|

Winter Bunnies and More!

Okay, has this month flown by for anyone else? Even though I didn’t do a release this month, I’m amazed at how busy I have been. I’ve been working up a storm designing new dies for the new year, along with working on packaging products for October AND creating samples. It’s been a fun week and let’s just say that my studio is evident of this fact. (In other words, it’s a disaster)

I recently purchased a ton of new stamps and as soon as I finished filming my haul video, I started crafting. Oh my goodness, I have a million ideas stuffed in this brain of mine- I hope I can create at least a small handful of them. Now I know it’s a tad early to share Christmas projects, so I won’t go full on Christmas just yet. I’m still creating Fall, Thanksgiving and everyday cards, but I’ll sprinkle in Christmas cards here and there.

snowbunny1a

I’m slightly obsessed with the Sparkling Clear sequins I carry- in 4mm, 6mm and 8mm sizes- and I just realized they make the perfect little “snowballs” on cards. Seriously, how cute do these snowballs look with the bunnies from the Lawn Fawn Snow Day set?

Did you happen to notice that I used the Stitched Duo 1 tag and window die? I think it looks so cute with this winter scene and the bunnies!

snowbunny1b
I mentioned my haul video at the beginning of this post, so I thought I would include it.

Watch the video above   I   Watch the video on YouTube
 

I couldn’t close this post until I shared a sneak peek with my blog readers. I shared this photo on my social media sites, but I know that some of you only follow my blog, so I didn’t want you to miss out. Here’s a peek at just a little bit of the new embellishment kit that’s releasing on October 1st.

peek

That’s going to close out today’s post. Whew, there was all sorts of fun stuff in this post! What did you enjoy the most? The card, video, sneak peek? Let me know so I can be sure to keep on bringing more of what you love!


|

Mix and Match

Have you had a weekend pass you  by and you felt like you accomplished a lot? That’s what happened to me this weekend. Honestly, this feeling hasn’t happened in SO long (due to my health issues and low energy), but things are starting to look up and I can’t wait to tackle even more! Watch out…. once I’m closer to full health, I have all sorts of plans and ideas that I’ve been putting on hold!

Today I have another card to share using the Seattle Christmas set, along with the newly purchased Snow Day set from Lawn Fawn. Many of you know that I love mixing and matching my stamp sets and I was pleasantly surprised to see how perfectly these ones go together.

seattle1a

We are about 2 1/2 weeks away from my October release, but I couldn’t resist adding one of the new products to this card. Can you spot it? These next few weeks, I’ll be teasing the new goodies big time… I hope you all saved up since I didn’t release anything this month! *wink*

seattle1b

I wanted to announce the lucky winner of the THREE Impress stamp sets from THIS giveaway. It was so fun to read all of your favorite holidays and the reasons why you chose that holiday. It also made me happy that you enjoyed the cards I made in that post…. if you’re local, you just might see them in an Impress location soon!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Christy Dyson, please contact me with your mailing address. You’re going to have so much fun creating this upcoming Christmas season! border Alright, sweet friends, that’s going to wrap up today’s post. I hope you have an awesome Monday!


 

|

Thankful Thursday

thankful2I don’t know about you, but I love a feel good story, especially one that is faith building. I have that for you today.

It’s been two years since my accident and during this time, the doctor bills, tests, MRI’s, medications and other things that went along with the car accident have added up. It’s been faith building every single time I got a bill (and boy, they were not cheap) and had to dip into savings and get additional credit cards. During all of this, I had to cut back my hours drastically for health reasons and the credit card bills got higher and higher and the savings got lower and lower. If I had to pick a word to describe all of this, it would be defeated. Every time I felt almost “caught up” on bills, a new one would come, or I would have to get more tests done that basically said “You are healthy”. That’s a whole other story though…

A month after my accident, I had to have several MRI’s done for my neck, back and brain and those are pricey. With the six days a week of chiropractic care in addition to the doctor visits, massage therapy, etc., the PIP from insurance got depleted far before the bills stopped coming. Let me tell you, the initial bill from those MRI’s could feed a small village. It was so hard to be in a place where I knew I had this bill looming over me and I would get “reminder bills” in the mail every few months, but knowing I couldn’t pay it all.

Okay, now fast forward two years.

I got a call from the MRI people yesterday saying this was the last call before it went to collections. Despite the attempts to work something out with them, I had to somehow figure out a way to pay them all of it. As I was talking with the gal, trying to see what we could do, she calculates numbers, I talk to her and then she says “Let me see if I can get this cut down to half for you.” What? We tried calling two weeks ago to work something out (they wouldn’t budge) and now this? Not to mention that she said her boss NEVER gives approval for a cut this large.

I had been praying the whole two years that somehow, someway it could get cut in half. Could this really happen?

Yes. It. Did.

I have to say I almost started crying when the phone call concluded. No more agonizing over getting this daunting bill paid. No more happy days crushed when I get a statement from them about this past due bill. No more freaking out about paying the biggest bill I have ever had in my life.

God is so good. He knew that deep in my heart I was hoping and praying this would happen. He knew that the last few months have been extremely hard and I needed to know that He still cares about me. I admit, my faith meter felt empty and I needed some sort of sign and here it was.

I felt the need to share this story in a post. Partly because it’s part of the car accident story, but I also felt like some of you are going through some deep valleys, or are feeling alone, and needed to hear something uplifting. It’s a miracle itself that I walked away from the accident, it’s a miracle that I’m still alive and here is yet another miracle to add to the ever-growing list. Miracles happen.

Do you have a miraculous story to share, or are you thankful for something today? Leave a comment- I would love to read your stories and I know others will be encouraged by it as well!

| | |

Christmas in September + GIVEAWAY

impressIt’s funny, when I first opened the Pretty Pink Posh Shop, I naively thought I would have more time to create. Silly me! Nowadays, I have to purposefully plan ahead and schedule days/ times to craft, or it will never happen. Sometimes it’s hard to get the creativity going, but every now and then, a stamp set will inspire me and then I have to force myself to stop so I can get sleep!

Today’s post showcases three brand new stamps sets from Impress Rubber Stamps that not only were easy to dive into, they also go my creativity going on overtime. I whipped these three cards up, all while drinking just one Starbucks drink! That, my friends, is a good craft day. *wink*

impress4a

This first card is the simple one of the bunch, but it would be perfect for mass producing! I used the Stitched Duo 1 die for my focal point, along with the scallop from the Stitched Borders 1. I used one of the sprigs from the Botanical Wreath set and then masked the Space Needle and stamped the sentiment (from the Seattle Christmas set). To dress it up a little bit more, I added some Sparkling Clear sequins and twine and voila!

 impress4b

This next card features the same sprig from the card above, but I used it to create my own wreath. I LOVED working with the Botanical Wreath set because of the endless possibilities and the great images solid images. Once I finished the wreath, I thought it lacked color and dimension, so I pulled out my trusty 4mm sequins (in Raspberry and Metallic Gold). Not only did it add color and dimension, it made it more festive as well!

impress1a

Last, but certainly not least, I created a shaker card that shows off the Seattle Christmas set and some snowflakes from Build A Snowman. I don’t know if you could tell, but I used a lot of blue, green and red/ pink on today’s card. I love the way this color combination looks so perfect for Christmas and also reflects the Pacific Northwest. Speaking of which, something exciting is coming that Impress will be carrying exclusively (outside of my shop). Stay tuned for that!

For those new to shaker cards, I did a Sequin Shaker video tutorial a while back that shows how simple shaker cards can be. I personally always got intimidated by them, so I streamlined the process and you can see the results are super fun!

impress2a

Here’s a closer view of the shaker card. Don’t the Sparkling Clear, Aquamarine and Raspberry sequins look good together? It’s so fresh and festive!

impress2b

Since today was a special post, I also found some time to film a quick little video. I show these cards a little more in depth, along with a peek at the three stamp sets I featured in this post. This is a new kind of video (for me), so let me know what you think!

Watch the video above   I Watch the video on YouTube
 

Okay, now onto the super fun part of today’s post…. the GIVEAWAY part! These three sets were graciously donated by Impress Rubber Stamps for this post and I can’t wait for one of you to win it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope that you enjoyed today’s cards, video and giveaway and you’re leaving inspired. Thanks for spending some time with me today!

Matching Game Winner

It feels good to be free from the dreaded flu and up and at ’em again. I knocked out a lot of the orders I received and I’m working on the rest, along with getting some more products out to your favorite retailers. It’s going to be a busy weekend, but dare I say I’m looking forward to getting lots tackled on my to-do list?

I wanted to thank you all for welcoming Nichol into the PPP family. She is such a talented gal and a sweetheart to boot! Here’s just the beginning of what she’s done… I’m so excited to see what she has up her sleeves for us in the future!

nicholOkay, now I know you’re all curious as to who won the $50 gift certificate prize for the matching game. Well, I thought I would share the answers first and then we’ll get to the winner.

game

a. Nichol   b. Joni    c. Laura

d. Stacey   e. Gayatri   f. Amy

g. Leigh     h. Lisa     i. Maureen

Okay, now let’s get to the winner. I randomly picked a winner from the correct guesses and the lucky gal is….

winner

Thank you for participating in this game. I had so much fun digging through the design team samples- I just might have to do this game again in the future! If you haven’t already, be sure to like the Pretty Pink Posh Facebook page– I share a variety of the design team samples as inspiration!

Be sure to come back on Monday. I’ll have a post full of inspiration using some stamps I recently received and let’s just say, I heard there’s also a giveaway. See you then!

Blog Hop Winners

It’s the moment many of you have been waiting for…..it’s time to announce winners of the Cutting Edge Blog Hop. There are LOTS and LOTS of winners in this post, so be sure to look through it completely- you just might be one of the lucky winners!

Before I continue on, I must give a GIANT thank you to each one of the sponsors. This blog hop wouldn’t have been quite as amazing without all their love, support, prizes and the help of several DT’s. Thank you to Waffle Flower Crafts, Simon Says Stamp, Ellen Hutson, Lawn Fawn, Reverse Confetti, Mama Elephant, MarkerPop and WPlus9 Design Studio for donating prizes for this event!

First off, let’s start off with the participants who won prizes. In the polaroids, you’ll see the winning entry and name, along with the prize listed next to it.

bloghopwinners_2_1And now it’s time to announce the lucky winners who left comments on various stops on the blog hop. For those who left comments on many blog stops, you had a higher chance of winning. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to leave your fellow crafters blog love!

Below you’ll see a picture and then a name/comment with a prize underneath it. The picture shows the blog hop stop the comment was left at and the name/ comment is the winner of the prize listed below. I tried to make it straightforward, but alas, it was hard to fit all the necessary info!

Without further ado, here are the winning comments!

bloghopwinners_2_0

I promised to provide a $20 gift certificate to Ellen Hutson or Simon Says Stamp for every 100 entries and it’s time to announce the winner of that prize.

bloghopwinners_2_3

WINNERS: please contact me at prettypinkposh (at) gmail.com with your name, list the prize you won, your choice of prize (if applicable), along with your mailing address.

borderA BIG thank you to everyone who participated, left comments and shared sweet words to me and others regarding this blog hop. It’s a lot of work to put this event together, but when I hear how you have been inspired and loved the blog hop, it makes it all worth it!

Thank you all again so very much for the love- I’m already starting to think of the theme for the next blog hop!

 

Design Teams 101 {Pt . 5}

designteams

It’s the end of this five week series and I am so happy to hear that this series has been helpful for many of you. I was hoping to answer more questions in this last post, but upon looking back through your questions, I think I covered everything in the previous posts.

In closing, I wanted to share some words of encouragement from the contributors and myself. You got through the tough questions and now we want you to feel fully equipped and ready to tackle any design team call that comes your way!

design_13

I know that the process or thought of being on a design team, representing a company can be a little intimidating at first– believe me, everyone feels like that with their first team. Create the best that you can, share your passion for the company and/or products and be yourself. There’s only one YOU. Be original, genuine and be prepared for the unexpected. Companies are always on the lookout for new talent- you just might get an email one of these days!

kryssi

“Work closely with the other design team members and don’t be afraid to ask questions! When you’re in a design team, you’re family! “

jen“First, congratulations!  Second, have fun.  Finally, be creative!”

kellymarie“The most important thing is to be yourself! Create how you want to create, use the products you love, and showcase your wonderful talents! Keep enjoying this wonderful hobby!

michele“Every single designer in blogland, even the ones you admire most, was once a newbie too. Just have fun and go for it! Seriously! “

shay“First, congratulations!  Take a moment and appreciate that you are being appreciated for your talents.  Second, be yourself.  I keep going back to that, but really you are on the design team because of what makes you uniquely you.

Try not to overextend yourself.  Try out one design team and see how you like it.  See what feels right for you and for your life before you burn out by saying “yes” too many times.  Again, go with what you love!

Lastly, have fun because why wouldn’t you when playing with awesome crafty goodness?!?”

border

I hope that this series was helpful and answered some questions you had about the design team world. My hope is that you now feel equipped to apply to a design team, or get your blog “design team ready” in case a company stumbles across your blog. Whatever the case may be, remember to have fun with this journey.

A big thank you to Kryssi and Angela from Mama Elephant, Kelly Marie from Lawn Fawn, Shay from Winnie & Walter, Jen from Reverse Confetti and Michele from CAS-ual Fridays for taking the time to give you insights and share some words to my readers!  blogging101If you have read through this series and are looking to start a blog or want tips on how to make yours better, be sure to check out my Blogging 101 series! I am currently in the process of doing a follow-up post for those who are a little more advanced. I’m not sure when that will go up, but I’m already starting to write down notes and gather links together.

Thank you for spending some time with me today. My hope is that every time you leave my blog, you feel inspired, encouraged or challenged. I’m so happy that you found my blog and I hope that we can continue to grow the Pretty Pink Posh community!

A New Designer + Matching Game

It’s the first of the month and typically, I release new products on this day. With the craziness of planning the Cutting Edge Blog Hop, planning some top secret collaborations and then designing new products, I decided I would take this month off from releasing anything new.

That’s GOOD NEWS for many of you- that means your wallet can take a mini break. For those who have been wanting to purchase any of the PPP dies or sequins, I recently added more stock to the store and I’ll also be getting a HUGE shipment of sequins within the next few weeks. I plan on stocking the store up to the brim, along with adding some new sequin colors and mixes in October!

Don’t worry, I still have something fun to share with you all today. I’m so honored to announce that I am adding a new designer to the Pretty Pink Posh team. She was recently one of my special guests and I loved her work/ videos so much, I just had to add her to the team! Please welcome the talented, sweet and YouTube extraordinaire Nichol Magouirk!

designteam

NicholAmyleigh

StaceyJoniMaureen

LisaGayatriLaura

In honor of this special day, and the fact that I love hosting giveaways, I’m offering up a $50 Pretty Pink Posh gift certificate! How can you win? Guess which designer made which card below. These cards can be found on their blog, so it won’t be too terribly hard to match them up.

From those who guess correctly, I’ll put them into a drawing and one lucky person will get a $50 shopping spree to the Pretty Pink Posh Shop. Whether you want to catch up on previous releases, or want to hold out until the new products next month, this will come in handy! guessthedesigner

Thank you all for your excitement. I’ll be back in a little bit with the last installment of the Design Teams 101 series. Happy guessing!

Fight for Joy

fightforjoy

Two years.

It’s been a few days past the two year mark of my car accident. My life these last two years has been so up and down. Life as I once knew it changed and I find myself always adjusting the term “normal” in my life.

I have to be honest, I have had some really, really dark days and weeks. Days when all I could do was cry from being in pain, clench my teeth in frustration at everything I couldn’t do or just lay down and sleep because that was all my body allowed me to do. This glamorous life that I imagined I would have as a kid was far from the reality I was living in.

It’s easy to have a pity-party for yourself in these circumstances. A while back I wrote a list of everything that I could no longer do and I cried. Why me? Why did this accident have to happen? I was in this downward spiral of thinking of everything that was wrong with my life and forgetting all of the good things I still had.

Some of you may remember the post I did called Finding Joy in the Journey. Despite the fact that I wrote that over a year ago, I still have to consciously make an effort to find joy in the difficult circumstances. It’s so easy to be down about where I am and forget how far I have come and where I am now, in this moment.

FIGHT FOR JOY, even in the heartache, pain and difficult times. Trust me, once you take a step back from the pity-party and find joy (even in the small things), your perspective starts to change.

Some of you have shared your stories with me and I have been touched by your transparency and openness to share. I know for certain that had I not gone through this, I wouldn’t have some of you as readers. Despite how difficult this journey has been, I know that I’m not alone. Occasionally I’ll get an email or comment from a reader who has encountered their own difficult journeys and while I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, it’s neat to be able to relate in a way that far outweighs crafts and blogging. In these moments, I almost sense God saying, “See, I DO care about you, I’m still here and you are not alone in this.”

If you are one of those who have sent an email or reached out, thank you. You may not have known at the time, but you were/ are little “joy tokens” that remind me I’m not in this alone. In the moments where I want to give up and have doubts that I’ll ever fully heal or get past my health issues, I cling to the things in life that bring me joy. It’s a mental change that I’ll admit isn’t easy, but it does change your perspective. It’s almost like it gives you a little more fighting spirit to tackle the difficult things.

FIGHT FOR JOY. And remember, dear friend, you are not alone in this journey.

August 2014 Craft Haul

Better late than never, right? This month has flown by and I almost didn’t think I would get a chance to film my August haul. Yesterday I forced myself to take a break from filling orders and decided to craft, film and edit. Oh how I have missed doing these things!

I’m actually in the process of working on some Christmas projects and I cannot wait to show you. I have a super fun giveaway coming with a sponsor and then I’m working on prep for some behind-the-scenes things here. So many exciting things!

Watch the video above   I   Watch on YouTube
 

In case any of the items in the list look like something you might want to purchase, I have linked them up for you below.

That’s going to wrap up today’s post. I’m hoping to get one more post up for you later this week- a more personal one- but we’ll have to see how things go. I will for sure have two posts for you on Monday (I’m announcing a new design team member!) and then I’ll be concluding the Design Teams 101 series.

Have a fabulous rest of your day!