Sparkles for a Sad day!

Today Kristina posted her weekly color challenge. This is not why it is a sad day, this actually makes it a good day. Today is a sad day because it is the first day that the reality of the death of my DH's dear friend has really hit him. He is at work and I wasn't with him when he broke down. We were on the phone together and I could tell how upset he is. The next few days are going to be even harder as we attend the wake tomorrow and then the funeral on Friday. I tell you I love this hobby for many reasons. It is definitely a creative outlet for me and today I realized it can be an emotional outlet as well. As I do each week, I loved this color combo. Here is the inspiration piece that Kristina posted. The colors are so soft and serene-Close to Cocoa, Choc. Chip, Vanilla, and Soft Sky. I sat down to make this card after the conversation I had with Tim. I think my card has a quiet, soft feel to it, which was how I was feeling as I created it. I decided to add sparkles to the bird because Drew was such an amazing guy with a fun personality! Tim would think this was all goofy and sappy, what I'm writing here, but I was totally feeling the sadness as I created this card. It is not meant to be a sympathy card, just a reflection of the mood I was in.
The card base is a piece of textured Vanilla cs, then I cut a piece of Cocoa cs to 5 1/4 x 4 inches. I added a piece of Sky ds paper to the top 3/4 of the cocoa piece in the design closest to the pattern on the comforter. I layered my last piece of Choc. satin ribbon with a strip of soft sky double stitched grosgrain (yes, I took out the stitching again). The rectangles were cut using my nesties. I inked the bird in Cocoa craft ink and embossed him with Iridescent Ice EP. Added some Soft Sky berries to the bottom and sponged the edges with Cocoa ink. The sentiment says Sparkle from Warm Words and I used a piece of styled Silver HPH over the top and added two half back pearls from my Pretties Kit. I've seen this done by many but it was the first time I tried it. I think it added to the softness of the card. Okay, this was way longer of a post than I wanted it to be. Make sure you take time today to say the words, "I love you" to someone you do love!