REFRESHING LEMONADE, ANYONE?

 

I needed a sweet little hello (in the form of a card), and the perfect pitcher-shaped creation was found in Cricut Design Space.  It was a design by Robin Hardy, and I nearly squealed with excitement when my eyes saw it!  The sweet lady who will receive this card recently lost her husband, and I wanted a cheery way to let her know that it's okay to not be okay.

It's a cheery little card, isn't it?

I brushed the background layer with Wink of Stella, and (roughly) smoothed Nuvo Crystal Drops onto the lemon slices to make them look a wee bit real.

The tiny lemon slice embellishments were found at Trinity Stamps.  I don't know if they're polymer clay, but they are so freakin' cute!  I really had no ideas for how or when I would use them--they were just so cute that I thought I should have them, and wasn't this the perfect project?  Have a closer look:

And let's take one more look at the card:

It makes me want a cool glass of tangy lemonade, but I just hope it makes the recipient smile.

FROM MY HEAD TO-MA-TOES

One of my favorite things about summer (and there isn’t much about summer that I love) are home grown tomatoes.  Of course, I don't have a garden because that would require me to be outside and have to reach under some leaves to retrieve a vegetable, which I'm very unwilling to do.  ETA:  My unwillingness to pick vegetables from a garden is not because I'm too good for that--it's because I wouldn't want to reach for the same veggie that a critter/slitherer might have its eye on.  My most favorite tomatoes are the ones that my daddy finds in Woodleaf, NC, and he had two gorgeous tomatoes waiting for me last weekend when I visited.  I can't even find words to describe just how scrumptious those tomatoes were!  I enjoyed them so much and decided that I should send a tomato-shaped card of thanks.

I love making shaped cards almost as much as I love a Woodleaf tomato.  As usual, this shaped card and all of its layers were designed and cut with my Cricut Maker 3.  A little fun fact . . . the font that was used on the tag is actually my son's handwriting from many years ago.  I don't remember how he created the font, but I remember the process of writing each of the letters--uppercase and lowercase.  I had my own font at one time, but it disappeared from my computer during an upgrade years ago. I remember the process involved writing each letter and any symbols you wanted on a printed piece of paper. Each character had its own small block. It wasn’t fun having to re-write the alphabet upon realizing that one or two letters didn’t connect properly, but it was neat being able to type your own handwriting.

This card clearly demonstrates that you don't have to spend half a day and add lots of layers and embellishments to send some happy mail.  This sweet little tomato made my parents' day--almost as much as they made mine! 

COUNTRY BIRDHOUSE HELLO

 

It was past time to send a hello to a family friend, so I spent some time this morning stamping and coloring.  I used one little (retired) bundle . . . Country Birdhouse . . . to create this card, along with that pretty gold foil layer.  My cardstock colors are Coastal Cabana, Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral, Mossy Meadow, and Crushed Curry.  

Aren't the colors gorgeous?  While this product bundle has dies to cut all of the pieces to build the birdhouse, it also includes a stamp (and coordinating die) that gave me the option to color which is exactly what I wanted to do today.  Unfortunately, Stampin' Up! has already retired this bundle, but I knew that it was a keeper!

In the center of the flowers, I used Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels, and I used a Wink of Stella glitter brush on the die-cut bird so he, too, would sparkle.

Above is another close-up of some of the details.

This was such a fun project to work on!  I think it also serves to remind us that when there are products that we really enjoy--products that seem to have thought of everything--we must be sure to hold onto them.  Below is one more look at the card: