Peace Joy...Christmas Card

I have been wanting to use this stamp- Wreath Girl from Fresh Brewed Designs (http://www.freshbreweddesigns.com) on a card, but had misplaced it. I was determined to find it today!! I won it last year from An'Jenic in a blog hop she was in and had never used it until today. The card is Recollections Printed Cardstock Bright Christmas, the stamp is from my Hampton Art Holiday Stamp Card Kit, and Trendy Twine Candy Cane by Annie's Paper Boutique. I used American Crafts Candy Shoppe and Basics Gel pins to color the image as well as EK Success Zig Memory System Ball .5mm Pigment Ink & Gelly Roll Clear Star Pen (to blend the colors on her dress and highlight the sentiment stamp).

This is the inside spread that I glued in with Craft Smart glue stick. It's from Recollections Bright and Jolly 12x12 paper pad. Both stamps were stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black Pigment Ink before coloring. The Wreath Girl stamp is adhered to the card with Recollections Foam Adhesive Squares. I was gonna make more than one card, but the coloring took me longer than I expected & I tried paper piercing before I colored the stamp. That's gonna take some more practice!

 I watched New In Town while I made this card. If you've never seen it, I recommend it! 4 women scrapbook throughout the movie and it seems to be their source of comfort for living in Minnesota. Renee Zelleweger and Harry Connick Jr are the main characters. I don't want to tell the rest of the plot to ruin the movie.

 I wasn't on the computer much today because of the movie and this card and found out that a friend of mine from high school passed away last night (Sept 11). I even texted her around 10am this morning and never got a response and found out why when I looked at her Facebook wall this afternoon. Her uncle posted that she passed last night and that her viewing is at 3 on Saturday. Needless to say, I was and still kinda am in shock. I broke down and cried. I can't imagine what her family is going through. She had cancer and had been hospitalized since August. Her last few texts were sent to all of her contacts at one time like a forward telling that she had to rest for a feeding tube to be put in place and then that the feeding tube had been placed. That was Sept 3. She didn't post anything on Facebook after that except comment on what people put on that post on her wall. I ate lunch with Annie for a year or 2 years, I can't remember when she graduated right now. I'll have to look through my high school yearbooks. We lost touch and later came back in contact on MySpace, then Facebook, and then texting and on Facebook. We would vent to each other whenever needed via text for encouragement from each other. We prayed for each other and our families. We sometimes texted all day. It's gonna be different without hearing from her, but I still have other friends I text. It just won't be the same. I can't remember how long she had cancer. It seems like it was 2 years, she was in remission for some time and then the doctors found more fluid and she had to have chemo all over again. She lost her hair and sent me a pic of her wearing a cap like nurses wear. I remember the last pic she sent me of her hair grown back she looked so dark and you could tell she had lost some weight. She was a very sweet friend and will be deeply missed. Sept 11 will always have a different memory for me now. TFL and I'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers for her family and for me as well. She never had any children, but does leave behind a husband and a stepson.