REMEMBERING ROSEMARY

When my father sold his house a several years ago a wonderful widow woman named Rosemary moved in. She had been diagnosed with Parkinson's and her family wanted her close-by so they could help as the disease progressed. Rosemary was a delightful woman - generous and kind - and we became neighbors and friends. A few years passed and Rosemary needed more assistance than could be provided in her home and the open staircase to the basement was always a constant worry for her and her family, so she moved to an assisted living facility in our town. We saw her only once after her move because we let our busy lives interfere. Afterall, there are only 24 hrs in each day and it was difficult to fit in visits. Sadly, Rosemary passed away in November and because we were closed up in our houses, hibernating for winter, we did not find out until we tried to visit her at Christmas. My "busy-ness" interfered with making time for a very special person and I will always regret that. I had to learn this lesson the hard way and I hope I learned it well enough that I'm never again to busy for the people I care about.

I made this card to give to Rosemary's daughter and family. The stamp is one I purchased from Rubbnecker.com with some blogcandy bucks I won. (I apologize for the photo quality - I took the photo without my contacts in. BAD IDEA!!!!!)

The image was stamped in True Thyme ink on Whisper White cardstock, colored with watercolor pencils, markers and an aquapainter, and then cutout. The sentiment and small heart are from Stampin'Up as is the Top Notes Die Cut. I applied faux stitching to the Top Notes with a white gel pen along the perforations and also to the Old Olive Cardstock with the fine point end of a Basic Black marker using the plastic guide from Stampin'Up!'s Mat Pack. The leaves are touched with green stickles and the heart is covered with Crystal Effects.

I would like to share just ONE MORE CHRISTMAS CARD with you. I received this from my friend, Barb Blackwood. When Barb was deciding on how she wanted to design her card we discussed whether she should use shiny metallic silver or matte silver to create the layered snowflakes- I liked one, she liked the other. It was her husband, Jim, that came up with the perfect solution to use both to create these beautiful two-tone snowflakes!!! I wish the photo did them justice - they are GORGEOUS!!!

That's it for today. Make sure to check out the Stampin'Up! website for some great sales and your last chance to pick-up retiring accessories and stamp sets.

Jill