Love Bug Shaker Card: I Feel the Love

Happy Tuesday, my dear friends! I hope everyone is having a beautiful week! :o)

As I always do on the 1st of the month, I zipped to the I Feel the Love blog last week, eager to discover the new recipient of Madison's beautiful cause. Each month she highlights a particular person, family, or organization in need of extra love. In turn, we have the honor of using our crafty passion for a far higher purpose. We have the privilege of reaching out to people who are struggling mightily. This month I was stunned when I saw the recipient... a story already very well known. A story so huge that it is a two-part collection... as multiple people are in need.

In loving memory, we are paying tribute to Vicki Leigh Soto, a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary. She lost her life on December 14th, but due to her selfless actions and beautiful heart, six or seven of her students survived that tragic day. One part of the collection is for those survivors... those precious 6 and 7 year olds who went through unimaginable trauma in that classroom. They suffered tremendous loss and are not to be forgotten. We are creating Valentine's cards/ cards with hearts to shower them with the outpouring of love they need.

Even before the fresh tears subsided after reading about our mission this month, ideas mounted... there is so much I want to do for them, and I know God will help me. Will it be emotionally difficult this month? Absolutely. But I am so thankful for the opportunity to give them a piece of my heart...

.... via a Valentine's shaker card, for starters!

Before beginning my work for this collection, I spent some time reading about Vicki. It hurt, but I felt compelled to fill my heart with stories of her love... and maybe it'll help make her love sparkle through my creations for her surviving students and family, too.

I made a garden of love blossoms on an Elegant Edges base, with a sweet sparkling love bug to deliver my hugs. :o) The heart shaker (cut from Gypsy Wanderings) isn't as full of iridescent microbeads as I intended, but there's still a nice amount to dance around in there. (A mistake never to be repeated!) The heart is accented with rhinestones and I used ruffly American Crafts ribbon for the stem. Love rises and blossoms above all... especially when ruffled with a love so strong that it heals and protects.

The smaller hearts are from the Spellbinders Fanciful Holiday set. The sparkling Core Couture cardstock stems are Cheery Lynn Designs Mini Fanciful Flourishes. The little hearts are safely nestled beneath the larger one... much like Vicki sheltered her students that day.

The ladybug is from Create a Critter and since she has the vital task of sharing my and God's love with all who see this card, I used heart rhinestones for her antennae and heart. She is popped up with foam tape for dimension, reaching ever closer to the sweet child who receives this. The Whimsical Designs sentiment is from the With Love stamp set, which I stamped upon a Spellbinders Labels Four base and secured with a Bella Blvd flower button.

The Doodlebug and Imaginisce patterned papers are all new, courtesy of my sweetheart as an after-Christmas gift. I showed him Madison's post right after I read it, and after he helped me through the wave of tears, we headed to the craft store for heartfelt supplies. (Turns out Archiver's closed early on New Years Day... but we zoomed back there first thing the next morning!) The papers are so pretty in person.

The interior, engulfed in a circle of sunshine:

The second part of this month's IFTL drive is cards for Vicki's family... anything uplifting that one would send to a family member after a loss. I'll be starting that phase after a couple more blessings for the children she adored. I hope you will consider joining us for this very special collection in loving memory of Vicki.

Challenges entered:
 *Craft Us Crazy~ Inspiration Photo (The hearts and 'made with love' inspired me)
 *Crafty Catz~ Anything Goes
 *Cute Card Thursday~ Something New (Patterned papers)
 *Fantabulous Cricut~ Incorporate a Tag (Used CAC, Elegant Edges, and Gypsy Wanderings cartridges)
 *Little Miss Muffet~ Anything Goes
 *Little Scrap Pieces Fun Friday~ Anything Goes
 *Make It Monday~ Anything Goes
 *Pause, Dream, Enjoy~ Use Ribbon
 *Really Reasonable Ribbon~ Something New, plus ribbon (Patterned papers)
 *The Pink Elephant~ Celebrate (Celebrating life, love, and Vicki)
 *Word Art Wednesday~ Encouraging/Uplifting

Thank you for fluttering on by! I wish you a day of love, blessings, and sparkles. :o)