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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

*Stamp Out Breast Cancer*

I wanted to give everyone in the Vancouver area the heads up about a great event happening this coming weekend. I'm Impressed is hosting "Stamp Out Breast Cancer".... money raised, is obviously going to breast cancer research

The weekend includes classes with Cathie Allan from Canadian Scrapbooker (well known for her techniques with ink!), Julie Ebersole from Amuse, Rebeka Marcille from DeNami... as well as some names you might recognize from your blog travels including Eleanor McGarry and Alison Solven.

Please check out their website for more information..... I hope you can find a way to be there this weekend to have some fun and support an excellent cause!
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*Calgarians Interested in a Crop?*

The wonderful ladies over at MondayNightClass.ca are hosting a Crop in June!!! Friday June 12th from 7pm to midnight and Satuday June 13th from 10am to 10pm. Click HERE for more information on this event.

They hosted one earlier this year and I hear it was fantabulous.... I'm looking forward to being there!!!

If you don't know about MondayNightClass.ca and their amazing monthly scrapbooking kits, take a minute to check out their website!!!!!!!
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*Better Photo?*

I decided that I should take the photo of the card I am sharing with you today, outside instead of in my deep dark basement on my stamp table with my Ott lite providing the lighting... is it better outside or inside?

I'd love to know your opinion... anyone who leaves a comment and lets me know what they think about the indoor vs outdoor photos will be entered into a draw for blog candy.... I will draw for it on the weekend!!

So, let me know your thoughts.... inside or outside (when the weather is good)??

I made this card yesterday afternoon, following the MojoMonday Sketch for this week (#88). I've had this paper hanging around for a few months now and finally found myself inspired to use it!

The colours I used are Whisper White, Basic Black, So Saffron and Bravo Burgundy. The patterned paper is by The Paper Loft. I used my Nestibilities (including my brand new inverted scallop circles!) as well as the Flower Creations plate from Spellbinders (and I used them in my Big Shot). I added some black brads and some stitched ribbon to finish off the sketch.

I wasn't sure about the card as I was putting it together, but am really drawn to it now that it is completed. It's summery and fun without being too bright and busy. Does that make sense?

I think I'm going to turn off the computer for a bit and head out to the back yard with a book. I was at the library this morning to pick up some books I had on hold... haven't had a book to read since Saturday! Poor timing and planning on my part LOL!

Enjoy your day!


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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

*Been A While*

Another couple of beautiful days here in Calgary.... I love the sun and warmth! I see a downward turn in the forecast by the weekend, but I will enjoy each day that is given to us. I love the sun and warmth LOL!

It's been a while since I created this card.... I used to post my cards in the order in which I created them... but lately I've been doing more challenges so I have to rearrange the order of my cards to accommodate the challenges. If I do a challenge while it is current, I want to post it while the challenge is still current.

I number all of my cards when I save them to my hard drive (started with 2009-001 with the first card I made in January) and when I add in a challenge card, I actually renumber all the cards that are already saved on my hard drive waiting to be shared on my blog. I suppose I could leave the numbers and just post them in whatever order, but this way it's easy to see which cards have been posted and which ones haven't.

Anything to make my life easier LOL

Anyway, the card. I needed a card for Dianne for her birthday a few months ago ... gave it to her at a CalGals gathering. I have a huge stash of cards, but I know she reads my blog so I didn't want to give her a card she'd seen before.

I created this card using some paper from The Paper Loft as well as some Whisper White and Bravo Burgundy cardstocks. The main image is by Impression Obsession (coloured with my Copics) and the greeting is A*Muse. I did the border with one of my EK Success border punches and added some striped ribbon I got in a Ribbon Share a year or more ago. I used the MojoMonday 79 sketch as my starting point.
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Sunday, May 24, 2009

*What A Glorious Weekend!!*

This is the longest I've sat at my computer since Friday afternoon... we have had wonderful weather here in Calgary this weekend. Not overly hot, but the sun is shining and the weather has been perfect for shorts, tanks and sandals!!

Yesterday after a nice walk with the dog to visit a bunch of friends who were doing a group garage sale, we started planting our annuals in our new (redesigned last year) yard. I sure hope I don't kill them all!!! I am not much of a green thumb. After that I spent some time in my lounge chair reading (the newest book in the Janet Evanovich numbers series... I think it's Fearless Fourteen). Around 5 I decided to head in and get myself cleaned up.... then it was off to Juliet's Castle for some awesome wings with friends, and then joined the rest of our friends to watch the UFC fight and chat and just hang out.

The weather for today looks similar to yesterday although there is a bit of a breeze so far this morning. I am almost done my book, and unfortunately the library is not open on Sundays during the warmer months. Hmmmmm, whatever will I do?

Seems silly to be posting Christmas cards on such a lovely weekend, but here I am doing it anyway LOL! These are my cards for this months Christmas Card Challenge that Tracy has been doing this year. I started playing late (did four months worth in May) but now that I am caught up I am looking forward to the challenge each month.

This month, the challenge was to use pink on your card (a little, or a lot... your choice) and you had to use a sentiment as the main focus on your card.

I absolutely love this sentiment stamp from Hero Arts... haven't done a lot with it, but I love it all the same. My colour choices were Basic Black, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery. I used some old Stampin' Up patterned paper and my Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder in my Big Shot. I added some sparkle which you may not be able to see... the black layer and the word "merry" were coloured with my Sakura Stardust gel pen and I coloured the stars with the gold Copic Atyou Spica pen. I added some SU grosgrain ribbon to finish it all off.

I did a few of the cards with the two layers reversed as I wasn't sure which way I liked it more LOL. Now that I look at the finished cards together, I like the pink layer on the bottom more than on the top of the card.

I am off... want to run a few errands this morning and then enjoy the warmth and sun later today!

Enjoy your day!
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*Hey Calgary Bloggers*

Check out YYCBlogs.... an interesting way to see what other Calgarians are blogging about... you can be listed there too!
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Thursday, May 21, 2009

*I Just Whipped This Up*

Julee Tilman, the owner of Verve Stamps (and the creator behind the MojoMonday sketches) has a sketch challenge for the Verve release party up on her blog today. You should go whip up a card using this sketch tonight too... you can have a chance at winning a Verve set of your choice... but the deadline for entries is tomorrow at dinnertime!

I find I'm more productive when I have a task to do... a challenge with a deadline, a card I need to mail right away... I haven't stamped just because for a while. I sit down here at my stamp table and just nothing. Maybe tomorrow. LOL

My card for the challenge uses Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze (would you believe, I just took the wrapper off my Baja Breeze ink today... I've had it since it was released last summer!). I used the Floral Whimsy set by Verve and added a few Dew Drops to finish it off.

What are you waiting for? Go do your interpretation of the sketch and post it with Mr. Linky on the Poetic Artistry blog.... we all have a shot at winning!
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

*I've Been Tagged*

I've been tagged for the same game, by two different people! First, Jennie tagged me (and let me know in a comment on my blog but there was no way to figure out who Jennie was... and while I follow her blog, I must not have been in a reading mood that day cuz I missed it completely) and then Mary-Jane tagged me...

8 Things I Look Forward To.
1. warm weather
2. seeing my children grow and become men
3. time with my family
4. time with my friends
5. lazy summer weekends
6. planning another tropical vacation
7. two weekends of camping with friends
8. a magical fairy coming and decluttering my house!

8 Things I Did Yesterday.
1. went to WalMart
2. read my book
3. took Matthew to drums
4. crocheted
5. watched tv
6. went to Weight Watchers
7. waited for the phone to ring (and it didn't)
8. snuggled my dog!

8 Things I wish I could Do.

1. sing and not sound like a cat is dying
2. change my bad habits
3. fly
4. win the lottery to make life comfortable for those I love
5. become an adventurous eater (instead of a fussy one)
6. be creative more often (by that, I mean to find that elusive mojo more often)
7. understand why people do what they do
8. open myself to love more fully

8 Things Or Shows I've Watched Lately.
1. The Waltons (teehee)
2. Ellen
3. "Baby Mama"
4. Medium
5. Numb3rs
6. Ugly Betty
7. Grey's Anatomy
8. Good Eats

8 Great Blogs

1. Tracy
2. Shannon (but we need to encourage her to get back to crafting and blogging!)
3. Merlie
4. Dianne
5. Mom
6. Wendy
7. MojoMonday
8. Clean and Simple


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*Another Chilly Day*

I am really really tired of the crappy weather we've been having in Calgary. We get a few nice sunny and warm days and then it turns cold again. It is just not right for the temperature to be hovering around freezing on the 20th of May.

My beautiful flowers are still living in the shed. I hope to get them planted in the next week or so. And then I just pray that the weather stays warm enough that I won't have to worry about them.

I really love how this card turned out. It's my submission for MojoMonday Challenge #87. I sent this card off to my sister and brother in law who celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary on the 19th. (today would have been my parents 49th wedding anniversary!)

I used patterned paper from Sonburn Designs along with some Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock. The heart is a chipboard button embellishment also from Sonburn. It's hard to see, but the white panel on the left was embossed with the Stylized Flower Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (in my Big Shot). I used the Blossom Spellbinders die for the flower. The sentiment says "Follow Your Heart" and is a Stampin' Up! rub-on. I used the Stampin' Up scallop border punch for the scallop border and finally, a little ribbon from Michaels on the heart.

I love the colour combination of the light blue and celery green together.... and the sketch was a lot of fun! You should give it a shot too!!
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Monday, May 18, 2009

*My First Cupcake Challenge*

Happy Victoria Day Long Weekend to my Canadian friends... we've had an awesome long weekend, that started early for everyone in our house except Alex (the poor kid was the only one in our house who didn't have Friday off). Bruce is taking Fridays off now until the fall and Matthew's school had a Professional Development day for the staff.

The weather was pretty awesome, until today... Saturday and Sunday we had temperatures over 20C (around 70-75F). I spent some time on my lounge chair with a good book and my sunglasses. The weather started to change around 8 last night when the temperature started to drop off dramatically... it is now just barely above freezing!! WTF?? Not cool, Mother Nature... not cool.

I had to do a little stamping this weekend as I needed to make a card to take with us to a 25th Wedding Anniversary party on Saturday night. Nope, not an anniversary card. The anniversary was for the oldest son and daughter-in-law of my mother-in-law's second husband (does that make sense?). And I needed to make a baby card for the youngest son and daughter-in-law who have a little baby girl who is about 5 weeks old. This was the first time I'd be seeing her and I understand that there will be no baby shower, so I wanted to get their gift to them. And, I needed a card.

To create this card, I decided to play along with Taylor's Cupcake Challenge (#68) for the first time. I had visited many blogs that had used this layout and I fell in love with it... so I decided to try my hand with it.

I used patterned paper from Upsy Daisy Designs (a Canadian company!) and paired it with some Bazill Bling green cardstock and some white cardstock. The baby image is by Stampa Rosa and I coloured that little cutie with my Copics. I also coloured up two of those great bridal flowers from Michaels with my Copics and added a little bling to the centres of the flowers. Other tools used were my Big Shot and my Nestabilities as well as one of the EK Success border punches.

Wasn't thrilled with how the cardstock matched the patterened paper, but it was the best I could do with what I had on hand.

This was a fun sketch to play with... you should give it a try!
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*New Challenge Blog Set To Launch*

I had a comment in my last post from Dawn about a new Challenge Blog she and a woman named Ann are putting together. There will be blog candy and challenges and all sorts of fun... at least that is the plan. Head on over to The Next Level to check out their plans for their launch on June 1st.

I don't know these ladies at all, but am looking forward to another excuse to stamp LOL!
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Saturday, May 16, 2009

*It's a Beautiful Day*

The sun is shining, there is a light breeze blowing... and it's almost 20* outside (that's 68*F). It's not quite the daytime high they forecast, but it's close... and I'll take it!

Bruce had to drop Alex and his girlfriend Mary as well as Mary's Dad and brother off at Otafest at the UofC this morning (it's an Anime Convention). I will have to post a photo later of Alex in the costumer that Mary and her Grandma made for Alex of Ike. After Bruce got home, we packed the other kid and the dog into the car and we went off to the off-leash dog park for a walk. This is a great park with a trail that takes about 40 minutes to walk. Lots of dogs and a relaxing location. We came home around noon and made some lunch, and then I found my book and my sunglasses and sat on my chaise in the sun for a few hours reading.

Bruce has left to pick up Alex (unfortunately, he has to miss a good chunk of today's events) and we will all be scrambling in a bit to get all prettied up for a 25th Anniversary Party we are going to this later this afternoon and this evening. It's been a good day so far and we are looking forward to some fun tonight as well!

As I mentioned in my post a few days ago, Tracy came up with the idea of the CalGals challenging each other each month... and this month it was my turn. I promised them it would be easy, and when I chose the sketch, I really thought it would be... instead we all struggled with the damn thing! Even me... sigh!

I found the sketch on Kerin's Blog... it's her week #8 challenge

I think everyone else who played along last weekend put together a better card than I did... but that's OK... it's not like mine is terrible... just not quite what I had envisioned. I think I should have cut my strips a little smaller and layered black underneath them for contrast...

I used patterned paper from Stampin' Up (from a few years ago), Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock. I added in my Nesties (used with my fabulous Big Shot!), the bridal flowers from Michaels and an image from Stampin' Up.

I love how these shimmer flowers from Michael's take the colour from my Copics so nicely! Not only do they colour up well, but you can still see the shimmer from the paper under the colour. Beautiful!

I decided the flowers needed "something" so I used my 1/8" hole punch and punched out some little circles in black and added them to the flower centres. Yup, just what they needed!
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*Tee Hee*

I saw this on a blog I read and had to share.... Fitting since I just started back to Weight Watchers this past week (I lost 60+ pounds with them starting in the summer of 2000 and went on to work for them for almost a year.... some of that weight has crept back over time)

I need to find me a skinny person LOL!

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Friday, May 15, 2009

*Request for Cards*

Hi Everyone.... I am here to ask for you to help me help a friend...

I met Domenica through blogging and while we have never met face to face (even though we live only about 15 minutes away from each other in the same city!), I do consider her a friend. Amazing how stamping and the internet can do that for people.

Anway, I knew that Domenica's Mom had been ill for a period of time, but I had no idea.... Domenica tells me this morning that her Mom is terminal. Debbie is unable to get out and about these days. Domenica thought that getting some cards in the mail would help to brighten some of the days ahead... maybe make each day a little easier.

If you are able and would like to help out with this project, please EMAIL ME and I will email you back with Debbie's address. I think just bright and cheery "thinking of you" cards would be perfect.

Thanks so much, in advance, for helping me to put a smile on a stampers face!
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Thursday, May 14, 2009

*Cal Gals Challenge*

Another crappy weather day in Calgary. Will we ever get spring? Probably will get spring for the summer and then go straight into winter again. Looking at the 14 day extended forecast on AccuWeather, I see the crappy weather continues with the daytime highs way below seasonl averages. It's just not fair!!! Today it's chilly and raining. I just want sunshine and warmth!!

When the CalGals met in April, Tracy suggested that we take turns bringing a challenge of some sort for all of us to try that night. For some of us (like Merlie), this was the first time a card had been completed at my house on a Friday night.

That Friday, Tracy brought us a sketch to try.... and this is what I came up with!

I used Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango (love this colour combination) along with Whisper White for my card. The images are from Inkadinkadoo -- Dot Flourishes and Doodle Flowers. I used the two sizes of oval punch from Stampin' Up as well. To add a little more interest I put the orange layer through my BigShot with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and added a little bling to the ovals.

I like this one... thanks for the challenge Trace!
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

*Check Out This Blog Candy*

Debbie is giving away some awesome blog candy to celebrate her birthday.... talk about generous! There are stamps, Spellbinders dies, Copics, ribbon, paper.... WOW

Click HERE to see how you can enter to win!
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Monday, May 11, 2009

*Monday Mojo*

I was sitting here at my stamp table, surfing the internet and reading email and playing games online on my laptop (which was my Mothers Day present last year), and I was lamenting how little I have stamped this year. There are a whopping 42 cards in my 2009 cards folder on my computer. 42. At this time last year, I was posting card #53, and two years ago I was posting card #78! That's double where I am now.

I was starting to feel down.... I sit here a lot and think about making cards but don't do it. I don't know whether it's just that I'm lazy, or afraid to play again, or if I've lost my mojo. I find that more often than not I am using sketches and ideas from others instead of coming up with my own ideas. And perhaps that is bothering me. In fact, I know that is bothering me. It's like I don't have much for my own ideas anymore.

So today... I decided to just do it. I loved the MojoMonday sketch for today so I just started cutting papers. The last thing that came together for this card was the image panels.

The patterned paper is from Black River Designs and the image is by Amuse. I coloured the flowers with my Copics. I also used one of the EK Success border punches on the one black layer.

I am really pleased with my card for this week... very simple and clean....

What a great sketch Julee had for us this week! I didn't bother playing last week, but maybe I'll do that sketch tomorrow after I go to the dentist to get prepped for a crown.
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Sunday, May 10, 2009

*Happy Mother's Day*

I am a bad daughter. No, I don't really believe that, but I wasn't a good daughter today. My Mom, my oldest sister and my niece are all in Amsterdam right now and while I thought I should make a call to my Mom at her friends' house, I didn't get around to doing it... and since the time difference is 7 or 8 hours, I can't cal now.

I know Mom knows I was thinking about her today... but I still feel a little bad. I just hope she is having an absolutely amazing time visiting with papercrafting friends that she met online. She and my sister went out there this fall but Mom just spent the day with her online friends.... this time Heather dropped Mom off to stay with the friends for a week. I am sure they are having a fantastic time!

I have had a very nice Mother's Day weekend... Friday night the CalGals were over to play. Saturday night Bruce and I and 9 of our friends went to our favourite hole in the wall for wings and then back to visit at a friends' house. This morning I got to sleep in while Bruce and the boys got up and started preparing our annual Mother's Day Brunch. We had Bruce's Mom and her husband over as well as Bruce's brother and his wife and the other brother. Bruce and the boyz put out an amazing spread that included scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, toast, hashbrowns, bacon, waffles and fresh fruit. The food was delicious and the company enjoyable! After visiting for a while, our company left and we enjoyed "Marley and Me" which was one of the DVDs I got as gifts today. We went to The Keg for dinner and even enjoyed a Billy Miner Pie for desert (my favourite!). We are now sitting back and watching "The Amazing Race"

The only ways today could have been better would have been to have my Mom here and to have not been fighting a nasty headache all day. I am hoping to get in for a massage tomorrow.

I created this card for a "mingle" on a YahooGroup I am on called CreativeCuttleBuggers. The group is for people who love their Cuttlebug... please don't tell them that I've switched to a Big Shot LOL!!

The April theme was a Mother's Day card. I pulled out the trusty pink and green Bazzill Bling cardstock and had some fun with my Nestabilities. I even used my border embossing folders for the first time (despite having had them for months).

The card needed a little something more so I added some glittered brads that I had in my stash that matched the colours almost perfectly.

I didn't actually send this card to my Mom... I bought her a card because I wanted a card that said something "perfect"... Heather was a doll and took my card and gift to Amsterdam to give them to Mom on Mother's Day for me.

I am going to go back to paying attention to the TV show... of the three teams still in the race, there is one team I don't want to win... I'd be happy with either of the other two teams winning.

I'm kind of disappointed that all of the TV Season Finales are this week... I am a total TV addict and miss my shows over the summer!

Thanks for coming by to visit!
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Thursday, May 07, 2009

*May Showers Bring June Flowers*

We didn't get much for April showers here in Calgary... it was all April snow. Sigh. I am looking forward to lots of days of sunshine and warmth, green grass and flowers. But for today, we have rain.

I went to Costco with my girlfriend Kelly on Tuesday and bought some flowers to add to my yard. I won't be planting them until later in May as things are still to "iffy" in Calgary for planting. I'd had to have the plants touched by frost and ruined. Kelly will be coming by in a few weeks to help me plant. I just hope I can keep everything alive all summer! I'm not the best at yard work.

I created this card after playing around with my Copics several weeks ago. I found a sketch challenge card I liked at Our Creative Corner (the week of February 28th) so I cut out one of the images I was colouring with my Nestabilities and off I went. The papers are SU Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery and I matched my Copics as best as I could on the Stampendous image. I added some patterned paper from Black River Designs (they're Canadian!!) and trimmed the blue piece with one of my EK Success border punches. I added some bling to the flowers with my Sakura Stardust Gel pen and then a glittered brad by Imaginisce to finish it off. I was going to incorporate pink in to the design but decided that there was just enough pink in the patterned paper.

I'm looking forward to the girls coming by to stamp tomorrow... Allison (who's joining us again for the first time since before Avery was born!), Dianne, Merlie, Shannon and Tracy. Last time we got together, Tracy brought us a sketch to try... I made a card and will post it one of these days (it's in the rotation LOL). Tomorrow night it's my turn to challenge them with a sketch.

Thanks again for popping by! I appreciate you coming to visit!
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Sunday, May 03, 2009

*A Little Mojo*

It feels like spring in Calgary again.... gotta love that! It's truly about time!! I don't want to get my hopes up though... with my luck we'll still get more snow!!!

Thank you to everyone for your kind words on my tattoo. It still stings a bit but seems to be healing well. I'm really pleased with how the design turned out, especially since it is so close to what I had stamped up a week or two ago. Kind of cool that I could incorporate my love of stamping into a tattoo!

I created this card this week for the MojoMonday Challenge #84. Instead of choosing my patterned paper first, I coloured my image first and then tried to find papers that went with it. I'm actually very pleased with how it turned out!!

The main image is from the Sweet Stems set from Stampin' Up and the sentiment is from the Cupcakes set from Hero Arts. I coloured the flower with my Copic Spica glitter pens and then found this paper from Stampin' Up. I used my Nestibilities for the circles and some ribbon that I got from I don't know where. I added three Pebbles Candy Dots as well.

Quick and easy, really... looking forward to tomorrow's challenge!

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Saturday, May 02, 2009

*I Did It Again*

Well, not even a year later and I've done it again. On May 23, 2008, I did THIS.... and on May 1, 2009... I did this... (and yes... there is stamping in this post!)

Yup, another tattoo! I knew I would get another after I got the first one last year... and I always knew it would be on the top of my foot. A bunch of us went to get inked yesterday (including my Mother-In-Law... I gave her her first tattoo as a belated birthday present!). I more or less designed this one myself, with STAMPS!! And you thought this was going to be a non-stamping post!

The swirl is a simpler version of one of the images in the Inkadinkadoo Dot Flourishes set. The snowflakes started out as stamps from SU but the images were too detailed so I went to a computer font instead and had each family member pick their favourites. There is one snowflake for each member of our family... the one on the top right symbolizes Matthew, the one on the top left is Alex, the one on the bottom right is Bruce and the one in the middle is me. They aren't exactly like the ones we chose, but as close as could be done in a tattoo of this size

This tattoo hurt a lot more than my first, due to the placement of it. It was a completely uncomfortable process. Bruce took some video and after I've prescreened it, perhaps I will post it for a laugh. I mouthed a lot of bad bad words (couldn't say them outloud with my mother in law there!)

Despite the pain, I am thrilled with the design.... I think it's a beauty!



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