Honoring My Grandpa

April 18th (the date of this month's Ready Set Go!) is an important day. It is the day that my maternal grandfather was born - 109  years ago.

Oliver Guy Fredrick Hess

April 18, 1909 - May 11, 1988

Even though he's been gone for nearly 30 years, my Grandfather's memory continues to impact my family. He was an honest man of great morals. He was a hardworking farmer (and believed in work before play). He was a man who loved his family dearly. He could play the piano by ear (but only when wearing work gloves) and he was an amazing storyteller. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without my Grandpa in it.

In honor of this pillar in my family, here is my Ready Set Go! challenge...

Choose an ancestor (it can be any of your ancestors... but maybe - just maybe - you'd like to choose the one who's birthday is closest to April 18th) and create a card that in some way reflects that person. Here are some suggestions to ponder when creating your card (in case you're stumped and need a jump start): his/her favorite color, his/her career choice, his/her favorite beverage or food, his/her heritage, a lesson he/she taught you... or something totally different.

And please be sure to tell us a little bit about the relative you chose when you share your card.

Ready? Set. Go!

I chose this gorgeous barn stamp to use for my card, since my Grandpa was a farmer. It's where his heart was, for sure. Times were rough farming in Iowa. The Depression hit them especially hard. So they relocated to Wichita, where he worked in an airplane factory for just a few years. He did not like city life, nor working in a factory, so as soon as he and my uncle were able to swing the payment, they bought a farm in Missouri and my Grandpa farmed it until his retirement years later.

The button embellishment on my card is very special!

I have my Grandma's button tin (funny how no one else wanted it so I got it). Inside are buttons that she cut off of clothing that was going into the rag pile. The Depression had taught her to be frugal, if nothing else. I have no way of knowing for sure whose shirt this button came off of, but I want to think it was my Grandpa's. If not his, then it would have been one of my two uncles.

Be sure to stop by the other two Ready Set Go blogs - Kelly's and Barb's - to see what they did with this month's theme.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Supplies Used

Stamp: North Coast Creations Barn stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Ranger Tim Holtz Distressed Ink (for sponging): Antique Linen, Shabby Shutters, and Stormy Sky

Papers: Recollections Black and Ivory and SU Old Olive CS and DP from my scrap file

Embellishments: Offray Crochet Thread, SU Ribbon, and a Vintage Button from Grandma's Button Tin