Some Crafting and a Little Health Update

Hey everyone!  I just have to say, I have the BEST bloggy friends ever!  If any of you ever wanted to be a cheerleader, then I proclaim you have reached that goal.  I am so very humbled and grateful for the outpouring of love & prayers you've bestowed on me and The Man.  Because I get so many sweet emails asking for updates, I thought I'd give you a little progress report before sharing my crafty projects.  I am doing very well and feel quite good.  I only had one really bad night and the next day, but nothing I couldn't handle.  There has been no nausea, thank goodness, but extreme exhaustion.  There is a big learning curve to this whole "chemo-infused" body-thing.  I think the most difficult thing for me to learn is to listen to my body.  As women, mothers, grandmothers, we are used to pushing through fatigue because there are others who need us.  It's a hard lesson to learn when you are having chemo, but you have to become a bit selfish.....you simply must take care of yourself first or you will be of no use to anyone else.  I cannot imagine going through this if I had young children at home, so bless your heart if you are in that situation.  Ask for help!  Chemo-fatigue is not like any other I've ever experienced.  Your body just won't let you push through it; it simply stops you.....you can heed the subtle warning signs or you might just find yourself flat out on the floor.  No, that hasn't happened, but I came pretty close yesterday at the gym.  I know the importance of getting exercise to combat the fatigue, so I decided to go with The Man to see how I would do.  I pushed myself through an extra ten minutes on the treadmill and barely made it off & to a chair on my own power.  Now I know what that feels like and won't do that again!  I also realize that chemo-fatigue messes with my brain and would impair my ability to drive......DON'T DRIVE OR OPERATE HEAVY EQUIPMENT!  So does this mean I won't go back to the gym?  NO!  I will trust my body to signal when it has had enough.  Just a side note, I think I've mentioned before how peanut butter has become my BFF (best favorite food).  Well, that seems to apply to most any food that contains my BFF......I reached "Nutter-Butter Nirvana" when The Man brought that wicked little cookie into our home a few days ago!  I am already hooked, but save yourselves and stay away from this evil little morsel!

Okay, if you are still with me, I'd love to share a couple of small crafting projects I did last month.

The things I created are right here on these two bookshelves in my sitting room.

These orbs are kind of trendy right now, but can be expensive unless you make them yourselves.

Can you see what they are made from?

Yep, those are embroidery hoops!  Super easy to make, & they are all over Pinterest.  I'm already thinking how I will use them in my Fall decor!

The tutorial I used is HERE.  

I used two different sizes of hoops that I already had, stained them with some dark wax (already had) & touched here and there with some Antique Gold Rub'nBuff (already had).  This project cost me nothing except a bit of time, and we all love FREE, right?  Wouldn't some of the very small hoops make adorable Christmas tree ornies?  Yes, my mind is racing!

I found two of these mixed media type easels at Michael's back in July on sale -- this one and one slightly smaller.  One was $5 and the other $7.

I really like the antique-look stands.

This is the smaller one and is the one you saw next to one of the orbs on the bookshelves.  I've been wanting to do some mixed-media for awhile and had so much fun putting this together.

I have a lot of framed photos scattered all over our home, and decided to bring some of those  together into this little display piece.  With mixed-media, you have to open your mind to pulling lots of different elements together -- textures, ephemera & maybe even the kitchen sink!  You really cannot mess up!

I wanted this book to be mainly about The Man and I and our grandchildren, but I also included a photo or two of our kiddos since they are the reason we have the Grands!

I didn't put the pages in any kind of order & pulled most of the page decorations from my scrap paper drawer.

Some photos are in page protectors, but I added in quite a few additional photos as well.  Some of my Project Life 4x6 cards were the perfect backdrop for some smaller photos.

Most of the paper I used came from a Recollections scrapbook paper pad called Vintage Country.  The pad has actual burlap pages (I used that for my front cover) & paper that looked like burlap (as in the page above).  This paper pad would be fun to have for lots of crafty projects, not just scrapbooking.

I'm so pleased with both of these projects and see them being a mainstay of my decor for quite awhile.  They may or may not move from this location.....just sayin'!

Thank you so much for stopping by.   I always love hearing from you!

FYI:  I did much better at the gym this morning! 

I often party with these lovely bloggers:

Monday

Julie at Julie's Lifestyle for Cooking & Crafting With J & J

Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Mondays

Tuesday

Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday

Wednesday

Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday

Thursday

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Friday

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday