A Year in Review MTME

It is with a heavy heart that I share with you today that this will be my last post as a member of Lauren's amazing team. If you've been following my blog you'll know I've had some changes in my life and after serious and prayerful contemplation I decided it was time to step down from the My Time Made Easy team. With my children spread far and wide around the world I will be doing a lot more traveling to visit them. I also have a very stressful and demanding job and I just need time to be me with no pressure, no deadlines and no commitments. I have been SO richly blessed by this experience and must say a special thank you to Lauren - she snagged me two years ago to be on her challenge team and then on her MTME design team. Lauren believed in me long before I believed in myself and the support from all of my loyal followers has made it a fantastic experience. I'll still be on JUGS and still be stamping and blogging - just not as part of Lauren's team. I wish Lauren and her company the absolute best and to my teammates - YOU GIRLS ROCK - you're the best! You are an incredibly talented and caring group of women and I have been so blessed to have worked with all of you. Thanks for everything. OK - my tears are shed - let's get on with today....

Today is the final group post from the My Time Made Easy team for the May release. As has been our practice, we end each release with a Year in Review - or a look back at favorite templates, stamps and/or paper from previous months. Lauren has so many wonderful templates to choose from but I chose this one because it truly is one of my favorites. It's called Pick of the Petals.

 

This gorgeous gift box, with it's unusual pinched lid has been a show stopper from the first. I can only encourage you to TRY IT - You'll like it, (Mikey!) It makes up so beautifully and if you take your time with the petal scoring it comes out perfect! I am featuring the newest paper from this month's release - from a set called Bee Mine. I LOVE it and knew immediately that I wanted to use it on this box.

Here's a peek at the top - I embellished it with primas and some cut leaves from a MTME cut file called Petal Perfections and some ribbon from my stash.

To finish off the front of the template I used a line of pearls and some beautiful blue rhinestones. No matter what I did I could not photograph the rhinestones and get their true blue color but they are very pretty.

Here's my card made to match. I know we usually go back and use paper from past releases for the Year in Review but this one is brand new and I LOVE it so I just had to use it. The tulips and the bee - just SO springy! This comes from the über talented Kristin and is from the Bee Mine digital paper set, new this month. The sentiment on the card comes from one of my favorite sentiment sets called Just For You.

A final look at the entire gift set.  I just got a new camera and the colors are so off - UGH - sorry - I can't figure out - with flash is too much without it's too dark. Argh!

I didn't show you the inside of the box because I don't want to spoil the surprise for my friend who's getting this next week! :-)

That's all for now folks. Thank you again for your supportive and encouraging comments about my My Time Made Easy projects on my blog - you always make me smile and I appreciate your sweet words more than you know. I'll be around - stay in touch please.

Hugs and smiles and a few tears today as well,