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