LO: Changes & A Birthday Card for Ma

I came across this photo in my box of photos to sort. As I looked at it, I realised that SO many things had changed from when this photo was taken. I thought February's Kit from Crazy Monday would work best with the pink in Kat's top and the love paper that was included. The bright blue paper, the shaped journalling box and the mists I added to help lift the colour of my top out of the picture as well. That way the two main people in the story were more prominent. I love capturing a different story from what is obvious in the photo. This was actually a farewell dinner as John and I had decided to leave Piha to move down to Otago. Pa came up as he had not visited our place yet and this would be his only chance. Kat, Llew, Pa, John and I had a fabulous dinner together. Everyone helped us sort through old things to pare down and also to pack. Pa bought a new van and took a load of our stuff back down south. In the end though, we decided to hire a moving company to come and pack us up and take everything down, rather than putting things in storage. It was a big decision to make in only a week. Still, it was the right one for us. Three and a half years later I am still here and John only just left a couple of weeks ago.

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Ma is in her 60's and the papers that I had left in my kit felt very 'her'. I loved the colours and the feel of the papers. I also really wanted to add these textured flowers to the card as I knew that I didn't need to put it into an envelope as I was seeing her for lunch on her birthday.

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 Everything is from the kit, except the embroidery thread that I wrapped around the card. The stitching around the card and the thread was done to be seen on the inside to lift it up a little. I then added another sticker on the inside and doodled around it to personalise it. I like to write personal messages inside rather than the generic. As Ma is the full-time carer for a boy with developmental delays she rarely gets time to herself. As X has just started school at the end of last year, she is now getting a few hours five times a week to catch up on things that matter to her, like gardening. I haven't been able to help as much as I wanted to due to my poor health. I am now getting to the point where I can volunteer myself again as my strength and energy are returning. As John left not too long before Ma's birthday (after taking her out on a dinner date first) I got a 'quote' from him to add to the card so that he could be with her on the day too. Ma loved the card and we had an interesting time out for lunch.

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