Clean and Quick Anniversary card

  Yes, I am alive!  I feel like I haven't posted in forever even though it's just been a little more than a week.  We had Vacation Bible School (VBS) last week at our church and I was one of the volunteers.  I was one of the craft ladies (surprise surprise!) and ran my tail off from 9-12 every day.  By the time the boys and I got home we just sat and vegged.  VBS is super fun but it certainly takes a lot out of you (the 100+ degree weather last week didn't help either!).  Then I spent any free time over the weekend designing and preparing the projects for stamp club which was last night.  I'll be getting those projects photographed and posted soon. 

  But today I'm going to share the anniversary card I gave to my husband for our 8th anniversary earlier this month.  Ever since we were first married we give each other gifts that follow the traditional list of gifts depending on the year of marriage.  For example, the first anniversary is paper, the second is cotton, third leather etc.  Well, the 8th anniversary is bronze.  I know, right??  Well that's a pretty hard one to come up with a decent gift.  If you search bronze things online you get tons of bizarre sculptures and yard art...don't need any of that.  And a lot of the stuff is girlie, vases and stuff like that.  I searched and searched for something kind of meaningful, cool and would not break the bank (like a $6,000 sculpture!).  I finally stumbled across this seller on Etsy who sells coin banks made from reclaimed wood and old post office mail boxes.  You know the kind with the knobs that turn to the special code and then open?  Well, lo and behold, these post office postal box doors are made from bronze.  Totally cool.  He had one in his store that had an "8" in the number---SOLD!  Check out his Etsy site HERE.  So I got my bronze gift for my husband.  Since it is a bank for coins and such I decided that I would find a penny dated from each year of our marriage and stick those inside the card and he can put them in the bank and I would give him a new penny every year.  I found all the years except for 2011.  I raided the boys piggy banks, hit the local grocery store, 2 bank branches and even the liquor store;  no one could find me a 2011 penny!  Weird.  So I'm still on the hunt for that one but he has 2003-2010. 

  Anyway, after all that (and you probably don't care very much!) here is the card that I put the pennies in.  I couldn't think up a good "bronze" themed card so I just kept it clean and simple with the little pop of red for Love!

  I used the lately neglected Circle Circus which can totally change into what ever kind of set you need, masculine, girlie, playful, serious.  It's a great versatile set to have on hand.  I embossed the circles with black embossing powder on Crumb Cake cardstock cut into squares. The sentiment is stamped in black on Whisper White cardstock.  I punched a heart with the 2 Step Owl punch out of red Glimmer Paper.  I love this Glimmer Paper and I'm so glad that Stampin' Up carried it over to the new catalog this year. 

Check out this close up of the embossing.  You just want to run your fingers over it!

  Also a quick reminder-  If you want to take advantage of the $99 Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Starter Kit special don't wait!  This offer is only good until the end of July-- Only 5 more days to take advantage of this unbelievable deal.  If you join you get sneak peeks at upcoming catalogs, option to preorder from new catalogs, discounts, free stamp sets and loads and loads of great ideas.  Not even mentioning the great stamping products you receive in the Starter Kit!  If you have questions or would like to join just contact me and we can talk!
  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Circle Circus, Something to Celebrate (retired hostess set)

Ink: Versamark, Black

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White, Red Glimmer Paper

Accessories: black embossing powder, 2 Step Owl punch