Life Goes On

Although much of my day is taken up with caring for my Choc. Lab...Life moves on. I've made bed covers for her, I've got tons of "doggie" towels that I keep under her in case she "leaks" (the side effect of the tumor) so far she is doing well.Very contented and in no obvious pain. For now we enjoy the time we have.
Meanwhile I am a very, very lucky woman. Not only do I have local friends to lean on, I have a family that loves me and understands my extreme love for my animals and I have on line friends who have showered me with love and support and understanding.
I have a group that I have all but neglected since my worry about Punkin began. But they continue to send words of support and love. I have moderators that stepped in and left no gap in leadership. Questions still get answered and I am told everything is moving forward as planned. What a comfort.

Monday was a Happy Mail Day and could not have come at a better time. There is a great deal more going on in my life other then Punkin. I've been exhausted and feeling a bit depressed...Suddenly here are two boxes that were picked up earlier at the PO.
I opened the first ...Remember that What Do You See pattern that Norma presented to the group? WE all had to make something that we saw. Norma was my partner and this is what she saw...

I named her Rojo. Is she cute or what? All decked out for a party. Check out her Bling in her hair clip. She just made me laugh out loud and certainly brought sunshine into my day. Norma also made me a button ornament. Pic was blurred so I'll post another day.Norma has been an on line friend for a very long time and she is a treasure.
I had signed up for a Pin keep swap on a Blog that I follow Ravenwood Whimsies. The theme was "Winter"...I ended up with the sweetest partner anyone could hope for. She introduced herself immediately and it was obvious we were cut from  similar clothe....WE kidded that we both liked Halloween as well as winter and we were torn about perhaps doing our own theme.
I made a scary skull pin keep as a joke. Thought I was being cute...So when I opened the box from Carolyn, imagine my surprise when I found this:

My skull was made as a joke. This was a work of art. A spider top hat with a ride along friend LOL whats really funny is that both of us made Bat straight pin (Hers are much cuter then mine)
Of course the "REAL" prize is the  "Winter" themed pin keep:

Both of us made snow people. You'll recall my Snow baby..This cutie was made on a bed spring and like mine, also has snowflake straight pins. Hows that for great minds thinking alike?
Carolyn has since become an active member of our group MixedMediaStudio/yahoogroups.com
and I am truly blessed not just to have had a fabulous swap partner that became a member of my group, but who also became someone I regard as a "friend". Carolyn also included two candy bars that have become an addiction...LOL Now I have to look for a Canada candy store on line .
So as you can see I am truly blessed by being surrounded by such wonderful souls.
My poor partner for several swaps, is left waiting in the wings. My Days seem to fly. I wake up caring for Punkin and before I know it, I'm ready for bed...but I have done some things in between...Life does go on and my sadness is no reason to dropout of life completely. I miss my Sunshine girls (what I call my group), but as I work in my studio, I think of them and all the beautiful things they've made and I find comfort. Hopefully soon I will find time in my day to jump on my groups and at least say "Hi" for now, I keep in touch with my moderators, try to post here when I can and work on my swaps.
Thanks for stopping by and please come again soon.... Thank you Norma and Carolyn for bringing a ray of sunshine in my day.

Does it ever stop?

As some of you know I recently lost my Rosie. We were devastated but were comforted by the fact that  we still had our Punkin (choc. Lab) to come home to.
Two days ago Punkin stopped eating and appeared to be constipated. So I gave her mineral oil to try and help her. When she stopped drinking I became very concerned and brought her to the Vet.. The long and short, our beloved Punkin has a tumor that is cancerous and inoperable. Our only hope is to shrink it. She is home now but needs constant care and attention which limits my time on the computer.
I miss my group, but with Punkin, my Aunts surgery, Richards back and trying to get  obligations completed, I have very little free time.
I heard that there was a cute idea on my group that involved a french fry pocket. There was some concern about using a USED fry pocket. So if I do nothing else, perhaps this will help those who want to try the idea.

Just  right click on it, save and when you print it out, print it to the size you want. Hope that helps.

I am hoping against all hope that Punkin will continue to improve. Otherwise there is only one option left and I dread having to play God once again. I ask that you keep her in your thoughts..

I will continue to work in my studio as time permits and hope to have pictures soon. Thanks for stopping by and come again soon.

Finally!!!

My pin keep partner got her package today so I can share it with you. I've been very busy but everything I am doing right now is either a swap or a gift, so I can't post what I'm doing, but I will as I send stuff out.
The Theme for this years pin keep from Ravenwood Whimsies was "Winter". Sounds easy right?
Nope, I went from a Christmas tree that brought Charlie Brown to mind, to a Santa that brought a troll to mind and finally to something I just love...

A little snow baby all snuggled up in her snowsuit , with her muff. I made some snowflake straight pins and brought in a touch of color with some felt holly and bead berries.Her base is a vintage tart pan. Along with her I sent a cigar box full of goodies I think my partner may need in the coming year.
She is a new member of  MixedMediastudio.yahoogroups.com  so she is in for a few surprises LOL
her gifts were wrapped in fabric because she is also a quilter. As an added bonus I sent her a spooky pin keep.

Oh stop laughing, it was a joke and she loved him.
I am working on some Gnomes and Elves but you will have to wait until tomorrow because under this mess, somewhere is a camera.
Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by....

My Gift of the Week

For some reason I have always believed, If I've seen it, everyone has seen it. if I can think of it, everyone can think of it. Slowly, over the years, especially when I see something I developed years ago suddenly be accepted as a "WOW!! New idea", I realize that's not true. I actually do have original idea's and there are actually people out there that may not know about something I take for granted.
This little video  for my gift of the week is not my idea, nor is it original. But, very often, even when we know about something, we forget it. This is one such item. We all have a friend who sews, quilts or maybe even wears a lot of fancy pin's. I love Pin Keeps...and this  is one of my favorites because it is so versatile. You can dress it up and make it fancy (maybe with lace wings) or make it plain and simple and Prim...
I'm sitting in a room full of goodies and can't show you one because they haven't been mailed to my partners yet. But trust me, I've been very busy in between tick bites and doctor  visits LOL
Hope you enjoy my Gift of the week and thanks for stopping by.

Lets Remember them

I am alive because of one of you. I am FREE because of ALL of you...Thank you.

I got lots of happy mail yesterday but haven't had a chance to take a picture yet. Before I start running errands I wanted to remember Veterans Day. To thank the brave men and women all over the world, not just Americans but all brave men and women who fight for freedom. They deserve to be honored and they deserve far more respect then they receive.

Once I get done with my running I will try and post  pictures of my Fan blade, charms and Banners...
It really was a Banner Mail day...You'll see..
For now, thanks for stopping by.

It just keeps getting Better

Ain't that the truth!!!

Okay , so I'm in the shower this morning. Scrubbing myself with a wash clothe and my finger tip hits something on the back of my arm. Since I don't wear glasses in the shower I had to feel...it felt weird and had a bit of a sting to it. I scrubbed and scrubbed but it wouldn't come off....

Rewind to a week ago when Rich said "OH whats that on your arm?"..".Well what does it look like?"

I ask... "a skin tag perhaps, or maybe a scab"...I'm trying to reach it and he tells me "leave it, if it's a scab it will fall off".. Never gave it another thought...until now...

Can you hear the spooky music in the background? Are you starting to feel creepy crawlies?

When I got out of the shower and put my glass on, it became real obvious to me, after spending many years with many dogs, that I was looking at a tick. Not just any tick. The brown dog tick usually feeds, gets so heavy  and big that it falls off you....a deer tick however, is a tiny little thing and hangs in there forever. It is a nasty little sucker (pun intended) and carries disease....like LYMES.

So Rich got a rude awakening and a real fast lesson on how to properly remove a tick..Which he did rather well.

Meet Mr. Tick. he is in one of those tiny little bottles we make charms out of (about 1/2 inch tall)

I'm not showing this to you to give you the creeps, but rather to teach you. This tiny little critter can cause a lot of damage. I have lived here for 13 years and I've never taken a tick off any of my animals , children or grand children...It happens. If you should ever have an encounter with one of these little buggers, use a pointed tweezers, get as close to the head as you can and pull slowly, straight out. If you don't have a tweezers make a noose out of dental floss (would I kid about something like this?)

put the noose around the head of the tick and pull, steady, straight out (don't yank on it)

What ever you do, do NOT coat this tick with oil, nail polish or liquid soap...If you do and it regurgitates into your skin , you will have a serious problem.

I already have a bulls eye rash which is the first sign of Lymes, so off to the doc I go tomorrow to start antibiotic's.

I will be sending out my Pin keep to my partner so I will post a pic soon. For today I thought it would just be fun to share my new little friend...Aren't you happy you stopped by? LOL

Come again real soon.....

The House Saga continues

I truly would love to know where some people get their nerve. They sign contracts and then pay no attention to them. Then you have an attorney telling you your hands are tired. I don't get it? Why make laws if they can't be enforced? Why have contracts if they are meaningless? This house situation has gone back and forth since June. Took almost 2 months to get this guy into contract...one which obviously didn't matter anyway. Here we are in the first week of Nov. and nothing has happened with a deal that was supposed to close by the end of Oct.  and that is my rant for the day LOL

My collections of Quotes, at times, helps me through a day. I love this one.
I wish I could share all I have been doing. Unfortunately I have been working on gifts  and I am not sure who checks this Blog. So until they are mailed out and received. I can't show you.
I can show you a puzzle piece. remember I challenged my group to make something from a puzzle piece. I made that wreath out of several. I made this out of one.

Silly huh? Actually I would put a pin on the back of that and wear it. Guess that makes me silly too.
That's all I have to share today, but I continue to work on things each day, so stay tuned.
Thanks for stopping by.

Gift of the Week

Over at our Mixed Media Studio we are doing a gift of the week, idea thingy. I came up with the idea figuring that if people made samples of quick and easy little gifts, they would also be getting some "thinking of you" gifts out of the way, long before the holiday rush.

While there is nothing new about mug rugs and this pattern has been around for some time. There is always someone who either hasn't seen it or forgotten they saw it. I LOVE mug rugs. I always have a coffee or a glass of ice water where ever I'm sitting and I don't like rings on my furniture. These little darlings are real quick and easy to make, very absorbent and washable. They make wonderful little hostess gifts if you're invited to a dinner party, a cute wishing well gift at a shower or house warming...Lots of reasons to give one or a whole stack of them. Hope you enjoy the video

Think about that quote!
Yesterday was a finish up day. I finished my What Do You See project but can't show you just yet. It didn't turn out as I had hoped. Well, it didn't turn out as I saw it in my mind, but it's an original, that's for sure and it was fun....I think LOL

I also put the final touches on my pin keep and in doing so ruined it. Oh don't cry, I actually think the second one turned out sweeter. I can't show you that just yet either because it is going to  a partner and I'd like her to be surprised. It did, however , take up most of my day and evening so I had no time to work on a video (another story). But in between I did have time to make a flat ornament using a new technique.

Not sure if you have ever used SILKS. It's a paint (Google it) When you heat it, it bubbles and gives a unique texture to a piece. As always the pictures do not do justice to the look. The Austrian crystals really twinkle and there are stars of all sizes . The paint itself has a shimmer. If you are going to purchase SILKS, look for the started kit. That way you get lots of colors to play with and they go a long way. Actually I liked the look of the puzzle pieces as they were and I will probably make more. I had to use Gesso because the pieces were so shiny, then Evergreen because the gesso was to dark and then finally the SILK. More work then I bargained for but if you make several it would be worth it.
I will get to work on that video today...It's one of those quick and easy gifts to make that I thought I would share, so come back soon. Thanks for stopping by.