Free $500 of free altered art products

Hello Friends and Family. I haven't had any time for playing this week. Three times to the doctor and hospital, and my surgery is Monday!! Can't wait to get that behind me. I just had to do a quick post tonight to let you know what I discovered today. If you have made something using Lisa Vollrath's products, you can submit a scan or photo for a chance to win $500 of her collage sheets, sets, etc. I wish I had the time to do something awesome this weekend, but I am running out of time! Yikes!

Fall is finally here!

Hello Friends and Family. I am so happy that the weather is getting cooler here in Texas. We have had a really hot summer, to the point that I don't even want to go out unless I just have to.

This new tag is for an inspiration mingle in one of my groups. This isn't even close to what I was planning to do, but then my muse took off, and this is where I ended up. I used the Grafix Rub-Ons Transfer Film for the muse and the word "Autumn", on the beautiful leaves tag that is free from Lisa Vollrath web site Go Make Something. Look at the top under the tab "Free Printables". Sorry this isn't the best scan. I guess I should have done a photo instead. I am working on a couple of more challenges, and then I am going to do some Halloween art using some of Lisa's really cool images and ideas from Ten Two Studios.

If you have been following my blog, then you know that I was going to have back surgery this week, but come to find out, I am having two surgeons and they couldn't get together this week or next, so my new surgery date is October the 6th. They say everything is set now, and on the 30th I have to go to the hospital for my pre-op visit, and new blood tests because the hospital says the tests can't be over 7 days old, so the ones I have already had have to be repeated!! Then on Oct. 2nd I have to see my back surgeon again so he can tell me what he has already told me about the surgery! It's not bad enough to have to sit around for a month and worry about the surgery, but now I get to pay for the same testing twice! I am pretty frightened over the surgery because when I had my right hip replaced (for the 4th time!) I had a horrible infection and nearly died, and then I went 10 weeks without a hip joint, while taking IVs everyday and lots of other medications for about 3 months until I was well enough to have my 4th hip prosthesis put in. Anyway, please keep sending your good thoughts and prayers my way during this upcoming surgery. They say that the bacterias that I had are still in my body only dormant, and I sure want them to stay that way!

So everyone have a great weekend, and nice weather, and enjoy yourselves with friends, family and make some art!

Girls Night Finished!

Hello Friends and Family. Well, I stopped playing with this, and here is the finished product. I used watercolor crayons and pencils to color the photo. It was great fun to do. At one time in my life, I worked at adding color to sepia and black and white photos, so it was a little like that, but this was way more fun , more like coloring! I added the gold German scrap around the photo to "frame" it, and the rest is just wall dressing! I hope you enjoy this piece. Oh, I did a little rubber stamping in black, and the title is done with that Grafix Rub-Ons Transfer Film. I love to use this stuff because my handwriting that was once really nice now looks like chicken scratch. TTYL.

Girls Night Out Challenge Lottery

Helllo Friends and Family. I am working on a piece for a challenge in one of my groups. The theme is "Girl's Night Out". I was looking through my images that I have saved on a little external hard drive and came across this one (my computer is too old, slow, and has such a small memory that I can't store things on it). While this is not a family photo, it could have been. This could be my mom (the baby in her family) and her sisters. Starting on the left would be Aunt Theda, Billie Lynn (my mom), Aunt Sis, Aunt Avis, Aunt Gwen, and Aunt Mussy. (I remember them getting together occasionally, and they would be playing the card game Pitch, and just having the best time. Oh course all of us kids were sent outside to play....for hours. We only got back in to go to the bathroom! Since I live in Texas, the drink would have been iced tea, and not hot tea, but other than that, this photo is like looking back in time for me.

I am a real beginner with Photoshop, but I did sharpen the image, and I think I took out the dust and scratches, and then I messed with lightening it all over, and I am pretty happy with the way it looks. Now, I am going to add color by hand, crop, and finish the piece. I will put up the final results later today. If you are like me, that big old Photoshop makes me a nervous wreck, so just remember to duplicate your image first, and play with the copy. If you destroy it, you still have the original, and you can copy it again and start over. I keep saying I am going to take some lessons, but who has the time!

Be my bra and give support for breast cancer

Hello Friends and Family. I was sent a link to a site where you can make your own breast cancer iconic doll so I made mine and here is it:http://www.mylifetime.com/fun-games/games/dress/be-my-bra Go make one for yourself and have some fun! I am looking for a button so I am off in search of the breast cancer button to connect my readers to information about breast cancer.
If you have a breast concern, please don't put off having it checked by your doctor. Hugs to you all, Mary Lynn

Make It Mondays Challenge

Hello friends, family and fellow bloggers. Here is my piece for Lisa Vollrath's Make it Mondays challenge. This piece is very shimmery and glittery, but you really can't tell it from the scan. I love birds, trees, water, but I really don't get out much anymore, but boy what a camper I used to be! Yes, I know it is Thursday, but oh what a week! I had to get my dress form dress finished and in the mail, and then I worked on this piece. It is called Friends Forever, and I really like this piece, but I am thinking of a way to give it away. Let me think, and I will come up with something. I am also working on some challenges and inspiration art for a couple of my Yahoo groups. I am also getting ready to have some fun with my fall and Halloween art, (I call it Fright Night because I just like the word Halloween). I want to make some slide jewelry to give to some friends too.

I have been busy with doctor appointments and testing this week too as I prepare for my back surgery next week. I will be putting up some more new art before then though. I am really back in the spirit of creating now that my nightmarish fog is starting to lift (over the death of my dear sweet brother). He loved to do art, and I am trying to do art for him now too, and he loved life, and he was such a hoot, that I know he wouldn't want me to give up living, or art so I am really trying to get back to myself. It has been almost a year since we found out that Charles had cancer, and my life changed so much through the last year, some for the good, and some not.

I want to say a big ol' Texas thank you for all of the nice comments on my dress form dress. The dress is paper napkins, not fabric! I love doing it and the cause: cure for breast cancer auction. Please go make a bid on some of the lovely dresses at the link I posted yesterday, or maybe the day before: http:/stampsaladotexas.com. Well, I am wiped from appointments so I am going to lie down and read for awhile. The old back just want let me set here any longer. TTYS, and hugs to you all, and God bless.

Dress Form for Breast Cancer

Hello Friends and Family

I am so happy to show you my finished dress. My dress is made from paper napkins, green tissue paper, and green tulle, beads, ribbons. I had an awesome time planning this dress and then actually doing it! This dress is for a charity auction for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. All of the proceeds from this auction will be spent to find a cure for breast cancer. The auction is being generously hosted by http://www.stampsaladotexas.com/. This is a really artsy town about 150 miles from me. You do not have to be at the store to bid on this dress. Just go to the site, and scroll down to the bottom, and there is a link to all of the dresses. Also you will see three ways to place a bid on a dress. My dress has been mailed, but it is not there yet. I can't wait to see it with all of the other beautiful dress forms. If there is any way that you can support this worthy cause, please visit Stamp Salado and make a bid. Thank you so much!

Next Step, adding some style

In the top photo, I am wraping some tissue paper around the top to sort of make a pattern ( more work needed there!). In the bottom photo, I am adding some beaded trim to the bottom of the napkin skirt. The weight of the beads is really pulling the skirt down. I will think about this, and I am going to go iron some napkins and glue the edges together to make it large enough to gather, and decide about the trim. I took the paper back off of the one napkin here, but it made it too thin and delicate so the white paper on the napkin needs to stay on for strength.

More Dressing

Hello friends. I am working on finishing my dress form. In the photo on the right, I have added the gathered green tulle over the tissue paper. I tacked the two together around the waist so they couldn't slide up. It looks pretty just like this I think. This was a double layer of tulle, folder with the fold at the bottom. I hand stitched the seam down the back of the tulle before I gathered it.
In the second photo, I am working with my chosen napkin pattern. These are the small napkins, and I wish I had the large napkins because the napkin does not go to the bottom of the form, but I think  t will be ok.

Slip for Dress

I am working on my dress today, and after looking at the tulle layer over the wire frame, I decided to first add a slip. I'm sorry these photos are so dark. I forgot to turn on the flash.I went to my tissue paper stach to find some white tissue, and low and behold there was the same color of tissue as the green tulle! So, first I had to iron it because it was so wrinkled. Next I turned down the edge to gather the paper by hand. I wish I had turn it down again though. You have to be careful sewing the tissue because the threads will rip through. I then gathered the paper onto the form and tacked it to the wire frame to hold it in place. This is two pieces of tissue gathered, and I will glue the seams shut rather than sewing them. Next the tulle layer, and finally the paper napkin skirt, and top.

Altered Friends

Today, I played around with this, and I finished it so I thought I would just post it tonight. I want to be working on my dress form, but there have been so many interuptions at my house that I haven't been able to concentrate. You see I am preparing for some major back surgery.  I have been poked and prodded all over. I have had at my house, a social worker, the occupational therapist, the nurse, and the physical therapist.  All of these people are helping me to prepare for surgery, and they will take care of me here at home, after my surgery. I love that I can have home health care. That will so make my life easier. (I am in a wheelchair if you didn't know. I can share how that happened at another time). I am looking for a really inexpensive lap top computer so that I can be online as I am getting better. If you know of a place let me know .

Well, I am really tired tonight so I am going to go zone out on a little TV and call it a night. TTYL, and blessings to you all.

Make It Mondays Challenge

Here is my entry for Lisa Vollrath's Make It Mondays challenge. I know I am a day late, but I have been so busy, so I am just happy I have something to display! This weeks theme is Chocolate. If you want to play then visit Make It Mondays and read how. I really like this piece. I'm not sure if it is the colors, or that it is about chocolate! I found inspiration for this from the book "Embellished Emotions for Scrapbookers". I don't scrapbook, but if you like clean, orderly layouts using poems, quotes or sayings then this is the book for you. The author is Trudy Sigurdson, published by Making Memories. There must be a hundred ideas or more in this book. You might want to look for a used copy because I don't know if is still in publication.

I will be posting more photos later today of my dress for the wire form. It is time to get it in the mail!

Embellishments

Why does it have to be so difficult to make these decisions? I know for me that I have too much stuff! I picked out a few things, and I will probably weed out some of them, but first the construction of the dress, and I am starting that right now. I will post more step by step photos later today.

More auditions

I am still looking for just the right combination. I was going to do the whole thing in pink for breast cancer (my favorite color), but since this isn't for me, I decided to go with somethings else, and my winner is the pink, red, and blue with the moss green tulle.

Auditions for my dress form

Here I am draping various paper napkins around my dress form. I have picked up these napkins from various places, but mostly at Hobby Lobby. This part of trying different things is so much fun....you do have to put back all the things you are not going to use, but oh how exciting when your ideas start coming together, and you start to visualize the finished product. I love to work this way because I am such a visual person, and if you ever get stuck for an idea, try my method, and I think it will be an instant inspiration for your project. This works for me with ATCs, squared art, and altered art.

New Art Project

Hello! Is anyone out there? I know it will take a while to get some readers back to my blog, but I will blog away anyway. I have a project that I am working on that I very excited about. Here in Texas we have a town named Salado. It is a real arts and crafts town. I love to go there and just look in all the shops. This is also the home of the famous artist Thomas Kinkade. Well anyway, I have friends Kate and Pat who live there, and I found out that Sandy at Stamp Salado was hosting a silent auction, and all of the proceeds are going to the Breast Cancer Foundation. The participants are required to "dress" a dress form that is carried by Stampington and Company, and that the "clothing" must contain at least part paper. I am all for supporting this foundation that is working to find a cure for breat cancer, and then that could lead to a cure for all forms of cancer. As you frequent readers know, my husband and my brother both passed away from cancer. I feel that this is a worthwhile project for me, and has helped me to become excited about art again. I am taking photos of my work, step by step, in case you would like to make one for yourself. Here is the dress form as it came from Stampington:

Hello Family, Friends and Fellow Bloggers

As all of you know, my sweet brother Charles has passed away. For weeks I have been just unable to do much of anything, just living in a dark place. I realize now that I have to get back to the living of my life. Life is short, and I know where my brother is, and I know I will see him again. He was such a dynamic person, and so easy to love. Several people have told me that they were saddened to hear of his passing. They said that through my words that they had come to know and love Charles, and some have said that they are changed for the better from having met him here on my blog. I am so honored that you feel that way about my blogging, and I can so understand this because I feel the same way. My family and I were blessed to have Charles, our angel, here on earth with us for 58 years.

In the process of grieving, sometimes you may feel that life isn't worth living any longer, or that your life doesn't matter. I have gone through some of this, but I had a long talk about it will my Sis, and that my life does matter, and the blogging that I do, and the making of my art is important too, but still I just couldn't feel it. I need to be needed by someone, and what I do and the way I feel is not worthless. To "better" myself and feel more worthy to go on living, we have decided that to honor Charles we MUST get back to living, and that there is another someone out there that needs love, encouragement, and someone to care about them. We have found such a person, and her name is Joanna. We are going to reach out to her, and just see if she is interested in forming a friendly relationship with us. So I am hoping that she will, but if it doesn't work out, then we will look again. I know there is someone out there that needs me to care about them, just as I need to care for them. I want to matter to someone, just as Charles did, and so I lovingly say that Charles you are in my thoughts from day to day, but you are forever in my heart, and so I am moving forward.

My first step in getting back to normal after many months of heartache and trips back and forth to San Antonio to see Charles is to get back to blogging, and to making art. Since it is so late, I will sign off for now, and post a new project that I am working on later today that means something to me.

One more thing: I have had some many beautiful comments and emails from several of you. I know many of you sent cards, gifts, and money to Charles. I will always hold you and your generosity in my heart as well. I am blessed that you read my blog and "met" my brother, and as I told one person by email today, please don't ever think that when you leave a comment, send an email, or offer your condolences that it really doesn't matter because I am here to say to you that yes what you said and what you did made a huge difference in my life and in Charles' life. Your words to me helped more that you will ever know....until you are in my position of having lost someone that you love so very much, and I pray that there will be family, friends, and blog buddies there for you.

With warmest regards to each of you who read this, and God bless.
Mary Lynn

Sad News

Hello, I just wanted to leave a quick note to say that my dear brother Charles passed away on Saturday morning. We were all with him, and he is now pain free and dancing down those golden streets of Heaven. I will write more later, but wanted to say something now. His service is tomorrow, and my heart is very heavy tonight. There are not enough words to thank everyone who has written to me, and mailed cards, money, movies, music, etc. to Charles. God pour His mercy and grace upon you, and your family.

News about Charles and Sis and I

Here is an older photo of Charles from November, and a photo of myself and my grandson in April on my birthday. We went to San Antonio last Friday and got home late Monday night. Charles seemed better than the weekend before. We had a meeting on Monday with several members of the hospice that is taking care of Charles, and some members from the staff of Charles' home.
At the meeting we had the director, an RN, a social worker, and the Chaplin from Bethany Hospice. Also there was the Administrator, home nurse, Q, which is over the house mom, who was also there.
We had been alerted that the home was thinking of sending Charles to a nursing home, and we weren't having any of that! However, it turns out that they were not going to send him to a nursing home. The thing is that if Charles gets into a crisis that can be managed better at the mini-hospital of the hospice, they will take him there.
Charles is having increasing pain in his left leg, and so they are giving him more morphine for his break through pain, which makes him more sleepy.
The RN from the hospice and the RN from the home agree that Charles will probably suffer more broken bones, where the cancer lives in the marrow of the bones and causes large tumors. We are pretty sure he has one on his leg. They will probably put it in a cast, but it won't heal. Then he will be bed bound. They brought his hospital bed, which looks just like a twin bed. It has electric controls, and side bars that are down now. He just loves it. He said the handyman bought it for him because he is the one who delivered it! The hospice director said that everyone always wants to know how much longer the patient has. He said they count time differently than we do in the world. He said they say months to a year, weeks to months, days to weeks, and hours to days, and minutes to hours. They say Charles has weeks to months, so we are not sure how long that will be. He is loosing more weight, eating less, less active, and like I said, sleeping more. He has been sort of going up and down, but always in a decline, and as he gets worse, he will go straight down.
My head is reeling, and my nerves are a mess again. I have been to the doctor to get some injections in my left shoulder, neck and head to block the pain, and I am taking muscle relaxers to help me get better. I also had injections in my right hip (my bad one) and my right knee. I am feeling some better. We would be going again tomorrow for the day, but Sis and her husband are going, and I will stay home and rest.
Charles is still happy to see us, and he felt strong enough to go to Denny's one morning for breakfast, and we had a great time together. He finished a new black velvet art project that was almost ruined. Someone spilt their drink on it, and some of the colors blended together. I think it looks great, and maybe that's the trick to blending those watercolor markers, just dump water on it! We had a great time with all of the clients there since we were all the house most of the time. Laughting, and playing and watching movies. It is the saying goodbye that is so difficult. I went over to him in his recliner to say goodbye on Monday, after the meeting, and I just hugged Charles so closely, and I could feel all of his bony back, and then I couldn't let him go. Only when I knew that I was going to cry did I let him go and turned away so he couldn't hear me or see my face. I went out of the door and just cried and cried for my brother.
Please continue to keep Charles on your prayer list. Thank you so much for all of the beautiful new cards that I saw this time. Each one a treasure to Charles and to me.

Hello everyone. Here are some photos that were taken last Saturday. I could see a big difference in Charles since we were there before. He is so much weaker, and having more break through pain. Sis and I are leaving in the morning to go back to SA, and we may come home on Monday. We know that Charles doesn't have a lot of time left, so we want to be with him as much as possible. I have been an emotional wreck all week, and I know it is only going to get worse. His hospice doctor said that he didn't know how Charles was still alive and he was doing OK, but now it has hit all at once, and we don't think he will make it to June. If you wanted to send him a card or something, now would be a good time. He is on more pain meds, and an anti-inflammatory medication for cancer patients to reduce swelling, and it has made him so sick that I think they are going to discontinue it.

In the first photo are my sister, Jeannie, and Charles and I, and we are at Denny's for breakfast (of course). Second photo is just me and my darling brother Charles. All our lives we have called him Butch, and a few years back, out of the blue, he asked us to call him Charles, which was my dad's name.

Photo three, look at that beautiful smile. He didn't know I was taking his picture. Last photo, he is back home in his recliner.

I wish you could all be here to meet Charles. I promise you would go away, just knowing that there is someone out here as special as Charles is. I want everyone here to know that Charles is so happy to see the postman and to get cards, letters, photos, drawing from some children etc. from all of you. He received several letters from 5th graders who wrote to him in English class. He liked those too. You have kept the smile on his face. Someone sent him a necklace that has a boot, hat, and saddle charms on it, and he hasn't taken it off since he got it. He even wears it to bed. Speaking of which, hospice is delivering a hospital bed tomorrow, and he is getting his TV tomorrow and a combo DVD/VCR player, all from his home. When he is so medicated or feels really bad, he has started to go and get in his bed. They want to be able to put up the bars to keep him from falling out of bed as they continue to increase his pain meds. He is still very much Charles, and what a trooper he is! Still never complains about anything except of course the pain.

We had told him that we would take him to the western store after breakfast if he wanted to go, and he said "Yes"! On the way though, he wanted to get his flat top haircut so we did that. We took his hat and had is cleaned and a new hat band put on it. Then we looked at the shirts and pants. Well, Charles shops like a girl, because he has always gone with me and sis, so he had to pick up, consider, look some more, and finally decide what he wanted. He picked out one really expensive shirt that was a red plaid, and I said "Charles, this one isn't on sale, so you decide do you want to keep this one, or get 2 off the sales rack". Well, of course, he put the red one back so he could get 2! In all he chose a pair of white jeans!!!! He loves them so much, and 3 western shirts a blue check, a blue and purple plaid with gold threads running through it, and the red shirt he is wearing in his recliner, a purple western T-shirt with a beautiful wild horses image running across the front, the new hat band, a new key chain that is a miniature spur that spins!, a new buckle with a star on it (he has a brand new buckle and belt that he has from Christmas that he is saving). Charles has always worn rather quiet clothing, but WOW has his taste changed! He had a wonderful time at the store, and when he was so worn out he couldn't go another isle, we took him home.

He took some pain meds and got in his chair. We all set together, and looked at his cards, and we read them to him, and he would just listen, and look at the images, and he kept saying "from your friend", or he would tell Jeannie, "from work". He meant from her job, where she is well loved. (She is the payroll clerk for a school bus company). He knows I paint, and make art and that I "get online" and talk to people.

I am not sure that Charles will ever wear the new clothes that he picked out, but sis and I have decided that those are his "special clothes" that he will wear when the time comes, and they were bought with love, kindness, and the money that all of you have sent. I can not express to you all, how wonderful I think you are for "being there" for my brother. I just thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I will update my blog again when I get back in town, and I am sure I will have more photos too. I love to do my art projects, but it has taken a back burner lately, and I was looking for a new place to live, but all of that can be done later, but I can't make up the time that I would loose with Charles, if I am working on something else. Art is very important to me, and it has helped me to work through some past bad experiences, and I know I will return to it when I can.

Well, it is late here, (3:53 AM), and I know I have to get up early so I will say goodbye for now. God bless you and your families, and I will write again soon.

It's Friday!

Hello to everyone that has been dropping by. It has been a very emotional week for me, but a good one. So many of you have written to me, and it has so lifted my spirits, just reading your words of strength and concern. Charles has had a good week too. He has been for some blood workups and I am waiting to hear back on those. Sis and I are going to see him this weekend. I doubt we will spend the night. We have just been driving down early in the morning and coming back that night so we don't have to pay for a room. Gas is bad enough! When will it level off! I hope to get some new photos of Charles, and I can't wait to see what cards he has received from all of you this week.
I was telling someone the other day that we are hoping that Charles will make it to June, and I would love for him to continue to receive cards until the end. I know that is asking a lot of you all, and if you can't send another card, of course I understand. It doesn't have to be anything that you buy. You could just draw something, write a note, send a joke, he really wouldn't care what it is.
Well, at the top I have a scan of a mingle that I managed to complete this week. These are ATC size cards called Postage People, and you have to use a real stamp with a face. They are so fun to do. I hope you will try one. I didn't have any old face stamps so these are new from the post office. My favorite one is of the man. That was a photo of Charlie Chaplin (I think), and I cut off his arm and turned it around, and then I cut the hand and cup from another picture. I had fun doing that one!
As you can probably tell, there are a lot of things missing from my blog. I was going to change templates last week, and almost lost my whole blog. I am slowing working on putting it back together. I will make a new slide show too. Well, I hope you all have a great weekend, get some rest, and have some fun. I will update my blog early next week when I get back from San Antonio.
One last thing, thank you all so much for being so supportive, and so good to Charles. I am overwhelmed with all of the goodness that is out there that I never expected. Hugs to you all.

Weekend with Charles

My sister Jeannie and I spent the weekend with Charles in SA. He was happy to see us and to show us what he had. He has received several card (they are in his lap), and dollars too. Someone sent him the hat he has on and he wore it all weekend. He asked his house mom to hang up his cards, and she was going to get some bulletin boards, and when those are full, then we will get some more. When we first got there, we thought we would take Charles out for chicken fried steak, but he wasn't up to going. The next day he did want to go to Denny's for breakfast so we did, and he ate pretty good, and we all had several cups of coffee.
As much as I hate to admit it, I could see this time that Charles was more tired, and weak. I think that he will not be leaving the house much more. His home bought a new recliner for Charles and he loves it. The home does not want to isolate Charles back in his bedroom until it is absolutely necessary.
I can see that I haven't gotten any comments lately, but I know that once the word gets out about my wonderful brother, that some of you will want to send him a card. They bring so much joy to him, even as he was showing them to us. For you that have sent a card already, thank you, and I hope you are keeping Charles in your prayers that he won't have any pain. He doesn't now, and I pray that he never will.
Remember to email me for Charles' address if you would like to send him something. I have had a busy day working on my A B RR book, so I am off to bed.

This is Charles!

Hello friends. I want to tell you about the angel in my life. It is my brother, Charles. Charles is 58, and mentally challenged. He lives in a home with 5 other "family" members in San Antonio. It was his choice to move to SA many years ago to be near some of his friends. Charles is always so happy and outgoing, and he was always busy doing something all the time. He has loved the jobs that he has had. He has worked in the shelters before, but he really wanted a job out in the public. So he got a job with a What a Burger, and he worked hard there cleaning tables, and keeping the parking lot clean, taking out the trash, and any thing else that he could do, he did it. Some customers came back again and again to see Charles and his smile, his good nature, and how hard he worked. He won Employee of the Year at his store, but then to his surprise, his home was able to find his "dream job". The car wash!
Like I said, Charles loves to work, and he really loved his job at the car wash. He would do back breaking vacuuming of the cars, and drying the cars all day long. It didn’t matter if it was near freezing, or 105, he was on the job, and doing his best. His boss said that Charles is an inspiration to everyone that he comes in contact with, and that he has taught all of the new hires not only how to do their job, but how to be at work on time, clean and shaven, with a smile on their face everyday, and to do a good day’s work, and that you don’t leave early, but stay until all the work is done. I am so proud of my brother. He has never been a burden to his family....instead he is the joy in our lives.
Charles has always been healthy, and living a happy life, until one day in October. We got a call from Charles’ house mother, and she said Charles had broken his arm at work, and that he was on the way to the hospital. So my sister Mary and I jumped in the car and went down to SA. It takes about 4 to 6 hours to get there, depending on the traffic.
When we got there Charles was back home, and really dopey. His hand was swollen, and he had his arm in a sling. So we talked to him and he said he was OK, and not hurting. Then we went to talk to the house mom. She told us that the doctors were not able to set Charles’ arm because the break was caused by a tumor on the bone in his upper right arm. We continued to talk, and my sister and I were just devastated, and trying not to be upset around Charles. We went to our motel and wept over the news.
The next day we went with Charles to see an oncologist. She said that from the x-rays she could see that Charles had some form of cancer. As I’m sure you can imagine, we never expected this would happen especially since no one else in our family has had cancer. We stayed all week, and the doctor did a biopsy on Charles’ arm. She said that Charles has multiple myeloma, which is cancer of the blood, and cancer cells attach themselves to the bone marrow all over the body, especially the larger bones, and it also spreads to the other organs. They found a huge mass on his tail bone and all around it, and that the cancer was already in his liver, besides being in his arm and other bones. It is considered to be one of the worse types of cancer, with many devastating effects on the body. She sent Charles to a doctor that specializes in the type of cancer that he has.
The doctor told us that Charles’ arm will not heal. He ordered a brace that Charles wears under his clothes to immobilize his arm and shoulder, and he still wears the sling to help support his arm. At that time we were told that Charles could not be helped by chemotherapy. They did do 10 radiation treatments on his bones to strengthen them to try to keep any more from breaking. Charles never complains. There is a smile on his face for everyone he sees, and he has never said or done anything bad in his life. That is why I call him my angel, because it is hard to believe that there is someone as good as Charles on this earth. We were also told that Charles only had 6 months left to live. He is on a really good pain medication program, and he is still mobile, but he uses a wheelchair when he goes out.
Charles loves to fly (and he worked and paid for his own plane tickets, his clothes, and anything else that he wanted), but the doctors will not allow him to fly now. Because he hasn’t worked since last October, Charles’ bank account is nearly empty. We try to buy him everything that he wants, but we have the expenses of going to SA so often to see him, and we have to save for expenses later. All of this with Charles living in SA, and us living in Ft. Worth has been so difficult, but we are making it. We are happy to spend our last dollar on Charles.
Charles wanted to come home for Christmas, as usual, so we went and got him, and we made it fine. We had a wonderful old fashioned Christmas with lots of baking and cooking, like it was when we were kids. Then, Charles was still feeling pretty good at Easter, and he wanted to come home for the Easter bunny. I drove down on Thursday morning, picked Charles up, and drove back home. Charles was really tired when they got here. He ate a snack and took his medications and went to bed. The next day he was feeling better and talking about the Easter bunny, and the eggs, and the food. We had another wonderful holiday with Charles, and he got a big basket from the bunny filled with all kinds of snacks, candies, crackers, jerky, etc., and we had a huge ham for lunch and Charles ate and ate.
Jeannie took Charles back on Monday, and again he was so tired, but he was also feeling really weak. Sis and I decided that Charles couldn’t make any more long trips. Since October, we have gone down to SA every other weekend , or sometimes we go every week, and even twice in a week to see about him, or to see his doctors or the people that own Charles’ home. Charles’ hospice doctor recently said that Charles’ liver is completely covered in the cancer, and they do not know how he can still be going. They say it is a miracle, and I say that it is the power of prayer, and God is letting us keep his angel just a little longer.
You may ask why I am writing this about my brother. Well, that is because I need your help, and I wanted you to hear about a fantastic person. First, I need your prayers for Charles that he will never have to suffer any pain, and that when it is his time to go that he will slip away, quietly in his sleep. We did have to tell Charles that he has cancer, but that doesn’t mean anything to him. He knows that my sister lost her husband to cancer, but Charles doesn’t understand about death. We told him that one day he will go to sleep, and when he wakes up he will be with mom and dad, and my brother-in-law, but he didn’t ask any questions. Second, like all small children, Charles loves to get mail, and I am asking you to send Charles a card or a note. It doesn’t need to be any thing fancy, and if you put a dollar in the card he will be the happiest man on earth. He can’t count very high, but he knows a $1 bill, and he loves to have a dollar in his wallet, and he will go with a worker from the home to go drink coffee at Denny’s. He loves his coffee!
Charles is a cowboy. He lives for western movies, and Walker, Texas Ranger, but now he will watch Gibbs on NCIS too. He thinks the Dallas Cowboys are the greatest team in the world, and he doesn’t care if they win or loose, he just loves to watch them. He also wears boots and jeans, a western hat, and a belt with a nice big buckle. Some days he will wear his bolo tie and his sheriff’s badge.
Well, I know this is a long post, but I really wanted you to know about this wonderful man out there that cares deeply about people, and things in his life. He has never met a stranger, and he is a great friend, and he has taught us so many things about life. I just want to say that if you don’t have an extra dollar, that’s OK. He will be fine without it, but I hope you are able to send him a card or a note just to say hi or get well, and if you don’t have the time right now to send a card, then would you please just take a second and say a little prayer for the greatest brother in the world, and if you can’t do that, then God bless you. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and please tell your friends about Charles too, and thank you so much for the prayers, the cards, the money, or whatever you can do to help Charles have just another happy day.
Please email me at colormary@gmail.com and I will send you Charles address.
Thank you.

Some new art

Here are a couple of pieces of my more girly girl art. Well, maybe it is just more of the same. I have some work to show you from a friend's RR book that I will put on later. Tomorrow, I want to tell you about the angel in my life. His name is Charles, and he is my very special brother. I hope that all of you will tell everyone you know to come hear about Charles.

New header and art

I am working on a new header, and some new art that I made at a Play Day yesterday. Oh, what a fun day that was. Eating and playing all day, making art in all sorts of shapes and colors. I will post later today.

My "Untag" Tag Mingle

Well, I have never even heard of an "untag" tag mingle, but it sure was fun! I love shoes, not to wear but to collect! This one so much fun to do, and I know it looks complicated but it really wasn't. If you would like to make one, let me know and I will send you the pattern that I used. I love the bright colors. Not what you would expect for a shoe like this from ages ago!

Oh, Happy St. Patty's Day to everyone. I claim a little Irish in my heritage. I just got to get a green card made today! I'll do it latter, cause I have GOT to do some chores now. Have a great day everyone.

More new art

I have been working on a piece for an Easter Bonnet lottery. This is my piece above. The pink cross is on top of the lid of a tin giftcard can, and the bunny is on the inside of the lid, The woman in the big Easter Bonnet is in the bottom of the tin. I had so much fun doing this tin. I painted it with gesso, and sanded it some, and finished it up with some ink pads. I printed the woman on a piece of cotton and then I started on her really large hat. Gathered ribbons, old velvet flowers that I made from some scraps, and the premade roses. I added the trim, and the gold piece and it was done! I really love the look and feel of this project, and I hope you will too!

Hello Again

It has been quite awhile since I have updated my blog. First I had the flu, and then bronchitis. However, I am feeling better and better. I have been working for a few days on some swaps, lottery, mingles, and ATCs. The pennant above was for a East Pennant swap with one of my groups: An Affair With Art. I really like the way this piece came out. The colors are great for spring I think. Let me know what you think....maybe a little too bright? Nah!

Well I wanted the next photo to appear, but as you can see, it is above the pennant. I will have to investigate how to put it where I want it! Anyway, this piece was for an ATC swap. We all went to this site "Fairy Name Generator". Type in your real name and it will give you your fairy name. This swap was a lot of fun!

Well I will go for now, and I will try to work on some challenges again soon, because I really love doing them, and I loooove to see what everyone else is doing.

I've Been Tagged

From what I understand I have been "tagged" by Jeri Lynn over at Artful Gatherings. Here are the Rules: Post the rules on your blog, and then give your answers. List one fact about yourself for each letter in your middle name. Each fact must begin with a letter from your middle name. If you do not have a middle name, use your maiden name(or create a middle name).Once you are tagged, update your blog with your middle name and your answers. At the end of your post, tag one person for each letter of you middle name. Leave them a comment on their blog telling them that they have been tagged, and that they need to come read your blog for details.

My middle name is Lynn (after my mother)

L is for Love: I try to always show my family how much they mean to me, and my friends too. I am a touchy feely type of person, and I enjoy being hugged! I love my art, and all the people that I meet and talk to through my blog.

Y is for Yak: I love to yak with my friends online, in emails and on the phone.

N is for Nosey: I don't mean to be, but I love the details no matter what the subject!

N is for Nice: I try to show others respect and kindness, the same way I would like to be treated.

Okey! There you have it! I am going to tag Livia, Linda, Susan, and Lisa.

Also, I have added a new piece of art. I call it Red Wing. This piece is for the Red Lottery that one of my Yahoo groups is having. Also, the woman, and the ephemera for this collage were all free from Lisa Vollrath's Go Make Something. Thank you Lisa!

It's too late!!!

I am just worn out tonight. I have been grocery shopping for the next couple of weeks. Anyway, I wanted to get my header fixed today, but oh well maybe tomorrow. Have a good evening everyone.

More Valentines

I worked on these Valentines today, and I just thought I would keep them simple! I know, this may not be what you would call simple but for me it is! Not too frilly, but I still like them. As a mater of fact, the pink one is my favorite! Big surprise, right! I love pink! Well, I have started on a new header for my blog, so I am going to work on it now. I just can't stand another day of that plain burgandy header!

Simple Journeys: The Letter M and that spells DREAM!

Yea! It's M day, and my banner is complete. Here is a photo of the whole thing, but it isn't the best photo so I may redo it tomorrow. I love the way the whole thing looks, sort of girly, well really girly, and I love the colors and the glitter! I really want to thank Lisa at Simple Journeys for coming up with this really fun challenge. I enjoyed working on each letter and trying new ideas. I was just at Lisa's blog, and I read that she has agreed to do another one later in February. The next banner will spell out SPRING, and we will finish it up just before it really is! You don't have to do anything special to join in this challenge. Just leave a comment at Lisa's blog when you have your letter finished, and post a scan or photo on your own blog or on Flickr, or where ever you store your photos online. Well, I am still in Valentine mode, so I am going to try to finish a couple more, and then off to bed. I can't wait to see every one's letters tomorrow!

New Valentines for a swap

Hello again. I am swapping Valentines with some of my sisters at one of my Yahoo groups. Here are a couple that I just finished. I showed them to my son Rod, and he said "don't you think they are kind of gaudy?". Well, yes son they are, but you can get away with it when you are making Valentines! I hope you enjoy looking!

To be in Love....

What a wonderful sentiment, and what a wonderful time I had doing this piece! This black and white piece is for the latest challenge at Created by Hand. I have thought for a while now that I would like to do an altered book that is filled with nothing but black, white, and maybe one accent color. There is something that is so much easier about working with black and white. You can just focus on the images, the embellishments, etc. without having to worry about color and if they harmonize, or are they aesthetically pleasing together. So if you want to just have some fun and do something more spontaneously then I highly recommend that you try black and white. Also, you could use colors, any colors, and if you have a photo editing program, you can convert the colors to black and white, sepia, or antique. Remember, (I tend to forget this) to have fun. This piece doesn't have to be all, and get sent to the Louve!

Mixed Media Monday: House

Hello everyone. Thank you for coming by today. Here is my entry for the Mixed Media challenge. The theme is a house, which I really like. I am wanting to start a house AB soon. Once I sit down to do this challenge though, I got really confused. You know, so many possibilities, so little time! Anyway, I decided on the image of the woman first, and then I just built the house around her. Hey, that's sort of the way it is in real life too! I like that! I used the 5 for the house number, because I like 5s. What can I say....do you have a favorite number that you like to use or draw? Well, now you know my little secret. I make them with my finger when I am nervous too! Well, enough about that! And of course, I want a pretty red bird to make it's home where I live. I used background paper behind the house when I scanned the house in. It adds a lot of color to the scan. Well, I am working on some Valentines that I will scan in tomorrow, but bye for now.