5, 6, 7, 8…Celebrate!

When I was a little girl, I took dance classes; ballet, tap, and jazz. I loved it although I was never very good at it. Tap and jazz were more my thing than ballet was but I think it was because I liked the music better. However, I have no rhythm and struggled with the dances. My last class was when I was about 12 years old.

Last year, for their one of their Stamptember stamps, Simon Says Stamps collaborated with Colorado Craft Company and had this stamp set. I LOVED it immediately and had to have it. This was my first exposure to CCC and oh.my.word. I’ve loved everything they’ve put out since. Actually, I love everything of theirs before and after I discovered them.

As is the case with more stamps than I’d like to admit, this one sat on my shelf until the other day when I was looking for something to make a birthday card for one of my besties. Like me, she took dance classes as a kid but she stayed with it a lot longer than I did. In fact, she was taking tap lessons just last year (I was so jealous, I think this would be SO much fun!). Anyway, when I saw this set, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I stamped just the dancer on the left…the tap dancer… and colored her up. I fussy cut her so that I could put her on the black and white harlequin background from Amuse Studios. And let me tell you, if you knew my friend, you’d know that this background is perfect for her. I wanted to bring the pink of the tutu skirt out so I decided to use a pink card base and stamp the sentiment on pink as well. This pink card stock is a little smooth with a bit of texture so I did emboss the sentiment to make sure it wasn’t going to smear. I cut it with a die I like (I don’t know the brand or even where I got it). I used foam tape as my adhesive for the dancer and scor tape for the sentiment. On the inside it says “Celebrate”.

I think she’ll like her card this year and although she’s celebrating a ‘mature’ birthday, I think this card and this whole set would be perfect for dancers of all ages!

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor, it’s to enjoy each step along the way…Wayne Dyer

Calendar Catch Up…July and August

Today I’m going to finish getting my calendars caught up! But first, I want to announce the winners from my Growing In Unity Week. They are Nikki Kittrell and Amy Williams. Congratulations!! They are the lucky winners of a grab bag of 25 Unity stamps for commenting on my posts last week.

Now, for the calendars…July was done by one of my dearest friends and just happens to be the one that organizes the calendar swap. It is a fabulous celebration of the holiday that July is known for…the 4th of July! Don’t you love that skyline and those fireworks?!

For August, it’s a simple topper with a quote that really spoke to me. “Set sail in the direction of your dreams”. I’m working chasing some dreams this year and I just love that quote! It was very timely for me. A friend in Boston made this one and one of the things that is so amazing to me about it? She underwent a heart transplant two years ago and has faced a lot of challenges and issues due to it in the time since. Yet, she managed to participate in the exchange last year and did an marvelous job!

Although each month is unique and the styles and techniques are different, I love every one of the pages. They make me smile and think of the person that made them every time I see them.

Time moves slowly but passes quickly.