Congratulations are in order!

I was so busy during the holidays that I did not get a chance to post this card.  My son-in-law came home on December 22nd for good after spending 24 years in the Air Force.  What an accomplishment!
I wanted to give him something very special to remember his service and I found this place on-line, The Good Wood Store that makes plaques.  I was quite taken aback when I saw it as my Dad has a plaque very very similar from when he was in the Air Force during World War II, so this was that special something I knew I had to order for my SIL.  I removed his last name from the picture for his privacy.

So now I had to move to making him that special retirement card.  I was looking through the book for Stand and Salute an I found a similar image to what is in the center of the plaque.  I used CCR to weld the image into an open circle.

I printed some "wood" paper using my Imagine and the Snapshot Nature cartridge and cut it out from that.  I added some Crackle Accents to the eagle.

The striped background paper I printed using the Buccaneer cartridge and added a strip of blue that I Cuttlebugged with the star folder and sanded off.  The stamped sentiment at the top is a Gina K Design stamp and says "Congratulations are in order".  I can't recall what cartridge I used for the USAF letters, maybe Plantin Schoolbook?
I did the inside a little differently, while I was looking for a sentiment I found this one that was perfect............................

But the occasion was so immense that I thought I should include a serious one also.  So I out my thinking cap on (sometimes it works LOL) and I made the side almost like a joy fold card and used the star in the corner to keep it closed.
Here is the other verse, I hope you can read it.

He was very very happy with his plaque and did notice that the card matched.  Sometimes guys don't notice stuff like this, ha ha, but he did.
I also wanted to share with you what the Air Force gave him for his retirement.

Thanks for stopping in and hope you enjoyed my blog while you were here.

Mirror - Mirror on the wall

Here is a card I made for my brother-in-law whose birthday was January 6th.  He is a very funny person and we joke around a lot.  Later in the post I will explain the "joke".   I wanted to make the front of the card very serious looking so we would be thrown off track.

The frame was cut from Elegant edges and I backed it with silver mirror paper.   The saying was computer generated.  So hard to take a picture of that mirror with my camera showing up in it.  LOL
Then when you open it this is what you see................................

Well now to tell a bit of the story.  One time while we were in Las Vegas, my BIL did a bit too much partying one night and when he got up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom he said he looked in the mirror and there was "an ugly man" in there.   Even though he just turned 71 he still has a lot of hair, (some grays ones so I colored them in) so it was quite a mess when he looked in the mirror.  The image I colored using my Copics, it is an image from Digis with Attitude and thought it fit the theme of this card perfectly, with him proudly holding up his brew.

I even added a piece of rope for his belt.
The grill I cut from glossy black paper and silver for the grate using the From my Kitchen cartridge.  The steak was also cut using From my Kitchen and covered with Glossy Accents.
I printed the grass paper using my Imagine and the Snapshot Nature cartridge, then cut it out using the grass cut from Plantin Schoolbook.

I added cloud paper to the background.  The happy birthday is cut from glitter black paper using MS Birthday Cake Art cartridge.

I want to say thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear what you have to say about this card.  It was so much fun to make and we all got a big laugh out of it.

Challenges for this card
Make it Monday   Always anything goes   ends  1/16

A Hole in One Birthday

It was my son-in-laws birthday earlier in the month and he loves to golf so I made him this card using a Tiffany Doodles golf ball image.  I love her images, make sure you stop by and check them out if you like to work with digital images.

He is the son-in-law that works in a print shop and often brings me some gorgeous paper to use, so I wanted to make his card extra special, however I was a little late so I added the bleated birthday which was computer generated and added some eyelets to the edges of the strips of paper.
The grass paper I printed and cut using my Imagine cartridge Snapshot Nature.  I printed the golf club and ball image twice, once on white paper and once on silver.
As soon as the silver piece came out of my printer I sprinkle it with black embossing powder and heat embossed it so the black part is raised.  The golf ball I ran through my Cuttlebug using the dots folder then covered it with Glossy Accents, I shadowed the edges with a gray a bit to make it stand out.

Then I had another moment and I thought I would add the inside sentiment printed on paper printed with my Imagine to look like sand.  The using the Give a Hoot cartridge I cut it in the shape of a "sand trap".

I also used the grass paper on the inside and added a hole flag from the Everyday Paper Doll cartridge.  I think the whole thing came out rather cute, what do you think?
Thanks for popping in and taking a look at my card, I sure hope you liked it enough to look around my blog a bit.  Would love to hear what you think.

Challenges for this card
Paper Crafting Journey    Anythings goes   ends  - 12/7