A Hiatus Conclusion

Hello Stamping Friends!

Let's celebrate! I have been stamping. I have been creating. My stamp room has come alive, and I am happy to announce that my five month blog hiatus concludes today! I have projects to share with you, things that I have been working on over the past few months and moving forward.

It's a wonder to me that even after six months with zero fresh ideas, I still have people coming to my blog. I have my Splitcoast Stampers Gallery to thank for that, but hopefully those who subscribe to my blog will be happy to know that I finally will be sharing ideas and projects with you again.

So, without further adieu...I am BACK!

Remember Me?

Hi. My name is Amy, and I'm a stamper. Remember me?

It's been nearly two months since my last creative project was posted to this blog. I'm still alive...and stamping--some. Dictionary.com defines "funk" as a dejected mood. I've been in a funk. For a while. A creative, inspiration fairy lacking funk has been hovering in my craft room for quite some time. I don't like it.

I've been traveling a lot. I was traveling 8 weeks during the summer. I also wrapped up a two week work trip to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. It was a great trip--I had a wonderful time. Now that I'm back in the office, I'm in the process of packing up and changing locations down the hall. It's forced me to go through my office and do some serious purging. Not long ago, I did the same thing to my craft room. I feel so much better now that it's clean and has some workable space in it...for whenever I'm ready to come back to it full-time.

This apathy has lingered far longer than I expected, or hoped. I'll be honest...there was even a point in the last few months where I thought seriously about laying the stamps down and giving up on it altogether. My stamp clubs were the only thing that kept me motivated enough not to quit. And my dear hubby. He reminded me how much I would miss it if I gave up on it completely. And he's right. I would really miss it. So I've continued to trudge on. And it's not like I haven't been stamping. I have. Just not very often. I've thought about my blog a LOT in the last two months and how much I've neglected it. I think I was to the point that something in my life had to give, and the blog was the thing that went first. Probably because it was the easiest thing to ignore.

The holidays are approaching and that always motivates me to get in my stamp room and be creative, so I am looking forward to those creative juices to start flowing again.

All this to say that I'm still here. I will be back with projects to post, I promise. For those that are still coming back to the blog, thank you! I appreciate you and the fact that you look forward to the projects that I share.

It's fall and the leaves are changing. And I hope that means a change in this funk that I'm in too. :)

Until next time, happy stamping my Friends!

Lacy Layout

This is another project that I had displayed at my Open House. It features lots of new items from the Idea Book and Catalog, including the new In-Colors, the scrumptious Designer Printed Brads, and the Lace Ribbon Border punch, just to name a few.

Do you have these new fabulous products? No? What are you waiting for? Head over to my online store and treat yourself to some new goodies!

Simple Circles

This is one of the projects that we made at my Open House a few weeks back that I am just now getting around to posting. It feautres three of the new In-Colors. The great thing about this card--since there is no sentiment included on it, it can be turned either direction for a tent-style card opening from the bottom, or turning it to open from the side.

Hello Friend

The new "My Friend" stamp set is so bold and big-I just love it. It's very easy to use this stamp set to create easy, fast cards when you are on the go. The new In-Color "Wisteria Wonder" coordinates beautifully with Elegant Eggplant.

Feeling Charmed?

This is a very simple insert I made for the Simply Adorned Charm I have. It features the new Pool Party and Island Indigo In-Colors.

Kiss the Frog

I am not kidding when I say that this frog made me squeal with delight when I saw him! I just want to take his little froggy cheeks and squish them together while I kiss him. He is the sole reason I bought this stamp set...and the fact that Stampin' Up! donates $3 for each one of these stamp sets ordered to the Ronald McDonald House! How awesome is that?

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to my website and order this hunky little frog! Stat! :D

Baby milk

Today's post features the adorable mini milk carton die and the delicious new "Flirtatious Specialty" DSP. Isn't it so cute?

Strawberry Delight

Summer time always makes me happy because fruit is in season. I absolutely love eating strawberries, so when I saw this card, I knew I had to recreate it for my Big Shot club.

We used the "Many Thanks" sizzlit die for the feature die on this card.

Hello Doily

I finally arrived home last night after a whirl-wind three weeks of back to back travel. I changed time zones six times in three weeks. My body was loving me for that one. :) They were all wonderful trips, but I will admit, I am exhausted! It is always great to be back home in your own bed.

The past month that I have been so busy with travel for my full-time job, I have really taken the phrase "using inspiration from others" to heart. Most of the projects that you will see over the next few days were all inspired by, or exact replicas of projects that I have seen others create. Why re-invent the wheel, right?

They are also projects that I created for a recent Open House that I hosted. The first one was inspired by Lyssa--I just love her work! If you don't follow her blog, you should, it's amazing!

Hers was a black and white card, so I tweaked it a little and made mine Chocolate Chip and then put mine in a frame to set on a coffee/end table.

It features the brand new "Hello Doily" stamp which is so gorgeous and trendy! I've seen so many wonderful projects with this stamp already.