Cards and a layout

Last week I needed two cards. A friend posted on Facebook, that one of her cousins is serving a 18 month tour (I can't remember where exactly). His birthday is coming up and she asked, for all those willing too, mail him a birthday card. The other card was a card just to say 'hi' and send updated photos of the kiddos. I struggle with cards so I almost always start off with a sketch. For these cards I happened to use a fantastic sketch from Cardabilities! I love this sketch and know I will be using it in the future!

I used some papers from a 6x6 Basic Grey pad. I never have been interested in the 6x6 pad size. I picked two up at a garage sale for CHEAP and have to admit, they are VERY nice for cards!
This is the birthday card. I pulled scraps from my stash for this one! I also used a SRM sticker. LOVE those stickers!
I also created the 3-d star, figuring a guy probably doesn't really want a flower on his card!

I'm not digging this layout at all. But it is what it is. I had hoped to journal in white and when I couldn't get ANY of my 3 white pens to work, I gave up!
These pictures were from my Grandpa's birthday. I kick myself now for not getting a picture of Grandpa with all the kids. This was taken at an assisted living center where most of the patience had memory issues.

Thanks for stopping by!