A new journey

Remember last September when we had the Italian Celebration to honor my bff's mom? It was a HUGE celebration and so much fun. Ive (pronounced Eva) was full blooded Italian, born and raised in Southern Italy. She was a delight, a charmer, full of wisdom and wit. I loved her so very much and was incredibly inspired by her. The party was a celebration to honor her life but it became so much more. I spoke about the party and included some photos when I finally got back to blogging after a horrific summer (healthwise). You can read about it HERE . You'll have to scroll down throught he post through other photos etc if you're really interested!.

At any rate, it became a celebration of all life. Where it was originally intended to celebrate Ive's life, it became something that spanned the ages. We had children ranging from infancy through 14 there. The kids all played wonderfully in the backyard while the grown ups and young adults mingled, ate amazing food and just had fun. We shared stories about Ive and got to know how each of us had been touched by her. Thoughout the evening, my goal was to try and find a way I could begin to show her family members just how much Ive and that day meant to me and my family. I've finally decided what to do.

As a hybrid scrapper, digital scrapper and paper scrapper, I had tons of ideas. I've finally figured out I'm going to do a series of digital layouts. Once completed, I'll have them all printed out in a table top book for each of the family members. Lisa, Bob, Robert and Kenny will all have their own copies. It's not that I"m that comfortable with my own work, (though I'm not too shabby if I do say so myself!) it's just that the day was that extraordinary. The people who came are wonderful people, the laughter, phenomenal food (all homemade authentic Italian ONLY thank you!), Italian Wines (again - only Italian wines were allowed) and the air about the day was fantastic. We were even blessed to have a sweet baby born to some dear friends of ours on the very day of Ive's passing one year later. How much more blessed does it get!

So here is the start of Ive's book. The collage of photos at the bottom is one I put together for the party so everyone got a look at Ive from her childhood on. It was really well received and Bob has had it kept as was and we are looking for a large poster type frame for it. My goal is to have to completed by THIS Celebration Day in September. (Tee hee - think I'll make it?)



Thanks for looking!
Blessings,
Lissa