Elegant Wedding Cake

A friend asked me to make her some wedding cards for the summer, and here's what I came up with!  I used several embossing folders, one of which, is Stampin' Up's "Manhattan Flower.  I also embossed silver paper "trim" for each layer of the wedding cake, and punched the cute little flowers, using Stampin' Up's "Boho Blossoms".  For a finishing detail, I added Stampin' Up pearls.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Summer!

Whew!  The school year is done, and I just finished wrapping up my classroom for its hiatus.  I even got in a few extra days to recycle and sort/rearrange files.  If you're a teacher or are close to someone who is, you understand the amount of work that goes into maintaining and constantly revamping everything you use!  I was so grateful for these few extra days (before the district locks us out! GASP!!!), and put every minute to great use!  I was also very thankful that I didn't have to move classrooms, AGAIN.
I'm at the point, where I have quite a few things prepped for fall, and have all my packing up finished.  With that being said, today, I gave up what little was left of my control, and TURNED IN MY KEYS for the SUMMER!  I'm sure I'll have forgotten something, or think of some absolutely AMAZING idea during the summer, and wish I could run right in and copy, create, laminate, and cut, BUT...I'll be forced to wait until I can reclaim my keys in August.  I really abhor the fact that we get locked out, BUT, I know I will live.  I know the next month will fly by, and it will be time to prep more for 50 kinders, again.  Now, the weather just needs to cooperate so that we all BELIEVE it's summer and not January!  Mother Nature needs some bipolar meds here in the Seattle-Tacoma area!
Now I can concentrate on the many needs and goals I have for the summer!  We already crushed one this past weekend by staging a rather successful yard sale!  (Epic, I know, considering school just ended!  What was I thinking???)  Even though the weather absolutely didn't cooperate (it poured!), we had room in our garage, and got rid of a ton of our treasures!  Next on the list?  Well, the list is SOOOO long, I think I'll tackle a ton of the small things to make myself feel better (like doing the touchups of paint for walls that have gotten scratched/scuffed, and making raspberry jam.).  I've already started cutting, scoring, and folding a TON of new cards, and have ideas dancing around my head like disco inferno!  I'm itching to create!  I also need to update this blog...sorry!  My CrAzY school year was just. too. much.  I have a great deal of awesome creations to blog!  I just need to fix my computer and download some pics, and I'll have a blogfest!  :o)  Stick with me, crafty friends.  I know I've been MIA for a while, but now it's summer!  Summer is....the time when teachers can feel human again.  :o)
~Hoppy Crafting!

Manhattan Flower Graduation

Oh, Manhattan Flower embossing folder, you never fail to amaze me!  So versatile!  This time I'm using Stampin' Up's Manhattan Flower as a graduation card.  I embossed the Very Vanilla cardstock, then used a sponge and some Early Espresso ink to rub across the raised images.  Then I tied a little gorgeous ribbon around the bottom, added some bling, and used the "Modern Label" and "Word Window" from Stampin' Up, along with Teeny Tiny Wishes" for the sentiment.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Owl Grad!

I saw an adorable owl grad card, that my friend, Terri, had made, and I just had to scraplift it!  I had been thinking about making an owl grad for a while, but when I saw hers, I knew I just HAD to!  This card was made using several Stampin' Up punches and supplies. 
I used a SU Real Red base, and layered it with Basic Black.  Then I used another piece of Read Red, and ran it through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I adhered a strip of gold cardstock over half the embossing (not SU), and started on the dimensional top layer.  I again used a Basic Black base (which has dimensionals behind it), and added the same gold cardstock, which I used Versamark and a stamp from the SU Rustic Rooster set  .  After that, I punched an owl from the SU Owl punch, and also cut wings from a scallop punch, which were then cut in half.  I sponged the owl with SU Soft Suede ink to give him some depth, and added the eyes, beak, and feet.  I cut glasses from the Cricut, and used a Stuido G stamp to make the grad hat.  I used the SU word window punch to make the diploma and drew a sprial on the top and tied a small ribbon around it.  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Black, from the SU set Teeny Tiny Wishes, punched out with the SU Word Window, and mounted on the red SU Modern Label. 

Cardinal Grad!

Where I work and live, the high school mascot is a cardinal.  This year, I was asked to make a number of grad cards for different co-workers.  I came up with this awesome (if I don't say so myself,) card that would work for either gender!  I ended up making half a dozen of these for others! 
For the cardinal, I used an old stamp that I had picked up a few years ago from a clearance sale.  I'm not sure who made it, but I knew it would come in handy someday!  I colored it in with Zig markers, after stamping on a Stampin' Up Labels Collection Framelit. 
I used a Tim Holtz 'bubble wrap' embossing folder and tore around the sides for a more distressed look, then wrapped with twine.  I mounted it all on SU Cherry Cobbler (some on Read Red) cardstock for the base of the card.  I also used Glossy Accents/Crystal Effects on the bird eye to make it really shine.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Grad Cat

One of my co-workers wanted a cute cat for a graduation ceremony.  I found this adorable little guy on the Create A Critter cartridge and cut him out.  I used Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry cardstock and newsprint, as well as Adorning Accents embossing folders and Edgelits.  I also used "Teeny Tiny Wishes" for "Happy Graduation", and punched it out using the word window and modern label punches.  ~Hoppy Crafting!