Nature Walk Blog Hop (Pretty Little Studio)!

Happy Monday and welcome to the Pretty Little Studio Nature Walk Blog Hop, where we are celebrating the reveal of a fabulous soon-to-be-released collection - Nature Walk - full of the cutest, vintage-inspired flora and fauna you could imagine!  If you thought the recently released Birthday Cake Collection was a huge hit, I am telling you the Nature Walk Collection is going to be a home run!!!

***IF YOU ARE HERE TO SEE WHAT I MADE WITH GOODIES FROM PAPER SECRETS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT POST.***

Now, you should have just arrived here from HEATHER'S BLOG.  

Head on over to the PRETTY LITTLE STUDIO BLOG if you are just joining in and want to hop all the way through.  Or, if you should have made a right turn in Albuquerque - for those of you who grew up on Bugs Bunny cartoons like I did - here is the complete list:

                 Aimee: http://aimeesarmoire.typepad.com/

                 Candice: http://truedivinehand.blogspot.com/

                 Christina: http://dontworry-bescrappy.blogspot.com/

                 Heather: http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

ME----->  Krissy: http://krissyclarkmckee.blogspot.com/

                 Lisa W: http://www.createfor7.blogspot.com/

                 Lisa S: http://lisaspiegel.typepad.com/my_weblog/

                 Mary Ann: http://www.maryannjenkins.com/

                 Penny: http://www.pennysmithdesigns.blogspot.com/

I have had so much fun playing with Pretty Little Studio's collections lately, which are FULL of unique ephemera and wonderfully coordinated papers that you just won't find anywhere else.  And even though Pretty Little Studio goodies are vintage inspired, they are extremely versatile and can be used for any style of scrapbooking and card making - such as this layout I recently created for a PLS sketch challenge using the Sandcastle Collection (one of my favorites):

Pretty, right?  Would you like a chance to win your own Pretty Little Studio  loot, I mean, products so you can make your own pretty little creations?  You would?  Well, you are in luck because we are having a giveaway!  That's right, one lucky person will win a $20 Gift Card to the Pretty Little Studio Shop!  The best part is, you don't have to kill the bad guys, or lift heavy weights, or run 10 kilometers.  In fact, you don't even have to leave your chair!  For a chance to win, all you have to do is: 

 

1.      Follow Pretty Little Studio’s BLOG;

2.      Like Pretty Little Studio on FACEBOOK;

3.      Leave a comment here letting me know what Pretty Little Studio item you like the most or would like the most if you had a $20 gift certificate burning a hole in your pocket!

 

That's it for me today.  Next up on the hop is my good friend, LISA W - I just know she is going to have some awesome inspiration for you!

Okay now, hop along now - get moving.  Don't need anyone getting any hare-brained ideas about hanging out around here all day...

It's No Joke - I am the Paper Secrets Guest Designer!

It's no secret, I do enjoy playing along with the challenges over at PAPER SECRETS.  So, when the ladies over there asked me to be their April Guest Designer, I was more than happy to say yes!  And when I saw all the wonderful goodies they sent me from their store, I was even more happy that I said yes!  You know me, I research things - that's a large part of what I do for the job that brings in the steady paycheck.  And this is what I found out about Paper Secrets:

1.  They have a very nice selection of the newest collections out there;
2.  If you play along with their challenges, you can win a gift card to their e-store (that's free money);
3.  They have great shipping rates; and - saving my favorite for last...
4.  You can shop in your pajamas and the store is never closed!!!  Yippeee!!!!!

So, what did I get from Paper Secrets this month?  I got the Echo Park Sweet Girl Collection, which I used to create this layout, using the April Sketch and the twist to use ribbon or trim:

 

I LOVE that this collection contains a varied combination of papers, such as these bold graphic chevrons and vintage-y flowers.  With the sketch and all the pretty papers and sticker sheets (and with a little help from my Silhouette and sewing machine), this layout practically put itself together!

Here are a couple of close-ups:

I used this trim that reminded me of a tutu.  It reminds me of Lula's dress-up outfits, so it was perfect for this layout that features her.

I also love the look of doilies added to layouts.  However, to keep my paper from getting overly bulky and weirdly wrinkled from having a chunk of doily tucked under it - I cheat.  I cut the tucked under part off and just tuck the very tip of the remaining portion under the edge my paper.  This gives me the illusion of an extra layer without the additional bulk.

That's it for me today.  Be sure to check back on the 15th, when we will have another sketch reveal!

***NOTE, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE NATURE WALK BLOG HOP, IT IS THE VERY NEXT POST ABOVE - CHECK IT OUT!"