celebrate today...

happy Friday!  it has been so hot here in Southern California for the past two weeks and i don't mind telling you that i'm over it!  the house feels suffocating at times and we don't have enough air conditioners to cool every room--not that you can have them all running all day long anyhow.  no one wants to risk a power failure in this weather!  i am certainly not wishing for summer's end, of course, but i wouldn't mind some mild 80 degree weather--or even some rain, lovely rain!  

i have 2 cards to share with you today.  i made them back in June (when the weather was comfortably warm), before i left for NY but didn't have a chance to post them here.

  

this first one is made using mostly Crate Paper products, plus an assortment of other little bits and bobs.  i made it for a good friend who was having a baby.  we gave her a gift but because this was her second baby, i wanted to make the gift mostly about Mama this time.

she knew she was having a boy (and he arrived on July 20th) so i did want to be sure to add some hints of blue to the card.  the "nouveautes" tag is by French General for Michael's and has a fabric feel to it.  i'm not sure if you've ever been to the French General website, but if you have a chance, check it out.  the items and photographs are beautiful; they have a very vintage, very French feel to them.  i've been a fan for years so when i saw that they had a product line at Michael's, i got so excited.  however, by the time i made it there, most things were cleaned out so i only walked away with this set of tags.

the pink pattern background paper, green butterfly card, and pink polka dotted paper, from which i punched the little butterfly, are all from Crate's Pretty Party collection.  i still love that line so, so much.  the small snippet of denim paper is from CP's Random line.  a blue paper flower, washi tape, grid paper, a vintage button, and white merchandise tag add finishing touches.

  

even though all you hear about is back to school and the end of summer, it's only the middle of August and summer is NOT. OVER. YET!  so here is a fun summer card from my favorite Simple Stories collection, Summer Fresh.  the card is very simple but i love it.

  

i cut one of the cards from the 4x6 Journaling Card Element paper in half and matted it onto a piece of the CP denim paper.  i stitched a zig-zig pattern in red thread up one side, sandwiching a doily from my Etsy shop in-between.  peeking out behind the doily are two small strips of washi tape; the red dots from Target, the blue floral from Pretty Tape.  lastly, i wrapped red twine, also from my shop, around the card and tied it in a pretty little bow.  you can find the "hello sunshine" stamp at Papertrey Ink for only $5!

   

that's all i've got for you today, friends.  i hope you're staying cool, wherever you live.  have a fun weekend!