10 Minute Craft Dash #20

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It’s time for a new 10 Minute Craft Dash and I have a returning sponsor, along with many special guests! This time around, I went the route of some bright and summery colors and I LOVE them paired together. Between the samples from the Craft Dash DT and the designers from the sponsors’ DT, you all are going to have so much inspiration, I’m hoping you won’t be able to resist joining along. *wink*

* 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 winner spot, it still could qualify as a favorites pick!

*New card picture and  video on how to create the card from start-to-finish, will be uploaded soon!

 

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Please join me in welcoming DeNami Design, the sponsor of this challenge!  As some of you may know, I actually work for this company as my full-time job, so they have a special place in my heart. With their growing collection of stamps and accessories, and a new release around the corner, this prize is one that will definitely come in handy. prize

If you were inspired by the cards above, just wait until you see what the DeNami DT has whipped up! These gals are all so very talented {and super sweet} and I really adore working with them. Be sure to visit each of their blogs so you can see what they created!

Dana Seymour

Lisa Petrella

Deb Wabbe

Wendy Elliot

Tammy Hobbs

Emily Keaton

Lisa Elton

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How to Play

  1. Create a card/craft project within 10 minutes featuring the color palette.
  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

You can pull out your supplies before your timer starts!

 

10 Minute Craft Dash #19 Highlights

The 10 Minute Craft Dash #19 challenge ended on Saturday and it’s time to announce the highlights! OHMYWORD, you all did a phenomenal job with these colors. It’s so funny, the color palettes that I’m not sure will be popular are the ones that you all showcase the best! It made my heart giddy that there were SO many newbies joining along this time around. I LOVE seeing that word of the challenge is spreading- thank you to everyone who continues to help with this!

craftdasherBefore we get to the winner and favorites, I wanted to let you all know that I’ll be starting a new tab under the “craft dash” section here on the blog. If you have played in at least three 10 Minute Craft Dash challenges and would consider yourself a “Craft Dasher” or fan of the challenge, feel free to link up your site! This will be a great resource for those looking to follow new blogs and I think it would be fun to see the list grow as time goes on.

Okay, now onto the real reason for today’s post….

Congratulations to Amy Sheffer!

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Please email me (click the contact on the top right) with your snail mail info to claim your prize. Also, you get 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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Betty J.

Marybeth Lopez

Katie Brooks

Lindsay A.

Tracey C.

MichelleW

If you are interested in getting a head start on the next Craft Dash, I have the colors that will be featured on the Pretty Pink Posh Facebook page. This is EXCLUSIVE to those who like my page. If you go there and go to “exclusives”, you get to see the next 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge a day early!

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Tomorrow we have a returning sponsor and SEVEN of their designers will be providing inspiration. I hope that you’ll stop by and of course, join in the fun! I shall see some of you on the Pretty Pink Posh Facebook page later. Thanks for stopping by!

Bright Florals

For those who haven’t noticed, I’m a tad bit obsessed with my Hero Arts colored ink pads right now. As my collection of them are slowly growing, I’m able to do more color layering and adding new colors to my favorites. As of right now, the colors in today’s card are my go-to ink pad colors at the moment….

I pulled out a few WPlus9 sets, Folk Art Florals and Filigreed Frames {a set/ die that I’m currently selling}. There is something about this color combination that screams summer, and that’s alright with me. Living in Seattle, it’s not uncommon for summer to start later for us. I’m eagerly awaiting the days when I can pull out my sunglasses, flipflops and iced Starbucks beverages for days on end. In the meantime, I’ll be reaching for my summery inks and stamps.

*ETA I’m linking this up for the last Cloud9 blog hop. 

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Since I’ve been using sequins so often, my beloved rhinestones have been neglected. I thought it was time to break them out again, and I must say, they make cards shine beautifully. Just a few little bits of bling and it makes an ordinary card a little more special.

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I want to thank you all for leaving your feedback regarding the test post I did on Friday. It sounds like you all are up for me posting this feature regularly, so I have one planned for July. In the meantime, hopefully I can pick-up some of the products I listed {or receive as birthday gifts} and do a haul video showcasing them a little more in depth. If any of you purchase any of the items I listed, I’d love to hear/ see how you use them!

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe by email so you can get all of my posts directly to you inbox so you won’t miss ANY news! I’ll be back tomorrow for the 10 Minute Craft Dash #19 Highlights. Hope to see you then!

Test Post {of sorts}

wishlist_juneI don’t know about you, but I always love seeing what items have caught the eye of my fellow blog and craft friends. Whether it be the latest items from Target {that store always gets me in trouble!}, a new nail polish or some beloved crafty items, I love peeking in and being introduced to items I may not have normally seen.

Thanks to the prodding of a couple friends and my birthday coming up soon, I thought I’d do a “test post”, of sorts. Here’s some items that have been on my wish list and/or have caught my eye recently.

I’d love to hear whether you enjoy these sorts of posts, or would you rather I skip them. Honestly, if you aren’t a fan, that’s totally okay! I’m completely unsure if I want to do this feature, so it’ll be YOUR feedback that helps me make the decision. I promise, there won’t be any hurt feelings one way or the other. *wink*

That’s going to wrap up this short little post. Quick reminder: if you have been wanting to participate in the 10 Minute Craft Dash #19, the deadline is TOMORROW night! There have been so many gorgeous entries so far- I hope you’ll add yours to the list!

Never Stop Believing

As I sit here writing this post, I am filled with gratitude to all of YOU, my amazing blog readers. Thank you for always leaving me the sweetest, most encouraging comments. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to send me emails with suggestions on different approaches I can take for my health. Thank you for your prayers, loving thoughts and your friendship. Thank you for coming along on my journey of life. I treasure you all so very much.

Today I have a card showcasing the set Bling by Mama Elephant. I pulled out one of the “buildings” and created a pattern with a variety of inks, then paired it up with a sentiment. Right now I am TOTALLY loving this sentiment- never stop believing- it’s so fitting in my life, along with those around me.

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Confession: I wish I didn’t add the sequins to the card. I had laid a few down that had adhesive on them and when I went to pull them off, they stuck and couldn’t be taken off. In order to “fix” the card, I ended up having to add more. This is one of the very few cases where I actually wish I didn’t add sequins to a card. See, even I mess up on cards sometimes! *wink*

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I hope you all have a fabulous Thursday. Thanks for spending some time with me today!

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Birthday Train!

It’s EXTREMELY rare for me to participate in blog challenges these days. Between the whirlwind that is my life right now and keeping up with my own challenge, it seems like I’m never “on it” and can post something within a challenge deadline. Well, today is going to be an exception. I was having a bad health day and thanks to my iPhone, was able to peruse my usual blogs. I saw that Stephanie was hosting her first Clearly Besotted Challenge and I’m thrilled I was able to make something for it!

At the moment I only own one CB set/ die, Full Steam Ahead, so it wasn’t hard to come up with which stamps to use. The hard part? Trying to vary the card from the one I did in the past {see here}. While it does have a similar feel, I changed it up as best as I could.

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Confession: if I could, I would add chevron twill ribbon and sequins to every.single.thing I create. {For my regular readers, you all probably know this by now!}

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While it’s rare for me to play in a challenge, it’s even rarer for me to participate in one that has a prize. Oh my, Stephanie has a GREAT one for this challenge- five sets of the winner’s choice. *jaw drop* I am utterly in love with her growing company and her most recent sets are absolutely beautiful.

That’s going to wrap up today’s post. In closing, I want to say thank you to those who has reached out to me in emails and on Twitter. The last week has been extremely difficult on me in different aspects and I’m grateful for the encouraging words and emails. Truly.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

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Summer is officially here! With the change in season, I’ve made a 360 change in life plans. It’s been a whirlwind throughout these past few weeks, but I am excited to announce that I am settled and LOVING life in New York City! There is just so much to do, every hour of the day, and it’s been really fun to create my own little space in such a HUGE city. I will be here for the next 10 weeks working for Martha Stewart Living! {My grad school program requires an internship… I reached for the stars, and well, here I am!}

Onto the sweets… Lemon Bars are some of my absolute favorite. But, they have to be served chilly to really taste the goodness. Check here for the best lemon bar recipe you will ever taste {I might be a little bias :) } So, why not take a lemon bar and turn it into a cookie for the hot summer months? I did just that, and it worked! Randomly last week, I had been reflecting on my absolute favorite Christmas cookie – chocolate crinkles – and thought that texture combined with a lemon flavor would be melt in your mouth amazing. It is!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Recipe Type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. lemon zest
  • 1 T fresh lemon juice
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
  • 1 c. powdered sugar {for rolling}
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy {4 minutes-ish}.
  2. Mix in vanilla, zest, juice, and egg until well combined and consistent in texture.
  3. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
  4. Stir in flour.
  5. Cover dough and chill in fridge for 4 hours {or overnight}.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  7. Put 1 c. powdered sugar in a small bowl.
  8. Form balls of dough in your hand {the dough will warm up from the heat of your hands} and completely coat in powdered sugar.
  9. On parchment or silpat lined baking sheets, place cookies 2 inches apart.
  10. Bake for 8-11 minutes {depending on size of cookies} until bottoms are just slightly browned.
  11. Cool for 3 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.
  12. Enjoy!
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These are perfect for summertime picnics, play dates, camp care packages, hubby’s work lunches, even breakfast..! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Happy Monday!

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Patterned Paper Blog Hop

Hello!

It’s that time again….time for the monthly DeNami Design blog hop! This month it’s all about patterned paper and I gave people the option on whether they wanted to use printed paper or create their own patterned paper. While I’m a HUGE fan of printed paper, I decided to go the route of creating my own today.

If you started the hop from the beginning, you should be arriving from Barb’s blog. If you get lost along the way, you can head on over to the DeNami blog for the complete listing of the designers participating.

I wanted to create a unique paper, so I pulled out tons of different stamps and went to town playing with my options. For some reason the crosshatch circle really stood out to me {pictured below}, so I used that as my starting point. I started adding stitched using a marker and shortly thereafter, came up with my paper.

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Now let’s move onto my card. Thanks to my growing collection of colored ink pads, this card was a cinch to put together!

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I couldn’t resist- I just had to add some yellow chevron twill ribbon to this card! It added a little extra pop of color and well, you all know I’m pretty much addicted to this stuff. In the picture below, you can get a closer peek at my handstamped paper. Don’t look too closely though, you’ll see some imperfections!

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I know there are still quite a few stops left on the blog hop, so I’ll let you go. Your next stop is Stacy’s blog! Be sure to stop by all of the blogs and leave comments- we’re giving away gift certificates to three lucky people!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope I inspired you to create some of your own patterned paper. Warning: if you start creating some, it can be highly addictive! Now I’m finding  myself looking at ALL of my stamps as possible targets to be used on some future paper. *wink*

What If…..

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Have any of you gone through a stage in your life when it feel likes you’re either drugged up or you’re in a dream? In either case, you aren’t in a complete state of consciousness- almost feeling like you’re in a daze. Welcome to the last 288 days of my life {story here, latest update here}.

I’ve posted updates here and there during this craziness that has been my life. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been on this giant roller-coaster that has had far too many dips and sharp turns in it. Goodness, I can’t handle them in real life and evidently, I don’t deal with them very well figuratively either. It feels like I’m in the seat and we’re slowing inching up towards the biggest curve and when I think the ride is almost done, something unexpected happens. Everyday I think I’ll wake up and this will all be a dream, but alas, I know this isn’t true.

Late last year, I did an interview with Jenny Simmons, a Christian artist {post here}. She released her debut solo album earlier this year and while I enjoy the whole cd, the song “What Faith’s About” has spoken to my heart ever since I heard it.

What if the days I’m walking into
Are the best of my whole life?

Cause who am I not to be, not to be
Everything that You have called me?
And who am I not to speak, not to speak
To every mountain that’s before me

— small snippets from the song What Faith’s About by Jenny Simmons

There have been so many times I have listened to this song and just burst into tears, tonight being one of them. In my heart of hearts I believe that God DOES have a plan and a purpose in all of this, I truly do. I’m hoping that someday, maybe in the near future, He’ll show it to me and my life can move on from this. My body is exhausted from the pain, the different ailments and then mysterious health issues that have arisen separate from the accident. Emotionally, most of the time I’m a wreck. My thought process, memory, cognitive behavior have all changed and the day-to-day things in life seem to get harder and harder. I’m at the age where I should be enjoying life to the fullest and yet here I am, feeling like I’m on the outside looking in on everyone else living life.

I miss being able to stand up for more than 5 minutes at a time. I miss the days when I felt relatively healthy for at least five days straight. I miss having good posture and not needing  to hunch over to make the pain in my back and neck bearable. I miss what it was like to not have to take medications for migraines almost everyday. I miss the moments when I was able to drive wherever I wanted and not have ANY flashbacks and anxiety over driving. I miss having a passion and zest for life. Honestly, this list could go on and on…..

Sweet friends, this is me. Real. There have more breaks here on the blog because I’ve been dealing with the issues above, along with others. My blog is my baby and honestly, if I didn’t have it during all of this, I don’t know how I would have managed to get this far. Many of you  have been with me since before the accident happened and I wanted to give you a raw, uncut look into life lately and why I’ve been slower about responding, less “on it” and not posting as often.

If any of you are facing difficult situations, I’m going to encourage you to listen to this song. Then, if you’d like, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email– know that you are not alone. For some reason I felt burdened to just be myself without editing too much and sugar coating things today.

With all of that being said, I AM still hopeful that the days I’m walking into are going to be the best days of my life. I don’t know what that will entail or mean exactly {I’m hoping it will still include me blogging!}, but I’m holding onto  hope. I need to.

In closing, remember, you are greatly loved by God, and by me. ♥

10 Minute Craft Dash #19

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Welcome to a new 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge! As I was going through the previous color palettes {available here}, I noticed it had been quite a while since I featured red, so I thought it was time to change that. Add in a little light yellow and light blue, and we have a fun and versatile color palette.

* 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 winner spot, it still could qualify as a favorites pick!

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Now onto the great prize! I’m so thrilled to announce that Timeless Twine will be sponsoring this challenge. They have a great assortment of  twine colors and the quality is superb. My favorite part? Their colors are unique and different than others I have used or found in crafting and we all know that a rainbow of twines is a must-have.

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Some of the Timeless Twine-istas were able to join along in the fun and bring you some inspiration. Be sure to visit the Timeless Twine blog, along with the designers blogs to check out all of the lovely inspiration!

Amy K

Amy T

Annette

Brianna

Cassandra

Kristy

Mandi

Melisa

Melissa Shea

Piali

Shannon

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How to Play

  1. Create a card/craft project within 10 minutes featuring the color palette.
  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

You can pull out your supplies before your timer starts!