Never enough time...

Does anyone else feel like this lately? As if there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done? I have been spinning my wheels like crazy, we're house hunting again since the first one fell through. Every day after work we're driving around for hours looking at houses and I'm just exhausted. The little "me" time I get, I end up watching tv or napping, I just can't even muster the energy to get into the stamp room and have some fun. So everyone please keep your fingers crossed that we find something soon.....I need to get back to normal. :)

It's Prettie Wednesday today but sadly I was unable to finish my card last night because I fell asleep at the stamp table. My sweet hubster came in and found me zonked out on my table and thought it best to drag me off to bed. Needless to say my image blurred a bit from my cheek, so I think I'll have to redo that. But go check out the Prettie Girls blogs and see what adorable cards they came up with, today it's Christie's day to issue the challenge....use Acetate. This should be a fun one!!!!

And don't forget to submit your guess here for your chance to win 6 months of free stamps!!!!

Bright and cheery PLUS Watermark Winners!

I stepped inside the box. I found these stamps on sale over the weekend and something said "buy them", so of course I listened. ;) I stamped two of the window images on white cardstock so that I could play with coloring a bit. Once I had one colored I looked at it and really liked it (rare that I like a trial run) so I colored the other image the exact same and stamped the second window image from this set in the middle. What started out as a scrap piece of paper for practice coloring turned into a very cute card (I think).

I wanted to create a polka dot border coming out from the sentiment but found that I don't actually have any. *shock* So I got a little creative and used my rectangle polka dot border from PTI and only inked two sides. :) I also used SU's Sanded background stamp using PTI Spring Moss ink on the top strip of Celery paper. It gives the card texture but sadly it doesn't show up very well in the photo.

~WATERMARK GIVEAWAY~

Ok so I know most of you are just dying to know who will be getting a custom watermark so here it is.....

Hubby picked

12 - Jean (Jhcross)

17 - Lorraine

21 - Lois E.

29 - Carissa

There you have it. Not one, not two, but four winners!!! Please email me ladies with the name you'd like displayed on your watermark. :) xoxo

Stamps - Stampendous, Paper Tray Ink
Cardstock - SU Cool Caribbean, PTI Spring Moss
Ink - PTI Spring Moss, PTI Aqua Mist, Brilliance Black
Copics - Y11, YG03, Y38, YR21, BG45, BV01

Honey-Do-List

Have you been over to the new Paper Pretties site?!?! It's fabulous, much more user friendly and very easy to navigate through. Every month I will be posting a tutorial on there so be sure to register and check it out. There are also RAK groups, swaps, monthly Pajama Parties and of course (my fav) shopping!!!!

This month I decided to do a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a notepad. I used some fabulous Crate paper from the boutique and my favorite stamp, Luke & Lexi, from the Sealed with a Kiss stamp set. For details visit the Prettie Forum and register as a member!

Don't forget to leave a comment about your favorite thing about Spring on this post, I will be giving away a personalized watermark on Monday!!

Prettie Wednesday

A few weeks ago Jana challenged us to use polka dots on a card. It had been quite a while since I played with my bellas so I flipped through my bella book to see which one I wanted use. Do you know this one had yet to be inked?!?! *enter gasp here* I scrambled through my papers and ran across this polkadot pattern from the Pretties Cruisabella box last year. It matches perfectly with Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst and Orchid Opulence. I added a doodle border around my bella & fella and popped them up on dimensionals. Lastly I put a strip of celery paper across the bottom and punched the "retail therapy" using my large SU oval punch.

Danielle is our challenger today so be sure to stop by her blog to see what tricks she has up her sleeve. Also be sure to visit the other Prettie blogs to see their polka dot creations.

Essence of Spring & some candy!!!

I adore spring time...flowers blooming, birds singing, me sneezing. ;) No, honestly I truly love springtime and this card is a perfect reflection of how I felt yesterday. I was driving around town with my mom just looking at flowers, appreciating all the beauty that we tend to pass by in this crazy world. The simple things....flowers. I immediately came home and ran to my stamp room, I knew I just had to ink up this stamp.

I used Regal Rose for the card base and at first I had just a plain piece of Apricot for the background layer, but I knew I wanted to have texture to it so I swapped it out for a piece of patterned Apricot paper. Because it has a white core I was able to sand the edges and scratch up the paper a bit, love that look! I stamped the flower image using Versamark and then chalked the vines and flowers with matching SU chalks. I did wipe over the entire image with a swiffer cloth when I was done (works great!). Next I ran it through my bug using my Nestabilities and layered onto Certainly Celery. I roughed up the edges a bit more so that it tied in with my textured background. I used my friend Joanne's slot punch ribbon trick and then added some paper piercing around the bottom. The greeting is from the new PTI Pond Life that I got this week, I stamped it first in Regal Rose and then moved the stamp just ever so slightly and stamped again (without reinking) to give it a 3-D look. Lastly, I popped up the main image with dimensionals and was done!

Please note my fluttery watermark on the photo, a bit softer than the polkadot one. Would you like to have a watermark of your own? Well today is your lucky day! I am offering up some tasty blog candy in the form of a custom watermark made just for you! Just drop a comment on this post letting me know your favorite thing about Spring. The winner will be selected on Monday, April 28th at 12:00pm PST (thanks to my number picking hubby Scott) I'm a pick-a-number-between kinda gal, random.org just ain't my style...I won't let robots rule the world! *lol* ;) So drop me a note and share with me your Spring tales.

A cute little bug...

...named Wade. I am currently obsessed with this color scheme....I'm even wearing it today! Well, not the top hat just the turquoise and green clothing. ;) I used the polka dots from Sassy Circles and white craft ink to make my background paper. Copics for coloring and Nesties for the layers. I left the rectangle nestie on my main image and sponged a bit of Cool Caribbean around the edges to achieve the airbrushed look...I'll be getting one soon!! When I met Debbie Olsen at CHA she showed me a few tricks using the airbrush and I knew I would soon be shelling out a pretty penny to own one.

Notice the cute watermark?? In my Adobe Elements class I've been learning about layers and brushes so when I stumbled across the tutorial by Kurtis I understood exactly what he was talking about. I already had this watermark created from class but he gave me a few extra tips on how to change the lighting of my font.

Hmm, anyone hungry for some candy yet? Stay tuned...

Answers to Photoshop questions

I'm so sorry that my post was so short the other day, I was literally AT my class and snuck onto the web just to show off what I learned. ;) I've received quite a few questions so I wanted to answer as many as I could.

1. Is this class online? No, it is at an adult education school that offers TONS of fabulous classes in the evenings for working gals like me. I really encourage you to poke around your own area and see if there is something available like this, they have floral arranging, digital photography (that's my next one), excel, accounting, and tons of other wonderful courses.

2. Where was the photo taken? No clue! In the class there are preselected photos for us to all use and learn techniques with, we won't use our own photos until week 6. I'm on week 2. :)

3. How did you do that? Honestly, it's a matter of working with light levels. Once you learn that, you can pretty much fix any photo you take. It's like magic...at least that's how I feel about it. Every picture I fix I just say to myself "wow, that's cool!".

4. What program did you use? I'm working with Photoshop Elements 6.0 - available at Costco for $79.99 or on Amazon.com for around the same price.

I also am learning how to create Watermarks so I hope everyone keeps checking back, I'll have fun blog candy to offer next week!!!

Photoshop class...

Before...

After...

Cool eh???? Ok, gotta get back to class...just had to share.

Skipping Spring

And jumping into Summer!!! *splash* This was my Summer themed card for the first challenge at SIYJ last Friday evening. The challenge was to make a card using bright summer colors....I chose Only Orange, Positively Pink (remember that one?), and Green Galore. This is one of my favorite MFT sets so I just had to use it. Copics for the coloring of course and some paper piercing and white grosgrain to finish it off! Anyone ready for bathing suit season?? I'm SO NOT!!! ;)

Such an honor....

I was recently contacted by Andi at Crafts on a Whim to be this Friday's Featured Crafter. I was floored!! Of course I said YES and quickly filled out the questionnaire and giggled back and forth with Andi for a bit (she's a doll by the way). Her site is quite informative and she's had some fabulous ladies as featured crafters, including two of my Prettie sistahs Julie and Charmaine.
So thank you Andi for the honor and I encourage you all to go check out Crafts on a Whim and add it to your daily net surf!!

Come party with me!

Tonight is the night!!! The hubby is going camping and I have the stamp room prepped and ready for Stampin' In Your Jammies tonight at 8pm EST. 3 new stamp sets will be released and this is just one of them, Simply Special. I love how simple this little watering can is and the saying that goes with it "You make even the simple things special", so perfect for any occasion. I used Copics for coloring and Nesties for the layers. What I really loved was just using one sheet of patterned paper. I sliced off the bottom, flipped it around to reveal the solid on the back and popped it back in place! No guess work involved, gotta love that!

Loss for words

I've had to make a fair share of sympathy cards lately. I made this card using the PTI Out on a Limb set, soft sky & chocolate chip ink. I wanted to keep the card simple and delicate so I just used the rectangle nestabilities for the main image and left everything else plain. I did use my blender pen on the soft sky blossoms, it adds a bit of texture to them as the paper will puff up a bit (no clue why but you should try it, it's neat). My heart hurt as I addressed each of these cards and put them in the mail. What do you say to someone who's entire world just got flipped upside down?

A lovely bella and a peek

Ok, so when Saycheeseabella first hit the scene I thought she was cute, perhaps to make some cards for my pals who enjoy photography. HELLO! How cute is this card?!?! You can use it for ANYONE!!!! Christie sent me this card, just because (the best kind) and I absolutely fell for this bella!!! And the paper is just to die for!!! So of course I had to share with all of you. A reminder that when you see a new stamp image you never know just how much you NEED it until you see it used and fall in love. :)

Wanna peek?

Oh it may not look like much but it's quite adorable, I assure you! Perhaps if you join us for a pajama party this Friday night, you might just win this hidden treasure! Got a pen? This Friday, April 11th Charmaine will be hosting Stampin In Your Jammies over at Paper Pretties and 3 new sets will be released! Did you write that down?

Tonight I have my first Adobe Photoshop Elements class so wish me luck. It's an 8 week course, 4 hours every Tuesday night. By the end of this class I'd better be able to shrink my waist in photos like they do on magazine covers and remove unwanted Ex's from old pictures!! ;)

Flower love

I'm in love with these flowers!! I made this card for my stamp club this weekend, originally it was to focus on the faux wood technique (so easy and so cool) but turned out to be a coloring class. *lol* I offered to let everyone use my Copics so they could see how they like them compared to other coloring tools, I think everyone is now officially hooked. :) They are so easy to blend and shade with, as you can see. I used my white gel pen to re-whiten the centers of the flowers (since going around them while coloring would be next to impossible) then I used my yellow Copic on top of the white to add a touch of color.
As I said in the beginning, I'm in love with a pot of flowers....we're running away to Vegas and we're going to live happily ever after! ;)

I challenge you...

...TO A DUEL!!!! no, just kidding, but come on someone out there had to be thinking it, right?!? So 2 weeks ago Joanne gave us the challenge to use masking on a card. Sadly, my comp had a heart attack last night so I can't get any photos from my camera card to my blog at the moment. I can, however, email and blog all I want from work. *shhhhh, don't tell*

So be sure to visit the Prettie blogs to see what everyone created. And this week, since it's my turn, I challenge everyone to take some time off!!! These gals stamp until their fingers bleed and leave their families screaming to be fed. (ok, that last part is a total lie but you get the point) So I've told them all to take a break....get caught up on their to-do lists, do their taxes (due in 11 days people!) and perhaps feed those starving children. LOL

Will you take some time out for yourself??? I challenge you!!!!

Isn't she lovely.....

So I've decided I love stamping with Sophia SO much because she makes me enjoy the little things....holding a teddy bear, chasing butterflies. As we grow up we become hardened by life and adulthood. But Sophia is still sweet and simple.....I lovey her! I just got my hands on these adorable papers, tons of polka dot patterns, stripes and shapes. I used Celery cardstock for the card base and Wild Wasabi and Rose Red for the layers. I made this available in a card kit for my stampers so I can't wait to see their creations!! Happy Tuesday!!