Free ATC background fighting sorrow

So far no-one has even tried to recognize the beautiful lady in my earlier post. Bella Simonetta was still a very young woman when she died for an illness. (Apparently most (in)famous beauties die young?) She was a wife of a wealthy man, muse and model for artists and mistress to some... or so I've heard. All this happened some centuries ago, so who knows what is the truth.

I have been struggling today trying to decide what to do. I heard sad news the other day that my uncle had lost his wife. I become totally helpless in these situations. I know there are no words that could help a person who has lost a beloved spouse or other family member. You can't really do anything to make that person feel any better. And death is natural, we all must face it one day. I just become sad for the person who stayed behind with grief.

So, what does one do when she doesn't have words of her own to describe her feelings or to take part in the mourning? Well, I went to post office and bought a card with text appropriate for the occasion. Sigh... I hope my uncle doesn't mind it's not hand-made by myself. I just wasn't up to this challenge. I'm too emotional and empathetic when I encounter great sorrow or death and I'm not good at dealing with it. I feel crushed. I'm not sure if mourning people even pay attention to the cards and flowers people send to them. They probably start reading these messages only after the initial shock is over and they start to realize that the beloved one isn't around any more. Maybe they find comfort in the messages friends and relatives have sent, knowing that there are people who care.

Grief is something very personal, and it feels too intimate to invade that private space of mourning. One could probably use a strong and warm hug but maybe I'm not the right person to give such hug. I hope someone will do it for me though. My uncle is a kind human being and I hope people treat him the same he treats others.

I was quite disappointed with myself today because of not being able to handle this all and trying to make that and the feeling of sadness go away I made an ATC background to share with you. Once again, this is for personal use alone. Let me know if it's good for anything. I have used a photo I took of roses earlier this summer and combined it with some oriental elements. Just click on the image above to open the printable size.

Statchoo Scraps

I just happened to look at one more page or the endless array of digital scrapbooking freebies (how is it even possible that there are so many of them?) and I must admit that you can find some really cool items over at this blog! I just loved the floral pins and there are a lot more to explore and download, all for free! :-)

Free patterned background / Ilmainen kuviollinen taustapaperi

I usually don't make this kind of patterns so let me know if you find it useful or not. ;-) Here's today's freebie for France's sake as she left a comment on my earlier post! This one is 8" x 8" (200  dpi) sized background paper for personal use on cardmaking or maybe for a mini album or even ATCs. Btw, I'm still waiting for someone to recognize that famous beauty on my earlier post... Just click on the image above to open the downloadable image.

ATC background freebie

I have been THINKING about going out all day long since it seems to be a fairly nice day out there, but it seems I'm still stuck indoors. Well, for my kids' sake I'm still going to do that though. There are several playgrounds nearby so there's plenty to choose of. I've barely been at home lately as I love the sunshine and hot weather and can't bear to stay indoors just looking outside. Last summer I spend practically indoors because the kids were sick first one, then the other, then the first one again... So this summer I'm trying to take advantage of each sunny day. Have a lovely day each of you!!!

Then as I promised I've got a freebie ATC background for you, a famous beauty from some centuries ago. If you recognize her, I'll post an other freebie. ;-)

Just click on this image to open the bigger file for download. This is for personal use, not for commercial purposes nor to be distributed. Thanks!

Free Yellow ATC background images / Ilmainen setti ATC-taustakuvia keltaisen sävyissä

Hello my dear friends! No, I haven't forgotten about you, I've just been busy lately. My home still isn't done (and no, I'm not talking about hanging a couple of pictures which I will do after I have some real furniture first) and I have been up to designing things... This wouldn't really keep me busy if I had all day just for designing, but as I spend the full day with my kids I only can do these things at night when they are asleep. So I have practically been left with no sleep at all and in the end I had to sleep one full night last night after more or less being awake for a couple of weeks... well, to tell the truth I did sleep something like 2 hours each night, no wonder I became much more placid than usual.  

We have had such beautiful weather here and since we have light nights too, I'm so tempted to go outside for a walk in the middle of the night. I love the sunlit summer nights and I wish it could continue endlessly. Please don't remind me that we're already heading for autumn and then the winter comes again... Every year I fear that I will get too depressed for the lack of light and just stay in bed 'till next spring. Well, of course my children would now take care of waking me up in a less gentle way if I refused to get up by myself. Earlier I just relied on an alarm clock.

Last year I bought extra help, a Philips wake-up light. It doesn't make me any less sleepy during the day, but at least the light gets me up every morning. It has 4 alarm sounds as well, and I had thought that it would be awesome to wake up with birds singing next to my bed, but in the reality they have chosen such an irritating bird song that I couldn't even listen to it more than once. Why didn't they go for a pleasant sound? Something like a blackbird maybe? (Staff at Philips, if you people read this, please release a product with a blackbird singing and then hand one for me just for giving this tip!) But actually you don't need any sound to wake you up as the light itself takes care of it. I have tested the drumming sound as well, which I find the less irritating of the available ones, but it seems that I'm the only one who wakes up with that sound. My children stay asleep. However, they often want to listen to that alarm sound because they like to dance to the music!

Well, I haven't had any problems waking up nor staying awake now that there's plenty of light, and I quite enjoy it. I have spent lots of time outdoors; we make long walks (well, it's mainly Susie doing the walking and the little ones like to sit back and relax and eat their picnic lunch even though I try to make them walk with their own two feet) and now that we have had warmer days we have gone to beach!  We live very close to an estuary so there are several beaches by the river and by the sea as well where we can go. It's always windy on the seaside, so it's never too hot.

Today I finally noticed that I really should try and get at least some room cleared for a sewing machine. That's because I didn't have any hat to protect my head against sunburn. My hair is blond so it doesn't offer much protection. Since I couldn't find a hat nor any time or space for sewing one, I finally bought a crocheted one from the market place by the sea. It was quite pricey for me, but a lot less expensive than the hats I had been looking at in a department store earlier. Also, I hadn't been able to find my size (my head is almost as tiny as a pea, at least it seems so every time I try on any hat at all) and the crocheted hat was of a flexible size which made it quite comfy as well! The hat is handmade by some local crafter, so I guess it was quite a bargain after all...

I used to be the one sewing and knitting hats to my relatives and friend's children, so I guess something needs to be corrected now that I seem to be buying things rather than making them myself. Note to myself: use the knitting needles and the wool you have stored in the wardrope before they turn into relics. Besides, now is the time to use them, if you intend to knit winter wear for the kids before winter. If you wait too long, you won't have any when the time comes, and then you will have to buy something again. Let me be warned now.

Wendy was the first one to leave a comment on my previous post, and to honour her I should give you something pink.... but since I've been up to something else, I'll just give you some lime, lemon and sunny yellow ATC-backgrounds. The whole set of them. Just click the image above to open the printable size for downloading. The brushes I have used are from Brushes.500ml.org. Once again, these are for personal use, not to be sold in any form.