SYMPATHY

We card makers don't usually like the reasons or need for a sympathy card, but it is a fact of life. We would much rather be wishing others joy, happiness, peace, and all the good things GOD has to offer in this crazy and evil world. Sometimes the need for sympathy catches us by surprise. Other times we can see someone slowly going to meet their maker and so are a little more prepared.

Recently a man I did not know passed away quickly from a brain tumor. His wife attends my WI church and plays the electric piano for worship. She blesses me each Sunday with her talent and music. I felt I needed to bless her with a card of sympathy, sharing my talent with her during her sadness. I do not know her very well but maybe I can lift her spirits in some way.

The card I made used a new Stampin Up sail boat image. I have always felt that sail boats and ships somehow represent our lives sailing off into the far distance. I used the EK Success Swirls punch for the ocean and the new blueberry crisp DSP from SU also reminded me of waves and wind. I kept it fairly simple and used some Tim Holtz Tea Distressed ink for adding some distress, and added a simple blue star. For me it represented the shining star of the Savior the night He was born. The color is a stretch, but that was my reason for putting it up in the corner, in the sky to guide the sailboat. Using "faith" as the front message also adds to our reliance on Christ during our journey. Inside is the message "In times like these when it seems hard to find GOD, I can rest in the assurance HE knows how to find me!" We all can rest in GOD knowing HE knows about our circumstances and HE cares and has the way already planned out for us if we would give ourselves over fully to Him. We must seek HIM and have faith in HIM alone. Times will come when we can not do anything about our circumstances, our health, our finances, our children, our government, etc, etc, etc. But we hold onto the one who is the author of our faith and the finisher of our souls. We were created by Him to please Him living as holy a life as we can and He provided the way for use to be truly cleansed and holy in His eyes. Accepting Christ is the only path to true happiness and peace.

GRAND DAUGHTERS

I wanted to have the two grand daughters make a special card for their great grandma's 90th birthday since they will not be able to visit her any time soon. They picked out this "sister" stamp to use and they both wanted to make their own card with it. So they did.






Emma chose the pink sparkle dot CS and the second print CS. She colored the image and I did all the paper cutting (to save little fingers.) She punched all the corners with the SU ticket punch and used the dot runner for getting it all together. I tied the ribbon for her and she added the "hello" and the flowers. Lastly she added the jewels. I had to help since they were so small. We figured out a good inside sentiment and she signed the card.









Matti colored the same image in her own way and chose the balloon birthday paper for the back ground. I did all the paper cutting, she did the corner punching and stamping inside. We got a little extra line under the sentiment, and added the flowers to cover the booboo! There is always a remedy for those booboos and it is part of the learning process for them. You can always "fix it!" And some times the repair looks better than the first effort. Matti also added jewels and signed her card.

They are sweet and colorful and I think "Mamaw Jo" will love them!

90 YEARS

It is hard to imagine living for 90 years. My mother has done her 90 years very well, and remained relatively healthy except for trying to lift the washing machine as a young mom and causing an injury to her back which necessitated surgery later in life, falling out of a stone flower bed and injuring her rib which still bothers her, and the car accident when she hit a small tree on a highway ramp while trying to drive and unwrap the paper on the bottom of her ice cream cone. That one really broke up her wrist on one side and her ankle on the opposite side. She had to have pins put in her wrist with a rod screwed into her arm and wore a cast on her ankle for some time. She also had to spend two months in a rehab facility and then had more rehab afterwards.

But she bounced back and has been surviving as a widow living alone for several years now. Congrats Mom on a life well lived. May GOD continue to bless you and watch over you.

Here is my Mom's birthday card. I had a really difficult decision choosing an image that was appropriate for a card for her 90th. I decided that this fairy lives a "charmed" life, sitting on flowers and having critters for friends. Mom loves flowers and animals, and likes blue so I gave this fairy a blue outfit and blue wings colored with my Spica baby blue pen and darker blue Spica outlines. I used Copics for all the coloring and used an EK Success punch for the double crocheted punched edging. I added some patterned CS and pink ribbon and jewels. I hope she likes it. Thanks for stopping.

ABOUT TO GIVE UP

It has been a month since I posted anything on my blog. I am not keeping up with this as I should and had intended, and I apologize to all my 7 followers if you have checked and there was nothing to look at for such a long time. Even the cards I posted had little response. So I am about to give up on this blog and posting my cards.

I have made some cards and I will show them this time, but not sure how much I will be crafting this summer or posting in the future. After a trip to visit my mom for her 90th birthday the first part of July, I will be preparing for my shoulder replacement surgery and I am sure that alone will curtail my card making for a while.

After having the family home in MN for the Memorial Day weekend and our 46th anniversary, we headed back to Oshkosh for the last three weeks. Now we are going to be headed back the other way tomorrow.

Father's Day came and here is the card for Bill. It is pretty simple. The burgundy trim was from Michaels in their dollar trims. I picked out some basic neutral colors and this one seemed to go along with the coloration of the print paper. Inside it just says "Happy Father's Day". Matti and Emma also made their father a card using the same print paper and used a stamp that said "DAD, you're the best" on the front. I showed the girls how to do heat embossing and they were excited to feel the raised letters in copper.

The other activity we attended was Matti's graduation from Day Care and her 4-K class. Four year olds are required by the state of Wisconsin to attend a half day class in prep for kindergarten. Some do it as Matti did in the day care setting and the school district sends over teachers for the class, and some children go to the elementary school for it. I made her a card just like the one I had made for Emma last year but colored the hair more a honey brown color like Matti's hair. Here is a picture of that card. I used a Precious Moments stamp and paper pieced the sleeve, diploma and hat and used some pink nylon tulle in strips behind the image. Congratulations Matti!