8th Grade Graduation

...and now it's off to high school in the fall.....I can't believe it! My little girl is so grown up!! They aren't having any ceremony at school for them, when I graduated from the 8th grade we dressed up and went on the stage like a high schooler, but not this school. Oh well. I still wanted to make it special for my little girl....she's been begging for a second hole in her head...I mean ears, so we are going to have that done for her, she'll be excited and always remember when and why she had them done.

I don't have any graduation stamp sets, but I found this cap in the Jolee's section and it was perfect! And unknown to me until I started looking, I had the All Year Cheer III (now retired) and it had the "Congrats, Graduate" sentiment! Yippee!!!

Her school colors are a blue-ish turquoise and yellow, so I went with it....and the star is for my shooting star. She can shoot for the stars and do whatever she wants to do in life. She has ideas of what she wants to do...things can certainly change in the next 4 years or the 4 following that, but I support her in whatever she wants to do.

She also received the Presidential Award for Excellence for having honors throughout middle school!! She's so much smarter then I ever was, she'll go far. Can you tell how proud I am of my daughter?? Very!!!

Set: All Year Cheer III, Free & The Brave (star)
Accessories: Jolee's, Tempting Turquoise, YoYo Yellow & Whisper White cardstocks, Traffic Jam CB Folder, StazOn Black Ink, Star Punches, Markers, Turquoise & Maize Ribbons.

Happy Birthday to my not so little girl

Well, I thought last year was hard...turning into a teen, now the first full year of a teenager is over, and she's going into high school in the fall....she's wearing makeup full time, cut her hair, babysitting her little brother when needed, just all around turning into such a young woman. I'm so proud of her. I still see that little one that I brought home from the hospital so long ago...feels like yesterday, though...doesn't it always? I can't stand the thought that in four more short years she'll be going out into the world as an adult, gasp! (Love you honey)

I've been spying these shutter cards (tutorial here) since they came out and knew I was going to use it for her birthday card. Her favorite color is green and she doesn't like pink, so I even went as far as to keep the girls dress green.

I kept it simple, yet complete. I love that eyelet punch! Perfect for so many things. And I pulled out my circle scissors for this one. You really have to tape down your paper to the glass mat to keep it from shifting, but when you do it comes out great!!

Set: God's Blessings, Summer By The Sea
Accessories: Maine Blueberry DP, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White & Confetti White cardstocks, Eyelet Punch, Blue Bayou Double Stitch Ribbon, Old Olive Grosgrain, Primas...oh and when I was done I added Stickles to the Primas...I forgot before I photoed it and didn't want to start all over ;)

Zoo Time

Hello everyone. I'm finally back, feels like it's been forever ;) My hubby returned from deployment last weekend so I've been MIA from my inky world since then, and before due to preparation. Gotta get everything in order before he returns, even though our men never really notice that the house is clean and in order etc. They do care, however, that the fridge and cupboards are stocked. After months of ship food....he was thrilled for real home cooking.

A couple weeks ago I found this stamp set at Target, yup, I went into Target...I'm a Walmart girl, but I was looking for something and I end up there sometimes. Well, this set has monkeys in it and they were too cute....my little guy is a monkey, he is always grabbing hold of things with his toes, so I thought the set would be fun...however, I didn't use a single monkey in this card. Next time.

I used Mojo Mondy sketch #87 for this card. I dug out some old retired DP and started to color. I love this palm tree! Our zoo has giraffes so I wanted to use them, I find them so fascinating. You should see how hard it is for them to sit down on the ground. They get up pretty quickly though, you wonder if it's worth all the effort.

I used Crystal Effects on all their spots/noses and on the coconuts. And lots of dimension with all the cut out pieces. I love to color and cut, so this was fun for me. I wanted it to be sorta free and I guess that's what it is. They hang over edges, it's just fun.

Set: Mindy's Zoo-Autumn Leaves
Accessories: Petals & Paisleys DP, Cool Caribbean, Taken w/Teal, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Old Olive & Confetti White cardstocks, Scallop border punch, 1 3/8" & 1 1/4" square punches, Black StazOn, Various SU Inkpads, Aqua Painter, CB Folder, Crystal Effects, Buttons, Certainly Celery Grosgrain & sponges.

For those of you keeping up....Garrett had his 6 month doctors appointment this past week and he is now 19.4 pounds and 29" !! He's my ever growing weed ;) He loves to eat and sleep and is just always happy. He also cut 2 bottom teeth yesterday!! Yup, both in one day, my poor baby. It's been a rough couple of days, but they are through. I cried. Every milestone makes me tear up. I wasn't like this with my daughter, maybe it's my 'old' age, lol....but I just want to slow down time and get him to not grow up so fast. I'm enjoying every minute with him.

Have a great weekend!!!