Ryan’s Graduation

Good morning friends.  Photo heavy post today!  I'm back sharing two things today...a fun very CAS card and lots of pictures from Ryan's graduation. First up is a card set that I made for a dear friend whose daughter graduated.  Love CAS clean cards. This card was made with stamps from Concord & 9th and Uniko.

Now onto Ryan's graduation. What a special, heart filling day it was!  This first picture is of Ryan and his dear friend, Austin, processing in to the ceremony.  The kids don't go in alphabetical order for graduation; rather they get to pick a friend they want to walk with in the ceremony.  Austin lives two doors up and these two have been friends since second grade.

Looking over to give me a smile! :)

Many of these pictures including this one below were taken by friends. The boys intently listening to one of the commencement speeches. Their principals speech was my favorite of  them all.

It's almost their turn to get their diplomas. Each students name and picture accepting their diploma was flashed on the big screen in the arena.

It's official...Ryan accepting his diploma from our school board president and friend, Art Jarvis.

Ryan and a few of his friends tried out to be able to sing at graduation. Talk about being proud.  So, so proud of him. Here he is up on the big screen as he's singing and playing guitar.

Ryan, Austin (on snare), Alyssa (vocals with Ryan), Ben (on base) and Amanda (not shown - on piano). What an amazing experience and they sounded incredible singing Tame Impala's, Yes I'm Changing. If you follow me on Facebook, there's a video over there :)

 

All of the senior students in choir also sang...yes my heart is full!

Can you tell the grandparents are oh so proud! 

And we are too!  Collin wasn't really in the mood for pictures :)!

Ryan with several of his close friends!  I could share tons more but I think that is enough!  We're off today for his orientation at OU. Time is certainly flying.  I'm one proud mom and excited for what's next for Ryan.

 

Uniko Studio: Classic Alphabets

Hi there, it's the first day of releases at Uniko.  Today, we're introducing Classic Alphabets.  I absolutely love alphabet sets to make custom sentiments or to make monogram cards.   And...the background stamps are an early sneak peek of a set to be released in a few days (shhh...don't tell).  Typically when I create monogram cards I center the monogram on the front of the card.  For this card, it was fun to create it slightly off center with the floral background.

A reminder that we'll be revealing stamps today through June 10th.  Be sure to comment on the guest/design team blogs for a chance to win!

June 11th will be the full reveal with the chance to win the entire release!  Pop on over to Uniko to check out the gorgeous creations featuring these fabulous new goodies.

Monograms

For many years, simple monogram note cards have been my go to teacher gifts. I switch out the papers and the initial and I'm ready to roll.  My sister-in-law and a couple of my friends have also bought them from me for gifts as well.  I mentioned last week that I was working on a card order.  The person requesting the cards found me through one of the teacher gifts!  Her friend had sent her a monogram card and she emailed asking her if I could make her some. She asked for five different sets of eight in cheery colors.  Below are samples of the cards I sent to her last week.  Have a favorite? I think mine is the last one with the green base!

Edited to Add:  The sets used for these cards are:  PaperTrey Ink Simply Stationery and WPlus9 Monogrammed Set.   A few of you also asked what I typically charge for this type of set.  I make 8 cards, put them in a nice clear card box from PTI here with a ribbon tied around them.  Because it is easier to mass produce this type of card, I charge $15 for the set.  I charge more for single cards that have more steps.  Another note, I don't do this for profit :)!  If it was for profit, I would likely charge more!

Just Us Girls Design Team Try Out

Happy Tuesday!  I'm entering the Just Us Girls Design Team Challenge...so fun!  I'd love to be on a design team!  The challenge has two parts:  make a card using the sketch on the right and make a three-dimensional project.  I decided to make a coordinating project that I'll be using as a teacher gift.

First up, my card. I love this Basic Grey Lemonade paper and keep going back to buy more.  I used my Sizzlits for the leaves and the butterfly in the leaves next to the sentiment.  I then added the bow and gems for a few extra touches. 

For my 3-D template, I used the Take Along Tote template from Lauren Meader's/PaperTrey Ink's Timeless Template collection.  It is the perfect template to put in a few note cards.  On the front, I put note cards and the back envelopes...I'll add a few more cards before I give it to one of the boy's teachers.  To add a little dimension, I stamped the bottom of the template with Versamark and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  On the back I put a few extra gems on the scallops.  You'll have to tell me what you think: gems or no gems?  My hubby said, "Who are you giving it to?  If you're giving it to a little girl...gems...to an adult...no gems." :)

Here are the two projects together.  I love how they coordinate!

Finally, this is the monogram note card that I put inside the tote.  I love making simple monogram cards as gifts.

Thanks so much JUGS Team for the opportunity to participate in your design team challenge! 

Ingredients:  Basic Grey DSP Lemonade; SU Regal Rose Paper, Ink and Ribbon; SU Blush Blossom and Kiwi Kiss Paper; SU Tag, Butterfly and Leaf Sizzlits; Hero Arts Gems; PaperTrey Ink Simple Stationery, Monogram, Daily Design Sentiments and Beyond Background Borders Stamps; Versamark Ink and Clear Embossing Powder; PTI Lauren Meader Timeless Template Take Along Tote; PaperTrey Ink Large Scallop Die

Monograms, Sweet Monograms

One of my favorite things to do is to give cards as gifts. I love when others appreciate a stack of cards from me. I had been coveting the PaperTrey Ink set of Simply Stationery for a while. I went to my mom's and she had some Vera Bradley note cards so I figured it was time to make some new stationery for her...and me too! Time for a little gift for her...just because!

Ingredients: SU: Kraft and Sage Shadow Paper; Stamps: Simple Stationery and Ambassador Monograms from PaperTrey Ink; Paper: Bo Bunny Back to Backs; Abbey Road Truffle