Ahhh Monet. Well not really, but it reminds me...

Today I'm continuing my quest to feature every company who generously donated prizes to the Austin SCS Shoebox Swap. And today I'm also realizing that at the rate I'm stamping these days, this little endeavour may take me well into next year to complete! But I will trudge on, slowly but surely... :-) Today's card features stamps from smARTworks. I love this image, it reminds me of a Monet! I used the watercolory direct to stamp method, where you color right on the stamp with a marker and then mist it with a little water before stamping. After it dried I painted over the entire image with Crackle Accents, to get a cracked glass look. I love Crackle Accents, but I have to tell ya - it can totally change the colors of your image! I was inspired by last week's Color Throwdown - Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery & Purely Pomegranate. I didn't have a Pomegranate marker, so I used it's close cousin Rose Red. Well when I painted it with Crackle Accents, it turned more of a hot pink! Eek! But, it's not terrible. The whole thing didn't photograph very well, but it's mighty pretty in person, I promise! :-)

So have you ever visited smARTworks? I highly recommend you do! They have WONDERFUL images, owner Susan is a super nice lady, and I know I've raved about them before - they have THE BEST acrylic mounting blocks on the planet!! I promise you - if you treat yourself to some, you will LOVE THEM. I have two bins of blocks on my desk - my wonderful The Clear Thing blocks that I ALWAYS use, and my bin of other random blocks that just sit there collecting dust. I know, I sound like a commercial. But nobody is paying me to say this - I MEAN IT!!! My hands appreciate me treating them this well. :-D (but if I HAVE convinced you, make sure and mention me when you place your order bc Susan also offers an incentive program!!) :-D

Ok my sweets, duty calls (ie naps are close to ending!) so I must wrap this up. Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: BFL-01 Floating & HSD-Hummer from smARTworks
• Paper: Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
• Ink: Taken with Teal, Stampin' Up markers
• Accessories: Spellbinders Labels 8 die, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, Crackle Accents, American Crafts velvet scallop ribbon, staples, silver brads