Just Us Girls #138 - Photo Inspiration Challenge **New**

Happy Saturday and Happy Memorial Day weekend!  I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend.  We are changing things up a bit over at Just Us Girls.  We have decided to retire our 3D/Template challenge and replace it with a Photo Inspiration challenge.  We hope you enjoy this type of challenge.  You can go wherever your inspiration takes you!  Vicki has chosen some great pictures to get you crafting.  I love today's...blue and brown are some of my favorite colors!

 I took the colors, the stripes and the teddy bear from the inspiration photo.  The pattern on cake reminded me of this retired SU paper called Parisian Breeze.   I stamped the teddy bear on one of the patterns in chocolate chip ink.  The image is from Baby Button Bits by PTI.  The sentiments are from Bitty Baby Blessings, also from PTI.  The doily is from a Martha Stewart pack.

 The sketch is from Taylored Expressions.  I guess they are discontinuing their sketches.  Bummer, because I've always loved their sketches.  But there are a lot of sketch challenges out there (on of them at JUGs!).

 You can see what the JUGs design team did with this inspiration photo at these blogs:

JUGs blog
Elise Durenberger
Lynn Mangan
Maria Levine
Vicki Dutcher

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Paper Makeup Stamps Release Day Blog Hop!

We are finally here!  Release day at Paper Makeup Stamps!  We've been sneaking fabulous images for the past four days, and now is the day you can actualy purchase them!  We are starting today with our blog hop.  So if you just stopped in, please go to the PMS blog to get all the details about the hop.  If you came here from Janette's blog, you are in the right place!

I'm using one of the new wordart singles.  I love this sentiment!  So "colorful"!!

I was searching for sketches and came upon this one from Taylored Expressions.  I'm not a fan of banners, but I really liked this one because of the bigger banner.  I like Basic Grey's Junebug dp because of all the fun colors in it, so I chose five different patterns and went a-cutting!  After I cut the banners, I ran the white piece through PTI's linen impression plate.  I can't see to leave a blank space blank...I either need some texture with an embossing folder/impression plate or some sort of embellishment!  I adhered the banners to the textured white piece, then stamped the sentiment.  I masked off the word "color" and inked the rest in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Then I colored each of the remaining letters with a different color SU marker.  Lastly, I adhered the Mandarin Orange baker's twine and bows with monoadhesive glue.  The base of the card is SU's new Lucky Limeade cardstock.  That is fast becoming a fav of mine!

So now I have to send you off to the next blog.  But before you go, my letter for you is S.  Don't forget that we are partying tonight in the PMS forum!  Lots of fun and prizes!  Invite some friends...we are giving away extra prizes for those who bring friends!  The more the merrier!

Now, off you go to Andrea's blog!  She's going to have something fabulous I just know it!  Thanks for stopping by today!  See you later at the party!

Paper Makeup Stamps Release Day Blog Hop

Wow!  Another release from Paper Makeup Stamps!  And this month is another goodie!  You should have arrived here from the "other" Lisa's blog...Lisa McKinney!  Didn't she have a lovely Madelyn silhouette card?  She always does such beautiful work with these fairies!  If you haven't come from Lisa's blog, then please go to the PMS blog and get all the details.  If you get lost hopping, you should see a linky tool of all the PMS DT there too.  On with the hop! 

This is Suzie the Snorkeling fairy.  I love to snorkel so I had so much fun making this card!  I started with this great dp from Basic Grey called Lauderdale.  I thought the bottom dp looked like water and the waves.  And I love the lime green paired with it!  So Suzie's bathing suit just had to match!  She's colored with copic markers, then I added Star Dust Stickles to her wings and Crystal Effects to her mask and bubbles for more dimension and shine.  The sentiment is being sold with the fairy as a set.  It was too big to fit in the spot I wanted it in, so I cut the words apart and glued them on separately.  I love that look once in a while.  It also looks like the words are floating in the water (well, at least they do to me!).  You can see that her hand is sticking out of the nestie shape.  That's called the Out-of-the-Box technique.  You can see a great tutorial here for that technique.  I used a Taylored Expressions sketch for this card.  I'm so glad she's back to doing sketches because hers are always so wonderful to work with.

You should have been collecting letters along the way to spell out a phrase that will get you 15% off this July release.  My letter for you is "A". 

Before I send you off to the next blog, I want to invite you to the PMS forum for the Release Party tonight at 9:00 pm EST.  We have four new DT members and I'm sure we'll have lots of fun welcoming them.  We'll have games and prizes too!

Now hop over to the fabulously talented Tangii Crain's blog to see her beautiful creation!  Thanks for stopping in today and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Just Us Girls - 3D Christmas Challenge

Hi everyone! Did you see my new blog header? I asked Heather Rolin (who owns Individual Blog Banners) to update my blog header and signature for the holidays, and she did a fab job! It looks so festive! Thanks Heather!

Today is Saturday (woohoo!!) and it's time for another Just Us Girls challenge. Kristin has challenged us to add a 3D holiday embellishment to our projects! I had the perfect embellishment for my card.

I bought this set from Taylored Expressions last month called Merry Little Cocktail and found Christmas wine charms I had never used. So I created my card around it! The sketch is from Taylored Expressions from last week, too. I used SU's Jolly Holiday dp and paired it with Old Olive and Vintage Cream cardstock. The ribbon is old olive taffeta. I added red and star dust stickles to the image, green glitter dots, and the tree charm with some baker's twine. Very simple card to do...not much coloring! Love it!

Want more inspiration? Head on over to the JUGs blog and see the amazing projects the DT and our featured designer, Cheryl Rowley, did this week! This is Cheryl's last with us already...where has the time gone? Stop by their blogs to leave some much deserved love!

On a personal note, I'm picking my new Dodge Journey up this morning! I was ready for something different after having 5 minivans! I'm really excited because I've never had power locks and windows on any of my cars! My hubby never wanted them because he was afraid they'd break and be a pain to fix. (And his best friend is a mechanic...go figure!!) It's black, which I know will be a challenge to keep clean, especially in our weather up north. But, I've always wanted a black card! So I'll be tooling around town today having fun!

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my rambling! Have a great weekend!

Paper Makeup Stamps - Review Day

It's review day at Paper Makeup Stamps! We just had our October release on Thursday, and now we are showing it all off once again for you to get more creative juices flowing!

I made a card with the So Sweet set illustrated by our own Shaela Odd. I went all out in super sweet pink! I used dp from DCWV called The Sweet Stack. It's already glittered up (which I love)! I've been in a paper piecing mood lately, so I decided to piece the bowl in the coordinating dp I used on my card. I stamped and colored the image with copics on X-press paper, then cut it out. I cut, embossed, and swirled some Worn Lipstick distress ink around the cardstock while still in the die. Then I adhered the image to that piece. I added some sparkle with glitter pens on the spoon and jimmies. The bottom was punched with a Martha Stewart punch and I added the brads (from the Arelia's World of Make Believe kit). The layout is from Taylored Expressions.

Stop by the PMS blog to see what the other girls have to show off! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week! ***I just noticed today's date as I was scheduling this....10/10/10!!!***

Recipe
Stamps: So Sweet (PMS)
Paper: Xpress paper, Neenah white, pink pirouette, The Sweet Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, worn lipstick distress ink, copic makers
Accessories: Nesties, brads, glitter pens, brads, dimensionals

PMS Sneak - Moody for Chocolate

Hi everyone! Today is another sneak peek day for Paper Makeup Stamps. Have you been enjoying the sneaks so far? If you haven't seen them, stop by the PMS blog to check them out.

Today we are sneaking everything chocolate and diet related! Should those two words be in the same sentence? I have a new Moody girl which we are calling Moody for Chocolate.These Moody girls are so crazy to color! You can really use your imagination when coloring them! I couldn't make out what some of the things were that she is holding, but it didn't matter because I am the artist coloring it, right? No need to be intimidated! So I just colored in two shades of brown and two shades of pink. (I guess I'm in a pink and brown mood...my post yesterday used these colors, and I think I'm going to wear pink and brown to work today!) The sentiment is also new this month from a set called Weighing In. What an appropriately named set! I thought it would be fun to paper piece her sweater (I love paper piecing!) in a pattern, so I used a piece from Bittersweet by Basic Grey.

I used the Taylored Expressions sketch for this card. I just added the tag on the bottom for my really cute sentiment and flipped it.

Stop by the PMS blog and see more of our chocolate and diet themed sneaks. Katie has linked them to the DT blogs. Don't forget that tomorrow is our blog hop and release day. We'll be hopping all day starting at 7:00 am EST and partying in the evening at 9:00 pm EST in the PMS forum. We'd love for you to stop by.

Thanks for stopping by again today!

Recipe
Stamps: Moody for Chocolate and Weighing In sentiment set (PMS)
Paper: X-press white, close to cocoa, Bittersweet (Basic Grey), Berry Bliss (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and espresso, tea dye distress ink (ranger)
Copic Markers: Eoo, o2, 13, 37, 39; YR14, 23, 24; RV13, 14; R20, 27; B12; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, tag die, Maya Road velvet flowers, bling, star dust stickles, border punch, pretty in pink ribbon, dimensionals

Fill Your Day with Joy

Happy Sunday! Today, my niece Maria is making her confirmation and I am her sponsor. I wanted to make her a special card, of course. I bought her a cross charm for her Pandora bracelet, so I needed a little package to present it in. Luckily, this week's JUGs challenge is a template challenge, and we used My Time Made Easy's Tuck-ered Out template. It was a perfect fit for the little Pandora box.

Maria loves green, so I tried to incorporate that as much as possible. I used the retired dp from SU called Afternoon Tea for the box, which has some pretty Wild Wasabi green in it. I paired it with a pretty ribbon from Michael's. I chose to use SU's retired set Symbols of Salvation and Taylored Expressions sketch for her card.

The dp coordinates with SU's Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi colors. I ran the wasabi piece through a Sizzix folder and used a piece of Soft Sky for the scallops. I had a difficult time trying to find a senitment for the occasion, but found this great one in PTI's Year of Flowers: Sweet Peas set. I made it into a banner and swirled some Soft Sky ink around it. I love this new Spellbinder's die and how it looks with the Soft Sky ink swirled around it while the paper was still in the die. It looks so dainly and like a doily. The image is colored with copics on the new X-press It Blending cardstock from Copic. The colors apply like a dream on it! I finished it off with some green bling.

You can check out these little boxes on the JUGs blog and you can purchase them at My Time Made Easy. Sneaks for the MTME October release start on Wednesday, and I'll have a fabulously delicious project to share with you! Thanks for stopping in today!

Recipe
Stamps: Symbols of Salvation (SU), Year of Flowers: Sweet Pea (PTI)
Paper: Neenah white, X-press It , soft sky, wild wasabi, Afternoon Tea (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, soft sky
Copic Markers: Y0000, 000, 00, 02, 15;YR23, 24; BG01, 10; E35
Accessories: Nesties, bling, star dust stickles, dimensionals

Paper Makeup Stamps Review Day - Tweet Things

Hi again everyone! Wow! I cannot remember when I've had two posts in one day! Please make sure you scroll down to see my JUGs card...I'm really proud of that one!

Today some of the Paper Makeup Stamps design team are reviewing the newest set released this week called Tweet Things. It has the cutest birds in it and some really great sentiments. I used the hummingbird image on a card I did here. You can see more of what the DT did on the PMS blog. Now here's what I did today. Now are you going to sing that song all day that we all sang as kids? Two little birdies sittin' in a tree...k-i-s-s-i-n-g? Remember that one? LOL! That's all I thought about while making this card! This cute image could be used for a variety of occasions....Valentine's Day, an engagement, wedding shower, just because.

I started with the Taylored Expressions sketch. The dp is Basic Grey's Bittersweet and the cardstock is SU's Pink Pirouette and Soft Suede. I love pink and brown together! They are separated with some pink rick-rack that matched perfectly, and the flowers are glittered and I added the pink square crystals to the centers. The image was colored with copics and cut and embossed with a circle nestie, then backed with the big scallop nestie that I just got this week! I added some star dust stickles on the hearts. The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip and I made a wavy banner using tape and glue dots to hold it down. I did some sponging and was done!

Make sure you stop by the PMS blog to see what they did with this set and the PMS store to see the June release!

I have to mention one more thing! I am going to a class today taught by none other than Tim Holtz himself! Our LSS, Buffalo Stamps & Stuff, was able to snag him for this weekend to do 4 classes! I'm taking one called Generation Grunge. It's a four-hour class! My friends Cheryl Rowley (I was just talking to her on the phone) and Tracy Harp are going with me! I'm sure we'll have a great time and some pictures on my blog tomorrow, so make sure you stop by!

Thanks for stopping today, and make sure you scroll down to see my JUGs card!

Makeup 4 the Weekend and Copic Creations Challenges

Paper Makeup Stamps Makeup 4 the Weekend challenge, hosted by DT member Danni Bindel, is to use three flowers on your creation. PMS is also sponsoring the current Copic Creations challenge, which is to use the monochromatic theme. I used both these challenges, in addition to the Taylored Expressions current sketch challenge, to create my card for today. I used a new image from PMS from a new line called Retro Cutie Critters. This little cutie is called Lucy. I think the sentiment is paired perfectly with it, don't you think? We have more critters coming out in the June release, so if you like this one, wait until you see the others!

I colored Lucy with the W-copic markers for the monochromatic look. Katie Cotton, PMS owner, has a great tutorial on her blog of how to color an image in this manner. I sponged around her with Sahara Sand ink, then went over it a little bit with Regal Rose. It sort of made it brownish in color, which is not the effect I wanted, however I kind of like it! The dp is SU from a hostess pack and I paired it with basic gray and pink pirouette cardstock. The dp was cut with the new large scallop Dienamics die from My Favorite Things. I cut and embossed the image with an oval nestie, mounted it on a scalloped oval in gray, and then placed it on white piece that had the image stamped on it as well. This was so the tail could remain part of the whole image. I added those three flowers (from the bridal section of Michael's) and placed a gray crystal in the center.

So that's it for today! I'm off to get ready to spend the day at our cabin. All the boys are there, and my friend and I are going to join them. I'm not sure they like girls there, but they don't have a choice!

Why not try out these challenges? You can find the M4TW27 challenge here and the Copic Creations #28 challenge here. Katie is giving away a $35 gift certificiate to one lucky winner, so why not try out a new technique and possibly win! Thanks for stopping in today, and enjoy your Sunday!

Recipe
Stamps: Lucy and sentiment (PMS)
Paper: PTI white, basic gray, pink pirouette, SU dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, sahara sand, regal rose
Copic Markers: W000, 1, 3, 5, 7, R20
Accessories: Nesties, big scallop die (MFT), flowers, crystals, star dust stickles, dimensionals

Makeup 4 the Weekend Challenge

Happy Friday everyone! Wow! Where did the week go? My spring break is almost over!

I have a great Paper Makeup Stamps challenge for you today given to us by DT member Amber Kroening. She wants us to use the colors of the rainbow in our cards....red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Pretty tall order, but if you have the right dp, anything is possible! Here's mine. I used this great sketch from Taylored Expressions (from last week). These great images are from the Raindrops and Rainbows set. To get all my colors in (except maybe the purple!), I used Basic Grey's Lime Rickey. The top is from the same pack and was great for the "sky". The clouds are on dimensionals and the "raindrops" are Rain Dots from Cloud 9 Designs.


Loved this challenge! Why don't you give it a try? Go to the PMS blog for the details and to link your project to the challenge. Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow for the JUGs template challenge!


Recipe
Stamps: Raindrops and Rainbows (PMS)
Paper: Neenah white, riding hood red, Lime Rickey (Basic Grey)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, copic markers
Accessories: Nesties, SU border punch, Swiss Dots embossing folder, rain dots, dimensionals

Never Trust a Skinny Cook!

"Never Trust a Skinny Cook"! Don't you just love that sentiment? It just cracks me up!

Today I'm reviewing the new April release from Paper Makeup Stamps called Tina's Kitchen.
The apron is from Tina's Kitchen and is actually two stamps. You can mix and match the different apron pieces to get different styles of apron. I stamped it (using a stamp-a-ma-jig) right onto the dp called Nana's Kitchen from DCWV. I cut it out and glued it onto a piece of groovy guava cut and embossed with a nestie. This sketch screamed to be stitched, but the dp was too thick for my machine, and the needle kept coming unthreaded!

I used the sketch from Taylored Expressions for my layout, but turned it on its side.

Katie and Christi have some great creations for you to see on the PMS blog using Tina's Kitchen and another great set called Guilty Pleasures, so hop over there to take a peek. Thanks for stopping in today!

Recipe
Stamps: Tina's Kitchen and Guilty Pleasures (PMS)
Paper: Neenah white, groovy guava, Nana's kitchen (DCWV)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black
Accessories: Nesties, stamp-a-ma-jig, buttons, thread, groovy guava stitched ribbon, dimensionas

Artful INKables Blog Hop and Release Day!

Hi everyone! Happy President's Day! Hope you are enjoying your day off (if you are lucky enough to have the day off)! I'm home for the whole week! I so need it!

Well, today is the Artful INKables release of three new sets and a new mini set, which is something new for AI. I'm the last stop on the hop, so you should have seen some great examples of the new sets! You should have come here from the super talented Sherry's blog. If not, head on over to the AI blog so you don't miss out on the entire hop!

I'm sharing a card using my favorite set of the new release called "Any Birdy Home?" I adore birdhouses, so when Kristin showed us the sets, I knew I had to have this one!

I couldn't decide which of the three birdhouses in this set to use because they are all so cute! I decided on this one because it fit the sketch I wanted to use! I started with this great Basic Grey paper, Marrakech, and paired it with SU's retired Good Morning Sunshine dp and Pacific Point cardstock. Such pretty colors, don't you think?

I hope you enjoyed our hop today! Now hop over to the AI store and take a look at the entire sets...it's quite a release. Something for everyone!

Thanks for stopping in and hopping with us! Have a great day!
Recipe
Stamps: Any Birdy Home? (AI)
Paper: PTI white, pacific point, Marrakech (BG) and Good Morning Sunshine (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, sahara sand
Copic Markers: YG95, 97; Y17, 18, 38; B0000, 12, 16, 24; E18, 31, 35, 37, 39; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, oval punches, scallop border punch, star dust stickles, dimensionals

PMS Blog Hop and Release Day

Hi everyone! Today is the day! The January release of new images and word art from Paper Makeup Stamps! If you have come here from Dawn's blog, you are on the right track. If not, please start at the PMS blog because I am the last stop on the hop and you won't want to miss all the fun that's happened before this stop!

I have a beautiful quote to share with you today from William Shakespeare. Who could write a prettier, romantic quote than ol' William?

I'm lovin' this card! The colors are just so pretty and feminine! I used Basic Grey's Two Scoops dp and barely banana. When was the last time you used that color? I also tried my hand at sewing again! I still had the yellow thread in the sewing machine, so I went with it! I still need a little practice, but I do like the technique. I used markers to color the stamp (another thing I haven't done in a long while!), and then while the paper was still in the die, I sponged some barely banana ink on it as well as around the white mat piece. I added the ribbon, button, and pearls and I was done! I started with this week's Taylored Expressions sketch.

Now if you've been following along, you should have been picking up some letters that will spell out a code you can use tonight at the store to get a discount on the entire January release. I have the last letter for you which is the letter "R".

We hope to see you at the release party tonight in the PMS forum. It begins at 8:00 pm CST. There will be prizes, chatter, and the announcement of the winner of the ENTIRE RELEASE! Go to the PMS blog to find out the details. Thanks for stopping in today! See you later tonight!
Recipe
Stamps: Word Art by PMS
Paper: Neenah white, barely banana, Two Scoops dp (Basic Grey)
Ink: Black and regal rose markers, barely banana
Accessories: Nesties, sewing machine, tafetta ribbon, button, floss, pearls, dimensionals

Boo Boo Monster

Paper Makeup Stamps had their November release yesterday, and one of my favorites was this Boo Boo Monster.Doesn't he just make your heart break? Poor little guy! LOL! I made this for the PMS Release Party Recipe Challenge which runs until Thursday, November 12 at 12:00 midnight CST. This is the recipe for the challenge:

Foundation: use textured cardstock (prism, bazzill, or embossed)

Blush: use the color pink

Eyes: use the color black (like mascara)

Lips: use something shimmery/shiney (like lip gloss)

For the "foundation", the embossed cardstock is the horizontal black piece. I ran it through the swiss dots cuttlebug folder. I used pink cardstock and dp for the "blush", and black cardstock and dp for the "eyes". For the "lips", I put star dust stickles on the bandaids and crystal effects on his mouth and tears.

I used the Taylored Expressions sketch from this week as my starting point. Thank goodness for these sketch challenges....I have such problems with coming up with my own!

If you play, don't forget to use the key word PMSRP18 if you post to an online gallery. Thanks for stopping in today. Your comments are greatly appreciated! Have a great Sunday!

Recipe

Stamps: Boo Boo Monster and sentiment (PMS)

Paper: PTI white, black, pink pirouette, Bittersweet dp (Basic Grey), All Dressed Up dp (DCWV)

Ink: Memento tuxedo black

Copic Markers: C00, 1, 3, 5, 7; R11, 14, 20, 22, 32, 35, 43, 46

Accessories: Nesties, swiss dots folder, metal dots, star dust stickles, crystal effects, dimensionals

Color Throwdown Challenge #65

Hi there everyone! I'm back with another Guest Designer spot for the Color Throwdown challenge. We have a very interesting color combo for you today.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this one! I started by pulling out cardstock in these three colors, then looked for dp. I found SU's retired Bali Breeze had the teal and pomegranate in it. So I went with it and this is what it evolved into. Stamping Bella is the sponsor for this week's CTD challenge and I was given a couple of these Ketto stamps to use. I chose this one called Kenya Ketto. So cute! I colored her with copics in the three challenge colors (I cheated a little on the celery...I didn't have a copic to match celery, go figure!). I cut and embossed the image with circle nesties. I added star dust stickles to her and on her wand is an embellishment I was given from Stamping Bella, but I don't know what they are called! There are two sizes of this "bead" and they are sparkily too. The sentiment is from PTI and the sketch is this week's Taylored Expressions sketch. I added the Purely Pomegranate stitched ribbon to finish it off.

If you'd like to take on this color challenge, visit the Color Throwdown blog and link your direct post to Mr. Linky there. If you post to an online gallery, use the keyword CTD65 so we can find it.

On another note, Paper Makeup Stamps has changed their Friday Freebie to Wordart Wendnesday. They have a FREE digi for you today so check it out here. Thanks for stopping by!
Recipe
Stamps: Kenya Ketto (Stamping Bella), Mixed Messages sentiement (PTI)
Paper: Taken with Teal, Purely Pomegranate, Bali Breeze dp (SU retired)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black
Copic Markers: BG9, 10, 34, 49; E00, 02; RV19, 69; R20; Y38; YG13; W-1, 3, 7
Accessories: Nesties, scallop border punch, circle punches, star dust stickles, ribbon, Stamping Bella embellishment, dimensionals