Looking Ahead ...

The background for this card was created with July's Stamp of the Month, "You've Got Flair." It's one of those stamp sets that had me initially thinking, "Hmm ..." It's grown on me, however. Now, I'm seeing the possibilities and thinking, "Mmm ..."

For my debut card, I stamped the large paisley image on white cardstock with clear embossing powder and then added some color with inked up round sponges. Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue were the colors I used. Wanting something long and lean that wouldn't take up too much real estate, I chose a sentiment from the Treasure Life set. As not to overwhelm, I kept the black matting narrow (as in 1/16-inch). The two-layer, punched butterflies are Crystal Blue topped with vellum that I stamped with polka dots to coordinate with the dotted chiffon ribbon. I played around with the ribbon placement due to the fact that there were three butterflies. My decision to place it about one-third of the way from the bottom of the card worked ... I think. Tiny self-stick pearls on the butterfly bodies finished it off.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Crystal Blue, and Black cardstock; Vellum; Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, VersaMark, and White Daisy Pigment ink pads; Clear embossing powder; You've Got Flair July Stamp of the Month, Argyle Backgrounds, and Treasure Life stamp sets; May Arts ribbon; Kaiser Kraft pearl accents; Martha Stewart Butterfly punch; Round sponges; Embossing tool.

Happy Monday! I had quite a day. At 4 p.m., I told my supervisor I was going to stay as long as I could stand it. I clocked out around 6:30, working 9 hours and 51 minutes. With work up to my eyeballs, my 32-hour workweek is not working out, and after this week, I will be resuming a regular 40-hour schedule. This week, I may very well work nearly 40 hours in four days. With the revelation late last week that the 32-hour thing wasn't practical, I was kind of bummed. On the other side of the coin, I recognize that I'm lucky to have a job. I'm not oblivious to what's happening around the country. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to start my long day a little earlier in the morning.

Enough talk about work. How was your day? A good one, I hope. Tomorrow, too! For tonight, I'm off to get something to eat and maybe stamp a little so I have something to show you tomorrow. 'Til then, take care and know that I appreciate you!