Today is our 44th anniversary, and my card says it all.

Wonderful husband, best friend, fabulous traveling companion, amazing dad and grandfather–Tracy is the best! 

As soon as I saw this amazing “Mountain Majesty” cover plate released this month at Papertrey Ink, and the gorgeous card Nicole Heady created, I knew this had to be my anniversary card for Tracy. He loves the mountains, and has hiked to the top of most of the 49 High Peaks in the Adirondacks. My card is a shameless copy of Nicole’s with just one change, but it was too perfect to mess with, so I hope she takes it for what it is—a tribute to her wonderful design skills. Also my thanks to a friend, who loaned me both stamp sets. 

The sentiment is from “Quoted: The Most.” There are three interchangeable sentiments that can be used. Instead of a heart Nicole used as an embellishment, I embossed the interchangeable sentiment on a red banner which I popped up with dimensional tape. I did add the glitter to the mountains, although it was rarely snowing when Tracy was hiking. 

We’re off to Toronto tomorrow to celebrate. It’s been years since we’ve been there. We have tickets to the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum. The exhibit closes on Sunday so we’re getting there at the last moment. (In fact, there’s no more mention of that exhibit on the website. I’d be nervous, but we got a lovely email yesterday reminding us we have tickets for the exhibit tomorrow.) We have dinner reservations at Eastside Social, and will spend the night before heading off to the McMichael Museum on Sunday morning before we head home. We’ve never been there, and I’m looking forward to exploring the exhibits as well as the grounds.

While we were away my mother-in-law celebrated her birthday, and she turned a young 88! We actually celebrated her birthday last month, when the whole family was at Honeoye Lake. Sarah and her family arrived from Chicago in time for the family portrait.

Ellie is smack in the middle of this great family portrait with family from Texas, Arizona, Illinois, and Louisiana as well as many of us who live in New York, and one of Jill’s best friends from Australia. 

Nothing makes her happier than time together with her family. She had a beautiful birthday cake, and a wonderful flower candle that was supposed to drop its petals when you lit it. Instead it burned like a torch! We think it was the wind coming in the windows. Fortunately, there was no damage to the cake.

I didn’t give her a handmade card at the lake. We had a group card and group gift so I waited until her birthday in Vermont to give it to her. 

Her card (made on the same day as Jasmine’s wedding card) is a close CASE. I couldn’t find a patterned paper I like, so I decided to emboss the sentiment from Reverse Confetti’s “Simply Sentiments” in the same gold as the floral arrangement from Simon Says’ “Floral Bliss.” Once again a narrow strip of metallic paper separate the focal point from the sentiment. Like the wedding card, it’s pretty simple, but the black and gold make it festive.

We arrived home on Tuesday night to three days of rain. It finally stopped long enough yesterday for the lawn to dry out to and be mowed. It was beginning to look like a jungle! There’s lots going on, as is typical after being away for over a week. We’re off again today with a good friend to go to the Ithaca farm market and visit a few wineries. I managed to squeeze in some time last night to make a card for a friend’s surprise birthday party coming up this weekend, too. I’ll be back with that once I get it photographed. Lots of photos from the trip to upload and edit, too. 

Yesterday was  Maddy’s first birthday, and we’re lucky to be celebrating with her on Nantucket. Spending time with Matt, Betsy, Skylar, Ella, and Maddy is simply wonderful. Maddy was ready to celebrate and so were her sisters. Her tee shirt reads “The Party Has Arrived.”

(photo courtesy of Pam Adams)

Recently, I commented that often my initial vision for a card doesn’t translate into the final product. But this is another one that did. Once I found the “right” patterned paper in my stash, the card came together quickly.

The only stumbling block was finding the right sized number 1, but thanks to Sarah, the problem was quickly solved. I’ve owned a Silhouette SD (no longer manufactured) for many years. The software has been upgraded so many times, and the cutting blade reconfigured so that I always felt overwhelmed at the prospect of using it. Sarah has the newest model, and while she was here, she installed the new software, inserted the new cutting blade, and gave me enough instruction that I didn’t even have to watch a video to get the number cut out.

I found the patterned paper in a Pink Paislee pad appropriately titled, “Birthday Bash,” die cut it with my fave stitched rectangle die, and then die cut the heart from the middle with a die from My Favorite Things. The little bear and present were stamped, colored, and fussy cut and popped up next to the heart. 

I added some clear glitter to the number 1 and the bow on the package with Spectrum Noir’s Clear Sparkle pen, but it doesn’t show up in either photograph. 

Today we went on a Critter Cruise with the little girls. Last year, we babysat Maddy while Skylar and Ella went. This year w all went, and we had a great time. They “caught” crabs, giant snails, a lobster, and many fish. Tons of fun, and I’ll have photos later.

A very Happy Father’s Day to those celebrating today. I have a friend for whom today is very difficult, so I know that it’s not always a joyous occasion, and there can be a variety of reasons for that.

Luckily for us, it was a day to celebrate. Three of my favorite dads spent the day together; it might be a first. And later, we enjoyed dinner with yet another great dad–my daughter-in-law’s father.

It was a hot, humid day and the weather forecast was for thunderstorms. Fortunately, they held off until late afternoon. Earlier all five of my grandchildren were together for the very first time.

Playing in the pool . . . 

Having fun with water balloons . . .

Swinging . . .

Just “hanging out” . . .

And having lunch . . .

Thanks to Betsy’s niece, we got our annual family photo.

Just as Matt finished grilling the hot dogs and hamburgers, it started to rain, so dinner was inside. We had a lovely day. 

Here are the cards I made for the three dads in our family.

All variations on the same theme: bright colors, my favorite “Stitched Rectangles” by Simon Says, stacked letters die cut with Neat and Tangled “Journaling Alphas” and Altenew’s “Label Love.”

Betsy’s dad is a cyclist. He rode nearly 150 miles this weekend, and I was lucky to find the perfect embellishment for his card in my stash.

More bright colors (all Papertrey Ink cardstock), die cut with the PTI “Stripes Horizontal Cover Plate” and stamped with a sentiment from Kelly Perky’s “Dude” by Simon Says.

Today is Mother’s Day in the United States which this year falls on my birthday, and thanks to some wonderful planning, is also the day of Hannah’s baptism.

I have four cards to share today, and will be back in a day or two with a belated Monday Memo post. We’ll be on the road heading home tomorrow.

First of all, the card for Hannah. I’ve known what I wanted to do for this card ever since I saw Betsy Veldman’s card when “Petite Places: Church” was released by Papertrey Ink. There’s likely to be another baptism in the family in the next year, and I’m thinking this will be my “go-to” design for baptisms.

I stamped Hannah’s name on the envelope with a new-to-me stamp from Concord and 9th, “Perfectly Penned” in a light gray. Hannah’s nursery is pink and gray so it’s an appropriate combination. I used the same gray to stamp the details on the church.

The card base is the “A2 Vertical” die from Papertrey Ink that I was anxiously awaiting to arrive before we left for Chicago. All the other dies and stamps are also Papertrey Ink:  “Petite Places: Church”, “Scene-It: Skyscapes,” “Banner Styles,” and a stitched oval from the “A2 Noted” set.

I also have three Mother’s Day cards to share. One for my mother-in-law:

This is another card made totally with Papertrey Ink products. A friend loaned me her “Butterfly Hope” cover plate which pretty much makes the card all by itself. I die cut it from Plum Pudding cardstock and again with the dotted vellum. I added a small tag and some berries from the “Beautiful Berries: Spring” set. The sentiment is from an older anniversary set, “Pretty Peonies. “

One for Betsy:

And yet again, a card created almost entirely with a die, Papertrey Ink’s “Mix and Mat: Scallops.” The banner is from a My Favorite Things Blueprints set. 

And finally, for Sarah. 

I recently purchased the Papertrey Ink Mini Market Kit, “Lovely Laurels.” With the exception of the bows which came from the “Gathered Garden” dies, the whole card is from the kit. I love the way the wreath is a partial die cut. The sentiment on the preprinted patterned paper seemed perfect for a mom who’s celebrating Mother’s Day as well as her daughter’s baptism.

Sarah’s also participating in a church musical this afternoon. She plays the part of God, which I find pretty amusing. I think she likes the role because she’s up in the balcony where no one sees her, and the part does not require a costume. Adam is also in the play, but I’m not sure what role he plays. Between the church service and the play, Caleb has a soccer game, so we have a full day planned.

Here’s wishing every mother, whether or not you’re officially celebrating Mother’s Day today, a wonderful day!