New Zealand friend

I started my morning by looking through a whole slide show of the earthquake damage in Christchurch and it just breaks my heart.  While our family is safe and sound in California, the time we spent in New Zealand over the last 6 years is still very fresh in our minds.  Below is a photo of my oldest standing in the Christchurch town center.  I cannot imagine him standing there right now.

So, with those heavy thoughts on my mind I made a card, which I will promptly stick in the mail to one of my many friends in New Zealand.  I've been experimenting with new tips that I've picked up on my blogging surfing.  The first one I tried was from Moxie Fab World's Stamp It Technique with Shimmer Sprays.  I tried the technique of spraying the shimmer spray before I embossed the paper.  My version doesn't quite look Kris' cool card, but I tried.  The second new tip I tried was this week's PTI Make It Monday with a glitter strip.  I love that there's a tiny bit of sparkle on this fairly somber card.  And finally I'm going to add this to Hero Arts Friendship challenge because I've used the HA Designer Friend stamp (which I don't think I've ever done in sold black).

Materials: Hero Arts Designer Friend leaf stamp, Versafine black ink, Spellbinders Nestabilities Label 8, Cuttlebug Embossing folder, Graphite Tattered Angle Glimmer Mist, Martha Stewart onyx glittler, The Twinery Peapod twiner, button from stash,