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Circle of Friendship

When I first bought Circle of Friendship, I used it all the time. But it has probably sat untouched, feeling very neglected since before Christmas! Sometimes I feel like a very bad steward of all my stamping wealth. I have so many stamps that don't get the attention they deserve! :(

I made this card for this week's Sketch Challenge on SCS. The papers are from the new K & Company Happy Trails collection I picked up at Michael's last weekend. I just love the groovy mixture of rich colors and patterns in this collection. I started by cutting out all the pieces for the sketch. I don't normally do layout first, but I had no idea what I felt like stamping, so I started with paper! I glued everything together, except the main image panel and ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Textile embossing folder. Next I inked it up with Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink.

By this time I had decided that I wanted to use my Hero Arts Doodle Leaf flower and paper piece it. So I stamped the flower and then cut out and adhered the petals from 3 different papers. That looked a little bare, so I cut out more petals and glued them from the very center. Ah... better. Next I stamped the Doodle This swirly thing around the edges of the square in Ancient Page Coal Black. I stamped The Circle of Friendship stamp, punched out with my 1" circle punch and attached it as the center of the flower with a brad from Impress. I then adhered the image panel to the cardfront with foam squares and matted the whole thing on a Chocolate Chip card base. I wrapped some May Arts ribbon I got from Beate (Thanks Beate! I love it!) around the card and tied in a not. The final touch was some paper piercing across the top and bottom of the horizontal panel and Stardust Stickles accents on the flower petals and the swirls.

Tagged

Okay, so I've been bad. I was tagged by Linda on Monday and forgot to answer the questions and then Charmaine tagged me again on Wednesday, so now I've got to get my act together! LOL! Oh, and Shannan tagged me too! Here goes...

The Rules: Answer the following questions about myself using only one word responses. (Much harder than it sounds, people!) Tag a few others to do the same.

It seems I always tag the same people, so today I'll do something different and tag some new (or should I say new to me) blogs I've recently found that are worth checking out... Heather, Libby, Krissy, and Rose Ann.

Yourself: Boring
Your Partner: Lovable
Your Hair: Blonde
Your Mother: Practical
Your Father: Principled
Your Favorite Item: iPod
Your Dream Last Night: Nightmare
Your Favorite Drink: Pepsi
Your Dream Car: Celica
Dream Home: Beachhouse
The Room You Are In: Office
Your Fear: Spiders
Where You Want to be in Ten Years: Successful
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Hubby
You’re Not: Skinny
One of Your Wish List Items: Nano
The Last Thing You Did: Movie
You Are Wearing: Bermudas
Your Favorite Weather: Crisp
Your Favorite Book: Rhapsody
Last Thing You Ate: Toast
Your Life: Messy
Your Mood: Down
Your Best Friend: Mark
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Business
Your Car: Tiburon
What Are You Doing At The Moment: Blogging
Relationship Status: Taken
What Is On Your TV: Eragon
What Is The Weather Like: Beautiful
When Is The Last Time You Laughed: Now

Annette

I love how Alma named a bunch of The Cat's Pajamas summer stamps after Gidget characters! I just loved watching Gidget growing up - definitely one of my favorite shows. I always thought it would be so glamorous to live in California and be able to just drive to the beach anytime I want. But here I am, still living in a land-locked state, wishing for a little bit of beach front property someday. *sigh*

So anyway, Annette is the next stamp I'm featuring. Here's what I came up with for her. The concentric circles in this Memory Box paper are really what inspired the layout of the card. I just thought Annette looked so sassy and take charge that she needed this saying.

Stamps: The Cat���s Pajamas
F-7470 Annette
C-7459 What Part of Meow
Paper: Memory Box Beach Collection; Bazzill Cardstock; Conqueror Diamond White Cardstock

Ink: Ancient Page Coal Black; Prismacolor pencils, Stardust Pens
Accessories: Offray ribbon; Making Memories metal rimmed tag & jump ring; EK Success Circle punch


I colored her with Prismacolors and Gamsol and then doodled a frame around her and matted on Bazzill paper. The Sentiment is stamped on white cardstock, punched out and glued to the top of a metal rimmed tag. It is then attached to the bow with a jump ring.

I also got a fabulous RAK from Lisa yesterday featuring Annette. I just love the rafia all around the scalloped oval, which Lisa said came from one of Taz's (her cat) favorite toys! What a hoot! I've been way into red, blue and yellow lately, so this color scheme is right up my alley. You can't tell in the photo, but the Stardust gel pen highlights are positively shimmery. The paper, the wavy line, the raffia... it's just purrrrfect! Thanks Lisa, it's the first Cat's Pajamas card I've ever received! I love it!

CPS Contest

Okay, so I finally got around to making a couple cards for the CPS Sketch contest. The first one uses one of the Hero Arts bird images Amy sent me. I noticed on the images of the smaller birds that Amy sent that some of the wings match the patterns on my Hero Arts Doodle Leaf flower, so I decided I'd have to pull it out and play.

The bird and Doodle Leaf Flower are colored in with Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie markers to give the card a fall feel. I then rounded the corners and sponged the edges of the cardstock with Creamy Caramel ink. Next I stamped happy fall with Karen Foster Snap Casual stamps in Chocolate Chip ink on Very Vanilla cardstock. I used my small oval punch to cut it out and secured it using Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware.

I dry embossed the Ruby Red background with my Cuttlebug Textile Embossing folder and lighted inked over the raised parts with Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink, The two tone May Arts ribbon is wrapped around the card and tied in a knot up top. The red daisy primas are secured with Making Memories Aged Copper brads. To finish off the card, I dotted all around the Chocolate Chip card base with my clear glaze pen, and also drew a line down the ribbon with the glaze pen to give it a striped look.

The second card uses some of the Halloween stamps from The Cat's Pajamas. I stamped Big Sprinkle {D-S301} with Ancient Page Coal Black on Paper Accents Pearlized White and then masked to stamp the Witchy Hat {D-5256} on her head. Next I cut out a large oval and used it as a reverse mask to stamp the Big Web {D-6322} all around the edges in Going Grey and then sponged with the same color ink. You can't tell in the photo, but I traced each of the cobwebs with my clear Stardust pen to give it the shimmery, silky look of a cobweb. Next I colored in Sprinkle and her hat with Stardust pens and stamped the Spider {C-6324} three times on pearlized white paper. I then masked just his body and stamped the Small Web {B-6323} behind, sponged with Going Grey and highlighted with a clear Stardust pen. I then cut them out in circles to line up down the ribbon, but they looked too big, so I ended up cutting each spider out.

Next I stamped the Big Web randomly in VersaMark around the Pumpkin Pie cardstock layer and stamped Haunt It {D-5262} in Coal Black in the bottom corner. I rounded the corners and then dotted around the edges with my Black Glaze pen. Next I took some black argyle ribbon from Michael's and cinched it together in 3 places with ribbon slides and wrapped it around the top and bottom of the card. I then adhered the three spiders to each ribbon slide with Terrifically Tacky Tape. A little clear and black glaze on their eyes to make them pop and the card was finished. Except... when I was gluing it down I got a nice black thumbprint on the side of the oval next to Sprinkle! Grrrrrrr! So out came the Starry Pumpkins {E-6334}, stamped in Coal Black on Pumpkin Pie and cut out to cover up my mistake.

Cat's Pajamas Party!!!

The Cat's Pajamas Summer Designs are now up on the website! Get your shopping finger ready and click away... the coolest cat in town is ready for summer with thirty new designs to help you get your groove on! To get this party started, I thought I'd share a couple cards I made with one of my new favorites... introducing Hula Cat!

I stamped Hula Cat in Coal Black and colored in with Prismacolors and Gamsol. Next I sketched a frame around the circle and matted on two scalloped circles with holes pierced in each scallop. I used a large corner rounder for the large panels and a smaller corner rounder for the Hot Stuff tab.

Stamps: The Cat’s Pajamas - Hula Cat {F-7463 }, Hot Stuff {C-7464}
Paper: Arctic Frog – Flower Show Lilly Pad; DCWV Spring Stack; Conqueror Diamond White Cardstock
Ink: Ancient Page - Coal Black; Prismacolor pencils, Sakura Stardust Gel Pens
Accessories: Primas, Brads, Paper Piercer, Giga & Mega Scalloped Circle punch, Super Jumbo Circle punch, corner rounders


For the second card I started by stamping Hula Cat on Pearlized white paper and coloring with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I dotted around the circle and matted on a mega and giga scalloped circle, with a large square turned like a diamond between the two layers for a little visual interest. The thanks diecut and the swirl embossing on the background was done with my well-loved Cuttlebug and I added some flower punches from my neglected Spring Bouquet flower punch. Topped off with rhinestone flowers and Stickles accents, this cat is ready to hula!

Stamps: The Cat’s Pajamas - Hula Cat {F-7463 }
Paper: Pixie Pink, Gable Green, Passion Pink, Pearlized White

Ink: Ancient Page - Coal Black; Prismacolor pencils
Accessories: Spring Bouquet Flower punch, Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet die, Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls embossing folder, Doodlebug ribbon, Stickles, Rhinestone flowers from JoAnn's

Up to the Challenge

Since I was so excited to get some adorable Stampendous bee images from Beate, I just had to incorporate one into my card for her weekend sketch challenge. This one uses my new favorite paper... Funky Vintage Lizzie by Making Memories. I colored the bees in with prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, and then inspired by all the cards Beate has been making I tried to give them a Bordering Blue shadow. I used my watercolor crayon directly on the paper and then ran my aquapainter over it. This turned out a bit darker and splotchier than I had expected, so next time I'll try just using the crayon on the end of the aquapainter instead of on the paper. They still turned out pretty cute. I sketched a frame around them and added a little Stardust Stickles to their wings and bodies.

The paisley is made from Chocolate Chip and So Saffron card stock using my new 2 step Paisley Cuttlebug dies. Isn't it cool? My Cuttlebug has just been happy as a lark lately with all the attention it's getting! :) The sentiment is from Memory Box and stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched out with my small oval punch and matted on a larger oval punch. The ribbon is from May Arts.

The second card I made was for Karrie's challenge not to use any stamps on a project. I didn't think this would be as tough as it was. Maybe I made it a little harder because I wanted to use scraps I still had on my desk from previous cards. I was originally going to make a small square card with Beate's layout, but the sentiment didn't look right, so I tweaked the layout a bit to make a regular sized card. Papers are Making Memories Funky Vintage Lizzie and the thanks word is cut from a covered lightweight coaster using my Olivia Cuttlebug alphabet die. The flower is made using my 2 step Scribble Flower Cuttlebug die and the center of the flower is a left over from the 2 step Paisley die in the previous card. I paper pierced around the edges of the outer brown mats and added stickles to the outline of the flower and over the thanks cutout.


I recieved a couple fabulous RAKs this weekend. The first is from Squirrellyshirley. The Doodle This card was CASE'd from this card by Scrappin*bee. Isn't it cool? I adore clear cards, but don't have any White Stazon so haven't attempted one yet. I just might have to plunk down some money so I can try one out, though! And Shirley knows I can't resist anything that's Cool Caribbean, so this was the perfect card for me. Thanks Shirley!

The second RAK I received was a special surprise from Amy at Heartfelt Greetings. She sent me this fabulous PaperTrey card - I just love how the boots are hanging from the ribbon. She also included some stamped images of her fabulous Hero Arts birds!!!! Yay! I get to play with those cute little birdies now! I already have a great idea for one of them. Thanks so much, Amy - your little critters and sweet note just made my day!

Another Sneak Peek

Wow! I can't believe it's the weekend already! Do you all have plans for the 3 day weekend? We're just going to kick back, relax and enjoy the sun here at our house. Speaking of kicking back, I think it's time for another sneak peek at some of The Cat's Pajamas summer designs! I am really pleased how this card turned out! Flipflops are one of my favorite things of summer, so as soon as I saw these stamps I knew I had to make this card.

I started by stamping the Flip Flops {C-7457} in a straight line on Conqueror White card stock in Coal Black. Next I colored them with Prismacolors and Gamsol and matted on DCWV green cardstock. Next I stamped one more flip flop, colored in turquoise and cut out in the shape of a heart. I then matted it on turquoise cardstock and trimmed again before adhering to a white square. I then punched two green EK Success photo corner punches and slid them behind the single flip flop panel and glued to a turquoise mat.

I pulled out my D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder and embossed the turquoise white core cardstock and then sanded it to make it look sort of like waves. Next I stamped Flipped for You {C-7456} and used a corner rounder to make a little sentiment tab. For the final touch I added dots around the heart and photo corners with my Sakura Black Glaze Pen and a tiny bit of Stickles for sparkle.

Stamps: The Cat���s Pajamas - C-7457 Flip Flops, C-7456 Flipped for You
Paper: DCWV Spring Stack; Conqueror Diamond White Cardstock
Ink: Ancient Page - Charcoal Black; Prismacolor pencils, Sakura ��� Clear Stardust Gel Pen & Black Glaze pen
Accessories: ProvoCraft ��� D���Vine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder; EK Success ��� Photo Corner punch; Small corner rounder; Ranger ��� Diamond Stickles; All Night Media ��� Mini Pop Dots; 3M ��� Sanding block

Rule Breaker

Well, yesterday Colleen's Thursday Throwdown was a challenge to do SCS125 with a few more rules.... no patterned paper, background has to be an image stamp, top panel has to be a sentiment and only 2 embellishments. Apparently I am known for breaking the rules, so Colleen felt the need to call Amy and I out on this one! LOL! Who me? Break rules, must be some other Julee! :) So, I thought to myself, "No problem, this is easy!" But once I got to my stamping desk I remembered that I've already made two cards with this sketch and I struggled with both of those. Simplicity really isn't my forte, and that's what this layout calls for. But the challenge was on, I couldn't back down!
So I started by stamping the Hero Arts Doodle Leaf Flower on Bashful Blue in Ancient Page Coal Black ink and coloring in with Bashful Blue marker. Next I stamped the Hero Arts Wavy Celebrate Border on Whisper White in Coal Black and highlighted with Bashful Blue marker. I matted this piece on Basic Black card stock and used my Mat Pack to pierce holes across the top and bottom of the mat. My order from Eclectic Paperie that I received yesterday decked out my Cuttlebug in some new duds, so I had to try out my new 2 step flower dies. The solid flower is cut from Bashful Blue and the outlines are cut from Basic Black. I then doodled in some markings to match the Doodle Leaf flower for some fantastic little embellishments. To finish off the card I added Stardust Stickles accents to all the flowers. As soon as I finished I got worried that maybe Stickles counts as an embellishment. And what if the 2 step dies count as 4 embellishments? Is it really true that I can't follow the rules? GASP! Guess I better make another one!

For the second card I pulled out my A Muse margarita stamps and incorporated this week's SCS Ways to Use It YoYo Yellow challenge. I randomly stamped the Margarita on Pearlized White paper in Coal Black and colored in with Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol and YoYo Yellow and Glorious Green markers. I added some flecks with the makers all over the background to break up the white space and then doodled a rough frame around the edge. Next I stamped the sentiment on Glorious Green and matted on YoYo Yellow using the ticket corner punch on the corners. I used my horizontal slot punch to make the sentiment into a ribbon slider and added two types of ribbon, tied in a knot. It took everything within me not to reach for some glitter to give the margaritas a little frost, but still unsure of the status of glitter as an embellishment, I was determined to stay within the rules.

Oh, and I received some awesome happy mail yesterday! The first was the blog candy package I won from Beate's blog on Monday. She's a speedy little shipper! Included was this lovely Doodle This card, an assortment of beautiful May Arts ribbons and some of those adorable bee images! The card is absolutely gorgeous and I love the way it folds. Thanks so much Beate, I can't wait to play with my goodies.

I also received a really sweet note and baggie full of cute embellishments and tags from Diane L.! Thanks so much, I really appreciate it and was so touched when I read your sweet note.

New Paper!

Okay all you LOSTies.... did that season finale just blow your mind or what? I had to stay up way past my bedtime to watch it on the DVR when hubby got home from his poker tournament. Can't wait until next season!

I went to Michael's yesterday and found a Making Memories paper pad (Funky Vintage - Lizzie) and just fell in love with the patterns and colors. I HAD to break it open and test it out when I got home. So I started off by doing a quick little card using Allison's sketch. First, Icut the patterned paper with my Creative Memories cutting system wavy template. Next I stamped the Paisley from Polka Dots & Paisley in Timber Brown Stazon and colored in with Prismacolors and Gamsol. I then punched out using my Mega Scalloped square punch and matted on a Barely Banana Giga Scalloped square and doodled around the edges with a Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker.

Next I stamped the dot background in Cool Caribbean on the same color cardstock and magged behind the wavy patterned paper. Then I stamped the sentiment in Timber Brown in the bottom corner, tied a American Elements ribbon around the panel and glued to a Chocolate Chip card base. For the final touch, I painted a Crystal Effects/Dazzling Diamonds mixture on the paisley and the dots.

The second card I made was from the same pack of paper and I used this week's SCS sketch challenge again. Normally I wouldn't post this card, since I'm not thrilled with how it turned out, but Amy's post on her blog about showing the cards that don't turn out as well really inspired me, so here it is. I took the photo when the Stickles were still wet, so the glitter looks a little shocking in the photo. Now that it's dried, it looks a lot better, but the camera battery is out of juice, so you'll just have to imagine! I received my textile Cuttlebug folder from Eclectic Paperie today and so I had to test it out. I Cuttlebugged the patterned paper and sanded it lightly, then punched the corners with my ticket corner punch, repeated with a Cool Caribbean mat, added some really cool argyle ribbon I found at Michael's today and glued to a Pumpkin Pie card base. Next I stamped the Hero Arts wavy border stamp on shimmer paper in Pumpkin Pie and matted on Cool Caribbean and Pumpkin Pie. Next I glued down an orange Prima flower with a great big Karen Foster brad in the center and added some Orange Peel Stickles for sparkle.

Little Things

I had so much fun reading everyone's seven random facts! It's nice to find out a little bit more about y'all. I had www.random.org pick a winner and Kimberly, the Closet Fashionista, is the winner of the blog candy! Kimberly, please email me your address so I can get your goodies out to you. On another note, all of the prizes and RAKs from my last card contest are being mailed out today. Yay! So watch your mailboxes... yes, that even means you, Dina in Indonesia! :)

Well, my carpal tunnel is still acting up so I only got to make a quick little card yesterday. I decided to combine this week's color challenge and sketch challenge on SCS. I pulled out my PaperTrey Butterfly Kisses set and my favorite little sentiment from Happy Harmony. I really wanted to put more on this card, but the sketch called for pretty exact measurements, so I tried not to stray.

Stamps: PaperTrey Butterfly Kisses, Stampin Up Happy Harmony
Ink: Certainly Celery, Vintage Violet, Old Olive
Card stock: Pearlized White, Vintage Violet, Old Olive
Accessories: Pop dots, May Arts gold edged ribbon, Stardust Stickles, Notch Punch

I received some very happy mail yesterday! My Divine Secret Sister sent me this cute little Flowahbella card with some major bling inside. Anything that sparkles just makes my day and these happy little gems will be treasured! Thanks so much, Big Sis!

A Sketch and a Sprinkle

I'm so excited that I was actually able to do one of Amy's Super Sketch Sunday challenges the same week she posted it! I am a procrastinator with the greatest intentions of changing my ways, but it rarely ever happens. This week's challenge was a simpler sketch and a challenge to do paper piecing. I LOVE the look of paper piecing, but rarely think to do it. So I was very excited to pull out some Daisy D's Beacon Hill paper and get stamping!

You can see Amy's sketch on her blog (Heartfelt Greetings). I started by stamping the big flower from Doodle This on Very Vanilla in Ancient Page Coal Black and then on 7 coordinating Daisy D papers. Next I cut each petal and the flower center out of a different paper and glued to the Very Vanilla flower. I stamped the sentiment from PaperTrey's Green Thumb set in Real Red above the flower and colored the little leaves with Always Artichoke. Then I trimmed the panel, sketched a little border around it and sponged with Creamy Caramel ink. I used more Daisy D paper strips for the back panel and used my Round Tab punch to give a little shape to the ends of the strips. A couple EK Success photo corner punches on opposite ends of the panels and some neutral colored buttons on the strips and the card was finished. Thanks for the inpiration Amy! I just love your sketches.

The second card I want to share with you is one I sent to Lisa and her cat, Taz. Taz just had a birthday, and I'm not sure if you remember the treat package Taz sent Katie after the infamous Lei Strangulation Fiasco, but Katie sure remembers! They are the only treats we have ever gotten her to eat! Anyway, Katie had to make sure that Taz's birthday didn't pass without a card, so we pulled out Sprinkle and her little party hat by The Cat's Pajamas.

I started by stamping Big Sprinkle {D-S301} on pearlized white paper and then stamping the L'il Party Hat {C-5241} and coloring in with Pale Plum and Perfect Plum Markers. Next I stamped What Part of Meow{C-7459 } (which is one of the soon to be released Summer stamps) and doodled a frame around both panels and colored the outer edges with a Pale Plum marker. Next I stamped the Medium Circle Snowflake {C-5286} tone on tone in Perfect Plum and matted on Pale Plum and then a Basic Black card base. The scalloped borders were made with my slit punch and then punching the 1/2" circle punch in the center of each scallop. To finish off I added a black bow, some Stickles and some Purple dots around the scallops with my Sakura Stardust pen.

Reader Tag

I made two cards with Beate's sketch challenge that she posted last Friday. The first one uses my brand new PaperTrey Butterfly Kisses set and some scraps I had laying on my desk.

I made the curvy lines with my Creative Memories Cutting System and the curvy template. I stamped the butterfly body in Regal Rose and then stamped the sunburst design over the top in Rose Red and then overstamped with the Tsukineko Glue Pad and covered in Dazzling Diamonds. Next I doodled dots around the edges and trimmed. I used the Giga Scalloped punch and the Mega regular circle punch. The Birthday Wishes is rearranged and embossed in black. The brown circle looked a little plain so I added some random dots with my Fruit Punch stickles for some extra flair. The bottom section is Rose Red and stamped tone on tone with the paisleys from the Butterfly Kisses set. I believe the patterned paper is from Imaginisce.


The second card I made with this sketch uses the Stampin' Up Doodle That set and a sentiment from the PaperTrey Butterfly Kisses set. The Real Red cardstock is stamped with Paisley in Real Red and the So Saffron cardstock is stamped with the dots from Polka Dots & Paisley in So Saffron. I used my Creative Memories circle cutting system for the inner circles and a Mega scalloped circle punch in Bashful Blue for the scalloped circle. The heart is colored in Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol and Bashful Blue and Real Red markers. I added a little X-mas Red Stickles and a gold edged May Arts ribbon for a touch of elegance.



Last week Cindy tagged me with another game of blogger's tag. I'm supposed to tell 7 things you may not know about me so here goes...


1. I'm a PK (Preacher's Kid). My dad was a Nazarene pastor when I was a kid and is now pastor of a small non-denominational church.
2. I changed my college major several times... General Studies, English Literature, Psychology, Social Work, Religion, Accounting and finally after all those U turns, the path that would let me graduate the quickest... Business Administration.
3. I drive a sporty little Hyundai Tiburon.
4. I'm deathly allergic to shellfish.
5. I'm an administrator for Splitcoastbloggers.
6. I finally paid off my final school loan this Spring (almost 10 years after I graduated). Yay!
7. I've always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but have never made it to New York.


So I'm going to change this up a little bit and make it into Reader Tag. If you want to play, just leave a comment with 7 things I may not know about you by Tuesday at 10pm Mountain Time and I will draw a winner for some Blog Candy. The winner will be announced Wednesday morning and will receive a sampling of some very fun May Arts ribbons and this post it note holder made by yours truly. :)

Little Lady

Well, after severe carpal tunnel issues left me unable to participate in any of yesterday's VSN challenges, I'm feeling better today. Still in pain, but it's not the kind that leaves you in tears, so I can deal. I did want to share with you the card I made for the first VSN challenge on Friday night.


My PaperTrey Little Lady and Butterfly Kisses sets arrived on Friday morning and I was so excited! I decided to give PaperTrey one more try after my Green Thumb creative block, and I'm so glad I did. I just love these new stamps! The challenge was to have a bug somewhere on your card and use bright colors, so of course out came Little Lady.


I started by stamping the big and little lady bug bodies in Real Red on Pearlized white paper. Next I stamped the spots, little dotted paths and antennae in Basic Black. Then the fun part began. I don't use the Rock-n-Roll technique very much, but I think it is one of the funnest things to do in stamping. My acrylic block was a little bigger than I like for the flowers, so the outer edges aren't perfect, but it still gives such a cool effect. I inked the flowers from Little Lady with Summer Sun and rolled with Only Orange on the white papers and then stamped the flower centers with the sunburst stamp from Butterfly Kisses in Only Orange. I then cut out the little ladybug with my Creative Memories circle cutter and trimmed the larger ladybug to rectangle size and matted both on Basic Black paper.


Next I took a sampling of flowers from Green Thumb, Butterfly Kisses and Little Lady and arranged them on an acrylic block to form a background and stamped on Summer Sun cardstock with Only Orange. I then added a few sunburst centers with Real Red and curved the sentiment on my acrylic block and stamped with Basic Black. Next I sponged the edges with Only Orange, matted on Basic Black and then glued to a 5.5" square card base. To finish it off I added Black Diamond Stickles to the ladybug spots and Orange Peel stickles to the flower centers.

Well, I'm hoping to find a chance today to do Beate's challenge. Looks like a really fun sketch, and she's offering up some of those adorable bee images and May Arts ribbon to a lucky winner.

Time for Poochie

I promised another sneak peek at The Cat's Pajamas Summer Line, so here it is. This card features Poochie... aka Frankie (get the Gidget reference?) catching a wave. These stamps are just so much fun, I can't wait to find some more time to play with them.

Stamps: The Cat’s Pajamas
Frankie {F-7448 }
Kowabunga {D-7471}
Paper: Memory Box Beach Collection; Bazzill Cardstock; Conqueror Diamond White Cardstock
Ink: Ancient Page - Charcoal Black; Prismacolor pencils
Accessories: Goldfish Brad; Ranger – Orange Peel & Xmas Red Stickles; Basic Grey Notch & Die Cutter Tool




Last night was the tailgate party for VSN (Virtual Stamp Night) and I was able to find time for a few of the challenges. One card in particular left me giddy (yep, that's right... I said giddy! LOL) at how it turned out. When I went to Lila's to stamp a while back, I stamped a few Rubber Romance images she had and I love them so much I've been waiting for just the perfect time to use them. Well, last night the cosmos aligned and I thought of a GRRRR-eat idea and it actually worked! The challenge was to use anything in The Wizard of Oz as inspiration. Well, my brain immediately got to thinking of Dorothy clicking her Ruby Red slippers together, saying 'there's no place like home, there's no place like home." So I decided to do Dorothy cowgirl style with some stylish red boots!

I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol and then accented with Ruby Red, Bashful Blue and Creamy Caramel markers. Next I trimmed the image, doodled some stitches around the edges and sponged with Creamy Caramel ink. I then matted on Real Red card stock and set aside. Next I stamped there's no place like home in Chocolate Chip with my Karen Foster Mini Casual Snap Stamps and sponged around the edges, doodled some stitches and matted on Real Red Cardstock. Next I frantically searched hi and low for my Chocolate Chip reinker and couldn't find it. Oh no! The clock was ticking! I finally gave up the search and grabbed my Ranger Distress Walnut Stain reinker (making sure to blot on scratch paper first) and a stencil brush to rough up the stamped panels a bit. Then I pulled out some Bazzill Brown cardstock, since I didn't have any 12 x 12 chocolate chip and lightly sanded with a sanding block and distressed the edges with my Tonic distressing tool. I tied two pieces of hemp across the end, crossing each other and then tieing together near the top and the bottom. Next I added the 3 Prima flowers with Karen Foster brads for flower centers in the corner, popped the sentiment up on pop dots and added the last bit of X-mas Red Stickles to her boots 2 seconds before my timer went off. Yay! Isn't she beautiful??? :)

Orange Doodles

A big hurray for Blogger who finally introduced an autosave feature for blog posts! Yay! No more losing my posts before I'm ready to publish! My blogging life just got so much happier! :)

I can't believe VSN (Virtual Stamping Night) starts tonight. It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was at Cindy's for the March one. I hope to get some time to play the challenges this weekend. It's always fun, and now that I've been practicing making 15 minute cards, maybe I can get more accomplished in the 45 minute time frame.

I made a few Cat's Pajamas cards today, but I want them to be a surprise to those who are receiving them, so you'll just have to wait... and hope that you are one of the lucky ones. LOL! The card I'm featuring today is one I made for my featured artist stint on Cindy's blog on Wednesday. I used Beate's sketch and some fabulous Magnolia paper by My Mind's Eye.

I started by stamping the Doodle This flower on pearlized white paper in Coal Black and then coloring with prismacolors and gamsol and accenting with an Only Orange Marker. Next I trimmed the edges of the white and orange panels with Fiskars decorative Scallop scissors. The smaller flowers from Doodle That are stamped in Coal Black and colored with Only Orange marker and a blender pen. I then cut them out and placed Making Memories brads in the centers. I finished the card off with Orange Peel Stickles to highlight the flowers and each little scallop. The finished card measure 5.5" x 5.5". I always forget until I go to put them in an envelope that my envelopes are 5.5" square so I should be making 5.25" cards. Sometimes little details like that seem to escape me! So now this one has to swim in a 6 x 6" envelope to its new home.

Be sure and check back tomorrow... I'll be posting another Design Team card I made for The Cat's Pajamas. Since Sprinkle got her day in the sun last week, I'll be featuring Poochie this week for all you dog lovers.

Another Peek

Today I did another quick card (15 minutes, yay!) for the SCS Ways To Use It challenge. The challenge was to use small stamps (1.5" square and smaller) to make a card. I ordered this Lovebirds stamp from The Cat's Pajamas quite a while ago, but for some reason don't think I've made a card with it. I just love this image and all the bird cards I've been seeing lately made me think I should pull it out, dust it off and get stamping! The Ring of Flowers stamp is from the new Cat's Pajamas Summer line, which is already making its way into retail stores. So if you have a store near you that sells The Cat's Pajamas head on over! Otherwise, it's just a little longer to wait before they are available on the website. If you need another CPJ fix, stroll on over to Alma's blog (Creative Cat for The Cat's Pajamas) and Toni's blog (fellow Design Team Member) to check out their sneak peeks.

I had intended on doing Colleen's Thursday Throwdown Challenge to use just black and white, but on my way to find my fave Chatterbox black & white DP I ran across my neglected pack of Au Chocolat. I just HAD to have this paper, and now it's just been sitting there unused for months! So, sorry Colleen, I decided to go with just Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. After all brown IS the new black, don't ya know? LOL!

I stamped the Lovebirds {D-4205} stamp and the Ring of Flowers {E-7462} stamp in Chocolate Chip and cut out with my Creative Memories Circle Cutting system and matted on Chocolate Chip card stock. Next I punched out a Mega and a Giga scallop circle from the Au Chocolat paper, pierced holes in the scallops and matted using alternating sides of the patterned paper. I then cut a 4" square and a 3.75" square, glued together using alternating sides, tied a piece of chocolate grosgrain around it and matted on a 4.25" square Very Vanilla card base. Some thick foam squares under the scalloped circle panel and a little Stardust Stickles on the flowers and hearts finished off this cute little number.

Feeling Sketchy

Today I felt like doing a few sketches I had printed out and waiting on my desk. The first one I did was one of those quick warm up cards. I'm still amazed that I can finish a card in 15 minutes, and I think it's really helping me feel more creative.


I used the sketch from the Amuseapalooza 2007 Challenge #3. It's a cute little sketch, and so I just jumped right in and started stamping. The patterned paper is from the Autumn Leaves Shangrila paper pad I got from Target last week. The papers blend really well, so it's hard to tell that it's two different patterns, but it is. :) I thought the little yellow flower looked like a sun, so I decided to cut the paper so I could have the sun in the corner and use the A Muse Sending You Sunshine sentiment. I stamped the A Muse Doodle Flower three times and the Sending You Sunshine below it. Then I used prismacolors and Gamsol to color the grass and a black marker to sketch the tops of the grass to make the flower stamps blend in more. Next I made the scalloped edge with my slit punch and punched a 1/8" hole in each scallop. A little doodling, some ribbon and some Stickles for accents and the card was finished! Hurray for the morning warm-up!


The second card I made was for Kimmie's sketch challenge. If you haven't yet, check out this post on Kimmie's blog, and make a card using her sketch to be entered to win some cool stuff. The Geisha Kitty from Pink Cat Studio is stamped in Ancient Page Coal Black and colored with Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Sage Shadow markers. (Gasp! Can you believe the #1 hater of Sage Shadow actually used it intentionally on a card??? What is the world coming to? LOL!)

Next I used prismacolor pencils and Gamsol for her eyes, body and brown robe. Isn't she pretty? I doodled a frame around her and matted on Sage Shadow and Chocolate Chip card stock. Next I stamped 3 sets of flowers with the Pink Cat Studio Oriental Flowers stamp, colored in with markers, cut them out and mounted on the side of the panel. I stamped feline good with my Karen Foster Snap Stamps on Pretty in Pink and then punched out with the round tab punch. The patterned paper is from the Stampin' Up Enchante pack and the gold edged pink ribbon is from May Arts.

Dutch Girl Treasure

I made this card for today’s sketch challenge on SCS. As I was cleaning my chaotic mess of a craft room yesterday I rediscovered this Penny Black stamp I bought a week or so ago and had never used. I also re-discovered some Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl paper that was hiding in the bottom of my paper drawer. It’s amazing what I find when I actually take the time to clean!

This sketch was so unique I just had to try it right away. I started by cutting out the triangles and stamping the Penny Black Modesty stamp in Ancient Page Coal Black on Dutch Girl paper and coloring in with Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Real Red and Mellow Moss Stampin’ Write Markers. Next I matted with Real Red Cardstock and used my Mat Pack and a paper piercer to pierce holes all along the insides of the triangles.

I stamped Linen background in Bordering Blue on Bordering Blue card stock and then pierced all the way around the edges. Next I took my Real Red marker and filled in the faux stitching on both the triangle panels and the Bordering Blue panels. I then stamped another portion of the Modesty stamp, colored with markers and cut out. I also stamped the A Muse I Treasure Your Friendship stamp in Real Red and cut out. I matted both pieces on Real Red and adhered with Pop Up Glue Dots. Next I wrapped a red organdy ribbon around the bottom, tied in a knot and glued the whole card front to a Whisper White card base. The final touch was some Stardust Stickles highlights on the flowers.
Congrats again to the winners of my card contest.

And the WINNERS ARE.....

The Winners:



1. Dini of {Mama Dini's Stamperia}
2. Amy Westerman of {Heartfelt Greetings}
3. Bethany Paull of {It's Not All Black & White}
4. Rachel Hope of {Hope Stamps Eternal}
5. Charmaine of {Oodabug Alley}

Honorable Mention:



Beate of {Fresh & Fun}
Sherrie of {Card Creme}
Shannan of {Pink Tulle with Feathers and Sequins}
Kim Reid of {Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner}
Renee of {Stamping for Sanity}
Allison of {Stampin' When I Can}


The Prizes:
Dini receives the Twilight 6 pack of of Gelly Roll Stardust Pens (which includes mauve-sparkle, fuschsia-sparkle, forest-sparkle, green-sparkle, indigo-sparkle, violet-sparkle, & jade-sparkle) and a Basic Grey 6x6 paper pad (choice of Stella Ruby, Scarlet's Letter, Perhaps or Phoebe).

Amy receives a Cat's Pajamas stamp (Dog & Flower) and Basic Grey chipboard mini monos

Bethany, Rachel & Charmaine each receive a package of Crate Words Sentiments rub-ons and a Studio G clear stamp set.

Honorable mention winners will receive a special RAK from me.

Thanks to everyone who participated! All of the cards were beautiful and I wish I could have prizes for all of you. The judging was so hard, and I had to enlist the help of my darling hubby to narrow it down. I had so much fun watching all the entries come in and am so glad I could inspire you all to create. If your name is listed above please email me your address so I can send out your prize.

15 Minute Cards

I passed 25,000 hits! That means my card contest is officially closed. There were 41 gorgeous entries (the slideshow is updated with all the entries), so I'll be choosing 5 winners this time. I don't know how I'll ever choose, you all did such amazing work! I know you've been waiting a while, but I'm going to make you wait just a little bit longer. I need a day to get my judging groove on, so I'll be announcing the winner on Wednesday morning. If anyone feels the need to overnight me some chocolate, it *might* sway my decision! I also accept itunes gift certifcates. LOL... just kidding... sort of! :)

Monday's technique challenge on SCS was this awesome little creative exercise. The challenge was to make a simple card in only 15 minutes to get your creative juices flowing. Valerie (the guest hostess) does this every morning. Now, as you all should know by now, my usual cards take a whole lot longer than 15 minutes to make. So I decided to take a stab at it, since it seemed like a great exercise... and I would REALLY like to be able to make cards faster. And wouldn't you know, it was actually kind of fun! I even ended up doing two cards, since the first one was so much fun. I think I'll be trying this more often.

Right before I stamped I was catching up on some blog reading and I saw this card by Karrie Baker where she stamped the Doodle This flower on patterned paper. Well, I was ALL over that, since my Doodle This is still new and exciting to me! So the cards are pretty simple (well, my kind of simple, I guess) so I won't do much explaining.

Paper: DCWV Glitter paper, Basic Grey Perhaps, Chocolate Chip card stock
Ink: Ancient Page Coal Black
Stamps: Doodle This - Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Black pen, Ticket Corner Punch, Karen Foster brads, grosgrain ribbon, Stickles


I also received a ton of happy mail today. The first fantastic card is from Cindy Brockes. She's been telling me she made me this gorgeous card for a while and now I finally get to see it! It rocks. Love the flowers, the rick rack, the micro brads, everything! Thanks Cindy!

The second card is from Linzi. I just love this card. Such a beautiful layout with this gorgeous Dutch Girl paper. I love the little chicks and the Count Your Blessings. And Linzi wrote such a nice little note inside. Thanks so much, Linzi!

The third card is from Colleen. These fish just crack me up. Those big red lips are a scream!And the embossed background is uber cool. Is that a Cuttlebug template? Thanks so much for the great card and the sweet note!


The fourth (yep that's right... I got FOUR RAK's today) card is a RAK from Denise (annees on SCS). It's so pretty and feminie and just makes me smile. Thanks Denise!

Beate's Contest

I made this card this weekend for Beate's Big Deal sketch contest. Beate is such a sweetie, I can't believe she finds the time to comment on so many blogs and keep up with her hugely popular blog as well. Congrats on 200,000 hits Beate! This was a really fun sketch.

I started by stamping Fashion Kitty from Pink Cat Studio in Ancient Page Coal Black and then coloring in with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I then highlighted with Certainly Celery and Rose Red markers for a little shading. Next I doodled a little frame and layered onto a piece of Rose Red patterned paper from the Palette O' Prints pad and punched out a round tab punch in the same paper.

I then placed a strip of Rose Red striped paper on the Certainly Celery polka dot paper and ran through my Cuttlebug, using the flower texture plate from the Big Impressions Starter Kit. I lightly sanded the paper to make the embossing show. Next I added some May Arts ric-rac acorss the strip, mounted on a 5.5" square Rose Red card base and glued the elements down. I added two EK Success photo corner punches to the corners and then went crazy with my White Sakura Glaze pen, making dots all over the place! :) Next I added the primas with some Lizard Green Bazzill brads and finished off with Diamond Stickles on her flower, scarf, hat box and a little on the primas.

If you haven't seen the entries for my contest yet, scroll down to the next post and check out the slideshow.

Card Contest Slideshow

Less than 500 hits until my card contest ends!!! Y'all have blown me away with your creativity. I just love seeing how different each take on the sketch is, so I thought I'd share a slideshow of the entries so far. If you haven't entered, don't miss out on your chance to win! As of Sunday night, there are 34 entries, which means there will be at least 4 winners. You can view the sketch and other contest details here. If you've submitted an entry and your card does not appear in the slideshow below, it might have gotten lost in the chaos that is my inbox. Please resubmit your link or photo to me.


NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

Happy Mother's Day

Here's one of the Mother's Day cards I made this week. The sketch is Amy's (Heartfelt Greetings) sketch from last Sunday. She has such an awesome blog and some fantastic sketches every Sunday, so go check her out.

I got my Stampin' Up order with Doodle This, Doodle That and the new Paper Palettes pack on Friday and just had to play with them. I started by stamping the flower from Doodle This in Ancient Page Coal Black on Whisper White. I then used my Stamp-a-majig to line up the swirl vines from Doodle That with the little leaves in the stamped image. Then I colored all the images in with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol and then highlighted the edges of the flower with my Rose Red Stampin' Write marker.

Next I pulled out a very neglected pack of heavyweight vellum and laid it on top of the image to stamp Happy Mother's Day from All Year Cheer #2 over the flower in Coal Black. A few squiggles with my Zig Vellum Writer marker around the edges to frame it and then I matted on Rose Red card stock. I stamped 3 of the small flowers from Doodle That, colored with Rose Red and Regal Rose markers and cut out. On the card base I used the celery argyle and the rose red stripes from the Palette O' Prints and Cuttlebugged with the D'Vine Swirls folder. I then applied the three flowers with Stampin Dimensionals, and added Diamond Stickles to the flowers and directly over the vine flowers on the vellum.

Sneak Peek

You gals are really trying to make my judging job a hard one with all your fabulous entries for my card contest! So far, I think there are over 24 entries, which means there will now be at least three winners. Additional prizes will be announced with the winners. There's still time to get your entries in. This weekend I'll start working on getting the slide show up and running of the entries. My plan is to post the show as close to 24,500 hits as possible.

Okay, okay, I know why you're all really here reading this blog, and it's not just to read my ramblings. So on to the exciting stuff....

I don't have an exact date for you, but The Cat's Pajamas summer line of stamps will be releasing at the end of the month. It looks like the requests for Sprinkle edged out Poochie in yesterday's poll, so here's a sneak peek at everyone's favorite cat. I just love this image of Sprinkle relaxing in the pool , sipping her pink lemonade! As soon as I saw this stamp, I had to run upstairs and make this card. It just says summer to me, and with the warm weather we've been having lately I'm wishing I had my own little pool to relax in.

Stamps: The Cat’s Pajamas
F-7467 Relaxing
C-7465 Fun in the Sun

Paper: Bazzill Card stock; Conqueror Diamond White Card stock, Memory Box Beach Collection
Ink: Ancient Page - Charcoal Black; Prismacolor –Pencils, Sakura –Black Glaze pen and Stardust pens; Micron Millennium – black pen

Accessories: Dashes, Dots & Checks – Ribbon; MarvyGiga & Mega Scalloped Circle punch and Super Jumbo Circle punch; Judikins- Diamond Glaze; Stampendous – Crystal Glitter; Making Memories – eyelets; All Night Media – Mini Pop Dots

A Friendly CASE

I sent this card to Lisa earlier this week and since she told me she received it yesterday, I can share it with you all. The actual layout of the card is a CASE from this card designed by Rachel for the shoebox swap I went to last month. I thought the layout was really pretty but since I didn't have the exact stamps she had, I had to change it up a bit. And since Lisa's favorite color is purple, I had to make sure to incorporate it into the color combo of the card.

I started by stamping the large spray flower from the Paper Trey Green Thumb set in Pale Plum on pearlized white paper. I then stamped the small spray flower in Perfect Plum in the center and overstamped with my Tsukineko glue pad and covered with Dazzling Diamonds. Next I stamped the friendship sentiment in Perfect Plum and punched out with my mega scalloped oval punch and layered onto a Perfect Plum Giga scalloped oval. I ran a piece of pale plum through my Cuttlebug with the Bloom Dots embossing folder and matted on Certainly Celery paper. I then tied plum grosgrain around the card stock and matted on a Perfect Plum 4.25" x 4.25" base. The corner looked a little plain, so I added a little rhinestone flower bling from JoAnn's $1 bin and some Stardust Stickles around the scallops to finish of the card.

Today I receive a card from Alma (The Cat's Pajamas) in the mail! After I picked my star-struck self up off the floor and opened the envelope, I read that I passed the test and have now crossed from trial design team member to full-fledge Design Team Member! Yay! She sent this funky little card to welcome me to the family! How sweet! Only a little longer for y'all to wait until those sensational summer stamps are released. Are you excited? Be sure and check back tomorrow... I'll be posting a sneak peak at one of the cards I designed for The Cat's Pajamas summer stamp release. Who do you want to start with.... Sprinkle or Poochie?

Coaster Post-it Note Holder

So have I told you all that I have a thing for office supplies? I just love walking into Staples or Office Depot and wandering through the aisles looking at all the pens and markers and most of all.... post-it notes. It's the next best thing to walking into a craft store. I've seen several different kinds of post-it note holders, but I've always had a problem with them. They're all made of card stock and seem to get beat up and there's that mitred corner thing that never works for me and the card stock doesn't stay no matter how much ModgePodge I use, etc.

So tonight I set out to make something that's both sturdy and beautiful. So out came my square coasters, my crop-a-dile and my UHU All Purpose Twist & Glue.

The stamp is A Muse A True Friend, stamped in Chocolate Chip ink so it meets Challenge #2 of A-muse-a-palooza. The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie, the flowers are Prima Forever Flowers Hydrangea No. 5 and the brad is from JoAnn's. A little Diamond Stickles and some American Crafts ribbon finish it off. Here's a mini tutorial (sorry I didn't take pics until after I was done) on how I made them.

Supplies Needed:

Two 4" square coasters
Four 4" x 4" squares of patterned card stock (double-sided or 2 patterns)
One 4" x 3" piece of patterned card stock
1 4" x 1.5" strip of patterned card stock
Crop-a-dile (or hole punch strong enough to punch through chipboard)
Approximately 18" of ribbon
Basic Grey magnets
Terrifically Tacky Tape
All purpose glue or adhesive
Pop dots
Post-it Note pad


Step 1: Cover both sides of two coasters with 4" x 4" pieces of card stock. Trim corners and lightly sand just the corners to keep the rounded look.

Step 2: Stack coasters together and use Crop-a-dile to punch holes through both coasters at 1" intervals 1/4" from the edge.

Step 3: Place coasters on either side of 4" x 1.5" strip (do not glue yet) to mark where holes should go and punch corresponding holes on either side of the paper to line up with the holes on the coasters.

Step 4: Glue the strip to the front and back coaster, lining up the holes. Lay flat to dry.

Step 5: Lay down 1/4" strips of Terrifically Tacky Tape on the 3 non-punched sides of the inside coaster. Do not glue the middle, this is where the post-it note back will slide into place.

Step 6: Place + magnet on inside coaster edge near the middle. Layer - magnet on top (magnetic sides together) and place a pop dot on top of the adhesive side of the -magnet and close the cover. Make sure to get a good seal on the pop dot. If you have thicker post it notes, you may need to put a pop dot on both magnets.

Step 7: Lace ribbon through punched holes. Start on the inside corner and tie a knot, then lace across the spine and back through the inside, then go up the side and back out and across the spine. Repeat until the last hole is laced, then tied a knot and trim ends.

Step 8: Decorate front as desired. Slip post it note pad into place.

Be Happy!

Last night I did something I hadn't done in a long time... set aside some time to cyberstamp with my friend Shirley. The plan was to chat a little on instant messenger and then make a card to combine this week's color and sketch challenges. Unfortunately my computer didn't want to cooperate and I spent more time watching my computer spontaneously reboot than I did stamping! Such a bummer! While I was waiting to see what the sketch was I pulled out this adorable Rubber Romance image I stamped a few weeks ago when I was at Lila's and started coloring. Then since I still couldn't get on SCS (it had this nasty way of crashing my computer just by logging on to SCS) I decided to go with just the color challenge. To remind myself to stay positive, I stamped Be Happy from a Studio G (Michael's $1) clear stamp set in the corner. A few doodles around the edges and stickles on the leash, scarf, shoes and the word happy and I was in business! :)

Card Recipe
Stamps: Rubber Romance, Studio G
Ink: Ancient Page Coal Black, Prismacolor Pencils
Paper: Conqueror White, Cool Caribbean, Taken With Teal, Marigold Morning
Accessories: Gamsol, Stardust Stickles, Sakura Black Glaze Pen, grosgrain ribbon

Yesterday I also received a trade I had made with Lisa (crazycatstamper) and she included this beautiful Asian card. You know me, can't resist those Asian stamps! Unfortunately both French Script and Kanji are being retired. What a sad day it was when I read that. I really hope that someone comes out with a word background that is wide instead of tall. Do you ever want to turn your cards, but can't because of the background? And with words, it's hard to piece it together. Anyway, here's Lisa's beautiful card. Thanks Lisa!