They'll never know if I don't tell them...

...but I can't help it, I'm going to tell you anyway! This is yet another card inspired by - you guessed it - the Tour de France!! No, really! It is!!


Anyone know how this could possibly be inspired by le Tour? Anyone see who won the stage on Saturday? It was none other than Alexander Vinokourov, or Vino as we like to call him (darn, just realized, I could have made a wine card too! hee hee). He's from Kazakhstan, which used to be part of the USSR back in the day - so I am making the assumption that they like these nesting dolls in Kazakstan as much as they do in Russia. I may be completely wrong, who knows. But I was inspired by Vino to break out these stamps nonetheless. The card is also done in Vino's current team colors. Vino used to be one of my favorites. Then he broke my heart (anyone been following my blog since wayyyy back in July 2007? LOL!). He did blood doping, the most popular of all the many ways to cheat at cycling. He served his two year suspension, apologized to the world and now he's back at le Tour. I wasn't sure if I could love him again after the heartache he caused me, but I've given it some thought and, well, I just can't help it. He has more heart and guts than most of the guys out there. He paid for what he did - a two year suspension at the height of his career - and he seems truly sorry. So what the heck. I'm pretty confident he won't be the last cyclist to break my heart. Sigh.

I saw a really great quote on this subject - making mistakes, having regret, starting over:

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." -- Anonymous

So there ya have it. Vino was so emotional & happy about his win on Saturday, it was really great to see. I've read that this may be his last Tour, so if it is, it's nice that he goes out with a stage win.


And now... not that any of you stampers are still reading this... I'm sure I lost you at the first mention of the word Tour... but I will tell you about the card anyway. The stamp set is called Dolls from Hero Arts - love it so much! I played along with Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the layout:


I've also played with one of the Splitcoast Dare to Get Dirty challenges, if you're a fan club member you can view this challenge hosted by Bev HERE.

Thanks for stopping by,

• Stamps: CL289 Dolls from Hero Arts
• Paper: Cardstock from Stampin' Up, DP from The Paper Studio
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Black Glaze pen (on eyes), white gel pen
• Accessories: Spellbinders die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, machine stitching, Michael's ribbon, embroidery floss, button from My Favorite Things