Peace after the Storm

The calm after the storm......This is where we are, I don't know how long it will last but I am cherishing every moment of peace that we have.  My husband came home this weekend from receiving treatments in New Mexico. Now he is more energetic, more strong, and the color has come back to his cheeks.  We took advantage of his good health and spent the day walking along the beach.  It felt as if we had been released from a prison that cancer has created for us for the past couple of months. My heart needed this vacation. I can feel my hope returning and somberness disappearing.  I only pray that God will restore his health completely....... 

I used some older Basic Grey paper on this one. I rarely use shades of purple so I decided to give it a try here. I also used some "Prima" flowers and stamp from "Hero" arts.

I had fun with this one using up some "My Mind's Eye" embellishments and papers that I have had lying around my craft room for a while. Strawberries seemed like good inspiration to me since spring is right around the corner :)

I wish you all a fantastic week.  Remember to cherish your loved ones and give them an extra big hug. 

Love

Elizabeth

P.S.  I just saw the movie "My Sister's Keeper"  it does a pretty good job of portraying the emotions that families go through when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer. Note: May be difficult to watch if you know someone who has cancer.

This past week I experienced fear.  I woke up to the sound of my husband vomiting blood in the bathroom.  The doctors had forewarned me about this and the possibility of my husband bleeding to death from a massive blood vessel bursting. I felt faint and weak like the whole world was crashing down around me. I dialed 911 and could barely remember my name let alone my address. I was not thinking rationally; fear had gripped me. Was this the moment when it would all come to an end? Two years of a happy marriage to be cut short by an illness that we barely understand? Luckily it was not the end. It was only an ulcer and just a false alarm.  My husband was given a blood transfusion and was released from the hospital after only a few  days.  Tomorrow we fly back to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for more experimental treatments to help us fight this disease. We are taking IV alpha lipoic acid in hopes of regenerating my husband's liver and we are also trying Low Dose Naltrexone to try and eliminate the cancer. I can only pray that this will be the treatment that God uses to heal my husband.  We met a lot of people in New Mexico who have lived a long time with cancer solely using this treatment protocol. So I am hoping that we will be a success story as well :) 

With all of that having been said, I have a few cards to share with you today.....

I stamped a flower border along the bottom of the tag by using different shades of pink ink.  I also tried to use up some of my button stash on this one and of course I had to shabby this one up by using some lacy trim. 

I also used some martha stewart felt border strips along the bottom of the card to create a softer feel.

I fell in love with this adorable silhouette image of these two little girls with their kitty cat. I just had to use it on a card.  You can find this image for free at Graphics Fairy.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Elizabeth

Back to Work

I am writing this post tonight to the sound of the wind howling and gusting against the walls of the house.   Something about this blistery kind of day compelled me to come back to the computer and once again blog.  I apologize for neglecting this little piece of my life for a while.  As I mentioned months ago, I have  focused my attention primarily on the care taking of my husband as he battles liver cancer.  But I have missed the crafting world so much and checking up on the latest with my favorite crafty blogs out there. These past few month have been a great learning experience for me.  My heart has soared to the highest heights and has also sunk to the lowest of lows. But I have survived and my husband has also.  Each day is taken one step at a time.  I am also grateful to all of you who have blessed me with your kind words and encouragement.  It was never my intention to completely disappear from blogging land, but it was a much needed break for me.  I have spent countless weeks now sitting in my craft room attempting to create but feeling no real great desire to lift my scissors to paper. But that all changed last week, I finally got my inspiration back and have completed several new projects to share with all of you.  I just hope that this newfound inspiration will continue....

 

A belated Valentine's day project to share with all of you. I had so much fun using this stamp set originally a part of a Halloween line by "Girl's Paperie"

I used this cute stamp set by "Hero Arts" with the two little owls in love, that I purchased last year during "Two Peas in a Bucket's Stamp Sale" I just saw that they have a digital stamp version of this owl set that comes with a really cute birdcage for pretty inexpensive. (I wish I had seen the digital version before I made my purchase). You can find it HERE

Thank you so much for visiting my little blog today. 

Sincerely

Elizabeth