Shaken, Not Stirred...

Checking in before heading to bed tonight!

I'm winding down from a busy and very fun Saturday with the fam. Lots of basketball, a birthday party (to be exact, my littlest was a guest - but I don't quite feel confident enough to leave him for the 1 1/2 hours!) and more moving/cleaning of the basement. You know, it's funny how you always look so forward to the weekend, and before you know it's more than half over. Oh well. Good thing that we are enjoying the time - even if it seems to be flying by.

So onto things stamping... I often shop for my crafting stuff at eclectic Paperie. Definitely one of my hands-down favorite places. There is always lots of fun stuff to choose from, and while I have never met the owners, Joy and Daisy - they seem like the sweetest people. Anyways, they have been running this promotion that if you spend $50 or more, "...you are going to get some extra eclectic Love in your order. No complicated forms. No special coupons. Just know if you spend 50 bucks or more, your gonna get some fun free stuff. It could be stamps, papers, and/or other embellishments...just a fun surprise of goodies."

My last order qualified for the promotion so I was interested to see what I would get. I never know with these "mystery" gifts - I mean, would I even like the stuff or use it? Who knew?... So when I received my order, I was kinda surprised to see what I got. First off, there was quite a bit of stuff - stamps and a pink Cat's Eye chalk ink pad as well as the re-inker for it. My first thought was that "This was pretty good!" - pretty generous and definitely more than just a token (which is honestly what I thought it would be). But I also have to admit, most of the stamps were not images that I would have naturally gravitated towards. I didn't know how I would use the images, which often dooms them to the amount of actual usage. So I pretty much put the stuff away, not really having a plan with them.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later... I happened to be looking through the eP stamps and again realizing that I don't have many stamps like them, but this time for whatever reason, starting to think more about how I can use them and how they really do add/broaden my stamp collection (I must have been feeling the creative vibe more than usual, I guess!). On that particular day, which was actually a week ago - I wanted to make a card for my SIL's birthday. She is not the cutesy type and was certainly NOT looking forward to her upcoming birthday, as it basically just marks that she is 1 year older (LOL). But she LOVES her pomegranate martinis and that's when it hit me. This card was made using 2 stamps that I received in my $50 eP bonus. I know it is just a easy-peasy 1 layer card, but I thought it worked out ok. So thank you eP (Joy and Daisy) for knowing what my stamping stash needed. Keeps me coming back! I'm a green apple martini girl (and only with Grey Goose, of course), myself... so next time, I'll be busting out the green prismas for my drink! :) Better yet, I should make a point of enjoying the real McCoy while I make the card!

I've also made a few more cards with the stamps I received, and will have to get them off my camera and on here soon!

Deets:
Stamps: Rubber Romance; Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Other: Primas and Gamsol, Stickles (on the dress, earrings and cherry), ribbon from Costco.