Be Bubbly!

Stamping Bella holds a very special place in my heart because it was these little ladies that finally tipped me over the edge in to the unmounted stamp world - and oh, the places I've gone since!
Back then, the thought of unmounted stamps scared me for some unfathomable reason but because of the irresistible cuteness of da Bellas I put one toe in, then another, then my whole foot and now I am the proud owner of mounted rubber, unmounted rubber, clear stamps, digital stamps - you name it, if the image calls to me, I own it. A proud equal opportunity stamper
The image is a Bella, the sentiment from a retired TAC set called "JustBE"

Inspiration Avenue

I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of TAC's new Fall supplement which they have called "Inspiration Avenue" because there has been a lot of chatter about it over on Paper Wings, which is a forum for Angels. Mine arrived over the weekend and I have to say I'm very impressed. There are lots of cool new sets (42 new sets to be exact) and I have generated a fairly lengthy wishlist

I also like that they have included instructions for making some really neat seasonal projects. There is an ornament box that is just adorable and the template for it is going to be available from The Angel Company website as a free download. I've honestly been in two minds whether to continue my demoship with TAC but if this is a sample of the direction the company is taking , I think I will hang on in there for another wee while.

Here are a couple of sneak peeks for you- it goes live for ordering from on Sept 1st.









How cute is that Christmas set? And see the instructions for the Christmas Trio of Treats?

I'm also loving the tea set - it's on the wish list.... which will no doubt be tweaked and edited a couple of times before the order gets placed next week

Anticipation of new rubbah is almost as good as the real thing, no?

Pretty as a princess

I think I've mentioned my fondness for the Gorjuss girls once or twice before... I love them all, but this little Miss Attitude is one of my very favorites. I thought she went perfectly with the sentiment from TAC's "Yield To The Princess" set.
The DP is from Basic Gray's "Sultry" set. My addiction to that paper is also well documented .......

I finished it off with a butterfly from my MS punch and a tiny bit o' bling. I found these little sparklies at Michaels and I believe they were intended to decorate hair accessories but repurpose very nicely wherever you want to add a wee sparkle!

Digital Stamps

A couple of weeks ago there was a thread on SCS about digital stamping which was very interesting. I am very much a" live and let live" kind of person and I was quite surprised by the passion this subject stirred up. I guess, for me, there are subjects much more worthy of getting worked up about than whether a digital image should or should not be called a stamp. I'm glad it came up though because if it hadn't I would never have found the work of Mo Manning who is the illustrator of the digital image used on this card. Next time, I think I will size her down a little, but I just love this image !
She was printed on WalMart GP cardstock, using my HP deskjet, then colored with Copics. The background paper is the (sadly) discontinued Khalamat line from TAC

Blog Awards

I'm still kind of new to this whole blogging adventure, still feeling my way around Blogger and all its many moods, and still more likely to blame myself than gremlins when I can't get things to do what I want them to! I was very lucky to find a group of blogging buddies early in the journey - the lovely ladies of Surfin' Oceans 11, all of whom are listed on my blog roll and all of whom have been invaluable allies in helping me to figure some of this stuff out.
A couple of weeks ago, Holly gave me my first blog award but I didn't know how to "accept" it, so she helped me out with that too!Thanks, Holly!

Then I got an award from Kathy:
And then I got one from Siobhan

Thanks so much for thinking of me, girls and thanks for taking the time to explain how to display them. Getting these have made me feel like a real blogger!!
There were directions and conditions that came along with each award, such as passing them on to others but it has taken me so long to work out how to actually do this that I am just going to promise to do better if there is a next time - and hope that I won't have forgotten how to do it if and when that day comes.

CHA Orlando

I didn't go to CHA even although I live less than 3 hours from the convention center in Orlando. I bought a Circut Expression instead, reasoning that I would spend at least that much, if not more, at CHA because when it comes to papercrafting, I have NO willpower. And from what I have read on various blogs, I didn't miss too much apart from crowds, disorganization and no parking spaces. Seems like the organizers of this event seriously underestimated the enthusiasm of crafters although I'm wondering if all the pre-registrations didn't give them at least a small clue as to the numbers who were attending...
I did miss out on the chance to meet various stamping people who I only know from the internet but I'm actually not too sad about that either. There is something a little weird about feeling like you know people through their online personalities - especially when those people don't know you back. Like don't we all think we know Daven from SCS? Or Jen Balcer? Or Tim Holtz? (yes I know he wasn't there for the open portion of the event but you get my drift, right?) We've seen their pictures, got to "know" them through forum posts and blogs, but I don't really know any of them and for them to suddenly morph in to real people might be too much for me... and if that makes me weird, I'm okay with that too.
Tell you one thing though - that Basic Grey "Eerie" paper has my name all over it. Halloween anyone?

Gorjuss Girls All In A Row.....

Once again the weekend rushed by in a blur, but I did manage to squeeze in some crafting time, a lot of which was dedicated to trying to master my new Cricut Expression. Maybe it's just me, but there is quite a learning curve to that machine - and my trash can is bearing witness to it. I needed to do some coloring to relax! I'm a big fan of the Gorjuss girl range from Sugar Nellie and I'm hoping they bring out some Halloween or Christmas girls. All the above cards were colored with Copic pens and various papers, (Stampin' Up and Basic Gray) were used on TAC Kraft cardstock.