Peace in the Days Ahead

We've had a rough couple of days at the office; two of the employees here have lost a parent.

This is the card I made for one of our Graphic Designers; his mother passed away last Thursday.

I tried to use some earthy colors, masculine in some ways. And, while the pattern behind the sentiment is a bit busy, I toned it down by covering most of it with the sentiment panel and then I was able to tie in the soothing green color with the leaves.

Sweet Yellow Butterfly

This is a cute and quick little number using more PTI goodies that I got for my birthday. The Newsprint was stamped onto a Mat Stack 5 die shape and then embellished with a die cut butterfly. Super simple, and really colorful.

Springtime Solids in Purple

I used an older sketch for this card, FTL90, from the clean&simple blog. It's a great one and I will revisit it very soon to make some card sets for Easter. I like to give the ladies in my family a little something this time of year, and I think a card set with some pretty and colorful flowers just might be it this year.

The stamps are from the Springtime Solids set, super lovely set. I just stamped the flowers with some purple inks and the little "burst" with green ink for a little contrast. I left off a sentiment so it can be used for whatever comes up next.

Superior Quality Button Card

For the final Viva la Verve challenge for March, I knew exactly what stamp set I wanted to use- PTI Button Boutique and the matching dies. I even used Bitty Background Blocks, love the gingham. The sentiment is from Verve's Sweet Treats.

My replacement at work starts today; we are all pretty excited about it. But, I am especially excited about it since having her there will alleviate alot of the stress and guilt I feel for not being able to "do it all." I have the training schedule made and hope we stay on task and that she picks things up quickly. The good thing is that she is experienced in ad copy management, so her real obstacle will be our procedure and learning our contracts system. Other than that, just normal office duties. Seriously, if I can do it, anyone can!

Cupcake Treat

For this week's sketch from The Sweet Stop, SSS100, we were given a sketch with a spin. The spin is something sweet. I pulled out my trusted Sprinkles and Cherries set, it's got this super cute cupcake, cupcakes are sweet. The sentiment was stamped onto the Lil Inker Designs sentiment flag die, I use it all the time, it's a really cool die.

The sentiment was placed in the plastic clip and then adhered with a couple of dimension adhesive dots. The final touches are a prima flower with a gem center and some crystal effects on the frosting.

Happy Birthday Tag

Today is Duke's birthday; we're going to dinner tonight and then buying him a pair of tennis shoes- all of his are worn out.

I made a quick tag for a birthday gift for his sister, she had a birthday on the 22nd. I used the Tag Sale 1 die and the Delightful Doilies stamp set, sentiment from Masculine Motifs. The inks are Brilliance in some tropical colors, I plan to get her some toiletries with some island scents.

The Best Day Ever

I got this in very close to the deadline. The Get Your Diva On challenge was to use all neutrals with a splash of color to represent Spring's arrival.

I used some brown/ kraft with a splash of hot pink. The flowers from Kind Words were the perfect way to help me add some color. The sentiment is from Framed Wishes.

I loved adding the cork ricrac to double as some dirt for the flowers to grow in and the twine, well, what is not to love about it? I tripled it up and tied it in a bow.

Dude, You Rock!

The 3rd March Viva la Verve sketch was another interesting one. I used some October Afternoon papers to make a little 'pick me up' card for my son. He brought his grades up and has joined the basketball team, I am very proud of him.

The stamps are Verve, I just stamped some of the sentiments randomly in different colors and then stamped my main sentiment in black slightly askew.

Making a Wish

Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring the JUGS blog this week; I definitely wanted to play along not only to promote my favorite stamp company in the wide world, but to also support Lisa Kind, who is a member of both design teams. Katie has donated a $20.00 Gift Certificate to Paper Makeup Stamps as this week's Grand Prize.

JUGS76 is a color challenge; I used FTL132 for the simple layout. The leaf frond image from Springtime Solids was stamped on the Ocean Tides cardstock (I don't have any of the colors in the challenge, but I did have close matches) with the same color of ink. Then I stamped the sentiment from Dandy Wishes before adding the buttons tied with twine.

I hope you find time to play along with the challenge this week!

Have Faith FTL

The sketch for this card is fron last week's Fall to Layout, FTL131. I am loving their sketches more and more the less time I have to create. They make quick work of a great looking card; many times it's more time consuming to choose papers and elements than it is to complete the card.

I used Springtime Solids on the pink butterfly die cuts and a sentiment from When There's Nothing Left to Say. I have a friend going through some life altering changes and this card is her reminder to stay the course and keep the faith.

Have a Super Sweet Birthday

The Sweet Sunday sketch this week, SSSC108, was rather interesting so I took a stab at it. The papers are from SEI and the sentiment is from the Sprinkles and Cherries set. I love that set!

Another birthday card...check!

Branch Out SFYTT

The March SFYTT from Jen was yet another great sketch, I had to play along. I pulled out one of my fave SU sets, Branch Out, and some new papers from PTI.

What a crazy week I've had, can't wait for the weekend.

Birthday Cupcake Mojo

It was contest week on the Mojo Monday blog, so I made some time for the MOJO181 sketch.

I used a few Verve sets for the flourishes and the background on the ivory paper. Then just used some dies as my focal point and called it done.

I have lots of birthdays this month, so I am trying to build up my stash so that I can grab n go!

8

My niece had her 8th birthday party on Saturday, her birthday isnt until the 16th however. She is obsessed with the color green, almost as much as my friend AlienAnessa. Seriously obsessed.
Well, she's a tomboy too, loves all things sports and boy toys. It cracks me up because she's so small and so sweet, I guess I want her to be a girly girl. So, I couldn't resist a few girly touches.

The Viva la Verve sketch seemed appropriate for no hassle card, this one came together really quickly, thankfully.

Happy Birthday Tori!

Work is still going along, things are starting to slow a tiny bit on the multiple daily deadline front which makes it easier to complete the tasks needed. But, my replacement doesn't start until the 28th. Hopefully, I can keep the fires out until then. Thankfully, our temp (the publisher's wife) is a tremendous asset to the office. She's keeping the paperwork moving and the phones answered. Whew!

Hoping I can find a bit of routine and normalcy next month.

Thinking of You VLV

This week's Viva la Verve sketch was another fun one...I say that every week. LOL I used more October Afternoon papers, thinking I might end up making a matching set with all the sketches this month.

Everything is pretty straight forward, so I'm keeping this short. Have a happy weekend.

PMS March Review, Day 1

The Paper Makeup Stamps Design Team is reviewing our March Release. All stamps are available for purchase.

I have used the Springtime Solids set to decorate a cute little note to brighten someone's day.

The die shape was stamped with the leaf and smallish flower using pigment inks. The larger flower was punched out and adhered over the ribbon embellishment.

The quote was stamped on the inside and then I used the leaf and large flower to accent it. I think the flowers look very tropical and could be found very easily in paradise.

For more inspiring ideas using this set, please head on over to the PMS blog to how the other gals rocked it out!

I Love Your Smile

This week's Fall To Layout, FTL130, was perfect for a very quick and simple card. The most time consuming part of this card was choosing the papers. LOL

The sentiment is a favorite of mine and can be used for a multitude of purposes. Let's hope its recipient smiles when it arrives in her mailbox.

Handmade Quality Tag

I broke out some new PTI goodies to make this super cute tag. I almost wish I hadn't used glitter, it would have made a fine bookmark.

Images from Delightful Doilies were stamped onto the corresponding dies, those dies help make quick work of cutting things out. They were layered onto the Tag Sale 4 die; I used vellum in between the layers. The sentiment is from Button Boutique.

Paper Makeup Stamps March Release

It's Release Day! Tonight, you'll be able to get all the goodies you've seen over the last few days! As always, we celebrate the release with a Blog Hop. Be sure to start at the PMS Blog and collect all the letters for this month's code to save 15% on all the new releases.

If you're participating in the hop, you are on track if you've arrived from Ginger's blog. Didn't you love her card using Raindrops and Rainbows?

I have the super cute Aurora Fairy to show you today, isn't she gorgeous?! I chose some colorful and playful patterns from My Mind's Eye and just colored the image to match. The sketch is the Sweet Sunday Sketch, SSSC106.

The sentiment was stamped onto a banner strip and then accented with a rolled rose. I added some Shimmerz to the rose, but it isn't showing up very well.

My letter for you is:

Before you go, I want to remind you about the Release Party. We're starting the festivities at 9 pm EST in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forum.

Now, it's time to stop over at sweet Anita's blog to see what she has for you.

PMS March Sneak Peeks, Day 3

It's day three of the March Sneak Peeks from Paper Makeup Stamps. Today, we have some cute critters and monsters to show you.

I have the pleasure of introducing Sally Sheep, isn't she precious all dressed up in her Sunday best?

The papers are from My Mind's Eye Be Loved collection; I just colored my image to coordinate with those found in the papers.

Once I colored the image, I used some 2mm clear gems to use as buttons and some slightly larger ones to embellish the left corner of the card.

Now, be sure to head over to the PMS blog to see samples of the images being shown today and to learn how you can win the ENTIRE release. It's a great month to win!

Hope you can join us for the Release Party. As always, it's held in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forum on March 7th at 9 pm EST.

Personal Update

Life has thrown me a few curveballs lately, just thought I might give a brief update on my status.

First, I have accepted a new position at work, a promotion of sorts. It came to me because of some unfortunate events and I am trying to make the best of it.

Because the position was vacated suddenly, we weren't able to find a replacement for me AND move me totally into this new position. What does that mean? Well, for now it means that I am doing both jobs. We do have a temp worker that is helping me hit the high spots, but I am exhausted.

I am hoping that they choose someone from the ads we've been running, but even then, things will be hectic since I will have to train someone as well as do my job functions. Fun! But, I am willing to do it, happy to do it.

Another bad thing about the whole thing is the timing. I work for a publishing company and we are going to press with 6 books on the tourism side and 5 books on the hotel side. Can you say stressed out?!

So, with that, please know that I don't have time to comment on your gorgeous work everyday. I am looking at my reader in the early morning hours, but don't have much time to look up during the day and by the time I get home, I just want to eat and go to sleep. Honestly, I just want to sleep! LOL

Please don't feel any pressure to comment on my blog since I can't reciprocate much. I will catch up with each of you as I can. Just know I enjoy looking, I just don't have the time to comment.

Thanks for understanding.

PMS March Sneak Peeks, Day 1

Today is the first day of peeks of the March Release from Paper Makeup Stamps. I have the pleasure of using this inspirational piece of word art.

I stamped the quote with gray ink onto cream cardstock, then used Labels 17 nesties to cut it out and emboss it.

I thought the kite represented reaching high, I even extended it past the top of the card for emphasis.

I'll be sneaking this into Cody's backpack soon. He is rocking everything school lately, really focused on doing well. The teacher even sent a note home letting me know that ALL of his work has been turned in. WOW! What a difference from the first grading period. I am very proud of him.

Be sure to check out the PMS blog to check out the other samples, we have two sets being sneaked today along with various word art images. You can also find out how to win the release, trust me, you'll want it!

Our Release Party is being held in the Paper Makeup Stamps Forum on March 7th at 9 pm EST. Hope you'll be able to join us for the fun!

Cute as a Button

I used my birthday gift certificate to PTI during their last release, it was my favorite so far. Unfortunately, I didn't get everything I wanted, but I did get the things I couldn't live without. *wink*

Button Boutique was at the top of my list, I absolutely love it. I was also happy that the Buttoned Up Dies were available as well. I also loved the new background set, Bitty Background Blocks. Oh my gosh, what fun I'll have with these.

And, I can't forget Background Basics-Newsprint, another amazing background set I will use often. I really do love background sets alot.

The doily behind the Button Card die is a Wilton Doily, I will be picking more of those up soon. It's in a pack of 30 for like $2.50 at Wal-Mart.