I Brake For....MASK!

Hello my fellow stampers and Happy New Year!!  Nancy here today and I hope your Christmas and New Years holidays were filled with family, fun and food!  You may think you are finished with the holiday season, but for some of us the party is just getting started.  Let me explain with this card...

The card features the cool Mask stamp - found HERE  It is a digital image so you don't have to stalk the mail carrier!  And because it is a digital image you can make it as large or small as you want.

I've colored it with copics and added some stickles and a stardust gel pen to add sparkle.  That is part of what Mardi Gras is all about - break out the glitter!  The background paper is some Mardi Gras digital paper I've had for years and thought it would be the perfect background for this image.  The sentiment is computer generated.

So,  let me explain a tiny bit about Mardi Gras.  I grew up in Connecticut. then moved to California for many years and we did not celebrate Mardi Gras in either of those places.   In fact, the only thing I knew about it was that it was a big party in Europe and South America (Carnival season) and in the USA it was something that I saw on the news when they showed Bourbon Street in New Orleans on the actual day of Mardi Gras.

Then in 2004 we moved to Northwest Florida - a mere 3 hours from New Orleans.  During the Christmas Holiday the craft stores were filled with Christmas decorations.  I also noticed a section of decorations in green, gold, and purple.  At first  thought it was the "trendy" color that year for Christmas - you know how each year along with the traditional décor the stores bring out some different color palette that no one seems to buy!  Then as Christmas was winding down I noticed more and more decorations in these colors.  My second thought was that maybe it was some college football colors (college football is huge in this area).  Then as I looked closer I saw that they were Mardi Gras decorations and thought - they celebrate that here in Florida?

I quickly learned that it is a BIG celebration along the northern Gulf Coast  - not just in New Orleans.  And that Mardi Gras is not just a day, but an entire season.  It starts on January 6 - just  days from now - and runs until the actual day of Mardi Gras, which this year falls on February 13. So we have more than a month of  partying to go!  In this area we have parades just about every weekend, with the big ones the weekend just before the big day.  And it is also ball season.  Balls - meaning tuxedos and evening gowns. At least one every weekend until the big day.   It is also a school holiday in Louisiana, and parts of Alabama and Florida.

So get ready to party and Let The Good Times Roll!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Head on over to the IBFS store to find this and other Mardi Gras Stamps.