What’s This – A Bouquet of Flowers!

I joined Curves almost a month ago. I finally decided that I needed to something about all this extra hamburger I’ve been packing around for years. PCOS and all the many years of infertility drugs have done a number on me… UGH! Went by Curves to “check it out”…. did you know they make you stand on a SCALE and MEASURE you during an assessment before you even sign up??? MY LANDS! The nice little old lady had me kick off my shoes and stand on the scale…. which was followed by a string of obscenities a few naughty undermybreath words and a swift kick to the scale after which I departed the scale, put my shoes back on and handed over my money.

So anyway…. the first day was pure hell. I worked a little too hard and my fibromyalgia flare up points (my forearms) went BERZERK and I laid in bed in pain all night hugging a hot rice bag. The next day I got up and hauled my aching carcass back to Curves and worked out again. So much better the 2nd day and so far, so good. I feel great, haven’t lost any pounds yet, but my shirts are feeling a little looser and my body feels stronger. (Now to work on strengthening my lower back for walking endurance and less pain.)

So what does this have to do with the pretty little teaser I showed you earlier? Well, I will tell you…. Curves is big on “causes”… especially cancer. The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life is coming up in June and you can buy a plain little white sack for $5, decorate it, then hang it on their wall until the Relay For Life. During the RFL, they fill the sacks with sand and a little candle, then line them up along the course and light the candles. I have many relatives who have had cancer… but I thought I’d honor my paternal grandmother this time and make a luminary for her.

Here’s what I came up with. It was so much fun to dream up and make!! I quilled the butterfly out of hand cut cardstock. The flowers are made using BG Urban Prairie paper and CTMH Rustic Flowers Stamp Set and heat embossed & popped up with foam squares.. I hand cut each one and curled the edges. The leaves are hand cut and inked. It originally did not have leaves, but I think I like it better with… :)

Supplies:
Basic Grey Urban Prairie paper pack
CTMH Rustic Flowers
Clear Detail Embossing Powder + Versamark
SEI Buttons
Rhinestones & Stars
Martha Stewart Lattice Border Punch & Bubble/Dot Punch (??)
Nestabilities Large Oval and Scalloped Oval
Timber Brown StazOn
White Gel Pen
Textured White Archiver’s Cardstock
Archivers Smooth Cardstock
Aileen’s glue (for quilling)
American Crafts Foam Dots

{As always, you can click for a larger view.}

It was really difficult to get a good photo today. Here are some better close up shots.

And the back: