Hi Friends. Before I get into today’s card I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for all of your prayers and kind words for my dad. I am very happy – and relieved – to let you know that my dad was released from the hospital this past Sunday.
Divine intervention and prayers were, without a doubt, behind my dad’s recovery. Dad is also very strong-willed (and stubborn LOL), which I also believe played a part. Now he has to learn how to shift gears, slow down and take life at a more leisurely pace. Easier said than done, as my dad has always been such a hard worker. As I told Dad this past week, it’s time for him to relax – he’s earned it.
In between hospital visits, my hubby and I did some tasks around Dad’s house that we knew he wouldn’t be able to do. Brian rebuilt my Dad’s tool shed (he did an incredible job) and extended his driveway. We cut the lawn and ripped out overgrown flower beds that were full of old blackberry bushes, washed roof trim & gutters, and created new flower & vegetable beds. It was a lot of work, but also a great way to work off the stress and worry, and I kept praying that my dad would be okay, come home and we could surprise him with everything.
I was in my glory, finding and buying flowers and plants, as the selection back home in the Comox Valley far surpasses what is available in our area, here in Nova Scotia. My dad’s front and back yards are now lined with gorgeous variegated hydrangeas, dahlias, pastel-coloured Million Bells and baskets full of bright red geraniums and pretty trailing flowers and greenery. I even found a pineapple plant (one of my dad’s favourite fruits) and tucked it into the new corner flower bed, next to hostas, bleeding hearts and a pretty bird bath. New solar lights were the perfect final touch. To say that my dad (and his wife Shannon) were thrilled is an understatement.
Now that my dad is home – and taking it easy – he’s been planting the veggie seeds I got for him and keeping everything watered. It makes my heart happy that Brian and I were able to do that for him, especially as we live across the country and can’t just go over to help out whenever we can (as we would do if we lived there). That’s the trouble with living so far away – part of my heart is here, on the East Coast, and the other part is on Vancouver Island.
Fortunately, we had already booked our holiday this summer to spend two weeks out in BC, so we’re looking forward to going back. This time under better (less scary) circumstances. I miss spending time with my family so much – it will be nice to have some more family dinners (my aunts also live in the Comox Valley) and visits with friends, swim at my favourite beach and hopefully, we’ll be able to do some trout fishing with my dad (as we always do).
On that note, here’s today’s card, which I made for my Papa Bear, and I’ll pop it in tomorrow’s mail:
This is a Z-card fold, based on a card I made last year. You can view it, as well as the measurements, by clicking HERE.
I combined the gorgeous “Calm & Quiet” Host Only stamp set with the “Let’s Go Fishing Suite”:
“Calm & Quiet” perfectly describe how I felt whilst colouring this card today. I used my water painters and ink pads, which are my very favourite way to coloured detailed images like this one.
Once my image was coloured, I cut it with a Deckled Rectangle Die, covered it with Versamark and embossed using clear powder. I then repeated the embossing, to get a thicker, glossier coverage.
It may be hard to tell from the photos that the stamped image is embossed, but I was trying to avoid too much glare from the light reflecting off my card.
I think this looks a bit like a postcard!
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Well, friends, this girl is going to hit the hay. It’s getting quite late and I’m still trying to get caught up on sleep (our flights were delayed and we had been up 40 hours by the time we got home on Monday night) – not to mention the four-hour time zone difference.
I did manage to start my new video today though, and hope to have it ready for you tomorrow!! I am SO EXCITED as this card is a super cool fun fold and it was a bit of a jaw-dropper when I first discovered it. Until then, take care & HAPPY STAMPING!
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