Happy Father's Day!

My memories of a wonderful man.......... my dad.

He wore suspenders and baggy pants, often accompanied by an old red cardigan sweater and his grey hat.  He smelled of tobacco and ink and his fingers were rough from hard work, and much like a mechanic, his nail beds were never clean, they always wore a streak of ink.  He was a printer by trade and he knew everything there was to know about type, ink and paper...............guess that's where I got my love for it.  When I was a child I used to watch him setting type on his old hand press in the basement.  It was fascinating.  That old red press .....I can still hear the clang and bang as he pressed the handle down to make the impressions.  He'd earn some extra pocket money printing off business cards and flyers for local businesses, and did this well into his 70's, never losing his love and fascination for it. 

When he laughed it was like a jingle not often heard but well remembered. He had twinkling blue eyes often belying some secret joke or something he found humerous.   He loved nature and growing his garden, along with his wife of 57 years, various dogs and his cockatiel Joey.  He also loved his five children and all their offspring.  Dad always delighted in holding the new babies and enjoyed their visits.  He took great pride in all their accomplishments and would have loved to have been here to see all the latest great grandchildren and to have shared their growth and triumphs. 

Dad passed away in 1998, but it seems like only yesterday.  I think of him almost every day.  He would have so loved my passion for stamping and creating paper projects. He always encouraged my art work and printing and was really enthused when I started doing caligraphy.   I didn't start stamping until 2006 so he missed that journey, but it's funny, every time I lay ink to paper he's there with me.  He encourages me a lot in my color choices and my layouts, and he enjoys my pastime immensely. 

Today I'll take my mom to visit his graveside and we'll say hello and talk awhile and I'll envision him standing at the end of the driveway as we approach, with his hands in his pockets, the old red sweater and gray hat and a rollie in his hand. He'll be walking up the road to meet us as he did so many times.   I loved my dad and always will.  Hope you don't mind my reverie but I just wanted to share my thoughts.  Happy Father's Day Dad, we'll talk later...........

FATHER'S DAY CARD AND GIFT BOX SET:

A few Sunday's ago my wonderful stamping friend Sheri and I got together for a fun afternoon and evening of stamping.  I had seen a Father's Day suspender box in the June/July 2007 Paper Crafts Magazine (designed by Lisa Strahl) that intrigued me so after showing it to Sheri we decided to make our own box and matching card using the suspender theme.  We cut the base of the card box from Blue Bayou and the lid from Chocolate Chip cardstock.  Sheri attached her lid, but I chose to keep mine separate.   We used some old Blue Bayou double stitched ribbon I had kicking around for the suspenders, and added brass toned hodge podge hardward for the strap detail and attachments for the pants.  The pocket was made using the large tag punch and we paper pierced around the edge so it looked like stitching.  The pocket was mounted with dimensionals to give it some depth.   The buttons were made by punching out six circles from the Blue Bayou cardstock with a 3/4" circle punch, and layering the circles on top of each other.  We then punched out button holes and I finished mine with a coat of Crystal Effects for a shiny button look.  The pants were made from Chocolate Chip cardstock and we made a belt using hodge podge hardware.  The card is similar to one made by Alisa Bangerter in the June/July 2008 Papercrafts Magazine, and was made using the same card stock and DSP paper combination. Paper piercing and the addition of large brass eyelets on the So Saffron card stock add some interest, and some matching blue DSP ties it altogether.   Enjoy and comment if you like it!