Baby Girl Card and my life before Alan CTMH Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

Happy Hump Day! See the skyline behind my card? That is Minneapolis! Yep, I am still away on business, but wanted to slip up to the room during lunch to get out a quick post. This is going to be a difficult post for me, however. If you are bored and read the entire post, you'll see why.

I wanted to do a baby girl card using my favorite new stamp set from the new Idea Book - "Childhood Portrait". Now, I have to admit that I have a lot of 'favorites', but this one is my favorite of the day!

Well, the concept here is to have the name of the new baby with the image, with the names of mommy and daddy as well. This brings me to another favorite new stamp set (tee hee) - "Made with Love". This is a must-have set for cardmakers and scrapbookers. Click on the link to see the images. There are ten adorable labels to stamp on the back of your creations! Sentiments include:

• Hand Stamped Especially For You
• Authentic Art Designed By
• Created By
• Made Just For You By (Signature)
• Designed By (Signature)
• Scrapbooked For You With Love
• Made With Love
• Hand Stamped (pick one - just for you, by me, with love, from my heart) - Date
• Handmade With Love
• and the one I used - Created By

How cool....right? Anyway, I thought that "Created By" would be perfect for a baby card, since the baby is created by Mom and Dad (okay, maybe there is also divine intervention, but bear with me please - tee hee). Well, I decided it was time to face two tragedies in my life with this one image. First, the daddy is also Alan's dad, Jeffrey. This was the first time I had written his name in so long I can't even recall the last time. But I had to give him credit, because he was the daddy. That's enough about him.

Secondly.....my baby girl Jessica. Yes, I know, I only have one child, my incredible son Alan. Well, Jessica was actually born two years before Alan, but she did not make it. She had a condition called anencephaly, where her spinal cord did not close above the neck. So she had no skull in the back of her head to protect her little brain. I have no doubt that if she did, she would have been just as brilliant, beautiful and loving as her brother. But she didn't, and there was a lot of pain that revolved around her birth and our subsequent loss. Needless to say, there are moments when I still cry and mourn her loss - 24 years later. Would she find the cure for cancer? Would I have grandchildren now? Would she be my scrappin' buddy? Who knows....I never will. All I know is that perhaps I would not have Alan now if she would have survived. So I have to be thankful for that and try to find peace.

Well, there is more to the story but maybe another time. I know you came here to look at art. I'll say thank you now for the kind commets that I know are forthcoming. I am grateful for my unseen friends and crafty buddies. Y'all mean the world to me!

RECIPE:

Stamps: Childhood Portrait, Made with Love (CTMH)

Ink: Hollyhock, Chocolate (CTMH)

Paper: White Daisy CS, Chocolate CS (CTMH), K&Company Designer Pad

Other: Dimensional Element, Crocheted Flower, Blush Mini Brad (CTMH), Stickles

Deb