MLOKnitting

I know I have been a horrible blogger of late.  I was trying to get back in the habit with my card making when I was called in to take care of my Great Aunt’s estate issues as she is suffering from health issues which include mild dementia.

On the plus side, I got to go to Florida.

On the not so plus side, it was in July.

It is now August.  I am now back in Michigan working on getting things put together so that my Great Aunt can have as fulfilling a life as possible with the time she has left. 

Though, I object to it, she has decided to remain in her home with one crazy neighbor on one side to her home.  This man is just not right.  Let’s mix prescription mood-altering drugs with alcohol and see what happens seems to be his motto from the stories I have heard.  Luckily, she also has some wonderful neighbors who are looking out for her well-being.

What did I want?  I wanted her to move into an Assisted Living Facility that was akin to a Palace.  For one fee, she would have had 3 squares in a fancy dining area, on-site medical staff, her own apartment where she could keep her cat, and a variety of amenities that are too long to list.  Shoot, I would have moved in!

The stumbling block was her stuff.  Now, we all have attachments to stuff, but, one of the things that most folks don’t realize is that those with mild dementia sometimes use their stuff as memories.  The stuff is important to them because they know that it represents something important –  even if they don’t remember exactly what it is.

Now, some relatives have the stamina and strength of will to do what is necessary even if the person wants none of it.  Some don’t.  And, then there are the ones who don’t want to make waves –  or even upset anyone.  Someone is always going to be upset.  Someone is always going to not like your decisions.  Someone is always going to find fault.  It is just the way of things.  And, sometimes, the relative who won’t cooperate –  or convinces the swing vote against a decision –  turns around and says that “we should have done that.”

Well, yes, we should have.  We didn’t.  Why didn’t we?  You didn’t want to do what the experts told us to do.  But, well, that’s in the past.

So, now, I’m in the midst of trying to take care of all of this.  Set up my Great Aunt’s accounts and bills, and generally try to figure out how to make the money she does have last her when she is not doing what is most conducive to making it last.

Now, if people would just do what I tell them to begin with, things would work out better.  Honestly.  OK, I know that sounds conceited, but in this case I’m going from years of observation and knowledge of what really does work vs. what only ends up making it more difficult.  Not to mention that I have hooks into professionals who have dealt with this sort of thing over and over again.

I’m just waiting until we will have to take her to a home kicking and screaming instead of the way I originally wanted –  through just a little bit of deception.  (And, yes, deception is ok when doing what is best for someone who is mentally incapacitated.  We don’t mind using a bit of it on toddlers, and well, mild dementia that is progressing means the person is no longer able to make long-term decisions in their own best interests.)

Hambo Stamps and Birthday Sundaes inspired this card.

The digital stamp is the Hambo freebie.  (I don’t feel guilty as I have –  and am planning to buy –  many, many of Hambo Rubber and Digital stamps.)

I did reverse where the element was and turned it on its side –  but I think it works well.

The blue background paper is stamped with Great Impressions fish and starfish.  The “Happy Birthday” is from TP Studios.

I think I’m having a bit too much fun with making cards.

 

Three challenges inspired this card:

Quirky Crafts wanted to go under the sea.

Cooking It Up wanted to splash a circle.  (Hopefully, my oval is ok.)

Dream Valley Challenge wanted us to Stamp something up.

First, I used my Fiskars templates to cut out the oval from white cardstock. 

Luckily, Great Impressions Stamps had two fish and a starfish in this months offerings that came in just in time for me to use them!

I took a plain blue sheet of paper and stamped one fish in Chipped Sapphire, one in Spiced Marmalade, and the starfish in green.  I then took the portion that would go into the circle and swirled some blues (combined a couple) with a sponge over the paper.  I then put the paper inside the circle.

At this point I thought the card was just too plain.  So I added some of the leftover unswirled paper to the bottom of the card.

It still didn’t seem quite right.  I added a ribbon along the side and the “Let’s Celebrate” stamp mounted on the blue swirled paper sans stamp.  I put the card to the side.

The next morning I was looking through my Sizzix dies and found the conch shell!  I cut it out in white and blotched it with orange and green ink.  Pop dotted it onto the card, rounded the corners, and was finally happy –  very happy with the results.

This week I created a faeries in a lovely English type flower garden to meet challenges for a few folks:

How much more English can you get than Shakespeare?  Place the faerie among a garden of flowers to meet the English Garden Challenge at Scrapbook Sisters.

The bling that was added via inking a Sizzix embossing folder and adding a bit of lace to the side to meet the needs at Sugar Creek Hollow’s  Paper Flowers, Vintage Lace & Bling challenge.

Opus Gluei wanted something inspired by Midsummer’s Dream. And don’t forget, this is a Blog Hop !

I’m not sure who will get this card, but I know plenty of folks who would enjoy it.

How did I make it?

I used some images I have from pre-1923 postcards.  I cut out the lady faerie and placed her inside the hoop which had a white background before I inked it with Tim Holtz Dusty Concord.  The hoop was part of a garden postcard that I then isolated the flowers on and layered. 

The final touch of lace on the green inked embossing folder in yellow placed on a nice purple cardstock completes the card.

I’ve been busily creating a bunch of card challenge cards this week.  I also created an “in memory” page for Smokey’s littermate who died tragically last weekend.

Homer was a sweetie and will be missed terribly.  I will be getting this to his person as soon as I can.

In other news, I got good news in that my CA-125 is only 9!  Still NED!

Boys, Bugs, yellow ribbons, and shabby chic/vintage?  Of course i can put that together!

Tie a yellow ribbon came from Ginger Loft Challenge.

The Bugs and the Boys challenge from Spectacular Sunday Challenge was met by using some images I scanned from pre-1923 postcards.  There are a dearth of really nice little boy images in the world of stamping / scrapbooking, so I decided to find my own.

Well, since I knew that my card was definitely going to have a vintage / shabby chic to it, I decided it would fit the Paper Sundaes Challenge for Vintage or Shabby Chic!

To make it more “steampunk” in its look, I used a Tim Holtz texture folder of gears and brushed silver ink onto it.  I also used a Sizzix impressions folder to make the frame –  fulfilling use a frame at City Crafter Challenge –   and brushed gold ink onto it.  Now, since everything else was looking shabby chic, I used some Tim Holtz inks to age the picture of the boy.

 

Every family and group of friends seems to have one or two months when everyone was born.  It is just one of those things.  My family –  and my husband’s family –  nearly all decided to come into this world in July.

I’ve been feeling very crafty of late.

I decided to surf card making blogs to find inspiration and came upon several challenges that fit right into my preparations. In no particular order, the challenges that inspired a July Birthday Card:

• Simon Says Stamp! Challenge Blog for Wednesdays challenged folks to use stars and stripes.
• Stamp Insanity challenged us to use red, white, and blue this Sunday.
• One Stitch at a Time Sunday Challenge asks for a 4th of July / Picnic theme.
• Pile it On Challenge decided to ask for cupcakes –  lots of cupcake bling.
• Aly’s Sunday Sketch was also looking of cupcakes!

This card was pretty simple to put together.  I started with a nice dark blue (flag blue) card base.  I then cut corners of red and white plain card stock.   Using a ruler, I cut red and white stripes –  and let the card be the blue stripe underneath.

I must say I am totally in love with Hambo Stamps.  Both their rubber stamps and their digis.  The digi of cupcakes raining from the sky are the dream of every picnicker who has ever been rained out!  (I did remove the words since I didn’t want the recipient to “wake-up” from the dream of a cupcake rain.)  I colored the cupcake holders in red and blue stripes with white frosting.  Unfortunately, I am not a very talented photographer, so it is rather hard to see.  The sentiment is from TPC Studios birthday sentiments collection.

Lastly I added some stars.  At first I was just going to add the gold stars but beyond the corner points on the stamp, they were too overwhelming.  I then remembered I had some Fiskar templates that I could use!  I cut a red, white, and blue stamp and added it to the side.  I think it really completed the card.

The Sisterhood of Crafters has a challenge called Button Box this week.  I was trying to figure out what would complete a card I was making today.  I also had a new toy –  Stampin’ Up button embosslits –  that I wanted to use.

My dad has been under the weather, so I made him a very similar card.  This is why it just had to be a really old car stamp –  or two.  I started with a vanilla card stock and stamped an old car from Langnickel Stamps directly on the card stock.  I then took a bit of black card stock and stamped the same image in silver on it. (I can’t quite capture it with my camera.)

The main image is from Great Impressions Stamps (one of my favorite stamp companies).  I colored it in black and deep greys –  well, except for the grass and flowers.  I placed the white stock with the car on some black card stock and used some pop dots to give it a 3d look.

It felt too plain.  I went to browse the web and came across this week’s challenge from The Sisterhood of Crafters which led me to my ever-growing stock of old buttons.  I found a lovely bunch of grey and black buttons.  But, I still wanted to use that new toy!  Using the button embosslits, I created a few black paper buttons and just added some silver ink to give an “aged” tarnish.

 

Well, I know I have been mostly silent these days.  Been busy moving my blog to a new server.  More on that in a later post.  For now, let me just show you the card I am entering for the Crazy4Challenges blog challenge #89.  The theme?  Vacation destinations:

How was it made?

Starting with white card stock, I stamped an Eat Cake tree using Marvy Markers (also used for coloring the tree).

The side paper is made by using the Tim Holtz distressing inks.  I just play with those inks from time to time and have a nice stash of paper I can use.  “Northern Dreams” is stamped in Tim Holtz’s Frayed Burlap and Peeled Paint using The Little Classic Rubber Stamp Mini’s Alphabet Set –  Curlz from Hampton Arts, L.L.C.

The edging is from a Martha Stewart Around-the-Page stamp set.

All of the items are readily available either online or from your local stamp shop.

Here is what should happen in the first episode of next season:

“Castiel!”  A voice thunders, vibrating the very air around Castiel, Bobby, Sam, and Dean.

“What?” Cas’s eyes start darting around worriedly.

“Castiel, what have you been doing?”

“Raphael and Michael started it!”

Disappointment runs through the disembodied voice as the shape of a humble man with a rake appears.  Cas disappears momentarily only to be pulled back.  “I had such high hopes for you, Castiel.  You had so much promise.  And, what do you do?  You decide to become a ‘god’?  Didn’t Lucifer’s fall teach you anything?”

“You let Sam and Dean and all of us suffer!”

“Cas, even Death knows that humans are much less fragile than you think.  Sam is still standing despite you taking down the walls, isn’t he?”

“Where have you been!  Gabriel is dead!  Balthazaar betrayed me!”

The gardener turns to Dean, “Dean, do you have the DVD that Gabriel gave you?”

“Uh . . . yeah.”

“Where do you think that good-for-nothing trickster angel has been all this time?”  The Gardener shrugs as if anyone with any sense would have realized that Gabriel would hide inside a porn film.

“That!”  Dean starts when Bobby looks over at Dean with the “Shut up, boy!” look he does so well.

Castiel is squirming, in the same way as a small child or petulant teenager does when caught doing something that he knows he shouldn’t be.  “What other choice did I have!  Raphael and Crowley were going to . . . “

“Crowley?  Raphael?  Has a single plan of theirs for human beings come to fruition?”  The Gardener shakes his head.  “Human beings are resilient and will continue despite any interference from you, your brothers, the demons.  Even Death doesn’t really understand how powerful I made them.”

Dean and Sam have sudden looks of realization as Bobby just rolls his eyes at how dense these two are.

“Do you really think I haven’t been watching my various children act like absolute idiots for the past century?  I had hoped you would act with some maturity!  Instead?  You become power hungry.  You are supposed to be the Elder Brothers of mankind.  Instead you act worse by fighting over the power of Purgatory which was given to the mother of monsters!”  Eve appears whole and healthy.

“No!”

Without so much as a blink of an eye Eve is empowered and dismissed. “She has been sent back to her realm with a warning.  She will not be coming back.  Your Impala is fine, Dean.  Sam, you will survive, and you will be stronger than ever.  I’ll be watching.”  Castiel is taken by the scruff of his neck by an unseen force as he and The Gardener disappear.

“Bobby?”

“Don’t.  Just don’t.”