Where Did 25 Years Go?

My best friend Maria and her husband, Jim, were married July 2, 1983...25 years ago! Where did those years go? I know it sounds cliche, but it seems like yesterday that I wore that cotton candy pink dress! I was her maid of honor and could not believe that my best friend, all 21 years of her, was getting married! "Why?" I remembered asking. We just started going out and having fun dancing and drinking at the discos (it was the 80's remember!). But she knew there was something special about Jim and she went for it! Best thing she ever did! They have two wonderful sons and have had a wonderful life together so far! Congratulations on these first 25 years together!

This is the card I am giving to them. I made this one before and just loved it. I did case it, but made a few changes to the original. You can see my post here on SCS and the link to the original card. I used Baroque Motifs and My Sentiments Exactly for the sentiment. They were stamped in Versamark on black paper and embossed in white and the circular stamps were embossed in silver. The little white flowers were embossed in white also and cut out. I used crystal brads on this one...just a little more bling than the other one I did. I also used a silver mat to go with the silver wedding anniversary theme. I also stamped the envelope. I hate giving plain envelopes. Here is a picture of the envelope.

I stamped the same sentiment on the front, and since this is a 5 1/4" square card, it looked a little lonely. So, I pulled out the PTI Wedding Day set and stamped the circle and put the dates inside it. It did the trick! Let me know what you think, and thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, My Sentiments Exactly, Wedding Day

Paper: DCWV textured white, silver, black

Ink: Versamark, black

Accessories: white and silver embossing powder, crystal brads, dimensionals, ticket corner punch

Featured Stamper

Today's featured stamper on SCS is Michele (Chelemom). You can find her gallery here. I chose this card to case because I just got this Boards & Beams set from PTI and I took my inspiration from the house Chelemom used on her card.

I started by choosing my dp. I used Basic Grey's Scarlett's Letter and then chose the greens, rusty red and browns for the main image. (I wish I owned a home like this! I love old homes because they have so much character that is missing in the newer homes these days.) I colored the windows in a light yellow to make it seem as if the lights are on. The trees were colored then cut out and placed on dimensionals. The main image is also on dimensionals. I used copic markers to color the house and trees. I left off a sentiment because I didn't want to cover up any more of the dp...it's so pretty. So I chose this jute green ribbon and placed two larger brown brads on top of it. I think it finished it off nicely. All in all, I'm really happy with this one. Let me know what you think! TFL!

Recipe

Stamps: PTI Boards & Beams

Paper: Ruby red, barely banana, white, Basic Grey: Scarlett's Letter

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, copic markers

Accessories: jute ribbon, brads, dimensionals

"Make Me Laugh" ATC Swap

I was invited to participate in an ATC swap by Diane Zechman (cookiestamper on SCS). I've never done an ATC before, so I decided to give it a try. Well, let me tell you that it isn't as easy to do as it may seem! This little bugger is only 2 1/2" by 3 1/2"! Very difficult to fit everything on here! No wonder there is so much ATC activity going on out there...it's really a challenge! Diane was kind enough to send me this link for a cutting diagram for ATCs.

For this swap, Diane wanted the theme to be "make me laugh". We could interpret it in any way we chose (no nudity, please, was her only restriction!). I immediately knew that this set from Inkadinkadoo called Humorous Birthdays would fit the bill. There are six funny images and sayings, but I had to choose one that was small enough to not only fit on this small canvas, but be small enough to get some layering in! I stamped him in Adirondack Pitch Black and colored him with copics (YR07, G05, YG06, and B00...I remembered this time to write the numbers of the colors I used down before I put them away!). I used the darker green around the edges, then filled in with the lighter green. Then I used the colorless blender to blend the two colors together. I then chose this Jersey Shore SU paper to match my copic colors and the orange and brilliant blue. I had just purchased this American Crafts ribbon at AC Moore last week and it matched perfectly. Then I remembered these googlie eyes I had gotten from a teacher at school. She had gotten hundreds of packages of them from a parent and put them on the table in our faculty room to take for free. So, not wanting to be greedy, I took a few packages. The next day, they were all still there, so I took a few more. Then towards the last day of school, I took almost all of them! Apparently no one wanted them and I knew they wouldn't go to waste in my hands! Anyway, they fit on this creature's eyes perfectly! I used blue on this little guy and green on some of the others! I think this will make people laugh! Lastly, there was empty white space on the image, so I found this "Celebrate Today" stamp in PTI's Mixed Messages set, stamped it on the orange paper, and punched it with the 3/4" punch. And here you have it...my first ATC! Diane, these will be on there way to you tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. Thanks for the invitation to play! Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: Inkadinkadoo Humorous Birthdays, PTI Mixed Messages

Paper: Only orange, brilliant blue, PTI white, Jersey Shore

Ink: Adirondack pitch black, copic markers

Accessories: American crafts ribbon, 3/4" punch, dimensionals, googlie eyes, 2-way glue pen

A Thank You

I was able to eek out a card tonight (imagine that)! Of course, I needed this one for tomorrow! Why is it that I cannot have a stash of cards that I can go to? I've made so many, but couldn't find the "right" thank you? Does this happen to you or is it just me? Anyway, this card is for my aide at school. She is actually a teacher who did a long-term substitute position for a teacher on maternity, then took this temporary aide position for the remainder of the year. Smart thing, because she will be hired next year in some teacher or teacher assistant capacity. She is a great aide and another teacher and I got her a gift card to the local teacher store, Holcomb's. I wanted to keep it simple but teacher-ish, hence the apple. I colored the apple with my SU markers and used the stamp-a-ma-jig to position it directly in the middle of the square. I stamped the sentiment, then punched it with the small oval and used the larger oval punch for the red piece. I used a piece of this great SU red and white striped ribbon. The sentiment is on dimensionals. The inside reads "you're much appreciated". The "you're" came from PTI's Piece of Cake and the "much appreciated" is from SU's set of the same name. Combining the two gave me the message I wanted and the fonts are pretty similar, so it's looks really good! I love mixing and matching like that! It makes me feel creative using all my stuff like that! LOL! Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: Su Tart and Tangy and Much Appreciated; PTI Piece of Cake

Paper: Garden green, real red, PTI white

Ink: Real red, garden green, black

Accessories: SU ribbon, dimensionals, cuttlebug and folder, SU markers, large and small oval punches, stamp-a-ma-jig

Father's Day (a little late!)

This is the card I quickly made for my FIL for Father's Day. I tried to purchase this set from MFT a while back, but they were out of stock. About two week ago, I was able to get it just in time for Father's Day. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, and when I sat down (I only had about 30 minutes), I had card-maker's block! So this is what I came up with. I colored it with Copic markers and the remote control was cut out and placed on dimensionals. I used my new cuttlebug folder for the background. The image and sentiment are on dimensionals. The design of the card is very simple because of my time limitations, but the image is my FIL to a "T". He is always in this chair and the TV is very close to him because he is practically blind (very sad). Anyway, he and my MIL got a kick out of it, so I guess it was a success! Thanks for stopping by!
Recipe
Stamps: Let's Hear it for the Boys (MFT)
Paper: PTI white, brocade blue, black
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, copic markers
Accessories: Cuttlebug and folder, dimensionals

The Wedding and the Cake

Well, my nephew is finally married! After making all the shower and wedding invitations and the wedding cake, I can finally relax! I never did make them a card because I ran out of time. That will be done at a later date (I think they'll understand)! Well, here's the cake!

Michael and Tanya were very pleased with the cake, and I was relieved! I had planned to put the flowers on the cake, but they were just too big. Tanya made her bouquet from these Gerbera daisies from Pier One, so I decided to use them as well. The cake top is a "K" for their last name. They got this from The Knot, which is a wedding planner site. I just went on it for the first time, and they have everything from soup to nuts regarding weddings!

And here is the happy couple just minutes after the beautiful ceremony! Aren't they a beautiful couple? While Tanya and her dad were dancing, Michael told me he was so nervous the day before about the whole wedding. But he was having such a good time, he didn't want the evening to end. He just couldn't take his eyes off his bride! She was very beautiful. I have to show you one more picture of what Tanya had on her feet!

Ruby red slippers! I just got such a kick out of that! I never would have been so brave to do that (also my mom would probably never have approved)! It was a lovely wedding and I wish them much love and happiness! Thanks for stopping by!

Just Checkin' In!

I'm sorry I haven't been around for a while. I see that some of you are stopping by... thanks! I'm very busy with closing out this school year, getting last minute papers corrected and doing report cards! I'm also making my nephew's wedding cake for this Saturday! I'm excited about it and will definitely post a picture of it when it's done! I've decided that I probably won't have time to make his wedding card or my FIL's Father's Day card! GASP!! I'll try, but I don't know if time will permit! I'll post those if they get done as well! Have a great weekend and please stop by again!

Swell News!

My husband told me today that our friends' daughter, Roxanne, is expecting again...number 3! She already has two really cute boys (ages 3 and 1). Maybe this time it will be a girl? They don't know yet. I also found out a couple of weeks ago that one of my stamp club girls, Linda, is also expecting! She has one boy whose age I'm not sure of, but he is in the primary grades. Congrats to Roxanne and Linda! I decided to make cards for them using SU's retired Swell News, which has never seen ink yet! I also chose this card to case because Maren is the Featured Stamper today on SCS (see my post below for another card I did earlier today).


This card uses PTI's Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet, and Pink Patterns papers. Maren's card only used one background paper, but I changed it to include these two beautiful pieces. I separated them with the Spring Moss grosgrain and Berry Sorbet twill ribbons. The dress is paper pieced and I ran it through my Xyron machine to make it easier to place on her. When I was placing the dress on her, I felt like a little girl playing paper dolls! That's just what it reminded me of! The rest of her is colored with copic markers. I layered and punched the sentiments using various punches and added the bling in the corners. The main image is on dimensionals. Be sure to scroll down to see the first card I did today for this Featured Stamper challenge. Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe
Stamps: Swell News
Paper: Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet, PTI white, PTI Pink Patterns
Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, copic markers
Accessories: Spring Moss grosgrain and Berry Sorbet twill ribbons, Marvy scallop punch, 1 1/4" , 1", and ticket corner punches, bling, dimensionals, Xyron machine

Featured Stamper

Today's Featured Stamper is Maren (MMBC on SCS). She has an amazing gallery and blog. I was really happy to see this card, which is the one I chose to case, because I had seen this tutorial on Amy Rysavy's blog and wanted to try it. Well, today is the day I got to do just that!

I started out by choosing my patterned paper, Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl Eva. I then chose the river rock for the base and very vanilla to stamp on. I used Amy's tutorial to line everything up and punch. I used PTI's Beautiful Blooms and Spiral Bouquet for the images and stamped them in ruby red and river rock. The sentiment is also from PTI: Simple Little Things. The background looked a little bare on the river rock, so I stamped it with SU's Sanded in river rock. I used the large oval punch, the 1" punch and word window punches in ruby red, river rock, and vanilla. The brads are SU's earth elements. I originally was going to use a red grosgrain ribbon because I really didn't have anything better...or so I thought. I went back and found this beautiful ribbon called Christmas Botanicals which I got from Michael's. I wish I had gotten more because it's so beautful and worked so much better than the red grosgrain. Just yesterday I saw Mary Fish (Stampin' Pretty) posted a tutorial she found for tying the perfect bow. I tried it and it worked! I always have trouble with getting the knots to look nice. You can find that post here. Congrats to Maren for being the Featured Stamper today and have a great Sunday!
Recipe
Stamps: PTI: Beautiful Blooms, Spiral Bouquet, Simple Little Things; SU Sanded
Paper: River rock, ruby red, very vanilla, Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl Eva
Ink: River rock, ruby red
Accessories: ribbon, punches: 1 1/4", 1", large oval, word window, brads, dimensionals