Prettie Ambrosia Angel

Here is sweet Angel Wings Sophia, the Paper Pretties Stamp of the Month (SOTM) for October! I used a Mothers & Daughters sketch week 10 for my card and a monochromatic theme with my new Basic Grey paper pad Ambrosia and Basic Gray cardstock & ribbon.  I colored her with prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil & stumps.  I finished her off with some star dust stickles on her wings & hem of her dress.  

Paper Pretties News

Stamp of the Month

If you'd like to get Angel Wings Sophia, be sure to sign up by Sept. 31 at the pretties store!

Weekly Sale! 
40% off on all Paper Salon products - stamps and paper.  There are some really great stamp sets,rubons, cardstock stickers and paper perfect for winter and Christmas that you won't want to miss out on!  Just enter the coupon code Paper Salon (case sensitive).  The sale will run until Saturday September 20th at 11:59 pm cst.  

Prettie (Late) Monday - Prayers

I usually post my Paper Pretties cards on Mondays but yesterday was too much to handle (actually it was a carry over from the move on Sunday that I won't go into a lot of detail over). Let's just say I had the idea for this card Monday afternoon but it wasn't executed until 5:00 a.m. today!

This is the October SOTM - Angel Wings Sophia. Isn't she sweet? I love her closed eyes & clasped hands. I did the Dazzling Diamond Dust technique here. I stamped my image on glossy cardstock, brayered my Cotton Candy spectrum pad and laid my VersaMark pad all over it. Then I sprinkled Iridescent Ice embossing powder all over & heat set it. I just love the sparkle. The sentiment is from Starving Artistamps, timeless. I also stamped the floral bg on the regal rose base but it's hard to tell in the photo, sorry.

This reminds me of my niece Gabby; her mommy has been teaching her to say her prayers at night and late last night we heard her say them. It's amazing how clearly she speaks at 2 1/2! Now at the end of her prayers - she blows kisses to Jesus. Isn't that precious? She also sends us kisses through the phone - she really puckers up too! Only 7 more weeks until I can love on her in person!!

• Stamp of the Month Club: If you'd like to get Angel Wings Sophia, sign up and you can have her a month before she's released to the general public.
  
• 45% off Sale Extended one week!!!
  The sale has gone fabulously and many of you will be receiving your goodies in the coming few days! We have been able to clear out a lot of our inventory but there is still a TON left that has to go so we've decided to extend the 45% off EVERYTHING sale for another week! The coupon code is the same "Labor Day" (case sensitive) and the sale will go on until Saturday, September 13th at 11:59 pm CST.

P.S. JustRite Stampers Contest update: I won the Bronze Medal when the poll closed last night {thanks to all who voted/put a shout out on their blog for me}. Check back in a few hours - as the 9 finalist's projects will be available for viewing & the voting will begin. I heard the grand prize will be fabulous!

Just Another Prettie Monday...

Falling For You Sophia again - I keep using her to try & hurry up Fall! I love it when we can give the a/c a rest & the cats can enjoy sitting on the windowsills enjoying the cool breeze & whatever creature has them enthralled. I love the opportunity to allow nature to water the lawn & the off chance I get to utilize a sweater.

I used a fun layout from Danielle for the Prettie Thursday Forum Challenge. She wanted our cards to lose a little around the middle (in other words, make a tall card) but I really wasn't in the mood to get out an envelope of a different size, so I spliced my card off the side to 3 1/4 and it will still fit in a standard envelope. HA!

Since I'm in the fall mood - I reached for my Basic Grey Mellow Pad and used 5 different patterns (the cloud background Sophia is stamped on is in the pack - that's what I love about them, they all go well together.

Pretties News:

1. Falling For You Sophia is the Stamp of the Month for September so if you'd like to get her before she's released to the general public, sign up before August 31st 11:59 p.m. CST

2. Back to School Sale (Friday August 15th until August 31st) Who says mom has to miss out on all the great deals when it's back to school time!?! EVERYTHING in the Paper Pretties Boutique is eligible, you can even shop from the SALE category and receive the specials!
Spend $25 in the Paper Pretties Boutique and you can choose any one of the Paper Pretties' sentiments for free (Christie just added some new ones on Friday)
Spend $50 you can choose a Paper Pretties' sentiment and a roll of American Crafts ribbon.
Spend $100 - you can choose a Paper Pretties' sentiment, a roll of American Crafts ribbon and you'll get FREE SHIPPING!!! When you check out, simply leave a note in the comments box which sentiment and ribbon you would like and Christie will make sure it gets put in your order! Orders over $100 will automatically not be charged shipping.

3. Stampin' In Your Jammies Party: Monday, September 1st (7 pm CST) in the Paper Pretties Forum. We will be releasing Howdy Girlfriend!!

4. Cutie Pie contest - start working on your submission(s) for the contest - your prize will be a gift certificate to the Pretties store. You need to submit your card to Christie at christie@paperpretties.net. by August 31st at 8pm CST and all entries should be uploaded at the Paper Pretties website and put in the Cutie Pie Submissions gallery.

Paper Pretties 3-D items & a sale!

A few weeks ago we had a Stampin' in Your Jammies party in the Paper Pretties forum which was a lot of fun! Charmaine always issues great challenges - these were for 3-d items. I usually have a decorated pencil cup on my desk at work - so here is a Fall one to welcome in the next season & it sure will be a welcome change!! Since I love to paper-piece, I used my Bella Rose DP for this sweet Stamp of the Month prettie Sophia raking up the fall leaves. If you want her soon, sign up before the deadline (Aug 31) and you will get her in Sept instead of October, when she's released to the public.

And here is a little treat box I made (inside are 2 Reese's candies-the small bars, which the name is eluding me right now) I used my Bella Rose DP for this too and the 'beautiful' twill ribbon is from a blog candy I won from Leigh O'Brien last year.

Pretties Back to School Sale (Friday August 15th until August 31st) Who says mom has to miss out on all the great deals when it's back to school time!?!

EVERYTHING in the Paper Pretties Boutique is eligible, you can even shop from the SALE category and receive the specials!

When you spend $25 in the Paper Pretties Boutique, you can choose any one of the Paper Pretties' sentiments for free (Christie just added some new ones on Friday)

When you spend $50 you can choose a Paper Pretties' sentiment and a roll of American Crafts ribbon.

When you spend $100 - you can choose a Paper Pretties' sentiment, a roll of American Crafts ribbon and you'll get FREE SHIPPING!!! When you check out, simply leave a note in the comments box which sentiment and ribbon you would like and Christie will make sure it gets put in your order! Orders over $100 will automatically not be charged shipping.

Double Paper Pretties Challenges!

Jodi has challenged the Prettie Girls to make a 3 x 3 card because she loves them! This was easy, I do too - although I don't make them that often. I used the Paper Pretties Stamp of the Month Falling For You Sophia. Isn't she precious watching the leaves shes raking fall around her? I wanted to focus on her so that is why I created the window for her to peek through. I used my Basic Grey Mellow dp and Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon and of course SU!'s brand spankin' new scallop edge punch-now it makes it a cinch! Do you realize the New Catalog will be here soon (well to those of us not fortunate to have gone to the convention) and we will be able to order from it beginning August 11 - that's just one more week! woohoo! I'm going to send this little card on to Jodi since she loves 3 x 3 cards so much.

Be sure to check out what the other Prettie Girls made:
Christie
Charmaine
Danielle
Jackie
Jackie P
Jessie
Jana
Julie
Colleen
Joni(our illustrator) Be sure to check out her new blog!

Here is a card for Danielle's Weekly Challenge PWC14: Going Dotty For You. Use polka dots on your project. Coincidentally, I made this card a few weeks ago for the SCS sketch challenge [SC186] and had not uploaded it. How awesome that it met Danielle's FUTURE challenge, huh? If you'd like to play along for a little prize, be sure to upoad your project by Thursday in the Paper Pretties gallery and include PWC14 as your keyword. I used the new Beach Bum set with little Cooper and kept him real simple.

Prettie News:

You can get Falling For You Sophia a month before she's released to the public if you sign up for the SOTM club by Aug 31 11:59 pm CST.

Colleen, our resident scrapbooking Prettie Girl has started a scrapbook challenge in the forums! This week it is to:

create a scrapbooking layout using photo blocks

the layout can be put on any size page...8 1/2 x 11, 6 x 6, 8 x 8, 12 x 12

it can be one page or two

don't be afraid to use photos from many different dates or occasions, but across a common theme

don't forget to include your Paper Pretties stamps!

Use keyword PSC1

Fallin' For You Sophia (SOTM)

One of my favorite seasons is Fall, living in Central TX anytime the weather gets cooler is a definite PLUS! I love when we can open the windows & doors to the house to let the cool breeze in (and the cats love it too) and when the colors change on the leaves (of course it's NOTHING here compared to let's say New England) which I hope to see at least once in my lifetime! But, I find joy in the changing of the weather for sure. So when I saw the Stamp of the Month for Paper Pretties was Sophia raking the leaves with the sweetest look of joy on her face, it reminded me of one of my favorites times of the year. If you're part of the Paper Pretties SOTM club you will get Fallin' For You Sophia a month early (Sept) before it goes on sale to the general public (in Oct) and if you're not, then sign up before August 31st 11:59 p.m. CST so you can!

The XOXO chipboard I used is from my sweet blogging friend Lee - a chipboard pack from Memoy Makers by Archivers (I thought it would be perfect to cover with Mellow Basic Grey DP to match my 'fall' theme. Thanks, Lee!

Prettie Reminders
Check the other Prettie Girl's sneak peeks (their blogs are listed on the right)
Sign up for the Stamp of the Month club (by August 31 11:59 p.m. CST) so you can get Fallin' For You Sophia in September - a month before she's released to the public.
Come to the Paper Pretties Stampin' In Your Jammies party tonight (7:00 p.m. CST) for lots of fun, challenges, prizes & more! Hope to 'see' you there!!

Page Plans & Cupcake sketch & Some Sophias!!

Look at my cute Bunny Slippers Sophia~isn't she adorable? I just love her (especially since I love to paper-piece her robe-look how pretty with the new SU! Bella Rosa DP!) This is my last Page Plans sketch as their guest designer, but I'm sure I will occasionally play along since I love their sketches. This card also incorporates a prettie challenge issued by Danielle {Fat Cat Stamper} to use buttons! The Kiwi Kiss button was made by punching a double circle punch in c/s, then the 3/4" punch then use clear embossing powder (had to be creative since I didn't have any Kiwi Kiss embellishments! See my tutorial from Sat. on that. Bunny Slippers Sophia will be available for purchase this Friday, August 1 in the Paper Pretties store!

For Taylor's Cupcake Challenge 26 I decided not to use cupcakes (I think that's the first time I didn't and it's o.k. with her) I used the August Stamp Of The Month Club stamp from Paper Pretties-Howdy Girlfriend. You have until Thursday, July 31st at 11:59pm to sign up to get this super cute stamp a month before it releases to the public. I used Bella Rosa DP for both cards and made buttons to match from my tutorial on Sat.

Paper Pretties News:

Stampin' In Your Jammies party this Friday night is the at 7:00 CST in the forum. There will be challenges & fun to be had by everyone!

Cutie Pie contest winner will be revealed {you can win all the August Releases). You have until Thursday to submit your entries to christie@paperpretties.net.

New Release Sneak Peeks begin Wednesday the Prettie Girls will begin posting sneak peeks of the new sets!!!

Page Plans Sketches: A Cowgirl and Precious Girl

There is a special suprise at Page Plans this week: all the DT uploaded a card AND a layout sketch! So here are my two. I truly love this tall card, but usually shy away from them because of all the open space that tends to happen. Well because of all the great elements in the sketch, I was able to fill it all up and probably wouldn't have thought about all the ways by myself. I added cuttlebug embossing for more texture on the bottom portions. This card showcases the Paper Pretties Stamp of the Month for August (you can get it early if you sign up for the club) called Howdy Girlfriend. I just realized I didn't put a sentiment anywhere. Guess sometimes you fill up the whole card and it's forgotten. I can always add something to the inside and let the front image & details speak for themselves.

I believe I should start utilizing the layout sketches out there more so I can actually get some of my scrapbooking done. This was great because now I have a cute page to send my sister of her precious little girl learning to drink from the water hose. In the first picture you can see she is helping to water the flowers with her Nina Andrea & Nino Micky and was getting all wet! Then, he decided to show her how to drink from it and boy can you see the excitement!?!? The Joys of being a kid, finding delight in the little things. How do we lose that over the years as we grow up? I always want to find joy in the little things. She is a joy to me for sure. Just hearing her little voice yell, "love youuuu" on the phone makes me smile on the inside and outside!! I remember there was a time she just listened to me on the phone and now she is talking to me. It's priceless. I used my inspiration for this card from Week #1 Color Throwdown blog.

Card Details
Stamps: Paper Pretties Howdy Girlfriend
Cardstock/Inks: Palette Burnt Umber, Really Rust, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Hemp twine, Large pewter eyelets, fire circle rhinestones, cb embossing folders, small star punch, brads, metallic rub on paste
Scrapbook page details:
Stamps: Fresh Cut Notes,
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, Basic Grey Infuse
Accessories: Primas, Thickers, Pink Taffeta ribbon & brad, clear rhinestones

Prettie Wednesday - Trash to Treasure

I don't participate in enough challenges (yea, right) so I decided to join the Prettie Girls in their Wednesday challenges on the DT. This week's challenge from Julie is to turn your trash into treasure. WHAT? Dig through my trash? I had no idea what to do with this. Then as I was making lunch one morning last week, I saw my Laughing Cow Cheese container. It's like a soft cardboard. So here it is re-purposed with Howdy Girlfriend, the Stamp of the Month. Can you tell I love this Cutie Cowgirl? I had leftover dp from my card last week and I love to use up my scraps so I used them. You can use this little box for embellishments or anything small you need to keep together.

Since I made this cutie a redhead, guess what? It's going to be sent to Charmaine (sorry the green, blue & white dew drops are not included-those were a gift) ok maybe I'll send a few.

Check out what the other Prettie girls did with this challenge (they are on the right on my blog). Be sure to check out Paper Pretties for the SALE this month and if you haven't joined the SOTM club yet so you can get Howdy Girlfriend a month before the general public, mosey on over & y'all* don't forget to tell Christie Donna sent ya.

*I actually do say y'all after all I've lived in Texas for 11 years, but I swore up & down I would not ever say it! Within the year it started to slip! Doh

Howdy - isn't she pretty in pink??

Danielle [Fat Cat Stamper] issued a challenge in the Paper Pretties Forum (PWC10) to use Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Creamy Caramel and White on your project. That's easy, I love pink! If you'd like to play along, there will be a random prize; you just need to upload by Thursday to the gallery and link your creation in the thread. You don't have to use paper pretties stamps but if you have them you should!

I used my American Crafts felt sweater thickers I won in a challenge blog candy a few weeks ago from the Dutch Dare Challenge - they're so cool! That's what the howdy is.

Don't forget to check the Paper Pretties homepage to see the sale on ribbon slides & ric rack!

Stamps: Howdy Girlfriend - PP SOTM for August, Paisley BG by SU!
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, White
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Pretty in Pink, Prismacolor & oh-i-Noor pencils, Baby Oil, Stumps
Accessories: Caramel Gingham, Rose & Tan grosgrain, pewter hodgepodge hardware, rhinestone bling

TECC23 - Howdy GF

Since I love to paper-piece {but not nearly as much as I like to color} I wanted to see if I could find some cute dp for Cutie Cowgirl Sophia's outfit! Of course the boots don't match but that's o.k. - I think she looks adorable. This is my card for Taylor's Cupcake Friday challenge 23

Check out the ribbon slides & ric rac sale at Paper Pretties -25% off for the month of July! Julie Masse did a product review on the ribbon slides and you can see them in action on an adorable card she made!

Stamps: Howdy Girlfriend - Paper Pretties Stamp of the Month for August.

Paper: PTI stamper's select white, My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus DP, DCWV Glitter Stack,
Map DP from prize won from Pam Smerker,
Accessories: Ribbon from prize won from Leigh O'Brien, Faux Dew Drops from Monika Davis.

Happy Birthday Charmaine!!!

We're having a virtual birthday party for Charmaine aka Charlie because today is her birthday!

I brought some yummy funfetti cupcakes, confetti and some silly string for everyone to enjoy and a card using Howdy Girlfriend for the birthday lady!!! Howdy Girlfriend is Paper Pretties' Stamp of the Month - if you want her early, be sure to check out the SOTM club (you can subscribe by July 31st and get her in August before she goes on sale to the general public in Sept). Don't forget to tell Christie you were referred by me*

I used the Monogram Stamper by JustRite purchased at The Stamp Castle to personalize the cupcake for Charlie. How fun is that?!

Go check out the following blogs to see what the other gals brought to the Party for Charlie and be sure to stop by Charmaine's blog - Oodabug Alley & give her some birthday love!!

Carolina

Christie
Danielle

Colleen

Jana

Jackie

Jackie P

Jessie

Jodi

Julie

Laurie

Michelle

Sneak Peek - New SOTM with Paper Pretties

I am so excited to share a NEW stamp that will be available a month BEFORE release to the general public to all Stamp of the Month Subscribers with Paper Pretties - Howdy Girlfriend!! This is the stamp for August, so if you do not subscribe to the SOTM you will have to wait until Sept (boo hoo) to get her.

She is SO cute! I thought all day about how I would showcase this Cutie Cowgirl Sophia (my name for her) and it wasn't until I walked in the door after a LONG day at work that it hit me - I would make a shaped card! A boot! So I looked at images online and found a couple I liked & sketched a layout. Well, DH was impressed with the idea when he walked in the door but not really what I had sketched he said it didn't look real enough. He found a new image and there I was trying to perfect it. We both were happy with the result. I so appreciate him, he's so helpful, a great (male) cheerleader for me and such a support (helpful) as long as he is not playing Halo 3 and I'm trying to bug him for help!

Anyway - here she is! Not much explaining to do, it's pretty straighforward. I doodled the swirls by hand, outlined them with white gel pen & filled in with versamark for a deeper pink passion color. Cutie Cowgirl Sophia is colored with prismacolor & koh-i-noor pencils & baby oil. Her skin was colored with copics. I just used Howdy from Howdy Girlfriend for my tag.

P.S. if you want to get Howdy Girlfriend as soon as it is available August 1, you will need to subscribe by July 31st. If you decide to, be sure to say you heard about Paper Pretties from me *wink*