Angel Art Blog Hop

I know!! Two hops in one weekend... I didn't realize when I signed up that they would be so close together, but I made it.
This hop was put together by my fellow Angels and it's just perfect for this time of year - the theme was "Holiday Cards and Tags in 10 minutes or less" - who couldn't use some inspiration of that kind?

Because this is an Angel Company blog hop, most of the products youwill see used are from TAC. My first card uses the set Simple Joys and it truly couldn't have been simpler! It was inspired by a card I received in a recent swap which was made by Shirley Hotop. I tweaked it up a little, but the concept is all hers - thanks Shirley. I stamped the image with versamark, embossed it with gold and silver embossing powder, "stickled" it with icicle stickles and mounted it on a scrap of gold card (non TAC ) then mounted that on to Cuttlebug embossed cardstock. Simple!!



Easel cards are so cute and so easy! Under 10 mins, really :) I stamped the main image from the Vintage Santa set in Palette Burnt Umber on TAC Ivory cardstock, distressed it and ran some Brilliance Galaxy Gold around the edges. ( I didn't notice it had smudged in to the image until I edited it in Picasa..... oh, well!) He was mounted on TAC green cardstock. The paper is from TAC's Reece collection, the sentiment comes from the same Vintage Santa set and the ribbon is also TAC.



The last card was the easiest of all! It actually looks better IRL but regardless of how many pictures I took, it always came up looking a little blah. I'm sharing it anyway... The paper is from TAC's Amelia collection (one of my favorites!) and it uses one of the labels that is included. The sentiments are from two retired sets, JustBe 9another of my favorites) and Trendy Holiday Tags.

Melisa is next on the hop and I know you are in for a treat! She does some fabulous work and has been featured in the Angel Company catalog.

Here is the complete list of bloggers, just in case some of the links are broken.

Laurie W
Teresa
Jamie
Diane
Jen
Rita
Shirley
Julie
Kim
Laurie U
Kay
Melisa
Stacy

Halloween Tree

My weakness for all things Halloweeny (yes, Barb it is a word!) means I have an insane amount of Halloween paper, not to mention a collection of black and grey Prima flowers that never looked right on any card I made, so over the Labor Day weekend, I worked on this little project using the SCS instructions for Paper Trees and used up a ton of stuff. The original instructions are for Christmas decorations and I had made a couple of Christmas trees last year and still had some styrofoam balls. And, like any good hoarder, I also have a stash of things I picked up "that might be useful one day" which includes more than a few of those metal buckets from the Target dollar spot. Look closely and you will see that it was sponged with alcohol inks to make it black and spooky! Altering tin is one of the very many cool things you can do with thatstuff.
This week has just shot by and the only crafty things I have been working on are my swaps for my fellow Angels on Paper Wings, the angels only forum I am part of. So I can't show you them yet, obviously, but I am pleased with the way they turned out, although it took me forever to decide on what to make. I don't swap often because as soon as I sign up, I become paralyzed with the possibilities, futz around for days, waste tons of supplies and end up regretting the impulse that placed me in this position in the first place but there are so many cute sets in our fall supplement that I gave in.

Blogger ate my post....

..... I had a nice long post all done with pretty pictures and flyers all embedded and now it's gone and I can't get it to come back.

I have retyped the text but I can't get the pretty Angel Company flyers to come back up so I am giving up in disgust.

All the details on the wonderful promotions can be found here , including the Grab Bags, the April Promotion and the very cute Stamps Of The Month, but the biggest news of all ( I think) is that the 2009 discontinued list is out - and all the stamps on it are 25% off! I would link to it on the The Angel Company website, but I can't find it there - so, if anyone reading this would like a copy, please just shoot me an e-mail and I will happily send you a copy. There are tons and tons of stamps on it which makes me very excited about the new catalog but first, I must see which of the retiring stamps I need - because you know there will be some.....

Once Upon A Time

........there was a princess who lived in a castle in the clouds. Another sheet of DP from the Once Upon A Time stack which sat neglected and unloved in my paper stash until this weekend when this idea popped in to my head. I fiddled with the layour for much longer than you would believe, given that there are only two stamped images and one embellishment on there but I quite like how it came out.

And I know just the little princess to send it to.

The colored image is from Magnolia and the sentiments are from The Angel Company's "Yield To The Princess" set.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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!

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.

Pretty In Pink

Another adorable image from Hanglar & Stanglar - and since they are my latest obsession, I know it's far from the last. Does anyone else become addicted to things/images/sets? I have a compulsive nature I think. When I get new stamps, I have this need to use them for everything - until I get the next new set.

Anyhow, this bookmark was made for a young friend of mine who loves to read. I love to read - and I love to encourage other people, especially little, impressionable people with sponge like minds, to read. I bought her a book called "What the Dickens" by Gregory Macguire, who just happens to be the author of "Wicked" - and I just happen to have tickets to go see "Wicked" in May - see how that works? See how neatly that all came together? I also have a tendency to get sidetracked but I usually get back on track at some point during the conversation.

So the DP came from Micheals (I think) the image from H&S via Miss Dawn, the "e" is from TAC's AlphaGrunge (one of my favorite alpha's evah) and the butterfly was punched with my MS butterfly punch from some glittery paper sent to me by my aunt. I introduced her to stamping last year when she was visiting on vacation and she now has a collection of goodies that would rival some small stores. (or so I've heard - she lives in Scotland so I haven't seen it for myself - yet!) Compulsive, addictive personalities apparently run in the family but since she is very good about sending me surprise packages of "stuff" I'm not complaining too much.

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.

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

Yikes!

.........where did the last two months go? Starting this at the craziest time of the year probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had. How can it be Christmas already? Despite the fact that I started making Christmas cards in October, I still didn't get them all done in time to mail them out and therefore was forced to commit one of the biggest stamping crimes - I sent out store bought cards (gasps of horror!!) Here is one of the cards I did manage to make using The Angel Company's "Perky Penguin's" set. The sentiment is from a retired SU set whose name has slipped my mind. If you look closely, you will also see the liberal use of Stickles - what Christmas card is complete without them?