Happy Anniversary Angela

Yesterday was a big day at Angela's Happy Stamper. It celebrated the fourth year the store has been open. It seems as though in this day and age, it is hard for the small business owner to survive. There are large chain stores to compete with as well as the Internet. I know that for many of us, Angela's provides a sense of community (as well as feeds our stamping addiction). Personally, I consider it a blessing to have been part of the store since the beginning.
The party at the store was so much fun (as always). So many familiar faces as well as the occasional "first timer." It always amuses me when someone comes to the store for the first time during a big event. I always wonder if the new customers think the parking lot is always full and there is always a lavish food buffet. :)
The card today is one I made for the anniversary celebration. We tried to make a lot of new samples to highlight 3 new companies to the store. The poppies are made by Sparkle and Sprinkle, which is a company that has an eclectic assortment of images ranging from cute to elegant. The saying is from one of my favorite clear sets made by Impression Obsession. I colored the poppies and background using Twinkling H20's. As always when I scan a "metallic" card, the sparkle doesn't show up. Trust me though, it is there! I love the dimension that these paints give to my cards. For anyone interested, I have an upcoming class teaching people how to work with Twinks.
I am including a close up of the poppies to make a point about using watercolors. If you have the time, it is always a good idea to let areas you have colored dry before you watercolor next to them. In this case, the red poppies and blue background were both wet and started to bleed into each other. I was going for speed rather than allowing for drying time, so I didn't get crisp edges between the flowers and the stained glass that I would have liked.