Sunday, November 20, 2016

Catching leaves

The newest challenge is up at The Studio Challenges blog and it's all about a beautiful table setting as the inspirational piece.


When I first looked at this photo I wanted to jump right in to sit down and enjoy a meal at this cozy table. So many things captured my attention; the texture, especially the burlap, the plaid, the wood grain, the soft creams and whites, and all of the natural elements. I decided to replicate the texture by using a cut file and layering the colors and prints underneath. 


I used the Graphic Background 2 cut file from justnick and placed triangles cut from patterned paper underneath each section. 


A few  wooden pieces and gold mist finishes this off. 


Be sure to check out all the fantastic layouts the design team created with this photo by visiting the blog here. They are beautiful and inspiring! 







Thursday, November 17, 2016

Happy Birthday Lesley!

Today is Lesley's birthday, and the team and guest designers for Trendy Twine have created birthday cards to help her celebrate her special day. 

I used some Black Licorice- Trendy Twine Mini as well as some Totally White Trendy Twine



I filled a Small Glassine Bag with some large sequins over a patterned paper overlay inside and wrapped the Black Licorice twine around the seam to hide it. The narrow paper strip under the chipboard also helps to hide that seam. 


To see all the fabulous cards you can head over to the Trendy Twine blog

Happy Birthday Lesley! I hope it's a fabulous day for you!  




Tuesday, November 15, 2016

46 & FAB

It's time for the November 15th sketch at Stuck?! Sketches.



I rotated the sketch to fit my needs (secret- this layout started out for the November 1 challenge, but after I took a look, I figured it worked better for this challenge. lol)



This fabulous cut file is the gorgeous Floral Lace Background cut file from Just Nick. 



supples:
pp: Simple Stories
cut file: Just Nick
enamel dots: Simple Stories
button twine
cardstock



There are two fantastic sponsors this month:

The ScrapRoom is offering a $20.00 gift certificate to one lucky participant!


AND The Kreative Korner is offering a $25.00 gift certificate to a second lucky participant!


Head over to the Stuck? Sketches Blog to see the gorgeous layouts from the team and to share your layout with us! 

Monday, November 14, 2016

remember today- Elsa

Some of you may know this, but last month my daughter was in the hospital for 17 days. She contracted the EBV virus and due to the fact that she is immune compromised because of daily medication she takes to manage her Crohn's disease, and it being her first time ever catching this, she had an extremely rare and serious issue occur; her immune system essentially crashed and the EBV virus invaded her bone marrow and destroyed most of her red and white blood cells and recirculated the virus throughout her body continually for days. This is generally something that occurs after a bone-marrow transplant, and for it to happen to her, was a complete fluke. It is quite serious. Thankfully she came out of it with the best-case scenario at the time, but there are still complications and additional auto-immune issues that could arise, not to mention what the long-term health effects will be, especially if she is exposed again and her body decides to react in a similar matter. This virus will always be in her T-cells (I think that's the correct cell). I can sort of wrap my brain around it, but it's complicated. She has a long way to healing, and we have to watch her closely. We cannot even begin to address the potential issue of her Crohn's flaring at this time either, and she is completely unmedicated to allow her body to rest, which is ironic since her body is doing nothing but continually attacking itself. *sigh*.

We have been through a lot medically with her throughout her life, but this experience has been by far the worst for her and I have never felt so despondent and hopeless. It's the worst thing to watch your child struggle and to be quite frank, try to give up. She told me many times during this past month that she has had enough and wanted it all to end (she is not suicidal in any form. She attends therapy every three weeks and has for over 6 years. She is well equipped with coping skills and understanding emotions and how to process and speak what she is feeling). I am going to be brutally honest now; I actually completely understood her desire. For the first time ever, I truly understood in a way I never imagined I could or would. Of course I told her she had to continue to fight and rise above this, but I also felt such a peace about not wanting to watch your loved one struggle in agony. It's the cold hard truth, but I have faith that we will get though this. After all, this is the journey that God has led us to and all we can do is trust Him.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that she had a major Spinal Fusion surgery on September 29th, which she is also still recovering from. The surgery had nothing to do with the above (we know this because we were monitoring her labs and watching her closely), but she has been dealt a double whammy.

It's never easy to document the struggles of life, but there is always a ray of sunshine in the mix, you just have to find it. Some are readily visible, like these photos, and others are not so easy to uncover, but they are there.

I am sorry. You are here to see my take on the newest sketch from The Memory Nest- Make it Monday No. 76. :)  I just felt compelled to share a bit of the struggle that we are facing now, and in doing so it is a part of the healing process.

I apologize in advance about the horrible quality of these photos. Ashlyn's hospital room was kept dark and I did not use a flash. (Not to mention I was crying with joy and wasn't concerned with the quality of any photos.) Thankfully an online friend lightened them up for me after I posted them on fb, so I used her enhanced images. <3 nbsp="" p="">



I used the October Felicity Jane kit to create this layout. 







Monday, November 7, 2016

Beautiful Girl you are amazing

I had so much fun creating this layout for The Memory Nests Make it Monday No. 75! I adore all the layered circles and the only hard part was selecting the paper. Speaking of paper, I almost passed on this paper, but at the last minute I added it to my card and I am so glad I did! The colors and prints are so pretty and although I was a little iffy about some of the images that are the basis for this collection, I ended up really enjoying it.



pp, enamel dots, and stickers: Simple Stories The Reset Girl
button twine: Papertrey Ink
butterfly punch, cardstock, and machine stitching


Here is the awesome sketch:


You can see the gorgeous work from the team and share your layout with us by clicking here





Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Butterfly

It's time for the November 1st sketch at Stuck?! Sketches. 


Here is my layout:



I cut the butterflies in two sizes using the Butterfly Background cut file from Just Nick. 
I mixed some gesso and paint and applied that mixture over a stencil (I also used this along the bottom strip). I then added some gold and cork mist specks to tone the colors down and add a little more dimension. 


supples:
pp: Simple Stories
cut file: Just Nick
doily
spray mist: Gold Bo Bunny and Cork Tattered Angels
enamel dots: Simple Stories
brads: MME
twine
gesso, paint, stencil
die cut: Cocoa Vanilla



There are two fantastic sponsors for this challenge:

The ScrapRoom is offering a $20.00 gift certificate to one lucky participant!


AND The Kreative Korner is offering a $25.00 gift certificate to a second lucky participant!


Head over to the Stuck? Sketches Blog to see the gorgeous layouts from the team and to share your layout with us! 

Sweet & So Very Special

It's the first of the month which means another great challenge from Picture This! is live. This time the inspiration is a sketch.




pp and die cuts: Crate Paper
enamel dots: Michael's
twine: Trendy Twine
Gold Mist: BoBunny



Here is the sketch:


Head on over to the Picture This! blog to see what the team created with it- you will be inspired!