For NieNie

Today I want to share a card I made for someone truly special, that I don't even know.

I discovered the existence of Stephanie Nielson, and her blog NieNie's Dialogues (http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ ), shortly after her nearly fatal plane crash in August of 2008, through a prayer call on another papercrafter's blog.

Since then I followed her journey through hell and back, and let me tell you, this woman has been touched by grace. If you have a bad day and are feeling cranky about your little headache, go read about life as a Mom of 4 trying to handle everyday life while copying with constant pain and multiple reconstructive surgeries.

This all put things back into perspective, in a very sad way, but also an uplifting one. Because if she can live that life and still smile and be the woman that she is, so can we all.

Stephanie is a mormon. I am not, but I believe her life will touch you whatever your faith...

My card was inspired by a picture of her from before the accident. The whole family is outside, all dressed up for Sunday, and she is wearing this bright red lipstick that reminds me of cherries... I used (cuttlebugged) vellum cardstock to make a window so you actually see through the front of the card. The polka dots reminded me of her (and her kids') freckles... ;-)

"Empty" Flowers

Any papercrafter will tell you this: we don't like wasting paper! ;-) We love, use, and abuse every little piece of paper leftover... So after I cut those flowers the other day for an explosion box (with the SCAL and my Cricut), I knew I had to use their mirrored image in a way or another... ;-)
So I distressed the edges of the flowers and dots with a file (a little over the cardstock surface too) and propped that piece of cardstock on foamtape to accentuate the "empty" petals effect. For once I used the fact that this cardstock has a white core (which annoys me every time I use it for a box! ;-)) to my advantage by tearing it up. Then I just adhered some buttons, and to bring a little life in my plain design I added some Stickles here and there. This card is for my hubby's Grandma and she deserves some sparkle! :-D

Simple gift boxes...

I feel almost ashamed to show you this project, because it so doesn't give justice to the wonderful template I used! I wish I had time to go the extra mile, use designer paper and embellishments... but time was of the essence so it had to be quick and effective... so I just used this beautiful textured cardstock from DCWV that I just adore. (It's impossible to see in the pic but the cardstock has a linen texture which is gorgeous.)

I used another SVG template for this project. This one is the Flower Box from "Tied Surprise Gift Boxes" from SVG Cuts. With 9 different templates in that file you are sure to find one that suits your needs!! I was totally blown away at how easily those came together! I didn't even have to resize anything, I just connected computer and Cricut and there you have everything that came out, isn't it amazing? Now that's what I call real time savers!...

I made those for my kids' teachers, with some Lindt Truffles inside, for teacher's appreciation week. I was a week late, but we got plagued with stomach flu and there was only so much I could do in time... ;-) I'm sure they'll appreciate the truffles nonetheless... ;-)

If your Cricut is sitting there collecting dust, and you haven't gotten the nerve to try your SCAL yet... I urge you to give this a try! Those templates came together in a cinch and I cannot wait to use them again and jazz them up next time... :-D