Obviously June

As of late, I have been enveloped in all things related to School Law and School Finance, the two classes I am attempting to simultaneously juggle.  However, necessity is the mother of creative time, and it's June.  Those who have followed this blog know that June is a big month as far as cards are concerned.  Many birthdays, Father's Day, my anniversary... you get the picture.

I shall start on a somber note.  The following card from Cheryl Ann Robinson...

was a pin on Pinterest.  I used it as the inspiration for this card...

created almost entirely of Stampin' Up! products.  My card was made in response to the sudden death of a co-worker of my husband and her six-year-old daughter in a car accident last week.  It is things like these that remind you how very precious life is, and that none of us is guaranteed the next breath.  

The white cardstock is Papertrey Ink, and I will strongly advise you that if you plan to use an embossing folder of any type, Papertrey's white cardstock is a must.  It's heavy enough to withstand the embossing and still be a fairly sturdy card.  Using SU!'s white cardstock, I would probably emboss, but glue a panel to a card base, as the embossing folder will substantially weaken the cardstock.  I used SU!'s Square Lattice folder for Big Shot with my Cuttlebug.  I used SU!'s wide satin ribbon in Chocolate Chip, which I am not sure they make anymore, but it is one of my favorite ribbons to work with.  I used Kraft ink for the sentiment (SU! Close as a Memory) and Close to Cocoa for the inside (SU! Thoughts and Prayers). Clicking on the photos will give you a closer view of the sentiments.  I used my Cuttlebug and a Spellbinders die (no idea which one!) for the cardstock shape for the sentiment.  I used Tacky Tape to adhere the ribbon treatment and a pop dot to adhere the sentiment to the ribbon.  I loved the simplicity of this.

On a lighter note, the hubs turns 47 tomorrow.  Woo hoo!  Here's his birthday card:

You might be asking yourself, "What's up with Edward hanging out back there?"  Well, the gift was from my Secret Santa a couple years ago when I was in a deep Edward phase.  My girlfriends and I used to discuss how it really wasn't Edward himself, but was the concept of an Edward that was appealing in the Twilight books.  Someone who would do anything to protect and save.  Someone whom you felt would love you in a way that transcends the normal "human" thing.  My card was misbehaving and would not stand up for the photo, so I enlisted Edward's help.

I had a little starter help from my dealer, Karen, with this one.  At some point, she had a Stamp-A-Stack or something that involved the patterned paper and the colors/layers, as I had them around in a Ziploc bag awaiting the right card.  Today was the day!  I then put some marker ink (SU! Brilliant Blue and Almost Artichoke) on some long neglected stamps (SU! Patterned Party and Bring on the Cake).  I topped it off with a few twists of Baker's Twine (red...what a departure for me!), and voila!  Birthday card for the man!

Two cards in one day.  Sigh.  I went through the new SU! catalog today and was greatly inspired and excited.  Now all I need are 26-hour days, and I will be set!