The Lady in red

(Gayla--please contact me through my email address [macdonald.tracy96 at gmail dot com]so I can answer your questions.  I have no way to contact you.  :-)  Hugs!)

     This card is rather bittersweet for me.  A few weeks back I placed in the top picks at Jackson's Digital Expressions Challenge.  This is a brand new challenge blog sponsored by an amazing artist named Robert Jackson.  Mr. Jackson draws the most fabulous African-American digital images and has them for purchase in his store.  If you follow my team mate Carla Suto, you've seen her use several of the JDE images on some amazing cards.  Well, sweet Chana Harris, the DT Coordinator for JDE invited me to do a guest spot for one of the challenges.  I was thrilled cause, well, I just love to do guestie spots!  LOL  Especially when there are great images to use.  It was super duper hard to pick one out I'm telling you, but I had chosen to do the sketch challenge and this image worked perfectly for me.  Plus it reminded me so much of one of the ladies from my church.  Ms. Josie didn't wear hats to church often, but I remembered her wearing a outfit similar to this one at one time and I picked this image with her in mind.
     Ms. Josie was a 70 year old retired special ed teacher.  She had been a community leader when her health had been better.  In fact she was a bit of a miracle woman because she had lived well past the age she was expected to for someone with Sickle Cell.  She loved being able to shock a new doctor or nurse with that news.  She had so much to share about what she'd seen and dealt with in her life and I just soaked it all up like a sponge.  That little lady just stole my heart.  We lost her last Wednesday.  The years of battles with blood transfusions and heart problems had taken their toll.  It's been a long long time since I've lost someone I was really close to and although I know, and rejoice, about where she'll spend eternity, my heart is heavy with sorrow.  I'll  miss her tremendously.
     So this card is bittersweet for me because it was supposed to go to her and it didn't make it.  She didn't know about this card, but she did know about the white chocolate bread pudding and long visit my husband and I shared with her the Monday night before she died.  She had told me that she had dreamed about my bread pudding when I ran into her at the store.  I'm so glad I got the chance to make it for her and spend some time laughing and enjoying each others company.  My last words to her were "I love you" and that makes my heart rejoice.  The card won't go to waste.  I plan to give it to her sister at the funeral tomorrow.
     I hope you get a chance to play along with the sketch challenge this week at Jackson's Digital Expressions Challenge.  The winner will receive (3) images from Jackson's Digital Expressions, (2) images from Guylou's Inimitability, and an invitation to be a Guest Designer.  There will also be three Top Picks chosen.
     May you have a blessed week!


Supplies

• Paper:  Making Memories, Bazzill, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Jackson's Digital Expressions "Sunday Hat VII", sentiment from Create with TLC
• Ink:  Copics, Sakura Gold gel pen
• Tools:  Nestabilities labels Eighteen, sewing machine
• Miscellaneous:  Michaels gemstones, Martha Stewart seam binding