My Time Made Easy: Preview, It's in the Bag

W.H.E.W.

What a long a cuh-razy summer this has been?! I honestly am not sure i've ever been so busy in my life! haha! Wedding season is in full force around these parts. Somewhat thankfully, august slows down a bit for a bit pick up in september and october (such pretty months here so there are a LOT of weddings, august is just toooo hot!!)

Since i havent posted in a bit... a quick recap, aside from meeting with brides and some other fun photoshoots because many models around here have the time now since they are not in school right now whether it be high school or college, we are at the pool and just living up the days of summer! The boys are growing up SO fast and now both are pretty adept swimmers, even Gabe who will be 3 in September. Jack has discovered he can jump off the diving board and swim to the side without any help. It's been a lot of fun!

And speaking of Jack, this upcoming school year he will be in kindergarten! I cant believe he's 5 and starting SCHOOL! It really just seems like yesterday that he was born, and then we packed our bags and moved to South Carolina. Such an amazing road life has lead me down!

And you know what jack is the most anxious for?! Shopping for a backpack! He asks me about everyday... is today when i get my new back pack?

So when Lauren showed the design team her plans for the template this month (called It's In the Bag)... oh I just KNEW jack would love it!!!! In fact, he already spied my little gifty and now wants to make his own! haha!

Here is my version for the Jackinator!

I am also loving the digi stamp set Lauren is releasing this month called Back to School.

Isnt that little boy just the cutest!!! Of course i colored him up to look like Jack. :D There are also 2 school girls in the set, that if you check out the other design team members blogs today, i'm sure you're bound to see them. :D The sentiment used on the backpack is also from the Back to School set. But wait, that not all, I also used some of the new pretty printable patterned paper that is available this month!

To really make this backpack look true to life, there are even adorable paper straps!!!

Now note... most would put the pocket (also with the template) on the FRONT of the backpack. Since I really wanted to show off some stamps from the new stamp set, i left those solo on the front. I also remember having a penchant for pockets and secret places for things as a kid and one of my favorite backpacks did in deed have a pocket on the back that others couldnt see. So i decided to put my pocket there!

Now i'm sure the rest of the team will have projects that will simply blow your mind!

I'm pretty sure that Lauren's post will include a super adorable girly version of this back pack (since i've seen it already in the directions, hehe)

Just in case you dont have the design teams blogs on speed dial... here they are again!

Lauren Meader

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Kathryn Berthiaume

Katie Cotton

Lisa Kind

Monique Hansen

Tangii Crain

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Copic Creations Challenge with Sparkle Creations

Copic Creations is a Bi Monthly Challenge blog challenging YOU to use your copics in different ways! Every 2 weeks we bring you a new challenge! Often times we are sponsored by a stamp company who generously lets us use their images for the challenge. This week we are being sponsored by Sparkle Creations who has an awesome line of rubber stamps!

Our challenge this week is to use PASTEL colors. Um... i veered off the path a smidgen, seeing as pink, etc just didnt seem fitting for Turntables Josh, however, using paler versions of colors is a great way to show depth in your coloring! By sticking to the less bright and slighter more muted tones and just using a bit of the deeper tones to add depth you can really make an image pop.

The Copic Creations design team has done an outstanding job demonstrating this, so be sure to check out all their work!

Here is my card using Turntables Josh

Light Blue and Light Green are definitely in the pastel family. Red... not really, but i did try to use R02 to lighten it up a bit. Somehow, i didnt think this slightly punk kid would be wearing a pink tshirt. But ya never know these days. Emo kids do tend to show all sides!

So you see, pastel doesnt have to mean spring though that is something i think of often when using pastels. :D

Ok, thats what i got for ya today! Have a good one!!!

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PMS release in Review

In case you missed the memo... Paper Makeup Stamps recently had a new release!

You can check them out here!

Today is a release in review day where the Paper Makeup Artists use stamps from the new release (and sometimes mix them with old ones, like my card today) to give just a bit more inspiration for the release. :D

Well this past week I taught another copic class at Scrapnesia in Spartanburg SC.

We focused on R32, R35, R37 and R39.

I chose to color one of my favorite fairies, Isabella, just because i heart her and I think she's pretty in a pinkish red dress! hahaha!

Also on my card, I used the new Framed set as well as one of the new wordarts, "We are all angels with only one wing".

A new more details on the image...

Skin was colored with E00, and E21

Wings R30

Hair: Y21, YR23, E99

Be sure to check out the rest of the Paper Makeup Artists on the PMS blog and scroll down because there was another release in review day yesterday (i was just too busy packing orders to participate in that one!)

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Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop

It's the 7th! YEEEEAH! And it's a pms release month which can only mean 1 thing...

It's Blog Hop Time!!!

You should have hopped here from one of our newest team members, Shana Dahl!

If you didn't come from Shana's blog... well then you need to go back to the beginning!

We announced winners, some challenges, you have to check it out!!!

On of the most fun things about the hop... you can collect a letter from each blog and using that as a voucher code, you get 15% off the new release. :D

My letter for you is the letter O!

And now... my card...

This release from Paper Makeup Stamps is so fun to me!

It brings 2 things to the table for me... bright and cheery and also more deep and spiritual with some of the wordart. It's like you get the best of 2 worlds with the release this month!

SO for my card today I used one of the new fairies, Suzie! Each of the fairies being released this month is coming with a matching sentiment!

I colored suzie with Copic markers... here's a close up

Markers Used:

Skin E000, E00, E21, E31

Aquas: BG10, Bg32, Bg34, BG18

Pinks: R32, R35, R37 (my r37 is no missing... R37 please come home!!!)

Hair: YR30, Y21, YR23, E99

Wings: YR000, YR12 and STICKLES, lots of STICKLES

Now it's time for you to hop along to the magnificent Lisa McKinney.

Lisa just moved up the ranks in PMS land and is now a senior design team member!

You should congratulate her!

Thanks for stopping by today! Please come to the release party tonight from 9pm EST - 11. We will be chatting away I'm sure!!! There may be a prize or 2 as well!

Stamps will be live on the site tonight as well!

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PMS sneak peeks day 4: Be Counted

Today is another day of sneak peeks for the July release from Paper Makeup Stamps!

Today we are showing off a set called Framed which includes 3 different frames as well as some fun word art stamps. Be sure to check out the PMS company blog for all the details and see more stellar samples from the other Paper Makeup Artists!

Here is my card..

I used Kaisercraft paper from the Blushed paper pack.

And now on a side note... pray for me! My mom and dad took my kiddos away for a week (so why i'm still up typing at 1 am, is beyond me) It's nice to have a break, but it hasnt even been a day and i miss my kids!!!!! No one to give me hugs and kisses goodnight! Well, except my hubby but he fell asleep on the couch long ago! And at least 1 kid comes in and wakes me up in the middle of the night (usually my youngest, sometimes my oldest and sometimes both!) So actually getting a quiet sleep should be nice, but I bet i'll wake up a bunch because they arent there! *sigh*

I hope everyone else has a great day!!!

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Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peak: Birthday Fishes!

It's another day of sneak peeks from Paper Makeup Stamps and we're showing off new fairies today! Be sure to check out the PMS company blog to see all the sneka peek samples as well as enter yourself for the $10 gift certificate!!!

Forgive me for my less than chatty blog post! It's been a long day of fun as I type... and then i realized I used the wrong fairy for my peek card and while i'm pretty sure the owner wouldnt fire me... i needed to show off the right one! hahah! So i made a new card after midnight, while my mom sits and cuts rubber for the new release for everyone to buy! I love having my mom in town!

Ok, here's my card using Jill! A big bonus to the release this month is that the fairies are coming with a matching sentiment. :D

Isnt she so sweet! I love her piggie tails!!!

I colored her with copic markers...

Skin: E00, E000, E21

Hair: E21, E23, E25, E27 (yes i fit all those in!)

Shirt: YG91, YG95, YG97

Shorts, water: B32, B34, B37

Drum: E15, E17, E19

Paper from Bella Blvd

Here's a close up of our pretty fishing gal!

I'm excited to have a not so girlie but still kinda girlie fairy! She kinda reminds me of Ashlie fairy and her snail! :D

Ok, i'm spent! I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July celebration yesterday! I'm going to bed! ;)

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MTME: A Year in Review

It's time for another group post from My Time Made Easy and this time we're bringing back some oldies. And i'm totally cheating!!!! A little bit back, my dear friend Anita made a glorious gift package for me including a little bit of all my favorite things!

Some bath and beauty products all packaged in a My Time Made Easy template

A few cards using Paper Makeup Stamps

Some super fun ribbons

Some very unique and cool bling

some super sparkly flower

and some family photo holders!

I mean, she got it all in there! MTME, PMS, beauty stuff, family stuff, photography stuff, blingy stuff and all in red/pink and black, a favorite color combo of mine! She really hit the nail on the head! But seeing as this is a MTME post, I figured i'd show off her skills on the Boxed Lunch template!

I love all the dimension this has! The flowers on top are to die for! And the extra ribbon loops inbetween them is pretty ingenius! I like the extra decorative trim around the edge as well!

Here's another photo of the Boxed Lunch template stamping up. I love the handle on top! Lauren was such a mastermind when designing that part of the template!

And since my wonderful friend used Paper Makeup Stamps on her card (i mean, she is on my design team for PMS, so it was awesome that she used them!) but this is a group post for My Time Made Easy! So i kinda felt like there was some extra MTME missing in the stamp department for this post!

So what did i do? Using some of the goodies that Anita sent me, I made her a thank you card!

I used the Bold Botanicals stamp set for both the image and for the sentiment. I decided to keep the leaves grey which i know it a little weird but i thought green leaves were too jarring on the card and I wanted it work together better. :D See those super fun bling clusters? Those were in my goodie package from Anita. They are from K&Co and they came packaged like that. :D But they were a fun way to offset the 2 (image and sentiment) without needing to do a bunch else to the background. The fun fringe ribbon was also in my goodie pack!

Don't forget to check out these fabulous team members and what they've created today!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Kathryn Berthiaume

Katie Cotton

Lisa Kind

Monique Hansen

Tangii Crain

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PMS: Let the Sneak Peeks Begin!

Today is the first day of sneak peeks from Paper Makeup Stamps!

You will want to get all the deets of this release as well as ways to win free shopping money on the PMS company blog!

Today we are showing the Build a Sentiment Additions set!

Here's my card...

I thought it might be nice to have a card on hand for when my kiddo does something really great! This summer he's growing up so much! Learning to swim, ride a bike with no training wheels (not there yet, and he has the scrape on his knee to prove it!) and so much more. Next year he starts kindergarten. I'm honestly not sure if i'm excited or sad about that one!

My card uses Cosmo Cricket paper (bandwidth collection) and uses liquid pearls in buttercup all along the outer edges.

Here's a close up of the sentiment...

I layered "Way to Go" and "Son" over one of the star swirls in the Dream Big set and cut them out with the nestabilities ovals and scalloped ovals.

Be sure to check out these team members and their creations using this set today!

Lisa Kind

Jenn Cochran

Stephanie Zito

Jami Bova

Randee Elsing

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MTME: Carry Clutch for shopping!

I have another fun little project from My Time Made Easy to share with you today!

For this project, I was dying to use the other new template for the month, the Carry Clutch.

It just creates such an adorable designer handbag out of paper!

I thought it would be the perfect holder for a gift card. So often when i give someone a giftcard it's because i want THEM to pick out something that will really be beneficial, or fit in with their home, etc. But just going out and buying a giftcard to stick it in a card can seem, well, a little last minute.... not that i EVER do ANYTHING last minute mind you! ;)

Well, last minute or not, this template makes it super easy for you to pack up your gift card and make it perfect for it's recipient!

I also used some of the new pretty printables paper! Let me tell you how excited i was at how PERFECTLY it matched my Pier One Gift card! :D But the paper is just divine! My favorite pack is the Blooming with Elegance pack. The main paper on my project is from that pack. I also used a sheet from the Crawling Vines pack and not shown is the Dainty Damask pack which I can definitely see using in my future! I love the color combo!

Also used on my project is an oldie but goodie stamp set! To match the fabulous purse and shopping theme, I pulled out the Money Well Spent acrylic set (it is also available in digi format). :D I stamped the shopping cart image in a light teal on the cardstock in order to get the idea across and then the sentiment right over the top in a deep brown. :D

Now just because i only put a slim gift card inside does NOT mean that very few items will fit inside this purse! In fact, I'm going to have to stuff the inside just so the gift card doesnt seem so lonely! Take a peek inside...

Thats a good deep space in there! That button alone is the size of a quarter. :D

Now... i'm not the only team member with a project to share today!

Check out these fabulous ladies and see what they came up with!

Lauren Meader

Kathryn Berthiaume

Lisa Kind

Have a wonderful day!!!!

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Copic Creations Challenge with La La Land Crafts

Woops, sorry this port is going up a little late! This is why you dont post late at night, you forget to hit PUBLISH! It was stuck in draft mode!

This is also my 2nd post for the day! Scroll down to see my post for My Time Made Easy!

The 1st of the month is always a busy day of the month, with a new release from MTME, a new challenge from Copic Creations, and every other month, gearing up for a new release from Paper Makeup Stamps!

Well, i already mentioned for you to scroll down to see the awesome new stuff from MTME, this post is my post for the Copic Creations challenge BUT i also have a little something to say about PMS at the end, so hang in there!

For our challenge at Copic Creations, we were sponsored by La La Land Crafts and oh my CUTENESS overload!!!! I really really love their Marci and Luka collections! Another huge bonus is that they sell both digis and rubber stamps!

Ok, here is my card using Summer Luka!

The challenge being issued by the Copic Creations team is to color clothing WHITE.

Go figure, last challenge I had a wedding dress. HAhahaha! Coloring clothing white isnt somethng i generally think about doing unless it's clothing that should obviously be white like a wedding gown. And even that i colored ivory last time! But I think that Luka's swimsuit is a perfect thing to be white! And he really was so much fun to color!

Copics used were...

Skin: E13, E11, E21, E00

Hair: Y21, Y26, YR31

Blues: B12, B14, B16, B37

Greens: G20, G21, G24, G28

WHITE: BG70, B60, N2

So there you have it! My sentiment is actually the freebie with order (quanities limited) from the upcoming Paper Makeup Stamps release. I just love the font and it was sitting on my desk BEGGING to be used and it matched the stamp. I figured the owner of PMS wouldnt fire me. ;)

For the big news from PMS... today is friday and though there is a bit going on, we decided to give away another Friday Freebie anyway! There won't be one next week (we'll be in release mode!) so grab this one while you can! Check out the PMS blog to grab it!

Also - we announced 3 team members who moved up to Senior status as well as 4 NEW team members! You will have to read all about it!!!!

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MTME: Keep Dazzling Them

Today is July Release for My Time Made Easy ™ LLC! Check out the NEW! PRODUCTS!!!Today the team and myself will be using one of our NEW! Pretty Packaging Templates to create a gift set of 4 Cards! You can never have too many card set ideas (wink).

So yesterday I showed a project using the new For Keeps template. I decided to use it again today but using the option 2 base (see, i told you it was versatile!) To hold a little set of cards!

Now mind you, i kept things VERY simple since family is in town and more family is on the way! But this goes to show you how little gift sets like this can come together in a snap! I did opt to print the digi flowers that I told you about yesterday from the Be Dazzled digi set and color them with copics.

And here are the 4 cards I made to go inside (sentiments are from the acrylic So Sentimental set). Sweet, clean, easy and fast!

Now don't forget to check out all the design teams blogs! I'm sure they will WOW you with what they have created!!!

Lauren Meader

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Kathryn Berthiaume

Katie Cotton (moi!)

Lisa Kind

Monique Hansen

Tangii Crain

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