Prettie Hula Sophia

Oh my...what a hot weekend it's been!! In a house with lovely skylights, old windows, and no insulation, it's just like being in a solar heated oven!Seeing this little hula girl makes me think of a cool island breeze...something I'd love to experience right now! You only have until tomorrow to sign up for the Stamp of the Month club and get Hula Sophia in the next shipment, so act now! ;-)

I had so much fun coloring Sophia with Jane's copics last week. I loved the orange and peachy colors together...and the dark green was just right to set them off. I used Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie and Cameo Coral for the cardstock...and added lots of faux stitching along with my nesties, and a cuttlebug folder! It's a little busier than my normal card...but it was fun to keep adding more things.I hope you all have a wonderful week...thanks for checking in. Wednesday's post will be the masking challenge issued by Charmaine...FUN! In the meantime, be sure to check out the Pretties Boutique Clearance section since our Prettie Mama just moved, and she's got lots of great stuff on clearance right now!!

Prettie Wednesday Animal Style

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope your week is moving along nicely. It's been interesting with Julia at camp so far...life still hasn't slowed down!2 weeks ago Julie (my fellow Mainer!) challenged us Pretties to do the same challenge her daughter had recently issued - make a card with an animal on it. That's pretty easy to do with Sophia and Cooper's adorable little dog. So here she is all dressed up for trick or treating with Cooper from the Pick of the Patch set. And I just love this sentiment with her...since what dog truly WANTS to be dressed up??
I used a mixture of Copic markers and ink pads with my aquapainter to color in the images after stamping them with Palette Noir ink on Whisper White cardstock. I then used some Old Olive CS to layer under teh image, and under my fun retro paper that Frances sent in my wonderful birthday package. All that is on top of a Pumpkin Pie card base. I added the sentiment, and some black gingham ribbon, and I was done!

Now it's my turn to issue a challenge...and since I will be moving just 3 weeks from today - and Christie actually IS moving today - let's all make moving cards. Take that any way you want to folks!!

Have a great day everyone...I'll be celebrating my 9th wedding anniversary tonight...think I'll make us some fondue!

Wiggle in my Hips

Wow...1 week of no school, and I've actually been getting things done!! My friends Jane and Michelle came over to play (with their 2 boys each!) on Friday and we actually got some crafting done. Not that Jack ever slept, but Julia had lots of fun with the boys...and I got to use Jane's Copics again!! I'm truly becoming hooked on these markers - and thank you Jane for my birthday present of 4 - I'm dying to use them!!I managed to get this little Sophia colored with Jane's markers while she was here, and put her together into a card on Sunday. Maybe I'll use this for my anniversary card coming up on Wednesday...I think my dh while appreciate it!! When Christie (our wonderful Prettie Mama!) told us this sentiment was what she had come up with for our Hula Sophia (July's Stamp of the Month), I almost PMP (Peed My Pants in case you don't know the lingo!) I mean...how perfect can you get for my husband?!? This is the man who CONSTANTLY makes double entendre statements, and I keep telling him Julia is 6.5 now, some day she WILL understand him, and he WILL be embarassed!
Anyhow...If you want to get this little cutie delivered to your doorstep with no additional work, along with a new adorable Sophia every month, then join the Stamp of the Month club. You'll love all these adorable little girls...I know I do!!

Have a wonderful week everyone. Julia is at camp this week, so maybe I'll get even MORE done...if only Jack will start sleeping again!!!

PW: Black and White and Red All Over?

I remember when that used to be one of the funniest jokes I knew. Unfortunately, my repertoire hasn't improved much with time! But, Frances challenged us all to make a black and white card with some red. I know, I copped out and used Wade...but he's so perfect for this color challenge how could I resist??Wade E. Bug was stamped with Palette Noir ink on watercolor paper, then colored in with the neutrals watercolor crayons, riding hood red ink pad and my aquapainter. He was then mounted on some riding hood red cardstock and then basic black. The white layer is from the SU! specialty cardstock set again, and I clipped the corners and adhered some pearls on to the black card base. Oh yeah...and that's the lovely velvety ribbon from a retiring Ribbon Originals set. LOVE it!!Thanks for the fun challenge Frances!! Be sure to check out all the other Prettie Blogs to see what they've come up with...I can't wait to see them all myself!

Hula Anyone?

Have you all SEEN the new stamp of the month for July??? Of course you have...and isn't she just the most adorable little thing you've ever seen?? I finally got a chance to play with her this weekend, and I combined a couple of old Prettie Weekly Challenges to get her done.I used PWC55 for the colors (Light Pink, Dark Pink, Brown and a color of your own choosing - I used green!) and PWC 54, a sketch challenge to create this little card. I used Chocolate Chip, Certaqinly Celery, Pink Passion and Pretty in Pink along with some whisper white for my cardstocks, and all those pens excepting the chocolate, and adding creamy caramel and blush blossom (oh, and my B00 copic of course!) She came together pretty quickly (thankfully, since Jackson was screaming for mommy by the time I finished...well honestly the last 20 mins - even with his daddy's best efforts!) And I even got to use some more of those adorable flower brads I have been hoarding!So remember, if you want to get new Sophia's delivered to your doorstep every month with no effort whatsoever on your part, be sure to sign up for the Stamp of the Month club today!! Then you'll get this little beauty in your very first shipment! Yahoo!!!

Prettie Small Wednesday

This week's challenge was one I could really get into. Make a 3 by 3 card (LOVE those!!) with buttons (not my fav...but I can manage!) Thanks Christi!!

This week a 3 by 3 card is about all I can handle. It is Julia's last week of school, and I organized a project to make scrapbooks for each of Julia's 2 teachers and 1 teaching aide for the year. While staying quite simple...it still takes a lot of time to compile all these (but they are darned cute if I do say so myself...I'll try to post some photos!) So...even though I'm getting help, things are quite hectic to say the least!I made this card using a Sophia Ballerina image I colored with Jane's Copic markers almost 2 weeks ago (so glad I got a few done...need to get together with her again soon - Hey Jane, maybe I can color while the kids bowl!) I just had to cut her out with my nesties, layer her on some night of navy (don't you love all the little rhinestones I added? So much splashier than just piercing each bump!) Lastly, I added the little buttons in the corners. It was a quick, fun card. Perfect for my little girl's recital coming up. Speaking of which...wanna see a sneak peek of her in her recital costume? Guess I"ll have to do a scrapbook page with some of these pics and use little Sophia there!!!Isn't my baby gorgeous?!? I just love it!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Prettie Patriotic Monday

I should have had this card ready to post on Memorial Day, but as usual was late!

I recently picked up this American Flag dp at a stationary store, and thought it would be perfect for a card with our Lady Liberty Sophia stamp set. She looks so regal standing there...I just love this stamp!

I used my nesties as usual now, and colored Sophia in with my SU! markers (gotta get me some more Copics!!) As usual I went with a simple layout, but I love the addition of the silver cord frayed at the ends to give a fireworks like look.
Off to get ready for Julia's last week of Kindergarten...so much to get done this week!!! (Oh yeah, and get my stitches out so I no longer look like bride of Frankenstein!) Have a great week everyone!! And be sure to check out the Paper Clip - Jodi found yet another amazing creation by one of our many loyal fans to feature for Sunday's Card of the Week!!

Prettie Wednesday Butterfly

Sorry I'm late this morning...I spent all of yesterday recovering from Monday's procedure and didn't get this card finished until this morning's naptime. Thankfully, I already had a colored image from my play time on Friday with Jane's copics. And I hooked another one on Danielle's awesome new set Home Sweet Home at the same time!!Since Jessica told us we had to use a butterfly on our cards today, I decided to cut one out with my SU! sizzex die...and vellum cardstock seemed the perfect medium. I especially love my line of rhinestones down the butterfly's body - nice and sparkly! Danielle's set includes so many great sentiments, I thought this card would be perfect for an invitation to an open house.

Talking about Danielle, don't forget to check out her weekly challenge tomorrow...I think it's gong to be another fun one. I still haven't gotten a chance to do last week's sketch challenge...but I'm hoping to get to it soon!

Making a Splash Prettie Style!

Did you know that tonight, Monday, June 1st Paper Pretties is having our monthly Stampin In Your Jammies party!! The party starts at 8pm EST and will last until 10pm. We will be issuing only one challenge, so be sure to come and play along!! Besides the challenge, chatter, and all around fun, we will also be releasing Make a Splash Sophia and introducing our new Stamp Of The Month. I'll most likely miss out on all the fun since today I'm having a basal cell carcinoma removed from my nose. Not the most fun...and with nursing can't even take any good drugs! Oh well!!For today's card, I used some SU! dsp I have around, and colored Sophia with my friend Jane's copic markers. She gave me several wonderful pointers as I was playing...and I love them now! And aren't these nesties just the best? And I even used some of the flower brads from SU! that I've been hoarding. I love this card...the colors are fun, and all the patterns are so summery. I hope you like her too...and that you have a wonderful time at the party tonight! Tie one on for me!! ;-)

Prettie White Wednesday

Good morning! Sorry I wasn't here on Monday...I literally wasn't here since I flew to Texas with my family to visit my in-laws there. We all had a nice trip, especially Julia who loves all the fun things to do there at the ranch.

Now I'm back and running behind as always! It's after 10pm and I just finished my card. I loved this challenge from Jackie P - a local Californian! She wanted us to use only white for our card, except the main image which could be colored with other colors. I had seen this technique on Patty Bennett's blog a while back and really wanted to try...so I thought this would be perfect!I stamped the tree from Soakin' Up the Sun (currently unavailable, but soon to return!) with white craft ink on shimmery white paper then embossed with clear embossing powder per Patty's instructions. I then wet the paper and added the ink. It's so much fun to watch the color spread! I used shimmery white paper for my card base, and for the layer just under the tree that was cuddlebugged. Then, I added some white striped paper from the SU! specialty paper pack, and some ribbon. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment with brilliance black ink. Hopefully I didn't break the rules by using black on something other than the main image!!Overall, I'm very happy with my card, and will for sure play with this technique more. Thanks for the great challenge, officer!!

Prettie Fat Cat Wednesday

2 Weeks ago Jodi challenged us all to create a card using the colors from Danielle's new designs Fat Cat Stamps logo...apricot appeal, baja breeze and pacific point. As most of the Prettie's know, I am not a real big fan of baja...but I liked it here!I used the June Stamp of the Month, Giving Thanks Sophia for the card. I just love her...she's so sweet looking in this image! I colored her using my stamp pad and aquapainter for the dress, my markers for the rest. Then I added the Baja Breeze ribbon, and these fun pearl brads I picked up at Mikes a while back - pretty aren't they?
Sorry for the quick post...I'm in between watching Idol final performances and Dancing results show, and as usual there's someone complaining in the background wanting to go to sleep with his favorite pacifier - ME! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week and long weekend! I'll be back on Monday from Texas where I'm visiting my in-laws for my dh's birthday!!

I love New York!

New York City is an amazing place. I visited there for the first time just over 3 years ago now on our way to Germany when we moved. My sisters live in Jersey now, and since they've moved there I've been up to New York 3 times, and will be visiting again this summer when we head East. The funny thing is though, I have never seen the Statue of Liberty there - although I've seen her smaller sister in Paris 4 times! So, we're going to fix that this summer!Lady Liberty Sophia is one of the sets Paper Pretties released back on May 1st, and I just love her!! She's perfect for making 4th of July cards, cards for the troops, or just general America Rocks cards. :-)
For this card I stamped her on white cardstock then colored her in with my SU! markers. I cut her and the chocolate chip layer with my nesties, then used the sketch challenge from the release party for the layout, adding some fun dp I picked up at my LSS. It's actually a Christmas design, but I thought it looked like fireworks for behind Lady Liberty.

If you're looking for a fun sketch to try, be sure to check out Danielle's latest Pretties Weekly Challenge (PWC52) because it looks fabulous! I'm hoping to try it out myself soon!! And be sure to upload your cards to the challenge gallery - you could win a gift certificate to the Prettie Boutique!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Prettie Wednesday Color Challenge

2 weeks ago Jackie challenges us all to use our favorite color, along with a darker and lighter version. I LOVE Pacific Point. It's such a wonderful blue. So I paired that up wtih Night of Navy and Bashful Blue for this fun Flirty Phrases card.
I stamped the take out box onto some white cardstock and then again onto some SU! dsp to paper piece, then I cut it all out with my new labels nestabilities. I cut out the fortune and the chopsticks, colored the chopsticks and then gave them some gloss with my crystal effects.
I put the bashful blue through my cuddlebug in this fun folder, then added the ribbon, adhered it to the 5" square night of navy base, then added the rest. I think it's a fun card, and with that sentiment (Your future will be full of love) it can be very versatile - anniversary, wedding, engagement, or just for your honey!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone - be sure to surf around to all the other Prettie Girl blogs to see what THEIR favorite colors are, and don't forget to check out the latest Prettie Weekly Challenge tomorrow on the Paper Clip!!

Happy Birthday to our Canadian Mama!

Our Prettie Mama Christie's birthday was Friday, May 1st - the day of our release party! We didn't ignore her by not doing a hop, we instead had a challenge at the party to create a birthday card for her!!I used our fun new Canadian Girl Sophia, and created the birthday banner using the Welcome Home stamp from Danielle's new set Home Sweet Home. I just stamped the outside and handwrote my own greeting! I colored her in with my SU! markers using some artichoke for her sweater. And of course, some bling for the corners. Speaking of bling, did you know that the Prettie Boutique now has Blingz?? You gotta check it out, it's WAY cool!I hope your day was spectacular Mama!! We love you!

Prettie Butterfly Birthday Hop

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! And especially to Christi - for it's her birthday today also!! I hope your little ones are extra sweet to you today!!!

In honor of Christi's birthday(you know, that Whimsical Butterfly girl??), the Pretties are having another fun blog hop. If you are just joining us, please go to Christie's blog so you don't miss any of the Prettie Birthday fun. If you just arrived from Charmaine's Oodabug Alley, you're in the right place!I thought I should bring some Strawberries to the party since the season is in full-bloom here and I've been eating strawberries non-stop for the past several weeks. I knew my fellow pretties would enjoy them...perhaps we can all have some strawberry daquiris!! The patterned papers are from the Nana's Nursery Girl stack - my buddy Charlie made me do it!!! Of course, I couldn't be sexist so I got the boy set too. And now I want Nana's Kitchen!!! I'm sunk!

The stamp is our newest stamp of the month, Give Thanks. Isn't she adorable? You can get her next month (before she is released to the general public on July 1st) by joining hte Stamp of the Month club!! Cool beans, huh?For the next stop on our Birthday Hop, I send you Down Under the illustrious StampOwl, Frances! And don't forget to visit Christi and give her some Birthday Love after you've hopped to the end!!

Dusting off a Prettie for Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone. Today I have a neglected Prettie for you. Mostly because, I tend to forget her until Mother's Day! However, she is quite useful all-year-round (even if I did use her to make a Mother's Day card here...I mean...I needed to make one anyway, right?!?)

Here's our lovely Lexi baking some chocolate chip cookies. While I know my mom did make those, I'd prefer these be the big soft molasses cookies she used to make...YUM! Maybe I can get her to make some this summer when we're in Maine!!I used some wonderful SU! dsp because my mom loves Black Eyed Susans, and these were close enough to those flowers, especially by adding in the brown. Not your traditional mom's day colors, but they work for my wonderful mom!! So go pull our your Made With Love set and get a card made for your mom before Sunday!!

Be sure to go visit all the other Prettie Girls to see what stamp set's they've dusted off for today's challenge...And mom...Happy Mother's Day! :-)

Pretties Weekly Challenge #5-0 baby!

Happy Monday everyone! We're all excited here because my sister flew in Sunday afternoon for a quick visit before some meetings she has in Southern California on Tuesday. Julia of course was bouncing off the walls with excitement, and hasn't let go of her auntie since she arrived!

Friday night's SIYJ party was a blast (although I had to keep popping out to deal with children, husband, dinner, etc!) The new sets are fabulous - and our new designer out of this world! :-)One of the challenges at the party was a color challenge, so I decided to combine that with Danielle's sketch from her Weekly challenge. I have to admit...I like the color combo quite a bit. And with this set and sketch...it's perfect! I used Danielle's new stamp set Home Sweet Home along with my aquapainters and ink pads for the images. Then added some chocolate chip, kraft and tangerine tango cardstock. Lastly, I have some Cafe aulait buttons. Cute, huh?? I loved painting a cute old brownstone.I hope you all have a wonderful week...I'll be back on Wednesday giving a neglected prettie stamp some love!

Blog Hop and Pretties Party TONIGHT!!

I can't believe it's already May 1st...boy did April fly by!! And with the first of the month, another awesome Paper Pretties Release, and Stamping In Your Jammies party! WOOHOO!!

We at Paper Pretties are SO EXCITED today!! Not only are we introducing a BRAND new set by none other than our own Prettie Girl, Danielle Lounds, but we are having an EXTRA SPECIAL party! Today is Christie's, the owner and operator of Paper Pretties, birthday!! Please join us at the party tonight to wish her a VERY happy birthday!! The festivities start at 5pm PST, so don't be late!!

We've got a fun blog hop for you showcasing Danielle's new set! The hop started with Christie, so if you haven't been to her site yet, please head on over (and don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday while you're there!)Danielle's debut set is called Home Sweet Home and it is gorgeous! I love all the different houses that come with it, and the sentiments are all awesome! I colored this with an aquapainter and ink pads...and love the soft look with the brighter colors. Goes great with this gorgeous Marakesh paper from Basic Grey, don't you think?Be sure to go to Charmaine's blog next on the hop...you won't want to miss any of the beautiful cards everyone has made with this fun new set. And we look forward to partying with you tonight over on the Paper Pretties site!!

Prettie Peekie Wednesday

Good morning everyone, I hope you're having a great week. Today's Prettie Wednesday card is also a Prettie Peek of the new sets being released Friday night. I like this new Canadian Girl Sophia so much. She's perfect for all my Canadian friends!!I started with our sweet little Sophia on whisper white cardstock, and colored her in with my SU! markers. I'm still too cheap to invest in Copics...and I haven't get gotten a good enough tutorial to convince me I have to have them...so I'm still using my trusty SU! ones. I cut her out with my nesties, along with a scalloped layer. I also cut out the sentiment with my new ribbon tag die...isn't it awesome?!?

I knew she needed something in the upper left corner, and I searched around until I put my hands on these SU! fire rhinestone brads. Perfect!! Overall, she was pretty quick, and lots of fun! Don't forget to go check out all the prettie blogs to see more Pretty Wednesday cards, AND more Prettie Peeks!!!

Don't forget, On Friday May 1st Paper Pretties will be having their monthly Stampin In Your Jammies party!! The party starts at 6pm CDT and will last until 9pm. We will be issuing a challenge every hour so be sure to come and play along!! Besides the challenges, chatter, and all around fun, we will also be releasing Hola Chica, TWO new Sophias, re-releasing Rainy Day Friend in RUBBAH, and we will have a BRAND new set from a BRAND new artist!! Sneak peeks start on Wednesday April 29th!! Hope to see you there!!

It is also time for another Cutie Pie contest!! You have until Thursday April 30th at 8pmCDT to get your entries uploaded to the Cutie Pie gallery at the Paper Pretties website. The winner will not only get to call themselves a Cutie Pie, but they will also receive all the new release stamps!! Good Luck!!

Today I have a special project to share, with an even more special model!! With warm weather coming up, I wanted to stamp some cute onesies for Jack to wear, and since I needed to stamp a few as gifts figured I'd do them all at once (especially since I never iron and wanted to get that part over with all at one time too!!!)
I stamped Jack's name first using craft ink and SU!'s Big Deal Alphabet. Then...I stamped Cooper from Love You This Much using Brilliance Black ink. Then, I colored him in using some Fabrico Markers I picked up at Mike's for just this sort of thing. Adorable, isn't it?? And Jack's lookin' pretty cute too, I must admit!!

The first of the month is coming up fast, which means another SIYJ party right along with it!!

Paper Pretties will be having their monthly Stampin In Your Jammies party Friday, May first starting at 5pm PST. We will be issuing a challenge every hour so be sure to come and play along!! Besides the challenges, chatter, and all around fun, we will also be releasing Hola Chica, TWO new Sophias, re-releasing Rainy Day Friends in RUBBAH, and we will have a BRAND new set from a BRAND new artist!! Sneak peeks start on Wednesday April 29th!! Hope to see you there!!

And...since I'm sharing my little Cutie Pie, don't forget you can be one yourself!!! You have until Thursday April 30th at 8pm CDT to get your entries uploaded to the Cutie Pie gallery at the Paper Pretties website. The winner will not only get to call themselves a Cutie Pie, but they will also receive all the new release stamps!! Good Luck!!