Handmade With Lots of LOVE

Who loves receiving handmade gifts?  In this day and age, it seems that getting a handmade gift is a rare event but I think the effort spent speaks volumes.

As long as I can really remember, I have loved making homemade gifts for people.  As I child I loved to embroidery and would make dishtowels and pillows and now these days I pick up a pencils or paintbrushes over sewing needles.  I would paint my own stationary designs and make my own clothing.  I'm blessed that I learned to sew and that I could draw and paint.  It sure made gift giving easier and less expensive over the years.

Today, I am invited to a dear friends retirement party.  She has spent almost 20 years serving the community on our local police force.  I know she has looked forward to this day for a long time and I'm sure her family will rest a bit easier knowing she is no longer out there in harms way.  I so appreciate her service and I know that in the past few years it has become increasingly difficult to work in the law enforcement profession. I can't imagine the stress involved to put on that uniform each day.   Now she can just focus on her family, her faith, some gardening and maybe she and I can even plan a little road trip.

I decided I was going to put my newly learned Photoshop skills to the test and create her a retirement card from my artwork.  I decided this bee and daisy sketch would be perfect.  I added some digital paper for the background border and then added text.  Maybe I could have thought of something more clever to write but this is what I came up with in the small space afforded me.




Now, I also decided that I would paint her a cowbell.  I know maybe she isn't into cowbells or mice but I'll just have to take my chances with that I guess.   I decided to paint a little mouse climbing a dandelion stem headed upward towards the prize.  It makes me think of this scripture in Philippians 3:14 "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

As a child, I remember being told to make a wish just before I blew as hard as I could to send each little feathery seed pod off in the wind.  Reaching retirement is like having those wishes come true.  I pray she will be blessed in this new phase of her life and I really hope she likes her cowbell.

I would LOVE to hear from you if you have recently used your skills to make a handmade gift.  If you send me a picture and the details I might feature it here on my blog and Facebook page.  Just send me a message and let me know about it.

You can check out more of my artwork on my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com