STAMPIN' CONNECTION SKETCH CHALLENGE - SAYING GOODBYE

Happy happy Monday all!! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was very full but it was great!! Taught class, saw my Club Gals (love them, they always make me smile!) and then went outdoor furniture shopping with Tony!  We found everything we were looking for, but had to travel far and wide to find it, lol! We are both glad it is DONE!!!! So, today I am off to the waterpark with the kids and some friends, but first I want to share with you the two cards I did for today's sketch challenge over at Stampin Connection!  The sketch was posted by my fellow Design Team member Carole' Ann - it is a rockin' sketch so if you are a demo, you really need to get on over there, check it out, and show us what you can do with it! My husband has two employees that are sadlly being let go due to budget cuts (I hate this dang economy!) so he asked me to make cards for them.  I wanted to keep it light so these are the ones I came up with! The first one is for a guy so I decided to use my motorcycle stamp and my Nouveau Chic designer series paper (so sad to see this one go!) since I think it works sooo well for male cards.  I kept the colors simple, and used my spritzer tool to add some texture to the image and I am quite pleased with how this one came out - I hope he likes it too! 

This second one is made using my Flamingo series paper, oh, how I love this paper!! It was one of my faves from this catty, and I will miss it! The stamps are the Ever After Stamp Set, which is also a fave of mine and thankfully will still be available in the new catty! I can't lose ALL my faves *wink*  I added many more girly touches to this card since it is for a woman that has also been with the County for awhile whose position also went away :-(  She is a nice lady, and I really hope something even better comes along for her soon!  I wanted to keep the card bright and cheery so I did throw in some Summer Sun as an accent color and I like how it looks with the Cameo Coral. The sentiment is actually on the inside of this card with a private message and room for everyone to sign.  I know it won't make it easier on them, but I am hoping these cards will at least brighten their day just a little bit! Now, I am off to finish packing the cooler and getting the kids all loaded up to meet our friends and off we go!! I will be back later in the evening to do some blurfing -can't miss out on what you all are doing, lol!! Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by :-)
Card One Recipe:
Paper - Basic Gray, Mellow Moss, Whisper White card stock, Nouveau Chic Designer Series paper
Inks - Black Stazon, Mellow Moss classic ink pad, Basic Black and Going Gray stampin' write markers
Stamps - Motorcycle, Smarty Pants
Accessories - Wide Oval Punch, Scalloped Edge Border Punch, 3/4 inch and 1/2 inch circle punches, Going Gray taffeta ribbon, silver jumbo brads, Mat pack and paper piercer, Spritzer tool
Card Two Recipe:
Paper - Cameo Coral, Summer Sun, Whisper White card stock, Flamingo Designer Series paper
Inks - Cameo Coral classic stamp pad, Summer Sun, Gable Green Stampin' write markers
Stamps - Ever After
Accessories - Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Eyelet Border punch, Jumbo eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, Whisper White and Maize(retired) narrow grosgrain ribbon, Whisper White wide satin ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch, 1/4 inch circle punch