Saturday, December 29, 2012

A VERY rough month, but I made 2 cards

I have 2 birthday cards to share that I made the other night. But first, some sad news. This month has been an extremely difficult month for hubby and I. On December 2, hubby's mom passed away. Her health has not been so good this past year; however, she was actually doing a bit better the last month than she had previously been doing. That is why her death was difficult because it was sudden and completely unexpected.

Thankfully, we were able to make it to see her before she passed, even though she was not conscious and braindead at the time. The dr's always say that even if someone is on life support, as she was, or in a coma, that they can still hear you. We made sure to tell her how much we loved her and how much she'd missed.

UPDATED TO ADD: The funeral home finally got moms obituary up, if you'd like to view it, you can do so here: Combs, Parsons & Collins Funeral Home: Joyce Elaine Moore. I am sharing it because some of you that read my blog have helped by donating some money towards moms cremation. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
If you've read my blog for a while, you'll also know that last year, on the same day I had my car accident, we lost my husbands uncle, Robert. It was a very difficult day because I had gotten in a car wreck that same exact day that uncle Robert had, only 10 minutes later. My husband got a call from mom saying his uncle had passed in his car wreck and then he got a call that I had been in a car wreck just a few minutes later. it was a rough day. I was so upset, moreso than the fact that I had been hit, but because I could NOT be there with my husband. he and his uncle were EXTREMELY close. But, it was also difficult because neither of us could be there for MOM at the time, because of my wreck and me being nearly 3 hours from home and us only having that one vehicle that was wrecked. The reason it was more difficult overall is because uncle Robert was moms LAST surviving sibbling, and family member, other than her children (my husband and his younger brother and sister).
You can view uncle Roberts obituary here: Combs, Parsons & Collins Funeral Home: Robert McConnell

It was a rough time dealing with hubby's family and such, and trying to get moms affairs in order, but we've managed to get almost everything done. it is never pleasant losing a loved one, especially a parent, but it's even worse when the parents don't have any end of life care plan set up to pay for things and that burden falls on the children. It's been very difficult and I can say that we have some AMAZING friends (who are considered our family) who came to our aid to assist with paying for the $500 down payment we needed towards moms cremation so we could take care of her affairs. We were able to get her cremated (her wish) and pick up her ashes and we were able to get her a lovely urn. We are just waiting for the death certificate now so we can finish taking care of her affairs because sadly, most things can't be taken care of without a death certificate. We still owe quite a hefty chunk of money to the funeral home, more than $1,500, but they were nice enough to set us up on a payment plan, one of which we honestly can't afford, but had to agree to. :-/
For those of you who helped and read my blog, hubby and I thank you with all our hearts and we can never express how grateful we are that you helped us. ((hugs))

Through all of this mess, I had major issues with my bipolar, being off my meds for nearly 2 months, and to make a long story short and keep as much of my hassle private as possible, I'm back on them now, but not on a mix that I'm happy with. After my dr. office rescheduled 2 of my appts this week, hopefully "next year" I will get on a regimen that I like better and I feel works.

Now, onto the cards! I wasn't really in a crafty mood, but REALLY needed to get these done. I just can't stand buying mass produced cards at the store, so I just had to do them. they were supposed to be quick and easy but both cards kept giving me problems so I had to keep re-doing different components. These 2 cards are for Mary, hubby and mine's "surrogate" mother. We call her Mama Mary. She is our best friends mom, but she has always been there for us, and helped take care of us before. Her health hasn't been so great this year either, and we worried about her more than a few times this year, but I'm glad she pulled through and got better each time. I made one card for her from hubby and I, and one card for her for her daughter to give to her.

here are the sneak peeks, click below to see more.

This is the one from hubby and I for her.
 and this is the one for her from her daughter.



For the first one I measured the cardstock to be a bit bigger than the image I was going to stamp, I border punched it and then I colored in the flowers on the stamp with my zig brushable markers and stamped them on the cardstock. To be honest, this is the part I wasted about 6 pieces of cardstock figuring out. I couldn't seem to get with it and match up the border punch edges wiht the stamped image. I finally just border punched a piece of cs and THEN stamped my image lining it up with the circles in the border and THEN cut it! It also doesn't help that I tried to stamp the image 3 different ways and I didn't like how it turned out either way.
Lets just say that butterflies in grey and then colored stamp misted with tattered angels and stamped over said butterflies, didn't turn out so well :-/
I stamped the birthday sentiment and then added some gems to the middle of some of the flowers and then wrapped some of this FABULOUS "craft thread" around the cs a few times. I tied a knot and then wrapped each tail around the middle in opposite directions and then tied another knot on top. I love how this card turned out!
For the inside I just layered some white cs on top of the grey base and then stamped the following senti to the bottom corner.

For this 2nd card for her daughter to give to her:
I have to admit that this isn't my original idea for this layout. I saw one that was "similar" to this somewhere on pinterest, but for the life of me couldn't find it before making this card, so I just went with something similar to the one I had seen, and changed it up a bit. basically the one I had saw had the strip of cs and scalloped border, a large flower and the small flowers. But after changing it up, I think this turned out lovely!
Jenn said that mom likes the colors red and yellow together. I honestly didn't think that would go well on a card together, but I love how this turned out against the grey background!

I did a small strip of yellow and border punched it with scalloped punch from Stampin' Up! I adhered that to the red strip and then wrapped some [more] of that FABULOUS craft floss around it. there is no knot tied in the middle under the flower, they are just criss-crossed. I didn't think it looked all that great, so I covered it with the large layered flower.

The sentiment was stamped on yellow and then cut with the decorative label punch (Stampin' Up!) and then I used some colorbox ink on the edges.


  For the flower, it is a Unity stamp. I stamped it on top of 2 different deco papers and then cut them out and layered them. I adhered them together with mini glue dots (just 2 under the top two layers) and then ran a brad through the center. That's a pretty big red brad and it had an imprinted circle in the middle of it, so I just added a pearl to offset it and cover that ugly little circle. The mini flowers were punched and pressed with the lid of my glossy accents bottle, in the palm of my hand (to make the petals roll up) and then inked the edges and added pearls.


 For the inside, I layered yellow cs on top of the grey and stamped the senti in the bottom left corner.



Well, those are my 2 cards. I hope that Mama Mary likes them, though I'm sure she will because she always loves the cards I send. I'm glad that I was able to get these done, even if they were giving me problems and I had to keep re-doing things. 4 hours for 2 cards was rough, but I got them done. When I'm not doing so well mentally, crafting is often difficult because I get crafters block (same thing as writers block). but these came out very lovely! :)

Keep on Craftin'!
~Melisa Marie



Supplies used:

Card 1: Flowers with Gems
Cardstock/Paper: Georgia Pacific Cardstock: White, 110 lb.; The Paper Studio Cardstock: Grey
Stamps: Hero Arts Clings: Blooming Meadow, TAC (The Angel Company): One Liners (T-859) (birthday senti), Stampin’ Up!: Occasional Quotes, Personalized Stamp (on back of card)
Embellishments: Clear Gems by Bead Design Co., Prism Craft Floss: Rainbow Pack: Purple
Ink Pads:   Stampin’ Up! Going Grey, Memento Tuxedo Black (for personal stamp on the back)
Tools: MS Score Board, Cricut Paper Trimmer, Scissors, Inkadinkado Acrylic Stamp Blocks, Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet (15 in. x 18 in.), Glass Cutting Board (my hard stamping surface), Fiskars Border Punch: Treading Water, Corner Punch, Glossy Accents, Glue Glider Pro (Pink), glue glider pro Perma-Tac adhesive (permanent), Zig Brushables: Hunter Green (brush tip), Pure Violet (brush tip), Baby Blue (brush tip).

Card 2: Red and Grey with Layered Flower
Cardstock/Paper: Georgia Pacific Cardstock: White, 110 lb.; The Paper Studio Cardstock: Grey; The Paper Studio Cardstock: Red, Yellow, K&Company Amy Butler-AB Lotus Mat Pad (grey and white polka dot paper for flower), Authentique Blissful 6x6 Mat Stack (yellow deco cs for flower)
Stamps: Stampin’ Up! Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess 2-Case Set)-Set 2 of 2, Stampin’ Up!: Whimsical Words, Unity: Now and Always (Flower-stamped 3 times and then cut and layered), Personalized Stamp (on back of card)
Embellishments: Flatback Pearls: 3mm-White, Prism Craft Floss: Pastel Pack: Yellow
Ink Pads:   Stampin’ Up! Going Grey, Memento Tuxedo Black (for flower and personal stamp on the back), Colorbox catseye queue stack: Red
Tools: MS Score Board, Cricut Paper Trimmer, Scissors, Inkadinkado Acrylic Stamp Blocks, Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet (15 in. x 18 in.), Glass Cutting Board (my hard stamping surface), Stampin’ Up! Border Punch: Scalloped Border, Stampin’ Up! Decorative Label Punch, Stampin’ Up! Boho Blossom Punch, Glossy Accents, Glue Glider Pro (Pink), glue glider pro Perma-Tac adhesive (permanent), Glue Dots 3/16”.





2 comments:

  1. Hi, Anymore!

    I'm sorry for yours and Hazen's lost. I know how hard is to lose a parent.
    I wish you guys, a very good new year and I hope our friendship grows like a weed. ;D
    I loved the cards, by the way.
    Big hugs and lots of kisses, darling friend!
    Gleise

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hiiiiiiiii a lot more, Gleise, thank you darlin! it's been a rough month, but I hope next year is better! It has to be, I know it will be!

      I think we've already outgrown the weeds, don't you? haha :p

      I'm glad that you like the cards I made. :) thanks for everything!

      abracos e beijos meu querida! :*

      Delete

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