Butterfly Thanks

Hi there, I have another card to share with my guest design spot over at Frantic Stamper. I'll be sharing a project about once per week!

I'm quite often in need of thank you cards and love to make them in multiples to give for teacher gifts. With the end of the school year approaching, I decided to make several quick thank you notes.  To add color and highlight the gorgeous detail on the butterfly die cut, I used a variety of distress inks on a piece of scrap white paper. I put the scrap paper behind the die cut. The die cut is adhered on the body of the butterfly only with the a touch of glue.  To finish off the card, I stamped the sentiment and added a black frame. The touch of black gives the colors a little extra pop!

Here's an extra close up of the color. Would love to hear whether you create card sets too?

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Frantic Stamper - Precision Dies - Monarch Butterfly

Item Number: FRA-Die-09155

Embellish Challenge

 

So...do you think it's time for me to take a break from all of my Christmas card creating! I think so...I love the colors for the current Embellish Challenge and my all time favorite ribbon is the grograin ribbon from Stampin' Up.  This challenge was a match made in heaven for me!  So...I couldn't wait to play along.  And I also thought I pop this onto the CASology Challenge for this week too. 

 

Now let's chat for a minute.  I was feeling pretty grumpy yesterday...stressed and so I was having a conversation with myself about being grateful.  So here's my list of what I am grateful for today:

• I'm grateful that my mum is healing well from her knee replacement surgery...and Pat's text to me last night since I'm traveling, "Your mum looked great today."
• I'm grateful for my co-workers who work hard to help our clients and help each other.
• I'm grateful that my parents taught my brothers and me to talk about what we're worried about..not ignore it.
• I'm thankful for a day out with Jonathon on Sunday.  We went to his first ever Bengals game.  I'm not a huge fan of the team, but it was great one on one time on a gorgeous fall day.
• I'm grateful for blogging.   It is a huge stress relief for me and I am so thankful for your heartfelt comments.
• I'm thankful for my hubby who knows me so well and helps take the stress away!
• I'm thankful for my four boys who all spent time telling me how their day went yesterday.

I really could go on and on...but I'm going to sign off now.  How about you?  What are you grateful for today?

 

Happy 7th Birthday Marcel!

 

Oh my goodness.  Where does the time go?  Today my sweet little baby turns seven!  We've been on the birthday countdown and he is so excited that today is his day.  He's requested dinner out a local restaurant where he can have fried pickles.  And for his cake request: a C, V, M (that is his code for candles, vanilla cake and M&Ms or as he pronounces M&Ms...mnnn&mnnnns).  He was also pretty specific that he wants five candles, not seven.  "One in each corner of the cake and one in the middle, five is better, because seven wouldn't be even."  He certainly makes us laugh.  People will say to me, "Wow...four boys?!"  But I'll tell you what, I couldn't imagine life without any of them and this little guy has provided us with so many smiles and so much love throughout the years.  From first finding out I was pregnant with him a couple weeks after my dad passed away and him having my dad's name (my dad was Paul Marcel), he like each of his brother's has his own special place in my heart.  Happy birthday Marcel!  I love you more than words can say!

And...here's a CAS birthday card just for him inspired by the current  Embellish challenge...the color palette is perfect for a boy!

A Morning Prayer

This week has been a hard one and my dear friend, Sandy, sent me this prayer yesterday morning. I thought I would share it with you all too.  It is definitely that I will refer back to often.  She found this in her mom's room after she passed.  A cherished prayer in so many ways.  Thank you Sandy!

Good Morning God
You are ushering in another day
Untouched and freshly new
So here I come to ask You, God
If You'll renew me, too,
Forgive the many errors
That I made yesterday
And let me try again dear God,
To walk closer in Thy Way...
But, Father, I am well aware
I can't make it on my own
So Take My Hand and Hold It Tight
For I can't Walk Alone!

And now...onto my card...

When I saw the Embellish Challenge last week, I thought oh yes...this one is right up my alley.  I love stripes and polka dots and the color combo is fabulous!  So I was happy to create something and this came together very, very quickly!  My new PTI pillow box die was perfect for a gift card. This set went to my dear, dear friend, Katie, whose birthday was this weekend.  Happy birthday Katie!   You are simply the best!

 

 

Splash Park

The temperatures were back up yesterday...so I took the little boys to a new water park about ten minutes from our house.  Collin and Marcel had a ball.  Love the expressions on their faces.  We stayed for just a little bit before heading to the pool as Jonathon and me were melting in the heat!  Needless to say that want to go back very soon!

I thought I'd get to the card set challenge for Stamp-A-Faire yesterday, but I ended up not doing a whole card set...instead I played along with the Embellish Challenge.  This card is inspired by the final day of Stretch Your Stamps and an absolutely gorgeous card from Shari Carroll. This card is really close to it.  I have not used this embossing folder in years.  Love how much texture it adds to a still CAS card.  And the color combo from the challenge is gorgeous. The sentiment looks a bit greener in real life, but you get the feel for it!

Hope your week gets off to a great start!

 

 

If at first you don't succeed...

I love the color combos for the Embellish Challenges and the idea of a tea inspired card seemed fun to me.  Despite having a Scottish mum, I didn't think I had any tea cup stamps in the house...so I went to work on my first card, CASing Mariana's card here.  I'm okay with this, but I like Mariana's a lot better. 

So fast forward to Monday night.  I wanted to use by PaperSmooches sets for the current Sparks Challenge and found that I do have a tea cup...or a soup mug and a "tea" sentiment.  And off I went creating again.

and then I decided maybe the tea need some tea.   What do you think?  Do you have a favorite?

 

 

 

Hey There

Hey There...I thought for a while about what I wanted to do for the current Embellish Challenge.  Finally, I settled on a collage of telephones. I thought this would be fun to send to an out of town family or friend...so this was a quick card (okay maybe not so quick because I wasn't lining of the stamps right...several times) to keep in my stash for the right occasion!  Using Craft's Meow stamps again paired with a PaperSmooches sentiment!

 

Marcel

There is something about profile shots that I simply adore.  Marcel is clearly thinking hard in this photo....but I love it.  His intent eyes...his sweet little nose and smooth little boy skin.  Oh how I love profile shots of my sweet boys.  I love you my little man.

I also have a quick card to share for the current Embellish challenge.  I am bad about not using my dies enough so this one uses three different ones.  I like the clean, whimsical feel.

 

Class of 2016

On the last day of school, the eighth grade class had a graduation party at a local sand volleyball court. What a blast!  Three hours worth of hanging out with friends (and attempting to make a pyramid...don't you just love their smiles!...Ryan is the fourth boy from the right on the bottom).

At the party, they all received Class of 2016 t-shirts.  I have to admit that seeing that made my heart ache a bit.  It's a strange feeling having a child entering high school and thinking it just four short years  he'll be leaving for college. I look so forward to the amazing things he will accomplish, but it's hard to believe how the years pass so quickly.  So here's to the Class of 2016...and a wonderful start to their high school years.  Let's cherish every moment.

So in honor of this time of year...another graduation card.  Remember this card from last week?  Well, I really enjoyed layering the stamps so when I saw the Embellish Collage Challenge I thought I have do to it again and create a collage using stamps.  I used all sets from the Craft's Meow again...added a few different ones.  I love the sentiment on this.  I'll be using this a lot!

 

While the Big Boys Play...

It's baseball season...and that means we are at the field a lot.  I love when the older boys are playing at a park where there are play sets or something for the little guys to do.  On Friday night, Jonathon's team was playing under the lights at a park where Ryan (the older kids) normally play.  One field wasn't in use, so they found some other kids and had a good old fashion game of kick ball going on.  Of course, between the kids kicking/running, they also found the dirt!  They could have been occupied for hours.

And on Saturday, Jonathon was playing at a field where there are play sets.  They love going to this park!  Marcel was very proud to be standing on a particularly tall part of the play set.  He came over to me and specifically asked to be "pictured."  I love the way he's laughing at Collin.  Super happy little guy!

And here's Jonathon on first base...ready to roll. He's been hitting the ball really well this year!  It's so nice to see his confidence grow on the baseball field.  We were chatting about a missed play that a teammate made on the way home the other night and he said, "Mom, my team needs to believe in him.  They need to believe he can make the play and he needs to believe in himself too. When my team said, Jonathon's going to hit Brandon and Nick in, I believe I could and so did they.  I hit a double and got two RBIs."  Love his perspective...we do all need to believe in ourselves and others.  He then went on to say he learned that in karate.  I love his karate instructor and so glad that he remembers that very important lesson.

Now...onto my card share for today :)....you all know by now that I'll eventually get to my card.  I've been looking at the Embellish Challenge for a bit thinking about how I could create some movement on my card.  Finally decided to stamp the sentiment in each color a few times to create a sense of movement.  Hope you like it!

God Bless You

It is officially time for a lot of sacraments in our family!  This little guy, Jakey, is going to be baptized in a couple of weeks (right after I get back from my trip).  His older sister is making her First Communion and another niece, Katie, is also making hers!  So I made a trio of cards for all of the wonderful celebrations we have coming up!  All similar layouts...just a touch different color combos and layouts.

First up is Katie's First Communion card.  This one I made for the current Embellish Challenge.  She wants to redecorate her room from pink to blue...so I thought this color combo would be perfect for her!

This next card is for Ally.  She has gorgeous dark curly hairs...and I love when she wears reds and pinks...so this one is for her!

And last but certainly not least, this one is for Jakey.  Have a favorite of the punch?

Weekend Snap Shots

I thought I'd share a few more pictures from this past week.  I don't think we've ever had a nicer week for spring break as evidenced by Jonathon (by the way we really do feed him) running around without a shirt on!  Jonathon, Collin & Emma were having fun playing frisbee monkey in the middle.  You should have seen the joy on Collin's face when he would catch the frisbee.  And then...it ended up in the tree. They were smart and used a broom and a good old fashion shake of the tree to get it out.  A perfect Friday night.

I also have a card to share for the current Embellish Jeweled Color Challenge.  When I saw the pattern on these sweet little shoes, I immediately thought of my PTI Mehndi Medallion impression plate.  I spritzed a bit of blue on the white panel, added the banner, a sweet little bow and of course a few jewels. In real life you can tell the difference between the spray mist and the gems a bit better!

 

Embellish Rosettes Color Challenge

Between my card and the background real flowers...this picture definitely shouts spring at you!  I'm sneaking it before the Embellish Challenge runs out!  For this card, I stamped the Hero Arts background in Versafine and then embossed it with clear embossing powder.   For the rosette portion of the challenge, I used a Gluber to make the flower.  I've had this turquoise ribbon for years.  The leaves use a touch of burlap. To finish it off I added some pattern papers and a quick thank you.    A simple design, but you know me...I like simple :)

I also wanted to pass on information about a new Etsy shop.  Alicia's good friend, just opened a shop, selling adorable, bur clothes. If you have a new little one or are looking for a gift for a friend's little one, they look beyond adorable.  Happy shopping!  Here's a very sweet picture of Alicia's daughter, Emelia, modeling with one!

Show Choir with Friends!

This past weekend Ryan had another show choir competition and this time we got to share it with out of town friends. Sara, from the gorgeous blog, The Unhurried Life, was in town with her family for her daughter, Michal, to compete in the same show choir competition as Ryan.  So, thankfully, we all got to catch up over lunch. Our hubbies got along very well...they share a love of music and I think Pat could have talked all day with him. Of course, Sara and I loved catching up too!  We met at Stamp-a-Faire and it was so nice to catch up again and meet her beautiful family.  It's Michael absolutely stunning?  I think so!  Those gorgeous eyes. WOW!

And we managed to find the kids right next to each other in a massive gymnasium so we had to snap a picture of them together.  They were good sports about it!  Sara's choir won grand champs and Ryan's was first runner up. Loved that we went 1,2 in the competition!  Here's to getting together again very soon.

Before I go, I also have a card for the current Embellish Magazine.  I am enjoying my PTI anniversary set.  Lots of versatility for a whole bunch of different cards.

Happy 50th Birthday!

Today, I'll be toasting a co-worker's 50th birthday at the end of the work day!  He loves wine, recently refinished his own wine cellar, so a group of us will share a glass of wine and toast him!  I bought a bottle for him but honestly know very, very little about wine!  Erin, thanks for the help in guiding me!  The Embellish Mixed Pattern Challenge was the perfect challenge for me to make his card!  I used stamps from PTI, Hero Arts and Practicing Creativity to make it.  I'll have to try to mix and match patterns more often.  I like stretching myself a bit!

Now...switching subjects!  Our Godchild, Emma, lives next door. She is going out of town for Christmas so we gave her present to a few days early.  She had gifts for us too...Pat's gave us quite the giggle, "Mr. Mangan, you need this for when you play poker with your friends."  She knows him well.  And I think the drink of choice during holiday poker tonight might be a little different than the Mountain Dew he used to try out his new toy!