Swimming Teacher Thank you

It seems I am making a lot of thank you cards for my son's various activities of late.  As summer begins to wind down, so do his summertime pursuits.  His last day of swimming lessons is tomorrow.  This has been a tough year in the pool for my son.  He regressed BIG time since last summer.  At the end of last summer he was doing really well (for a 3-year-old) until he was unexpectedly dunked by someone he trusted who had said they wouldn't dunk him.  That is all he remembers about swimming last year and, as a result, he has become very fearful and untrusting of anyone (even me!) around water.  His first session of swimming was group lessons and they did not go well at all.  We decided to break the piggy bank and put him in private lessons for another session in the hopes of undoing some of the damage that had been done last summer.  I am thrilled to say he has made excellent progress thanks to his wonderful teacher.  This young man has exhibited the patience of a saint in working with my stubborn boy over the last two weeks!  As I watched from the bleachers, mentally willing my boy to do things, Dylan (his teacher) has patiently and systematically worked to build Maxwell's trust.  I have been SO impressed as I watched the creative ways Dylan has worked to overcome Max's fears.  Since tomorrow is our last day with Dylan I wanted to make him a special card to say thank you for his kindness and patience with my boy. 

Thank you card for my son's swimming teacher using the Sunny Fun stamp set from the Summer Mini.

Close up of focal image.

In case you're wondering, this is a shaker card.  I used one of our Treat Cups and filled it with retired clear micro beads.  I wish I had blue beads so that it would look more like water, but clear was all I had in my stash!  It actually looks kinda cute when you shake it...like water splashing on the little boy (supposed to be my son!).  I kept this card very clean and simple (and almost embellishment free!) because it is for a young man.  I hope he likes it...I know he'll like the iTunes gift card I tucked inside!
On a completely different note, tomorrow is my one year Bloggaversary!!  A La Cards will celebrate in style with some quality blog candy, so be sure to stop by tomorrow to check it out. 

Up to my eyeballs...

...in convention swaps!!!  That's where I've been all weekend, in case you were wondering!  I was finally able to get going on making the 200 swap cards for the 4 organized swaps I am signed up to participate in!  I think I should be able to get them all done but I don't know if I'll get to make any cards for general swapping.  I'll do my darndest, though!  I may even bring some supplies along to stamp some cards in my hotel room!  I did take a bit of a break from mass-production this morning to put together a card for this week's challenge over at A La Card Monkey.  Here is the sketch:

...and here is my almost-naked card!

Card for Monkey63 using the Sunny Fun set from the the Summer Mini

Close up of the paper-pieced frozen treats with Crystal Effects added to make them look almost-edible.

I could leave this card without some kind of embellishment, so I chose to add a kiss and a hug (x and o) using some Itty Bitty Clear Buttons and a bit of bakers twine.

Yeesh...not sure what happened to the colour on this one!  This is the inside of the card (supposed to be chocolate chip with melon mambo and pretty in pink!!)

So in addition to the sketch, the challenge was to  create a card showing one of our favourite summer activities.  Is it any surprise I chose ice cream?!?  It is by far one of my very favourite things about summer and the frozen treats on this card look yummy enough to eat, no?  I upped the yum-factor by paper-piecing each image and then added a layer of Crystal Effects to really make 'em pop.  Yu-um...I think I need to go fine me some of my new fav mango ice cream!  Let me know if you have any questions about how I put together this simple card...I'll be in the kitchen...