You Did It!

This card is made for the Cricut Cardz Challenge #76.  For this challenge, I needed to use any Cricut cartridge to make a graduation card for someone.  I chose to make a card for my little sister, who has graduated with a degree in Music Education.  She has hit the ground running looking a job! I am so proud of how hard she is working to find a position for next school year.  Praying the interviews will pay off and she'll find the perfect fit for the wonderful teacher she will be!

I  used the Don Juan cartridge to cut "You Did It!" The bird stamp is from Hero Arts and so is the sentiment inside, which states, "The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams."  The polka dot background stamp is stamped in Veramark ink and is by Stampabilities.

June is a Joy!

 Tomorrow begins the first day of June, which is probably my favorite month of the whole year! I finished up working both of my jobs last week, so I look forward to a summer off.  This includes time with family, friends and more time for crafting! Also in June is my birthday, my anniversary with my husband (10 years on June 9th) and my family's annual trip to the beach.  As long as I can remember, the week of my birthday has been spent at Edisto Island in South Carolina.  This weekend, my mom, dad, sister and I will meet up with my grandma and my husband to spend a week soaking in the rays, searching for seashells and making wonderful memories!

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered my first set of Lawn Fawn stamps.  I have been following Lawn Fawn on their blog and on facebook for many months now, but just had the opportunity to spend a little money and buy a set of stamps.  They are so cute and perfect for the month of June!  When I received the new stamps in the mail, I also got a handwritten thank you message with the little "thanks" speech bubble for free.  

Along with a dolphin, hermit crab, fish and a seahorse; this stamp set also has a whale, an octopus and a turtle.  It also comes with bubbles, a wave stamp, seaweed and a seashell.  The two sentiments included are "just wavin' hello," and "have a whale of a time!"

Happy June everyone!

Celebrate Sunshine...and the Beach!

For Cricut Cardz Challenge #73, we were challenged to make a card with a beach theme.  I am currently counting down the days until I get to go to the beach with some of my family!  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make a card for my grandma, letting her know how excited I am for our trip to the beach together. 

I used the Doodlecharms cartridge to cut the palm trees and the Just Because Cards cartridge to cut the scalloped pink and white card stock.  The "celebrate sunshine" sentiment is from American Crafts.  

Bring on the sun, sand and seashells! :)

Better Late Than Never!

I am so excited to have finally finished a late birthday gift for a friend! Her birthday was the beginning of April, and I am just finishing it today.  Because of my mass amount of crocheting over the winter months, I was having problems with my wrists, so I took it easy on finishing this project.  

I did send her a photo hint on her birthday. (below)

And, while I had made one of these bags before, this time I decided to be adventurous and lined the inside of the bag and the handles.  After fighting with my sewing machine (which is about 30+ years old) and stabbing myself with a needle many times....it is finished!

 This pattern is titled "Stylin' Tote Bag" by Cathy Phillips on ravelry.com  I did modify it a little...I didn't make it nearly as deep as she called for and then I cinched the ends near the handles on each side.

 I am so excited to be able to take photos outdoors in natural light...it's just beautiful here today! Below shows what the inside of the lined bag looks like.

Now to go and wrap it up to give to my friend tomorrow!

Friends

The Card Chain Challenge is back! So excited to continue participating in this wonderful challenge.  I've been in the CCC since last April and have enjoyed many beautiful cards from fellow crafters around the world!  Every month a challenge is put out including a sketch, theme and color scheme.  Each card maker gets to pick either one or all of the challenges to make a card.  You are then told who to mail your card to and you look forward to receiving a card in the mail!

This month, I've decided to try my hand at the sketch....I'm horrible at making cards to match a certain sketch!  I've also included the "friendship" theme to my simple card. 

All of the paper is from my stash.  I used a new set of alphabet stamps by Studio G for "friends" and for the background on the pink card stock.  I used a Martha Steward punch for the lacy border and the scalloped brown border is made from my Fiskars scissors.  A green Hero Arts gem is the dot for the "i."

While this challenge used to be run by Deb at her blog, Society of Stamps and Scrapaholics, it is now being hosted by Lily Pad Cards.

So excited as I anticipate the beautiful card I receive in the mail this month!

Mother's Day

Well, you can tell April was a busy month...can't believe it has been almost a month since I've posted anything!

The most important thing on my list to do today was make my Mother's Day cards.  I've actually already given my mom her gift when I saw her for Easter...but had to make her wait for the card in the mail! On my list of mothers I'm honoring this month are...my mom, my mother in-law, my grandma, my nana and my grandma in-law.  I hope that I will be able to convey to each of these women what they mean to me and my husband, and though we won't be seeing any of them in person this Sunday...we think of them daily!

For Cricut Cardz Challenge #72, we were challenged to make a Mother's Day card using a cartridge with a card feature and a flower.  I used the Wild Card cartridge to cut the card and the polka dot frame.  The flower is cut from Gypsy Wanderings and Home Accents.  The background is a Hero Arts stamp and the paper is from a stack by Carolyn Gavin. "Grandma" is stamped with a new set of stamps by Studio G (IC0107)

 While these don't necessarily follow the Cricut Cardz Challenge...they are more Mother's Day cards made for Mom and Nana.

 The border punch is one from Martha Stewart and the butterfly stickers are from EK Success.

Thanks for looking! Hoping May isn't nearly as busy as April so that I still have time for stamping and crafting!