Watching over me in 2019

I got a Christmas card in yesterday's mail--all that much dearer because it came now and because of the precious words written there. 

Mother and I just took the tree down the day before.

It's always a much sadder job than putting it up, which we do right after Halloween.  The anticipation is no longer there.  The days are already lengthening, and I can feel the evenings slipping through my fingers far too quickly.

 It's time to say goodbye for now to dear things, like Grandpa's beads, the snowman ornament Aunt Norma gave me, the little plastic red Santa ornament Mother got at the town Christmas parade when she was a little girl (his pack was filled with candy), the tiny stocking Aunt Dorothy painted for Mother so long ago, the manger scene Father Cullen gave everyone in my class years ago (I always hang it in front of a light, so that can shine through the little cut-out star.).  

Everything is packed away now in layers of tissue paper.

This year we didn't break anything, and I didn't forget to put the tree stand in the box like last year.

Last year I was determined to learn something new, to take up more challenges.  I didn't happen quite the way I planned.  Oh, there were challenges, but not the kind I expected.

This is a new year. 

When I saw a free course offered from Altenew Academy, I grabbed it up.  Didn't really matter what it was.  I wanted to push myself to do something a little different. So here I am.

With a nod to Lydia Evans's "Sweet Rose Bouquet" card on All About Layering 3- Day 1, I created my own get well card.

While I often turn to vellum when creating cards, she inspired me to use it in a different way.  I don't have the same frame die set Lydia used, but I decided to create a frame of sorts with the flowers themselves--something fairly simple to set off a message.

Altenew's Wildflower Garden set stamped beautifully on vellum.  It needed a little extra drying time before using the matching die-cuts, but I simply shifted over to another project for a while. Once my pieces were cut, I kept rearranging them over a piece of plain pink cardstock, but I wasn't pleased.  

This piece from a watercolor stack by Momenta just begged to be used.  There's only one dilemma.  The splashes of gold are difficult to stamp or write over, but I didn't want to cover them up with another layer, either.  That would defeat the purpose and spoil the look.

Vellum to the rescue!

I die cut an oval of vellum and (since I already had sumi ink and a fine nib ready for a client's calligraphy rough draft) calligraphed a short message.  

I almost wept for joy.  The ink wrote so smoothly, keeping the fine details of each letter, and it dried almost immediately, even on the vellum.

.............

That Christmas card I hugged close to me said, at the closing, 

"May God watch over you in 2019."

I feel like he will.