Life and a Birthday!

 Hello everyone.  I thought I would catch up a little bit on this post and let you all know why, other then trying to keep up with my DT commitments, I have been MIA.

But first let me share the card I made for my boy ... or should I say man!?  My son turned 26 yesterday.  It's hard to believe that 26 years have gone by since I held that sweet baby in my arms for the first time.  And he really was a sweet, calm and contented baby.  He was the kind of baby that would encourage people to keep having babies.  Ha! But I knew better! His sister was already 5 years old at the time, and she was everything that would make you think twice about having another baby 😀  She was as sweet and loving as she was naughty and mischievous with an abundance of energy that kept me on my toes ALL the time!!!

Brian has grown up here in the US and has had the same small group of friends since Kindergarten.  They all enjoy a night of D & D once a week.  With this in mind, and knowing how much my son enjoys this game, I made him this card.

I used a die called Slimline Snow Globe from Scrappy Tails. The dangling images were saved from Google, and then print and cut using the Silhouette. I printed the images on glossy photo paper as I always feel that the colours are a lot more vibrant than printing on cardstock.  Problem with this is when taking pics, the glare is almost always present.  I either need a fancy camera or photography lessons, or both! The papers I used were black heavy weight cardstock from Recollections and Galaxy Dreams from Hunkydory.  Brian thought his card was cool, so mission accomplished 😀

Now as to why I've been MIA. Back in January we decided to do some remodeling on one of  our upstairs bathrooms.  No big deal ... just remove the tub and turn it into a walk in shower. Once this was done, our home was due for a facelift in the form of painting.  We got quotes, picked one and they started at the beginning of February, the idea being that they would work on the bathroom first and once that was all done, they would then start on the painting. It was all going well until I had two streams of water falling through the ceiling in the kitchen, which is right under that bathroom.  From then onwards, it's just been crazy! They fixed everything they needed to fix and did a really good job.  They replaced large patches of my ceiling and by the time it was all said and done, you can't even see it.  The problem has been the delay in getting the painting done and that we've had all our furniture and belongings clumped together at the center of each room. I have not been able to get to my craft room that often, and when I do, I have to use what is most at hand because I can't get to a lot of my supplies.

They are now done, and it is going to be a slow process putting everything back.  Mostly because this gives me the chance to do a really thorough Spring cleaning.  I want to clean and dust everything before it gets put back in place.  There are pieces of furniture that I just can't move because of their weight and so the dust bunnies have been having a ball back there.   Well, they were all vacuumed when the furniture was first moved but now I want to do a second vacuum, mop and dust, then put the furniture back in place and then start on the insides - my show cabinets where I have my collections need a good dusting, especially where I have all my fairies and my dolls from around the world.  The fairies are especially dainty and need to be dusted with a small stream of compressed air.  Anything else I use may get caught on a wing, etc. and break.  I will show you a pic once it's all done.  You all know by now how I enjoy my position in the Fairy Stamper team, but as it turns out, I loved Fairies way before I joined the team.  I've been collecting them for a number of years now.  I also love collecting dolls from around the world, especially from all the places I've been.  My other collections are snow globes, snowmen and Santas. And let's not forget souvenir fridge magnets and teaspoons :-) Huh! Next time I get asked for my occupation, I'll put down Collector 😁😁😁

Oh yes, and in the middle of all this, I came down with a good old fashioned flu.  Not Covid, thank God, but it still hung around for a little over 2 weeks.  The energy levels are very poor at the moment and with the normal aches and pains, this is definitely going to be a slow process, but I will get it done! 😀

Okay, so if you're still reading this, thank you for sharing a bit of your day, or evening, with me.  As soon as I can, I will be back visiting you all.  Until then, stay safe and well.

And here is Mickey with his Irish Blessing for y'all ...

May joy and peace surround you, contentment latch your door,

and happiness be with you now, and bless you ever more!