My Time Made Easy Preview - It's in the Bag and Pretty Palette #20

Can you believe today is the last day of July?  Summer is half over...say it isn't so!!!  But on the bright side, today is preview day of the August release at My Time Made Easy!  Another goodie for you!  It's also the beginning of a new Pretty Palette challenge at MTME.  Here are the colors which match the Botanical Beauties Bow Bell's Lagoon digital paper.

Today we are previewing a new template called It's in the Bag and a new digital stamp set called Back to School.  Here's how I used the colors, the digital stamp set, and the template.

The bag is a backpack that is so cute, easy to put together (like all of the MTME templates), and is really roomy for all those little gifts you want to give to a teacher or student.  I cut the template out of white cardstock and embellished it with two patterns from the Botanical Beauties paper pack.  I added buttons and burgundy ribbons.

 The back of the template looks like a real one too!  The straps were cut out of burgundy paper and the little square rings were cut with white paper. 

For the card, I used the same papers and created my notebook for the focal piece.  The notebook, back to school sentiment, and school house are all separate images in the Back to School digital stamp set.  I also colored the school house on the computer.  I used a spiral SU punch to make the white background panel look like a piece of notebook paper torn out of a notebook.  The letters and numbers are stickers I had.  I added the ribbon to match the ribbon on the backpack and was done!

The MTME design team is all posting today, so make sure you stop by their blogs.

Lauren Meader

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Kathryn Berthiaume

Katie Cotton

Monique Hansen

Tangii Crain

Thanks for stopping by today! 



Just Us Girls #95 - Wild Card Challenge

Happy Saturday everyone!  I'm hosting the Just Us Girls Wild Card challenge this week, which is to use fabric on your project...and using ribbon only does not count!  You can make fabric flowers, stamp on it, etc.  Whatever your little heart desires.  I stamped on muslin and colored the image with copics.

I used an image from a Flourishes stamp set called From the Desk of.  I stamped it using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then just used copic markers to color it in.  You have to use a light touch when coloring because it could bleed.  I accented the image with a Sakura glitter pen, which you can't see in the picture.  To fringe the sides of the muslin, I used a Tim Holtz retractable scratcher tool.  This was one of the few times that I colored my image first, then found paper to match.  I usually do the opposite!  I found this paper by Basic Grey called Eva matched nicely.  The sketch is from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch.

I hope you can join us this week.  The girls have done a great job once again.  You can stop by their blogs and the JUGs blog to see their creations.  This week is Christina MacLaren's last challenge as our Featured Designer and I'd like to thank her for joining us this month!

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Maria

Christina, July Featured Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope to see you playing along with Just Us Girls!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - The Whole Sha-Bang!

I'm here today with another Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge.  We are sponsored by Perfect Presentation this week and our challenge is "The Whole Sha-Bang"...make a template, card, and tag.  Here's what I created for this challenge.

This template from Perfect Presentation is called Perfect Parcel.  A cute little template that could hold a variety of items.  I'm tucking it away until Christmas and will fill it with sweet treats (probably Dove candies...my favs)! 

I started with a white cardstock base and used SU's Wintergreen retired paper for the mats.  I tied it up with some white satin ribbon.  I added the foam snowflake and a tag cut with a SU punch.  I added the sentiment and snowflakes from two PTI sets (can't remember the names right now).  I used Baja Breeze and Sage Shadow inks.  The tag was hung with baker's twine. 

The card was made in similar fashion, using the same papers.  The center panel was stamped with different snowflakes from Paper Makeup Stamps and PTI in the Baja Breeze and Sage Shadow inks.  They were glittered up with some Star Dust Stickles.  I embossed the top part of the back panel with a snowflake folder and added the dp.  The layout is from Clear and Simple's Fall to Layout.

Stop by the CSAYLblog  to see what the DT has created for you.  If you play along, you could win a template from Perfect Presentation and get another Christmas project done and off your list! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Enjoy your Friday!

Pretty Palette #19 - My Time Made Easy

Happy Sunday!  Are you cooling off yet?  It's getting a little cooler here, but it's still way too hot for me with no air conditioning in my house and no pool!  :-(

But maybe this will cool you off a bit.  The Pretty Palette color challenge from My Time Made Easy is a pretty subtle and cool color combination.

I just adore this color combination!  I picked up the patterned paper I used on my card a while ago at my LSS, Buffalo Stamps & Stuff, and that's where the inspiration for the color combination came from.  Here's how I used it on my card.

The digital stamp set I used on this card is Tending the Garden from MTME.  I colored it in GIMP using the challenge colors.  I printed out the image twice, and used the second one to cut out the watering can and flower to pop them up for more dimension.  I added some Star Dust Stickles to the flower center and the bee's wings.  I layered SU's So Saffron grosgrain and Basic Gray tafetta ribbons.  The bow was made using the Bow Easy tool (love that thinge!).  The layout was last week's Sweet Sunday sketch #126, and I'm entering it into the Trigger Tuesday challenge for the use of the yellow (and the little bit of black I have in there).  You can see more designs using these colors on the MTME blog and by visiting the blogs of the Pretty Palette team.

• Laurel Seabrook
• Lori Kalus
• Lynn Mangan
• Romaine Rancier
• Sharon Gregory

I hope you play along with us this week!  I can't wait to see what you create!  Thanks for stopping by today!



Just Us Girls #94 - It's in the Bag!

Hello there!  It's Saturday and time for another Just Us Girls challenge.  This week is our 3-D/Template challenge and the lovely Dana has a chosen a fun challenge...decorate a gift bag!  So many options with this one!

I went sort  of simple with this.   I started with a kraft bag (quite a large one...I wish it was smaller) and added a Vintage Cream layer and this beautiful dp from the Curtain Call Collection by Graphic 45.  I made the black rose using My Time Made Easy's Rambling Rose cut file. 

The label is another cut file from MTME called Cornice Trimmed Oval.  The sentiment is from Sentimental Occasions, also from MTME.  The ribbon is from SU.  I wish I had some of those pretty crystal flourishes that Dana and Elise use to fill up that upper corner...I think it would have looked so pretty! 

Want to see more designs?  Stop by the JUGs blog to see what the JUGs team and guest designer Christina MacLaren have done. 

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Kathryn

Kristin

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back with another post tomorrow!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - All About You

Hello everyone!  It's been a long time since I've been here!  I've been on a two week vacation in the lovely country of Poland!  I have relatives there that I had never met before this trip, so it was an extra special vacation for me...one I'll never forget!  I'll have pictures in the near future for all to see (if you are interested!).

But today I'm here to post my challenge card for this week's Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge.  We are sponsored by Amber Ink this week.

This week the challenge is called "All About You" and you are to use your favorite color.  I love peach colors so I used that as the color on my focal image.

I used the digi set from Amber Ink called 'Tis the Season to be Pretty and enlarged this pretty package image.  I colored it with peach colored markers and accented it with the light turquoise colors on the bows.  The sentiment was printed out and I added the liquid pearls to accent it.  I did the same on the packeages, however I think I should not have done that...maybe it's too much?  After I put all the layers together, I realized I was supposed to use the opposite side of the blue piece, which was my fav peach color!  I was in a hurry to get this done before I left for my vacation!  I also don't remember what the paper is because I did it two weeks ago!  I must say that this card is much prettier in real life...it looks very blah here!

So how are you doing with your Christmas cards?  If you start playing along, you will still have quite a few done!  I'm lovin' that I have so many ready to go!  If you play along with us, you have the chance to win a $15 store credit to Amber Ink as well!

Stop by the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long blog to see what the colors the design team chose as their favorites!  We hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll be back tomorrow with a new Just Us Girls challenge!

Paper Makeup Stamps July Release - Review Day 2

Well, today is the last day we are showcasing  the Paper Makeup Stamps July Release.  This is day two of the reviews and I have my favorite card to share with you from this release.

PMS released a Frame Set that fits lots of the wordart PMS is famous for.  Since I was using digis this month, I "colored" my frame in GIMP to match the green in the dp (Sweet Threads from Basic Grey).   The sentiment was a freebie a few weeks ago, but is being sold as part of the July release.  I used a Fall to Layout sketch to begin my design.  I printed out the framed sentiment and cut it out by hand, then layered it onto the card with dimensionals.  The flowers and leaves were die cut with an MFT Dynamics flower die using felt from PTI.  The sketch had those dots on it, which I assume were for piercing, but I used Liquid Pearls in White Opal instead.  I love the look and I really like how this card came together!

Stop by the PMS blog for more inspiration.  I hope you enjoyed our July release and I hope you stop by Paper Makeups Stamps to pick up your favorite stamps!  Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Palette #17

Hi all!  This week we have some really pretty colors for the Pretty Palette color challenge.

These colors were taken from three different Plum's Silent Night digital paper pack collections from My Time Made Easy....Botanical Beauties, Gardening Greats, and Tea Parlor.

I chose an older Clean & Simple Fall to Layout for my design.  I wanted to make this flower my central image.  I made it using three different papers from the Tea Parlor paper pack and the Blossoming into Spring cut file that was released this month from MTME.  I cut nine different size flowers from three different colors, then ran them through my paper crimper to soften up the paper so it's easy to manipulate the petals.  Then I just glued them together and placed a white button threaded with blue floss in the middle.  The middle panel was first run throught the Swiss Dots embossing folder, then I added the navy paper that was trimmed with an SU punch.  I added the ribbon, flower, and sentiment from the So Sentimental stamp set.

The Pretty Palette design team has some pretty creations to inspire you as well.  Stop by the Pretty Palette blog and the girls' blogs to see what they've done.

• Laurel Seabrook
• Lori Kalus
• Lynn Mangan
• Romaine Rancier

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Heavy Metal Holiday!

Happy Friday!  My blog has been smokin' with all the posts I've had!  I'm having tons of fun creating now that I'm on summer vacation! 

This week, the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge blog is sponsored by Kenny K. 

The challenge this week is called Heavy Metal Holiday...it just means use metal on your project.  Like all those eyelets we have in our stash!  I used a metal snowflake eyelet I've had for a long time! 

I chose this image to use this image today, and I thought it would look great as an ornament.  (I see it's crooked...hate when that happens!)  I colored it with copic markers and added Star Dust Stickles where the snow would be and Crystal Effects for the ice.  I added Liquid Pearls in white opal on each scallop.  The snowflake eyelet acts as the hanger for the ornament.  Too cute!  I think my little nephew would love to hang this on his tree.  Now that I'm looking at it, it could also be used as a gift tag...hmmm, the possibilities!

Stop by the CSAYL blog to see more inspiration using the Kenny K images.  We are going to have three winners this week, so I hope you play along!  First place will win 3 images, second place will win two images and third place will win one image!  You can't win if you don't play!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Paper Makeup Stamps Release Day Blog Hop

Wow!  Another release from Paper Makeup Stamps!  And this month is another goodie!  You should have arrived here from the "other" Lisa's blog...Lisa McKinney!  Didn't she have a lovely Madelyn silhouette card?  She always does such beautiful work with these fairies!  If you haven't come from Lisa's blog, then please go to the PMS blog and get all the details.  If you get lost hopping, you should see a linky tool of all the PMS DT there too.  On with the hop! 

This is Suzie the Snorkeling fairy.  I love to snorkel so I had so much fun making this card!  I started with this great dp from Basic Grey called Lauderdale.  I thought the bottom dp looked like water and the waves.  And I love the lime green paired with it!  So Suzie's bathing suit just had to match!  She's colored with copic markers, then I added Star Dust Stickles to her wings and Crystal Effects to her mask and bubbles for more dimension and shine.  The sentiment is being sold with the fairy as a set.  It was too big to fit in the spot I wanted it in, so I cut the words apart and glued them on separately.  I love that look once in a while.  It also looks like the words are floating in the water (well, at least they do to me!).  You can see that her hand is sticking out of the nestie shape.  That's called the Out-of-the-Box technique.  You can see a great tutorial here for that technique.  I used a Taylored Expressions sketch for this card.  I'm so glad she's back to doing sketches because hers are always so wonderful to work with.

You should have been collecting letters along the way to spell out a phrase that will get you 15% off this July release.  My letter for you is "A". 

Before I send you off to the next blog, I want to invite you to the PMS forum for the Release Party tonight at 9:00 pm EST.  We have four new DT members and I'm sure we'll have lots of fun welcoming them.  We'll have games and prizes too!

Now hop over to the fabulously talented Tangii Crain's blog to see her beautiful creation!  Thanks for stopping in today and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peek - Day 3: Fairies and Silhouettes

Hi everyone!  Did you have a fun 4th of July celebration?  We were at our cabin and had lots of fun...good food, good friends, and good fireworks!  That's a good recipe for a fun celebration!

Today is day 3 of the Paper Makeup Stamps sneak peeks.  We are sneaking fairies and fairy silhouettes today...my favs!  I have the silhouette of Emma Fairy to share today.  I know I say this all the time, but she really is up there in my top five PMS fairies!  She was one of the first ones I purchased when PMS was created.

I was working with digis this month, so I decided to color this silhouette in red to match my dp.  I thought it looked fun in the red silhouette instead of the traditional black silhouette.  I added Star Dust Stickles to the raindrops and made a puddle with it as well.  The paper is from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary collection.  I was working with this Card Positioning Systems sketch, but changed it up a little.  The sentiment is from the Raindrops and Rainbows digi set...I reduced it to fit the size I needed.   Lastly, I added the red grosgrain ribbon and those metal raindrops.  I've been waiting to use those for a long time!

 

Want to see more?  The PMS DT has lots to share, so please stop by the PMS blog.  Thanks for stopping by!

My Time Made Easy - A Year in Review

Happy 4th of July everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your holiday with friends and family!

Today is our Year in Review group post from My Time Made Easy.  Everyone is using a previously released product for their post.  These are ones I created previously...my very first MTME templates I ever made.  And it's got to be one of the cutest ones I've ever made!

Meet Mr. & Mrs. Whooty Love Owls.  I told you they were cute!  The base of these cuties is the Under Cover template.  A very easy template to put together and embellish!  I then used the Whooty-Love cut file to decorate the boxes. 

For their bellies, I used the Shutt-erfly digital paper and added the pearls for the Mrs. and the buttons for the Mr.

I just love these two!  The MTME design team also has some inspiration for you.  Check out their creations at their blogs. 

• Lauren Meader
• Debbie Marcinkiewicz
• Kathryn Berthiaume
• Katie Cotton
• Monique Hansen
• Tangii Crain

Also don't forget to check out the MTME Gallery for tons more inspiration!  Thanks for stopping by again!  Enjoy your holiday!

Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peek - Day 1

I have another post today, so please scroll down to see the Pretty Palette/My Time Made Easy post!

Hi everyone!  Today is Day 1 of the July Sneak Peeks for Paper Makeup Stamps!  Today we are previewing a new set called Build a Sentiment Child Additions.  We already have a Build a Sentiment set we released in May and these are the additions to it.  Here's a card I did using this set for my nephew Ethan.

I made this card for Ethan because he received an awesome report card for the end of 1st grade!  I am so proud of his improvements and achievements this year!  He deserved a card with a little gift inside from his Aunt and Uncle!  I used this previously released monster called Schoolie Ed for the central image.  The sentiment "You're an awesome" and "Student" are separate stamps from the Build a Sentiment Child Additions set.  Love it...it's so versatile!

So on the inside, I used two more sentiments from the set to let Ethan know how proud we are of his accomplishments.  The stars are from the previously released Starstruck stamp set.

For more sneaks, stop by the PMS blog.  We also have some fab news about 4 new DT members...Jackie, Janette, Jenn, and Shana!  Welcome girls! 

Thanks for stopping by!