Inspiration - Spring InStyle

Good morning friends!  I hope you're ready for some more lush, green, spring inspiration from InStyle Stamps.  Can I say (again) how desperate I am for some nice green grass and trees?  Everything still looks so sad and brown and dead.  :(  I keep telling myself we're almost there!

Today's card features our monthly inspiration challenge from InStyle Stamps (ISSIC03).  You still have time to play along, and you can read all the DETAILS on the ISS blog (and that's where you link up to play along!).

Here's my card featuring the March release set, Patty Bunny Wuv.  Love the daffodils!!

And the inspiration piece:

Hope you join us in some springtime inspriation!  Have a great day, see you back here tomorrow for another new 365 Cards challenge!  No foolin'!

Springtime Colors from InStyle!

Happy Wednesday out there!!  I have two posts for you today, and I've gotten a late start, sorry about that!  My mom is leaving today, which is so very sad.  We hung out a little this morning and I just got back from dropping her at the airport.  :(  Always hate that part!

**Please scroll down for my Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge card -- BLING!!!**

My second card today is for our current Sketch Challenge (ISSSC03) and Color Challenge (ISSCC03) from InStyle Stamps.  It features Patty Bunny Wuv, one of the newest release stamp sets from March, as well as our March sketch challenge (ISSSC03).  You still have time to participate in both of the challenges for a chance to win free stamps from InStyle!  Click here to read all the details about the sketch challenge and click here to get to the color challenge post on the ISS blog!

Here we go!

Basic Grey Lily Kate has always been a favorite of mine, and it's perfect for this image!  So nice that it also fits into our color challenge this month too!  Here is the sketch and the color challenge swatch:

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you're having a great week, I'll see you tomorrow for an extra ISS post and Friday for a new 365 cards challenge you're sure to love!

Prettie Wednesday - Get Your BLING On!

Good morning stamping friends!  I hope you're enjoying your Wednesday.  We have sunshine here at least (it's still very cold!), so I'm thinking positive!


I have a fun Fun FUN challenge to share with you today, courtesy of Paper Pretties.  This week's Prettie Wednesday Challenge (PWC147) is BLING!!!!  Yay!!  My favorite challenge ever, I love to add glitter and blingy brads and rhinestones to...well...everything!  I had a lot of fun making this card:

Seven pots of Art Institute Glitter (the bestest glitter around) and a long time later...it was done!  Worth the wait though, I'm very pleased with this blingy, blingy numbers that really jazz up an otherwise fairly CAS card.


Thanks for stopping by today!  I sure hope that you're inspired to join the bling ACTION with us Pretties.  Don't forget to head over to the Paper Pretties Blog for a full list of the day's eye candy and all the challenge (and PRIZE) details!  You link up THERE for your chance to win this week's prize!  Happy stamping everyone, I hope you're having a great week, I will see you tomorrow!

A Sunday Sketch Card!

Wow, today flew by!  But it IS still Sunday, and I wanted to share an InStyle Stamps project with you today.  This card was up on the InStyle blog earlier in the month, but I never posted it here!  It features Patty Bunny Wuv, one of the newest release stamp sets from March, as well as our March sketch challenge (ISSSC03).  You still have about a week to participate in the sketch challenge for a chance to win free stamps from InStyle!  Click here to read all the details!  This card also follows this month's color challenge (ISSCC03; I know my yellow is a little too bright but otherwise we're good!).  You have about two weeks to get in on that action for more freebies.  Click here to get to that post on the ISS blog!

Isn't she adorable??  I love her hair all up in a genie ponytail.  Too much fun!  And I am really digging on the new BG Hopscotch paper - SWOON!!  Bring on the spring, we are in desperate need over here in WI.  It was 20 degrees this morning.  :(


Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great start to your week!  Monday and I don't get along but we're trying not to fight as much lately.  You know, for the children.  ;)  See you then!

The Squigglefly Family is Growing!

Welcome to the weekend!  What a long week it was here.  Busy, but good, although I could have used at least a LITTLE R&R!!  Hopefully today.  :)

Special Saturday announcement for you today - Squigglefly has THREE new artists joining the "family"!  Images from all three have been released today.  I have a card to share in honor of the occasion, these sweet baby images were illustrated by Diane Knott:

Cute, right??  How fun!!  Please help me also welcome Nate Owens and Paulette Long.  


I hope you all have a fabulous day.  I am thinking happy warm weather thoughts because this heading back to SNOW and COLD is not ok with me!!  If you have good weather to spare, please send it my way!  


See you tomorrow!

365 Cards - Day 25

**This is my second post today, please scroll down for the InStyle Stamps March Blog Hop post!!**

This week we are working through the ABC's of crafting at the 365 Cards challenge!  Today, Day 25, is P-Q-R, and the awesome Miss Pam chose Polka Dots (yesssssssssssss!!!!), Quilt, and Red.  Woot woot!  Let's run with this challenge, shall we??


Ooh, ooh, and also, we have a fabulous sponsor this week, Sassy Studios!  I used Bella Bride for my card today.  Here it is:

You can probably pick out PLENTY of polka dots in this creation (pptth, pppttth, PPP!!).  I also quilted the background panel before I die cut it using different pieces of red patterned paper & my trusty Hello Kitty sewing machine.  And of course no bride is complete without RED ROSES, my favorite (I actually had red & white as my wedding colors and carried red roses!).


Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to catch my other posts, and I'll see you back here again tomorrow with another new card!

InStyle's March Blog HOP!

Hello and welcome to FRIDAY!!!  I am sooo ready for the weekend!

Today we are BLOG HOPPIN' InStyle Stamps-style with a whole slew of fabulous "SPRING" projects to share with you; featuring our March Release sets!  How fuuuuuuuuuun!!  Believe me, I could not be MORE READY for spring!!  If I am welcoming you from Sherry's blog, you're in the right place!

My card is showing off the adorable Patty Bunny Wuv set, released earlier this month.  How cute is this little Patty!?  I have had a lot of fun with her.  :)

I designed this card with the first My Time Pretty Palette challenge in mind (MTMEPPC01).  Here are the colors:

Love it!  Thanks for the great spring challenge colors!  :)


Now continue on the ISS blog hop by heading over to visit Kerry!

Paper Pretties - Easter Digis for a Cause!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday!  I wanted to share with you tonight an announcement & special digi stamp release from Paper Pretties.  Tomorrow, Heather is releasing a new Easter/Spring themed digital stamp set, illustrated by Joni Stringfield, the artist behind Paper Pretties' Sophia and Cooper.  This is a phenomenal deal, the images are adorable, you get everything for only $7, and all proceeds will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  You can read more about it -->HERE<-- on the Paper Pretties blog.


I was fortunate enough to get to play with these images this week; I made a bright & fun Easter card:

Have a great night and a great weekend!  See you back here tomorrow with TWO blog posts!

Prettie Birthday - Frances!!

Hello and Happy Thursday!!  March is absolutely FLYING by, isn't it??  Wow!  Well, we're still in March, and it's a special one today, as our very own Prettie Girl, Frances Byrne, has a birthday today!  We are honoring her in true Paper Pretties fashion with a birthday blog hop and lots of love and wishes for an amazing day.  Frances, I hope it's a fabulous day filled with family, friends, and STAMPING.  Happy birthday!

Here's the card I made to celebrate, featuring a sentiment from the Paper Pretties stamp set Soakin' Up The Sun Sophia.

I hope you join us on our hop today to see all the beautiful birthday creations.  Carry through to the end and wish Amber a very happy birthday!  If you're arriving from Jacquie's blog, you're in the right spot.  Your next stop is Jessica!

Don't forget, there is still lots of time to play along with our Prettie Wednesday Challenge this week, for a chance to win FREE Paper Pretties stamps!  Just make a project inspired by spring, and link up on the Paper Pretties Blog InLinkz to enter!  Good luck!

PWC146 - Time For Spring

Hello stamping friends!!  Yes, I am still alive, LOL, and I have cards for every day this week.  Some, I just didn't get around to blogging!  Remember I told you my mom is visiting?  We've been very busy!  I HAVE been stamping though.  I'm going to try to play catch up here...


Today is a new Prettie Wednesday challenge, so let's start there.  Tomorrow I've got something new, Friday I have THREE projects ready for you.  I also have a new card for Saturday with an exciting announcement from Squigglefly; Sunday and Monday will be catch up days, and then I think I should be in the clear until next week.  WHEW!


Well let's get to it, and next week I'll make sure I blog on my blogging days so I am not buried in fabulous card pictures just begging to be posted and shared!!  This week's PWC (PWC146) is to be inspired by SPRING.  Yahoo!!  Love the spring, we can finally get some decent weather and hopefully climb out of this winter funk!  Here's my project, featuring one of the sentiments from Smile Monkey.

A fairly simple card with some fun, bright colors to welcome back the SUN.  Have you seen it?  It visited Wisconsin last week but has gone back into hiding here -- yesterday 2" of snow feel on me.  Dislike!


Thanks for stopping by today!  Don't forget to head over to the Paper Pretties Blog for a full list of the day's eye candy and all the challenge (and PRIZE) details!  You link up THERE for your chance to win this week's prize!  Happy stamping everyone, I hope you're having a great week, I will see you tomorrow!

365 Cards - Day 18

Hello and Happy Friday!!  It's a super-exciting Friday for me for TWO reasons!  One, is that my mom is coming  to visit my family and me today, and is staying for a week and a half!  We are all really looking forward to having her here!


The second reason for excitement is that I have joined the Design Team over at 365 Cards!  I will be sharing projects on FRIDAYS, so make sure you tune in either here or there, and play along with me!  Today is my first post for 365 Cards; Day 18!  Today's challenge is to make a set of three 3x3 cards with a similar theme.  I chose some of the cutie-patootie digital images from Pink Cat Studio, along with some yummy Basic Grey Urban Prairie, and made some fun little birthday cards.

You can click on the photo to see it in "super-sized" mode!


Thanks for stopping by today!  TGIF and have a great weekend!

InStyle's March Color Challenge

**This is my second post today, please scroll down for my PAPER PRETTIES RELEASE BLOG HOP Project!!**

Happy Wednesday again friends! 

Today I have a card to share with you that was made for this month's brand new Color Challenge over at InStyle Stamps.  You can read all the challenge details here on the ISS blog.  You have until April 12th to enter by leaving a comment with your card's link on the ISS blog post.  

Fun times!  Color challenges are my second favorite.  :)  Here's my project:

And here is the piece for the color challenge (ISSCC03):

I used the March release set Patty Wuv for my card today, along with some yummy Basic Grey paper.  Colored with Copic markers, and viola!  I love this egg tree image!!  Sentiment is from Paper Pretties.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Paper Pretties March Release BLOG HOP

Happy Wednesday!!  Can you believe it's here??  Yep, Release Day has finally arrived at Paper Pretties, and all FOUR of the new sets are now available for purchase in the Paper Pretties store!  To celebrate, we're blog hopping!  So go hopping, then go shopping!  :)

Of course with all this release excitement, it's easy to forget that it is still Wednesday, so we have a new Prettie Challenge for you.  This week's challenge is to use ribbon on your card.  Yayyyyy!!  I know I can get behind that challenge!!  

Thanks for joining us on the hop today!  Welcome from Jacquie Peifer's blog!  You're right on track.  If you've gotten lost along the way, you can find a full list of the blog hop participants on the Paper Pretties blog.

Without further ado, here's my contribution to this fabulous blog hop and Prettie Wednesday, featuring the new sentiment set Sympathy.  Not that making sympathy cards is a lot of fun, usually, but this classically elegant set is the perfect choice every time.

Your next stop on our party train is Jessica Fick.  Have a fabulous day! 

Prettie Preview - Sympathy

It's that time again!  Let's show off the new Pretties coming your way TOMORROW over at the Paper Pretties Boutique.  Today's preview is of Sympathy.  Of course none of us ever want to need a sympathy card, but if you do it's nice to have a set like this on hand!

I stamped my sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black, then added the Cuttlebug embossing.  I stamped the butterflies on some scraps of Basic Grey Ambrosia and cut them out.  Pretty simple card but a nice, elegant set for your collection!

The March release is fabulous, you will love it!  Here are a few important notes:

• Join us for our release Blog Hop this Wednesday 12 AM EST March 9th, starting on the Paper Pretties Blog.
• New Release Stamps available in the Paper Pretties Boutique from 7AM EST Wednesday March 9th.
• Don’t forget to check out the Paper Pretties Blog to see who else is previewing the new stamps today

Thanks for stopping by today!  See you back here tomorrow for the blog hop!

Squigglefly Monday - Going Green

**This is my second post today, please scroll down for the Hambo Hoedown!**

So today we have another new challenge for you from Squigglefly!  We're going GREEN this week...let's see your monochromatic green projects!  Your uploading keyword is SFC88.  You can view all the gorgeous creations on the Squigglefly blog today!  That's where you link up your project for a chance to WIN!

Squigglefly does their weekly new releases on SATURDAYS, so there are some more brand new images in the store now!  Be sure to check out ALL the fabulous new images at the Squigglefly website.  My card today uses the Birthday Medley image.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you have a wonderful day, and I'll see you back here tomorrow for another Prettie Peek from Paper Pretties!  Wednesday is release day!

Hambo Hoedown - "Mane" Man

Good morning friends!  I hope that your week gets off with a great start!  I wanted to share a little bit of manly inspiration with you today; my entry for the Hambo Hoedown (#5).  I am LOVING this progressive challenge Hambo has going on, each week you get a new digi and a new challenge to play along with!  Provided you continue to participate, you get the next week's digi in your e-mail, just in time to stamp some more!  Can't be beat!  Thanks Hambo.  :)

Here's my contribution to this fourth week of the Hoedown, where our theme is a masculine card, with stripes.  Love the fun sentiments that come with this week's lion image.  How manly!  

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you have a wonderful day, and I'll see you back here tomorrow for another Prettie Peek from Paper Pretties!  Wednesday is release day!

Prettie Preview - Birthday Boy!

It's that time again!  Let's show off the new Pretties coming your way THIS WEDNESDAY over at the Paper Pretties Boutique.  Today's preview is of Birthday Boy, illustrated by Victoria Case.  Isn't he a doll??  Goodness, 16 suddenly seems so close!

I stamped him with Memento Tuxedo Black on PTI white, colored with Copics.  Paired him up with some Basic Grey and Twinery twine, added a keys charm I had in the stash to really set him up.  Love it!  


The March release is fabulous, you will love it!  Here are a few important notes:

• Join us for our release Blog Hop this Wednesday 12 AM EST March 9th, starting on the Paper Pretties Blog.
• New Release Stamps available in the Paper Pretties Boutique from 7AM EST Wednesday March 9th.
• Don’t forget to check out the Paper Pretties Blog to see who else is previewing the new stamps today

Thanks for stopping by today!  See you back here tomorrow!

Patty Wuv Preview & a March Sketch from InStyle

**This is my second post today.  Scroll down for the new Prettie Wednesday Challenge**

Happy Wednesday again!  It's a preview day at InStyle Stamps, as well as sketch challenge day!  Wow, what a day!  I have combined the two for my project.  :)

You can read all about the sketch contest rules (and how to enter) here on the ISS blog.  Here's my card, previewing one of our two March release sets, Patty Wuv:

Fun times!  I like this funky Easter Egg!  Patty Wuv is a set of 6 stamps with a cute spring/Easter theme.  You'll see lots more projects from me this month featuring these great images!  {The sentiment on this card is from Paper Pretties}.


Here is the sketch for this month (ISSSC03):

Have a fabulous Wednesday, and we'll see you tomorrow!

PWC143 - A Love Birds Sketch

Happy Wednesday! Are you ready for the Prettie Wednesday Challenge?! I bet you are!  If you play along with us you could WIN!   Check out the Paper Pretties Blog for all the details!

For this week's challenge (keyword: PWC143) it's another amazing sketch from our own Prettie Girl, Frances!  You know I love a good sketch.  To play along, just make a card using our awesome sketch, then link up on the Paper Pretties Blog to enter.  Here is my contribution using one of the first sets illustrated by Victoria Case when she came to Paper Pretties - Love Birds.  Is it even possible not to LOVE these birds??!  Victoria is the queen of the jungle in my book, I always look forward to her new Critter sets!

And here is the sketch:

Thanks for stopping by today!  Don't forget to head over to the Paper Pretties Blog for a full list of the day's eye candy and all the challenge (and PRIZE) details!  You link up THERE for your chance to win this week's prize!  Happy stamping everyone!