Soft Kitties and Snowflake Blessings

There is nothing particularly unique or creative about the cards that I am sharing today except for the amount of thought that I put it into each of them (or perhaps it was simply avoidance.)

I have shared many cards with you that I have been sending to my long-time friend in hospice care.  Tammy passed away on November 29th.  It was what she chose and her death ended a long period of suffering.  I have spoken to her husband many times by phone, but I haven't sat down and made a card.  I've thought it about it daily, but just haven't gotten it done.  It's amazing how much harder cards are when they have to have meaning to the recipient (vs. all the cards that I make for design teams and challenges that I may or may not use someday.)

Tammy and Jeff made the decision not to have children, but Tammy had cats - and those cats were definitely her children!  I wasn't entirely certain how Jeff felt about the cats until my last visit in October when he showed me how he played tag with Blossom.  He would run around the house like a crazy man and that cat would take off after him...they stalked each other...they surprised each other...Jeff laughed...and I was so glad to see it.  So, whether or not it is the common thing to do, my sympathy card for Jeff HAD to have a cat in tribute of his wife and my friend...

This is a very deliberately simple card.  A few flowers in honor of Tammy, but no frills for Jeff.  Jeff is a firefighter and spends his free time helping his dad with the cattle - frills would not have worked. Then I moved on from this card and started thinking what I could do for him for Christmas.  "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" just didn't work.  I decided upon a single snowflake based upon a sentiment I found in my stash. Snowflakes are kisses sent from above, falling from heaven to show God's great love.

Thank you to the following challenges who made these difficult cards a little easier to make.
CAS - Colours & Sketches

The Paper Players: CAS Snowflakes

CAS-ual Fridays: Even the Score.  (I had punched the snowflake and stamped the sentiment, but it looked too empty.  A few score lines filled it in and kept it all very simple!)

Sympathy

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Summer Solstice (sentiment), Hampton Arts cat
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides, Stampin' Up Summer Starfruit, Naturals White, Pink Paislee Indigo Bleu
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides, Stampin' Up Going Gray
• Accessories: MME Follow Your Heart twine

Christmas Blessings

• Stamps: Hero Arts Greatest Gift, the inside sentiment that I quoted was a set from Clear Dollar Stamps - they are moving to digital stamps and a quick search did not turn up this stamp
• Paper: Stampin' Up Baja Breeze
• Ink: Stampin' Up Baja Breeze
• Accessories: Martha Stewart snowflake punch, Stampin' Up Baja Corduroy button, silver cord