A new year, a new start....

Hello, friends! I know it's been a long time. Unfortunately the situation with Todd's case hasn't really gone very far, but we remain hopeful. While we're waiting for everything to sort itself out, I decided that what would really be helpful to me is doing the things I love - and that means I'm trying to get back to stamping and playing challenges. It's been an awfully long time and I feel very rusty, but I'm diving in by rejoining the team at Our Creative Corner. (I've missed those awesome ladies and I'm so grateful to them for letting me take time off as I needed it!)

Anyway, the challenge that kicks off the new year is a lovely one from Sharon Wheet: aqua and pink plus a flower of any kind. Here in Massachusetts we have snow on the ground, so it kind of cheered me up looking at those springy colors. I decided to open up some new stuff from the spring catalog that just went live yesterday. Here's what I came up with, and I combined with a couple other challenges: Freshly Made Sketches and CAS-ual Fridays (make a thank you card).

I know you can spot the new stamps: it's a gorgeous set called Secret Garden and it comes with matching dies. LOVE! I wanted to try my hand at some watercoloring with a blender pen. The largest flower was colored with Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo; the small pink flower with Pink Pirouette and Pretty in Pink (with Melon Mambo in the center); and the aqua is Pool Party (with Baja Breeze in the center). I used black Stazon for stamping and you'll definitely want to use watercolor paper with this technique. The framelits cut it out beautifully. The background is Pool Party, with the top embossed using the Elegant Lines folder. The sentiment comes from Perfectly Penned, and the middle strip is crochet trim adhered to Pink Pirouette textured card stock with a piece of retired melon ribbon. The bottom corner seemed to need a little something, so I added some pearls to finish it off. I think pretty and elegant can still be CAS - what do you think?

It feels great to be back and I hope to be seeing you more often. I'm not going to go crazy and post every day or anything. ;) But I'm aiming for more often than just the OCC challenges on Saturday. It might be tough to get back into the stamping groove so wish me luck! And be sure you check out the beautiful samples from the rest of the OCC team - they are gorgeous as always! We hope you'll play along with us too. Happy new year - thanks for visiting and see you again soon!