The Beloved: Vacation Blogging

Hi friends - it's vacation time!! I am going to try catching up on a little blogging. This is a picture of how my table looks right now - pretty much a mess, but sure has been fun!

When I prepare for vacation I try and pick a theme for my stamping - can't take everything!!
This year I decided to do guy cards. I REALLY struggle with guy cards and always run out of them. SO, I am decided to build up my inventory. Hard for me not to do girly cards... they are SOOOO much more fun! So I gathered my guy-type punches, stamps, embellishments...

When we got here I realized I had not made an anniversary card that had to go in the mail one day after we arrived, so I worked hard to get a romantic looking card made - with guys type

stuff! LOL! I am not posting THAT card today, since it is going to one of my readers. I will add it another time. Today, I ran out of my Xyron 150 sticker maker tape. Makes card

making a LOT more complicated - and there are NO stores that carry the replacement cartridge within 60 miles of our vacation spot! So it is back to double-stick tape and Zig two-way glue. Now, when I went to use my Zig glue - uh, I realized I was at a LOT higher altitude - I got a BIG blob of glue - too much pressure.

Short of all that, it has been FUN! This is the view when I turn to my right - is that awesome or what?! God's handiwork for sure!

This "STOP" card is kind of fun - probably will go to one of my sons. The stamps are from the SU set - "It's a Sign." These make GREAT guy cards! I used the Quickutz embossing folder - not sure what the name of it is - dotted diamonds would make sense wouldn't it? I used the Sizzix Tim Holtz tree bark embossing folder with brown cardstock for the post. After layering it, I placed it on a red cardstock.

The inside was easy - same diamond embossing folder for background. The "U Rock" is from the same SU set -stamped in brown.

I make cards for our care team at church - we send cards to members who have lost a loved one in the last year. So, I need more guy cards for this too. The sentiment can be added when I get home. I really like the green stripes - pretty good for guys, don't you think?

This card will be for one of my boys or my DH. They are getting ready to go backpacking - and all have or have had boots that look like this. Found this paper at a great little shop in Pagosa Springs, CO called "The Kraftin Post." Diana, the owner, always carries something interesting!

This stamp is an old one I have had for years - made by Stampa Rosa. Since my guys have backpacked for years, this one always comes in handy. Again I layered it on paper embossed in the wood design.

The same piece of paper with the boots had a compass on it. So another backpacking type of card. The arrows are a punch from SU. the "Way to Go" stamp again from the SU sign set. The zig zag circles are Spellbinders. I added the gold metallic embellishments to finish.

This is a REALLY old stamp made by Eureka. I bought it when my oldest son, who is now 30, was in high school. The school mascot is a lion - the "chesty lions." It is embossed in gold. Then I colored in all the hearts in his mane with the R 29 copic marker. I matted one in gold and the other in red and layered them on the opposite colored cardstock.

These light-blue star cards are just going to have to be for little guys - I asked my DH. I still really like them - and I do have a little guy I love in mind...my SWEET grandson. The inner star is paper I picked up years ago - not sure who makes it. I think I saw it at Joann's not too long ago. I backed the stars with plain silver paper and placed a strip of it on the bottom in slightly different configurations. One has stars punched out of it - used the EK Success stars border punch. The big stars are made with Spellbinders dies. Finished the cards with small silver beaded embellishments I found at Archievers.

Now, these cards ARE for my sweet little guy. Purchased the paper at Archievers with him in mind. It is Deja Views Sharon Ann, Little Ones Collection. I love the little sailboats, stars and airplanes. And, if I had remembered, I have a great stamp set from SU at home (sigh) with the concentric dotted circles for the inside. Oh well, I will add that later. On the top card I used the EK Success large circles border punch and a Fiskars sailboat punch, which I LOVE!! The sailboats are cut from different colors of cardstock and layered on Spellbinders circles. On the lower left card I used Spellbinders circle and zig zag circle punches and an old Quickutz word diecut set. I finished the card with the two brads from the Deja Views Sharon Ann, Little Ones Collection and three dots of Faded Jeans Distress Stickles by Ranger. Gotta say, my favorite is the lower right. I wanted to go with the circles or bubbles theme. I layered the designer paper over the cardstock card and put the card through the Big Shot machine using a Spellbinders circle die so it would cut the "bubble" through both layers. Worked perfectly. I embossed some white cardstock with a Quickutz bubble embossing folder on the inside. It is layered on red cardstock punched with and EK Success small circles border punch. I again used the Quickutz word dies and put "Love" on one bubble and "You" on the blue bubble. Kinda fun! Finished the card with the Faded Jeans Distress Stickles by Ranger.

This was my son's birthday card - I do think this is one of my all time favorites. I started with navy linen cardstock. On it I stamped the "Happy" curly cues. This is a Stampendous stamp - I use it a lot for backgrounds. It is stamped using Versamark Dazzle ink. I used Spellbinders labels (#?) for the red and white layered Happy Birthday label. The stamp is an old stamp from Personal Stamp Exchange - my all time favorite company - went out of business years ago. As an aside - I was discussing PSX (Personal Stamp Exchange) with a stamping store owner about a month ago - she wanted to see their old catalog. I took it in and she offered me $50 for it - I said "No thanks." She was amazed at the detail in the stamps. They were amazing. Back to the current card... The label is finished with the gold bead embellishments. The sailboats are made with the Fiskars punch in the navy cardstock with strips of red and white cardstock on the inside of the card.

I REALLY like the Sizzix Tim Holtz "Hanging Sign" die. It is versatile and GREAT for guy cards. I used it on my SIL's Father's Day card in my last post. I layered several of the "signs" with different stamps. This is also one of my favorites - the whole thing says "For a Wonderful Son." It is again and OLD stamp - by a company called My Sentiments Exactly. Finished the sign with the gold metal beads embellishments.

This is a late part of my previous post - my son's Fathers Day card. It is way out of my comfort zone in colors and design - but decided to stretch my horizons a little. The DP looks like and old hiking map. I used another Spellbinders label set - don't know the number of this one either - sorry. Some of the words are dies cut, some are parts of stamps - it is a montage.

I altered a saying I found that fit the theme I wanted. I also had a bunch of word stickers that fit the occasion - his first Father's Day. The anchor punches were made with a Martha Stewart punch from Michael's.

This is another card that was out of my comfort zone in terms of color - but it is in colors my DEAR DIL looks beautiful in! I started with a 6 X 12 inch piece of ivory linen cardstock. I used a MS Punch in Place heart punch. Those punches have STRONG magnets -and work really well! I stamped the shell in a combination of inks - started with brown and added a little orange before I stamped it. I used the curly cue "Thanks" stamp - I am not sure if it is made by Stampendous. At the end of the stamped thank you's I glued tiny orange rhinestones. When I got to this point, it was just too bright - so I used a dauber to put a little orange and brown finish on it - made a world of difference. To finish the card, I placed a tiny sea shell near the top. It was one I had picked up on a beach in South Carolina years ago on our 25th anniversary trip.