Prairie Paper & Ink

Hello Pumpkin

I went a little crazy about 2 weeks ago and placed 2 online orders - one from Stamping Bella and one from A Muse. Funny thing tho is pretty much everything I ordered from A Muse was to "compliment" the Bellas and whatnot I ordered.

I have really started to delve into unmounted only stamps (way cheaper and takes up less space!) but there are a couple of exceptions to my "UM only" rule - and A Muse stamps are one of them b/c I actually USE the stamps and use them a lot!

Anywho it was pretty funny that BOTH orders arrived at the same time - so I was able to play right away!! And here is the first thing I made:

I just LOVE trickortreatabella - I don't know what it is but I ADORE all things Halloween. We don't really celebrate Halloween, and if I sent out a Halloween card to any of my friends or family they'd think I was a nut - but I make them anyway LOL!

I stamped the bella and used my Copics to color her in. I masked her feet (tutorial on that here) and stamped an A Muse oval (did you see they now have an oval clear set?? I got that with my order - all the ovals in the set are different from the wood-mounted ones (all of which I have) so it's definitely a good one to have!) to "ground" her.

The sentiment is from A Muse as well (see? it's PERFECT for this Bella!).

Even in this picture it's hard to tell but I added Sunshiney Yellow fun flock to her pumpkin suit (using my glue pen), and glazed both the pumpkin she's holding and her boots with my Sakura clear glaze pen.

I used the CuttleBug Spider Web embossing folder on the black CS (it's a thicker textured CS so it cracked a bit when it was embossed (a light spritz of water could have prevented it but I wanted it like that) which just looked cool in my opinion!).

The patterned paper, textured cardstock cardbase, and the mat for the main image are all from the KI Haunted Line. The ribbon is May Arts textured, and I finished off the card with a few Grape Juice baubles from Stamping Bella and that was it!

Question About My Sets

I've had a few people contacting me about my stamp sets wanting to know if they're clear/rubber/unmounted etc etc and I thought it'd be best if I post that info here!

My sets (along with all CC Designs stamps as they're all made by the same person!) are deeply etched pink/red rubber and come on thin cling cushion. They need to be cut out when they arrive (I recommend Tim Holtz Tonic scissors - they cut through rubber like buttah!!) - and come already stored in a CD tin. The stamps fit on both sides of the tin (as there are a LOT of them!).

If you're curious about block sizes needed I am mostly using the 2.5" round acrylic block and the 3.5" block (I really like these blocks as they have the gridlines actually etched into them so they'll never rub off plus even the largest one at 4.25" is comfortable to hold!). The little block that comes in this set is also useful for the small sentiment stamps - but I've had no problem stamping with the 2.5" round block and small stamps.

The largest image in the Amy'S Boutique set is the dress that is about 2.5"x1 3/8" (along the bottom of the dress) and the smallest being the panties that are 7/8"x1/2".

I hope that answers any questions! If you have one that isn't addressed here you can post it in the comment section of this post and I can edit this to answer it! :)

"Can you use the Creative Hot Knife to cut out the stamps?"

You could - honestly I don't use mine for that though. I use my knife for stamps that are JUST rubber and are already trimmed (like the Bellas) that I put on EZmount. I then use the knife to cut the EZmount around the image as it's FAST, PRECISE and WAAAAYYY less sticky than using scissors!

The hot knife CAN cut through rubber - but I find it takes a lot more effort and time to do it that way so I prefer just using a good pair of scissors (like the pair mentioned above) and save my knife for cutting EZmount.

More questions:

Does the stamp image show on the smooth side that is placed onto the acrylic stamping block?

No there aren't any images on the actual foam. You don't really need it though (at least I never have) if you've trimmed your stamps well it's pretty easy to see exactly where the image will be when stamped - if you look above you can see how closely I trim my stamps - right next to the lines without undercutting the foam). 

My acrylic stamping blocks do not have gridlines - where did you purchase your gridline acrylic blocks?

I got most of mine through AllThatScraps - the ProvoCraft set is gridlined (those lines are just "painted" on the blocks - so they can wear off after a lot of use (I've had mine for years and for the longest time they were the ONLY blocks I had - so they've been used a LOT - and some of the lines just along the edges are starting the wear off) - but they are a great "starter" set at a good price), and the round blocks have etched gridlines (so they won't ever wear off).

There is also this set that has a gridline block (I don't know if it's etched or painted - I don't have this set yet but I may get it as it had some good sized blocks!).

Friday Sketch! #28

Sorry I know I missed posting last week's sketch - I didn't really forget but I was so excited over showing off my new stamp sets that I decided to skip last week's sketch and move on to this weeks!

Funny thing tho the card I posted last week is the layout I'm using for this sketch challenge. I really liked how it turned out so I made it into a sketch and made another sample (yes using my stamps again - but I promise I will be showing lots of other stamp goodness - I've been playing around with my Bella stamps and CC Designs and who knows what else so I'll have lots to share over the next few days!!)

Anywho here is the card:

The only thing I did differently with the actual sketch is make this a 4.25" square card.

I used Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments, and patterned paper from SEI's Poppy 6x6 pack. The textured ruby colored cardstock is also from the paper pack.

The flip flops were stamped onto the patterned paper then cut out and adhered over the same image stamped onto white cardstock. I used a black glaze pen on then to gloss them up a bit and blinged them out with an A Muse twinkle sticker.

The sentiment was stamped onto the CS (since it's textured I had to use a detailed black Copic multiliner to fill in the little spots that were missing - took 2 seconds).

Fun tidbit about the Poppy papers - a lot of them have metallic shimmers on them (like the one used for the flip flops) - VERY cool in real life!!

I used my sewing machine to add a bit of zig zag stitching (was able to get some black thread yesterday!), then added some ribbon, rounded the top corners of the patterned paper and that was it!!

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Here's the sketch:

If you upload your card using this sketch to any public galleries please use the keyword AMYRS37 to make it easier to find.

And don't forget to link directly to your creation in the comment section of this post so that I can see it too! (please don't use just a general link to your blog/gallery - if you've posted several times since then I have to search to find the right post!)

Also if you want me to link to your card in next week's sketch post you have to have it done and linked to before next Friday - other than that there's no time limits at all. I am just happy that people play along!! It's fun seeing what all of you come up with :o)

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And here's links to all the peeps that participated in the last challenge! (Friday Sketch! #27) Thanks for playing ladies!!

Amy G's Card

Amber's Card

Rachel's Scrapbook Page

Linda's Card

Tammy's Card

Tina's Card

Jenny's Card

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OK I'm off and running. Veronica's in school today and I have a To-Do list as long as my arm (maybe longer) of things that HAVE to get done this weekend - hopefully I can squeeze in some stamping time while I'm at it!! :o)

Wednesday Challenge - Circle Inchies

OK so I have FINALLY participated in one of the AllThatScraps DT weekly challenges. Jen always comes up with a new challenge each week, and I post all the samples on the ATS blog - but I haven't yet had the chance to make something myself! Well I did today (and we will ignore the fact that I am HOURS late posting the actual challenge LOL - I'll be posting it on the ATS blog right after I'm done this post!).

SO here's my card:

I had to use stamps from my two new sets of course - mainly the SHOES!!

I LOVE shoes. If I could afford it I would have a room of just shoes (mmmmmm heaven) but in reality I can't afford it.

I have several pairs but the majority are form WalMart (love finding a sale and getting 3 pairs of shoes for like $50!!). Some day my dream is to own one pair of Manolo Blahniks (and at an average of $500 and up for ONE pair it is definitely a DREAM *grin*) - they have some beautiful shoes (tho the ones on their site right now are just...well.....different....).

OK enough about that - on to the card.

I stamped the 2 different shoes from Amy's Boutique onto patterned paper (all papers on this card are from Basic Grey's Two Scoops 6x6 pack - I gotta say it feels good to be actually USING these packs now that I have these stamps!! They've been neglected for far too long) and cut them out.

Technically I cheated as I used a 1 1/8" circle punch on the white cardstock when it should have been 1" - but the images fit better with that extra 1/8" :o)

I used Angel Wings Shimmerz on the shoes - I applied it with a small watercolor brush. It's the first time I've used it (and the only one I have - there are a bunch of colors available tho here) and I do like the effect!

I used my sewing machine to add the zig-zag stitch (I was sorely tempted to just use the brown thread but knew it wouldn't look right on this card - so I switched to the white. Black would have looked REALLY sharp but I don't have black thread! Hafta remember to get a spool of that too. If you're going to sew on cards you really should have a spool each of white, brown and black thread and pretty much stick to that. Any other colors are really unnecessary in my opinion.)

The sentiment is from Boutique Sentiments - I stamped it onto white CS then punched it out with my Stampin' Up! Key Tag Punch, highlighted the "every" with a Copic marker then adhered it to the card.

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Before I head over to the ATS blog I leave y'all with snippets of some more cards the DT made with my sets (click on their names to see their blog posts with the full cards!):

Made by Christina

Made by Lesa

Made by Dawn

Shameless Promotion for a Friend

Have any of you been keeping up with the JustRite Stampers Blog and the big contest that's been going on? Well the finals were announced yesterday and my bud Julie (y'all MUST be reading her blog - Paper Pleasing Ideas) is a finalist!!! I am SO proud of her - her project rocks and I am really hoping she'll win b/c she deserves it! (and she's gonna KILL me when she sees this post - she wouldn't ask me and would prolly say not to - but I'm doing it anyway (sticks tongue out at Julie))

You can check out all the finalists and vote for your favorite HERE.

You know I really need to pull out my set of the JustRite stamps and make something with them. I've had the starter kit for a while now and just haven't had the time. Plus I feel totally intimidated as I've seen all these FABULOUS projects (like this one - I so need to make one like this for myself, and this one - LOVE it!) and haven't yet come up with anything out of the norm.........................will hafta think on this one for a bit.

Anywho make sure y'all head over to the JustRite blog and don't forget to vote!!

Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments

Here they are everyone!!:

The images are rather blurry (I just copied and pasted this from the ATS blog post where all the sets that are being released in a few hours are posted) - but y'all get the idea.

My first 2 stamp sets!! The party starts in 1/2 and hour and the sets will be available for sale (they're being sold individually AND as a set - if you get the set you save a couple $$) tonight at 10pm est over at All That Scraps!

EDITED TO ADD: They're UP!!!! You can now buy them HERE <------click!!!

Tonight's the Night!!

TONIGHT (Sept 9th) at 8pm EST the release party starts over on the AllThatScraps forum. Then at 10pm EST my stamps (along with CC Designs 3 Halloween sets!) will be released!! YAY!!!

Of course I couldn't not post another sample (and I think this one will make several peeps happy):

There were LOTS of comments about masculine images - well I did include a couple in the set - this shirt and tie, the boxers you can see in this post, and there's a pair of shoes for guys too *wink*

The Happy Father's Day sentiment is from the Boutique Senitments set :o)

I used all Basic Grey Boxer papers for this card (I love, I mean LOVE these papers - the colors and the patterns and just everything about them screams MASCULINE!!!!) - stamped the shirt on the one paper, cut it out, then stamped the tie (perfectly sized to fit the shirt!) on the other pattern then cut it out and adhered it to the shirt.

The hanger was stamped onto the paper, colored with a Copic marker then I attached the shirt with foam dimensionals.

I used my sewing machine to stitch on the mat for the main image and to stitch the patterned paper to the card bases.

*NOTE: You all might have noticed that I've been using the same thread (loving the brown!) and the same zig-zag stitch on my cards lately. I find it makes it a LOT faster when using a zig-zag stitch as it's not as noticeable if you're not perfectly straight. On a card like this it only took a few minutes to add the stitching.

I finished off the card with a bit of ribbon and some gold brads and that was it!

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Of course I also must show more samples the DT made (click on their names to see the full cards!):

Made by Crystal

Made by Christina

Made by Cyndi

Made by Lesa

Made by Jen

 

WINNER!!!!

WOW!! There were 450 comments on my "I Finally Did It!!!!" post - I am awed and so pleased with all the congrats and well-wishes from all of you. I read every single comment (I read every comment I get regardless that I get on my blog!) and they all meant so much to me! Thank you!!!

So random.org spit out a number for me:

Can you see that? When I sniped it from the webpage the file is teeny so it's rather blurry - but it says #300 - soooo I counted down through all the comments (took a while!!) and found #300:

CONGRATS Charlene H!!! You will be receiving both Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments for Free! Please e-mail me (amyrysavyAThotmailDOTcom ---- I have to type it that way otherwise I get a bunch of spammers e-mailing me - just substitute the @ and . in the right spots) your mailing info and I get the stamps sent out to you ASAP!

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Don't forget the release party is TOMORROW (I had the times and whatnot screwed up earlier but they've been edited and it's all good now) Sept 9 at 8pm EST on the ATS forum and the stamps are being released at 10pm EST tomorrow Sept 9th!! *bouncin*

I'm headed off to bed - still having back issues and it's making it really hard to sit for any length of time. Good night everyone!

Quick Reminder

Just wanted to let y'all know that I will be drawing the name from my "I Finally Did It!!" <----click!! post tonight at 10pm EST via random.org. The winner will receive both my Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments stamp sets!!

Also only one comment per person on that post to make it fair for everyone! Good luck! *grin*

Bittersweet and More Sneak Peeks

Well the announcement has been officially made. Nichole posted it on her blog this morning - I've resigned from the Papertrey Design Team and will be working exclusively now with All That Scraps as Creative Director, DT Coordinator and now Stamp Illustrator of my own line - AmyR Stamps. It was really difficult having to leave the team but I am sure that things can only go up from here and I am so excited to embark on my stamp design journey!! I wish all the best to Papertrey and their team - there are a lot of really talented members with them and each and every month they knock it out of the park and I am positive they'll continue to do so!

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I have a LOT to share today! First off is a card I made using CC Designs' Spooky Spooky Spooky and Spooky Scene sets (being released tomorrow at ATS as well):

Aren't they the cutest characters??

I used Copics to color in Vampire Teddy and the bat, then cut them out and covered parts of them with Black Diamond Stickles.

The "moon" image is from the Spooky Scene set - I stamped it onto the CS with white pigment ink then stamped the sentiment from Spooky Spooky Spooky in pigment ink as well.

The patterned paper (including the double sided patterned CS that makes up the card base) is from KI Memories Haunted Collection. I used Stampin' Up!'s Spiral Punch on the card base.

For acessories I used more May Arts Textured ribbon, and Sugar Coated DoodleBug brads.

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And of course here is another sample using Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments, and patterned paper from Basic Grey's Sugared patterned paper pack.

I stamped the hanger onto a piece of patterned paper, then colored it in with Copic markers. I then stamped the dress twice onto two different papers, cut out the full dress from the floral paper then just the band from the whitish paper.

I used my sewing machine (brown thread still! I REALLY like the look of it compared to white thread) to sew around the main piece and the card base, then added some May Arts ribbon.

The sentiment was stamped onto CS then punched out with my Marvy Scalloped Heart punch, and I sponged the edges with Palette Giverny Green ink before attaching it to the card.

The little gold embellishments are from Stamping Bella.

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Now I have a BUNCH of DT Sneak Peeks to share with y'all using my two sets - click on their names next to their pictures to go to their blog posts to see the full image and get the info:

Made by Inge

Made by Diane

Made by Dawn

Made by Lauren

Made by Julie

Made by Linda

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Whew! OK that's it for now. This post took WAAAYYYY longer than I had planned (should have gone up early this morning, but with getting Veronica ready for school, running errands, doing a set of nails and everything else....) but now it's DONE!

Don't forget the release party over on the ATS forum TOMORROW at 8pm EST!! Then the stamps are released tomorrow Sept 9th (at 10pm EST)!!! *happy dance*!!!!

 

Another Sample

Thank you all SO much for your kind words and support for my venture into stamp designing!! I have been reading each and every comment - I am so glad y'all are liking what you've seen so far!

Here is another sample I created using images from Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments (available Sept 9th from All That Scraps)

I drew a line onto the white cardstock with a black Copic Multiliner, stamped the boxers, cami, bra and panties just under it, then drew in little "clothespins" with the Multiliner.

The images were all paper pieced using papers from the Dill Blossom SEI pad (another thing I am excited about as I have a TON of 6x6 patterned paper packs that I don't use often enough - and these stamps are perfect for them! *grin*), and I colored around them with my Cool Shadow Copic marker.

In this detail shot you can see the little "frills" that are on the cami, bra and panties - when cutting out the images that are stamped on the patterned paper I don't bother cutting out the frills - I just color those in before adhering the patterned paper over the image. Quick and easy :)

The sentiment was punched out with Stampin' Up!'s Word Window punch. The ribbon (I can't stop using May Arts Texture ribbons - I seem to be reaching for them every time I create something....) was tied on to one of SU's mini Library clips (got those LAST YEAR in the Holiday Mini and this is the first time I've ever used them) with a piece of string.

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I want to share some samples the other members of the ATS team have come up with (it feels SO weird to see other people using my images - I nearly bounced off my chair with excitement LOL!!) - click on their names to be taken to their blog posts to see the full image:

Made by Renee

Made by Cathy

Made by Kim

Made by Jeanette

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I will have more Design Team samples to share with my next post (along with another of my own) PLUS I want to share samples using Christines sets - you can see some of the sneak peeks HERE on the ATS blog (plus if you leave a comment on the ATS blog sneak peek posts you're entered in to win the new sets!).

Stay tuned!!

I Finally Did It!!!!!

<-------That's right!!!!!!! *happy dance*

On Sept 9th CC Designs is releasing my FIRST TWO STAMP SETS!!!!!! They are called Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments (y'all will get to see sneak peeks starting today and leading up to the release, then the full sets on the 9th!)

This has been a looooooonnnnnggggg time coming. I actually drew most of the images over a year and a half ago, and they've had a long journey since then. After the plan to release them with another company fell through I was going to scrap the entire idea of EVER designing my own stamps - then Christine asked me if I'd ever consider designing my own stamps (not knowing I had several images finished and a whole concept in place) and releasing them via CC Designs and All That Scraps.

It's all taken off since then and my first two "babies" are finally DONE and rubberized (just making up words here as I go along) and will be available for sale on the 9th! Yippee!!!

HUGE thanks to my bud Julie for creating my fabulous logo (PINK of course!!) and making watermarks not only for me but for the rest of the ATS team to use. I can draw but I can't do computer stuff like that to save my life.......

OK on to my samples:

This is the very first card I made when my stamps arrived. I kept it super simple.

If you haven't already guessed Amy's Boutique is all little clothing images - and the main "thing" with these stamps is they were all meant to be paper-pieced (stamped onto patterned paper and cut out). I LOVE paper piecing as it's faster than coloring and always looks different as it depends on the papers used.

Boutique Sentiments comes with a TON of sentiments - there's 42 stamps in the set altogether - and sized on a smaller scale so that they will fit in things like Stampin' Up!'s Word Window Punch, on tabs (like the one shown), or other smaller punches and whatnot.

The hanger and the tank top are two separate stamps - I stamped the hanger, colored it with a Copic marker, then stamped the tank top image. I then stamped the tank top again onto patterned paper, cut out just the body (leaving the straps) and adhered it over the first image. Quick and easy!

{SUPPLIES}

STAMPS: Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments by AmyR Stamps.

CS: Papertrey Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate, Prism (Olive Card Base), Basic Grey Infuse 6x6.

Ink: Black.

ACCESSORIES: May Arts Ribbon, Stamping Bella Espresso Glitter Dots, Marvy Mega Circle and Giga Scalloped Circle Punches, Sewing Machine.

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I can't tell you all how excited I am over this, and how GOOD it feels to finally have the images done and plated and pressed into rubber and thisclose to being available!! However I can share my excitement with one of you in a smaller way - leave a comment on this post and you will be entered in a random drawing to win BOTH Amy's Boutique and Boutique Sentiments!!! (one entry per person please!!)

PLUS you can head over to the ATS blog and check out what some of the other DT members have done with my stamps AND get entered in for another chance to win these stamps.

I'll be posting a lot over the next few days as I will be featuring cards that the other DT members have made, more of my own samples with my stamps, AND samples with the stamps Christine will be releasing on the 9th as well (and OMG are they ever CUTE - seriously I freaked when I first saw them).

OK I'm stopping for now - I could prolly blab on and on and on b/c I'm on a roll and I'm ready to burst with excitement but I want to finish this post before I keep you all here all night!!!

*grin*

EDITED TO ADD: Winner is announced in this post HERE.

Papertrey - Mini Treat Bag Tutorial

The other day I was at Costco, and came across this HUGE package of Play-Doh containers. There were 80 of these little containers in the pack for $11 (Canadian)! I snatched them up because not only are they great Halloween "treats", they're also perfect for birthday party favors etc etc since they're only about 15 cents each!!

When I got them home I sat down and fiddled around with a few of my Papertrey packaging items to try and come up with a cute (yet quick and inexpensive) way to package up these containers - and came up with this Mini Treat Bag.

Read on to find out how to make them!

I started with a Medium Glassine bag (at 25 for $3 they work out to 12 cents each)

I cut the bag so that it was about 2.5" high.

Using my Scor-pal I scored the sides and bottom of the bag - 1/2" from each edge.

It helps if after you score you fold the score lines back and forth a couple of times with these types of bags - it makes the next step easier.

Open the bag and shape it on the fold lines - there will be two little triangle tabs on the bottom - fold them under and adhere them in place with mini glue dots.

Then set the bag aside.

Next take a piece of cardstock (here I used PTI's Kraft CS) cut to 2.5" x 8.5" and score it twice - 3.75" in from each edge.

After that I used my Stampin' Up! Word Window Punch to punch "handles" in each end.

To decorate my treat bag I stamped the web from Spooky Sweets II set in white pigment ink, and the bat from the Spooky Sweets set with black ink.

I created a fun little label for the bag using the Spooky Sweets set, oval nestabilities dies, black and Summer Sunrise ink, and orange glitter.

To adhere the glassine bag to the cardstock "cover" - use 2 strips of strong adhesive (I use Red liner tape) cut 5" long. After peeling off the liner adhere the bottom of the glassine bag first then fold up the sides so that they adhere to the bag as well.

Here's a side view of the finished bag. I adhered the label with dimensionals and tied on some Summer Sunrise Grosgrain ribbon.

And here's the final bag again.

These are SO quick and easy to make, and the great thing is you can easily change up the colors and stamp sets and make these bags for Birthday Party/Baby Shower/Wedding Favors etc etc!!

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{SUPPLIES}

STAMPS: Spooky Sweets, Spooky Sweets II.

CS: Papertrey Select White and Kraft, Black (SU!).

INK: PTI Summer Sunrise, Black Ink, White Pigment Ink.

ACCESSORIES: PTI Medium Glassine Bags, SU! Word Window Punch, Summer Sunrise Grosgrain Ribbon, DoodleBug Glitter, Oval Nestabilities dies, dimensionals.

Something BIG Is Coming

I can't say what yet - y'all will have to stay tuned for bright and early tomorrow *wink* Let's just say it's something I've been sitting on for a while now and I can't WAIT to tell you all!!!!! *shriek*!!!!!!!

I have a Papertrey project that will be posted later on today - I think it turned out really cool so stay tuned for that as well. Then after that (sometime around midnight EST) my special post will go live...........................*big huge GRIN*

Oh and to answer a couple of questions about the cards in yesterday's post - I stamped the Bella first, then stamped the A Muse oval (didn't mask the main image - didn't need to), colored in the Bella, then airbrushed/sponged the edges. I didn't bother with any masking whatsoever (well I left the Nestabilities rectangle die on the one I airbrushed that's how I got the white border).

ETA: Airbrushing with Copics is the only way you can get such a soft look. Any other type of marker is unable to look like that - actually if you click on the pics for a closer view you can see that I used my SU! markers on the card base with my Color Spritzer. Waterbased markers give a "splatter" effect - not a smooth look compared to a Copic that's been airbrushed.

OK I gotta run - mebbe I'll have a card to share in a bit - maybe not. Veronica's first full day of school is today so I'm thinking I'll be spending extra time with Josie - she's doing OK right now but V's only been gone for like 1/2 an hour. Me thinks J will be missing her big sister soon!! :(

ETA Again :o) Josie did pretty good today - we'll see how she handles her sister being gone on a regular basis tho (and FYI they both have red hair - comes from both sides of the family. I love it b/c it's so different and it's curly too).

OK I have to run and prep for my "something BIG" post (I know I'm mean!! Can't help it!! Y'all will find out in a few hours!!!)

Back Issues, First Day of Scool, and Lattebella Cards

I had so many things I wanted to get done this week, and several things I wanted to post but I've been having back issues again and sitting at the computer (or just at my desk trying to stamp) gives me awful headaches. I really need to start going back to the chiropractor on a regular basis and a deep tissue massage is sounding like pure heaven right now!

ALSO yesterday was a big day here for us:

Veronica had her first day of kindergarten yesterday!!

I thought I'd cry like a baby over it all but I didn't shed a tear. She was SO excited to start and I was so excited for her. I'm a *little* sad b/c she's growing up too fast (for me) but at the same time I'm glad she's going - kindergarten is pretty much just FUN. :o)

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I had meant to share these cards some time ago then forgot I had them saved in my files!

I made up several cards using Lattebella, the Lined Paper Backgrounder from CHF, and sentiments and oval stamps from A Muse.

I used Copic markers to color her in, then used my Ranger White Gel pen to make the "polka-dotted seat", then cut out the main image with my Spellbinders Rectangle Nestabilities dies, matting them with a scalloped rectangle.

The patterned paper is from Flair Designs - the Coffee Talk sheet from the What's Cookin' Collection, the ribbon is from Papertrey, brads are Bazzill.

I used a Copic marker with the airbrush on the card on the left, then the can ran out of air (I've been using it for some time and forgot to order an extra one!) so I sponged ink onto the other ones - what a difference! Needless to say I WAY prefer the airbrushed look - it's much softer and subtle.

I also scented all the cards with Cappuccino Card Scents, then packaged them all up and gave them to my mom to use (owning a coffee shop makes her the perfect recipient for cards like this *grin*).

Edited to add: I just found out Stamping Bella is offering a free shipping special till the 9th of Sept - check out the info HERE.