PMS Blog Hop & Party

Good morning girls!! I hope you had a wonderful sleep! I can't help it, I'm pre-writing this and curling up in bed is the next thing on my list! I hope I can sleep though - I'm so excited about the PMS blog hop today. I can't wait to see all the wonderful creations. Plus all the chatter I know will be going on, the challenges and the announcement of the design team.

If you've made it here from Sara's blog then you are right on track, enjoying all the eye candy in the pre-party hop! If not, head over to the PMS blog - you won't want to miss any of the stops I know!!

I used Kirsten for my card today. I *think* she might be my favorite fairy. At least until I stamp another one. Or the next release. To be honest, they will all switch rank on a regular basis I believe!!

I stamped her in Memento Tuxedo Black and then watercolored her using my SU stamp pads and Fantastix. I really like those little sticks but I'm not sure I'm completely sold on them yet!

I used my new Spica glitter pen to add sparkles to her fairy breath (I saw Tina do that the other day and thought it was a great idea) and her cheeks. Her wings and her fairy curl have Stickles on them. My favorite little touch though is the dandelion which has been coated in Fun Flock!

If you are just now hearing about Paper Makeup Stamps, they are wonderfully, deeply etched red rubber and closely trimmed. LOVE THAT!! Plus Katie offers them in bare rubber or already mounted on EZ Mount. I ordered Chelly on EZ Mount and the other fairies in bare rubber. Even using Kirsten in bare rubber she stamped beautifully and cleanly. LOVE THAT TOO!

The layout for my card is from this week's VivaLaVerve sketch. This is actually the second card base I made for my Kirsten image. I had such grief with this layout which is crazy because it's pretty simple!

Thanks for hopping on over today! I hope my card brought a smile to your face! It's time to send you on over to Shaela's blog. I lifted the following information from the PMS blog for your reference here on the party details:

{snip} Here's a breakdown of our party plans!

Just before the party starts at 3 EST (that's 2 CST, 1 mountain time, and 12 for west coasters!) I'll announce the winner of the blog banner giveaway.

3:00 - Then to kick off the party there will be some sneaks and some digis! Woot!

3:30 - Christi will issue our first challenge. There is NO time limit on these, but they will be spaced out for those that want to play along as the party goes on.

4:00 - Playin' some games, givin' away some goods...

4:30 - Christi will issue challenge number 2!

5:00 - The Design Team will be announced!!!

5:30 - Christi will issue challenge number 3! From that point on we will just play and chat and share our creations. I'm so so so excited! I hope to see everyone there!!! {snip}

Come join in all the fun!! The chit chat will be taking place in the PMS forum at PCP.

ETA: Here's the complete list of blogs

Lisa Kind

Jennifer Greco

Tangii Crain
Danyel Owens
Lisa McKinney

Dawn Knight

Melissa Craig

Ashley Newell

Ceal Pritchett
Tina Hale

Jamie Morris
Shannon Bracken

Cheryl Penner

Tenia Nelson
Nancy Bush

Joni Wilson
Kimberlee Doktor
Sara Henton

Cassie Larson

Shaela Odd
Heather Lee-Reppen

Kim Stewart

Anita Hovey

Brandi Burns

Dawn Barrett

Tina Blasdell

Christi Thorsen
Katie Cotton

Be Inspired #21: Watercolor

It's Wednesday and you know what means - lots of posting here today!! Be sure to come back later and see my Flutter By and PPS creations. This week the Cuttlebug Challenge team was given the word "watercolor" as our assignment. I thought and thought. And then I thought some more. I finally knew what I wanted to do, sat down at my desk, and veered off course. This has been happening A LOT lately at my desk. I think sometimes art just comes out of you and there is no sense fighting it.
Isn't this a wonderful quote? Soooo true too! **It's from PMS (Paper Makeup Stamps - she has a sale on 2 sets that ends today! I picked up the Star Struck one and can't wait for it to arrive!)

I started off giving my watercolor paper a light wash in blue. It was very subtle. Then I ran it through the script embossing folder. Oh.My.Wow. (that's my new saying - hi Jacquie)

Watercolor paper embosses like a D.R.E.A.M. Then I highlighted the embossing by running my ink pad over it lightly. I uses a the same shade of ink to stamp my quote onto my patterned paper. It's Anna Griffin from my stash - I don't think it's possible to have enough of it - and tore the top edge. I also cut some flowers and leaves from the paper to use as an accent. The base was stamped in the same blue as well with a rose stamp. My butterfly was die cut and then embossed with the Textile embossing folder. I added stickles to the design and some in the flowers I cut out as well.

I got totally impatient waiting for them to dry so pulled out my heat gun to speed up the process. And in so doing, aged the edges of my paper. LOVE THAT!! Totally unexpected and I LOVE how it turned out!

Here is the view of the card standing up. It's just gorgeous in real life!

We'd love to see what you can do with your Cuttlebug and watercolor. Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge and leave the link to your project in Mr. Linky. I can't wait to see what you create! Be sure to visit the rest of the team too and see what they've come up with!

Chelly Twinkles Too

Hi girls! It's Tuesday and you know that means it's time for Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesdays. Madelynn is 8 years old and loves to sketch while her mom Jessica stamps! Back in December she drew a card sketch and now she has her very own design team! Be sure to visit The Twinkle Blog to see our featured stamper this week - it's Jennifer who is one of my favorite people in the world! I mean, what's not to love about a gal with glitter in her hair? Be sure to stop by and leave her some love, okay?! And be sure to read all the way at the bottom for some VERY COOL news regarding our special guest at The Cuttlebug Challenge this week!

This week Madelynn sent us an Inspiration Challenge! Her mom loves coffee and this is a favorite mug.

I was completely inspired by the colors in the mug: cream, pink and green and that big, wonderful bow!

I also wanted to participate in the sketch challenge Katie issued over at the Paper Makeup Stamps blog. It was inspired by the very first card her mom made this week! I did flip it slightly as I thought my flower at the top was competing too much with the shamrock. It feels much more balanced this way.

I stamped Chelly on watercolor paper in Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored her using my inkpads and a waterbrush. Don't you just love her puffy skirt and the bloomers underneath? The grass and posies were freehanded.

In the closeup you can see the stickles I added to her fairy wings and her fairy curl. She also has a little pink bling on her cheek because...well, she's a fairy and she can!! There are lots of new stamps coming out at the end of the week and Katie put them up for Pre-Order with a discount! But it only lasts until tomorrow so go on over and check them out! She even has the new nestabilities on the pre-order!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Be sure to visit the rest of the Twinkies to see how they were inspired by Jessica's coffee cup!

Bonnie Sharp
Christi Thorsen
Danni Bindel
Debbie Lee
Heather Schlatter
Jacquie Peifer
Jami Bova
Janna Hull
Jennifer Greco
Jessica Diedrich
Kim Ross
Kimmie Doktor
Rebecca Ednie
Sandra McLean
Taylor Usry

The Cuttlebug Challenge is so happy to announce our guest this week is THE VALERIE SALMON. She's known for her sketches and design work for Fiskars. She created a wonderful sketch for us this week and we can't wait to see how you use it! Valerie will be picking her favorite and the winner will receive a free subscription to her sketch blog/class: Got Sketch! Cool, huh? So be sure to come back tomorrow to see my take on it!

Welcome Chick

Hi girls!! (I hope that doesn't bother any of you - I'm a southern girl and it's a term I use for all the women in my life and I mean it most affectionately. I guess it's kinda like "ya'll" where I'm from).

Anyway, it's Wednesday and time for another Pink Papery Studios DT challenge. This week I laid out the challenge to create a SIMPLE card. Or to take the week off. Either one. I'm always looking for an excuse to stamp so I made this little tag. I had hoped to have it done and "scheduled" a week ago but that never happened. I brought some items with me to my in-laws and in the bag were all the new PPS stamp sets I just got. I was drawn to this set as it is seems very "folk art" to me and I don't have many stamps like this in my collection. There is a bird house and another bird in it so it's very versatile.

Simple to me means QUICK. And one of the quickest, simplest ways I can think of to add color to a project is a watercolor wash. As I was looking at the items I brought, I was thought of my MIL who has created one of the most welcoming homes I've ever been in. She always has tons of little touches for her guests (like a Christmas tree in my BIL and SIL room that has her baby booties and a picture of my BIL as a baby and baby washcloths for them). I could totally see her leaving out some towels in the bathroom with this little tag on top to let her guest know how happy she is to have them. The bathroom is done in this gorgeous warm tones of gold and amber and that inspired my color combination. I created a little tag from some watercolor paper and just used my markers to scribble on one of my acrylic blocks. Then using my blender pen (b/c I forgot my waterbrush) I created a row of color using: More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. Once it dried, I overstamped it with my chicken and added the welcome sentiment. Tying a quick little bow finishes it off nicely. This didn't take very long but is really cute!!

Hope you are having wonderful times with your family and loved ones. All my best wishes to you and yours!!

Sweet Song

Here is another card I created for the latest VSN. The challenge was to watercolor and this is a great stamp to use for that medium. I was stamping at my table and had all my markers with me but not my stamp pads and I was too lazy or too "in the groove" - yea that's it, in the groove, to go get my pads. So I just swiped my markers on a stamp case and colored away. I'm really happy with how this card turned out!

We are headed to OK to see my in-laws for the weekend in the morning. Of course, I have tons that I need to be doing for that, but I've been working and now I'm blurfing and typing this post. Ah well - it's nice to take a break, isn't it? I'm looking forward to good food, good visits with my in-laws (who I am lucky to have - they are wonderful and I adore them), good shopping and great swimming in their pool. I hope little one is as happy to be in the water this summer as he was last summer. We'll see. I hope that you enjoy your weekend too - make it a beautiful one!!