You Mean the World To Me

Last night we got to enjoy a rare, quiet family evening together. Between my crazy schedule, Mark's schedule, call-outs and overtime, Emma's skating schedule and stuff at church, we find ourselves going way more than we are staying put. So last night, Mark cooked a tenderloin on the grill, we got to eat outside on the deck on an absolutely glorious evening and settled in afterwards for an evening of History Channel.

I don't know about you, but we love a lot of the shows on there - Pawn Stars, American Pickers and American Restoration are a few of our favorites.
Pawn Stars is like watching a train wreck and learning history at the same time. Sometimes you can't believe what you're seeing, but you can't turn away! Those guys at the shop always crack us up and we're fascinated by what people bring in to sell. Some of that stuff I'd never give up, it's too way cool - know what I mean? Like last night, this lady brought in a document signed by John Hancock. Really?!! How cool is that? To own that? Wow. But I guess to her, the $5000 she got for it was way more valuable.

But ya'll know we love antiques and the history behind them, which is one of the reasons we love that show American Pickers. The stuff those two guys find is incredible. And the way they wheel and deal is awesome. I hate when they cut to a commercial just before the seller makes a decision on a sale. It's like a game show with a cliffhanger. And then you know they show a million commercials before you find out if Frank gets his bicycle or whatever he's dying to buy. Last night it was a 1948 Airstream trailer. You could tell he was really sweating it out, but in the end he got it and they towed it all the way back home. Can you imagine your hubby pulling in the driveway yelling "Hey honey, look what I got! And it was a bargain at $8000!" Good thing he sells everything he buys because I don't think I could hang with an antique Airstream trailer living in my garage.

So, how does that relate to my card today? Well, watching that show got me thinking about my Dad and how much he loved to wheel and deal. And how much he appreciated the history in an antique piece and how he would have loved to do what those two guys get to do all the time. Travel around and see the country and buy stuff to sell. Yeah, he'd have loved that. And he'd have loved this card for Father's Day:

My Dad meant the world to me and he knew it, so even though I can't send this to him this year, I made it for him.

My stamp camp stampers got to make this card too over the past few days. A few of them didn't need a Father's Day card, so they put a Birthday sentiment inside. Pretty easy to do - we used the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set for the inside message and you know there are lots to choose from in that set.

The card base is Naturals Ivory and I stamped it with the Sanded Background stamp in Crumb Cake ink. That background is on the retiring list - so get it before June 30 if you want it in your tool box. It's a great masculine stamp, good for rough texture vintage too.
There are two more retiring items on this card - the Basic Black 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon and the Love Letter Designer Paper. Those are on the Last Chance Accessories list, which is 'While Supplies Last', so don't delay if you want those things. In fact, ALL the 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon is retiring, so get it while you can......
I wrapped the ribbon piece around the card front so the ends are hidden behind the greeting panel on the front. That way the card is pretty on the inside too.

For the rest of the card, I used Basic Black Cardstock, Black Staz-On to ink the greeting - which is from the Word Play stamp set, Crumb Cake ink for the globe image from The Open Seas stamp set and an Antique Brad for the accent. The little globe image in the greeting was colored with a Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker and punched out with the 3/4" Circle Punch. It's popped up on a Dimensional to make it stand out a bit.
As a final touch on the inside, I stamped the globe image again in the bottom left corner of the card.

So, thanks for letting me ramble and reminisce a bit today - I miss my Dad. There is no way around that truth and there is no way to avoid everything that reminds me of him because that's my whole life. I'm just gonna embrace my feelings as they come and appreciate the memories because I'm so very blessed to have them. And hopefully, you won't mind my sharing from time to time.

Now go hug someone you love and have a great day!
~~Robin