Roses in Winter wins!!!

I decided on Roses in Winter...and finally am posting here to let you know! I feel I'm going to be happy with this one. This is a set I've been eyeing for almost forever, but its one of those that never seem to made it to my order list! Go figure! *smiles* Can I tell you a little secret though?...I still haven't mounted it yet!!! *gasp*
~
I really haven't been doing much stamping at all the last week or so. Instead I've been trying to work on organizing and purging my craft room of items I just don't use anymore. It's not the easiest task in the world, plus it doesn't help that I'm not the greatest at overcoming that initial "clutter" hump. Once I get past that and can visualize how I want to organize things I do pretty well. Right now I have individual cards in about 5 different places...not working so well for me! My goal is to find the things I don't want anymore and then list it on the Buy-Sell-Trade forum over at splitcoast stampers.
~
Well, I better finish this up...I really need to get to the pet store. My little dogs are going to run out of food!!!

I can't decide!!!

Help me! I am having the hardest time deciding what set to get from SU! Here's the dilema:
~

Roses in Winter

or

Doodle This

~
Which one do I choose? I'd really like both, but you know...there's this thing called a budget that says I really should only get one set. So...with that in mind. I need to make a decision.

I've long admired Roses in Winter as well as all those great samples in the gallery over at www.splitcoaststampers.com They are all SO great!!! How can I not want that set when I see what so many have done with it??? And then there is Doodle This....super cute set! I also love the gallery samples for this one. The flourishes in it are fun and cute. And the big flower...wow! I think I might be a bit concerned about it retiring and not making it to the new catty. That shouldn't make a difference to me really, but I have this hope inside of me that I will *somehow* be able to make it as a demo. I've been pretty much making my own minimums since I've started...and that just isn't working any more. Well...that conversation is for another post I guess.

In Full Bloom

I'm pretty happy with how this card turned out. It's not too intricate, yet looks nice...at least I think so! LOL. I was inspired by my secret sister. The last couple cards she sent me have been full of glitter! So I just had to make some of my own!

I used:
-In Full Bloom
-Canvas BG
-Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Whisper White CS
-Palette Hybrid Noir ink
-Summer Sun ink
-Yellow grosgrain ribbon from SU!
-Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Only Orange, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black markers

I think I had the most fun coloring in the images. I decided to use markers...I really haven't used them too much for coloring in images. I'm pleased with the result I got. At first I had just colored in the flowers with the lightest colors. It didn't look quite right to me, so I decided to add some more color in the form of shading. So that's where I pulled out the darker colors and added some shading to the flower petals and leaves.

Teddybella

Finally! I'm sharing something I've made! *whew* I participated in a Bella swap over at SCS and this was the card I made. I fell in love with Bellas the minute I spotted them! Teddybella is one of my favorites. She grabbed me even before I was pregnant. *lol* This was also my first attempt at using my new Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. It's fun...but man did my hand ache after using the stumps and blending! I had no idea...maybe it's because I have a bit of tendonitis in my wrists...hmm. Anyway...here it is!

-Teddybella (available from www.stampingbella.com)

-Delight in Life (for the dots)

-Linen BG

-Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Confetti White CS

-Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery ink

-Palette Hybrid Noir ink

-Ticket corner punch

-Rose grosgrain ribbon from SU!

-Prismacolor pencils

-odorless mineral spirits (I used the Mona Lisa brand I found at Michaels)

Wow...has it really been that long?

I really didn't think it had been so long since I've posted! Jeezo-peezo...where have I been? That's a good question *wink* I've been SO tired the past couple weeks. I really haven't felt like doing much of anything. I feel very blessed though...I'd much rather be tired than having morning sickness. Thank the Lord!

~

There is something really exciting I want to share...my baby's first picture!!! We went on Monday for our first ultrasound. We were told its early for an ultrasound (we're only about 8 weeks or so), so we won't really see much. But it was so reassuring to see the baby...heartbeat and all! Did you know that you can even hear the heartbeat with an ultrasound? I had no idea and thought it was super cool! Both DH and I thought it was a neat experience. So you can see above is the ultrasound picture! I'm excited and wanted to share with you!!!

Lunch Tins...

I feel like I'm floating in lunch tins right now...I've got a dozen of them in process. I'm so glad that I'm done with the painting & paper part of it. I don't know it was kinda tedious to me this time. Well, I guess that happens :)

~

The lunch tins you see are now waiting for the final decorations to go on them. I've put ribbon on all of them but 3. Those 3 need a ribbon color that I don't have...I need to find a light aqua blue color (maybe a shade or so lighter than Cool Caribbean).

~

I'm planning on adding an assortment of buttons, primas, bling to finish the embellishment on each tin.

~

As far as decorating them with "recipes" or "cards"...I'm opting to NOT do that. My reasoning is this...the tins that sold well for me at the last craft show did not have either of those on them. Now, I did sell some of the ones that had "recipes" on them, but the ones with "cards" were still there at the end of the show. I'm really going with the intent of selling the tins, so I'm not going to add either to them. I think I have to agree with Taylor's thoughts she posted a long time ago at her blog www.tayloredexpressions.typepad.com She had some tins at a craft show she did last year and mentioned that people didn't go for the "cards" tins as much because they would not hold the "Hallmark" sized cards. As much as I would love for people to make their own cards...or even buy some from me *LOL*, Hallmark cards sell.

Primas!

Aren't theses Primas great? I participated in one of Jody's (texasjodylynn) shares and this is what I received!!! I just *finally* sat down to check them all out. I'm excited at the range of colors I have now. If I had to go buy all the colors myself...wow...big hurt to the pocketbook!!! But this is so cool...I got a sampling of 'em all.

~

My first project with them? I'm going to use some to embellish the lunch tins I'm working on for the craft show I'm in. Maybe I'll actually use some on a card!!!