Spotlight on Art - Jeanette Lynton's Blog

Last week I received an email from Close to my Heart telling me that I had earned a spot in the Spotlight on Art segment of Jeanette Lynton's Blog!!!  I was completely BLOWN AWAY when I received the news!!!

I had submitted my Flakey Friends/Pun Fun cards using Dakota in late October and received a quick note 4 days later thanking me for my submission.  When I read the email, I figured that I had not been chosen.  SO much to my surprise when I checked my email last Tuesday, I had indeed been chosen and it was being featured THAT DAY!!  I was SO excited that someone could have slapped me and I would have still been smiling!  LOL

I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason....this could NOT have come at a better time in my life....

Let me explain why....

4 1/2 years ago in August of 2008, my SIL (my hubby's sister) was diagnosed with Leiomyosarcoma (uterine sarcoma) cancer.  When she was diagnosed, she was given 6 months to live which was devastating to us all!  She immediately had a complete hysterectomy and started her chemo treatments within the month.

Her first round of chemo treatments proved to be successful!  Her scans showed the cancer to be gone! But towards the end of that first year, her cancer had moved to her lungs and liver.  By November 2009 she was on her second round of chemo with the hopes of slowing down the growth.  She was told that any chemo treatment from here on out would be to extend her life, but that curing her cancer was not a possibility.

Over the next 3 years after many hours of research by not only the dr. but my hubby, they would try several different chemo treatments and even go on to try some trials that had shown success.   Some were successful at shrinking the tumors that had grown on her liver and her lungs.  But unfortunately that success was not long lasting as the cancer was spreading through her body like wildfire.  After trying radiation to shrink a mass in her abdomen, she stopped any and all treatments in the summer of 2012.

Rhonda was admitted to the Hospice House on Wednesday, November 21st 2012 and passed away 3 weeks later on Friday, December 14th 2012. She fought to the bitter end...as we expected she would!

When I received the notification of being featured in the Spotlight on Art, I was at lunch with my hubby after a LONG night at the Hospice House.  My heart was heavy and my eyes burned from the tears that kept welling up in my eyes that day.  Jeanette provided a BRIGHT moment in my day and words cannot express what it meant to me to be in the Spotlight during such a dark period in my life.  This moment will never be forgotten....

Rhonda as a toddler.

Rhonda's High School Graduation Photo

Rhonda's family at a Christian Convention in 2007.  Matt, Dan, Rhonda and Mandi.  

Rhonda with Rod (her brother and my hubby) at our daughter Rachael's graduation ceremony in May of 2012.

Rhonda attending Rachael's graduation party in June of 2012.  Rhonda was very sick when this photo was taken, but she was NOT about to miss her niece's graduation party.  

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!

I hope that this inspired you to submit your favorite art to Jeanette Lynton's Blog....

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!!

Jen

Video on CTMH's new Alcohol Markers

Check out this AWESOME video from Close to my Heart on how to use their new Alcohol Markers!  It only takes about 6 min. to watch and you will come away being able to color like a pro with the new markers!!

Learn how to use our markers with embossing, coloring in small images, and coloring the stamp itself with the markers then stamping.  I just LOVE how Monica and Christine are SO excited about the new markers!  

Thanks for stopping by!!

Hope this inspires you to check out the new Close to my Heart Alcohol Markers and create something fun with them!!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

La Belle Vie...NOT My Favorite Paper Pack??

I know that we all have our own unique style of crafting.  That's what makes this craft fun!  What is your style?  Do you have a specific style that you are drawn to?  My style is more on the whimsical side....

For example, I LOVE the Clementine paper packet...the colors and prints are TOTALLY ME!!  Dakota and Moonlight are 2 of my other favorites in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  Clementine and Dakota are more countryish (is that even a word??)  Where Moonlight, even though it is Haloweeney (and yet another made up word!) has a more whimsical feel to it.  These are the types of colors/patterns that I am drawn to....

Which brings me to my post!  It was NOT love at first sight with La Belle Vie with me!!  It did not give me "goosies" when I saw it!  I really could not imagine in my head what I would even create with it...scrapbook pages OR cards.

WELL...the beauty of being a consultant who runs regular scrapbook groups and card classes is that even though I may not be in love with a certain paper packet, I have customers who have different styles than I do....SO I went WAY out of my comfort zone and decided to give La Belle Vie a try for my card class in December.

Each month, my card class creates 2 each of 5 different cards.  How the heck was I going to come up with 1 card let alone 5 using this paper pack that I was not a huge fan of??  I just took it little by little, starting with the paper that I like MOST out of the paper pack....then just went from there!

For this set of cards, I decided I was going to create the cards first, then look for a stamp set that fit the look, shape and feel of each card.  The first 2 cards, I felt, did not need any stamping on the outside of the card.  SO I stamped a Sympathy Sentiment on the inside....my group girls can either leave it blank, use the same stamp OR stamp a different saying inside.

This card and the one above use the "Country Life" stamp set that debuted in the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book.  I LOVED this set when I first saw it and ordered right away!  Well, that was back in January and I am JUST NOW getting around to using it!  Not that I have not thought about using it, or pulled it out to use on a different card, it just never seemed to speak to me till THESE cards and THIS paper pack!

This last card is my least favorite card of all 5.  I LOVE the flower...the paper and the pattern, just not a big fan of the sentiment....not sure if it fits the style of the card.  SO I may change it before class in December!  

Thanks SO much for stopping by today!!

Hope this has inspired you to step out of your personal crafting "style" and try using papers/embellies that don't speak to you.....you never know, they just might speak to your friends, family or customers.

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen