Baby Boy Congratulations!!

Well I REALLY needed to do some Baby Boy Cards. I mean one "baby" is almost 6 months old...good thing I buy 12 month+ stuff... The second baby is two weeks old and the son of one of my Mom's Club friends. As a rule I don't like the Mom's Club because they dictate too much which one you can join...and my local one stinks. However because of my wacky address...let's just say my town is one place, I'm located in another and my zip code is in a completely different area...phew got all that. But in this one instance it got me into a REALLY cool and active club. And as I was bringing dinner to the new mom that night and needed to drop off the little gift I got her...I needed a card.


Anyhoo, these two cards were literally thrown together! The pacifier is a TAC stamp but I don't know how old (naughty EBAY shopper that I am). I stamped it in Palette Starry Night on white cardstock and mounted this on TAC Navy Cardstock. I must admit I was a cheapskate when it came to cardstock...hey I've only been stamping 1 year I'm still learning...but I am a complete convert now. The weight, texture and depth of color in the TAC cardstock is AMAZING...I can't wait to order some Claret (red) cardstock. Now back to the card...I do like to diatribe so...the textured greyish base is just a Joann's Card Box special. I have had them for about a year...so I just might need to start using them! And did I mention I had to throw this card together asap! Thanks for looking!!

My version of Black Friday aka who needs shopping!

My demo (aka Gwen Zimmerman) throws an all out Black Friday Card-A-Thon...12 hours of stamping fun...make as many cards as you can!! I went last year for a few hours and had a really great time...made several cards.

This year I went all out...Thankgiving was in NJ at my sister's new house...but I packed up at 5AM and headed down to get to Gwen's!!! I did 12 hours of stamping and made 67 cards *OMG* without really trying. Another lady made 87...and changed every design to be Christmas themed (ie...colored the image red/green, added a santa hat or present...you get the gist). As for me...I was in stamping heaven and didn't care how many I made...a few cards I didn't even do *raised eybrows*!! Talk about resisting temptation. I even took breaks!

I have to say I love all the inspiration you get from others when getting together to stamp rather than holing myself away and being much more productive. Seeing as I'm a *bit* chatty...I am way more productive by myself...but then what is the fun of that, Hallmark will always beat me for # of cards made...but I will have the better journey! Sometimes, especially this season when we are rushing like crazy to get our gifts made...we have to remember to slow down and appreciate the "Art" that our creations embody. And hey isn't Christmas valid until the Epiphany January 6th...well that is the deadline I'm marching too ;-)

Eclectic Reindeer - An Artistic Rendition

Now before you start wonder...no this isn't incredible stamping...it is a friend's original work. Although I wish it were a stamp.

She drew these little eclectic reindeer and I had fun figuring how to cut them out of the cardstock and center them on the card...sigh all the hard work *NOT*!!!!

So because she does so many amazing things for me...I whipped these up into Christmas Cards for her...so this year she will send them ;-) Right Liz!

I also plan to offer them in my Etsy store (she was kind enough to let me get a really good scan) and split the profit with her. Profit...*ha, ha, ha* that isn't something I would usually put in the same sentence as my Etsy store.

A Major Milestone

This weekend will be my sisters 40th BD!! Now I had Simon make his Nonno a BD card...so I have now set the bar. This cards isn't entirely made by Simon (poor little child laborer...wasn't interested in stamping today). But he did most of the sponging and stamped the caption on the card front.

The front is a TAC Limited Edition Butterfly (Simon loves Butterflies) is stamped with Kaleidacolor Cappuchino Delight while the caption is stamped with Palette Noir.

Inside I sponged again with Kaleidacolor Cappuchino Delight, The "40" is part of the TAC Ancient Alphabet set. Uh can you figure up the major 'mistake'!!! I was talking and distracted and I totally stamped the 4 sideways...Oops!

So do you think she'll notice?

Congratulations for a friend!!!

It's been a while since I've had a moment to make an actual card! A very good friend just told me that she is pregnant and totally over the moon about it! I was so glad I finally had a GREAT use for my Michael's $1 spot stamp. Is that selfish ;-)

The card is 4.25" X 5.5" beige cardstock from The Paper Company "Neutrals" Collection. I stamped the TAC Beauty of a Women using Palette Burnt Umber and sponged to distress. I stamped the Pregnant Lady from Michaels $1 spot in Palette Burnt Umber and used Pink Watercolor crayon for the dress, shoes and hat and a brown sharpie to accent.

I mounted the image onto Paper Company Hot Pink Cardstock and mounted that on DCWV Stack 3 brown background (sponged to distress). Finally I stamped in Palette Noir "blessings" from the TAC Be Authentic Stamp set. The little flowers are from a Michaels $1 spot punch!!

I hope she likes it!!!