Summer Card Camp - Week 4

It's the last week of Summer Card Camp :(

I wanted to make my last card really great. Humm. Not sure it turned out that way.

Yesterday when I saw the new challenge colors I thought of a stamp I got a while ago but have never used. It's by Memory Box and is called "grove of trees". All day at work I was imaging how I could use watercolors to paint the landscape in. But then I thought it would be even better if I had pearlescent watercolors! So I stopped at Aaron Brothers on the way home and got some. The stamp itself is just a sideways V of trees so you have to add the hills so it looks right.



I did a quick test version to see how it would look. I didn't like it. So I put it away and didn't look at it for an hour. It's amazing how things can look better after an hour. It didn't exactly turn out the way I imagined, but you just have to go with what you have. And this is what I have. Hope you like it!

Block Party - Not!

Last year....or maybe the year before, we got a flyer in our mailbox about a block party. The thing we noticed right away was the fee. Yes, there was a $20 per person fee. For a block party.

Huh?

Greg and I looked at each other in confusion. I've never heard of having to pay to go to a block party. Needless to say the flyer went in the recycle bin. This year we got the same flyer....another $20 block party. Went in the recycle bin like the previous one.

Who pays to go to a block party? The block parties I remember were free. You go from house to house and catch up with the neighbors. The aroma of people BBQing is everywhere. Everyone has their garage doors up a boom box playing upbeat summertime tunes and coolers are full of various beverages...the kids play football in the street. This is what I think a block party is. Apparently I'm behind on things because you gotta fork over money now. However, I have to admit I probably wouldn't be too interested even if it was free. The people on my block are not exactly people I want to hang with. We have the oaf next door who I cannot stand. We have the drug dealer who walks around in his underwear across the street and next door to him is the woman and her kids who are so loud and obnoxious that I can hear them like they're in the next room. No thanks.

Anyway, a few days ago we get another flyer. I just had to share what it says.

Friends and Neighbors,

Due to lack of positive responses, we're struggling to come up with funds to cover the cost of the block party. Therefore we must regrettably cancel.

Fire permit $91
Insurance $325
Band $350
Inflatable jumps $150 each
Lighted barricades $70
Food, water, paper goods $700

When I read this I was perplexed. Not that it had been cancelled, but by the list of things that had to be covered. Insurance? Lighted barricades? What the....?

Honestly....why does everything have to be so grandiose these days?

Roll up the garage door. Sit in some folding chairs with a cold drink and watch the kids play frisbee. Grill some hot dogs and hamburgers. People need to get back to their roots. Seriously.

Summer Card Camp - Week 3

I went for a masculine card this week. Hope you like it!

Homespun Feel

This card has that homespun feel to it with the stitching and the heart. I can see it on a shelf in a country kitchen :)

I used my Cricut to cut the heart frame with a free SVG file I found online. The inside was stamped with 2 different sets I have that have various stitching designs in them. It's hard to tell, but the background is stamped with polka dots and embossed with clear powder so it had some added texture. Hope you like it!





Supplies Used:

DCVW Textured Card set (orange)
Recollections red card stock
Neenah Solar White card stock
Memento Tangelo ink
Color Box Fresh Green ink
Versa Color Canary ink
Martha Stewart Valentine ink set (red)
Martha Stewart clear embossing powder
Inkadinkado dot background stamp
Fiskars Celebrate stamp set
Sassafras Lass Stitchery stamp set
My little Shoe Box Sew Cute stamp set
Uni-ball Signo Broad white gel pen
Recollections dimensional adhesive

Today commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring our independence from Great Britain. I hope you all celebrate grandly under a glittering sky and atop soil where red, white & blue is proudly displayed.

I'm going to transition into something a little unusual now. Weddings. I had a dream this morning and it was just too good not to share. I swear it still has to do with the red white & blue.

If you know me, you know I'm patriotic. I mean, the National Anthem is my favorite song....which I've already listened to 3 times so far today! This quote sums me up pretty well.

My patriotic heart beats red, white, and blue. ~Author Unknown

I just say all this to explain the dream and why I'd be dreaming of such a thing.

Here it is. A 4th of July wedding!

I'm positive people have done this and I just hope I'm invited to one someday. Can you imagine how awesome it would be!? I love weddings to start with and then to have a 4th of July wedding on top of that! Wow. I really wish I had done this when I got married. But you know....the idea came 20 years too late.

Here's what I would have planned if I'd thought of it.

White dress with a red or blue sash....this depends of which color shoes I pick. Here are some choices. I know which shoe is my favorite....which is yours?














The men would be in blue suits with red ties. Maybe a cross somewhere between these 3. I think the pinstripe is very classy. The combo of the blue vest and blue tie is also very classy. The one in the middle is made from a material that has the sheen to it and would elevate it to wedding status.







The girls would be in either red or blue dresses. Here are some finds ~ which would you choose?













Then, of course, the food! It might sound low class, but I would totally do a traditional BBQ theme. Going to a 4th of July party? That's what you'd get. Maybe mini sliders ~ how cute! Can't forget fried chicken, potato salad and corn on the cob with lemon-aid to wash it down. Maybe there would be a bowl of spiked lemon-aid, too! How could this wedding not be fun?!

The cake. About as popular as the wedding dress. I found this.....and how could you not have this as for the inside of the cake! You'd HAVE to.







Or maybe you could have cupcakes and make the cake part layered in red, white & blue. Awesome! How about strawberries dipped in white chocolate with blue sprinkles? And festive party favors?







If you have some cash to spare, you could do fireworks!







I didn't have a 4th of July wedding, but it was fun planning this one ;)

Happy 4th of July, everyone!