Foil-Mates Summer Release Blog Hop

Things are still in full school mode here in the Silaika house! We still have about 2 weeks left until summer starts around here! Are your schools out for the summer yet? New York seems to suck every last bit of fun out of June! This year we have 3 graduations in the house (Genevieve is leaving elementary school, Xavier is moving up from middle to high school and Victoria graduates from high school).  I have spent the past few months in our schools substitute teaching (everything from gym to art, music to math!). I absolutely love it, but have had very little time to craft or create!

It also always seems that I am in desperate need of spring birthday cards this time of year, so with the Foil-Mates Summer release, I was able to fill my stash! 

Gina K. Designs Foil Mates collections are available in so many fun designs!  These new birthday designs are fun to use with ovals and circles!

 This first card features a wild wisteria A2 base. Then I used the wild lilac foil with the Happy Birthday sentiment die cut with the oval die.  I also used some of the polka dot background and cut it in a strip! A little corner rounder on the edge makes this shimmery purple design complete!

 This second card features a square 4.25 inch innocent pink base. I stamped small hearts in white ink (Emmy and Riley Flamingo). There is a layer of die cut black, then the Happy birthday to you was cut with a slightly smaller double stitched oval die. The foil I used on this is bubblegum pink! It is *SO* hard to photograph the shimmer and colors. This cute little square card is perfect to hold a gift certificate for those last minute "Hey Mom! I have a sleepover birthday party tonight!"

 This final card features an A2 blue lagoon base. I foiled the die cut frame and the star background with turquoise sea foil. I also stamped the sentiment in Turquoise sea ink. The sentiment is also from Emmy and Riley Flamingo. I was thinking how awesome this background would be in school colors for a graduation card! I used a little black stitched ribbon to break up the turquoise colors! This shimmer-tastic turquoise card is going into the birthday stash as well!

 This is just the start of the Foil-Mates Summer Release Blog Hop! Check out everyone's creations by hopping along! And there is always a give away - comment on all the blogs and you could win one of 3 $50 gift certificates! That can buy a lot of foiling! Winner will be announced on Gina's blog on Thursday morning! 

Gina K.

(you came from here)

Beth 

(you are here)

Cat 

(you are going here)

Donna

Karen

Lisa

Melanie

Rema

Sheri

Susie

Theresa

all items from Gina K. Designs unless otherwise noted

Dog Days of Summer Thanks: Day Two

Day Two of my Dog Days of Summer Thanks would have to be for Summer Birthdays! There are 3 summer birthdays in our house (4 if you count the dog, which we certainly DO!).  Genevieve celebrates her birthday on the same day that her grandma was born!  Although she was not able to ever know her Grandma, Gen certainly loves to brag about how they share a birthday.  They have the same beautiful cheek bones, vibrant personalities and love of music!~

I am so very thankful that I didn't listen to the masses and stop at 5 children - because my life would be so much duller without this little princess. 

The clean and simple card which I created uses some Gina K. designer paper along with the sentiment from Lots of Lines.  Once again, the big sentiment looks so awesome in this purple color. The pop of green and white from the designer paper is so perfect and the button and sheer ribbon just add a hint of class to the card!

all items from Gina K. Designs unless otherwise noted

Dog Days of Summer Thanks: Day One

I used to hate summer - I hated the heat and the sticky weather -- but over the past 16 years, I have learned to love summer.  When my oldest three girls were young, I was told that the town pools were horrible and dirty.  Who told me and WHY I listened to them, I do not know.  Now my children live (and work) at the town pools.  We are there nearly every day (my children volunteer to help with swim lessons, we go to summer swim team practice there, and my oldest now works as a lifeguard there).  I now love summer - I love the crazy, going in 6 different directions - swimming morning, noon and night - the hot days when even I want to jump in the pool - The LAZY afternoons when it thunders and the kids spend their time in the basement playing video games or having a Harry Potter marathon.  I love summer.  If you have a town pool - join it!  You will meet wonderful people there and it will make you love those sticky days and splashes of summer memories!

Today is day one of my Dog Days of Summer Thanks -- and today is also my little man's birthday.  He is a swimmer!  He keeps me on my toes and I adore every little bit of him.  

Here is my little man at his birthday party last weekend!  Of course it is a swim party - there are all his buddies in the background!  Eleven is going to be great Xavier! Thank you for being you!

Here is one of the seven days of thanks cards that I made - it is a clean and simple card, just like the butterfly birthday card I made a few days back, simply using the star instead of the butterfly and the many thanks sentiment from the Lots of Lines set.  The Gina K. color companions in the blues was a fun gradient way of creating a thank you card.

Stop back tomorrow for Day 2 of my Dog Days of Summer Thanks!

all items from Gina K. Designs unless otherwise noted