"Ain’t Life Grand" is one of the sentiments from the Grand Soiree Stamp set.  Take a closer look at this GORGEOUS invitation, found on page 126 of catty, using this set!  Of course, we have so many more stamp set designs that could be used for invitations, showers, weddings, and announcements with the Please Come Set, Sincere Salutations, Together Forever, and Nursery Necessities, just to name a few.

This card is a criss-cross card, done in chocolate chip cardstock creating a tri-fold.  The invitation is a large tag that pulls out by the chocolate chip stitched ribbon secured at the top of the kiwi kiss cardstock mat.  The large chandelier image on invitation was stamped on naturals ivory cardstock in regal rose ink.  The Occasions/RSVP was stamped in chocolate chip ink over the chandelier.  I stamped the large rectangle frame of the Frames with a Flourish set in regal rose classic ink.  I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to center the sentiment from Grand Soiree stamp set, inside the frame, and stamped it in chocolate chip classic ink.  I took the swirly stamp image from the Frames with a  Flourish set and stamped it underneath in Kiwi Kiss classic ink.

I used a small 1.5" x 12" strip of the green pattern from Bella Rose Designer Series Paper to wrap around the outside of the criss-cross folded card.  I used a 1/4" strip across the width of the front only, slightly up from the bottom of the green dsp.  I tied a piece of Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon in a bow off center to the right, just above the seam of the dsp.  I used a stick pin and a pearl from the Pretties Kit, tied a small piece of old olive 1/4" ribbon to the end of the pin, and then layered a green felt flower from Flower Fusion and then a brown felt flower from Flower Fusion Too which was adhered through the regal rose ribbon. 

We’re heading into that period of time that whizzes by and leaves my head spinning.  Before you know it, we’ll be celebrating Columbus Day weekend, Halloween which is huge in our house and neighborhood, and then Thanksgiving.  I’ll be putting away the fall and Halloween decorations up in the attic while my husband hands me down the Christmas decorations to be sorted in the spare bedroom.  Dec 1st marks the beginning of many Christmas Parties leading up to Christmas and New Year’s dinners and gatherings.  If you’re hosting a party or event, one of the things I can help you with is designing an invitation for you that is customized to your personal style and color preferences.  And you can be sure it will be received with ooohs, and awwwhs, because it won’t be a cookie cutter off the rack invitation.  It will be a personal work of art handmade by you! 

Recently I stumbled upon a new website that I thought I’d share with you.  It’s called "Sheetload of Cards".  You can get to their blog and the July issue published here.  Coincedently (no really) I was trying to fit in a theme of Christmas in July, into my calendar.  Now that I’ve finished unpacking and laundering everything from our vacation last week, there are less than 2 weeks of July left, and convention in Utah at the end of the month, so what am I thinking?  lol

I used the previous newsletter to make this card.  I used Stampin’ Up!’s Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper and some felt flowers from our Flower Fusion Accents and Elements.  The stamp set is Friendship Blooms, a retiring hostess set.

 Thanks for looking!