You're Special! Be Yourself!

Wow!  It's been awhile since I've posted here.  I'm sorry for the lack of consistency, but in my defense, it's been a busy summer, like most of you experience.  I had to fly to the Midwest for a wedding only to return and have my son and his fiance (they both live out of state) visit for a week.  And since she was in the area, we put on a Bridal Shower for her.  That meant creating gifts and decorating, along with sightseeing since she'd never been to the area before.  I'm exhausted, but we had the most fabulous time!


So, now on to my card for this week's Power Poppy Peep of the Week Challenge.  I chose to use one of the succulents from the Sassy Succulents set.  I love the encouraging sentiments Marcy has included.  My daughter is quite independent in her appearance and view on life, and I embrace it,  although others don't always accept her uniqueness.  She has bright red hair, and likes unique earring cuffs. (She only has one piercing in each ear.)  I think she's just beautiful, but others can be a bit harsh in their judgements.  Ironically, she is a Church Music Coordinator major in college.  And Christians can be some of the hardest judges.  But, one of the many beauties of God, is that he gives us free will, and that gives us liberty to express ourselves in our own way, and others are allowed to form their own opinions.  And that's okay.

I made this card for my daughter this week to celebrate her, and to let her know I love her just the way she is.  The sentiment says: "You're Special!  Be yourself!!  I LOVE that.  God made each of us unique.  And we may not understand how others do their make-up, dress, decorate their yards or houses, or even their own bodies.  And that's okay.  God loves us, and we need to love ourselves the way he created us!!

Okay, enough of my soap box.  ;)  I don't usually share personal stuff much on my blog.  I'm pretty shy that way.  But this card is special to me, and I wanted to explain a bit why this set is so near to my heart.

I colored the succulent and pot with Copics, cut it out, and adhered it to decorative paper.  I also included texture in my card.  I was inspired by yesterday's "Ways To Use It" Challenge (WT487) over at Splitcoaststampers.com  I embossed the background panel with the Bricks and Bark M-Bossibilities folder by Spellbinders.  I then sanded it and added some depth with Vintage Photo Ranger Distress Ink. I also added texture by using a Copper Pearl Pen on the Hinge, and the leaves are not glued down, so they flow a bit freely from the card.

That's it for me today.  Be sure to visit the other Bloom Brigade Blogs for some more inspiration!

• Allison Cope
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Dawn Burnworth
• Julie Koerber
• Leslie Miller
• Stacy Morgan
• Tosha Leyendekker ---you are here

Here are the Copics I used:  G28, G24, G21, E39, E37, E33, E31, T5, VO6, 0 (Colorless Blender)

Happy Stamping my friends!!

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Stamps:  Sassy Succulents (Power Poppy)

Paper:  Memorabilia (Teresa Collins), Cryogen White, Kraft (PTI)

Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento), Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress), Smokey Gray and Black Onyx (Versafine)

Accessories:  Copics, Bricks and Bark M-Bossibilities (Spellbinders), Hinge dies (Cheery Lynn Designs), Copper Pearl Pen, Sanding Block