My very own Magnolia!!

You knew I'd crack, didn't you??? You know I could live only so long on the Magnolia images my friends had sent me. I tell ya, I tried to resist. And I don't spend money easily. But I just had to have this cutie, & since I wanted her for Halloween I had to order NOW. And as long as I was getting this one, I had to get a couple others.....

I totally missed World Cardmaking Day on Saturday ~~ I was gone ALL day. SCS had quite the shindig, with challenges galore! One of them was a sketch challenge, & that's what I used for this card. I had another layout in mind, but when I saw the sketch I knew I had to use it instead. You can see all the SCS challenges for WCD HERE.


The orange pattern paper in the background is from Karen Foster. I bought it about a month ago ~~ just one sheet, for some reason ~~ & I have one itty bitty scrap left. The striped paper is from American Crafts, & that is almost gone too!! I did really well using up my fall papers!! I used Old Olive for the base, which is odd for me. I usually use my trusty Naturals White, but I'm almost out so I need to ration it. I also used Chocolate Chip paper, some Primas, that *wonderful* Martha Stewart branch punch which I've used on almost every card since I bought it, & 3 Dew Drops. The pumpkin is stamped twice, colored, embossed with clear glaze, cut out & popped on dimensional. At first I had used Michael's version of Crystal Effects on it, but I don't know if I have an old bottle or what ~~ it just hasn't been drying right. It takes longer to emboss, but I like that I don't have to worry about it drying!


I woke up to a fun surprise this morning. I won Diane Zechman's blog candy!!! In case you didn't know, Diane (aka Cookiestamper) just had her first stamp set released by CC Designs!! Diane is soooo talented, & I have been a fan of hers for a long time. In celebration of her first release, she was giving away her new stamp set to one lucky winner & somehow, I WAS THE LUCKY WINNER!!!! Click HERE to see her announcement, new stamp set, & her creations with that set. Congratulations, Diane, & thank you so much for my candy!!!!

In other news......I got my loaner sewing machine Friday night. It's an old Kenmore & it has no instructions. Luckily my friend who loaned it to me is a pro (she has *4* machines!!) & gave me a few lessons. I brought a spool of clear thread for the bobbin, so she filled that up for me (I'm pretty sure I'll have to have her come over when I run out ~ I'll never remember how to do it) & she proceeded to show me all the stitches & such. Yeah ~~~ I'm still going to be pseudo-sewing on my cards for a while!! I've been practicing, & I'm not doing too badly, but I know I'll choke when it comes time to do it on a real card. Scrap cardstock is one thing, a card is quite another. In fact, I'm going to have to have a plan of action. I think that if I'm sewing around an image, I'd better do that first and THEN color, because if I spend an hour coloring an image, only to sew around it crooked, I'll be very sad!! Thank you, Laura, for the loaner & the lessons.....hopefully I'll get my very own sewing machine soon (to go with my very own Magnolias!!)