Snowbirds Welcome!

Good morning! As promised, I have another card that I created this weekend to show you. I can't believe that I made 2 cards in one weekend after that long card-drought! I was beginning to think that my mojo was gone forever! Instead, I am rejuvenated and on a roll! I pray that it lasts awhile.

Even though Christmas is over, we're getting lots and lots of snow here in Maryland, this winter. It is an abnormality in Maryland to get so much...it started the first weekend in December...and then we got 2 feet just in time for Christmas! That was really a once-in-a-blue-moon snow. So, with snow all around, I decided that we can still enjoy snowmen! Before I forget I want to thank my friend Joyce Casaldi, for the pretty transparent sparkly ribbon that she sent to me for my birthday last month...I have teamed it with the Michael's Pink Satin Ribbon on this card.

This snowman is called "Hamilton" from Whipper Snapper. I just loved the little bird standing on his head and the birdhouse hanging on his twig arm! The punched wavy, side border and the punched wavy, sentiment border was made using my new EK Success Dotted Wavy Border Punch. They are really coming out with some really neat border punches! Okay, here's the deets:

Stamps: Whipper Snapper "Hamilton" Snowman, Whipper Snapper Sentiment
Cardstock & Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Jolly by Golly" Paper Pad, K&Co. "Remake Berry Pinks" Mat Pad, Paper Trey Ink Ocean Tides Cardstock, Paper Trey Ink White Cardstock.
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, JoAnn's White & Stampin' Up Pretty In Pink Inks
Markers: Copic Sketch - RV23 Pure Pink, RV29 Crimson, Y11 Pale Yellow, Y21 Buttercup Yellow, Y26 Mustard, B000 Pale Porcelain Blue, B41 Powder Blue, BG11 Moon White, BG15 Aqua, C1 Cool Grey & 0 Colorless Blender.
Tools & Accessories: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Snowflake Embossing Folder, EK Success Wavy Dotted Border Punch, Nestabilities Curved Rectangle Dies, Tsukineko Sponge Dauber, Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch Kit, Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, JoAnn's Snowflakes, KaiserCraft Pink Rhinestones, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Zig Fine-Tip Black Marker, Michael's Pink Ribbon, Sparkly Clear Ribbon from my friend, Joyce
Techniques: Basic Stamping, Sponging, Dry Embossing, Copic Coloring

Everyone Needs a Friend...

Well hello faithful readers! I cannot believe that I have a card that I can show you NOW! LOL I've been working fervently on several Clear Dollar Stamps February Sneak Peeks, but I can't share those until the end of this month, so keep your eye out for those.

This card was made for Laurie Wilson's "Clearly Delightful Blog Challenge #1". Laurie has illustrated the cutest digi image of a darling rabbit, so her theme for her first blog challenge was "wabbits". Everyone who participates in her challenge receives her adorable digi image FREE through email! I have never used digital images before, but this "wabbit" is calling me and I'm thinking that I need to explore digital imaging.

This card also was meaningful to me, as I had so many, many faithful friends who prayed for my surgery, my father's surgery and for all the struggles that I faced during my hiatus from CDS. So, this card is to celebrate all those faithful friends! You truly have touched my heart and I am forever humbled by your love, concern and prayers. Okay! Here's the deets:

Stamps Used: Whipper Snapper "Cherish the Moment", Computer-Generated Sentiment
Cardstock & Papers: Paper Trey Ink Ocean Tides Cardstock, Paper Trey Ink Spring Moss Cardstock, Paper Trey Ink Ocean Tides "Bitty Box Basics" Paper Pad, Paper Trey White Cardstock, Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird" Paper Pad
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Copic Sketch - RV11 Pink, RV29 Crimson, B00 Frost Blue, B41 Powder Blue, BG000 Pale Aqua, BG11 Moon White, BG72 Ice Ocean, YG03 Yellow Green, YG67 Moss, G84 Spring Dim Green, G94 Grayish Olive, E00 Skin White, E02 Fruit Punch, YR01 Peach Puff, E31 Brik Beige, E34 Orientale, C1, C3 & C5 Cool Grays, 0 Colorless Blender
Tools & Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Labels Nine Dies, Martha Stewart Eyelet Dot Border Punch, EK Success Corner Rounder Punch, Karen Foster Click-It Hole Punch Kit, Paper Piercing Tool, Sewing Machine, Thread, Stampin' Up! Dimensionals, Paper Trey Ink Ocean Tides Buttons, Embroidery Thread, Paper Trey Ink Aqua Mist Ribbon
Techniques: Basic Stampin, Paper Piercing, Machine Stitching

I will have another card to share with you this weekend, so I hope that you visit again! : )

Have a Very Merry Christmas!

Hello faithful readers! I have let you down by not delivering what I promised in my last blog...a new little yellow cottage sketch and a card or two. I have been unusually busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is why I've been lax in creating things...BUT! I will be resuming my design team duties for Clear Dollar Stamps, the week after Christmas!!

So! That means that I will be producing cards because I am committed and I am committed to finish coloring my little yellow cottage sketch and get that uploaded in January. I just wanted to update you on what's going on...I'm fine, Daddy's doing well, still some leg swelling but is coming along.

I want to thank every single precious reader that has come to see what I've been creating and especially those who continually prayed for me through total knee replacement surgery and for my father's leg surgery. It has been a very long fall and early winter, but I am looking with excitement toward resuming my design team duties for CDS, getting back into blogging and I'm taking a bible study on the book of Matthew. I am looking forward to 2010 and want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and Blessings in the New Year!

See you soon!

Time is Flying!

Hello faithful readers! I so appreciate you! I really do! I mean who else would keep coming back to read a blog that doesn't have postings but once every 2-3 weeks! You guys are the best and I am blessed to have you peeking in...

With that said, I wanted to update you with my life: Daddy was released from the rehabilitation center about a week and a half ago, and he has since decided to sell the family home and move into an apartment. And that is all going to happen Nov. 21st! Yep, for an 84-year-old guy, he's moving fast! He still has considerable swelling in his operated leg and was told by his surgeon that he may have that for a month and perhaps some swelling off and on for the rest of his years. He just has to use common sense after being on his feet awhile and elevate his leg as needed to rest it.

I have begun coloring my new illustration of my little yellow cottage for my blog and hope to have that up and running by Dec. 1st! I know that that sounds like forever, but it's really not...Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

Tom and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary on Nov. 16th and we are blessed enough to go away to Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ for two nights to stay at the Cashelmara Inn, a Victorian style seaside Bed & Breakfast. I've included a photo of the B&B from their website, above. We hope to breathe some fresh salty air, stroll on the non-commercial boardwalk, eat some marvelous food and enjoy a movie or two in the Cashelmara Inn's Victorian Theatre, complete with velvet chairs and free popcorn! I will have photos to share when we return, and the following weekend, Daddy's moving into his apartment...and then the following Wednesday, the Nov. 25th, Christopher will be home from college for Thanksgiving break! I really am shooting for stamping a card Thanksgiving weekend! So, please don't give up on me!

I'll see you back here after our anniversary trip with some photos!

Update on My Father's Surgery

Hello! I wanted to give my followers an update on my father's leg aneurysm bypass surgery. Monday was a very long day as his surgery wasn't scheduled until 1:30 pm. His surgery lasted approximately 2 hours and then he was in recovery for about 90 minutes. The surgeon met with us and said that the surgery was a "success", however there is a huge danger of blood clots which would not bring about a good prognosis for the future of his leg. Since my father lost his other leg in 1978 and extra arteries were used from his "good leg" in hope of successful natural artery bypass on the lost leg, there were no available arteries left on his good leg to use for this surgery. So, an artificial artery was grafted in, and his aneurysm was clamped closed to prevent bursting and blood flow through the original artery. With leg aneurysm bypasses (called popliteal bypass), using a natural artery is more beneficial with a better prognosis. Since Daddy had an artificial artery bypass, he is not out of the woods for some time. But the medical staff has gotten him out of bed yesterday and today, he took several steps with the walker.

He will be released from the hospital tomorrow and then he is going to a rehabiliation center for awhile, so that he can gain his independence back. We don't know how long he will be in the rehabilitation center, as it depends on the "goals" that he and his doctor set. But we are hopeful that he will be in there, at most, a week. The blood clotting prevention is being done with a blood thinner Rx, compression stockings and he will need to keep moving his leg through exercise and/or regular use.

I want to thank everyone who has been faithfully praying for him, and my family. We so appreciate your heartfelt prayers and we ask that you continue to hold him in prayer until he is out of the woods. It humbles me to know that so many people whom I have never met has prayed and is continuing to pray. Thank you again!!

A Need for Prayer

Hi Everyone! I wanted to update my faithful blog readers with information regarding my father's leg anuerysm surgery. By the way, his name is Roy Unger and he saw his vascular surgeon this afternoon and has scheduled his leg bypass surgery next Monday, 10/19 at 1:30 pm. It looks like they will be using a synthetic artery to do the bypass surgery since no natural arteries are available (from being stripped from both legs for his 1978 bypass surgeries). I'm told that the synthetic artery bypass has improved much since then, however, it is more beneficial to have a natural artery to use for the bypass. My sister, Dianne, is flying up from Georgia on Sunday to help Daddy out when he comes home from the hospital and I'm so glad she's coming for emotional support, as well! Please keep her in prayer for travel mercies and please pray for Daddy's surgery on Monday: that his leg would not reject the artificial artery or that infection would not set in and that the surgery would be successful.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and I'll will update sometime Monday evening or Tuesday morning. I so appreciate my followers!

When it Rains...

Good Morning! I have no idea who may be reading this after the long absence of postings here lately, but should you be reading this, I have yet more disappointing news to share.

I had decided to return to the CDS design team in time to produce November sneak peeks, but there has been a family medical concern that is taking my focus away from anything else. My father who has been living independently (my mother passed away in 2000), as a leg amputee (he does wear a prosthesis and can walk), has developed an aneurysm behind the knee of his "good leg". It is rather large and will require surgery either with a stent or bypass surgery. My father has arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and lost his leg to an aneurysm in 1978, after several bypass attempts were made, that failed. So, you can imagine the fear that he has of losing this other leg should this new aneursym surgery should fail. That would render him a double amputee and would certainly change the dynamic of his independent living. Us children (my sister, my brother and myself), may be facing some decisions regarding our father's care should the surgery not succeed. So, because of this, I have decided that returning to CDS as a design team member is not in the best interest of CDS, as my focus is foremost on my father. We do not have a surgery date at this time, as he is still in the midst of more testing and needs to see a cardiologist for cardiac clearance, as well (he has had 3 heart attacks). My focus and my time will be directed toward my family and although I regret that I am not able to return to CDS at this time, I feel that it is the right decision.

That doesn't mean that I won't be posting card-related posts. I hope that at some point after my father's surgery, I'll be able to stamp and relax for therapy and I will share those creations when I do. On a positive note, I have some news to share...I have, for some time, not been happy with my blog photo of my little yellow cottage. So, I have asked my sister, Dianne Dashler, who is an artist, if she would "sketch" my little yellow cottage. She has just finished her final rendering and as soon as I receive it in the mail, I will be anxious to colorize it and hope to upload it to my blog in 2-3 weeks. It is a big difference in artwork and hope that you come back to see it.