Ahhhhhhhh! I feel
like a bear coming out of winter hibernation… my short-lived excitement in
Spring gave way to the realization that I had a few nuts and berries that I
needed to inventory and get straight before I could go running off in the crafty
forest to sniff and color the flowers, bother the bees for their honey to glue
my papers together, and capture a few fairies for some fairy dust… because who
can make a card without a liberal sprinkling of glitter and magic? So I retreated to my cave and got to the
business of me for a bit. I missed crafting, but I knew if I focused on one
thing at a time, when I did pick up a stamp again, I could really enjoy it. Health
issues now in check, off meds, and nuts and berries mostly inventoried and organized (LOL), now it’s time to get out
into the creative wilderness!
My first foray was, appropriately, on World Cardmaking Day last
weekend. My coworkers had asked me to make our group card for Boss’s Day, which
is October 16th here in the States. I’m not even sure other
countries celebrate Boss’s Day. The American commercial card industry has made
just about everything a card-celebrated event by now. LOL But I digress… so, group card. I was thinking through my stamp stash, trying
to remember what group images I might have. I didn’t want to go the classy,
floral route this year. First card back in 6 months, I wanted fun and “pop”. I
remembered I had two Paper Smooches sets that I could use together to make my
own crowd… and, hey, what’s a party without balloons? So out came my recently purchased Simon SaysStamp balloon dies. (I must mention, to keep my sanity, I still ordered crafty supplies
during my hiatus. I think it kept alive the belief that I would, indeed, be
back in the craft room eventually!)
So this is the party I created… (and please forgive the not-so-great cellphone pics. Took the card to work and almost forgot to take any photos!)
I stamped each of the Chubby Chums and Chubby Chum Pals with
MFT Hybrid Ink and colored ‘em up with my Copics, who were quite pleased to be
brought out into the light of day again. They weren’t so pleased that I was
using a cardstock not really intended for Copics. My blending leaves something
to be desired, but hey… this card is for non-crafters. If I have learned
anything, it’s that non-crafters are too amazed by the artistry to notice the
imperfections that cardcrafters immediately see… not to mention, they don’t
ogle and drool over the works of artists like “The League of Supercardcrafters”
–Jennifer McGuire, Kathy Racoosin, Kristina Werner, Sandy Allnock, Lauren Bassen, Heidi Crowl– or some of my faves Squirrel, Delphine,
Lisa, Faye and Annette.
But again, I digress…
I fussy cut my little chummies and used black marker to clean up the
edges and gave their eyes a bit of shine with some Glossy Accents. I colored in the balloons with my Copics as
well and then gave them a good sparkly emboss with Judikins Iridescent Sparkle
powder. Then I spent the next half hour playing them in the light, and exclaiming,
“Ooooh, sparkles!” over and over again. LOL I fixed my front and inside white panels on a
pretty sheet of blue raspberry cardstock from MFT and added a dotty border with
Glossy Accents (inspired by Lauren Bassen), leaving it overnight to dry completely. 
I originally planned to fold my 8.5x11 paper in half
lengthwise, but decided I liked a final 5.5x8.5 size better, so my little group
had to budge up closer to each other than I had planned. I used foam tape to
pop up two levels of chummies and did the same with their balloons, using a
light thread to tie the balloons and give my chummies something to hold on to.
I especially love that Pup on the end chose to tie his to his tail. =) Since the front panel had gotten a bit
crowded, Bear had decided to hang out on the inside of the card with a few
small balloons and have a party of his own. 
So, I’m off to gather some more materials and hit the craft
room. My fingers are itching to get into some more stamps and I still have a
crafty haul that has been sitting there waiting to be put away for a couple of
months. Then I can wander out and have a good poke at the beehive and gather up
some flowers and fairies. I’ve given myself a baby-step goal of at least a card
a week… and Christmas is coming, so I’d better get cracking. =)
I might stop by and link this party up to the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge where it’s Anything Goes this week. I know the balloons are SSS, but it’s those adorable little Chums that steal the show. =) You can find their challenge HERE:
Til next time, happy crafting!
