Good-bye and good luck to our friend Michele

A few weeks ago, our little crafting group got together to bid farewell to our dear friend Michele. She and her husband will be moving to Virginia as soon as their new house is built....actually, they will be living in a rented property until that time. We are sorry to see her leave us but I know that I, for one, will be visiting her as she will not be too far from one of our kids.....and she will be in an area where there are lots and lots of antiquey places to explore. Anyway....we had one of our fun brunches because our get-togethers must always include food in addition to craftiness.

The table was set using my pink Depression luncheon plates..

 I made each of us a candy cup using coffee filters and yogurt cups...

and a place card using a vintage image from Besottment by Paper Relics using a Graphics Fairy image.

Of course Michele also had a pink sequined crown to wear....

We dined on egg casserole, croissants and a beautiful fruit tray that Mimi brought

and for dessert, because we were also celebrating Michele's Birthday, chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting

We agreed that we would each make Michele a badge, no larger than 8X8-inches with a Friendship theme, in our own style. We don't ever want her to forget us.

Michele K made a vintegy banner, so like her. The little card with the 5 chicks represents us...clever girl that Michele K!

(click on picture to enlarge)

The badge came in this chipboard box

Mimi used fabric to make her badge...so like her. The strawberry fabric square was made using fabric Michele had given Mimi that had been her Mother's. She also attached one of her charms and even a clip earring. Clever girl that Mimi!

Mimi also made Michele a cute card....

Bethanie wasn't able to complete her badge in time for the party and will send it along to Michele.

(Mimi and Bethanie)

As usual, I couldn't even decide on what my style is because I like so many different things. There was only one thing I could do and that was to make a 2-sided badge utilizing both of my styles....
Funky (this one is all digital using steampunk images from The Sum of All Crafts.

 Valerie has great images (not just steampunk) for you to use in your crafting.
Everything is layered digitally (even the polka dot background paper) except the gears (from Tim Holtz) and the flower (made using sewing pattern tissue)
So that's one style I love, but there's another, very different style, too. The reverse side of the badge looks like this...

Yes, that's right...a little Ann Estelle from Mary Engelbreit's drawing board!
I'll show you in my next post how I put this badge together. Michele, in true Michele style...made each one of us a little gift also.

We had a good time together like always....we laughed and we cried and no one wanted to say good-bye at the end.
We will miss Michele.
We met while both working part-time at a local scrapbook store (now out of business) We would craft together at the store and chatter away about all kinds of things. We took classes together at Stamp Fanci and had lots of fun. I will miss our impulsive trips to Michael's and Joann's or the Butler scrapbook store. I couldn't have gotten through some of my darkest hours without your support and strong words when I needed them.
Take time to explore your new area and then get the guest room ready for me!

On a personal note: It's been a tense week for us at 9010.

David has been sick for almost 2 weeks and he's been going through some tests and scans to try to find the cause. As of last night we finally have some answers....not necessarily ones we would have liked but ones that can be managed at least.

David has shingles which I'm sure you know are very painful and if that alone isn't enough to deal with...he has also been diagnosed with diabetes. His blood sugar was extremely high on his blood work.

He now has meds for both (oral medication for the diabetes) and we are awaiting return phone calls to schedule appointments with a Nutritionist to learn about diet and a Diabetes Educator to learn about checking his blood twice a day. Ah, the rewards of aging. As I said, we are grateful to know what we're dealing with and we certainly recognize that it could have been a lot worse. We are again reminded that the keys to healthy living are in our hands and we need to take better care of the bodies that God gave us.
This is the first I'm mentioning this on my blog. If you could just say a little prayer that David has some relief from pain and an easy adjustment to all that we must learn to do, I would be so grateful.

Be back soon with the tutorial~
xoxo
Joyce