Seeing out 2020

Howdy all,

Welcome to my Tuesday Talk blog post.

2020 is one we all can't wait to get behind us. As with every year end and pending new year many of us take time to reflect on the year that's been. 

Over the last 12 months my world has been turned inside out and may never go back together the same. My baby and I have been in hospital several times, our family separated for several months. She turned one without having ever been able to go out into the community. Our country was ravaged by horrific fires and fire tornados like never seen before, our air quality was the worst in the world. I'm allergic to bush fire smoke but more than anything it triggered memories from our Black Saturday fires and the human toll we had paid. We lived in fear of coronavirus for ourselves and our loved ones as the death count grew around us. It was scary but knowing that our numbers were only a tiny fraction of elsewhere in the world was scarier. We went into total lockdown for months, not allowed to leave our homes basically at all. The States closed there borders, and the country turned on each other. The financial and emotional impacts affecting all, even the strongest of us. We lived never knowing when the nightmare might end, when we would again be able to see our families. Never knowing what tomorrow might bring. Just to add icing to the 2020 cake, I had complications from a surgical procedure and became blind in one eye whilst being vision impaired in the other. Having to relearn everything like a child and unable to do the things I love most, at least not how I used to. What a year it really was. and as negative as all these seems, we survived it! At the end of the day that is what's important to me.

This card to me is a representation of some of all that and a view to 2021. Australia is an interesting country, it's the size of the whole of the USA or most of Europe, with just as diverse a range of landscapes. Our native vegetation burns hot in a very unique way, the eucalyptus oil from the gum trees the most dangerous, as also seen in Californian fires. It is however by design that Aussie bush fires thrive and renew the land. Many seeds of native trees actually require the heat from these fires to germinate and start to grow. A new life literally formed out of the ashes of the old. The sentiment 'Good things are worth waiting for' is my hopes for 2021 for us all. We're done waiting 💓.

(Yes I'm aware the seed is actually a Poppy seed, not a native and does not require fire to germinate. But Shhhhh. It's about the inspiration.)

I used a combo of In Good Taste and Dandy Garden DSPs paired with my good old favourite Early Expresso cardstock to give off an earthy feel. The seed pod from the Enjoy the the Moment stamp set is coloured using Cinnamon Cider, Crumb Cake and Daffodil Delight Blends and stamped in Early Espresso ink. The sentiment is embossed in white. A touch of White Chalk Marker to make the sentiment banner look a little more rustic and Linen Thread tie to complete the look.

Sadly the dies are from the Halloween Magic Dies along with most of the Christmas paper sets are retiring soon and is now ON SALE as part of the Giant Year-End Closeout and already in limited stock left. To see what other great items are retiring and on sale click the picture below.

Now you might be saying I haven't seen that stamp set before or why can't I find the Dandy Garden DSP in my catalogue, well the answer is simple - it's NEW! It's part of the new Mini Catalogue that starts January 4th 2021. What's even better is that it's part of the SALE-A-BRATION promotion in January & February where you can earn free products with your purchases. To get a copy of the new Mini Catalogue and the Sale-A-Bration catalogue CLICK HERE.

Thanks for coming over and having a look, I hope you feel inspired to create your own cards and projects, please see below for a link to products used to make the above card.

Product List

In Good Taste Designer Series Paper [152494] $37.00	Halloween Magic Dies [153565] $54.00	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114] $13.00	Linen Thread [104199] $8.75	White Stampin' Chalk Marker [132133] $6.00
Cinnamon Cider Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [153105] $15.50	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154883] $15.50	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154882] $15.50	Early Espresso A4 Card Stock [121686] $15.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] $17.00
White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132] $10.50	Versamark Pad [102283] $16.50	Paper Snips [103579] $17.00	Paper Trimmer [152392] $44.00	Clear Block E [118484] $20.00
Stampin' Seal [152813] $14.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $6.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $8.00	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $209.00	Heat Tool [129056] $50.00

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