I've been busy making wedding cards for the store. These are quite labour intensive but I think the result is worth it.

So - yesterday I completed part of the move. Washed the walls and window, took down the blinds and washed them. Moved the bed downstairs, but still need to set it up. Can't do that til both tables are moved upstairs - right now I don't have room to set up the bed. Moved one work table upstairs and hope to move the second today. Once the second one is moved, then I can move supplies up in stages and not be required to do it all at once. Not sure how I will move the 2 armoires. Will need to think about placement as well.

I must say that it's really nice to have such a nice bright area. The room really isn't much bigger than the space I was using before. However it's bright and I have a big window, a large closet (which needs to be cleaned out so I can use it) and a door. Wooo hoooo! Looking good!

Today I'll embark on phase 2 - hauling all the bits and pieces (and there are one hell of a lot of bits I have to tell you!) I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on this stuff!

Last night I had to move all the junk from on top of my bed to the floor so I could actually go to sleep. I have an obstacle course in that room right now but I'll just pick away at it til it's all cleaned up. Well must run. Caio !

I currently have my workroom at one end of the basement family room. It's a small space, no doors, one small window, but it works. DD has not been happy since the day I moved in there several years ago. She considers it her special space and tells everyone who will listen to her that I've invaded and/or taken it over. Boohoo! What a little miss! :)

Anyway, at lunch Friday we were talking about various stuff. One gal mentioned she had a sewing room and that it was so nice to be able to close the door and walk away from it because the door corralled the mess and closing the door hid it. I was bemoaning the fact that I didn't have a room with a door but I had a spare room with a new bed and that the spare room seldom was used anymore.....how I'd like to take over that room for my studio but had no place to put the bed and that I don't want to sell it. One of the gals suggested moving the spare bed to the basement ! It was like a light went on. Who knew you could do that? That thought had never entered my head!

I discussed it with DD who was luke warm to it because she's afraid that I'll disturb her when she's trying to sleep. She starts work at 5 am every morning so must in bed by about 730 every night. So - the more I thought about it , the more I like the idea. I talked to DD again Saturday morning and assured her that if I disturb her then I just won't work in that room (across the hall from hers) when she's sleeping. She says she's a pretty sound sleeper and really I seldom work on my crafts late into the night during the week cuz I'm just bagged when I come home from work.

I'm excited about it even though moving up 2 floors will be a big job. However it will give me a bigger, brighter room with a large closet for storage. She'll get her own space back and I'll have a place I can go to work when she's home - apparently I offend her with my presence when I share her space downstairs so she often moves upstairs to watch tv or whatever.

Like I said....Little Miss! But it works so we're going to do it! Woooohoo!!

I was up until 11:30 last night trying to finish off the Father's Day stock so my daughter could deliver it for me today. Unfortunately at 11:30 I still had at least an hour of work still to do so I wasn't able to finish up last night. Plan is to complete the order tonight for delivery tomorrow. I am sooooo keeping my fingers crossed !

I have accomplished next to nothing in my new journal. I've managed to paint up 2 pages but it has been a struggle. I don't know - I think maybe I'm too structured to be able to work in a journal. I painted and repainted the one page at least 4 times before I was happy with the end result but now what? I don't seem to be free enough to be able to just add paper and images without there being a purpose or a story. What's that all about? Why can't I just go with the flow and not be so constricted by the end result? Frustrating!

One of my groups has journal preparation as a current topic. I'm loving reading everyone's responses. I'm hoping to gain some insight into why I seem to be so blocked.

Here are a couple of more Father's Day designs. I really like the way the tropical card turned out.

Here are a couple of my Father's Day designs. It doesn't show up really well, but the ship is 3 D, sort of paper tole-y.

I've been busy the last week - not sure where the time went. I was sick with a lousy cold (received from a co-worker who should have stayed home in bed instead of coming to work!) for a couple of days so really didn't have a lot of energy.

This time of year is fairly busy for me. Wedding season is in full swing and even though Mother's Day is over, I need to have stock made up for the store for Father's Day. I always seem to be playing catch-up but I guess that will never change! Tonight I plan to finish up my order for the store and my daughter will deliver it for me tomorrow. The last push is to finish up some 3 D wedding cards and get them delivered by the weekend so I can relax for a few days. It's supposed to be sunny here on the coast - finally - for Saturday, Sunday and Monday so it would be really nice to be able to enjoy it. It's also my 3 day weekend ....woooohooo!

I'm in a townhouse and my tiny amount of grass is not looking so good. Too many weeds! They make me crazy! I have some top soil to put down and I plan to re-seed/overseed (whatever they call it) my front lawn. To coin one of Popeye's phrases - "I can't stands it no more"!

Anyway, not too much else new in my little corner of paradise. Gotta fly!

Lately I have been preoccupied with my dear husband's passing. The pain doesn't go away. It may hide and trick you into thinking it is not so sharp but it's still there.

I think of him and talk to him a hundred times a day. He's always with me and some days it hurts more than others. Grief doesn't go away. Whomever said it goes away, lied. The pain is there, sharper some days, but always there.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't miss him, that it doesn't hurt! I have a hole in my heart and a hole in my life that nothing can ever fill.

I will always love you and I miss you sweetheart!

Just popping in to do a little catch-up.

I was away on course Tuesday thru Thursday this past week and came home after work on Friday exhausted. The course was good but was a serious case of information overload. So much to absorb. However I have a manual to refer to and a CD as well as a list of contacts so it's all good.

I had Monday off last week, so before heading off to my course on Tuesday, I planted all my flowers and put in my container garden. I decided to try to grow some lettuce and tomatoes in containers - never done that before so we'll see how sucessful I am. It may not go well but I won't know until I give it a try. I checked on the tomatoes yesterday and I swear they've grown 2 inches since I planted them. Amazing!

Last Monday, I made a quick trip to the GP. Bealzabub the boil came back and brought along a couple of his friends. Unwelcome visitors, all 3 of them! Thankfully no lancing required ! Doc tells me I'm very susceptible to staph infection and put me on antibiotics for 10 days and then, after the 10 days, on a prescription for 3 months. Hopefully this will eradicate the cooties, otherwise I guess I'll be on the meds for longer than 3 months. I think I'm having this problem because of all the other meds I take, which can compromise your immune system. Doc says not so I guess it may be a coincidence. I'm just keeping the fingers and the toes crossed that the drugs send them packing!

Well must run. I'm finishing up an order for the store and I must deliver it today so busy, busy, busy. Once that's out of the way, then I want to work in my journals. They've fallen by the wayside and need to be updated.

Caio!

Game 5 for the Canucks series starts at 5pm tonight. GO CANUCKS!

Keeping my fingers crossed and sending good thoughts and confident vibes their way. I think Vancouver is a far better team than Chicago. Unfortunately they have not been able to capitalize on their superior skills. If it weren't for bad luck they wouldn't have any luck at all! Is the Chicago goalie good? Absolutely. But Vancouver is making him look a lot better than he is by shooting straight at him. Lou is far better but for some reason seems to be off his game a bit.

GO CANUCKS! One game at a time!

Here's another Mother's Day card. It could also be used for many occasions. I really like this stamp but haven't used it all that much because it's a little tricky. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

These are a couple of Mother's Day cards I made for the store. The one on the left is more generic and could be used for pretty much any occasion. All that would need to be changed would be the sentiment used.

I've been threatening to upload some new work for weeks now so.....here goes!

This is a card I made for a dear friend's 65th birthday. There's a gorgeous green glitter border along the bottom edge of the card and "congrats" is also glittered. Unfortunately, the glitter doesn't display all that well in the scan - it looks dull. Anyway, I hope she likes it!

Just popping in to update the blog although not much exciting happening in my world. My second week at work is done, but not without some issues. The boils that I cursed prior to and just after my surgery are back. I had to make a trip to the family doctor to have this one attended to. It appears that boils are a staph infection - who knew ? - and that I'm very susceptible to that sort of infection. Isn't that special? I won't go into all the details, suffice it to say the doc had to open it up. Nasty business that and still nasty 2 days later. This explains why I've been feeling sick and dragging my behind for the last several weeks because I had no energy and have been so tired!

Work has been busy but I think we're finally making some progress. I think the message that we're sending out is finally getting across so hopefully things will be a little smoother over the next several weeks. I'm still not clear on what my role will be but I think it will evolve into more responsibility and I'm ok with that so it's all good.

For those of you who are not canadian, April 30th is the deadline for paying the dreaded tax man. I had so hoped to get a refund but clearly that's not happening. I ended up taking my taxes to the accountant to do and I only owe about 2K instead of 4K - something to be glad for I guess although it means that I'll have to rob Peter to pay Paul. Does it ever end?

Well, must run. I'm in the middle of making up some mother's day cards for the store. I need to deliver them tomorrow so I'd best get to it!

Caio!

I went back to work this week and it didn't take me long to get back into the swing of things. It felt good to get back!

I have my final post op followup with the surgeon on Wednesday and then it will be back to regular orthodontist appointments. In addition to wearing braces, I'm also wearing elastics 24/7. At first they were really uncomfortable but now I'm accustomed to them so it's no big deal. The purpose of the elastics is to get the maximum movement in the teeth before the jaw bones grow back in. That accelerates the date for the removal of the braces, provided they can move the teeth enough. Woooohoooo! Wearing braces for almost 4 years is enough already! Then the next step is getting the veneers done and then I'm finished. I can tell you I'm really looking forward to completing this process. It's been a long time coming!

I'm working on some Mother's Day stock for the store. Then the next production push is for Wedding cards. The store sells a lot of them and I need to get a good supply of stock and designs in place. My biggest issue is that the creation of new designs is sooooo time consuming. I'm very time challenged anyway, or maybe I just don't manage my time all that well. Anyway, the next couple of months will be very busy for me and my business.

It's been awhile since I posted any art. I'm sure everyone is getting tired of hearing my jaw saga. I haven't done much in my art journal lately. I need to allot more time to that as I really enjoy working in it, I just have so little time. I'll be posting some new work later in the day so check back soon to see what's new.

Caio!

The recovery is going well. The swelling has gone down quite a bit and the bruising is almost gone. My jaw line and chin are still frozen but I'm starting to get feeling back in most of my face. I am still finding myself to be very tired when I exert myself but other than that things are progressing well.

I'm back to work next Monday so this week has been spent trying to get some things on my "to do" list done. I was going a little stir crazy so yesterday I painted the ceiling in my bedroom. This afternoon I gave it a second coat. It looks pretty good and clearly, the time I spent taping everything paid off as the is very little paint seepage on the walls. The original plan was to paint the walls next but I have several things on my list that are a higher priority so the walls will probably have to wait until next weekend.

I haven't been all that inspired to do art but did manage to get one journal page completed. It was a bit of a struggle and I'm still not all that happy with the colours but finally gave up. It's a bit dark but perhaps that is appropriate in light of the journal entry.

I'm feeling better but still tire easily. The swelling has gone down a lot and the bruising is almost gone. My teeth are aching something fierce and I've had a permanent earache ever since I started wearing the elastics on my teeth 24 / 7. I see the surgeon again on Thursday and I'm really hoping that he'll tell me I only have to wear the elastics at night. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I'm going back to work next Monday so this week I'm trying to work through the listof things that need to be done. I painted my ceiling yesterday - still need to do another coat. I bought a gallon of paint but the ceiling just sucked up all the paint so will need to go back to Home Depot for more paint. I originally planned to paint the walls this week but I don't think that's going to happen as my "to do" list has some things on it that are a higher priority. Looks like the walls will nee to wait til next weekend.

Must run - caio!

I've done very little over the last couple of days. Saturday I was very productive and accomplished a lot in the way of re-organizing my workroom. It's about 75 % done and I need to complete the other 25% before I can start to use it again. I had planned to do that both Sunday and Monday but I just have no energy whatsoever. I spent yesterday aftenoon sleeping on the couch and most of the this afternoon doing the same thing.

DD and I had planned to do a run to Home Depot and Homesense today to pick up some things I need. I specifically wanted the "the Magic Bullet Express" which happens to be on sale until closing today. However DD and I discussed it and we decided I'm still too bruised and beat up looking to be seen out in public. DD ran in and bought the Bullet for me - it is huge! It's got all the attachments I could ever want. It will very quickly replace my 40 year old blender.

I'm finally starting to eat some solid food, albeit it takes me a very long time to finish it. I'm hungry a lot of the time and while the slurpees are good, they just were not cutting it for filling me up. Tonight we ordered in from Boston Pizza. I had the Boston Lasagne and it was absolutely scrumptious. I think I died and went to heaven.

Gotta run for now. Caio!

Things are going well with the recovery. I had my first followup appointment with the surgeon on Thursday. He's pleased with my progress and says everything looks good. I was initially planning to return to work on the 8th, however I think I will extend my sick leave for a week or so. The bruising is still pretty severe and there is still some swelling so I think it appropriate that I take more time. I have more than enough sick leave to cover the extra time so will take advantage of it.

Saturday was an interesting day! I've been stuck in the house for 10 days with my only outing being to go into the city for a doctor's appointment. Can you say cabin fever? I had a bit of a melt down regarding something one of the cats did. I told K if it happened again that I'd be opening the door and throwing all 3 of them out! As if that was going to happen! Anyway after I had my little temper tantrum, I was still mad so I went on the rampage down in my studio. It's quite amazing what one can accomplish under those circumstances. Poor K took one look at me and could see that I was about to lose my mind - she very calmly suggested that I might want to take a deep breath. She's such a good person! Even when her mom goes a little crazy she still stays calm and so very reasonable. She certainly takes after her dad in that regard.

Anyway, long story short I rearranged a bunch of stuff and then K volunteered to go to Canadian Tire and buy me a new cabinet. She went, picked up and brought it home and put it together for me. It is now nicely ensconsed in my workroom and what a huge difference it makes - both visually and psychologically. The purpose of the reorg was to make better use of the space I already have. I always seem to end up with everything piled in layers on the little bit of workspace I have. It's annoying and frustrating. Since I've moved things around and now have this new cabinet, I'm really pleased with the results. I'm so looking forward to working in the newly arranged studio soon.

Things are going well with the recovery. I had my first followup appointment with the surgeon on Thursday. He's pleased with my progress and says everything looks good. I was initially planning to return to work on the 8th, however I think I will extend my sick leave for a week or so. The bruising is still pretty severe and there is still some swelling so I think it appropriate that I take more time. I have more than enough sick leave to cover the extra time so will take advantage of it.

Saturday was an interesting day! I've been stuck in the house for 10 days with my only outing being to go into the city for a doctor's appointment. Can you say cabin fever? I had a bit of a melt down regarding something one of the cats did. I told K if it happened again that I'd be opening the door and throwing all 3 of them out! As if that was going to happen! Anyway after I had my little temper tantrum, I was still mad so I went on the rampage down in my studio. It's quite amazing what one can accomplish under those circumstances. Poor K took one look at me and could see that I was about to lose my mind - she very calmly suggested that I might want to take a deep breath. She's such a good person! Even when her mom goes a little crazy she still stays calm and so very reasonable. She certainly takes after her dad in that regard.

Anyway, long story short I rearranged a bunch of stuff and then K volunteered to go to Canadian Tire and buy me a new cabinet. She went, picked up and brought it home and put it together for me. It is now nicely ensconsed in my workroom and what a huge difference it makes - both visually and psychologically. The purpose of the reorg was to make better use of the space I already have. I always seem to end up with everything piled in layers on the little bit of workspace I have. It's annoying and frustrating. Since I've moved things around and now have this new cabinet, I'm really pleased with the results. I'm so looking forward to working in the newly arranged studio soon.