Happy World Card Making Day!

Paper Pretties will be posting 3 challenges for you today on the Paper Clip. One in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. You can pick 1 to do (or all 3 if you like). On the 5th at 11:00 pm we'll draw a winner from the entry's in thePaper Pretties Challenge Gallery (please use keyword WCMD when you upload your card) to receive a Season of Joy stamp set - one of our new releases. You'll have all weekend to work on your challenge card. You can use any products you like but main image must be one from Paper Pretties.The winner will be posted on the Paper Clip on the 6th!Also, don't forget that ALL day TODAY you can get 15% off your entire order - even clearance merchandise! Just enter the coupon code wcmd (case sensitive, no spaces) when you check out!

I'll be back later in the afternoon with my post for the 2nd challenge! Thanks for stopping by!

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 2

It's Day Two of sneak peeks for the latest Taylored Expressions releases to be released tomorrow, October 3rd! Today's peeks are of Wings of Joy. If you love bird images, you will LOVE this set!


For my first project, I used one of the Clear Favor Circles to make an ornament. I stamped the birdcage image with Versamark ink inside the favor box then embossed in gold. I then stamped the image on white cardstock, colored, cut out the images and adhered them on top of the embossed gold image. I cut paper from the Christmas Key Ingredients to fit the inside of the favor box. I tied some ribbon through the top and added the sentiment.




For my second project, I used some of the music patterned paper from the Christmas Key Ingredients along with the JOY sentiment. I thought it would work well with a "Joy to the World" type sentiment. . .and you would only know that the music isn't Joy to the World if you read music! LOL I paper pieced the letters and added some Rockin' Pink Sparkly Fluff (from the Christmas Key Ingredients) to the "O". I faux stitched around the music piece using the 6X6 Stitch Doodle Dot Template from The Crafter's Workshop. The finishing touches are the ribbon and the Rhonna Christmas buttons, which are part of the Very Merry Christmas Bundle.


Be sure to stop by to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has to show you today!


Denise Marzec
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Jodi Collins
Laurie Schmidlin
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Harnist and, of course
Taylor VanBruggen!!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check back tomorrow for RELEASE DAY as well as some World Card Making Day festivities! Hope to see you then!

Weekend Sketch Challenge #100

It's Friday, and you know what that means! Time for another Weekend Sketch Challenge! Can you believe it's #100!!!??? I can't. . .especially because I've been doing them since the beginning. It doesn't seem like that long ago! LOL

For my card I used the Starstruck set from Verve Stamps. For the "shooting stars", I stamped them in Crushed Curry ink, cut them out, ran them through the Xyron and then dunked them in Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Nice and sparkly!

Be sure to stop and see what Beate, Cambria, Jenn, Laurie,
Lori, MaryJo and Sharon have created using this sketch. I can't wait! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Starstruck (Verve Stamps); Ink- Onyx Black (Versafine), Crushed Curry (SU); Paper- Early Bird (Cosmo Cricket), Basic Black (SU); Accessories- Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU), grosgrain (May Arts); Finished card measures 4.25" square

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek - Day 1

It's time for another release at Taylored Expressions! Today starts the sneak peeks of the new sets! Today's feature is the newest set in the Lasting Impressions collection called Christmas Blessings. It's perfect for religious Christmas cards.


For my first card, I used some of the SEI Christmas Mint paper that will be available at Taylored Expressions. I thought it would be neat to stamp the Wise Men image in white craft ink on dark cardstock. I used the Long Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities to create a matte for the image. Tip: The die cut scallop matte was too long to fit the image, so I cut it in half, lined up and overlapped some of the scallops to make it fit the image. I also added a Tiny Twinkle to the star in the sentiment.


For my second card, I did my old standard. . .a one layer card with embossing! I stamped the image on the white cardstock, then placed a Plain Rectangle Nestabilities die over the image and ran it through the Cuttlebug to emboss the frame. Then I masked the card leaving the image open for me to use the Bouncing Brayer Technique. Very simple, but I think it gives a beautiful result. I added some brads and gold ribbon as finishing touches!

Be sure to stop by and see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has created for today's sneak peeks!

Denise Marzec
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Jodi Collins
Laurie Schmidlin
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Harnist and, of course
Taylor VanBruggen!!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for peeks of another new set! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions); Ink- Whisper White Craft (SU), Onyx Black (Versafine), Kaleidacolor; Paper- Christmas Mint (SEI), Snow White Choice Cardstock (Taylored Expressions); Accessories- Long Rectangle Nestabilities, Plain Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ticket corner, oval and scallop oval punches (SU), ribbon (Darice), brayer, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles (Taylored Expressions), brads (Making Memories); Finished cards measure 5.5"x4.25"

Flower Soft October Challenge

The Flower Soft October Challenge theme was Halloween. I thought quite a bit about what to do with that theme and I ended up using some embossing. I used the Haunted Halloween Cuttlebug folder for the background. Then I used the Calendar Borders & Centers from JustRite Stampers. The frame had leaves circling "October", so I used Autumn Flower Soft to cover the leaves. I think the Autumn mix is my favorite. . .at least right now! :) I also added some chipboard numbers to mark the date of Halloween. For finishing touches, I added the ribbon and faux stitching.

Be sure to stop and see what the rest of the Flower Soft Design Team created using the Halloween theme:

Jennifer Buck
Niki Estes
Carole Burrage
AJ Otto
Sharon Johnson
and October guest Jeanne Streiff!

Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Calendar Borders and Centers (JustRite Stampers); Ink- Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Paper- True Black, Orange Zest (PTI); Accessories- Autumn Flower Soft, ribbon (Darice), white gel pen, Haunted Halloween Cuttlebug folder (Provocraft); Finished card measures 5.5"x4.25"

Happy Birthday, Savannah!

Today Savannah is 6 years old! I know I say this with each kid's birthday, but I can't believe she's six already! She looked like such a big girl this morning as she got ready for school and was so excited to share the treats we'd made for her class.

I got out my 2 3/8" Wood Stamper with Bonus Font and Center as well as my Celebrations Demi Phrase set to stamp the Happy Birthday To You Savannah. You can find both of these JustRite sets at Stamper's Dream. We colored the cupcakes with markers and added glue to the tops and dunked them in Dazzling Diamonds glitter. We added Dew Drops for the cherries and then added them to the toppers of the treat bags. Savannah always loves stuffing the treat bags and then adding the toppers. She couldn't wait to give them out to her class. . .and I can't wait until she gets home so I can ask how they liked them! :)

Prettie Wednesday

Today, the Prettie Girls are posting Jackie's challenge to alter something! The hop starts with Christie, so head on over there if you didn't start there.

Altering is not something I do often. When I do, I usually do simple little things like this. Savannah LOVES these Icebreaker Sours candies. I thought I would "dress up" the container a bit for her, so that's what I decided to alter. I added some ribbon along the side of the container. When she takes off the top, she can always use that for a bookmark or to make a card to send along to someone else. :) By the way, I used the Nestful of Love set that is going to be released tomorrow night at Paper Pretties! Hope to see you at the release party at 8pm Eastern!

We'd LOVE to see what you alter! How to Enter: alter something using any Paper Pretties stamp set(s) you have. Upload the card to the Paper Pretties gallery. Please include it in the Weekly Challenges album and use keyword PWC71.

Now, hop on over to Jana to see what she's altered! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Nestful of Love (Paper Pretties); Paper- Metallic Stack (DCWV); Accessories- Plain and Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), grosgrain ribbon (Darice), Copic markers

Trick or Treat

As I was leafing through my last Stampin' Success magazine, I really liked the "A la card" layout and thought it would work well with this Witch Way to the Treats set from JustRite Stampers. I only used the centers for the "background" piece. Then I sponged around the stamped images. The finishing touch was the ribbon and the Trick or Treat tag.

You can find this set along with LOTS of other JustRite products at Stamper's Dream. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Witch Way to the Treats (JustRite Stampers); Ink- Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Crushed Curry (SU); Paper- Crushed Curry, Basic Black (SU); Accessories- Copic markers, circle and scalloped circle punches (SU), ribbon (May Arts); Finished card measures 4.25"x5.5"

Friendly Sunflowers and Simple Boo

Here are a couple of cards I made using some sets from Our Craft Lounge.

The first card uses one of my favorite sets, Friendly Flowers. As you know, sunflowers are my favorite flower, so that's one reason I just LOVE this set. The other is because of the sentiments. I just love how their made to fit along the stem or the leaves of the flowers you create. So cute. I, of course, I had to make this card all in sunflower colors. :)

The second card is just a simple Halloween card. It uses the Spook-tacular set. I think this spider is just too cute. Savannah LOVES this set and we spent a bit of the weekend stamping Halloween cards using this set. It was very interesting for me to see how she used some of the pieces of this set. For instance, she used the candycorn border as a frame. Very clever, I think. . .especially because I never would have thought of that! She's at school right now, but she would be so thrilled to know that I posted one of her cards on my blog! LOL She loves taking pictures of her cards after she finishes them. :) Funny what they learn, huh? Hope you enjoyed the cards and thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Spook-tacular, Friendly Flowers (Our Craft Lounge); Ink- Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Whisper White Craft (SU), Burnt Umber (Palette), Crushed Curry (SU); Paper- Choc. Chip, Summer Sun, Very Vanilla, Basic Black (SU); Accessories- blender pen, Choc. Chip grosgrain (SU), paper piercer, Choc. Chip marker; Finished cards measure 5.5"x 4.25"

Another Prettie Peek

On Thursday, October 1st at 8pm Eastern, Paper Pretties will be having their next Prettie Pajama Party and will be releasing 9 new images and revealing the next Stamp of the Month!

Here's a peek of Make a Wish. Isn't Sophia adorable? Perfect for any little girl's birthday! The other day, I came across Amy Sheffer's Paper Pleating Tutorial and thought it would work perfectly and add such a nice detail to this card. I used some Pearlized White cardstock for the paper pleating, so it gives a nice sparkle along with the Dazzling Diamonds I added to Sophia's dress.

We'd LOVE for you to join us at the release party on October 1st! You can find us in the Paper Pretties forum starting at 8pm Eastern on October 1st. If you'd like to see a couple more sneak peeks, visit Christie and Danielle today! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Make a Wish (Paper Pretties); Paper- Nana's Nursery Stack (DCWV), Pearlized White cardstock (Paper Accents); Accessories- Plain Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), cream grosgrain (Darice), Copic markers, Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU); Finished card measures 5.5"x4.25"