A Sneak Peek!

I am an avid blog reader - have been for a couple of years before I decided to join in and start my own. I've seen hundreds of posts with sneak peeks of new releases from all the DT members and now that I am posting a sneak peek of TAC's April Stamp of The Month, I feel like a real professional! This image is from the upcoming April Vintage Stamp of the Month and was sent to me by my upline, Chris, who is a true angel. In fact, she's been an Angel for so long that she has this image from the first time around and generously shared her and some others with me so I could be my own DT.

This little chick blows right by spring into summer, wouldn't you say? As soon as I saw her I knew just the paper to use too. It came from the DCWV pack I bought at Micheal's the other week. I love it when things come together.

Sugar Bowl Challenge # 6

Finally, I find the time for another challenge! One of the main reasons for starting this blog was to join in with all the fun challenges out there in blogland but time just seems to keep rushing by and I never get any done.
Because it was Mother's Day in the Uk, the Sugar Bowl challenge was to make a card for a mother. U.S. Mother's Day is still some time away but my mother lives on the other side of the ocean from me and she really likes getting my cards, so I will probably not wait to send it to her - although it would be nice to have it all taken care of so early. I wouldn't know how to deal with being so organized! And she wouldn't know how to deal with getting a card on time!
The image is Sugar Nellie, the paper is Basic Grey, the tag and the sentiment are TAC.

This little piggy.....

......... is just so happy it's spring.


Isn't he adorable? Just looking at him (or her. In my mind this image was totally a he until just now when I took a good look at the flowers around his neck - maybe not then! Or maybe just a pig who is very secure in himself)

Anyhow, as I was saying, just looking at him/her makes me smile. The other images in the set are equally adorable, so despite the fact I am trying to use what I have and not buy more, I gave in and added the set to the order. The set is called "S.W.A.K. and it was the vintage Stamp Of The Month for February. I also added this gorgeous set of papers called "Genevieve" The DP's were what really pushed me to join TAC to begin with actually. They remind me so much of Basic Grey paper, which is another of my favorite things.

I'm pretty happy it's spring too. This is one of the best times of the year to live in Florida - beautiful sunny days with none of the life draining humidity. It's so pretty outside today - I believe a visit to the local nursery is in order. All the money I saved on not buying stamps can be spent on buying new plants for my yard!

Oceans 11 Challenge # 3

This weeks challenge was set by Dell. She wanted us to showcase our dry embossing skills. Not such a head scratcher for me this week because the Cuttlebug is one of my favorite tools and I have been so inspired by the beautiful work done by Sue Nelson, this was just the push I needed to put it all together. If you haven't seen Sue's work, do yourself a favor and visit her card gallery at Heart Prints . Fair warning though...... if you don't currently own a Cuttlebug and you don't want to "need" one, don't look!!

Coffee Break

At the beginning of the year, I resolved to use what I had in my craft stash instead of constantly adding to it. And for the most part, I've done pretty well. I slipped a little when The Angel Company had the 50% off sale, and then again when the new supplement came out, and then I bought some Copic markers from Oozak just before the prices went up (but technically I saved money, so that doesn't count) Having absolutely NO willpower to resist, the only way I can do this is not to look. Not to look online and certainly not to go browsing around LSS's, M's or HL. Because if I do that, all would be lost... see the paper to the left?

I was lured into Micheals last week, spurred on by the possibility, based on the rumour, that some stores had begun to carry Tim Holtz products. I am in awe of Tim Holtz - he is everything I aspire to be (and by that I mean a fabulous, creative, vintage, grunge genius, rather than a cute man, obviously) so between that and the 40% off coupon that appeared in my inbox, what was a girl to do?

As you can see resistance was futile. Not only did I find the Tim Holtz products, several of which are now cozily in their new home in my craft room, but this stash of paper from DCWV, called Nana's Kitchen. It is glittery and gorgeous and the last thing I need is more paper but how could I resist?
And it goes just perfectly with the stamp I talked about in the Keurig post, so I dug it out and created this card. It's kind of hard to see, but there is a pocket on the left hand side of the interior (which the little cutie is stuck to) that would just be perfect for a Starbucks gift card.

I like the card, but I'm not going back to Micheals (this week anyway)

The stamp is Hanglar and Stangler and the coffee ring and the sentiments are by Inkadinkadoo.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend - thanks for stopping by!

Ocean's 11 Challenge #2

In the interests of full disclosure I'm going to admit I don't love this card. I'm not even sure I like it. I had a vision in my head that just didn't come together on the card which is particularly annoying since I was going to impress my blogging buddies from Ocean's 11 by posting a card that met two challenges.
Chirleen set the first challenge which was to create a card with a 3D element. As soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to incorporate the Pinwheel Paper Posies that are featured in TAC's Serendipity catalog - and along came the vision of the crazy flower garden, complete with 3D grass and butterflies. Only I didn't get it finished in time. Which turned out not to be a bad thing because Elizabeth's challenge for this week was to use sky in a card. And what's a flower garden without a sky? So one card meets two challenges which brings me up to speed with by challenges, but I still don't love the card. But I did meet the challenge this time on time and that's a good thing.
Check out the other challenge cards from Ocean's 11 - all the links are on the right. We have some amazingly talented ladies in this group, you are in for a treat!

With enough caffeine, I could rule the world....

I have a stamp that says this (Stampendous, I think) and it's a very true statement. When I came to live in the US, many moons ago, I didn't like coffee much. As a born and bred Scot, I was accustomed to endless cups of tea. The Scots are a nation of tea drinkers and we have it down to an art form.


However as the years passed, for many reasons, including the shocking lack of decent tea available in eateries in the US - tea should only be made with boiling water, and should actually have some color to it - it shouldn't look and taste like dishwater. Yes, I feel very strongly about this and don't think I am unreasonable - thousands of Scots can't be wrong!!- and the discovery I could drink bad coffee with a far better grace than I could bad tea, I gave in and turned in to a coffee drinker and then graduated in to what can only be described as a coffee snob.


I am very particular about the coffee I drink at home and coveted one of those fancy grind and brew models for about 6 months before I found one on sale for a price I could deal with (a cheap coffee snob is a hard thing to be!) only to find out I hated it! It never occured to me I would have to clean it out every time. I've had it for almost two years now, disliking it, but determined to get my money's worth from it when to my delight, last week, it started to make very strange noises during the grinding part. Not the usual plane taking off loud grinding noises, but more of a "something is going wrong with this" loud grinding noise. I seized upon this as an excuse to get the latest machine I have been coveting all because of this thread over on SCS.

And so I have my Keurig! Kohls had it on sale (although I am deeply suspicious of Kohls "sales", but that is a topic for another day) plus I had a 30% off coupon, so what's a girl to do? I have to say, it totally lives up to it's hype. I'm loving it!! Happily buzzed, working my way through the sampler pack that came with it and trying to decide which other brands and flavors to try, on Big Cat Coffee, the site which was also recommended by those in the know. Life is good!

The Angel Company March Specials

In the mood for new spring sets? Look at this! Are these not adorable? I am very tempted by this special...




If you have time, check out The Angel Company website and click on the "dowload" button for the most adorable place cards featuring the duckie from this set. Too cute - and perfect for Easter. While you are there, click on the blinkie for a chance to win this set! Free is always good, right?

Every month, The Angel Company features a Stamp Of The Month and they recently added a Vintage Stamp of The Month. What does it say about me that I find I prefer the vintage sets? Look at this gorgeousness!




And here is the regular Stamp Of The Month


I'm currently waiting (not so patiently!) for my first order from the Spring supplement (Serendipity) There is nothing like the smell of new rubbah.... or new papah....or new ribbon....or really any new stamping thing.

Pink and Fabulous!

You know how some days you sit down to stamp and nothing comes out right? The mojo seems to have deserted you and the trash can is filling up with your precious card and paper? I have lots of those days and they are very frustrating, but today everything just came together in the best possible way! Before I found unmounted stamps, I spent 5 very happy years as a demo for Stampin' Up. This was one of the very last sets I ordered from them as a demo - I just loved the sentiment! And what could be more fabulous than one of my favorite color combinations - pink and black? I also love polka dot ribbon and sparkle and although you can't see it very well, there is sparkle on every petal of this fabulous flower. The whole card just makes me feel good and I hope that feeling will pass right along when I send it.