Memorial Day Card

Happy Memorial Day to all my friends south of the border!  May you all take time this special day to give thanks for those who have sacrificed their lives for your country.  At Fantabulous Cricut, we are using this week's challenge to honour Memorial Day.

Years ago, soon after my youngest was born, I joined a parenting message board.  There, I "met" an incredible American woman who quickly found a very special place in my heart.  Like me, this woman is a mother.  Unlike me, she defends her country overseas.  I cannot even begin to describe the admiration I have for her.  Her courage and bravery is beyond words.  I simply cannot imagine making the sacrifices that she makes.  She is currently back in the US but will leave for another tour later this year.  I made this card for this amazing woman to remind her that I continue to keep her in my prayers.

I used Elegant Edges for the shapes - both the mat and the frames behind the flowers.  The wonderful poppies are from Wild Orchid Crafts - this week's sponsor at Fantabulous Cricut.  (I actually purchased a number of crafting goodies from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I'm incredibly impressed with the quality of each of the items I received - along with the quick shipping and GREAT prices and rates!)  The stars are from George and Basic Shapes.  The twine and sentiment are from My Craft Spot.  In fact, I think this is my favourite My Craft Spot sentiment and it seems so perfect for the purpose of this card!  All papers and ink (with the exception of the kraft cardstock card base) are from Stampin' Up.

Please click on the Wild Orchid Crafts badge above to look through the wonderful products they have for sale.  And then head over to Fantabulous Cricut to link your own Memorial Day project! 

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ConMACulations!

Yikes!  I'm so sorry that this is posted late today.  I've been having technical difficulties over the past week which have since resulted in a new laptop and a new mobile!  My other laptop is less than 2 years old - with a 3 year warranty - but I gave up completely with Dell as they have been nothing but a headache since they got my money.  I'm supposed to have "next business day in home service" but usually have to wait 2-3 weeks for service and that just doesn't cut it with my work!  After the sixth time of needing to do a total restore, I decided to move on, count my losses and make a reliable purchase - and spread the word to avoid Dell like the plague!! 

This week is all about congratulations at My Craft Spot.  This is perfect timing as  I DO have wonderful news to share!  My daughter received early acceptance to McMaster University (aka Mac) a couple of months ago and, after weighing her options, she made the decision to accept the offer this past week.  My husband and I celebrated by taking Erin out for dinner and I made this card to show her how very proud we are of her.

I used Kate's ABCs and Cuttin' Up for the font.  The little flower is from Walk in My Garden and some punches.  The fabulous sentiment is from My Craft Spot's Friends and Neighbors - Inside and Out set.  I stitched around the My Mind's Eye paper and inked everything!  I also used my edge distresser around the mat.  I finished things off with a pearl and some vintage blue twine - also from My Craft Spot. 

This week is another hectic one for me but I'm hoping to save some time on Thursday for a bit of blogging.  I do feel so badly about my lack of visits to your blogs.  I always love seeing your creative projects and being awed and inspired by your work.  I'd love to see you post your projects for My Craft Spot's congratulations challenge too!

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Goat Farm

My youngest is so excited (and so am I!) that his EA has invited us to go to meet the goats at her farm this coming weekend.  It's been a few weeks of waiting, but the time is drawing closer and we're praying for good weather on Saturday.  Although it's not my week to design for My Craft Spot, a fitting "Thank You" card for my son's EA meets the "On the Farm" challenge, so I decided to create something to have my card ready to go!  Also, I'll be away for most of the week at the Provincial CICE Conference so I won't have much time to craft (especially as I'm one of the speakers at the conference so will be going over my notes beforehand too!).

I used Animal Kingdom for the sweet little goats.  The barn/silo is from Everyday Paper Dolls.  I cut it in red, black and white and then hand cut various portions in order to achieve the multi-coloured look.  I also cut the weather vane, but positioned the image on my Gypsy so that I would not cut more than necessary.  I ran the barn through my Cuttlebug using the Distressed Stripes folder and the silo roof was embossed with a Give a Hoot companion folder.  I also added some score lines to the silo and barn roof.

The grass is from Cheerful Seasons and the fence is from Paper Doll Dress Up.  I just cut a strip of light brown paper for the dirt and also ran that through my Cuttlebug using Distressed Stripes.  

The sentiment is from My Craft Spot's Friends and Neighbors set.  I framed it with some Vintage Cherry baker's twine, also from My Craft Spot.  I inked EVERYTHING on this card too!

There are some fabulous farm creations at My Craft Spot.  Please head over to check them out - and then link up your own creation to be eligible to win this week's prize!

Finally, I have a winner from last week's Fantabulous Cricut "Save the Earth" Cricut Crawl.  Thank you so much to all of you who left such lovely comments.  (And I do apologize for being so behind on my own blog visits.  Between preparing for this week's conference, work, my thesis and being a busy wife and mother, I'm burning the candle at both ends.  Things should calm down a bit in the next week or two... I hope!)  I went to Random.org and the lucky winner is #16 - Jamie from Scrappin' 2 Baby Girls!!  Congratulations Jamie!!  You have won a Butterfly Kisses stamp set generously donated by Kimberly at My Craft Spot.  Please email me (smallbitsofpaper @ hotmail.com - remove spaces) with your contact information.  You have two weeks to claim your prize.

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