Vacation's over...

My sister has been and gone - boy, did that week go fast! We shopped and talked, ate and talked, enjoyed a few adult beverages and talked, shopped some more and talked some more..... I think you get the picture!

She's not a stamper, so there was no stamping done at all. This is a card I did for a challenge but I did it the weekend before she arrived and I don't remember which one. I think it was a sketch on the CPS blog, but I'm not sure. The paper is TAC and so are the images, apart from the wings which are Stampendous (I think). The glittery hearts came from the Target $1 spot originally but have been in my stash for a while.

Reading this post, it would appear I have the retention powers of an ameba. I will try to do better now that normal service, such as it is, has been resumed!

New Stamps from The Angel Company

This is one of the new sets which will be available in the new spring supplement coming soon from The Angel Company. How cute is she?

We were able to pre-order a preview bundle and although I didn't take advantage of the offer, my upline did and she kindly sent me some images. Very kind of her...... now I think I "need" this set, which I didn't before I saw them in real life.

You also get a sneek peak of my messy stamp room hiding in the background. Usually I edit it out, but today I didn't - no reason, I just didn't.

So you think it doesn't get cold in Florida?

Oh, it gets cold...... just not the "cold" those of you up north are thinking of. I realize there's not much pity around for me, but this is cccooollddd for us hot house Floridians. Almost record breaking cold, which is just typical, since my sister will be here from Scotland on Tuesday. With hopes of getting away from the cold - which it doesn't look like she will be doing. Ah, well at least it will be sunny and cold as opposed to grey and cold. We will just be forced to shop at the indoor malls. I can feel the pity pouring off of all of you as I type......

Friday Sketchers

It sort of sums up my life that I completed the Friday Sketchers challenge on Sunday...... that's okay, better late than never, right?

I used one of my favorite Angel Company images from the set "justdream" and the papers are also from TAC - the Mimi Collection.

I don't know if you can see it, but I used some Martha Stewart Snow Glitter at her feet. I was going for a cloud effect, but I think it was one of those inspirations that looked better in my head than on the paper.

I'm loving the challenges! It really makes me try different things and that's what this year is all about.

The Angel Company 50% sale

My order is in! (If you don't know what sale I am talking about, scroll down for details) There were a few sets on my wish list that are now on their way to my house...... at these prices, how could I resist? I got:

Glitter Goblins - love Halloween! Loved this set when it came out and resisted......

Seasonal Icons - how cute is this? I can think of lots of uses for this set. Such great value for money and that is always a good thing

Date Discs - another set I have had my eye on for a while now. Lots of potential here too, don't ya think?

Fore - DH is a golfer -'nuff said!! I don't complain too much though as we have an agreement. I don't ask how much he spends on golfing, and he don't ask how much I spend on stamping. Works for me

Spooktacular - yip, love Halloween. You can never have too many Halloween sets IMHO ........and today I learned how to add these animations to my blog posts. Bet you would never have guessed ?

The Sugar Bowl Challenge

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was so I could join in all the fun bloggers seem to have, including the blog challenges. This is my very first blog challenge, so it works very nicely that this is also the first sketch challenge over at The Sugar Bowl, the new challenge blog for Sugar Nellie stamps. These stamps come all the way from Scotland (have I mentioned that I do too?) and these little lovelies have been in my stash for quite some time now, so it's good to be challenged in to using them.

I can totally see why people get addicted to these sketch challenges! I was a little "challenged" to get all the different layers of paper on the card (may have cut them too big to begin with) so my finished product may be more in the spirit of the sketch rather than technically correct, but isn't inspiration the whole point of the challenges?

It's also a fantastic way to use up paper scraps. Most of what you see here is Basic Grey - I can never get myself to throw any of that delicious paper in the trash can......

Sugar Nellie is also the newest member company over on SCS. Check out their forum and find out all about them!

Scottish Thistle

As soon as I saw this Magnolia stamp, I knew she had to be mine! Magnolias are still fairly hard to find here in the US, so I dropped several heavy hints to my mum. Lo and behold, look what showed up for me in a little package just after Christmas! Since she was kind enough to listen to my hints, it seemed only fair that I make her a thank you card. I am very guilty of making cards and not sending them and it's one of my goals this year to get better about making it to the Post Office!

For those of you who don't know, the thistle is the emblem of Scotland and I really haven't seen too many rubber stamps featuring them. I'm pleased with the way the card turned out - not so pleased with the way the picture turned out. I have a ways to go with the photo editing skills it seems...

SPEC-TAC-ULAR SAVINGS!

Check this out! If you've ever wanted to try out The Angel Company, there's never been a better time than now!!


www.theangelcompany.net


www.theangelcompany.net

Happy New Year!

Over on Splitcoast Stampers, there is a thread all about 2009 Crafting Goals. Here are mine:
1. Use what I have until I have made a sizeable dent in the stash!,
2. Clean out my stamp room so I can find what I have in order to accomplish goal number 1. Sell, donate or trade excess stuff!
3. Make more cards rather than spending so much time looking for inspiration on SCS, on blogs and everywhere, then bookmark all the stuff I like, then never do anything with it.
4. Use those cards to support all those causes (cards for heroes, cards for cancer survivors, cards for sick children) that I always say I will and then never get around to.
5. Finish unmounting those stamp sets I am keeping
6. Make some Christmas cards every month so I actually send hand made cards to everyone next year
7. Learn how to scrapbook digitally.
8. After 3 half hearted attempts, actually work on a blog so i can join in all the cool blogger stuff!9. Squeeze in an extra couple of hours to each day in order to accomplish list.

This blog stuff is harder than it looks - and it's easy to get discouraged when you see all the cool sites out there and can't work out how to make your own look like that, but I am on a mission.