YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME

I was so excited yesterday when I was notified by Feedblitz that I now have 50 subscribers to my blog!!!! I know that to some of you 'cyberg celebrities' that have 100's of subscribers that 50 sounds like small potatoes - but to me - it's like each one is a cherished friend. When I was notified of that milestone my first thought was that someone deserves blog candy - so this is what Bernadette T. from Ohio will be receiving.

5 - handmade cards

- a bag of vintage-style buttons

- a package of adhesive backed pearls

- an assortment of ribbon (not shown)

- an assortment of 6x6 designer papers (not shown)

Welcome to my blog Bernadette! I couldn't be happier!

This morning I planned to sleep in, get up around 8 and begin my household chores before stepping foot into my craft/computer room. I woke up at 5:30 and after a quick bathroom stop ended up - not back in bed - but in front of the computer! So much for the best laid plans! I always check my email to read my personal emails from friends and view the blog posts to the blogs I subscribe to (that takes ALOT of time there are soooooo many) and there it was! Notification from Feedblitz that I lost a subscriber!!! From elatation yesterday to sadness today! I'm new enough at this that I take the loss of a subscriber like the loss of a friend! I'm hoping that she just didn't have enough time to keep up with everything she had to get done in a day and that it wasn't the quality of my work - or HEAVEN FORBID! that I'm producing a boring blog!!!!

Okay - lets get on to today's card! I received a box from Stampin'Up! yesterday of new items that will be available for purchase beginning April 1st from the Occassions Mini. For the next several posts you will be getting sneak peeks of some of these items. The first sneak peek is from a new set entitled: WAGON FULL OF FUN.

There are several cute images in this set - but this little wagon was the selling image for me. To create the woodgrain look I started with a piece of More Mustard cardstock and dragged white Versamark Craft Ink across the paper leaving white blotches and streaks. Then I used Momento Cocoa brown ink and pulled it across the cardstock in the same direction again leaving streaks. That's all there is to creating a woodgrain look - sooooo easy! I learned this wonderful technique from GinaK on StampTV. If you haven't been to that site make sure to check it out - she's fantastic!!!!

After creating the woodgrain look, I stamped the wagon using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and cut out the wagon and handle in two separate pieces. I used a silver Krylon pen to color the metal strips and handle. I stamped the wagon again on the card front and then popped up the wagon and handle over the stamped image. The wheels were created using flat, gold "bling" I found at the local craft store.

The designer paper is a retired SU! paper called AFTERNOON TEA. At the top of the DP I placed a scalloped border created with Martha Stewarts beautiful punch and then used another of her line of punches to create the "greenery" around and behind the flowers. The flowers were punched using the SU! 3 of a Kind punch in Pretty in Pink, Lavendar Lace and Barely Banana. I accented each flower with tiny dots and added the tiniest lavendar gems to the center of each flower.

The greeting is handwritten because I don't have a "hello" stamp. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!!!! There is actually a stamp out there that I DON'T have!!!!!

It's 8 a.m. now and I hear the bed calling. Unfortunately it's too late to crawl back in so I best get up and get done with the "have to's" for the day before I spend anymore time at play.

Thanks for visiting - and to those of you who are subscribe to or follow my blog regularly - thank you, thank you, thank you. I really do appreciate all of you and your continued interest in my work.

Jill