Arch and head scarve storage

Good morning from a gray and rainy South of France. Hope you are all well!
I am still doing well and gaining strength every day. I have a fitness plan going on at the moment and am determined to get back into shape. I have just thirteen radio therapy sessions to go and will be finished before Christmas!

I am sharing an arch I made recently, just felt like working with a different shape and have heard that the weekly Gothic Arch challenges will be returning in 2012.

Now I am going to share a little idea I got recently with a basket I received with some lovely soup bowls in it last September for my birthday. It suddenly dawned on me that it would be ideal to store my head scarves in and it is so handy!

And this little blessing I have to share with you. The lady who drives me to the clinique everyday for the radio therapy bought this for me. It clips onto my head scarve and adds a little color and interest. So sweet of her.

I want to finish with a little encouragement about Biblical HOPE and how important it is. I read it the other day and it so blessed me. We need love because without it the Bible says we have nothing, we need faith because the Bible says that it pleases God but what about hope?
This is what I read:
Quote:
Hope is necessary if we are to maintain both faith and love. Unless we have hope, our faith will "leak out" and our love will fail. Hope is not optional; it is essential to the fullness of the Christian life. Where there is hope, there's life and where there is no hope there is no life.Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Wishing you all a week full of hope!
Jacqueline

Paper piecing

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who visits my blog and leaves such a lovely comment! I have been so encouraged by them and I have to tell you - it really helps and lifts me up no end - I am very grateful to you all!

I love paper piecing and had the idea to make a tag with poinsettias using a leaf stamp from Hero Arts. In real life it is much darker and the flowers are red, I couldn't get a better photo though and pink poinsettias do exist!
So here is my tag:

I used dark distressing for the background and layered with a Script and Holly stamp.

I am happy to say that I am half way with my radio therapy sessions (had 17 already) and it's still looking good. I am feeling well and able to carry on with household chores etc. I am very grateful that I still have energy and praise God for the wonderful progress.

Enjoy your week!

Resist Embossed

Good afternoon! Today is a beautiful sunny day, after having rainy weather.
The radio therapy is going very well. Only last Monday after I was installed, the machine blocked and I had to wait ten minutes before a technician had fixed it - and I wasn't allowed to move a muscle either! I am also still having drainage massage for my right arm, which apparently is very important during the radio therapy especially to stop little pockets of fluid from forming which can harden and later can be very difficult to get rid of. My hair and eyelashes are growing too - I think my hair is about 1 cm now and it is black! Will have to wait and see how that will look in a couple of months time!

I wanted to share a little resist-embossed card today. I used the acrylic block technique after I had clear embossed the flower and leaves (Stampin' Up). I got this color by combining Aged Mahogany with Victorian Velvet distress inks.

The other day I was listening to Joyce Meyer and she was saying how she didn't know how to enjoy herself as she had always worked. Her husband enjoyed playing golf, watching the ball games etc. and she thought that by going on holiday she would find something she liked. She came to the conclusion that is was just the simple things that really relaxed her - like looking at God's creation, even if it was just a little bird in her garden. Enjoying pretty things and colors etc. I thought to myself, I have always enjoyed the simple little things, going on holiday often exhausts me, and just this week I found out that mushrooms grow in my garden - yes edible ones!! They are the wild sort of the Champignons de Paris that can be found in the shops and generally the wild ones have more taste too (and they are BIO!). I was so thrilled! When I come home from radio therapy, the first thing I do is go look if there are any new mushrooms in the garden, they are so nice in an omelet!
I took a picture of my little harvest the other day and funnily enough, this is what I enjoy!

Less is More - One Layer Card - Leaves

I liked this theme, but I'm sure I did not use enough white space on this card. I used masking as it has to be a one layer card.

It's for the challenge 'Less is More' which can be found here.

Have a lovely weekend!

A couple of Christmas grids

Once I start playing with alcohol inks I like experimenting. I love the effect these give using different stamps, and now I tried a couple of Christmas stamps which haven't inspired me yet, on their own, but using punched up like this, at least I get to use the stamp!

This one I entered into the Hero Arts Monthly contest, with the theme of bling. The alcohol ink colors are Lettuce and Caramel.

Using Cranberry and Ginger alcohol inks and the 'Decorative Ornament' CG226 from Hero Arts embossed in silver and white. This card is about 10x10cm - looks big, but it is really quite small, just how I like them.

Update and a share

We have rainy, gray weather at the moment, it is so much colder, but I like this time of the year somehow. Being cozy indoors with candles makes for a lovely atmosphere, so the dark days do hold some pleasures!

I seem to be in a grid mood again, I'm not so inspired any other way and just fed up with Christmas cards.
These are all Hero Arts stamps which were on unused projects.

Just to give a little update. I have had eight sessions of Radio therapy and all is well, apart from a little tiredness and small aches and pains! Friday I had my first lymph drainage massage from a physiotherapist and I have to say - it helped me tremendously.  I will explain what it is because it is so interesting. In fact I am very lucky to have had no real trouble with a build up of Edema in my right arm. The Physiotherapist said that I did have a little and she could help me with it.

Lymph-edema is swelling caused by a build up of lymph fluid in those tissues after breast cancer surgery, especially surgery that removes underarm (axillary) lymph nodes. (Edema is the medical term for swelling.)
A special massage technique called manuel lymphatic drainage can stop lymph-edema from developing.
Lymph fluid normally drains from body tissues through the lymph nodes and lymph channels. If some lymph nodes and channels are removed during surgery, lymph fluid may not drain properly and can collect in the tissues.
During physiotherapy, a specially trained therapist gently massages the skin and soft tissues of the arm where lymph-edema has developed and focuses on increasing the transmission capacity of the lymphatic system. By using certain handling, lymph deposits can be moved to the fluid areas of the body where the lymphatic system is still intact so that from there it can be deposited into the circulation and can be drained.
That has helped me so much as I can move my arm more easily and it feels normal again!

Have a great week and thanks for your visit!

A little tag

Just sharing a quick simple tag I made with a freebie from Mary Green. If you are interested the link is here.

The Hydrangea stamp is an all time favorite from Hero Arts.


And a little poem I wrote, there might be just one person who might get blessed by it.

Are you afraid to disappoint God?

To just come a bit too short of His Glory

Be still, and know that Christ didn't disappoint God

And You have been placed by God in Him.

Christ was 'enough' for God, He paid the full price

for your 'never measuring up '

Never think you could disappoint Him

When He has chosen to delight in you!
Unquote

Then I have a glue book page to share, but I have found out that a glue book means just paper and ink, which this is not of course, so I will have to think of a new name!

Have a lovely day. Here it is a National holiday as it is All Saints day, which is a Catholic festivity.