I think I am a stamp collector!

Well, the Summer is officially here. If you're not sure- just stick your head out the door and enjoy the 90 degree temperature coupled with the 90% humidity. YUCK! Between my crappy work schedule and this heat- stamping has not been a priority. Well, in my mind it has but by the time I FINALLY get a day off, clean my house (I must say my house has been the dirtiest it has ever been lately), go grocery shopping, and cook dinner- I am totally exhausted. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE!! (do you think my boss reads my blog....????) Ha ha ha!!

Ok. I am done ranting. :) I have installed a new rule for myself, however. I will not buy or order any more stamps until all the sets I have are trimmed and mounted. That's right- I had about 8 sets sitting on my shelf that I hadn't even mounted yet. And let's not get into the retired sets I just bought from other demos that haven't seen ink yet. It's insane. I have to stop "collecting" stamps and start using them. That doesn't mean, however, that I have to stop buying accessories, right? (just agree with me here- there's no use in arguing....)

Well, I have made two cards recently- but I did not BUY the stamps to make them. The first card is made with the "Hit the Beach" set from My Favorite Things. This is the set I won at the Williamsburg Shoe Box Swap (see last post.) It was pretty fun- I had to make the card for my little sister in the Divine Secret Siblings Group. I used Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, and Soft Sky card stock- in addition to Whisper White for the image base. The exciting thing is- I finally got to use a jumbo eyelet from the new SU Catty! Oh, they are so cool. The finishing touch on the card is Stickles in Stardust. If you don't own stickles- that is a good color to start off with- it goes with EVERYTHING. Once you try them- you will use them all the time.

The second card I made for my friend. She is really sad right now missing her sister. Her sister was supposed to come back for a visit but didn't get on the military flight at the last minute. I wanted to try and cheer my friend up- so I made her this card. The Bella Image was sent to me by my Big Sis in the Divine Secret Siblings group. I thought it was appropriate for this occasion. The base is Brocade Blue and the designer paper is from my Pocket Full of Posies Matstack. It has beautiful paper and I am just now starting to break out and use it. I colored the image with assorted Stampin Up markers and then heat embossed iridescent ice on the dress and the shirt of the bellas. The finishing touches are prima flowers attached with a jeweled brad and some organdy ribbon. I love the organdy ribbon and I will miss it now that SU doesn't carry it anymore.

Anyway- I haven't had time to stamp anything else- BUT I did finally mount four stamp sets so maybe I will be stamping again soon.....it's too hot to do anything outside. So if work doesn't kill me first- I will create some more cards!

Thanks for reading!!