New Toys to play with and some sketches!

Do you like new stuff to play with? I sure do - and the challenge over on the 'All Things Sugar Nellie' forum at Paper Craft Planet last week was to use new stuff that we might have gotten for Christmas. Well, I didn't really get any new stuff for Christmas, however, I did get new stuff around the holidays and just this week got some more stuff. I discovered that Funky Kits has some NEW digital images and they are absolutely adorable. These little ladies are old fashioned and so innocent. I just had to have them all! This little girl is Grace. The shadows in the image are so helpful in coloring her and she colored up SO well. I was going to use my standard blue - but decided that she needed a lavendar dress instead. I did slip the blue in there on her overcoat - but for the most part, I chose the purple family. For my sketch, I chose the Stamping 411 sketch challenge #185. It was a simple sketch that just fit for this card. I haven't been adding sentiments to my cards too much lately, but when the challenge went out from the OWH Stars and Stamps blog to make cards that said 'thinking of you', I decided I would use this stamp that I just got last week. The sentiment is actually all one line, however, I wanted to make it fit without covering any of the beautiful Grace so I stamped part of it, then stamped the rest of it underneath. This is a wonderful way to use sentiment stamps that either don't fit, or you like part of the sentiment - or you only want to use one or two words of the sentiment. This particular stamp set has several other sentiments and some small micro images that would be perfect for many different cards. It is a Sale-A-Bration stamp that you can get (starting the end of this month) when you place a $50 order or more.
Now a little about my bow - I have seen these little gadgets that help you tie your bow easily. Well, the interesting thing is - I have had one of these gizmos for about 10 years. I used to belong to a stamp club when I lived in Washington and one of the ladies in the club brought each of the members these gizmos that her husband had made. I seldom use mine, but thought I would get it out and play with it. It really does make tying the bows SO much easier. I just have to figure out how to make the double loop bows!!
Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by and taking a look at my card. I have some other sketches I am going to be working on today, so stop by later for another peek.

~Paula~