It’s Thursday already – where has my week gone?!?!? Though all of my days seem to fly by – this week has been one of lesser productivity and activities – the nasty respiratory bug that’s been making the rounds stopped for a visit at our house! My DH had it last week and he very generously shared it with me starting Sunday – I think I’m over the worst of it, but still have a bit of a nagging cough.  Plus, my sweet little one was under the weather over the weekend – requiring lots of Mommy-time and laundry! Fortunately she only had a 12-hour bug – I’m crediting the buffet at Peter Piper Pizza for it.

On to more pleasant topics – you’re probably here to see my latest creation for Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff and I’ll not be one to disappoint! I was browsing through a back issue of PaperCrafts magazine and noting all of the “simple” card designs and thought I would try one of my own.  I wanted to work with Lindsay’s Birds & Branches stamp set – it’s such a versatile set and perfect for the “simple” theme I had set for myself:

I selected the mailbox stamp for my card.  I printed the image in medium brown (#594029) on Naturals Ivory CS.  After trimming away the excess, I sanded the edges and ran them over my Walnut Stain Distress Ink pad to add definition.  Then I stippled the same ink over the image surface.  I rummaged in my stash and found some ivory lace hem facing and adhered it to the edge of my image panel.  Since I didn’t want to drag out my sewing machine, I pulled out my A Stitch in Time stamps (retired) from Clear Dollar Stamps – you can find similar ones here – and added the zigzag across the edge to tie my panel and lace together (also in Walnut Stain).  For my card base, I selected a patterned and textured card from DCWV Indian Summer Fall Box of Cards and shaped it with the largest Nestabilities: Labels 8 die. After attaching my panel and lace to the card base, I added Orange Bauble Drops (I love these – you can get lots of fabulous colors at a great price from my friend Suzanne’s store Crafting-Connection) and colored the flowers lightly with my Pumpkin Pie marker.  Whew – 1 “simple” card that I’m really proud of – I used colors that were outside my norm and didn’t allow myself to over “think” or embellish.  I’d love to know what you think too!

If you didn’t arrive here from Lindsay’s blog be sure to stop there! She’ll have a freebie for you and the links to the rest of the DT projects.  Also, today is the last day of the MyGrafico St. Patrick’s Day sale – 30% off until midnight – a perfect time to grab any of Lindsay’s stamps at a great price and receive your downloads instantly!

That’s all for me! Today is the last day of gymnastics for this term – we get a 1 week break next week while the public schools are on spring break, and then we’ll start up again the following week.  My little one keeps asking for swimming lessons too – so I may check into those again this afternoon.  Speaking of my little one – she is choosing to express her creative side more and more lately – here’s a peak at what I call “The Body as Canvas”: Thankfully she used her water-based Crayola markers and nothing more permanent!  She was quite proud of herself – her Daddy and I tried very hard not to laugh as we didn’t want to encourage her.  Obviously I couldn’t resist reaching for my camera though!