Butterflies and Remembering a Good Friend

Our crafty world is such an amazing, inspiring and wonderful community. I’m blessed to have been a part of this community since 1994, and online since 1998. Over the years, I have gotten to know thousands of you, made more friendships than I can count and every now and then actually get to meet and know people in person. So many of us participate as watchers, teachers, and friends. Earlier this month, we suddenly lost one of those crafty spirits, Melissa Lane. Melissa inspired us, motivated and taught us how to pull the best out in what we do – usually in an unexpected and colorful way.

I had the first got to know Melissa as a team mate on the Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge Team and then really well on the Mixed Media Team. I was living in the Black Forest in Germany at the time, and was shocked that on a world wide team put together by Kylie Purtell, a few of my team mates lived just 45 minutes from me. Isn’t it funny, that in this big huge world – three of us were so close in geographically? Especially put together by a leader who lived in Australia, and two of us being American and living in a foreign country!

Melissa, Tanya Kabel & myself vowed one day to get together to flex our crafty muscles to just stamp with a friend. In this day and age, we all get to know about each other from blogs, instagram, facebook and youtube accounts – but when do you actually get to stamp LIVE and in person? I was no longer alone!! Sadly, Tanya ended up not being to make it that day, but Melissa and I had the rare opportunity to spend the entire day crafting, chatting and we even had dinner together with the family. It truly was a perfect day.

You can’t go empty handed, right? I brought my famous apple/raspberry German crumb cake for the family, since I towed all my craft supplies along with me like a little kid just excited to play with a good friend…lol. I think I had all my stencils (I had quickly been accumulating several Artplorations stencils), a gel plate, acrylic paints, nearly all my stamps, inks and anything else I could think of with me.

Melissa quickly grabbed my gel plate, and made several backgrounds with this very mask I used today. I remember borrowing it and she borrowed several of my stencils that she didn’t have as she was new on the Stamplorations Design Team – and I seemed to have almost all of them…lol. We ink blended, watercolored, got out the pastes and were just two kids in a candy store showing each other our favorite techniques and playing with mediums. We very quickly made a mess in her cute little crafting corner of the house – and the kids kept peeking in on us to see what we were creating. It was SO much fun.

I had also brought several cards with me, and we flipped though each others little works of art, don’t you just love doing that? Cards after all look SO much better in real life than in a photo. We took a break, walked through the garden, talked about art, and I became mesmerized with her father’s gorgeous watercolor artwork. Later we enjoyed a fabulous dinner, made by her beautiful family. Shortly thereafter, I moved back to the states, so we didn’t get a chance to stamp together again, but we remained good friends for years.

Melissa was not just an incredible artist, but she was a Christian, a military wife to her high school sweetheart Chris, loved homes educating her four children, avid gardener, cook and photographer. She had a zest for life and lived every day to the fullest. I loved chatting with her, Melissa knew who she was and loved her family fiercely. We will all miss her.

My life is richer for knowing you Melissa, first and foremost as a person, but also as an artist. I loved visiting your blog and seeing your creations on social media always put a smile on my face – especially when you used butterflies – your love for butterflies made such an impression on me that day. You loved color and butterflies.

It’s only fitting that I create today in your honor, what else – a rainbow of butterflies. I always thought of you when I saw this stencil, and every butterfly I saw. I don’t think that will ever change.

If you’re interested in knowing how I created this piece in Melissa’s honor, brayer a rainbow of acrylic color onto a gel plate, add your Shower of Flutters mask, sponge or brayer over with black paint, take a pull, and trim down. Emboss your greeting in gold, add hearts using the Row of Hearts stencil, embossed in clear embossing powder over your entire card.

Stamp the butterflies from the set Blossom like a Butterfly in Catherine Pooler Midnight Archival ink onto colorful monoprinted backgrounds (Melissa loved red), fussy cut and add some gold embossing powder details. Pop up the wings, and emboss the edges of your card base. This card is sized 5 x 7″. That’s it!

I know you’re watching over us Melissa, but I miss you all the same. You were an inspiration to so many of us, and we’re better crafters for having known you.

To read more about Melissa, see her artwork and the outpouring of love from our community, visit the Stamplorations blog post here.

Much love my friend,