I'm finally getting around to making some art for a couple of swaps. The atc's are for a purple theme swap that is due in the hostess's hands by the end of November. The card is for a monthly swap I play in - one card down and three more to go!

Here are a couple of my Christmas creations for your viewing pleasure.

I cannot believe that we are slightly more than 6 weeks away from Christmas! Who knew time would fly by so quickly?

Work has been keeping me very busy - I'm working a different shift now and have every second Monday off so my days are a little longer and I'm very tired when I get home at the end of the day. I have to say I'm not all that energetic most nights.

I have been busy creating cards for the Open House in Fort Langley. It was this past weekend and from all accounts the expectation is that it will be as good or better than last year. Will post some of my creations as soon as I find them. My studio is a disaster!

The weather is cool and blustery here on the coast. I guess the rainy season is on us now for a couple of months. It could be worse - it could be snow! I quite enjoy this time of year when there's a nice bite in the air on a clear night. And it's kind of a time of rejuvenation as well. Yes all the plants die off but you know that many have just gone to sleep, working at storing up their beauty for the coming spring.

We bought a new Christmas tree. I have hated the one we've had for years but DH would never let me get rid of it. Well, there's a new sheriff in town ! DD went out and bought one of those ones with all the lights already on them. I haven't actually opened the box yet and set it up - if this baby goes up now it is not coming down until January! With both of us working, we are trying to streamline and having a tree that goes up in 5 minutes as opposed to 2 hours spent arranging lights on spindly branches....what's not to like?

I delivered my cards for the Ridge Open House - I still have a few gift tags to make but all in all it's the first year that I've actually been on time. Who knew I could do that? Tonight I'm starting on the next set of cards for the Langley Open House. I have 2 weeks to do them but I want to try to get as much as I can done so it's not all left to the last minute.

I was off to Be Creative today to see a demo of alcohol inks and stickers. Very cool! Haroldine is a very baaaaaad influence on me! Every time I go to her shop, I spend a small fortune. Is there a 12 step plan for impulsive craft supply overspenders?

The past few weeks at work have been busy. I'm having more interaction with the clients and I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with how I'm doing the job. I learn several new things everyday; the downside is that I'm having to ask a lot of questions for which the answers are probably fairly obvious but that's the way it goes!

I'm in the process of working on the stock for the Open House at the store in a few weeks. I don't know why but I'm always amazed when this time of year comes around. August and September seem to have flown by at warp speed and here we are in October already! Maybe it has something to do with the great weather we've had here on the Coast !

I'm off to see Toby Keith at GM Place tomorrow night. I'm very excited about that. Can hardly wait to feast my eyes on him. I'm a big fan. I saw him several years ago just before he hit it really big so I know I won't be disappointed.

This past week has been an extremely busy one. I seem to have turned into somewhat of a social butterfly and have been out to lunch or dinner several times in the last week. It's making it pretty tough for me to stay on my diet but I guess that's to be expected.

Today I'm celebrating a birthday - yes I hate to admit it but I am actually 39 - yet again! I was out to dinner with some girlfriends Saturday and tonight I'm off to the Keg with DD and two other couples and then back to our house for birthday cake. Let's face it one "must" have birthday cake on one's birthday.

On the art front, I have been working on Christmas designs for the store. I've also managed to make a couple of 4 x 4 cards for a monthly swap. I don't know why these 4 x 4 beauties appeal to me so much but they do. I just love them!

I'm finally starting to feel more energetic - thank goodness for that!

Here's a little peak at 2 of my new designs.

Traditionally the store has an open house at the end of October. Another one is then held at the other location a week or so later. The gentleman who owns the store likes to have the product in at least a week prior to the Open House so he can price everything and work out his layout etc. So this week I'm working on a couple of more samples for him to approve. I have some popular designs from last year still in stock but I like to try to give him lots of new stuff each year.

I have a pretty good sense of what he likes. He always views them before I make them up and 99 % of the time he gives me the ok to make them up. I'm just about to send these 2 off to him so keep your fingers crossed!

It's the end of summer, the beginning of the season of harvest and only about 15 weeks til Christmas. Where does the time go?

I'm finally starting to come out of my lethargy of the last 6 months. I'm feeling more energized, more focused and more creative. I've let many of my artistic pursuits and interests fall by the wayside. Hopefully, I've turned a corner and will be re-energized artistically.

I am presently focusing on creating some new Christmas designs for the store and have also promised myself that I will create some new wedding designs. I have a couple of art journal pages which have been percolating in my brain for the last several days - I think I'm ready to commit them to paper.

This past week has not been a particularly good week in my neck of the computer world. I've been having issues with the compouter and it's many accessories sporadically now since March. It seems that I get one issue resolved only to be plagued with another. This week my monitor started giving me trouble. I contacted the manufacturer and he says he's pretty sure it's toast. And guess what? My warranty ran out at the end of July. Isn't that special!

Right now I'm working from the laptop but had to hook up my printer to the laptop so I could print off what I needed. Thank god for the laptop is all I can say! It makes me crazier than usual when I can't use my computer. I've wasted so much time during the last few weeks and I'm on a deadline which I'm not meeting and it's nobody's fault but my own. Arrrrgh!!!

I am not spending one more cent on the desktop I have now. I've decided that I'm going to purchase myself a good computer with supersonic speed, kick ass memory card and lots of storage. I'll wait til my darliing daughter returns from her holiday back east as I want her opinion on it and then I'm ordering it !! WOOOOOHOOOOO!

Did I say I was on a deadline? I know I haven't posted lately despite promises to the contrary. It will happen. Honest. I promise....

Here's one more! This one is really quite pretty - it has some sparkle

and it's elegance really appeals to me. The heart is fabric and beautiful.

One of my favourites so far, I think!

Looks like I haven't been doing much lately, but I've been very busy. I was in a contest which I had to pull out of because of work commitments. The first week was fun and I would have loved to continue but life got in the way. Maybe next time around!

I've started a walking program with a friend; we usually walk a minimum of 3 times a week for 45 minutes on our lunch hour. I need the exercise and I know I won't do it after work so this works out very well. I'm into my 4th week now, and while I haven't really seen any changes, I'm enjoying it and it's good for me so that's a "good thing".

I finally have some art to post to me blog. Woohoo!

I've been away from my blog for far too long - I'm back now and will focus on getting some new work up here.

My life has undergone a total change - I went from being happily married for 35 years to being a widow overnight. It's been a very difficult time for my DD and I but we're finally beginning to feel like we're coming out the other side. It will be 4 months on Wednesday, but we still feel his calm presence with us.

I've started a new job and it's wonderful. It is such a refreshing change from my previous position; I feel valued, supported and respected and I'm enjoying the challenge of learning new things and spreading my wings.

DD has resigned her position at her workplace as well and is searching for new employment. Her workplace environment was just too toxic and emotionally draining for her! She's done so well since her Dad died - she's also spread her wings. She has matured and blossomed and has been my rock and my support as well as a wonderful friend to me. I know her Dad would be so pleased!

I've cut back on my cards for the store and will be focusing on wedding cards and Christmas cards for this year. I don't have the time I had when I worked my other job but I quite enjoy the creative process of wedding cards and would like to keep that up. Hopefully, by limiting myself to 2 design lines, I will be more productive, less stressed and more focused. The last thing I want to do is to compromise the quality of the product I produce.

I've joined a new swap and am looking forward to creating some 30 minute collages. I hope to have some new art to show you soon.

Finally - some new art! Enjoy!

I've finally managed to work through most of the necessary paperwork and phone calls relating to my husband's death. I've been filling out forms and making phone calls until I'm blue in the face. It has been tedious and overwhelming, to say the least, but I think most of it is finally done. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to have theses tasks finally completed.

I finally ventured into my studio this evening. It has been 3 months since I have been down here. Since Garry's death, I have had zero desire to create but gradually my creative urges have come back. Earlier this afternoon I was surfing the net, looking for some of the challenge blogs. It's a bit intimidating to look at everything I have and not know where to start. I thought it might be helpful to begin with a small, relatively quick project.

I chose the 4 x 4 Friday challenge site. The theme for this Friday is floral so I figured I'd give that a try. It took awhile longer than I expected to complete my piece of art but it felt good to create again.

This is the piece I created. I recently purchased an HP all in one and I'm having trouble with the scanner - I'm not able to size the scans properly, which by the way, is making me want to poke my eyes out - so my apologies for the incorrect sizing. Hopefully I will master this thing soon.

It's hard to believe that it is 4 weeks since Garry died. It's surreal! My DD and I are managing - we returned from the service in Ottawa a week ago and have started to finally get some semblance of routine and order back into our lives. Since returning, I have been consumed by meetings and paperwork but gradually things are starting to fall into place.

I haven't had a lot of desire to do much and as a result have been doing a lot of sitting around - so much to do. I did, however, start to go through DH's clothes and have been able to pass some of his really nice clothing on to a close friend who is thrilled to have the suits, jackets and shoes. I am equally glad that I could give them to him as I know that Garry would have wanted that.

I haven't been near my studio since we came home from Palm Springs - I just didn't have the desire to go down there. However, gradually I am feeling the creative urge coming back so I hope to be able to go down there and do some art soon. When that time comes, I'll post it to the blog - it's been too long since I did that and I'm sure everyone is bored with the soap opera that seems to have become my life.

We completed DH's funeral arrangementgs in Palm Springs on Thursday afternoon. The gentleman at the funeral home was very kind and helpful so things went very smoothly. While we had originally planned to stay in PS until the creamation was completed, it was not going be done until Monday or Tuesday so we decided to come ahead home.

We arrived home yesterday and are happy to be back in our own house and sleeping in our own beds. While my daughter and I needed to spend those extra days in Palm Springs, waiting for the completion of paperwork etc, that time together also allowed us to start to come to terms with his passing. We are calm and accept what has happened but we also know that there will be times in the future when it will suddenly hit us how profoundly our lives have changed.

We know that eventually we will hit an emotional wall and that there will be difficult times ahead. However we are both strong and we have each other and an enormous amount of support and love from our friends here in BC. We'lll get through this, minute by minute and one day at a time. We feel his calm, loving presence with us still and accept that our lives have changed forever.

We were scheduled to leave Palm Springs on Saturday March 1st. The original plan was the we would take several days to drive back home to BC with us arriving home on March 4th.

Unfortunately, my husband became critically ill and was admitted to Desert Regional Medical Centre here in Palm Springs for emergency surgery on Friday February 29th. Despite heroic efforts to save him, he died at 10:16 am on Sunday March 2nd.

My daughter and I are devasted by his unexpected passing. However after discussing his case with the Medical Examiner's office, we are satisfied with their determination as to his cause of death. The manner and speed of his death was indeed a blessing to him and to us his loved ones. We are totally at peace with his passing.

We are still here in Palm Springs but are looking forward to returning home to BC very soon.

We've been having a fabulous time and then husband hurts himself. He was bringing in the garbage pail from curbside and stepped down funny and his knee gave out. He figured he'd blown his knee so he was surprised when he didn't have any pain. However his hip and down his rump and into his leg was extremely sore. It continued to give him so much pain that he finally went to the Emerg at the local hospital. Turns out he irritated his sciatic nerve. He hasn't been able to get much sleep and has been in constant pain since he injured it. The doctor at the emerg gave him 2 shots, 1 for pain, and gave him 3 persciptions, one being a major pain killer. He's still in quite a bit of pain but is feeling a little better. The Doc told him it would at least 10 days before he's recovered completely.

We leave on Saturday so I'm worried about him being in constant pain while we're on the road. It will be a minimum 8 hours in the vehicle on day one of our return trip. I foresee him suffeing big time. I went to the pharmacy today and found out that because there were no refills on the perscriptions he got, he will need to go back to the hospital to get a renewal or a new perscription. We figured as much and this is not a problem I just want to make sure that he has his pain pills before we start back - I don't think he is going to enjoy the trip home very much!

This has put a bit of a damper on our last week as he hasn't been able to enjoy it as much as he would have liked. We had plans to play a couple of more rounds of golf but I don't think he's going to be able to play. BIL and I will probably still go as the rounds are prepaid and DH will probably tag along to keep us company but he's disappointed and I feel bad for him. But...what can you do?

I think today was the nicest day we've had since we got here. The sky was clear and cloudless and the temperature hovered near 100. The pool was fabulous! The forecast for the remaining days is more of the same so I plan to live in the pool tomorrow - gotta work on my back!

Well we're starting into our last week here. We've had a wonderful time - no issues with work sharing which I was afraid we would have. Everything has run very smoothly and we've had a fabulous time. I will be sad to leave but now that we're into the home stretch I find myself starting to think about things at home....all the things I need to do once I get home :)

No news on the job front - I'm hoping they just have me on "ignore" because they know I'm away. I'm not going to worry about it - I'm just going to let it be and whatever is going to happen will happen. I have, however, heard of another opportunity that is coming up so who knows, maybe that will work out if this one doesn't.

I went on a shopping spree at Walmart yesterday. Not exactly high fashion but the prices were excellent and the selection for larger sizes was fabulous. I bought 3 pairs of shorts (had already bought 2 pairs on a previous trip), 2 pairs of dressy capris suitable for the office and 3 blouses. I was really pleased with my purchases and didn't have to float a loan to buy this stuff so it's all good. After I get offline, we're off to Foot Locker for some runners for DH and then to Target so I can check out their scrapbooking section. Someone on-line was talking about their grunge board and embellishments and since DH will be in the neighbourhood I will be tagging along.

Gotta Run

We're into week three and it seems that the time is just flying by. The weather has been fabulous and I've managed to get a very good tan (at least it's a good tan for me!) and have managed to avoid getting burned. Today is a little overcast and a bit cooler so the trip to the Outlets that we cancelled Friday is on for today. Husband wants to get some new runners and I'm hoping (not holding my breath, but hoping) that there's a Kohl's or Lane Bryant at the Outlets. I hear that Kohls has fabulous stuff and equally fabulous prices so I'm wanting to check them out. If they aren't at the Outlets I may have to take some time away from the pool to do a little shopping!

We golfed with a friend Monday - I had a terrible game. I think I played every stinking sand trap on the course and let me tell you there are a lot of them! I think the golf gods were just putting me in my place and letting me know that I was a little too full of myself after my landmark game on the weekend. I had 2 firsts - I had my best game ever and I broke 100 - came in with a 99. Wooohooo!

While the boys were golfing on Tuesday, I spent the day by the pool, floating on a recliner. Sheer heaven! Last night we went to the Casino again - I'm not even going to talk about it. Suffice it to say Sandy minus, casino plus and let's just leave it at that!

I'm getting tons of sleep - averaging at least 8 hours a night, sometimes 10 hours so I'm feeling rested and rejuvenated. Hopefully the rest and relaxation will jumpstart my creativity and I'll be able to get right back into the swing of things when I get home. Until then, I'm going to veg out and just soak up the rays!