Bittersweet Thank You

Last Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of attending an evening in the lounge at the Portage Avenue Marigold Restaurant in Winnipeg. It was great to see a lot of old friends but it was sad to think that in a few short days the Marigold Restaurant would close its doors forever. The Marigold had been a favorite watering hole for its faithful patrons including my husband, who had been a regular there for 37 years.

Wally Woo, who passed away on July 1, 2016, came to Canada from China at the age of 15 with only $8.00 in his pocket but went on to found the string of Marigold restaurants in Winnipeg, with  the Marigold on Portage Avenue remaining his favorite. He put in long hours each day at the restaurant up to shortly before his death at 82.

Another important person at the restaurant was the manager, Jean. She also put in long hours but always maintained a professional and pleasant demeanor, connecting with each patron and remembering birthdays and other special occasions. I made this card to thank her for her hard work at Marigold's.

The 5 x 7" card base was cut from Coastal Cabana and then two Coastal Cabana panels were cut for the front of the card and embossed using the Pinewood Planks embossing folder. I referred to the excellent tutorial by Nicole Watt on Distressed Wood using Bermuda Bay, Lemon Lime Twist, Island Indigo, Crumb Cake and Whisper White inks with sponge daubers to create the colorful wood.

The sentiment, from the now retired Lovely Amazing You stamp set, was stamped with Island Indigo on Coastal Cabana and then die cut using the #3 oval from the Stitched Shapes Framelits. Island Indigo was sponged around the shape and then it was glued to a scalloped matte die cut from the Myths & Magic Glimmer paper using a scalloped die from the Layering Ovals Framelits. The completed sentiment was then glued to two Delicate White Doilies which had been sponged with Crumb Cake. These were attached to the front of the card with Dimensionals.

Both Linen Thread and Gold Metallic Thread were used to create swirls and attached to the card using Glue Dots. The "greenery" was die cut from Myths & Magic Glimmer paper using Petals & More Thinlits and leaves punched from Island Indigo and Soft Suede using the leaf punch. Little filler stems were die cut from Bermuda Bay and Coastal Cabana using the Sweet Cake Framelits. Leaves and stems were sponged with ink and then attached using liquid adhesive.

The flowers were punched using the retiring Pansy Punch and the retired Petite Petals Punch using Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay card stock. Flowers were stacked, pierced in the centre with a Piercing Tool and then fastened with a brad. Each flower was then sprayed with water and each individual layer scrunched up into a final bud shape. These were left to dry overnight and then carefully disassembled. Each petal was sponged with Crumb Cake and then liquid adhesive was used to assemble each flower. Crystal Effects was used to fasten each bloom to the card front.

It gave me such joy to create this card for Jean and I was so glad that she loved receiving it!

Thank you for visiting my blog today.