The last of the graduation cards - I promise

I made these two cute graduation cards for two friends.  The grad cap is from locker talk.  I used stickles for the detail on both of them.  The sentiment "Celebrate" is from the Michael's Dollar Bin.  The Congratulations is from Stampin Up "For the Bride" set.

Baseball Party

Good morning!  Happy Saturday!  This week I've been working on some projects and year end things for my kids.  School is officially over.  I can't believe it.

Well, I'm going to share the centerpieces I worked on for a Baseball Themed party.  This young man is graduating and he's the Catcher on the baseball team.  We had fun planning this party for them.  The centerpieces that his mom had ordered did not arrive, so we had to come up with another plan. I went to the gypsy and pulled out Everyday Paper Dolls & Plantin Schoolbook carts and this is what I did.

Shirt was cut at 25.93 (I didn't think to use the real dial  feature, so I just played with it until it fit into the sheet)
The bat is 21" (also without the real dial...it comes out to around 10" on Kraft paper)
The ball is 17.66 (also not real dial size).  I painted in the stitching with a gel pen.
The shirt has real buttons.  I used candy cane stickles for the red trim and liquid pearls for the white.

The back of the shirt is the blackout feature.  The letters are Plantin  Schoolbook.
His name is cut at  2" and the number is 3.25
When I first cut the bat, it needed dimension, so I took a brown  color pencil and made wood grain marks.

This is the final outcome.  We placed it on a styrofoam disk and held it up with a bamboo skewer.
I also made him his own baseball card with a picture and his stats.  LOVE this!!!

Grace's Apple Tree

Graduation is a time to reflect on student life and to celebrate a child's accomplishments.  It's kind of time to say goodbye to childhood and welcome in the next chapter.  Grace is graduating today.  Her parents are having a reception for her and have asked my sister for help setting it up.  We wanted to use an apple theme, as she wants to be a teacher.  Because I don't like the red apple ideas for a classy event like this, I chose to use Stampin Up gold paper, which I loved.  I purchased a Juniper tree...still pretty small, maybe 2' tall and we are going to ask her guests to share their "golden words of wisdom" and place them on this little tree.  I didn't take a picture of the tree but will today.  This is the idea, though.  The frame is Storybook cut at 8" and the apples are 3/5" from Doodlecharms.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong with my photos.  This was taken landscape.  : (  I'm sorry.

Guayaberas

My brother in law, Joel, has been sick since March.  We've been praying incessantly for him.  He's finally home from the hospital and I wanted to make him a card.  I'm not 100% convinced by it, but I did promise that I would post regardless of how much I liked or disliked what I made...so here I go.

He is a die hard Miami Dolphins fan!  I mean it.  So, I found some orange and teal paper and used Kraft paper for the base.  I learned how to make these little origami shirts a while back and altered it using the cuttlebug.  Guayaberas are very traditional Cuban shirts.  They come in many colors and are even worn long sleeve to some formal events.  They are very significant in our heritage.  This is what a typical guayabera looks like:

So, my practice paper guayabera looked like this.  

Obviously, I was playing with the embossing folders and with chalk.  

Stickles on the cigar for the label.

And...this is my final card.  I used a stampin up stamp with a starfish and a generic Get Well Soon stamp. 

For the buttons, I used bronze brads and I used chalk so that the embossing would be more clear.  I like the card, although the background seems very simple to me.  I had never tried stamping a background like I did

with the starfish here...I need more practice.  Perhaps after I make another version of it, I'll like it better.  Stay tuned. I have a feeling this project isn't over yet!

I think in the next version I am going to use a banner that says Get Well Soon!

Notebook for Lizzie

I made my niece, Lizzie, a notebook for graduation. She is a 5th grade graduate and won the Warrior of the Year award.  She is a great girl. Anyhow, I got the inspiration from Kerry.  You can visit her blog HERE to learn how to make these altered notebooks.  She is truly inspiring!  I used composition notebooks from the dollar store.  There were 3/$1.  The pink paper is melon mambo from SU and the zebra paper is from JoAnns.  Not sure who the manufacturer is.  The pink ribbon is from the 49 cent bin.  :)  I put it inside a 4 x 6 clear envelope and made a pretty package.  I have a card to post tomorrow, but the pic is on my phone (which is charging in the room right now).  I hope you like!

The cap is Locker Talk at 1.47 on my gypsy.  The "Celebrate" is Papertrey Ink and the EDR is from a set I got on ebay.

The punch is Martha Stewart.  Love this one.  Ink is all Classic by SU in black.

Pink paper is Stampin Up and the ink is Melon Mambo to match from SU

Graduation and more projects

I was helping a friend with her graduation invitations.  I really wanted them to be special and custom.  She's a special girl.  We created a 5x5 card.  I put my cardstock through my computer and printed it with a repeat of her name and Class of 2011, so that it would be more dramatic and classy.  The graduation cap is from Locker Talk.   I used a stamp with the word "Grace" which is also her name and embossed it on the lower right corner...to give it a classy look.

The first layer is a glittery red paper that I found at JoAnns.  The base is black cardstock from reflections (nothing fancy).  The ribbon is from the $1 bin at Michaels.   The school colors are red, black and white so I tend to use those a lot.

Got lots of fun stuff to show you!!!

I know I've been MIA this week, but my 5 year old graduated from Kindergarten, plus we had meetings on the new Christian school we are opening.  All in all, it's been a hectic week.

I have also been SUPER crazy working on graduation and year-end parties at school.  We are so blessed to have a creative talent that our friends have grown to depend upon.  I'll be home all day tomorrow and promise to put up some of this week's projects.  You're gonna LOVE them...I hope. :)

Good night everyone!