Father's Day...What to Do?

Father's Day Gift Card Holder

I can't believe Father's Day is Sunday. I've been so busy with graduation, our house guests, the kid's activities, and my Etsy shop, that time has gotten away from me.

Thank goodness for my little one. Was it not been for her frequent nagging reminding, I think the day might have slipped right by me.  But what to do?

The first place I head is to my stash. I know it's lame...but come on...I'm sure that's where you'd go too. Why not? The stuff's already made. 

I pulled out this gift card holder and decided I'll just run to the grocery store, grab an itunes gift card and we'd be all set.

But nooo...

• Aubs:  We have to do something Special. 
• Me:   Special? My gift card holders are special. 
• Aubs:  But you didn't make that just for dad. 
• Me:  Yes I did. It says Dad doesn't it?
• Aubs:  Gives me a "lets be real" look and leaves the room.

So, I guess I'll be spending the rest of my day trying to help her think of something REALLY special. 

If you want to make a gift card holder for your Father/Dad/Husband...Here is the tutorial:

Instructions:

• Cut a piece of card stock to 3 1/2" x 8 1/2" (you can make 3 gift card holders from 1 piece of 8 1/2 x 11" CS)
• Score CS @ 2 1/2" on one end and 2" on other end.
• Use Rounded Corner Punch to round corners on the 2" end
• Cut 3 pieces of Designer Paper

• 3 1/4 " x 1 3/4"
• 3 1/4" x 2 1/4"
• 3 1/4" x 3 3/4"
• Use Rounded Corner Punch to round corners on one side of 1 3/4" piece of Designer Paper.
• Run adhesive along side edges only of 2 1/4" side of card stock and fold up to form gift card pocket
• Attach designer paper to outside of gift card holder
• Attach a small piece of velcro to 2" side and fold down.
• Embellish as desired. 
• I used "Dad" from the Family Reunion stamp set. 
• The set also contains "Husband" and "Grandpa".  
• Only problem is it retired June 1st. So if you have it, use it. If not, visit my Etsy shop and I'll make up a card for you

Materials: (all materials are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)

• Paper:  
• Scrapbook Paper (DCWV)
• Card Stock
• Night of Navy
• Riding Hood Red
• Naturals White
• Stamp Set:  Family Reunion (retired)
• Ink:  Night of Navy
• Tools and Accessories:
• Paper Trimmer
• Simply Scored Scoring Tool
• Corner Rounder Punch
• Modern Label Punch
• Large Oval Punch
• Decorative Label Punch
• Velcro (at Jo-Ann Fabric)

Visit Acarrdian Cards on Etsy

for unique cards, invitations and party favors.

Graduation Day

No paper crafts today....

Today was Katie's Graduation Day! We are so proud of her! Graduating from high school with honors and now on to college to study nursing!

Katie and her friend, Sarah.

Katie and her boyfriend, Tommy who is studying to be a Paramedic/Fire Fighter.

Graduation Party!

Today was Katie's graduation party. Everything looked great! Only one problem, I was so busy working on everything, I forgot to take pictures!

Here are a few pictures I took after the party. But I am so bummed that I didn't get more because everything really did come out awesome and I would have loved to share the photos with you!

These are the cupcake toppers. I only wish I had thought to get blue and orange cupcake wrappers. 

I didn't have time to bake but I am lucky to have good friends who are always ready to jump in and help! I made the cupcake toppers and our good friend Kristen made these delicious cupcakes...54 of them. She even made a batch of gluten free cupcakes for our guests with dietary concerns.

These are the party favors. Little cello bags filled with M&M's in school colors tied with these cute custom tags...So easy to make.

TIP:  Fresh Market sells bulk M&M's in a wide variety of colors and they are pretty reasonably priced.

I found citronella candles in these orange metal containers at Big Lots. I just cut out some orange polka dot paper and attached the same tags I used on the party favors to all four sides for these custom table centerpieces.

This is a picture of the banner I made to hang across the patio.  I didn't get a very good picture of it. It read "Congrats Katie 2013".

I used the Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Pennant dies to cut out the pennant shapes. The letters were cut out using my Cricut and Extreme Fonts cartridge. You can't really tell but, the stars and Katie are cut out of silver glitter paper for added bling.

This was the drink station. The blue and orange drink dispensers came from Walmart and we filled them with  iced tea, gatorade, water and crystal light.

Our local Winn Dixie had these school balloons. 

So, that was your limited tour. The party was great! Everyone had a good time and the next time I have a party I will definitely remember to take more photos.

Dinoroar Dinosaur Cards...Nearing Extinction

The Dinoroar stamp set will soon be extinct...I mean retired. If you want it, you'll need to get it now because it won't be in the new Stampin' Up! catalog on June 1st.

I really like this stamp set for kids birthday cards and valentines.  There aren't too many stamps sets that make cute valentines for little boys.

The dinosaur images look great whether they're colored in or not. For the birthday card, I stamped the image in black and heat set it. Then I colored it in with Stampin' Write Markers to match the color scheme of the card. Heat setting the black ink stops it from smudging when you color the image in.

For the valentines I just stamped the image in the same color ink as the card stock. No need to color them in...they look great as is. These are quick and easy valentines which is a necessity when make 24-30 for a classroom of kids!

Materials for Birthday Card:  (All materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)

• Stamp Set:  Dinoroar (122537 - RETIRING)
• Ink:  Basic Black (126980)
• Card Stock:  
• Whisper White
• Gumball Green
• Pacific Point
• Designer Paper:  Summer Smooches (125409)
• Punches:  Large and Small Star Punches (retired)
• Stampin' Write Markers:  (Available in color family sets)
• Pacific Point (Brights Collection) (119702)
• Gumball Green (2012-2014 In Color Collection) (126856)

Material List for Valentines can be found in this post:  I Dig Dinosaurs

Shop for Stampin' Up! supplies online 24/7!

Visit Acarrdian Cards on Etsy

for unique cards, invitations and party favors.

Happy Birthday Card...Summer Smooches

Summer Smooches is one of my favorite retiring designer papers. I love the bright colors and fun patterns! Today I used it to make this fun and summery birthday card.

Notes:

• For the background and center oval, I used two coordinating patterns from the Summer Smooches Designer Paper. It's so easy to pull coordinating papers from the paper packs!
• The "Happy Birthday" greeting is from the Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set and cut out with the Bitty Banners Framelits.  These two products coordinate with each other making it super easy to cut out your greetings.
• The red ovals were cut out using the Oval Collection Framelits. These nesting framelits are great for layering!
• The flower embellishment was created by layering different sized scallop circles.
• I punched out some butterflies with the Elegant Butterfly punch and added some Stampin' Up! Rhinestones to the butterflies and flower for some added bling. I also used Stampin' Dimensionals® on the butterflies and flowers to give the card some added dimension.

Materials:

• Card Stock:  
• Whisper White (base)
• Real Red
• Pacific Point
• Designer Paper:  Summer Smooches (125409 - retiring)
• Stamp Set:  Itty Bitty Banners (126257)
• Ink:  Pacific Point (126951)
• Tools & Accessories:
• Big Shot
• Oval Collection Framelits (129381)
• Bitty Banners Framelits (129267)
• Elegant Butterfly Punch (127526)
• 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch (129404)
• 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punch (127811)
• Scallop Circle Punch from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309)
• Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)
• Stampin' Dimensionals®

Shop for Stampin' Up! supplies online 24/7!

Visit Acarrdian Cards on Etsy

for unique cards, invitations and party favors.

Cute Little Party Favor Purses

Look at these cute little purses. They are the perfect party favor for birthday parties or bridal showers. Even though they look small, they will hold about 10 Hershey Kisses. What could be better? A cute purse AND chocolate!

They measure approximately 2 7/8" x 1 7/8" x 1 3/8" (not including handle) and are super easy to make with the Petite Purse Big Shot die.

TIPS:

• I used sticky strips (104294) when assembling these boxes for a strong bond.  
• I attached the handles with glue dots (103683) but I think brads would work well too!

Materials:

• Cardstock:  Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
• Tools & Accessories:  
• Big Shot (113439)
• Petite Purse Die (125606)
• 7/8" scallop circle punch (129404)
• 1/2" circle punch (119869)
• Scallop from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309)
• Sticky Strip (104294) and Glue Dots (103683)

Shop for Stampin' Up! supplies online 24/7!

Visit Acarrdian Cards on Etsy

for unique cards, invitations and party favors.

Handmade Tags...Wish Big!

These tags would look amazing attached to gift packages or party favors. You could even tie them around your napkins for really cute napkin rings and if your wrote your guest's names on the back they could double as place cards.

Instructions:

• Cut out Natural Ivory card stock in the shape of  the scallop tags.
• I used my Cricut and George Basic Shape cartridge.
• You could also use your Big Shot and the Sizzix Tags, Scallop Combo #2 Die.
• Stamp the front of the tag with the Wish Big stamp from Bring on the cake stamp. 
• I used Early Espresso but you can use whatever color matches your party theme.
• Use daubers to rub ink around the edges of the tags for an aged distressed look.
• Tie on a bow in matching satin ribbon.

Materials  (all materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)

• Card Stock:  Natural Ivory
• Stamp Set:  Bring on the Cake 
• Ink:  Early Espresso
• Tools & Accessories:  Brown Satin Ribbon (Michael's), Cricut Machine, George Basic Shapes Cricut Cartridge.

Shop for Stampin' Up! supplies online 24/7!

Visit Acarrdian Cards on Etsy

for unique cards, invitations and party favors.