Aaaahhh, the challenges!

So I've been away from home far too often this year, and having just returned yesterday, I've spent the whole morning stamping! What a TREAT!!

I wanted to share why I've been away this time. My "big sister" Katherine, who completed a thirty year career teaching high school, went back to university, and in her sixtieth year, graduated with her Master's degree in divinity last week, from McGill University in Montreal. Several family members travelled from Nova Scotia, Labrador and England to attend her graduation and to celebrate with her. The next step is that she will be ordained as a Presbyterian minister this summer, and will begin working in her own church. We're all just so PROUD of her...wanted to share.

So, now I'm HOME again, and have done several challenge cards this morning. I needed several to mail to various people, so this was a great way to catch up!

The first is for the challenge over at Created by Hand, which is "postage." I used this beautiful sentiment stamp from Quietfire Design and postage stamp frame, masked that, and used parts of this great stamp from Crafty Individuals.

Now this is actually a humourous card, which I'll be sending to my husband at work. We've decided to travel to Paris, the French Riviera and Rome this fall, which is why I selected these particular stamps. So the sentiment reads: "The longest journey is the journey inward." Inside the card, I've written:

"...been there, done that...too expensive...let's go to Paris and Rome instead."

Over at "Art Pieces," the ATC challenge is "My Country." I enjoy incorporating ATC's into my cards, so stamped Impression Obsession maple leaves (Canadian of course! lol) with Clearsnap chalk inks, and the sentiment (also from Impression Obsession) with Tsukineko Memento Black Ink. Then I glued and glittered some of the flourishes in the maple leaves. This card will be going to a friend in the UK who's experiencing some health concerns lately.

Over at Wednesday Stamper, the challenge is "under the sea," and this card with stamps from Impression Obsession again fits that theme nicely. This one will go in the post to a little grandson today.

The final two cards are for the Timeless Tuesday challenge...birthdays. I have a couple of birthdays coming up, so this challenge was timely! The first card uses a sentiment stamp and my favourite heart stamp from Impression Obsession, and the second uses some new stamps from Stampin' Up.

That's it! My morning in my stamping room is finished, and I''m off to my garden to catch up there too! It's a beautiful sunny day here in Nova Scotia, I am so HAPPY to be home. I hope that wherever you are, you have a delightful day!