New blog - new format - more focused!

I don' t know if I'll ever entirely delete this blog, but I realized I had lost all focus. I started this blog to share my passion for crafting, and I know I did this often.

However, I soon realized I wanted to do more with it and have decided to move hosting sites and focus my energy.

So I hope you'll join me at my new blog: The PaperCutting Nerd

What can you expect to see:

1. Crafting
2. Household Organizing Tips (as I journey to a clutter free home)
3. Financial Tips (as I try to achieve a debt free status)
4. Motivation/funnies for fitness (I'm working on my fitness)
5. Photography - I have a new camera and I'm trying to learn how to use it

World Card Making Day 2014

Please excuse my poor quality photo. My camera died and I've just taken a picture without any natural light. I promise to replace this photo later with a better quality and lit photo!

I'm trying to be better about posting regularly because it means that I will have carved some "me' time to craft. I'd like to grow this blog, but I need to find the right niche and/or find the right balance of my spewing out my crazy thoughts with my creative energy.

But that's for another day!  Today, we do cards....why?  Because today is World Card Making Day! It's a craftoliday!

I used all items from My Mind's Eye  Lost and Found Record It! 

I wanted to play around with making my own sunburst card. I didn't have a template so I had to create my own using a thicker card stock that I could trace the different papers with. I wasn't too happy with the blending of the rays because I inserted the more gray rays. I chose to ink the edges to make them pop out a bit and that seems to satisfy my design eye.

I used a part of the heirloom packets to create the center of the sunburst and then added some stickers to complete this card.

Two special sisters

I am fortunate enough to work for an organization that I love - Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. Sometimes, the universe connects my work with my friends.

Now, no one ever wants to stay at a Ronald McDonald House because it means your child is sick. However, we have these beautiful houses around the world waiting for the time that you might need us so that you don't have to worry about where you're going to stay or what you're going to eat while your child is in the hospital. You get to stay together as a family and let us try to take away a little bit of the stress.

Well, this past month brought an interesting twist of fate to my life. I have previously written about the loss of my friend Deyla in April to breast cancer. It was a devastating experience that has left many of us sad, and I still miss her to this day. Her photo is my office, and I often turn and see her beautifully smiling at me.

So you can imagine my complete shock to find out that Deyla's cousin had a daughter that would need to undergo a Stem Cell Transplant, and they would be staying at my Ronald McDonald House. It sent chills through my whole body, but it was a wonderful way for me to continue showing her family that I was there to support them.

Without going in to too much detail, Emily received a transplant donation from her younger sister, Olivia, and she has successfully completed the inpatient portion of her treatment. I'm now lucky to host her and her mama in my world. 

I heard from their mom that these beautiful little girls love mail, so of course I had to crack open the supplies to create something special.  I can't wait to put these in their mail box tomorrow.

Every time I see Emily, I get so excited that she's done with the inpatient portion of her treatment, and I celebrate her arrival to RMH. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm crazy.

I have a thing for layers and loved adding more and more.

I think this little fighter is a star, and I wanted her to know that.

Olivia was amazing lucky to be an exact match for her sister and SUPER brave to undergo the procedure to harvest stem cells for her sister. Most kids her age would be terrified (and I'm sure she was), but she toughed it out for her sister!

I absolutely love this superhero stamp set from Stampin Up! I'm pretty sure I'll use it a lot for our RMH kiddos. They are all superheroes in disguise.

I had a little trouble with ink stains as I was stamping my message inside the card, so I had to embellish with comic book like symbols. I think it added just the right amount of pizzazz.

La Fiesta Stamp Set

I love Papel Picado!

The intricate designs that artists create on tissue paper flags always amazes me. I was lucky enough to take an on-line class through Crafty Chica about 2 or 3 years ago, and I learned firsthand how difficult it is to design and cut the tissue paper. It was fun to learn, but I bow down to the artists that painstakingly cut away to create these beautiful images.

So....you can imagine I was uber excited to find this stamp set that would allow me to fake the funk.

Yes, I had to spend some time fussy cutting each of the flags, but it was worth the final product.

I really like the flexibility of the Fiesta stamp set by A*Muse Studios. The papel picado images stamp clearly and the flags are relatively easy to cut out by hand which makes it easy to modify color-wise to suit your taste.

My first attempt to use the stamp set got out of hand for my personal taste (see below), but it was fun to see that I could layer parts of the flags on to each other to create a multi-colored flag. I could have, of course, colored my stamp with markers for a one dimensional flag, but I don't tend to like to do things the easy way.

Hispanic Heritage Month Craft-a-thon!

I have taken a hiatus from my beloved stress reliever for far too long.

I thought it was appropriate that I had just attended the Scrapbook Expo when it was time to relaunch the fun in my life. I have ALL these tools and supplies, but they have been collecting dust for months!

Well, I spent all weekend at the crop creating 50+ cards of a pinterest inspired design. I don't know what I was thinking when I modified the simpler version to this version!  I had 72 to make in total to thank so many friends for helping me raise a lot of funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana.  It took me well over three days total to complete, but I was able to send a heartfelt thank to everyone.

While finishing up these cards, I came across the A*Muse Studio's booth. I was so excited to find a stamp set called Fiesta but was even more delighted to see more Latino-oriented sets that I have to add to my collection.

I was able to purchase the set on the right on-site and knew that I would need to launch a month-long Craft-a-thon to celebrating my heritage through my papercrafting.

So stay tuned for some fun stuff and please let me know if you're doing something similar so I can see your wonderful projects!

In pursuit of the perfect rice krispie treat

 
This weekend, we celebrated Roya's third birthday (which is actually tomorrow). As crazy as this might sound, this is actually the first time I've been able to attend her birthday party.  Thankfully this was the year because Roya's adorable aunts usually help with party planning. They had a wedding in Tennessee this weekend so they weren't able to help Roya's mama and the SOS went out immediately.  I love a good party so, of course, I was all for the madness.

I think the funniest part of Sogol's planning (Roya's mama) was the fact that she wanted to make some of the desserts the MORNING OF the party!  Now, that would be okay if these desserts were simple, but NOOOOOO....we were trying to make these:

Sogol had never made rice krispie treats, so she was really relying on me to make some GOOD rice krispie treats.  If you've made the classic recipe before, you know that that recipe is no bueno. A good rice krispie treat is gooier and not hard as a rock.

The recipe we used was the following per batch:

• 4 tbsp butter
• 5 cups of marshmallows
• 5.75 cups of rice krispie treats cereal

You start by melting the butter over low heat. Then add the marshmallows. It's key that you don't melt them completely. The marshmallows should still be a little clumpy when you fold in the rice krispie treats. I melt about 80% of the marshmallows and then add the rice krispie treats. I fold in the rice krispie treats over no heat.

I made about two batches, but then we had to have Sogol give it whirl!  She did pretty well. She also owns this incredible All Clad Dutch Oven that doesn't allow the gooey mixture to stick AT ALL.  Not to self - invest in one of those! The rinsing of the pot in between batches was super quick.

We used a mickey mouse cookie cutter to get the shape. To get a clean cut, you spray the cookie cutter with pam cooking spray. It helps to also lightly coat your hands with pam so that none of the mixture sticks to your hands when taking it out of the mold.

We then reached the number one issue. A good rice krispie treat recipe doesn't turn into rocks.  It stays gooey.  So our popsicle treats would get wonky when pulled out of the fridge and we knew they would lose their shape.  Look at how cute! We couldn't let the Mickeys disappear!

After we dipped the ears in chocolate, we popped them back in the fridge to cool off quickly. We then wrapped each rice krispie treat in cellophane and tied it with pretty ribbons.

The treats (made the night before) stayed chewy and were a big hit.

Sogol has pretty much decided she is never going to make rice krispie treats again, but I hope the taste and simplicity of just making squares will convince her to try again soon.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Roya!!

My other secret obsessions

It has been quite some time since I last posted some silly or serious reflections. I've read that those of us who enjoy social media might actually be lonely. Does this reflect me - heck no!

As you've seen in previous posts, I've reconnected with a strong part of my college life - my sorority sisters - as we rallied together to support our wonderful late sister, Deyla. It was one of the hardest yet most beautiful times in my life to date. It was a reminder to respect my life and to share my passions. Time is limited so use it wisely and HAVE fun doing it.

So I started to reflect on some of my secret obsessions....and what I want to do about them.  So it's time to declare some fun journeys in my life. These are all non-crafty related (shocking, I know).

Organizing
I don't have the most organized home by any stretch of the imagination.  When I get started on an organizational project, however, I tend to run with it. I've recently embarked on a massive decluttering of my house. I'm a girl that has a lot of EVERYTHING and I don't need all this stuff.  I have to credit The Joy of Less book as the added push I needed to finally commit.


Social Media
I know, I know...maybe this isn't so much a secret obsession, but it's so true. I love learning new techniques, reading incredible stories and looking at lovely pictures. For someone who has a demanding professional life, I don't always have as much free time to experience things in real life (like taking a class or visiting a new location), so I relish the ability to devour the information and images via Social Media. I'm trying to figure out how to share the things I love most in a concise and organized manner - Pinterest, this Blog, Instagram, Twitter? I want to assume that there are other folks who would enjoy what I enjoy.  But I also need to create more time to experience some of the visual diversions in real time (and share my experience with them). Now I just need to create a list of the Top 10 things I've found via Social Media that I will experience live.


Yogi & Dancer Bodies
Random and hysterical obsession, I know  I love to look at videos and pictures of dancers and yogis. There is something extra beautiful in seeing art coupled with strength. I dream of having a body like them one day, but lord knows I do very little to get there. I just dream about the flat stomach, the handstands, the flexibility and the toned body. One of my favorite Instagram Yogis is pictured below - she does adorable poses with her kids and beautiful poses with her hubby like this one. So let's start small (kinda)....I'm going to work on accomplishing a free standing handstand this year.  It's something that freaks me out, but it's also something that requires a certain amount of fitness, mental balance and focus. 

What she taught me

Last night, I had the honor of surrounding a dear friend's family with my love as we all had to say good-bye to one of the bravest women I've ever known. After years of battling breast cancer, my dear Deyla is now at peace. 

While I can't even pretend to know what it is like to lose your child (her parents) or leave your children too soon, I've found myself pondering what I can do in my life to honor hers. We never had the opportunity to really sit down and learn about her wishes, but there are things that are just a given. We will continue to support her family; we will share all of our fun memories with her children; and we'll be there to celebrate all of life's moments with her family. We know that that is what she would want from us. 

I still find myself asking....what would Deyla ask of us for our lives?

Don't forget each other

I met Deyla at the University of Chicago. I was in my third year at the college and she was just a first year. I grew to know Deyla when she made the choice to pledge my sorority - Sigma Lambda Gamma. I was first her Dean of Pledges but eventually her sister. The amount of time we spent together was intense, frustrating, funny, loving, etc. - all the emotions that one can associate with pledging. 

She was the calm force in her Line. Nothing would rattle her. As you can well imagine, that was frustrating for me as her Dean but I secretly admired her for getting "it" so quickly. She never gave up and knew that the process was about making us an unbreakable unit. 

So it didn't surprise me to have her reach out to all of us when she was first diagnosed. She knew we would have her back regardless of whether or not we had spoken recently. All she had to do was ask and we were there. 

We did everything we could to support her, but I know we all feel we could have done more. I don't think that guilt is unique to our group...I'm guessing everyone who has lost a loved one to illness will always feel this way. 

Her illness brought us together with such determination and love for each other, that I know she would want us to remain this strong. We won't stray....we hear you Dey!

Don't neglect your health

Deyla didn't do anything that was neglectful. She was chosen to go through this difficult journey to teach the rest of us to treat our bodies like temples. We don't know how much time we have in this world. We should all assume it is limited and try to live the healthiest and fullest lives possible. 

What does that mean for me? I've been overweight most of my life. While part of that may be genetics, a huge part is my own neglect. I don't eat right and I don't exercise. Changing 30+ years of bad habits will be hard, but it's time step up my game and get on the right path. 

Hydrating, eating healthier and regular exercise will now become a part of my daily routine. 

Be prepared for emergencies

The financial strain that a terrible illness brings on families is immeasurable. The actual amount cannot be quantified but one can start to make an estimate and that thought is paralyzing. 

Note to self - get your shit together financially. I'm not even prepared to be laid off let alone deal with a medical emergency!

Bring joy to others

I think I do okay in this realm....but Deyla was the queen. Her smile, her giggle and her incredible listening skills changed everyone's lives. It was a privilege to have her in my life. I can only hope that when my time is ending, that I will be surrounded with love and that those left here on this earth will share sweet memories of me with others. 

Thank you Dey...I hope my life will make you proud. 

Rejection

So I just got home from work after working some crazy hours this week - people out sick, having to cover while team members are out at meetings, etc. All the normal stuff we all do as staffing gets leaner during the holiday season! Exhausting but quite the norm this time of year.

Last week, I decided to try and leap back into my crafting by applying for the design team of a really cool Scrapbooking Kit Club that asks subscribers to focus their scrapping on themselves (on their inside self). I had a blast going outside of my comfort zone to create about me, and I was a bit excited about getting back in to this creative realm. However, I was pretty scared I wouldn't be able to really commit the time it deserved.

So I was secretly relieved to come home and find out that I had not been selected for the design team.  A little bummed out, but I knew that I hadn't been blogging in awhile and I threw together some fun layouts at the last minute. I didn't really plan out the story I wanted to tell or the spin I wanted to focus on.  I just made pretty layouts that were fun.

My rejection letter was beautifully written and actually empowering - which speaks volumes to the kit club.  So I thanked them for that - I literally emailed them back to say thank you :)

Now...I need to get back in to my groove...my crafty niche...and find the right next move for me in my creative life.

Thanks for the push SFTIO!

Family

Today was one of those days at work when I couldn't wait to get home to unwind. I plan on working out a bit (third day in a row - madness), but I needed to unravel a bit through creativity. 

I work with all kinds of families - some of which are much easier to work with than others. No matter the interaction, I know that they are going through surreal and challenging circumstances so some of our interactions are probably unique to their own normal. 

Anytime I have a difficult moment, I start to think about my family and how we have dealt with any unexpected circumstances. I have aunts who are blind, an uncle with a drug addiction, and a godson that was born hearing impaired. 

While many of these family experiences are unchangeable, I'm proud of how my family has faced them. There is no sitting back and doing nothing (though at times that would be easier!). We rally together and we do the best we can. 

One of my visually impaired aunts is more independent than I am!

One of my favorite memories is from October 2011. I ecstatically took part in the Walk-4-Hearing 5K. This walk divides its proceeds amongst many organizations working with the hearing impaired. One of the beneficiaries is a school called One Voice. This incredible institution provided the avenue in which Andy could learn to navigate beautifully in a Hearing world. 

I had a blast walking with Andy and his family. It felt amazing to see my younger relatives engage in service while having fun. I hope we can do more of this soon. 

My gift

Today my layout and post will be simple. 

I'm choosing to brag about the one thing I know I do best. KIDS!!!

From babies to teenagers, the skill I'm most proud about is my ability to connect with them. I'm a baby whisperer, the one to tame a crowd of young kids, and the one to make a quiet teenager engage in a conversation. 

So I'm shouting it loudly -- I'm good with kids!!

Happy

I woke up early today because I wanted to start this layout. I had picked out my picture and my pretty papers and had a concept in mind. 

This past year, I've played around with make-up and fake eyelashes (which I love). When I couple great make-up, its application and a general happy disposition, I find myself feeling really confident physically. Now, I'm not a size two model (and probably never will be), but I know the power of kind eyes and a great smile. 

So what happens when you feel good...well as a scrapbooker, I want to document it visually. So I started this hysterical trend of trying to take a good selfie. Who knew selfies could be so stinking card? I have so many terrible angles of my face but am completely taken aback by some of the photos. 

This photo is one of my personal favorites because I feel what I'm projecting visually. Looking at this photo, I feel happy and that's because I have been happier this year. A lot of that has to do with being happy professionally. I already love my personal life but my professional world was missing a key piece - a targeted passion point. 

I took this picture on March 31, 2013 which was almost exactly a year after I submitted my resignation to take my new position with Ronald McDonald House Charities. This picture says it all. 

Laughter

I'm toying with the idea of applying to be a member of a design team to a really great company. I've been following their blog for months and have seriously considered becoming a member of its kit club. 

The only thing that has stopped me from joining the kit club is the fact that I've been trying to declutter my craft room by using what I already own (which is a lot!). I don't really need more beautiful supplies!! Well....one could argue that I do in fact NEED those gorgeous embellishments and papers.

Scrapbooking From the Inside Out asks its followers to use their creative energy to express themselves about themselves. In all my years of scrapbooking, I have never made myself an album despite my best intentions. Even if I decide not to apply, I thought it would be fun to make layouts about me and my favorite life moments. 

It's a start, right?

Recharging

 

I've spent the last year delving deep in to a new world of work. I have loved every second, cried at how tired I've been and missed hanging out with my friends and family. 

However, I haven't regretted any second of this time because I truly think I'm where I'm supposed to be career-wise. I've been so exhausted yet happy that I haven't even delved into my crafty world goals! I haven't necessarily forgotten them. I've just realized that I needed to push back some of my personal crafty goal deadlines. And that's ok.

I've even missed blogging, but I have used Instagram to share my current lovely moments. Some have been crafty but many have been work and friend related. There have been beautiful babies born (Julian & Marco), and I've seen so many of my munchkins grow (Ellie, Roya, Marlena, Mateo, and Jaiden). I've eaten lots of incredible food and sprained multiple body parts so I've also gained a few unhealthy pounds from the decreased mobility. 

Am I happy? Yes!!!!

Body is feeling healthy. I've started eating better. I got a sassy new haircut. I've even been promoted twice in one year. Even I couldn't have imagined all that for one year!

So now it's time I recharge and recommit to all of it. I'm happy professionally, but now I need to better all the rest of it. My health, my soul and my love for exploring sharing my culture and self through art. Get ready for more regular posts!

Xitlali - goddess of the stars - turns 1

My colleague is the coolest aunt ever. To add to her coolness, she has decided to add some special touches to her niece's first birthday party. 

I had the pleasure of meeting little Xitlali last July when she was just a few weeks old. I remember getting to snuggle her at work so I was shocked to learn she was turning one. Where does the time go?!

Xitlali is having a Dora the Explorer fest and her aunt wanted to make sure that the decor was personalized. When you're blessed with a beautiful/unique name (I might know something about that), you have to custom make anything personalized. So.....enter me!

This cute little sign will be used for photo opportunities.  

These little flowers will be used in the centerpieces. I got the ideas from a Pinterest board my colleague created. I can take no credit for the idea, but I can say that I had to whip open my Adobe Illustrator to play. It's been awhile since I've done that.

The most detailed piece commissioned was the birthday banner. I couldn't find polka dotted pink paper so I used my Cricut machine to create my own. It was a little tedious but I love the layers of paper in each banner segment.

To top off the fun I had making these projects, I actually created everything in my newly super organized craft space. It's been amazing to walk in here and not only have a place to work but to also know what my inventory is and where to find it. If you've ever lived with me and my crafting (Sogol? Dortiz?), you would be amazed! Seriously....amazed. 

See? I have empty and decluttered shelves. Madness!

Nerdy craft

This month, I took a course called Dictionary Couture by Jennifer Priest on My Creative Classroom.

I jumped at taking the course when I saw that she would be teaching us how to make paper cone wreaths.You see, she has a large wreath in her craft room that I have coveted since the first time it appeared in her videos.

Using old books (or in my case, books I was planning to chuck in my decluttering), I went to task on creating some fun "nerdy" crafts for my home.

The most tedious of the projects was a wreath covered in paper roses. I'm glad I chose a small base, but I love how delicate the flowers look and smile every time I get to my door (where it is currently hanging).

I literally tore apart an ENTIRE book to make this small wreath.

I thought about giving this away as a gift (as I do with all my projects), but I ended up keeping it!

 The second project was the piece I was dying to make! I thought I would end up putting the final project in my craft room, but I realized that it would fit perfectly in my dining room. I needed art on my walls, and pieces made with book pages seemed to fit the room well because that's where my bookshelf is located.

The base was a simple ring covered in book pages. I then proceeded to attach cone after cone after cone.

I added a little lace, some paper flowers and some buttons.

I just love the volume and subtle color this wreath gives my walls.

One of two cone wreaths that currently hang on my wall. I'm hoping to add a smaller third one. I believe in the power of three for visual balance.

 Love, love, love these projects. I'm so glad that there are so many mediums to learn new techniques. Being able to take a class online means that I can take my time to gather my materials and watch when I'm free. I'm definitely planning to take some more!

Mixed Media Project: DIY Masquerade Ball Mask

A long delay does not equal a lazy crafter!  I've probably done more crafting in the last two months than I have in a really long time, and it's been a ton of fun.

I've decided to dabble in the mixed media realm for the first time. While I'll always be a paper crafter at heart, I needed to push my crafting comfort zone a bit. If you know me well, you know I love a crafty challenge!

So what would be my first challenge....

For a work fundraising event, I was charged with adding a masquerade mask to my formal attire. I waited until the last minute to really start hunting for a unique mask and I realized I would have to drop a pretty penny to buy one. I much more preferred to give a donation to our cause then to buy a mask I probably wouldn't wear again.

I went to youtube and I did a search for DIY masquerade masks and came across this video:


I couldn't believe that all the ingredients I would need would be aluminum foil, tape, and newspaper. Lord knows I had the embellishment supplies to spare, so I figured I had nothing to lose in trying.

Off I went on my crafty adventure!

Are these really the majority of the craft materials needed?

Molding layers of aluminum foil on your face is much harder than I expected.

Ha! I needed to make sure my molding was on target. Had to make the eye holes a bit larger than originally drawn.

It wasn't until the papier mache part that I really felt like we had something coming together.

Painting my base

And then I lost my mind looking for embellishments!

I had a bunch of embellishment options, but I realized I also wanted to use up supplies that I hadn't touched in months. So I took some of this adorable "Day of the Dead" fabric I bought YEARS ago and went with it.  After all, I am Mexican...so why not celebrate it!

I also went with a mask on the stick...probably the smartest of my decisions.

I had a blast watching this unfold step by step and I liked the original look of my final project.

This first little dabble in the mixed media world was not as scary as I imagined. Here's to more fun projects!

What a hiatus - it's almost embarrassing

If you know me personally, you know two things are true:

1. I started a new job that I love
2. I de-stress by crafting

Almost a year ago, I happily accepted a position with Ronald McDonald House Charities. In this year, I have taken on the largest supervisory role to date and I've had to deal with some highly stressed individuals (the families we support). It has been challenging and rewarding in ways that I never imagined. Despite some of our crazy hours, I can almost always say that the little bit of crazy is worth it because we were able to support a family during their time of crisis. So even if it was an exhausting day for me personally, I know that my exhaustion and/or stress levels pale in comparision to that of the many families we support. I've learned to suck it up and move on because the end result is a happy heart.

However, I'm now getting to the point where I'm starting to really know some of our families...and growing pains as a new House are evolving into some dynamic expected and unexpected changes. Which means that sometimes I do feel stressed out. This is all outside of whatever personal situations and issues that I might be experiencing myself. For example...dealing with a sprained ankle that took about 7-8 months to finally heal! Dear me.

The one thing that I haven't been good about doing is using my love for crafting to destress. Now, don't get me wrong, I've crafted...but it's mostly been for clients or events. They have definitely provided me an outlet of artistic escape, but I need to get back on track and start doing some stuff for me...for fun...for my crafty goals.

So here are three crafty goals for 2013:

1. Finish setting up my etsy shop
2. Submit original work for potential publication monthly
3. Make myself a scrapbook

There is a lot more I want to commit to, but I'm going to start with those three. I need to finish the craftroom organization goal from last year, but that is more than half way done so I just need to continue what I've already started.

Here's to a crafty fun 2013!

Card Cupids World Cardmaking Event

Saturday, October 6th was World Card Making Day.  I'm a day behind on my posts and crafting, but I got back on track today to support a wonderful agency that I'm proud to work with.

Card Cupids is an agency based in Virginia whose mission is to provide happy mail and birthday bundles to kids facing difficult challenges.  A lot of this is done through handmade cards from nationwide volunteers.  So of course Card Cupids has to celebrate one of its favorite days!

Well, Card Cupids has something else to celebrate this year - it's officially a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  I'm so proud of everything that Stephanie has accomplished since launching Card Cupids.  So let's keep with the celebratory spirit and continue to send some smiles to kids in need and earn some chances to win some great prizes!

To participate in the Sending Smiles Challenge, we are asking people to share a card that they've made to make a child smile. We have several requests for cards, so we're hoping you'll also send in your card to one of the many kids on the Card Cupids referral list!

Because of my busy past couple of months, I've sort of slacked on my design team responsibilities, but it's time to get back on track.  I decided I'd start with this challenge (which ends on October 12th).

Below is one of my cards for this week. I'll have a couple more to share throughout the week :)  Yay for crafting for good - it makes crafting extra special.

When sisters rally

On June 25th, I received an email that no one hopes to ever get from a friend.  A sorority sister  whom I had seen over the years since graduation, informed us (her Sigma Lambda Gamma sisters) that she had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Being in my 30s, I knew that I would one day be faced with this very situation, but I had somehow convinced myself that I was going to escape the direct relationship with someone battling this disease.

Rather foolish, I know.

Deyla is a force of nature.  She served as a paramedic....married the love of her life....had two adorable kids...and lives her life with a very sweet smile and huge heart.  Though no one should ever have to battle this illness, I know that her inner strength will help her in this battle.

One of her previous partners decided he was going to throw her a benefit.  This man's huge heart was in the right place, but boy did he need some help organizing the event.  One of my sisters had been on his original outreach list, and she called on us to come together to do what we do best.  Many of us have had years of experience in throwing large events and fundraisers...but now you also throw in our love for Deyla and you get an unstoppable force of a committee.

So on September 30th, we hosted our Pink Ribbon Warriors' Benefit for our dear friend Deyla and raised over $12,000!!!  We were exhausted...we battled with competing personalities....and were astonished by the generosity of others. 

Deyla's battle has just begun, and her committee of sisters, family and friends has only just started on their journey.  Our September 30th fundraising event may have been a huge success, but we know we can do more.  So watch out world - you ain't seen nothing yet!

We were so happy Deyla was healthy enough to come and see how many people loved her.

Our committee organized over 30 incredible baskets for raffles, about 15 silent auction items and multiple money raffles.

If we made it through pledging...then we'll make it through anything.  Together - we are unstoppable!  Hermanas por vida!