Mother's Day Shaker Card and My Story of Infertility

 I adore making cards for special occasions and Mother's Day is probably my favorite special occasion of them all.   I'm one of those "late in life" moms.  My husband and I endured a lot of agony over the years with numerous miscarriages.  It was so difficult, that I couldn't even bring myself to attend baby showers for the longest time.  After finally giving up on the dream, imagine being surprised, 18 years into our marriage, to find that I'm pregnant again.  This time, immediate steps were taken by my doctor to put me on hormone medications to keep my levels up.  That day, I started the medication that ended up saving my child, allowing me to have a full-term pregnancy and, praise the Lord, a healthy baby!

I share all this with you today because Mother's Day is so precious to me.  There are so many women out there who have struggled with infertility.  I once saw a news report of a woman, a YOUNG woman, who gave up on the dream and was tired of the endless disappointment and had a voluntary hysterectomy.  How sad.  Had I done the same thing, we wouldn't be blessed with our 13 year old son.  We, as women, make hard choices in life sometimes.  Had I not gone to the doctor that day, (uh, thinking I was pre-menopausal??!!) I may have not gotten the lifesaving treatment for my baby in time. 

My doctor is a true lifesaver and we have a very special relationship.  He had already retired from delivering babies but because of my history, wanted to see me through my first trimester before handing me over to another doctor.  Dr. Frank Page, in Birmingham, AL, you are my hero!

I sent HIM flowers upon my son's birth.  A very small gesture of my thanks and appreciation.

I didn't intend this post to be about me, I actually intended it to be about my mom but sometimes you feel led in another direction and maybe someone is struggling and needs to hear my message. 

Now, for the crafty details of this card!  I used a lovely stamp set called "Just For Mom" from Craftin' Desert Divas and colored the image with my Tombow Dual Brush pens, doing a touch of water color blotting on the lettering.  Those awesome, sparkly flower sequins are also from Craftin' Desert Divas (CDD).  The outline of the sentiment in the upper right corner was cut with my Cricut Explore.  It's a big plus in my book, that CDD has free coordination svg files to go along with their stamps.   The ribbons are all from May Arts Ribbon, pretty pink plaid adhesive hearts, the butterfly, the white mesh.... all those pretty ribbon and fabric accessories are from May Arts Ribbon, my absolute favorite ribbon company!  The designer paper is from Graphic 45's A Time To Flourish line and is the perfect compliment to this panel shaker card. .

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there and my prayers are with the Mom's who are yet to hear those precious words from a child's lips....God Bless You!

I'll be linking this sweet card up to these challenges:

Craftin' Desert Divas Mother's Day Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Anything Goes 

Additional supplies: Pop Dots, Le Marvy Le Pen ultra fine point black, 6"x6" white card from the Paper Studio, purple sequins from Hobby Lobby, Lavender cardstock from Simon Says Stamp, Tombow Super Bond adhesive runner, Lil' Inkers Design oval stitched mat die

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