Another Ambulance Ride....

Another emergency room visit, another round of painful tests, and another hospital admission. It's not over yet. Mom was home just a few hours when things starting slipping again. After a very long day and night we are back on pins and needles. Our healthcare system is horribly broken.

Send Chocolate

How could I pass up this week's Gothic Arch theme...chocolate. I used a few different papers, lace, ribbon, rickrack, image and stamped the sentiment on fabric that I cut with my new pinking shears. Love those new scissors. I am happy to report that stazon stamps on fabric very well. I really love doing the gothic arch challenges, and hope to get on track with them every week. There is something so inspiring about the themes and this fun shape.

The best news of the day....Mom is home! yipppeeeeeeee

Reflection

Trying to get creative, think of something witty to say, and it just isn't there. This has been an unbelievable time for me. A journey I never planned and didn't want to take. I'm sure some day I will look back on this and see that I learned something, grew from the experience, and something good came from it. Right now I'm just thankful that my mom has survived it all. I really wasn't sure she would.

Facing mortality is heavy duty work. Today is day 11 of hospitalization and I don't know when it will end. The recovery time for her is anywhere from 3 to 12 months. That's a long time to be sick. I spent yesterday doing some things in preparation for her return home.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. Well, I have some lovely friends. I don't know what I'd do without them. Thank you.

Pay It Forward

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this post requesting to join this Pay it forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it next week, but you will receive it after the New Year. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment, you’re on. I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make for you.

Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work. I got mine from Kim here.

Creative Time

Hurray for a little creative time. I used this PSX stamp with dark brown ink on manilla colored cardstock. I then colored in a bit with prisma pencils. It's not even a card, just an image, but it felt good to have some creative time. I also got out and did a little shopping this morning at a boutique and the thrift shop, and got in a good workout. Ahhhhhhh

Mom is definitely on the mend. It will be a long recovery, but the sparkle is back in her eyes. We are so thankful that she may be well enough to leave the hospital next week. Thank you all for your kind words of comfort and support.

So Thankful

Mom is finally showing a bit of improvement today. That's the best gift of all. Happy Thanksgiving.

And a little worse

Things with Mom have been going downhill since Monday night. We could all use some good thoughts sent her way.

A Bit Better

Mom is getting a bit stronger each day. It seems that there are some little complications every time we turn around. It's not easy to see my strong independent mom in need of so much care. I'm sure it's hard for her, too. I'll be happy when we can go out to lunch and hit our favorite treasure hunting spots again. We hope she can be home for Thanksgiving. That's a pic of us taking a break at Disney about a year ago.

Long Day

I just got home from a long day of ambulances and emergency rooms. My mom was admitted to the hospital tonight with pneumonia. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Thankful

I enjoyed a lovely card swap this morning with a wonderful new group of stampers. This was our second time meeting and first time swapping cards. Everyone did such a beautiful job on their fall themed cards. I'm so happy that we will be meeting monthly to share a bite of food, friendship, learn new techniques, and swap cards. It's been a couple of years since I've been in a local group for card swaps. I didn't realize how much I missed it.

I made cards like the one above for my contribution. The image is a retired psx stamp that I picked up last weekend at GeeGee's in Carlsbad. She has the most fantastic treasure of used stamps from trade-ins. Ooh, it's like Christmas looking through those drawers. My sweet cousin gave me the pretty brads on the cards along with some more yummy stamps. I used mahogony distress ink on this one...it's my favorite color this week.

Since it's November and a time to give thanks, I thought about those things that bring joy to my life. Here are a few of the everyday pleasures that I'm so thankful for: a perfectly brewed cup of tea in the morning, a nice long walk with the pups crunching the leaves under our feet, the chatter of my son on the way home from school, A nice soft robe and squishy slippers, a good book that makes me giggle, and the hug at the end of a long day from my sweet hubby. What brings joy to your days?

Aspire....

I had so much fun with this week's gothic arch challenge using text. Since I missed the bird one last week, I added it in this week. The base of the arch is the back of an old postcard. I stamped sheet music off to the left with mahogony distress ink and the sentiment at the bottom with the same ink. The lace and pearl headed pin are vintage. I cut the rose from a vintage gift tag and the bird is a vintage playing card that I cut out. The crocheted doily was an RAK and the button is vintage, too. I am enjoying collage more and more with each attempt.

Going to see Shamu

We are off to San Diego for a couple of days. School just has to start soon, or I'll be too broke for Christmas...LOL. Well, I figured we should take advantage of our time off to play a bit. See you in a few days. That's Mabel taking a nap in her favorite place- my lap.

Feelin' the Love

I thought you all didn't love me anymore....kept peeking and seeing 0 comments. Well, I'm a nut. I forgot that I put on a moderate comments thing after the weirdo comment down below there somewhere about a revolution. Whatever that was about. So, now I moderated like I should, and look at the lovely comments. I thought you might enjoy a peek at our amazing sunset.

Did a bit of stamping today, too. Real basic stamping, but it's good to put ink on the stamps, and try to move toward the holiday spirit.
In other news, can you believe that our kids here on the mountain still are not back in school? This is the third week of no school due to the fires that are now out. The newest excuse is that the schools have to be professionally cleaned from smoke damage. Well, nobody professionally cleaned my house, and we are all fine and dandy here. I heard a rumor today that they may be out until Thanksgiving. I will be a bliterhing idiot by then.

Please, someone on the school board has to have some sense. So far I don't see that anyone cares much about our kids need to learn. I thought that's what it was about. Not that we have been declared a federal disaster area, so the school district gets all their ADA money and no days have to be made up, and our schools get cleaned by the feds. Geesh...what exactly are the priorities in our school district? Thanks for listening...I needed to shout that one out. I feel better now.

Happy November

I love November, so happy it has arrived. It means the beginning of the holiday season to me. I'm ready to start thinking about Christmas shopping, card making, cookie baking, and all that good stuff. Not ready to do it yet, but thinking about it makes me smile.

This fun card was made for a Stamp Shack challenge. Jan challenged us to use direct to paper with our ink pads to make a background. She recommends starting with the lightest color in the middle, then use the next lightest in 3 places in a triangular fashion around the middle color. Lastly pick a smaller inkpad and fill in the empty spots. I did a few cards for this, but this one is my favorite. Thanks for a fun technique, Jan.

About those Fiskateers I mentioned yesterday. Fiskars has a wonderful setup for crafters that is celebrating it's one year anniversary this weekend. There are crafty women from all over the world who are Fiskateers. If you love Fiskars products, you can request to become a Fiskateer. I joined in about 8 months ago when I met Cheryl, one of the lead Fiskateers, at an event at the local scrap store. I think Fiskar scissors are amazing, and that's why I joined. Most of the ladies in the group are scrapbookers, but there are stampers and seamstresses as well. There is a message board, gallery, challenges, monthly swaps, and some prizes along the way. I've found it to be a fun group with no drama, which is a big deal to me.

Disney Fun

We had a wonderful little getaway to Disneyland. Here are a few pics....I especially love the one of Kyle. The guy next to him is a part of the Disney Dreamteam. We were waiting for the parade, hungry, tired, and a little grouchy...until this guy showed up. He cheered us right up! The Haunted Mansion was all decked out in The Nightmare before Christmas and that's the hearse parked in front. It really captures the new sinister and sweet thing for Halloween.
The pic of me is taken over at what used to be called Tom Sawyer Island. It's now a whole pirates lair thing, and so fun. Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. So glad we went.

A Fiskateer Project

I made this fun gift card holder and tag for a top secret Fiskateer project. The cat's out of the bag now, so I can share it here. I enjoyed doing a little stitching on these little goodies. It was quite a challenge, since I had to make these while I was evacuated.

I used Mom's scrapbooking supplies. I'm so glad I had shared this paper and some primas with her, so I could steal them back to use. Also, happy she asked me to help her buy some ink to do a little distressing. Of course, the stitching part is easy at her house. There are several machines to choose from.

The pocket measures 3" x 4 1/2", and the tag measures 2 1/2" x 4". This was made to hold a coffee house gift card. My favorite part is the rickrack that I tucked in between the layers that is peeking out. The top of the front part of the pocket is punched out with the top of a tag punch.