Blooming Sweetness

The universe is lining up!  I’ve wanted to make a series of cards using the Blossom Card kit-G1095 from CTMH. I just love the colors and I’ve also been dying to use their June Stamp of the Month stamp set-S1506 too. It is a delicious concoction of sweetness. So when I found the cute card sketch by Chari Moss over at A Blog Named Hero I thought ah-ha, and things began to fall into place.

Sketch by Chari Moss

My take on the sketch

 

And then one thing led to another...

 I used both ShinHan Touch Twin Markers from Close to my Heart and Crayola color pencils to fill in the stamps. I'm definitely ordering some more of the Marker colors!  It was a fun project and the cards are perfect for summer time notes. 

For Father's Day

OK, I know I said I was finished with my Jackson on the go kit from CTMH, but guess what!? I was able to make a father’s day card with the snippets I had left! This paper is SO versatile! Truly I’m still using the same packet.  I’m putting the rest of my assorted bits of the Jackson Workshop on the Go kit into my scrap folders. You may see a tiny piece now and then, but I think I'm done with projects using this kit.

 When I was little, my dad taught me to tell people that ‘My Pops is Tops’. Ever since then (and that was a long time ago!) that’s been the phrase for his birthday and father’s day cards.

I printed the letters with my Silhouette using the CASTELLAR font

  I usually do a popcorn theme, but this year while wracking my brain for something new I thought of POPsicles. I recently got a stamp in my Blossom Cardmaking Workshop kit and it had, you guessed it, the popsicle I used. 

You can order the kit HERE

 The Stamp of the Month for June, which is yours for only $5.00 with a qualifying order this month (June 2015) only, has one also. The stamp will still be around, but it will cost $17.95

Isn't it adorable? You can order it HERE

Do you ever enter challenges? What is your favorite? 
I'm going to enter my card in the Silhouette Challenge #26.  The challenge goes until June 30 so you still have time to enter too. 
My Sheri CRAFTS is running it's Challenge #159-Masculine Projects. Be sure to stop by check it out. Meanwhile, back at the shack, Jo's Scrap Shack that is, her Fun-Day Friday challenge #92 is Father's Day. Couldn't resist that one and neither will you.

Crafting Retreat Weekend

Recently I attended a scrapbook retreat. This particular one was Thursday through Sunday at Memory Lane Inn,which is a lovely Victorian Bed and Breakfast crafting retreat in Tyler, Texas. My sister, daughter, her mother-in-law, and a friend from work got together there for a weekend of crafting.  We had a wonderful time. If you have never been on a scrapbook/craft/R&R weekend before you need to find one in your area and go. 
The difference in a retreat and a crop is that a retreat usually has sleeping accommodations on premise, lasts 1-3 nights and is geared toward crafters.

Miss America Room

They usually have plenty of individual work space and crafting items that you can use while there.(Check out the link on right) A crop is most often just for one evening or day and may or may not offer tools for your use. My sister and I’ve been to several different weekend retreats throughout Texas. One was put on by a local scrapbook store. They found a venue and had a sign-up sheet for anyone interested. They had little mini classes and drawings throughout the weekend. The others we just found on the internet and called to see if they had any spaces available. We have met lots of nice people, get more done than we would if we were home, and have a chance to visit and enjoy one anothers company.    
A craft get-away is a great time to recharge your batteries and work on some new or unfinished projects. There’s no schedule, no dress code, no distractions. There were 18 ladies altogether from different areas of Texas. We didn’t know each other when we got there, but when strangers get together with a common interest they don’t stay strangers for very long!  Some were working on scrapbooks or making cards. A couple ladies were making a T-shirt quilt, and still another was doing mock-ups for her monogram business. People were using all sorts of mediums and tools and most were happy to show off their handiwork or explain a particular technique. Where do you go to meet other artists and crafters? 
Here are several other craft retreats we've been to and thoroughly enjoyed.
Moments Retreat Center
Rockin R Retreat Center