I Feel the Love Sympathy Card

Happy Friday, my sweet friends! I hope your week has been crafty and happy. :o)

Today I have a very special card to share with you. As you well know, my favorite card to create each month is in support of Madison's incredible I Feel the Love project. Each month she selects an individual, group, or family in need of an extra dose of love and sunshine. We have the incredible privilege of making cards for the highlighted purpose... using our passion to bless someone in need. It's such a beautiful endeavor and I am so thankful to Madison for this cause.

This month's collection is to support a grieving family in Chile. Their beautiful little daughter, Olivia, passed away just before Christmas at only 4.5 months old. A twin, she weighed merely 2.2 lbs at birth. The spunky little baby battled through surgeries, including two open-heart surgeries. Her life expectancy was two weeks, but this sweetheart fought for over four months. It is heartbreaking to think what her loved ones left behind are enduring.

I decided to make this card a peaceful scene of nature's beauty, enhanced by beautiful Kaisercraft paper and Cindy Loo cuts. I made it a touch whimsical in hopes it will also make Olivia's young brother and sisters smile, too.

(Interior sentiment)

"May you find peace and comfort"... a Whimsical Designs~ Everyday Sentiments stamp.

This card was hard... how do you pack enough love into a tiny card for grieving people you'll never meet? The two purple butterflies on the front, which are the same patterned paper as the frame, are each carrying messages. Most likely they won't be realized, but hopefully they'll be felt. The one on the left has two tiny hearts down the center of the body, carrying the Lord's healing love. The other one has its beautiful pearl right in the center, bringing the divine light that is needed to arise from their current darkness. I covered a few of the flowers in droplets of Star Dust because I am hoping the shimmering accents will bring a matching twinkle to their eyes, if only for a moment.

I embossed the leaves for additional texture and centered the frame's flower with a sweet little button. Perhaps unseen in the main picture is that I added some Glossy Accents to the leaves and flower petals:

Those are dew drops, representing that this is a brand new day... a day to grow stronger, to receive more grace to heal, and to let Olivia inspire them to live a life of joy. The interior paper is polka-dotted to match the embossing and flower paper on the front, cut out with a Spellbinders Nestie that coordinated pretty well to the card shape. The merged trail of the sentiment-hugging butterflies forms a heart, in dire hope that the Cappelluti family feels an outpouring of love from this teeny tiny card.

And now that I'm teary again, I'll simply end this here so I can leave you all more love on your projects. There is still a little time remaining to contribute to I Feel the Love this month, so I hope you whip up a thinking of you or sympathy card. This beautiful family needs it.

Thank you for fluttering on by today, my dear friends. I am so thankful for you! Have a blessed weekend! :o)

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridge: Cindy Loo
 * Cuttlebug embossing folder: Swiss Dots
 * Spellbinders Nestabilities: Labels Four
 * Sentiment stamp: Whimsical Designs~ Everyday Sentiments
 * Paper: Kaisercraft, Papertrey Ink
 * Butterfly punches: Fiskars (small ones), Martha Stewart Small Monarch
 * Lace ribbon: American Crafts
 * Button: My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie
 * Miscellaneous: Glossy Accents; Pearls (Recollections); Stickles