STRONG*** Girlie Grunge November Challenge***and Once Upon A Sketch

Well, I am putting the finishing touches on all the LO's I have been working on the last 2 weeks. This LO is for Donna Salazars Girlie Grunge Challenge (November 2011 Challenge)
that Natasha Naranjo Aguirre is hosting.

For the first challenge, you will need to create a layout, card or off-the-page project that must include:

• Hand-made Flowers
• Corrugated Board
• Any Donna Salazar Product

Well that was easy for me as I have a brand new stack pack of the Antiquities paper, I already created flowers using the Donna Salazar Rose Creations die, and I have plenty of corrugated cardboard... But what to create..That was my challenge. I started with the sketch from Once Upon a Sketch and it took on a life of it's own!! But I love it!!

Here is mine for the challenge...It has been a tough year for me, caring for, then losing my mother in law whom I loved so much, and having to take my father in law in to live with us. Having my daughter 3000 miles away in school and it killed me when she was hospitalized for having an anaphalactic reaction while on the train coming home from school. Changes at work, taking care of 2 households, and trying to keep it together...I did it, I guess that makes me strong??? Thus the title in my LO...Sometimes I felt like a face on a brick wall while the world just watched and walked by...Some helped (my husband and kids) some didnt (very sad) ...The photo represents how I felt. It's all good now. Everything is settled in my life, but it was a tough year...Thank You for letting me share a little piece of my life.

Join the challenge!! There is still time left. Or just go join Girlie Grunge. You are sure to get that grunge mojo going and have fun at the same time. Paint, ink, spray, scrunch, shmear, swizzle,

Swizzle??? Well anything goes when your being artistic!! And check out Once Upon A Sketch for an awesome starting point for your layouts. It is very inspirational!!

I use Tims Tattered Banners for the backdrop for my journaling. My Cropadile got a workout setting all the eyelets!

I created a file of butterflies at Swirlydoos that you can download. I always use Rock Candy Stickles all over, then just hit the edges with a little Stickles in a sparkly color.

I used my Rose Creations Die for the flowers and used puffy paint on the edges. I got these WONFERFUL packs of gemstones by The Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. I used assorted colors and sizes for the flower middles. There are more than 10 different shapes in each pack. I bought 6 different color families. 450 pieces in each pack. 50% off!!

Just a closeup of the flowers.