Please, Nobody Faint....

Yes, that is a card and indeed, I did stamp it this evening!!!! Hooray! 95% of my tools and supplies are in our newly remodeled room and although I was exhausted (didn't sleep well last night, youngest DD had speech and an IEP meeting today and Girl Scout troop met- we have 22 girls in our troop) I told DH that I just had to stamp! I totally missed out on Kim's contest over at Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner which I had every good intention entering (what do they say about a road and good intentions....) but I was determined to at least make Julee Tilman's drawing for her sketch challenge which ends August 31st at 10pm (MT)! Heck, I'm actually early for that one! Anyway, about my card...I had so many new goodies that had been laughing at me tauntingly due to my lack of time to stamp that it was very hard to decide what to use. I had been completely inspired several days (weeks?) back by a card that Trudee from Follow Your Bliss created using Lizzie Anne Designs' Au Naturale. Well, my brand new Copic markers had arrived on Monday so I just had to try them out! All I can say it "I love them!" Now you may have seen many wonderful tutorials by the celeb stampers on their blogs. These are very much worth reading! But these ladies are awesome at coloring images-forget just trying to stay in the lines, these gals are so.... good that the image doesn't even want to stay on the page! So what does this mean to an everyday stamping with the masses type girl like myself? Sometimes the tutorials are a little over my head artistically. Maybe somebody needs to right a tutorial in titled "Copics for Dummies!" All kidding aside, these are wonderful markers, the gals doing the tutorials are doing an awesome job and the bottom line is practice, practice, practice! After choosing my stamp set, I turned to all my new PP. Enlightened by Memory Box definitely stood out! I added some SU Chocolate Chip and White Shimmer paper and I was good to go. Okay, stamped and colored my main image, choose some Making Memories ribbon, and put the card together. I still needed an element in the right hand corner of the main image layer as required by the sketch. So I decided to experiment with some of my toys. First, I took some white mulberry paper and ran it through my 'bug to create a variety of white flower pieces. The mulberry paper actually cut very well, other than one stubborn string that I snipped with my scissors. Next, I am excited to say, I colored the mulberry cut outs with my Copic markers. It was much less messy than using reinkers! I layered my flower cut outs, stamped, colored, cut out and attached the pretty little dragonfly from Au Naturale and my element was complete! It sounds like a lot of steps but truly only took a few minutes to complete. Speaking of complete, as I said the new craft studio/ home school room is finished and most of my craft supplies are settled. Tomorrow we start moving the home school supplies in but I did get some photos of when it was mine, all mine!!!! I'll start sharing those over the weekend since I work each evening and will probably have NO time to stamp! Thanks to all for stopping by even when new projects were not posted. Take care!

Au Naturale card recipe

Stamps: Au Naturale by Lizzie Anne Designs

Paper: Enlightened by Memory Box, Chocolate Chip, Shimmer White, White mulberry

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Adirondack Espresso

Supplies: Making Memories ribbon, circle punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, Copic markers, Copic Spica Glitter pen, antique brass brads, Cuttlebug, paper piercer