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

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

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

Always Remember

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

Until next time,
Becca

Grungy Embossing

If you follow this blog at all, you know that I am IN LOVE with Pinterest.  (Like I need another addiction!)  Well, I came across a board with all these cool tutorials. When I was done pinning about a hundred of them, I even watched a couple.  After viewing this one about clear embossing powder over a Cuttlebug embossed folder, I jumped (yes, jumped) up and set to work on making this card:

 

 

The tutorial made mention of using this over B&T paper you weren't too excited about anymore.  This paper immediately came to mind...and is why I jumped (yes, jumped) up to try it.

Run you paper through the whatever embossing folder system you use.  I have a Cuttlebug.  Leave the paper in the folder while you gently rub Versamark ink over the raised part and emboss with clear powder.  Next, you use a sponge dauber or the direct to paper technique to ink the background.  I used CTMH Twilight, Juniper, and Outdoor Denim in different areas.  The tutorial used black which really obscured the background paper.

This paper is the thin weight, and if I were to do this again, I would mount it on some cardstock weight before running it through my Cuttlebug because I had real trouble not getting my Versamark ink in the cracks and crevices as you can see at the top in particular. 

However, with the sloppy embossing powder problem, I thought the background had a grungy, masculine feel and decided to use it anyway.  Because I am getting ready to put a package in the mail for Operation Write Home, I decided to add a touch of ribbon to give it a tiny bit of girl power so the card could be for either a boy or a girl. (The ribbon is actually cream and brown but it was too startling against the background so I used some of the leftover ink in my sponge dauber and gave it a little Twilight coloring.)  OWH is having a Mid-Week Throwdown Challenge: Masculine.  Even with the ribbon, I think this still qualifies.

Now it's your turn to jump (yes, jump) up and try it yourself.

Until next time,
Becca

Sweet Sunday Sketch

Last Sunday, my mother-in-law passed away.  We were just processing that news when I got an e-mail from Karen Giron over at the sweetest thing.  She chose my card as the SSSC164 Winner and guest designer for SSSC166.  I told her it could not have come at a better time because there is going to be no memorial service for my MIL and it was harder to let her go without doing something to honor her life.

Momlyn loved Christmas, dogs, and making cards, so here's a little tribute just for her:

The stamps and paper are from CTMH.  The sentiment is hand written.  I actually have a stamp that says "Fleas Navidog" which Momlyn bought for me (because she also loved a good word pun), but it's too large to fit inside the little sign over the doghouse door. 
The dog has five layers of foam mounting tape.  Yeah...it's a little overkill, but this is my first ever guest designer gig, and I wanted it to be extra special.

I used the following Copics for my coloring: E50, E53, E55, E57 (dog/doghouse); R00, R22 (nose/cheeks); and R29 (to color pearl accents). The icicles are Studio G glitter glue. 

I made the pennants using regular kraft paper which I ran through my paper crimper.  Remember paper crimpers? For some reason, I have pulled it out more in the last couple weeks than I have in the last couple years.

Momlyn did not call herself my mother-in-law.  She said she was my mother-in-love.  In many ways, she was a very different kind of woman.  We are pretty sure she had Aspberger's (a form of Autism) and could not interpret non-verbal clues.  It made communication challenging, and there are some really funny stories about miscues.  But what she did do was raise four children who are all wonderful human beings.  I'm partial the the baby of the family.

 

If you are so inclined, I'd appreciate you becoming a follower of my blog.  I'm hoping to sell my novel at conference this year, and the more followers I have the better the publishing houses like it.  Nothing like shameless promotion, huh!

 

Thanks to Karen for giving me the opportunity to share my tribute card.

 

Until next time,

Becca

 

Christmas Joy

I always promise myself I am going to start my Christmas cards earlier.  Well...at least I'm starting in August instead of October. 

I used the Monday Mojo Sketch #255 for this card:

The stamps are all from CTMH but different, retired sets.  The hedgehog is really old but I have never been able to let go of him.  He's just too stinkin' cute!  I colored the mittens with pencils to give them some shading.  I also cut and mounted the top mitten, cut the hedgehogs hands and glued them to the top so it looks like he is peeking up.  The ribbon was bought at Hobby Lobby last year.  I really like it so I've been hoarding it.  Why do I do that???

We received some sad news on Sunday.  My mother-in-law, who had been suffering with Alzheimer's, passed away.  While we are relieved that she has been released from the body into the arms of Jesus, we will miss her greatly.  She was my best editor, and I wish she could have read my current novel as I'm sure she would have loved it.  My husband is now in the process of moving his father to a memory card facility close to us.  He suffers from Sr. Dementia so we aren't sure if he quite comprehends all that has happened.

Christmas was my mother-in-law's favorite holiday.  I hope you will come back Sunday as I will have a special tribute card for her.  I was chosen as the guest designer for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge through Karen Giron' blog, the sweetest thing.  She sent me a top-secret sketch and a badge for my blog.  Since there will be no memorial service for my mother-in-law, and it is hard to let her go without doing something to honor her life, I will have another Christmas card but that's all I can reveal. 

Until next time,

Becca