PPRS Inspiration Monday

 

 

 

 

 

Time for my final Prickley Pear inspiration post. My six month term has drawn to a close and it's time for me to move on. I may have another post next week, if the DT coordinator uses another of my cards for the 10-6 posting. I will certainly miss all the girls on the team, they have done some gorgeous work these past months. Now on to my card.

 I have chosen to use FF0178 Rudolph, EE0197 Naughty or Nice, and the new D050 Mini Flourish, which are all from the new fall & winter release. I love this Reindeer stamp. He was so much fun to color and you'll notice I used some out of the box colors to go with my designer paper. The paper is a 6X6 pad called Christmas Joy from First Edition. I think changing it up a bit from the traditional Christmas colors is fun once in a while & this pad certainly allows you to do that very thing!

I added some interest to my card with the punched snowflakes, twine, and the core'dinations paper that I embossed with a folder and then sanded to make the flakes pop. I think it looks great behind the reindeer that I fussy cut out. And that completes my card for today. Be sure to stop in and visit my team mates listed on my sidebar for some more great inspiration!

I hope you enjoyed my card & thanks for stopping in and come back soon.

Hugs, Maureen

 

 

 

 

 



PPRS Inspiration Monday

 

 

 

 

 

Hi bloggers! Time again for a PPRS post with some inspiration to go along with it I hope. My time with Prickley Pear is drawing to a close and I must say I've learned a lot but it is time for me to move on to other adventures, whatever they may be. I'll be here for another week or maybe two and then the new team will announced, and take over for the next six months.

My card today features GG0203 Bat Lady, and DD0219 Potions and Spells rubber stamps. The paper is from Recollections called Midnight Magic. The bats and drippy goo are MS punches. A little braid and some pearls to complete my card.

 

Thanks for joining me today and be sure to visit my team mates listed on the side bar.

Hugs, Maureen



PPRS Inspiration Monday + DT call

Looking for My Besties Challenge? Please scroll down!

 

Time again for some inspiration from Prickley Pear. I have another Halloween card for you today using the CLR048 Build a Cat set. There are four different cats in this set along with two Halloween sentiments, so if you have in mind to purchase only one stamp set for this holiday, this would be a great choice. There is also a die that matches this set, D048 Build a Cat,  to make cutting them out a breeze. My card today uses two of the cats that reminded me of Egypt and all it's history of Pharaohs and Mummies. Purrrrfffffect choice for my Pyramid background, right? Get it, LOL  

My card is pretty simple, using an A2 Kraft card base, Pyramids printed from the internet, (thank God for Google!) layered on a piece of background paper from Colorbok Hootenany, a punched border to hide the seam, and three pearls to complete my card.

I did want to mention that Prickley Pear is having a Design Team call and if your interested in trying out for a position on their team you can find all the details on the benefits and requirements at the Prickley Pear Blog with this link.

Thanks for joining me today & I hope you enjoyed my creepy creation!

Hugs, Maureen

 

My Besties International Challenge #19

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Besties fans! Time again for a challenge from the "A" Team. This time the challenge is "Bestie with a Pet"  There are tons of Bestie stamps with a pet at Sherri's Etsy store for you to choose from if you can join us. I do hope that you can. My image is from the Besties of Oz collection, IMG639.

I was in a mood for some fall colors so I chose to use bright yellow & oranges when making my card. I think it looks warm, happy, & pretty!

 

I've used some DP along with orange cardstock and stamped a few fall leaves here and there to make it all come together. I uses a Spellbinder die to make my sunflower. The doily, flourish & corner are all from Cheery Lynn. I colored my image with Copics and will list them below the close-up.

 

Copics used:

Skin- E13, 11, 0000

Cheeks- R20

Eyes- E29, 25

Hair- E44, 42, 40, 47

Lips- R22

Yellows- Y17, 04, 02, 000

Oranges- YR07, 04, 02, 00

Browns- E35, 33, 31, 30

Basket- E57, 51, 29

Cat fur- E50, 13

Nose & cheeks- R30

Eyes- YG67

Now I sure hope you can join us for this fun challenge and try your hand at winning one of the fabulous prizes we have to offer. This challenge runs until Sept. 27th so you have plenty of time to let your creative juices flow! Enter your submissions here and follow the Linky tools. Best of luck!

Thanks for joining me today & be sure to visit my Teammates listed on the sidebar for some wonderful Bestie inspiration!

 

Hugs, Maureen

 



CHF Challenge #61

 

 

 

 

 

Hi there everyone. Time again for a challenge from Cornish Heritage Farms. This time our hostess is Amber and she has challenged us to make a masculine/little boy birthday card. Now this is the biggest challenge for me as I struggle with "man" cards as I like to call them. I feel like there is never enough stuff on the card, but men don't like all that "stuff" right?

 

I'm actually pretty happy with the way my card turned out. I have a real soft spot for cowboys, so this image was right up my alley.  You can find this digital image at the CHF' store, here. My sentiment was computer generated and then after I got the whole card put together I realized I should have used "Partner" instead of Cowboy. Well, next time I guess. My card is very simple, I used a kraft card base, an ivory mat and some DP. I cut some barbed wire with a Cherry Lynn die that I have and made some stars from a tiny die in my stash. (every cowboy is a star, right?) I did a bit of distressing with my Distrez-it-all, love that little machine. I colored the image with my Copic markers and cut it out with a Deckled Spellbinders die.

 If you would like to play along with us of course we would love to have you!

To play create a card using CHF images. You can use either CHF digi or rubber stamps to create a card or project.... anything you like as long as the stamps are Cornish Heritage Farms. (Yes, they can be older stamps)

.You can enter on the CHF blog and let us see your creations. If you enter your project on the blog or SCS or Pinterest just remember to use the code CHF61.

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 Thanks for joining me today for our CHF challenge and be sure to visit my super talented Teammates listed on my side bar for lots of inspiration.

Hugs, Maureen

Thanks for joining me today and be sure to visit all my super talented Team Mates

PPRS Inspiration Monday

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again bloggers. My time on the Prickley Pear Design Team is winding down. Our term ends September 30th. So this month I will be bombarding you with Halloween goodies and then at the end a wee bit of Christmas! All the cards this month will incorporate the new Fall/Winter releases. You've already seen the Steampunk Gears 3 Set I received if you followed our Hop, if not you can scroll back through my posts to find them. Todays cards uses the HH0172 Mummy rubber stamp and a verse from the CLR048 Build a Cat set.

 

I've used some Halloween background paper to resemble a dark spooky night for my little Mummy to be sneaking around with his pumpkin. I shaded the wrappings of the mummy with W1 & W0 Copic markers & then fussy cut him out. The moon is punched from orange paper. I cut the clouds from gray cardstock & gave them a few shadows with C0 & C1 Copics. The tombstone I just cut out and matted from grey & black cardstock. I drew the little cracks with a black multiliner for no other reason other than it looked too plain, LOL. A dab of ribbon and some Candi & that completes my card.

 

Thanks for joining me today & come back soon.

Hugs, Maureen

 



Exciting Announcement

 

 

 

 

 

I am so excited to share this with you all out there in Blog Land. I applied for a position on the Heartfelt Creations Design Team, and I am in the group of semifinalists! This company has some of the most exquisite stamps, coordinating paper, and dies on the market today. They partner with Spellbinders to make dies to match many of their stamps. If you haven't done so before, you need to visit their store!
Here's a peek at one of the samples I submitted. A cute little altered cheese box.

 

 This would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me, as they are geared toward a Vintage feel and what I love..... FLOWERS!!! I can sit and make paper flowers by the hour and Heartfelt has made it so easy with their line of  perfectly matched floral components and dies to match.
 Heartfelt Creations has sweet little Emma Lou Beechy, their resident Creative Director, who offers tons of instructional videos to guide you on how to make the most of their product and how easy they are to use.

Now here's the really fun part, YOU can be instrumental in choosing the new Design Team. Heartfelt Creations loves to include their customers and followers in the process. You can visit the blogs of the semifinalists and vote for at least five (or  your vote doesn't count) to help them in choosing who will be honored with a position on their team. I would love it if you would cast your vote for me! Here is a portion of the email I received with the links with instructions on what to do. As you can see, this very generous company is awarding a $50.00 Gift Certificate to one of the voters. How awesome is that? So help me out here guests, to possibly win a spot on this highly sought after Heartfelt Creations Design Team. If I am chosen, I promise you lots of Heartfelt visual splendor as a reward!!

 

DT Semifinalists: Today we are pleased to announce the Heartfelt Creations Design Team Semifinalists. Choosing from such great talent and diversified submissions is very difficult and we appreciate all the applicants that participated in the design team call. Without further ado, here are the semifinalists: Karen Conner, Maureen Russell, Karen Letchworth, Susan Smit, Joyce Erb,
Amanda Reed, Shellie Geigle, Debbie Seyer, Jolande van Oosterhout, Joshi Archana,
 Shona Ratliff, Robin Tharaldson, Candy Slabaugh, Mallika Kejriwal,
 Marzena Ziuziakowska, Tracey Fehr, Susannah McManus, Anne Harada, Shena Garton,
 Sandie Dunne, Nupur Priya and Gloria Stengel

Vote for your favorite Semifinalists: We would love to have you particpate and vote your 5 favorite semifinalists. Review each one of their blogs and then CLICK HERE to submit your vote. When you vote, you will also be entered into a drawing to be eligible to win a $50 HC Gift Certificate. You can only vote one time and you have to select 5 or more to be eligible to participate. Voting ends on September 30th, 2014.

Thanks so much for allowing me to share my exciting news with you today. Much love to all my followers and visitors alike.

Hugs, Maureen



PPRS New Release Blog Hop Day 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Bloggers. Here we are on the last, but not least, day of our new release hop. I hope you've had a good time. I sure have!

 

We have two terrific prizes from Prickley Pear, so remember to leave a comment on each of the Design Team members blogs and maybe you'll be the lucky winner!

Prize #1

Prize #2

Now my card today is made, once again, from the CLR025B Steampunk Gears 3 set. I chose to make all three of my hop cards with the same set to show the versatility one set can have. This card is very clean & simple. I've done an old technique by cutting patterned paper into equal parts, inking the edges and gluing them back together on a piece of mat paper like a puzzle. I've done this with stamped images, and it's very pretty as well. If  you try this technique make sure to leave a small gap in between the pieces so the mat paper shows through.

I added a bit of color to my Dragonfly, glittered his body and painted him with Glossy Accents. The sentiment is from the same set. I added a bow and some rhinestones to complete my card. CAS!

 

Now if you have come here by way of Tracy's blog you're on the right track. Your next stop along the way is Barb, for some delightful inspiration. Now if you want to start at the beginning you can do so here.

 I'm so pleased you've joined us for this hop, and don't forget to leave your comments for a chance at one of the two prizes we're offering. Good luck!

Hugs, Maureen

 

 



PPRS New Release Blog Hop Day 2

 

 

 

 

 

 Well here we are, day two of our Prickley Pear new release hop. I'm so glad you joined us.

We are giving away two lovely prizes so be sure to leave comments on all our team members blogs for a chance to win one of these terrific prizes!

Prize #1

Prize #2

 

My card today is using the same set I used yesterday called, CLR025B Steampunk Gears 3, which will be available in the catalog Sept. 2nd. In addition to this new set, I used the 

D025 Steampunk Gears and D035 Mini Gears Dies. I do love the Steampunk look. Of course when I first heard the term I had to look it up on the internet. Steam powered fiction and Victoriana, who knew?

I got my inspiration from this wonderful Graphic 45 paper from the Steampunk Spells Collection.

It's actually a Halloween paper, but it works perfectly with all the Steampunk products Prickley Pear offers. I wanted my Hot Air Balloon to stand out so I used the D042 Scalloped Oval Nesting Die set to expose my mat paper and really make it pop! I fussy cut some of the clocks from the leftover paper to mix in with the gears. I layered them with pop dots for interest. The sentiment comes with the set. I colored my Balloon with Copic markers, and coated the propeller with Glossy Accents to complete my image.

If you come my way from Rene's blog, your on the right track, and your next stop along the way is Tracy's blog. Now if you would like to go back & start at the beginning you can do so here.

Thanks for joining me today & I hope to see you tomorrow.

Hugs, Maureen

 

 

 

 

 



PPRS New Release Blog Hop Day 1

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Bloggers. Prickley Pear is celebrating their new Fall/Winter release with a three day blog hop and I'm so glad you're here to join us! My Teammates and I want to give you some inspiration as we are heading into this season as we leave summer behind for another year.

We are giving away some awesome prizes on this hop, so make sure to leave a comment on each team members blog for a chance to win!

Prize #1

 

Prize #2



 

Because I am here in the mid-west and am so reluctant to let summer go, and the thought f winter makes me shudder, I have chosen a butterfly to build my card with today. This new clear stamp set coordinates with the ever so popular "Steampunk" look.  Prickley Pear has some awesome products in this theme. The set I have used on my card is CLR025B Steampunk Gears 3. Our fearless leader is away slaying dragons (not really, but it sounds cool, huh?) so the new release will not be in the catalog until Sept. 2nd.. Here's my card for day one, and more goodies are headed your way throughout this hop, and I'm so glad you're here!

I colored my butterfly with Copic markers and if you look closely you'll see I have layered two of them so my butterfly looks as if he is fluttering his wings! The sentiment is included in this set along with some gears, two additional sentiments, a dragonfly, and a hot air balloon! I've used a Darice embossing folder, clipped some Cheery Lynn corners to fit. I added some rhinestones to make his trail, used my white jellyroll pen and a little purple stickles to highlight my flowers and three little Candi to complete my card.

Now if you've come from Angela's blog you're on the right track, and the next stop is Brenda's blog  for some awesome design. Now if you'd like to start at the beginning of our hop you can do that here.

thanks for joining me today, times a wastin', so get to hoppin'!

Hugs, Maureen