You have TOUCHED my Life Forever...Thursday, January 8, 2015

 I have enjoyed getting to know people since I have been on Facebook.  Because of that, I soon got a shop on Etsy...WHO KNEW that I would ALSO get to KNOW people there also because, after all, it IS a place to sell and not really to get to chat...

I usually free-hand items, but since I was making 7, I printed it out on the computer.  AND to make sure that I had the writing in the correct place, I folded the paper on the bottom and made creases so that the next ones could go into the same location to EASILY make them uniform!

I have made some really good friends because of Etsy and I have gotten to know people as I have been chosen to paint them something special...This order brought ANOTHER new friend to me.

After the writing was done on all of the signs, I then shaded around each AND around the first vase that was the same color...When doing SEVERAL of one item, it is SO MUCH FASTER to do assembly line work.

Dorothy contacted me about making a sign for her friends that she has had since childhood!  Each year they gather to share some special time.  I was SO lucky that she shared her story with me and in turn, I discovered that we had a LOT of similar experiences.

I shaded around the other vases and added the leaves and stems...

I discovered that her school colors were yellow and white, and MINE were Gold and White, but let's be honest, it was probably MORE YELLOW than it was gold...LOL...To Honor this, we put a yellow heart on the sign AND I made the butterfly and vase yellow and white to continue the importance of color.

Next came the flowers, doing ONE at a time and then I stenciled the butterflies and hearts WHITE and then went back and added the YELLOW to the heart...it makes the color BRIGHTER to add WHITE underneath, especially when using certain colors like yellow and red...

This was the First year for my new friend to have Christmas without her mother and she wanted a BUTTERFLY on each sign in Memory of her mother, who was loved by each of the girls...This was the third year that I had been without my Mother for Christmas...The empty seats around the table will NEVER be filled, but EACH CHAIR holds SUCH WARM MEMORIES, so they will NEVER be simply EMPTY CHAIRS...

BUTTERFLIES were so important to MY MOTHER...she never left the house without placing a butterfly pin on her left shoulder...When she was President of my Denomination's Women's Work, she was in a planning meeting and they were planning the theme and symbol.  Someone shared the following and it SOON became her trademark:  "Happiness is like a Butterfly.  The more you chase it, the more it will elude you, BUT if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and gently sit on your shoulder."  Mother radiated LOVE, JOY and Happiness...She was given butterflies from all over the world!

Details were added to the flowers...

 Dorothy shared that she had graduated from the SAME SCHOOL as her mother and she shared a picture of her Mother with a lei of flowers around her neck with the school colors...

My Daddy was the FIRST to graduate from the newly remodeled High School in my county and My Mother and two brothers ALSO graduated from the same BUILDING with my class being the next to the last to graduate from there...I SO understand heritage...

A Wash of color was added to each of the vases to make it look like the flowers were INSIDE of the vase...

Did I mention my new friend was from Hawaii?  


WELL, I can't see much that I have in common to THAT EXCEPT it gets HOT HOT HOT and VERY HUMID in Middle Tennessee in the summer...ROFL...We have beautiful GREEN pastures and lovely trees and flowers...My Daddy LOVED the hot weather and he NEVER complained about how hot it got...BUT BOY HOWDY, he sure did get COLD in the winter...LOL

This is the finished product NOW on its way to Hawaii...It should be getting there really soon!

I KNOW each of these will be given to a very special friend...I PRAY they will be MEANINGFUL and will put a smile on the face of each recipient... I LOVE to spread COLOR and HAPPINESS!

Right Click on the picture and SAVE AS to your computer!

I would like to give you this FREE PATTERN that I had offered a couple of years ago...IF you paint one, send me a picture so I can see it and SHARE it...The original was painted on a 4x4 inch piece of wood, so shrink or enlarge it to fit YOUR needs...Happy Painting!...

I am SO thankful for the opportunity to be a PART of this loving gift to my new friend's friends...I am SO glad that I get to KNOW people and THEIR Stories...ALWAYS feel free to drop by MY FACEBOOK PAGE and let me get to KNOW you and VISIT my MY ETSY SHOP  to see IF I can help YOU surprise a friend...

Aloha!...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥

I have used DECOART Acrylic Paints to paint this...The colors I used were:  Winter Blue, True Blue, Razzleberry, Petal Pink, Warm White, Marigold, Raw Sienna, Purple Cow and Lavender.