Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! We had Christmas on Saturday so that our kids from Vegas could be here with family and drive back home today so they could be home for Santa. They just called and are having car trouble and are coming back to our house this morning. I hope they can fix it so that they will be home for Santa. Wishing everyone a wonderful day tomorrow with family and lots of goodies.

Snowfall pair

This snowfall pair took 4 attempts at a video. First time,  it was out of frame, 2nd attempt, I turned on the camera and didn't push the film button, 3rd time, as soon as I started the video the camera battery died, 4th try it finally worked. whew!

Jumbo Snowfall pair

Good News!

I had some good news today. The Palliative nurse came (Palliative care is one step before you are put on Hospice). When she started coming, she came once a week. I was doing pretty well, so she started coming every two weeks. After I stopped the chemo pills and just went to the hospital every three weeks for IV chemo, she thought I only needed her to come every three weeks. When she came today, she said that I am doing so well now, that she will come once a month and possibly, in January they will release me from the Palliative program! My CT scan showed all the cancer is staying the same and not getting bigger, which is really good because this was a very aggresive, fast growing cancer.  So, tonight I started my Christmas cards, and it is hard to stamp or to use punches in the bed because I can't get leverage, so.....hubby stamped for me, and used a decorative blade trimmer (don't tell him I told you LOL). When he takes me to Michaels or Joanns, he now knows the names of the supplies, and as soon as he sais it, he sais......Oh no, I can't beleive I know this stuff. It cracks me up. He saw some distressed paper and said ......this looks like Tim Holtz.......then his eyes got wide and he realized what he just said....I just laugh.

Thanksgiving time

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I am very blessed and I am so thankful.  The scrapbook/cardmaking community is filled with awesome crafters and I am so thankful for all of you. I love your creativity, your enabling, and your wonderful friendship. THANK YOU!

CT scan results

I received my CT scan results yesterday when I went for chemo. The results came back that I am exactly the same.......nothing grew bigger. YAY!  Now, to start making Christmas cards.

Every Sunday the boys from church come by and bring me the Sacrament. I wanted to have a little treat on hand to thank them. This turkey is on the Create a Critter 2 cartridge. I love this cartridge! I tied the bags with jute because these boys are between 12 and 17 years old and I thought they may prefer jute to ribbon. But, the truth is: they probably don't care, and will  just rip the bag open to  get to the peanut butter cups!

You rock!

My oldest grandson turns 11 today. I guess it is time to start making his cards a bit more "grown up". The background paper was printed on my Cricut Imagine machine. I love the distressed look to it, instead of white with black notes, it is dark brown, creams and touches of  blue. The paper is on the Imagine More cartridge. The, "YOU ROCK" was cut on my Cricut Expression 2. Happy Birthday Nick!

Halloween Cards for the boys video

Create a Critter 2

These  cards are made with Cricut Create a Critter 2 cartridge. I love this cartridge. The skull is a Cuttlebug die, but, Cricut has several skulls on their cartridges. Each card has a wobble under the images. tfl....

Haunted house

Haunted house card

This haunted house card is made with mostly dies. I am going to try to do a video showing all the different dies, but I have to figure out how to set up the camera now that I can't film at my desk anymore. I have chemo tomorrow but hopefully will figure out the camera set up when I get home, Thanks so much for stopping by today, I am going to try to get my Cricut near me so that I can start making Halloween cards for my 5 grandsons. tfl....

Hello card

This hello card is for my sweet friend, Claudette. She calls to check on how I am feeling, so, when I saw this phone stamp, I knew it was the one I wanted to use to make her card. Most of the items used on this card came from Michaels. I have some fun things coming from Amazon and as soon as the nice mailman delivers them I have plans for more creating. I am doing so much better now that I am off of the chemo pills. I am excited to start making Holiday cards....tfl....d

July Update

Just a quick update. I decided to stop taking the chemo pills. We cut them back to 5 a day from 6 a day and I still had the side effects. The side effects were pretty miserable. I will still go every three weeks for the IV chemo drugs. These drugs and pills are not a cure, they are more of a maintenance so I chose quality of life over length.
I hope to get a birthday card done for my grandson in the next few days. I hope to get it done and post it here.
Right now I am hooked on York Peppermint Patties, they are so yummy! It's funny how suddenly something tastes so good and you just can't get enough of it and then you get tired of it and move on to something else.
tfl......d

When my friend comes over each day to help me roll over, her hubby cuts up carrots into fancy strips and sends them with her to give to me. I made this thank you card for him. This carrot is from the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge. I am feeling so much better since I have had a little break from the chemo pills, It is so nice to feel almost normal!

With Heartfelt Thanks

Another La La Land stamp. I have a sentiment stamp from Papertrey that sais, With heartfelt thanks and I thought it worked for this image since she is holding a string of hearts and the background paper has heart shaped flowers. The scallop edge is a large Martha Stewart border punch. I can't believe I made a card with no ribbon, no brads, no flowers....nothing! I really need to brush up on my Copic coloring, I kept messing around with the hair and just made it worse!           I am getting a break from the chemo pills since they caused so many side effects, I only have to do the IV chemo for now. It is a very nice break, those side effects are not fun!

thanks

I made a card last week and forgot to take a pic of it. I took a pic of this one as soon as I finished it. This is a La La Land stamp. The trim is from Hobby Lobby and the bling is from my stash. The thanks is a rub on from Hobby Lobby. It is quite a process to get all the supplies out to the family room and I always think of items that I wish I had to add to the card, but, it is fun just to be able to create. It makes me feel a bit normal.....although I'm not sure I have ever been normal hahahha.

This box is made with a Sizzix box die. You cut it out twice, so, it comes out bigger than I thought it would. The flower and brown leaves are from I Am Roses, the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch, and sprayed with Lindys Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist. A little bling on the butterfly, some pearls and a Recollections small brown flower. The belly band edges were punched with a Martha Stewart border punch. The hello stamp is from a Stampin Up stamp set with a matching tag punch. My poor hubby had to make a million trips into my stamp room to bring all of the supplies out to me. He is getting a crash course on the names of craft products! Thanks for stopping by. I hope to get more creating done.

CT scan results

I saw the oncologist this week for my IV chemo treatment and received the results of my CT scan. There is slight improvement in my liver and lungs, but more cancer showed up in my hip and shoulder bones. I didn't even know I had it in my shoulder. I will add another two hours to my regular IV chemo treatment and recieve a bone strenghener. I will receive that every three weeks for one or two years. I am working on a little box project. Hoping to get it done and posted soon. Have a wonderful day everyone, and use up those supplies!

Keeping it Simple

The other night my dh wheeled me into my craft room, I gathered some supplies into a basket to make a card. It is amazing how many products that I could think of to use that I hadn't gathered. I had to use what I had. I had to keep it simple. tfl....d

Finally.....a card!

My hubby wheeled me into my stamp room, I loaded up a basket of supplies, and brought them back to the hospital bed. I had a chance to play and it felt so good. I made hubby this card for Valentines day. He was surprised to see a handmade card after all this time. Yay............ I have to thank my friend, grammat for sending me this Cricut cut and the ticket. The circle sentiment is from the Cutting Cafe', isn't it cute? Thanks grammat!

The dilema and the Joy of Crafting

As crafters, I think we have all had this thought..........I do not need to buy one more crafting supply! I have enough paper, embelishments, and tools, to last a lifetime. Then, a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer, and how long is a lifetime? I decided that it would not be fair to my husband to buy one more thing. After all, what is he going to do with my entire craft room, I certainly do not need to add more to it. So, for the past several months I haven't purchased anything, deleted all of the craft site emails, stayed away from Michaels, and stopped watching YouTube videos on card making. But then, Hobby Lobby came to California, and opened up a new store right in my city! Then, CHA came to town and I dared to watch videos of the new products being released. I found joy! You crafters understand, right? Who ever said that crafting isn't a wonderful form of therapy? I started watching card making videos, a few days ago, and dare I admit, I just went to ebay and ordered a stamp! It felt good! Last night I could not sleep because I was planning on how to get craft supplies from my craft room, out to the hospital bed I stay in. I found a new hope and a new enthusiasm. Tomorrow,dh has a day off and for once I do not have a doctor appointment. I think there is a Michaels coupon in the paper............hmmm......dare I go? Maybe, just maybe :)

moving forward

A little progress today. I was able to move my right foot for the first time since surgery. My home health nurse put me in the lift and was able to get me out of the hospital bed and into the wheelchair. I had her wheel me into my craft room and just sat there for a few minutes enjoying the sights and smells of rubber stamps, and cardstock and ribbon! Small steps forward, but, they mean a lot to me. After all, progress is progress, right? Yay!

Radiation

I started radiation yesterday. So far so good. Once radiation is over, it is back to chemo. I go everyday for 5 days, which is way better than last time when I went 25 times. Moving forward.............

update-again

I am home from the hospital and the re-hab. I was gone for three weeks.The plan took a definite turn. The original plan was to re-learn to walk after the tumor in the spinal cord was removed. That plan changed when they discovered I am in stage 4 cancer, in my lungs, liver, and pelvic bone. I will not be able to walk now or I may fracture my pelvic bone. I will be doing chemo and radiation again. I know this is a card idea blog, not a medical blog, but I wanted to explain why I am not making cards. I am in a hospital bed. Thank you everyone for your sweet comments and your prayers. I have received such great support and am so blessed. Thank you so much.