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Happy Father’s Day

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In the U.S., today is the day to celebrate dads. I'm biased, of course, but I think my kids have the absolutely best dad around. He's patient, kind, generous, intelligent, handy, and fun to be around. This year is the first year neither child was nearby for either Mother's Day or Father's Day. We hear from them, of course, but it does seem different.

We've already had a busy day. We took a longer walk than usual this morning, and clocked just about three miles. We've been to visit friends, the grocery store, the farmer's market, and to the garden to water our plants. In a bit, we're off to the pool with friends and will grab a bite to eat with them. Then we're off to the movies. The rest of the week looks equally busy, so although I have things to share, I'm not sure how much time there'll be for blogging.

Here are the two Father's Day cards I made this year. For Tracy on the left (based on the inside of a card by Betsy Veldman in a Card Creations magazine), and for his stepfather on the right.

Father'sDayCards

Supplies:

Compass Card:
Cardstock: True Black and Kraft (Papertrey Ink)
Stamp: Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink)
Computer generated sentiment (Lucinda Fax font)
Twine (Papertrey Ink)

Typewriter Card:
Cardstock:  Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: 2008 Bitty Box Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Stamp: Office 101 (Clear Art Stamps & Framed (Papertrey Ink)

 

Hats Off to the Grad!

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I needed three graduation cards this weekend, and was able to combine them with three different challenges. I used the same stamp set on all three, one reason why I love stamping. Just one set can give you quite different looks. The first card is for the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger and the Casual Friday color blocking challenge.

Here's the Tuesday Trigger called Rainbow Bright:

RainbowBright

And the Casual Friday challenge:

FotoFlexer_Photo-CFC7

And the first of the graduation cards:

ColorBlockGrad

And a peek at the inside:

InsideColorBlock

The next card, for my nephew, is based on the CPS Sketch for this week.

222

And my card:

RoadTripGrad

The last card is probably my favorite, and it's not for any challenge. I cut the card itself on the Silhouette, and then finished it off with my stamps and dies.

SilhouetteGrad

And the inside which holds a gift card. The message pulls out for a handwritten wish for the graduate.

InsideSilhouetteGrad

I'm posting this late tonight instead of tomorrow morning because my friend and I are off to Buffalo early in the morning to the CKC Convention. I wasn't planning to attend, but Mary was interested in going, so it didn't take much to convince me. I'm taking one scrapbook course, one technique course, and one products-based course, all by companies that I admire. There'll be a recap in a few days!

Supplies:

Colorblock Card:
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink)
Stamp:  For the Graduate (Papertrey Ink)
Die: Mat Stack 1 (Papertrey Ink)
Gems: Kaiser

CPS Card:
Cardstock: Terra Cotta Tile (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Road Trip (Papertrey Ink)
Die: Seeing Stars (Papertrey Ink)
Stamp: For the Graduate (Papertrey Ink)
Chamomile Tea Dye Ink (Papertrey Ink)

Gift Card Holder:
Silhouette
Cardstock: Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper:  Lime Twist Out of the Blue (My Mind's Eye)
Stamp: For the Graduate  & Big and Bold Wishes (Papertrey Ink)
Die:  Seeing Stars & Fillable Frames #1 for the top of the inside sentiment (Papertrey Ink)

 

CR84FN Color Challenge

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I love this week's color combination for CR84FN. I'm getting this challenge in just under the wire, but missed the Waltzing Mouse Sketch challenge by just an hour or so! Here's the color challenge:

CR84FN31 Graphic

And the sketch, even though it's too late for the challenge:

WMSC51_thumb[1]

Here's the card. No one specifically in mind for this one, so it will go into the stash. I pulled out a thank you note and a sympathy card this morning and sent them on their way. It's good to have cards ready to go when you need them.

Enjoy

Supplies:

Cardstock: Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned paper:  A Muse
Dies: Labels Four (Spellbinders)
Butterflies: Prima
Gems: Reflections (Michaels)
Sakura Jelly Roll Clear Glitter pen (for butterflies' bodies; hard to see in the photograph)

 

 

In Appreciation

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It's that time of year here to express appreciation for all the work people do throughout the school year. Although I no longer have kids in school, I'm still involved with the Youth Ministry program at our church and have become the designated creator of gift card holders. The first batch I made with the new Papertrey Ink die "Seed Packet" after I saw these darling ones at Lime Doodle. The papers are all from MME's Lime Twist "Fly a Kite" paper pad. Bright and cheerful, and good for both men and women. I cut the Fillable Frames #11 die and then stamped it with the coordinating frame. The sentiment came from Autumn Abundance, all Papertrey Ink products.

ThanksForAll

Then I made another set which I posted on the Scrap-Mart blog. These were cut on my Silhouette which makes short work of  projects like this. You can cut two at once from an 8.5X11 piece of cardstock. I used papers from October Afternoon's Campfire papers, labels from the same line, and stamped them with a sentiment from Heartfelt Creations. On these I added a bit of ribbon.

GiftCardHolders

Both sets are cut from two-sided papers so the inside is pretty cute, too.

InsideGiftCard

Thanks!

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I have two thank you cards to share tonight. The first one is for two challenges, first a "fruity" challenge at the Simon Says Challenge blog and also for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink. It's been a few weeks since I've been able to play along there, and I've missed it. The technique this week is rock 'n roll stamping. You can check out the video here.

ThanksABunch

I stamped the bunch of grapes (Fruit Fusion: Grapes–Papertrey Ink) first with Lavender Moon ink and then "rolled" it in Memento Grape Jelly ink. (How appropriate is that?) I painted on some Glossy Accents to give the grapes dimension and finished it off with the sentiment from the same set. The cute paper is from the MME's Lime Twist "Happy Go Lucky" paper pad and the ribbon is from my stash. The premade card is from Memory Box. I love these cards because they have a white inside which makes it easy to write your note.

The next card isn't for any challenge. I had some scraps laying around on my desk a week or so ago, and decided to put them to good use. It's always good to have thank you notes in your stash.

 

ManyThanks

Cardstock: Pure Poppy (PTI); Patterned paper: Circa 1936 (Cosmo Cricket), journaling card (Jeni Bowlin); flower (Prima), sprayed with Mr. Huey mist (Studio Calico); star pins (Maya Road), one colored with Copic R29; die: small scallop (PTI); rick rack from stash.

One Layer Framed

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I needed a thank you note, so I thought I'd join in at Less is More with this week's challenge for a one layer card with a framed image. The Friendship Jar series at Papertrey Ink has several wonderful flower images that are easy to adapt to a frame. The last time I used this technique I used the tulips, this time I picked the daisies. Mine in our garden are budded, but not quite in bloom yet. They're one of my favorities because they bloom for a long time, and last a long time in a vase.

ManyThanks

This is my second post today. You can find my shots for Project 64 here.

Cardstock: X-Press It Blending (Copic)
Stamps: Friendship Jar Additions, Framed, Take Three: Summer (Papertrey Ink)
Copics: Y15, Y17, YG 93, YG 95, YR 24, E 09
Ink: Memento, Chamomil Tea Dye (Papertrey Ink)

 

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

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Classically Modern

I just loved this Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab this week. I think I'm too late to post it over there, but by the time I realized I'd missed the deadline, I was well into making this card. (Edited to add: It seems I wasn't too late, the linky was still active, and I've already had a comment!)

ScatterSeeds

The blue is a bit different but as close as I could get with the inks I have, but I think this Hero Arts background stamp mimics the beautiful floral design in this bedroom.

Supplies:
Stamps: Classic Fabric Design (Hero Arts), Year of Flowers Collection (PTI)
Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White, Blueberry Sky (PTI)
Die:  Labels Four (Spellbinders)
Pearls:  Amuse Creative Candy
Ribbon from stash

 

Lucky Me & Card Patterns 117

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I was the lucky winner of a gorgeous stamp set from Skipping Stones on Danielle Flander's blog recently  It's called Heartsong, and I love the images in it. The darling bird seemed perfect for the sketch challenge on Card Patterns this week. Here's the sketch:

Sketch117

And here's my take on it:

  Heartsing

I love this sentiment from the same set, "You make my heart sing." The set also comes with a music stamp, but it wasn't quite wide enough for my card so I used Papertrey Ink's Background Basics: Sheet Music. The cardstock and twill are Hawaiian Shores (PTI), and the patterned paper is from 7Gypsies paper pad, Conservatory. The brown strip came from the scrap folder, and it's a better match IRL than in the photo. I stamped the bird on watercolor paper and colored him with my watercolor pencils. It's been awhile since they've seen any action. The circle is a Nestabilities which I distressed with Tim Holtz's Broken China Ink while the paper was still in the die.

Ivory and Lace

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This week's challenge at Mark's Finest Papers is ivory and lace. I needed a wedding card to take to a reception yesterday afternoon and this was the perfect inspiration. The flowers in Lorraine's birthday package were just perfect for it. I'm sure I'll use this card design again. It was quick to make, and is quite elegant, I think.

WeddingCard

Cardstock: Vintage Cream (PTI) and a green scrap; die: Branch with Leaves (Sizzix); flower (Prima); lace from stash; stamp: Delightful Dahlias (PTI)

Two Challenges

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I'm back with a second post today as promised. First off, a card for the Simon Says Stamps challenge. I placed my first order with them last week and was amazed at the fast service. I've never looked at their blog before this week, and there's lots of inspiration there. This week's challenge is for Stars and Stripes. I had several new products I was anxious to use and was able to use some favorites as well. As I created the card, it occured to me that it would be a perfect birthday card for my MIL. She doesn't read my blog, so it's safe to post it here. Her birthday isn't until July 5th, but it's nice to be ahead!

Stars&stripes

One of the products on my list when we were traveling was the Tim Holtz mini-rosette die. I never found it so it was one of the goodies in the Simon Says package. I love how easy it is to create these fun rosettes and they are much flatter than the ones I've tried on my own. I stamped the stars for the centers with a Teresa Collins stamp, Free Style. The sentiment frame is also from that set, and the sentiment is from the new Papertrey set Tag-its #4. The Tag-it stamps are just $5 and I get a lot of used from the sentiments as well as the tag frames. The striped pieces are from a new stamp set, "Daily Junque," by Pink Paislee. I saw Danielle use it on three fabulous cards last week, and when I saw that Simon Says carried it, that pushed me to click on the purchase button!

Here's a closer look at the rosettes which I cut from some cute October Afternoon papers from the Campfire line.

CelebrateDetails

There are some great stamps in the Daily Junque set, so I decided to stamp an envelope as well. All the stamps except "July" are from that set.

Envelope

And now to Amy's photographic challenge. She asked us to photograph five things we think will be gone from our homes in five years. It turned out to be pretty easy.

First off, my cook top from the 1950's. It is probably the only live pilot cooktop in our town. But it will definitely be gone as we purchased a new stove on Friday. These green counters will also be gone.

StoveTopw

My relatively recent refrigerator will also be gone from the kitchen, but probably moved to the basement. We're waiting for the final estimates, but expect to have a new kitchen by the end of the year. I've never had room for a full-size refrigerator, and I am absolutely thrilled with the one we bought this weekend (on close-out at a great price, to boot)!

Fridgew

So, in fact, my whole kitchen will be gone. These cupboards will be replaced as well. It's not a terrible kitchen, but the cupboards are over 50 years old and hard to keep clean. I stripped and refinished them 20 years ago, but it's time for a new look. The best part is we'll have a new arrangement, and it should be much more efficient, and I hope to have lots more counter space, even though we're not expanding the size of the kitchen.

Kitchenw

Matt's room, now the guest room, will also have a new look. Hopefully, that won't take five years. I'm on the lookout for new bed linens and when Tracy has worked his way upstairs with his painting project this room will no longer have dark green woodwork, which I notice now doesn't appear in the photograph.

Matt'sRoomw

And, finally, my laptop. It's already several years old and is used enough that some of the letters are wearing off the keys. I'm not anticipating replacing it in the next year or so, but I doubt it will last five more years.

Laptopw

This was fun, Amy! Thanks for throwing down the challenge.

Memorial Day

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It’s Memorial Day in the U.S. today—a time to honor those who have died in the far too many wars we’ve engaged in. It’s also known as Poppy Day in the U.K. and we, too, honor the veterans by buying paper poppies to support Veteran Assistance Programs. I learned more about Poppy Day this week when I volunteered in a classroom and the students were reading about how the paper poppies originated. You can find some information here and here about the traditions associated with the poppies as a symbol of remembrance. Today was my post for Scrap-Mart. When I put my donation in the jar on Saturday, the veteran handed me several poppies, and I thought they’d look great on a card, and be an appropriate post for the holiday.

PoppyCard

I used a piece of patterned paper from the Sassafrass Lass "Ellie's Tale," stitched and adhered to a piece of textured cardstock. I cut and embossed a Classic Rectangle Nestability and added the new Nestablings that fit perfectly within the embossed edge.

Close-upPoppy
I love the smaller gem in each corner. The sentiment is from WPlus9.

I hope you're having a good holiday weekend. We had a fun trip to Ithaca on Saturday and then dinner and a wonderful performance of The Music Man with good friends. Yesterday I finished two big projects and we got about 2/3 of our vegetable garden planted. We've had so much rain, it's been hard to get into the garden. It wasn't bad yesterday, but we came home with muddy sneakers. We hope to get the planting finished at the community garden and get going on ours here today. I'm also hoping to be back later with five photos for Amy's challenge.

 

Embellish with Text & Make It Monday

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It's not often that I combine challenges, but this week's Make-It Monday at Papertrey Ink was to create a sympathy card, and the color/text challenge at Embellish seemed like a good color combination. I wouldn't have interpreted the one color as Ocean Tides, but one of the designers listed it as one of the colors and it's clearly used on the designer cards at Embellish.

Text_ColorTrends

It's been awhile since I inked up Take Three: Summer. I love these simple, but elegant, floral designs and they seemed appropriate for a sympathy card.

PTI:Embellish

Except for the sentiment (Savvy Stamps) and the scrap of gray card stock, everything is by Papertrey Ink. I stamped one strip of Background Basics: Text Style in black and the three floral designs in Ocean Tides. The gray die cut panel is attached with dimensional tape. Then I adhered it to a mat of Ocean Tides before adhering it to the card base.

Papertrey May Blog Hop

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Bloghoplogo

For the second month in a row, I came close to missing the Papertrey Blog Hop–one of my favorite events each month. Fortunately, last night I realized and had enough time to complete a card set for this month's challenge to create with flower images. On Monday, my May PTI order arrived, so I was happy to break open the Year of the Flower Collection set. I love these smaller versions and know I'll be using this set often.

BlogHopSet
MorningGlories

SweetPeas

LilyoftheValley

All three cards are just the same except for the focal image and the color of the doily mat. It was interesting to me to see how different the focal images looked as I changed the color of the mat. The Morning Glories looked best with Ripe Avocado, the Sweet Peas with a Bazzill scrap from my file, and the Lily of the Valley with a Simply Chartreuse mat. The cards are pre-made, I think from Paper Source and the narrow green ribbon is also from Paper Source. The focal images were stamped on Vintage Cream and colored with Prismacolor pencils. The dies are both Papertrey:  Limitless Layers and Doily Details. I'm in need of several note cards for thank you notes so I'll probably use these myself.

If you're looking for card-making inspiration, this blog hop is always a good place to look!

CASE Study Challenge

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I'm in need of quite a few cards for June birthdays. One of the recipients is a singer, so when I saw the featured card on the CASE Study blog, I knew I wanted to play along. Here is the card by Sarah Martina Parker:

CASE

Sarah excels at these shabby vintage cards, but it's not a natural for me. I am, however, pretty pleased with the card I came up with, and I think my friend will like it, too.

WishBigCASE

I've been admiring the double bows Melissa Philips and Debbie Olsen make, so I thought I'd try my hand at one, and I knew I wanted to use this pretty Prima flower I picked up in Phoenix, thanks to Deb's recommendation of a scrapbook store. All the rest of the products are Papertrey Ink:  Hibiscus Burst cardstock and ribbon; Background Basics: Sheet Music, and Tiny Tags stamps and die; Vintage Cream and True Black cardstock.

I'm still doing catch-up after our long trip. I'll soon be around to all your blogs which I read (even though I didn't comment) while I was on the road, but haven't managed to get to this week. The next few days look a little less hectic. It's all been good, but it's been busy!!

 

CR84FN Color Challenge

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A very quick post since this challenge ends in just a few hours. I love red and yellow, but I could certainly tell I've been away from my crafting table for a few weeks. This is at least the fourth version of this card! Here's the color inspiration from CR84FN:

CR84FN28+Graphic

And my card:

AllStar

Cardstock: Pure Poppy (PTI); Patterned Paper: Circa 1934 (Cosmo Cricket); Star & Banner dies: PTI; Stamps: Just the Ticket (PTI); Twine: Jeweler's Natural (Michaels); Chamomile Tea Ink for distressing (PTI)

There's lots to share from our three week trip, so I'll be back again soon with photos of the cool places we got to visit!