All Star Baseball Card

This is a card I made for a young man at my church who just received a college baseball scholarship.

The image and sentiment are both retired Stampin' Up! "Just Baseball" and "Sporting".  The grass is also from another retired SU! set.

All I did was create a simple little scene using the colors of the young man's high school:  purple and yellow.  Because they are solid stamps, I stamped the baseball onto black card stock with white ink.  Then I cut it out and adhered it to the main image panel.

The stars are pre-shaped foam adhesives, I just sprinkled some yellow glitter them.

Have a great day!  Amy

Covered Perfectly MicroModal Tops

Everyone needs a great white tee or top in their closet to wear under their shirts and cardigans.  How hard is it to find one?  Nearly impossible.  I can't tell you how many white tees I've tried on only to be disappointed.  What am I looking for?  One that is thin, so I can easily layer without the bulk, but not completely see-thru.  I want a top that is comfortable and cool, so I'm not overheated when I add the layers.  And most importantly, I don't want it clingy so that every bump and bulge shows, but I don't want it to look like I'm wearing a tent either!

Enter Covered Perfectly MicroModal Tops.  These tops meet all my requirements.  The material is so soft and luxurious!  I love the way it feels against my skin.  It is also made of a breathable fabric, so I'll stay nice and cool under my cardigans and outer shirts.  And most importantly, I love the fit!  It's snugger in the chest and arm area, so there will be no extra bulk under my sweaters, yet it is loose in the tummy area so my stomach flab doesn't show.

The top is 96% MicroModal and 4% Spandex.  I took several different poses of me turning and twisting with the top on to illustrate the nice stretch the fabric has.  Unlike a lot of stretchy tops, this one does not cling and over-emphasize any body fat.  If you look at my bra line, you won't see much back fat which I normally struggle with when wearing spandex tops.

Because of vanity sizing in the fashion industry, I normally wear a size small, even though I am not a small woman.  Covered Perfectly tops run true to size.  I looked at their measurements and I ordered a size Medium and it fit me perfectly.

The white top was a bit more see-thru than I would like, you can obviously still see all my bra-straps. I was wearing a nude colored bra.  But, I don't know if it is ever possible to find a white shirt where you will never be able to see your bra underneath.  As long as you can't see my skin through the fabric, it's fine with me.

This top is available in a many different colors. I would love to own one in every single color!

The top also comes in a longer sleeve length and in different necklines.  I chose the V neck since that is the most flattering neckline for bustier women.  What I loved about this V neck was that it was not a plunging neckline, meaning, I still get the open neckline without the cleavage!

And here is how I styled my Covered Perfectly MicroModal Simple V Top.

I wore my top with a new grey Aztec print cardigan from J.C. Penney, a pair of distressed boyfriend jeans by Kut From The Kloth from Stitch Fix, and suede wedge booties (shown before HERE).

I accessorized with a long silver tassel necklace that my husband picked out for me when we shopping at Charming Charlies.

Here is the back of the sweater.  I just love the Aztec print.  This sweater has such a great fit and is so comfortable!  It goes great paired with my new Covered Perfectly top too!

My white suede fringe bag coordinated beautifully with the Covered Perfectly white top.   I received this bag in my last Stitch Fix.

 If you have never heard of Covered Perfectly before, I strongly urge you to check them out.  They are a on-line clothing store that caters to the unique needs of the over forty woman.  All their clothes are designed to flatter women's figures and make women feel attractive and confident.

Have a great day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.

*Disclaminer:  I received this top free to review.  All opinions are my own.

November Christmas Cards: Baby Jesus & Holly Branches

 I am skipping town for Thanksgiving week and heading for the sunshine state!  Thus I have been working hard at getting things done early so I can enjoy my trip.  One of the things I had to get done was to finish my Christmas cards.

If your a regular reader of my blog you would know that I play the Splitcoaststampers Christmas Card Challenge.  We make Christmas cards all year long so that we won't be stressed out during the busy holiday season.  I make five cards a month and I end up with about fifty five cards at the end of the year.  We don't make cards during the month of December....so I AM DONE FOR THE YEAR!  Oh, how good that feels!

I make a tall card, 4x8, in order that I can fit a photo card and Christmas letter inside.  This is the card I designed this month.  It was inspired by this card HERE.

I used two different retired Stampin' Up sets to create this card:  "Baby Jesus is Born" and "Celebrate the Season".  The latter is currently available for bids on my Ebay Store HERE.

I stamped the holly and berries onto white card stock and then hand drew the stems.   The main image was stamped onto a separate piece of card stock, colored with Copics, then fussy cut.  I put the main image up on dimensional.  Nesties were used to cut the circular shapes.  The sentiment was stamped directly onto the main image panel.

And here are all five cards!  It's such a relief to know I am done making cards for the year.  Of course, I still have to design my family photo collage, order prints, write a Christmas letter, and then address and mail them all!  But hey!  The hardest part is over and I have a full month to get the rest done!

I really, really, don't like making Christmas cards all year long.  It's the hardest thing to do, especially in the summertime or in January when the season just ended and the last thing you want to think about is Christmas.  But it is so worth it.  I think often of not making hand made cards anymore, or not sending cards at all.  But we really don't have a lot of contact with extended family members or old friends anymore, and this is one small way we can still keep in touch and let them know what's going on in our lives.  So I keep doing it!

What about you?  Do you still send out Christmas cards or are you just doing the generic Facebook Christmas greeting now?  It seems I receive less and less Christmas cards every year because most people just say "Merry Christmas" over Facebook.  I prefer a more personal greeting.  Even though I write a Christmas letter, I always add a hand-written note at the bottom to personalize it.

Have a great day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!