A Card and A Major Award (Nothing Fra-gee-ley here!)

 Lookie, lookie!  I actually made a card.  It was rather out of desperation that  it came to be.  I needed a card for a swap so mojo or no, I made this card.  Like all cards that are made when the mood isn't right, this one was a real bear.  This isn't the image I wanted to use (remember, the Penny Black hedgehogs with balloons on my desk from yesterday? yeah, that's the image).  Originally I wanted to make the balloons glittered and started having delusions about heat and stick embossing powder and glitter, but then my senses came to.  I figure if I can barely emboss at the best of times I probably shouldn't attempt it at the worst of times.  Then it took forever to decide on the right background paper.  I keep telling myself to incorporate more layers and punches and pizzazz to my cards and that's how the punched border piece with ribbon came to be.  After I stuck that on there wasn't room for the hedgehogs anymore so it was off to find a new image.  I hemmed and hawed over several different ones before settling on this one. I  cut out the mice which eliminated the little hearts around them and left the background to wide open.  So it was fiddle with this and fuddle with that and the punched heart came into being. I was still stuck on wanting a glittered accent on this card somehow and tried various renditions of glittered hearts around the mice.  None of them looked right. Pink puffy heart stickers didn't look right, very detailed embellished heart stickers didn't look right, big pink heart brads didn't look right, little pink heart brads, white heart brads, whimsical heart punches.... nope, nope, nope.  Finally I found these enameled looking red heart brads and finally, the card was finished.  Whew.

Since I have your attention (well, for those of you still reading, I know some of you have wandered off by now).  I was very touched to receive two nominations for the Liebster Blog recently from Lunch Lady Jan and Cindy. Oh my gosh! Thanks so much! It was so cool to get nominated and recognized.  I'm very tickled.

So, for my part of the bargain, I have to nominate five of my favorite up and coming blogs that have fewer than 200 followers. That was truly a hard choice and I feel bad about some of the ones I didn't mention.  Here are 5 in no particular order:

1. 505 Whimsy Girl What can I say?  She takes great pictures, makes lots of cards, and often has a bigger mess on my desk than I do--all things to love.  Plus the "505" always makes me think of yummy salsa, and that makes me happy.

2. Linda AKA Blue Summer House Design Okay, I confess that I only just discovered her blog and spent quite a bit of time reading post after post.  She makes and shares lots of great cards that I find to be very inspiring.  I plan to be a regular visitor.

3. Ally Cat Cards  Again, she makes and shares awesome cards, lots of bright cheery designs that make me want to get out my stamp stuff and play.

4. I SPI (stamps paper ink) She makes the best cards with the most scrumptious paper.  This blog encourages me to cut up and use the "good" paper and just enjoy.

5. The Bloggess She's not crafty (well, not the way we are) and she's got way more than 200 followers, in fact she has a whole fan club, but dang it all, when I need laugh, a giggle, or divine inspiration, I go here.  Bring tissues, you'll laugh until tears come out of your eyes.... um, as long as you have a warped sense of humor that is.  And you must, cuz you're here!

And a bonus referral:

6. Simplicity I couldn't nominate Susan because of her having more than 200 followers, but I would be remiss in leaving her out of any blog listing.  Hers was the first blog I checked all the time, waiting anxiously for the next post.  Her style is CAS and often one-layed.  Neither are me, but I find her blog so motivational.

The Fine Print: Mice stamp by Penny Black, background paper and brads by unknown, large heart punch by Marvy, heart border punch by Martha Stewart, ribbon from Michaels.