A Temporary Hiatus

Good morning my dear friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I was blessed to be able to spend the weekend with my mother. An unexpected vacation for me right now.

A week ago, young son had his broken wrist set in a cast. He will not be racing this summer while he heals. This will be stressful for all of us.

My father had another heart attack the same weekend Avery had his wrist fixed. It was not his first attack, and he stabilized quickly, is home recovering. When I saw him in the hospital, he looked great, as normal as is expected for him. His prognosis is not good, with his diabetes, congestive heart failure and emphysema. I am thankful for every day I have left with him.

Mom also had a heart attack the same weekend. This was totally unexpected. I always thought mom was invincible. I made the drive to Texas in record time. Mom is home from the hospital, but not cooperating well. Trying to change her to a heart healthy diet is a big task. And we are trying to teach her to take her blood pressure, and take the doggone medicine. She's stubborn. The hardest part of her recovery right now is getting her to understand that she needs to take it easy while the stents heal.

I will be staying in Texas a while. My heart and hands are full, so I will be on a temporary computer hiatus. I will return to my postings when I have had a chance to catch my breath!

Hugs to you all, have a great week!

Creative Packaging

Good morning my friends! I have a fun little package I created that I'd like to show you. I made this container with my customers last month, and I've been very negligent about sharing it with you all.

This is called a Kraft container, by Close To My Heart. It is similar to a shipping tube, made of sturdy cardboard. I used paper from the Lucy paper pack, with stamps from the current Buzz & Bumble workshops on the go kit. Usually, it is difficult to get paper to adhere to round items. I used tombow adhesive, and had no problems having the paper stick this time.

As you can see, the container opens at the top, which makes it a creative gift package. I was able to get this tube of heel repair cream into the container, with some paper shred. I put the Kraft container and these little socks into a gift bag, and shipped it to mom for Mother's day. If you have problems with cracked heels, like mom and I do, these socks are wonderful! They have some type of gel inside them. I only put them on at night, which is perfect, because I get cold feet at night! When I wake up in the morning, my heels are so much softer, they are wonderful. These can be picked up at Walmart.

 

 Close To My Heart is teaming up with Big Picture Classes to bring you a live webcast with step-by-step instructions for making your own kraft container, "Happy Thoughts". 

The FREE webcast will air Thursday, May 30 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm (MDT). During the presentation, you’ll learn to make several projects from a variety of sponsors, including Close To My Heart’s Happy Thoughts kraft container, as the presenter walks you through the steps. Watch the Pajama Party by yourself, or with your friends for a fun crafting pajama party. Anyone with an Internet connection can watch, so be sure to order your project supplies in advance and then tune in!

The Pajama Party class will be available for FREE atBigPictureClasses.com on May 30. If you would like to interact on the message board, participate in live chat, post to the gallery, download handouts, or enter any contests, you will need to log in to the Pajama Party “classroom” by creating a free account on the Big Picture Classes website.

To make the Happy Thoughts kraft container, you and will want to have the following items—or similar products—on hand:

• My Acrylix^® Frame Flair Stamp Set (D1546)
• My Acrylix^® Happy Thoughts Stamp Set (C1536)
• Chantilly Paper Packet (need 1 sheet of B&T, X7163B)
• Crème Brulee Cardstock (need 1 sheet, X5754)
• Lagoon Cardstock (need 1 sheet, X5762)
• White Daisy Cardstock (need 1 sheet, 1385)
• Whisper Cardstock (need 1 sheet, X5929)
• Whisper Exclusive Inks^® Pad (Z2172)
• Lagoon Exclusive Inks^® Pad (Z2195)
• My Creations^® Kraft Container (Z1833)
• Baker’s Twine Neutral Assortment (need 3 yards, Z1701)
• Color-Ready Trinkets Wooden Shapes (Z1844)
• Sparkles Black & Grey Assortment (Z1754)
• 3-D Foam Tape (Z1151)
• Micro-Tip Scissors (Z534)
• Corner Rounder (Z578)
• Paper Trimmer (Z1783)
• My Acrylix^® Spritz Cleaner (1778)
• My Acrylix^® Stamp Scrubber (Z1782)
• 2" × 3½" My Acrylix^® Block (Y1009)
• 4" × 5" My Acrylix^® Block (Y1012)
• Cricut^® Art Philosophy Collection (Z1686)

You can order these items from my website, just click on the link on my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by friends, have a great day!

Good Morning

Good morning my friends!

Now that I have recovered from my weekend and done a little catch up around the house, it's time for a quick post.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day. I didn't have my traditional sit around and sip my coffee type of day. My day started out here

Yep, hubby and I were in Memphis, TN. We traveled down on Saturday, to spend the weekend with our daughter in law. We left the two boys home alone for the weekend. They behaved very well this weekend, no horror stories of chains on the fridge, or locking each other  out of the house, like the last time we left them.  But that's another story in itself!

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, and drove out to see Graceland. We've made many trips to or through Tennessee, but have never made the time for this adventure. We only spent about 3 hours touring his property, but it was interesting. Did you know Elvis had a twin brother? We didn't know that.

After our sightseeing, we rushed back to the hotel, changed and made our way downtown. We spent a couple of hours with Lindsey and her family at the University of Memphis law school graduation. Doesn't she look cute in her cap and gown!

We are so proud of Lindsey. Now the hard part for her, preparing for the bar exam. I know she'll do fine. And even though my son Chris couldn't physically be there with us, they arranged for him to see the ceremony

Via the Ipad, he was able to Skype from his location and watch the ceremony. Technology can be wonderful! He even had a front row seat to watch.

Before we headed home Monday, we helped Lindsey and her family move the rest of her things out of her apartment. Everything into storage, until closer to Chris' return home. Then everyone will get together again, and help her empty the storage, and set up the kid's house. We're looking forward to that move!

Tuesday was Mother's Day, round two. Our annual tradition is planting a tree. From my first mother's day at this house 13 years ago, this has been my gift from my boys, we've got a lot of yard to fill with trees, and I love seeing the trees grow, like my kids. This year's tree is a Japanese Maple, I love the red leaves

 This tree has a lot of growing to do! As long as all the rain we've been having keeps coming, it's growth will not be stunted.

Well, time for me to hit the road. I've gotta get out the door to my Weight Watcher's meeting, don't want to be late!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Be a Friend

Do you have a lot of friends? Do you call everyone a friend, or just the ones you stay in contact with pretty often. Or, is your idea of a friend just the people you are really close to, that you shares your good and bad times.

I think I have a pretty good mix. My friends are the people that I've met through my blog, people that read the stories of my life. I have friends that are local and I see on a regular basis, and others I talk to less often, but we talk like we were never apart. Some friends know my deepest secrets, and others I don't share anything with, unless I want to read about it in the local paper. But I consider them all my friends.

The layout I'm sharing today, titled "Be a Friend" has been sitting on my worktable for a couple of years now. I was able to  finish it last weekend, finally. This is one my dearest friends, one of the very few who has been with me through the best and worst

I love to look at this layout, and think about the trip Carylon and I took to the Longaberger factory. We drove there and back in one, very long day, and we had so much fun! My camera battery died after these 3 pictures were taken, and her computer crashed before we could print off her pictures, so these are the only ones I had. Fortunately, I had purchased postcards that day, and was able to use them on the right page. I used clear pockets, called Flip Flaps, from Close To My Heart, and have 4 postcards stacked together to be able to include several.

Maybe I'll put this page in my album, maybe it'll sit on my desk a little bit longer, not because I need to finish it, but just because it makes me smile.

Thank you my friends for sharing a few minutes of your day with me today!

A Special Request

I'm not the kind of person to get pushy with my selling my Close To My Heart business, and I never participate in fundraisers and ask people for donations. When I do participate in events that require a fee for participation in support of a specific cause, such as the 5K races I run in, I'm very picky where my money goes. For once, I'm going to make an exception to my rules, and put out there a request for donation, for a special cause.

As those of you who have read my blog know, my son is currently in Afghanistan. He is scheduled to return home soon, yeah! His unit has been so supportive of the soldiers, sending them all care packages while they've been gone. They are on a special mission right now, trying to put together welcome home baskets for 50 soldiers, to give them when they return. Many of the soldiers, particularly the single ones, put everything in storage while they are overseas. They get off a plane, and have only the duffle bags they've been carrying around on their backs for months. When they return this summer, his unit plans to give them all a basket of "necessaries". Some of the items are shampoo, deodorant, sheets, towels, blanket, washcloths and towels, among other things. All of these items are donated. This is my special request....support for the soldiers returning home. And I wouldn't ask, if I didn't think was a good way to spend a few hard earned dollars! I know it's far from practical to purchase these items and ship them to Amber, who is organizing this monumental task. What I have done with my previous donations to the unit, is send her a check, noting the purpose of the gift. She then purchases the necessary items. My understanding is that they have collected enough blankets, but are still in need of sheets, washcloths, towels, I'm not sure what else. If you work for a company that might be able to donate any of these items, or if you yourself are willing, no small amount is too small.

I have told Amber I would be putting this request out there, and she has given permission that I put her email in this post. I am not comfortable putting someone else's personal info out publicly. If you are willing and able to help support the soldiers, please contact Amber -    charlie32frg@gmail.com

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

Oh, Happy Day!

I didn't get to take young son to the Dr yesterday. Hubby played hookie from work, and took him himself. That made me a little nervous, I like to hear the news firsthand! But it was all good. No surgery  required, yeah! He had no tears, there is still some water on the knee, but the body should absorb it on its own. I really expected them to aspirate the fluid yesterday, glad they didn't. Today, for the first time in two weeks, he's going to try riding on the track here at home. Considering he can't bend his right knee all the way, I don't know how he thinks he can kickstart a dirtbike, but I'm not going to stop him from trying. At least I'm home to monitor for problems. I love being a nurse, knowing what I should or should not be seeing!

Since the weather is holding out for a couple of days, more rain to come in later today, I've been outside working. Haven't taken the photos that I wanted to yet, but I snapped a picture of at least one page. This was soooooo hard to photograph! I don't have a good lightbox for picture taking, and this has a black background, so it wasn't easy!

I have to admit, this photo was taken many years ago, in my fat days! I don't think I ever looked really good in our military pictures, because I was unhappy with my weight. And 8x10 photos are hard to scrap! I kept this simple, I like the focus of a page to be the pictures. The sentiment was the front of an anniversary card I had in a box, it worked well on this. With a couple of stickers, this was quick-my kind of layout! I have a lot of pictures like this, taken at military balls, time to get them out of the boxes, and into my scrapbooks.

That's it for now friends, the lawn mower beckons me! Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Stopping by to say Hi!

Good morning my friends! The sun is shining, and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, despite the rain that just won't stop. I am thankful for the rain now, as I know we'll be wishing for it in a couple of months. 

Since I was stuck inside all weekend, I was able to do a lot of catching up on some scrapbooking. I completed 8 layouts in one day, that's a record! I will take pictures today and share them throughout this week.

I'm continuing to send out my happy mail. This card went to Amber. 

Amber is the head of the Family Readiness Group for my oldest son's Army unit. She has done a fantastic job since the soldiers deployed. She share photos from their deployment, keeps everyone informed of what's happening with them, and shares happenings that the families can get involved in. She has also coordinated efforts to send care packages to the trooops, and is currently gathering items for care packages when they return. I was in charge of the FRG when my husband was commander of the unit in Greenfield, IN, and I know what a job it can be. Kudos to Amber for the job she is doing.

Here is another card I sent out this week

I sent this to my Aunt. I only have one aunt, and I don't stay in touch with her often enough. I spoke to her on the phone last week, and it made me realize how much I miss family. I've been so busy with my own life, I don't reach out enough.

That's it for today folks. I've gotta get young son to the dr this morning. He had an MRI done on his knee last week. Today, we'll get results and hopefully a course of action, crossing my fingers no surgery. His racing season is not starting out well this year. He's been in two races so far, and in each one, sustained an injury that has taken him off the bike.

Have a wonderful day, thanks for stopping by!