For my friend Kristen and her beautiful family :)

Happy Thursday Everyone :)

First of All - I canNOT even begin to express my gratitude to all of YOU!!!  Thank YOU - the hugest thank you that I can say - to all of you who left comments on my blog during the 2Sketches4You card showdown - I can't even express - HOW grateful and thankful I am for all of your lovely beautiful comments! I am still in shock to have won!! I can't believe it and have had to pinch myself a few times this week!!! It was such an amazing journey and I am so grateful for everyone's congratulatory wishes and a big huge thank you to Kazan and Laura. all the judges - all my fellow participants and all of you! Thank you from the depths of my heart!!!

I am sorry to be quiet on the blog front - we had to deal with some family issues and along with that - i also burned part of my finger (right hand ) so was unable to craft or even type till a day ago - thankfully everything is better now and my finger is doing better - but the side and pad of my finger are still painfully blistery - but luckily it was only that and not more... Last night I was psyched to finally sit down and craft a little bit finally! I made some layouts and card for my lovely friend Kristen who is visiting Iowa from Seattle. 

These layouts and card was made for Kristen (isn't she beautiful!). Kristen asked me if I could help her make something for her husband Matt for his birthday and also something for her grandfather's birthday (he is turing 85!!) - and I was totally psyched to help! She and Matt are one of my fave couples and have the cutest little girls ever - adorable!!! She has a wonderful blog where she chronicles their adventures  (all of these pictures are from her - except the bottom right one which I took last week when they were visiting Iowa :) and then created a little 8 x 8 layout using the March Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions.

 I used the colors from the Color Throwdown this week for this layout. I love the colors that these lovely ladies throwdown and have missed playing along in their challenges :) I also used the stamp set: Love is Sweet from Taylored Expressions to detail the leaves and used American Craft Thickers for the sentiment: 4 Ever. The best part of this? was seeing Matt and Kristen hold it and say that they liked it :) I love the picture of M and K from their wedding and the other picture of them was taken by their little daughter!! So Cute! I love the pic of Matt holding his girls - look how cute his littlest daughter's expression is - SO cute!!

Here are some close up shots:

Here is a closer shot of the happy pics:

Layout Details:

Paper: March Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions 

Stamps: Taylored Expressions: Love is Sweet sentiment

Accessories: Butterfly punch from Martha Stewart, bling from K&Company along with embroidery thread and pattern, buttons from Hall Pass Bag o Buttons from Taylored Expressions

This second layout is a 6 x 6 that I made for Kristen to give to her grandfather for his birthday -  where he can see his granddaughter and great grandaughters  - these were made using Jen's sketch from Paper Craft Planet and using the Easter Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions. I ADORE this picture of Kristen and her beautiful girls - they are truly the sweetest!

Layout Details:

Sketch: By Jen Tapler for Paper Craft Planet

Paper: Easter Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions

Accessories: Butterfly stamp from Martha Stewart, bling from K&Company, threading punch, circle cutters from CM, American Thickers letters

And lastly - here is a card that I made for Kristen's grandfather's 85th birthday (the colors for his birthday party are navy blue, cream and gold) - so I used those colors for the card and followed Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch (which is being guest hosted this week by my darlin' Sarah Jane Keller :) yay SJK!). Initially the card was kinda close to the sketch but then I don't know what happened :)  probably because - I have to say that it is beyond hard to make a man card - I am not a man card kinda girl - it seriously always ends up swirly whiry girly - but Kristen liked it and so I was psyched :)

Card Details: 

Paper: Paper Company 

Stamps: Celebrate is from Taylored Expressions and the happy birthday is from stash and 85 is from the American Craft Thickers

Accessories: ribbon - K and Company, star and circle from CM 

I had such a fun visit with Kristen  - she is truly an angel and it was so much fun to make these personalized gifts for her - somehow that is when craft making becomes so special and fun - when you know who you are making it for and to see them hold it and love it makes the journey complete :)

Here is a picture of my two little children playing with Kristen's little ones - I absolutely love this picture - it feels so very summertime-ish  :

Hope you are all enjoying your summer moments! I am trying to savor it because it is flying by quick!

Thank you all for visiting my little corner - you make the sun shine!

Sunshiney smiles and hugs!

Sankari :)