Just stuff

So... another long spell of not posting anything. No pics, no ramblings, no nuthin'. Lots of stuff has been going on in the background. I have been making cards, but not too many original designs yet, and I have a huge stack of class projects to finish up.

I still get a little frustrated that I am still casing designs and not creating my own. Some of that stems from being a decorative painter and teacher for so long. We traced designs and copied from instructions and it became a way of life. Although I did publish my own original designs, I have not progressed as quickly in designing my own cards. My good friend Margaret says this is okay and I shouldn't fret, but I do.

I remember when I started quilting and had a hard time combining prints. It just wasn't the same as simply putting paint on my palette and mixing colors. It took a while to become comfortable mixing prints like I did my paints, but I did get there. I guess I will get there in my card making as well.

In the meantime, I've been experimenting with combining die cuts in the style of Kittie Caraccilo, who is a demon with die cuts. Her designs are so inspiring.  I made a hydrangea card for my Mom's childhood friend and it was a big hit.

I also want to make a huge shout-out to Michelle Ogdahl of Avocado Arts. She is an awesome person and I love that each stamp set has a pre-made cut file that you can order along with the stamp set. Most awesome is that the cut files are sent via Dropbox which means you can send the file directly to your own Dropbox account. Aside from that I love her clean and simple designs. You can join her club and receive a monthly delivery of a new stamp set and cut file.

Last note, more for my diary, then for those who don't know me. I was recently taken off my Tysabri infusions for managing my MS. Tysabri has kept my MS in remission for 6 years. Before it was approved by the FDA, I was at the end of the list for any disease-modifying drug that was not a chemotherapy. Unfortunately, being on Tysabri for so long, I became a high risk for developing PML, an incurable brain infection. My doctor and I have been waiting for the approval of a new oral medication called Tecfedera. It's effectiveness was closer to Tysabri than anything else on the market. I am now almost finished with my first week on Tecfedera and so far not too many side-effects. I get one or two flushing incidences a day and it has made my car-sickness come back, but only if I am not the one driving. A little more dizziness than usual, so the cane has come out of the closet, but other than that, no nausea or stomach distress (my biggest fear). I am still on the half dose.. next week it's the full dosage, but I am really hopeful that I can stay on this new medication.

Time to post this poor rambling post, but I wanted to end on a happy note so...

Congratulations to our son, Kevin. He graduated from CSU Channel Islands on Saturday!!! In the fall, he will be in the Master's program for Computer Science. We are so proud of him!!

Happy note done, time to sign off.

Keep those fingers inky!
Cathy

Boy, Time sure Flies!

Maybe senility has set in, as I turned 60 this last November... seems like I tell myself to post something to the blog and then all of a sudden, it's been several MONTHS!

The good news is that my back problems are gone for now and I've been slowly trying to organize things and get a new workflow going after re-arranging the craft room. The bad news is that I literally created a cave with the new arrangement, so it may be back to packing everything up again and moving furniture around.

The Gelli pad is still waiting to get broken in, and my new electronic cutter machine, the fabulous Silver Bullet has not gone through a complete work-out, but at least I've been using it a little. Also, have been playing with the eBosser, which I really like. I like using my embossing folders with it, then, just to make sure the Vagabond doesn't get too jealous, I cut a slew of paper with my movers and shapers and steel rule dies.

Of all the new gadgets I need to post about and review, my favorite is a drawing board that has little feet to raise the back end up. My Physical Therapist wouldn't let me craft much when I was being treated, but she was happy, happy, happy when I got the drawing board. Now my neck is not bent when I'm working because of the nice incline I work on. It's portable, so I always have the option of taking it off my worktable, but it's also sturdy enough to lay my Vagabond on, when I fold up the legs of the board.

I have been busy, just haven't posted what I've been working on. I will note that Norm of Hanko Designs (www.hankodesigns.com) was happy to learn I DO NOT hoard my washi paper. I do hoard my washi tape for some reason, but I love using washi paper.

One extra note before I sign off...I had the pleasure of attending a class with Els from Elizabeth Crafts and we got to play with her new branded line of glitter and her new dies. She also has sueded paper that is adhesive back and the dies cut through it wonderfully. Looking forward to trying the paper in my Silver Bullet. We learned some tricks to use when using the double sided adhesive and glitter and just had a fun time.

So.. stay tuned... there is a new product that I haven't mentioned yet and I know you are going to be dazzled by it! I just need to finish something to illustrate the wonder of it :)

Til then, happy stamping and inky fingers!

Cathy