Vintage Birthday Wishes and a Friendly Competition

Hello!

I have been sooo busy the past couple of weeks, that I really haven't had any crafty time available. Until today, that is . . . I finally got to get some of the many new tamp sets that have been piling up in my craft room really inky, and boy did it feel good.

Today's card features a clear stamp set by Crafty Secrets called Garden Girls. Now vintage is not a style that I've done alot of, but I love other people's work (Melissa Phillips - Lilybean's Paperie - is probably my all time fave vintage crafter) so decided to give it a go. What I love about these Crafty Secrets images is that they are so detailed and intricate that you can stamp them and leave them on their own - no need, necessarily, for coloring. Of course, you can color them if you want to, but I felt like there was so much going on around this gorgeous tree, that it didn't need any more color added to it. Don't you agree? Now if you know me, you know that I struggle with the whole distress ink thing. But, again, I knew it was a technique that I wanted to conquer . . . and I think I did pretty good this time. I'll definitely continue to practice though.






STAMPS: Garden Girls (Crafty Secrets), Vintage Text (Cornish Heritage Farms)
INK: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Potter's Clay (Memento), Thatched Straw (Versamagic Chalk Ink)
PAPER: True Black CS, Renaissance DP (Graphic 45), Vintage Cream CS
ACCESSORIES: Buttons, Gingham Ribbon, Scrapper's Floss, Glue Dots, 3-D Dimensional Squares (EK Success), Labels Four Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

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IMPORTANT NEWS!!

So nearly all of the products that I used on my card today I purchased from ABC Toys & Crafts. Julie carries such a huge variety of crafting and art products that it's as close to a one-stop shop that you're ever going to find. She has some of the brand spankin' new Nestabilities now in stock (the rest are on their way), Copic Markers, and some absolutely amazing stamps - including Hero Arts, My Cute Stamps, Crafty Secrets, Inkadinkadoo, and Shirley's 2 Girls, just to name a few. Are you still looking for some of the new Martha Stewart border and corner holiday punches? Well, Julie has quite a few of them in stock, and expects a restock of products any day now. The difference between ABC Toys & Crafts, when it comes to the "limited time only" products - such as Martha Stewart - is that Julie can get restock of product until the manufacturer's stock is depleted. The big box stores, like Michael's and JoAnn's, get what they get, and that's it. Plus, Julie doesn't mark up those hard-to-find punches the way all of those nasty eBayers do.

Julie has posed a little competition to her design team. She's issued each of us a special "discount code" for our readers to use. When you purchase products from ABC Toys & Crafts and you use MY SPECIAL DISCOUNT CODE: ABC15K - you'll receive 15% off your total purchase. The designer who has the most sales between now and 10/10 will win a shopping spree. Now, I know you all love me (almost as much as I love you, of course! LOL), but this is a way PROVE it!! LOL I want to win that shopping spree - BAD!! So, be a peach and head your fanny on over to ABC Toys & Crafts and buy some of those products that are calling your name. I thank you in advance for helping me win that shopping spree!

You can use this code as many times as you'd like between now and October 10th. If you spend $70 or more, you get FREE SHIPPING!! Any orders below $70 are $6.95, flat rate shipping. Now, if those aren't some pretty generous offers, then I don't know what is!!

That's it for me today. I hope you enjoyed my little adventure into vintage stamping and crafting. I'll be back soon with some more crafty goodness.