Featured Blogger- Laura Bassen

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For those new to my blog, on the first Monday of each month, I feature one of the bloggers that I follow. When I read blogs, I always enjoy getting to know the person BEHIND the blog. Whether it be a crafty blogger, a lifestyle blogger or a fellow young single gal- I love putting away the formalities and having a “conversation” with a blogger I enjoy.

Today I have a special treat to share…..I’m bringing the Featured Blogger feature to you (albeit a week late), but I believe it’s well worth the wait. If you regularly hop around blogs, or watch updates from some of the big companies, you’ll recognize the lady I’m honored to bring to the blog today. Please join me in giving THE Laura Bassen a huge welcome!

Laura asked me if she could do the interview in video form and of course I couldn’t resist saying yes. Have you seen her videos? They are so fun to watch and trust me, you’ll be rolling from laughter at this one as she was interviewed by her hubby. Here’s the questions she will be answering in the video….

Tell us about your blog. When and why did you start it?

Where did the name of your blog come from?

How did you get introduced to paper crafts and/or cardmaking?

If you could meet anyone in the crafting world, who would it be?

For those new to cardmaking, what tips or suggestions would you give?

What products would you consider a “must have” for a crafter?

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time (besides crafting)?

You have a free Friday night, how would you spend it?

You get to spend an unlimited amount at three stores, which stores would you pick?

List 5 things you are passionate about. 

I’m sure that many of you have visited Laura’s blog in the past, but in case you haven’t, be sure to take a peek. Her cards are absolutely G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!

Laura’s blog

Laura’s Pinterest boards

Laura’s Twitter

Laura’s Instagram

I hope that you enjoyed this feature and are just as inspired by this gal as I have been. Want to recommend a blogger, or yourself,  for a future Featured Blogger post? Leave a comment with the blog link and you never know- you just might hear from me!

10 Minute Craft Dash #28 Highlights

I know this post is a tad bit late, but with the re-design of the site and the craziness that has come with opening up the shop soon, this post was temporarily postponed. Fear not, the day has come and I’m announcing the 10 Minute Craft Dash #28 winner and favorites.

I’m super excited for today’s post because we have a Craft Dash newbie (as in this was her very first challenge with us) as the winner. I know I’ve mentioned it numerous times before, but seeing new friends join in the challenge is always exciting for me and the DT. Not only do we get to see your beautiful creations, we also get introduced to new blogs! Without further ado, here’s the lucky winner….

 Congratulations to Amy P!

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Amy, please contact me with your email information and I’ll pass along the information to Debbie, the owner at Paper Sweeties. 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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Veronica Z.

Lyndal

Linda Beeson

Heidi Criswell

Conil

Heather~housesbuiltofcards

I hope that many of you will be able to join us for the 10 Minute Craft Dash #29, sponsored by DeNami Design. In lieu of a color palette, we are highlighting BUTTONS, which I believe will help relieve some pressure. I’m looking forward to seeing entries come through this weekend!


If you haven’t already, be sure to like the Pretty Pink Posh Facebook page. I’ve been posting more updates on my upcoming shop and this is also a great way to get more feedback from all of you, my amazing readers. Hope to see you there!

PPP_FBWell, that’s a wrap for this highlight post. Thank you to everyone who continues to join along in the challenge, along with all of our amazing sponsors. Have a great rest of your weekend!

10 Minute Craft Dash #29

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If you are reading this via email, you may want to hop on over to the site. I’ve been working on a new re-design and after countless hours, emails back and forth between my amazing friend who helped me make everything pretty (more about her on a later post) and a nice little bundle of stress, the site is finally up and running! Pop over and take a look….oh and there’s a little secret I’ve been working on that’s revealed!

Okay, now onto the new Craft Dash challenge. Instead of a theme, this time around we are featuring a specific product- BUTTONS! You can use real buttons, a button stamp, a button embossing folder, flair, button paper….as long as some sort of buttons are featured and you can create it within 10 minutes, it’s eligible for the prize!

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!

 CD_29_BettyCD_29_Andrea CD_29_Caryn CD_29_Leigh  CD_29_RachelCD_29_Meredith CD_29_Thuy

Now onto prize! The lucky winner will get a $20 gift certificate to DeNami Design! Whether you’re a fan of wood mounted or cling stamps, buttons, embossing folders, glitters, etc…. there’s bound to be lots of products you can use this prize on.

prizeI’m so honored that some of the DeNami DT was able to play along in this challenge. I get to work with these gals personally and they are truly talented and sweet.

Lisa Elton

Tammy Hobbs

Pattie Goldman

Emily Keaton

Lisa Petrella

Deb Wabbe

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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!

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Favorite Free Fonts #1

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of fonts. Whether they be script, bold, whimsical or basic, I really don’t discriminate. Over the course of my time blogging, I’ve had many requests on which fonts I use. Granted, I can’t share all of them, but I thought I would start compiling some of my favorites and bring give you links on how you can add them to your growing font stash.

I will say, there are so many gorgeous fonts that come at a hefty charge, but I’ll just be sharing the free ones with you. Ready to get started with this first font freebie?

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Sofia  •  Lavanderia •  Quicksand {Dash}

Fenwick   •  Elephant  •   DK Carte Blanche

Chocolate Covered Raindrops   •  Sail  •  Janda Celebration Script

I hope that you enjoyed this feature. If you haven’t already, head on over to the FREEBIE section on the site- this is where I’ll be adding the font feature, future templates and other goodies.

Vibrant Feathers

Hello and Happy November 1st!

This last month has flown by and sadly, I wasn’t able to sneak in some of my “regular” features here on the blog. Truth be told, I’ve been working on some a lot of behind-the-scenes things and after weighing my options, I decided these new things took precedence. Little by little things are shaping up and quite honestly, I don’t remember the last time I was this nervous about putting myself out there. I still don’t have a specific date set for when I’ll be making my announcements (since I’m still awaiting some things), but I’ll let you know as soon as I can! In the meantime, if you have guesses as to what I have up my sleeves, I would love to hear!

I wanted to share a bright and happy card today and since the Fanciful Feathers set is back in stock at Ellen Hutson, I thought I’d share this one with you. I’ve been holding out on the feather cards recently, since they were out of stock, but now that they’re back- WATCH OUT! I have a Christmas feather card that I’m particularly fond of….I can’t wait to share that one with you!

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Have I mentioned how much I love this Honeycomb Embossing Folder? You can see it on the green cardstock and I love how it adds a subtle mod feel to this otherwise very whimsical card.

prettypinkposh_feathers2bI should wrap up this post. Today’s going to be a busy, busy day. I’m working on all sorts of posts for next week (I have a HILARIOUS post coming on Monday!) and also snapping lots of pictures of upcoming projects. Exciting stuff happening here….wish one (or ten!) of you could by my assistants. Oh my, imagine the fun we would have and how much we could accomplish! Sadly, since I only pay in hugs and Starbucks, that might eliminate a lot of my help. *wink*

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday! I’ll see you on some of my social media sites later today!

Halloween Pillow Box

I know I’m cutting it close to Halloween with this post….however, it’s better than waiting until next year, right? I actually have attempted taking photos of this project three times, but with the gloomy weather here in Seattle, I just wasn’t having any luck. Thankfully, three times was the charm for this project! pillowbox1

If you watched my latest haul video, you’ll recognize these kraft pillow boxes. Lately I have been admiring pretty packaging and with the holidays coming up, I’ll definitely be highlighting some of my own packaging ideas here on the blog. I love the size of this particular pillow box- they’re big enough to fit cookies or candies, or you can put in travel size toiletries! Hello stocking stuffers! pillowbox3

If you follow me on my various social media sites (which I hope you do!), I mentioned briefly that I’ll be making some changes on the site. There are some ideas that I’ve been wanting to incorporate on my site to make it a little more user friendly, but it was a little outside of my scope of knowledge and my current server has been a nightmare. I’m hoping that some of these changes will slowly start rolling out within a week or two and there shouldn’t be too much downtime. Since blogging isn’t my full-time job and funding is minimal, I’m having to do things in stages. In the end, I hope to have this site be easy to maneuver, and hopefully a place that will continue to inspire you and your loved ones.

I’m curious, are there any changes you hope I’ll make to the site? Do you have requests for future tutorials or projects? I have all sorts of ideas, but I also want to make sure if there are certain aspects of my site you enjoy, I keep them! *wink*

Autumn Wreath

Hello and Happy Saturday!

It’s not often that I’ll pop in on the weekend, but since I have been busy creating and not blogging these last few days, I thought I’d surprise you and share an autumn card I created recently. Now if you follow the DeNami blog, this card will look familiar since I shared it there a couple weeks ago. These leaves have captured my heart and I’ve been using them on all sorts of projects (one of them should be making an appearance here soon). I love how versatile they are and really, you can’t go wrong with pretty solid leaves!

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If you’re curious on how I created this card, I actually did a coordinating video for the DeNami YouTube channel. Yes, I do videos there, too!

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If you follow me on my various social media sites, you saw that I finished filming my October haul video. I confess, right afterwards, I did some shopping, so I’ll be re-filming later on today. I’m hoping to have it edited and uploaded soon and I also have plans to film another video!

That’s going to wrap up this post. Just a quick reminder, TODAY is the last day to enter the 10 Minute Craft Dash #28– hurry and get your entries submitted!

Have a great weekend, I’ll chat with you all soon!

Halloween Tag Card + FREEBIE

There’s just a little over a week left before Halloween, so I have just a few more cards to share. Do you know what will happen after that? I’ll be gearing up for all sorts of holiday items- both Thanksgiving and Christmas- and I cannot wait! I have all sorts of ideas in this brain of mine and I’m hoping it’s all able to come to light.

Today’s card is a little different for me- it’s not a standard A2 size card! Generally I stick with a standard note card for two reasons: 1) It’s easy and familiar 2) I have envelopes for them. There’s nothing wrong with familiarity (in my opinion), but it’s also nice to go outside your comfort zone and changing things up can prompt even more creativity sometimes. Well, I decided to change up my card size and I was so thrilled with how it turned out.

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Download my very first FREE PDF HERE!

Since this card is longer than a standard size card, I was able to create a larger scene and I even had room to add some of my beloved May Arts Chevron Twill! I pulled out my favorite DeNami Halloween stamps for this one- Candy Corn, Friendly Mummy, Halloween Fence, Happy Halloween and the Jack O’ Lantern Trio.

Pretty Pink Posh

Now that I have a FREEBIE section on the site, I want to start filling it up! I’m thinking of sharing some of my favorite free fonts in the future and am open to other suggestions. What kind of freebies would you like to see?



Finding Joy In The Journey

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Joy. It’s a simple three-letter word and  yet sometimes it’s one of the hardest emotions to show. This little word has been on my heart for a few weeks now but I kept putting off bringing it to the blog. Why? Quite honestly, because I haven’t felt all that joyful recently.

If you missed my previous posts about my car accident and updates, find them HERE, HERE and the latest update HERE

As my regular readers know, I was in a car accident 14 months ago. That one moment, that one day in August 2013, changed my life and turned my life upside down. I went from being a girl who had a full social life, a bright future, dreams and goals that went on for days, to being someone I barely recognize internally. The person who had plans just about every single weekend, the world at her fingertips, someone in the “prime” of her life suddenly was fighting  for the will to live on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. Physical pain took on new life, the days of “normal” sleeping hours went from 6 to 18, the amount of doctor visits in just three months was more than most people go in 10 years. I can’t tell you that during these moments I had joy, because that would be a flat-out lie.

The first few days and weeks after my accident, I was grateful to be alive. That in itself was and is a miracle. However, soon after, I was wishing I hadn’t made it. The amount of physical pain I was dealing with was excruciating. The months and months of not having ANY answers was difficult mentally and emotionally. Spiritually, it’s been one battle after another and I felt like I had nothing left worthwhile to offer the world. Heck, I couldn’t even stand for 5- 10 minutes. What was the point in life anymore?

These last 14 months have been a long journey. I’m sad to say, that during this time, more often than not I haven’t had joy. I was angry that God would allow this to happen. I battle often with thoughts of discouragement and wondering if I’ll ever find someone who will love me and be able to handle the issues I face. In fact, I often still struggle with the fact that I can’t do things most can do on a daily basis.

Recently Jesus has tugged at my heart and I had a mental change (no doubt to the hundreds of prayers on my behalf). I wanted to stop thinking about everything I couldn’t do and be grateful for the things I COULD do. I could still craft occasionally. I could still blog occasionally. I could still work occasionally. There are days when I almost feel normal and have energy….THOSE are my favorite. Finding joy in these things have made a difference in my outlook. Taking captive the days when I do have energy carries me through the days when I can’t work or get out of bed. Finding joy in the little things (that might normally get taken for granted) has a way of changing your outlook on things.

During this whole journey, I have continued to blog and share life when I was able to. Who knew that in THESE moments, the times when I opened my “book” and shared a few pages, these would be the moments that bonded you all to me. Sharing my journey (and pain) has been humbling and yet God has been able to use it to bring joy. The emails and comments I have received when I have opened my life to you, the prayers and encouragement, the letters and gifts I have received, those things have brought me joy.

Is it easy? No. Does it take practice? Yes. Am I a pro at it? No. Do I strive to find joy in at least one thing daily? Yes.

I know many of you are going through difficult times right now. I encourage and challenge you to find JOY in at least one thing daily. It can be big or little, take that thing captive and hold onto it.

We are all on a journey and it’s easy to get discouraged, frustrated or even angry at the one we are on. Let’s find JOY in the journey we are currently on….you just never know where it could take you.

Happy Thoughts Wreaths {VIDEO}

For those who follow me on the Pretty Pink Posh Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram, you have been waiting anxiously for today’s post. I gave you the opportunity to voice your requests and today’s post and video is the result. Thank you to everyone who shared their comments and also left such sweet words about my videos!

With the changing of seasons, I’m starting to transition the cards I’m sending out to fit the autumn months. The biggest change is resisting the urge to add pinks to my cards and in lieu use more orange and neutral tones. Not to worry though, I will still be bringing the bright colors out occasionally these next few months!

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If you watched my latest haul video, you saw that I purchased the Avery Elle Laurels set and coordinating dies. I was smitten with this set the moment I saw it and decided that these branches would be perfect to create a wreath! My first attempt was this aqua/ red combination…. how yummy is that aqua with the bright red? I seriously love this color combination for Christmas. Just warning those who follow my blog, you’ll definitely be seeing these colors on the blog in the coming months….

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After creating the aqua/ red combination, I thought I create a more autumn colored card. I swapped out the red for a soft orange and the aqua ribbon for an orange one. These slight changes change the feel of the card and yet has the exact same layout and stamps. Once you get going, the different color choices are endless!

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Okay, now it’s time for the video. Feel free to watch it in this post, or you can head on over to the Pretty Pink Posh YouTube page and watch this video, along with my other ones!

Watch video below | Watch on YouTube

If you give this card design a try, I would love to see it. Feel free to leave me a link with your blog link here, or you can tweet me @prettypinkposh or even leave a picture on the Pretty Pink Posh Facebook page! Seeing how you’re inspired by my cards and videos seriously warms my heart and makes me want to make more for you.

So now the question is: what kind of video would you like to see next?