Pals Blog Hop: Special Occasions

   
Welcome to the Pals’ Blog Hop! While the COVID 19 pandemic is adding stress to our lives, we Pals hope this blog hop will help to lift your spirits. Let us inspire you to take a creative break and relax for a little while. This month our theme is “Special Occasions.”  You’ll find the full line-up below to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal. 
  
   It's been wonderful to see how creative people are becoming in order to celebrate in these trying times! I find myself often wondering how this all will be remembered.

   Speaking of memories...I thought it might be a nice reminder that we can make our own--things that might seem odd or small in different times suddenly mean the world to us and those around us. We see uplifting stories of people slowing down and being more present--let's face it, there's nowhere else to be if we're the lucky ones.
   
   Graduation is coming up for our local state university and even though there will be no big gathering, it's still important that we can celebrate with some hand made love.

   I have two graduations this year in my family: my future daughter-in-law, and my nephew. 

   Montana State University has the motto: "Mountains and Minds" which I thought was perfect as the inspiration for this card with sentiments from the Well Said set in the annual catalog and Mountain Air from the Mini Catalog! The Bobcat colors are Blue and Gold, and the "M" you see in this mountain scene is a representation of the real one that students hike up to "rock" every year. I had so much fun designing and making this special card for a special grad!

Card and matching envelope

   The University of Utah Utes inspire the second graduation card. Their school colors are red and white, and it was easy to make a stencil using my word processor and print a giant letter to trace/cut on my cardstock. I love being able to make one-of-a-kind greetings. Don't you?!?

Inside of card: notice the oldie/goodie Stampin' Up! Alphabet stamp?!?

   Notice that I found a sentiment in Well Said that had the "ts" I needed to complete my pun-y inside sentiment! Using a marker to color just those two letters and add an exclamation point--everything coordinates when using Stampin' Up! products. 

   For more inspiration, check out these Maryland cards I made for my niece years ago. 

   I find that color can make such a big difference in projects and can also be the place to start designing!

   Remember that words can become dynamic design/graphic elements that create their own magic and make for commemorating any Special Occasion! 

   Be Well Friends!

   Here's a link to supplies used in these projects.

More inspiration awaits! Use the Blog Hop Line-up below to visit the rest of this month’s Design Team. My fellow Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 13th, when we will say “Goodbye to January Mini and 2019 Annual Catalog and/or Hello to 2020 Annual Catalog.” The Design Team will showcase their favorites from the retiring catalogs or new products from the new catalog. Don’t miss the fun! And, until then, please stay safe.

Pals Blog Hop Line-Up

1. Mary Fish at Stampin’ Pretty
2. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
3. Su Mohr at Aromas And Art
4. Mary Hanson at Up North Stampin’
5. Debra Simonis at Deb’s Stampin’ Grounds
6. Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin’ Hoot!
7. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
8. Ann Murray at Murray Stamps, Ink
9. Jen Roque at Stamp Camp with Jen
10. Rae Harper Burnet at Wild West Paper Arts
11. Lori Pinto at LollyPop Paper and Ink
12. Jeanie Stark at Just Stampin’
13. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
14. Lynn Kolcun at Avery’s Owlery
15. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
16. Deb Walker at Deb Stamps Life--You Are Here:)
17. Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity
18. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
19. Debbie Mageed at Secrets to Stamping
20. Rosanne Mulhern at Heartfelt Stamping
21. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
22. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin’
23. Leah O’Brien at Ink, Paper, Stamps, Oh My!
24. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards