Customized Birthday Wish

My twin nieces are turning 4 this weekend, and there are two very cute little jean jackets on their way in the mail to them as we speak. Also included in said package is their birthday card. This isn't just any birthday card, and the reason why it's special is one of the things I like best about stamping my greeting cards--personalizing.

The twins' names are Rachyl and Cydney. With these unique spellings, they'll never find their names on the keychains or bicycle license plates or bracelets in Claire's Boutique. Because of this, I've made it my goal to create cards for them that have their names on them.

This year was no exception. I used my jumbo outline alphabet, which I believe is retired, and stamped it on some of my favorite ever DSP, a pattern from SAB three years ago that I know is retired. It took awhile to cut out all the letters, but I love the look against the Regal Rose card stock.

The interior came to me as I was finishing , and I'm tickled with it! I used the sentiments from also-retired (do you sense a theme here?) Birthday Whimsy to create an exclamation point. Sometimes your mind will do things that surprise you, if you just give it room to breathe. This was stamped in RR and Close to Cocoa.

If you have someone in your life who ha a unique name, or who has a keepsake-worthy occasion, consider personalizing. You'll be remembered long after the event has passed!

8th Grade Graduation Card for Emily

My best friend Darcie and I had babies on the same day, 6 hours apart. We had labor rooms that shared a wall (allowing her and her husband to hear Bob shouting the numbers 1 through 10 as I pushed), and we recovered for the 24 hours that insurance allowed back then in the same room. Needless to say, I am experiencing some emotion about the fact that Emily Joy, the dearest girl my son calls his best friend, is graduating eighth grade and moving on to high school in the fall. While Michael is 6 hours older, he had no interest in school when he could've gone at almost 5 (school starts a few days before their birthday each year), but Emily went because you don't hold back a little girl who's already doing simple math in her head!

They've experienced lots of life together, and share many memories. When they were babies, we marked the months of their first year by photographing them at significant milestones: rolling over, sitting up, crawling, drinking from sippy cups, climbing stairs, etc., and as they grew we marked their birthdays with joint celebrations. They went to the same school--and were photographed by the school's cornerstone each year--and played together each day at recess. They really have never known life without each other. She has been his steadfast friend, and is becoming a beautiful young woman, inside and out. Bob and I consider her our almost daughter. So while I knew this day would come, I can't believe it's already here.

I hope that she and Michael will remain friends, but I realize that this could be the beginning of some significant challenges for their relationship. Besides the distance that separates them, this fall Emily will experience all that is high school, while Michael remains in middle school for his last year. Being the sensitive girl she is, she'll try to keep the ties that bind them, but it's going to be tough...and even tougher when she goes off to college and he remains behind in high school. I'm getting way ahead of myself.

This next week, we'll join in as we can from afar and cheer for Emily as she marks this milestone. This card, in the school colors of Brilliant Blue and Summer Sun and Whisper White, is simple. I wanted to incorporate the school's initials in the design, and I girlied it up with some flowers from Wonderful You. It may be hard to tell, but the SS circle actually sits on the inside of the card, and the ribbon holds the card together. Now that the card's done, the question is what gift do you give this dear girl, to let her know just how special we think she is? Whatever it is, it won't do justice to the girl who means so much to our family. Way to go, Em! We love you!

Memorial Day Weekend=Graduation Time!

When we lived in Illinois, graduation was something that happened in JUNE. When we moved south, we were very surprised to hear that the high schools held their ceremonies the Friday or Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. In Illinois, folks have been waiting SO LONG for it to get warm that doing something that would conflict with getting away to the lake or going to the pool would make some folks crabby. Here, it has been nice and warm for many weeks now, so it's just another weekend. At least that's my rationale for the decision to link graduation with the holiday weekend!

All this to say that I am in need of a graduation card for our next-door neighbor, Lauren. Her high school's colors are purple, black, and silver, so of course that's what dictated the color scheme. The design for this started out COMPLETELY differently, but when things happen, you have to make the best of them or start over. I NEVER want to start over, so I persevered and am pleased with the final outcome.

I started out with a solid Elegant Eggplant circle that was going to be mounted offset on the right side of the card. I stamped the word "congrats" in Basic Black on the Whisper White circle that was 1/4" smaller than the EE with my Outline Alphabet. Then I used my Versamark marker to color in each of the letters and heat emboss them with Sterling Silver EP. This went fairly well, but some of the black outlines disappeared, so I had to retrace the letters with my Black Stampin' Write Marker. That's where the trouble started. I decided to try to suggest some of the parts of the letters that had been covered over by the EP process and didn't think that the black would RUB OFF onto my fingers while I was handling it. Before I knew it, I had smudges on the crisp white portions of the circle.

No problem, I thought, I can just cover those with decorative stars! Three stampings with and colorings of the star from Fun & Fast Notes and I thought I was finished. NOPE. The smearing had continued when I'd turned the whole thing over to place the Stampin' Dimensionals. So, I got out my scissors and began to selectively snip. I also went back to the EE circle and trimmed it, creating a slender outline of a circle. Re-adhere, place said circle, tie some ribbon, and it's not looking half bad!

I scored the inside flap at 1 1/2" to create a place for a gift card or two. The girl has a new job, so I'm thinkin' that a gas card would be appreciated, but Bob doesn't think that's very fun, so a Starbucks card will probably be included too!

I was very tempted to let this whole thing go and start over, but I'm glad I didn't. I think it's a hip card for a graduate, and I'm going to go make another along the same lines and see what comes of that process!

My craft room's going to be disassembled over the next 2 days because it's going to be painted a lovely Mint Frost color by my dear husband and my dear father this weekend. Not sure when I'll be posting again, but I'm going to try to get another card made this afternoon or tomorrow morning before I begin moving it all out of there. Stay tuned!