purple roses?

Sorry I'm late posting,  I had

an early morning appointment

with my ortho doctor to have

another cortisone injection.

They aren't lasting as long but

I'm in no mood to consider surgery.

I just don't think it's that bad.  He

said when I've had enough pain I will

know and will tell him.  Mostly it just

hurts at night and is tolerable during

the day. 

I'm pretty sure purple roses

are real, but I'm not one for flowers.

And even so, this rose is not

purple, it is white on a purple

background so the title is deceiving.

I couldn't find any other colour

gem stones to put on it so I

settled because it needed

something!

 

My SIL, Laurel, brought me some

hosta and I got that planted.  Finally

things are looking better.  I got the darned

bushes out and some ground cover

going in and I won't have to mess with 

it once it gets going.  Yay!!  Here

is a picture of her beautiful orchids.

Later my granddaughter Bri is coming

over and we're going to hang out at least

for tonight.  I don't know if she will be

staying the whole weekend or not.  I

hope so!  Tonight we are going to go

to Auburn, IN to the deaf chat.  We will

probably only stay an hour or so, but

I think it will be fun.  She took one

class and is interested, but not enough

to commit to it.  She's 16 and has

lots of fun things to do in her life right now,

including cross country.  At least I

think that's the one she's doing.  I know

it's running anyway....  Something I try

never to do.  I hate to run.  Always have.

Anyway, I might be MIA tomorrow

since we will be having girl time.  :)

Lots (and lots) of roses

There is a Stampin Up!" die called 

rose wonder.  It's really expensive.

Truth told, I think most Stampin Up! stuff

is really expensive, but they have great

things, so once in a while I order.

This I just couldn't order because

it was way out of my budget.  However,

a friend I just met at a wedding

last summer, has the die and she

so graciously cut me some.  Lots of

them!  I will be playing with them for

a while!

Isn't it pretty?  She made me several

different colours as well.  The first

thing I did was emboss one in black.

I started the card, but haven't finished it

yet, so I'll probably post it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I did want to get a

thank you card sent out in the mail

to her quickly, so I have that to 

show:

I think if I make a card like this again I will

mat the panels. I think it will look better that

way.  Oh, well.  Her cards are so beautiful

that this one kind of pales in comparison.

It's the thought that counts, right?  Apparently

she has everything under the sun in her

craft room so I will have to keep that in

mind in the future before I buy anything

expensive that I can get from her!  ;)

I'm looking forward to my visit with

Pam today.  It is supposed to rain, but

I haven't seen any evidence of that yet.

Not that that will hurt my feelings.

Tomorrow is going to be busy.

I have a doctor's appt. in FW for a 

cortisone shot and that's at 9 am.

Then lunch with Dianne, my Gdaughter,

Bri, is coming over and we are

going to Auburn for a deaf chat.

It's going to be a fun day!  Well, the

shot isn't so much fun, but maybe

I'll be able to get some sleep.  I was

up until 3 am trying to fall asleep.  Night

sucks for pain.

Surprise!

I made a different kind of card

today.  I've made this type of card

once or twice before, but never

quite like this.  Sorry for the paper

clip, but it wouldn't stay closed on

its own.  You will see why on the second

picture, but I don't want to give 

it away....

I love this quote.  I thought at first that

I hadn't stamped the whole thing

properly, but the butterflies are supposed

to be like that. Sometimes with the

large stamps I can't get the ink to come

off all the way.  Maybe I am impatient.

Maybe lazy.  But I digress.  Are

you impatient?  OK, here's the inside:

Isn't that cool?  The butterfly "flies" off

the page on a pop up panel.  I was surprised

at how easy it was and how great it

came out.  On the body of the butterflies

I used some of the enamel accent dots.

Those little things are hard to keep track

of and harder to get them to go where

you want them to go.  I probably should

have used my tweezers but I was too

lazy to look for them.  They're probably

right in front of me.  Actually, my desk is

pretty clean, considering, so it probably

wouldn't have been that hard to find them.

I think I'm going to send this to Robin 

for her pastor/wife.  I'm starting to

get a large collection of cards again,

so time to send them out.

Tomorrow my DIL, Pam, and I are

going to go to Battle Creek and bum around

and have lunch together.  It is her father's 

birthday and she took the day off.  I know

it will be an emotional day for her, so

hopefully this will take her mind off

it for just a little while.  It's the first

one since he died.  I'm honoured

she asked to spend part of the day

with me.   

Yesterday I finally managed to get

the garage cleaned and it looks great.

Want to hear a "God thing"?  I have

had a grill in the garage that had been

used half a dozen times or so before

John died.  I thought about putting an

ad in the paper to sell it, but then I

just felt this prompting to text Mark and

see if he could use it.  God's timing is

so perfect.  He just threw his out this

past weekend because it was getting

old and rusty!  We are going to exchange

it for his helping me put in some tile

in bathrooms/laundry room when he

has the time to do it.  It's a win/win

for both of us!  God does amaze

me on a regular basis.  Even when

I sometimes feel so far away from

Him which has certainly been happening

in the past few months, He reminds

me that He is always there and that

I shouldn't trust my feelings because

feelings aren't always accurate.  There

is an Amy Grant song to that effect 

called  "Faith walking people"  .  Faith

is what tells us God is there even when

feelings tell us otherwise.  I need to

remember that.  Sometimes it's so hard.

Silent dinner

I have to say, I had a lot of

fun last night!  I was a bit nervous

because most of the group has

far more experience than me, but

that doesn't always mean anything.

I was talking to Coleen, who has

5 years experience.  She is telling

me something about Deaf world, but 

is signing "home".  Both signs are 

done at the mouth and ear, but one

is a finger, the other a closed hand.

So I am trying to figure out what 

she is trying to say about "home world".

I mean, is she looking for the mother

ship or what????  She can't figure out

why I don't understand her.  I should,

after all.  So finally I signed it back

to her and that's when she realized

what she was signing.  I realized what

she was TRYING to tell me.  We laughed

and laughed.  The waitress didn't seem

to be too thrilled with the situation even

though we explained at the beginning what

was going to happen.  She seemed annoyed

at the extra work.  But what if a real 

deaf person came in?  We could hea r her

say,"What do you want?"  They would

not be able to hear that.  So it was good

experience for her, too.

This card did not turn out the way I

imagined it would.  I just couldn't get

the leaves around the butterfly the way I

wanted, and finally gave up.  I've been awake

since about 330 this morning, trouble

sleeping again....I got up at 4 am because

I was tired of just laying there.  So things

don't always come out right when I haven't 

had any sleep.  Here is the inside and

also an embossed envelope.

I don't usually do embossed envelopes but

I thought this one would look pretty 

with one.  Usually I just make my own

envelopes and they aren't plain like this one.

I think it's pretty.  :)

Today is garage cleaning day.  I've 

been putting it off long enough.  It needs 

to be swept and organized.  I don't know

how I have stuff lying all over the place 

when I just did it last year.  Where does

all this junk come from???

Trying out stencils

I found some really cool stencils

at the store the other day, 

but I'm not too good at them.

I've used them with sprays

before but I'm not enamoured

of sprays. This one I used with

distress ink and tried to make

it as neutral as possible so that

the other elements would

stand out.  I'm not sure if I 

like it or not.  I don't

hate it.

These are the stencils.

I've been wanting a "splat" stamp for a

while and a friend of mine ordered me

a set but then I saw the stencil and

thought I'd go ahead and get it

too.  I've played with it a little

bit and haven't found anything I'm super 

happy with. I'm afraid I just don't

have the knack.  But I'll play with

it a little longer before I give

up.  I tend to give up quickly

if something I'm doing doesn't

turn out right.

I just got a text from the dentist.

I have an appt. at 10 this morning.  

I totally forgot about it.  I missed a

very important appt. last week and

can't get in again until the end of

July, so I'm hoping they will refill

my scripts even though I missed.  The

last thing I want to do today is go

to the dentist.  I hate to get my teeth 

cleaned.  Actually, this is the second

to last thing I want to do today, and

the other thing I will probably end

up doing tomorrow..  Later today

is the silent dinner and I am looking

forward to that.  A little nervous, of

course, but I'm sure it will be fine.

One thing about deaf people, they

don't mind if you talk with your 

mouth full, LOL!

Signing naturally

I was wrong, (It's been

know to happen!) yesterday was the

last class.  I think she has something

planned for summer for a few weeks.

Usually they don't do anything then.  It

will probably be something small 

like learning songs or something

similar, not a regular class.  I will

miss it, but I need to study when there

isn't classes!!

I enjoy the classes so much!I'm still not 

very good at understanding what someone

is signing to me, but hopefully that

will come along in time.  At least

that's what I've been told!

I just love the bokeh technique so

much.  this envelope would

have to be hand delivered as the 

dots are only glued on.  It's a product

I found called enamel accents. I squeeze

it onto my craft sheet (to which nothing

sticks) and when it's dried it comes right

up and you can glue it to your project.

I imagine you can make pretty much

anything, lines, etc. but I only am

interested in the dots.  At least for now.

Finally, a hinge card.  As you can

see, the top swings over to reveal

the inside, but it doesn't open like

a traditional card.  And more

enamel dots!  Yes, another

favourite apparently!

Off to church today then I plan

to call the parents and see if they

want a visit.  B'Elanna loves to go

for car rides and they love to see

her.  I also need to get the garage

cleaned.  I managed to get vinca planted

in the front.  I still have two more

flower beds but she doesn't have

enough to give me that much, so

I will have to wait until next year, or 

maybe later this summer. She says

it reproduces QUICKLY!!  I

hope so because it looks pretty

bad in the front of the house.

You can't see the side and back from

the street so I don't care so much

about those.  Let me be straight here,

I hate anything to do with the outdoors

and getting dirty.  So this is something

I can do that will eliminate that in 

the future, I hope!  :)

Happy Saturday!

Today is the next to last Saturday

sign class.  Last Monday was the

last class for that day and this Monday

we are meeting at a restaurant

for a "silent dinner".  No talking

period, even when ordering.  This

should be interesting since I doubt

the wait staff will know sign language!

But it should be fun as well.

It looks like it's going to rain which will

interfere with my planting.  I hate

yard work with a passion which is

why I am planting vinca in all the

"flowerbeds" .  There were bushes

all around the entire house and I

hated them so much.  I finally

got them all out and the vinca will

make them look good and work-

free.  And the vinca is free as well

since my SIL, Laurel, wants to get rid

of some of hers.  It is choking out

her flowers since it grows so fast.  

Perfect for me!

I have made a couple cards, none of

which I am happy with, but here they

are:

The fancy mat is a die cut .  I bought

the die last week on sale big time.  I was

happy about that-wouldn't have bought

it otherwise.  The little sprite is a 3-d

image.  You place smaller parts of the

image on top of each other and they

end up standing out.  I don't know 

how to explain it really.  It's called tole.

 

Double pocket cards with bookmarks

in the pockets.  The ferns are also a die

I got on sale.  I've been spending way too

much money on craft stuff lately.  But

this months the electric/gas company

settled up with me as I am on the

budget program.  So this month's

bill was nothing and I have 38. credit

for next month.  Soooo, I went a little

crazy!  Hobby lobby being right here

in town is not good for my checkbook.