Patriotic Pinwheel

Good morning friends!  I had some fun in my craft room the other day after I got my Taylored Expressions order.  TE always has fabulous patriotic selections this time of year!

One of the things I got was a pinwheel die.  It includes two sizes of pinwheels (I've used the larger of the two) and two sets of center adornments.  I have always thought pinwheels were cute but I've had no interest in hand making them in the past...enter the die which makes it SO easy!  The sentiment and stars on the bottom are from the new Betsy set.  I can't wait to stamp that Betsy image and color her up!  Anyway, I can't send this through the mail otherwise it will be smooshed but I can just hand it to someone if I'd like so that is what I'll do.  I've used the OWH sketch for the week with this card as well. 

And above is the inside.  I love using patterned paper inside when I can, the extra uumph is wonderful!

Well, that is it for craftiness for the day.  My Jon should be arriving into town today.  He's been driving from the midwest to here for the last couple of days for his brother's wedding.  That is exciting!

New Designed2Delight Images!

Today is the day!  My first New Release with Designed2Delight!  I'm excited you stopped in this morning!  I have a couple of super fun cards to show you and then a challenge and some links at the end so be certain to scroll all the way down!

The above card features the new image Need A Lift.  I thought it would be fun to use some cloud paper that I have from AMuse Studio and tried to make the image look like it was sunny.  I used an old CPS sketch for this card.  Inside is the yellow polka dot paper with some white on top just finishing the card off perfectly. 

My second card uses the new image called Buzzin' By and a sentiment from the new Loving Sentiments set.  I think they go perfectly together!  This sketch is for this week's CPS sketch challenge. 

I'm sure you want to know how to win some of the new images right?  Well, this month we are challenging you to CASE one of the designers cards and enter it for a chance to win an image.  How fun, right?  See below for links to the other designers blogs and to the challenge info. 

For more inspiring ideas from this new release, please visit the other designers' blogs:

• Debbie Standard
• Kathy Curry
• Katie Tate
• Michelle Hebel
• Michelle Pearson
• Pat Wagner
• Dee Pritschet
• Imke Ludwig
• Jennifer Dunn
• Karen Howard
• Laura Bradley
• Lorie Ames
• Paige Grabau
• Susie Moore

Thanks so much for blog hoppin' with D2D! Remember, you can enter our Blog Hop Challenge for a chance to win some FREE Digis! Also, all New Release Digital Stamps will be on Sale until June 23. Details HERE.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! My name is Kyler, Lorie's favorite 14 year old son! Yesterday I created this card for my Dad. At first when my mom said your going to make a card for dad I thought, this isn't going to go well.... WRONG!!! It turned out twice as good as I thought it would. The recliner I colored so it would look like my dad's and it turned out very well. The sentiment was my favorite from the set, well maybe except for the one that said, "I love you Mower and Mower". I thought that was funny! Finally, the stop sign was to remind him that its not a day to work it's a day for dad to learn that we all love him. I hope dad likes it and to all you dads out there keep up the good work
God Bless,
Kyler Ames

I Do, I Do, I Do

Good morning friends!  Just stopping in with a card I made for a bridal shower that I'm going to later today.  We actually have several weddings this summer to go to and I get to go to the shower for one of the other brides today so I put this card together real quick.  Please do note the 'real quick' as I have to say that I do not love this card.  I love the idea of it...it is just the execution didn't turn out quite the way I wanted.  Darn it!

I did manage to make this card according to The Sweet Stop sketch for the week, though so that is a bonus.  The 'I Do's are cut with SCAL on my Cricut with a freebie file from SVG Cuts.  The colors are taken from the wedding invitation that we received from the couple. 

Well, I also have a Care Net volunteer meeting today so I need to go hop in the shower so I can get out the door. 

Have a wonderful weekend all!

Photo heavy post....

For the whole 2 or 3 of you that have been wanting to see pictures of Kyler's 8th grade graduation...this post is for you!

It is tradition at this Christian School that each student give a little speech about their time at the school, what they've learned, and their favorite memory.  Because Kyler's class is a large class at 17 graduating (large for this school that is...last year it was only four) the 8th grade teacher wanted to throw that out but the parents insisted and I'm so glad we did.  Each child got three minutes for their speech, each and every one of those children did an amazing job!  I was SO proud of Kyler...he didn't seem nervous at all although he said he was.

Another tradition at the school is that each of the kids has a table on which they set things that represent them.  You can see Kyler has a football, star wars gun, his 3DS box, a 2 liter of Mountain Dew, and some Skylanders.  Oh, and a "paper" drum which represents his drumming.  We let Kyler do his table but you could tell some parents did it for their kids.

And here we have Kyler's entire class.He has gone to school with all of these kids at least 3 years and some of them have been going to school together, in the same class for nine years.  Kyler has been with these classmates for a total of seven years.

Above are the boys in the class.  Up until this year the four boys on the left were the only boys in a class of 16...they were way out numbered.  This year Sam and Aidan came back so there were six.  The boy standing to Kyler's right, Eion, is Kyler's best friend.

And finally the entire crew that came to honor Kyler on his graduation.

Thanks for hanging in there for all these photos!  I hope you like them and get a sense of how neat the night was.  I just wanted to add how touched I was when we picked up his report card (which is did GREAT on!) and graduation certificate yesterday.  There was also a card from the school's principal, Mrs. Peyton with his "stuff."  She took the time to write each of the children a little note of congratulations and a remembrance of them.  I thought that was very special.

So, have a wonderful Friday!

You Rock!

Good morning! I hope you've had a good start to your week!  My dogs got me up at 5:40 a.m. yesterday so I made a card while waiting for a more reasonable time to move around and get things done. 

Kyler got a iPod Shuffle for his birthday in April and he just loves it.  This image totally reminds me of him when he is listening to his music (minus the huge iPod of course!).  Sometimes he'll even listen to his iPod and drum along with the music.  That is fun to listen to!  This image is from Pixie Dust Studios and then I used some papers that I had laying around.  The sketch is from The Sweet Stop this week.  Oh, and I did use a couple of stamps from the Amuse set called Rock Star as well, the circle stamp to create a little more visual interest on the background and two sentiments--'you rock' and then 'dude' inside. 

I hope you've enjoyed your stop here today.  I'll see you back here again soon!

The Bride And Groom

I know, I know...it has been forever since I posted last. Well, not forever but a week. Thank goodness for the fabulous Sketches By Carly challenges or I would never be posting.

Today starts a new challenge over at SBC and what a great sketch it is!  We are sponsored by The Paper Shelter today and I got to use one of their adorable images that is just perfect for me right now.  Yep, a wedding image.  The winner will get a $20 gift certificate to the store...wow!  Anywho, I colored and used purple for this card since it is one of the wedding colors (the other is gold), added some hearts and their name at the top.  The embellie on the ribbon is another heart and then I painted it will Illuminate Smooch.  The ribbon embellie was finished with a twine bow.  Oh, and the lace of the view is all sparkly as well as all the little creases in the dress. 

It has been such a busy week.  Kyler had his 8th grade graduation (I'll post a photo or two later) for which grandma flew in from WI.  We didn't really stop moving until...well, not yet!  It has still been super busy but maybe Sunday will be better?  Today is Kyler's last day of 8th grade and his last day at ECS.  I am getting a little choked up just thinking about it.  This school's tag line is 'education for the whole child' and indeed it is.  They have taught his body in PE, his mind in his core subjects, and his soul in Bible.  Not only has it been amazing for Kyler but it has been a place of friendship for me.  I feel like I'm having more separation anxiety than Kyler is!  I am going to take a deep breath and try not to break down and just bawl at some point today.   

Well, there you have it.  Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!  See you back here soon!

A weed is...

Good morning friends! I cannot believe how busy this week has been and how fast it has gone!  At least it is Friday and I get to share with you today!  Today is week #2 of the new sketch from Sketches by Carly.  We are sponsored by Digi Doodle Shop and the winner of will win a $10 gift certificate from them!

We got to pick an image to use from Digi Doodle Shop and yep, I chose this dandelion.  I a specific thought in mind for it but when I went to make that card it did not translate well so I started over again and came up with this card-that I really like.  The sentiment is from Ralph Waldo Emerson and says "A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."  I think that is a little bit like us...we are like weeds with God ever pruning us to turn us into a beautiful plant working for His name. 

Anyway, have a wonderful weekend!  See you soon!