Sketch Challenge

Jen del Muro at i{heart}2stamp posts a sketch challenge every weekend, and yesterday I actually had time to participate. You can follow the link above to see it.

I'm pleased with how these 2 came together. I needed a sympathy card and a general card, so I turned to the set I always end up with in my hand for these kinds of cards--Art of Life. It's retired, but it just has the right somber attitude (if a stamp can have an attitude!).

I liked the different layers of this sketch, particularly for the sympathy card. The lady I'm sending it to is my old neighbor whose husband passed away. By old neighbor, I mean the family we lived next door to from the time I was a toddler until the middle of 4th grade. My parents have kept in touch with them even though we have not lived next door for almost 30 years. Why? Because Walt and Val Gerdom were good neighbors.

They were the kind of folks who sat out on their front porch after dinner and were tolerant of two little girls who would come over and want to chat. Walt tried to teach me the multiplication tables, and my younger sister was the one who could give him the answers before I could. They were also good neighbors for not going ballistic when my sister took scissors to all the tulip heads in their front flowerbeds. They looked the other way when we cut through their back gate to visit the girls behind our house, and it's because of Val that I eat pecan pie today.

Walt was 80 and Val is 78. They still were living independently, even though Walt had the beginning stages of Alzheimer's, and Val had lost her eyesight several years back. So, while she won't be able to see the card, I like that perhaps she'll feel the different layers as her son Greg describes the card to her and reads what I write. I hope it'll bring her some comfort to know that I still remember her and her husband fondly.

This is going to be a busy week. I work every day but Friday, and we're going out of town for the weekend. I hope to stamp some on Wednesday, but we'll have to see what happens with laundry! I know ya'll can relate!