Prettie Altered Wednesday

Hello everyone, I'm back with one more Prettie Peak for our Prettie Wednesday challenge. We've got some beautiful fun foam cards that have been uploaded for our previous challenge, and this week's challenge is WAY fun, so I hope you'll all play along! Just be sure to upload your altered item to our Paper Pretties Weekly Challenge gallery by Tuesday, Oct. 6th at 5pm EST and use the keyword PWC71 to get your chance at a $15 gift certificate to the boutique!
Jackie challenged us all to alter something...ANYTHING she said! I love altering things, but with my insane schedule lately I rarely have the time...so I was very happy with this challenge. I knew I wanted to use one of the fun new snowmen we are releasing on October 1st, and since I had recently made roast pork tenderloin with Cherry sauce (a family favorite!!) For our recipe, you use a jar of Bonne Marie cherry preserves (I like these because they are imported from Europe, and therefore have no high fructose corn syrup!) along wtih some vinegar and cinnamon (I had cloves too!) to make the sauce. Super quick and easy. Anyway...I had an empty jar all ready to be altered.Since the snowman is holding a steaming mug of something, I decided to put some hot cocoa mix in the jar...now I have a lovely hostess gift all-ready for some winter-time visiting...yay me!!Now for a few announcements from our sponsor! (hahaha aren't I a funny one today?!) And then you should HOP on over to Jackie's blog for the next stop on our weekly Wednesday hop!! (And if you didn't arrive from Charmaine's blog, then head back to Christie's so you don't miss any of the fun!!)

Don't forget that our Prettie Party starts at 8pm EST TOMORROW (Thursday) where you will get to see all 9 new stamp sets...WOOHOO!!

Also, on October 3rd, we'll be celebrating World Card Making Day (not just my day of Labor!!) by issuing challenges and having a sale, so be sure to check the paper clip (or just back here!) to see all the details!!

And...keep your eyes peeled for more sales coming up!

See you all at the party tomorrow evening!

Prettie Peek Mistletoe Kisses

So, this may be my favorite set of this release (which is saying a lot since I love them all!!!) Luke and Lexi are lots of fun, but this image just makes me smile - and makes me think of my own wonderful DH.I really thought it would be fun to til the angle of the oval some, just as Luke has Lexi tilted back. I think it adds a fun whimsy to the card. I had it all together minus the holly and thought, it needs something. I started digging through my embellishments drawer and came upon these holly leaves and berries from Jolees. Cute, huh??This great set, along with 8 others will all be released on Thursday, October 1st at 8pm EST at our monthly Release Party in the Paper Pretties forum. Be sure to join us for the fun...and until then keep blurfing around to see all the fun peeks the other pretties are sharing. Today both Jackie and Christi have peeks for you to enjoy!

Prettie Peek is All Lit Up!

Happy Saturday! I have a wonderful Peek for you all today with a new Paper Pretties set that will be released on Thursday, October 1st. This image is from a new set called Season of Joy designed by our very own Danielle Lounds.Isn't this little birdhouse strung with lights adorable? I decided to make a tall card for this one, and had fun with some new SU! designer paper wtih flocking. I added some crystal effects to each of the light bulbs to give them some gloss and dimension. And...after stamping and cutting out the sentiment, I put the nestie back on and sponged some red ink on to give it a more layered look. Cool, huh??Be sure to visit Christi to get another peek for today...and to see all the peeks so far, here's a list!
Christie
Charmaine
Danielle
Jules
& Frances

Don't forget, we'll be having our usual Release Party in the Paper Pretties Forum on Thursday, October 1st starting at 8pm EST (that's 5 here on the west coast!) with lots of fun, prizes, and maybe a surprise or two!! See you there!!! I'll be back with another peek tomorrow of another MUST HAVE set!!!

Prettie Wednesday with Fun Foam!

Last week's challenge was to use Fun Foam on a card. I haven't used Fun Foam with my stamping in quite a while, so it was fun to get some out and try again! Be sure to share your fun foam creation in our weekly challenge gallery and you could win a $15 gift certificate to the Prettie Boutique! If you didn't arrive here from Charmaine's blog, be sure to head back to Christie's so you can start hoppin' right from the beginning and not miss any of the fun we had this week!
I decided to paper piece (or foam piece as the case may be) Cooper's pumpkin costume so it would have some poufiness to it. I stamped the image directly onto the foam after heating it with my heat tool for about 10 seconds...and I used my Brilliance black ink. Then, I was able to cut out just the pumkin costume and adhere it to my stamped, colored Cooper on white cardstock. Didn't he turn out cute?
I'm not sure the nesties would cut the foam (it's pretty thick!) so I used the SU! scalloped square die and then cut out a few "bumps" from the middle and stuck the two pieces together. You can hardly tell it was cut!

Be sure to head along to Jackie's blog now to see what she's cooked up with some foam, and have a very Prettie day! And don't forget, the Prettie Peeks start tomorrow!!! WOOHOO!

Prettie sick....

Well, at least this Prettie is...along with both kids!! Jackson has an "unconfirmed" case of H1N1, so when Julia developed a high fever and aches just 36 hours later, we figured it had hit her too! Fortunately, my case is the mildest with just a low-grade fever, a few aches and a little cough.

But...I did want to share another creation from the last Prettie Party, and let you know we have another release coming SOON!This card was created for the "With a View" challenge. My "view" was provided by the turned up corner. I know...it's kinda cheating, but I was stumped! I used the fabulously fun new Pilgrimage set, along with some retired SU! dsp, chocolate chip, pumpkin pie and very vanilla cardstocks. And hey...do you like my little embillishment? I put some gold stickles in a ribbon slide then some gold satin ribbon from Ellen Hutson (she's so sweet, she always includes a handstamped thank you and a small bit of ribbon with every order!!)See...here's my "view!" I put a layer of pumpkin pie inside and some faux stitching all around, along with the Happy Thanksgiving sentiment.

October 1st is just around the corner (and don't I know it having both kids born in the first half of October!!) and that means another Paper Pretties release! Keep your eyes pealed for some Prettie Peeks starting on Thursday, 9/24 on all the Prettie Girl blogs!

And don't forget this week's challenge is to create a card using fun foam! Post YOUR card to the Prettie Weekly Challenge gallery and use keyword PWC70 to be enterred to win your $15 gift certificate to the Pretties Boutique!

Prettie Inspired Wednesday

Last week Charlie challenged us all to be inspired with the photo at the bottom of this post. Here is my take on it! (and if you didn't arrive here from Charmaine's blog, be sure to go back and start at the beginning with Christie so you don't miss any of these wonderful projects!I used our lovely new Season of Thanks Sophia because I like the zigzags on her skirt...and felt they matched the southwest pattern quite well. The patterned papers are from a new stack I picked up called Autumn from Recollections. I used some white cardstock, taken with teal and real red...and finished it off with some wine grosgrain and teal buttons.For next week's challenge, Christie (the Prettie Mama herself!) has challenged us all to use fun foam on our creations. So...get to work everyone, and if yours is selected you could win a $15 gift certificate to the Pretties Boutique! When you upload your card to the Pretties Gallery be sure to put it in the Challenge category, and to include PWC70 in the keywords. Good luck!!

Your next stop on this wednesday hop is the wonderfully talented Jackie R., so keep on hoppin to see what the other Pretties have come up with.

Prettie Party Leftovers...

Ok...it's late and I can't think of a good title right now. Sorry!
I did, however, want to post this project I created for our SIYJ party earlier this month. The challenge was to create something for back to school, so I altered this composition book to send to my cousin's daughter. She apparently LOVES notebooks for drawing/writing in, and this little Sophia just screamed Gracie at me! Now to actually get it in the mail!!!I used this little sweety, Always in my Heart which is the October Stamp of the Month, along with some SU! cottage walls DSP and Rich Razzleberry paper and ribbon. She was colored with a combo of copics and SU! markers - although I did break down and buy 7 new copics recently to bring my total to a whopping 16.

I hope she likes this as much as I do. Have a great Monday everyone! And don't forget to upload your Pretties Weekly Challenge card to the Pretties Gallery by Tuesday afternoon so you can win $15 of free stamps from the Prettie Mama! Don't remember the challenge? It was an inspiration challenge, and you can see it here by scrolling to the bottom.

Digital Studio overload!

Here's a page my friend Michelle created from the photos she took at her Build-A-Bear Tea Party on Thursday. Lots of fun was had by all who attended!

One more...I couldn't resist!

Ok...one last page tonight. I HAD to do something with all these adorable photos my wonderful sis-in-law Flo took of Jack in Liberty Park, NJ this summer. Is he not the CUTEST little guy ever???

SU! Friday Take 2

Ok...it came...and I love it!!!I created this using my NEW My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! Now I need to get me a laptop so that I can work on my digi scrappin when I'm being the mom-taxi

SU! Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I'm finally back with an SU! Friday post (can you believe it Rachel?!) I have to admit, I was VERY upset about the recent changes Stampin' Up! has made to their policies regarding what demonstrators can and can not post on their blogs. Now that they have softened their stance a little bit, it is easier to understand and accept...although I am still not sure I will sign the new IDA and remain a demonstrator. I am sending a letter to demo support though, so we'll see! But, I'm not about to give up my Pretties!!!!
I made this card over at Michelle's house way back in July after we got our new catty stuff. I really love the simpleness of this card, and it would be SOO easy to crank out 100 of these. Of course, I like to send cards with the kids photos...so I won't be doing that - but someone out there might like to! I used the jumbo oval punch to punch out the image from Holiday Best level 1 hostess set, and then I layered it on the jumbo circle. The DSP is from the Merry Moments set, and I just love those boughs!! Overall, a nice, simple card. Enjoy!!

Oh...and be sure to go check out Michelle's new blog. We were playing with the new My Design Studio (she got hers, mine is coming TODAY!!!!) and I LOVE it! Be sure to leave her some love while you're there and tell her I sent ya! Next Friday I'll share the fun Build a Bear stuff we made today.

A Hopin' Pretty Sketchy Wednesday

Good morning my Pretties! I can't believe today is Wednesday already...I am SOOO off!

This week's prettie challenge card is from Danielle's sketch. I hope you got to play along! I saw some ADORABLE new cards in the challenge gallery over on the Pretties site - be sure to check them out. And if you didn't play this week...be sure to scroll down so you can play along next week! And since our Wednesdays are now HOPS, be sure to start off at Christie's blog if you didn't already!
For this card I went with our little Storytime Sophia (like many of those playing did!) and some nice girly colors!! I used the Nana's Nursery paper and some pretty in pink, apricot appeal and certainly celery cardstocks. I colored her in with SU! markers and some copics.
I stamped the sentiment last, directly on the apricot layer - but it smudged! Oh well...just stamp again and punch it out...and it works perfectly! All that work rescued with a punch! :-)

Be sure to play with us next week - the challenge was issued by Charmaine, and it's an inspiration challenge.Now if that doesn't get those creative juices flowing, I don't know what will!

How to Enter: make a card using the challenge guidelines and any Paper Pretties stamp set(s) you have. Upload the card to the Paper Pretties gallery. Please include it in the Weekly Challenges category and use keyword PWC69 to be eligible for this week's contest.

Deadline: 6pm EST on Tuesday, September 15th.

Prize: $15.00 coupon to the Paper Pretties Boutique.

Now hop on over to my pal Jackie's blog to see her take on this fun sketch!!!

Prettie Sketchy Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone! Jules gave us this wonderful sketch challenge 2 weeks ago, and I just LOVE it!! I can't wait to make another card using this sketch actually, it's so versatile!
I wanted to use Cooper's I'm Pulling For You again, since I am so in love with it. Did you check out all the new stamps yet? And the ABC promotion?? Be sure to visit the Paper Pretties site to get today's coupon code for 20% of all stamps that begin with the letters D, E or F.
I used some red, turquoise and suede to color Cooper and his wagon, the frog of course is green. I love the red and turquoise together...don't you? And this little frog is just too much fun! Be sure to see what the other pretties have done with Julies great sketch, and read below to learn how YOU can play with the Pretties, and win a $15 shopping spree!!

We've decided to combine the fun Pretties Wednesday Design Team challenges with the weekly customer challenges we have issued in the past. This way you can play along with the Prettie Girls! Challenges will be issued on Wednesdays and you will have one week to enter the contest! The following Wednesday the Prettie Girls will reveal their takes on the challenge! To make the challenges even more fun one winner will be selected from the participants and will receive a $15.00 coupon to the Paper Pretties Boutique! Woo hoo! We are looking forward to seeing all of your fun creations! :)

How to Enter: make a card using the challenge guidelines and any Paper Pretties stamp set(s) you have. Upload the card to the Paper Pretties gallery. Please include it in the Weekly Challenges category and use keyword PWC68 to be eligible for this week's contest.

Deadline: midnight on Wednesday, September 9th.

Prize: $15.00 coupon to the Paper Pretties Boutique.

Here is the sketch from Danielle for next week's challenge...good luck!

Prettie Peek #3, PARTY TIME!

Tonight's the night, everythings gonna be alright! WOOHOO ParTAY! I can't wait for you all to see the awesome new sets tonight on the Paper Pretties site. You will fall in love with Sophia and Cooper all over again. I know I have.Today's peek is of a new Sophia - October's Stamp of the Month. She's called Always in my Heart, and isn't she just the sweetest little thing? I LOVE the striped tights...it is just SOOO Julia. And Julia even has a shirt that looks a lot like this one. I colored her in with my copics and SU! markers, and used some SU! dsp for the background. I dyed the tafetta ribbon with my Melon Mambo marker, and colored the SU! Pretties kit flowers with my markers as well.I look forward to chatting with you all tonight in the forum. And...Christie has a great sale starting today...the ABC Sale for the beginning of school with 25% off Prettie stamps!!! Check out the Pretties home page for all the details and today's coupon code.

Prettie Peek Day 2

For today's Prettie Peek, I have a wonderful new Sophia stamp, all ready to grace your Thanksgiving creations! Season of Thanks will be released on Tuesday, September 1st along with 3 other BRAND NEW stamp sets, and the August Stamp of the Month - Story Time Sophia. You don't want to miss the great Stamping In Your Jammies party we have planned over in the Paper Pretties Forum for Tuesday starting at 5pm Pacific Time. A good time will be had by all, and there will even be prizes!!For today's card, I decided to make a Thanksgiving Dinner invite. Doesn't she look ready to help everyone celebrate a season of gratitude for a wonderful bounty? I used one of my favorite techniques to make her really shimmer and shine - faux diamond dust. After stamping and coloring my image (with a combination of Copics and SU! markers) on some very vanilla cardstock I covered the die cut image with versamark and then some iridescent ice embossing powder. I love the look of this technique with vanilla carstock...it adds a lovely golden sheen.I used the You're Invited stamp from Danielle's Home Sweet Home set...it's so versatile!

Be sure to check the peeks on all the other Prettie blogs listed below, and I'll be back tomorrow with one last peek before the big party tomorrow night!

Charmaine Ikach

Christi Thorsen

Christie Ortman

Danielle Lounds

Frances Byrne

Jackie Rakoski

Julie Masse

Pulling a Prettie Peek

Happy Sunday everyone! It's that time of month again, for our Prettie Peaks! Now you all know how much I love Cooper. I also love little Radio Flyer wagons! (Julia had a great one that her aunties bought her!!) so this little guy pulled me in immediately! And to give him a frog to play with? Nothing could be better.I colored Cooper with my small supply of Copic markers (it's amazing how much you can get from just a few!!) and the frog was colored with my SU! markers (since I have no green Copics yet, suppose I should remedy that soon!!) I decided to add some faux stitching around the main image to help set it off a little more, but it's a pretty simple, straight forward card.
I did make Cooper a strawberry blond today, by first coloring his hair with So Saffron, then Apricot Appeal over the top. I like it. I used Really Rust to add his freckles - how many redheads do YOU know without them???
As usual, on Tuesday, September 1st Paper Pretties will be having their monthly Stampin In Your Jammies party!! The party starts at 8pm EST and will last until 10pm. We will be having three challenges, so be sure to come and play along!! Besides the challenges, chatter, and all around fun, we will also be releasing 5 new sets, including Story Time Sophia. Hope to see you there!!

Prettie Wednesday Scrapling

This week's challenge came from Frances and is to make a scrapling project, using scraps from other projects. The challenging part is the main part can't be wider than 2.5" So...I decided to make a bookmark!This little bookmark uses the new Summer Fun set and some Stampin' Up in colors for '09-'10. I love the beach ball and thought it would be the perfect bookmark for a fun summer book. Of course, this summer I finally got to read the 4th Twilight book - guess a beach ball works for part of that book, right??

Be sure to go see what all the other Pretties have come up with for their Scrapling this week, and we'll be back next Wednesday with a fabulous sketch from Jules!

Happy Birthday to the Officer!

While I missed the party where Jackie (often referred to as Jacque so as not to be confused with our OTHER Jackie who just HAD a birthday!) was given the nomiker Officer, I can certainly understand how she got it! We all love Jackie very much, and are therefore throwing her a Twilight Birthday hop. So if you didn't arrive here from Danielle's blog, please head back to Frances so you can start from the beginning.

It being a Twilight hop, I brought my date, Carlisle (because all the good looking young ones were taken, and I was teased for saying I would bring Jasper...so I thought I'd go for Carlisle instead - besides I always wanted to date a doctor!!!) And my card adhere's to the rules of being black and white with some red. I thought Jackie might like some roses for her birthday, and since as usual I am doing this last minute (something Jackie and I have in common!!) I also kept it simple!
The roses are from the Sealed With a Kiss set, which I think is so very versatile! I stamped them with Stazon and colored them with SU! markers (because that is what I have unpacked right now!) All the paper is from my scrap folders (yeah for me!) and I thought the shimmery white would add a little extra class. I mean, I am dating a doctor, right? I embossed the white layer with my SU! embossing plates, then mounted it on real read, then the black card base. The sentiment was punched with the word window punch, then mounted on some real red that was cut with the ribbon tags trio shapabilities die...which was attached to the card with some great polka dotted ribbon.The image was punched with the 1 3/8" circle punch, and mounted on a scalloped circle of real red. Overall, a nice simple design...just my kinda card!

Now head on over to Prettie Mama Christie for our next stop on this Twilight birthday tour, and enjoy the scenery!! When you're done, be sure to leave some love for the Birthday Girl!! Have a great day everyone.

Pretty Vellum Wednesday - a little late

Good morning Prettie Peeps! Sorry I'm late this morning, technical difficulties here with missing camera chargers, broken card readers, etc. I really hate moving...but I still love my new house!

Ok, that off my chest. 2 weeks ago Christi challenged us all to make a card with vellum. Surprisingly, I actually did FIND my vellum. I like using it, but never seem to remember I have it. I decided to make a wintery card, even though we're enjoying our lovely California summer still (and swimming in the pool EVERY day now that we're home again!!) If I had been able to, I would have loved to photograph this card in front of the pool...talk about irony!I used one of my FAVORITE Prettie sets for this card, Snowflake Kisses. It is such a fun and versatile set with Sophia and Snowflake making snow angels, these beautiful mittens and some fun snowflakes and sentiments. I also used some gorgeous Heidi Grace Designs DP I picked up in the Pretties Boutique a while back when Christie had it on clearance. It has a lovely shimmer and sparkle to it...and the back side is a pearly white for the inside of my card. I wrapped that in a vellum card, and attached them with my ribbon.Of course I had to use lots of glitter on my mittens as well...hanging there on the hook just waiting to go play in the snow. For those of you roasting in warmer climes, you can dream of icy cold snowstorms to cool off, then enjoy your sunshine while you've got it! Have a wonderful wednesday, and be sure to check out how all the other Prettie girls used vellum in their creations by using the links to the right!

Hapy Birthday Jackie!!!

It's another Prettie Birthday, this time for Jackie, our wonderful New Jersey Girl! Jackie is such a wonderful, sweet person...I was so excited to finally meet her last month when I was in New Jersey visiting family. I have now met 3 of the Pretties...can't wait to meet the rest!!For Jackie's birthday I have a lovely picnic for her, with a wonderful bottle of Sauvignon Blanc - perfect for enjoying at the beach with some grapes, cheese and crackers. MMmmmm - makes me want to go pop a cork right now! :-) I used the fabulous new Everyday Picnic set that was just released on August 1st. I love this new set, and was excited to use it for Jackie's card!
You should have arrived here from Officer Jacque's blog, but if not hop on back there to see what she's cooked up. And if you did arrive from her spot, then head on under to Frances, our StampOwl to see what fabulous creations she's devised this time. And when you're done, be sure to leave some birthday Love for our wonderful Jackie!!

Happy Birthday Jackie...sending many hugs your way Chickie!!