The Fall Girls Blog Hop!

First and foremost Happy Veterans Day! I hope as you read my blog today, you will take a moment to think about those who currently serve, who previously served, their families, and those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their Country.

Welcome to the Blog Hop for the Fall Girls! We are so glad you are hopping along the way with us today! Hopefully you made it here from Tina's Blog!

The Fall Girls is a group of bloggers from one of my favorite online places, SplitCoastStampers. If you have not visited SCS, I highly recommend it! It is full of crafty enabling...I mean goodness!

As part of our hop, we are supposed to say why we wanted to join a blog group. Well, I am part of 4 blog groups and I love them all! They offer fabulous inspiration and I have met some wonderful virtual friends along the way!

Now on to my project...it all started with JoAnn's and their 40% off sale...LOL. I had been eyeing this stamp for a while, and it finally found its way home! I decided to pull out my Prismas and Gamsol to color it. It had been a while since I used them and although it took a while to color it in, I was happy with how it turned out!

Stamp: Inkadinkadoo
Paper: Basic Black, Crushed Curry, PTI White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Stickles, misc. ribbon from my stash

Your next stop on the Fall Girls Blog Hop is with Pam! Thanks so much for dropping in!

Resisting Medallion

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this SU stamp? I resisted at first, thinking I would have a difficult time with such a large stamp. After seeing Naomi do some amazing things with it, I was sold! (As if it takes a lot to enable me...LOL...you all know way better than that, don't you?!)

So, Hand Stamped Sentiments and I Dream of Stamping both had challenges having to do with embossing or emboss resist. I had so much fun with the emboss resist on this card I knew I wanted to do something like it again. I mean, it should be easy, right? You learn from your mistakes? :) Apparently I am a slow learner...

This is what we have left after 3 or so in the trash. And this was supposed to be only Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip, but did you know when you try to emboss resist with Dark Brown Embossing Powder, you get some pink streaks? Um humm...so we added the Pink Pirouette in. :) Improvise...

Stamps: Medallion (SU), Dream (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery
Ink: Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: SU Border Punch, Pink Pirouette Ribbon, Clear and Dark Brown Embossing Powders (SU), MS Butterfly Punch, Half-backed Pearl

On another note, my little crafting group here hosted a Scrapbooking Yard Sale on Saturday. I made $260! Aren't you proud of me? LOL At Yard Sale prices, you know I got rid of a ton of stuff! I am really trying to leave my hoarding ways behind...not nearly as much fun, but better for our weight requirement as we leave Japan this summer!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

HSSCS2: Follow your Heart

So, this week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments was to make a card inspired by the movie (or book!) Pride & Prejudice.

Secret revealed: I rarely watch movies and if I do, it is mainly of the G and PG type. I know what you are thinking. Seriously, I wonder what is wrong with me myself! Honestly though, anyone who knows me will say I just cannot sit still that long! Now, if there were a TV by my craft table, we would be in business! Maybe in the next house...:)

So, in order to play, I had to review the Cliff's Notes version of this movie! From what I learned, it is a love story set in England in the 1800s. Additionally, I looked at Google images and noted the girls were dressed in a lot of white with blue and brown. Bingo!

I never make vintage cards. It is not that I do not like them, but I think I stink at them!! I had this really cool idea that never panned out...but I am happy with the final product!

I had so much fun (it is fun now...last night there were a few choice words muttered if you must know the truth!) making the blue background. I used watercolor paper, embossed the white floral pattern, inked it with Bashful Blue, then sprayed it with water. I used a sponge to blend it, let it dry, and then stamped the Script background in Soft Suede.

The main image panel was done using the reinker technique on Shimmery White cardstock.

Stamps: Script, Whimsical Words, Fifth Avenue Floral (SU), Flourish is Inkadinkado #98165K.
Paper: Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Watercolor, Shimmery White
Ink: Bashful Blue, Soft Suede
Accessories: Half-baked pearls, Lace, Clear and White Embossing Powders

Thanks for stopping by today! Please consider playing along with the girls at Hand Stamped Sentiments!

Back on this Side of the World

Alright, so I have been back for a couple of weeks now. I honestly tried to blog sooner, but as anticipated, the jet lag, work and 3 things I call "children" have been rather distracting! ;)

California was truly awesome! I hit the ground running...first stop after the airport was In & Out Burger and it was just as I (and my arteries) remembered. From there I hit Target...twice! The next few days were spent shopping, eating, shopping, seeing my friends & family, shopping, and eating. Oh, did I mention I went shopping? 5 days was certainly NOT enough time. If I only had 2 more days, the damage I could have done...

A highlight of my trip was getting to meet up with 3 other ladies I met online through SplitCoastStampers. We met up in San Francisco at the Cheesecake Factory! As with all "good" crafters, we like our cheesecake! ;) We had so much fun talking, eating and walking around the city. They humored me as I browsed in H&M and the Gap! Internet shopping is great, but there is nothing like actually being able to see the clothes in real life!

Yes, I left my heart in San Francisco, but enough about my trip! Here is the info about the card posted above I made prior to my vacation.

Stamps: 91034-X Inkadinkado

Paper: Kraft, Basic Black, More Mustard, Naturals White

Ink: Palette Noir, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol

Accessories: Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Stickles, misc black ribbon

And yes, I was WELL over the 100 Paper Project Challenge when I left, so I did buy some paper! And some ribbon...my newest obsession. Hey, it weighs less than paper so it is not as bad, right?!! ;)