Despite everything that has happened, there is beauty is this world

After a week of such ugliness, I think it is appropriate to talk about some beautiful things in our world.

I was drawn to the My Favorite Things Inspired by the Front Porch-Spring stamp set because it contained the dogwood image. Dogwoods are everywhere around the south. We personally lost a lot of trees in the April 11, 2011 tornadoes that ravaged our state but our two dogwoods survived.  It is one of my favorite trees not only because they are beautiful but because of their religious connotation.  The legend of the dogwood is that in biblical times, it was a tree as strong as the oak and therefore was a popular choice for crucifixions. Sensing the dogwoods distress over this Jesus said that the dogwood would never be used for this purpose again by changing it to a more slender and bent tree. The petals were made to appear as the cross with two short petals and two longer petals. The ends of each petal were stained with blood from the nails and the center a crown of thorns so that all who see it would remember.

Here are what mine look like right now:

And now for my card. I created my own dogwood blossoms using the Lucky Charms Cutters using Christa's tutorial here. I took the tutorial a step farther by snipping the ends with scissors and then using Copic Marker R56 to add the blood stains.  I wanted the colors to be fresh and serene so I chose paper from the new Webster's Pages Composition and Color pad. The "branches" behind the flowers were cut using the My Favorite Things Fancy Flourish Die-namics which I cut in two. The sentiment is from a Verve set. I generally followed this week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch.

Products: My Favorite Things stamp and Die-namics, Verve stamp, Webster's Pages dp, Kaisercraft pearls, C.C. Designs Cutters, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Dogwoods-W00, E81, R56, G40, G43; Shadows-BG0000, BG70

Here are a few more photos from my yard. The camellia bush is fading as they are the first to bloom - often times when it's actually still cold. The camellia is the Alabama state flower. We actually have to stake the bush because when it blooms, it is so heavy it starts to droop.

Azaleas are another southern tradition and are in full bloom right now. They are only a couple of years old so they still have some growing to do. When one of the tornadoes I mentioned above blew threw our neighborhood early that morning, I was sure they would be gone as they had only been planted a few days before. But there they stood.

This week has been so heartbreaking. And ugly. And difficult. It's hard not to hate. But there is still hope and there is still beauty in our lives. Let's wrap our arms around one another and become as one. United. Let's stand strong for the greatest country in the world.

And in closing, I want to share this organization that I found through one of my favorite stampers, Joanne. The One Fund has been established to help victims with medical expenses beyond what their insurances will pay. So many of these victims will be affected by the bombing for the rest of their lives, both physically and mentally.