Daring Cardmakers . . . and playing catch-up!

This week's theme over at Daring Cardmakers is the flower for May, either the hawthorne or lily of the valley.  And I really LOVE lily of the valley, so you know that's what I went for!  We just got back from vacation, and yesterday after returning to work hubby asked me for a couple of cards.  One for a friend who is getting married this weekend, and another for the family of one of his customers.  The customer was in his home in Alabama when the storms hit a couple of weeks ago and he was killed.  So I got to work, and found images of lily of the valley that worked well for both.  And of course that means I have two cards to share with you, and they are very different - one from the other.

Here is the sympathy card . . .

The image is one I found on Flickr - you can find all kinds of vintage images, botanicals, greeting cards there if you are patient!  The green cardstock is Core-dinations for Jenni Bowlin and I sanded it a bit to show the lighter color underneath.  The ribbon has been in my stash for probably 10 years, and I finally found something it was made for!  The gem is a vintage brooch that I found at a yard sale ages ago.  I matted the image with light lavender and darker purple cardstock, and bumped it up with foam dots for dimension.  Here are a couple of close-up shots . . .

And my main card, the one I really LOVE, is for hubby's friend who is getting married this weekend.  He and hubby have worked together for many years, and he lost his wife a while back after a long and very tough struggle with cancer.  We really wish him much happiness as he moves on to his new life!  Here is my card . . .

The patterned paper is from a Making Memories 'English Garden' stack, the pink cardstock is a scrap of DCWV.  The green gems are from Prima eLine, and a touch of Stickles 'stardust' added a bit of shine to the flowers.  The silk flowers were in a bag I bought at a thrift store, the sentiment is from SRM Press, and the tiny bit of pink ribbon is from my stash.  Oh, and I used the Fiskars 'Apron Lace' border punch.  The image came from a digital collage sheet I bought from an Etsy Seller.  If you are interested, Maggie at phenomenon1895 is having a sale, and any five (5) collage sheets are only $3.00 - a great deal!  Just click on the link to see what she has in her shop.

And here are a few close-up shots of this card . . .

And one last card to share!  Right before we left for vacation I had so much to do!  When you go camping for a week, you have to try to remember to take EVERYTHING you will need.  I plan and pack everything except for hubby's clothes, and he does those; but everything else, I have to take care of.  And that includes the dogs, their food, etc. too!  So I was just so busy, but I really wanted to do the Daring Cardmakers challenge before we left.  The theme was 'royalty' in honor of the royal wedding and could cover any occasion as long as it had a 'royal' theme.  I found this really cute princess image and had some new papers from Prima Marketing that matched the image perfectly!  And, I got the card made, but there just wasn't time to get a post done and linked up to Daring Cardmakers before we left.  I wanted to share the card with you any way . . .

I love the little princess image, and the Prima paper matched it perfectly.  The sentiment is from SRM Press and the gems are from Prima eLine.

So, I guess that's all from me right now (and it really is plenty!) but I hope to be back soon.  Now that I have gotten all caught up, my posts and tutorials will be back to normal as well!  Take care, friends, and come back soon!  Blessings, Becky