Coming to a new country isn't easy and when you come to a new country where the language is completely different right down to the alphabet, the food is also different because of religious standards, in fact the whole culture is completely different, the adjustment required to adapt to the new country can be overwhelming.
As you know, we are part of a group that sponsored a Syrian family to come to Canada and they have been here for about 6 months now. It has taken a lot of adjustment on everyone's part and now, in the throes of dreary winter, it has been difficult for them to stay positive! And as their sponsor group, we have struggled to find activities that we can do together that are not language-dependent, (although their English has improved a lot since they first arrived), don't involve food that they can't eat, (which is a lot, Muslims have to eat Halal food) or music they don't like (they haven't really taken to Western music much yet - Middle Eastern music is in a category all it's own). Sports are dress dependent for the women (eg. they can't go swimming). So you can see how difficult it is to find common ground.
But this week, I had a kind of epiphany! I know that the mom loves anything beautiful and often posts things on Facebook or Instagram that have lovely images, so I had a hunch that she would really like making some pretty cards with me. I invited her and the girls in the family to my house last night to try stamping some cards with me. I figured that even if they couldn't understand my directions completely, I would be demonstrating, so a "picture would be worth a thousand words"!
I designed two cards that were beautiful and hopefully, not too difficult, made some cookies (sweets always seem to be okay) and hoped for the best! It was more than successful! They left my house with the biggest smiles and felt so pleased with themselves, especially when I told them that they had not done beginner cards, but more advanced ones! They learned some new English terms like Snail and bone folder and Big Shot! And I think I have some new stampin' buddies. Stamping Up! breaks down barriers between people again! That's one reason I love it so much!!
- This was one of the cards we did together. It uses the Country Home stamp set and some Stampin' Blends colouring.
- We did some water colour washes on the Shimmery White cardstock for the card front before using the Tin Tile Dynamic Embossing Folder to emboss it with. Then we added some Frost White Shimmer Paint to the raised areas to enhance and glitter up the front.
- We added some of the Chicken Wire Elements, which are, unfortunately, now all sold out, to the card front.
- The stamped image of the milk can and the floral arrangement were stamped on Whisper White with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured in with the Mint Macaron Stampin' Blends Combo and the Granny Apple Green Combo. To this sample, I added some Frost White Shimmer to the cotton bolls in the greenery.
- The sentiment is from the Country Home Suite and was die cut with the Stitched Shapes Framelits. A little bow from Mint Macaron Nature's Twine was the final touch.
- Just a humorous aside: In Arabic, you open a card from the left to the right, instead of from the right to the left as we do, so next time you glue your card front on backwards, just tell everyone you're making an Arabic card!!
This is one of my last posts before Christmas and we're down to the wire now for Stampin' Up! gifts, but if you're a last minute shopper, don't despair. Give me a call and I can write you out a Gift Certificate (a cute one,too!) for your Stampin' Up! loving friend! Hope that helps!!
Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.
Product List
