Spring 2011!

Well, I should call this post "ALMOST Spring 2011".  Here in Georgia, we've had terrific weather since Punxsutawney Phil declared Spring would arrive early this year!  So terrific, I've been able to open my windows during the day and in some cases, leave them open all night.  While it's pleasant now, I cannot help but think...  "Does this mean I'm going to have to turn my air on BEFORE April 15th?" (My general "cannot turn the air on before' date...)  Since I've begun to have some "personal summers" during the wee hours of the morning (wink, wink), I may have to lower my expectations this year.  We are new in this house, so I do not have a standard of what our electric bills will be like...  Therefore, for my sake and my hubby's, I may be spending a lot of the summer in my basement which is cool and where my craftroom is located.....  Darn, the bad luck...  ;-.)

Because Spring is on the way, I wanted to showcase this card.  I used a napkin found at Tuesday Mornings and used my encaustic wax process to adhere to napkin to the card base.  Encaustic waxing is very easy to do and a quick way to make a card.  I love the look.  

 The gold line stickers in the corners are from Hobby Lobby and I just love how they add a slight elegant feel to the card. 

On a side note, I received a wonderful surprise from my friend Deb at Playing with Color.   Deb sent me an award and I want to personally thank her! Thank you so much, Deb! I was so surprised and tickled!

This award is for someone to give extra attention to another person's blog so that more people are aware of that blog.  So, the award is not given to people with hundreds of followers.  The rules of this award are to:

Make a reference to the blog of the person from whom you have received the award (with a link). Thanks Deb!!!  You can choose to pass the award from three to five other blogs, with a link. Leave a comment on your chosen blogs to let them know that they have received an award.

Of course, you do not have to accept the award on your blog or you can specify from whom you have received an award but are not passing it on. Nothing is required.

In the spirit of giving, I have chosen to pass this award on to:

Heidi at Sugah Beez

Tara at Typing out Loud

Carrie at Creative Cards By Carrie

These ladies are very talented--check out their work on their blogs and share a little love!

Save the Date...

This is my first post of 2011.  How the heck did it get to February 16th already?   Every time I say that I'm going to get better at posting, I seem to get worse!  Clearly I haven't made a true commitment to my craft.  I'm going to state here and now that I will post at least once a month for the rest of this year.  I know it's not much, but that's daunting to me!  And I'm also going to try to show more of my talent.  Whew... that's REALLY a stretch!

I was inspired when I created this card.  My little brother is getting re-married and I couldn't be more excited for him.  He suffered through an unexpected divorce while going back to college in his early forties.  He met Alicia at Florida State University while she was getting her Doctorate.  Love blossomed and they are getting married this December.  While the card may be a little "cutsey" for a 45 year old who is getting re-married, I still thought it was adorable.  And if they do not want to use it, no worries!  I'll make something different.  I have a couple of daughters who said they wanted it for their "Save the Date" cards!!!

I got the "how-to" from Valita here.  Check out her website...  her work is AMAZING!  You will probably see more of her designs here in my future posts because she's incredible!   The dress and the tux are made from large sized heart punches.  The "ta-tas" are a one-inch circle punch with lots of shading.  I used Memento London Fog ink on the wedding dress and Memento Tuxedo Black on the tux.  The "veil" is vellum and I used my scalloped ovals Nestabilities to create it.  The "Save the Date" label is created from the Fancy Labels Nestabilities.  The font was found on the internet.  I cannot remember the name, but if you are interested, email me and I'll let you know.  The Cuttlebug folder I used was "Stylized Flowers".  However, if I make this for my brother's wedding, I will use my Snowflake folder since they are getting married in December.

Let me know what you think!  Thanks Valita for your tutorials!!!