Guest Designer: Dawn McVey and a GIVEAWAY!

Hi everyone! I am so excited to introduce you to this week's Guest Designer Dawn McVey!  Let's get to know Dawn a little better ...

Describe yourself in 3 words … happy, creative, content

My guilty pleasure is … hmmm ... The Bachelorette?  I have said for the last few seasons that I wasn’t watching any more (and didn’t) but totally got sucked in again this time around.  Ha.

You’ll never find me without … my iPhone!  It’s always close by.  I don’t know what I did before I had an iPhone ... I use it for so much!

You might be surprised to know that I … sing at church and used to sing with a 16-piece big band doing old jazz standards like music by Ella Fitzgerald! 

My least favorite chore is … cleaning my sink.  I have no idea why.  Haha.

I started paper-crafting in ... maybe 2005.  I started out making cards and friends and family started asking to buy them and eventually I started submitting my work to magazines and everything just grew from there.

My favorite thing about this hobby is ... the wonderful girls all around the world that I’ve connected with whether online or in real life.  It still amazes me sometimes!

If I were a Pebbles product I would be … the Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Flowers With Brads!  They’re just so colorful and fun! 

"I really wanted to use lots of different patterned papers on one card, and this type of layout lends itself to that idea beautifully!  By paying careful attention to the scale and colors of each paper, you can easily create a really eye-catching card, with lots of great colors and patterns all on the same card.  The flowers and sentiment were really just used as accents.  I think the patterned papers are the star of the show here!"

Shop Pebbles Country Picnic products here

Country Picnic Cobblestone (51244)
Country Picnic Vineyard (51250)
Country Picnic Greenhouse (51251)
Country Picnic Back Porch (51248)
Country Picnic Dimensional Flowers With Buttons (747172)
Country Picnic Dimensional Stickers (732101)
Hip Hip Hooray You’re Invited (51226)
Hip Hip Hooray Party Time (51225)
Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Stitched Circles (744290)

"For this card, I really just wanted to let those paper flowers shine and what better way to do that than to use several of them all together?!  They’re so cute and colorful and don’t need much else to create a really fun card ... I almost can’t decide if they look more like flowers or colorful fireworks!  A really neutral background was perfect for letting these flowers “pop”!"

Shop for Pebbles Hip Hip Hooray products here

Country Picnic Picket Fence (51241)
Country Picnic Clear Stamps (747171)
Hip Hip Hooray You’re Invited (51226)
Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Flowers With Brads (747165)
Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Pinwheels
Hip Hip Hooray Glitter Flag Banners (747163)

"There are lots of fun elements on this card and again this time, I went with a really neutral background so that all of the colorful bits and bobs could take center stage and not get lost on a busy background.  The Glitter Flag Banners were really fun to cut apart and use, peeking out from behind the flowers.  Also, what’s better than a dimensional flower?  A dimensional flower stacked on top of a larger dimensional flower!"

Shop for Pebbles Hip Hip Hooray products here

Country Picnic Terrace (51246)
Country Picnic Dimensional Stickers (732101)
Country Picnic Dimensional Flowers With Buttons (747172)
Country Picnic Masking Tape Stickers (732100)Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Stitched Circles (744290)
Hip Hip Hooray Candy Dots Sequins (44286)
Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Flowers With Brads (747165)
Hip Hip Hooray Glitter Flag Banners (747163)

"I adore the layered craft tags and couldn’t wait to use one on this card.  All of the layers here, really took shape around using that tag and topping the tag with that adorable little clothes pin was like the icing on the cake!  I should also mention how much I love the Back Porch patterned paper ... it works like a really great neutral since the ledger pattern is so subtle and yet it’s got such a great pop of color!"

Shop Pebbles Country Picnic products here

Country Picnic Back Porch (51248)
Country Picnic Courtyard (51242)
Country Picnic Greenhouse (51251)
Country Picnic Layered Craft Tag (747173)
Country Picnic Dimensional Stickers (732101)
Country Picnic Masking Tape Stickers (732100)
Hip Hip Hooray Clothes Pins (744287)
Hip Hip Hooray Candy Dots Sequins (44286)

WOW!  Thank you so much Dawn for creating so many amazing projects with Pebbles!  And now for a GIVEAWAY!  To enter simply leave a comment on this blog post telling us which of Dawn's projects was your favorite.  One lucky winner will be chosen at random to win a prize pack full of Pebbles goodies.  Submit your comments by Monday at midnight (EST).  I'll announce the winner Tuesday morning. Good luck!

Product Parade: Stamps

"I'm the first to admit I'm not the best stamper out there, but I do love adding it to my projects in small doses!  I used a few word stamps on my page, and for the banner with the repeating "Happy", I actually cut that stamp in half carefully so I just just use the happy, and not the "Birthday" too.  It didn't wreck either word and made it so much easier to just get the one word from the stamp." - Laura Craigie, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside From Me To You(PSSP12-51282)
Sunnyside Content (PSSP12-51284)
Sunnyside Bouncy (PSSP12-51286)
Sunnyside Clothes Pins (747185)
Sunnyside Masking Tape Stickers (732117)
Sunnyside Mini ABC Stickers (732114)
Sunny Side Corrugated ABC Stickers (732112)
Sunnyside Corrugated ABC Stickers (732111)
Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)
Country Picnic Clear Stamps (747171)
Hip Hip Hooray Clear Stamps (747170)
Hip Hip Hooray Stickers (732091)

"As soon as I learned I would be working with the fun & versatile Pebbles clear stamps, I knew exactly the technique I would use. I recently got to take a class where I was shown how to paint with spray/mist ink - which is very much like watercolor. The New Addition Boy and Girl stamps lent themselves perfectly to this technique.  For my kraft note cards I used the flower image from the New Addition Girl stamps. I painted with colors that are not baby-themed to show the versatility of these stamps. The flower image made a fun background. Sentiments from the new Sunnyside collection were a great addition.  I took a more baby-themed approach with the images from the New Addition Boy stamps, using the whale and star images for a new baby card and some gift enclosure envelopes. The 'welcome' and 'baby boy' sentiments (in my all-time favorite font) were from the same set."  - Valerie Mangan, Pebbles Design Team Member

New Addition Girl Stamps (747130)
New Addition Boy Stamps (747142
New Addition Boy Ribbon (780011)
New Addition Boy Dimensional Phrases & Icons Stickers (732065)
New Addition Boy Calendar (751151)
New Addition Boy Buttons (747005)
Fresh Goods Signage (751186)
Fresh Goods Come Again (751191)
Button Candy Dots White (744270)
Sunnyside From Me to You (751282)

Dear Pebbles

Good morning everyone!  Today we are featuring cards created by some of our design team members using their favorite Pebbles products.

"For today's Dear Pebbles assignment, I created two cards around sentiments from the Sunnyside "From Me To You" paper.  By cutting out the sentiment square and matting it, I was able to create a quick and easy focal point. Then, I added a few banners (from the same sheet) and a dimensional embellishment and these two, cute cards are ready to be sent!"  Ashley Stephens, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside Tickled Pink (751276)
Sunnyside From Me To You (751282)
Sunnyside 6x6 Paper Pad (751288)
Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)
Sunnyside Layered Paper Flowers (747184)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies (747186)

"I made this little card for my nephew's first birthday.   I mixed some Sunnyside, Hip Hip Hooray, and Fresh Goods to make the card.  I cut the cupcake with my Silhouette and layered it with some pattern paper and a doily. Stuck on a few of the Sequin Candy Dots.  I love that they just stick on.  Makes it so easy!  A quick and simple, yet cute card!"  - Mandie Pierce, Pebbles Design Team Member 

Shop for Pebbles Hip Hip Hooray products here 


Sunnyside 6x6 Paper Pad (751288)
Hip Hip Hooray Yippie (751230)
Hip Hip Hooray Woo Hoo (75136)
Hip Hip Hooray Stickers (732091)
Fresh Goods Mom & Pop (751194)
Sequin Candy Dots, Circle (744285)
Sequin Candy Dots, Square (744286)
Freedom Thickers, Red (53346)

How To Tuesday

 

"My current addiction is all about mini-albums - I just can not get enough of those lil pretties in all shapes and sizes. I really like these accordion minis because they are the perfect size for gifts and to use as decoration around the house."  - Anna Sigga, Pebbles Design Team Member

To create this mini-album you will need: 2 pieces of cardstock measuring 12" x 6", 10 pieces of patterned papers measuring 3 ¾ " x 5 ¾“, another 10 pieces of patterned papers measuring 3 ½“ x 5 ½” and embellishments.

Score the cardstock at 4” and again at 8” and fold in an accordion. Then adhere the two cardstock pieces together to create one accordion with five pages on each side.

Then adhere the large patterned paper (3 ¾” x 5 ¾”) to each page of the accordion and then adhere the smaller pieces (3 ½“ x 5 ½” ) on top of the ones you already adhered.

Decorate as you wish and add your fave photos.

Shop for Pebbles Hip Hip Hooray products here

Hip Hip Hooray ABC Stickers Pink Glitter (732089)
Hip Hip Hooray Embossed Stickers (732091)
Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Stitched Circles (744290)
Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Flowers Whit Brads (747165)
Hip Hip Hooray Twist Ties (747169)
Hip Hip Hooray Party Time (751225)
Hip Hip Hooray Surprise (751235)
Hip Hip Hooray Woo Hoo (751236)
Hip Hip Hooray Good Times (751228)
Hip Hip Hooray Confetti (7512133)
Hip Hip Hooray Let's Party (751227)
Hip Hip Hooray Cheers (751229)
Hip Hip Hooray Celebration (751231)

Mix & Match Monday

It's Monday again, which means we'll be mixing and matching some Pebbles products to show you just how well our collections can be used with one another.

"I haven’t made any little notecards in awhile and while I was looking through my Pebbles embellishments, the layered butterflies from the Sunnyside collection and the layered flowers from the Country Picnic collection caught my eye. The colours co-ordinate really nicely, so I thought they would look good on a pair of notecards together. I love being able to put together little cards for my friends in no time at all - the Pebbles collections make the process so much easier because they go so well together!”  - Stephanie Baxter, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside 6x6 Paper Pad (751288)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies (747186)
Country Picnic Layered Paper Flowers (747172)

"I thought the Sunnyside papers would work well with some of the Fresh Goods embellishments picking out the similar shades of navy blue, red and pink . The colors and patterns of these two lines went perfectly together on these everyday cards to give away."  - Pearl Liu, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside 6x6 paper pad (751288)
Sunnyside clothes Pins(747185)
Fresh Goods Border Stickers (732077)
Fresh Goods Dimensional Butterflies ( 747154)
Fresh Goods chips ( 744118)
Fresh Goods Toothpick Flags
White Glitter Candy Dots ( 744246)

More Summertime Projects with Valerie and Lynn

"What better way to make a page about summer fun than with the Sunnyside line? The rich color in this line is a perfect complement to my boardwalk night photo. The 6 x 6 pad made layering under my photo a snap without wasting an entire sheet of 12 x 12 paper and the smaller scale of those patterns added an element of depth. I cut apart one of the border stickers to make some dimensional flower elements and added several pennants cut from the From Me To You paper. Looking forward to making many more projects with this versatile line!"  - Valerie Mangan, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside ABC Stickers White (732112)
Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)
Sunnyside Mini ABC Stickers (732114)
Sunnyside 6 x 6 Paper Pad (751288)
Sunnyside Masking Tape Stickers (732117)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies (747186)
Sunnyside Happiness (751278)
Sunnyside From Me To You(751282)
Sunnyside Blissful (751280)

"This week I used one of my all time favorite Pebbles collections - Fresh Goods - to create a duo of summer themed cards.  I used my Silhouette and some fun 4x6 Project Life files to make quick work of my cards (I just resized the files to fit on a standard size card front).  The mini alphabet stickers are great for adding sentiments to both cards and scrapbook pages and the red color really makes them pop off my cards.  Happy Summer!"  - Lynn Ghahary, Pebbles Design Team Member

Fresh Goods Signage (751186)
Fresh Goods Window Display (751189)
Hip Hip Hooray Confetti (51233)
With Love Mini ABC Stickers (732087)

More Summertime projects with Wendy Sue and Mandie

"Some of my favorite summertime photos are the ones I’ve snapped while our little family has just been relaxing in the backyard on a warm summer evening - after the grass has been cut and the air is filled with that yummy scent, messy kid hair and faces, mismatched clothing, no cares in the world except to enjoy each other.  That’s what the photos on this page are – and they are some of my faves – my oldest & youngest just chilling together next to the pond … relaxing and enjoying each other.  I love the bright, bold colors from the Sunnyside collection and they just scream “summer” to me!"  - Wendy Sue Anderson, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside 6x6 Paper Pad (751288)
Sunnyside From Me To You (751282)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies (747186)
Sunnyside Mini ABC Stickers (732114)
Sunnyside Masking Tape Stickers (732117)
Sunnyside Corrugated ABC Stickers (732113)
Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)

"I LOVE the new Sunny Side line.  Everything about it ... the colors, the patterns.  It is a perfect fit for a summer layout. Here I used the 6x6 pad to cut out popsicles. For the title, I mixed  a rub on, die cut and corrugated alphas (aren't those adorable?!).    I love the way it turned out.  Mixing the fonts makes a fun & interesting look!"  - Mandie Pierce, Pebbles Design Team Member 

Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)
Sunnyside ABC Stickers (732113)
Sunnyside 6x6 Paper Pad (751288)
Sunnyside Masking Tape Stickers (732117)
Hello Duplicate Rub Ons (760257)
Surf Button Candy Dots (747114)

More Summertime projects with Kim and Sarah

“I really love the colors in our new Sunnyside collection. Especially the touches of yellow: they remind me of sunshine, lemonade, and SUMMER! I stitched the title for a little extra interest and used the kraft envelope to hide my journaling. The dimensional butterflies add that cute final touch.”  - Kim Kesti, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside Blossoms (751275)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies (747186)
Sunnyside 6 X 6 Pad (751288)
Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)
With Love Envelopes (747158)
Country Picnic ABC Stickers (32095)
Fresh Goods ABC Stickers (732075)
Jewel Candy Dots (747103)

"When I think of summer, I think of time at the beach and all the time we spend around the water. With younger kids, it's so much fun to check out the shells and schools of fish, which inspired these cards. I used a mix of lines and my die cut machine and had lots of fun!"  - Sarah Webb, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside Happiness (751278)
Sunnyside Blissful (751280)
Sunnyside Sprout (751281)
Sunnyside Sprout (751281)
Country Picnic Picket Fence (751241)
Country Picnic Patio (751245)
New Addition Little Prince (751161)
New Addition Cutie Pie (751154)
New Addition Mommy's Boy (751065)

More Summertime projects with Jill

First things first, I have a winner to announce from last week's "Sunnyside" giveaway. Thank you all so much for your comments. And the lucky winner is ...

Congratulations! Please email your full name and mailing information (including your phone number for shipping purposes) to pebblesincdt(at)gmail(dot)com and put "Sunnyside Winner" in the subject line.

"The girls have super cute green swimming suits this year so I decided to create a monochromatic green layout celebrating their first trip through the sprinkler! I pulled out green patterned papers from a variety of collections and added several green embellishments. The patterned papers were punched into larger and smaller hexagons. We're definitely enjoying summertime at our house!"  - Jill Cornell, Pebbles Design Team Member

Fresh Goods Freshly Picked (751193)
Welcome Christmas Merry Christmas (751175)
Welcome Christmas Santa's Workshop (751176)
Welcome Christmas Santa's List (751182)
Welcome Christmas Ribbon (780012)
Floral Lane With Love (751122)
Floral Lane Dimensional Stickers (732056)
Ever After Fairy Tale (751104)
Happy Go Lucky Glee (751082)
Country Picnic Masking Tape (732100)
Country Picnic ABC Stickers Spinach Corrugated (732095)
Country Picnic ABC Stickers Spinach Clear (732098)
Hip Hip Hooray Dimensional Flowers (747165)
Hip Hip Hooray Surprise (751235)

Theme: Summertime

The theme this week on the Pebbles blog is SUMMERTIME.  I've asked some of our design team members to create projects with a summer theme using their favorite Pebbles products.

"This summer although we moved 8000 miles away from our family and friends, we were still able to spend some quality time with them before flying off across the world!  My girls were able to reconnect with their cousins and have a good time doing what cousins do - get dirty and messy and laughing the entire time!  I thought these corrugated alphas were perfect for the "journaling" on this page. Great size and the bold colors are perfect for summer!" - Christa Paustenbaugh, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside Buds  (751279)
Sunnyside  (751280)
Sunnyside From Me To You  (751282)
Sunnyside Paper Pad  (751288)
Sunnyside White ABC Stickers  (732112)
Sunnyside Blue ABC Stickers  (732113)
Sunnyside Mini ABC Stickers  (732114)
Sunnyside Border Stickers  (732116)
Sunnyside Masking Tape Stickers  (732117)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies  (747186)
Countryside Pink ABC Stickers  (732094)

"Yay for summer! I am such a fan of warm weather! And at our house summer means it is time for fruits, vegetables, and flowers to start growing in the backyard! I won't take any credit for any of this, though. It is totally my husband's doing and he does a great job! This year he cut back a little bit and besides flowers is only growing blueberries, a variety of tomatoes, and peppers. For "Summer Week" I decided to do a layout about the fruits of his labor. The fun, new Sunnyside line went perfectly with some of the pictures I took from our backyard the other day. Since they coordinate so well, I mixed in the clear stickers from the Country Picnic line for the title. Thanks for looking!"  - Gretchen McElveen, Pebbles Design Team Member


Sunnyside Happiness (751278)
Sunnyside Buds (751279
Sunnyside Content (751284)
Sunnyside Blossoms (751275)
Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)
Country Picnic Raspberry ABC Stickers (732097)
Country Picnic Spinach ABC Stickers (732098)

More Sunnyside Projects with Lynn and Mel plus a GIVEAWAY!

"I absolutely ADORE the new Sunnyside collection.  The color combination is so much fun, especially the splash of dark navy paired with the brighter pinks and oranges.  I thought these photos of my niece Gia on Easter morning were perfect for this collection.  Banners are such a fun trend right now and the "From Me To You" paper is chock full of them.  I added several to my layout to house my title and dimensional butterfly embellishments."  - Lynn Ghahary, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside 6x6 Paper Pad (751288)
Sunnyside From Me To You (751282)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies (747186)
Sunnyside Mini ABC Stickers (732114)
Sunnyside Masking Tape Stickers (732117)
Country Picnic ABC Stickers (32095)

"I love the new Sunnyside collection, the bright and fun patterns are so easy to work with. My inspiration for this layout was the From Me To You sheet of paper. I love all the little quotes and sayings, I decided to use as many as possible on this layout, I added stitching for extra detail and foam dots for dimension. Hope you get to work with this fabulous collection." - Mel Blackburn, Pebbles Design Team Member

Sunnyside Blissful (751280)
Sunnyside Sprout (751281)
Sunnyside From Me To You (751282)
Sunnyside Blossoms (751275)
Sunnyside Border Stickers (732116)
Sunnyside ABC Stickers (732112)
Sunnyside Mini ABC Stickers (732114)
Sunnyside Clothes Pins (747185)
Sunnyside Dimensional Butterflies (747186)

And now for the giveaway!  Tell us what you think about the new Sunnyside collection and how you would use it on your next project.  Leave a comment on this blog post by next Monday at 11:59pm EST and we'll pick one person to win a Sunnyside prize pack.  We'll announce the winner on our blog on Tuesday.  Good Luck!