En Francais Sympathy

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Woo Hoo!  I can feel the pressure melting away .... tonight is my last scheduled stamping "gig" for the year ... no more prep ... no more cutting ... no more "work" ... from now on it's just do a little catch up on paperwork and deliveries and then it's crafting just for fun!  Weeeeeeeeee!  I don't know who is more excited, me or the girls!  We have all kinds of things planned for the coming weeks.  Of course it still means a lot of "work" on my part ... but it's the work I've been really missing lately ... prepping projects to spend quality time with my babies :)))  I can't wait!

Now.  Although I have been up to my back teeth in prep, work and stress lately I DID have a fabulously stampy weekend!  It all kicked off Friday night with Craft Night.  I had such a good time!  Of course the November and December Craft Nights are better attended than other months as people start or finish their little projects, gifts and scrap albums and that always makes for lots of fun and laughs.  What a great group of ladies I have the pleasure of knowing - I always go to bed smiling once they've been over :)))

One project I was working on was to help design a simple card using the Tidings of Joy (retired) set.  Okee Dokee!  To Stampin' Connection I ran!  I cased this idea from an adorable card made by Barb Mann in California.  Here is her version:

And here is my simplified version (her coloring is beautiful but it was just too time consuming to mass produce!)

Wa-low!  Quick, clean and easy!  I'm gettin' better at this Clean and Simple business, eh?  (hee hee - "eh" ... had to throw that little bit of Canadianism in there for my foreign friends :))  I simply stamped the image on Very Vanilla and embossed it with Gold Emboss powder.  I cut some Soft Suede card stock (and angled the top cuts for that "stable" look) and ran it through my Woodgrain embossing folder (don't you just LOVE when you have all the tools / stamps / folders you need to make what you WANT to make??!!!)  The star is embossed as well and has a little Dazzling Diamonds in the middle, compliments of my 2-way glue pen.  A small knot of Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon finishes it off.  Eeeeeeeee!  Love it!

Next up is a card that I played with for more than a few hours.  I was very tired but thought that might "help" my creative process.  No ... not so much.  I'm still not 100% convinced I love it ... I like it a lot ... and may use the same elements on another attempt ... but not for a while.  I have other fish to fry first.  Nonetheless I do LIKE this one ... and sadly I have a lot of use for it lately.  I am about to mail out my 5th Sympathy card in 2 weeks :(  My heart aches for all my friends who have lost their loved ones recently.  Here is what I came up with:

Hmmmm - looks like I got the flash a little wrong on that one!  Well ... you get the idea.  I embossed some Vellum card stock with the Early Espresso Embossing Powder.  Wow!  What a great effect (effect, right?  Not affect ... sigh - I WISH my High School English teacher spent more than a week a year on grammar ... and that I paid attention during that one week!).  I have a strip of espress cs edged with the Scallop Trim Border Punch.  The sentiment is in Espresso and is from Love and Sympathy (a great "keeper" set! - page 54 of the catty - only $14.95 clear - $19.95 wood!)  The largest butterfly is from the punch ($21.95) - the smaller ones are from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit ($14.95).  Pearls on the largest butterfly and below the sentiments finish it off.

That's it for today!  I'm off to get the kids (10 minutes early!!!)  I'm already packed and ready to stamp with the Brownie Troop Tonight.  Dinner is planned - chores are done ... hmmm .. I feel some "couch time" comin' on.  Oh ya, Baby!  Mama's gettin' that nap today - WOO HOO! 

Whatever you get up to today - have a stampy day!


Tam