Inspired by Happy Mail!

I received some VERY happy mail the other day, from none other than Sparkle! What made me giggle in addition to putting a huge grin on my face is the fact that I posted a comment on this very card the morning I received the card in the mail! Sparkle was very sweet to include the image of Swimming Lucy with the card too. Thanks SO very much Sparkle! You are so very generous!

I have to confess, I had a teensy, weensy problem with the stamp. It comes unmounted and I didn't have any product to mount it. {hanging head in shame} I went to a couple of stores this morning and only found one item that could work, but it was $10 for a very small sheet of cling stuff. That was more than my budget would allow. Hmmmmmm....I wonder if...well, I got an idea, tried it out and it worked! {for less than $1} I was pretty tickled (although I hope Sparkle doesn't cringe too hard when she reads this). I bought a sheet of sticky  back fun foam at Hobby Lobby for 79 cents. I took it home and cut out two pieces of the foam and stuck one on top of the other and then stuck it to the back of the stamp. Then I used my roll of repositionable adhesive and put it on the foam and stuck the whole piece to my clear block. It clung long enough for me to stamp the image a few times! Yay for me!

And maybe yay for you, because I actually created a card today! hee, hee...hope I did the image justice...

Jessica was watching me get started and told me she thought the bikini should be pink, so pink it became. Then she took off for a bit and would come back from time to time until she got completely distracted to check on my coloring progress. She approves so I called it good. 

As much as I'd love to own Copics, because I see how fabulously one can color with them(just look at what Sparkle can do with them), I have to make do with my Koh-i-noor and Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. But honestly, I really like the look of the pencils so I'd say it is a great compromise. Most of the colors I used are Koh-i-Noor (purchased at Hobby Lobby, in case you wondered). The "flesh" colors are Prismacolor in Peach and Nectar. I really liked the sparkles in Sparkle's card{grin}, so I dug up my glittery pen and added some to my card. I'm glad the camera picked up on the look. I had thought to completely case Sparkle's card, too, but when I found the pink flower button in my newly acquired big huge bag of buttons (including a bunch of vintage ones) from the thrift store, I had to use it! I had already stuck the ribbon on, so I just took some floss and tied the button to the knot. Works for me! The yellow paper is from DCWV (but I can't remember which stack, I was rummaging a lot) and the green paper is from their Nursery pack. The sentiment is from Verve, Fluttering By, I think. I have two sets in one case, the other is Petals & Stems. I'm very happy with how the card turned out. But I've got to admit, I'm so rusty at cardmaking right now, I was spent after creating this one card. Oy! LOL

Actually, this is the second card I've created within the past week! I made one for Kathi, using a gifted stampset (called Out for a Spin by Our Craft Lounge) from my friend Becky, but I was in such a hurry to get it mailed off in time for Kathi's birthday that I forgot to take a picture of the card! Hopefully Kathi will share it, because otherwise you just have to take my word for it that I made one. LOL

Hopefully soon I can work up the stamina to create more than one card at a time so I can start sharing more regularly again. As it is, I sure appreciate your stopping by! I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend!