Mojo Monday 188--Quackers

Well, lookie here, I got quackin' and stamped again! This time, I wanted to "quank" one out for this week's Mojo Monday (188). I actually finished it up last night after I watched the 6 finalists sing their lungs out on American Idol. (By the way, all my fellow Steven Tyler fans, he's going to be on the Today show at some point next week--eek!)


I used the oh-so-cute Lucky Ducky set that was recently released from Verve as I just couldn't stand to not get it inky any longer and paired it with my new Charming Oval Die Setfrom Verve as well. I think those ducks are quackalicious and worked perfectly for this sweet little round note card. Every time I look at it, I feel like the little one is popping out from behind saying, "Aflac"!

Edited to add: Sweet Elizabeth (Beth) Moore commented on this card and suggested I enter it over on Papercraft Star for this week's challenge #43, so I did! Go check out the sugary inspiration photo for the challenge and play along!

SUSIE Q-TIP: When making a round card, simply run a score line across the top part of the "back" circle. Fold it outward and glue the edge above the scoreline to the top part of the card's circle front. Julee has a fabulous explanation with pictures on her blog HERE.

Stamps: Lucky Ducky (Verve)
Paper: Harvest Gold, Hawaiian Shores, Kraft, White (PTI), Neighborhood (Crate Paper)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Charming Oval Die (Verve), Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Apron Lace Border Punch (Fiskars), Large Dots Embossing Folder, Copic Markers, Turquoise Flatback Pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), Ribbon (PTI), Divine Twine (TCP), Hot Glue, Jody Boosters

A Basket Full of Unity Sketch For You To Try

Well, shame on me for taking so long to blog about anything crafty! I'm more than ready to get back into the swing of things with a more normal schedule of doing life and playing with paper! My mom is set to leave the rehab hospital for the next leg of her recovery journey sometime late next week and go to a skilled nursing home where she can continue her therapy while being cared for on a more personal level. She's excited about getting to meet new friends and...wait for it...BINGO night (which she's never played in a large senior group before)! So as all this starts to happen, I feel like mine and my sisters' lives will become more routine with our visits and taking care of her needs rather than this helter skelter of things popping up that need immediate attention. Wait. That will still happen. I have kids. I guess I have to feed them, huh?


Anyway, here it is the end of the month and I have several things that I need to try and squeeze in here before April gets away from me completely. As ya'll know, Jen has a magnificent Sketch For You To Try this month and ya'll only have a few more days to play and get your name in the hat for some sweet UNITY Stamps as they are our sponsor this month.


So when it came time to pick out what Itty Bitty to use from Unity this month, I fell in love with this bicycle from the sweet set called Basket Full of Wishes. It reminds me of the one I had as a kid (and I actually ran across an old picture of it at my mom's house a few weeks ago). Now I would need one with a much larger seat. They all look small and painful these days, but I'd love to have a bike again.

Ok, so I am keeping this short so I can have a little stamping time this afternoon before those darn kids come home and want food. Ha! I'll be back soon, I promise.

SUSIE Q-TIP: Jen does this quite often with her brads and flatbacks and such and I just love the look--Punch small circles from paper to layer underneath them. Ideally, my 3/8" circle punch is what I like for this. Just remember, for brads, make sure your glue has dried once you adhere them before punching a tiny hole for the brad legs. Otherwise, the paper circle will come right up as you punch it. No bueno.

Stamps: Basket Full of Wishes (Unity)
Paper: Kraft, Berry Sorbet, White (PTI), Neighborhood (Crate Paper)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Flat-Bottom Clouds Die-namics (MFT), Paper Piercer/Mat Pack, Sewing Machine/Thread, 3/8" Circle Punch, Seeing Spots Embossing Folder, Copic Markers, Felt, Button (PTI), Divine Twine (TCP), Jody Boosters
Finished Size: 5.25" Square

Happy Easter!

Well, as we are in the midst of looking for a skilled nursing home for my mommy so that she can continue her therapy process with the hopes of returning to her home or an assisted living center, I lean on these words from S. M. Lockridge.

Thanks to everyone for your caring, prayers, happy thoughts and support while I take care of her needs. I do have some crafty stuff to share, but the camera battery is dead this morning (God likes to set our priorities in line, doesn't he? LOL!)! That's ok, hopefully I'll be back on the bandwagon tomorrow with posting more frequently.

Have a Happy Easter, ya'll!!!

An Update on my Mom, Linda Bien

Well, I am slowly but surely trying to get back into the swing of things, but I just thought I would share a little update about my mom. As I said in my last post, she had a stroke while in the hospital being treated for a bladder infection that was identified as ecoli and later spilled into her bloodstream. I had taken her to her regular doctor on Thursday the 31st as a follow up to an ER visit I had taken her to that Tuesday before where she was treated for dehydration and released, but never got any better.

Her doctor that day gave us two choices: Go home, stay on the antibiotics, drink lots of water and get lots of rest, OR go back to the ER (a different, more competent one) and have them treat her again with IV fluids and do some more testing to make sure they were using the right antibiotics for her infection. I am so happy I pushed for her to be admitted to the hospital when all this started happening with the infection and that she was there when the stroke happened they believe that evening. Otherwise, I believe without a doubt that I would have found her at her home the next day, in a vegetative state or worse.

She is feeling MUCH better from the bladder/ecoli/sepsis infection and will be on IV antibiotics for at least 2 more weeks. She was moved to Reliant Rehabilitation Hospital (not far from the other hospital she was at in case of emergency) on Saturday afternoon to finally start therapy from the stroke's aftermath. As of yesterday, they were still doing their assessments to get an idea of what they need to work on.

Her left side was affected. However, she has already gained LOTS of movement in her arm, and some in her left leg. She will be learning how to walk all over again. Her mind and speech is tremendously intact other than a little attention span deficit.

The strangest thing she's been hit with, though, is a phenomenon they don't know a whole lot about called "Left Sided Neglect". Her brain no longer computes "left". It's as if it's become a whole new dimension to her. As her vision is fine, she can't see or focus on anything on the left side of anything unless she learns to "scan" to the left to look for it. She sometimes doesnt recognize her left leg, arm or side as being "hers". She can't read the left side of a clock, and will only eat things on the right side of her plate, unless prompted to look for more. It's the weirdest thing that she will have to adapt too unless, as her brain heals, it gets better on its own.

She was a real estate office manager before this happened and completely independent. Her boss had to even learn how to send an email last week in her absence as she did EVERYTHING for him! Unfortunately, he is going to have to close his business because he's just not making any money (it was going to be inevitable, but this has solidified his decision) and he is torn up over it. My mom understands, but thinks she can still be of service to him. It will be really hard when she truly realizes that the office is closed. She even thinks she will still be able to drive (although I've been told it's highly unlikely) and all she'll need to do is come up with a way to get there, 'only making right turns'!! LOL!! She still has her sense of humor!

Anyway, now that she's at the rehab hospital, I feel like she's too busy for me to hang out with her as much and I hope to be able to stamp again soon. She's supposed to be there for 2 weeks at least, and beyond that, I don't know what the situation will be. I fear for her living alone as it would be so dangerous with the left neglect. She could run into walls, or turn the wrong burner on for the stove and burn herself without knowing it. But we will have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

During all this, I have had to step away as a designer from My Favorite Things and just stick with The Cat's Pajamas and the Verve Inspiration Team to be able to have a more flexible stamping schedule.

I thank you and love all of ya'll for your support, prayers and positive wishes over the last year or so, with Eric's cancer and now my mom. It was just last March that he was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma and now this March my mom had a stroke. I vote to skip March next year. I don't see a thing wrong with having a February 1st through 59th!

I've got a couple of cards in the works...so please don't leave me just yet!

Well, I have some news. All those fabulous posts I was going to wow y'all with aren't going to be happening.

As I stated before, I was having a family emergency and was having to take care of my mom. Well, it turns out after a lot of other problems she was having, they had to admit her to the hospital. Test results show that she has had a stroke. Luckily we were here at the hospital when they think it occurred. ( I'm posting this from my iPhone--I hope it works!). It has mainly affected her left side but thankfully not her mental cognizance (she still has her sense of humor!) or her speech. Just wanted to let y'all know in case youre looking for me! I'll be back as soon as I can! All prayers, good wishes and happy thoughts are appreciated!