Stars & Stamps Sketch 31

I thought I would do something with a different kind of theme for this week's sketch at Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps. I made a Christmas card. A bit early but I've been making Christmas cards for OWH anyway. It takes me awhile to get enough done to send in so I start in July. Since we have company coming in September and then again in October, I have to get done what I can while I can!


Anyway, here's this week's sketch.....



And, here's my creation.....




Paper from ???? Just some stuff I've had. I cuttlebugged the two strips of green and red with the Snow Dots folder. I forget the name of the company where I got the stamps. The ink is SU, coloring was done with colored pencils.

Thanks for looking!!

Another Anniversary

Four years! It's been four years! Four years ago today I started my chemo treatments for breast cancer. At that moment I couldn't imagine a year from that date but now it's been four.

Even though it's been awhile, I can still feel the feelings I had that day. My DH and my friend, Gail, went with me. I remember vividly and can picture in my mind's eye the treatment room. It had one of those comfortable reclining chairs but I stayed away from it as long as I could. I looked at it and remember thinking "this is real" and started to cry and said I wanted to go home. They hugged me and Gail prayed.

Then the nurse came in, I sat in the chair, and she prepped me for the treatment. At the beginning of the treatments, there was no problem finding veins but as time went on, it sometimes was a little more difficult. I remember one time specifically. Instead of my usual nurse, who had the touch of a butterfly, another nurse came in to start the treatment. It took her three times and she still could not get a vein. Finally, my friend, Lillian, who was with me, asked for my regular nurse, Mara. By then, of course, I was really upset and crying. It took one try for Mara to find a good vein and get the treatment started.

I thank the Lord for giving me such good nurses and doctors, for such wonderful and loving support from my family and friends - and even strangers. For the most part, I had the "peace that passes understanding" throughout my whole ordeal. Peace that could only come from the Lord.

Thank you, Jesus, for four years of survivalship (if that's a word!!). Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

Stars & Stamps Sketch 30

It's been awhile since the last S & S sketch from Operation Write Home I did. Can't believe it's already been 30 weeks! Where does the time go? If you are not familiar with OWH, why not take a moment to check out the website right now? It's a very worthwhile organization. We make cards of all sorts for our heroes overseas to use to send home to their family and friends. Afterall, it's highly doubtful there are many card stores in Iraq or Afghanistan!! Plus, these cards are made available to our troops for FREE.

This is the sketch for this week....



And, here's my creation using this sketch....




Not sure where the paper is from. It's some doublesided stuff my daughter gave me. The "note" is SU; the sentiment is from A Muse Artstamps. Inks are SU.

Sometimes I try to put a background that goes with the theme of the card. The only musical talent in our family is Rock Band! This is a replica of Paul McCartney's guitar from Beatles Rock Band.

Midweek Throwdown Challenge from S & S

I've done a number of the Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenges but this is the first Midweek Challenge I have done. It caught my eye because the theme is "Christmas in July". I've been busy making Christmas cards for Operation Write Home the past couple weeks. So, I grabbed one I have done and am submitting it to the Midweek Challenge. Unfortunately, the picture isn't very good. I tried taking shot after shot and for some reason, they just aren't coming out clear.

But, here is my card for the Christmas in July Challenge:



The paper is just 65# white cardstock. I used the D'vine Swirls cuttlebug folder for the background and added gold stickles. The stamp is from SU as is the ink used. The ribbon is something I found in my stash.

Merry Christmas!!

Thoughts and Creations

My blog heading is a little misleading today. I don't have many thoughts about anything significant and haven't really been doing much creating lately.

A couple weeks ago our son visited from NJ and DH's brother came from Florida. It was really great to see them both. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much sightseeing. It was just too darned hot! The whole family did go into Nashville one afternoon. Some of us went to the Country Music Hall of Fame (the one place my BIL wanted to see) while the rest hung around in the park across the street with the children, which I think is called the Hall of Fame Rose Garden (but don't quote me on that!).





After the Hall of Fame, we walked around Nashville for awhile. Went down to the river to get an idea of how high the water had to come up to flood so much of the city. Pretty high! We also toured Fort Nashborough and had a little history lesson.





It's been a couple years since we've seen DH's brother and about two months since we've been to NJ. Hopefully, we'll make it back in September sometime. That's my plan anyway, but we all know how the best laid plans of mice and men go sometimes! We will be having friends visiting from NJ the first week in September. Then, in October, other friends are coming to visit. Sometime in between there I want to get back so I can dig up some more plants, get the rest of my compost, and any other stuff we didn't get to bring yet.

The weather here has been awful hot, like it seems to be in most of the country. Today was overcast and I was hoping it would rain but it didn't. Of course, if I had gone ahead and watered the garden, it would have rained but since I decided to wait and see, it didn't!

Considering I didn't get around to planting my veggies until later than usual, things are growing pretty good except for the green beans. Something seems to be eating them. They are full of holes in the leaves but I don't see what it is that is having a feast. Everything else seems to be doing well. Lots of tomatoes with a few looking like they will be turning red any day. Can't wait to taste my first homegrown TN tomato. Of course, those of us from NJ know there is nothing to compare to a TN tomato! :-)

The 4th of July was exciting and fun!! Fireworks are not legal in NJ so we've never had them but here in TN they are. So, DS had a ball buying fireworks and then putting on a show! It was cool because most of the neighbors did, too, so it was like one big fireworks show in our own neighborhood.

Since our company left, we haven't really done much. With being "retired", it's too easy to put off until tomorrow what I should do today! Been doing a lot of reading. Today I did start to work on Christmas cards for Operation Write Home. Looking forward to September 18th. That's when Erica and I will be heading back to Pulaski for an OWH cardmaking party, making Christmas cards for our heroes! We had a good time the last time we went.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Take care and God bless.