Happy Father's Day & Happy Anniversary

I love creating my own cards for special occasions.  When I got married 23 years ago, instead of just buying generic Christmas cards I would take a photo of my husband and I with our animals and have it sent off and made into cards.  I continued that tradition until my second child.  With the birth of my second child I would just take a photo of them, send off for many copies, and then decorate them up into Christmas cards.  Over time I found out that our friends really enjoyed receiving my cards with a personal touch.  In time, I started creating other cards( Birthdays, Anniversaries and Weddings)  instead of just Christmas cards.  My only problem is that I procrastinate and end up stressing my self out or staying up late trying to get the cards created by the next day.  Father's Day and my Anniversary no exception.  Below are the cards I created for June 17th Father's Day and my 23rd Anniversary.

The photo card above is the one I created for my father.  His dream has been to fix up old cars.  He currently has two 29 Chevy's  and a 30 Model A Victoria that he is fixing up.  I am documenting the process for him.  In this photo it is the car door of his Model A that I applied a Topaz Adjust Spicify filter and then I superimposed a picture of him and his Model A on top.  I added a sepia filter to that photo.  He loved it so much that I am having it blown up so he can frame it.

The above photo card is the one I created for my husband for our 23rd Anniversary.  Found a photo from our wedding day that a friend of mine took.  Scanned it in and applied some brush strokes in our wedding colors.  Then I wrote some really mushy stuff inside :)  He loved it.  Hard to believe it has been 23 years.

This is the Father's Day card I created for my husband that is from the kids.  Used a background from the class I took with JessicaSprague.com, applied a photo I took of the kids and inserted the following poem

Special Dad

by Trinity Pratt

My dad is very special,

He's not just a dad but a friend;

For he knows where there is a difference.

When one should start and the other end.

He's my dad when I need a real guidance,

But if I need a pal for a while,

He's right there in each situation,

Not with just concern, but a smile.

Kids need someone like that,

To help them draw that line,

Between what is right and wrong.

Sometimes the difference is hard to define.

So I'd like to thank Dad for being there,

For helping me all the way.

And to all the Dads who stand by their kids,

God Bless you this Father's Day

 I use photoshop CS6 to create my cards but there is plenty of card making software out there.  So gather up your special photos and make a card for someone.  They will love it and it will make you feel good.

Until next time Happy Snapping!

Internationl Soccer Game USA vs Scotland May 26, 2012

On May 26, 2012 my family and I went to our first ever professional soccer game in Jacksonville, Florida at the Everbank Fields.  It was the US against Scotland.  We went with other family members from my son's soccer team.  Below is a photo documentary of the soccer game.

Heading to the soccer fields.  How exciting!

Imagine our surprise when we saw some of the fans for the Scottish team wearing kilts.  I wonder do they wear anything under those kilts?  I was too chicken to ask.  What great fans to come out in their kilts :)

He was trying to get some one's attention.

What is the proper shoe attire when wearing a kilt?

These must be die hard fans.  I am assuming based on all the pins on this gentleman's hat that he goes all over to support his team.  There were a lot of fans wearing unique hats.

Check out this guys feather in his hat and all those pins!

This fan even had a bag pipe that he played before the game even started.  He was very good.  Loved his hat!

US goalie practicing before game starts.

US fan getting into the spirit of things.  He was all decked out in a Statue of Liberty costume and singing very loudly :)

National Anthem was played for both teams.

These fans were singing along with their anthem.

Before the game got underway the thing to do was hit these beach balls all over the place.

Still singing!

Game started!

(Notice the feather in the shot)

My son and some of his friends dared one of their team mates to go sit with the Scottish fans.  The Scottish fans have a great sense of humor.  They noticed the boy was not one of them so they started patting him on the head and singing to him.

Then they tried to offer him beer.

Then they made him wear their flag and sing with them.  It was very funny.

Do not know why this Scottish fan wanted a blow up palm tree.

Can honestly say I do not ever see this in my normal day to day life.

Our team kept the Scottish goalie very busy.  We won 5-1.  The goal on the Scottish team was from one of our guys hitting it into our own goal by accident.  So technically we scored 6 points :)

This fan had way too much fun before the game even started.

Game over.  We stopped at Red Robin for lunch.  Yummmm!

Wonderful Milk Shakes

Burger and onion straws.  Yummy in my Tummy!

Heading home after a wonderful day.

Until Next time Happy Snapping!