Life stuff and a Christmas card

Sigh...I'm trying to get myself back into the swing of things again - we took this last week off because we could (national holiday for the end of the fasting month - nationally enforced religious tolerance means we get to share everyone's holidays...)...we said goodbye to our houseguest who had been with us for a week...DH spent a day with him and some other friends snorkeling and fellowshipping with believers out at Bunaken and Siladen islands...he left Friday morning early, and DH and I took off to town for the day and the night just to get away. As we thought on it, it's been a year since we had some time away, and that was time in the hospital. It was nice to get away and just hang out together. So easy to get busy and not really 'connect'.

Hard to believe it's been a year since Russ got sick...I've been reflecting on that whole experience quite a lot this weekend. Short version - my husband has fibromyalgia which suddenly manifested itself in an acute attack in the middle of the night 1 year ago - we ran him to the "ER" and he was diagnosed with a stroke, and treated/medicated as a stroke patient for a week, then through insurance coverage we have (and lots and lots of "God things" all along the way) we were able to get him to Singapore and it was determined that there was no evidence of stroke, but rather that he had myofascial pain syndrome, which has progressed into fibromyalgia. It has definitely been a growing and trying year that has shaped our family...we are so thankful to the Lord for His grace and care through this whole process.

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Love this scene stamp from Heartfelt Creations - this is "Winter Friends". I've been looking at vintage book illustrations lately, which are typically colored with 3 basic colors, so I thought I'd try to duplicate that look. This is watercolored, with Shimmerz on a few areas (that shows better on the picture below). The wreath was stamped on a separate scrap of WC paper and layered on my main panel. Double bow made with Bow-Easy. The snow on the door/sled is done with white acrylic paint, and there's more Shimmerz on the ground. (Ack, something is underneath my z key!) The eyelet bar is from Making Memories.

We stopped by the post office and picked up our packages there - we had a record 10 packages waiting for us! Included was some DT stuff from Heartfelt Creations, including a print catalog - so excited - if you are a visual person like me, I'd recommend getting their print catalog. It is definitely worth the $10, to see the artwork in person and get a feel for the actual size of their stamps. Some of the larger sized hymns and poems would make gorgeous framed pieces with stamped or painted borders.

Since I'm going on and on about HC, here are a couple links for you, just for fun:

--the HC blog posts DT samples weekly on Wednesdays....

--I made my own little HC gallery blog, just so I could keep track of which stamps I've used, how frequently, etc. It won't be anything you won't see here, but just in case you want to see all the cards I've made with a particular stamp or whatever...it's there.

--Remember that if you sign up for the HC email list, you will receive a one-time discount code good for 25% off your next purchase.

Guess that's all for now...hope you had a good weekend!