A gift from the heart…..

I don’t think I’ve created anything that was quite this emotional to complete.  I have a friend who asked me to do the cover of a journal for her.  She has a friend who is sitting with her father who is dying and she wanted to give her a journal to write in and asked me to make it for her.  I never gave it much thought until I sat down to create it. I was flooded with emotions that quite honestly surprised me!  It brought back allot of memories of sitting with Dad that last week of his life and it hit me just how personal this was going to be to create for me.  She told me her friends father loved the outdoors and could I make the cover accordingly.  I had some birch bark at home and burlap.  I went outside on my deck….in the snow…. and collected some pine cones and branches from my lilac tree.

Once I started to create, it just sort of flowed and I decided since I didn’t know her or her father, I would create something I would love to have to record my thoughts and emotions as I went through this very difficult time.  My father also loved the outdoors and so I hope I captured something she will connect with when she sees it.  As I went through each stage, each thing I attached had a special meaning.

The birch bark is such an interesting medium.  The birch tree is constantly adding layers to it’s bark.  Each layer is like tissue paper and it has layer after layer.  It has such a soft feel to it and can be used to make a multitude of things.  If you love the outdoors and nature in Saskatchewan….this tree is one of your favorites.

The twigs are from my lilac tree and it’s by far my favorite of the flowering trees in Saskatchewan.  The flowers are this beautiful pale purple color and have the most amazing fragrance I can smell as soon as I come up the back stairs on my deck.  They only last a couple of weeks, but are so worth it.  I chose to put the key with the wings and the clock on it as it signified the passing of time and the fact that her father will soon be joining the angels and earn his key to the Kingdom.  I put the burlap and the twigs onto the existing spine of the book with twine to signify wrapping our arms around what we love and holding it together tightly.

The quote spoke to me as soon as I read it.  When I spend time outside in nature it just automatically calms me.  I truly believe nature has a soothing and healing capability and it often helps me to sort things out.  The pine cones are again a native tree to Saskatchewan and they have the most amazing smell to them.  There’s nothing quite like the smell of a pine tree.

The heart with the two birds on it symbolize her and her father and the love she has for her father.

I hope she loves it.  I’ve never met her and I don’t even know if my friend told me her name but I feel this connection with her.  I hope she feels the love with which this was put together and my hope that she finds some healing within it’s covers as she journals in it.

Until next time my friends….

Huggss,

Yvonne