Artisan Finalist Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of the Artisan Finalist Blog Hop!  I hope you are enjoying all of these amazing projects. 

If you started the hop from the beginning, you just finished visiting the amazing blog of Holly VanDyne.  I am always WOWed by her projects and today's project was no exception.

Today, I'm sharing another scrapbook page and this one has a very personal story.  This picture of my daughter was taken in late December 2011.  Two weeks later, Bella was admitted to the hospital due to dehydration, malnutrition, and fever.  We soon found out that she has Crohn's Disease.

I think that was the longest and certainly one of the most difficult weeks of my life.  When your child gets diagnosed with a chronic, life-long illness, you can't help but question everything.  I wondered what I had done wrong.  I wondered what her life would be like in the future.  And I felt like all my hopes and dreams for her had been crushed.

To say that I went through a grieving process would be an understatement. 

Friends and family made frequent visits to the hospital so that I could take short breaks.  During one such break, I was driving in my car and the song, "I Hope You Dance" came on the radio.  I broke into tears.

I suddenly realized that we could face ANYTHING with the right attitude and that this disease was not going to quash those hopes & dreams.

Here is my second project:

At first glance, this will seem like a clean & simple digital page.  There are many overlays and layers that make up the background.  I used shades of Whisper White, Very Vanilla, and Pink Pirouette to create a very soft, feminine look.

The strand of pearls was created by first stamping a Curly Cue from the Notes stamp set.  I lined up 50 bazillion pearls over the line image of the stamp, then locked them all in place.  (Okay, it wasn't 50 bazillion….but it was close!)

Here are the supplies from My Digital Studio:

Embellishments
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones\Basic Pearls and Rhinestones – pearl large

Stamps
    _Designer Kits\Twitterpated\Twitterpated – background 3, Color = WHISPER WHITE 255,255,255
    Music Notes\Music Notes – background, Color = 0,0,0
    Notes\Notes – curly cue, Color = PINK PIROUETTE 255,216,209
    Vintage Overlays\Vintage Overlays – texture 4, Color = PINK PIROUETTE 255,216,209
    Vintage Overlays\Vintage Overlays – texture 13, Color = 255,250,226

Punches
    Large Photo Corner Punch, Fill Color = PINK PIROUETTE 255,216,209
    Large Photo Corner Punch, Fill Color = PINK PIROUETTE 255,216,209
    Alphabet & Numbers\Smitten Alphabet Punch\Smitten Alphabet Punch – a, Fill Color = BASIC GRAY 118,122,121
    Alphabet & Numbers\Smitten Alphabet Punch\Smitten Alphabet Punch – c, Fill Color = BASIC GRAY 118,122,121
    Alphabet & Numbers\Smitten Alphabet Punch\Smitten Alphabet Punch – d, Fill Color = BASIC GRAY 118,122,121
    Alphabet & Numbers\Smitten Alphabet Punch\Smitten Alphabet Punch – e, Fill Color = BASIC GRAY 118,122,121
    Alphabet & Numbers\Smitten Alphabet Punch\Smitten Alphabet Punch – n, Fill Color = BASIC GRAY 118,122,121

Photos
    Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Twitterpated – designer series paper\Twitterpated – 7

Here's how the Blog Hop works. Our blog hop makes an endless loop, so no matter where you begin, you should find yourself back where you started. If you lose your way then you can refer to the list below. If there are ten of us, then why only nine names? Unfortunately Mary Haugen was not able to join us due to technical difficulities.

1.  Connie Collins

2.  Holly VanDyne

3.  Melissa Stout  YOU ARE HERE!

4.  Amy O'Neill

5.  Sandie Conner

6.  Amy Rogers

7.  Mercedes Weber

8.  Tara (Murphy) Bourgoin

9.  Mindy Bingamon

You are now ready to visit the one and only Amy O'Neill.

See you back here tomorrow!