Father's Day Fun!

Ok, so since there's no "dad" around our house, we always make Papa's Day things for my dad. (My kids and I live at home with my parents.) I made this coupon book for the kids to give to Papa.

The kids helped me come up with different coupon ideas:

We have a total of 14 coupons, 6 of them being fill in the blank. Other ones we did are:
• Game night
• Snuggle time
• Help with yardwork

Squish hugs are something my 5 year old came up with. It where you squeeze each other really, really, REALLY tightly and you don't let go. He also does squish kisses, but those are rare. ;) lol

I simply cut 3"x6" rectangles out of patterned paper and scored them all along one side about 1/4" in. Then I typed out the coupons and printed them on lined paper. I LOVE the look that creates, it looks just like a stamp. I cut those out and just adhered them to the patterned paper. I just used American Crafts adhesives. Then I just applied a line of adhesive on the 1/4" section and stuck them all together. The scoring makes it so the pages turn easier. Then I just wrapped a length of floss around the side and tied a bow. Done and done. :D

I made this card as well, using the downloaded template from Lifestyle Crafts. You can find that HERE. I made mine look like the cheesy fun things my dad would wear "back in the day." :D

I used my trusty Pilot Permaball pen to outline the tie, make it stand out a bit. I had the kids each write a little message on a sheet of paper that I folded up and tucked into the card. (If you follow the pattern from the download, it folds in half. I just tucked it in there.)

The kids were so excited to give these things to their Papa! It was fun seeing their faces as he looked through his coupon book and read his little messages. :)

Royal Purple Blog Hop

I am so honored to be a part of this blog hop! This is definitely a worthwhile cause, and I'm happy to support it in any way possible. As Vintage 53, I donated some fun jewelry and products from my Etsy store to be part of the grand prize giveaway on Faith's blog. And as Roberts Crafts, I was thrilled to be able to donate scrapbooking supplies to Faith as well. (Including the purple 12x12 leather WeR Memory Keepers album, 4 Cricut cartridges and a ton of other fun scrapbook supplies!) We had a stash of kids art supplies in the Roberts office that I was able to send to pass along to the Bradley House.

Before I get to my card that I created, I wanted to include the text from the other blogs in the hop, for you to see the statistics, and to see what we are doing as part of this  hop. The goal is to raise money to send to the Bradley house to help the families there. 

About 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes occur every year while many more assaults and rapes go unreported entirely. Over 3 million children witness violence in their home each year and those who see and hear violence in the home suffer physically and emotionally. These statistics are sad and overwhelming, but help IS out there for those that choose to break the silence.

Together we can make a difference! Help us instill some hope where very little probably exists and give 24 families a chance at recovery when we are able to donate $1000 dollars to the Bradley Angle House.  Your purple themed card(s) with a hope filled message inside could make all the difference, not to mention give YOU a chance to win the grand prize for this hop. 

Want more chances to win the grand prize?  Additional entries will be given for each $1 donation you include with your card.  Cards must be postmarked by June 30th for inclusion in basket drawings and can be mailed to the following address:

Royal Purple Hop

c/o Vicki Smith

P.O. Box 1496

Millbrook, NY 12545

To start at the beginning of the hop, or see all the blog candy being offered be sure to check out Faith's Blog. Next in the lineup is Erin. 

For my card, I wanted to include not only a handwritten note inside from me, but a strong message of hope on the front, as part of the design. I was walking through the Roberts Crafts store where my office is, and I found this paper with raindrops on it and a saying came to me:


"Through the storm hope will grow"


I thought it was the perfect message that I wanted to convey. That no matter what any of us goes through, no matter what trial, it will only make us stronger and more beautiful at the end of it. Stars shine brighter in the clear sky after a storm. Flowers grow after the rains fall. A candle flame shines brighter through the darkness. There is hope following trials. There is strength in overcoming obstacles. And there is love no matter what. 

(Forgive the bad lighting in the pictures. Normally I photograph in natural light, but I wasn't able to get the pictures done until after dark. The lighting in my room is horrible!)

Here is the message I wrote inside:

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you are able to send in a card, not only to enter the seriously incredible giveaways going on at Faith's blog, but to send a message of hope to one of our sisters. And if you have a blog of your own, please use the button on the right sidebar that has all the information about the fundraiser we have going on. (Scroll down a little bit, and you'll see it.) Have an amazing day everyone!

In case you get lost along the way, here is the complete lineup:

Faith: http://faithfulecreations.com/
Raven: http://love4stamps.blogspot.com/
Linda: www.thefruitofmyhands.blogspot.com
Brie: http://vintage53.blogspot.com/  <-----YOU ARE HERE
Erin: http://www.spantastikreations.blogspot.com/
Tanya: http://www.ScrappyScavenger.blogspot.com/
Amanda: http://www.scrapanddash.com/
Kimmare: http://kimmarieskorner.blogspot.com/
Jackie: http://jackrabbitscrappin.blogspot.com/
Lori A: http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/
Gina: http://californiascrappin-gcinderella21.blogspot.com/
Monica: http://scraps2treasure.blogspot.com/
Anita: http://anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/
Sue: http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/
Gaby: www.gabycreates.com
Debbie W: http://craftydeb-ddscrafts.blogspot.com/
Jen R. http:/www.memorieswithjen.blogspot.com/
Deborah http://www.scrappingmamma.net/
Ellen: http://www.cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com/
Gill: http://creationsbygillm.blogspot.com/
Lori: http://lorisartsyobsession.blogspot.com/
Krista: http://www.kristaspapercafe.com/
Carol: http://www.cardstockscissorsandglue.blogspot.com/
Nancy: http://fancywithnancy.blogspot.com/
Vicki: http://paperandprims.blogspot.com/
Emily: http://www.createserendipity.net/
Kristal:  http://gettingcricky.com/
Amy:  http://amychomas.blogspot.com/

Ribbon & Rhinestones Birthday Blog Hop

Day 1.

Project. Card.

Objective. Awesomeness!

I was SO excited when Stacy, the Ribbon DIVA, invited me to participate in this blog hop. What could any girl love more than ribbon and rhinestones? Answer? Nothing. ;) So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Stacy!! I hope you are having the most amazing birthday!!!

Now I'll admit, I'm not much of a card maker. So I've been "forcing" myself lately, to get more into it. I've learned all kinds of things about stamps and border punches! This may have been a bad thing. haha!

First of all, if you started off on my blog and want to start at the beginning of the hop, check out Stacy's blog here, and we'll see ya when you get back to my blog.

Ok. So here's the card I created. The color palette I went with is black, and shades of pink and teal. The one ribbon is an olive-y green. The picture makes it look yellow. :S I'm pretty much obsessed with teals/aquas/turquoise right now. SUCH a fun color, and perfect for the spring/summertime!

I had a lot of fun playing with dimension in this one! The main card is made from core'dinations cardstock, the rest of the paper is from Echo Park. Love them. LOVE. THEM.

The card itself is 5x7. I cut the background paper at about 4.5-ish x5. I didn't actually measure it, I just laid out the circles on my card, and estimated a little extra room for the border punch and ribbon. Then cut my paper at that estimated length. (I'm very precise and technical when I craft, can you tell? lol!) The circles were all on a 12x12 paper from Echo Park, ("Script Polka Dot" from the Be Mine collection. The background is just the reverse side of the polka dots) and I just cut out 20 of them, then inked the edges, and adhered them to my background paper using foam dots, to raise them up. In between the circles, I used a rhinestone from My Mind's Eye "Lush" collection in the teal.

The ribbon came from American Craft's "Dear Lizzy" line. It's just two ribbons, layered together using Tacky Tape. The border punch was from EK Success, which I inked once I punched it out. Inking is just fun!

Confession. I don't own a Cricut. Or any die cutting machine. Haven't been able to buy one, and I haven't decided which I want when I finally DO buy one. Definitely not a Cricut. I refuse to be limited to cartridges. I'm leaning toward a Pazzle. Thoughts? I made the Happy Birthday tag in Adobe Illustrator. I created the shape by putting two of these: {} together in a cute font, then "welded" them together. Then I used the font American Typewriter. Then it was just print and cut. I used foam dots again, for dimension. The patterned paper behind it is also from the Be Mine collection from Echo Park. (Have I mentioned I love their paper? No? I LOVE THEM. lol)

Thank you for stopping by my blog while making the rounds! Come back tomorrow, and I'll have another project. Now that we have a birthday card, we need a fun present to go with it! ;) The next stop on the hop is over with Cathy at http://cathiescafe-scraphappy.blogspot.com/. Have so much fun, and we'll see you back here tomorrow! I'll have some fun blog candy to go along with the present project post. :D You won't want to miss it!

Birthday Cards

I was so excited to be asked by the Relief Society president in my church (I'm LDS) to make birthday cards each month for the women in the ward! Finally a job in church I can do AND enjoy! LOL! I had a lot of fun with these. Normally, I'm not much of a card maker. Or a scrapbooker. I think I narrowed down WHY I don't do cards or scrapbook often. When I make something, like a jewelry piece, I have TONS of beads, charms, ribbon, chain, etc. in front of me to choose from. I start, back up, change things out, keep going, make another change and so on until I have a piece I'm happy with. It's REALLY hard to do that with paper and embellishments. Once it's down on the page, it's down for good. Unless you want to completely start over and then waste all of that paper. Ya just can't unstick paper. Doesn't work too well. ;)

ANYWAY. So here's what I came up with for the June birthday card:

I thought the yellows, blues and oranges were the perfect combination of colors for the first month of summer! The yellow textured paper is from Core'dinations, the other papers are from the So Sophie line from My Mind's Eye.

I had to make 10 in all. I'm definitely not used to having to make so many of the same thing! lol!

This is such a fun pattern! I love the hint of pink in there with the more melon-y colors. Super fun color combination.

I'm new to the whole border punch thing, but I am LOVING this one from Martha Stewart. I especially love that it came with a corner one. How genius is that?

Orange houndstooth? Yes please!

I created this tag in Adobe Illustrator. The Happy Birthday font is called Doris Day and has totally become my most favorite font! Thanks, Skip, for sending me that one! I'm such a font nerd. lol. Once I stuck the tag down, I used my permaball pen from Pilot to draw an outline around it.

And, because I loves ya, I created a download of the tag for you. :) If you want it. Just click the little image of the arrow pointing down to download it.



Happy Mother's Day everyone!!