Stamps, Paper, Scissors

I deal in straws....

The kind that break the camel's back. Savvy?

'Cause if you didn't love these stamps before now, your camel's back is going to be under a bit of strain:

Ingredients: Stamps - Kitchen Sink Stamps - 3 Step Hydrangeas, Whole Family; Paper - Whisper White, Ballet Blue, Almost Amethyst; Ink - Elegant Eggplant, Ballet Blue, Lavender Lace, Almost Amethyst, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, PTI Spring Moss; Other - Martha Stewart Scallop Lace Border Punch, Large & Small Tag Punches (SU!), narrow white satin ribbon, dotted organdy ribbons, white gel pen

Isn't this GOJUS?!?!? (YILM!) This morning as I was contemplating with panic once again the need to boogie on some Kitchen Sink projects since it's the last day of the month the beauty of these stamps and feeling as if I better get a move on or I will be in arrears yet again in my design team quota and Maria might just kill me I simply could not resist stamping with them again! So I ran shrieking and gibbering in fear to turned to my stash of miscellaneous stuff waiting to be turned into something fab and found this candle that I bought because I'm one of those people that just buys things on impulse, every retailer's dream lemming shopper just 'cause I liked the color. It's been a long time since I wrapped a candle and it really dresses up even the plainest dollar store candle (though I bought this one at Michael's as I recall!)

Actually, I really do love these stamps...JK, Maria, LOL! I've had a hard time tearing myself away from using them, if the truth be told, but I can't stamp with them ALL the time. My other stamps get lonely! ANYWAY...

Here's some other views of my faboo candle:

I took a piece of Ballet Blue cardstock, scored and folded it, then put it in my large tag punch so that the folded edge was lined up on the left side of the window. The punch will then punch out a perfect folded tag. I wouldn't try this with really heavy cardstock...you'd probably break the punch. I was pushing it with this Ballet Blue, but luckily, it worked just fine!

The narrow satin ribbon was a lucky find in a drawer where I keep ribbon for sewing and other crafts. Every other ribbon I tried was just too wide. The butterfly was stamped on a separate piece of paper, then cut out and placed with a glue dot.

The seam on a wrap is always a hard thing to manage. I cut out the leafy edge and overlapped two layers of the wrap one way, then the top layer was overlapped with the floral cut out edge on top.

I use sticky strip as the adhesive, but only at the ends of the wraps. Because, as you wrap the cardstock around the candle, the top layers actually are going to be longer than the bottom ones because they have a farther distance to travel. So it looks nicer if you stick all the ends together, put them on the candle and wrap, then stick the other ends down one by one.

The border punch is one I got at Michael's...Martha Stewart does not show this punch on her website any more, so it's probably retired, but I've seen it on Ebay, so you might be able to get it there.

If you decide to make something like this for your mom, or any other well-loved person, be sure to tell them to remove the cardstock wrap BEFORE they burn the candle. We are expressing warm wishes to our Mom, not letting her get too warm by burning her house down!

Well, I've got a kid at home with a cold today, so I can't go shopping to buy more stuff to stick in my drawer and not use for 4 years like this candle my options are limited. Might as well stamp to pass the time! Ta!

Mea culpa....

Bless me, my fellow stampers, for I have sinned. I have commited Rubbah-dultery yet again.

Well, I couldn't resist! The stamps were so stinkin' cute, they just called my name. And since it WAS my birthday, I thought I deserved to have a least a couple of these sooooo cute stamps! Which stamps? Stamps called Friendly Critters from Cornish Heritage Farms. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Cornish Heritage Farms Helpful Chipmunks Friendly Critters, Friendship, Pretty Pattern Backgrounder; Paper - PapertreyInk Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Stampers Select White, SU! Almost Amethyst, Ballet Blue; Ink - Adirondack Espresso, SU Lavender Lace, PapertreyInk Spring Moss; Other - Slit Punch (SU!), 1" circle punch (EK Success), Prima Flowers, Lovely Lilac button (SU!), copper eyelet (SU!), crochet cotton, dotted organdy ribbon (Michael's), Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol

Isn't this both GOJUS *and* STINKIN' CUTE?!?!?! (YILM!) I also purchased one of the Cornish Heritage Farms backgrounders that I have been eyeing for a while. In fact...there were several things sitting in my shopping cart that I had put there long ago and backed away from...those sneaky people had left them in there! So when I went to check out, there they were and I realized that YES, I still wanted them and just ordered it all. I was in the grip of a FRENZY!!! I ended up with a couple of the Friendly Kritter stamps, 3 of the sayings to go with them, plus two backgrounders and an ink pad (the Espresso) and reinker. Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday, you stampin' genius (YILM!) Happy Birthday to me!

I'd love to tell you those were the only stamps I bought for my birthday...but I'd be lyin'! But since the other ones haven't come yet, I ain't gonna tell you what they are until I get them, so there. Ta!

Okay, I admit it...I'm a kid at heart

Yesterday my kids and I went to a local florist for the Webkinz Extravaganza.

If you don't know what Webkinz are, well, you have missed the boat. A Webkinz is a stuffed animal made by the Ganz corporation, but the difference between a regular stuffed animal and a Webkinz is that you can play online using a Webkinz. The Webkinz site has games and a store where you can buy things using virtual money for your pet. You earn the virtual money by playing games or doing jobs at the employment office.

Back in December, Emily started asking for a Webkinz because her friend, Douglas, had one. I began looking into them and finally decided that they would make great Christmas presents for my kids. They all started out with that first Webkinz and I figured that would be it.

But it wasn't.

Because Laurel had problems registering  her Webkinz online on Christmas Day and because Ganz was snowed under by all the people who had the same problems, we ended up going to a local market and buying her another one. (Eventually, the mess with the first one was all straightened out.) And somehow, everyone got one that day...including me. I was just curious as to what all the big deal was about. And I found that Webkinz were a ton of fun. What with a few birthdays in the intervening time plus Easter, more Webkinz have come to live at our house.

And now I have four of them. Yes, I do! I bought myself another one yesterday, making me the proud owner of Sheba (Tiger), Zoe (Yorkie), Fifi (Pink Poodle) and now Henrietta, my new chicken.

My kids also got new ones and since they are kids and this was an "Extravaganza" they each got a free one with their new purchase. I'm jealous! It's ageism! Really, I'm just a little kid on the inside! Give me a free one too! <sulks>

I have found, BTW, that lots of people my age have these things, so there is nothing to be ashamed of! In fact, if you have a Webkinz and want to add me to your friends list, my name on Webkinz is JanStamps.

Anyway, speaking of stamps, on to the purpose of this blog:

Ingredients: Stamps - Kitchen Sink Stamps 3 Step Hydrangeas, Never at a Loss for Words; Paper - Garden Green, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi, Handsome Hunter, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke, D'Arches Watercolor paper; Ink - Garden Green, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip; Other - Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic & Scalloped Circles, Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder (Provocraft), Ice Square Brads (SU!), Green gingham bobbin ribbon (Michael's), dimensionals.

Is this GOJUS or what?!?!? (YILM!) I used Julee Tillman's Mojo Monday #34 sketch and kind of went nuts with all the different greens. I am inspired by what I see all around me and God has been pretty liberal around here with all the different colors of green! (Thank goodness...I was beginning to think that spring was never coming a few weeks back!) And the amazing thing about it all is that they all WORK together on this card...you wouldn't think this many different greens would "go" but they do.

The hydrangeas were stamped on cold press D'Arches paper. Now there is a lot of texture to this paper, so you may be wondering how I managed to get a good impression with these solid images. Here's my secret: I misted the paper first with a little water. It helped the ink sink into every crevice when I stamped and as long as you don't put TOO much water on, the ink will not spread. Yes, I am a genius, I know (YILM!)

Okay, I have to leave for church in about 30 minutes and I'm still sitting here in my jammies talking to you! Must dash...ta!

Didja miss me? Didja?!?!?

Let me tell ya, this past week was a killer...a mojo killer!

My kids started softball practice for the new league they are playing on and practices, between the three of them, are 4 nights per week! Dan and I are planning on tag-teaming these, with me taking the girls and him taking William, but when he doesn't feel well, guess who gets to go? You got it...so I did three practices this week and only got out of the fourth because I had to go to a meeting for the graduation committee for 8th grade graduation.

The girls are old enough to be dropped off and picked back up from practice, but with the price of gas, I'm not too sure I'm going to do that often. And I need to get another cell-phone for them so they can call in case they need to be picked up immediately. Sigh...

Then we had new phone/internet/cable installed yesterday and that took up a bunch of time, during which I could not stamp, surf on the internet or even watch television. And since strangers were coming into my home, I felt a need to do some cleaning and since I have been TENSE (oh, my that came out in all caps!) it really was the only thing to do. So my bedroom is cleaner than it has been in...in...a long time, anyway! I cleaned the bathroom to a fare-thee-well while they were here and did laundry...my life...so fun.

Now I have more channels on the television than I know what to do with, a DVR, voice mail and call waiting (desperately needed as children turn into teenagers) PLUS my internet connection is super fast, really the only benefit I will probably get out of the whole thing (though listening to my voice mail online is kinda cool!) Just glad it's done and I have a clean house to show for it.

Of course, it is not absolutely clean yet. The kitchen still needs more work and there are a couple of closets I need to reorganize (believe me, I've been tossing and cleaning stuff for weeks with the stress of everything, so there isn't a whole lot to do.) This morning, my husband, bless him, asked me "So, what are you going to do today?" I said I was going to the chiropractor and then I was going to stamp because it had been days, DAYS, I tell ya! since I was able to do any at all.

"Aren't you going to finish cleaning the house?" he said.

All I can say is it's lucky he isn't feeling well...or I'd make sure he wasn't.

ANYWAY, I did finally get downstairs and made a card. It felt good...felt DANG GOOD! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Flourishes LLC Siberian Iris; Paper - PapertreyInk Spring Moss, SU! Rose Red, SU! Soft Sky, SU! Always Artichoke, D'Arches Watercolor Paper, Basic Grey Boxer 6 x 6 pad; Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Always Artichoke; Other - PapertreyInk Spring Moss twill, 3/16" corner rounding punch (SU!), sewing machine, Making Memories metallic flower brads, dimensionals, SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Cuttlebug Paisley Embossing Folder (Provocraft)

Is it not GOJUS?!?!? (YILM!!) This is  using the sketch challenge from Splitcoast (SCS173). I had a fun time using my watercolor crayons to color in the little topiary stamp from the Siberian Iris set from Flourishes LLC. I got the Boxer paper from Flourishes with my last batch of stamps and I just love the rich colors it contains.

Okay, I can hear you saying, "What kind of stitch is that you did on the artichoke mat and the focal piece?!?!? I don't have that stitch on my sewing machine!!!"

Well...it's called "I set my top tension too high so this is what I got instead of zig zag stitch!" And I liked it, so I decided not to start over. I was just too lazy to look for the instructions for my SewMini...I know I threaded the top wrong somehow, but I didn't want to do it over so there it is. If you want to duplicate it, you need to tighten the tension on your thread on your machine...experiment a bit to see what you get.

The other thing I have a tip for is the brads. I decided after the layers were all stitched together that I wanted these brads in the corner of the artichoke mat. But I hate, really hate, brad butts (the backside of the brad) showing on the inside of my card and will do almost anything to avoid it. So I took a wire cutter, cut off the poor little brads legs (did you hear them scream?), rolled up a glue dot and adhered them to the corners instead!

And now, as promised, here are the birthday RAK's I received:

These cards are from the SCS RAK user group. The card on the left is from Amy (g33kgr1) ...thank you Amy! The card on the right is from Melanie (Batgirl)...thank you, Melanie!!!

The card on the left is from Simone (*spazzgirl*) of the SCS Blogger RAK group and her blog is located here. Thank you Simone!

And the card on the right is from my good friend and sideline, Connie Seifert (conniestamper)...it had the added bonus of having some Dove Chocolates in it...had is the operative word. They were delicious! Thank you Connie!

And here are the last two! The one on the left is from Jen (VCJORDI) from the SCS BRAK Committee. Thank you Jen! The one on the right is from Stephanie Sebren (StephStamps1982) from SCS. Thank you Stephanie!

Well, time's a wastin' and stamping costs money...must dash and see if I can squeeze another card in before I get kicked out this evening for the big recording session my DH is having. The kids are going with their Sunday School to play laser tag...maybe I'm going to be doing some fun shopping for ME tonight? Ta!

Happy Monday to you!!!

Everyone having a good time today? Yah? Myself, I am out of Diet Coke...don't know how much longer I can stand it before I run out for some. My kids are off today, my DH has called in sick, so he is home and I may just need a sanity run soon!

Well, I got nothin' much to show for my birthday weekend (except for those of you who sent BRAK's, which I will feature tomorrow and those wonderful people who put such nice tips in the jar (both in the past week and those in the past month), you are just SO NICE!!! Thank you!)

I just have not been feeling that great...I think I might have some sort of sinus thing going on, because it feels like I have an infection somewhere, but I don't really have any symptoms other than feeling crappy. Lovely.

So I've been spending time being a layabout, reading Hamish Macbeth mysteries, and occasionally going to the stamp room to try to get something going. I did get this done:

Ingredients: (all Stampin' Up!) Stamps - Tart & Tangy, One Smart Cookie; Paper - Summer Picnic DP, Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Whisper White envelope; Ink - Basic Black; Other - Real Red & Old Olive Markers, black and red gingham ribbon, white gel pen, scallop circle punch, silver eyelets, 1 3/8" circle punch, word window punch, Boho Blossoms punch, 1/4" circle punch.

I have to thank Cambria Turnbow for posting her awesome tutorial for this little basket on her blog, Stamp a Little Love Baby! Is it not STINKIN' CUTE!?!?!?!

I am planning on doing this project for my April class, so this weekend I got out my project notebook and pulled out the tutorial that I had printed off. But the course of stamping does not always run smooth. I completed the basket without ribbon and I just felt it needed SOMETHING. So I decided to add a couple of eyelets to the side of the front to tie my ribbon through. I pulled out my Cropadile and got to work and was admiring the results...until I looked at the back. I found I had not only punched two holes in the front to accommodate my eyelets, but in my careful maneuvering of my Cropadile, trying to keep from tearing the bag and to get the holes in the right places, I had inadvertently punched two holes in the BACK of the bag too!!! ARRRGGHHHH!!!

Well, you know, there are no mistakes in stamping, only opportunities for creative embellishment. So this is what I did to cover the holes:

Unfortunately, the holes were not exactly in the same place on the back as they were on the front, but the blossoms were big enough to take care of that problem...except when you looked at the inside, where the colored cardstock was showing through the holes like a woman who places a commercial value on certain services shows up in a church...hee hee...so I did this:

I used my 1/4" circle punch and punched out some circles from the punched out tag shapes from the envelope and glued them over the holes.

Well, I am going to try to get some mojo going today and hope to have something new and GOJUS to show you tomorrow! Ta!

And now for something completely different....

Yes, I am a big Monty Python fan!

The "completely different" today is the look and feel of this card compared to yesterday's:

Ingredients: Stamps - Kitchen Sink Stamps 3 Step Hydrangeas, Whole Family; Paper - Kraft, Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, Basic Grey Lily Kate; Ink - Whisper White craft ink, Barely Banana, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Almost Amethyst, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant; Other - Elegant Eggplant 1/4" grosgrain, Vintage brads, Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware, Photo Corner Punch, sponge wedge, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel and Always Artichoke Markers.

Isn't it GOJUS?!?!? (YILM!) After the more photorealistic card I did the first time with this 3 Step Hydrangeas set, I wanted something more antique in nature. I chose kraft cardstock for my neutral and started bystamping each flower with white, then built up my layers with subsequently darker colors. I really love, love, love this set (did I say "love"?)!

And this word set, Whole Family, is also totally cool. You can build a multiplicity (fancy word for a WHOLE BUNCH) of phrases to suit just about any family member you care to name (well...unless you come from certain areas of Kentucky (or even Michigan!), where things can get a little complicated!) Can you imagine I actually had to choose between the 3 Step Hydrangeas and the Whole Family sets this month?!?!? So I chose to get the Hydrangeas for my design team assignment, then went ahead and bought the Whole Family set. I really love this font, which matches the one used in the 3 Step Hearts & Roses set.

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words on the stress level around here. Some things got resolved yesterday which helped a great deal, so I'm feeling much better now! But, just as we were last year, we are on tenterhooks about my husband's job, so keep those prayers and good thoughts coming. I *think* we are okay, since I'm thinking they have to give teachers at least a 60 notice if they are laying them off and that time  has come and gone, but ya never know.

Well, so many stamps, so little time, so I'm gonna sign off for now and see what's happening in the stamp room today! Ta!

That bird sure talks a lot...

Lots of people (okay, only TWO) were asking me about the dimensions on my flap card yesterday. The base of the flap card is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and the folded piece on top (the Certainly Celery piece) is 4" x 12" (or 11 7/8" if you have older cardstock as I do!).

But back to the title of my post: What bird am I talking about? Why this one!

Ingredients: (All Stampin' Up!) Stamps - A Little Birdie Told Me, Sprinkles; Paper - Real Red, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DP; Ink - Basic Black, Real Red, Old Olive; Other - Olive Green Poly-Twill ribbon, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" grosgrain, white gel pen, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Real Red, and Bashful Blue markers, 2-Way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, small oval punch, word window punch, 1/2 circle punch, sticky strip.

I mined this idea from Corinne Somerville's blog, Stamping with Roxy, way back before Christmas and SHE saw it on Patty Bennet's blog and Patty got it from her upline Sandy, and now I've created one of these for my class at the end of the month, Not Your Standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card! I love how the stampin' sistahhood feeds each other like this! Lookie inside:

There is a very competent tutorial on how to make this on Corinne's blog, so I won't bother to repeat it!

I really love this set. Sure would be nice to get something like this for MY birthday (complete with Starbucks card this one is empty! ACK!) which is...oh, my! It is Sunday! What a coinkydink! And what do I get to do on my birthday? I get to probably go out to dinner...at least, that is my hope. My children are threatening to buy me a new Webkins (that is so thoughtful of them, isn't it?)

Sharon, my friend and upline, came over to stamp yesterday and this is what I made. It's always so great to have someone to bounce things off (what do you think of this ribbon? Too much? Pass the chocolate!) And it did help that Sharon brought some chocolate, since I had none!

I really have not got much stamping done lately, due to incredibly stressful situations that have been happening around here lately. I'm hoping things will settle down soon, though. As a result of the stress I have gotten a lot of cleaning done...it's the only thing I *can* do under stress. It's a testament to my relatively happy life that most of the time my house is a wreck! In the past two weeks, I've reorganized 3 different kitchen cabinets, thrown a bunch of stuff away, cleaned behind the couch (!!!) and done a ton of laundry. As much as I enjoy having these things done, I rather be happier and messy than stressed and clean. Oh well...

Today seems like it's going to be relatively stress-free, so I think I'm gonna go get some stampin' done! Ta!

What's all the flap about?

So, I've been seeing all these flap cards all over the place and, being the highly competitive person that I am as well as always on the look out for interesting folds to do for my monthly class, I went for it!

Instead of using everyone else's measurements, I made up my own. I wanted the finished result to be a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", but that is a problem if you want to have enough cardstock for the flap to cover the bottom part of the front of the card. I solved this by mounting my flap card on an A4 base. This way I could cut the rest of the card from a piece of 12 x 12 cardstock, thus getting more bang for my buck (I can get 3 cards out of a piece of 12 x 12). Here's the result:

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Wonderful You, Stems & Silhouettes Jumbo Wheel; Paper - Night of Navy, Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Whisper White; Ink - Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral; Other - Soft Sky Double-Stitched Grosgrain, Night of Navy marker, Scallop Scissors (retired), Coluzzle, Word Window Punch.

Isn't this just GOJUS?!?!?! (YILM!) Paula had come over Saturday night and I made this card while she was there. I have a ton of Certainly Celery 12 x 12 cardstock, so just picked colors out that I thought would go with it. I love this color combination!

This set and wheel are part of the Free Wheeling Promotion that SU! is having this month. Buy the set, get the wheel for free! And since this set was on my wish list, I decided to go for it.

The card is scored at 4 5/8" and then again at 9 3/4". The flap is cut into a round shape using the largest circle on the Coluzzle template. I added the scalloped Cameo piece because it just needed something. Unfortunately, my largest Nestability scallop circle did not fit around the flap, so I resorted to my retired SU! Scallop scissors. They are not that easy to use, so I only pull them out if I absolutely have to. The scallop really makes this card, so I did absolutely have to!

Here is the card open:

After I finished the card, I felt I had to have a way of keeping it closed. I didn't want to use my Basic Grey snaps on this thing, so I decided to use a trick I've tried before. I punched a thin self-adhesive business card magnet with my 1/2" circle punch twice:

When you are adhering them to the card, put the two non-stick magnetic sides together...there is a direction they have to face so that they will stick together. Then peel the first magnet's backing off and stick them to the flap. Then peel off the second magnet's backing and press the flap down for the perfect placement. Make sure your business card magnets are not too thin...the paper thin ones are not strong enough!

This card will be one of the projects at my next class on April 28th, which features cards that are not your standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.

Well, I'm off. I hope to get some more stamping done this evening...took me all day to clear up the mess my kids left in my house this weekend! Ta!

Dum dum dah dum...dum dum dah dum....

No, it's not a post about my intelligence! I'm humming the Wedding March! Why? Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Flourishes LLC Wedding Party, Wedding Essentials; Paper - Papertrey Stampers White Select, Brushed Silver (SU!), Basic Grey Lily Kate 6 x 6; Ink - Adirondack Pitch Black; Other - Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Inkssentials white gel pen, Pretties Kit (SU!), lace ribbon (May Arts), white satin (unknown), Spellbinder's Scalloped Circle and Classic Circle Nestabilities, dimensionals (SU!), ticket corner punch (SU!)

Isn't this just absolutely SPLENDIFEROUS?!?!?! (YILM!) I used two of the latest releases from Flourishes, Wedding Party (drawn by Sophie LaFontaine) and Wedding Essentials. Some details:

I colored the veil a very light grey, colored her hair lighter for the parts under the veil, then used my white gel pen to make the veil look transparent. I also added white dots to her bodice to make the gown look lacy.

Did the same to the hem of the gown to create the look of lace.

I created a mini bouquet of flowers from the SU! Pretties kit. This was the last touch I added to the card and it just lifted it up from the fairly wonderful to the sublime (YILM!)

So, now that you've viewed this lovely card, which could be an invitation if you had a small intimate wedding (unless you wanted to prostrate yourself in making invitations) or could be used as a congratulations card for a friend or relative who just tied the knot (but you'd have to really really love them to give them something this nice), don't you think I deserve some chocolate?!?!? I certainly do and I have none! So I'm declaring today Restock My Chocolate Reserves Day...amazing how many of those I've had lately! In the meantime, I've got a box from SU! that came yesterday that I have not even OPENED, so I'll be dashing off! Ta!

New stamps at Flourishes!

Three beautiful sets are now available at Flourishes: Wedding Essentials, Wedding Party and Siberian Iris! Here's a card I did with Siberian Iris:

Ingredients: Stamps - Flourishes LLC Siberian Iris; Paper - SU! Barely Banana, Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace, d'Arches watercolor paper; Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Certainly Celery, SU! Barely Banana; Other - 1 1/4 & 1 3/8" circle punches (SU!), clipiola (Making Memories), Orchid grosgrain (SU! retired), purple gingham (Doodlebug designs), Textile pattern Cuttlebug embossing folder (Provocraft), SU! Watercolor Wonder crayons, white gel pen

Isn't this GOJUS!!! (YILM!) And it wasn't hard with this GOJUS set designed by Marcella Hawley! We were sent a link to a Siberian Iris gallery online and the variety of colors was very inspiring. I always think of purple for irises, but there were blue, pink, and white ones as well. I decided to add the white veining to my image after seeing many beautiful irises with this pattern on their petals.

I'm excited as well to announce that the guest designer for April is Sharon Harnist! Sharon is a very talented designer and I was delighted when they told us she was joining the team.

Now, if you love this set (or any other Flourishes set!) be sure to check out this thread on SCS. There is a contest for winning a free Flourishes set of your choice going on from now until April 11th!

And that's not all the excitement...the SCS Inkling turns 2 this month and there is a ton of excitement (and prizes!) Check out Daven's announcement here.

OMGosh...now I'm exhausted from all this excitement! How will I stamp today? How?...Guess I need to get me some chocolate, 'cause I have a bunch of stuff to do, including playing with my new Wedding Essentials and Wedding Party sets! Ta!