It has been a long road

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted, not since mid October actually. I finally am able to make a quick post letting you all know that I am still around.

In Mid October, I woke up with what I thought was the flu. After 5 days, I was so sick and my back was in such extreme pain, which cause movement to be vertually impssible, that I was rushed to the hospital.

It ended up that I had endocarditis (a bacterial growth in a heart valve), a blood infection, acute renal failure and an absess in my lower spine.

After 6 weeks in the hospital, I was finally sent to rehab to regain my strength. It is amazing how much one will loose being sick and bed ridden for 7 weeks. I body/muscles had to learn to do everything all over again. I had even lost the ability to sit up for more that 10 minutes at a time, never mind walking.

I am finally home with physical therapy 3x a week helping me to regain my independance and am still on an antibiotic IV (sigh, my IV pump has become I constant companion).

The only other effect from the illnes seems to be that the middle finger on my left hand refuses to listen to my commands (of all fingers, lol) and sticks out when I try to do things. It tends to knock things over on me all the time, ha ha ha.

I am improving every day, in baby steps, but still require a walker. I am hoping to graduate to a cane in the next couple of weeks!

I miss my crafting so very much and am hoping to be able to get back to some of the simpler things soon.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and that you have a wonderful NEW YEAR!

Hugs,

Ekkkk...sewing on fabric

Just the other day I mentioned that I find it easier to sew paper than fabric. So...what do I decide to do? Sew on fabric, of course! Ekkkk...I thought, but I really wanted to make this project using Wink Wink Ink's new image "Bunny Blessing".

This is a scented mug coaster. I filled it with some dried orange peels and added a bit of ground Cinnamon and clove. Mmmmm...I love the scent of the finished project. Place a nice warm mug on top and you have a yummy smelling area to cozy up in.

Isn't the image adorable. I love the hat the snowman is wearing, tee he he. Lucky bunnies too. I do hope the snowman can still smell the delicious scent of the coaster {wink} The boarder is also part of the set.

To print the image I used Jacouard Ink Jet Cotton Percale Fabric Sheets.  What is great about these sheets is that they are backed with paper so go through the printer perfectly. The images come out fantastic. They also say that the printed fabric can be machine washed.

I did not have to use lining to keep the spices inside. The cotton worked so well, not even a small amount of poofs when mixing the spices after sewing all 4 edges!

As you can see, sewing on fabric is not my best technique, lol. I think this came out OK for my first coaster, but I am hoping another will come out better. This one I will keep for personal use, ha ha ha. I wish I had some pinking shears so the edges would not fray so badly. Perhaps I will be able to borrow a pair for next time.

I think these will make a wonderful, unique and cute Christmas gift along with some mugs and home made hot cocoa mix.

Another idea is to fill the coaster with dried pine needles. If you don't have any for this year, try saving some from this years tree for next year. I have done this before and the pine scent does not diminish! I simple ran my fingers down the branches before recycling it. The needles come right off (make sure to put something, like a plastic sheet or garbage bag, to catch the needles on, ha ha ha, ask me how I know this!) I saved them in a zip lock baggie and they were perfect the next year.  A fun image for this would be the Wink Wink Ink "Holiday Peace" set.

I hope you like the idea. I am on the search for plain white mugs which I can add this image to after making it into rub-ons.  (a quick tutorial for this is HERE)

I am entering this post in this weeks Tip Top Tuesday (anything goes).
HUGS,

Finally, Just Because

WOW! I can't believe a whole week has gone by since I last posted. We caught a bug in the house and it zapped all my energy.  I did try to do some crafting one day and SHEESH! Did you ever have a day that you spent crafting and EVERYTHING went wrong? Spending the whole day to end up with nothing? That is the kind of day I had, so decided to just wait until I was feeling better.

During that week, I went through my blog and realized it had been a while since I made a card just because. I love the design teams but sometimes playing for the sake of playing is such a stress reliever. Saturday I was feeling better and was very excited to get into my craft room. Making a card just because seemed a great way to get back into the swing of things (yeah!)

I found a wonderful site "Digital Designs by Elisa". She creates brushes, which I use in photo shop elements, but found they can be used as just a digital images. I have collected so many of her sets (they are free but she has a donation button to which I send a small donation every now and then). Oh my, they are stunning! Every single set just blows me away.

The image I used for this card is from the "Garden Tea and Floral" pack. I chose it for it's beauty and simplicity. I am so excited that I was finally able to spend some time using one of her images!!! I must admit that I have a lot to learn about using brushes. As of right now, I only know how to change the color of either whole or partial part of the image. They are fun to play with and will be learning more as time allows.

I colored this image with my copic markers as well as a paintbrush to add chalk for the color around the image. I am running out of my beloved prima roses (one of my next orders, lol), so had to color some to match the image and paper using the copics I colored the image with.  Oh Ohhh, I just realized I did not shadow around the flower itself! Oh well, lol Seems there is always something I could have done different.

Here is the inside of the card. I love the new nesties I got. I am hoping AC Moore will be carrying the new sets when I finally have a chance to go. This set I actually purchased on line since I just couldn't wait, tee he he.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful and healthy week!!!

Hugs,

Poinsetta, Stitching and a Quick Tip

STITCHING! Are you like me and hate sewing? I learned how to years ago and have disliked it (to put it mildly) once I learned how. When I heard of stitching on paper, my first thought was "uggggg", but I gave it a try anyway. I loved it instantly. Sewing/stitching on paper is so much more fun and much easier than sewing fabric, plus you get almost instant gratification (yeah!)

This week the Digital Tuesday Challenge is stitching, faux or real. If you have not tried it, now is a fantastic time.

The sponsor this week is Designed 2 Delight. The winner will receive a $10.00 GC toward any images in the store!

The design team was lucky enough to be able to choose any image from the store to play with. I chose the lovely image called Hand Picked.

I used both real and faux stitching on my card. For the real stitching around the frame I used metallic embroidery floss. I also used the floss to stitch on the gold beads in the center of the Poinsetta. I used my Prisma gold marker for the faux stitching, to color the boarder and on the flower.

I did not have any gold pearls, so I used my Prisma gold pen to color the pearls before adding them. I did let them dry, but they still dulled on the top when pressing them onto the paper with my fingers.

My TIP is that when using metallic pens to color pearls or even brads, to reapply it to the tops after adhereing to restore the gold/silver luster.

The base of the card is actually gold gloss cardstock. The camera did not pick up the shine of the gloss, though. I purchased this particular paper from Papter Temptress. Three things I love about this paper are that it really has a beautiful gloss/shimmery look, it is a light gold I have not found anywhere else and it is white on opposing side which makes it perfect for using as a card base.

I am entering this post (tip) into this weeks TIP TOP TUESDAY CHALLENGE.

Have a super Tuesday. There are not to many nice days left before the winter is upon us, so I hope you are able to take advantage of them!

Hugs,

Medallions and Pearls

Hmmm...I am not sure what to write today, lol. Anyone else ever run into that problem? I guess that means my post will be short, ha ha ha

I joined a wonderful Teabag Folding group on Yahoo. Someone posted the directions for this fold and I just had to try it.

All the paper I used is from Paper Temptress. I printed the fold on my favorite paper of all time, white diamond.

The white diamond is a bit thick for teabag folding so I had a bit of a hard time with the first few folds. I think next time I will print out some on computer paper, lol. It certainly won't be a pretty but will be much easier to fold.

Can you see the wonderful shimmer of the paper? The card is so pretty in real life. The ribbon and pearls are actually left over from making my daughters wedding invitations 3 years ago! I have all the scraps and left overs in a bin hiding in one of my cabinets. So glad I remembered it for this card as they matched perfectly.

I used more left over ribbon on the inside instead of pearls. the pearls really would have made the card impossible to close, lol

Well, off to make my card for tomorrows Digital Tuesday Challenge. Before I can do that, though, I need to get rid of the clutter in my craft room, tee he he. I have had so much fun playing that I neglected to put everything way. SIGH...so much paper to put back in their files...someday I will learn to file them as I cut, Bwaaa ha ha ha!!!

I am entering this card in the following challenges (I hope a stamp is not required!)
Cowgirls Sunday Challenge: Girly Girl
Crafty Card Makers: Fancy Folds
Theres Magic in the Air: Frame it out

Have a super Monday everyone.

Hugs,