Thursday, September 27, 2012

You Can Never be Too Kind...

You can never be too kind to nurses.

My father-in-law is in the hospital.  Because of his dementia, he doesn't understand what is happening to him sometimes.  Today, he was hooked up to a heart monitor, a blood transfusion drip, a catheter, and a couple other tubey things.  None of them made him happy, especially when the nurses wanted him to try to go "number two" on a port-a-potty while still hooked up to his catheter.  He got very cantankerous, and before I could get back to his room from my short dinner break, he had hit all three of them and been verbally abusive.  He was convinced they wanted him to take a shower with all of them.  I think he was just horribly unhappy, couldn't understand why, and thought of the most terrible accusation he could at the moment.  They gave him a sedative, and he was resting with his second blood transfusion drip starting when I left .

All that to say, you can never be too kind to nurses.  I made the them this card to say thank you for putting up with words and actions no one should ever have to, even if it is just part of their job, and even if they know he didn't mean it. 

 In case you can't read the sentiment, it says, "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels."  I love how that sums up the incredible feats some women are able to overcome with beauty and grace.  It's been an exhausting day, so I'm going to briefly sum up the parts.  CTMH: shoe stamp, rhinestone button, longer of the two pins, Watermelon mat paper, and white waxy flax.  Versamark ink with black detail embossing powder.  Sentiment printed on vellum paper.  Ribbon from Hobby Lobby.  Pearl accents, one colored with a black Copic.

I entered it in the CASology: Shoe challenge.

And for those of you wondering, I did not win the writing contest but I came away a winner anyway. I have permission to submit my completed manuscript to the woman I dearly want to become my agent. Plus, several multi-published, award-winning authors were kind enough to take time with me and discuss the issues I am having trying to get my first book done right. Here a couple pictures of the Gala Awards dinner.

 With my roommates.  L to R: Kristen Joy Wilks, H.A. Caminiti, and me. It was a good conference for the ladies of room 323.
 With the other award finalists.  L to R: Karen Barnett, me, and our winner, Brandy Cole-Vallance.
And finally, with my wonderful hubby who drove three hours each way, got lost in horrific construction detours, and still loves me.

Funny story.  During dinner, I barely missed nailing my satin blouse with a buttered roll that slipped out of my hand.  I still think, if I had a grease stain down the front of me, I would have won and had to get up in front of 700 people to show it off. 

Until next time,
Becca

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

100% Genuine Fall

It's sketch time over at Heart2Heart.  This was a real stretch for me, but I like how it turned out.


 
Almost everything is CTMH and came in my latest box.  Yee Haw!  Stamps are from Fall Favorites and Rugged Dude, paper is Pemberly.  The only non-CTMH accessory is the jute bow.  I stamped the rivet from Rugged Dude, covered it with liquid glass, and then inked the rivet with VersaMark and stamped it on the wet liquid glass.  I don't recommend this...but I was in an adventurous mood and had cleaner handy!!
 
The jean pocket was stamped in Twilight and overstamped with Chocolate.  The "100%" tag was stamped in Twilight first, but it didn't show up well enough so I overstamped it with second generation Outdoor Denim.  "Fall" was stamped in Desert Sand (second generation then rolled along the edges).
 
I am in love with this Burlap ribbon.  I think I'm going to need to order more soon.  And this scarecrow just makes me smile. 
 
Here's wishing you a fabulous start to my favorite season of the year!
 
Until next time,
Becca

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Sweet Sunday Snow

Okay...so it's Saturday and I'm just now getting around to playing with Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge167.  But, I did at least make it before the next Sunday challenge is up!  That has to count for something, right???


I'm not sure if you can tell from the close up (which blogger wouldn't let me make bigger than this for some, dumb reason), but there is glitter on the snowman and FunFlock on the hat and cuff.  For the snowman, I used Glitter Glue by Studio G and smeared it around with my finger and a paint brush.  The FunFlock was added with a base of Liquid Glass then I lightly sprinkled the white flocking on top and tapped off the excess immediately.  I wanted the stamped image underneath to show through.
 
Stamp is from the "Snow Angels" set by Stampin' Up! Paper is by CTMH (Pemberley, Outdoor Denim, and Desert Sand).  The scallop edge is by Fiskars, and the pearls are from somewhere.  I used a combination of Copics and CTMH matching markers.  Ink is CTMH Outdoor Denim.
 
I have become a stitching snob.  I tried this without and didn't like it, but I couldn't fit it under my machine after I had already glued everything down, so I simply used a marking pen and a gold gel pen.  I don't like it as well as if I'd done actual stitching, but it's better than it was plain.
 
Writer's conference is in less than a week and I am SO NOT READY!  Eeek! 
 
Until next time,
Becca

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Always Remember

No words necessary...other than to say this is for the challenge over at May Arts.


Until next time,
Becca