The Lord is Great

Today's card uses a stamp set I reach for many times:  Baroque Motifs from Stampin' Up!  Unfortunately, it's no longer available, although the digital version is.

My card is almost an exact copy of the one I found here on Splitcoast Stampers.  The paper I used is Soft Suede by Stampin' Up!, white, and blue from the Seaside pack by The Paper Company, which I found at JoAnn's.  The brown ink is Chocolate by Impress; the blue is Ballet Blue by Stampin' Up!

For the squares, I used Spellbinders Classic Squares, both large and small.  By combining the two sets, I was able to cut squares that were each 1/4" larger than the previous one.  I couldn't do that for the rectangles, so I just used my paper trimmer to cut the brown layer 1/4" larger than the stamped piece.

The stamp is an old one by Biblical Impressions.  In fact, a lot of my supplies for this card are older ones!  I tend to hold on to ink pads and stamps that I like rather than getting rid of them.

A pearl in Brilliant Blue by Queen & Co. finished off the card.

The Mighty One Will Save

It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm having a difficult time matching the Post-It Notes I write out for each card I make to the cards, so rather than waste time combing through each one and trying to blog about each one in chronological order, I'll just see what I can easily match up and go from there.  You'll never know when I actually made the card, right?

First up is a card I believe I made as part of the widow's encouragement project at my church. It is 5" x 7".

This verse from Zephaniah 3:17 is one of my favorites, so when I saw the stamp over at Verve Stamps, I had to get it. 

I started by stamping the verse in Versafine Onyx Black ink on one of the ovals from Spellbinders Large Classic Ovals.  I sponged the oval with Memento Angel Pink ink.  I then cut one of the motifs from Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Accents four times, then arranging them around the oval. 

 

The background paper and sheer pink ribbon are from my stash.  The rhinestone spray is by Recollections (Michael's).  

My New Life

I see that I wrote my last blog post on February 9.  An eternity ago.  Nine days later at 6:12 or so in the evening, I became a widow.  I don't think anyone expected him to die so soon, especially since just the day before, he had a lovely visit with his mom and older sister.  But when my daughter and I arrived on that Tuesday, it was clear that he wouldn't live more than a few hours.  We filled his small hospital room with people - my two daughters, my son-in-law, my parents, two of our pastors, and other close friends.  We sang Christian songs and hymns, listened to songs from Phil's mp3 player (we discovered music we never knew he liked!) as well as from YouTube; we read Scripture; we prayed; we laughed and cried.  It was such a holy experience, unlike anything I'd ever been a part of. 

On March 1, we held Phil's memorial service, which Sarah and I planned.  The service was entirely centered on the Lord that Phil loved and served with all his heart.  Three family members shared their own tributes, and when we opened the floor for others to share their memories, what was said was moving.  We included a lot of music, or at least more than what is usually done, including singing How Great Thou Art and It Is Well With My Soul.  We had three specials:  Blessed Be the Name, I Will Rise, and Who Am I? You can find recordings of all these on YouTube.  After the service, we invited all the family members back to the house for a light repast.

Because it was winter - and what a winter it was with so much snow and cold - the funeral home held Phil's body until May 2, when we finally had the burial, which was just for family.  I chose to bury Phil in a cemetery close to our home; we were able to buy a plot in a new section.  It is near a tree which will provide lovely shade once it is grown.  I still have to design a monument.  That was a new term to me, and I think they use it because they can charge more than if it were just an old-fashioned headstone. 

It will take time for me to settle into my new life, to find out what God wants me to do.  Sarah and I have been working on organizing the house, starting with the file cabinet, which was Phil's domain.  We quickly discovered why it was completely stuffed:  he kept papers that he should have shredded long ago.  We laughed many times when we realized just how old and worthless some of them were.  We even found a receipt from an investment Phil made before he and I were married 30 years ago!  Too bad the investment failed, or I might have kept the receipt.

One of our church families has made me an honorary member of the family, which has been wonderful.  I was already friends with mom and dad (dad is one of our pastors), as well as one of the daughters and her husband (he is our music administrator), and acquaintances with two of the other daughters.  I was offered the opportunity to help lead music on Wednesday evenings, which I accepted.  Often it's just Nathan (music administrator) and me up in front, but sometimes one of our other men joins us.  It has been challenging for me because I usually sing melody, but now I'm doing harmony, which I sometimes must come up with myself.  And about ten days ago I was asked to make some cards for sending to widows, which I accepted.  (Will I receive one of my own cards at some point?)

I still have things to do around the house, which will keep me busy for quite a while.  So many new things for me to learn to care for, decisions which must be made, stuff to go through.  And I want to get back to blogging.  I have a lot of pictures to edit and share!  So hopefully that will start to happen soon, although you do realize that "soon" is a relative term, right?

See you soon!

Sad News

I had every intention of writing some new blog posts, but my husband was hospitalized a week ago, and he is bad shape and not expected to live much longer.  No doctor has given a time estimate, but Phil understands that any further treatment with chemo or dialysis, should it become necessary, would be futile.  He is being kept comfortable with pain medication as the Myeloma has eaten holes in the bones throughout his back, and presumably other places in his body.  He will receive some radiation to shrink a large tumor which is causing a lot of pain.  Where we go after that is still an unknown; we take the days one at a time and pray fervently for comfort and wisdom.

Merry Christmas, 2013

Joy has dawned upon the world,

Promised from creation—

God's salvation now unfurled,

Hope for ev'ry nation.

Not with fanfares from above,

Not with scenes of glory,

But a humble gift of love—

Jesus born of Mary.

Son of Adam, Son of heaven,

Given as a ransom;

Reconciling God and man,

Christ, our mighty champion!

What a Savior! What a Friend!

What a glorious myst'ry!

Once a babe in Bethlehem,

Now the Lord of hist'ry.

"Joy Has Dawned Upon the World"

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

Copyright © 2004 Thankyou Music

Hear the song in its entirety! 

Merry Christmas!

Staying Warm, Or Trying To

Winter arrived with a bang on Saturday.  It's cold, it's been snowing, and that's not going to change.  It's more like January than late November.

As I sit here typing, I am covered with a blanket I finished crocheting over the summer.  I had started it several times using one pattern, but it just wasn't coming out right, so after I ripped it out twice, I decided to go with a tried and true pattern.

The pattern is the Little V-Stitch Blanket from Lion Brand, which I crocheted using about 1-1/2 skeins of Caron One Pound Yarn.  I made it a lot bigger by using a longer foundation row.  Once it was nearly 39" square, I decided to add a scalloped border for a nice finish. 

My blanket is nice and warm, as well as plenty large to tuck under my arms and still have it cover my feet.

In other news, things here are still crazy.  I am looking forward to finishing physical therapy at the end of December (thanks to insurance changes, but I am SO ready, even if I don't meet all the goals I "should"), but for now, I still go twice a week, and one of those days we go to an early afternoon doctor's appointment, usually for Phil, and then I take the 5:30 physical therapy slot, the last of the day.  Phil's Myeloma is still not under control, and we have added two additional chemo drugs (in pill form) over the last month.  We found out at his oncology appointment this past Wednesday that his oncologist is moving to the cancer center a mere 10 minutes from our house, which will be very helpful since we may well move to both an oral and injectible chemo once that switch takes place.  On top of that, his kidneys are failing again, and we are carefully watching the blood markers that will indicate when he will need to begin home dialysis again, after four years off all dialysis.  We are hoping to hold off the surgery needed to prepare until after the holidays, but should know on Tuesday whether we are keeping our December 2 appointment with the surgeon.  See why I am ready to be done with therapy?

I remain thankful to God for sustaining me - us - through the past four months since my knee replacement and the craziness of all these appointments.  My fibromyalgia is acting up, though, so I am counting down the remaining 10 therapy appointments with great anticipation.

Practical Pre-Surgery Sewing

Before my surgery, I completed two other projects.

My daughter had purchased a little purse like this one, from which I made a pattern and sewed my own.  I had thought I would use this after surgery when I went to doctor's appointments, but as it turned out, I only used it while in the hospital.  It was just large enough for my cell phone, a small packet of kleenex, and . . . well, I forget what I put in it!  But it was very helpful.  And by the time I saw the doctor for the first time, I was using a cane and could carry a regular purse.

For about three weeks, I had to use a walker to get around.  After looking around on the Internet for free patterns for walker totes, I came up with my own.

(That's Kelly helping me with my picture taking.)  My thought was to make a bag large enough to turn into a tote bag once I no longer needed it for the walker, so the ties you see on the sides were sewn on by hand, and the straps on the top were stitched on using buttons (I sewed through the buttons and the straps).  These have also been removed.  I've stitched webbing straps to one side of the bag, but alas, it remains on my sewing table, waiting for me to take the 15 minutes to pin and sew the other sides down.

A note on the fabric:  it's a heavy-weight utility-type fabric that I found in the remnant bin and paid next to nothing for.  It was a great purchase since I got two projects out of it, and still have some left over.