Why Yes, I STILL MAKE STUFF!

Hey yall! PROUD mom here! I have to brag for a second. PLEASE let me. After all of the horrible December we went through, SOOO MUCH school my baby girl missed. SHE MADE ALL A and B’s HIGH B’S at that on her report card (SEND IN THE MARCHING BAND!!!) WHEWWWHEWWW!
THANK YOU LORD!
She is a VERYYY good student and smart kid. (not just mouthed)  I was concerned this term. She has missed SOOOOO much school. from our scheduled trip to Disney, her getting strep at Disney then well you all know our loss we suffered right after. She missed, ya, WAY more school than we had EVER intended.

 WE OWE SOOO MUCH THANKS to her teacher.To so many people, but, I want to focus this post on her teacher. Wow what can I say about a school. About dedication of a force of teachers and I am not just meaning my child on all of these kids. I see it all the time. They rally around these kids. THEY KNOW these kids.
 This woman has stayed after school. DURING HER OWN TIME mind you, During breaks,  Has worked with her way more than I could ever begin to expect.. I am humbled and so Grateful to Mrs. Hughes for all she does for these students. FOR ALL that all of these teachers and all that teachers in general do. SO VERY grateful. She needed extra arms and extra just I dunno how to put it into words,  with all she has been through and this school this teacher has jumped to be there. I am truly grateful for all they have done for her, for us. 

THAT is one of the reasons for this post. I haven’t been posting much of the artwork I have been doing lately. I do most stuff for the joy of it and for my family these days.  I do still do some for a little magazine that I have done things for a long long Looooooooong time. I haven’t even done that in a while. Between being sick so much the last year and Bella’s schedule I just really had not done much of anything but keep up with her photos and our gift giving needs cards you know the drill. I just had to make something special though for her teacher. This verse is one of my very favorites and it just kept reaching at me and spoke to my heart. It just seemed to fit. I did it very quickly it should have taken me much longer and I felt it was messy. If I had taken my time (THAT I DIDN’T HAVE EEK I had maybe 2 days to get it done so ya… I rushed that puppy) Maybe it would have looked better. I think she liked it though.

John !5:5 Yes, I am the vine, You are the branches. 

I painted the canvas using various paints and assorted spray mists I had on hand please forgive me if I leave any product out it is not on purpose I will add later if I remember. . I used (bet you wouldn’t have guessed this) News Paper,  First, I inked it well with Ranger Distress Stain by Tim Holtz Fired Brick, Then  rolled it dipped it and sprayed it with Shimmerz Vibez.  I glued it to the canvas then sprayed over the entire thing with  Shimmmeringz  Goldie Lox in Gold, (my favorite ever)   I used the Shimmerz paints on it as well. I used Prima flowers and Prima ceramics to accent after I painted them and sanded the paint back off lightly for a nice vintage look.  The flowers with vines cut well and wrapped around the paper vine letters I had made, to make the statement I wanted perfectly. I had seen a long time ago someone make one like this at a church somewhere, but couldn’t remember exactly how they did it. It was hanging in a foyer. WAS HUGE. NO idea who had painted or made the huge sculptured piece but I remembered it and had always wanted to make one. Mine is NO WHERE EVENNNN close but I remembered the light shining on it in her colors she had and they had a spot light on it. Was at a huge church we visited when I was in my early to mid 20’s. Ya I still remember that.  I tried various different ways to make these letters my scrap room floor is proof. (big ol mess)
 I came up with the news paper since it absorbed the colorings so easily and dried REALLY FAST I could shape it however and twist it and turn it and when it started drying, it kept the stiff shape after It sat with the sprays on it but the best part, IT WASHED OFF MY HANDS well. (ALWAYS A PLUS!!)

When the sun touched the canvas the next morning all that Gold on it was just sparkling so beautiful. I knew I had made the right choice. Some of the back ground when  you see it in person looks different. You get the general idea though. It was a good bit of work but was good therapy for what we were going through at the time. It is good to get  your hands all dirty some times. Helps your soul heal. You can wash it away at the end of the day and your thoughts with it. hmmm also,  I think she liked it just fine.I will let you see..

        I love the look on her face with Bella, when she opened it. (That is the very best part in my opinion!)

                                         I LOVE this photo look at their faces!!

                                           Can only imagine what Bella is telling her hahahaa!

Thank you so very much Mrs. Hughes and well, All of the teachers at CHCA. You are such an amazing school! Have made a huge difference in one little girls (and her parents) life!

ok So I really do not likeGreen jello

yeah yeah yeah I KNOW its been a while since I have posted. BUT, I have very good reason.
Im sure most of you know (well ok some of you I am not vain enough to think you follow my every move on facebook and twitter hhaha seriously I am don’t) SO I thought I would give an explanation.
I have been in the hospital and really really down with a bad flare up from Multiple Sclerosis.
I had been doing sooo so good and thought I was like a normal person. (well when the weather is cool I do get away with doing so much more and got so spoiled)
Then it happened. The little signs. I tried to ignore them. I just didn’t want to see it. I was enjoying my daughter and my husband and being able to live that life again. I didnt want to go back there. I have missed so much being able to get out of the house and scrap like I wanted to and just feel human. When I got to where the muscle spasms were making my body functions uncontrollable I couldn’t deny something ws up.
Then I woke up to a sore throat. Ok maybe it was just allergies things were blooming. Ya I was still in denial. Then It got a little worse, I couldnt really swallow good. Ya allergies it will be ok just keep taking the muscle relaxer its all good. By the weekend. I was unable to swallow liquids without choking and it going down my esophagus and becoming asphyxiated. I was losing weight like crazy and my potassium had bottomed out.
When I finally got to the hospital it was so very much worse than we realized. I was listed as mal nutritioned and lacking of vitamin absorption and intake.
running fever and right side of my throat was completely non functioning.
ya. This is where it gets scary.

I really didnt want to think about it. A friend not much older than myself thats how it started. He couldnt swallow. He had 3 beautiful children and a wife. He is no longer in pain. But there was nothing else they could do.
I think maybe that is why I blocked so much out. I cant think about it.
It got too real. They put me on the HEAVY HEAVY steroids. 1000 mg two times a day. 10 treatments. Also I still am taking the interferon treatments and my blood glucose ran way up.
I would just be sitting there and I would go numb in both arms from my neck to my waist. couldnt lift my arms couldnt swallow. I could breathe ok felt like when you are at the dentist and you are all numb and tingly.
Was the scariest thing.
They had always told me MS was a tricky illness and can do such strange things. Especially when your lesions are on your brain stem.
I dont have new lesions I have plaque heavy build up on the lesions that are already there which is far worse if there were new lesions you could account for new symptoms. this just means Im going to keep having same symptoms in larger quantity and hit harder and could happen any time at any level of severity.

We believe it is heat triggered, over doing and anxiety. mostly heat.
I had been trying to do as much for Bella to give her “normal”
I want her to have so much. I dont want her to miss out on anything. Yet I ended up missing her end of school stuff.
She and John are my entire world and all I wish is to be able to do things with them and be the wife and mother I always wanted.
Hate that something ridiculous like Multiple Sclerosis tries to stand in way of that.
I fight with it all the time and tell it to MOVEEE. It just will not listen.
WE need more research and meds that will cure this illness so my little girl has her mom. Along with the millions of others out there that need their parent or family member also.
So for now Im still healing and resting. Very tired cant sit up for long. The side effects from all the medications are horrendous. I have shingles in my ear and on my face and chest (rebound from the big steroid iv’s) Im gaining weight also mostly fluid from the huge steroid iv’s
just have to keep the potassium up because of my heart.
also the magnesium. Ensure has become my friend.
I ate so much jello in the hospital and they always bring the green kind oh gosh I think they send all the green jello to the hospitals to get rid of it ughhh gross.
I have been loving smoothies though. Really good and building me back up.

I have kept my l.o.a.d. prompts and will be getting them done just as soon as I can sit up long enough to do them. I get up some but mostly im still in bed. Just weak and overwhelming tired. I had thrush really bad it got in my eyes (that was an experience) couldnt see the tv or closed caption hardly read anything. So im glad that has cleared up. who knew you could get that in your eyes? was coming out of everywhere.

so anyway that is my update probably more than you wanted to know but I have been getting emails and people worried they havent seen me. So this is just easier than trying to respond to so many emails. My ears hurt with the shingles so havnt been on phone so I apologize for not calling anyone or answering. It will be better soon and I will be back to me and bouncing around in no time.
Love to you all and keep scrappin because I cannot wait to see all yall have done. I have alot of catching up to do and commenting to do. XOXOXOXOX miss yall much

Video, layout.. and how it was made…. oh my.

A friend and I say that word loosely emailed me THIS video. Yet one more reason I love living in Mobile Alabama. I haven’t yet encountered said creature in video but am interested if guido would try to eat it as he does the squirrels in our back yard.

Yes I know it is not St. Patricks day but anytime anything remotely funny goes on and it is in the near vacinity of Alabama I get a flood of emails asking if these are my neighbors and or relatives. I know they are waiting for the day I say yes. It is bound to happen, The news cameras just havn’t shown up yet to judge which of my neighbors driveways are the most clean, unleafed shiney white driveways on the planet. They can be seen from the space shuttle and they say “OHHHH look! That is Nancy Jones neighbors, They are out bleaching their driveway.” YES people it happens.

When I had this last MS spell, and was in the hospital, after my soon arrival home and the medication that they gave me made my head just pound and eye cringe, that is not even CLOSE to an accurate description. No amount of medication could make it stop.
THIS SO HAPPENED to be the week that every neighbor wanted to try out their leaf blowers. As well as teach their animals to pee on the one tree we have in our yard verses the 769987654 kabillion that are in the rest of our neighborhood and make my
dog absolutly, loose his mind, and freak his crapp out, underneath my window, to be sure I KNEW, some foreign dog, was using MY TREE as its urinal and he was SOOOOOOOOO not in approval. It was a conspiracy with the squirrels to dominate his space and he was not having it for a minute. HE would give this speech in that tone every day underneath my window where I would beg my husband to pull his vocal cords out with a rusty spoon.
are you still with me? Well, My sweet husband, I love so much, risked embarrasment and a nasty note from The homeowners association to talk to our neighbors, and asked them to please not blow off their driveways, because he couldnt deal with my crying that it made Bella cry then Guido howl and he was running out of ibuprofen for his own headache. Our sweet neighbors agreed and I know it was the worst two weeks of their life. I have now gotten better and it doesn’t bother me so much as long as it is AFTER 7 am on a Saturday.
IT is part of What we get for living in Mobile ALabama, in a Middle class neighborhood, surrounded by older men who spent time in the service and have flashbacks of kp duty and are now forced to compete for who has the cleanest concrete to drive on.

I secretly want to go out at night and write in side walk chalk HAHA YOU LOOSE MISSED A SPOT, but figure they will know it is me and come blow off my leaf strewn drive
way and totally ruin my fall decorating scheme I have going.

I actually took time off from connecting the dots of my chicken pocked body yesterday to scrap. I used the new URBAN PRAIRIE (ohhh ahhh) by Basic Grey and scrapped this photo of Bella strangling, I mean Hugging Guido in the back yard. I know yall have heard how he thinks she is HIS. We officially have given her to him a few times but she keeps showing up at meal times so we decided to share her.
She has taken over most of the care and love of Guido. She loves that dog. HE loves her. Works out pretty good. I also used some things left over from the kits provided by SCRAPBOOK OBSESSIONS , THEY ROCK by the way, on this page.
I was not in good form yesterday or mood to say the least. I felt like crapp and was enjoying the quiet, all but qvc on low on the television (definitly not Hannah Montana thank you lord) and some mind boggling, never scrapbooked before people, who were trying to convince me to buy 98654 pieces of cardstock for the low price of 19.99 BUT WAIT…. if you act now….

When my daughter whom we will call, Bella, comes bouncing in all boistrous and singing. Do any of you remember having chicken pox? no? prolly cuz you were a normal person and had them ONLY ONE TIME and you WERE A KID when you did and you blocked it out of your head entirely. Ok let me splain this best I can. NOISE…. HURTS. your
entire body. Makes you want to reach out and touch someone and not by phone!
Ok so anyway I finally got her to chill a bit then reminded hubby that consignment drop off was today and we have a crib in the garage, Bella is 5, I have 1 ovary and no uterus. Unless he had plans that I was not yet aware of.. IT NEEDED TO GO. We have so much clutter around this house which is ENTIRELY mostly my fault. I have been sick since February and totally let my ability of keeping house fall upon him and Bella. AND BY THE WAY…..
(WHomever is spamming my email account with information on quick cures off the internet. Please stop, Im not gonna forward it to 20 people for good luck, yes I read about artificial sweetners and I dont drink diet drinks and I understand your cousin Elroy on your ex sister in laws side of the family saw Binny Hin and when he smacked his forehead lightning struck and he was cured but I will take my faith in the lord and carry it with me to the dr. I think the FDA may be onto something here with these new treatments. Thank you for understanding)
so anyway, She is bouncing around my craft room, twirling in my chair, discussing the events of her day when she bumps the table and GLUE goes everywhereeeeeeeee. I ussually count to a thousand sometimes more when things happen cuz well SHE IS FIVE and I was as bad if not worse than her (still am) they dont call me GRACE cause Im graceful. BUt I felt bad and I had worked on this page alll day because I felt bad trying to convince myself I REALLY DIDNT feel bad, so what do I do when the glue goes all over my layout… I CRY.
yup like a baby the tears flew. I sat in the chair in my scrap room and bawled. Now it could be the added hormones from the steroids (ya most likely) the fever (nah) or all said above, (that would be my guess) my sweet daughter looks at me as if to say (oh crapp I finally did it, she lost her mind, her head is going to explode. yall watch this, WHEHEWW) and strokes my hair and says..
“DOes this mean your finished crapbookin today?” for some reason that hit me as HYSTERICAL and I started laughing. She is looking around for, like, where is the tv crew for You’ve been punked, then she runs off. IM not sure out of fear or If she got bored.
So, I look at this page I had worked on for ohhhh off and on, ALL DAY. And sigh. oh well don’t they say mistakes are just places to add more embellishments? well THERE YA GO. That is how most of the objects were put on this page. TO COVER UP all the GLUE she slung all over the page.
SO you may get your embellishing tutorial guide from Bella, starting next spring, on QVC, announced by some salesperson, who knows nothing about scrapbooking, all for the low price……
BUT WAIT!
Hope you have a good day.