Pretty Pink Posh Blog

My Life

2012 in Review

This year has been full of unexpected changes, new experiences, memorable moments and stepping outside my comfort zone. Since today is the last day of 2012, I thought I would look back on some of the biggest moments, both here on the blog and in my personal life. If you’re new here, this is a great time to see what my blog is all about, and see some of the biggest moments of 2012.

GETTING MORE PERSONAL…..

Back in April, I did a pretty major change here on Pretty Pink Posh and switched from a craft blog to a blog that encompasses both personal posts and crafting posts. During that time, a lot of things were changing in my life and I wanted to share those things with you. It was in these posts that I got to share my heart, experiences and struggles. It hasn’t always been easy to open up, but I’m so thankful for this opportunity to share with you in a more personal way. In fact, I’ve heard from some that they now enjoy the personal posts more than the crafty ones! Here were some of the most popular ones of 2012:

This year one of the most unexpected things was getting into a major car accident in August {update here}. Never in a million years would I have expected I would STILL be dealing with physical ailments and difficulties from it. The road has been long and left me weary, however I am so thankful for the amazing friends & family that has helped me along the way.

CRAFTY CREATIONS…..

I can’t do a year in review without posting some of my favorites creations of this year. My crafting style is constantly changing, so it’s always fun to see how it’s changed. {Click on the photos to go to the direct posts}

10 Minute Craft Dash…..

Back in August, my friend Ginny and I started the 10 Minute Craft Dash. We both knew it was a great concept and it blew us away at how receptive you all were to the challenge. Since then, Ginny had to step down from her position in the challenge to move onto new things. It was during this change that I thought long and hard about the direction I wanted to take the growing challenge. I made the decision to continue on with the challenge and have since lined up amazing assortment of sponsors through June 2013. Another new change: offering the very first DT call. I’m so excited to see where the challenge goes and getting the opportunity to work with talented designers in 2013!

WHAT’S COMING IN 2013..

As I mentioned above, I’ll continue on with the 10 Minute Craft Dash and also still be doing the monthly Featured Blogger and Random Loves posts. You can also count on new crafty projects, new posts on the things I’m learning and then of course, there will be many surprises. As the blog continues to grow, it’ll bring on new opportunities. I still have dreams for this blog– I’m hoping that some of them will come true this upcoming year!

{I know I posted this image before, but I thought it appropriate to post it again}

I am so incredibly grateful for each and every one of you. Your support, comments, emails, kind words- they all mean so much to me. I have made countless friends through this blog and I am looking forward to making even more in the new year. If YOU know someone who would enjoy the blog, I would love for you to send them over. My favorite saying here on the blog, “The more, the merrier”. :)

I hope that you all have an incredible 2013; I’m looking forward to getting to know you better!

Craft Dash

10 Minute Craft Dash DT Call

It’s true…..after many requests, I will be opening up a DT call for the 10 Minute Craft Dash! The Craft Dash has grown leaps and bounds and I’m hoping in 2013, word about the challenge will continue to spread. I always love seeing new names & faces in the entries!

I am looking for a small group of crafters who will promote the challenge and provide inspiration for each new challenge. In return, you’ll get lots of exposure to your blog and you’ll get to meet some amazing blog friends along the way!

* Term will be February- June 2013*

If you can create beautiful things within 10 minutes, are good at deadlines and want to join in a growing challenge, I would love to hear from you!

Please email me with the information below:
prettypinkposh@gmail.com
and have “10 Minute Craft Dash DT Call” in the subject line

Your name, email address and blog link
4 photos of your work that was created within 10 minutes. {Please include time within your email}
Short bio that includes any past design accomplishments and Design Team experience.
Current Design Teams and term lengths

Deadline to apply is January 13th, 12 pm PST

Notifications will be sent out no later than January 20th.

I’m looking forward to seeing your beautiful DT submissions and hopefully getting a chance to work with some of you! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below, or send me an email!

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Pretty Pink Posh via Email

Hi all!

Some of you may have noticed that my blog posts aren’t coming via Google Friend Connect any longer. Unfortunately, with WordPress, they no longer allow non-Google sites to have this feature. However, you can still receive ALL of my new blog posts- this time directly to your email!

Subscribe to Pretty Pink Posh by Email

I hope you all had a very special Christmas. I’ve been enjoying my time off, but I’ll be back with a post sometime soon!

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Craft Dash | My Life

10 Minute Craft Dash + Eastridge Youth

“Guys, she looks at details.”

“Maybe if we win, she will put us on her blog.” – quotes from this post

I have a fun post to share with you all today. As my regular readers know, I’m a leader in the high school group at my church. I absolutely LOVE my students and the leadership team I’m blessed to work with. I haven’t been as active, since the accident, but I am {hopefully} on the way to becoming a regular again.

To celebrate this special season, today we changed up the normal routine in Life Groups. I’ll be talking about one specific activity that happened…..building gingerbread houses!

I was introduced to the group as the special guest judge for this activity, apparently having a craft blog qualifies me for this task. Since the other leaders know I run a challenge here on the blog, they decided to incorporate this into the gingerbread house decorating. Dozens of high school students, gingerbread houses, competitiveness and a time limit= a hilarious sight.

I forewarned them and said that I see entries from ALL over the world, so I wasn’t going to be easy on them. :) Detailed work, colors, team-work were the main themes I told them I would be judging on. And with that, they were off….

It’s true, I chose one of the guy groups as the winner. Their creativity in using the box to make it tall and the fact that added the trees for scenery was impressive. Add to that they had music playing from a phone {for ambiance}, it definitely deserved the win.

PLUG: if you’re looking for a solid, Bible believing, faith-filled Christian church and you live in Washington state, check out the Eastridge Today website. Email me if you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them or I’ll find answers for you!

It was so fun to see two different parts of my world collide in this post. If you have kiddos, they are more than welcome to play along in the 10 Minute Craft Dash! Also, remember, it’s not limited to cards/ tags- you can sew items or do other crafty items, too!

That’s a wrap for this post. Have a fabulous Christmas Eve– I’ll talk with you all soon!

Misc. | My Life

Activities to Build Memories

Yesterday I mentioned that I compiled a list of activities you can do with your family to build memories. I tried to keep the items listed either free or fairly inexpensive. This list is great for family members of ALL ages.

activies

Family Game Night. We always enjoy these and it’s fun to find new games to learn as a family. Click here to view some of our favorite family games.
Visit the park and bring sack lunches. This is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, check out local parks, build memories AND it helps get all the extra energy out of the kiddos. This will make nap time a piece of cake!
Check out the local zoo or aquarium. You can create a checklist of items to find, or you could create a quiz for them after your finish all the exhibits.
Fruit picking. I have MANY memories doing this as a kid with family friends. It builds memories and also you get items to take home! Creating jam, canning the items also creates memories.
Trek out to a second-hand store and see who can find the best treasure. Our family has found many designer items there in the past for super great prices.
Bake sugar cookies and have a cookie decorating party. Provide different sprinkles, frosting colors, cookie shapes….. always a memorable experience for all ages.
Roller skating or ice skating. This helps build coordination, gets the blood flowing and can introduce a new passion. You never know, someone you love could be a future Olympian!
Help at a food bank. Not only will this act bless those you serve, it will also be a great way to show your kids how to get involved in the community and think outside of their “wants”.
Stop by the police station or fire house and drop off cards. (I don’t know if handmade food items are acceptable) Explain to your kids how these people put their lives on the line for us and give them an opportunity to thank some of them.
Arrange to cook meals for those in your neighborhood/ church who are going through a hard time. We have been the recipients of this many times in the past– you have no idea how much it blesses those who receive them. (You will want to connect with the people to see if there are any allergies or favorites foods.)
Check out your local library. As a kid, my mom took all of us to the library weekly. It was here I developed a love for reading. The library is also a great resource for DVDs, magazines, newspapers and research for homework!

I hope this list inspires you and your family to create some special memories together. Do YOU have any items do to create memories? I’d love to read them!

If you know anyone who would like this list, feel free to use the social media buttons at the bottom of the post. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Christmas Is Not About Gifts…..

I will be the first to admit that I love buying gifts for people, almost to a fault. I love showing the people I hold dear how much they mean to me- in cards, random acts of kindness and gifts. Showing them in tangible ways how much I treasure our relationship is definitely my love language.

It’s so easy during this time of year to get caught up in the busyness of the season. Buying presents, sending out cards, Christmas parties, holiday baking…… I’ll admit, I sometimes find myself getting sucked into all of it as well. This year, since I was relying on everyone else for rides to get presents, I was getting really starting to get stressed out that it all wouldn’t get done. In the craziness, I had to step back and remember what the TRUE meaning of the season is. Sure, it’s fun to take part of the hustle and bustle, but really this season is so much more than this.

TREASURE the precious moments you have with your loved ones and friends. I know that this year has been financially tough on many- DON’T stress about the presents. Those who are around you {who truly care about you} don’t want things, they want quality time and moments to create memories. How do I know? Every loved one around me has said these words to me.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting a list of some special things you can do {with young and old} to create memories. They won’t necessarily be things just for the Christmas season- there will be things that can be done throughout the year as well.

I’m hoping each of you will join me tomorrow- you can help list items that I missed! :) I hope you all are enjoying this special holiday season this year. So glad you decided to spend a little bit of time with me today!

Craft Dash

10 Minute Craft Dash #9

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I’m so excited about today’s challenge! Remember how I said I wanted to make December super fun for the Craft Dash? I put together an ultra talented group of designers in the last challenge and for this one I’m “teaming-up” with my friends over at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge! Both of our challenges feature a holiday theme, so one of your handmade creations can fit into TWO challenges. What’s even better, you could potentially win two separate prizes!

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_9_2 This card features Merry Kiss-mas by CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Time it took to create: 8 minutes 8 seconds

Now onto the fun prize! Michele over at CAS-ual Fridays recently started her very own stamp company called CAS-ual Fridays Stamps. Here’s a little background on her new endeavor:

“Founded in 2012, we are a small company with big ideas located in beautiful Colorado.

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps are made of the finest clear photopolymer available, and proudly made in the Heartland of America. Our stamps are created with Clean and Simple designing in mind, however, whether you are a CAS enthusiast, or lover of all things layer-licious, you will have a blast getting inky with them!”

CD_9_prize

How to Play

1) Create a card/craft project within 10 minutes using a holiday theme.

2) Post the time it took to create

You can pull out your supplies before your timer starts!

-Post the challenge graphic in your post, link to this challenge post.

-You may combine a total of three challenges with your entry. You may enter the challenge a maximum of two times.

-Challenge ends January 3, 2013 at 11:59pm, PST. (That’s even longer than usual!)

Craft Dash

10 Minute Craft Dash #8 Highlights

Hi there!

You may notice that the blog is looking a tad bit different….I recently switched over from Blogger to WordPress! It may take a little while to get everything up and running smoothly- I didn’t realize how different it was! My goal is to make this site look and run seamlessly, so please bear with me as I get it there.

Today I’m announcing the 10 Minute Craft Dash #8 Highlights! Oh my, there were so many stunning entries in the latest challenge- it just warmed my heart to see so many NEW faces and participants! I really enjoyed looking at your creations and also stumbling across new blogs.

If you are interested in getting a head start on your project, 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!

Congratulations to May!

Please email me (click the contact on the top right) with your contact info to claim your prize. Also, you get to grab the badge below and proudly display it on your blog!

Here’s your winner badge- you deserve it!

You ladies made it so hard to pick favorites- each submission was so unique and beautiful! With the assistance of some helpers, I was able to get these narrowed down. 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!}

THANK YOU to everyone who entered this challenge! I hope you all will join in the next one- I’m teaming up with another fabulous challenge and there is going to be TONS of inspiration and lots of holiday goodness!

Have a fabulous rest of your day- I’ll see you all tomorrow!

Random Loves

Random Loves for December

Announcement: Christmas is seven days away. Yikes! I am far from done with shopping and don’t even get me started on wrapping the presents and then wanting to do some holiday baking. Where has the time gone? I really dislike being behind on anything- deadlines, late to appointments and meetings– being behind in Christmas shopping falls in this category too. The whole not driving thing (temporary) on top of feeling under the weather really puts a wrench into things!

Since I haven’t had much time to craft and the Craft Dash Highlights post is tomorrow, I thought I would take today to share my Random Loves for this month. Hope you don’t mind!

I’m obsessed with Christmas music right now. I play it at work, on my phone and light up whenever it plays in stores. I’m a sucker for pop music, so I enjoy hearing the various artists takes on the classics. However, if you play me Amy Grant, Jim Brickman or Nat King Cole Christmas songs, I will never reject them.

Mug (and other beautiful goodness) can be found here

You may remember in last months Random Loves post, I posted a Starbucks mug I was eying. I actually never purchased it. Instead I stumbled across this mug and guys, it’s the BEST. It’s a nice big mug and the quality is fantastic. Not to mention that it’s from a local Etsy seller who is super sweet. If I could afford it, I would buy one for every single one of you- that’s how much I love mine.

I’m not sure how these didn’t make it into my first Random Loves post. I am OBSESSED with these pens. I have them at work, in my purse, at home…. and yes, I own every single color that has been released. They are great for journaling, writing in cards, for gift tags and everything in between. (My favorite are the black, fine tip ones)

pants can be found here

Oh my goodness, I cannot rave about these pants enough. I love the look of leggings with longer shirts, but never found any that were thick enough to be considered pants AND slimming. A recent trip to Nordstom had me stumbling across these. They are BEYOND comfortable, they are slimming and are thick enough to wear without always wearing a tunic shirt. They’re a little pricey, but I worth it (in my opinion).

I saw this featured in a YouTube video (go ahead and laugh) and have been looking everywhere for them. I was so excited when I found them at the store– I’m fairly certain my sister thought I was crazy when I excitedly showed her what I was getting. If you like peppermint and lollipops, you will love these!

I always love seeing what others are enjoying. What are a few of YOUR favorite things at the moment? It can be drinks, shows, movies, etc…. it just might introduce me (and others) to some new things!

Cards

Creating for Drawn Together

Yesterday I posted about the fundraiser that Amber is putting together called Drawn Together. This is a great cause that I think will go far in the lives of the community & children of Newtown, Connecticut.

In my effort to donate some cards, in addition to other items, I sat down and made some cards on Saturday. I haven’t created in quite a while {since I’ve been sick}, so my creativity has gone MIA. In addition, just knowing that these cards will go to those affected by this tragedy, I couldn’t help but break down a few times while making items. There still are no words….

Since I know that bright colors tend to cheer me up, I tried incorporating them into the cards I’m making. I pulled out some patterned papers and the Lawn Fawn set, Critters in the Forest, to create this card.

I’ve hoarded quite a bit of patterned paper that I love, but haven’t been able to figure out what to use them on. Enter this special cause. I’m looking forward to using them to bless others and with many of them being bright colors, I hope they’ll bring a shimmer of light into the lives of those in CT.

I’ll be back tomorrow for my Random Loves feature for December. Hope you’ll be able to join me and list some of the things you’ve been enjoying this month!