IB153 Poinsettia Sympathy

Hello, stampers and happy Thursday!  Time for a new Inspired By challenge...isn't this a cute one?  So clever!   

And here's the optional sketch to use..or not!

All the makin's for some fun snowman goodies!  I went in a bit of a different direction, however; I found out earlier in the week that my cousin Michael lost his battle with a rare form of cancer.  We found out only weeks ago that it was terminal, but it was still a shock when we got the news.  Our grandfather started a florist business back in the 1920s; his son, my uncle Kenny, took over it and then Michael after my uncle went into semi-retirement. Now Michael's brother Brian is running the business.  Why am I telling you all of this?  Going to the "greenhouse" and its particularly wonderful smell, is a part of my childhood that is very special to me, especially at Christmas.  There would be hundreds of poinsettias and other amazing holiday creations (along with that wonderful smell), and so I thought it would be fitting to use poinsettias on a sympathy card for Michael's family.  I chose to pull the Seaside Spray and Basic Gray from the challenge photo for my colors:

The Spot has a "CASE the Designer" challenge this week, so I chose this card and sketch of Andrea's, turning mine in the landscape orientation:

Poinsettias come in so many colors nowadays; I used the smallest one from Poinsettia Petals, stamping it in my Stamparatus twice with Seaside Spray ink to get a darker color, then filling in with the "fill" stamp:

I diecut them with the matching die; added a piece of white organdy ribbon on top of the Basic Gray DSP from last year, then finished them with silver metallic pearls.  After stamping the sentiment in Memento Black, I ran the top layer through the Pinewood Planks EF.  One of my favorite verses from an old Daily Bread Designs set was stamped on the inside:

I hope it brings some comfort to Michael's family.  And I hope you'll find some inspiration in our Inspired By photo too...the DT made some really fun cards; their creativity continues to amaze me!  

Thanks so much for popping in today!  And here's a picture from around 1962 of Michael, my sister Joyce and me at my grandmother's house on Christmas day! I particularly remember that Christmas because I wanted drum majorette boots, which I got; however as I trudged around in them all day long, the tassels began to fall out one by one, much to my dismay--and my mom and grandmother's! We were still finding them weeks later! 

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Itty Bitty Greetings, Poinsettia Petals, Scripture Collection 2 (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Seaside Spray, Basic Gray DSP (ret)
Ink	Seaside Spray, Memento Black
Accessories	Silver Metallic Pearls, Flowers for Every Season Ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Pinewood Planks EF, Poinsettia Dies