*~Happy 4th of July~*

My family has a jammed packed 3 day weekend coming up with parties and BBQ's and laughter with friends.  I've made these cards to give to each of the ladies hosting these parties this weekend.  I enjoy bringing cards to these events so I can actually see their expression when they see the cards.

I had fun thinking of ideas that centered around just red, white, and blue. 

This first one is a TGF stamp I colored, used a simple circle cutter and added a light blue chalk border to.  The base of the card is a red with a white, and blue border.  I've added small red gems to the corners and it's hard to see but at the base of her feather has a red gem as well.  Of course because I'm obsessed with them, I adhered this dancing lady to the card with pop dots.

This next one is very similar to the first.  I did do a few different techniques I wanted to share.  Red gem in the middle of the flower to add extra sparkle.  For her hair, I colored it yellow to start and then used my yellow stardust gelly roller gel pen and colored over the top of all of it.  My husband immediatley said, is this one for your mom?  Her hair is a very shiny blonde color :)  He was right!  I also used my clear glitter copic pen to add more bling to each black dot on her dress, her shoes, the outline on the flower in her hair, and her eye lashes. 

This is one, I've always wanted to play around with.  I've seen banners on so many different projects lately but I'm always nervous with trying something different for myself.  I decided to go for it and I love love love it.  I used a ribbon that looks sort of like a thick twine.  The HAPPY is actually a stamp from a fiskers stamp set I have that i colored over the top of with gel pens to give it some extra sparkle.  Again, you can't be surprised anymore, I adhered the words and each flag of the banner with pop dots.  I think this is one of my favorite cards so far... good thing I made it for someone or I would have to add it to my ever growing collection :)

thanks for checking out my projects!

Dad's 50th Birthday Invitations

I've done it again, I've volunteered to make invitations for another birthday party this year in our family.  It is yet another milestone that will be a great celebration.  On August 19th, my dad will turn 50 years young.  He's such a special person to me and one of my best friends.  He is wanting to have a kick back, BBQ to celebrate with his closest friends.  I started last night working on invitations because these have more detail involved then most invitations do.  This idea caught my attention while I was perusing google images, as soon as I left work, I went right home and started creating.  Yes, it did take me 3 attempts and many visits with my husband for his opinion.  Finally success - This one's going in my book for sure!

The card in the pocket pulls out and has all the party info on it.  I'll be getting different ribbon, maybe a blue or green checkard... the stamp on the top is a tractor that is encircled with the words Hey Y'all.  I've added stitching all the way around the apron (with a pen, I know cheating).  There is a spatula and a grilling fork attached to the pull out so it looks like there are BBQ tools in the pocket of the apron.  I will be working on the writing on the front, maybe I'll throw a gel pen in my cricut and let it take care of that part of the creativity for the rest of the invites!

Anniversary cards for some great couples...

These cards I made for my husbands grandparents and a their best friends.  Our anniversary and theirs (all 3) are all within a week of each other and so, we decided to go to dinner and celebrate together!  Here are the cards I made for these fantastic couples who have had such an impact in our lives.

Quick Thank You Card...

This was a quick little Thank you card that I've come to love - It's gone on my shelf, unsure if I'll be using it.  I used the flowers from the freshly picked cart, the background is from, of course, a DCW stack, and again, another sentement from Green Tangerine.  I used my "freaking amazing" clear copic glitter pen for the flowers and leaves to add some pizzaz, I did cut 2 of the flowers and added one on top of the other with pop dots and put the jewel embellishments in the center of the flowers.

Butterflies are among us...

I made this cute little card just to have as a blank extra.  The butterfly is from the serenade cart, the green inside that is shiny, I colored with a gelly roller gel pen, the background is from one of my favorite DCW stacks.  I curled the wings of the butterfly and adhered it with pop dots.  I used a sentiment I got from Green Tangerine.

Father's Day Card

I made this card for my dad for father's day.  It was my first attempt at a shutter card on my own.  I think I re-designed it 4 times before I finally decided this was it.  I hope you like it cause I sure fell in love with it. :)

I used DCW stack - Lodge, the moose is a piece of rusty metal cut out, and the leaves are wooden embellishments I've had for years. 

 This stamp i was so excited about, when I visited my cousin in CA, she taught me about "chalking" the outside of a stamped cut-out to give it some dimension.  I actually stamped this once in black, then stamped over it with a grey ink, I chalked the outline of the cut-out with the same grey and a rusty color to make it look aged.

New Craft Room Storage

My oh my, it's been a long time since I've posted on here, and I'm sorry for being so far behind.  I'll start my posts today with the new storage items I bought for my craft room.

A group of ladies and I went to a really neat Antique/craft fair here in Spokane, WA called Farm Chicks, it is simply amazing, my mind was spinning with all the ideas.  There were tons of creative ideas I could have used to "country-fy" my room but spending permitting, I limited myself to these nifty jars for my embellishments.  They are glass canning jars from 1908.  I've since filled them, 2 have my gel pens in them, I have loose ribbon in one, buttons in another, and flowers in one also.  They are just a great touch to my room I'm working on putting together piece by piece...