In Need Of A Little Break...

Just wanted to let you know that I'll be taking a little bit of a break for the rest of the week.  Lots on my plate right now and I figured I should take a little bit of the pressure off :)  Hope you have a wonderful, creative, and peaceful week :)

Gingham Garden Happy Birthday Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  We All Have A Need To Be Seen
I went swimming yesterday.  I am still learning - working on my strokes - getting back to feeling comfortable in the water.  There was one other man in the pool - swimming in the lane next to me.  At one point I was resting at the end of the pool and he asked if he could give me a little bit of advice on my stroke.  My first reaction was to say, "Thanks, but no thanks" since I am currently taking lessons from an instructor and already have a lot floating in my head when I swim (there's a lot to think about!).  But instead, I paused and the man continued, "I taught the Red Cross swimming program for over 50 years."  I told him that I was taking lessons and that I would also like to hear what he had to say.  He shared his advice and I said thank you and the next time I was at the end of the pool he told me that those last few strokes looked better :)  I'm not sure I really did anything different - maybe I did - what I do know is that I allowed him to be seen.  This man who was unknown to me when I got in the pool was able to define himself as someone who had something to contribute - someone who had accomplished a lot with the Red Cross in his years.  What I did was allow him to have his dignity and I could then choose to do what I wanted to with the advice he shared  We all have a need to be seen.  How can you recognize someone today?
Today's card was quick and easy with the Gingham Garden designer washi tape.  I stamped the pedestal portion of the cake image from Make A Cake with Pacific Point ink.  Next, I tore strips of washi tape and layered them one on top of the other to form the layers of the cake.  The butterflies from Make A Cake were then stamped using Daffodil Delight.  Next, with the help of the stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the sentiment from Express Yourself on top of the sentiment from Bring On The Cake using Melon Mambo and Wild Wasabi respectively.  The final touch was to add Dazzling Details on the layers of the cake for some bling!  I hope you like it!