A Floral Tag Anniversary Card

For those of you who like my Bible Journaling pages that I usually share on Tuesday,  it might be awhile before I show any more pages as I have so many cards to post!  Summer time is a busy time for me to make cards as I have five summer babies and two anniversaries.  I already showed you Alethea's Birthday card last week, this week I have Ashley and Jason's Anniversary card to show.

This is a card that looks so simple, but it actually took me about three hours to make.  Isn't that ridiculous?  There's a lot of detail in this card that isn't noticeable right away.  I did get this sketch off the Internet, but for the life of me I can't find it again.  I suppose it doesn't really matter as I used completely different stamps and supplies, so other than the sketch, it doesn't look much like the original at all.

Now, lets get on to why this card took three hours to make.  First, I stamped retired Stampin' Up! "Roses in Winter" in white on the edge of the Kraft card stock.  Then I stamped a retired Stampin' Up! background stamp in clear ink.  I then covered the entire Kraft card stock with Gesso.  Then I sewed the Kraft card stock to the white card base.

Now, to make the tag, I cut it out of vanilla card stock with a Spellbinder's Nestability Tag.  I put a grommet in the tag hole.  I stamped another retired Stampin' Up "French Script" onto the tag.  I wanted a more 'aged' look, so I applied Gesso to the tag, that blurred the words a bit but it still was not 'aged' enough for me.  So then I took a thin coat of white craft paint over that.  a piece of hemp was strung through the grommet and the tag was mounted up on the card with dimensionals.

Finally, I cut the flowers, leaves, and "love" sentiment with more dies.  I wanted the "love" sentiment to pop more so I put in on a small piece of green card stock.  Pearls were added for embellishment.

I was really pleased with how the card turned out, but not pleased at all with how much time it took to make.  Yikes!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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A Handmade Anniversary Card And Our 31st Wedding Celebration

 My husband and I celebrated 31 years of marriage last August.  We celebrated our anniversary by going to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for a romantic getaway.  We went to the Paine Gardens and the Paine Mansion, then spent the evening and following morning at a beautiful hotel in downtown Oshkosh along a river.

I always make my husband a handmade card for our anniversary.  This was the card I made for him.  I cased it from THIS CARD on Pinterest.  I apologize for the bad photography.  For whatever reason, my camera did not like the colors of this card and I could not get a good photo to save my life.

I created the hearts by stamping designs on kraft cart stock with red ink and cutting out heart shapes using dies from Spellbinder's Nestabilties.  The "Love" sentiment was cut from red card stock using my Cricut Expresson machine.  I popped the hearts up using dimensionals and glued the "Love" sentiment directly to the hearts.  I added a wooden button for embellishment tying a bit of red string in a bow into the button.

The sentiment was stamped in red ink directly onto the main panel.

 The bottom half of the card was dry embossed with my Cuttlebug machine and a heart folder.

A red grosgrain ribbon was wrapped around the dry embossed layer before adhering it to the main card stock panel.

And now I'd like to share some personal photos of our anniversary weekend other than the ones you've already seen taken at the Paine Gardens and Mansions. 

After visiting the gardens and mansion we were starving so I googled "best restaurants in Oshkosh" and the "Fox River Brewery" popped up.  So after plugging the location into my GPS off we were!

The ratings and reviews of this restaurant were spot on.  It was located right on the river with indoor and outdoor seating;  both offering beautiful views of the river.  Since it was such a beautiful day, we chose to sit outdoors and watch the boats go by.

Customers could drive their boats right up the restaurant's piers and dock them while they ate.

There was also a draw bridge that was fun to watch go up and down.

The outdoor seating area also had a tiki bar, fire pits, and heat lamps.

I ordered one of my favorite standbys:  a barbecue sandwich and my husband ordered his usual, chicken tenders.  I thought my sandwich was pretty good, but I could have used more barbecue sauce and they did not give me any extra ( I also didn't ask for more sauce as my waitress was super busy).

After lunch we checked into our hotel and then walked a bit downtown.  Most of the stores were closed by now, so we got back into the car and drove to the local park "Menominee Park and Zoo" which in addition to a free zoo, had a beach and gorgeous views of their lake,  Lake Winnebago.   It wasn't a very nice zoo for it wasn't that well maintained, but we still enjoyed visiting the animals. 

The hotel that we stayed in had a restaurant that was also right on the river and provided indoor and outdoor seating.  We had dinner outside along the river again, but this time it was dark and we could enjoy the heat lamps and fire pits.  It was so peaceful and romantic.

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel's restaurant so we could enjoy the river view one last time.  Before heading back home, we decided to take a leisurely stroll on their scenic river walk.

On our actual anniversary date,  I woke up to a bouquet of these beautiful red roses and a romantic card.

Yes, were in our mid fifties and married over thirty years, but we still take time from our busy lives to celebrate our anniversary and give each other small, thoughtful gifts.  I think it's so important to never stop doing that.  You don't have to spend a lot of money or go somewhere exotic;  we just went to a small town three hours away.  Not every anniversary has to be celebrated with a lavish vacation to be enjoyed.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

An Anniversary Card For A Couple of Love Birds

This is a card I made for my daughter's and son-in-law's anniversary.  I did case the card from Pinterest, but of course now I can't find the original.  As always, I just cased the idea but had none of the original supplies and had to use what I had on hand.

I made the bird cage using my Cricut Expression machine.  I popped it up on dimensionals onto plain white card stock.  The birds are felt stickers.  The blue one is the actual felt sticker, but I needed a reverse image so I turned the sticker around and traced it onto yellow card stock, then fussy cut it to get another bird.  I glued them to the cage.

The flowers and leaves were cut with a mixture of MFT and Cuttlebug dies, then glued onto the bird cage.  I also took a green marker and added a little detail to the leaves.

Yellow twine was threaded through the hole on top of the cage, then glued down in a couple of spots. I added a few sequins for an extra added touch.  The sentiment was stamped directly onto the white card stock.

I layered the white card stock over a sliver of yellow and turquoise designer paper, and added the whole piece to a white card stock base.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
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Celebrating 30 Years Of Marriage

My husband and I celebrated thirty years of marriage last week.  Because our big anniversary fell on a Tuesday, other than cards and flowers, we didn't do anything.  We are planning a vacation in September and will celebrate then.  Nothing big, we're just going to do what we love most...hiking in state parks enjoying God's beautiful creation.

I started to make a hand made card to celebrate our anniversary using a card from Pinterest to case as usual.  I was almost done with that card when I saw this old photograph just laying on my counter.  It was already worn, faded, and cropped to fit an old photo frame that broke.  Months ago, I put the photograph on my desk thinking I would re frame it someday then I forgot about it.  I picked this old photograph up, covered in layers of dust, and thought "Look at those kids!"  It seemed like it was only yesterday we tied the knot, how could it be thirty years already?  I knew then, that I would have to make a different card and I would have to use this photograph.  Don't worry, I have a nephew getting married soon, and I will give him the other card I made!

I created a frame card by using Spellbinders Nestabilities to create the circular frame.  Then I glued the photograph to the inside of the card and added a circular frame around it to cover up the raw edges.

 I stamped a sentiment underneath the picture, and then I wrote a short, yet very meaningful message to my husband on the other side of the card.  He seemed very touched by what I wrote.

For the front of the card, I used heart patterned paper, then cut "30 Years" out of pink paper with my Cricut Express Machine.  I added one heart behind the number using a MFT heart die.

It's a very simple card, but it says it all, and my husband really, really loved it.  I was so happy I saw the photograph at the last minute, and changed the direction of my card and made it more personal.

On our anniversary day, I woke up to these beautiful flowers and a lovely card with a hand-written note.

So what is it like to be married for thirty years?  It wasn't always easy.  The early years were the most difficult as we were plagued with financial problems, health problems, and extended family issues.  Then when our kids went to high school and college, we went through other difficult trials that those years bring.  But we prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and God answered those prayers beyond measure.  Through it all, the good and the bad, we stayed committed to one another.  Were there times I wanted to bolt?  You betcha!  But God would never allow me to harden my heart long enough to do that.

I will say, the past five years have been the BEST years of our entire marriage.  Many marriages suffer and fall apart during the "empty nest" phase.  Ours seemed to blossom and flourish.  It all started with our very first vacation that we ever took alone together.  It was a short trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville,  North Carolina.  It was that trip where we seemed to fall in love with each other all over again.  Not that we were ever out of love, but our marriage prior to that trip was mostly trying to build a life:  establishing careers, renovating and building a home, raising children.  This trip, it was just about us.  Spending time together, exploring together, having fun, with each other, alone!  It was this trip that started our "Road Trip Adventures" that I write about every Wednesday in my travel posts.

Since that trip, we've made it a priority in our lives to get out and explore on a regular basis.  Some years, we were able to take more costly vacations, and some we weren't.  But whether the money was there or not, WE DID SOMETHING!  Lately I've been writing a lot about staycations:  how we're having fun every weekend exploring our own hometown.  You can find fun, free things to do with each other anywhere that hardly costs a dime.

Looking back over the past thirty years and how many times I may have wanted to bolt, or how many times I've questioned whether I made the right decision, I'm so happy, so grateful, that God kept pursuing me and never allowed my heart to remain hard after an argument.  I'm also grateful I'm married to someone who is so forgiving and is always the first to humble himself and say "I'm Sorry", because trust me, forgiveness and saying "I'm Sorry" is very, very difficult for me.  And if he wasn't the one to almost always say it first, I don't know if we would still be married.  God certainly knows what He is doing when He picks a mate for you!  He puts the right personalities together!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

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Our 29th Wedding Anniversary Celebration and Card

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary.  Yikes, that's a long time.  I know so many people today consider that quite an achievement, and it is, but I will also say sometimes you have to wait to get the marriage you really want.  I can honestly say the past few years have been the best years of our marriage, and I am looking forward to the next twenty years!

I hand-make all my cards, and this was the card I made for my husband this year.  I used a pink lipstick glitter paper from DCWV "The Rock Star".  I thought it was both masculine and sexy at the same time, which my husband would like.

The main image is from MFT.  I just stamped it onto white card stock using SU! "Rose Red Ink", then cut it out.  It's popped up on dimensionals over a Spellbinder die cut.  The little hearts you see are brads, and the trim I just picked up at JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts.  It was in their ribbon section, sold by the spool.  I thought it reminded me of sexy lingerie, and my husband would like that to.  Are you getting the theme of the card yet?  :)

 I used other papers from the DCWV stack to create layers then I adhered everything to a black card base.

 My husband surprised me with this beautiful bouquet of red roses.  He normally gets me flowers, but I was still surprised to see these because he had already bought me so many gifts on our last vacation I thought I was done receiving gifts for the year.

We had a very simple anniversary celebration this year since we just returned home from two vacations already and next year will be the big 30...so we'll have to plan something extra special then.  This year we just went to our favorite restaurant and out to a movie.  We always order the same thing every time we go to this restaurant.  My husband gets a chimichanga, and I get a virgin strawberry margarita and seafood burrito.

I had planned on wearing my sexy LBD I showed you in THIS POST, but time got away from us that day and we had to hurry out of the house if we wanted to make the movie on time.  It turned out to be a good thing, because both the restaurant and theatre we went to are very casual and I probably would have been overdressed.  I will talk more about this outfit on Friday's Fashion Post where I plan on sharing my thoughts of all the fall fashion I keep seeing on blogs right now and what I think is "real and practical" fall fashion.

We went to a newly renovated budget cinema and saw the movie "Tarzan".  My husband and I rarely go to see movies because the nearest movie theater is a 45 minute drive.  It's just a lot easier to rent movies and watch them at home rather than drive that distance.  But it was a special occasion, and I really wanted to see the renovations of the budget theatre, so we decided to make the drive.

I absolutely loved what they have done with this historic theatre in downtown Eau Claire.  The colors are so bright and cheerful, and I really like the art deco design.

This is the rug they have in the lowest level.

The theatre is three stories tall with the bathrooms on the lowest level, a large theatre on the main floor, and a small theatre on the second floor.

This is the waiting area outside of the bathrooms.  It has these funky red vinyl benches, a tall table, and a large wall mirror.

The bathroom was gorgeous!  I loved the silver and blue and the tile was breath-taking.  The tile had little iridescent blue/silver stones inside each white piece of tile.

I know the picture quality is terrible because the lighting in the theatre is so dark, but I thought this picture was so cute I had to share.  My husband saw our reflection in the wall mirror and said "Let's take a selfie!"  So we did!

The theatre now serves food and they bring it right to you during the movie...so you can eat dinner or a snack and watch a movie at the same time.  We had eaten before we arrived, so we didn't order anything.  We did look at their menu and they had pizza, some sandwiches, ice cream, hummus and chips.  The tables are for eating.  When you purchase your movie ticket, you order your food at the same time and they give you a number.  You just place the number on the table in front of you and a waitress will bring your food right to you.  Pretty fun, eh?

We did notice that they had to take a lot of seats out of theatre to accommodate the tables.  It was nice for leg room, but there were a lot of people looking for seats.  So if you plan on visiting this theatre, I would get there early!

So what did I think about "Tarzan"?  I thought the actors who played Tarzan and Jane were both extraordinarily beautiful and were perfect for their parts.  I also loved the scenery and all the computerized animals.  It's amazing what they can do in movies nowadays isn't it?  It was a very romantic, sexy film that was also filled with action, so it's a good date night movie.  The plot was a bit thin, but, I didn't mind since there was visually so much to look at.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Ashley and Jason's Anniversary Card

My daughter and her husband celebrated their sixth anniversary a little while ago and this was the card that I made for them.

I cased Michelle's card HERE, and just changed paper and dies with what I had on hand.

The image is from the "Home Sweet Home" set.  I cut all the shapes with Spellbinder's Nestabilities.  I put Stickles on all the flower centers.  The bow was made with floss and I added a Prima Flower in the center.

The sentiment was stamped on a tag cut with a Martha Stewart punch.  I used dimensionals to raise the image up from the card base.  Brads were used to adhere the die cut to the flower designer paper.  The designer paper is old, from my stash, so I don't remember the name.  Sorry.

And here are a few pictures taken of our lovebirds from our last camping trip.

I'm very, very behind on my travel posts due to all the computer issues I've had this past month.  I'm still not done blogging about our May road trip...there's weeks left of posts to do on that adventure.  And when I finally finish that travel series, I can then move on to our camping trip we took in July.

In the meantime, here are a few highlights of Ashley and Jason on that trip!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
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