Hello Friends!

Wow!!  I want to say thank you to all of you for helping Let It Snow Stamping reach 5,000 views!  I take every milestone seriously because each one is a cause to celebrate no matter how small.  With each view I like to think that I have helped at least one person learn something new or remind them of at least one technique they love to use in their card making.

Where have I Been?

On Friday, May 14th, 2021, I wrote my last post and then it appeared that I fell off the face of the Earth. Early Monday morning I received a call from my family that my father passed away unexpectedly on May 17^th, 2021 while visiting my uncle and his family in Seattle.  I was shattered. He was my rock and my best friend.  He was my biggest supporter in everything I tried to do in my life, especially my art. 

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As I was going through his things, I found a lot of my art that I gave him through the years. On his desk, I found a tin that held almost every card I had ever made for him. Some were samples of the cards I had published in magazines years ago and he even had one of the magazines still on his desk from the early 2000’s. He was my muse and if I struggled with a project, I would text him pictures and he would make suggestions. Sometimes I would listen and sometimes I was stubborn and didn’t, LOL.

I write letters to my dad in my journal almost every day, just as I texted him or called him to tell him about my days.  My mom bought me this adorable little printer, the Canon Ivy, that I use to print pictures I would normally have texted to him.  They have an adhesive backing, so I just insert them into my journal in the middle of my letters.  This feels like my next level of scrapbooking, just with more journaling than before.

As I go through this journey of grief, I find my heart heavy and have not been able to create much.  I have tried gel press printing (as he bought me EVERYTHING (and then some) I needed to try it out for my last birthday in March). I picked up my camera again for inspiration (he was an armature photographer). I picked up books from the library on collage (which I have a hard time doing, but am determined to conquer). Last night I tried my hand at Diamond Dotz (which I finished this morning). Now what do I do with it?? 

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My team held a Stamp Camp last weekend and I went.  I cried all the way there because it was the first social outing I had gone on alone and typically I would call my dad on the way. He would be excited and would want pictures of everything I made. Once I arrived and saw all of my teammates, I calmed down and tried to enjoy myself. It was nice to make cards again and even better that I did not have to design them.  Everything was there for me, all ready to put together.  No thinking or creativity needed.  I had hoped it would help to jump start me, but so far, I have just sat at my card making station staring at the ink pad organizer for hours on end.  I do have some new stamp sets from the new mini catalog, but so far, they sit there unused until inspiration hits.   If you see any cute cards online, send them my way!  Maybe they will spark something.

Oh, I almost forgot, I did make some cards with one of my old Paper Pumpkin kits a few weeks ago.  I did alternative cards and that was fun.  I used the June 2020 kit called Box of Sunshine. But, after three cards I hit a wall.

I also made thank you cards (which I still need to finish up and mail out) for all of the wonderful people who helped me, brought food, and sent cards to me.  I try to mail a few each week, because I do not like writing the same thing in each card.  I like to personalize it as much as I can.

My dad loved maps! Naturally I had to incorporate a map on the thank you cards. I bought it at Hobby Lobby and used the retired Platinum Vellum, Blackberry Bliss cardstock, and Detailed Dove Dies.

I have also been trying to catch up with my pen pals and that is slow going as well.  Most of them did not know why I stopped writing, but I have been trying to write one letter each week.  My mailman, Randy, knows when I am having a good week by the number of letters he picks up from my porch!  He is awesome and stops to talk to me when he finds me out on the porch writing in my journal or staring off into space.

So, my friends, I am still here, but I am just taking one day at a time.  Some days are better than others, today being one of them, and I will try to get back into the swing of things for you. 

If you have made it down this far in my post, please let me know if there is something you wish to see on the site, or request samples of a stamp set you might have and want to use.  I find if someone asks something of me, I can do it, but if I try to ask myself to do it, I just don’t…… yet.

~BrandyAnn