Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Prettie Wednesday Journal - PWC84

Happy Wednesday everyone! I can't believe it will be 2010 in just 2 more days! It's our last full day here in Florida, so we're relaxing and packing - 2 things that don't usually go together!

As usual, we're hopping this week so head on back to Christie's blog if you didn't arrive via Julie's place! For this week's challenge, Jules asked us to create a journal for recording our blessings in 2010. While I'm not much for recording blessings, I did have a notebook that needed a cover! My little guy Jackson was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) earlier this year. And while he's a wonderful happy, loving baby, he is struggling with his movements and coordination. We created this binder to keep all of his medical reports, insurance information, thereby notes, etc so that I could have everything in one place when we go to appointments or have meetings about his progress.This binder has been left plain for almost a year, so when I saw this week's challenge I knew I wanted to finally create a cover for it using Cooper. I used this Crate Paper Baby Bee collection I got in the boutique while I was still pregnant, and cut Cooper and his mat using my nesties, then I cut out the letters with my SU! sizzix dies.I'd love to see what you've come up with for this challenge. And by playing along you could win a $15 gift certificate to the Pretties Boutique! Just upload your journal or notebook using your paper pretties stamps to the Weekly Challenge Gallery by Tuesday, January 5th at 5pm PST and use the keyword PWC84. Now get on over to Jackie's blog for the next stop on the hop!!

Monday, December 28, 2009

MFT Pure Innocence

I have to admit, I fell in love when I first saw these adorable little girls, and since I finally bought them, I haven't been able to play with them NEARLY us much as I want to!!! However, when I saw the challenge for last month's Favorite Guest Designer contest I quickly designed a plan!My friend Michelle had recently received a luminary in a cool swap she does with one of our online stamping friends. I thought that would be a fun thing to make...so I stamped my little girl onto some vellum and colored her with my copics. the luminary itself was easy to make (this one used 2 pieces of cs, 3.75" by 5.25 inches. The luminary is 3.5 inches by about 5 inches tall (I punched off the top using a new edge punch!!)I colored in the white bits of the image using my white gel pen, and then used my nesties to cut the whole, and to create a border for the opening. Next, I added a little polar white flowersoft around her feet and on top of her hat for snow. Lastly, I added the "Jo-Bow" that Joanne Basille has been inspiring us all to make!Next I created the matching card. It came together much the say the luminary did, except this time I paper pieced the little girls jacket and hat. I wish I had layered the designer paper on some red cardstock, and there were a few other things I could have done to "step it up" but I was getting close to the deadline so I just needed to finish.I have to say, I love how this set turned out!! I hope you've enjoyed seeing it.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas Rudolph!

Merry Christmas! We're here in Florida enjoying a warm Christmas with my parents this year, but I wanted to share one last Christmas project with you all today. Here is a photo of the 24 little Reindeer I made using SU! sizzex dies and punches. Cute aren't they? I got the instructions for them from from Stamping Inspirations here. Look around her blog, she has some of the most inventive punch and die cut art I've seen, and she shares instructions!!!I made one of these for each of Julia's classmates (and her teachers) as well as 2 siblings of her classmates. I was actually surprised I got them all done!!

I've also officially resigned from Stampin' Up! so I won't be doing any more SU! Friday posts, but you'll certainly still see plenty of SU! stuff on my blog since I will always love their products, and now my former downline will be my supplier, er...demonstrator! :-D

Have a wonderful Christmas wherever you are, and I'll be back soon with more pretties to share!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas La-La

A quick post to say Merry Christmas Eve everyone!e Here's a card I made a few weeks back for one of teh LaLa Land challenges. LaLa Land Crafts is a new stamp company founded by a local friend of mine, with some very sweet stamps! You should definitely check them out.The challenge for this card was to use punches, which I did to create the Pointsettia accent. Isn't she just adorable? I love how this card turned out with the embossed background and the punched flower...and of course cute little LaLa herself!! I even added some liquid applique and glitter to the furry areas of Lala's outfit for some extra dimension and sparkle!!Have a wonderful day today everyone, hopefully all the work is done and you can just sit back and relax (now if only that were true for me!)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Prettie Wednesday Valentine

Well, it's almost Christmas. Done with your shopping? Me neither! I did get most of the presents wrapped though, and am now writing this from my folks place in Florida! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!

As always, we're hopping for the challenge, so head back to Julie's blog so you don't miss any fun. This week's challenge was issued by...ME! I want you all to make a valentine without using ANY red or pink!!! That means Sophia can't be wearing red or pink either!!!! (you can only use pink on her cheeks if you like!) I'd love for you to play along with us. Just upload your creations to the paper pretties weekly challenge gallery, and you could win a $15 gift certificate to the Pretties Boutique. Cool, huh??I made this tall card with our sweet little Cooper with his Beary Best Friend. This is a perfect card for my sweet little man Jackson. And there is no pink or red anywhere, but I do like the saffron heart under the sentiment - thanks for the wonderful idea Michelle!!

Now, hop along to see what Jackie has for us all, and get to work on those Valentines in between wrapping presents and cooking that Christmas dinner! :-)

Friday, December 18, 2009

SU! Friday - More Christmas Cards!

A few weeks back Michelle and I finally got to play with the double embossing technique everyone has been so excited about. This is where you use a template to leave an open space inside your embossed paper...and it looks REALLY cool!! The first place I saw this was on Patty Bennet's blog (she's amazing, isn't she?) And since then it's been everywhere!My white layer is shimmery white cardstock run through the big shot with the petals aplenty embossing folder. I then stamped the holy wreath in the center (leaves inked with old olive, berries with real red) then stamped Merry Christmas inside that. This is layered on Old Olive and a Real Red card with some old olive taffeta ribbon.

So, how are YOUR Christmas cards coming along??

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

PWC82: Prettie Wednesday with Eyelets

***SUPER SALE GOING ON NOW*** In case you haven't seen, Christie has everything in the Prettie Boutique is 35% off for 4 days only - we're celebrating the launch of our NEW and IMPROVED Paper Pretties Website! Use coupon code newsite and be sure to finalize your order before midnight on Saturday to get the sale prices!!

When I saw this week's Prettie Wednesday challenge was to use eyelets on a card I was not happy. How could Christi do this to me? I haven't willingly used an eyelet in a long time! I mean...that's why they invented brads, right?? But then I remembered the jumbo eyelets and decided I could deal. :-) As usual, we're a hoppin' today, so if you didn't arrive from Julie's blog please head on back to Christie so you don't miss any Prettie Goodness! And we'd love for YOU to play along too - just upload your card or project using Prettie stamps and eyelets to the challenge gallery by 5pm PDT on Tuesday, December 22nd for your chance to win a $15 gift certificate to the Prettie Boutique!!I decided to use our new Snowbunny stamp. I love how quick and easy he is to color, and how adorable he looks! I got me some Eskimo Kisses paper at my LSS (Memories Live On) and was dying to use it! Aren't these colors just gorgeous??? And with that beautiful May Arts Satin Ribbon? I love it!I think next time I'll have to paper piece his scarf - it's just too cute!! Have a wonderful Wednesday, and keep on a hoppin' along to Jackie - your next stop on this Prettie Wednesday!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Prettie Birthday wishes to Kristy!

It's Prettie Girl Kristy's birthday today....Happy Birthday Kristy!!! We're hopping around Prettie Style today to celebrate...so if you didn't start at Prettie Mama, Christie's blog head on back there so you don't miss any of the fun!I decided to make Kristy a cake for her birthday, and since it's a December birthday, what better than a beautiful Christmas Cake? I couldn't resist using some old Basic Gray Fruitcake papers and last week's Mojo Monday sketch (of course, I noticed after I finished and looked at the sketch again that I got the ribbon in the wrong place - oh well!) I used the cake from our new Time for Cake set. I love how you can decorate the cake however you want.I added some bling to the flower centers, punched the sentiment from Make a Wish and finished the card off. I hope you like it Kristy!! Now hop along and see what Jackie's got for you all to see!

Friday, December 11, 2009

SU Friday post

Hi everyone, hope you're having a wonderful Friday today. I'm back with an SU! card to share today, one that I made while playing at my friend Michelle's. I have to admit I've never really liked trying to use stencils (too much work) but this was quick, easy, and beautiful!I used Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive ink and a sponge to stencil the ornament and swirls...then I spnged a little champagne mist on for some shimmer. I inked up the sentiment stamp with True Thyme, adding a little red for the berries. I also sponged some Thyme around the edges and adhered the ribbon before mounting the 4 1/8" by 5 3/8" card onto a quarter sheet of true thyme.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

PWC81: Prettie Scrappy Wednesday

Welcome to another installment of Prettie Wednesday. This week, Christie has challenged us all to make a 6 by 6 scrapbook page. Ever since getting My Digital Studio from SU! I haven't done any traditional scrapbooking, so this was really fun for me.

Now remember, this is our weekly challenge hop, so if you didn't start at Christie's blog, head on back there because you don't want to miss any of the scrappy goodness. And, if you'd like a chance to win $15 to spend in the Pretties Boutique, be sure to upload your own page for the challenge to the Pretties Challenge Gallery before December 15th at 8pm EST with a keyword of PWC81...we'll announce the winner in the Paper Clip the next day.For this project I wanted to try out our newest snowman set, Joyful Heart. Isn't he fabulous?? So much amazing detail to color in (or not as your preference may be!) I only used 5 different Copics to color him in (sorry, i don't have the numbers handy!) and boy did I get lucky to have some new DP that matched perfectly!I added a photo of Julia that was taken our first winter in Germany at a nordic skiing race they hold in the city every year. Now, it doesn't usually snow much up around Dusseldorf, so they actually manufacture all the snow needed for the race, as well as plenty of snow for the kids to play in including some skiing, sledding, and more! I finished the page off with one of the sentiments from this great set, and an old SU! felt snowflake topped with a button and some embroidery floss.Now hop on over to Jackie's to see what wonderfulness she has for us all today, and when you reach the end, get to work on your own scrapbook page!!

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Prettie Sketchy Wednesday

Hello everyone, it was fun to see some new names at the Prettie Release party last night, and lots of old friends were there too! I'm back with another Prettie Wednesday challenge card for you all today! This week, Frances has given us this amazing sketch challenge!! As usual we're hopping this Wednesday, so if you didn't just arrive here from Julie's blog, head on back to Christie's so you don't miss any sketchy goodness!
Of course I wanted to use one of our brand new sets for this fun sketch, so I used Apple of my Eye. I love these adorable little apples with their patches, and have seen some amazing creations with this set from other Pretties.I've been loving my old Bella Rose papers lately (almost out, gonna cry when I use the last scrap I think!!!) and thought they would work well with this image. I really love this sketch, and think I'll be using it again and again - thanks Frances!!!As usual, I used my copics to color these little apples in, and cut out the layers with my nesties. I used an SU! punch for the side tabs...and even included a brad in each.

I hope you all will play along from home. This is such a wonderful sketch, go ahead and upload your creations to the Paper Pretties Challenge Gallery by Tuesday, December 8th at 5pm EST and YOU could win a $15 gift certificate to the boutique!! For more details on the rules, visit the Paperclip! Now, off to Jackie's blog to see what wonderful eye candy she has for us all today! Thanks for stopping in, and be sure to check out all the new stamps from Paper Pretties here!