Loss.

This post is about a loss. Recently my family lost a loved one,

my Uncle Alan. It was sudden, and that always makes losing a loved 

one even worse!

My uncle was a pretty amazing guy! I am not just saying that, he

 REALLY was!! He was my mother's brother, and he was most definitely

the *cool* uncle on her side of the family.

He was always wearing a leather biker jacket, AND always reminded

me of the Fonz, from the Happy Days sitcom, so he was like a cooler,

way less cheesy version of the Fonz!!

He served in the Military too, so he always deserved respect and appreciation

for that. My dad whom I miss dearly, ALWAYS like my Uncle Alan, so 

that says a lot too. He was seriously the best single dad I have ever met!

He loved his daughter SO much! I cannot even express how much I respect

the kind of parent he was. He was a good guy! The world was a better place

because he was in it! His service was low key but still full of love.

I for the first time got to see one of my dear cousins behind the pullpit!

She is a woman of God and has ministered to me way before she was an official

minister! The elder pastor, Pastor Brown ministered to my soul, by God's grace,

with the words she spoke! I REALLY needed to hear that and I know I was not 

the only one! A couple more of my dear cousins shared found memories of my

uncle, and my dearly loved sister and aunts did too.

I did not coz I am not that bold! It was so nice to hear what they had to say though.

#GodIsSOGood I was asked to make a memorial display for his service, and I
wanted to do it right.
I prayed before making it, during, and after too.

I wanted it to honor my uncle and his life, but I also wanted it to comfort my

family, especially my cousin, his daughter, who I love probably more than she 

even knows!! This was last moment and I had no idea what theme I was going for!

I wanted to do something *Steampunk-ish*, I also wanted it to be masculine.

Which being a lover of pink, and all things glitter this is ALWAYS a challenge

for me! LOL SO I decided cogs/gears were a must! I decided that the Prima, 

Love Gears, dies were a must! 1. because Gears, 2. because my uncle's b-day

was on Valentine's Day and hearts! Actually my oldest son shares his b-day, so 

that day is awesome for multi reasons! I wanted to use my Prima dies BUT
 I needed some of them bigger, SO I cut them out on my Cuttlebug, then I
scanned those cuts and after that I made file from the scans.
I resized them, and thenI cut them out using my electronic cutting machine.
 Since I was only going use these for personal use I am pretty sure that's an okay
thing to do. Right?
Anyways these dies are amazing and you should own them if you have the chance!
So I knew I wanted *Steampunk* vibe right?

For the first time EVER I got to use some Prima Rust paste! Real talk?
That stuff is AMAZING! I also used my Craftwell eBrush, Cuttlebug, and my
Cricut Explore 2.
After having created the background on the canvas, rusting things up, cutting
things out and bringing it all together was done.
 The last hurdle for this piece was, that I wanted it to have a title!
It's a thing from my scrapbooking roots! I just think it pulls things together nicely!
So there was a word that kept coming to my mind.
That word was beloved, a word that means dearly loved, and that was how my 

Uncle Alan was and is loved!
In bringing this post almost to and end I want to remind all y'all
to always let your loved ones know often and how much they are loved! 

This sudden loss is one more reminder that we never know when our time is up!

So say it often!
I would have posted the steps, and details that went into making this but it's a
somber piece and was rushed last minute. So I could not.

I did manage to take a pic or two though. Sharing here of course.
I will also be sharing on my Instagram and such.
Love went into this, and I pray that is obvious to all who see it.
I hope somehow it was comforting to the family and honored my uncle.
Now in sharing this I hope you might be inspired! Much crafty love to all who visit.

                 <3 - Dezz