Monday, August 25, 2008

Here's to you, little butterfly...





I've been thinking about this layout for a long time. These are the last pictures I took of my little sister Carissa before she passed away, and I was struck by the butterfly picture in the background, and how well that fit with the lyrics to this beautiful song by Susannah Clifford Blachly. Here are those lyrics, in case you can't read them:

“Here's to you, little butterfly
You grew wings and learned to fly
You broke through to a clearer view
And a wide open sky

You taught me things I need to know
When to hold on tight, when to let go
How to trust that the darkest hour of the night
Holds the promise of the light

Now I know that some day you'll be leaving
To heed the call of distant lands
And though I'll be no stranger to grief
I'll still open up my hands
And watch you fly, little butterfly

Here's to you, little child of mine
You'll be all grown up in no time
So much to learn through the twists and turns of this life

You taught me things I need to see
How to love the world that's in front of me
How to feel what's true and to listen to what it means to be free”

And here's my journaling:
"These are the last pictures I took of Carissa before she passed away, during the brief time she had been moved out of the intermediate care unit and the boys could visit her. Originally when I was working with this photo I cropped out most of the background, but then I noticed the butterfly photo in the background, and I thought it was so fitting. Carissa spent mortality in a body that was in some ways so limiting, but her beautiful spirit always shone through. In her passing, that spirit emerged more beautiful and radiant than any earthly butterfly. I know that Carissa is free now from the limitations of her mortal life and shines as a jewel in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom."

It was also a perfect opportunity to try out a new idea I had for making butterflies. It's a take-off from the flower technique I posted a while back, and I really like the way it turned out. I thought someone out there might like instructions, so I did a little photo tutorial as I went along.

1. Cut your base shape -- I cut mine with the Cricut George cartridge. It's , above the J. I cut it first on shadow with the cardstock and then regular with a light vellum. Adhere together as shown.


2. Sew a straight line from corner to corner as shown.


3. Trim out shape of wings (just like the flower petals from the previous technique). For butterflies, cut the top wings larger and rounder than the bottom. If they are the same, you'll get a shape more like a dragonfly.


4. Fold top layer away from bottom layer at stitched lines -- this gives it a really pretty dimensional element. I also used a mini-scallop scissor to add some detail to the wings on the larger butterflies, but it's too much of a pain to do it to the smaller ones.


5. Add a body. Mine is the dragonfly body from the Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge (hint: cut the body 1/2" smaller than your original shape -- ie, my largest butterfly was cut at 3", and the body was 2 1/2") Embellish as desired. I used thread to stitch glass beads onto the largest butterflies here, but on the card below I covered the whole body in Stickles.





Here is another card I made when I was trying out these butterflies. This card also uses last week's great sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You.



Supplies used:
(Layout)
Bazzill cardstock
Misc. vellum
Green Ice Stickles

(Card)
Kraft cardstock: Hobby Lobby
Patterned paper, ribbon: Fancy Pants
Stamp: Studio G
Mini-Scallop scissors, Threading Water (scallop) punch: Fiskars
Green Ice Stickles
Ink: Clearsnap Chalk Ink

Another note -- I made this layout to go in the book of remembrance I made for my family after Carissa passed away. Here is a link to those layouts (posted on the Cricut MB), if you'd like to see them.

11 comments:

Tonya said...

This LO is so amazing...thoughtful and well-planned. I think it's perfect for the book you are putting together. It brought tears to my eyes. This is really beautiful. The card is pretty as well. Thanks for sharing this!

Anonymous said...

Wow what a beautiful and touching page. This is what scrapbooking is all about. you have taught me so much just in posting this.
Thank you
Hugs
Sandra xx

Becky said...

This is beautiful. I love your book idea. I looked at it on the MB and got tears in my eyes.

On another note, how are you feeling?? I know you were due around the same time I was, so I just wanted to check in! Hope everything is going great!

shelly said...

tomi this is such a lovely tribute to your beautiful sister.thank you for sharing that.
love the card .
your butterflies are really pretty thank you for the instructions

Godelieve said...

Really, really beautiful tribute.

Sharon Caudle said...

Oh Tomi, this is so beautiful and so touching! Your layouts are always amazing, but you really brought tears to my eyes with this one. A beautiful tribute to your beautiful sister. Thank you for sharing it with us. HUGS!

ScrapMomOf2 said...

Wow! Very touching and beautiful! Your layouts on the MB were gorgeous too. What an amazing tribute to your sister!

Nikki said...

What a beautiful LO and so a great keepsake for all the wonderful memories.

Thank you so much for the tutorial on the butterflies, I will definitely have to give it a try!

:)

Lisa'sLettersandLace said...

How wondeful. So sorry about your sister. Sounds like you should have a new baby by now. I wanted to share with you info. on a blogiversary going on with Sherry's blog. The info is on my blog if your interested in mingling at this point. You may be a bit busy right now though. hahaha God Bless your family, Lisa

Eva said...

Your layout is amazing and thank you for the great tutorial....it's amazing!!! I have to try it, too!!!

Sherry Wright said...

Wow, what an amazing layout and tribute to your sister. Brought tears to my eyes, you did a beautiful job with the butterflies. ((hugs)))