Boo

Hi Sweeties! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

So happy that this weekend we officially hit the start of my favorite season. I am definitely ready for the change. Saturday we had a Fall Faire at the garden center where I work, and if I wasn’t ready for autumn before, I sure am now. After being surrounded by all the adorable Halloween decorations in the gift shop and all the pansies, mums, pumpkins and gourds in the garden, I am in the mood for all the joys this season will bring!

Today I am sharing my last design team project for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. And for my final project, I thought it was only fitting to re-visit some of my very favorite Prickley Pear sets.

Along with my favorite stamp sets, I used lots of my favorite scrappy supplies here. Kraft cardstock and happy polka dots, a bright orange button and baker’s twine tie. I used my new Papertrey Ink herringbone embossing plate on the kraft cardstock. The pumpkin and leaves are from the Pumpkin Clear Stamps Set 2. I die cut both the leaves and pumpkin shape from kraft cardstock using the matching Pumpkin Die and stamped the images in black ink. Colored the pumpkin using Prismas blended with Gamsol. The sweet Boo sentiment is from the Bats Clear Stamps Set, stamped in black on a die cut banner.

For more stampy inspiration using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you today. Thanks so much for stopping by everyone! Wishing you all a wonderful day!

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Fall Fun

Hiya Sweetie Peeps! Happy Monday to you. It’s the start of a new week, and time to share some stampy inspiration with you for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Today I am celebrating fall with my favorite fall stamp set, the Oak and Maple Leaf Clear Stamps.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of these adorable leaves. They are the perfect size for so many projects, and are so easy and quick to use. I simply cut several leaves using the matching Oak and Maple Leaf Die, stamped them with the coordinating image in dark brown ink, and arranged them in a little cluster along with a big bow and a fabric brad. A bit of trim, a fishtail banner, and a stamped sentiment finish things off.

For more inspiration using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you today.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my Makin’ the Grade Cycling Team post on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog. Hope to see you all then!

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone! Wishing you a wonderful day!

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Halloween Hi

Hi Sweetie Peas! Hope you all had a very wonderful weekend. I am back from my weekend scrapbooking retreat at the beach, and I must say that we had a fabulous time. It is so good to get away with the girls. I haven’t laughed that hard in I don’t know how long, and………I even got a bit of scrapping done.

I have photos to share from the weekend, but first, it’s time to share my Monday project for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. I’ve been playing with the new Bats Clear Stamps Set and Die again. I think we should go ahead and declare 2012 the Halloween of the bat as I seem to have gone completely batty this year. Let’s just make it official and get it over with, shall we?

I had leftover kraft envelopes from my Maya Road project last week, which became the inspiration for this little notecard. Covered some manila tags with inks and bits of torn dictionary pages and stamped lots of tiny bats from the Clearly Beautiful the Four Seasons stamp set for a spooky backdrop. Tucked the tags into the envelope and added one large die cut bat to the outside. Lots of happy polka dots and a sentiment strip finish things off.

And now for a few photos of the beach retreat.

The Trinity Center is only steps away from the ocean, and yet it feels like you’re in the mountains with the rustic buildings and all the wonderful trees. It really is the best of both worlds. So serene and so peaceful.

It was very humid and quite rainy while we were there, so humid in fact that I had a hard time keeping my camera lens from fogging up. But I did still manage to do a little rocking on the back deck and got in one nice walk along the beach.

Mostly, though, we spent our time in here…..

having a great time.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, too!

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Sharing today’s project with Paper Issue’s Tag, You’re It challenge

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A Halloween Hi

Hiya everyone! Happy Monday to you! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend, and that those of you in the States are enjoying your holiday day off today. I’ve had a very lovely long weekend, but it’s been very quiet here. My kiddos have been off camping, and I’ve had the whole house to myself. You can bet I’ve taken advantage of every minute to be good and lazy and rest up from our first week back to school. Amazing how just one week of early rising can wear me out.

September starts my last month as a designer for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. It always shocks me how quickly a whole year can fly by. It was exactly a year ago that Prickley Pear first caught my eye with their adorable Halloween images. You all know how much I love Halloween, right? (Snicker)

And now a year later, I can still say that Prickley Pear’s Halloween stamps are my absolute favorites. Today I have another fun Halloween card to share that features the new Bats Clear Stamps Set that I have been previewing for the last couple of weeks. This time I used a couple of the smaller bat images from the set along with that fabulous Halloween Hi sentiment.

I placed the sentiment strip on the right to balance the big bow on the left, and created a circular die cut opening in the top of the card in which to tuck a couple of ghosts. Stamped and fussy cut a pair of little bats to add to the happy scene. I think these guys are just too cute to spook, don’t you?

For more inspiration using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you today. And I think there might be some news about a Design Team call, too!

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!

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Boo

Today is our first day back to school. And I’m feeling a little blue, my friends. It’s really hard to see the lazy days of summer come to an end. I miss my kiddos already. The house is waaaay too quiet without them.

And heck……I’m not a fan of waking up before 6 am, either.

For me, there’s no better cure for feeling down in the dumps than looking ahead to my favorite time of year. So today, I have a fun Halloween project to share for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. This is the adorable Bats Clear Stamps Set again.

Stamped my little batty friend in black ink onto white cardstock and cut him out with the matching Bat Die. There’s a separate stamp image for the body of the bat, which I stamped here in gray ink. You can see his cute beady eyes, right? I then colored his wings with Copics. Stamped a sentiment from the set and trimmed it into a banner for him to hold. I think he’s trying to scare you. Did it work?

Layered Little Batty onto felt, cardstock, and patterned paper die cuts. The tag in the background has been stamped with more bat friends from both the Bats Clear Stamps Set and The Four Seasons Clear Stamps Set. The papers are Echo Park’s Victoria Gardens.

For more inspiration using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you today. Thanks so much for stopping by, everyone! Wishing you all a wonderful day.

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Flying By

We are down to our very last week of summer vacation. Next Monday morning my kiddos will be heading off on that little yellow school bus to start a brand new year. Although I will certainly miss summer, I am looking forward to the Fall. Sigh…..my favorite season!

Couldn’t wait to get started on this year’s Halloween decorations with the adorable Fall collection of stamps from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. This is the brand new Bats Clear Stamps Set and matching Bat Die, that I am so excited to be previewing for you this week. I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of this set from me.

Isn’t that bat just sooo cute? He is die cut and stamped in black and colored with Copics. I couldn’t resist giving him some facial details with black pearls, and check out those fangs. Made those from a grain of rice.

Created a little diorama for my bat complete with a spooky moon and clouds. Stamped a sentiment from the set and trimmed it into a waving banner. All the papers are from Basic Grey’s Eerie collection. I used the lid from a balsa wood box that was leftover from a previous project for the base. I knew someday I would find a good use for that old lid.

For more inspiration using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some fabulous things to share with you today. Thanks so much for stopping by, my friends! Wishing you all a wonderful day!

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Together Forever

Hiya Sweeties! Happy Monday! I do hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I had a very nice time, myself. The weekend was a fabulous mixture of quiet downtime and playtime, both. Time to be energized by happy activities, and also time to recharge the batteries. A perfect blend. Just what the doctor ordered!

It’s the start of a new week, and time to share another stamping project for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Today I have a card that is a bit different from my usual style. Heavy on the cardstock, and light on the patterned paper. Cause every once in awhile, a girl likes to do something a bit different, right?

To create the focal panel, I started by stamping a Large Vine Flourish in a pretty pink ink onto cream cardstock. That’s the old Cameo Coral color by Stampin’Up. Some of you may still remember it. I layered the stamped panel onto Authentique Carefree patterned paper and dark chocolate cardstock. Added a banner strip and cardstock stickers and tied them all up with seam binding and chocolate hemp.

The card base is more dark brown cardstock with an embossed panel of Cameo Coral cardstock. I added a fancy stamped border below the embossing using the diamond border stamp from the Scalloped Oval Clear Stamps Set. Small black pearls dress up the center of each diamond. A pair of chocolate butterflies die cut from the Mini Butterflies Die add a final little detail.

For more inspiration using Prickley Pear rubber stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you today. Thanks so much for stopping by! Wishing you all a wonderful day!

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Once in a Lifetime

Happy Monday, Sweetie Peas! Hope you all had a lovely weekend! It was tax-free weekend for us here in North Carolina, so the little Missy and I did lots of back-to-school shopping for supplies and new clothes. And once again, I wasted way too much time this weekend watching the summer Olympics. But then, opportunities like this don’t come around every day, so might as well take advantage, right?

It’s the start of a new week, and time to share some stampy inspiration for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Today I have a bright and happy summer- inspired card that I made using one of my favorite fall sets, the Oak & Maple Leaf Clear Stamps Set. Just goes to show that fall stamps don’t necessarily have to be used for fall projects.

To create the cluster of leaves for the focal point of my card, I started by die cutting two oak leaves from cream patterned paper using the Oak & Maple Leaf Die. I then gave the leaves a light wash of color using a watercolor brush and my Kiwi Kiss ink pad by Stampin’Up. Stamped the matching image using dark brown ink and then tucked the leaves into my bow, along with two pink leaves from my scrap pile. I am quite determined to use my scraps!

Pattern paper and cardstock sentiment label sticker are from Authentique’s Lively collection. I added lace trim and seam binding and a pretty brad from Basic Grey….and look at that pink floral transparency I snuck under the ribbon. Another oldie but goody from my scrap pile. GO me!

For more projects using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you today. And thanks so much for stopping by!

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Scatter Kindness

Hiya Sweeties, and happy Monday to ya! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I spent most of my time over the past few days glued to my television, watching the Olympics. Loved the opening ceremonies, and have been loving the extended coverage of events this time around. I might not be getting much done around here, but I’m not missing out on any of the fun.

It’s the start of a new week, and time to share some stampy inspiration for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Today I have a sweet little notecard that uses one of Prickley Pear’s newest clear stamp sets, Hibiscus 2.

I’ve been leaving a pile of scraps out on my work desk this past week in a determined effort to use up my papers. I’m still working on my stash of The Girl’s Paperie, which I’ve paired here with some Victoria Gardens by Echo Park.

The flower is made from a combination of a stamped image from the Hibiscus 2 set, and many layers of Prickely Pear die cuts made with the Mini Hibiscus Die and the Gears Die. I scrunched the pieces for a bit of a shabby look and topped them with a big fabric brad. Stamped my favorite sentiment from the Hibiscus 2 set in the bottom corner to finish things off.

For more inspiration using Prickley Pear rubber stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you today. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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For All You Do

Hiya Sweeties! Happy Monday! I do hope you all had a lovely weekend. Things have been a bit on the gloomy side here. It was a weekend filled with flash thunderstorms and lots of gray. Not very summery…. but then we sure do need the rain. And I don’t mind being tucked inside for a few days.

It’s the start of a new week, and time to share some stampy inspiration for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Today I have a card that uses a couple more new images from the Prickley Pear shop, Thanks to You and Small Flower Cluster.

I love the font mix on the new Thanks to You greeting. And the fun large size makes it perfect for stamping on a journaling card, like I did here. Now your sentiment really becomes the star.

The Flower Cluster makes a perfect accent for a small tag. I just stamped the image in dark brown ink onto light patterned paper and punched it out with my tag punch. Added a light wash of chalk pastel for color and tied the tag on with a big happy bow.

For more projects using Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps, be sure to visit the blog. The rest of the team has some beautiful things to share with you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful day!

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