When my Mom passed we were left with her favourite sweatshirt from Northern Reflections. Not wanting to just give them away or throw them out, I decided to design and sew a quilt using her sweatshirts.
Mom never had expensive jewellery but I have memories of always wanting to play in her jewellery box. When she passed my sisters and I went through her jewellery box and I took the jewellery that I had given her and made a little picture frame containing those pieces so that they could be on display, not hidden away in a box somewhere.
When my Dad passed, I used his shirts to sew pillow covers and change purses. My Dad only like thin cotton shirts, usually plaid and it must have snaps, never buttons. Buttons frustrated my Dad, they were small and his fingers were big and he would avoid wearing anything with buttons. So when he died, I took the shirts, used the main body of the shirt for pillow covers, then took the cuffs off and made cool little change purses. I was able to give one to each of my sisters, my nieces and also my kids and grandkids.
When my friend John passed away by suicide, I felt the need to create something that would always remind me of his friendship. With the help of our friends David and Toni, we set out on our lake to find the perfect rocks to erect an inuksuk in our cabin yard. John always loved visiting us there, it is also our favourite place, so it was easy to put the inuksuk there. It really felt meant to be because we chose a beach, the rocks just magically appeared and we took them back and put them together without any adhesive to make them stay. They balanced perfectly. He's been standing there for over 18 years and it’s comforting to have him standing there.
I have started creating different projects for the grandkids. I have done personalized paintings for them. A couple summers ago I also did a photo book of our summer adventures out blueberry picking. We have had Christmas ornaments made with our signature inside, but anything that you want to leave as a memory or to save a memory of a loved one.
When my mother-in-law passed away, she had always kept a binder full of written recipes as well as quotes and sayings she loved. After she passed, I took the binder and photo copied it so that each of her kids and all the grandkids had copies of that binder as a beautiful reminder of her.