Newly Acquired Equipment...

Ok, these are the new prizes that I've been clutching tightly in my hand......and you know which one is my VERY favorite?? "Pearl White".....I know it doesn't look like much, but experience tells me THAT'S the marker that I'll be reaching for again and again and..........again. Of course the other ones aren't bad either - I'm finding that I'm quite drawn to "Anise" as well - it's a funny little color but one that I think will be used up dry in no time at all.

And how in the hey did I get a hold of these luscious NEW (well, at least to me) colors?? Well, I'll tell you!! I'm sure I've mentioned a few times that I consider myself to be a lucky woman - I've met some remarkable business women in my life and wow, knowing them has really given me some unique opportunities. For instance, Stephanie - owner of the Paper Garden (a LSS) asked if I was available to be "teacher's assistant" when Linda Carnell (owner of A Muse Art Stamps) was doing a stint as Guest Instructor. [Sadly, when Linda's classes were first announced, I knew I wouldn't be able to take them so I kind of ignored the whole thing (yep, I'm a mature one....)]. A deep intake of breath, a very high-pitched squeak later and then seconds after that a frantic call to Chef Bo-Bo Head to see if the class times were clear on the family calendar (obviously I was beside myself with glee and couldn't possibly think in a reasonable fashion) and oh baby - I was SOOOOO THERE!!! As I told Steph in my email response, "I will ALWAYS work for stamps & accessory items!!". Because the offer was to assist Linda in her two Copic classes and in exchange I would take her other two card classes AND obtain 8 new (or new to me) Copic Originals......The Stamping Fates were smiling my way!!!

And here are the cards we made in the two card classes. It's too tough to pick my favorite card - I really like them all. It was TONS of fun using some of the stamps from A Muse's new release (really hoping one day they'll be a set of CLEAR stamps for those of us who are really trying to cut down on our wood-intake.....slivers, dry rot, termites and all that.......)

A close-up of the cards.........I didn't take a photo of each individual card because I'm a weird-O and I feel funny about doing that.......I know, I know........hey, I've already admitted to being slightly odd......

And a photo of the rest of the cards.........see, it's too tough to pick out a single favorite!!

I haven't taken a card-making class in several months so I completely luxuriated (been watching waaaaaay too much of the Firefly CDs lately......) in the classes. I was able to see and visit with a lot of stamping peeps that I hadn't seen in too long - that was wonderful. Since A Muse stamps are one of my top 3 most favorite stamps, the classes were pure heaven. Linda is a fun teacher, encouraging, low-key but steadily handing out nuggets of stamping gold and hey, it's LINDA - from A MUSE!!!

Did I mention how very lucky I am??? Thanks to Stephanie and Linda for this wonderful opportunity!!

Unbiased endorsement (I make no money, earn no extra pens, etc - just sharing some stamping info): if you have the opportunity to take Linda's Copic Class - especially if you're a bit intimidated by the whole Copic scene - take the class. I heard more students say it was SOOOO worth the class price. I personally love Copics and have been slightly fanatical about gaining every last ounce of info on them but I actually picked up a couple of tips in the class as well.......there, I have spoken!!