New Year Confetti

Where has the year gone? It seems like it was just yesterday that I was saying hello to 2013, and now it’s coming to an end. This year has been full of ups and down, mountains and valleys, joy and sorrow….while it’s been a less than ideal year health-wise, it’s also been a year of new chapters. I’ll dive into that more in tomorrow’s blog post.

I have never really been one to make many new year cards, but I couldn’t resist this year. The main reason? I was so inspired by all the gold confetti in the Pretty Pink Posh Shop, I had to create something fun and festive to show it off!

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I thought the Mama Elephant Flashy Letters set was perfect to create my sentiment. Don’t they scream par-tay to you? I didn’t want to make it all bold letters, so I added a touch of my handwriting and topped it off with the adorable Dainty Bow die. (I’m seriously in love with this die!)

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I’ve received some questions on how I adhere my sequins and confetti. I personally use Crystal Lacquer. It comes with a fine tip that makes adding a dab of adhesive really easy. I thoroughly dislike getting my hands dirty while crafting, so this is the ideal option for me.

Other options: Glossy Accents, Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, or Medium Matte.

I hope that you’ll stay tuned to the blog all this week….I’ll have another post tomorrow and then later on this week, I’ll be announcing my very first PPP design team and also introducing new products to the shop!

Winter Mittens

Merry Christmas Eve!

I hope that you all have been having a blessed Christmas season thus far. Despite my lack of planning and ability to get out to stores, I’m just about finished with my shopping. I have a couple packages arriving today and then I believe I’m all finished and can do the mad dash to get them all wrapped.

Today I have a winter card to share that I made a few weeks back. As you know, I sell these festive Christmas bells and I’ve been having fun adding them to all sorts of cards this year. Find my other samples with them HERE, HERE and HERE.

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I went with a more subtle, winter color palette for this card, but then added a pop of colors on the mitten cuffs and the card base. Seriously, how cute are those pom poms and the little bells on the cuff?!

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I’m sure you have a full day ahead, so I’ll wrap up this post. I better get back to wrapping some more presents and also prepping from some exciting things I’m announcing in January. *wink* I hope you all will be ready for some Valentine treats and new products!

Taking Pre-Orders!

As I’ve mentioned in a few posts, I’m working behind-the-scenes on several things coming to the Pretty Pink Posh Shop. Since we all know I’m horrible at keeping secrets, I’ve been sharing some sneak peek photos on my different social media sites. It’s been so fun to hear your thoughts and see your excitement!

I’m working on a big surprise that will be revealed on January 3rd, but I wanted to share something with you all now…it’s almost like an early Christmas present for you. *wink*

I just approved samples of these adorable wooden spools with colored twine and I wanted to give you the opportunity to order them, before they’re available to the public.

twine25 yards per spool (each one hand spooled). 4 ply, 100% plush cotton twine

These beautiful colors will be available individually starting in January for $2.50 a spool. You’re getting a 25% savings if you purchase the 10 pack!

Interested in purchasing a pack or two (or three or four)? Leave a comment with your Paypal address, or send me an email stating how many packs you would like, along with the country you live in (for shipping rates) and I’ll send over a Paypal invoice!

In closing, I also wanted to mention that there’s 10 more days to take advantage of this 10% savings coupon on all items in the Pretty Pink Posh Shop. (Not applicable to twine bundle)save10

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I’m thrilled because I finally get to go into my studio to craft, and maybe even finish editing my December haul video. Talk with you all soon!

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10 Minute Craft Dash #32

CD_32This post is such a bittersweet one for me. The sad news: this is the last 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge in the foreseeable future. If you’ve followed the challenge, you’ll know that this decision was a hard one for me to make. It’s been my “baby” these last 16 months and while I hate to see it go, with the declining number of submissions, this decision was imminent. Not to fret, I will always keep the challenge in the back of my mind and who knows what could happen down the road…

Now onto the happy news: today we are teaming up with our wonderful friends at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  We did this collaboration last year and it was so fun, I was thrilled that it worked out  for us to do it again. I want to note that my challenge is SEPARATE from their challenge, but if you were to incorporate a new year theme into your card, you could enter it in their challenge as well!

NOTE: their challenge starts at noon– only a couple hours away, but I wanted to be sure to mention that. :)

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Just like the last 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge, there isn’t a specific color palette. The requirements? Create some sort of holiday goodness, stay within the 10 minute time limit* and post your time in your post.

* If you aren’t able to stay within the 10 minutes, you can still link up your item! While it won’t quality for the winners spot, it might still be featured in the favorites!

CD_32_PaulinaCD_32_Betty CD_32_Caryn CD_32_Leigh CD_32_RachelNow onto the great prize! The lucky winner will get a $25 gift certificate to CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and gets to have a shopping spree. With the latest addition of Fri-Dies (steel dies) and new stamp sets, you’re bound to have all sorts of fun adding items to your shopping cart.

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How to Play

  1. Create a card/craft project within 10 minutes.
  2. Post the time it took to create.
  3. Be sure to include the challenge graphic in your post and link to the challenge.
  4. You may combine a total of three challenges with your entry. You may enter the challenge a maximum of two times.
  5. Subscribe to Pretty Pink Posh via Email

Due to the holidays, we are giving you two FULL weeks to play along! Can we break our record of 100 entries? Play along and spread the word!

Gold Tipped Feathers

I’ve been loving these gold star sequins a lot lately and I thought pairing them with some trendy feather dies would be perfect. If you follow me on any of my social media sites, you know that I am in love with gold right now. I have it on my nails, in various forms of jewelry and in quite a few decor pieces as well. Well, my love for it has definitely transferred into my cardmaking- I even broke out some gold embossing powder for this card. Now that’s love!

feathers2cMy sweet sentiment and the holly/ berries stamps are from Clearly Besotted Stamps. Remember when I participated in their birthday blog hop? I used the exact same holly/ berries on the Christmas train!

That’s going to wrap up this post. I hope you’ll join me TOMORROW for the last 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge. We’re teaming up with a popular challenge and we would love for you to play along!

10 Minute Craft Dash #31 Highlights

REMINDER: the upcoming challenge is the LAST 10 Minute Craft Dash. We are teaming up with another blog challenge and we’re hoping this will be the biggest challenge to date. Mark your calendars- the new challenge will start on Thursday!

Today I’m bringing the highlights from the 10 Minute Craft Dash #31. It was so fun to see so many festive Christmas cards in the submissions! I confess, I will definitely miss seeing all of the lovely challenge entries once the 10 Minute Craft Dash ends, but I’m hoping you all will continue to stop by the blog, as I have some exciting things up my crafty sleeves.

Okay, now let’s announce the lucky winner and favorites….

Congratulations to Erin Taylor!

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Erin, please contact me with your email information, along with the Lawn Fawn set of your choice and I’ll pass along your information to Lawn Fawn. Also, feel free to grab the badge below and proudly display it on your blog!

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Here are my favorites picks from this last challenge. If you haven’t already, be sure to stop by each of the blogs to take a look at the beautiful cards! {Ladies, feel free to grab the badge below and put it on your blogs!}

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Olessya K.

Therese

Lydia

Meghan O.

Grá O’Neill 

Stephanie Hines

excitingnewsAs I mentioned in an earlier post, there’s lots of new products that will be arriving in the SHOP very soon. I have some new sequins that I’ll be adding, along with confetti and a few other items. Be sure to like the Facebook page and follow me on Instagram, for behind-the-scenes sneak peeks and info.

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I’ll be back tomorrow with a new card featuring these little beauties. I hope to see you then!

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Lawnscaping Winter Blog Hop

bloghopHello, sweet friends!

It’s not often that I participate in blog hops, but I just couldn’t resist playing along in the Lawnscaping Blog Hop this month. After all, the theme is WINTER and since I’m obsessed with the Winter Sparrows stamps and dies, it just made sense. *wink* If you have started the hop from the beginning, you should have arrived from Karin’s blog.

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I’m head over heels in love with sequins. It’s been a little while since did a sequin shaker card and I thought today would be the perfect occasion to do a winter one. Honestly, any day would be a good day to create one, but I made it extra special for today’s hop.

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Before I create my sequin shakers, I always plan out which sequins colors I want to use. For this card, I used the PPP Marshmallow, Sparkling Clear and Pink Peonies sequins. Don’t they look pretty together? It looks like those sweet birds are loving them, too!

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Another exciting thing about today’s blog hop: Pretty Pink Posh is one of the sponsors! This is the very first blog hop I’m sponsoring and I’m hoping many of the regular Lawnscaping participants will hop over and take a peek at my shop. For any of you wonderful gals wanting to try out my products, I have a coupon code to share!

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I know there are many other stops, so I will wrap this up. Your next stop is Andrea Garland’s blog! Be sure to leave comments on each stop- there’s all sorts of prizes and I know there will be all sorts of creative ideas, too. Enjoy the rest of the hop!

Laughing In The Moments

I never would have imagined I would be 26 and riding in an automated shopping cart. Goodness, those were for people who were either old, handicapped, pregnant or had special circumstances. For someone who was overly cautious not to  hurt themselves, active and healthy and having no prospects of a husband or starting a family in sight, to THIS….

laughingIt’s not a secret I’ve been having a tough physically journey since the accident. I’ve gotten some answers, but new issues arise and it seems like life will never return back to the way it was. You know, “normal”. Being able to hop in the car and drive to wherever I needed to go, getting up at a regular morning hour and be able to work a full day, shopping and standing at the grocery store or mall. The little everyday things that most everyone takes for granted, those are the things I long to do.

Recently, I’ve had a few trips to the store where I learned that my body isn’t letting me stand past 5-10 minutes. For a while, I was stand for up to 20 minutes or so and could keep on walking, but that isn’t the case any more. A recent shopping trip proved that now my threshold is 5 minutes, if that. There’s something about that position that gets me super light-headed, which prompts dizziness and the feeling like I’m going to faint. It’s not at all pleasant and has left me not wanting to go anywhere.

As we all know, Christmas is right around the corner and I’m so far behind on everything, it’s almost comical. I’ve been able to do online shopping, but I learned that getting wrapping paper online can either be 1) super expensive or 2) impossible (as in, it’s not available). For a girl that likes to make presents pretty and wanting to handpick her own wrapping paper, this was going to be an obstacle. (Dare I say that I almost succumbed to using Valentine wrapping paper?!)

My sister came over yesterday and we made a surprise trip to visit a friend. Since that went without incident, she offered to take me to Target to get the items I needed. After talking about our “game plan” (aka: how I could get to the back of the store), she said I should use an automated cart. My initial thought: what would people think of me?

One would think with all that I’ve had to deal with these last 16 months, I would have learned to swallow my pride easily months ago. It’s something I’m working on and (slowly) succeeding at.

After prodding from my sister and her being more than willing to help me get items, I can now say that we maneuvered the store, I FINALLY got to the back of Target to get the items I needed and many items are now crossed off the shopping list. I have a new sense of admiration for those who have to use those automated carts at stores regularly. People constantly dash in front of them, the turn radius is atrocious (yes, I did run into one shelf), you get strange looks often AND reversing leads to an annoying beep, beep, beep noise….

During this memorable shopping trip, I couldn’t help but laugh many times. I know I looked silly, this situation is less than ideal, but the fact that I could laugh through it, is proof that change is happening inside of me. Not to mention, my pride is being broken piece by piece, I’m learning to appreciate the small things and I’m learning what true friendship really means. I’m not sure if I would have learned these lessons had the accident not happened… friends, it’s all about finding joy in the journey and laughing in the moments.

I’d love to know, what circumstance or situation did you last laugh about?

Christmas Birds

I love this time of year….the delicious holiday drinks at Starbucks, big chunky scarves and boots, warm and cozy fires, time with family and friends…. what I don’t like is the sickness that tends to come with it all. With my extremely low immune system (it got noticeably worse after the accident) and then still battling health issues, this month hasn’t been all that great in terms of shopping and such. Thank goodness for online shopping and understanding family and friends. I have several packages en route and I’m looking forward to the gift wrapping process! I won’t be able to share much here on the blog, since many friends and family read my posts, but I’ll share what I can!

Today I have yet another card using the adorable Winter Sparrows set and matching dies. Have I mentioned how much I love these stamps? Just to forewarn you, I have a couple more cards to share with them and if you haven’t gotten them yet, I’d suggest adding them to your cart soon.

I’ve been doing a lot of whimsical colors late, so I went a little more traditional for this card. There’s something about the color red that is so striking and festive- whether it be for Christmas or Valentine’s Day- it’s really hard to resist it.

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I pulled out my favorite chevron twill ribbon for this card and I love how it looks with the birds. Have you tried this ribbon out yet? If not, it’s a must-have!

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excitingnewsI wanted to share some exciting things that are happening behind-the-scenes here. Being stuck in bed allows one to do a lot of thinking and I’ll be bringing a few new items to the shop very soon. I’m staying true to keeping things as embellishments and very PPP in style. Any guesses on what they might be? Also, if you have requests on some items you would like to see in the shop, I would love to hear those too!

That’s going to wrap up today’s post. If you’ve purchased from the Pretty Pink Posh shop recently, ALL orders have shipped as of today. If you have wanted to do a little shopping, here’s a 10% off savings coupon.

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Thank you so much for stopping in. Have a wonderful rest of your day!

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Razzle Dazzle Blog Hop

Hello and Happy Sunday!

Today is the DeNami blog hop and the theme for this month is RAZZLE DAZZLE. Seeing as I’m a girly girl, I truly love this theme and I couldn’t wait to create something for it. The question: what kind of dazzle would I add?

As many of you know, I recently opened the Pretty Pink Posh Shop and my love of sequins has been taken to new heights. With the abundance of them around, I just couldn’t resist adding lots of them on today’s card. I went the route of a bright and whimsical theme and I must say, it’ll be hard to part with this one. The colors= swoon worthy!

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I pulled out only three stamps for this card and each one is a MUST HAVE in my book. I used the Large Mitten (so perfect for gift tags too!), the Christmas Wishes sentiment and the Medium Polka Dots.

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Since I’m the first stop on the hop, I will wrap this up. The next stop: Dana Seymour’s blog! Dana never ceases to amaze me with her gorgeous cards and I cannot wait to see what she created for today!

Thanks so much for stopping in- enjoy the rest of the hop!