Artiste Band Card

Happy Monday to you all!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  My weekend was very nice, but way too short!  I worked on some craft projects at church with some friends.  We had a great time crafting, chatting and sharing secrets and stories.

I came to work this morning to find out that one of my good friends and co-workers passed away in her sleep on Sunday.  It was quite a shock as she was only 51 years old and in relatively good health.  I will truly miss her and my heart aches for her family.  As I'm sitting here, still somewhat in shock as it doesn't seem real, my mind continues to think of how we aren't promised tomorrow and we must live every day to the fullest.  The last few months have been a little rough for me.  More than anything, I've been dealing with some of my own personal issues and with where I am in my life and where I want to be spiritually, financially, in my marriage, my job and my ministry.  I feel like I've allowed a lot of time to be wasted in my life due to fears or insecurities based on things that happened in my past and worries about failure.  I had just talked to my husband last week about taking risks and really trying to do what we love - in work and play!  This is quite a wake up call and makes me even more determined to dive in and ignore what's been holding me back.  I don't want to look back on my life and have regrets.  I don't at all want to be a downer on a Monday morning, but I certainly want to let this remind me to be thankful for what I do have and to go after what I want!

Now....on to the card!

I made this card using one of my newest favorite cartridges, Cricut Artiste.  I have used this cut several times and love it!  It's really quick and simple, but makes a really cute card.  The paper is from K& Company.  I cut the base and band at 4.75".

Here's a shot of the card and band separate.  I cut an oval to line the inside, but didn't take a picture of that.  The stamp is from the dollar bin at Michael's.  

The flower is from Flower Shoppe and was cut at 1.25" & 2".  I used gray card stock from The Paper Studio.  Before I assembled the flower, I colored them using my Sakura Stardust Pen in clear.  These pens are fab-u-lous!  It's basically a clear glitter pen.  The nice things is that unlike glitter or glitter glue, there's virtually no drying time and no mess.  After I colored it with glitter, I added Glossy Accents on the top.  I then put the flowers together with a brad and added it to the band.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  The flower is super glittery and sparkly and beautiful!

If you're interested in a sparkly pen, you can get it on Amazon here:

Have a wonderful day!

Cheryl