Crafters of Faith February Challenge Card

Good Morning!
I hope you've all been well.  I did have this post all typed up & ready to post on Leap Year but as you may have noticed; I have been absent from my blog for almost a month.  After mulling over the right words to say & as you may also know.....I'm always quite honest about my feelings so this is what's been going on in my neck of the woods these last few weeks......

After several phone calls informing us that a loved one has passed away; I had to take a leave of absence to get my head & heart right.  I think any normal person can deal with 1 or 2 deaths but several?!!!  We were beginning to think that there was some evil conspiracy going on!  Even though words can't really express how we feel right now; I can say that we're doing much better as a family despite the tremendous hurdles we've encountered.  You know that saying that God doesn't put more on you than you can handle?  Well, we're beginning to question that just a bit but we're still going strong despite everything that's happening outside our walls.  We realize that we have no control over who lives or dies & we're just taking it one day at a time.  I myself personally have not attended any funerals since my brothers' and that doesn't mean that I don't care.....I'm just emotionally drained when it comes to that.  Honestly, I am still pretty raw inside when it comes to my brother & even though I'm in a much better place emotionally; I alone know my limits and refuse to let *the world* tell me how to grieve for other family members.  I'm choosing to remember people in my own way through memories & photos and if they don't understand; well, that's too bad.  I have to do things the best way that I see fit & this is how I'm dealing with everything.  My husband completely understands where I'm coming from & he appreciates my show of support for him through this very difficult time even though I'm not attending funerals with him.  I thank you for sticking with me through my ups & downs and I'm very happy to be able to show a bit of creativity with you today!!!

I am the February host for our blog group Crafters of Faith & I challenged everyone to come up with a LOVE creation using non traditional Valentine colors with a nature theme & have a circle shape somewhere on their card/project.  Sounds fun right?  Well, as you can see; I used Early Espresso & Wild Wasabi along with Confetti White for my color scheme and I grabbed Kind & Caring Thoughts stamp set to fulfill the nature part of my challenge.  I went with a pretty basic layout, some awesome hardware & cute butterfly along with some scrumptious ribbon to finish it off and this lil' baby is ready to mailed off to my son when I get his new address.....yes; there was definitely an ulterior motive to my challenge LOL!!!  Enjoy the rest of the creations as well & be sure to leave them some love:
Patti Sue
Carolina
Olga
LizW
Melina
Cynthia
Liz D
Linda
Carol
Kelly

Thanks so much for stopping by & have a great rest of the day!
Until Next Time,
Hugs & Love,

Supplies:  Kind & Caring Thoughts & Three Little Words Stampsets; Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi & Confetti White Cardstock; Wild Wasabi & Early Espresso Ink; Antique Brads; Early Espresso Quilted Satin Ribbon; Big Shot; Stripes Embossing Folder; Beautiful Wings Butterfly Die; 1 3/4" Circle & 1 1/2" Circle Punches; Dimensionals