What I've been doing Lately

I've been not doing a whole lot!

But I am finally set up to head out to Phoenix at the end of Feb for a 4 day certifcation class with Virginia Commonwealth University. Even though I finished up with Cornell University, VCU is the only agency which has a contract with SSA and since I will be paid by agencies which are reimbursed by SSA for my benefits counseling services, I must get this certification.

After the training, I will be going to get checked out at Mayo Clinic. Hopefully they can figure out why I am having dizziness and can get me back on track. Mentally, I am more than ready to get back on my bike but the body isn't in agreement yet. Come on, already!

I am working bit by bit on my Art journal, it's just stuff for me. I really would like to get some black gesso and white stamping ink - it's a cool look. And I would really like to get some Derwent Coloursoft Pencils from Dick Blick, which has the cheapest price for a set of 72 pencils. I asked for dontations on FB but no one has contributed, haha...darn!

I could get black gesso and the pencils and it would probably be about $100 with shipping - if anyone wants to contribute to the hobby that is keeping me sane...I'm just sayin..:)

I am not a ribbon, flowers and lace type girl - blame it on being the youngest kid and only girl born in my family in 5 generations, - one would think that would cause me to be raised as a girly girl but no, I played hockey, not barbies. Anyhoo, I like the look of the flowery, lacy albums that I see posted online and think that I would like to set out of normal zone and give it a go. But I don't have lace, ribbons, flowers, girly stuff. And I can't buy any right now if I'm ever going to get some Derwent pencils. So I found a SVG cut and tutoral by Penny Duncan and made one of her roses.

I used GP white cardstock and colored it with my Touch markers: 45 Canaria yellow and 35 Lemon yellow for the rose, 59 Pale Green and 175 Lime Green for the leaves. This cardstock is really too heavy, it was hard to roll, too stiff. I used my hot glue gun, which I haven't used in ages and it's really nice to have it adhere and dry right away. I touched it up with some Pearl Ex, which I've never used before. Gave it a nice shimmer. I'm overall happy with it but need a lighter weight paper, then I will make more.

Maybe I will even make a PINK one and glue it to some LACE! Wow, that would really be stepping outside my box! Well, sort of, one of my bicycles is pink, so I guess a pink rose isn't too much of a stretch but the lace certianly is - and I would have to buy some lace..hmm.

Art Journal

I made myself an art journal last night, using my new Cinch to bind it. I also was in a winged heart mood so I whipped out a bunch of different colored hearts.

It was interesting trying to ink the black heart to show dimention, I'm happy with how it turned out and the blue (colored with Twin Touch alcohol marker and embossed with gold, then covered with UTEE) and gold wings are my favorite. My husband thinks a black heart is weird but it's just a color, don't read any weird, dark meaning into it :) The black sets of the wings better than any other color.

The front cover of the journal is covered with glittered paper which is Mod Podged to cereal box chipboard. It is much prettier in person.

I put different size and types of papers in for different mediums (markers, pencils, Inktense, ect.) and 3 envelopes in the back for treasures.

It is still pretty bare on the cover but I plan on embellishing or collaging on the inside and outside of both the front and back covers. I will also be working more on my winged heart page.

Lots of fun!

Flying Hearts

I've always loved the winged heart image. I used to doodle this all over my notebooks when I was in Jr. High and High School.

So I have made a couple winged hearts. I have used silver embossing ink and extra thick clear embossing powder on the wings of one of the hearts, which I then cracked. The breaks in the wings just make it feel right to me, since this last year has been one of the hardest of my life but I'm still flying :). This one I am keeping and have put in the journal that I have made.

I used Cool Grey 0.5 ShinHan Touch marker to detail the feathers in the wings of the second heart and then covered them with Diamond Glaze and sprinkled some clear, iridescent glitter on them. It's very pretty but the details don't show up in the pictures well.

Both hearts are shaded by sponging on Aged Mahogany Distress inks and an unlabeled light pink chalk ink and highlighted with more Diamond Glaze.

I'm happy with how they turned out, they are very dimensional...and they just make me feel happy!

Card for Granddaugher

Here is a card I just finished making for my grand daughter who will be 3 soon :)

I like brighter colors so keeping it pastel was a good change for me.

It is colored with ShinHan Touch markers, which blend beautifully - just as good as Copics! I am very happy with them.

Hair:

107 Sand

96 Mahogany

101 Yellow Ochre

134 Raw Silk

Skin:

26 Pastel Peach

133 Baby Skin Pink

109 Pearl White

Jumper - has an antique or ivory base under the blue, giving it an antiqued aged look:

144 Pale Baby Blue

109 Pearl White

185 Pale Blue Light

134 Raw Silk

Balloon:

44 Fresh Green

141 Buttercup Yellow

37 Pastel Yellow

35 Lemon Yellow

Cut on Cricut with Penny Duncan SVG's and emblished with Stickles and ribbon.

I think it turned out pretty cute! But not as cute as my granddauther :)

BCG Sketch - Haha!

Artistic Interpretation Quick Sketch of Son with BCG's
(ShinHan Twin Touch markers on Bienfang
marker paper)

BCG's blacked out

My son is in boot camp at Ft. Knox. Everyone had their eyes tested and everyone who needs glasses had their personal glasses taken away and military glasses issued. My son sent me a photo of himself with his new glasses on.

..........I thought it was a joke until he sent a picture of the order for his glasses.................

They call them BCG's - short for "Birth Control Glasses" and that is a fitting name for them.

My son won't let me post the picture he sent because he is looking most uncool in his BCG's so I made a quick sketch of him last night - so I'm posting that. I've been laughing about those glasses for the last day.

So here it is, a quick sketch using ShinHan Twin Touch markers on Bienfang marker paper, which is really thin and I'm not so crazy about it because I'm used to bristol board. My son is blonde/blue eyed - I don't have the right skintone colors so my drawing makes me laugh also :)

And yes, the glasses give him a googly-eyed look - I'm still laughing!!!!!!!

Busy, busy, busy!

It's been very busy the last week or so. I spent a few days in Anchorage with my son before he headed off to boot camp. Always emotional when kids grow up and leave the state. But he will do great and this is a good step for is future.

I got home and was trying to have a relaxing day when my daughter called from Hawaii to tell me about a dangerous felon who escaped from the pretrial a few miles away and to lock my doors...I hadn't heard anything about it. But I wasn't too worried.

My husband came home for lunch as ususal, then back to work. An hour or so later I get a call from him saying "don't worry but I got hurt at work and busted up my hand and they caught the escaped felon and he is in the bed next to me covered with lacerations and they are trying to stitch him up and there are cops all over the place!".......hmm...way to change the topic away from HIM!

I get us back on topic and he says he will be released soon so don't come to the hospital, he's going back to work. He came hope early because his hand is broking. He is right handed and he has a very physical job and he is an ARTIST. He was told to follow up with the ortho dr. I called them the next morning and they were talking about surgery..huh? No one mentioned that to me. A detail my husband left out.

So we get into the dr and his hand is very broken, surgery is required. Bones in the palm of his had broken in 3 places and pushed down towards the wrist, too far apart from each other to even heal up, and they as all very sharp spikey twisting breaks. 4 hr surgery - yes, 4 hours, no including prep and recovery. They found some additional breaks in there which didn't show on the xrays. Plates in his had and pins in his finger.

But he is pretty tough and he will heal up fine.

I was sent some wonderful marker papers from some ladies on Split Coast Stampers. These papers are expensive and I can't find them here in Alaska and wanted to try some samples before laying out the cash on the paper and postage as well, postage just might be as much or more than the papers...one disadvantage of living in Alaska.

I am going to see how my ShinHan Twin Touch markers do on these speciality papers compared to what I have been using - I love playing with my markers! ShinHan also has some really interesting acrylic paints I would love to get my hands on called PASS. They can be used like watercolor as well as acrylic. But I can't find any here in America. :(

I also ordered some Derwent Inktense pencils yesterday and am really exited to get them. They look like a ton of fun and very vibrant instead of a wash like watercolors. I love color!

Well, enough for now, gotta go play with markers and papers :)

Homemade Diary for my Shinhan Twin Touch Markers

I made a mini diary album for to keep a record for all my "marker mixes" - which colors to use for hair, skin, jeans, boots, trees, etc. I generally use 3 or more colors when blending. It is just easier to keep a record instead of figuring it out every time - although that does create some pretty neat discoveries.

The photos loaded backwards, from open to the front cover! I haven't decorated the cover yet but it is a cute, sturdy little book. I used glossy Collage Pauge and it is a strong seal and hold up very well.

Happy New Year! May 2011 be the best EVER!

Love my Shinhan Twin Touch Markers

I have been doodling a bit with my Twin Touch alcohol markers. They are great, colors are transparent so they can be blended together. Colors are vibrant and they are much more reasonably priced than Copics but on the same quality level, in my opinion.

Black hair seems to be the most difficult so I have been practicing and I am happy with how this girl turned out. I love the vibrant colors so I made a calendar with the verse Eze 34:26.

Random Creations

Cool Studio 3 Color Cubbie give away @ Wee Memories

Great giveway http://suchins.blogspot.com/. I could really use this to control my marker madness mess! :)

Couple more cards

This card is much prettier in person. The mountain is hand cut, the trees are cut on the Cricut. I used my Shinhan Twin Touch markers, a Copic marker and an old Design alcohol marker (very smelly - ick) to color the trees, mountain, shadow the snow and also the starry background paper was the wrong color, a middy light blue. Did work well so I colored it with a Touch marker and now it's just right! I love my Shinhan Touch markers, no odor, affordable, beautiful colors, high quality and very blendable. I used pop up adhesives so this card is dimensional and the sparkly snow is white glittered embossing.

This is Pioneer Peak, the mountain behind my house. Love it :)

This easel card is colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with Gamsol. The headband and flowers are glittered with Stickles and the girl is an Anya from The Greeting Farm

Had a huge windstorm...2 days of banging, crashing, howling winds. Blew all the snow away! I am making cards as my creative outlet.

I got my field project into Cornell University and am waiting for the instructors response, then a week to make any corrections or to prove my position. Then I am officially certified through Cornell University for SSI/SSDI Benefits Analysis and Work Incentive Planning! But..

It's not the end. I will have to go out of state to attend Virginia Commonwealth University's 4 day training with 1 year follow up. This will allow me to get paid directly from SSA for doing the SSI/SSDI benefit analysis. With Cornell, the client will have to pay out of their pocket or find another agency to pay for my services, which aren't cheap.

I will have to go to Phoenix. Please pray that my body strengthens so I can make the trip easily. :)

It's almost Christmas! Yay!

Been Busy!

I've been doing pretty good :0

I started taking online classes from Cornell University (yes, THAT CORNELL). It has been great to be busy again and have a goal to go for. I have just one more webinar class then I have my final and move to the field project part of the course. Once I get done with that, I will have my certification from Cornell :) Then I can get going in my new career (CWIC).
I may have to take a short 4 day training through Virginia Commonweath University but that will just be a formality. VCU has the contract with Soc Sec Admin so if I get a cert from them then SSA will pay my fee to do benefit analysis for SSA recipients.

Weather has been warm here, especially for October. It is getting dark though.

I hope everyone is doing well :) Life is coming back! I expect to be back on the bike fairly soon, but on the trainer since winter is approaching

:)

Hmm..Where has the Summer Gone To?

I'm still around, better than I was last time I posted but not yet where I want to be. 2 neurologist say they don't think the dizziness is from MS. I've had my eyes checked, every blood test out there, seen eye doctor, physical therapy, ear doctor, had ultrasounds on my heart and carotid arteries and they all show I am super healthy!! Which is great...but I still have dizziness and feel like passing out sometimes.

Right now I'm on a 30 day heart monitor to see if my heart has an abnormal rhythm. I'd be suprised if this is the cause but sometimes the monitor starts doing this beeping thing. I don't know why, I've never felt what I would consider abnormal heartbeats.

If this doesn't turn up anything, then my dr. wants me to go out of state to a university hospital like Mayo clinic or something. I'm wondering if it is my ear, I have artifical stapes bones in my ears and wonder if one has moved out of place or something.

So there it all is.

I have a great opportunity for a new job though, since I'm no longer working for Public Assistance. I would contract with the state and make about $70 per hour. :) And be my own boss! Oh yeah!

Summers are short in Alaska and we haven't had much fun this year because of what is going on with me, my dad was seriously ill and my husband is working 10 hour days, 6 days a week.

We are seriously lacking in the fun department!

Prayer

Been fighting an MS attack, haven't worked in awhile. Pray for full healing and recovery!

Update

It's been a very nice summer, weather-wise. One of the best in years. Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling good for awhile. Really started impacting my life.

So I finally went to the doctor. Yep, finally. I was just hoping I would start feeling better but didn't.

I am having surgery on 9/11 and hopefully will be feeling MUCH better after I recover. Thumbs up and pray for the best! I really, really HATE being put under and how it feels waking up. I'm not looking forward to that. I will be out of work for around 4 weeks, which is a bummer because I've been missing a lot of work due to feeling bad so I don't have any leave time left. Leave without pay. But that's just how it goes sometimes.

My son graduated from the Military Youth Academy last week!!! He's enlisted in the Air Force and we are just waiting to find out which job he will get and when he will leave for basic. His top choices are Aerospace maintenance (part of the onboard flight crew), Aerospace propultion (he wants the fighter jets) and even put down security forces (MP?). I was told that if he puts down security forces, he will get security forces because not many recruits want that job. I hope he gets the aerospace jobs.

Here's a picture of him from his Drill and Ceremony competition. He looks pretty tough!

I'm very proud of him!

My Kid is Joining the Air Force

His lowest score on the ASVAB or whatever was a 75, his highest was a 98. He started out wanting to do special ops - intellegence, spy, behind enemy lines, freaky stuff. But he's now leaning towards something in the mechanical field, which is what he scored 98 in, they were talking to him about working on spy satellites. Keeping with the spy realm.

He's a super smart kid who's finally realizing just how smart he is. He's stepped up his game and has taking all advanced classes in school, which he never wanted to do before because he didn't want to work that hard - yeah, drove me nuts.

Now he's deciding what his future career will be.

Time to cut the apron strings!

I'm going to miss him. :(

New Friend - Michael Fatali

After hiking around Zion, we visited a gallery and met an awesome photographer, Michael Fatali and his wife.

We got to chatting and invited him and his wife to come up to Alaska and we will take them out to our cabin where he can photograph the northern lights or whatever catches his eye.

None of his photos are enhanced in any way, not with filters or darkroom/lab manipulations. What you see is how it was a the moment. Which means he may have to wait a long time, exposed to the elements, before getting the perfect shot.

Take a moment to check out his work, you won't be diappointed!

http://www.fatali.com/

Flat Tire, Fat Tire and Vacation

I have been riding to work regularly, it's been nice. The weather has been better this May than it was the entire last summer! I hope it sticks around.

I got a flat tire on my ride to work. It was not the best way to start the day. I ended up totally ruining the tube, because I rode on the flat for a distance. I went to the bike shop to get a new tube and asked the Bike guy to have it installed by the end of the day, because I had to get back to work and didn't have time to do it myself and it takes him a fraction of the time it takes me to change road tires. So I walked back to the shop after work and the tire was still there, flat as a pancake. Bike guy was busy so I ended up doing it myself anyway. It's that crazy time of year for the Bike guy so I can't blame him, I was just hoping...

We recently picked up some sea kayaks!! :) I also finally got a 4 wheeler, now I don't have to be the passenger anymore! But we will continue to be careful not damaging trails.

We went on vacation for the last 2 weeks, a few days in Vegas (smells like sewer and cigerettes - yuck - too loud, hot and crowded), Utah (Zion and Bryce - loved it!) around the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and back to Vegas. We were supposed to go canyoneering in the slots and hike the Narrows but because of unusually rain the risk of flash floods cancelled our plans. That was really disappointing. A few photos from Zion. Loved it! I think I could live in Utah. Drank lots of Fat Tire and the local brews, that was fun to try the different brews.