Friday, December 28, 2018

End of a very long year.....

Hi All,
Today I have a different post for you all.....As you may have noticed I've been absent from my blog since the beginning of 2018 well it's because of my back it was getting so bad that I just couldn't do very much. I finally found a orthopedic surgeon who fixed broken prior fusion surgeries and was told that to fix all the issues that my back had I would  need to have a T-10 to pelvis spinal fusion surgery. That surgery was done the end of April and then I spent 2 very long weeks in rehab, for the first 5 days my body was trying to reject the rods and screws so  I felt awful and just wanted to die. After that it was all about building my strength and getting off those necessary but nasty pain medications.  I had 3 months when I was in a collar bone to pelvis hard shell brace which made doing much almost impossible. This was to be followed by 3 more months of being very very careful. In October my surgeon released me to do "whatever" I thought I wanted to do....well for me this included a 6 day trip to Orlando to attend the 30th Stampin' UP! Onstage Celebration. On the day of my departure for Orlando I felt a "pop" when I lifted my 30+ pound suitcase meaning that I had done some damage to my fusion. Pretty silly really considering there are 2 titanium rods and about 12 pairs of screws anchoring each the rods in place. Never the less as I was in a lot of pain I went for special x-rays as soon as soon as I returned home only to be told it was not the rods or anchor screws but that I'd a pulled a large muscle on my right side which is still hurting and healing. The doctor's assistant also informed me that taking a trip like I did so soon after a fusion like mine was really aggressive. I wish the doctor had told me "no" prior to the trip instead of "you can do whatever you want now"....I would not have gone...oh well live and learn. I'll be seeing him in a few weeks and I will be telling him he needs to tell some of his aggressive people "no" when we ask about travel within 12 month of the surgery so that others don't do what I did....Anyway the rest of the year I've been working on my classes and all the preparations needed to teach those 3 classes every month so that was all I could handle but as the closer the year comes to an end the stronger I get so I'm going to try to get a new post up on this blog two times each week.  Thank you to all my followers for your patience and prayers for my recovery. 

I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy 2019.  I'll be back soon with the 2019 Occasions catalog and Sale-A-Bration brochure that starts on January 3rd. So come back soon for that. Until then Happy Stampin'!!!



Monday, January 8, 2018

Sale-A-Bration has begun.......




Hi All
Wow I can't believe that the Holidays have come and gone without even one blog post....sigh. So Happy New Year right.  I could blame my lack of blog posts on tons of stuff but honestly I just plain hurt. I was trying to figure out what I could do to help make my the chronic pain I live with daily better.  So I visited 2 different surgeons who have both said that I have Degenerative Scoliosis with Arthritis oh boy & yippee!!!! They both agree I need surgery but the last one I saw on the Wednesday before Christmas let me know that I should probably think seriously about having a 3rd back surgery that would fuse my back from T-10 to pelvis if I want to help the chronic pain issue and to stabilize my spine. Of course as with all the other doctors I've seen this past year he wanted more x-rays, another MRI, a bone density test plus another injection into my spine all before he'll see me again to discuss this extensive surgery & my recovery.

In the mean time and because you are here to see cards & Stampin' Up products not hear about my back surgery, I've been trying to get a few things made from the new 2018 Occasions catalog and also Sale-A-Bration so here are a couple of ideas. In the next few days I hope to have a few more for you.  The first is my favorite suite from the Occasions catalog called Painted with Love and there are several products that go with this suite but my favorite is the paper it has gold foil embellishments in it on one side and a retro Melon Mambo and Calypso Coral with touches of Powder Pink and Rich Razzleberry on the other. I fell in love with this suite as soon as I saw it as it brings back memories from my childhood when my mom decorated my room in hot pink and orange. It was a groovy room for sure.


This next one was one of my first picks from the Sale-A-Bration catalog its called Heartfelt Blooms and Stampin' Up has a patent pending on this type of stamp it's called "Disinktive." When using this stamp it lays down the ink at different opacities giving the finished image more depth & giving you a photographic finish. This card was done using Berry Burst and Basic Black inks. For the sentiment I used the Vertical Greetings stamp set from the annual catalog. Because the Heartfelt Bloom stamp gives such a detailed image I chose not to add any embellishments to this simple thank you card. 



Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web. Take care and until next time Happy Stamping!!!