A card of firsts

Sh! Can you keep a secret? I don't usually like to blog my cards before I've given them. That seems to be an unwritten rule here in Blogland. But I won't be giving this one for a couple of weeks and, because it is the beginning of a little journey, I didn't want to post it out of sync.

It is a card of firsts. It is the first time I've used my Cuttlebug and the first time I've used Stampbord.

I tried to practice stamping my gypsy girl on card before risking the Stampbord. Over my shoulder I could hear Glenda Waterworth whispering, "Allow yourself to waste two pieces." But this escaped the bin, probably because I was so cautious with it. I'd planned to colour the image but it is not very big and I was worried about losing definition so I just shaded her skin very lightly and coloured the rose red.

If I was making it again I'd trim the embossed panel more. It seemed a crime to cut any of it away! The grosgrain looks blue in the photo but is actually purple with white organza behind it.

Beautiful Dream

Well, tomorrow is Stamp Magic at Doncaster. It's one of the treats I promised myself to get me through this long school term. But I'm still wavering. I've spent far too much on stamps this month already and I'm bound to get found out soon. But if I miss it when do I get to ogle some more serious rubber? Maybe I could go and content myself with demos and soaking up all the inspiration.

I love my mini adventures (thinking of creating a new blog around them). The more obscure the destination and the more forms of transport needed the better. Doncaster is not the most inspiring of places but I do like the Dome and I really enjoyed the last Stamp Magic.

This week I've had another delivery from the US. Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps are really something special. I got two sets as I had a voucher from those generous Ebay people. Tonight I've had my first play with the Mini Memories set. They are just right for ATCs and make me want to chop up all my cardstock into little pieces! These two are literally my first impressions.

The card on the left was made by brayering Butterscotch and Wild Plum dye inks over Versamark. The one on the right was stamped partly in Versamark over a sponged background and then embossed in white, sprayed with Deep Plum Glimmer Mist, then overstamped with Wild Plum. I think I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of these stamps.