Color Throwdown #438

Hello friends!  Has anyone missed me?  I don’t find much time for stamping and blogging lately, but this Easter Sunday has been blessedly quiet.  After church and a nice family dinner (oh, and a nap!) I’ve had some great time for stamping.  So here’s a card I made, using the current Color Throwdown  #438.  Sadly, I need a sympathy card this week…

For this card, I used the prety Bold Blooms stamp set and matching Die-Namics from My Favorite Things, stamping in Coral Crush, Peach Bellini, Lemon Chiffon, Limelight and Sour Apple hybrid inks.  The sentiment, from the Deepest Sympathy stamp set, was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink on a new Die-Namics Sentiment Label Strip.  Behind the flowers and strip, I stamped the BG Diagonal Stripes background in Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder, then die cut it with the Pierced Rectangle STAX Die-Namics.  I mounted this to a panel of Grout Gray card stock, then mounted to a white card base.  I could add some sequins or enamel dots for further embellishment, but think it just needs to stay simple.

Below I’m including photos of some more cards I have made recently, but haven’t had time to blog.  If you would like information about any of these cards… stamps used, colors, etc. just shoot me an email!

Thanks for stopping by today!

The birthday card I made for my Mom last month.

For my daughters graduation from Vet Tech school in March.

For my daughter’s boyfriend, who graduated on the same day from Culinary School.

For my hubby, for our 27th anniversary last week.

Actually made this one back in November when I was a retreat and realized I had never blogged it!

Kelsey’s Graduation

My baby girl is graduating from high school in just a few short weeks.  Hard to believe… I have NO idea where the time has gone!  Just yesterday she was this fat happy baby, then this adorable toddler/preschooler and now BAM!  *insert tearful mother*  And my oldest daughter keeps threatening me with this notion about moving to Montana!  ARGH!  Who said my children were allowed to grow up???

Well, as much as I don’t want to face it, a graduation party must be thrown!  Now, anyone who knows Kelsey knows she is the animal lover!  She actually should be my sister’s child because they are definitely cut from the same cloth when it comes to love of animals.  I have faced the reality already that the only grandchildren I will ever get from Kelsey will be the four-legged variety.  :)  If you need an example of how much she loves her pets, check out this… one of her senior photos.

There she is with Dexter, our 7-year old Australian Shepherd, and Finnick, her black cat.  The cat she hid in her bedroom for a week before we knew she had brought it home!  Yeah, THAT cat!  LOL  Kelsey has spent the last two years in the Animal Care & Management trade at our local Career Center along with her regular high school classes, and in the Fall will start classes at The Vet Tech Institute at The Bradford School in Columbus, Ohio.  We’re so proud of all her accomplishments the last few years… varsity letter in soccer, FFA officer, honor roll, class leader, and she finished 4th in the state in competition a few weeks ago!

So, it was only fitting that her graduation invites should be a reflection of her animal loving personality, right?  So, here it is…

Using the Birdie Brown You Have My Heart stamp set from My Favorite Things, I created Kelsey and one of our dogs (we actually have two and both are black, so she can decide which one of the dogs that is if she wants!  LOL).  Then I added the graduation cap which was cut with the LLD Graduation Accents Die-Namics.  I cut the tassel from black (school colors are black and green) and switched it to the opposite side, so it wouldn’t be hanging in her face.  Then I changed up the sentiment slightly from the You Have My Heart set, adding the word “GRADUATE!” instead of “heal.”  After some heavy searching, I found the font that matches the stamp set online, but out of respect for MFT I can’t publish or share the name of it.  Now, I will admit, this is a slightly kicked up version of the invites… I did NOT color all the images on the multitude of invitations that went out!  But just had to make one that was more special for Kelsey to keep in her memory book.  The white front panel was cut with the Blueprints 13, and I stamped the black card base with the BG Diagonal Stripes background in Sweet Tooth pigment ink.

The party info is on the inside, along with a cat image from the Birdie Brown I Knead You stamp set (thank you so much to my friend Kirsty for loaning me the cat stamp set!)

Well, thanks so much for stopping by today and letting me brag on my awesome daughter a little bit!  Have a great day!

The Cat’s Pajamas New Release Spring Blog Hop

Well, Sneaky Peek week is officially over, and you can now shop for all the great new stamps and dies that are available at The Cat’s Pajamas!  And to finish up the week, The Cat Pack has a blog hop for you in conjunction with TCPTuesday #286 today which is a sketch challenge!  Be sure to head over to the TCP blog for all the challenge details so you can join us, and win some Cat Cash!
Here’s our sketch for this challenge…

 

And here’s my card using the new Jump for Joy stamp set, which you can get for FREE when you spend $65 or more!

I like square cards, so I’m not really sure why I chose to make mine A2, but I did.  (You’ll have to excuse my tired old brain… I made this two weeks ago!)  I used one of the sentiments from the set to create a little background behind the penguin, and added a starry background by using the little star stamp from the Simply Said stamp set.  I also used my Bitty Banners Cutups dies for one of the flags under my square center panel.

If you’re not here from Lori Tecler’s blog, you’ll want to go to Lisa Henke's blog to start from the beginning for this Spring Blog Hop!  And from here, you’ll need to head over to Christine Okken’s blog to keep the hop moving!

Many thanks for all your visits and comments this week with the Sneaky Peeks, and happy shopping!

The Cat’s Pajamas Sneaky Peek #5

We’re just a little over halfway to the big day… new release day at The Cat’s Pajamas!  I’m excited to show you my project for today using a new stamp set, AND a new Cutables digital file!  Here is the Cascade Card along with the new Jump for Joy stamp set…

How fun is this for a graduation card?  The Cascade Card is easy to cut and assemble, including the mats to layer.  I simply stamped my penguin and cut him out, then stamped the sentiments and added them to the card and this was honestly a very quick creation.  When you’re on your way out the door for a graduation party, and suddenly remember you didn’t make a card, you can fire up your Silhouette and quickly make this happen!  :) 
Be sure to head over to the TCP blog for all the Sneaky Peek details!  And here’s a few more things to remember… 1. All the new stamps and dies will be released on Tuesday,  March 17.
2. If you're IN IT TO WIN IT, visit the TCP Forum at Splitcoaststampers to comment and chat on the IN IT TO WIN IT thread every day for an opportunity to score some new TCP goodies.

3. Save the date for the Pajama Party on Monday, March 16 from 8-10pm EDT. Here are the other Cat Pack participants: Christine Okken
Nancy Thomas
Lori Tecler
Here’s the new stamp set for you to see…

Thanks for stopping by today!

2013 Congratulations

My daughter needed a graduation card this weekend for a friend... she wanted something a little more non-traditional, and not in the school colors (lest you think there is some school in my area with aqua and orange as their colors!)  I was browsing for some ideas and ran across this graduation card on the Paper Smooches blog, and was inspired.  The mortarboard and flourish are from a Silhouette cut file, the chevrons stamped in the background as well as the number dies are from My Favorite Things, and the sentiment is Paper Smooches.

I hope my daughter and the recipient love it!  And I hope you do, too!  Thanks for stopping by, and happy weekend!

Diplomabella #1

We attended graduation party #1 of several that are on our calendar last evening, so I decided to use Diplomabella from Stamping Bella to make all my cards this year, since all the parties we're invited to are for young ladies. My plan is to make each one in this same style and just change them out with the school colors. Easy peasy! This one was for Cari, and obviously the school colors and brown and gold! :)

I hope everyone has a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! I get to extend my holiday just a little and am taking Tuesday off work too, so I'm super-excited to begin my 4-day weekend! There's a LOT of stamping on my agenda, and soccer games for my daughter, and another graduation party to attend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Diplomabella (Stamping Bella)

Cardstock: gold (Core'dinations), Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah), designer paper (October Afternoon)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)Accessories: Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon (Creative Impressions).