A whale of a good time.....

Good Monday afternoon everyone!! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!! Or should I say FIN-tastic??? I just finished another card using the High Hopes new release stamps. I seem to be a bit partial to the sea life stamps, there are just SO MANY to choose from!! And there are so many sayings to go along with them!! Crissy did such a fabulous job with these images, & somehow she managed to make TONS of cards using these images!!!! Click on her name to check them out, she is just the best artist!!!!! Of course, I probably don't have to tell you that ~~ she's UBER popular on SCS already, well known as one of the masters!!!!!

Anyway, enough gushing about Crissy. On to the card I *finally* finished!

I used the whale, the starfish, the seaweed stuff, & the waves to make this card. I used tons of Bazzill Bling paper ~~ I just *adore* this paper!! I used the Cuttlebug swirls folder on the blue layer, although you can't see too much of it. Guess I should have made the card just a bit bigger (it's 5.5" X 5.5"). I colored everything with pencils & Gamsol & cut the starfish out. Then I used my Versamark marker on the water & embossed it with Iridescent Ice & clear EP. I wanted it clear & 3 dimensional, but I also wanted sparkle so I used both. I used little bits of Liquid Applique on the waves. I sponged the sky with So Saffron & Cameo Coral, added some ribbon & 3 little pearls I got from Ellen Hutson's store, & called it done!!!

As you can see from the last picture, I love to use dimensionals!!! I never used to, I used to just glue all my layers together. But then I saw a lot of cards on Ebay with lots of dimension & I really liked how it looked. so I had to copy :) You wouldn't believe how many packs of dimensionals I go through!! I prefer the 1/16" thick, which I can find at Joanns & stock up on when their adhesives are on sale!!


One word about my ribbon, because I've had a few comments & emails about them. I LOVE that you love my ribbons. *HOWEVER*, my ribbons are an attempt to copy Pam Bassett's ribbon blossoms, which I have not been able to do. So many of us have tried, we could start a club. We stalk her blog, Indigo Studio. We stalk her SCS gallery. There's a thread under "Tutorials" on SCS in which we chit chat while patiently waiting for word that she's posted the tutorial on her blog. Thank you for the compliments on my ribbon "blobs" (hers are blossoms, mine are clearly "blobs"). But all I'm doing is desperately trying to recreate something that one of my stamping idols does!!!

One more quick word ~~ I do sell my cards on Ebay. I generally get them listed over there a day or two after posting them here & on SCS, so if you're interested, the link is on my sidebar. And thank you to those of you who have already bought cards from me (you know who you are!!!) ~~ you all are so kind & supportive!!!!!!