Scrappy Birthday Blog Hop

Welcome to Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons and the very first Scrappy Birthday Blog Hop. This hop is in honor of April's birthday and celebrates her favorite color - GREEN!

If you are coming from A Scrapping Time, you’re on the right track. If you stumbled on this post and would like to start at the beginning (at April's blog...Curls and Grins), click HERE and hop along with us. We’ve all had so much fun doing this hop, and we have a wonderful line up with some oh-so-talented designers. You will see some lovely projects and have a chance to win some blog candy along the way, including a fun grand prize for this hop.

Here's my GREEN birthday project in honor of April's birthday:

Guess what!?!?!  This is the VERY FIRST box I've ever made, and I just LOVE how it turned out. I got all of the files for this cute little treat box from Lettering Delights.  The box came from the Handled Boxes SVG Set, the cute alligator came from the Let's Play SVG Set, and the party hat came from the Holiday Hats SVG Set.  I embossed the alligator using the Cuttlebug and the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder.  The sentiment came from My Pink Stamper's More Punnylicious Stamp Set.  The box is pretty tiny, but I had to make it that small to fit on a piece of 12" x 12" paper (in fact, it would have fit on a 12" x 6" piece).  I still think it would be perfect for small candies, jewelry, or even a gift card.  I hope you like it. :o)

Now, how about some BLOG HOP CANDY???   

For this hop, I'm giving away some great cardstock stickers and some colorful ribbon.  Here's what you need to do for a chance to win:

1. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower. Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win! But, if you want an extra chance, here's what you can do:

2. For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

That's it! :o) Please...only US mailing addresses. I'll leave this giveaway open all week, and then I'll randomly choose a winner on Friday, May 6.

Thank you for hopping along. Your next stop is Cherie at Graceful Cardmakers.

Here's the lineup of hop participants, just in case you get lost along the way. :o)

1. April Nourse http://curlsngrins.blogspot.com/

2. Mandie Wade http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/

3. Jennifer Blue Hawkins http://scrapaholicjen.blogspot.com/

4. Emily Lahham http://www.createserendipity.net/

5. Deborah Foti http://www.scrappingmamma.net/

6. Corrine Paul http://celebratingordinarymoments.blogspot.com/

7. Stephanie Jones http://missprissygraceann.blogspot.com/

8. Lucy Kelleher http://love2createitall.blogspot.com/

9. Theresa White http://treasures4lifeby-t.blogspot.com/

10. Martha Galvez http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/

11. Lisa Norris http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/ **THAT'S ME!**

12. Cherie Pemberton http://www.gracefulcardmakers.blogspot.com/  **NEXT STOP**

13. Jen Rubio http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com/

14. Lisa Peters http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

Have an awesome weekend!



A Winner, Award, and Blog Hop...Oh My!!!

Hey, everyone!  I hope you  are having a fabulous Friday so far.  I just have a few things to share with you today.  First of all, I have a WINNER for the Mother's Day Blog Hop!  YIPPEE!!!

 YAY!!! Congratulations, Kathie!  I'll be e-mailing you to get your mailing address so I can get your "Our Mothers" stamps out to you. :o)

In other news, Sam over at Crafty Chick Cards has given me the Stylish Blogger Award!  Thanks so much, Sam!  I've already passed this award on, but I hope you'll go check out Sam's blog.  She has some really pretty projects! :o) 

Finally, I want to invite everyone to come back tomorrow (Saturday, April 30) to check out my creation for the Scrappy Birthday Blog Hop, which is being hosted by April at Curls and Grins. And, of course, I'll have a little blog candy up for grabs!  YAY!

Have a happy Friday, and I hope to see you back here tomorrow! :o)



Awesome Giveaway!!!

Hey, everyone!!!  I wanted to tell you about a great giveaway that's going on over at Sherrie Scraps with Passion.  She's giving away this AWESOME stuff:

You should definitely go check it out!  Plus, she has some SUPER DUPER cute stuff on her blog. :o)



Celebrate the Occasion Challenge # 11: Mother's Day

Hey, you guys!  It's Tuesday again, so it's time for another challenge over at Celebrate the Occasion.  The theme for this week's challenge is Mother's Day.  Here's what I came up with for this challenge:

The little Matryoshka dolls on this A2 sized card came from Paisley.  I sized them so they'd hopefully look like a mom with her two kiddos.  I used paper that I bought at Lettering Delights and printed from my computer for the little dolls...and I think they turned out really cute.  Then, I added some embossing with my Cuttlebug, punched a border piece, added a little ribbon, and my card was all finished!  I decided to leave a sentiment off for now in hopes that my Pink by Design Our Mothers Stamp Set will arrive soon (before I need to mail this out).  Cross your fingers for me! :o)

Make sure you check out Celebrate the Occasion to see what the other Design Team members created this week, then join in on the challenge yourself.  I can't wait to see what you make!  :o)



Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #57: Mom's the Word

Happy Monday, everyone!  It's time for another challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog.  This week's challenge is to create any project for that special Mom with the word mom (or mommy, mother, mum, etc.) on it.  Here's what I came up with:

All of the cuts on this A2 sized card came from Pack Your Bags.  The cuts on this cart are just so cute, and I'm so excited I finally got the chance to use it.  The patterned paper is from the DCWV Citrus Stack.  I added some ribbon, some ink, and a computer-generated sentiment, and my little card was all done!  :o)  I hope you like it!

Head on over to Fantabulous Cricut to see what the other Design Team members created, then join in on the fun yourself.  I can't wait to see what you create!



Mother's Day Blog Hop

Welcome to Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons and the Mothers Day Blog Hop! This hop is all about Mother’s Day and a challenge to create any Mother's Day project, but no flowers allowed!

If you have come from Patricia's blog, you are in the right place. If you stumbled upon my blog and want to play along, you can do so by starting at Giselle’s Blog (www.crossmyheartpapercrafts.blogspot.com) This hop is full of talented ladies {and giveaways, too}!

Here's what I came up with for the hop:

My mom and dad recently came all the way over here to Germany for a visit, and I had such a great time with them.  So, I thought this would be a great Mother's Day card for my mom...since I DO love hanging out with her. :o)

The little monkeys and vines came from Create a Critter, the leaves are from Sweethearts, and the bows are from Once Upon a Princess.  I used an embossing stylus and my hubby's mouse pad to add some veins and dimention to the leaves, and I also added tons of the new fluid chalks I just got.  I just LOVE them!!!  I don't know what took me so long to get some.  Anyway...I also added a little bling with my i-Rock and a computer generated sentiment,  and then my little card was all done. I hope you like it!  :o)

Now....drumroll, please....how about some BLOG CANDY!?!?!?  YAY!

I ordered myself the Our Mothers Stamp Set from Pink by Design a little while ago, and GUESS WHAT!?!?!  I ordered an extra one to give away to one of YOU!  YIPPEE!  I am still eagerly awaiting the arrival of my wonderful stamps, but they'll be here soon, and I can't wait to give one away!  Here's what you need to do for a chance to win:

1. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower. Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win! But, if you want extra chances, here's what you can do:

2. For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

3. For another extra entry, post this giveaway on your blog and leave another comment with a link back to the post. Also, don't forget your e-mail address.

That's it! :o) Please...only US mailing addresses. I'll leave this giveaway open all week, and then I'll randomly choose a winner on Friday, April 29.

Thank you for playing along. Your next stop is Gaby.

Here is a list of all participators:
Giselle www.crossmyheartpapercrafts.blogspot.com
Amanda www.myscrappinobsession.com
Nadia www.nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com
Patricia - www.creativediva98.blogspot.com
Lisa www.prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com **THAT'S ME!***
Gaby www.sheinksalot.blogspot.com **NEXT STOP!**
Carrie www.paperglitterstamps.blogspot.com
Sylvia www.bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com



28 Candles Blog Hop Winner!

Hey, everyone!  Happy Humpday!  I hope you had a great time hopping along on the 28 Candles Blog Hop over the weekend.  I have a winner of the circle album kit!  YAY! 

The winner is....

Congratulations, Creative Patti! 

I'll be e-mailing you to get your mailing address.

If you didn't win, no worries!!! I'm in ANOTHER blog hop this weekend!  YAY!  It's hosted by Cross My Heart PaperCrafts and Nadia's Beautiful Mess, and it's all about Mother's Day!  I've been working hard on my little project, and I hope you'll stop by on Saturday to see what all the talented designers made.  :o)  And, of course, I'll be offering MORE BLOG CANDY!  Yippee!!!  I hope to see you there!



28 Candles Blog Hop

Hey, you guys!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend so far!  Welcome to the 28 Candles Blog Hop!  If you came from Sonia at Scraps 4 Fun, then you're in the right place.  If you just stumbled upon this post and would like to start from the beginning, visit Kimi & Pamela at Lovebug Creations.

This hop is in honor of Kimi's 28th birthday, so we're all creating something birthday related.  A friend of mine recently wanted passport invites for her daughter's upcoming birthday, so I decided to make an example for her to show her what I could do.  She's really into Safari animals and animal prints, so here's what I came up with:

To make these, I first dug out my passport to use as a guide.  I designed a layout for the outside of the passport on my computer and printed it out on craft cardstock.  Then, I embossed it with my Mesh Cuttlebug embossing folder so it would look more like leather.  I knew my friend likes animal prints, so I added a strip to the front.  Then, I cut some African animals for her...the zebra and giraffe are from Create a Critter, the lion is from Life's a Party, and the elephant is from Birthday Bash. 

 Here's a close up of the embossing...I ran the embossed card back through my Cuttlebug with the flat part of the folder on top of it to flatten it out a bit.  I also rounded the corners since the corners of passports are rounded.

Then, I designed the inside of the invitation to look like the inside of a passport.  I found some passport stamps online, and viola'!  A cute little passport invitation!

Then, I decided to create some cupcake toppers and wrappers to show my friend and also list in my Etsy shop.  The wrappers are from the Life's a Party cartridge and are embossed to match the passport invitations.

Well, I hope you like my little projects!  I'm really excited about how they turned out! 

Now, I think it's time for a little BLOG HOP CANDY!!! 

For this hop, I'm giving away this great kit that you can use to make an album in a box.  It includes all sorts of pre-cut papers, acetate sheets, rub-ons, and so much more!  There's just so much you could do with this...even if you're not into making an album.

If you'd like the chance to win these goodies, here's what you need to do:

1.  Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower.    Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win!  But, if you want extra chances, here's what you can do:

2.  For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link.  Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

3.  For another extra entry, post this giveaway on your blog and leave another comment with a link back to the post.  Also, don't forget your e-mail address.

That's it! :o)  Please...only US mailing addresses.  I'll randomly choose a winner after the hop is over, on Tuesday, April 19. 

Now to keep on hoppin'!  You're next stop is Jenny at Jenny K., Scrappin Addict.  Here's the lineup, just in case you get lost along the way:

Kimi & Pamela - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/

Missy - http://happystampindesigns.blogspot.com/

Tanya- http://scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/

Michelle - http://www.scrappinwithmybug.com/

Laura - http://lifeasanarmywife-lauradietsch.blogspot.com/

Sarah - http://www.pinkcricut.com/

Candace - http://papercraftsbycandace.blogspot.com/

Sarah W - http://creatingmyfavoritememories.blogspot.com/

Kim - http://rickettscricuts.blogspot.com/

Liz- http://www.mywhichcraft.blogspot.com/

Zeni - http://www.scrappyzeni.blogspot.com/

Erin - http://spantastikreations.blogspot.com/

Anne - http://anniebeescraftroom.blogspot.com/

Gaby - http://www.gabycreates.com/

Karen - http://osebastian.blogspot.com/

Paula - http://www.owlbescrappin.com/

Martha - http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/

Dianne - http://diannesscrappycreations.blogspot.com/

Kimmarie - http://kimmarieskorner.blogspot.com/

Victoria - http://victoriascraftyideas.blogspot.com/

Sonia - www.scraps4fun.com

Lisa - http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/ **THAT'S ME!**

Jennifer - http://kozfam5.blogspot.com/ **NEXT STOP**

Nicole - http://creationsbymommy.com/

Amy - http://amydesigns.blogspot.com/

Stacey - http://creatingacraftylife.blogspot.com/

Becky - http://beckscricards.blogspot.com/

Alina - http://neverstopscrapping.blogspot.com/

Haidee - http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope to see you back real soon!  Happy hoppin', and have a wonderful weekend!



Spring Fling Winner!!!

Well, it's Friday, so it's time to choose a winner of the Spring Fling Cricut Crawl blog candy.  Drumroll, please.....

And the winner is...

Katie O.!!!!

katieo said... 40

I love the way each flower has a different type of embellishment

I'll be e-mailing you, Katie, to get your mailing address.  Congrats!!! :o)

If you didn't win, no worries...you'll have another chance tomorrow during the 28 Candles Blog Hop I'm participating in.  I've got more goodies to share!  Yippee!  I hope you can make it. :o)



Celebrate the Occasion Challenge #9: Easter or Spring

***If you're looking for the Spring Fling Cricut Crawl post, click here. ***

It's time to Celebrate the Occasion!!!  This week, the theme of the CTO challege is Easter or Spring.  The catch is, your project must use a punch.  Here's what I came up with:

For this A2 sized card, I used Make-the-Cut software to cut some Lettering Delights SVG files.  The bunny and mushrooms came from the Good Luck Gnomes set, and the eggs came from the Peep set. I got the cloud from Create a Critter, and I punched the grass with my Martha Stewart grass punch.  Then I added some stitching lines, some Cuttlebug embossing (Pop Culture and Just My Type border sets), and lots of ink.  I believe the background paper came from the DCWV Citrus stack.  I hope you like my little card.  :o)

You should head on over to Celebrate the Occasion to see what the other Design Team members created.  Then, join in the fun and enter the challenge yourself.  I can't wait to see what you come up with!  :o)



Fantabulous Cricut Crawl: Spring Fling

Welcome to Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons and the fifth Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...Fantabulous Cricut's version of a blog hop! 

It's Spring Time, even though some places may not look like it :) and everyone at Fantabulous Cricut has decided to have a Spring Fling!   Each Design Team member will be featuring an original Spring project that includes Pink, Green and Yellow on it along with at least one Cricut cut.

If you've come from visiting Lisa C. at My Lil' Bits, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE.

Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration! There will be PRIZES along the way at some of our DT members' blogs, AND there will be a Grand Prize up for grabs at FCCB for one participant that submits a "Spring Fling" project at FCCB!

How fun is that?

I had so much fun creating my project for the crawl.  Here's what I came up with:

This little cutie is an A2 sized card.  All of the cuts came from Straight From the Nest, but my settings were wrong on my Cricut, or some of the pieces were too tiny, or something, so I had to rearrange and add to some of the flowers.  I think it still turned out to be so cute!  I added ribbon, buttons, a prima flower, brads, lots of ink, and a stamp from Hero Arts, and my little card was all done!  I hope you like it!

Okay, how about some Cricut Crawl CANDY???

I'm giving away a little collection of springy crafting goodness:  a set of ten 5x5" white cards with envelopes, a Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug embossing folder, some star brads, and some springy stickers.  If you'd like the chance to win these goodies, here's what you need to do:

1.  Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower.    Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win!  But, if you want extra chances, here's what you can do:

2.  For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link.  Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

3.  For another extra entry, post this giveaway on your blog and leave another comment with a link back to the post.  Also, don't forget your e-mail address.

That's it.  Please...only US mailing addresses.  I'll randomly choose a winner on Friday, April 15.    

Now it's your turn! Let's see your Spring Fling projects!  Make sure to include a Cricut cut somewhere on your project and the colors PINK, GREEN, and YELLOW!

Next stop...Maquel's blog, Paper Maine-iac. Go see what she has in store for you today... And when you're done, make sure to link up your project to FCCB's Fantabulous Cricut Crawl post to be entered into the contest!

Happy Crawling!



So THAT'S What's Been Weird on Facebook!

So, I've been noticing a lot lately that I haven't been seeing all of my friends' and family's status updates in facebook.  I see a few of my friends and some of the pages I "LIKE" over and over again, but other facebook friends have been MIA.  Also, the last 5 updates I've posted on my Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons facebook page have had hardly any comments or thumbs up.  You'd think, with 110 likers, that SOMEONE would have SOMETHING to say...

Then, this morning, this "event" was forwarded to me from one of my crafty friends.  Here's a big part of what it says:

"Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates in your newsfeed from the same people lately? Have you also noticed that when you post things like status messages, photos and links, the same circle of people are commenting and everyone else seems to be ignoring you?

Don't worry, everyone still loves you and nobody has intentionally blocked you. The problem is that a large chunk of your friend/fan list can't see anything you post and here's why:

The "New Facebook" has a newsfeed setting that by default is automatically set to show ONLY posts from people who you've recently interacted with or interacted the most with (which would be limited to the couple of weeks just before people started switching to the new profile). So in other words, for both business and personal pages, unless your friends/fans commented on one of your posts within those few weeks or vice versa - you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you!!

HERE'S THE FIX: On the homepage click the "Most Recent" title on the right of the Newsfeed, then click on the drop down arrow beside it and select "Edit Options", click on "Show Posts From" and change the setting to "All Of Your Friends and Pages" (you can also access the "Edit Options" link at the very bottom of the facebook homepage on the right) Note: Business pages do not have a newsfeed however page owners should adjust the settings on their personal accounts."

So, THAT's what's been up!  I followed the instructions, and now I can see everyone...my long lost cousins, high school and college friends, and all the crafty pages I like.  If you have facebook, I hope you'll go do this, too (especially if you are a Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons facebook page LIKER.  :o)  Also, spread the word...if you have a facebook page for your blog, not all of your fans are seeing your updates.

By the way...my parents are visiting us from the States this week and next week!  YAY!  We've been having a blast, traveling all sorts of places.  Just thought I'd share...

Thanks for stopping by today.  :o)



Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #54: April Showers

Happy Challenge Me Monday!  This week's challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is called April Showers...create a project with an umbrella or hat on it.  I had so much fun figuring out what to do for this challenge.  Here's what I came up with:

This card measures 5 inches square.  The little skunk came from Birthday Bash, and the boots and umbrella came from Create a Critter.  I tried to pick background paper that looks like it's raining.  I used a scalloped punch to punch the green paper, added a sentiment from My Pink Stamper's Even More Punny-Licious stamp set, some ribbon, and lots of white pen.

I hope you'll head over to Fantabulous Cricut to see what the other design team members created and join in the challenge yourself.  I can't wait to see what you create!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!



Whew!!! and Wow!!!

So, the Whew!!! is because I just finished making 72 robot cupcake toppers and wrappers for my first Etsy order.  How exciting!  Here's the post that shows what they look like. Needless to say, I've glued enough tiny antenna dots and little white eyes to keep me dreaming about them for a while!  ;o)

The Wow!!! is for 2 reasons...first, I'm just one away from 300 followers!  Wowza!  I remember, just a few months ago, I was excitedly watching as I got 33, 34, 35 followers.  It's hard to believe that almost 300 people actually want to see what I create.  Very exciting!  I'm sooooo thankful to all of my followers, and I love all of the wonderful comments you guys leave.  I was planning on having a giveaway when I reached 300 followers, but I have several blog hops coming up...all with a little blog candy...so I'll wait for another follower milestone for a fun giveaway to thank all of you for following.

The other Wow!!! is because I got another award!  Crazy!!!  Erin over at A Girl and Her Craft Box passed the Versatile Blogger award on to me.  How sweet!  I've already passed on this award, but I wanted to thank Erin...THANK YOU, ERIN!!!...and send you over to her blog.  She has some really cute projects, so I hope you'll go check them out!  :o)