain ribbon and the sentiment 'Made with Love' to finish it off. I love this color challenge and how simple the card is, its classy but not over done. Hope you enjoy it ladies, make sure you stop by the other Pretties Girls blogs, there are some great baby cards out there to check out! Have a great night!
Stamps: Cuddle Me from Paper Pretties; Paper: Whisper White, SU! Rose Red, SU! Prints Sampler DP; Ink: Noir Black, E00 Skin White, E31 Brick Beige, Y11 Pale Yellow; Accessories: May Arts 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Corner Rounder

Soul Sisters

Another Stamping Bella card I created for Manda's Monthly Bella Swap! That means that I only have one more to share with you, woo-hoo! I love using my Bellas, but I only pull them out when I have a reason, so they sit in their little Stamping Bella Bindahs, poor things. I decided to use some of my new PaperTrey supplies for these cards so I pulled out the newest PTI paper colors of Kraft and Lavender Moon to get started and finished the card using some of the decorative paper found in the 12 x 12 Bitty Baby Blessings paper pack. I love the PTI colors and I have been using them on many of my cards recently, in fact I am already looking forward to the next colors that must be coming out, if they are anything like the colors that have already been revealed I can only imagine what will come next! Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Pretties Wednesday, the challenge was most definitely a challenge, but I got just the thing.

For Hope

So today I thought I would share a card I created what seems like ages ago, but in reality was a little over a month ago. This card was for one of the Gina K. Swaps that Joanne B. has hosted through SCS’s Gina K. Stamps forum. I took two spots in the swap, but we aren’t supposed to share them until everyone has received their cards, we don’t want to spoil the surprise! Now that the swap is completed I can share my creations with my neglected Gina K. stamps. I love Gina’s stamp lines and I own more than I can count, but I seem to have them arrive, I cut them up to get them ready but I do not grab them enough. I am trying to work on using the stamps that I own which is why I signed up for two different Gina K. swaps, these swaps help me stay on point and get those stamps in my collection some quality ink time. Tomorrow I have another Stamping Bella card to share; this one is another card for Manda’s Monthly Stamping Bella swap! I am finally done with all of the cards for this swap and I am thrilled! I will be making a stop to the post office this week to get that one out along with a secret sister swap package that needs to go postal. After these swaps I may be sticking to only the Wish RAK Secret Exchanges for a while, I have been horrible with swap deadlines and it is not fair to the hostess and participants, hopefully I will get more time this summer and I can join in on the fun once again. Hope you enjoy my Gina K. swap card; I can’t wait to share the other one with you too! I love the ribbon I used on this card, I just remember that it is a May Arts ribbon and it is totally yummy!