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My card for this week's Retro Sketch combines stamps from Rogue Redhead Designs with papers from Webster's Pages.
The polka dot background paper was stamped in grey with the Ledger from Relish Reading to repeat the soft texty look of the seed packet. The Congratulations sentiment is from Bits & Pieces.
I embellished with grey linen twine and two colors of yellow pearls.
As the wife of a postal carrier, I couldn't resist joining in the Postage Challenge at the Moxie Fab World blog.
Stamps are from Lawn Fawn's You've Got Mail. Layout is the Sketchbook Saturday Challenge combined with traditional USPS colors. I added a tiny red gem to the envelope ... sealed with a kiss.
For some reason my tummy is craving sweets today, but instead of eating cookies ... I decided to make a card inspired by cookies ... Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Bright Bite cookies to be exact.
I loved the stacking of the cookies and those bright fun colors, so I decided to create my card by stacking some fun new My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Washi Tape I picked-up this week.
Sentiment is Hero Arts Anytime Messages and butterfly embellishment was punched from the pink washi tape adhered to cardstock with two tiny adhesive pearls. Hopefully this card will brighten someone's day.
They're also celebrating Masking Tape Day at Jellypark Challenges (using Washi Tape).
It's that time of year again ... time for graduation cards. Graduation is such a big deal in Iowa with huge parties, so each one requires a card. I went with the same design I used last year since it was so popular (and so easy to mass produce with color variations for the different schools).
I used Stampin' Up's Go Graduate! digital stamps (so I could print out multiple copies at once). The card instructions are on this video tutorial, I made a few changes to make it easier for me (using a digital sentiment inside too & not shredding the ribbon).
The top is perfect for tucking in a check or a little cash. The University of Iowa school colors are also perfect for this week's Dynamic Duo Challenge. I didn't use embossing, but I did add a bit of texture with a yellow glaze pen on the cowboy boots.
I used this week's Unscripted Sketch to create a birthday card for my nephew Josh. He enjoys participating in ROTC and plans to join the military after he graduates from high school, so I made him a Marine-themed design.
Since there's a Piggyback Challenge at Unscripted Sketches this week to add ink to your design (could be stamping, pen, anything inky) I inked up Hero Arts Distress Frame with Blue Iris ink and grunged-up the corners a bit. Paper is from Bo Bunny's Liberty Collection, dimensional stickers are from K&Company and sentiment is an EAD Designs Rub-on.
This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from RedEnvelope, The name RedEnvelope comes from a firmly held belief in Asian cultures that the color red is an auspicious symbol of happiness. Gifts are often presented in a simple red envelope - a timeless tradition that carries with it well wishes of prosperity, good fortune, appreciation and love.
My card is inspired by this Alphabet Jumble Wall Art.
I adhered a mix of all of my alphabet stickers to a grey background (apparently I only buy alphabets in neutral tones & white).
I added a birthday sentiment. This *card* is so large, I just made it into a single page, so I can write my message on the back.
I hope you find inspiration.
This week at JIngle Belles we are creating gift card holders ... a fantastic idea suggested by the talented Gina (aka tyggereye).
Since most of my family is across the miles, I give quite a few gift cards for the holidays. There are all sorts of creative gift card holder ideas out there. When I saw this adorable little owl family, I knew I wanted to make one of these.
My pillow box die is larger than the one in the post, so I had to make some revisions to the punch sizes. The feather's are 1.75" circles punched from glitter paper. The eyes are 3" circles with 1.75" pupils. I used a larger heart punch for the feet & beak. My larger oval punches were two wide for wings, so I used a label die cut instead.
This is also for the Color Me Purple! challenge.
And Ms. Gina will be giving one lucky participant two of her fantastic hand-carved stamps ... an adorable tiny owle and little reindeer.
Another fun week of blog finds:
Have a terrific Thursday.
My father and my brothers love to play with tools ... so I used some measuring tape designer tape & this week's CPS Sketch for a Father's Day card design.
I stamped a few tools on the background to finish the design.
The first leg of our road trip was visiting my Brother & his family in Tennessee. As I posted previously, we enjoyed seeing the initial set-up of the Jackson Strawberry Festival, as well as checking out local art, playing in the park and eating ice cream with our nieces.
Our next stop was Newburgh, Indiana to hang out with my Dad & my Sister and her family. We enjoyed our early morning walk along the Ohio River.
There were lots of pretty blooms along the trail.
We had a delicious lunch at Cafe Arazu (and I fell in love with using Instagram)
After lunch, we had fun shopping in downtown Newburgh, where I picked-up a cool new mirror a created by Kathy Fazio at Sunburst Stained Glass. We had a great time touring their glass studio and hearing the stories of their current projects in process.
We also enjoyed delicious pizza for supper at Archie & Clyde's (sweet & sour sauce instead of tomato sauce as the base for Hawaiian pizza ... brilliant). I got to enjoy time with family including my new great-newphew Emmett.
Our final stop was St. Louis. We stayed at the Moonrise Hotel on the Delmar Loop, which I would highly recommend. We enjoyed a gorgeous evening hanging out at their rooftop bar.
Our room was one of their themed suites, which are all decorated using pictures of St. Louis stars ... ours was the beautiful Virginia Mayo.
We enjoyed shopping on the loop, walking to the Kayak Coffee Shop for breakfast (their famous butter cake is worth every single calorie), and taking the easily-accessible Metro into the St. Louis Cardinals game. The hotel's location was fantastic. This stained glass window was one of my favorite pieces of art along the walk.
I wear mostly Dansko & Sanita shoes for the fall & winter ... and now I have found equally fun & comfortable summer footware ... sandals by Tsubo that I picked-up at Sole & Blues.
Our seats for the St. Louis Cardinals game were in the Champions Club, which had a great view. We really loved that we could watch the action on the field, and also look up to the TV monitor above our seats to see that view as well. It was a gorgeous night for baseball, and we also got to experience Tony LaRussa's number retirement ceremony, which was pretty cool.
Of course we wore our Cardinals red to the game ... and took advantage fo the moon-shaped mirrors at the Moonrise Hotel for a self-portrait.
All-in-all, another wonderful spring getaway.
