Christmas Project

I have sat down many times to start a post and every time I have walked away. Starting in February when our son had his normal cardiac checkup our world was rocked once again as they told us it was time to replace his valve.  Then began many tests that they needed to do to determine the best action to take. He has a terrible pain in his chest  so off to the ER. Out of nowhere he has a blood clot in his lung!! No surgery for 6 months!!!! As the six months went by he stopped talking and laughing. If he did anything he then slept the rest of the day. It was one of the hardest things to watch.

We went with the more complicated surgery as it would give him the most normal life. They did the Ross Procedure in an 8 hour surgery. He spent 9 days in ICU and then home to resume life again. The 23rd of December he will start Cardiac Rehab to get his strength and endurance back.

Meanwhile, in March I ended up in the ER then ICU for AFib. After many tests on my heart it was found it was okay. But, my thyroid was over the top. I ended up having it removed 9 days before Drew’s surgery.

During all that both my eyes the Vitreous fluid in each eye detached. So I see thousands of floaters in my eyes. Hence, not much coloring this past year. It has been a rough year so really praying for a better 2020.

Anyway, I started working with polymer clay as an outlet for the stress and found it to be relaxing. This is my first project I made for Drew. Made it for his Christmas tree. I found this tutorial at Mini Art Gallery it’s called “Stitched Heart”

Hopefully, I’ll be doing more coloring this year. I have learned to take one day at a time.

I do have some cards made that I will post after they have been received. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. Prayers for a good year ahead for all.

M

 

Thank You Card

I have a Thank You card I made for a friend that sent Drew a Gift Card, to buy some books to read while he recovers from his heart surgery. Hopefully, his surgery will be in September.                                                                                              I went super simple but it is one of my favorite cards that I’ve made. I used Memento London Fog as I wanted something soft. The “thank you” was a Tim Holtz stamp. The peony bud was from the “Peony Bouquet” set from Altenew.        I brushed on some Marshmallow Glimmer Mist on the flower. I also used a Spellbinders square die.

Thanks for visiting with me. Always appreciate it.

M

Complementary Pears and a Update on Life

I have to say that 2019 has been a rough year starting in February. Our son had what we thought would be a normal heart appointment. It turned out to be not so normal. The pressures were too high in his heart.  So next step was a Contrast MRI on his heart. Then two weeks after that he developed a blood clot in his lung.                                                                                                                                       So on to a Hematologist to try and figure out why he developed the blood clot. So far, they haven’t figured it out. Then on to an Allergist to find an antibiotic he isn’t allergic to. It had been 30+ years since his last Penicillin so through testing we found out he can take it again!!                                                                                   The last testing was an angiogram to check his first surgery coarctation of the aorta at one week of age. That they decided was okay. RELIEF! The valve has to be replaced but because of the blood clot we have to wait six months for the surgery.

Meanwhile, my thyroid went crazy in over-drive and caused my heart to go into AFib. Thank God after 12hrs it corrected itself before they had to shock it back into rhythm.                                                                                                                            Then my eyes decided it was time for my vitreous fluid to detach. Totally detached in left and starting in right. So I have hundreds of floaters in my left eye which makes coloring challenging to say the least.  I have started coloring again anyway.

I have been taking Patreon Classes from Amy  (Vanilla Arts). I have really been learning a lot and enjoying them immensely.                                                                   January’s class was “Complementary Pears” and yes I am that far behind.  The image is a Power Poppy. It is “My Favorite Pair”.

Loved this class. You just have to be happy with all that yellow.

Thanks for stopping and visiting with me for awhile. Always appreciate it.

M

 

 

Expressive Sunflower Class

The following story is just a day in my life. At least now I can laugh about it. At the time I didn’t think it was too funny.

I have a dual exhaust system on my car. About 15 years ago my left pipe fell off and being the thrifty people we are we duct taped it back on and forgot all about it. Well, the piped piper has to be paid eventually. About a month ago out here it fell off again. Duct taped it up again. Unfortunately, out here you must have your car inspected every year. So, Randy made an appointment for today at 1:00.

We took off with me driving. About two miles from home, yep, you guessed it it fell off again!! After calls with Randy we had no option but to keep going. Unfortunately, we had to drive the main road that goes into Raleigh. Drew is now driving. We are going 25 miles an hour with our flashers on. It didn’t take long to notice we were in our lane all by ourselves. LOL All I could think of was someone with road rage coming up behind us or it falling off into the road. We were pushing the pipe ahead of us and I could just imagine the damage it was doing.

We finally arrive there. In order to drive it in the bay they had to hold the pipe up with a baseball bat. The best $100 I’ve ever spent.

The trauma was not over yet. I had to go to the bathroom. I open the door and a man is in there. I had only had one nerve left by then and stood there and screamed. About gave the guy a heart attack. He was washing his hands. Thank goodness.

We arrived home and kissed the ground.

Ok, now onto my project. On Patreon you have six months to do the project before it is removed. I was a few days away from the deadline. Decided to get at it yesterday. It is all colored with the chisel end of the copic marker. That’s why I put it off. But, I LOVED coloring it. It is 8.5 x 11 so was big enough to do is easily.

It was colored with copics and pencils.

Whew! I think I need to go have a stiff drink! (Actually, I have a raspberry chai beside me.)

Thanks for visiting with me and hope I gave you a laugh for today.

Thank you for your comments much appreciated.

M

 

Drew’s Birthday Card

I wanted to try something completely out of the box for me. No copic markers involved. Usually when I have something in mind it never turns out like I expected it to. I have to say that this card turned out just like I imaged it.

I really had a lot of fun making this card. I used Dylusions sprays calypso teal, after midnight, fresh lime, cut grass,lemon zest, squeezed orange, tangerine dream and white linen. Gave the whole card a spritz of marshmallow Glimmer Mist for added shimmer. I used Dylusions Clearly Under The Sea clear stamp set. The sea-horses were leftover alcohol ink papers. Dies were large sea-horse from Tim Holtz, mini one was Momenta. It doesn’t really show but the mini has awesome embossing on it.

This was a special card for Drew as when we first moved to North Carolina we lived in the Residence Inn in downtown Raleigh for a week before we signed the papers for our house. Anyway, we often went to the museums downtown and watched the live sea-horses swimming around.

Thank you for stopping and visiting for a while with me. I appreciate your comments!

M

My Guys Valentine’s Day Cards

My first card was for my son. I used the digi Hand Heart from Sweet Escape. I’ve always liked this image. I saw the rubber band background technique and always wanted to try it. I really like how it turned out. I liked the side effect of how the foil paper reacted to the heat tool.  There are many You Tube videos on how to do the technique.

E21 E50 E59 E37 E34 B32 R29 R24 N2 B34 B32

My next card was for my hubby. I used the Bunch of Love digi from Ching Chou Kuik. I actually colored it twice in two different sizes. Like usual the hair was giving me problems. So I went larger with the image.

B60 E00 E21 E11 E47 E25 E21 B32 R29 R24

The flowers were made using the Tim Holtz sm Tattered Florals die. The Tim Holtz Garden Greens dies and the sm easel die. I used the Grand Oval and Fancy Tags Spellbinders dies.

It felt good getting back to coloring again. I hope to get back to all my classes I have to do.

Thanks for visiting with me. As always I appreciate your comments.

M

Mady’s Birthday Card

I really had fun making Mady’s Birthday card. I love the Sprite girls. You can find this adorable Cupcake Sprite here. I so miss being there to celebrate with her.

I used Copics for coloring her and then color pencils for shading.

E21 E50                                                                                                                                     B60                                                                                                                                             E41 YR30                                                                                                                                 B32 R29 R24                                                                                                                           Staedtler pens                                                                                                                         Basic Gray Nook & Pantry

I am entering this card in the Aurora Wings Challenge .

I’ll have my guys Valentine’s tomorrow as Randy hasn’t received his yet.

Thanks for stopping and visiting with me for a while.

 

Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone! May 2019 be a great year for all.

Has anyone else noticed that if you buy a Hallmark card a few weeks later they send you a “write a comment on your purchase”!!!!! Come on Hallmark I haven’t received the card yet. So for my birthday and now Christmas I have seen the cards my guys have bought me before they give them to me. REALLY!! Ok, enough of that.

I bought the class “Candlelight” from Vanilla Arts . I loved the class but I did it four times before I was happy. Masking and I are not good friends.

Without mask

A lot of work but such a beautiful result. I used Amy’s image (comes with purchase of class). It uses copics and color pencils.

Next card I made using alcohol inks: denim, purple twilight, and Meadow and Memory Box “frostyville border” die.

We’re approaching our first year in North Carolina. It was complete opposite of what we are used to. No snow and warm temps. Maybe we’ll get used to it. 😦

Wishing y’all a wonderful 2019!

M

Maize For Days Project

I have been taking classes on Vanilla Arts site. I am loving every minute of it. I have learned so much. I highly recommend her classes. The image is from Power Poppy “Maize For Days“. I used copics and colored pencils for this class.

My mom always had a bunch of maize hanging outside on the door or house  every Fall. I immediately loved this class. It brought back so many memories of my mom.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope your day will be special with family.

Always appreciate your comments.

M

 

A Birthday Card and Baby Pumpkin

I really do not know where time goes. All I do know is that we survived our first hurricane. Hurricane Florence was devastating for the Eastern shore area of North Carolina but here in the Raleigh area we were ok. A week of rain day in and out but no flooding for us in our neighborhood.  Ok, on to happier subjects.

This is a birthday card I made for my friend back in Iowa. I had the card made for a month and then with the hurricane I forgot all about it. I had every intention of the background of her card to be alcohol inks. I didn’t like any of them so came up with the idea to use the Memory Box “darling poppies” die and use the background alcohol papers and really liked how it turned out.

I took this “Baby Pumpkin” class online through Vanilla Arts and am really loving her classes.

I’m taking more classes so will be posting as I do more.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. They are always appreciated.

M