Welcome!

I have to share with you a story that is somewhat unrelated to stamping, but it was such a curious sight. Driving down the four lane road in my small town, I see a bird that catches my attention. It's flying erratically with no specific direction or intent in it's flight pattern. It's weaving and bobbing and heading straight for the front grill of my car! All I could think (and say aloud) is "Watch out, bird! You're gonna get killed!" And then - I see the object of his attention: He's chasing the biggest bug I've ever seen. It was the funniest thing to see that bird totally focused on that one bug, and be completely oblivious to anything else going on around him, like Friday afternoon traffic.

I sometimes feel that way when I enter my stamp room! I can be in there for hours, oblivious to the passing time. Before I realize it, it's 2 a.m. and I need to get some sleep before the 5:30 a.m. alarm. So, it's this obsession that makes me excited to be starting a blog full of Stampin' Up! goodness. To share with you the stamping and scrapbooking that I love so much is the start of an exciting adventure!

I'm currently working on the wedding invitations for my neice's upcoming wedding in July. I'll be posting those pictures soon! In the meantime, here's a look at the graduation announcements I made for my son's recent high school graduation. I took the pattern from the criss-cross card at this website - here - at splitcoaststampers (a fabulous community of stampers!)

















I used gray textured CS from Hobby Lobby and Brilliant Blue Stampin' Up! CS. I ran the front Brilliant Blue panels through the Big Shot using the Textured Plate "Harlequin". You can kinda see it in the second photo. I also used the diploma image from the retired stamp set "Tassel Time". I printed the announcement information onto shimmery vellum and placed a photo of my son beneath the vellum, adhering it to the cardstock with a small Glue Dot. I topped it off with a strip of black organdy ribbon. I think they turned out nicely.

Until next time, happy stamping!
- Cat

Stamped image copyright of Stampin' Up!