Billy and Sparky

Last night, I made a few Christmas cards – enough to have a post every night this week! This one was created with a sweet Eat Cake Graphics stamp I purchase last year (and used once). Ach! What is it about the photo that causes one to actually take a good look at the card? I just noticed the cardinal’s beak is white. It’s fixed now. All it required was a tiny speck of ink from a Sunflower marker. The rest of the image was colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and OMS. The snow is glittery, and the ornaments on the tree are sparkly, too. I stamped the image on white cardstock and cut it out. The Colonial White cardstock I used behind it is scored at 1/8th-inch intervals to resemble siding on a house.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Colonial White, and Cocoa cardstock; Basic Grey Jovial 6x6-inch paper pad; Black and Cranberry ink pads; Sunflower marker; Eat Cake Graphics Billy and Sparky at Window stamp and Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages stamp set; Brown satin ribbon from Wal-Mart; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Blending stumps; Martha Stewart Crystal Fine glitter; XMas Red Stickles; Martha Stewart Scoring Board; McGill Multi-Tag punch.

A Slice of Life: My heart is heavy tonight, as I learned after work tonight that a cousin died tragically. Fifty years old, he was the only son of my Mom’s only sister. Growing up, he was my brother’s best buddy, and then, when he was about 16, he went to live with his father in Nevada. About six years ago, he returned to Minnesota where he lived with my aunt. While I have only seen him once since he came back, I was taken with his sense of humor and what appeared to me to be a kind heart. The news was on the radio on my way to work this morning. I only caught the last name, age, and name of the town in the report, but it piqued my interest enough to pull up a regional newspaper at my desk and confirm that the man who had been missing since Friday was indeed my cousin. His body was found outdoors this afternoon, and while an autopsy is being done and the case is still under investigation, it is believed he froze to death. Sad. I stopped at Mom’s after work. She had talked to her sister, my aunt, earlier in the day. Even though I obviously did not know my cousin very well, I feel bad – particularly for my aunt and his sisters. Life is a mystery, isn’t it?

I was busy at work today, and tonight, I’m home alone. With the Metrodome having collapsed and the Vikings game being played in Detroit, Husband, his brother, and Dustin had to go to the hunting cabin to watch it via satellite, as our local cable network isn’t airing it. While I don’t usually pay much attention to football, I hope it’s a good game to make the trip is worthwhile. LOL.

All that said, I am off to find a card to send to my aunt and then, I’ll stamp, watch TV, read, or do “something.” Was your day a good one? I sincerely hope so. Make tomorrow a good day, too. OK?