An emotional mess

This weekend has been a little odd.  My father-in-law who has been sick since October 2009, got ill on Thursday and I had to take him to the hospital.  He had stage 4 edema and congestive heart failure (he has had this for years).  They admitted him and figured out that his kidneys were not working.  Into CCU he went so that they could repair the damage.  Yesterday morning I went to visit him.  He was on a bi-level oxygen mask, and had to lift the mask so that I could hear what he had to say.  He was jolly, he was concerned about his dear wife, my mother-in-law.  I took her home and drove the 20 minute drive back to my house.  One hour later the hospital called and told us to get there now.  Some of you can imagine how we felt making that 20 minute drive.  He had coded because he aspirated.  They worked on him and brought him back.  They put him on a vent.  The last 24 hours has been the most critical.  He is fighting for his life.  His body is so weak.  Today a tiny miracle, even with the vent he has been able to communicate with us via those eyes, head shakes, nodding and squeezing our hands.  You can see the love he has for us and how he wants to touch us.

We have been blessed with so many that are praying for him.  Praying for my mother-in-law who thinks the world of him and needs him so much.  April 16 will be their 60th wedding anniversary.  60 years is a long time...a long time in which they have grown to rely on each other for EVERYTHING!!!

I came home from the hospital today counting my blessings that my parents are healthy, that my kids are so wonderful and feeling so proud of my husband who has had to make decisions in the last 24 hours that he never thought he would have to make.  Decisions he thought were made and were not.  Decisions that he does not want to make.  He is so brave so strong!  I am so proud of him!  I know I said that, but I am.

I had to come home and make some cards to calm down my emotions.  I thought more detailed folding would ease my mind and give me time with my thoughts so I could reflect on the last few days.

All patterned papers are by K&CO (Viola Viva, Mira, Bailey, Wild Saffron, Que Sera Sera)
All inks by Tim Holtz
plain cardstock from my scrapbin
word stamp, dot stamp and pear stamp by Technique Tuesday
Bird cage collage stamp by Tim Holtz
tag by K&Co
ribbon by Hobby Lobby
border punch by Fiskars




One more thing, for those of you praying for him, I thank you.  Thank you so very much.

Just read a book!!!

I think I have said this before, but when I was in high school, reading a book was the LAST thing I would do.  I was too cool to read the assigned books and tried very hard NOT to read them unless the teacher required us during class time.  I did read the book A Farewell to Arms because we were required to do so in class.  I fell deeply in love with the story and to this day it is one of my favorite books.  I even love the movie with Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones.  I read this book every year because I love it so much.

The other book I fell for while in high school was The Mayor of Casterbridge.  Again, a wonderful story with a crazy but effective story.  If you have not read these two books you must!

Gone with the Wind was my next book.  This was the book that did it for me.  This is the book that hooked me to reading.  This is it.  I began to realize that in a book you could lose reality, you could imagine people, things and scenery.  I have currently read GWTW 39 times.  That equals one time for every year that I have been alive. I hope to keep it going and read it once a year, we shall see if I can do it.  

Since the introduction of my smartphone, I don't read as much as I did.  I also scrapbook A LOT!!! So there is another thing that takes up my time.  At one time in my life I read around 300 books per year.  Now it is more like 75.  It may be my attention span too, it is worse because there are so many things to distract me.  And then it could be that my kids are more involved in things now.

Still I love to read and love to share that love.

Now I am not talking about the Bible, there are so grand stories in there, and those I read over and over so don't think I am discounting that. I don't believe that counts.  That is the best book and the one you can use for real life.  So basically I count it on a different scale. I guess that is because mainly I read novels for my escapism.  The Bible I read for my soul!

 I made this card for our librarian at LOHS.  She reads books so I made her a bookmark holder with 2 bookmarks.  This was an experiment because I had never made a card with bookmarks.   I am pleased with the result. I am rather pleased with the way it turned out.  It is a two sided card. I stitched it up after I added the pockets. 

This card uses:

Tim Holtz's distress inks in Broken China, Dusty Concord, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, and Weathered Wood

Also DMC thread

Stampendous embossing powder in midnight black

stamps from Inkadinkadoo (Birds Galore)

Patterned paper by K&Co Viola Viva

Sunday Afternoon Workshop

I have never been invited to a card workshop before and was very excited when a scrapbooking buddy (Kelly Veach) invited me to her monthly card class.  The teacher was Gina Fraser and she was GREAT!  Bubbly and excited with TONS of grand ideas!.

Today I am going to share the cards that she created for us to make.  I did change mine a tad.  On most of the cards I used inks to distress a bit or add some dimension.  One card I changed a lot the pennant card. Her card featured 3 flags that went across the card, I simply can't do that straight across stuff so I made mine at an angle and I must say it is one of my 2 favorites.  My favorite is the grey and pink card.  Gina's card was PERFECT and needed me to change NOTHING.

I had a wonderful time.  I was quiet because I was soaking it all in.  The room was so inspiring.  The chatter from the girls was great to be around.  The learning to use a big shot was AWESOME (thanks Jennifer Hodges for showing me how to use it)!  I can't think of anything that could have been changed to make the afternoon better.

I am grateful for the chance to go to this class.

Spring Break Goals

I tend to be more productive if I have a list.  I tend to hold myself accountable when I share that list.  I have a week off starting today and I have some things that I MUST accomplish on this week off.  Today I am going to share this list with you.  What?  I know I can't believe I won't be on a cruise ship either, but no the cruise is later, a staycation is first.  These items are above my usual daily cleaning chores. (Maybe I should post them, yes there is a daily list)

1.  Make 50 cards
2.  Submit at least 40 of those designs
3.  Fix the cracks in the driveway
4.  Reseal the driveway
5.  Stain the deck
6.  Clean the windows in my house
7.  Possibly paint the utility room (still thinking about this one)
8.  Day trip to Nashville
9.  Fix crack in sidewalk
10.  Weed the flower bed (possibly raise it---this depends on funding)
11.  Fix lattice on deck
12.  Try to take apart or fix basketball goal
13.  Having any work needed done on vehicles
14.  Clean the carpets
15.  Clean out the garage and storeroom (this won't take long because I keep them tidy all ready)
16.  Clean out Trevor's closet and toy box


things I wanted to do but finished all ready
1.  Cleaned out hall closet
2.  Weeded the herbs
3.  Worked on the bed frame
4.  Cleaned all the bathroom and kitchen walls
5.  Cleaned behind washer, dryer, fridge and stove
6.  Reorganized the store room shelves
7.  Cleaned out hall closet
8.  Reorganized my closet


Have a great productive spring break, I know I will. 

Good Friends

I don't think I have been lucky here. Sometimes I think it's me, sometimes I think I choose unwisely, sometimes I just think that maybe I am unlucky.  Oh, but I do ramble.  

I just mainly wanted to state that I feel that I have gotten in too deep in an area I should not have, who among us has not. I was seeking something. I still have not figured out what it was. I look at what I have and I see I am blessed beyond measure. Way more than I deserve. I have a loving husband that treats me like a princess.  Two VERY good kids that are just incredible.  A possessions I don't deserve but am grateful for none the less.  

I am not going to dwell on the things I have screwed up or left in the past.  I am going to focus on the here and now and my blessings. 

 

Two quotes to leave you with today:


'Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” CS Lewis


1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

The act of kindness

Luke 6:31...one of my favorite Bible verse of all time....

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I have been working very hard on this goal this year.   To appreciate those that do things for me and let them know that I do.  I have achieved this goal by making cards for the people that do things. I am not going to tell you who is going to receive this card, but I think they will love it.  

The person I made it for is one of those rare breeds these days.  She puts herself last in so many instances. I have seen her forgo her own comfort and utter exhaustion and keep pressuring on because there was a goal to be met.  Even though she was going to gain nothing for it, she pushed on.  I guess actually if you think about it she would reap the rewards one day.  This Christian lady will for sure have a home with Jesus one day. I can think of no better reward!!

I decided to use this card for this week's Mojo Monday.  I did like this sketch very much and it worked perfectly for me because I wanted to create a gate fold card.  

Materials used:

Wild Saffron by K&Co patterned paper

Brown paper and paper behind so kind stamp is from my scrap bin

So Kind Stamp by Stampin UP!  

Thread by DMC 

Brown flower made by Michelle's Musings (me)

Brown ink by Stampin UP! chocolate chip

Brown ribbon from Hobby Lobby (cut by the yard)

Ruffle ribbon bought at a vendor at CKC, it was white and I colored it using  Mustard Seed Distress Inks by Tim Holtz.  I used my ink blending tool and colored the ribbon as I do paper.  Then I set the color using spray mist. 

 Button by Making Memories

If you have not check out Mojo Monday at

www.mojomonday.blogspot.com

card being opened

close up of my flower and stitched design

Handmade paper flowers

I found this pattern on the internet (I wish I could remember where, if you know please tell me).  I wanted to show you how I put together the flowers.

Start out first with a flower template. 

I printed the template on a sheet of regular paper.  I think put that template on top of 2 sheets of cardstock.  I cut out the template and the cardstock at the same time.  This way I would have 3 flowers when I finished.

Next I took my Tim Holtz's distress inks (in Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Broken China, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Evergreen Bough, Peeled Paint, and
Worn Lipstick).  I may have done this step backwards but I wanted the edges to be inked that is why I inked it this way. It was more difficult I won't lie but I like the way the edges look.  I inked both sides of each flower.

After I inked the flowers, I dropped drops of water on the flowers, and then I scrunched up the petals into flower type shapes.  This is sort of time consuming but I think it is totally worth it.  

After I scrunched the petals I took the heat gun to the whole flower.  When it was completed I rolled the flower starting at the widest point.  When I got to the small point (center) I tucked the end around the flower and used hot glue to hold in place.

The purple one after scrunching

Here comes the rolling