Cardabilities Sketch Challenge

Today Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring the Cardablities Sketch Challenge Blog.

I absolutely love sketches... maybe it's because i can never seem to come up with any new card designs on my own! Haha! Sketches are so much fun because they really make you think outside of your norm. Sometimes I take them literally, and sometimes loosely. This time was more literal than loose. hehe. Here is my card...

The sketch to the left is the sketch provided for the challenge. I decided to use one of the Moody Girls because i knew she would be fairly easy to cut out. Once i did cut her out, I realized she lost many of the stars around her. So i decided to also stamp her on the white card sock before all the layers and then pop up the cut out image on top. It worked out well because the scalloped ribbon at the bottom of my card is THICK! No pop up needed down there! haha!

Other than that, my card came together pretty simply.

Here is a close up of the Moody for Music image.

I colored her with a slew of Copic Markers. I wanted to keep her a little punky, so i opted to color her hair purple. It's not the first time ive colored a moody girl's hair purple. Maybe it's because i'd secretly love to have purple hair myself. haha! To achieve the copic purple hair, i used V09, V04 and V01. Blue used for her dress were B16, B14, B12, B01, Pinks were RV25, RV23, RV10. Skin E00, E21 with some R30 for her cheeks. Stars were Y38, Y35, and Y32.

My hexagon shapes were from an old (i think retired now) punch from Creative Memories and the sentiment is a sentiment single from Paper Makeup Stamps you can find here.

So thats what i have for ya! Be sure to check out the PMS blog for more sketch card samples from some of the Paper Makeup Stamps design team as well as the Cardablities Sketch Challenge Blog to enter your card! There is a $15 gift certificate to the PMS site up for grabs!

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My Time Made Easy: March Release Preview

Well, Lauren has done it yet again with another fabulous release set to go live March 1st from My Time Made Easy! This month there are 2 new stamp sets, 2 new templates, new pretty impressions printable paper and a slew of wonderful cut files!

Here is my preview project for you....

I used the new template What's Your Angle. This template is really a great template because there are really endless possibilities of how you could dress it up, there is a LOT of room inside for you to put things in and then the bottom line, it isnt "just a box". It's so interesting and fun to look at, and it really did come together in a snap.

To complete this gift set, I used a few different stamp sets. First I used a tried and true favorite, Fanciful Flourishes. I've used this set time and time again. It's probably my most used of all the MTME stamp sets. After cutting the decorative panels of the What's Your Angle template, i stamped one of the flourishes all over each panel and sponged the edges. Knowing that I would be adding the cup from the Fancy a Cuppa stamp set, I used the same swirl on the front panel of the template to create a steam swirl. Note also on the mug, which s a solid image, i inked the stamp up and then stamped the uninked swirl stamp onto the solid stamp. For those who may not have heard of this technique before, it is called stamp kissing. It gave the same swirl pattern into the solid image of the cup. :D

And now to the "message" and reasoning for my template...

The sentiments on my template are from of the the new stamp releases this month called Keep Strong. I am totally in love with this set from the quotes and sentiments in the set to the fonts used to the size of all the stamps. Totally in love!

Also to note, I used one of the new cut files, Cornice Trimmed Ovals (also being released in rectangles, circles and squares!) to frame my sentiments on the template and my card.

My idea for this gift is to give someone that little boost of motivation to keep on going. Whether it's because of work or something else... sometimes we just need that little bit of extra confidence

that annnnnd....

Coffee, chocolate and a nice hot bath!

These are the contents inside the template (well, there is more of each inside!)

Recently I have discovered the Folgers Coffee Singles. While I do love my keurig, this is another fabulous solution to the single cup of coffee! They look like a tea bag, but it's a cup of coffee. The bigger bonus, this is something you can give to anyone and they dont have to have a certain type of coffee machine. The coffee is delightful and it's a true cup of coffee. It's not "instant coffee". The emergency chocolate was a gem of a find because 1, it's hilarious, 2 its a great gift, and 3 its a good size chocolate and 4 it's darn yummy (i had to try one already). I picked it up at target. :D And then last but not least is the bath fizzy you can get in delightful scents and they are so cute from Pier One Imports!

One last photo for you of my card...

I wanted to make sure my card matched my gift set of course. I mean, it isnt a SET without it matching right?! I took a piece of kraft cardstock as my card stock and stamped all around the edge just like i did with the decorative panels on the template.

I used one of the little mugs from the Fancy a Cuppa stamp set and stamp across the bottom with the Because I Care sentiment from the Keep Strong stamp set.

Whew... long post. ;)

But you know you want to see more right? Well check out Lauren's blog and Lisa's blog for more wonderful previews of this awesome release from My Time Made Easy!!!

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When did this happen....

When did it happen?! My sweet little baby grew up to a KID! I mean, he's not even little anymore!!!! Today he turned 5. And next year he will start kindergarten. Man, they grow up so quick.

Today was a GREAT day for him too (his words). Today he had a field trip at school where they got to make their own pizzas. The owner of the pizza shop treated jack like it was his birthday party! He got to go first, was put front and center at the table. It was really fun. His teacher brought ice cream cups for everyone. TOmorrow i'm supposed to take cupcakes. and then saturday is his birthday party where he'll get cake. Tonight for dinner the waiters brought him out a HUGE molten brownie sundae. Of course i helped him to eat it. :D

We've had a few too many sweets to eat!

Since i cant show his birthday invites yet (they use new stamps!)

But i did think that this card i made fairly recently (i know i've been an awful updater) fit the bill nicely!!!

This is about how i feel like now after that brownie sundae!

And the take it easy is exactly what i keep telling my way too hyper children!

The image was colored in my most recent copic class at Scrapnesia (which by the way has now moved to a location in Spartanburg for my local readers)

Copic Colors B32, B34, B37; E21, E25; R22, R27, Y02, Y05

To keep with the high contrast coloring, i start with the darker colors on the edges and work my way in. In the smaller areas, you'll notice that i "skip a number" to what would be the more normal progression (instead of r24 and r27, i used r22 instead of r24) having more distance inbetween shows the difference of color better in those small areas.

The stamps used on this card are all from Paper Makeup Stamps. The über cute monster is Hershey. The sentiment is from the Little Moments stamp set.

And now to make cupcakes for jacks school in the morning! The sweets never end!!!

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Copic Creations Challenge with Bugaboo Stamps

Copic Creations Challenge is back with a new challenge for you!

The Copic Creations challenge is a bimonthly challenge bringing new challenges to use those copics on with new sponsors giving fantastic prizes!

Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Digital Stamps and our challenge to you is to use WARM colors!

Now using warm colors can mean a lot of things! You can go with reds, oranges and yellows because that certainly fits the bill! But you can also find the warm versions of many colors... even greens, purples, blues, etc.

Here is my card...

My card uses one of the Scarlette designs digi available from Bugaboo Stamps.

Bugaboo has many different characters. They are all so stinkin' cute!

The sentiment is from the Retail Therapy set from Paper Makeup Stamps.

Ok, back to the challenge at hand... using warm colors.

If you look at the color wheel...

By the way my "online friend" Debbie Olson has done a fantastic write up for Ellen Hutson on the copic colors that you may read about HERE. I actually stumbled on it while trying to find a color wheel to show here on my blog).

Ok, so as you can see at the above chart, there is a color wheel. Of course you can probably pick out the primary colors which you have known since gradeschool. Yellow, Red and Blue. Well, out of those 3 colors, 2 of them are warm colors. Which makes the majority of the color wheel warm. Due to both red and yellow being labeled as warm colors.. Orange is actually the most warm of all. So think of orange as the sun and as you get further away from the sun, you get cooler! :D So look opposite of orange on the color wheel and what do you see? BLUE! Which by the primary colors, you probably could have already guessed was the coolest color. So just as blue is the coolest color, as you venture your way around the color wheel, you get warmer.

Now take the color green for example and look at it on the color chart. Yellow Green is closer to orange, our warmest color. So it is the warmest version of green you can get. I used this "warm green" on my card and in my color. But waaaaaait a second you say. I also used blue green. Well yes, I did use a little blue green to even out my coloring since there was some blue green in my paper. However, blue green is the warmest blue color. Going warm on the other side of the blue on the wheel is purple. And as you can imagine, purple is a bit of it's own entity with a warm purple and a cool purple. So i just left that one alone for now!

So that is my way quick color theory break down for ya. Some people study color theory for YEARS and I did in fact take whole classes just on color theory. It's present everywhere from makeup, to art to fashion to advertising, to well, you get the idea. ;)

So now it's your turn! You dont have to use bugaboo stamps to play, but they are very affordable digis, so try one out if ya want. The only requirement is that you play with warm coloring in your creation. When you are done, go back to the Copic Creations blog and link it up! Most importantly, HAVE FUN! Create with reckless abandon and step outside of your comfort zone. You might just find that you like it there! ;)

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HOLY COW! When in the world did my little stamp company turn 2?! Well, ok, so it turned 2 this month, but where did the time go?! It's kinda like my kids, they are just growing up SO fast! It seems like only yesterday I had this little seed of an idea in my head that having a stamp company would be kinda fun. With my husbands "if someone else can do it then you can do it babe" attitude and a dear friend named Rachel's support sending me links galore about here's this company that does this for you and here's this company that can do that" and a constant why havent you started already attitude, and then some online friends like Christi who said, um, YEAH i'd be behind you 100%.... my little company was born. I just can't believe it was so long ago!

Well, this month to celebrate, I decided it would be fun to do a blog hop a little bit differently! I have loved out Friends of PMS blog hops in the past. But since this hop was to be themed the things we love (partially in honor of valentine's day, but also because i just LOVE my stamp company and the friends i've made along the way) we decided to each invite a special guest to hop along with us! Our invitee is someone who's work we love and admire.

I just know that they will pull out all the stops and I for one can not WAIT to do this hop myself!

Ok, i can get long winded! Onto my CARDS!

My first card uses Billy and Bianca. I've actually have this image colored up for a bit.

I had planned to use this image in a class I'm teaching at Scrapnesia. For those who are local, Scrapnesia is moving to Spartanburg. I may not have as many regular classes, but I do still plan on doing some workshops now and then so keep posted! And I do still plan on teaching a workshop using this image and card. :D

The colors used on my card are from the E40 family. The paper used on my card is from Cosmo Cricket and the sentiment is from the Little Moments stamp set.

And then I have ANOTHER card! I know! hahah!

This is Natalie. Diem created her special just for our birthday month. Now since we dont have a release this month, we was released as a special digi stamp. She may be rubberized sometime in the future, but she's definitely not in the next release. I am not sure at this time when or if she will be in rubber form, but my oh my, she is cute isnt she?! :D You can purchase her HERE. The sentiment on my card is from the Birthday Cheer set.

Now I wanted to make this 2nd card because I do LOVE birthdays! I'm not sure i'm going to be a big fan of MY birthday this month since i'm entering another decade of age! But normally, i love birthdays and everything about them! So it isnt really a love card, but I just had to use this fairy to share with you all! My papers used on this card are actually recent digi paper releases from My Time Made Easy. If you are a digi fan, then you just HAVE to check out all the delish paper that MTME has to offer. Many of the stamps are available as digis as well. Ok, so that was a shameless plug inserted into my post today. hahahah! I have love for all my design teams! :D

In addition to our hop, we have some prizes today! First we are giving away a gift bag full of PMS goodies (valued at over $75!!!) In order to enter yourself in the drawing, you'll have to go back to the PMS blog to check out the details and leave your comment about which card was your favorite in the hop!

We will also be having one of our chat parties in our forum tonight at 9pm EST. We hope you can join us chit chat away. There may even be some sneak peeks on what we are releasing next month!!! You don't want to miss it!

Below is a list of all the fabulous players in our hop. Next in the lineup is Elaine Hughes. Elaine and I have become friends in this mad world of crafting! DId you know that Elaine owns the Quixotic Paperie web shop? Her shop is a UK based shop aaaaaaaand she carries Paper Makeup Stamps! So if you are also one of our friends across the pond and prefer to shop more locally... you can always order your PMS from her! She gets all the new releases as well as stocked many of our older and best selling designs!

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my time made easy: A Year in Review

Argh, sorry this is late everyone. I posted it to the wrong blog! My makeup friends are surely confused now! hahahaha!

Though maybe i'll convert some of them into mad crafters like me!

Ok... so, here it goes again!

Hello everyone! Today is another My Time Made Easy Year is Review blog hops!

Every month the MTME crew using some of our favorites templates, stamps, papers and cut files

to show you new ways to use some older purchases!

I went WAAAAAY back for this one. It's still one of my favorite templates to date because it is SO easy to put together! Talk about in a pinch gift idea!!!!

It's the Cutesy Cover template!

I covered the cutesy cover with fabric paper and wrapped velvet ribbon around it. I love all the textures! Right on top of the fabric paper, I used the dotted swirl stamp from the Fanciful Flourishes set. This stamp set is still one of my favorites to date because it has so many uses!

On top of the cutesy cover, I used the dotted flourish again and then a sentiment from another favorite set, the Just For You stamp set.

The first time i saw the Fanciful Flourishes set, i thought of steam for coffee. In fact, in one of my first uses, i used it to decorate a coffee much from the baby buggy! So imagine my delight when Lauren released a whole slew of coffee stamps! For my card, i used some images from the Grab a Cup set and a sentiment from the Grab a Cup sentiments set.

The sentiment is a straight sentiment. Thats why i love clear stamps, you can manipulate them! I just curved it on the block before stamping!

And if you look closely at the mug on the card... there are MARSHMALLOWS stamped on top.

You know why i stamped marshmallows?

Because those nestle packs fit perfectly inside this template!

It would make a perfect little treat for your snowed in neighbor! Or maybe that neighbor that plowed your driveway for you! In any case, everyone stay warm in this cold madness! ANd maybe make a treat for a neighbor!

Now check out the other amazing team members and see what they have for you today!

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My Time Made Easy - Tote All with Framed Elegance!

I'm back with another special project using My Time Made Easy products. This time I paired the newly released Framed Elegance stamp set with an older template, the Tote All Package.

As soon as i saw the awesome frame in the Framed Elegance stamp set, I thought of the curved flap from this template. I guess that is just one of the best things about Lauren's company, that so many elements matching making recreating using the products over and over again a snap!

I can already tell that the Framed Elegance stamp set is going to become a go to for me. I just love the frame, and then the words that come with the set are just fab!

Here's a close up...

I took the leaves in the set and stamped them around both the edge of the tote lid and also inside the frame. I stamped the blossom from the set also inside the frame in a pale color and went over the stem and leaves with a brown pen. If you look veeeeeery carefully, you can see the words So Very also stamped. For some reason it didnt show up very much in the photo.

One more close up...

Just so you can see again the branch stamp used. This is the same one stamped on the tote front. You can see the words so very better and the other word in the set, Thankful instead of Thoughtful. Love love love this set! You can also see the frame in a clean stamped form. :D

Ok, i lied... ONE more photo. In case you havent seen the Tote All Package template before, here's what it looks like opened up...

The ribbon feeds thru to create a little handle. It's actually quite roomy in there as well!

Be sure to check out

Lauren

Kristin

and

Lisa

for more wonderful MTME goodness!

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Copic Creations Challenge with Lily of the Valley

If you are looking for my My Time Made Easy post, please scroll down!

It's the first of the month which means its time for another 2 week challenge from the Copic Creations Challenge team! This round we are being sponsored by Lily of the Valley which is a stamp company in the UK. Be sure to check out the Copic Creations Challenge blog to read all about their sponsorship and the prizes to be won!

The challenge this week is to use COOL COLORS!

Here's my first card (cause yep, i actually made 2!!!!)

It isnt an overly "cool" image though i did think the snowy scene seemed cold. Yes it's a little christmasie so i will just count 1 down for next year! hahahaa!

Next up is a digi stamp from LOTV. I think i forgot the cool image thing on this one! I just couldnt resist coloring her up!

Ok, it's late and i'm still trying to catch up so now i'm going to try to catch up on SLEEP!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

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My Time Made Easy Monograms Made Easy!!!!

Today is the release day for My Time Made Easy!

Today each design team member has a special personalized gift for you using some of the new release stuff plus an older template!

I chose to use the template Slip Cover along with the new Monogram Defined stamp set!

Now let me tell you a little story of why i chose to create this gift. My grammie (named Velma, hence the V) is th best card sender IN THE WORLD! Seriously! She never forgets a holiday! Everyone gets a card, me, each child, etc for every holiday. All of her children and grandchildren and GREAT grandchildren love their cards from Grammie. But most importantly... there is always a "grammie note". She writes a little letter, usually on a little piece of notepad paper. The note will tell about the weather that day, and who she might have had lunch with (she lives in a very small town in Nebraska). Really on the whole, the grammie notes have no information that is important. Sometimes I get to learn about the basketball game one of my younger cousins played, etc. But i LOOOOOVE my grammie notes! Since my grammie's birthday is in february, I thought this would make a great gift for her!

Unfortunately for me... i didnt realize i cut off the "from the desk of" at the bottom of the notecard! And that was a lot of stamping! The From the Desk Of is also in the Monograms Defined set!

Here's a close up of the V. Isnt the font gorgeous! The dotted circle around the V is from the Just Because stamp set.

Ok, i've rambled on long enough and I'm pretty sure my post is actually a few minutes late now! SO... go check out these fine ladies!!!!!

Kristin Bueter

Catherine Doucette

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Katie Cotton

Lisa Kind

Monique Hansen

Pam Imholz

Tangii Crain

and our Guest Designer Naomi

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