Some cards, some news, and . . . blog candy for my blogaversary!!

First off, I wanted to show you the August SOTM card I created with my HM stamp (called Apple Delight). This was my first Z-fold card, too. I ran the front through the swiss dot cuttlebug folder to make the dots, and after it is folded, they show up on the inside, too! How cool is that?!

I just LOVE this photo corner punch, too! I have waited a LONG time for it, and I finally was able to get it as a hostess gift (so it was FREE)! Cool, huh?! I played around with some of that shrink plastic stuff that I haven't used since I was a kid (but this was made by Avery -- actually a sample piece about 4 x 5 was in with my photo paper another FREEBIE! can't beat that!) So I tried it out for the oval piece that covers the Z-fold. It worked great punched with the small oval punch from SU and a paper punch for the brad hole. Believe it or not, that stuff REALLY shrinks. LOL I punched it the first couple of times with the regular punch that I use for brads (what is that thing 1/16 of an inch or something). Needless to say, it will not work for the brad now. LOL Doh!

Here is the outside and the inside. When closed, it looks like the mouse is holding the outside oval, too. The image was colored with prismacolor pencils, Gamsoled, and then crystal effects was used on the apple to give a waxy shine.
stamps: Apple Delight from Stampabilities (see hmstamps.com tell Dick Kelly Little sent ya) and the sentiment to match. cs: ruby red, white, black, summer sun, and olive green. dp: unknown stash, so it could be SU retired paper but not sure. tools: prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, CE, photo corner punch, shrink plastic, brads, coluzzle, white gel pen, and scalloped small oval nesties.Sadly, this card was needed for a family who is terrific friends with my family. They are The Clark's, and they are fellow alpaca owners. Dan's dog Missy was very ill, and she had to be put to sleep earlier this week. Bless his heart, he was very close to her, as she had been a part of their family for a long time. I found the sentiment on a card on SCS by Cherbear49908. The inside says . . . "That's why we miss them more than we could have imagined. With Sympathy and friendship, especially during this time of loss."

cs: close to cocoa, creamy caramel, vanilla, white and black. Tools: photo corner punch, 1/16" punch, vanilla brads, and linen cb folder for embossing, computer and printer for the sentiment.
Lastly, here is the package I came up with for the blogaversary. First, I was going to stick with a beach/picnic theme, but since summer is almost over . . . well, I have had:

• this purple, orange, yellow, and black packet from 7Children'sCollegeFund (from Ebay for about 1 1/2 to 2 years now). It is cut to size for cards and layers with matching ribbon and halloween eyelets. So cute!! I just never get around to using it when it is halloween. I have had it stored out of the light, so there hasn't been any fading.
• assortment of pieces of ribbon (grab bag from the store not shown).
• picnic 3 D stickers by Sandylion
• some sand and seashells
• assortment of mulberry paper
• some buttons and cuttlebugged word window punches (also not shown)
• some cards created by me (only 3 shown the other one is a surprise)

Okay, the rules are you need to comment for 1 chance to win. If you link my blog you will get 2 more chances to win, and if you link my parent's farm blog as well as the other two options, you will get a total of 5 chances to win. The farm blog is here and we had a new addition to the farm as of last night, so you might want to see our cute little Naveah there anyway! (Her name is Heaven spelled backwards). I will draw the winner next Tuesday morning, Aug. 19th.

:) Thanks for stopping by and Good Luck!!