I Stamped Something!

Hope you all had a happy Easter Weekend! We got the chance to spend time with family on Saturday; not for an Easter celebration (although the lamb cake and Peeps Cupcakes said otherwise), but for my Aunt Diane's 60th Birthday! We had a mini surprise party for her; ate spiral cut honey ham, mashed potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. As usual, my Brother's boyfriend Richard made an amazing spread of hors d'oeurves. My Sister's boyfriend Steve made this crazy and super tasting thing he called "Easter Pizza"; which probably has a "real" culinary name... but it was like all these different layers of meats, cheeses, egg... and it was all layered like lasagna in a huge pan with a sweet, lemony pastry crust around it. Never had anything like it... yum.

So a birthday demands a gift... so I stamped one! A set of 12 notecards. I used all Soft Subtles colors for the papers and the watercoloring (watercolor crayons). The focal point is Stamped in Staz-On on Shimmer White paper, which I love for watercoloring. These cards were simple; but turned out so pretty and make a great set!


I went shopping this week. The girls who attended the Shoebox Swap I helped host all pitched in and bought me gift cards from Joanne's, Archivers and Starbucks... amazing! I can thank my amazing sister in law Angie for this terrific gift. She is so sneaky!

Well I got the chance to spend some of it! SO fun. I actually hardly shop at Archiver's because it's so expensive, so this was a real treat for sure! I bought some Rhonna Farrer Design Stamps by Autumn Leaves there, some amazing papers... by Anna griffin, Basic Gray and even Harley Davidson! I also bought some black ink "samplers" for some product testing I am planning for Craft Critique in the coming months. Oh gee what else did I buy... oh Joanne's had some great deals on embellishments... and I scored a scalloped square Mega punch (with a 40% off coupon of course). I don't want to forget to tell you about the AWESOME PEN I discovered. I am in love with the Black Glaze Pen By Sakura. It is the best pen I have ever doodled with... it runs smooth and drys glossy and slightly raised like embossing! plus you can use it on non-porous surfaces. Uber-cool. Stay tuned to Craft Critique in the coming weeks for some samples and details about the pen... or just go buy one! They are awesome!