Pretty Palette #45

Happy Sunday everyone!  This week's Pretty Palette challenge colors came from the Plum Pretties digital paper pack from My Time Made Easy.  Pretty colors!

The paper has an Asian theme and coordinates with the So Fortunate stamp set.  It just so happens that the Chinese New Year was last week, so this is a nod to that.  I printed out the plum paper and also the green polka dot paper from the Coffee Beans digital paper pack.  I used the So Fortunate digital images and colored them in GIMP to match the papers.  The zig-zag piece was cut using the Random Ribbons cut file.

The sketch is from this week's Card Patterns sketch.  It is a great sketch and so easy to work with.

There is some great inspiration over on the MTME blog.  Stop by these blogs to see for yourself.

My Time Made Easy blog

Charlene Cundy
Jacki Randolph

Pattie Goldman

Romaine Rancier

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Just Us Girls #121 - Template/3D Challenge

Hi everyone!  We have a new challenge from Just Us Girls that the marvelous Maria has come up with....create a 3D project or template with a Valentine theme.  Perfect for those gifts we love to give or display.

I'm using a box from My Time Made Easy called A Box is a Box.  While I was cutting the top out on my Cricut, I added a heart cut-out on the side.  Then I added some liquid pearls around the heart to hilite it a bit.  The bow was cut using the Bow Tied cut file.  On both the lid and bow, I used the Candy Kisses digital paper pack.  With the leftover paper from the bow, I used the Martha Stewart heart border punch to adorn the bottom of the lid.

Here is a closeup of the bow.  I just love this cut file!  It makes making a bow super easy and they look so professional!  I added a pretty Prima rose in the center.

Stop by the JUGs blog and the design team's blogs.  Also we'd like to thank our featured designer, Kylie Kueter, for designing with us this month!

Just Us Girls blog

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Lynn

Maria

Pam

Vicki

Kylie Kueter, January Featured Designer

Thanks foir stopping by today!

Pretty Palette #44

Hi everyone!  Today the Pretty Palette challenge has lovely, soft colors for you.  I saw these colors on this card by Andrea and fell in love with them!

This is my take on the colors.  I used the Occasional Labels stamp set and stamped the gingham frame in Apricot Appeal on the Occasional Label cut file I cut with my Cricut.  Then I stamped the outline on the inside with Melon Mambo ink.  The flower, from Sensational Stems, was stamped in Wild Wasabi and Melon Mambo.  The sentiment, from Sensational Sentiments, was stamped in Black Onyx Versafine ink.  All stamps from My Time Made Easy, of course.

I loved this sketch from Deconstructed Sketches.  I sort of followed it.  Creative license, right? 

The Pretty Palette design team has been busy making some beautiful cards for this challenge.  Make sure you stop by the blogs below to see for yourself.

My Time Made Easy blog

Charlene Cundy
Jacki Randolph

Pattie Goldman

Romaine Rancier

Thanks so much for stopping in today! 

Just Us Girls #120 - Color Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm sooo glad it's the weekend!  My students have been trying my patience this week.  I think we need another break from each other!  Sigh...

Well, let's talk stamping and get our problems off our shoulders, shall we?  It always relaxes me...especially when I'm coloring like I did today.  Over at Just Us Girls, our challenge this week is a color challenge and our amazingly talented Vicki has chosen some Valentine colors.  So I had to go with that theme!

OK, so is this not a cute image or what?  I purchased it eons ago at my LSS, Buffalo Stamps and Stuff.  It's from Inky Antics called Sniffing Treats.  I love dogs, so all cute dog stamps like this one just jump into my basket when I'm shopping there!  However, this is the first time this stamp has seen ink!  Why is that?  This dog just reminded me of our dog, Lizzie.  (Sidebar here:  As I was making this, she kept coming over to me in my stamp room.  My stamp room is in the basement and on the other side of the wall is her bed.  She is very tired tonight after a long day with her master (my hubby) and she wants me out of the basement so she can sleep!  Her eyes are just pleading for me to turn off the radio and leave!  Too funny!)  Anyway, I colored the image with the red and pink colors (and brown for the dog).  I added some glitter gel pen to the ribbon on the heart.  The punched heart border was done with a Martha Stewart punch.  I salvaged some of the hearts that where punched out of the border to place above the sentiment.  The sentiment is from Love Everywhere by Taylored Expressions.  Cute stamp set!  I added a red velvet button tied with some pink floss.

I followed this sketch from {Freshly Made} Sketches.  I just found their blog and am now following it!  I love me some great sketches, and their's seem to be fresh and fun!

The JUGs DT have made some really pretty cards this week!  The blog looks so pretty in all this red, pink, and white!  Stop by these blogs to see more fabulous inspiration from the team and our Featured Designer.

Just Us Girls blog

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Kathryn

Lynn

Maria

Pam

Vicki

Kylie Kueter, January Featured Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have a great weekend.  Stop by tomorrow for my Pretty Palette challenge card!  See you then!

Pretty Palette #43

Hello my friends!  Today is Sunday which means we have another Pretty Palette challenge for you from My Time Made Easy.  I just love the colors for this week...pink,white, and navy.  Such a classy color palette!

My card for this palette began with the digi paper from My Time Made Easy.  I used three different paper packs for this and did something I've never done before.  I created my own striped pattern paper!  The blue patterns are from Tea Parlor Plum's Silent Night pack, the pink gingham is from Ga Ga for Gingham, and the other pink one is from the new Candy Kisses pack.  I inserted them into a Word document, cropped each one to 7"x1.5" and just stacked them next to each other.  I wish my sewing machine worked better so I could have run a zig-zag stitch between each one, but it just isn't working properly.

The paper with the tea cups on it was the inspiration for my card.   I love the A Spot of Tea stamp set and coordinating A Spot of Tea Pretty Pieces Cut file.  I cut the tea cup using the cut file, then stamped the outline of the tea cup in Night of Navy ink.  I then stamped the floral design in navy also, then inked the coordinating flowers and leaves in pink and green.  The sentiment is from the same set and is also stamped in navy.  I added the Martha Stewart flowers and a partial pearl flourish I had to mimic steam coming from the cup.  The pink base was scalloped on the left side with a border punch and I added a pretty pink dotted ribbon to finish it off.

This sketch from Card Patterns was the inspiration for the four different pattern panels I created.  What a lovely sketch!

Stop by the MTME blog to see what the Pretty Palette design team has created with these colors.  We have a new member, Jacki Randolph, joining us!  We are so happy to have her on board!  Welcome Jacki!  Here are links to their blogs. 

My Time Made Easy blog

Charlene Cundy
Jacki Randolph

Pattie Goldman

Romaine Rancier

Thanks for stopping by!  It's a longer weekend for me with Martin Luther King day tomorrow.  I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Recipe
Stamps:  A Spot of Tea (MTME)
Paper:  Neenah white, pink pirouette, Tea Parlor Plum's Silent Night, Ga Ga for Gingham, Candy Kisses (all MTME)
Ink:  Night of Navy, Pretty in Pink, Garden Green
Accessories:  A Spot of Tea Pretty Pieces cut file (MTME), pearl flourish (Want 2 Scrap), roses (Martha Stewart), scallop border punch, dotted ribbon, dimensionals

Just Us Girls #119 - Technique Challenge

Hi all!  Did you all survive Friday the 13th?  Up here in Buffalo, NY, we got hit with our first storm of the season.  Yes, I said FIRST snow storm!  We have not had any snow on the ground until yesterday. And it took me almost and hour and a half to get to work!  There was a 10 car pile up on the Thruway which held things up for hours!  It wasn't an enjoyable ride!

But today is better, it's Saturday and the long weekend is ahead, and we have a cool Just Us Girls technique challenge for you!  Our newest JUGs member, and Moxie Fabber of the Week, Lynn Mangan, chose the collage technique.  I had such fun with this one!  You can find the instructions in the SCS Resources here.

 

I started with a stamp set I purchased at a stamp show from Darcie's booth (there's no name on the package and I couldn't find it online).  I started with a piece of white cardstock and stamped it with SU's retired canvas background in Basic Gray.  Then I stamped the other images in Basic Gray, Tempting turquoise, and the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black.  The flourishes were stamped off before stamping on the cardstock.  The edges were distressed and then I added more Basic Gray ink to define the edges more.  The ribbon is Basic Gray taffeta.  I had to add something else, so I just added some silver pearls to each side.

You have to stop by the JUGs blog and the girls' blogs to see their amazing collage stamped cards.  They are listed below.

Just Us Girls blog

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Kathryn

Lynn

Maria

Pam

Vicki

Kylie Kueter, January Featured Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!

My Time Made Easy - Happy New Year (in review!)

Hello friends!  Have you seen the new products that were released yesterday from My Time Made Easy?  It was one "sweet" release!  Check them out here and see for yourself.

Today the entire design team is posting our monthly Year in Review post where we use previously released products.  I'm also using the Pretty Palette colors for this week, which are based on the new digital paper pack called Island Love. 

I chose to use the Creative Card Candy template for my project today.  There are two sizes of boxes in this set, and I used the mini version.  I also used the Creative Card/Envelope 1 cut file to make four mini cards and envelopes.  The envelopes and floral paper are from the Island Love digital paper pack.

The mini cards were stamped with the Killer Curves Fancy Frames stamp set.  I added my initial using the Monograms Defined stamp set.

The inside is lined with the floral paper.  The front was decorated with a pearl flourish from Want 2 Scrap.  The box is held shut with a ribbon belly band and bow. 

I hope you enjoyed my project.  I love the way it came out and the colors are so pretty!  You can see more inspiration for the Pretty Palette color challenge by going to these blogs.

My Time Made Easy blog

Charlene Cundy

Pattie Goldman

Romaine Rancier

And you can see more Year in Review inspiration from the MTME DT by going to these blogs.

MTME store

Lauren Meader

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Kathryn Berthiaume

Katie Cotton

Monique Hansen

Tangii Crain

Thanks for stopping in today.  I love to hear your comments!  Have a great week!

My Time Made Easy Release Day - Something Sweet

Today is Release Day at My Time Made Easy and we have a very sweet release for you this month!  Sweet is the definitely theme here this month.  You can see all the sweet new products here in the store. 

The template I'm sharing today is called Sweet Treat Tote.  LOVE this one!  It is a very roomy template, and it has three different insert options.  I'm using the bigger sized insert box, but there are two others:  one is a lollipop insert and the other is a smaller box. 

I coordinated the tote with this new digital paper pack designed by Kristin Eberline called Candy Kisses.  I think this is such a fun paper!  It coordinates with SU's Poppy Parade and Crumb Cake carstock, which is what I used here.  The cut out on the front can be removed or changed to work with your design.

The sentiment is from the new digital stamp set called Sweet Sentiments.  It was perfect for my candy gift.  These are sponge candies.  I don't know if you have them in your area, but they are very popular here in Western New York.  They are my favorite candy!  I purchased some at the candy store and packaged them in some clear candy bags and tied them off with some ribbon.  The sentiment was cut out with a Spellbinder's tag and I tied it on with ribbon and added a red heart button.  Since my sweetie doesn't like sweets, these are mine!  LOL!!

The entire MTME design team is posting today.  Stop by their blogs and see what "eye candy" they have for you.  And don't forget to stop by the MTME store to purchase your new products and start crafting!  Everything is digital, so you don't have to wait!

MTME store

Lauren Meader

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Kathryn Berthiaume

Katie Cotton

Monique Hansen

Tangii Crain

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back tomorrow with our MTME Happy New Year in Review post.  See you then!

Just Us Girls #118 - Sketch Challenge

Happy Saturday!  Today is the first challenge for 2012 at Just Us Girls.  The first challenge of the month is our sketch challenge, and our fabulously creative Pam has given us this great sketch to work with. 

I decided that I wanted to color because I haven't done a lot of that lately.  These stamps have been sitting around for far too long.  This image is Winter Marci from La-La Land Crafts.  I picked it up at a stamp show over the summer.  I must have used about 20 copic markers on this image!  I haven't used that many in one sitting in a long time!  The dp is from My Mind Eye's Lost and Found Madison Avenue.  The flowers are Primas and the pearl flourish is from Want 2 Scrap (love those flourishes!).  The sentiment is from Paper Makeup Stamps.  It was part of a kit from last year, so I'm not sure if it's still available.

Wait until you see the cards the girls created with this sketch!  They are all so different and so fabulous!  We have a new featured designer this month, too.  Here are the blogs you'll want to visit.

Just Us Girls blog

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Kathryn

Lynn

Maria

Pam

Vicki

Kylie Kueter, January Featured Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!

My Time Made Easy Preview Day 1 - Hey Cupcake!

Hi everyone!  It's finally time for previews for the new release from My Time Made Easy.  Lauren made our lives "easier" this month by delaying the release a week because of the holidays (thank you Lauren!).  We have two new templates, two new digital stamp sets, two new cut files, and a bunch of new digital paper!  These will all be released on Sunday, January 8th.

Today, we are previewing the Hey Cupcake template.  As the name implies, its intended use is to hold two cupcakes.  There is an insert that goes in the box that will house two cupcakes or even jar candles.  I've chosen to do something a little different with it.  When I looked at it (and when I saw this image/sentiment in the Sweet Sentiments digital stamp set), I thought treasure chest!  I don't know if I've done a good job at making it look like a treasure chest, but I do like the way it looks.

I made the base of the template from Island Indigo cardstock and the top is from vanilla cardstock.  I chose the Doilies paper from the new Minty Chocolate digital paper pack for the decorative panel on the lid of the box.  I took some brown satin ribbon and put an aged copper slide on it to make it look like the closure.  I filled it with these chocolate coins for my "treasure"!

This heart with sentiment image is what got me thinking of a treasure chest.  I printed it out on vanilla cardstock, colored it with copics, cut it out, and added some Star Dust stickles around the edge.  The heart paper is also from the new Minty Chocolate paper pack.  I used the same Island Indigo cardstock and brown satin ribbon as the box.  I also added some of the stickles to the one heart on the left side.  It looks real sparkly in person.

The card uses the sketch from Card Positioning Systems.

Stop by the following DT blogs to see what they have created with the new products from MTME.

Lauren Meader

Katie Cotton

Tangii Crain

The January release will be on Sunday, January 8th.  You'll have everything you'll need to create your own wonderful projects immediately...no waiting!  Thanks for stopping by today!

January Calendar

To see my Pretty Palette post, please click here.

Happy New Year once again!  Since it's the first of the month, we all need new calendars, right?  Well a few of my stamping friends have gotten together to create a calendar each month and post it to our blogs.  I've been using Taylored Expressions 6x6 calendar pages.  You can purchase and download them right away (which is what I did today!).

I decided to go with snowmen for my calendar page since January should have lots of snow.  However, here in Buffalo, NY (snow capital as we call it), we have NO SNOW!!  We are supposed to get some tonight into tomorrow.  It was a weird Christmas with no snow. 

Anyway, I digress.  This snowmen scene was perfect for the top of my calendar and I love this image!  It's from Impression Obsession's clear stamp set called Let It Snow.  It's colored with copics and I added some sparkle with a clear gel pen.  The snowflake is from Heidi Grace.  The twine, added at the very last minute, was a gift from Jami Bova.  My calendar stand is on my file cabinet at school, so I'll have to take it there on Tuesday when school starts again.  :- (

Here are links to the other girls' blogs so you can see their fabulous calendars.

Christine

Julie

Tangii

Danni

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope to be doing more stamping this week (fingers crossed!).

Pretty Palette #41 - Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Hard to believe it's already 2012!  Remember when we were all worried about going from 1999 to 2000?  Wow!  Twelve years later and look how far we've come!  I hope you have a fabulous 2012!

This week, the Pretty Palette challenge DT is celebrating the new year with some fun, bright colors.  We hope you enjoy them!

I had so much fun putting this card together.  I had been planning on using this Ring in the New Year cut file from My Time Made Easy for this challenge for a while!  Using my Cricut and SCAL program, I cut the base of the bell in Marina Mist, then cut the other pieces in Concord Crush, Real Red, and Daffodil Delight cardstocks and assembled it all together.  Love the outcome!  I did not have a sentiment for the new year, so I created one in Word and printed it out on some bright yellow computer paper.  The clock and ribbons are buttons I won at Buttons Galore & More.  They were the perfect addition to my card!  The papers are from Basic Grey's Junebug paper pack.

This sketch from Card Patterns worked wonderfully for my card.

For more inspiration and to link up your Pretty Palette creation, head on over to the following blogs.

My Time Made Easy blog

Charlene Cundy

Pattie Goldman

Romaine Rancier

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful 2012!