Festive Friday – Merry Christmas…

My friends. What a journey I have been on these past few weeks, and how kind of you to just be patient with me.

Early this morning, my mother lost her battle with cancer. It has been a long, difficult road for her, for many years, and this past few weeks were the beginning of her end. I feel fortunate that my family had time to prepare for this, as we were told months ago that there was nothing more to be done for her, and it was only a matter of time. Most of all, I am so glad that she is finally free of pain and suffering.

Crafting and blogging has taken a back seat to everything else, as you can imagine, but I hope to get back to a more normal schedule soon. Today, as promised, we are revealing our latest challenge on the Festive Friday Blog, even if it is a few days late.

This time around, it’s a Trigger Challenge, which means we want to see what comes to your mind when you hear the word Merry. You don’t have to use the word itself in your creation (though, most of the design team did!), we just want to see where the word leads your creativity.

I was really inspired by this card from Michelle Wooderson when I was creating, and knew I wanted to use October Afternoon goodies so it seemed like a good fit. I love the results! Remember I said I am trying to break out of my ‘box’?

I used all kinds of items that came in the Merry Mini Album kit that I ordered before Christmas, including the super fun stamp set that was included – I LOVE using it. Here’s a close up of the fun stamping I did along the bottom with the postage border and the song lyrics;

For me, Merry brings to mind bold colours, bright images, and Santa himself. I think you can see where that inspired my card!

Head on over to the challenge blog to see what the design team has created, as there are some stunning creations for you, as always!

Thank you for all being so understanding about my absence, and tardy posting in the last few weeks. I appreciate all your well wishes and prayers, more than I could properly articulate.