Ev'ry Morning is Easter Morning!

"Ev'ry morning is Easter morning from now on!

Ev'ry day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone!

Good-bye guilt, good-bye fear, good riddance! Hello Lord, Hello sun!

I am one of the Easter people! My new life has begun!

Ev'ry morning is Easter morning from now on!

Ev'ry day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone!

Daily news is so bad it seems the good news seldom gets heard.

Get it straight from the Easter people, God's in charge spread the word!

Ev'ry morning is Easter morning from now on!

Ev'ry day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone!

Yesterday I was bored and lonely; but today look and see!

I belong to the Easter people! Life's exciting to me!"

A most happy and blessed Easter to each of you, dear friends! I remember singing this song in church on Easter morning and then for several following Sundays. With the exception of "Morning Has Broken," it is one of my favorites for springtime! Written by Richard Avery and Donald Marsh in 1967, one cannot help but feel a spirit of hope and renewal when singing this uplifting tune. Here is a link to a video of a children's choir singing if you would like to listen to it.

My husband requested a religious card for Easter this year. Usually he likes nature themed cards or cute designs, but he said he wanted something for his desk at work. He thought it would be a good "challenge." He didn't know that most of the cards I planned to make this year were going to have a religious theme, so this fit quite nicely with my scheme. I die cut the Taylored Expressions "At the Cross 2" five times from some woodgrain cardstock using an old Cuttlebug plate without the metal adaptor so the die wouldn't cut all the way through and the small mosaic pieces would remain intact. The outer edges cut perfectly, which is what I was hoping. I then ran four of the crosses through the Xyron with the adhesive on the front side of the cross. I laid the fifth cross on top, with the adhesive exposed where the mosaic pieces would be inlaid.

I located this piece in my scrap file, a leftover practice sheet from creating these cards. I'm so glad I saved it because it was just the colors dh loves, the very ones I find so difficult to use! The top right hand corner shows where I cut pieces for the bottom of the cross. I wanted a variance of colors, so cut apart small portions from specific areas, a few at a time. I carefully left them in the die or stuck to the plastic plate so I could puzzle piece them in. The center of the cross was cut from the area that was stamped with Delicata Gold ink.

Once the pieces were inlaid, I inked the edges of the cross with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. The background piece is Rustic Cream cardstock from PaperTrey Ink. The sentiment is by Taylored Expressions "He Is Risen" and is embossed with Princess Gold embossing powder. Perfect Pearls Gold was mixed with water and flicked on to the cardstock before I cut the cross from the background piece. It was then run through the Cuttlebug with the Walking on Sunshine embossing folder. 

My original plan was to use a yellowish orange metallic cardstock for the card base, but I decided to stay with the rustic theme of the design. The card base was made from Rustic Cream cardstock. The fold line was masked and distress inks Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, and Dried Marigold were applied along the edges before adhering the embossed panel. The final step was to inlay the cross into the die cut opening.

This last Monday night I was finishing the Easter cards by stamping sentiments with Versafine Black ink on parchment paper inserts. I like adding an insert page so I don't worry about stamping errors on the finished cards. The cards were lined up on the shelf above my craft desk like little soldiers awaiting their turn for completion. That's when the unthinkable, unheard of happened. Splat. Face down. Into the black ink. Dh's card. I just stood there. Gasp. I couldn't even pick it up! Once I did, there was no time for tears. I couldn't imagine how this happened. I thought I was being careful. I had to start over. And I had to finish it that night due to other obligations during the week. I completed the other cards, and while staring at the ruin before me, I began to wonder if maybe, just maybe I could peel away the top layer of the cross and the embossed piece. That wouldn't be so much to fix, I reasoned, trying to convince myself the situation was better than I imagined. 

As you can see, the pieces were beyond any butterfly or sequin camouflage. I thought about giving the card to dh as it was with a sticky note attached to the front with arrows, "ink happens!" but since he wanted it for his desk at work, I knew a redo was necessary. I was indeed able to pull everything apart and simply cut another cross from the woodgrain cardstock, another tiny orange mosaic piece, and redo the embossed and stamped layer. I used the torn piece above as a template for where to die cut the cross so the new panel would fit over the original cross. Not such a difficult task after all. An hour or so later, all was right once again. 

That's what today is about, isn't it? Mistakes made right because of love. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort; sometimes not so much at all, and we're surprised. 

Easter Lily from dear friends.

Forgiven, redeemed, renewed; we begin again anew. All is right in our world. 

Hallelujah!

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Materials Used:

Paper: PTI rustic Cream Cardstock; Woodgrain Cardstock

Stamps: Taylored Expressions "He Is Risen"

Dies: Taylored Expressions "At the Cross 2"

Ink: Distress Inks - Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold, Gathered Twigs;

       Versamark; Delicata Golden Glitz

Other: Perfect Pearls Perfect Gold; Princess Gold Embossing Powder; Taylored Expressions "Walking on Sunshine"

       Embossing Folder