May already.

Good morning everyone,
Where is this year going?  I can't believe we've had 4 months already.  I'll be making Christmas cards next (oops, have I just used the dreaded 'c' word).

First off I'd like to say welcome to my latest followers.  It's so nice to know that you guys actually read and like to keep up to date with what I put on here. Thank you, it's much appreciated.

This week is just as chaotic as ever but, even though we move in 12 days, (and we're over in the UK for 3 and a bit of those - eeek!), I've managed to fit some craft time in.
Have all you Stampin' Up! fans seen the new Summer Mini Catalogue yet?  I was lucky enough to be invited to a launch night on Tuesday which I just had to attend (time off from packing).  I got to see the new cattie and play with some of the new products. All I can say is I want the lot!! The new stamp sets are gorgeous, the new tools are fab and the new papers, fabric, ribbons etc., are yummee .....  wait till you see them.  I'm lucky, I have 2 SU demonstrators, there's my good friend Sally-Jo over in the UK, check out her Blog stampin-sally-jo for great inspiration and details of products etc.  And,  I've also met Kirstie over here on the island, visit her FB page for more inspiration and ideas Kirstie's Facebook page.  I get a double helping of SU - yeah!  The other half isn't too happy though -  it costs him twice as much!!
I had a lovely evening and everybody there made a card using the new Up, Up and Away stamp set, which is so cute.

We did a bit of everything, stamping, embossing, paper tearing, punching and there was even cake!! What more can you ask for.

I've even managed to get a couple of Blog challenge entries done, with a whole day to spare.   This is the first one.  It's for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge PBSC.
This week's theme is May Day! with Spring themed cards.  As always there's only one rule ......  you must use at least one Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo.
Here's my take on the challenge

Now I don't normally do frogs.  In fact, I don't like real ones, and I mean I DON'T LIKE FROGS!!!
One night, a few years ago a friend of ours came round and when I opened the door he said "there's a frog on the doorstep - no wait, it's in the hall"  There it was, large as life, hopping down my hallway, and it was huge.  Well you can imagine my reaction, Stephen said it was like something out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon.  I set off down the hall and ended up stood on a chair, screaming, in the kitchen.  This poor frog must have wondered what was going on - the kid's certainly did.  Eventually, after everyone had had a good giggle at me, Stephen put it back outside.  I can't help it, frogs just make me shiver. If I see one when we're out I literally can't move until it's gone - silly or what!  Saying that, I do enjoy eating frogs legs in a restaurant - they really do taste like chicken!
Anyway, back to the card.  I used the PB 'Jump for Joy' stamp (3702J) for the main image and coloured him using Copic pens. He was then cut out and embossed using Nestabilities, and inked around the edge with Distress Ink.   The rosette behind was made from 2 strips of Bo Bunny 'Love Bandit' paper, cut at 2 inches x 12, scored and concertina folded, then joined together to form the rosette. I also decided to add another layer to the flower for dimension, and a bit of glitter of course.

I made the easel card from a 6x6 card blank, scored and folded the front in half, and cut a semi-circle from the top half to make the easel part. A bit different from your standard easel card, but I like it. (This was a trick I picked up from the lovely Melanie Heaton)

The papers, again are from the 'Love Bandit' range layered with some 'Blush' Bo Bunny Double Dot paper. I like the green and pink together, very pretty for spring and summer.  I attached and ruched some matching ribbon and added a smaller image to make my stopper to hold up the easel.  The little guy was stamped from the PB 'Toadily' clear set and coloured with Copics again.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I used my Nesties to cut and layer these and then doodled around the edges. 
Even though I don't like frogs, these PB stamps are really cute.  At least these don't hop down my hallway!

Thanks for looking, and thank you to everyone who left me comments last week, I really appreciate you all  popping by.

See you later.

Linda

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