Summer Break??

Okay, I can't believe I haven't posted in months! I don't want July to slip by without a new post so here it is.

First, in May I created several table decorations for my nephew's high school graduation. This of course did not happen without a small heart attack.  Daughter #1 and I was out in the scrapbook room and as I started the project, I went to my trusty Cricut machine and it wouldn't turn on! Panic ensued.  After some troubleshooting that included googling and a quick search for a new Cricut, we decided to try the local Radio Shack first to test the battery.  Low and behold, all I needed was a new battery pack and my little machine that could was producing dog bones, graduation caps and diplomas once again.  Happy, happy, happy!

I also made a couple of graduation cards.

I have a friend that was celebrating the big 30 ;) and asked people to send her a post card from where ever they were.  Well, I wanted to make mine special so I found a postcard made from a sponge that you can actually mail.

Here is how I made the sponge: I purchased a large sponge and cut it diagonally to make the cake shape. Using an Xacto knife I cut a ridge partially through the middle to make it look like a two layer cake.  I then spray painted the sponge (I used brown to replicate chocolate).  Then I used a tube of caulking again, I chose brown for chocolate and a plastic knife and spread the caulking in the pre-cut ridge and on the sides and top of the sponge (I left one side un-caulked so I could put the postcard on it.)  I then printed up a postcard with my message and the addresses.  I sprayed adhesive on the un-caulked side and applied the post card.  I then took a little more of the caulking and sealed the post card to the sponge so it wouldn't come off in the mail.

Note to self: Next time I do this, place the message and mailing address lower as the postage for this ($2.24) will take up a large portion of the top of the post card.

June brought a our annual block party and I used my creativity to make several different things to take to the party. 

(l/r: Blackberry buckle, fresh roasted corn salad, homemade chocolate chip cookies, brownies and a cherry jello poke-cake).

Also, this summer, my mother-in-law passed away from cancer.  Her favorite flowers were blue carnations so I along with daughter #1 and daughter #2 formed an assembly line and using the McGill Paper Blossom punches made 17 blue carnations to put on picture boards.

I also am the one that made the boards.

My husband also had a friend who lost a parent this summer and I made a sympathy card for him to send.

My Aunt has a grand-daughter that is going to get married at the county courthouse this summer and they wanted to have a wedding reception for her so I made the invitations for that. I used Bazzill card stock in fig swirl and embossed purple and white designs on them.  In hindsight, I wished I had made the actual invitation smaller and mounted them on a boysenberry card stock. (Note to self: next time!)

And last but not least, my mothers birthday is in July and here is the card I made for her.

So, I have been busy creating and for the most part this summer, working full time, and traveling (Houston twice and Athens, GA) and have really only been off for about a week.  

Several months ago (okay more like a year and a half ago, I purchased Project Life).   I have taken so many pictures over the last several months that I decided "just for now" to put them in the plastics that I bought with Project Life.  I have to say, so far, I am not that thrilled with it.  It is difficult to match pictures with the plastics.  Some have all landscape, some have all portrait and only a few have a mixture of both and if they do, there is usually only 4 spots for pictures and it's not a 12x12 sheet.  At this rate, I would need a ton of plastics and a mountain of binders just to take care of my pictures. I'm not really sure if I want to continue this route or not.

I read recently about a project called Operation Write Home. It is a project that provides homemade cards to deployed service people so that they can "write home" to their loved ones.  I went to the website and read up on it.  I think this is something I am going to try.  I enjoy card making but realistically I can only use so many cards a year.  This way, I can enjoy making cards and send them to Operation Write Home and they will get them to servicemen and women to use.  Also, if I keep good records, we could use the money I spend as a taxable donation, which makes the hubby happy.