Howdy!

I want to let everyone know that we are back in town! We left for Seattle, Washington the morning of Friday May 14th. This little vacation was mine and my husbands present to each other to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary, as well as joining some wonderful friends as they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. We spent a day and half in Seattle taking in a few sights and reconnecting with those wonderful friends. We boarded a Princess cruise ship (Golden Princess) late Saturday afternoon headed for Alaska! The cruise was relaxing, the sights were breath-taking, the time we spend together was priceless! As you all can guess, we ate too much! and we took some wonderfully gorgeous photos. I will be posting some of those photos soon. (they were taken with my husbands camera, so I need to have him upload those of me.) Alaska was beautiful, and very peaceful this time of year. We visited Juneau, Skagway, Ketchican, and Victoria in Canada. Each town had their own charms, their own beauty, and all the people we met along the way were friendly and polite. We arrived pretty early Saturday May 22nd, into Seattle. We were able to check into our hotel by 10am. My husband and I went shopping in downtown Seattle, grabbed some lunch, and a movie. We got back to our hotel to change and get ready for a professional baseball game. The Mariners were playing at home - Safeco Field, against the Padres. We ate hot dogs and garlic fries and had a wonderful time. (My first pro baseball game.) We got to sleep in late today, and catch an early afternoon flight home. So, after we got the cars home, picked up our dog, and got everything unpacked its now 1020p.

I want to thank everyone for their patience and I promise there are some wonderfully beautiful photos coming your way! I have some embellishments and cards to post soon, too.

Bonjour

I purchased a stamp set for myself for my birthday in Feb. The stamp set is basically all birds. There is a nest, a branch, and a cage stamps to go along with the bird theme. I love that stamp set. I use it as much as I can, because I just love the images. Well, look what I found! The same stamp company has put out a 'Paris' themed stamp set, too! Oh yeah, I will be posting some things created with this stamp set soon. (this stamp set was purchased in a chain store in Seattle Washington.)

Happy Graduation

We needed a graduation card for a Senior this year. I used the graduation announcement as my inspiration. I used the new graduation stamp that is in the back of the Summer Mini from Stampin' Up!. I used real red craft ink and heat embossed the 'happy graduation'. I had a scrap piece of night of navy card stock and ran it through my Big Shot with a Stampin' Up! texture plate. The flourish is from a Christmas stencil that can be viewed in the home decor catalog from Stampin' Up!. I used the silver shimmer paint and a dauber to apply the color of the flourish.

thank you for looking. Please post a comment, as they always make my day. Sorry this is so short, but I am running out the door. Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

Yvonne's Bridal Shower Cake

Ok, here is her cake. The cake itself is half chocolate and half vanilla. The filling is home-made whipped cream with sliced strawberries. The cake decoration is roughly simple. (Simple in design.) If you have ever worked with fondant, you know that it is not forgiving.

I dirty iced the cake in white buttercream. Then completely iced the cake with light leaf green. The fondant wedding dress is pieced on top of the icing. (I don't like the way fondant taste, so I wanted regular icing.) After placing the wedding dress on the cake, I brushed ivory luster on the dress skirt. I added some 'lace' to the top of the dress. To help 'hide' my seams at the waist, and carry over the lines from the flowers, I added a shell border. The tiny bridal flowers are wrapped in the same ribbon I put on the bridal shower card. I added some ribbon roses to the bottom hem of the dress. In the upper left and right corners of the cake are these rhinestone clusters. You typically add them to floral arrangements to help give everything some bling. I thought how cute to add them. I finished the cake with a light sprinkle of edible glitter. Don't all girls like bling?

Well, thanks for looking. I will be posting a graduation card next. so stay tuned. I just love to recieve comments. Have a blessed day.

Congratulations Yvonne!

I made a Bridal Shower card for one of the nicest ladies I know at work. She works the 3p-11p shift, and she is a super person. The 3p-11p shift wanted to give her a Bridal Shower sorta before she runs off to Las Vegas to get married. We all love her. I was asked to make her cake. So, come back tomorrow, and I should have photos to post. But, I wanted to make her a card, too. So, here it is. I wanted the cake and card to reflect her colors. Yvonne's wedding dress is ivory and her flowers are Calla Lilys. So there isn't much color to work with.

To make her card, I used some new paper from Basic Grey to give the card some color. I didn't want overwhelming colors to take over the card. I used a heart border punch from Stampin' Up! on a separate scrap of Basic Grey pattern paper. I sponged the edges with Close to Cocoa classic ink, to give some dimension to the layers. I cut the 'dress' out of Glass Slipper paper. I have a few different rolls of tulle, and so I added some white tulle onto the skirt of the dress. I had a long scrap of ivory ribbon so I wrapped a small piece around the waist line of the dress, and the rest of the ribbon along the edge of the card. (The ribbon at the waist line, also help hide my gluing of the tulle.) I added a row of half pearls just above the ribbon to give a decorative touch to the waist line. I had a flower shape button that was just screaming to be added, so I did. I felt the card needed a little bling, so I created my own flourishes with some rhinestones at opposite corners (upper right and bottom left). The top left corner, felt empty. So, I cut a tiny butterfly, using my beautiful wings embosslit from Stampin' Up! There is a flower on the pattern paper at the bottom right corner of the card, so I added a chocolate brown half pearl to the center of the flower. The ribbon along the edge of the card looked naked, so I added a light green flower and my own pin. I kept a corsage pin (don't ask why), so I added some tiny beads and a light green pearl to the pin. I pinned this little creation through the ribbon knot. I used glue dots to keep the beads/pearl from slipping.

I am really satisfied as to how this card came out. I'd love to hear from you. Post a comment, and make my day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

I want to wish all the Mothers who follow my blog, and those who stumble upon it, a Happy Mother's Day!

My husband surprised me on Friday, by bringing these flowers home. In his family, you only celebrate your mother on Mother's Day. So, when he walked in the house with flowers, I just assumed they were for his mother. They were for me! How wonderful is that!

I celebrate Mother's Day, honoring all mothers out there. If you're a mom, this day is special for you, so why not celebrate it with friends, sisters, and blog followers who are mothers?

Take time out of your special day, to do something special for yourself. Whatever that may be.