If you're interested in the 'wordy' section of this post, keep reading. If you're pressed for time, you can skip the chatter and head straight for the cards below. Our darling, darling granddaughter Lizzy graduated from high school in June, and waited to have her party until last Friday; one of her sisters had been out of town all summer, and she wanted Melissa to celebrate with her, hence the 'late' party. We'd continued the tradition of having the parties for the kids here, as our house and yard is more conducive to crowds. That meant keeping things looking green, weeding, trimming & pruning, cleaning out the garage, and all the things that go along with party prep. Then there was the cooking, setting up, and me at the grill for several hours day of the party. Our daughter and sil, and the kids were fantastic at helping to finish those last minute cleaning duties, decorating, and making enough food to feed an army. It went well, and beautiful Lizzy had a wonderful party. Those left at the end of the night cleaned up the yard, garage, and I'm pretty sure everyone had a turn in the dishwater! DH and I spent last Saturday in veg mode... Sunday a new adventure would begin. We hopped in the car, and left to meet our youngest son. We took his van filled with the most adorable little children and headed off to my sister's house; there's a fantastic park complete with a FREE splash pad near her, and her grandson was there to play with his cousins. I'd brought some of the leftover graduation party food for lunch, and we had a great time. Sue, DH, and I laughed at those kids, and enjoyed the day. DH and I had three more days of fun with them, and I'm hoping to do it again next summer! We played at our waterpark, went birthday present shopping, baked cake and cookies, played bean bag toss, went to the museum, went out to lunch and dinner, and completely and wonderfully exhausted grandma! According to my son, the kids had a blast. We met up with their dad (he MADE me give them back...) Wednesday after our pancake supper. In order to get their gear all packed up, do their laundry, and give Avery a nap, we stayed here that afternoon. Tried to get them to do a round-robin story with me after cookie baking, but they got a little too wild, so grandma started telling them a story. It must have been a good one, as it went on for nearly four hours in between cooking, packing, and tricky parts of the freeway. Might write it down for them... DH and I spent Thursday in recovery mode. We were worn out in the most wonderful way! By yesterday, I started the clean up, and hit the craftroom. And since you've been so kindly patient with me, I won't make the rest of this post a "four hour" story. Let's get to the cards, shall we?!
First up is a card for Miss Darnell's NBUS Challenge! Hooray! You know her, you love her, and you know you want to play along too! This card features a new die; 'congrats.' It will also visit Essentials By Ellen Pin-Sights August Challenge.
Here 'tis:
We've got an overcast, rainy day here, so the photos don't do this justice; it's a beautiful soft pink scrap that I found and embossed in gold with Ellen's fabulous Bohemian Garden set. I. Love. Them. The NBUS die is from Studio Calico cut from another scrap, and a scrap of green vellum with some gold trim. I think this will make a pretty wedding card.
Next is a card for City Crafter's Challenge, and Color Throwdown.
The colors and the "you" are there.
Did you know that Gina K. opened a store in the suburbs of Milwaukee?! Naturally I had to pay a little visit a few weeks ago. Found the dp there...love it! That's an AE rectangle die, and C&9th stamps. I punched out the 'world' so I could use green on the continents. And a smattering of yellow enamel dots. Might have to send this one to the little kids....
And last (are you fast asleep yet?), I have a tag for Tag You're It. Michelle Short created this beauty to inspire us.
Mine looks like this:
The scrap folders in my credenza are soooo stuffed that I can barely pull out a scrap. I've decided to try and use as many as I can. All the papers here are scraps (yay!). Found that little striped chunk, added some ME Ocean ink, and cut out the tag and topper with RC tag dies. The flower is from Altenew done on a scrap of dp, and colored up just a bit with inks and Copics. The banner is from that cute pineapple set by C&9th (thanks Lynn!), and the sentiment is an oldie but goodie from HA. A bit of twine, and a sprinkle of black bling finishes this. Are you finished too?!
Monday is DH's BIG doctor's appointment. Not sure what to pray for, just trusting in God, that in whichever direction He wants us to go, we'll happily follow. And speaking of 'happy', Happy Dances everyone.
