A new card, my personal challenge, and my very first give-away!

Whew! Almost three weeks have come and gone and again, I'm left shaking my head realizing that November is already in full swing. I'm really sorry that my posts are so sporadic and inconsistent compared to most other stamping bloggers in blogland. I'm humbled to think that anyone is even interested, let alone continues to visit My Little Ink Spot! I often feel bad knowing that there are people out there who check in on me almost daily, only to find that I still haven't posted anything new. So to those of you who still stop by, thank you for your interest and support. I appreciate it more than you know. :) Just bear with me once in a while, as my daily life -with the four children that I homeschool, the hubby that I care for, and the house I maintain- can often keep me pretty preoccupied. ;) Thank you for your patience and for sticking with me. :) I intend to show my appreciation for those of you that continue to visit My Little Ink Spot, but more on that in a bit.

One of the main things that kept me from posting (primarily this past week) was that our old computer's power supply went kaput! My hubby's been wanting to get a new one for over a year now, so he finally got his wish and we went computer shopping. LOL I love this new PC - dual core processors make for some pretty speedy 'net surfing! I must admit, being without a computer for a few days was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I never realized just how habitual my computer time is, or how dependant I am upon it! I often sit here at the desk and email or browse my favorite stamping messageboards/galleries in order to be easily accessible to the kids while they're doing their schoolwork. However, that's going to have to change soon, so my little computer hiatus was good practice and preparation of what's to come.

My oldest son will be beginning a new homeschool curriculum in the next few weeks that is completely PC based. All of his reading, lessons, and instruction will come from CD-ROMS, rather than from the DVDs and books we've been using. With this being the only PC in the house for the moment (the other one is still being repaired but he'll eventually be using that one for school), that means I'm going to have to eliminate a large portion of my own computer time, in order for him to be able to do his studies. However, the shiny side of that coin is all the extra time I'll have for stamping! Which means more things for me to share here when I do get online! Anyway, enough blathering. (Maybe if I didn't wait so long in between posts, I wouldn't feel compelled to ramble on as much when I do! LOL) On to my recent card:

I made this card for my demo/future upline because she has been so kind and helpful getting me prepared for demonstratorship these last couple of months. My final gameplan is to sign up during Sell-A-Bration in late January, early February, and she's been doing everything in her power to encourage me and help me prepare. And most of all, she's a wonderful friend. Love ya to pieces, A! ;)

All images © Stampin' Up! from their Think Big (sentiment) and Lovely As A Tree (flower) sets. The Stipple Plaid background is also SU, but retired. Colors are Whisper White, Basic Black, Pixie Pink, Glorious Green and Yo-yo yellow.

With the holidays fast approaching, I wanted to do something different and make something bright and spring-y. :) The Think Big set is so much fun and versatile... I love to put different images in place of the "i". The bloom of the flower is up on pop dots and I used the same image to randomly stamp flowers on the piece of pink card stock. I'm thinking I should've used my Houndstooth background instead of the Stipple Plaid, as the Houndstooth would've coordinated with the gingham ribbon better, but, c'est la vie. Over all, nothing too fancy, just something quick-n-cute. :)

You may recall, I mentioned in a previous post about a personal challenge I created for myself. It involves using certain stamps that I tend to buy a lot of, but rarely use: background stamps. I've seen so many great cards using them over at SCS and Heaven knows I buy enough of them! But for some reason, I just don't use them as much as I probably should. So, I decided to challenge myself to pull them out more... I pledge to use at least one background stamp on the next ten cards I make. And my card above was a start! Even though it's mostly hidden, I did in fact use the Stipple Plaid background on it. I also intend to break away from the white card bases a little more, even though I didn't do that here with this card. But all in due time, right? Baby steps. LOL ;) And by all means, if you would like to create your own self-imposed challenge, please tell me about it! I'd love to see how challenge yourself as well. We could encourage each other! :)

And finally, as promised, I want like to thank everyone who visits My Little Ink Spot (commenter and lurker alike) by having my very first give-away drawing! :) Each person who leaves a comment on this post from now until Sunday Monday night (I decided to extend the contest into the next week) will be entered to win a humble, yet completely new collection of fun stamping goodies:

• One Bitty Bag from Prima,
• A lovely assortment of ribbons (1-2 yds. each),
• A brand new ticket corner punch from Stampin' Up!,
• One Sakura Stardust Gellyroll Pen (in clear),
• And of course... STAMPS! Hobby Lobby opened their very first store out here in the southwest - just down the street from me! *squeal* Part of their grand opening celebration was 50% their rubber stamps, so I picked up a few while I was there. ;)

**Just be sure to leave a comment to this post with your name (no anonymous users, please) by Sunday Monday night.** On Monday Tuesday morning, I'll print them out, let my eldest son draw a name, and announce the winner later that evening. (Please keep in mind that the information you provide will be kept completely private and will be used for this contest only.) This is a good chance for you lurkers out there (I see you!) to introduce yourselves so I can officially "meet" you! :) Anyway, it's nothing superfantabulous... just my way of saying thanks to all of you who continue to drop by and inspire me. :) I'm not too sure when I'll get to do another give-away again, so take advantage of it while you can! I'll try to post a picture of the goodies in the meantime.

The weekend is upon us! Hope you have a good one, and as always, thanks for reading! :)