Simple Sympathy

What is it about sympathy cards that makes it hard to come up with something that is thoughtful but not too overdone? Is it because grief is complicated enough without adding too much to it?

Well, recently a friend of mine lost her husband and I wanted to get something out to her ASAP, so I came up with this. It's a little softer looking in person because the "shadow" of the flowers is a soft blue and the gray brings down the harshness of the black.... but still conveys the sympathy theme.

ALSO, this is where YOU come in - I'd love to have people send cards to her from all over to help ease her grief because her world is completely upside down right now. She and her husband just purchased a bowling alley last year and have put all they have into it, and her husband was the one who ran it full time. She has no children, so her husband was her entire world for more than 25 years. My heart just goes out to her.... So if anyone is interested in assisting by sending a card her way, please email me and I'll send you her address. Thanks so much.

Here's the card I made:

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Set: Heartfelt Sympathy
Colors: Basic Black, Going Gray, Bashful Blue
Other: white grosgrain

Attention Brown-Haired, blonde wannabes!!

Yep, that was me - I tried it again, against my better judgement. I wanted to believe the box that said it could make even black hair blonde. Well, thank goodness I have a sense of humor, and a sense of responsibility to share the results with you so that you don't make the same mistake! lol


Okay, so I'm blessed with strong hair that can withstand processing over and over in one day, or I'd be a pumpkin head and miserable. SO, here's the result of my "blonding" process - and please ignore that I have no makeup on.... the hair is bad enough. And it was a bit brighter in person, so laugh if you must:

So then I decided to go to plan B instead, which was a dark brown. This was the result, which I think is WAY better:

SO, the lesson learned: if I ever decide to go blonde once and for all, I am going to a professional with some SERIOUSLY POWERFUL CHEMICALS to get the orange out of my hair!

That's my public service announcement for today. I hope you got a good laugh out of it - I know I did!

Later gaters~

Stinkin' Halloween

I love Halloween, and I love making Halloween cards, even if I don't really send many of them, if any! I just had to play with this theme a bit and try to come up with a way to surprise you. I hope I did it this time.

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Sets: Stinkin' Cute, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Petals & Paisley (for "happy"), and All Wrapped Up Accessories
Colors: Only Orange, Summer Sun, Black

Fun fun fun, and even his eyes are orange and black! Hope you like it.

Masculine Birthday

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Stamp Sets: Carte Postale, It's Your Birthday
Colors: Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou, River Rock
Other: gold eyelets, Aztec Gold PearlEx, Versamark