Mojo Monday card for a somber occasion

With my daughter in middle school now, we have found a dispersement of our close-knit group of moms from elementary school. So many schools to choose from and kids have gone in all different directions. It's so different from elementary. Less field trips, less need to be in the classroom helping out, less mom friends. I feel a little disconnected at times.

But Jamie is a social kid and has formed many new friendships to add to her friend base. The only trouble is, I don't really get to know these kids' parents. Occasionally I do and sometimes I really enjoy some of them. The meeting of the parents is almost always due to a birthday party or a sleepover drop-off.

Earlier in the Fall, Paul and I dropped Jamie off at a birthday/sleepover to her new friend's house. People we had never met before. It made me rather nervous. What if we drove up and the house was in a "bad" neighborhood? Drive off and not let her stay there? What if the parents were smoking when they answered the door and the house smelled like a bar? Do we quickly say, "Sorry, wrong house" then turn and run? Or what if the mom was half-naked, or... drunk? (Okay, I'm getting a little carried away, maybe, but I've heard stories!)


Maybe I should get back to the sleepover.

We drove up and found it to be a decent neighborhood, the parents were fully clothed and not an ashtray in sight. They were, in fact, delightful and friendly and we rather enjoyed hanging around longer than usual to laugh and talk and get to know them. We've bumped into them a few times since and always walk away saying, "I really like them. They're good people."

So it was sad to learn recently that this very nice mom discovered she has the most invasive form of breast cancer. Double mastectomy and the whole deal. I don't know her very well, but I feel so much for her and her family. For now, all I feel can do is send thoughtful sentiments and cheerful cards along her journey. (I'll refrain from using the word "struggle.")


The Mojo Monday sketch challenge this week was so pretty, I knew I had to use it as inspiration for my card.  Here's the sketch...

And here is the card I created from it...

I love it when I'm creating a card with the recipient already in mind, and the purpose already in my heart.  It's such a more loving, enjoyable project when it's done that way.

The papers I used are Basic Grey's Curio line, along with some cardstock from Close To My Heart.

Close To My Heart (CTMH) has come out with some really nice designer ribbons this season, and this pink collection is one of my favorites. (Z1384) For the flower on my card I snipped off one of the rosettes from the flower ribbon, then cut the piece in between the rosette to add a little more bulk to the flower.

I wrapped it all up and smooshed and squooshed until I liked how it looks. Then added a pretty pink button to the flower center and some tiny adhesive pearls in the center of that button.

This fancy butterfly is a metal Antique Copper embellishment also from CTMH. (Bliss Level 2 Assortment, Z1355) It has a brad going through its center to secure it in place.

The flourish is from Tim Holtz Alterations die "Elegant Flourishes" with a little piecing and inking to get it the color and shape that I wanted. The small buttons are also from CTMH in their Pink Assortment buttons (Z1370).

Here's the card again. Thank you for stopping by. I can only hope this might bring cheer to Christy's day if only for a brief moment.