So Long, Farewell, Auf wiedersehen, Goodbye...

Yes - it seems I have been making quite a few farewell cards recently, for members of my branch who have decided to go in different directions.  Only one of the three I've made recently has been for a friend who has left the job permanently - the other two have taken some time off, either to go on deployment to the Solomon Islands for 6 months with the Army Reserves, or to take some time off to be at home with her kids (not to mention, wandering off to the Netherlands next year to take in Floriade 2012, and the Chelsea Flower Show, to boot!)

So, with the friend who went back to Sydney to live (the Canberra weather got too much for him, I think!), I did this card:

The tags are cut out and popped up on foam squares.  The background Thankyou stamp is from a set by Hero Arts, but I can't remember the set name.  The tags are also Hero Arts "LL937 Tags With Words". Ink colours are by Stampin Up!: Old Olive, Not Quite Navy and Close to Cocoa. Mounted on Old Olive and Not Quite Navy cardstock, also by Stampin Up!

Then there was this one, for the guy going to the Solomon Islands with the Army Reserve:

The image is one I found on a US Defence (sorry, Defense!) site which had free clipart available.  And the quote is a fabulous one that I remember my Dad (ex-Army, Regular, not Reserve) saying, which I printed up after I had found it (had to make sure I got it right).  It says "We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.  We have done so much for so long with so little, we are now capable of doing anything with nothing."  It seemed appropriate :)

The camouflage background paper is also one I downloaded from the Net.  The dog tags are the heavy duty foil from the top of a Milo tin, punched out using a punch by EK Success, with his name stamped onto one, and Good Luck on the other.  The "webbing" ribbon in olive green is from my stash.

I used the following copics to colour the image:
YG97, YG93, YG95, YG99, G94, BG99, E55, W8, with E42 for the skin and YG91 for the map.

And last but certainly not least is one I made for the friend who is taking time off to be with her kids and to go jet setting.  She told me her favourite colours are red and hot pink, she loves chocolate and retro things, and she is amazingly talented when it comes to cake decorating (she would bring cupcakes semi-regularly into work and they'd always have these incredible flowers and other designs made of icing.)  So, that was the challenge - to incorporate all those elements.  I started off with a digistamp I bought from Heather Ellis' shop in Etsy "Pure Innocence 030", which I coloured with Copics: R27, E29, RV25, R00, R01 and E25. 

Then I cut out and added the coloured image to papers from Basic Grey's 6x6 "Lime Rickey" pad, highlighted the cherry and the heart in her hair with Plaid's Royal Coat Dimensional Magic, added bling to her shoe and added the sentiment "Seize the Cupcake" from the Hero Arts set "CL158 Clear Design Cupcakes".  Mounted it on Bazzill cardstock in a chocolate brown, grabbed some co-ordinating ribbons and flowers from the stash and here you have it:  A retro style card in red, hot pink and chocolate with a cupcake.  Whoooo hooo!

And that's pretty much it, folks.  I'm hoping that the need for farewell cards will start to slow down - it's depressing getting to know all these people, only to say goodbye to them. 

We've got a long weekend this weekend, so I am hoping to get on top of all the housework and free up some time for stamping (not to mention, uploading and posting!)

So, until we meet again,
Happy crafting!
Bron