Living Happily Ever After

My grandparents celebrated 71 years of wedded bliss last month.  We ended up going out for dinner to celebrate and I was rushing to finish a card to let them know I was thinking of them.  I snapped this picture in the car on the way to the restaurant.

Sorry that it is a bit blurry, but I really like how my Heartfelt Creations Flowering Dogwood stamp and die cut flowers turned out.  They are so adorable in person and a perfect focal point for this simple designed card - something to celebrate such a long marriage.  I'm looking forward to taking my time with these flowers on a project in the near future and ultimately taking a better photo of the card so you can see how lovely these flowers turn out.

I've always loved dogwood flowers.  My mom hung a picture in the bathroom that I grew up in that had this poem:

In Jesus' time, the dogwood grew 

To a stately size and a lovely hue. 'Twas strong and firm, its branches interwoven. For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen. Seeing the distress at this use of their wood Christ made a promise which still holds good: "Never again shall the dogwood grow Large enough to be used so. Slender and twisted, it shall be With blossoms like the cross for all to see. As blood stains the petals marked in brown, The blossom's center wears a thorny crown. All who see it will remember Me Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree. Cherished and protected, this tree shall be A reminder to all of My agony."

The author of the poem is unknown and the truth of its words are murky at best.  Still, I enjoyed the poem and the pretty picture with it.  These dogwood blooms are a reminder to me of this simple poem and the fact that I can recite the poem to this day.