New Stuff and Some Cards

CKC in St. Louis was such a blast! I am still bursting into fits of giggles when I think of some of the funny things that were said and done by the members of my crafting posse during this trip. Next time we take a road trip, we'll know to pack waterproof pads to put on the seats of the car so it's not as big of a deal when we PEE OUR PANTS from laughing so hard. Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who seemed to have a bladder control problem, but really--if you were 'stuck' in a car with Caroline, Elizabeth and Mama Kate--you'd understand. It seemed like we all had contagious laughter and certain words would just send us into fits of hysterics and it was just never-ending! I can't remember the last time I just laughed and laughed so hard! I took a picture of some of my loot from the trip--I didn't photograph it all because there was just too much. HA! No really, it was late and I was tired so I thought this photo caught most of it so it was good enough. Some of my favorite purchases aren't pictured and those items are my Technique Tuesday stamp sets and my packages of American Crafts paper. YUM-O! I also didn't photograph all of my FREE stuff that almost rivals the amount of stuff I bought! I was truly blessed to have been placed as a Teaching Assistant with Becky Novacek from Fiskars. She made me feel very comfortable right off the bat even though I had just been scolded from a woman for being 'late' for my volunteering stint (I had been down in the room when I was supposed to be and noone was there so I went shopping for 15 minutes!). Anyway, Becky hadn't been there too long when I arrived and I apologized for being late and she said it was no problem since she was kinda running around herself--turns out she had locked her keys in her rental vehicle! YIKES! So, we got to work and got set up for the class and everything was fine. Well, she was supposed to have another volunteer and nobody else arrived so it was just I--Super Volunteer who helped out with her two classes that morning. After the classes were over, Becky thanked me by giving me a bunch of stuff that was left over from her classes! Some of the packets had been opened because extra supplies were needed, but there was still a lot of great stuff in the packets! Then, to top it off, she gave me COMPLETE kits for both of her classes!! I was beside myself! Oh, do you think she stopped there? NO--she added a nice star punch to my pile and insisted that I take it after I tried to refuse. So, needless to say, I was floored by her generosity and had to make her a 'thank you' card. I used some new patterned paper from my SEI Jolie Chocolat pack (LOVE it) and combined it with some Perfect Plum and Going Gray cardstock to make this card. Now, sit down...you won't believe this, but I actually mailed the card to her this morning! I know! I always seem to have a problem mailing cards, but I knew it had to be sent immediately so that I didn't forget. My sister is going to read this and want to knock me out since she has yet to receive the two cards I have recently made for her (they're going out today, Kimichanga--I promise). I volunteered for another class and I'll make a card for them and post it later.
I was just in the mood to use some of my new goodies so I made a couple of other cards. This one uses a stamp by Stampendous which I've had my eye on for a while. I really loved the 'Happy Easter' stamp that was a lot like this one, but it was sold out everywhere. Eclectic Paperie ordered extras that got in after Easter, but I didn't even order those in time because they were sold out when I went to place my order!! So, I saw this stamp at Archiver's and went ahead and got it since it'd be the closest I ever got to having my 'Happy Easter' stamp. I colored it using my BRAND NEW birthday present to myself--Prismacolor Pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirits. Who cares that my birthday isn't here yet--I couldn't pass up 50% off last week at Mike's! The patterned paper is American Crafts and that was a HL find. Their paper is on sale this week so I will probably find myself there wandering the aisles even though I have NO BUSINESS doing business with any craft store/business including my own!! Oh, and I need to add that I used some of my new bling on this card. A chick from Scrapbooks and Stickers talked me into taking a look at their bling selection by Kaiser and it was inexpensive and fabulous! What I probably like most about it is that each piece has adhesive on it so you're not pulling up the whole row of pieces when you really just want one. Also, there isn't extra gunked up adhesive showing when you place the rhinestone down on the project--very nice!
This post is entirely too long, but I'm just going to add this card here as well. I have been wanting this alphabet set for a while and told myself I'd get it at CKC so I DID! It's by Technique Tuesday and it comes in two sizes--this is the larger one. I couldn't decide between the two sizes so I just got them both. I did not get the capital letters so I figured it was okay :-) I lined the stamps up on an acrylic block and stamped them using Papertrey Ink's Berry Sorbet--I also used that color for the card base.
I stacked the two different colored ribbons since that's today's technique challenge on Splitcoast, matted the panel with Old Olive and then the card was done! EASY! Thanks for stopping by and I will be seeing you soon with more goodies from my trip AND some great new Stampin' Up! stuff that I can't wait to share!