Today is a new challenge for the PMS digi makeover challenge AND a new digi release from Paper Makeup Stamps!

We have a new digi collection that is being sold as a set and a portion of proceeds will go to the Susan G Komen Foundation.

The DigiMakeover challenge for today is to THINK PINK (fitting, we know.  Michelle is a smart cookie that way when she sets up the challenges!)  All images and word art on my cards below is from the new set which you can also purchase HERE.

Check out http://papermakeupstamps.blogspot.com for more samples from the design team!

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Paper Makeup Stamps & Party Time Tuesdays Challenge Blog proudly presents 

"Jen's Sunshine" Blog Hop
This hop will remain open till Tuesday Sept. 4th
Winners announced Sept. 7th

Today we take time to honor our friend and fellow crafter Jen Scull.  If you are here hopping with us, then I am sure you know Jen is battling breast cancer.  She has been fighting this nasty disease since February.  On behalf of Jen, we thank you for being here.

We ask as you hop along with us, please consider donating at least $1 using the paypal donation button at any stop along the way.  Your donation will go directly to Jen. Thank you.

It wouldn't be a hop without prizes.  To see a full list of the prizes up for grabs, please visit 

Paper Makeup Stamps

and

Party Time Tuesdays Challenge Blog

To be eligible to win a prize from our sponsors, collect the hidden letters located throughout the hop.  Once you spell out the secret phrase, please email Jenn Cochran at partytimetuesdays@hotmail.com.  This will get you entered to win one of several fabulous prizes.

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PMS digi makeover challenge #47

WOOOPS!  I fell asleep early last night snuggling in bed with my 6 year old and I just woke up realizing, i never make my post last night!  So sorry this is a bit late for those that like to check early in the am.  I'm sure that honestly, no one really cares that my post is late.  haha!

Today's challenge for the digimakeover is "Endless Summer"!  Which is just PERFECT since last tuesday we released a special digi set in honor of own of our design team member's Jen Scull that is all about SUNSHINE!  It truly is coincidental!  The digi set will have ALL proceeds go directly to Jen and her family.  You can read all about Jen's Sunshine on the company blog or by clicking THIS LINK.

And now here is my card for an Endless Summer!

And now i have to jet to a doctor's appointment so i will leave it as i colored with copies and used October Afternoon paper!

Have a wonderful day!

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Jen's Sunshine, a charity stamp for my friend

Today, Paper Makeup Stamps is releasing a charity digi stamp set for one of our design team members.  Before I simply type the same post all over again, I will direct you to the PMS company blog.

Did you read it?  Jen has been such a sweet sweet team member and fan of PMS before she ever was a team member.  I was heartbroken when I learned the news of her breast cancer.  Not heart broken for myself, but heart broken for her and her family.  As she continues treatment, I know that the financial struggle must be, well, a struggle!  I really hope that you take a moment to check out the new digi stamp set.  ALL proceeds will be going directly to Jen and her family.

Here is my first card made with this set...

When I first asked Diem if she would illustrate a matching sunshine to the Jen Fairy, i didnt realize it would be the CAHUTE!  I love love love this sunshine.  it lights up my face!

I do want to give a shout out to Måns Grebäck who gave me a pretty good deal on a font bundle since there were too many of his awesome fonts for me to purchase each one separately.  You ROCK, Måns!

I printed the sunshine out on Copic XPress It cardstock and colored with Copic markers (Specifically, Y13, Y15, Y19, YR04, YR07, YR09, YR02) and then cut it out.  I layered papers from American Crafts (ones from the PMS Will to Daydream kit!) and used some ribbon by Stampin' Up.

Now please please please go leave JEN some love and buy this super fun set!

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St Baldricks Charity event

Have you heard of St. Baldricks? The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.

Recently, I was contacted by papercrafting friend, Sarah Williams and she told me the story of her friend. Her friend has a boy named Oliver. Oliver has an inoperable brain tumor that is terminal. Oliver wears an eye patch so that he does not get double vision, but being the trooper and fun little guy that he is, he eye patch sports a guitar and the words, ROCK N ROLL! He's a kid after my own heart.

And indeed, his story has touched my heart. There are so many young ones fighting cancerous diseases, and St. Baldricks is truly making a difference!

I approached Diem, one of my llustrators for Paper Makeup Stamps, about making a fairy just for Oliver with all proceeds of the digi sales going to the St Baldricks and/or family for Oliver. She loved the idea and not only drew the perfect fairy for Oliver, but also an awareness ribbon and the word Rockstar!

This digi set is $4 and you can purchase it here.

And here are 2 cards I made using this digi set!

I colored the ribbon blue because light blue is the ribbon color for children's cancer awareness. :D

And i want to give one more shout out to Sarah. Because today, Sarah has commited to to shaving her head to raise money for this charity! You can check out Sarah's commitment page HERE! Sarah, I am so very proud of you!

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Skipping Stones supports Breast Cancer...

Today while doing my daily inspiration hopping... i came across Shannan Tuebner's blog. Her card is grogeous by the way! Anyhoo - she's taking part in Skipping Stone's Blogs 4 Boobies blog hop! Skipping Stones... i know them! I have some of their stamps that desperately need to see ink... the wheels in my head begin to turn!

Ok, back to the Blogs 4 Boobies hop because you NEEEED to know about it!

You can read the special info at the start of the hop HERE. Basically... all sales from Skipping Stones will donate $2 per stamp set to the Susan G Komen foundation. There is also a release of 2 new sets that are super cute. :D And not only that, but you can BID on cards in the hop from some of the top notch crafting girls in blogland and those winning bids will also go to the Susan G Komen foundation. Pretty cool huh?!

So i looked at the clock... and thought... yeah i have time before preschool gets out. Mind you i have other things i'm supposed to be doing, but shhhhhh. :D

Also in my daily inspiration with my coffee i saw that the Color Throwdown color challenge is one of my all time favorite color combos. Um... how can i NOT play?!

So i got to work on this card.. i wish i had paid more attention to the Blogs 4 Boobies hop because there is a sketch challenge issued. WOOOPS. Oh well. :D I still like my card. :D

I comboe'd 2 stamp sets for this card. The dandelions, extra seeds and sentiment are from Dandelion Dreams (you know i cant resist a dandelion set!). The butterfly is from a wonderful heartfelt set called Healing Wings.

Here's a detail shot. I stamped the butterfly on a scrap piece of paper, colored it using copics (R81, R83, R85, R89, N2 & N4) Then i cut it out and set it aside.

On my main piece of cardstock for the cardfront, i stamped the dandelions in grey ink and then used the separate seedling to stamp some fluffs scattering the sky.r Inside the seedlings and main dandies i used a silver glitter pen from gelly roll. Then i stamped my sentiment in Rich Razzelberry ink and sponged the edges.

Then i took the butterfly, bent it back a bit from the "body" and glued just the body part to the top of one of the dandelions.

One more detail shot... I decided the card didnt look "done" enough after i put the ribbon down along the bottom so i added some extra bling by using pink rhinestones and dotting all along the edge with the same silver glitter gel pen.

And that completes my card!

Be sure to check out this spectacular blog hop... maybe bid on a card or 2? Buy yourself a fabulous new stamp set (i didnt mention this... but Skipping Stone Design stamps are clear stamps of great quality and a great price point!) You really need to check them out!

Have a great day!!!

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I get by with a little help from my friends

Ok, this time it isnt a case of my getting by, it's a case of helping someone else get by.

Because this is what we do as friends!

A dear friend of mine, Gabby, has been having trouble. She and her family have hit a financial hardspot that has caused to to make some big sacrifices. Since there are a lot of peeps in the paper crafting world who know Gabby, and i knew that quite a few of them would want to help, but just not know how... i thought it would be fantastic to release a few digi stamps where all they money would go to her and her family. :) You can read all about the digi release and see some Auh-mazing creations by the PMS design team on the PMS company blog.

Here is my card using Moody for Rock!

I love love love this moody girl! Everything down to the details in her hair! I know girls who actually have prints died into their hair and while i could never pull it off, i think its way fun!

Here is a closeup shot of this rockstar!
The teardrop shapes in the background i simply colored with copics: R24 in the center, c9 on the outside and C5 to blend the outer and inner together.

Also being released today are 2 digi wordarts. The one not seen on my card today (though you'll see it soon) was arranged by Gabby herself! Gabby is not one to ask for help, so when i approached her about this release, she at least wanted to contribute to it a bit! You can check out her word art HERE.

Here is a close up shot of the 2nd of the digi wordarts being release today. This one is really more of a digi sentiment than a full out wordart. :)

Gabby definitely rocks my world! I have "known" her for over a year when we were both on a design team for another stamp company. And now i'm fortunate enough to have her on my design team for Paper Makeup Stamps. her talent amazes me. Her passion motivates me. Her friendship makes me all warm and fuzzy. I hope that everyone who knows (and loves gabby, because who doesnt love gabby!) sees this as an opportunity to help a girl out. :)

Thank you so much everyone for filling my life with such wonderful joy!

You are all rockstars!

Stamps

Moody for Rock charitable digi stamp from Paper Makeup Stamps

You Rock My Word charitable digi sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps

Coloring: Copics

Reds used R24, R29, R59

Greys C1, C3, C5, C7, C9

Browns (on the guitar) E40, E31

Skin E00, E000, E21

Paper:

Rock a Billy by Stampin Up (retired)

Cardstock: Real Red (SU), Basic Black (SU), Solar White (Neenah)

Tools and Accessories

Labels 9 Nestabilities by Spellbinders

Black Rhinestones by Studio G

Red Rhinestones by Basic Grey

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My Time Made Easy February Release, day 3 - Welcome Home

Hello everyone! Well, it's my "special" day to share a my time made easy project and this one is very near and dear to my heart! I absolutely love when I am able to take the talents I have and use them to help someone else. That is why i turned the Welcome Home template into a bank of sorts! First here is my project, and then you can read all about the mission!

I make mountains of cards, but then they sit in shoe boxes. Occasionally a card gets sent out, but the boxes just start to multiply! Some have told me i should put them up in an etsy account (which i have one) but on the whole, I dont sell much from my etsy account. So i wanted to brainstorm on how I could use my cards for a good cause. While sitting in church a few weeks back, I had an idea (i promise i was still listening! haha!) My church is a big supporter of a Thornwell Children's Home which is an orphanage of sorts for children from abusive or just not well fitting homes. I thought, well perhaps I could take cards to the church and sell them with a suggestion "donation price" of $3 per card. Then all the money from the sales of the cards would go directly to the children's home.

Then when Lauren sent the design team this super cute template of a home i immediately knew what i wanted to do with it! So i turned it into a bank by creating a cutout in the front were money can be slipped into. The top of the house still opens (see pic below) which is so that the money can still be removed easily (and discreetly... no one else will know how it opens!

Isnt that nifty! And the space inside the the house is pretty good so there is all kinds of stuff you could put in there. It would also make a great house warming present.

So here is another angle of the house so that you can see the chimney and roof detail. The funny thing is I knew I wanted to surround this house with hearts and give the idea that it was full out and surrounded by Love (a very important value to the Thornwell Children's Home). I didnt realize that in the AWESOME digi paper of houses that I used on my card had hearts coming out of the chimney! The project was meant to be! haha!

For my rooftop, I wanted to give the idea of shingles so i used one of my martha stewart border punches to create the effect. I actually wanted to use my scallop border punch, but it seems to have gone missing. Story of my life!

Now onto the stamp sets! I've already been posting this week about how much i LOOOOVE the new You've Got Mail stamp set and it's 38 wonderful images! But there is one stamp set I havent told you about yet! It's called Argyle Amazement and it is AMAZING! I cant wait to use it over and over again! There are so many different argyle patterns for you to mix and match! For my project today, i did keep it pretty simple.

I layered the row of simple argyle over and over to create a background and then randomly used the solid diamond to give it a little edge.

I also used the heart from the You've Got Mail set in a few different ways. I can see myself using that heart alot! I use it in the center of my "bushes" created with a simple circle punch out of green cardstock.

I also use the heart again on a white square piece of cardstock that i hid behind the window cutouts. I stamped the heart in red ink and then continued to stamp it until the ink wore off the stamp which gave me 3 different colors of hearts. The idea is that the home is full of love inside as well as out!

Ok, one last picture for you! This is a close up shot of my matching card. Now for this card, I didnt do too much. It really was created not as a card to send to someone, but as a card to sit next to the house and box of cards at the church. This way people can read it and know the purpose of the house!

Now you can click on the picture to enlarge it and then you will really be able to see the ADORABLE house digi paper available in the Cute Critters paper pack which is available for only $4.50! Of course it matches the Welcome Home template perfectly and matches the house stamp in the You've Got Mail stamp set! I used the little house on the bottom of my information sheet. :)

So thats it for my project! I hope you enjoyed it as much as i did making it!

Stamps from My Time Made Easy

You've Got Mail

Argyle Amazement

Tools

Template from My Time Made Easy: Welcome Home

Cricut Expression and Sure Cuts a Lot

Martha Stewart Border Punch

Circle Punch by Creative Memories

Heart Punch by Creative Memories

Paper:

Cardstock from Couture Cardstock

Colors: Brown Paper Packages, Fallen Leaf, Candied Apple, Galoshes

Inks: by Close to My Heart

Holiday Red (red hearts), Buttercup (stamped house), Breeze (stamped house), Blush (stamped house), Star Spangled Banner (argyle), Chocolate (for sponging edges)

Accessories:

Heart Brads by Making Memories

Prima Flowers

Stickles in Xmas Red

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In loving Memory of Baylee Rose Tadlock

I count myself as very fortunate in a great many aspects of my life. I might say that i have the worst "stupid luck" on the planet. But i call it "stupid luck" because it means the item always goes on sale after i buy it full price, or when i think it's a good idea to squeeze just a little harder on the glue bottle to get something to come out it explodes. This is my life. Full of those little pesky things. But those little things... those annoying little buggers that happen to me... these are all a part of my very fortunate life. So i'll take them.

I have a wonderful and healthy family. I am able to stay at home with my young children. I have a husband who loves me and a family who supports everything that I do. There are many that are not as fortunate as I am. They lose loved ones far too soon. The struggle financially in a realm that is hard to even comprehend. They deal with illness, and struggles for life.

This is why charity is very important to me. God has given me a truly blessed life. It is my JOB to give back what he has so richly blessed upon me. With the start of my stamp company nearly 1 year ago, I've found one small way that I can give back. Charity stamps are a way that I can help many help just 1 (or a family).

When i was approached by 2 friends of mine in this wonderful crafting world we "live" in... my immediate thought was of course! How can i help! My friends Ashley Newell and Carole Chesser knew Sonda Tadlock. A papercrafter like you and I who's daughter Baylee had been diagnosed at 9 months with Leigh's Syndrome. As Baylee was in her final stages of life, Ashley and Carole wanted to help the family and asked if I would be interested in assisting them with this mission. I spoke with Diem who created this wonderful image so perfectly off of just a few photos of Baylee. Diem's ability to understand exactly what I'm looking for will never cease to amaze me. Perhaps thats what happens when 2 people just click from the get go. :)

Here is the image Diem created...

And here is a card i made using this sweet image. I paired it with a sentiment from the Dream Big set from Paper Makeup Stamps. Baylee loved disney, so i thought that this would be just perfect to pair with her image.

Since my internet has been less than kind to me today, I am going to quickly post a few detail shots. I'm sorry that i dont have marker numbers to provide today. I colored this image the day i received it from Diem and forgot to write down the colors used!

I've tried the trick of adding texture to patterned paper. Here i decided to "de-boss" the image. I've just put the patterned paper upside down in the cuttlebug folder. It gives a softer and less pronounced texture to the card.

Here is a detail coloring shot...

Please go to the PMS blog to see other creations using this image.

You can purchase this image HERE

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