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Much Appreciated

Hi friends!  Today is a very special Monday... the 200th Mojo Monday sketch challenge!  I remember when I first started posting sketches on my blog wondering if anybody would play along... I never would have believed back then that Mojo Monday would take on a life of its own!  {grin}  So as a way to celebrate and say thank you to all that have played along with me and touched my heart with your amazing creations each Monday over the past several years, we've got PRIZES for this week's challenge!  We'll add a prize for every 50 entries, up to a max of 8 randomly drawn winners who will all receive a $25 Verve gift certificate!  Woohoo!  So come play along with us this week as we celebrate 200!


My heart was full when I was making this card, thinking of all the fabulous cards I've seen using my sketches over the past few years.  So I decided to make a thank you card. I love this sentiment from Words Cannot Express, "Your kindness is much appreciated".  I think that too often we forget to tell the people that matter how MUCH they are appreciated.  We end up assuming they know how important they are to us, how touched we are that they went that extra mile to help out, how much we appreciate the sacrifices (big and small) they make to make our lives a brighter place.  I know I find myself thinking these things almost daily of my friends and loved ones, and I always intend to let them know, but somehow the card I'm meaning to send doesn't get in the mail or I can't find exactly the right words to say when I'm talking to them.  But actually, it's not about the perfect card at the perfect time or the perfect prose, but the act of EXPRESSING our thankfulness that matters. So this card goes out to all of you who have faithfully followed my blogs, supported my endeavors and continually blessed me with kind words and comments that have brightened so many dark days.  You MATTER, and your kindness is much appreciated!

The Making Of:
In addition to being my Mojo Monday sample, this card also fits the bill for the current Diva Dare challenge... Sentimental About Paper.  The challenge is to use sentiments only with pretty paper.  There's a chance to win both for participating in the challenge AND for commenting on the Diva Dare posts on the Verve Blog as the Divas share their creation over the next couple weeks.

For my card, I knew exactly what paper I wanted to use.  I adore this Portrait collection from Crate Paper and decided to cut out flowers from one of the designs to pop up on the circle.  After that, the card came together really quickly.  Sometimes I like to have a little element of surprise on a card, so here I decided to stamp the sentiment diagonally in the square instead of directly in the center.  I love the look of it.  I added a torn bit of paper in the corner, and a butterfly and sentiment flag die to fill things in a bit.  Some shabby wrinkled ribbon and flatback pearls finished things off.

Enabler's List:
Stamps: Words Cannot Express (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Portrait Collection (Crate Paper), Black, Cream
Ink: Black, Vintage Photo Distress (Ranger)
Accessories: Mini Exotic Butterflies (TCP), Classic Circles and Classic Squares Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Sentiment Flag die (L'il Inkers Design), border punch (EK Success), shabby wrinkled ribbon (Prairie Bird Boutique on Etsy), black flatback pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty)

29 comments

Marisa said...

Gorgeous creation as always, Julee! Love the papers and the pop of aqua with the ribbon. Thanks for all your hard work with the Mojo sketches - I have a binder with copies of each and every one of them and am so thankful for your sharing them with all of us :)

Jessica said...

This is stunning, week after week you deliver the most amazing stuff! I love Mojo and you are such an inspiration. Thank you!

kavitha said...

Oh,we all love your sketches a lot.We have to thank you for the lovely inspirations you give us.This card is a stunner,and i love t=your uses of colors n papers:))
Kavi

NormaJ said...

Love this card. The cream and black remind me of a Parisian feel, whereas the central flower panel has a feeling of an old Victorian flower garden. I call this a multi-cultural card with pizzazz.

Lynn Hoyt said...

I just had to hop on over and tell you how gorgeous your card is this week. Stunning! Thank you for all your beautiful cards week after week, but I just felt this one was very special.

WITTYWIFE said...

This is a most beautiful card. Thanks for sharing, I will be using it for inspiration on my own cards!

Ally said...

Gorgeous card. ;-) Congrats on 200 Mojo Sketches! I, for one, am so grateful that you have given us this platform of inspiration for our creativity.

Hopefully it doesn't seem like a simple thing to you - the time I spend creating is so desperately needed, as a mom of 3 and a wife, there never seems to be as much time as I need to foster that creativity that wells up inside of me. Challenges like the Mojo each week give me a starting point when I feel so scatter-brained from all the hustle and bustle of my other roles in life and can't find that spark to create.

Thank you for the inspiration and motivation to CREATE! ;-)

Toni K said...

Beautiful card! Wow! I love the colors, and the layout :)

Ravengirl said...

This is a beautiful card Julee! I know exactly what you mean about making cards with someone in mind, but just never getting them out the door. Thank you for sharing!

Luanne said...

Thanks Julee! Hope I can get in a card to play this week. I love your sketches, they are my favorites!! Love your card today, very elegant! Thanks!

June Houck said...

Congrats, Julee! Thank YOU for unselfishly sharing your talents with the world. You are very much appreciated!

Queen Mary said...

Julee, it's so funny that you wondered if anyone would play along and now you are the Queen of sketches! Love the new and may not get to this until next week, but I'm in!

Carole said...

Beautiful card, it has a romantic look:)

Tanya said...

Oh Julee! This is gorgeous! My husband was wondering why I sighed out loud, and came to look and rolled his eyes, lol. This is truly stunning!

Kim O'Connell said...

Julee, this is just gorgeous! Congrats on all of your successes! Well deserved!

Wanda Cullen said...

Gorgeous card, Julee! I always look forward to Mondays and the mojo sketch...congrats on the 200th milestone!

Marthamh2 said...

Beautiful card. Thanks for sharing.

Heidi said...

Julee- some day I do want to be like you. this card is just absolutely beautiful, I can not figure out how you get your ideas and inspiration. All I can say is oooooooooooh man!

Debbie Carriere said...

Julee, congratulations on 200 fabulous sketches!!! Gorgeous card, too! Love the colors & how you cut the flowers from the paper. Great idea :) Oh, & the Mojo Monday blog looks great in green :)

Jo M said...

Thank you for sharing your sketches with all of us. They inspire us; especially with the addition of the finished cards with the sketch. They get my creative juices flowing.

Riet said...

What a beautiful card Julee.

Hugs Riet.xx

Marlena M. said...

Such a pretty, rich card! I love the use of black and the interesting corner on the square. ;)

Jen Shults said...

This is just beautiful Julee. I really love that paper and you did a gorgeous job arranging it... I love the generally all black and white with that circle of color... looks gorgeous!

Janine said...

Cannot believe it has now reached 200 sketches. I think they have got more challenging - at least that makes me feel better about how I fight with some of them! If your sketches aren't more challenging my creative brain is over taxed by too much daytime work! Another great card!

Lorie M aka MelodyGal said...

Gorgeous card, Julee. I haven't played along with the Mojo Monday sketch for a while, but I look at it every Monday and look forward to the creations. Love the sketches. A big thank you to YOU for sharing your talents with us.

Charlotte Taylor said...

Such a rich and pretty card. It has such beatiful colors and all brought together with the black. I has a victorian and vintage feel to it and I love that look. Its hard to pull that off but you did a wonderful job. It is a gorgeous card.

Stephanie aka Nerdette said...

So nice of you to honor the people in your life, we so often forget.

Beautiful card. I love the colour scheme and the sweet little butterfly in the corner. Your paper staining is perfection.

Lisa Elton said...

Your card is beautiful! It has a vintage romantic vibe to it :)

Jessie/knightrone said...

ABSOLUTELY gorgeous!