Tropical Dream

Tomorrow is the last day of August, and this marks the beginning of the end of summer - at least to me.  The temp is getting cooler and Labor Day is nigh.  Soon it will be fall and winter - my FAVORITE times of year! :)

But this year, I discovered a way to prolong summer just a tad.  In 12 days, Hubby and I will be heading for the Bahamas!  Warm sunny weather (hopefully), a wedding on the beach, plenty of bathing suits and suntan lotion.  Oh, and since all the food on the cruise is all-you-can-eat, there will be ... well, more food than we can eat!

The following card is a reflection of my mindset - I am already on the beach of CocoCay, sprawled out of a lounge chair, sipping a colorful drink.  I call it: TROPICAL DREAM.

I love this stamp set from StampinUp! - it is called Aviary.  The bird is stamped in regular ink, but the cage is embossed in black, so it gives the illusion of the cage being in front of the bird.  The background paper, ribbon and tiny flower jewels are things I just had lying around.  Gotta love the leftovers!

I hope this card has you thinking of a tropical paradise.

Happy Scrapping!

Three business days....

The man that hired me three years ago at my current job, Werner, will be retiring on Wednesday, August 31st.

Though he is a stickler for the rules, he is kind-hearted and has a wonderful sense of humor.  My colleagues and I will miss him!

RETIREMENT CARD:
I made this with much creative help from Sue.  The scissors and the tie were both cut from the "Simply Charmed" Cricut cartridge.  The tie was embossed and the swirls were colored in with a silver pen.

Happy Retirement, Werner!  Go and relax!

De ja vu!

I know I have featured this project in another post, but I believe it bears repeating.

Inspired creativity is all about thinking outside the box, in my opinion.  My box happens to be rounded at the edges (get it?  cloud, round edges, hehe... ok, enough fooling around, back to the post...)

Problem:  Ever find yourself with embellishments or a cartridge of images you think you are never going to use?  Ever have an embellishment or image you really love but have no idea what other colors or patterns would work with it?  Ever need a small gift for someone who isn't crafty or may not appreciate a handmade card?

Solution: Magnets!

This idea came from a project that I worked on with partner-in-crime Sue and a coworker, Sandra, who was having a 1st birthday/baptism for her daughter.  Sue made the invitations for Sandra, and we all took an afternoon down in the Craft Cave assembling them.  The last piece of the project was putting magnets on the back of each card.  I thought this was ingenious, because it transformed an invitation that might sit on someone's counter, or get lost with the junk mail, into something that people could display, that was easily visible on the fridge.

It is as simple as taking an embellishment or cutting an image on your Cricut (or Pazzles or etc etc) and gluing a magnet on the back.  Instant gift!

Below are the two magnets I made using Disney and Pixar cartridges (borrowed from friends).  Wall-E is my second favorite Disney film of all time, and my Hubby adores the green aliens from Toy Story.  And now we can both smile every time we walk past the fridge and see them up there.

EVE:

As you can see, the cut-out if not very big.  (Yes, that is my hand.)  You can make the image as big or as small as you want.  As long as you use sturdy paper and good glue, anything will work.

ALIEN:

I put two magnets on this one, but it is up to you...

These are small and thin enough (depending on the magnet you use) to fit inside a card, an envelope, or, as you can see here, slipped inside a 6 pack.

And the scrapping continues...

July Come Lately....

I - on the advice of my bestest friend Sue, found here - am participating in a Facebook card club.  I don't have a Facebook account, but my Hubby has been kind enough to contact the ringleader of this card club on my behalf.  Check out Scrappy Jak on Facebook - you won't regret it!

These cards were posted a few days after the designated date, but I still got some nice comments on them anyway.  The theme for July's card challenges was "4th of July".  Here is my tribute to the good ol' red, white, and blue...

A lot going on, but reminds me of a sky full of fireworks...

The stickers and embellishments were left overs from a Creative Memories project.  The paper and ribbons were in the kit from Scrappy Jak.

Looking forward to next challenge... And the scrapping continues...