Surprises

Greetings everyone! Before getting to the topic of this week's blog, I wanted to send out a huge prayer of thanksgiving that hurricane Irene did not live up to what was anticipated. Stamp to Cope, Inc. sends out continued well wishes to those who are still dealing with challenges left in the wake. To all of my East Coast family....thank God!

Already the last week of August and cooler weather turning up much to my dismay.  Where did the summer go? I am not ready to give up warm weather just yet :). However, with the arrival of Fall comes many new adventures for Stamp to Cope, Inc. In preparing for our upcoming events, we reviewed our supplier sponsors and received our first surprise and some very sad news...one of our wonderful supporters, The Angel Company (TAC) has closed its doors.  This was quite a surprise and shock to us as there were no apparent signs.  From an STC perspective, it impacts not only our ability to get supplies for our donation bags at a huge discount, but part of our fund raising aligns with commissions and donations from TAC independent consultants.  Over the years, TAC and the Angels associated with such a fine organization have been absolutely the best to Stamp to Cope.  TAC will be missed.  As a result of the announcement, we are trying to find a replacement stamping sponsor or a wholesaler and strategically planning future fundraising options...I will keep you posted. 

By Sunday, I was pondering areas of low donation bag supplies and looking at our immediate need for an upcoming workshop.  Imagine the blessed surprise I received at church that morning when the Lutheran Women's Missionary League along with matching funds from Thrivent Financial presented STC with 4 large bags FULL of supplies... colored pencils, card stock, ink, adhesives, patterned paper, pencil sharpeners, etc.Truly a literal answer to my prayers.  THANK YOU ladies and Thrivent for such generous and timely support.

So, as I pondered what type of card to make in appreciation for such blessings, I kept both of the surprises of the week in mind (and my unwillingness to give up summer just yet).  The butterfly reminds me that surprises (challenging or happy) can result in beauty and retrospection but certainly reflect a metamorphosis to embrace. I used products and techniques as a last dedication to the years of TAC service.  The butterfly on this card was stamped on heavy white card stock, embossed in black, colored in with metallic and glitter pens to give a stained glass look, and then cut out. The small rectangle base was covered with Angel Pink and the butterfly was attached using pop dots so it would appear to be hovering.  For the large rectangle base, I used a pink piece of card stock and created a butterfly watermark look.  This was created by using the same butterfly stamp but stamping it randomly over the pink paper using Angel Pink ink. The sentiment was stamped in black on a circle cut piece and taped behind.  All pieces were layered in black textured card stock for emphasis and placed on a white card base.

Try it for yourself and remember to embrace all of life's surprises.  Blessings, Jeannette