Retail Therapy

I may or may not have indulged in a bit of crafty retail therapy this past weekend, and I felt it necessary to use some of it, if only to justify its purchase. I made two cards that show off some of my, um ... acquisitions, and I'll show you the first one tonight.

This one uses some new paper (yes, I was weak):

This was cut from a parent sheet that jumped into my basket. I know, I know, I've sworn off paper, especially parent sheets, but this one spoke to me. It is ab.so.lute.ly luscious. In addition to the fabby texture, it has a sheen to it:

You can sorta see the sheen above the tree. Definitely a fondle factor purchase.

The tree was cut with the Memory Box Arbescello Tree die, and I used the metal shim plate to get it to cut like buttah. I find I need to do that with the more detailed dies. The sentiment was stamped with Ranger Distress Gathered Twigs ink and clear-embossed. I love that the Distress inks stay wet long enough to emboss. :) 

I actually started this card last night, but got stuck. At that point it just had the tree and the sentiment. It needed ... something, but I wasn't sure what. Tonight I added a brown twine bow to the trunk:

... but it was still ... yawn. Then I got a clue and added the blue heart to the tree. I die-cut it from a "clean-up" tag -- a Ranger manila tag I keep out on my desk to pick up excess ink from my craft sheet. See? I took the Tim Holtz online class and I even listened! So here's the die cut:

I needed a teeny tiny heart, and now I have many. :)

In other news, I've signed up for the next Online Card Class called Kick Start. In my opinion, these classes are a bargain based on the material you get and the stuff you learn. I cannot wait! How many of you have already signed up? Can we do our homework together? :)

Thanks for stopping by!