Friday, June 25, 2010

A kind and generous person made gorgeous kid the happiest boy ever!!!

Happy Friday ~

I have a little (okay pretty long) story to tell you before I show you my craft item for today, feel free to skip it, but it's a feel good so you may want to stick with it :o)

On our last long weekend in Canberra, gorgeous kid discovered billy carts (remember those rickety wonky pieces of wood on wheels from our youth - hmmm might be giving my age away here lol)! Well he wanted one and set about modifying a skateboard and an old plastic crate he found some place. Hours later he came inside asking for rope - he'd found packing tape in the garage and had used copious amounts (you can just imagine) and was completely frustrated that it wasn't working. Quite ingenious though I thought.

I didn't have any rope just lying around for such an occasion so promised we would go to the hardware store the following day - we're late, dark and cold Saturday night at this point. Sunday he's at me well before I'm even awake properly, and hours before the stores open. So to keep the peace and hasten time a little before we could head off we got on the computer and googled 'how to make a billy cart'. All of a sudden it became our long weekend project to do together. How that happened I don't know but I had to stick with it....couldn't be that hard, looked basic enough in the plans, I've got a few boy tools....so off to one of the major hardware stores we went armed with our plans and equipment list and a pocket full of money gorgeous kid has been saving for something just like this.

Couldn't find a thing on the list, gee it was already getting complicated :o) Now I'm fairly self sufficient and don't need to rely on a male to get most things done....but we were wasting precious time! Found a lovely man whose job description is to 'help' as he cheerfully told us. He spent ages with us, taking us from aisle to aisle and choosing all the bits and pieces we needed for our billy cart. He was super helpful, but half an hour in he started to shake his head telling us it was going to cost a fortune - that combined with a few larger tools he kept mentioning had me re-thinking this whole project - how on earth was I going to pull this off, it was getting really complicated and we hadn't even got the supplies home yet!

To cut to the chase this very kind and generous man offered to make my son a billy cart, using scraps and bits he had at home, all we had to do was buy the wheels. Not only would he make it, but it would be ready the following day. He would accept nothing I offered as thanks and he was unable to accept cash payment. Soooo after thinking all week and trying to come up with something that would be of use gorgeous kid and I decided a gift card for dinner (that he can enjoy with his wife), a car wash voucher and chocolates may be something nice and helpful to him.

This little gift box is perfect to package the gifts up in. It won't look over the top and embarrass him I hope. Phew after all that here it is - looks innocent enough don't you think?

I used Soft Suede c/s, ink and ribbon. Not Quite Navy c/s and ink along with some misc dsp (that is really lovely blue/green irl and looks great with the SS), Cheep Talk, Sincere Salutations and Best Yet Stamp sets, Little Leaves BS die and Nesties x 2.

Wait for installment two tomorrow - I promise it won't be super long :o)

8 comments:

  1. OMG!!!! P - I had tears in my eyes when I got to the end of that post! How absolutely kind and generous of that man to do that for Connor! Doesnt that put all your faith back into human kind! I am just so excited for connor and would LOVE to see a pic of it!

    If there were more people in the world like that man - what a beautiful place we'd live in hey!

    YOU GO CONNOR!!!

    Karen
    x

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  2. Oh wow what a lovely person, Gorgeous Kid is so lucky!!!!! I didn't think there were people like that any more.
    I really want to see a pic of it.

    Tell GG he is one lucky boy!!!!!

    I think that your gift is perfect and not over the top at all - what a great idea.
    And I love all the colours that you have used, they work perfectly together.

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  3. That is just the best story I have read in a long time. I love the way you tell it, too, Patrice!!! I felt like you were here in the room rabbiting away! I wonder what the billy cart ended up looking like ... me thinks we all need a photo! :wink: Thanks for popping by my blog and taking the time to say hi! Hugs Andrea xx

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  4. I love this little set, your son must be over the moon!

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  5. *wiping my tears away* oh Patrice what a beautiful son you have and how blessed you were finding that RIGHT man....he will be blessed in so many ways for being so lovely. I love encouraging stories.....I feel so enlightened (is that the right word?)....restored faith in human beings!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing. You have also encouraged me to add more to my blog about my life and my family and my experiences! Thank you!!!!

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  6. I LOVE this little gift set - it is GORGEOUS!!!! So nice and elegant in colours and layout and execution! Just gorgeous - I really really like! xxx

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  7. What a beautiful story Patrice!!! I am heartened to know that kindness such as this still exists in the world. Karma is a fantastic force...ur boy put his want and try out there, you put your love and devotion for him out there, you united on a front with a common cause and it was picked up and returned to you by that magical gent. He would have also deeply appreciated your kindness in the gift of thanks you returned to him. Kindness and thank yous cost nothing to put out there, but they give so much back to those who do. ooxx

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I love reading them!