Goodbye

Tonight my family said a sad goodbye to my aunt. She is moving to Bulgaria on Wednesday with her new husband, and we all went out for dinner to wish them best of luck and a lifetime of happiness.

To mark the occasion, I made 3 cards. One from our little family, one for my mom to give her, and one for my brother and his family to give her.

Details below...

For my mom to give:

Materials -
*Burgundy text is Stampin' Up! product line
Paper :: Unknown designer paper... Random from my stash
Cardstock :: Pool Party and Calypso Coral (2011-2013 In Colours!)
Ink :: Pool Party (2011-2013 In Colour)
Stamp :: "Follow your heart, it knows the way" stamp from Whimsical Words set

For my brother to give:

Materials -
*Burgundy text is Stampin' Up! product line
Paper :: Unknown designer paper... Random from my stash
Cardstock :: Pear Pizzaz and Poppy Parade (2010-2012 In Colours)
Ink :: Lucky Limeade and Calypso Coral (2011-2013 In colours)
Stamp :: Sweet Summer stamp set

For us to give:

Materials -
*Burgundy text is Stampin' Up! product line
Paper :: Unknown designer paper... Random from my stash
Cardstock :: Concord Crush (2010 In Colour) and Wisteria Wonder (2011 In Colours)
Ink :: Wisteria Wonder (2011-2013 In colours)
Stamp :: "You're never more than a thought away" from the Whimsical Words set^
^This set courtesy of AP! She graciously lent them for this occasion.

Wishing my aunt all the best for this next adventure in her life.

-tb:oxo

Monkeying Around

I had some scrap paper I got from a series called "Monkeying Around" by Recollections (which I believe is the Michael's brand...).

As I was organizing my cardstock, I happily realized that the series goes wonderfully with the 2010-2012 In Colours (particularly Pear Pizzaz and Peach Parfait). Again, I figure while I have all the supplies out, I may as well make 2 or 3!

Stripey Birthday


Monkey Birthday

Materials used for these cards -
*Burgundy text is Stampin' Up! product line
Paper :: "Sock Stripe" and "Funky Disco Spin" from the Monkeying Around series by Recollections
Cardstock :: Pear Pizzaz and Peach Parfait
Ribbon :: Elan double face satin in blue
Punches :: Scalloped Oval Punch and Large Oval Punch and Scalloped Border Punch (on loan!)
Ink :: Calypso Coral (2011-2013 In Colour)
Stamp :: "Best Wishes" from the Short & Sweet set

And that, my friends, concludes the July birthday card list! YES!
July card list is:
1. Babysitter's other daughter's birthday
2. Friends wedding shower
3. Hubby's birthday
4. Sister-in-Law's birthday
5. Father-in-Law's birthday
6. HBo's Birthday party invitations
7. Nephew's 1st (!!) birthday
8. Stock Thank You cards

Feeling very accomplished!

-tb:oxo

Using up the Scraps!

Today I decided to use up some old scraps, as well as dig into some old SU cardstock I had just picked up at a garage sale last weekend!

The July card list is one item shorter! yay...
July card list is:
1. Babysitter's other daughter's birthday
2. Friends wedding shower
3. Hubby's birthday
4. Sister-in-Law's birthday
5. Father-in-Law's birthday
6. HBo's Birthday party invitations
7. Nephew's 1st (!!) birthday
8. Stock Thank You cards

And, because I hate to waste anything at the end of making 1 card, I try and use the scraps from that card to make a few small thank you notes, or other random little cards.

Birthday card for sister-in-law:

Thank you note 1:

Thank you note 2:

All three cards use the same materials -
Paper :: SU Cardstock in "Crushed Curry", "Batiked my Interest" by Recollectios
Ink :: SU 2011 In Colour "Wisteria Wonder"
Stamp :: SU "Wish Big" and "Thank You" from Short & Sweet set
Ribbon :: Elan double faced satin in purple
Punches :: SU Scalloped Oval Punch and Extra Large Oval Punch

And when all was said and done, this is all I had left of the Crushed Curry cardstock!! (btw, I love this colour...)


Content :)

-tb:xox

Products Arrived - Yay!

Short and Sweet Stamp Set:


























"In Colours" 2011-2013 Ink and Cardstock:














"In Colours" 2010-2012 Cardstock:














1 3/4" Oval Punch:














Scalloped Oval Punch:













I will be using these as quickly as I possible can!

...Waiting ever so patiently for the weekend...

-tb:oxo

Mid-July Card update

Hi!

July is so busy around here - there are birthday's galore, and preparation for the "Big August Birthday" (aka: HBo's b-day). For his first birthday, we kept it pretty low-key. We were in PEI, so we did a lot of beach-ing and enjoying of the province. Cupcakes were had, songs were sung, gifts were opened... but all in all it was a quiet day.

Birthday #2 was a little more involved... The "Toy Story" party! It was intended to be outside, but got rained out - so we had 14 kids and 17 adults in our very (very!) tiny living room. All of whom arrived soaking wet from the torrential downpour that happened right at the party start.

So, HBo's party take three has to be super awesome. This is the last year that he's an "only child" and everything is all about him, so we want to make him feel super special :) This year's theme: The Carnival. 14 invitations in total... wowza - I can't imagine people who do this for their weddings!

Invitation front (excuse the blur, please!):

Invitation inside:

Invitation "admission" ticket:

Materials for this card were all from Michael's - Card + envelopes, red/white striped paper, and red cardstock. The wording was all printed out from the computer (Word! Not "werd" but "Microsoft Word")

In other news, our little nephew turned 1! This was his card:

Unfortunately, I can't remember the details of this card - but aside from the Stampin' Up! stamp and ink, everything else came from Michael's.

This was my first time making an envelope (lined, no less!) and I made it using one of my new favourite gadgets from Martha Stewart (I hate how much I love her).


So, here's an update on the July card list - only three more to go:
July card list is:
1. Babysitter's other daughter's birthday
2. Friends wedding shower
3. Hubby's birthday
4. Sister-in-Law's birthday
5. Father-in-Law's birthday
6. HBo's Birthday party invitations
7. Nephew's 1st (!!) birthday
8. Stock Thank You cards

...thinking about becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.

-tb:oxo

SU Open House

Tonight I went to a Stampin' Up! open house to show off the new catalogue. I went with the awesome AP. Love that girl.

I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did! Normally I'm a bit stand-offish in those situations. I'm in a strangers house, using their products that they spent good money on, snooping at their stuff (their cards, not their personals! haha), drinking their lemonade and eatin' their snacks.

However, I guess that's what an open house is all about, isn't it?!

I bought some things. Those things make me happy! AND, I got to experience my first "make and take". That part was a bit strange to me - relinquishing control over colour, stamps choice, layout, etc - but the lovely part of it is that everything was cut and scored, so it was actually quite fun.

Something I hope to do again in the future.

-tb:oxo

"Hi, my name is Tara, and I have a problem"

I can't stop making cards. I guess it's not really a 'problem', exactly... but it's getting in the way of sleep. I'll stay up until 11 or 12 making cards. Fortunately, they are all for a purpose - I'm not just stockpiling random cards for later (wait a second! this sounds like a great idea!).

June card list included:
Father's Day cards (X4)
Babysitter's daughter's birthday
Anniversary card/scrapbook (which I have yet to post about...)
A bunch of stock thank you cards (Oh, I guess I have stockpiled)

July card list is:
1. Babysitter's other daughter's birthday
2. Friends wedding shower
3. Hubby's birthday
4. Sister-in-Law's birthday
5. Father-in-Law's birthday
6. HBo's Birthday party invitations (eek... need to do these super soon)
7. Nephew's 1st (!!) birthday
8. Stock Thank You cards

So, for now, I've started with #1 and #2... and a bit of #8

Birthday - Accordian Card:


Materials -
:: Paper - "Cottage Pixie Garden" by Chatterbox (double sided)
:: Stamps -"Happy Birthday" balloon from Hero Arts
::Embellishments - textured flower decals from Dollarama (that's right!)
:: Cardstock - White & Pink



Wedding Shower - Gate fold card + Envelope:
(These are their wedding colours)
Materials -
:: Paper - "Orange Dots" by Recollections
:: Stamp - Quite the Pear from some random cheapo Michael's set
:: Embellishments - Green gems
:: Punch - 1 1/2" circle punch + Fancy corner punch
:: Cardstock - Turquoise & White


Stock Thank You cards:

For the record, I can't wait to get awesome stamps. I've got a Stampin' Up! wish list going of about $700... let's see how that works out ;)

-tb:oxo

Valley View Farms

Had a wicked weekend. One of the best parts was, by far, the awesome trip to Valley View farms and then hanging out with our cousins and their kids!












ahhh....

-tb:oxo