Calendar Girls ~ Celebrating Life :)

"Those we love don't go away,

They walk beside us every day,

Unseen, unheard but always near,

Still loved, still missed and very dear."

Good morning!  Today is the day that the Calendar Girls post our cards and our hostess this month is Sweet P (Paola!).   She gave us a beautiful theme to work with this month, celebrating the life of her friend that is resting now in the arms of our Savior.  As per the challenge, she asked:

To honour a dear longtime friend of mine who passed away early today, I would like to request that you create a beautiful card using the following guidelines:

Your card must be a fancy fold, and have apples stamped on it -and colored-
(OR, if you don't own any apples's stamps, apples can be incorporated on your cards via designer papers,stickers,dies etc..), plus have at least one 3-D butterfly on your card too. 

The main colors used for this challenge are to be your own favourite colors (use at least two of them please, and tell us which ones they are once you blog it.) Please note: Your cards are NOT to be sympathy cards at all, please keep them ‘happy/festive’ - as a celebration of LIFE in general! 

WOW!  This truly was a challenge for me ~ 4 requirements all in one card!  And I did them all, albeit a little creatively :)  After debating over an image with an apple, or a couple with a butterfly, I glanced sideways at my vast pile of SU! stamps and thought "I wonder what I have that will work!"  Right in first set of stamps I sorted, I saw this beautiful "Les Fleurs" stamp set, never even inked up yet, and it just felt right :)  Paola shared with us that her friend would bring her fresh apples from the garden and this stamped image conjured up thoughts of a friend stopping by with fresh herbs and flowers from the garden. 

 

My fancy fold is a simple easel card, paired with my favorite color duo:  teal and kiwi kiss!  Since it didn't have any apples, I used a stamped image from a TGF stamp and cut it out and added it to the foreground in front of the watering can and the 3D butterfly is right up in the corner.  This set was so fun to use and I had long forgotten I had but was sure glad to "Take it off the Shelf in 2012!"   Be sure to stop by the other CG blogs - you can find them in my sidebar off to the right.

Thank you, Sweet P, for a wonderful challenge this month!  It is an honor to create in the memory of your dear friend and know that her life's celebration was much richer with you as her friend :*)  

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly