Look, I'm Stamping!

It's been awhile!  I find it harder and harder to get stamping when all the boys (hubby included) are home.  But  the kids are really back in school*, I feel my mojo returning now that the house really feels like the holidays are completely put away and chores I let go a bit while we were enjoying being on vacation are done and back on track.  I have always loved the color, so for its silky smoky, mysterious elegance.  I have gray boots,  gray polish, and I love how it has been more on trend the past few years.  It never looks "sad" or "cold" to me, always feels soft and chic.  How did I never have a gray cat before now?  I just love Sadie's glossy, changing coat, that looks like liquid mercury as she zips down the hall, slate blue on our couch, or a silvery fur throw languishing in this spot for a catnap where I usually photograph my cards.  So, I decided to jump back in with a gray card!

Stamped the butterflies from Stamper's Favorites in Moonlit Fog first on White Pure Luxury.  Card base is Pure Luxury Silver Lining.  Pardon the green tint in my sponging I picked up a dauber that looked like it went with my Gina K. Moonlit Fog pad but alas, not quite (Grass Green and Black? Fresh Asparagus and Fog?  Anywho.  All my color labels on my daubers have worn off, time to touch those up!)  I layered over more Moonlit Fog ink and just a touch of Black Onyx at the corners, and stamped on just a bit of the sand image from my Gifts from the Sea set to add the speckles.  I added a flourish from Carolyn's Elegant Flourishes stamped in Black Onyx.  I intended for this to be  a monochromatic card but since the green snuck in there (again, oops)  I added come Crystal Stickles to the butterfly (colored just a bit with C-5 Copic), clear sparkling shimmer with a just touch of green glitter bits.  Last I added some white organdy.  That's it!  This card is for this week's STV Mix it Up Monday challenge by Cat, to use something shiny!  Lots of shiny here. :)

* We came close to missing the first day back.  The entire winter break I had it in my mind first day back was Wednesday, Jan 8th.  Yeah, I know that sounds random in the middle of the week, but they do that to us sometimes!  I only found out because William came back from a friend's late Monday afternoon in tears saying his friend's mom brought him home because they needed to wrap up their play date earlier than usual since it was a school night, but we thought we still had one more evening of fun and staying up late.  "No, that's not right, William, let me show you."  Well, I checked and sure enough, they were headed back Tuesday! Whoops!  Ugh!  He was devastated.  So, I had to run and get an emergency "last night of vacay" pizza and ice cream and family movie to take the edge off.  Worked.