Ah...the Payoff! :)

Well, despite the fact that I'm sick as a dog today, I couldn't help but perk up a bit when at my doorstep I discovered that white priority mail box from Papertrey Ink! I unwrapped it (ok, and can I just say how elegantly and professionally packaged their stuff is???) and couldn't wait to play with my new Pond Life set! What was sweeter? It was FREE! Yep, this was the set I JUST won from entering the Mother's Day contest. Talk about quick customer service!!!

Nicky was equally excited as he was definitely rooting for me to choose this set. It has a frog, and well...he's OBSESSED with frogs! LOL

It was perfect timing. The boys were playing, my little sweetie pie was still sleeping (she's sick too :(, and the coffee was just about done. I sat down and hammered out a few ideas, until this one just kinda stuck...and made me really happy!

The first card I did was for my Dad for Father's day so I'm keeping that one to be a bit of a secret LOL. This one shown here was definitely Nicky's favorite. I used Aqua Mist Cardstock from Papertrey along w their stamper's select White for this card. The framed box is using a bit of Spring Moss cardstock as well. I trimmed off a little of the outer edge to give it a scalloped edge. I think we ALL know how I feel about scallops LOL.

Next, I stamped the little whirlpool using Aqua Mist palette Ink, and outlined it w/ Stickles. I believe the color Stickles I used is called "waterfall", a blue/green hue. Then, I stamped the frog onto the paper sort of over the swamp grass image. To make it "pop", I stamped it again on a piece of white scrap cardstock and then cut out the image, layering it over the first stamped image. Popped up on a foam dimensional, this really makes the frog "pop". If you click on the image you can see the full-sized file and it's much more 3D. VERY cool effect and super easy. I added eyes to the froggie w/ black Stickles as this frog w/ no eyes was unsettling to me (sorry, Carmen! LOL)

To jazz it up ever so slightly I added a bit of bling on the bottom left corner. That's pretty much it. I also made this yellow one w/ the fish today, to complete a set that I put up for sale on my website.

Nothing much else going on today. I am pretty tired from this blasted cold, although I am happy I had time time to just sort of kick back and create. I got five new cards done today in total. I'll save the other design for another post, but it was a really nice day to just sort of brainstorm new ideas, work on my website, and catch up on some old episodes of Melrose Place LOL.

Once again, I made Darla's Citrus Chicken burritos for dinner and the kids ate like I've never fed them before! Ridiculous! Hit me up for the recipe if you're interested...it's AMAZING!

Thanks for visiting and see y'all soon ;) Hugs, Jess