Sunday Stamps, Freshly Made Sketch & Technique Time Tuesday ~ Miracles DO Happen

I sat down to create this card and I really did not know which direction to go in. So I thought first I will pick a stamp set, I had an order arrive last week and had a few new stamp sets that I was dying to ink up and I decided on Bloomin' Marvellous from the Sale a Bration catalogue with Stampin' UP! The stamp "Miracles Happen" caught my eye and it got me thinking, miracles really do happen. 

Our son Ethan was born in February 2009 and we were so overjoyed to finally be parents, to experience that kind of love for another person is something that you truly cannot explain until you feel it. As we watched him grow into a little boy we decided it was time to give him a little brother or sister and so in  March of 2011 we thought the time was right. We were overjoyed when we conceived on the very first month we tried (as we had with Ethan) we felt that it was meant to be and were very excited to welcome a new person into our family early in the coming year. Sadly 2 months later that joy become tremendous sorrow when we lost our baby. To experience that kind of pain is something that again you cannot explain until you feel it. We took some time to heal and decided that by the end of the summer we would try again. We knew we wanted another child and felt very strongly that Ethan deserved a sibling to share his life with. 

September 2011 rolled around and we were once again filled with joy that we were expecting again. Of course this time we were also a little frightened but thought no way that will happen again, this baby is our baby and will be joining our family in the spring. Weeks later the unthinkable happened and we lost another child. This second loss hit us much harder I believe than the first as now we really started to feel that something was wrong. So we sought out help from a fertility specialist to help us sort through what may be going on. After months of testing we were given a lot of "it could be this, or it could be that" but never any determinate answers. We thought long and hard and decided we would give it one final shot, I didn't know if my heart could handle another loss but something told me that I had to try. 

February 2012, almost a year ago to the day we found out that we were expecting once more. We were cautiously happy and decided we would wait a while before we told Ethan this time. Each week that passed by I felt a little stronger, each month the passed by I felt a great deal more hopeful and before we knew it our healthy, beautiful baby girl was born. Ethan finally had his little sister and our family was complete. So do I believe that miracles can happen, you bet I do!

The reason I decided to share this story with you lovely ladies is because the single most thing that helped me through a very difficult time in our lives was the love and courage people showed us by sharing their stories of loss. It is still something that people like to pretend does not happen and that is very sad. The one thing you do not want to feel after something like this happens to you is alone. So ladies and gents it all happens on your own time but share your stories with someone you know needs it because you have no idea how much it can help to heal their heart.

 Our two Miracles!

So back to the crafty bits... :)

For this card I used our colour challenge over at Sunday Stamps (thank you Tara for teaching me how to hyperlink EEEE!), and I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, and lastly the embedded image technique challenge over at Technique Time Tuesday.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Take the time to let your creativity bloom!

Card Recipe

Card Stock:

• Early Espresso
• More Mustard
• Marina Mist
• Very Vanilla
• First Edition DSP

Inks:

• More Mustard

Stamps:

• Bloomin' Marvellous

Embellishments:

• Clear Embossing Powder
• Early Espresso Embossing Powder

Tools:

• Heat Tool
• Vine Street Embossing Folder
• 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch
• 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch