Don't hate me....

For what I am about to do! I have a deep love for Stampin' Up stamps...but I broke down. I bought contraband stamps!!!! I did it a while ago, too. I just never let anyone know! lol!! It happened so innocently. I was browsing Target....and you have to look at all of there outside isle end caps....that is where the clearance stuff is! Well, at the end of their craft isle....there they were....hanging there....one set of each only.....Disney Stamp Sets!!!! There was a set with Hannah Montana, Cars movie, general Mickey Mouse and PRINCESS!!!! And they were only $20 for each set!!! Being the mom of a toddler girl....I had to have the princess set. You know I would need it sooner or later, right??? And to get all the princesses for $20???? Even if I never need it for my daughter...she will have friends that will love princesses, right???

Well....she has relatives that love princesses...my niece, to be exact. And yesterday was her birthday. For our family party, her mom orders a small round cake and gets a small figurine for on it. She ordered the cake from me and said she bought a "Little Mermaid" figurine for on it. She wanted a white round cake with green lettering to match The Little Mermaid. So I made just that. Now.... I will take you back a couple of months. Both my niece and nephew love to dress up in costumes to play....so I scored a Disney Little Mermaid costume for her on sale at Toys 'R Us for a song. So I had that...and to think she was having a little mermaid cake...I bought a little mermaid costume as part of her gift....AND I had that set laying on my desk...with a little mermaid stamp in it!!! I felt on top of the world...I am going to totally score with my niece, right!??!??! WRONG!!!! I get there and she pulls out the cake toppers....it was Tinkerbell! Ho hum.....story of my life...lol!!! I began to panic!! The icing isn't going to match tinkerbell...it is mermaid green....I spent an hour watercoloring the little mermaid...not tinkerbell....oh no!! I said to my step sister...that's tinkerbell...not the little mermaid....she shrugged her shoulders and said, oh well! The heaviness was immediately lifted! I felt like I had done something totally wrong and it was no big deal to her...so that made me feel much better! At least, for her cake order for next week's party with my niece's school friends...it will be tinkerbell green. As a mater of fact...my niece wants the whole cake to be green...so green it is! lol!!! I get so fussed up about the dumbest things! Tired of reading me ramble already???? Want some eye candy????

Here is her card. Forgive me that it isn't stampin' up stamps...everything else is stampin up! There were cool things I wanted to show you on this card, that is the only reason I am posting it. I could have not even brought it up...you would have never known I had these contraband stamps in my possession....lol!!! The card base is tempting turquoise. The horizontal panel is taken with teal matted with whisper white punched with the scalloped edge punch. My main image is stamped with jet black staz on onto stampin up watercolor paper. I have tried sooooo many brands of watercolor paper...and I have to tell you....I love Stampin' Up!'s the best! I have even bought the same weight and cold press....but it isn't the same...at all! The store brands DO NOT blend as well. Anyway...I watercolored her with my aquapainter and ink refills. I was very happy with the way she turned out...not to toot my own horn! I matted her on ruby red. Then...the sentiment....I couldn't pick sentiment for the card front that I liked that looked right with Ariel. What to do....what to do????

She turned four...so I will put a four on it! I pulled out my chipboard letters. My 4 came from the On Board Lots of Letters. This picture DOES NOT DO THE SPARKLE FACTOR JUSTICE!!!!! I wanted to give my niece bling!! So I pulled out the cosmo glitter pack and picked the teal glitter. One problem...our chipboard is brown...I wanted a "true" teal color. No biggie! I inked it up with whisper white craft ink first, heat set that to dry. Then, inked it with versamark...poured on the heat and stick powder...heat set just until shiney...poured on the glitter...heat set again to "set" the glitter...and voila!!! A beautiful...true color...drop dead gorgeous sparkly 4!!!! I adhered that to a 1 1/4 inch whisper white circle. The ruby red is 1 3/8 circle matted with a scallop circle punch of taken with teal.

What do you think???? My niece was very excited when she got a "mermaid card!!!!" And when she opened her mermaid suit...she had to put it on right away. She didn't care it was tinkerbell on her cake and mermaid in her gift. It just goes to show that we, the adults, worry about everything being "just right." Kids could care less...they are happy with everything they love...not just one thing in particular! I am soooo guilty of this! I agonize over every event I have. things have to be perfect. When I have my daughter's birthday parties, I turn into a Nazi wedding planner....I get so fussed up! Every ribbon has to be just so....every table has to be in line with the tiles on the floor....the food has to be placed in just the right spots....Are you getting the picture here? And fortunately, my entire family...except my husband....knows I just get like this, that I can't help it.....they sit back and do what I want done, watch me move the food 1 inch from where it was sitting, fuss with curly ribbon, measure balloon strings and never say a word...and at the end of the day everyone is happy. Now if my hubby would just learn that I haven't turned into a Nazi...it will go away as soon as the party is over....lol!! Or, better yet....maybe I could take something from my little niece...."things" don't really matter, just have fun!

Boy, oh boy...I have divulged toooo much information today, huh? Sorry for that! I need to get going and get some laundry done, or move to a nudist colony. Hmmm....to never have to do laundry again......I might be onto something...lol!!! Just kiddin', I better get to sorting!!!