Four Father's Day cards for your special guy(s)

Happy Father's Day to dads everywhere! I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating.

I hosted a class on Friday where we made four cards for Dad's Day/birthdays:

Best Dad Ever is a must-have set. In addition to the row of ties stamp, you get Thinking of You, Best Dad Ever, and Happy Father's Day stamps. For this card, I used markers to ink up the ties (Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo and Early Espresso), adding a popped-up tie in the middle. The designer paper is from the World Spectacular pack.

I Dig You has been a favorite stamp set of mine because my dad and brother own heavy equipment. When my brother was here visiting over the past couple of days, he said he saved the card I'd sent him using this stamp set for his birthday in March. I CASE'd this card from Jen at http://www.simpleandsincere.com. The Chocolate Chip ric-rac came from the Tasteful Trim die for the Big Shot.

Lovely as a Tree is a great all-around stamp set you may use for many occasions from birthdays and Father's Day to Christmas. I CASE'd this card from Chat at Me, My Stamps and I. I used the new Argyle folder on the Sahara Sand card stock, with Neutral dsp below. The blue is Pacific Point.

The fourth and final card at my class used the Petite Pennants Builder and 3/4" circle punches to create bow ties from Comfort Cafe dsp. The sentiment is from Delightful Dozen (page 140 of catalog). I CASE'd this card from LeeAnn Greff at Flowerbug's Inkspot, who had CASE'd it from Heather Klump at Downstairs Designs. I used a Pool Party marker to fill in the sentiment after it was stamped in Basic Black.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Countryside and Comfort Cafe for Monkey Challenge #112

This has been such a fun week! But first, let's talk about A La Card Monkey Challenge #112: Father's Day + Sketch. Focus on Dad - yours or your kids'. Old trucks always remind me of my dad. He's always had several vehicles around, and even mashed them for scrap metal at one point in his life. I used the Countryside stamp set, along with a sentiment from Best Dad Ever. The designer paper is from the Comfort Cafe pack, and that big button is Natural Wood! The two tones are so pretty in real life. Unfortunately, the words are cattywampus. Here's the sketch I followed:

 

Now about this week - I feel like it's been my birthday all week long. I've been treated to lunch a couple of times, plus dates for future lunches, a box of Stampin' Up! NEW stuff, balloons, cakes, scratch tickets, a vintage suitcase (beautiful - I'll take a photo of it tomorrow when I'm at the studio), a gorgeous clothesline purse, unexpected visits, and more. It's great! I'll share some of the hand-stamped cards later. I've heard from so many friends and family, it's been really wonderful. So thank you! I'm feeling the love!!!

Males of all ages are the focus of this 10-card class...

With summer fast approaching, I thought it a good idea to include a birthday card a boy or a girl could use. This card uses the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, and Sunny Day and Afterthoughts stamp sets. The colors are Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue and Real red.

A tie card is great for a businessman. I used Perfect Plum, More Mustard and Old Olive markers for this card, along with Brights dsp and a layer of Basic Black card stock. The stamp set is Best Dad Ever, and it's in the Summer Mini Catalog. My other sample uses the "Happy Father's Day" sentiment from the same stamp set.

I think this would be a fun card to give a young man. I used Tangerine Tango, Real Red and Pacific Point markers to ink up the surfboards from the Summer Splash stamp set. The big polka-dotted paper is from the Summer Mini Simply Scrappin' kit called Playful Polka Dots. The sentiment is from Teeny, Tiny Wishes.

This card is my favorite. I love the colors - Pumpkin Pie, Sahara Sand and Marina Mist. It uses the Sail Away single stamp in the Summer Mini, words from FYI, and 1-1/4" striped Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon. I CASE'd it from another blogger, with a few minor changes. Any outdoorsman would love this!

And finally, this Totally Tools card is right up my man's alley. He is a tool guy, so I love the sentiment and the distressing (done with the Cutter Kit). The colors are Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, and Crumb Cake, with some Elegant Soiree dsp. I used the same stamps and layout as another blogger, though I changed the colors and a couple other things.

I have 5 cards to share from my Summer Mini stamp-a-stack, and a baby bunny to show from my yard...

My customers played withStampin' Up! Summer Mini products at a recent stamp-a-stack at my studio. The first card features a Level 2 hostess set, and the last two cards are single stamps. There's alot of variety in this mini that I think you'll love! My favorites are the stamp sets that coordinate with designer series paper.

These colors for this Love & Care card came from the Color Coach. I have never used them together before. They're Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, and Always Artichoke. You may get this stamp set with a $300+ party.

It'd been awhile since I'd used a jumbo wheel at a class, so when I saw Fish Frenzy, I thought it'd be great with Summer Splash. The Scallop Border Punch mimics waves, and the silver brads just add a little bling. The greeting is from another Summer Mini stamp set called Best Dad Ever.

This Daffodil Delight card uses Fabulous Florets and Beyond the Garden dsp with 5/8" Real Red satin ribbon. I used the Daffodil Delight reinker and an aqua painter to apply the color. This card is CASe'd from Dawn Olchefske. The sentiment is from Happy Greetings.

Sail Away is a great single stamp for a man card. This was stamped in Night of Navy on Naturals Ivory card stock, and features some Nautical Expedition dsp, and Cherry Cobbler/White baker's twine. The "for you" is from the All Holidays stamp set, and the Crumb Cake layer was run through the Square Lattice Embossing Folder for the Big Shot.

I used Pretty in Pink and Old Olive markers for the Hello Blossom single stamp. I saw this card online somewhere (sorry, I don't remember!), though it had an extra layer or two.

Finally, I have to share this little guy. I was looking out into the backyard from our sliding glass window when I saw a single green leaf moving. No other leaves in the yard were moving. When I looked closer, I saw the baby rabbit nibbling on a weed! This rabbit was so tiny - it could fit in a child's hand. I wanted to hold it so badly, but it hopped away... probably through a little notch in the fence.

I think this baby's mom is a rabbit that appeared in our front yard and driveway the past two days. Here's a photo of it:

It looks the same, only different, doesn't it? It's not a huge rabbit, but it definitely is grown, compared to the baby one. Thanks to my hubby, Eric, for taking the photos.