Post 4th of July Blues!

I've been feeling a little blue since the big 4th of July week/weekend has ended.  This year the holiday was more special than usual as I got to share it with old friends and newer family members:)  More on that below but first a card share inspired by the current challenge at Virginia's View:

At a recent Stampin' Up open house I attended I started making one of the workshop cards and then decided to finish it up at home to put my own spin on it:

The flower from the Stampin' Up hostess set Bloom with Hope was stamped in one of their new In Colors called blackberry bliss on whisper white cs.  Using a blender pen I colored in the flower petals with rich razzleberry and the flower centers with crushed curry. The love die (also from Stampin' Up) was die cut in both blackberry bliss cs and gold foil - I like adding a cs "shadow" to thinner die cut words.  I also like combining die cut and stamped words to create sentiments.  The stamped "you" is from a Hero Arts set called Big Ticket.  

Other Supplies Used:  Stampin' Up vellum and crushed curry cs, JoAnn's gold sequins

And now a couple of pics from my holiday week:)

That's me on the left with my bestie from high school Sarah - she lives in Tennessee and we hadn't seen each other in 5 years!  She was staying with her brother who owns Indian Creek farm in Ithaca, NY (which you should totally check out if you're ever in the area!).  There's something so special about friends who you can just pick right up with:)  Sarah is such a talented writer and I love reading her blog - I always come away feeling inspired to create and to explore my own surroundings.  

And Sarah didn't brave that loooong drive from Tennessee alone! She brought her sweet daughter Laurel (that's Laurel on the left) along with 3 of Laurel's friends:

Loved meeting them - they were all so smart and funny!  Just the kind of friends you would have wanted to hang out with in high school:)

I also had a reunion with my cruisin' buddies:

There's already talk about a repeat Caribbean cruise vacation this November:)

And last - but certainly not least! - it was all about the newest members to the family at our picnic! Here's Hadleigh checking out great grandma!  Looking quite adorable in the outfit her great aunt Robin got her (we all know I'm a sucker for polka dots!). 

And here's the cousins meeting for the first time:)  And although they are ignoring both each other and the camera I love that Jackson voluntarily reached out to touch his cousin Hadleigh's knee:)

And I especially love this pic of great grandma with the moms and the babies:)  I honestly don't know how professional photographers do it!  I took a gazillion shots of this and in none of them was everyone looking at the camera - *sigh*!

And finally I think this photo speaks to how all of us felt when the day was done - LOL!:

Hope everyone is having a great week!  I'm looking forward to getting caught up on blogs and getting some crafty time in!