A Month To Celebrate Some Graduates and a Special Dad

First... I've been 'absent' for a bit as I dealt with some personal things.  One thing after another kept slapping me in the face.  Fortunately, I believe it's all mostly behind me and I'm happy to say... that's a REALLY great thing.  God is good.

Now on to catching up on some things I've been working on.  First up.... Father's Day.  Not too long ago, I stumbled upon a really cute tutorial on how to make a shirt & tie out of a dollar bill.  I always loved Origami as a child. So, I did a test run, showed it to my son and thought it would a great way to give his dad his Father's Day card/gift.  That was over 2 months ago.  Plenty of time to plan it all out.  Being the procrastinator I am, when did I start making it?  An HOUR before his dad arrived to pick him up yesterday.  I was in slight panic mode.  But I did it & even had a time to take pictures.  But they're not the greatest because I was in a rush!  Oh I'll never learn.  Anyway.... if you're interested in watching the video tutorial, here's a link ... shirt & tie dollar bill tutorial.  I'll warn you, though... it's a little tricky in spots.  I had to start, stop & rewind a lot to figure out a few of the steps.   And this one that is pictured isn't my best (I goofed up on the left side & didn't have time to re-do it)... funny how the test one I made with a dollar bill turned out better than the crisp clean fifty dollar bill for the present.  :oP

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp sets: Delightful Dozen;  

Cardstock: Whisper White, Marina Mist;  

Patterned Paper:  Fifty Dollar Bill (US Federal Reserve, Dept of the Treasury) :0) , Polka Dot Parade DSP;  

Inks: Early Espresso;   

Sizzix Dies:  Apothecary Accents Framelit;
Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Chevron; 

  Ribbon: Linen Thread;   

Other: Big Shot, Pop Dots (Recollections), Scotch ATG.

Also this month, I was lucky enough to get to celebrate some High School Graduations.  My niece (who is also my god-daughter) graduated from the same HS my siblings & I did.  Of course, there was a party.  And of course I needed to bring a dessert.  And of course I needed to make it special.  I saw these cute little graduation cap cupcakes on the Share Dessert Company site a few weeks before the party and wanted to make them.  They're made from an upside down Ghirardelli chocolate square on top of an upside down Reese cup with a tassel made from Rips (had never heard of these before but stumbled upon them miraculously) secured with a miniature M&M.  Her school colors are black, green & gold.  Fortunately for me, I found the Rips in green.  (I think they only make them in green & red so I lucked out.)  I also rolled up a small piece of parchment paper & secured them with embroidery floss for the diploma.  They were a big hit....

For the graduation gift, I rolled up a check and tucked it inside of a graduation cap box I made using the Matchbox die.  Sadly, the Matchbox die is now retired {moment of silence, please}.  Sigh.   And with this post, I profusely apologize to whomever it is I saw do this.  I cannot for the life of me find the person who inspired me to make this.  I'm a stickler for giving credit where it's due... but I can't find it anywhere.  If I find it, I'll come back and link.  And, I also apologize for these photos, they're very bad... I had the wrong setting on my camera and didn't realize it until after I downloaded the photos (which was several days after I imparted the gift upon said niece).  I repeat... sigh.  (Can you tell it's been a flustered month?)  Anyway... you get the gist, I'm sure...

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Basic Black;

Sizzix Dies:  Matchbox (retired);

  Ribbon: embroidery thread (DMC);
     Embellishments: Basic Black Brad;

Other: Big Shot, Scotch ATG.

There were also 10 of the neighborhood kids who graduated this year (this is our largest group yet); the neighborhood will be a bit quieter in the Fall.  Sniffle.  So, I made up a few cards & the graduation cap boxes for those who we celebrated with.  The school colors are blue & white.  I added a bit of silver in there as well to make it a bit more festive.

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Sets: Delightful Dozens; 
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver (DCWV);

Sizzix Dies:  Apothecary Accents Framelit, Matchbox (retired);
Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Perfect Polka Dots, Finial Press (retired);

  Ribbon: embroidery thread (DMC), blue & white polka dot (unknown);
     Embellishments: Basic Black Brad;

Other: Big Shot, Pop Dots (Recollections), Scotch ATG.

So, that wraps up the gift giving for the month of June!   Hope you'll be celebrating some special Dads in your lives tomorrow.  In honor of my Dad, here's a photo of him with all us kids in ~1967/68.  I'm the one sitting on his lap.  We all miss him dearly.  I so wish my son had met my parents; they were amazing role models.  If I could be a quarter of the parents they were, I'd consider myself a success.  I'm still working on it.  :0)

Thanks for stopping by!

Colleen