Sympathy Cards

Hi Again!

The title of this post isn't meant to bring you down but it is a reality for all of us. Which leads me to the entire reason I decided to do this post. Recently a loved one's parent passed and of course I wanted to offer my condolences. This is a stash that we all hope not to have to pull from often but it's certainly part of life.

So far I have found that flowers seem to be perfect for cards in the sympathy category because they are simple and elegant. I like to use muted colors because they lend a softer look to the card and I make sure to keep the embellishments limited and tasteful (think small pearls). I personally like to keep it pretty flat because typically I mail sympathy cards. Memorial services are usually pretty emotional for me whether I knew the person or not, I tend to be like Dolly Parton or Truvy if you've seen the movie, "I have a strict rule that nobody cries alone in my presence." (Thank you, Steel Magnolias.) The thought of handing someone my card that I truly try to write something heartfelt in feels just too uncomfortable (and what if they are holding it all together and then they read your card and it sends them into tears? I do NOT want to be the person that caused that!).

I currently don't own any fitting sentiments to go on the front of a sympathy card but I do have a stamp that I use on the inside, it is nice expresses the feelings I want to convey and is not religious (important to me because I wanted to be able to use it for anyone). I plan on investing in some more sympathy stamps but if you already make your own sympathy cards you might agree with me that they aren't easy to come by. The thing I try to focus on when making this category of cards is that the sentiment you may or may not stamp on the front of it or even the inside for that matter is not as important as the comfort that the recipient will feel when they receive the card and are reminded that someone cares (at least in my experience even when words didn't get through the pain, feelings of people caring did). 

Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave any comments I would love to hear what you turn to when you want to comfort a loved one who is going through the death of a loved one or a hard time in general. It has been mentioned to me that in order to leave a comment on this blog you have to have a google account, if you don't but would still like to comment please feel free to visit my FaceBook page here.

Wishing you sunshine and smiles,
Kim :)

Home Again!

It is so good to be home!!! I got to hold my dog Cookie whom I have missed more than I thought it was possible to miss a fur baby (but let's face it she is my precious). I got to sleep in my own bed and have my favorite coffee from my Keurig machine. I got to to snuggle down into my couch that I find so comfortable. Then, reality set in as I looked around and realized there is so much freakin' work to do around this house!!!

Now mind you when I say work I don't mean cleaning. One of my good friends stayed in our home while we were away and left it cleaner than I did when we left for Ireland. What I mean is that as I look around my house I realize that I want to change everything!

This coming February we will have lived in our house for nine years and truth be told I did not bother to decorate. Even in my room where I keep all my card making stuff most of the decorations are more functional. Just this past year I started decorating my room. I also picked out a bedspread to attempt to decorate our bedroom but truth be told I don't have a clue as to what I am doing or how to do it.

This will be a guestroom but for now it was storing our stuff while our friend was living here. 

The reason I am going on about all of this is that I want to make this house our haven. I want to come into it and love everything I see, not just make do which is what I have been doing. Now I will not be making a run to Ikea, Target, Kohl's or any other store because I do not want to pick out a room that has been put together and slap it on a room in my house. I also struggle because I don't want a bunch of stuff clogging up the house and taking up space just to take it up. I like for things to be pretty and serve a purpose.

Most of this will be fixed once I can get in there and put things away (while packing things got far flung) but I am truly hoping to have a pulled together room in the end...someday :) 

I went onto Pinterest thinking that I could pin a bunch of pictures of rooms or things that I like and I would figure out what I want the house to look like, turns out I know that I like those pictures but I am pretty sure the rooms I like are completely different decorating styles. (I have even tried to take a "What is your decorating style?" quizzes and I STILL don't know what my style is!
I am doing all this "pre-work" because since we have spent the last six months in Ireland and traveling every chance we got we are not ready to do any type of remodeling to the house (most likely not for all of 2016). I figure that I can do some decorating with things we already have around the house and pick up a few things as the year goes on but nothing major. I am struggling with the feeling that I want to change so much NOW! I want blinds instead of curtains (which will be rather expensive because a lot of the windows are large not a typical size carried in most stores), drawers in my kitchen instead of cabinets that I have to crawl into the great beyond to pull things from the depths of darkness!

The materials I took to Ireland with us that now need to be unpacked and put back in their home...

Knowing that this is how things are for now and will not be changing in the near future I need to find a way to be satisfied with my home as it is. It is a great home and an excellent space and truly more than we need so I don't like that as I write this I feel as though I sound rather ungrateful and petty, but I acknowledge that and am looking to get over it. All I can think to do for now is to come up with a list of the things that I can change now or even improve upon and then concentrate on other things until it is time to do more.

Has anyone else out there ever felt this way and what did you do to deal with it? Thanks for listening and for any help you wish to give!

Wishing you sunshine and smiles,
Kim :)