Decorate with Meaning

I remember watching an Oprah Winfrey show that Nate Berkus was on.  He said something that has always stayed in the back of my mind.  He said that the things that surround us in our homes should not only be "pretty", but they should have special meaning.

Whenever I make a card and think about its design, I try really hard to know details about the person that the card is for.  That way I think the person will be more inclined to sit and reflect on the card and perhaps even include it amongst their treasured things.  Now that I'm really getting into making collages I'm trying to channel the same vibe.  "Make it meaningful".

In the previous posts I talked about the collages I made for my mom and gave a little background on where her nickname came from.  I gave them to her yesterday and she seemed really pleased.  Todays post is about another collage I created.  This one is for 3 of my closest friends who all live together as roommates. I've been friends with them for well over 15 years now and we have shared many awesome times and memories, as well as sad ones.

This past summer they moved into a new home with one of the girls' moms.  She was really sick and passed away in August.  One of the other roommates who lives with them lost her mom in a terrible hit and run about 8 years ago.  So, needless to say they have suffered through major tragedies and I really love them all dearly.  I wanted to create something special for them and for their home and at the same time remember their moms in some small way.  Of course, that is sometimes hard to do without it becoming a bit morbid and depressing.  Anyway, I decided to go to my decoupage and my handmade papers.  This is what I came up with.

Side note:  The girls love birds (as do I)

This has to be one of my favorite quotes.  Oh so true!

The orchid represents the favorite flower of "E"'s mom who just lost a

battle with cancer this past August.

She was the sweetest, spunkiest, most faith inspiring person I have known to date. 

And she managed to be all of that with under 5 feet of  height :)

This bird represents my friend "J" whose parents are aging.  She is facing many

decisions in the near future.  So I put her face looking out with hope.

I know she will make the right choices

for her and for them and she'll always have our support.

My last (and most vibrantly colored) bird is representative of my friend "C". 

C is our "Fes" (Foreign Exchange Student)  Remember, that 70's Show?  ;)

She lost her mom Rosa (which is Rose, in Spanish)

in a terrible accident and I thought it fitting to

remember her here with her daughter.

We all have tough decisions to face/make every day.  Sometimes life hands us a big bowl of rotten lemons.  But if we surround ourselves with people and things that make each moment count, we can make it through each day until the day when "death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore" (Revelation 21:3,4)