Promote.

Brett is now officially a high school student!  His 8th grade promotion was yesterday and this was the card I made to go along with the gift his grandparents and we gave to him.

Purple and Gold are the colors of the school he just left and the one he will spend the next 4 years attending.  Not the easiest colors to work with for sure.

The LSS here stocks custom made paper by Scrap Book Customs 

for many of the local high schools.  I picked up a sheet of the stripes she carries, as well as one with his high school name on it to tuck away for later use. 

Instead of the usual white focal panel I chose to use Wild Dandelion by GKD so it wouldn't be too white on white.  An stamped accent circle, a few piercings and gingham ribbon made for a CAS style perfect for Brett.

Finished card is 3.25" x 6.5"

Supplies:

Stamps: Simply Said by Paper Smooches

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Paper: Neenah Solar White, GKD Wild Dandelion and Vibrant Violet

Other: Circle punches, Piercing ruler and mat, Gingham ribbon from Michaels, Dimensional foam

Brett is the last of my bunch to promote from the K - 8 school.  We had many, many happy years there and now it is time for high school.  We are fortunate many of our family lives locally; both sets of grandparents, his aunt and cousin were able to come to the ceremony.  The others were there in spirit because they were working.

The first day of summer vacation began with jury duty for me.  Fortunately, it was a short day as the entire jury pool was dismissed after 3 hours.  Yay, at least a year until I get called again!

V.~

For the Bride~

My son's wedding is just a little over a month away and Hannah's bridal shower was held last weekend.  It was a wonderful party held in the backyard of her parent's home.

These were the table decorations, 3 per table, that her mom made for the party.  I loved them!

I made her a card and her shower thank you cards using the same papers and colors that I used for their wedding invitations.  Custom envelope made using the patterned paper from the invites.

Hannah squealed when she opened the card, she loved the dress form!

Supplies:

For the Bride card

Stamps: dress form from Celebrate in Style by Gina K Designs

"for the bride" from a CHF set long gone but kept in my arsenal.

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Flourish on paper pieced dress skirt from Flourishes by Crafty Secrets

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Bazzill Limeade, GKD Black Onyx

Patterned Paper: Bella! Wedding

Other: Dotted ribbon by GKD (no longer on website), Lime grosgrain from Michaels

Nestabilities Circle and Petite Scalloped Circle dies, Dimensional foam

Thank you cards:

Stamp: Flourish from Flourishes by Crafty Secrets

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Bazzill Limeade

Patterned Paper: Bella! Wedding

Thank You sentiment computer generated using same font as their invitations

Main panel is slightly smaller than card base and mounted to A2 base with dimensionals

Other: SU! punch, dimensionals

This week my youngest promotes from junior high to high school, so it will be another fun week in our home.  Tomorrow evening is the dinner/dance at the local golf course followed by promotion on Tuesday morning.  Wednesday he begins a month long water polo summer session, to train for water polo in the fall.

Fun times ahead!

V.~

Not only End of the School Year...

But also the end of our time down at the school my kids spent their primary, intermediate and junior high years.

Since 1996 we have had one or two kids there at a time and now it's time for Brett to promote to high school.

I made simple, similar design, monogrammed card sets for the junior high teachers as a small token of our thanks.  Patterned papers were chosen specifically for each person with their subject, hobby or interest as the theme.  Science was by far the hardest to find locally....thank goodness for Reminisce and their Periodic Table paper!  

Packaged up in clear plastic cases and tied off with Baker's Twine and a simple, coordinated tag, these are ready to go for next week.

Supplies are assorted.  But all monograms are made using older JustRite fonts and borders.

V.~

Dad~

Lure the best!

Card, made using the same supplies as the tag book down below, for the kids to give Jay for 

Father's Day on Sunday.

Die cut fish and ivory panel are all popped up with dimensional foam.

Finished card is 3.25" x 6.5"

Stamps: Fish More and Fish More dies by Wplus9

Ink: Memento

Paper: GKD Kraft and Ivory, SU! Kiwi Kiss (ret)

Patterned Paper: October Afternoon 9 to 5

Other: Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die, The Twinery Baker's Twine, Dimensional foam

Happy Friday!

V.~

Birthday Bag~

Back to basics with a candy filled cello, packaged up in a cute little decorated brown bag; a secret stash of dark chocolate birthday gift for a friend.

The paper bag was trimmed off above the gusset and stitched across the bottom before decorating.

Chevron stripes in messy white ink are stamped across the bottom along with inked up bag edges.

A pattern paper ribbon, scalloped-matted stamped greeting and satin ribbon bow complete the bag decoration.

Cello is topped with the same patterned paper and a die cut birthday greeting before slipping into the treat bag and closed with a colorful office clip.

If you are looking for a wonderful outside and inside birthday greeting set, look no further than 

Gina K Designs!  If you are a fan of red rubber or clear, she now offers both options.  As I have been stamping with clear more and more, I tried this set in clear.....stamped beautifully right out of the box!  Here's hoping that a Thank You inside and outside set follows soon, hint hint! :)

Supplies: Birthday Greetings clear set by Gina K Designs

Chevron from Geo Graphics by Paper Smooches

Ink: White craft by SU! Espresso Truffle by Memento

Paper: Basic Grey

Other: Nestabilites Circle, Scalloped Circle and Grommet Tags dies, Pink satin ribbon, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, SU! Cello, Dimensionals

V.~

Go Fish~

Tag book for Jay for Father's Day that chronicles the fun he has when he goes out fishing with his friends.  I appreciate so much the photos that Chuck snaps on his iPhone and emails to Jay, otherwise I would never see the happiness that he experiences when he fishes.  Maybe someday when he gets the boat he is dreaming of I will go along, but for now, it is a guy thing!

I played with new stamps, dies and papers to make this booklet.  Only one computer generated sentiment "reel love" as I did not have anything like it in my stash of sentiments.  The story behind that wet picture is a brand new rod and reel decided to take a swim in the lake - he dove into the lake to retrieve it, along with his phone, wallet, etc.  That is reel love!  :)

The tag front and back cover were made with chipboard scraps I have in my stash, these particular ones are leftover from old grid paper tablets.  I used the Tim Holtz Kraft tags as a guide, making the covers a smidgeon larger, and adhering the patterned paper to both sides before embellishing.

The last tag is a pocket tag that will hold a gift card to his favorite fish porn store - Bass Pro Shops.  He makes a day of it with his friends as the closest one to our home is about an a hour and a half north.

Stamps: Fish More by Wplus9

When I saw this set I knew it was coming to my home to play!  It is the perfect set for your fishing fans!

Father's Day sentiment from Gifts from the Sea by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K. Designs

Ink: Assorted Memento, SU! and Versafine Onyx Black

Paper: GKD and SU!

Patterned Paper: October Afternoon

Dies: Fish More Dies by Wplus9

Other: Cuttlebug Red Tag Alpha, Nestabilities Circle and Oval dies, Kraft tags by Tim Holtx, Assorted SU! punches, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, ribbons, buttons, Baker's Twine, Clips, Linen thread, Dimensional foam

V.~

Way to Go~

High school graduation card for the not girly daughter of a good friend.

School colors are hunter green and gray.

Band played a huge role in her high school career, thus the subtle music background stamped on the gray patterned paper base and gray star.

Card is 3-3/4" x 5-1/2"

Supplies:

Stamps: Sentiment Sampler by Paper Smooches

Music background by CHF (no longer available)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Paper: GKD White, Black Onyx; Green by SU! (ret.)

Other: Nestabilites Star die, Piercing ruler and tool, Corner rounder, Gray ribbon, Dimensionals

Swap meet find after Jay and I went suit shopping for the wedding yesterday.  The story behind them seems fabricated, but I loved the look of these and came home with 2 of them for a steal, so I don't really care if the story is true or not. ;)  They will house stamping supplies of some sort on my counter.

 Have a great Monday!

V.~

happy dad's day~

Went to Paper Tales yesterday looking for the elusive Morocco dew drop ink pad and somehow ended up with Lawn Fawn and October Afternoon.....hmmm, how did that happen?  I usually am more restrained!

Finished cards are 3-3/4" x 5-1/2" and use all the same products for ease of production for this set of 4.  Now to decide who gets what? ;)

Stamps: Dad's Day,  Stay Tuned and Schoolhouse Backdrops by Lawn Fawn

Ink: Memento 

Paper: GKD Sandy Beach, Lipstick Red, Pumpkin Spice, SU! Kiwi Kiss (ret)

Other: Corner rounder, Tim Holtz clips, Baker's Twine, Ribbon

Happy Saturday!

V.~

Broken Heart~

I made this on Saturday and popped it in the mail and it was off to a long time stamping friend of mine whose heart is broken after saying goodbye to her four-legged pal.  

I wanted the strip/tag to be reminiscent of a dog collar and id tag.

I inked up the words in the sentiment separately so I could stack them on top of each other.

Card is 4.5" x 6.25"

xoxo, Anna

V.~

Stamps: So Sorry from Simply Said by Paper Smooches

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black and SU! Sahara Sand 

Paper: GKD White, Sandy Beach and Black Onyx

Patterned paper and stickers from Max and Whiskers collection by Basic Grey

Other: Nestabilites Circle and Petite Scallop Circle Dies, Hole punch, Gold eyelet, Corner rounder, Dauber, Baker's Twine from The Twinery, Dimensionals

Mailbox Thanks~

A neighbor around the corner, who has her own business custom decorating mailboxes and signs, asked if I would make her thank you tags that she could tie on to the purchased items.  Just another little added personal touch for her customers.  Her logo is a skull, in a Dia de los Muertos theme, so this skull and bright colors fit into her design style perfectly.  Once the prototype was approved, she gave free reign to color choices.  Bright colors with a pop of black on hand cut tags, done in batches of 10, and she is set for quite a while.

Tags are 2-3/8" x 4-3/4" 

(size taken from a box of Staples manilla shipping tags I have laying around)

V.~

Stamps: Chevron stripes are from Geo-Graphic by Paper Smooches

Skull (no longer available from what I can see) and Thank You by Unity Stamp Co.

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Assorted Memento inks and a lone SU! Melon Mambo

Paper: Neenah Solar White for tag itself, GKD and SU cardstock colors

Other: Baker's twine from The Twinery

White crochet thread, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, circle punch, hole punch and tag corner punch