In the Arms of the Angels

 This is my beloved sister-in-law Sharon. She passed away on December 20th, 2002. She was a single mom of five children two of whom were still minors at the time of her passing. She was one of the most amazing people I have ever known. She overcame a difficult childhood and worked hard to provide a good home for her children. She had boundless energy and you couldn't help but get caught up in it and want to change the world with her. She was a foster mom to several children and eventually adopted one. When she was stricken with bowel cancer we were all devastated but she remained upbeat and often it was her encouraging the rest of us. She was my sister, my friend, my shelter in the storm. I have missed her every single day. I made this layout for my niece Diana who took it upon herself to take over the raising of her two minor brothers. She never hesitated never complained she is her mother's daughter she just did it.

 I wanted to simulate heaven somehow and show Sharon wrapped in an angel's wings ( that is where I choose to believe she is). I used Maja Design's Ska vi ta en Fika? papers. I scoured the internet for wing drawings found one I liked and sketched each "feather" out one piece at a time. I then went over them with some Tattered angels Glimmer Glam sparkle paint to add sparkle. 

 Trying to keep with the theme of heaven I did a lot of fussy cutting. I cut out all the roses, berries and daisies and used my cameo to cut out the leaves from a lovely green paper that came with the line. I also hand stitched all around the page. The bird cage is from Prima and  the bird is from seven gypsies.

I did some stamping with a brick stamp I bought years ago from Art Stamps and did a little stamping at the top of the page. I then added the resin angel from Prima. The purple roses are also from Prima.

 

I used some Ornate Gates from Dusty Attic to simulate heaven's gates. I painted them with Gesso then after they dried I went over them again with Silks Acrylic Glaze in Ice. The big purple flowers were given to me years ago! The smaller ones are from various sources.

I did some masking on either side of the photo and mixed some glass beads in with my moulding paste to make the texture more interesting.

The title was cut with my cameo. And I added a little bit of bling to finish it off. It actually took me quite awhile to do this page. One I was really sick (still recovering) and two I wanted this page to be special for my niece. I miss you Sharon every single day. Often I find myself in a situation where I ask myself what would Sharon do and I know that you would never take the easy way out. You never gave up on anything or anyone. I will always think of you as being in the Arms of the Angels. Love you!

This has been my first post in quite sometime as I contracted a really bad bout of the flu. I even had to cancel my week with the grandchildren : I am on the mend and am hoping to be a lot more productive this month! I'm even contemplating picking the grandchildren up even though I feel like a wet paper bag! Hope you are all well! All the best! :)