I Feel the Love: Love Blossoms Encouragement Card

Happy Monday, my crafty friends! I hope your weekend was beautiful. :o)

A new month means a new recipient of the I Feel the Love Project, faithfully hosted by the amazing Madison of Funky Cards. Each month she highlights a person, family, or organization in need of an extra dose of love and blessings. In turn, we have the privilege of crafting for this wonderful cause. No projects bring me more joy than the ones dedicated to I Feel the Love, despite often being made with a heavy heart.

This month's recipient is a lovely girl named Trinitie who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. I've pretty much thought about her non-stop since Friday morning when I read about her. Far too often I'm down to the wire with Madison's project (not typically by choice), but this one took precedence over everything. I simply needed to create for Trinitie immediately.

I will be making her a fun Create a Critter card, too... all kids love that cartridge! But from the moment I saw her picture and read her story, I've had it on my heart to make an encouragement card of a different nature. I couldn't let it go. I want to send her a little "garden" via a card bursting with nature's beauty. Her own little garden she can look at and immerse herself in whenever she likes, just like this sweet girl in my card.

"Love Blossoms"

This card is all about the sentiment's double meaning. While the flowers are surely love blossoms, the driving force and inspiration are with the verb form. Her little garden is blossoming in and by love, just like divine love is blossoming within her gorgeous heart as she faithfully awaits her miracle. Healing love is blossoming within her every time we pray for her. A reassurance of love is so encouraging to a child. Nature's beauty is unrivaled and I couldn't help but think a card bursting with unfading flowers might deliver a burst of sunshine to Trinitie's difficult life.

For those who like the stories behind so many of my cards, there are a couple involved here that are integral parts of this creation. The bottom of the card is yellow polka-dotted paper, serving as a path of sunbeams. I edged it with my Martha Stewart lacy heart border punch because my and God's love are with her every single step of her journey. The white flourish I made represents a pure, heavenly breeze... a whisper of hope and a breath of life. The pale yellow crinkle ribbon is a hug of warmth. The kind of hug that makes everything feel better. How I wish I could hug her.

Now for some technical details. The precious sweetheart is an Elisabeth Bell digi stamp, titled Little Rapunzel. I colored her with Copics and nestled her inside a field of flowers upon an Elegant Edges base. I centered some of the flowers on her shirt with rhinestones, along with a few surrounding flowers. I also sprinkled Star Dust Stickles throughout because she and nature sparkle with hope. I cut off the flower that was part of the stamp and replaced it with a small Wild Orchid Crafts mini rose. I wanted her to be holding a 'real' flower instead. :o) All roses on the card are from Wild Orchid Crafts, ranging from 15mm to 25mm, and are trimmed with Star Dust. I cut Storybook leaves to accompany them.

All of the patterned papers are from Kaisercraft's Lilac Avenue collection. The bases are a lovely deep purple, despite my stellar photography making them appear black. The flourish is an Autumn Leaves stamp which I heat embossed with white opaque embossing powder and dotted with pearls. The gorgeous Buttercup crinkle ribbon is from My Craft Spot, which I centered with a stitched heart button and a tiny Trendy Twine Grape Fizz bow. The sentiment is computer generated from my sappy heart.

To finish it off I stitched around the base layer and the middle layer with my sewing machine. I would have LOVED to stitch around the image, but decided I better wait until I can practice going in a circle first. I'm still working on a straight line for my 'straight' stitches as it is. ;) There is another part to this card; a coordinating gift box from the Art Philosophy cartridge. I can't complete it until I get to the store, so I'll post it with the second card I'll be making for her. :o) I hope with all of my sparkly heart that she likes this card.

It's super early in the month, so there's plenty of time for you to create a card for sweet Trinitie. :o) Visit I Feel the Love for details!

Challenges entered:
 * CES~ Flower Frenzy
 * Crafty Catz~ Punches and Dies
 * Cute Card Thursday~ Signs of Spring
 * DL.Art Thankful Thursday~ Three Layers, a Bow, and Bling
 * Die Cuttin' Divas~ Recipe (Fabric, Feathers, and/or Flowers)
 * Paper Playtime~ Die Cuts and Flowers
 * Sentimental Sundays~ Words of Encouragement
 * Simon Says Stamp~ Anything Goes
 * The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog~ Swirls and Pearls

Thank you for fluttering on by today! I hope your day sparkles with blessings, hugs, and a heap of chocolate. :o) Oh! And I mentioned happy news the other day... keep an eye out! To celebrate 100 posts (that took a while! Ha!), I'll soon be having a little giveaway. I love you all something crazy.

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridges: Elegant Edges, Storybook
 * Paper: Core'dinations, Kaisercraft
 * Sentiment: Computer generated
 * Digi stamp: Elisabeth Bell~ Little Rapunzel
 * Copics: E00, E000 (skin); E25, E29, D31 (hair); V01, V15, YG23 (shirt, jeans cuff); B91, B95, B97 (jeans)
 * Flourish stamp: Autumn Leaves
 * Border punch: Martha Stewart Lacy Heart
 * Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
 * Crinkle ribbon: My Craft Spot
 * Twine: Trendy Twine Grape Fizz
 * Heart button: Little Yellow Bicycle
 * Miscellaneous: Embossing Powder (Recollections Opaque Snow), Pearls (Recollections), Stickles