girlie grad card

i found the orange hunk of string and thought the color was so wonderful it should be used for  something. it found a home on the front of this girlie grad card. i also used a zebra template and grey spray paint and glimmer mist and some stitching with my sewing machine.

have i told you  how much i like this stamp?! i know...just get over it right? well, for the girls, i normally do the above.

and of course a matching envelope. this one maybe is not my most dressed up, but, it is still cute and matches the card.

happy wednesday

party people

the graduate...with his small cake.

friends of mine from tuesday morning coffee group

family

grandparents and his girlfriend

hi school friends and his girlfriend smiling at the camera on the end

his sister (blonde in the sundress) and a close friend.

graduate and his older cousin

hi school buddies, all giving hugs! they were squeezing and giving bear hugs picking up the graduate, except for this buddy who thought he needed the bear hug

chalk messages

hi school friends

family friend with our little dog- you would think none of us loved him

with gramma. it was a great party! we are glad it was a success and is over! ;)

all that's left is the party.....

it's go time here in this household! d-day! we determined that this small scoop (the kind you find in the kool-aid or lemonade mix) if filled below the top of the scoop was the right amount to fill our tubes. i first cut the ribbons that were going to be used as ties so they were ready to go. then, i pulled the saran wrap out- i suppose my hunks were probably about 6-7 inches wide; then, dumped my scoop of M and Ms onto the saran wrap...gather up the edges, tie, and poof- filler complete!! 

once all the fillers were complete, i grabbed the tubes, tied one end and slipped the candy inside. i maybe should have trimmed the saran wrap, but, i did want people to realize there was something inside- so i left it. i was trying to streamline the process a bit, and no trimming- one less step. so unless you are really anal- then, you can trim away! with the candy inside, tie the other end and this is what it will look like.

this is my final product....boom! (with my arms up and an air chest bump...) grad party favor!! if you have a friend or two that is willing to help, this process really isn't too bad. we did the party favors in stages, so if you have visited this blog before, you may have seen the mountain of toilet paper rolls in book paper in the last week or two...we didn't want to fill with candy and then have them sit, so we just got completely finished yesterday. we only made 150- sometimes you have to set the limit and the early party people will get the party favors!

all that's left is the grad party!! it should be a heck of a day!

20?

i had temporarily misplaced my new art journal i had made....i did find it after much searching amongst the graduation stuff. i was so happy i almost cried. so i started a new page! i am soooo loving the beads on the bingo square.

i had started this page the other day. anytime i was close to my studio space i ran in and added one more thing to the page.

then, yesterday i finally looked at the page to decide what my next step was and stood there wondering to myself- what is the 20 for?! sorry for the glare off the 20....i decided i am completely loosing my mind with all of the trying to get ready for graduation. i am hoping once the party is over this weekend that some of my mind will return! all i could do was laugh!

birthday card

in between making things for the grad party and track meets, i did manage to make my wonderful husband a birthday card.

if you look close, the book page that is the main portion of the card is from the vintage chemistry book. i plan on using that whole book! ;) my husband is always saying, "it's good to be the king." love this stamp for this kind of stuff.

inside of the card...i like the way the india ink bled through the book paper. the book paper was a little flimsy though, so i added another page out of a journal to write our wishes on- this added a little strength and sturdiness; and i left the ripped edge from the notebook- you can see that edge above. this added a nice textural element.

happy birthday sweetie!

anniversary tag

vintage ribbon and cotton hankie- 22 years for us.

a little felt and sewn on button

a little vintage chemistry book paper..."the years together will have resistance to shock and corrosion."  my husband is scientist, so the book paper is classic and humorous...

again, a little mix of chemistry- which all good relationships need to have to survive. had to add the bit about the kids- our anniversary was spent at a state track meet and supper out (we spent the day with family and friends and KFC....hey, i didn't have to cook now did i?)

i liked the mix of colors and textures and all the years together.

kitchen is cooking now

this is old crappy kitchen. i had a "lovely" window that overlooked the business next door- now boarded up and gone.

another typical big, old house windows....gone. i am still ok with this.

i had forgotten about the very stylish laminate back splash that i had painted. awesome huh?! new kitchen is cooking...pics will be coming...wait for it, wait for it.....

how my garden is growing

my flowers started with five 4 inch circles from a vintage chemistry book.  i cut out 30 flowers.

i rubbed each circle on an ink pad. i used a bunch of different colors...pink, purple, blue, green....

once the circles were inked, i picked out a vintage button for the center and punched holes in the paper to attach.

i used a small, 32 gauge wire to attach my button centers twisting the wire together in the back to make sure the button was secure.

this is my pile of flower in waiting....

once the button was attached, i scrunched the paper into a little bundle around the button, and then, peeled back the paper to leave some wrinkles in the paper to make the pedals. i attached a larger, stronger wire for the stem using a 18 gauge. these flowers will be part of my centerpieces for the graduation party.