You Are So Loved

Grandmas funeral was yesterday. I spent a lot of time reflecting about how lucky I was to spend time with her as a child and the reasons that I was so drawn to her. If I stop and think about it there are a lot of things in my life and personality that could be traced back to her. That makes me smile, she was just the coolest person. Anyway. There are times after someone passes when you'd swear you can feel them there with you… little moments when you feel their undeniable presence… I've had those feelings about her already and I'm sure I will again in the future.

Thanks to all those who left nice comments regarding my post about her. You all know I don't like to take it on down to Bummertown, but I also promised to keep it real and it feels good to actually share what's going on with me and not just all of the shiny happy stuff. Glad you're on board with that.

So. Switching gears a bit now. Grandma Cookie wouldn't want me to sit around and feel sorry for myself so as much as I'm still thinking about her it's time to move forward and back to reality. So I thought I'd share a little project I made for my sisters birthday recently. Like I've said before I do a pretty crappy job of connecting with people from afar, but my big sis is the exception. She's my BFF so it's easier for me to reach out. I know she's been struggling lately so I wanted to make something special for her that will remind her everyday that she is loved…

and you want to know the best part? (Ear muffs, Steph.) Total cost: $6. Time: 20 min.

I grabbed a plain mug from the Dollar Tree and a Painters Opaque Marker from Walmart. After sketching out what I wanted the script to look like I penciled it onto the actual mug to use as a guide. Then I traced it with the painters pen, donzo.

Here's what it looked like before...

Some things to note: 

-I'm not in love with the thickness of the writing. I wish I would have chosen a pen with a fine tip that way I could have done some variations on the lettering.. more like my sketch in the background. 

-It's important to be prepared to work l-r, top to bottom in one fluid motion so that you aren's smearing the fresh ink with your hand. 

-The quality of this pen is questionable. I'm not all that confident that she'll be able to throw it in the dishwasher like I wanted.. I'll have to test some pens out and report when I find one that is washable. So maybe it would be better as a pen holder for a desk than an everyday mug.. but hey, it's the thought that counts… either way she can look at it everyday in her office and know that she is loved.

…I also considered making one that said, "breathe"… since she needs to be reminded to do that too. ;) (Love you sis. You too Emily! Hey, you want a crappy mug from the dollar store that I expect you to use but you can't wash too? Oh man. I'm a terrible sister.)