I am finally starting to work on the cards I make each year for my family friend. Here is the first one:

There is so much I love about this card! First – the Spruce & Sprig images – I knew as soon as I saw this set that it would receive much love…and its first outing did not disappoint me! Second the colors – this is a wintery color combo without being cold. And I have fallen in love with Stampin’Up’s Tip Top Taupe – it is an awesome neutral!

The final thing I love about this card can’t even be seen in this post! As I have said in the past, I hate mass producing (and anything more than one iteration counts as mass producing to me ;). I bought a MISTI months ago – but mostly because I loved the idea of being able to re-stamp a sentiment/image if it didn’t come out correctly the first time. I have used it a few times for that purpose. Today I broke it out to make 5 of the same card and oh boy did this make me happy! I don’t know that it was any faster (though it probably was), but so many of my problems were solved – consistency in the end product, fewer inky fingers, and less thought (I didn’t have to spend minutes ensuring I was stamping in the correct place). One thing though – the MISTI can’t ensure you ink up with the correct color (thankfully I caught that before I put stamp to paper!).

Thanks for taking a peek!