Fe-Fe's World Of Craft, Creations and Kids.: WS Designs

Friday, 28 November 2008

Commissioned Card

My friend Suzanne at the gym asked me if I would make a birthday card for her twin daughters Abi and Frankie. I thought rather than go for a normal half fold card I'd do something a bit different and make a zig zag card instead.

The papers are all by K&Co, the dancing girl is by Penny Black and coloured with Twinkling H2O's. The white letting is all done on my Cricut using the Tear Drop cartridge.

I used a white gel pen to make some faux stitches on the flowers and butterflies to make them stand out a bit more and to tie in the white card and lettering.

I'm not seeing Suzanne now until next Friday so I hope she likes it!

Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Challenge 7 for Papercraft Junkies

This weeks challenge for PCJ's is "Did I mention Dimension" which has been set by Ratty Tatty aka Tracey Dean.

Here are my Design Team contributions.

The blue card is made using the Ultimate Crafty Companion and a stamp set by Woodware.

The red and black card was made using a Zig-Zag template by WS Designs and stamps by Crafty Individuals.

I'd actually seen this card design on the Crafty Individuals gallery a while ago and really wanted to make one like it. When this challenge came up I thought "That's the card I need to make!" So I tried and I tried but I couldn't get the dimensions right on it. In the end I emailed Crafty Individuals and asked them if they could tell me how they made it. It turns out that the lady who designed it (also called Fiona) wasn't there to ask at that time but she was going to be coming over on Thursday because she was going to help on their stall at the Papercraft Extravaganza in Harrogate that weekend. I think with getting ready for the show and everything the lady at Crafty Individuals forgot to get back to me so I found their stall at the Papercraft Extravaganza on Saturday and introduced myself to Fiona and asked about the card. She told me it was done using the WS Designs Zig-Zag template and as it turns out there was a stall there selling them. I rushed off to buy one.

When we got back from Harrogate I made the red and black card, rather quickly, so that I could get it in for the challenge before the deadline ended. I also sent a copy to Crafty Individuals so they could see my version of Fiona's card and guess what?.....

....They liked it and have asked if they can put it in their gallery. I'm chuffed to bits. It's not on there yet but I'm going to keep an eye out for it appearing. How fab is that!!

Ode to Special Mums

Ode to Special Moms(by Erma Bombeck)

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. This year, nearly 100,000 women will become mothers of handicapped children. Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen?

Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth, son, patron saint, Matthew.
Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, patron saint, Cecilia.
"Rudledge, Carrie, twins, patron saint, give her Gerard. He's used to profanity."
Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a handicapped child."

The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."

"Exactly," says God. "Could I give a handicapped child to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."

"But has she patience?" asks the angel.

"I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it.
"I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has his own world. She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."

"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."

God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness."

The angel gasps, "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"

God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a 'spoken word.' She will never consider a 'step' ordinary. When her child says 'Momma' for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations."I will permit her to see clearly the things I see...ignorance, cruelty, prejudice...and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."

"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, pen poised midair.

God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

"Welcome to Holland"

"Welcome to Holland" By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.