How can it be the end of July?

I am sitting here wondering how it has gotten to be almost the end of July. Summers always go quickly but this one really seems to be flying. I think it is because we have had such a busy summer. We seem to have a lot going on this summer so my stamping has taken a back seat lately to all the other things that are going on. I wish I just had a couple of days that I could stamp and not be bothered with other things.

I have made a few cards that I haven't had time to post here so I thought I'd share a couple of them today. The first one is quick card I made to send to my 11 year old while he was at church camp. He loves that show on Animal Planet called Meerkat Manor, and while I'm not sure this little guy is a Meerkat, I thought it was close enough for a card for my son.

The base card is Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss, with Pure Luxury Soft Sand as the bottom layer under the focal image. The corners are made from Soft Sand as well. The patterned piece is from Basic Grey's Granola paper pack. The Meerkat image (or is he a Prairie Dog?) is from the adorable stamp set Zoo Animals from Gina K. Designs. The sentiment is from that set as well but I only used part of it. The whole thing says, "Friends Like You Are One of a Kind" but since I was sending this to my son, the friends part wasn't appropriate but the "You are one of a kind" fits him perfectly. I stamped the image using black Memento ink onto Pure Luxury white paper that I cut out using my long scalloped rectangles nestie. I colored him with my Copics and then stamped the sentiment next to him in brown Memento ink. I used some distressing ink to age the paper a bit and make it less "white" since it seemed a bit blank without adding some color to it. The ribbons and brads are from Gina K. (I think I pulled them from one or two of the Stamp TV kits or class kits). My son really liked the card -- I'm not sure if that was because he liked the Meerkat or if it was just that he was happy to get mail at camp! LOL!

The next card is one I made for my closest friend's birthday.  Unfortunately, we don't live near one another but we still remain very close.  We have know one another for about 28 years! Wow! That can't be possible!

The base of this card is SU Elegant Eggplant and the DP is from Basic Grey's Wisteria pack. I stamped the door on Gina K. Design's Pure Luxury White layering weight paper and colored it with Copics.  The stamp set and  sentiment are from the stamp set called  The Journey from Gina K. Designs. I love this set. It is so pretty and there are so many different types of cards that can be made with it. The ribbons are SU Elegant Eggplant and Mellow Moss, which coordinated perfectly with the Basic Grey paper. I cut out the tag with nesties and stamped the sentiment in Vivid Ink Tuscan Tan. A fairly simple card but I think it turned out quite pretty and was perfect for my friend's birthday.

Here's another birthday card made with the beautiful set Arranged with Love by Melanie Meunchinger for Gina K. Designs. This is a great set for making a quick card that is really pretty. I stamped the flowers on Pure Luxury white with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. I used the Pure Luxury Rocket Red for the base of the card and Stampin' Up Yo-Yo Yellow as a layer under the focal image. I stamped Happy Birthday with Vivid Ink-Brick Red. After I put it all together, I added the stick on rhinestones in the corners and colored them red with a Copic. Quick and easy but a pretty bouquet of flowers to brighten someone's day.
Finally, here is the most recent card I made. This was to thank some friends for a lovely weekend at their lake home in northern Wisconsin. I've been wanting to try this technique for quite a while and decided this would be the perfect card for it. I used a Cuttlebug folder on the card front but left a blank circle to stamp the wreath into. I learned this technique from Cathy/Catdidit. Once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy but it took me a few tries to actually get a blank circle. If I had followed her 'sandwich' recipe for the Cuttlebug from the start, it wouldn't have taken so long!

I stamped the wreath with Memento tuxedo black and colored it with my Memento markers. The DP is from Basic Grey's Sultry pack and the ribbon is Kiwi Kiss from Stampin' Up. The layer under the DP is also Kiwi Kiss from SU. I covered the whole circle with Crystal Lacquer just to make it pop a bit more.

That's all the cards for now! I just learned I'm going to need a sympathy card to send to a long time family friend who just lost her daughter to cancer.  So very sad. Off to my craft room to work on that card.

Have a wonderful summer evening!