Altered Shabby Chic Heart

Happy Happy Thursday my Dear Sweet Friends -

Oh my goodness - it's hard to believe it's Thursday and the weekend is just a stones throw away.  What about you - do you have any special plans for this weekend?? 

I am so incredibly excited - today's project is my first as a design team member with the Speed Craft Challenge.  I must confess I was chomping at the bit to begin this project and what a thrill ride it was.  

I began my exhilarating ephemera scavenger hunt which truth be told was a quick trip to my craft room closet.  However, tucked away in the far left back corner was a box.  A special box.  A pretty box.  A pink box covered in beautiful flowers and a white satin bow.  Inside this box were things I have been collecting and it all began with the heart shaped chipboard I covered in vintage dictionary pages about six months ago. 

Truth is, I wanted to create something similar to my finished project below but found the thought of it intimidating.  Why?  I have no idea - but I just starting collecting little things anyway and kept them inside my pretty box.  

 These are the pieces for my 15 minute speed craft challenge.  

And so there I was , ready to jump into the unknown and discover what's waiting on the other side.  I can hear my mom saying in a high pitched frustrated tone "Debra Laine - stop being so melodramatic."  Am I??  Maybe?  

But the reality is that I had such high hopes for creating something pretty from a piece of chipboard that I was paralyzed with fear.  Sounds so corny to even type these words but its the truth.  So, I told myself to have fun, trust the process and to remember it doesn't have to be perfect and my hubby pushed the "Go!! on the stop clock.  

And there I was playing with the flowers, the photo, the lace and ribbons and felt like a little kid playing in the mud making mud pies.  It was FUN!!  And then I got really brave and took out my roll of glue dots and started gluing everything down.  And I forgot about the ticking clock, and I was no longer worried about making a mistake and ran to my craft room to find a few more goodies and before I knew it I was done.  Yep, what you see below is my finished creation. 

 And I had 24 seconds to spare.  

And you know whats so amazing -  I love my finished project.  I don't understand why I had myself worked up for so long over something that was just plain fun.  

So I hope you will decide to join in this challenge and see what you can create in 15 minutes and then share with us at The Speed Challenge.  It truly is liberating and FUN!!  And before you start your project why not go over to The Speed Challenge Blog and look at the other beautiful creations by the rest of the Design Team.  I really would love to see your finished creations!!! By the way, this challenge is "Anything Goes".  

With hugs and smiles

Laine