Friendship to Honor at Birthday Time!

Another of my cards to finish and deliver before my Girls' Get-a-way Cardmaking retreat is for a long-time friend, whom I met through a variety of ways.  Four events in life brought us together, and it was obvious that we were meant to meet at some time in our life!  

I first met Ilene through my husband, because she was the wife of one of my husband's co-workers, therefore, we met at several business functions.  Next, it turned out that her older son was the same age as my younger son, and they ended up on the same community baseball team, but we had already met through the work connection.  Next, I went to work as the Administrative Assistant/ Office Manager of the elementary school that her older son attended, and she was one of our wonderful student's parents and a faithful classroom volunteers, plus a diligent PTA officer and PTA volunteer.  Our fourth life event that would have brought us together was that she became a school office substitute as her children grew older, and she ended up being sent to our school to fill in for an absentee office worker.  Wouldn't you say, we were meant to meet somehow, and life presented four different opportunities!  

With all that, I wanted to send her a little birthday greeting on her special day, and here is the card that I made just for her using some wonderful Papertrey Ink dies that have been around now for several years, but never grow old.  I also borrowed the inspiration for this card from one my sister made several years ago.  Thank you, Heidi Gonzales.

Just a peak at the finished inside to see the design that coordinates with the outside, and the friendship birthday verse made just for Ilene.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up products - Cardstock: Very Vanilla cs, So Saffron cs, Crisp Cantaloupe cs; Ink:  Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Suede, Garden Green;  Stamp: And Many More (sentiment); Punch: Modern Label; Seam Binding Ribbon: Wild Wasabi.  Papertrey Ink products: Rosie Posie stamps/dies; Banner Borders (envelope flap).  MFT stamps: BG Gingham Background.