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New Year and time to say goodbye

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My dear friends. Thank you. I have had this blog for a full 15 years and it has chronicled so many small moments and so much of my creative journey. When I started this, my boys were small and I was getting more serious about crafting. This blog has led me to many of you and I am thankful that you have joined me and read my thoughts, sent me kind words, and supported my hobby. I found my Freshly Made Sketches family here. I committed to entering the Artisan Design Team competition for Stampin’ Up and then, in a total surprise, had the privilege of being on that team for a year. Again, I met more of my crafting friends during that time. When it came time to move away from Stampin’ Up, it was a creative leap of faith and again you supported me. Through design teams and product launches, I loved being able to share with you.

The hardest part of walking away from this blog is that it is kind of a journal. Moments in time, cards made for family, the loss of my mom, my United Airlines journey and, the biggest I think, my yearly ponderings on 9/11. I could not walk away from this until I had a way to save it all. Thankfully, I have figured that out so that I will have it as a file and a way to remember.

For now, the blog will stay in place until its permissions run out. Because it is a paid blog, it cannot stay in place forever and I’m sure it will up and disappear with no warning. I’m sorry about that part but also do not want to pay or do the work behind the scenes to keep it viable any further. As you have seen, I’ve been slowly transitioning more to social media for my postings. I’m always happy to answer questions about my cards or other things on those places.

And now, here we are. In January 2010 I set out to share my crafting adventures and I’m so glad I had you all along for the ride. Thanks for riding along with me. It is with gratitude that I wish you all fair skies and tailwinds. Hope to see you on Instagram and Facebook!

Freshly Made Sketches #717

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Narelle Farrugia is the sketch designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

Freshly Made Sketches #716

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Michele Ferguson is the sketch designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

Freshly Made Sketches #715

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Karren Johnson is the sketch designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

Freshly Made Sketches #714

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Cécile Ribon is the sketch designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

Freshly Made Sketches #711

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The amazing Kim Singdahlsen is the designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

Additionally, if you missed it, I created a new video for my YouTube Channel last week. Linking it here so that you can follow that page if you are interested.

Freshly Made Sketches #709

Freshly Made Sketches #709 published on 3 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #709

The amazing Jen Mitchell is the designer for this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Come over to the challenge blog to play along. All the details for my card can be found on Instagram (link here:  jentimko) or on Facebook (link here:  Stampin’ on the Fly with Jen Timko).

Twenty-four Years

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“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”
—Sandy Dahl, wife of United Flight 93 Captain Jason Dahl

I started with this same quote last year but, honestly, it holds so true that it bears repeating. And yet, here we are. Everywhere around us, words of hate, actions of hate, finding ways to push other down instead of lifting them up. As I pondered how to approach this post, I find myself overwhelmed by the fear that we have totally failed. Those passengers and crew on United Flight 93 knew what had happened to the other planes. They knew that a target was set on a critical landmark. They banded together and said not on my watch. They didn’t ask who was an immigrant; they didn’t care about the color of skin; they didn’t care if someone was LGBTQ+. They chose to do whatever it took to try to stop the evil and it took all of them. They knew that they would likely die but chose to save others with their sacrifice. They counted on us to make it worth it. Have we?

As always for this anniversary, I focused on blue. The blue of the sky that day, United blue. The butterfly is from All Things New by Honey Bee Stamps and the background is Vintage Floral. The arch dies are from Spellbinders. The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches designed by the incomparable Karren Johnson.

I have written my thoughts and memories for many years now. This is likely the last blog post for a 9/11 anniversary but I will say that it is these posts that have make me hold onto the blog for as long as I have. If you care to read:  9th Anniversary10th Anniversary11th Anniversary12th Anniversary13th Anniversary14th Anniversary15th Anniversary18th Anniversary and 19th Anniversary20th Anniversary21st Anniversary, 22nd Anniversary and 23rd Anniversary.

As I wake up tomorrow on a new day, I will be grateful for the lives and examples of the crews, the passengers and all those at the WTC and Pentagon that were lost on 9/11. I will mourn what could have been for them. I will try to find joy and beauty in everyone – and that is without qualifier. I wish for us all a world where each of us will do the same and choose to be worthy.

In memory of:

United 93:  Jason Dahl, LeRoy Homer Jr., Lorraine Bay, Sandra Bradshaw, Wanda Green, CeeCee Lyles, Deborah Welsh

United 175:  Victor Saracini, Michael Horrocks, Robert Fangman, Amy Jarret, Amy King, Kathryn Laborie, Alfred Marchand, Michael Tarrou, Alicia Titus, Marianne McFarlane, Jesus Sanchez

American 11:  John Ogonowski, Thomas McGuinness, Barbara Arestegui, Jeffrey Collman, Sara Low, Karen Martin, Kathleen Nicosia, Betty Ong, Jean D. Roger, Dianne Snyder, Madeline Sweeney

American 77:  Charles Burlingame III, David Charlebois, Michele Heidenberger, Jennifer Lewis, Kenneth Lewis, Renee May

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