Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Strange coincidence!

Last Friday, I stumbled upon a website with loads of free clip art. I downloaded this damaged bicycle, thinking of my friend Andy. You see, he rides his bike everywhere and a couple of years ago, he was in a rather serious accident. He was on his way home from work on a rainy autumn day when the roads were full of fallen leaves. He couldn't see the street car rails for all the wet leaves and his bicycle wheels got caught in the tracks. His bike slipped and he fell. Not only that, but the bike kept sliding with him on top and right into an oncoming street car. It was a miracle that the street car driver was able to stop the train in time. Andy fell under the train, but not too far in. The people standing inside the street car all fell forward as the driver had to stop so suddenly. They all watched in horror as they saw Andy sliding underneath the train. An ashen train driver, as well as onlookers in rush hour traffic rushed to Andy's side, stunned and relieved that he was okay. He was pretty beaten up and suffered a broken rib, but other than that, he was fine.
So, when I saw that free clip art, my thought immediately rushed to Andy and how I could have used it for a card back then. I downloaded the clip art onto my computer, hoping I wouldn't have to ever use it.
Well, today I received an email from Andy and guess what? He had another bicycle accident - ON FRIDAY! Not as serious as the last one, but he still ended up with loads of road rash, a sprained wrist, contusions and possibly another broken rib. Poor guy! Thank goodness he was wearing a helmet, which he says was completely crushed.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them).

So anyway, with my new clip art, I managed to make him a card in mere minutes. Not that I'd ever get rid of my stamps now, mind you, but this was very easy. Because of the black and white drawing, I only added a touch of blue with my Prismacolor pencils.

I searched the internet for some bike related sentiment and decided to use this one by John F. Kennedy on the outside, while my friends on the Gingerwood Bulletin Board helped with others. (Thanks Monica). After dropping the card in the mail, I returned to a few more great suggestions that would have been terrific. Oh well, the card is mailed out and that's what counts, right?

We have been receiving lots of bad news lately and I reckon it's about time for things to turn around.

Thanks for visiting today!

6 comments:

Monica Hunter said...

Your card turned out perfectly, and Andy is sure to love it!

nise said...

Great card for a non-stamped one, Isabelle. I hear you on the bad news stuff ~ enough already. Glad to see that you're back to blogging.

Donna C. said...

This turned out SO well. You did such a nice job. Can you share the source of the clip art?

Sarosa said...

What a great card front! Love the sentimental phrase paired with the crushed bicycle; too funny! I love it!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic card! Great image and perfect quote!

Cindy H. said...

Fabulous card!!! Wonderful composition, colors and super image! Even your envelope stays with the message :) Thank you for sharing it with us.