on a cheerier note...

my future DIL has a birthday next week!! Making a card for her was a delight as it (1) gave me a reprieve from the sympathy cards that I had been making lately and (2) it gave me such joy to think about her and pray for her as I was making the card. I hope her birthday is a day full of blessing!

I had given some thought to the design and then as I was surfing the web (for something totally unrelated), I stumbled across this JustRite Friday Challenge. The sketch was perfect. In fact, it was very close to the ideas that I already had in mind for the card.

I have only the Damask Borders Monogram stamping kit from JustRite, but with a little creativity, I managed to add a computer generated birthday sentiment to the stamped border. Pearls accent the scallops as well as add interest to the black ribbon; buttons tied around the ribbons anchor the sentiment panel.

It really was fun to see everything come together so very quickly for this card. Maybe because I had already created one that was very similar?! LOL In any case, I hope she likes it.

Well, that's it for today. Again, thanks for stopping by.

blessings,

two sympathy cards...

to make this week. It seems that it is generally agreed that these are, hands-down, the hardest cards to make.

This first card was for a neighbour whose husband passed away last week. Not knowing whether or not they have any kind of faith in God, I wanted to be careful. At the same time, I didn't want to hide my faith.

As a result I created the sentiment on the computer using my graphics editing software. I left the inside blank so I could write a personal message to her, expressing our sympathies and giving quiet evidence of our faith.

Then today we heard that a co-worker from our early career days had passed away. Just two years older than me, he died in his sleep. The funeral is scheduled for Monday. Because I won't have time this weekend to work on any card making, I knew I needed to get that done today as well.

DP is from Little Yellow Bicycle; stamps are Hero Arts flourishes and Autumn Leaves (rhonna farrer). I love how the buttons anchor the computer generated sentiment. And of course, there's not a card these days that doesn't get some kind of pearl treatment from me!!!

Thanks for coming by today... I wish for you a blessing-filled day!!

two cards. . .

to share today.

Robert Green Ingersolls once said, "In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing". A friend of mine had an adaptation of this in her signature line this week. It read, "In the nighttime of despair, hope sees a star".

I have been thinking lately about "the dark night of the soul" and as I read the quote, it caught my attention. As I read it, I asked myself, "If hope sees a star, what is it that would find, or hear, or perhaps even sing, a song?"

She challenged me to try to make a card using her quote. I wasn't at home at all yesterday, but during the night I had plenty of time to ponder.

StampTV had two challenges this week (sketch, colour) that helped me form some ideas and this afternoon, while I had a few hours, I took to my stamping area to see whether I could actually create something that even closely resembled what I envisioned.

The result? a black, grey (fitting colour for despair, don't you think?) and white card (you can't really see it, but I used some handmade paper for the top white panel), a trail of stars, slowly getting larger as they cascade towards the bottom of the sentiment, reaching their destination as the result of that hope.

This hope that can be ours as we relinquish our fears and feelings of despair. Hope that sees the star as it shines & beckons us to recognize the Creator. Hope that results in song - a soul-song - coming to us in the darkness of despair - a song that we sing as our winter turns to spring.

This second card is for the Stampin' Sister in Christ challenge this week - to use the colours brown, blue and white. I wanted a card to give to a close friend of mine who has encouraged me... who has challenged me to hear the song - to allow the ice of winter to melt - to embrace the spring - to sing my soul-song. I found a neat tutorial on how to make your own background (you can read it here). Again, I designed the sentiment using PaintShopPro; the background uses the allegro embossing folder (CB). Having sanded the cardstock to get the blue to show through, it ended up with a really weathered feel - quite appropriate considering that's just how I feel when I have forgotten the words to the song in my heart.

So there you have it. Two very different cards that come from some of the thinking I've been doing this week.

blessings,

oh it's rather frightful...

outside today... another winter storm warning... snow... wind warning in effect with northwesterly winds gusting to 100km/h...

but inside it's been pleasant and warm... A great day to snuggle up with a good read... or to take some "me time"...

I chose the latter.

The Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge for this week was to "use the talents you have been given to create a card or project that is knit together (stitched- faux or real)." Sentimental Sundays' challenge was "for someone special".

Today is the birthday of a special friend - one who came into our lives about 26 years ago - one who, together with his wife, has walked alongside us through the good times and the not-so-good. He loves the Oregon Coast so with that in mind I found a picture that I could use a focal point. A few layers/scraps of paper I had... a bit of zigzag stitching to hold the scraps in place... inspiration from others.... paper piercing... and this is the final result. The birthday sentiment was computer generated and cut out using my label nestibilities.

I hope that in spite of the weather, he will enjoy a great day as his family surrounds him with warmth and love.

Happy Birthday, Murray!!