I actually stamped today!

Not only did I finish a swap due Monday, but I actually stamped a card for fun. Wow, I had almost forgotten how nice it is to stamp for fun once in awhile! I received my PaperTrey order on Wednesday with the May release of Little Lady, which is a really cute set. It's on backorder until May 30th, but PaperTreyInk does a fantastic job of getting stamps and orders out as soon as the stock is replenished, so order now! I didn't realize just how big the ladybug is...it's about 1" x 1"! Pretty impressive if you want more than one on a card. This didn't turn out exactly how I'd like it...so I might update it and change the main portion. I intended to have the two ladybugs just kind of roaming around, but they look too uniform when I stamped their trail the way that I did (I should have reversed the stamp to make it more creative). I did like that I shortened the saying from "A Happy Life is Made of Little Things" to just "Life is Made of Little Things". I essentially had to do this for the size of everything, because I couldn't fit the first two words on it. I will say I love the color combo, and never get enough opportunities to use the Basic Black cardstock. It really looks fantastic IRL with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, and I accented it with May Arts ribbon that I got from AllThatScraps.

I stamped the ladybug body first on Very Vanilla cardstock with Rose Red ink, then stamped the body in Stazon. I then stamped the entire image with the body stamp in Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. To give it a thick look, I kept adding embossing powder as I was heating it (and got it everywhere in the process...that stuff really books it across the kitchen table!!). I then cut the wings out, stamped the body image again on the main cardstock, and glued the wings to the main cardstock. Hard to explain...but I think it'll make more sense if you look at the picture. It's a cute project...but not perfect in my opinion. Oh well: it'll be a work in progress for me this weekend!

Materials:

Stamps: Little Lady by PaperTreyInk

Paper: Basic Black, Rose Red by Stampin' Up!

Ink: Rose Red (SU), Black Stazon, Versamark

Accessories: May Arts ribbon, Cuttlebug, Tiny Bubbles Embossing Folder, SU Cutter Kit, Dimensionals

On a non-stamping note, my school is closed this week for our half-term break. The British educational system goes almost year round, and we don't close out the school year until July 20th. So we get a week off each term at the halfway point, then longer breaks between terms. So I'm definitely looking forward to getting things done around the house, sleeping in, completing the three other swaps that are due June 15th on Splitcoast, and finishing up my final project for my Master's class. I can't wait to sleep in Saturday morning!!