Beach Bag Kitty

You have to be careful about what you leave laying around. Kitty has been on the prowl again for unique places to hide out. This time he found my beach bag. I'm sure he would have crawled completely in but there's a beach towel in his way. Guess I'll let him stay for now.

Here's More Grad Cards

Here are four more graduation cards. The "grad" card on the left is a regular card...no pockets inside. The sentiment on the outside says "reach for the moon and you'll land among the stars."






Here's the inside of the cards. It's difficult to see in the picture, but the the bottom of the star card is simply a flap that folds out...a great place for cash!







These are 2 more pocket cards. They both have Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
One is covered in stars, the other has polka dots and paisley.






The inside pockets hold congratulation cards.

"It's a Guy Thing"

One of Gary's employees asked me to make a birthday card for her brother. Guy cards are so difficult for me to make. I really don't have many stamps that are for "guys."
The stars on this card are from the retired "Artifact" set. I used versamark ink and embossed it with black embossing powder. The designer paper is from the Charbon pack (also retired :(
I added a layer of grey mulberry paper, a layer of black and embossed the sentiment. And I'm done!




The second card is actually a remake of one I made last year. The background stamp is an architectural collage which works well for a "guy" card.

Bree's Program

Let me start by saying that it's not Totally my fault that these pictures are blurry. I couldn't keep the camera still while I was trying to dodge the moving heads in front of me. OK...
Last Tuesday was the end of the year program for the day care that Bree attends. She was sooo cute!
The little guy on the left is Ryan. He spotted us first and pointed us out to Bree. As you can see, she kept looking over at us, making sure we were watching her and enjoying the whole thing.

This was one of her class songs and she put her glasses on upside down. It didn't take her long to figure out why they would not stay on.

She finally got them going the right way and finished her song.

She's so much fun!
Gary just told me that it's been almost a week since we've seen her :(
Perhaps I will watch her one day this week and we can pick peaches, swim, do some artsy stuff, read about Frog and Toad. . . AND watch Dora.
That's a lot better than working!

Best Blossom CASE

Splitcoast Stampers is an excellent source for card ideas and layouts. I saw this card on the website yesterday
and knew I had to make one. I kept everything the same except for the rhinestone brads. The original had half pearls from the SU Pretties kit. I love this color combination: blue bayou, soft sky and river rock. All three colors will be retiring this summer...so, I probably need to buy another pack of each color while I can. Just what I need, more paper!

So, thanks to "clownmom" for sharing your card.

Mini Album

This mini photo album is a great gift idea for Father's Day. It's hard to find gifts for my dad. Last year I made him a mini scrapbook of his birthday party. I think one of these filled with pictures of my family will be a nice touch. We don't see him very often, and he has only seen Bree once (when she was 3 months old). So I will make him one of these, make a coordinating card, include some kind of sugar free treat and send it off to Ohio.

Confident Dream Grad Card

The card has a pocket inside which is great for checks, cash, or gift cards. Any of which most graduates love to receive.
The patterned paper is from the Berry Bliss Designer Paper pack. When I first started working on the card, I wasn't sure if I liked the print. But adding the pretty in pink paper strip and the sentiment helped to balance out the card.
The ribbon is attached to the back of the card with glue dots.




This is the inside of the card. I used 2 brads to form the pocket and included a congratulations card. That's it!

Sudsol Challenge 117

This card is for a challenge on SUDSOL. Can you believe I used ginger blossom designer paper again? I must be addicted.
But the challenge was fun. And it was great to see what other demos created.

Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Hugs & Wishes, Canvas
Paper: Groovy Guava, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla, Ginger Blossom DP
Ink: River Rock, Groovy Guava; Cameo Coral and Ruby Red Markers
Accessories: Cream ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware

Ok! I'm putting a temporary ban on Ginger Blossom Paper. I've gotta see some new stuff.

Zoofari Kid's Card

I needed some kids cards and the Zoofari set is perfect! I CASED this card from a fellow stamper...kept the images the same and changed the sentiment. I think she used just a simple greeting at the bottom of the card. I stamped mine on white paper, used the small oval punch and layered it on black oval punched with the large oval punch. The stars are from a hostess set from the last catalog, but the Boho Backgrounds set has a row of stars that will work here.
Card Supplies:
Paper: Whisper White, Black, Green Galore, Real Red, Ballet Blue, Summer Sun
Ink: Black StazOn; Real Red, Summer Sun, Green Galore, and Ballet Blue Markers
Stamps: Zoofari, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Accessories: small and large oval punches, 1 1/4" round punch, 1 1/2" square punch

More Ginger Blossom Cards

I still had a small piece of designer paper from the Ginger Blossom Pack, so I made 3 more cards. The 2 horizontal cards are simple layouts and don't take long to make. The sentiment on the top card is made with the Think Happy Thoughts stamp set which includes "thanks so much," "friendship," and "think happy thoughts" stamps.
There are 7 sheets (and 2 partial sheets) left from this pack of paper, but I think I'll save them for scrapbook pages.
Card supplies:
Paper: Ginger Blossom DP, Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, River Rock, Whisper White
Ink: Groovy Guava Classic Ink, Ruby Red Classic Ink, Ruby Red marker, Certain Celery marker, Cameo Coral marker.
Stamp Sets: Sincere Salutations, Think Happy Thoughts, Live Your Dream, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Happy Harmony (retired), and Canvas
Accessories: Copper Brads, Stampin Dimensionals, scallop punch, 1 1/4'" circle punch, 1 3/8" punch

Ginger Blossom Box

The box is made from the Ginger Blossom Designer Paper and is really easy to make. At Valentine's Day I made several (using Cerise DP) and they were filled with eight heart shaped truffles. Gary sold all of them to some of his customers at his store. For those of you who haven't tried my truffles, they are dark chocolate and the filling has a hint of coffee. I have a small candy mold that I use at Christmas and the heart mold is what I use for wedding and bridal shower favors. I made about 250 for Jill's and Julie's weddings. Thankfully I had help from my family.

Mother's Day Cards

These are the mother's day cards I am sending to my mom and my mother-in-law. It's ok that I am posting them here because neither one has a computer! Wow! Can you imagine that?
I used all retired stamp sets (AYCII, So Many Sayings, and Easy Elegance). But, there are so many current sets that would be great on these cards (like, Artfully Asian, Pretty Amazing, A Beautiful Thing, Embrace Life, True Friend, Priceless...and so many more. And for the sentiments - Many Happy Returns and All Holidays).


On this card:
Same layout - same package of designer paper - same image
Changes: 3 small brads instead of 1 large brad and added a ribbon
I actually did this card first. On this card I stamped the ever grateful and small flowers with river rock ink. I like the ruby red ink on the river rock paper better - it's brighter!



Paper: Ruby Red, Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, and River Rock cardstock, Ginger Blossom Designer Paper
Ink: Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, and River Rock
The layout was from Splitcoast.

Iris Inspired

Bree loves to help water my flowers and plants. (She likes to pick them too.) A couple of weeks ago she helped water my irises. The flowers were so pretty...wished they lasted longer. Anyway, I remembered I have an iris stamp and knew this image would make a great card for Mother's Day. Below is one of the cards I made -







I stamped the iris image in Stazon and painted them with watercolor pencils. The so saffron accent is embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder . Inside - simply - Happy Mother's Day.

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

I discovered this coffee at the Catalyst Conference last October. This coffee has a remarkable story...one of reconciliation and forgiveness in a country scarred by war and genocide. Purchasing this coffee helps provide a fair wage to the people of Rwanda. It's a wonderful initiative and a great tasting coffee.

But now they should add "Eat Chocolate." I just got back from the Orange Conference in Atlanta. The Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee folks were there serving (and selling) coffee and they had something I didn't know they had. "Vooba Vooba" Rwanda Espresso Dark Chocolate Bark. What can I say...I love dark chocolate and coffee and this stuff is great. So...I bought a bag for Jill, a bag for Julie and one for me.
Check out their website.
Order some coffee and Do Good!