Tina Gilliland's blog

I've never entered a contest for blog candy before but I ran across this blog:

http://www.tinagmemories.com/

The trouble with going to blogs for ideas is... I get ideas! Then I covet things. Like Copic markers, and a Score Pal or Buddy, or GinaK Designs card stock... or her lovely stamp sets... or Tim Holtz' masks... and on and on, LOL.

Then I start thinking realistically, how can I sell more cards to fund my crafting habit? LOL

I like Tina's blog. I especially loved the Country Thanks card. Of course, the blue caught my eye, and the flowers. I love both. And I love GinaK stamps-- she has wonderful designers, and her stamps are such great quality. The little pocket card is cute too, and I just might have to do one...

Tina's cards are clean and crisp... unlike mine which tend to be a bit messy-ish. Still trying to find my "style" I guess. Thanks Tina-- and thanks Karen for sharing a link to her blog on the making greeting cards yahoo group.

Hallowe'en....

more cards. I do not celebrate Halloween, but people do, and I was making birthday cards for my grandson so I made a few more. The first one was with some Mickey Mouse paper I got ages ago, in a pad, and had never used. I then actually bought some paper at Memories for the Making, a scrapbooking store near me. There are NO rubber stamp stores here that I know of... you can get some at WalMart or if you want to go to Stockton, there is Michael's, and on the other side of the freeway, JoAnn... some time I am going to have to go to Sacramento and see what I can see. Guess I'll have to take Lorna, I think she will know where places are. She knows everything... :)

a wonderful Chance

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

a wonderful Chance…

Chance was my stepson’s dog. I fell in love when I met him more than ten years ago. I got to see him quite often and then three years ago my stepson and his wife decided to build a new house. Poor Chance couldn’t be with them so he came to live with us. I was glad because I knew we would be buddies. 

The six months that they thought it would take turned into three years. He was already thirteen when he came to us; but spunky and energetic. We took walks together and he was constantly by my side.

Last week, he started doing poorly. Looking back I can see the signs but attributed them to his old age. Sixteen is old for a dog. But it soon became apparent we needed to get him to the vet. It turned out that he had a mass in his abdomen, swollen lymph nodes, and a white count of 57,000 when normal is 20,000.

Thursday he was failing fast. He tried to eat and drink but couldn’t keep it down. He was getting dehydrated. We made the horribly difficult decision to have him put to sleep. I didn’t want to let him go but I also knew he wouldn’t make it. At sixteen, he wouldn’t have been strong enough to make it through chemo. So we took him in. 

I’ve had lots of pets. But somehow I’ve never been this attached. He was my constant companion, he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. My children are all grown, so no little voices to distract my grief. It’s been overwhelming, and my husband doesn’t understand. So I grieve alone.

I know someday I’ll get another dog. A rescue dog, perhaps, an older dog to love. Not yet. It is too fresh. Even though I knew it was coming, it was sudden. I am glad for that. He was such a wonderfully goofy, good natured, fantastic dog. Not perfect of course– he once ate a box of chocolate doughnuts and got very sick… and then there was the times he snatched dinner off someone’s plate when they were talking… or when he got out and followed us down the street… but he was the Best Dog EVER.

kitty marathon

busy card making. Got a request for twelve kitty cards. At first I wanted to give up but knew the challenge would be good for me.

I keep feeling like I need so much more practice. I think my cards look messy. Then I see Tim Holtz' stuff, and it looks messy, so maybe I should just go that direction, and call it "distressed". LOL
When I started making cards, they were clear bright colors and simple. I really enjoy just grabbing whatever and coming up with things. I could have made the job simpler by making them all the same, but I couldn't decide, so I just kept doing different ones. Hope she likes them!! That's the catch, I always think that nobody is really going to like my creations anyway so why bother... but I am coming to see that the PROCESS is the important part for me, I need to create... and I'll just let whomever like whatever and keep what I like and toss the rest. At least it's paper and not gold I'm creating with; although with gold one can just melt it down... :)

living the dream...

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

living the dream…

whereas in reality my dream is to be where the Lord wants me to be, I have my own preferences. However, at the moment the dream and reality are not the same. Learning to be content in whatever place the Lord puts me, but that longing for the mountains hangs with me. I did get to spend a week in the beautiful mountains of Washington state.

My brother is living the dream, on thirty wonderful acres. However, his dream includes SNOW part of the year, which isn’t exactly part of MY dream. I like a LITTLE snow, but he sent pics of a LOT of snow.

Having visited in August, I got to see summer. The weather was pleasant, a little cooler than I am used to for summer. But GORGEOUS…. It was a bittersweet trip which included a memorial service for my nephew Aaron who fought cancer for a year but died at the end of July. My parents funded my trip, otherwise I couldn’t have gone. Liv went too, which made it easier, she served as my Courage and Bravery of which I am lacking! But I got into an itty bitty plane (4 seats wide and not much taller than Liv) and crammed my face into the window and tried not to think about where I was; enjoyed the scenery and the company. Liv of course made friends with a wee cutie and they were fun to watch too.

The trip inspired me to do FIVE scrapbook pages. And I am not done yet. My mom and dad had a wonderful garden this year. This is of their courtyard where they live. My father must have his fingers in dirt so he has many containers on the patio and has grown so many interesting things. It seems that many of the people in the complex haven’t seen vegetables growing, so he has grown zucchini, corn, green beans, and even potatoes. Last year he actually harvested a few tufts of cotton!

Well I had better get busy. I got an order for 12 thank you cards, with cats on them. I have lots of ideas running around in my head, but I better get them done, hopefully to be delivered within a day or two. 🙂my precious nephew Aaron…