Spring Forward

Today is National Daughter's Day and I really miss my eldest.  Spring is just around the corner and I had her in mind as I made this card.  When she and her sister were little girls, they would always be on the look-out for the first flowers of Spring to pick and give me.  Next week her dad and I will place fresh flowers on her grave.  Angela... this card is for you...

SCS Challenges:

• IC484 Beautiful Cookies: As I waded through the cookies on today's Inspirational Challenge, I was reminded of the old mason jars I displayed my flowers in from my daughters when I came across these cookies.
• TLC524 Stamped Acrylic Block Background: I loaded my acrylic block with Soft Sky, misted with water, then stamped onto Whisper White cardstock.  I then loaded my acrylic block with Pink Pirouette, misted the block again, then stamped it on top of the Soft Sky ink.
•  F4A264 Baby Pinks & Blues: Pink Pirouette and Soft Sky.  I also used Lost Lagoon, Rose Coral, Strawberry Slush.  I really wanted a spring feel on this card.
• To get the dimension on the flowers, I used the rounded tip of a ball point pin to roll over the backs of the flowers to break down the fibers in the Cardstock and puff the flowers up in the centers. I attached the flowers with glue dots to slivers of clear plastic and extended them from the jar through a slit that I cut in the top of the jar, 
• CAS315 Ribbon:  Is any card really complete without adding ribbon or a butterfly.  I used some of the Rose Coral ribbon on the jar, then tucked a butterfly behind one of the flowers.
• WT521 Hoop It Up: My got plenty of use from my Framelits today.  I also used my Petite Petals Punch to punch out my flowers and added brads to the centers (Brights, Neutrals, & Vintage).

Stamps:  Perfectly Preserved, Petite Petals, Papillon Potpourri 

Framelits: Cannery Set, Ovals Collection, Circles Collection, Starburst, Edgelits

Papers: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette DSP & Pink Pirouette Cardstock 

Inks: Memento Black, Rose Coral Chalk, Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette, Lost Lagoon, Strawberry Slush

Brads: Brights, Neutrals, Vintage

Ribbon: Rose Red

RIP My Darling Angela

Where to start... my heart still aches... I still can't believe she's gone.  Our beautiful daughter, Angela, passed away this past May and we are still devastated and in disbelief.  I can still see her smiling face... hear her voice... hear her laughter ... see her in various stages of her life from infancy through that fateful day in May when God called her home.

Angela with her Babies

Boot Camp Picture

Angela had just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan this past November and we had so many things planned together.  She was a Certified ZUMBA Instructor and was teaching classes, had  been accepted as a student at Le Cordon Bleu here in Atlanta (aspirations to become a personal chef), had just been hired by Gwinnett County PD (her job was 'Security Forces' in the Air Force) and was formerly a Police Officer in San Antonio, TX).  She had just moved back home (Georgia) and into her new home.  She had so many things on her To-Do list but God had something more in store for her.

Stretching Before Running (2013)

I still don't know how to answer questions on questionnaires that ask for number of children because I will always have two children ... God blessed us with two beautiful daughters and Angela was our first born ... she would have turned 43 this past September 16th.  Getting through her birthday was heartbreaking ...  it was the first birthday that I was not able to talk with her... sing 'Happy Birthday' to her... give her a birthday gift... send her a 'Happy Birthday' card.  Now I have no more hugs from her...  no more birthdays with her...  I love and miss her so.

Getting through the Thanksgiving and Christmas season is going to be so lonely without her.  Our other daughter and her husband are expecting a second child, a daughter, and she is scheduled to be delivered on November 11th... they are giving her Angela's middle name.  I love that they are going to do that... November 11th is Veteran's Day and Angela really loved Military life.  She was Active Reserve and was planning to re-enlist this past June for another six years, then retire. This just wasn't to be.

RIP My Darling Daughter
TSgt Angela Monique Steger
16 Sept 1971 - 27 May 2014

So Much Sorrow

I've been absent from my Craft Room lately. My 2nd youngest brother passed away in February and this has been one of, if not the lowest period in my life... the loss of the first sibling in the family. It was a deep loss when my father passed away but my brother's death hit me in a way in which I cannot explain...

My sister-in-law asked me to prepare the program for his Home-Going Service and working on this program helped me get through the days that followed.  As I scrolled through the pictures of his life... his toddler years... his school years... his years in the US Army... his wedding pictures... his years as a father and grandfather, I felt every emotion imaginable which ended in acceptance of that which I did not want to accept - his death...

I love you Richard.  I will love and miss you for the rest of my life.