There's a leopard stalking Halloween...

Ok, is this not the cutest stamp? I have more cute ones to show you...but not yet. For now, we'll have to be happy with Whiskers, Paper Pretties' latest Sophia to be released. She's available on the Paper Pretties website NOW.

Since Julia is going to be a leopard for Halloween this year, I just had to dress Sophia up as one as well. Don't you love that leopard print paper? I had it in my stash and need to find some additional animal print papers to cover letters for Julia's Jungle themed bedroom. Don't worry, I'll show you those when I'm done!!

Back to the card, I knew the leopard print paper was too big to paper piece with, so I colored the spots on by hand with a black pencil after coloring and blending the rest of Sophia with my Prismacolor pencils and OMS. Didn't she turn out adorable?? I added a little black organdy ribbon to go with her bow, and punched the greeting out with my word window punch (thank goodness THAT didn't get lost in the move!)

It is a nice and simple layout, but I like those...especially when you have such a fun image to work with! October 1st is coming up fast, and us Prettie Girls like to party on the first of the month. October is no exception, and we'll be stamping in our Jammies on Wednesday night from 8-11pm Eastern time (that's 5 to 8 for us West coasters!) in the Paper Pretties Forum. We'll have wonderful challenges along with prizes, and tons of fun! And this time...my computer is hardwired so I should be here typing as fast as my fingers can go that evening! :-) Oh yeah...and right now Christie has a sale in the boutique - 50% off all designer paper, just use the coupon code "dp" when you check out! How cool is that?!?! Have fun shopping!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Whiskers by Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, Basic Black, Creamy Caramel, Wild Things Leopard from Paper Pizzaz
Ink: Brilliance black
Acc: prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, black organdy ribbon

TFL!

Stamp Club Fun

So, now that I'm back in the States I can once again start working on my Stampin' Up! business. When I moved, I handed my stamping club off to my friend and downline Michelle. She has kept that group going for 2 years, and now that I"m back, we're sharing the group while we work to build up new ones in addition. So, for our first shared club, Michelle and I each prepared a project for the ladies to make 2 of.

I first saw the cris-cross pocket card using the pennant die on Patty Bennet's blog, and loved the idea. To the right here is the sample I made for the ladies to follow using 2 large pennants cut from the Bella Rose DSP. However, when I did this I wasn't thinking about the fact that they would be making 2 - requiring a lot more DSP.

The night of club, everyone got to choose 2 different half sheets of the Bella Rose DSP to cut at the same time with the die. We had a discussion as to how to place the papers on the die to get the opposite patterns (one each side of a double-sided paper) in the same size pennant. Long story short...I messed up! I had 2 large pennants going the same way...so they weren't going to work together. One of my club members was playing around with the pieces we had cut out and we came up with the brilliant plan of using a large and small penant together! And so, the cards below were born.

We used one of the scalloped circles that gets cut with the pennant die, and then we used the new Curly Label Punch Bundle to stamp the greeting and punch it out. Some Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon finished off the pocket portion, and the inside card was made with Pink Pirouette paper and the Totally Tabs set along with the rounded tab punch.

So, to borrow a phrase from one of my favorite Painting shows, there are no mistakes, just happy little accidents that you can turn into something wonderful! :-)

I plan on stamping tomorrow (Saturday) and hope to have some fun new things to show you this weekend. Have a great one!!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Cute & Curly, totally tabs
CS: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Bella DSP
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Acc: Big Shot, Pennant Die, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, Curly label punch, round tab punch

TFL!

Prettie Wednesday Monochromatic

So 2 weeks ago (well, actually just over a week ago because I was late as usual!) I challenged the Prettie Girls to make a monochromatic card. A TRULY monochromatic card using only white (or vanilla) black, and shades of 1 color. I said brown did NOT count as a neutral for this one.

I love monochromatic cards, because it makes things kind of easy. You only have to worry about 1 color, right? That said, I wanted to use Angel Wings Sophia - did I even tell you last time that she's the October Stamp of the Month?? I know everyone is loving her, and if you don't want to have to wait until November to get her, you should go sign up for the Stamp of the Month club NOW, before the end of this month!!!

So, I wanted to use Angel Wings Sophia but not traditional angel colors (like blue, white, or silver/gold) so I was playing around and decided that plum would be perfect for her! She's stamped on Stamper's Select White and colored in with my SU! markers. I then had to add some glitter to her wings and stickles to her trim...because she needs to shine! She's layered on Basic Black and then Pale Plum. The Perfect Plum base was stamped with the SU! Bella Toile backgrounder in the same color. I added some ribbon on the side...and then was digging through my other Paper Pretties stamps to find an appropriate greeting and I came across my Falling For You Sophia (she's going to be released on October 1st to those of you not in the SOTM Club) and thought this sentiment would be PERFECT with my little purple angel! ;-) I thought about adding some little devil horns to her, but she looks too cute the way she is - although it would make her more appropriate to represent my daughter that way!

Thanks for all the sweet comments on my last post everyone...glad you all think the tummy is cute. I think I'm over it now and am just getting uncomfortable. Just over 10 weeks to go though, so I think I'll make it.

Have a wonderful day! Oh...and go check out what all the other Prettie Girls have done with the monochromatic challenge this week...I'm heading out to right now!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Angel Wings Sophia and Falling For You Sophia by Paper Pretties , Bella Toile by SU!
CS: Stamper's Select White, Basic Black, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum
Ink: Brilliance black, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink, Blush Blossom, So Saffron
Acc: silver cord, dazzling diamonds, stickles, silver organdy ribbon, eggplant grosgrain ribbon

TFL!

Spooktacular!

It's been a good, but hectic weekend here. There was no school on Friday, so we went to Santa Cruz and enjoyed a lovely day at the beach with friends. I've included a few photos at the end of this post for those who are interested...including a "belly shot." I'm now 29 weeks, so just 11 more to go - woo hoo!!

Here's a card I made a week or so ago with my friend Michelle. I started the card at her house (since it is her stamp set!) and just embossed the main image with black detail embossing powder on glossy white. After getting home, I colored in the windows and grave stones, then went over them and the moon with my versamarker and embossed with clear embossing powder. Next, I sponged on the color - Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Night of Navy. I used some of the new SU! Halloween DSP (which I LOVE) for the background, and I embossed the greeting (from the set I have - TAbleau of Terror) with black on Old Olive. Can I just say, I love this card! I hope you all do too!!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: House of Haunts, Tableau of Terror
CS: Basic Black, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Glossy White, Ghostly Greetings
Ink: versamark, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Night of Navy
Acc: embossing powder, brads, embossing buddy, heat tool

TFL!

Here's my beach girl just lovin' the surf and sand.
And here she is playing in the sand with some kelp.
No, that isn't a beach ball...that's my bump! It's getting BIG!!!

Another late Prettie Wednesday Post

Ok, I've really got to get better about this. The good news is the internet cable for my computer arrived today so this weekend my husband can drill a hole in the wall and my desktop system can be hardwired to the router out at my desk, which should hopefully make computer time a little more convenient!
Here is my Prettie Wednesday challenge card. Charmaine challenged us all to make an ATC, so I made one with the newest Angel Sophia! Isn't she just darling?? She's on Stamper's Select White and colored her with my prismacolor pencils (she has silver gown on) before outlining her with my B00 copic marker. Then, I added lots of dazzling diamonds to her wings, and some pearly stickles to the hem of her gown.She's layered a few times onto Basic Black first, then Cool Caribbean (still got a few sheets of that one left) and finally onto Going Gray. I'm not very good with ATC's, and never know what to do with them, so for this one I punched a hole in the top and fed some silver cord through before adhereing a small silver organdy bow. Now she's ready to be hung on a Christmas tree!! Look below and you can see I also made a little card with some Shimmery White cardstock and a cuttlebug embossing folder to send her in.
Thanks everyone for checking in...I have lots of projects to share, just need to carve some computer time now!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Angel Sophia by Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, Basic Black, Going Gray, Cool Caribbean
Ink: Brilliance black,
Acc: Prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, silver cord, dazzling diamonds, stickles, silver organdy ribbon

TFL!

Some SU! stuff!

I hope I can get myself into a routine here pretty soon, because I miss you all! My google reader is back up to 472 unread posts...OMG!! Seems like I never have time on my computer anymore - I spend it all trying to sleep! On that note, everything is going well. Baby is still inside and we're now a full week past the point where Julia was born! We're at B-83 and counting. :-)

I thought I'd show you one of the cards I recently made with some new SU! stamps. Now that I'm back in the states, I'm lovin' all my new SU! stuff again!! And hey, hopefully soon I'll actually send a newsletter out to all my old customers and see if any of them are interested in getting back into this with me! I've really missed teaching classes, and my new house is PERFECT for them!

I made this card using the new Upsy Daisy set borrowed from my friend Michelle. I embossed the daisies with black detail embossing powder on glossy white cardstock, then I brayered on Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze and Pacific Point inks. Lastly, I sponged some black around the edges. I layered this onto pink pirouette cardstock and basic black. The card base is Pacific Point with the Polka Dot backgrounder stamped in the same color. I used the new scallop edge punch to scallop one side of a strip of pink pirouette and attached that, then tied some white taffeta ribbon around the edge. I attached the focal piece and Voila! Finished card. I didn't include a sentiment on this one, preferring to save it and include one on the inside later when I'm ready to send it to someone.

I have 2 more of these embossed images, so I think I'll try something similar with different colors and layout. Watch for those to come in the next week or 2. I have a few more already completed which I'll continue to share with you throughout the week!

Thanks for checking in!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Polka Dot background
CS: Pink Pirouette, Pacific Point, Basic Black, Glossy White
Ink: versamark, Pink Pirouette, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Basic Black
Acc: white taffeta ribbon, scallop edge punch

TFL!

Prettie Wednesday, a day late!

Sorry folks that I'm so late! My computer was NOT behaving yesterday, so finally last night my husband moved it into the office closer to the wireless router - now it seems to work a little better! So, I'm just now uploading the card that I did manage to get made yesterday while Julia was at kindergarten - woohoo!!

Jules challenged us all 2 weeks ago to make a shaped card, but it couldn't be square, or circular, or some regular shape. If you haven't seen the beautiful creations of all the other Prettie Girls you need to check them out, because they are all much more creative than me! I just cheated and made a card with my new Big Shot and the SU! Top Note die. I placed the fold of my Pacific Point cardstock so that I could create a folding card. Then, I diecut a piece of Stamper's Select White (finally cleared the pile from my desk and found that!) and cut it out around the perforrated line. I stamped this wonderful little surfing Snowflake and colored him in with my prismacolors. Lastly, I added the felt flowers because they seemed Hawaii-ish and the colors matched pretty well.

For the sentiment, I gently curved the acrylic before placing it on my block so it would curve around the wave some - cool, huh???

I hope you all are having a wonderful day, and I hope to be back tomorrow with another project I created yesterday. :-)

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Surf's Up by Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, Pacific Point
Ink: Brilliance black, Pacific Point
Acc: Prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, felt flowers, rhinestone brad, Top Note Bigz Die and Big Shot

TFL!

More Prettie PJ Fun

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry I've been neglecting my blog. I hope to get into a rhythm soon (and to get my desktop fixed!) so that I can be a little more consistent. We're almost done unpacking (which means everyone except me is done - stamping space is STILL a mess!!) But I just seem to have so many errands to run, and no energy by the time I've finished. However, all is going well, and we're already past the point in this pregnancy where Julia was born (WOOHOO!) So I guess that means I am more pregnant than I have ever been. And so far, I have not been restricted yet (i.e. bedrest, etc.) which my husband keeps reminding me I need to keep resting so that I don't have that happen.

On to the card! Here's another card I made for the Pretties SIYJ party last Monday. Charmaine's second challenge to us all was to create a square card. I LOVE to make square cards, although this one is a little smaller than I usually do (it's only 4.25" square.)

I started by stamping my Off to School Sophia with Brilliance black ink onto some whisper white cardstock (my PTI paper was buried!) and then again onto my lovely Basic Grey Eurphoria paper. I pieced her dress after coloring the rest of her with Jane's Copic markers. Speaking of which, I'm not sure I've really gotten the hang of those things...will have to play a little more before deciding if I really like them or not.

Next, I created a square card from some Pink Pirouette cardstock. I used a sponge and slid some white tafetta ribbon over my Pink Pirouette ink pad to die the ribbon (I think it turned out a little orange-y in my photo though!) and tied that around a square of the Euphoria DP before adhering that to the card. Lastly, I backed the Sophia layer with some Pacific Point cardstock and adhered that on too. Overall, she was a pretty quick card...and I LOVE this new Euphoria paper for paper piecing...such lovely patterns!!!

Ok...now that it's actually wednesday before I"m finishing this post (dh has been trying to fix my desktop and it's slightly better, but still having issues) I guess I'll try to be back soon with my Pretty Wednesday creation for Julies challenge to make a differently shaped card. Oh, and don't forget about the amazing sale Christie has going over at the Prettie Boutique - 40% off EVERYTHING!!! If you haven't already, be sure to go check it out before everything is GONE!!!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Off to School Sophia by Paper Pretties
CS: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Pacific Point, Basic Grey Euphoria DP
Ink: Brilliance black
Acc: Copic markers, white tafetta ribbon, sponge

TFL!

I missed another one...

Ok, I'm officially REALLY not happy with my computer right now. For some reason, the wireless card in my desktop computer and the wireless router in my husband's office do not communicate very well. I am all about good communications, and in my household that is a requirement, so when things don't talk I'm not a happy camper. I can't live without consistent internet!!!

Ok, enough wingeing (I miss you Lisa!!!) and on to the cards. The night of the pj party I had my friends Michelle and Jane over to stamp with me (the other Bay Area Pretties couldn't make it...hopefully next time!) and we had a wonderful time chatting and stamping! I actually got all three cards done, and Julia even made a challenge card! The first challenge from Charmaine was to create a card with fall colors. For this challenge I used Howdy Girlfriend (instead of the obvious Falling for You because Julia was using that one!) I used some retired SU! DSP for the background, and colored her in using my prismacolors after stamping her with Brilliance black ink. I used my new GinaK OMS...although I have to say they aren't as odorless as the brand I was using in Germany...may have to do some exploring on that. Of course, could just be that I'm a little more sensitive to it right now! ;-)

Since I was working under a time constraint, I went with a super simple layout, and just used a little chocolate chip grosgrain and some copper cord to finish her off. Isn't she sweet??

Now, if you haven't been over to the Prettie Boutique since Monday evening, you'll want to go now! EVERYTHING in the Boutique is 40% off. That means, if it was already on sale, you get an ADDITIONAL 40% off the sale price too!! WOW!! Now that's what I call a sale! Even all the wonderfully amazing stamp sets are on sale, so you really best go see what's left...and fast!! Just be sure to use the coupon code Labor Day when you check out to get your discount.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Howdy Girlfriend by Paper Pretties
CS: Whisper White, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Retired SU! DSP
Ink: Brilliance black
Acc: Prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, chocolate grosgrain, copper cord

TFL!