I borrowed the above image from Liz at DIY Paper Creations. You should definitely checked out her blog. I have been following it for some time now and have gotten many, many ideas from it.

When the current Mini came out, I wasn't too sure how I felt about the Clear Mount stamps. I did, however, order a few sets b/c I wanted to try them out myself so when customers asked me, I would have experience using them. Well, here are my thoughts:
1) In the picture above, there are 17 sets, both in the Clear Mount and in the Wood Mount. As you can clearly see from the picture, when it comes to space, the Clear Mount takes up significantly less and they are all the same size, which is great. I know that I always had a hard time organizing my Wood Mount sets b/c they are all in different sized storage cases. Having the Clear Mount sets solved this problem for me b/c I am able to easily store the DVD sized case.

2) When purchasing the Clear Mount sets, I saved money, which is always great, right?? With the money that I saved, I was able to buy some of the acrylic blocks to use with the stamps, as well as some DSP that I was wanting.

3) When using the Wood Mount, I would always get a little cranky if I were to stain the wood, which is always bound to happen at some point. With the Clear Mount set, this is no longer a worry b/c if you get ink on the acrylic block, you just need to wash it with warm soapy water.

So, even though I was not a big fan initially, I am now in LOVE with the new Clear Mount sets. From now on, I am going to purchase the Clear Mount sets whenever I am able to. What are your thoughts on them?

Sami has a birthday party of a friend to go to later this afternoon. I wanted to make a card for it. I needed something girly, so I immediately thought of the retired set Pretty Princess. I made sure to use looks of glitter on it too so it was sparkly. I hope she likes it.

Every time I place a Stampin' Up, I order myself 2-3 ink pads. I am starting to get a little collection going, but it seems like it is going to take me forever to get all the colors and I am using all my Stampin' Up Markers way too much to get the color of ink that I want to stamp with. I found a way to solve my issue. I have decided that I am going to buy all the Stampin' Spots; then when I notice that I am using a particular color a lot, then I will purchase that ink pad. The best part is that I can get a whole "family" of colors for only $29.95. Here is what they look like in the box:

I plan on keeping them in the box b/c it is the perfect storage solution and I want to be sure to keep the "family" together. =)