Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by.
                    ~Carl Sandburg

Sometimes its fun to just get carried away . . . which I kind of did with this card. It looks like I tried to pack as much "joy" as I could into a 4-1/4" by 5-1/2" space. It might give you a little visual overload.

If you've followed my blog before (God love ya), you know I'm crazy about Mo Manning's digital stamps. This stamp, Soaking Up the Joy, was one of the very first images Mo created when she started offering her illustrations as digital stamps. It's such an amazing image to color – it just comes to life with each dab of ink. So, how cool is it that you can get this image now as a clear stamp. As much as I love her digital stamps, it's even more fun to ink up her images.

I cut out the face and upper body of the baby doll and attached her with 3D Foam Mounting Adhesive. Then I used a small paint brush to add Crystal Lacquer to the doll to help pop her off the page a little more.

The layout comes from Jen del Muro's sketch this week at i{heart}2stamp.

The color/bling inspiration came from this week's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge (CIC54) – love them cupcakes!

Here are the Copic markers I used and the rest of the recipe.

If that slide show is too hard to keep up with, here are all the markers assembled together.

• Embellishments – Ribbon from the Hearts Bloom Paper Kit (on sale at 20% off); tulle, Basic Grey Opaline half pearls
• Ink – Copic Markers (see above), Memento Tuxedo ink pad
• Paper – Neenah, Basic Grey Kioshi Paper Pad, Prism cardstock
• Stamp: Soaking Up the Joy
  
• Tools: Nestabilities
• Misc.: Crystal Lacquer, 3D Foam Mounting Adhesive

Maya Angelou once said: When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness… all the good things.”  Here's wishing all you dear folks all the joy you can stand.

Hugs,