"follow your heart & your dreams will come true..."

My niece had her 5th Grade Recognition/Graduation a few weeks ago, and I wanted to make her something special as she says goodbye to the elementary years and hello to middle school and so on. Her life as she knows it is about to change in a big way.

For the child who has everything, it is very hard to buy for. I knew a "handmade" gift would be much more meaningful and heartfelt. To begin with, I took a 6X6 window box and placed map paper in the background. It is from Basic Grey's Wander Collection. I began layering lots of vivid papers on top of one another. I knew I wanted a "winged heart" of sorts to go along with the sentiment, "follow your heart & your dreams will come true..." Digging in my stash I found vintage ceramic wings and placed them inside the window box. I adhered the heart lock on top of the glass rather than underneath for a neat dimensional effect. Placing lots of design elements in white and kraft against the bright colors made for lots of nice visual contrast and I am very happy with the results.

Here is a list of materials I used: Basic Grey Wander Paper, Crate Paper Farmhouse Paper, Martha Stewart Daisy Fan Punch, Ki Scribbles Glitter Border, Tim Holtz Regal Crest Die, kraft cardstock, Bazzill jewels, vintage red/yellow tickets, blue thread, cast iron star, ceramic wings, metal heart lock & keys, typewriter...

Now onto some exciting news! Last week I entered my "bee" card into the Kraft Journal's Emboss & Embellish Challenge and am their featured artist today! They have weekly challenges that are so fun to play along with, and I am a kraft paper junkie so it is a win-win for me. :) Speaking of, the challenge at the Kraft Journal this week is Graduation Celebration. What a perfect time to share this graduation gift!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and a sincere thank you to the Kraft Journal for such wonderful recognition!
Amy