$600.00 Taco Salad and a Thank You Card.

So today has been one of those days where I just have not felt good. At all. Luckily, I have a sweet and understanding husband who , even though he worked all day while I was at home, cooked the dinner I had laid out without even being asked! Unluckily, said husband is also a bit of a clutz at times and broke my stove!! I was in my craft room (formerly our dining room and now my "purple playroom"- see, sweet and understanding husband. Sorry, ladies he's taken) and all of a sudden, I hear a loud crash and my husband say, "oh, wow". I turn and look and see him staring at the stove. I said, "you busted the stovetop, didn't you?" And yes, he did! Straight through. I'm talking big hole in the stovetop. I keep a marble rolling pin on a rolling pin stand on the back of the stove. I've kept it there for over ten years. My wonderful and sweet husband was getting a spoon out of the utensil container by the stove and bumped the rolling pin off the back of the stove and onto the stovetop. What a mess! The taco salad was fabulous, though, albeit very expensive. On the upside, I'm now getting a nicer, newer stove. Of course, we also now have to pay for a nicer, newer stove!

Ok, onto my card. I recently purchased an I-Rock from Imaginisce and it does, indeed, rock! It is a heat tool for setting those gem stones that have the adhesive backing on them. You can use it to stick gems to just about anything, I think. So far, I have only stuck them to paper. I needed to make a thank-you card for my awesome friend, Michelle, who came over at like 9 o'clock last night to help me sew those wonderful quillows I was telling you about yesterday. I had cut all of the pieces out and she came and helped direct me on sewing it together. I think she could sense my mixture of panic and sheer desperation and came to my rescue. They turned out very cute. Of course, the one she sewed looks much neater than mine, but I told my boys that they were made with lots of love! We had enough fabric to make them pillowcases, too. They will now have the coolest blankets and pillows at the camp. Wait, this was supposed to be about my card, wasn't it? My 14 year old daughter says that I have ADD and I think she may be right! So, I am a lover of all things sunflower and that was the inspiration for this card. I thought that the gems would make good sunflower seeds. I was right, except for the fact that I had no black gems and had to hand color the white "pearl" gems I had with a Sharpie. Not fun!! I am very pleased with the way it came out and cannot wait to give it to my friend.

Card recipe:

A2 size (cut a standard sheet of cardstock in half crosswise)

Spellbinders Sunflower die cutting set.

Circle punches (for the flower centers and for the ladybug)

Martha Stewart Picket Fence punch

"Thanks" is from a Quick Kutz Cookie Cutter die set

Gemstones are from Imaginisce and were put on with the I-Rock heat tool

Cuttlebug "Polka Dots" embossing folder