I'm baaaaaacccckkkkk!

Oh Hi! Nice to see you again! Yes, I realize it's been over a year since we've talked. A whole year! Can you believe it? A lot of great stuff has happened in the past year! And even though I have neglected my own blog I have most definitely still been a permanent resident of Blogland...In fact my obsession has grown exponentially! It all started with this happy little place called YoungHouseLove.com. And then the snowball effect happened and suddenly my morning coffee was being enjoyed over countless nesting blogs, DIY blogs, wedding blogs, and mommy blogs...holy blogger batman there are A LOT of great blogs out there! In the mean time I'm still a stamping fool and my dear boyfriend, Scott and I have been tirelessly working to make his home less 1950's Italian grandma style and more 2011 wannabe pottery barn on a walmart budget style. So I figured it was about time to get back to sharing my creations as well as the progress on Scott's house, because frankly, I'm pretty proud of our hard work! So I'll be sharing LOTS of stuff in the near future, but today I would like to share with you some new card creations I've made recently. I'm starting a new direction in my stamp style. You see for the last few years I've been a Stampin Up! (hobby) demonstrator. I loved being an SU demo because I met some awesome ladies, got some fabulous ideas and inspiration and I acquired A WHOLE STINKIN BUNCH of SU merchandise at a nicely discounted price. Then came the point when I realized I had pretty much of the SU stuff that I needed and I was spending way too much money on making my quarterly minimums, so I decided to move on from Stampin Up for the time being. It's a great company and I'll always be a fan and I'll get a ton of mileage out of all of my SU stamps and accessories. Which brings me to my new stamp obsession. I was pretty much exclusively buying SU merch for that last few years which didn't leave any $$ in the budget for the other product lines I was lusting for...BUT NOW my craft world is limitless (ya know besides that pesky budget) Anyway, since I started stamping about 3 years ago I've been in love with the stamp company Papertrey Ink, but like I said there was just never enough in my budget to partake in their fun monthly releases. However I did keep a nice mental list of all stamp sets that I NEEDED to purchase someday. That someday came when PTI hosted their first ever Stamp Affair, an all day stamping retreat in my hometown (and theirs) Cincinnati, OH. The event sold out in under three minutes and fans traveled from across not just the country, but THE WORLD to attend. I feel very fortunate that I was able to get tickets for my mom and I to attend. The event took place last weekend and it was AHH-MAZING. Seriously soooo cool and so inspirational. The owners of PTI as well as some of their VERY talented design team were there and it was so cool to get to meet them in person. They are like stamping celebrities! We made make n' take projects all day and had the opportunity to make purchases on site and the staff made trips to the warehouse to pick up our orders and deliver them to us at the event. As someone who enjoys instant gratification, it was spectacular! Needless to say, I spent waaaaay too much money catching up on all of the stamps and accessories I've been missing out on all these years. So this week I've been stamping my butt off and playing with all my new toys! It's been soooo fun! So how bout I stop rambling and show you a couple of the cards I've made with my new toys this week. Stamps: PTI Friendship Jar,Friendship Jar Fillers Summer, Beyond Basic Borders SU! Flight of the Butterfly Paper: PTI Hibiscus Burst and Lemon Zest Ink: SU! Regal Rose Accessories:PTI Lemon Zest Satin Ribbon, PTI Button, Copic markers Stamps: PTI Tiny Treats Birthday, PTI Friendship Jar Fillers Summer Paper: PTI Sweet Blush, PTI New Leaf Ink: SU! Regal Rose Accessories: Copic markers