Layers of Love

Today, my heart is a bit heavy after finding out that one of my former CCD students, a 14 yr. old friend of my daughter Kylie, has a cancerous tumor in her lung. Sometimes life just seems so unfair for someone so young and active to be dealing with something so difficult. But here is where those layers of love come in to play. Saturday night, I stayed up til the wee hours of almost Sunday wake up time to prep some ready to assemble cards at Confirmation classes. The girls and guys assembled their selected card and wrote messages to Kayla. It really warmed my heart to see teens reaching out and writing words to comfort and uplift a friend in a time of need. Who needs sleep anyway...it is overrated! (Actually, I caught an hour or two nap before Super Bowl commercials aired.) And some of the kids delivered the cards in person while visiting with Kayla.

Our church community has gone into their prayer warrior and super outreach mode to see that the family is equally supported with meals and an outpouring of love. Sometimes it is difficult to hear stories like this, but they do remind us how important LOVE and friendship is not only on Valentine's day, but every day. Today's scripture readings talked all about God's healing powers, which we all will be praying he bestows upon this beautiful young girl, and that is a great comfort at this time.

This card is called layers of love, and is one I am sending it to my SIL and BIL...oops, hope I didn't spoil the surprise. Beth is a talented jewelry designer and is always so supportive of my craftiness so I wanted to share a little bit of love with them. If you need a unique Valentine's gift, be sure and check out her site. The color combination is Cameo Coral and Melon Mambo. The Love stamp is from Rubber Stampede, and one that I haven't used very much. The outline flowers are from SU's 5th Avenue Flowers set. The technique used on the ribbon is so simple. I heated it with my embossing heat tool to create the vintage crinkles. Be inspired today to layer someone with your love!

Valentine Publication Alert!

If you are a subscriber to Cardmaker Magazine, you may have caught this project of mine published in the January 2010 issue as a bonus web project. The Love You Beaded Heart card was one I originally created for my DH and recreated, since the background paper was no longer currently available. (Hint: I sponged Pretty in Pink ink on the background of Whisper White CS to give it that light pink color, then used Chocolate chip ink and dots stamps to create the pattern - easy peasy!) Some other tips: I made the pocket of Regal Rose CS by scoring and folding. For added interest I scored a few nore lines across the pocket. Other stamps used are from an eclectic mix of sets. Check out Cardmaker for a complete list of supplies used on this card creation.

You know I have a second love affair with the colors pink and brown, but HUSH, don't tell my hubby, he might get jealous! So if today, you find yourself staring at a blank piece of chipboard, pull out beads, buttons and glitter and get busy decorating that blank canvas. Then use it as inspiration for a card or scrapbook layout. Happy Crafting!