Graduations!

Grades submitted, transcripts sent, degree conferred, and yup, you guessed it, got my diploma in the mail!!  It took me a while, and there were lots of hurdles, long nights, and cram sessions, but I am officially a college graduate, with my degree in a fancy little frame.  So, in the spirit of celebrating me  gradutating, here's some graduation cards I've made for others. 

Celebrating a Fashionista

Here's a birthday card for a girly girl who loves fashion.

I was really exicted to use all the different shoe designs on some of my cartridges.  Seeing as I'm kinda a shoe fiend myself, this card was a lot of fun. 

Swirly pair of heels cut at 2 5/8 from the Wall Decor and More cart.

Slippers cut at 3 1/4 from Tie the Knot cart, attached on foam dots.

Striped glitter shoe cut at 1 3/4 from Tie the Knot cart.  Squiggles embellished with fuschia glitter.

Sentiment is embossed with black and silver glitter.  Stamp is from the dollar bin from Michaels.  

Insert sentiment is Fiskars Birthday Cheer Simple Stick stamps.

Pink swirlies stamp is from TPC clear stamps Flourish, stamped with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.

Destination: Paris

My in-laws love to travel.  They have a place out in Cabo, and they go visit all the time.  A few summers ago, and a few times since, they've been to places all over Europe.  This year, I sat down to make a sentimental Anniversary card since they've played a big part on our lives these last few years, but as soon as I sat down in my craft cave, I saw my Destinations cart and my whole plan changed.

Originally I had it on just the purple background, but it was definitely missing some Parisian flair.  So I used one of my cuttdle bug folders to emboss the swirly pattern.  I attached the Eiffel Tower centerpiece with some black square brads.

I had left the inside blank, with the exception of a swirl in the background, because I had a lot to say. 

There's nothing like family, and nothing like the love of family.  I am so thankful for the blessings of being with both sides of my family, and to have such an overwhelming support and love.  I realize I am so fortunate to have such an amazing family.  And I wouldn't trade that for the world.

Hope you all have a great start to the weekend!

The end of this year's Father's Day cards

This year was particularly special for some of my friends who became first-time fathers, one of whom was Harper's dad.  There were some especially difficult challenges just after Harper was born, but none of that changed that Harper was going to be destined to be a daddy's girl.  This little girl just melts the heart of her daddy, and they are so precious together.  I wanted to make something extra special for Harper's dad for his first Father's Day.

I used circle die cuts to cut a hole in the front of the card and a slightly larger circle for the hole in the top layer.  This was a little more difficult than I had expected, but through srom trial and error, I finally got it right.  I used black brads to secure two of the corners of the top layer.  The "Happy Father's Day" stamp is just an old rubber stamp from my collection. 

The inside of the card was actually my insirpation for the card.  I cut a heart shape out of a post-it note and used a stamping pad and pink ink tp dab around the heart to create the heart shape and to fade the color throughout the background of the inside of the card.  And finally, added two little footprints.

Late to the party: Father's Day

I was really excited when I got my Wrap It Up cart just before Father's day, because it had a tie in it and other random holiday designs.  When I was looking at all the designs included on the cart, I saw the tie, and I knew I had the perfect paper for it. 

My dad was very "suit and tie" for work when I was little, so I knew I just had to make him a special Father's Day card.  I put the tie and the frame on pop dots, and it made the tie stand out exactly like how I had pictured it.  "thanks DAD" stamp was one of those $1 sets from Michael's.



Even though this is one of my favortie designs so far, one of the biggest reasons this is at the top of my favorites lists is because I got to fill the whole inside telling my dad how much I appreciate him and how important he is in my life.  It seems silly to wait for only a few times per year to tell some one how much you love them and appreciate everything they mean to you. 

I hope that we all can start affirming and encouraging those around us all the time, and not save our affections for only certain moments.  I hope you all have having a good weekend so far!

Better Late than Never

Here's some of the other Father's Day cards I did this year.

Getting into doing my own cards for holidays helped me to realize how many people in my life I really do care about.  When I went out to buy cards, there was always some one I would forget about.  But when I sit down to start a project like Father's Day cards, I realize how many people in my life deserve appreciation.  And I love taking the time to think about each person as I make their card. 

I hope you all have a good start to the weekend!!

Why ello kitty

Hubster and I spent a bit of time away from it all by camping in the mountains.  As I'm sure you all may have seen our little furry-purry Pendleton, we needed a kitty-sitter.  Thankfully, my sisters was super stoked to watch our little Pen-Ben.

And naturally, I was super stoked to make her a thank you card.

Tried to make the white happen with the letterpress, but it just wasn't working out for me.  So I had to try something else to make it work.  I used a cuddlebug folder to emboss the blue paper then used white ink with a stamper pad to color the raised pattern from the embossing. 

I used the Car Decals cart to make the kitty.  "thanks" stamp was from a Fiskars removable stamp pack (can't remember what it's called off the top of my head).  Both ribbons are Celebrate brand.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some more pictures this weekend.  Have lots of cool stuff to show you.