Blue & Green

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7" x 7", paper, thread, beads and Swarovski crystals.
After I made this one, I realized how much it is shaped like a sunflower so my next one in this style will be yellows and browns, I think.

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Mother's Wedgewood

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7" x 7", paper, thread, ink, beads and Swarovski crystals.

A hundred years ago when Gretchen and I were wee lasses, we used to mock a commercial that said something about "Mother's Wedgewood". I have no idea what the commercial was for, possibly a dishwashing detergent? Anyway, the stamped portion of this mandala has gotten that phrase stuck in my brain for two days now, "Mother's Wedgewood". Technically, the ink color is Denim but I'm sticking with Wedgewood. It makes me smile at the memory.

Dad has been making me a bunch of square frames for these pieces. I can't wait to show you - they are really nice. Simple, poplar frames - I love them. I picked up a half dozen or so today, sanded some of them and spray painted one a medium-dark blue. This time I didn't use a primer, as an experiment. I'll see how it dries but I'm feeling that a primer is the way to go.

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Employee of the Year

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Red, White & Blue

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I placed this mandala in this frame to check the size but I think it might work color-wise. I have two other shades of blue to try, just to see. Made with paper, thread, ink, beads and paint.

I'm keenly aware that my next show is October 4, plus I need to take another batch out to Creative Presence. Rachel emailed me a couple of weeks ago that they've sold a bunch of my framed pieces - bring her more, she said! The thing is I'm working for MJ, my glass painting friend, at two shows in September, both 2-day shows so I'm also keenly aware that I'm losing two full weekends in September. I guess that's not totally true, I'm working for her 11:00-5:00 for the Clothesline Show at the Memorial Art Gallery (stop by and say hi!), maybe the other too - so those aren't exactly full days.

You know what bloggers always say - when you're doing something interesting enough to write about, you don't have time to write about it. Dullsville with nothing to say? All the time in the world to blather on.

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AquaBetta

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I don't want another betta right now. But if I did, I'd want one of these.

Over the years, Steve has given me two of those Peace Lily w/Betta things for my desk at work. Then we inherited Lizz's betta when she moved to Indiana and even when she moved back to this area, he somehow stayed with us. He died a couple of weeks ago. I'm ready to be fishless for a while.

More Ladybugs

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I made 50 ladybugs the other day so I've been busy making them into pins, adhesive note pads and cards. (Mostly) no two are like.


I've also been experimenting with various painted borders. I bought a few more of those teeny tiny bottles I use for my glue, to use with acrylic paint. It's pretty fun! Obviously some borders are more successful than others. I feel like I've only begun to scratch the surface on this painting thing.

Fox Kits

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This is exactly what I saw playing in our back yard this morning! I didn't take this photo - there was no way I could have gotten my camera ready and gotten close enough - but this is just what they looked like until they scampered away. I'm still smiling.

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Nick, my Marine nephew, is home for two weeks so we had one of our traditional Stahlman breakfast gatherings at The Log Cabin on Saturday. His fiance Jill is here for two weeks too, and Simon's friend Gershum went with us. It was also our August birthdays celebration. Paul turned 17 last week, Saturday Mom turned 74 and yesterday Nick turned 20. How these people got to be so old is beyond me.

Steve, Gershum and I rode with Simon in his hot sports car. I suggested it, strictly for comedic effect, mind you. Must have worked because Gretchen said something about a clown car, the way we unfolded ourselves out of the vehicle. Alrighty then - no need to do that again.

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Long-time readers will recall that for several years now Gretchen and I have given Mom the very birthday gift she has requested - a day trip with us. That's what we did Sunday - and had lots of fun. As Dad says, it's a triple whammy gift for Mom: the anticipation, the event and the afterglow. Us too, Mom.

As luck would have it, since I dawdled in telling the tale, Gretchen, the writer in the family, beat me to the punch. She tells it way better anyway. Go read about it here.

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Notes & Walking

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Here are two new adhesive notes I've been working on. I made a bunch of birthday cards this weekend for Mom and my nephews but didn't scan a one. They were all new designs and I'll be making more of them as I perfect specific techniques so I'll scan the new ones.

Reggi is doing very well. To be honest, we've hardly had the E collar on her at all. She's been very good about leaving her staples alone. If anything, she licks at the area occasionally, never tries to bite the staples. Steve isn't feeling well so he's staying home today, so that's a plus for Reggi too. Not that he'll do her massage therapy or physical therapy (I love saying that about my dog!) but at least he'll be here to keep an eye on her and her staples. It would have been the first day she's been left alone since the surgery and we were going to opt to leave the collar off even today while we were at work. Simon would be here part of the day, but he rarely comes up from his lair downstairs. Because we haven't made her wear the collar much, she's not used to it so she tends to sit like a statue whenever we do put it on her. FYI, the vet did say we could leave it off if she was sitting with us or whatever.

I took her for her first official post-surgery walk today. She supposed to walk 10 minutes or less 3 times a day this first week. She spends a good deal of time outside in the morning in the yard anyway, but we haven't officially walked her. She was eager to go on a walk which surprised me a little. She may not be so eager tonight, we'll see. She sat down a few times to rest. Sometimes she would be so happy to be walking she'd hop on 3 legs so she could go faster. But I kept her slowed down mostly and she was putting weight on the leg properly. She's sacked out with Steve now so I'm sure that short walk took it out of her. She couldn't even jump back in the car at the end, I had to boost her rear end up.

I had a wonderful, family-oriented weekend. I'll write about that tomorrow. Just wanted to whip out this quick entry before work and post those adhesive notes pictures. I'll have to rescan the sunflower I see it's a tad tilted.

Awwww

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My poor girl! 28 staples in her leg - yep, I counted them. She hates the collar but she's really glad to be home with us. She cried and ran to us (on 3 legs) when she was brought into the exam room. Still whimpers some, 3 hours later.

In the lower right of the photo is her bed that we've been taking room to room with us. She's settled down a couple of times but mostly she sits around like this. Wimpering softly.

It will get better each day. She'll get better at negotiating things with that collar. That's only until August 28, when the staples come out. (Only, she says unconvincingly.) We've taken the collar off a few times but she's not leaving the staples or the pain patch on her other leg alone very well. For now we have to ice the incision, which she actually tolerated rather well a while ago. (Frozen green beans were the vegetable dujour tonight.) In a few days we'll have to apply heat. We have to massage the big leg muscle and move her leg around for physical therapy.

I think that good sleep I had last night is going to be a thing of the past for a few days. Even before we knew about Reggi's surgery, Steve had tomorrow scheduled as a vacation day. I'm glad he'll be here with her. All of our doors leading outside have steps. The front only has a couple though so that's the door we'll take her out. Going down isn't the problem, of course, going up is. I just hope Steve remembers to set his male selective hearing to include Reggi tomorrow. (Oops, did I say that??)

Thanks y'all for indulging me during this time that I'm all about my girl.

Doin' Good

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Please don't tell Reggi but man, did I sleep good last night without a beagle intertwined around my legs! How do I know this? I didn't get up once to go to the bathroom. I think some of you know what I'm talkin' about! It's a rarity, for sure.

I done good dropping Reggi off at the vet's yesterday morning, then promptly got in the car, shed a few tears, then called Steve for a phone hug. Well, what would you do? I know, you wouldn't have turned around that last time to see Reggi giving you the sad eyes as she was being pulled out of the waiting room on their leash. That dog had the brakes on hard, sitting down, refusing to budge. I hurried out, almost knocking over a lady with her cat in a carrier. So I turned it into one of those - that I was rushing to hold the door open for her. I think she bought it.

The vet called me around 1:00 - surgery went well. She said in addition to the torn ACL, she found another torn muscle. I think. I'm a visual person so I'm sure Dr. Hines will show us the model again today so we'll understand what was done. Anyway, Dr. Campbell said the second thing was an abnormally located muscle, so between the ACL and that, there was bound to be damage at some point and will probably happen with the other knee some day. Without the surgery, arthritis could be a real problem down the road. She called the injury acute and said she was amazed at how well Reggi was getting around.

We pick Reggi up at 4:45 today. I was hoping for more like 2:00 then I could have the afternoon off but this is just as well - I've got lots to do at work, of course. When I say we pick up Reggi, I'm referring to the fact that Steve readily volunteered to go with me to pick her up. Funny, I don't remember anyone volunteering to take her yesterday morning. He had reminded me the other day that I "made" him take her to the vet's when we boarded her there years ago, the time that turned out to be so traumatic for her. Guess it was my turn. I didn't mind very much, really. Reggi is like our kid. There I said it. I would never pawn Simon off on someone else to take him to the doctor.

The weirdest thing happened when I got home from work yesterday. I swear I kept hearing Reggi scratching at the front door to come in. It was all very Edgar Allen Poe around here for a while.

Both cats greeted me at the door. I swear they looked at me, looked at each other and wondered aloud, "Where's the dog? Oh my gosh, she didn't bring that dog home! Where could she be!? Do you think she's gone forever? What happened to her??"

It was probably more like, "You're late! Where's my damn dinner??"

Thanks

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Let's say thanks.

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7" x 7", to be framed in blue.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament

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Reggi goes in for surgery next Wednesday - she tore her ACL!

She was so good at the vet today. She still acts pretty timid but not like she used to. They even had an emergency while we were there - a very distraught man called ahead that something was wrong with his dog. When he arrived he ran into the office asking someone to please help him because his dog was having seizures. One of the vets went out, very calmly, and the guy and his friend and the vet carried a golden retriever in to one of the back rooms, hammocked in a sheet. I couldn't see, hear or know anything, which was fine with me because I was afraid it was going to be bad and then I'd cry. Or the owners would cry which would make me cry. It was mostly invisible to us, which is just how I like my emergencies.

I love this place we go to, Walworth Animal Hospital. All the vets are great. We had the one male vet today and he's always so upbeat and friendly. He calls Reggi, "Kid". He probably calls all animals Kid but it's cute. He explained everything thoroughly, using a model of a dog's knee, pulled out a book to show us pictures. By us I mean Simon and me. We took two cars because Simon had to leave for work while I was still paying but he's very helpful to have along because he lifts Reggi up on the table (and in and out of the car, with her bum leg). He also takes her out to the car while I'm paying so I don't have to keep an eye on her (on the leash) with the other animals and pay and talk. I'm the queen of multi-tasking but not at the vet's. I also wanted Simon along this time in case there was stuff to remember that the vet said. I guess I was afraid I'd be distraught if there was bad news, but it wasn't really bad news, it was just news.

So this isn't uncommon, it can happen when they are just doing their normal dog thing. Beagles are not prone to it. They don't repair the torn ACL, they do this wiring thing with really strong fishing line type stuff that will serve the same purpose. The vet who will do the surgery has done three of these this week. Reggi will be fine.

She'll have to stay overnight which I'm not happy about, only because it makes her so sad. We boarded her at this place for 4 days once and she was so heartbroken while we were gone, she wouldn't eat. She cried a lot, even more so when we picked her up. It tore me, Steve and Simon up to learn that. She was a pitiful pup. Hopefully next week she'll be so doped up she won't care. It has to be done. She'll be fine.

So check this out. The vet told me it might be about $1000 for this surgery, maybe less. I didn't bat an eye and said, "Great, let's get it scheduled." He left the room to get his schedule book and other things Reggi was there for today. Simon said to me, "Mom! You're going to pay $1000 to get Reggi fixed?"

I said, "Yeah, why?"

Simon: "You freak at spending $10 at McDonald's."

Stefani: "This is Reggi."

Simon: "Where are you going to get the money? I can't believe you're not freaking out."

Stefani: "This is Reggi."

Simon: "$1000?"

Stefani: "There is some number that's not okay, but I can't imagine what that would be. This is Reggi."

It's not that he thought $1000 was a lot of money, he just couldn't believe my calm reaction because it's true, I'm usually quite freakish about spending money. But I've already given this subject a lot of thought since we've had Reggi and the two cats. We love these guys to pieces. There is some number and some quality of life issue ratio but I don't think I'll know that until I get to it. Hope I never do.

In fact, here's something I realized just a few weeks ago and it kind of creeped me out. It's not really a bad thing though, just kind of pathetic in theory. The reality is fine. Steve and I have been together for 13 years. We have no kids together. We don't parent each other's kid. We're almost empty nesters. You see this coming, don't you - or you've known it for a long time, haven't you? We love these pets together like they are our kids. I've always known we're both equally nauseatingly goofy about them, which is nice, the equal part. I just didn't realize why until recently.

So that's Reggi's story.

My story is - duh - it's my "hormonal" week. And I also realized this morning that I forgot to take my Effexor yesterday, something I think I've only done one other time. That explains my why I am not handling this stress well. I had a huge crying jag this morning.

I dreamed about my Marine nephew Nick coming home next week before he ships out overseas. That part is true - but in my dream, Simon and Paul go to the airport to pick up Nick - and when they walk into this restaurant where Gretchen and I are waiting, all three boys are young. Nick is 12, Simon is 10 and Paul is 9. You don't have to be Kreskin to see that what this is about. In reality Paul turned 17 on Wednesday, Simon will be 19 in November which in my mind keeps getting rounded up to 20 somehow - maybe because I'm 50 and it's another round number. And most importantly Nick is too young to fight in a real live war. Yeah. Everyone is.

I remembered all this in the shower this morning and burst into tears. I worry about Nick; I worry about Gretchen worrying about Nick. I'm sick of feeling sooo many feelings this week. But I know crying is good so I really pushed to get it all out. I sobbed. I did that I-need-a-hug-from-my-mom cry.

Just a short while later I make this discovery that I forgot the Effexor and my hormones are wacked out this week. Whew! That means I'll feel great again on Saturday, if history is any indicator. Because really, no point in getting all knotted up over something happening to Nick. He'll be fine. And stressed about work? Pulleeeease! It's just work - it don't mean squat in the big scheme of things.

So see? I'm pretty much better already. I told Steve I've always had a 3-day tolerance for anything negative - from a cold to a broken heart, whatever. By day 3 I'm bored with my own behavior and am ready to move on.

Next entry - I'm planning on getting back to craft talk. Paper! Now that's a real mood enhancer!

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Hrrmph

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I'm going to try very hard to stay awake long enough to write this entry. I know if I were to go to bed now, at 7:50, I'd wake up at 3:00 and not be able to get back to sleep. While I'd enjoy doing a lot of Pine Tree Designs work before going to work, it would make for way too long of a day tomorrow.

I'm so tired because I'm exhausted by stress. It started Tuesday. We had an ESOP meeting in our Buffalo office that I was very much looking forward to attending. A road trip! Visit friends in the Buffalo office! What a treat. I've mentioned before how much I enjoy serving on this committee of 9 representatives. I love sitting in a room with these other committed, passionate people who want to make our company better - financially and culturally. I always say I get to use a different part of my brain during these meetings and it feels good. This was to be our first meeting in our Buffalo office; we've always met in our Rochester office.

I rarely talk about my workplace in detail in this blog and I'm not about to start now. Let me just say the meeting was disastrous. We all left feeling so disheartened and exhausted and disillusioned.

The good news is the ride there (an hour each way) with 3 co-workers was the best part of the trip. We stopped at Bob Evans in Batavia for breakfast on the way there. We sort of thought we'd be taken out to lunch after the meeting but we weren't so we stopped at Papa Jack's in Victor, an ice cream stand, on the way back to our office. Ha! We showed them! Papa Jack's doesn't make their own ice cream or anything but they serve Perry's, so naturally I had Death by Chocolate. It both made me feel better and got me all jacked up on sugar and caffeine. As if I wasn't already jacked up enough by the meeting.

I went to bed at 8:45 last night, so spent was I. This morning I woke up with a crushing headache that went from my neck to my eyes. Steve and I have started walking Reggi every morning before work recently. We were only a few paces into our walk when I told Steve I needed a hug. We hugged and I felt that familiar lump in my throat, the kind you get before a good cry. But I didn't even tear up - and I felt the stress literally melt away, like a plug was pulled or something. I'd love to see what stress looks like in the human body, like with some heat seeking goggles or something. The dumb thing is I really didn't think the headache was stress-related - I thought maybe I slept funny or something. Big fat duh.

Boy, am I looking forward to my massage after work on Friday.

Today, besides the headache, I woke up depressed and lethargic. That got a little better as the work day went on. There is so much damn work to be done that today was one of those unfortunate days where I felt stumped as to where to start first. So stressed I couldn't prioritize, I guess. That's not good. As I've said before, it's not just me, all employees are feeling this. The company is having a great year financially and this is how that goes. Hopefully we'll be successful enough again that we can hire help but not yet. It's one of those good problems to have - but feels sucky day to day sometimes.

I wouldn't even mind it so much if I could leave the stress at work. But I really hate it when it spills over into my home time. It drains my energy and squashes my creativity - that really pisses me off! I'm having a relaxed evening though - Simon and Steve are both working so I had a nice dinner alone while watching a new show I've found on DIY, Uncommon Threads. I watched an episode about needlepoint and an episode about quilting tonight. That was nice.

Afterwards I watered the deck plants, then sat outside and read the paper. It's been lovely lately, in the 70s so it's nice to spend time outdoors again. Verona (in her cat carrier case) and Reggi sat outside with me.

Reggi became a bit lame on our walk this morning - she was walking so slowly, I called it our stroll. Simon told me she seemed worse during the day so I made an appointment to take her to the vet tomorrow afternoon. Poor thing. Something is going on with one of her back legs, sometimes she won't put weight on it at all, other times she hobbles. Mom and Dad stopped over this past Saturday and she was skittering around the driveway like a little puppy, she was so happy to see them. Steve and I think maybe she twisted it or something jumping out of the car this morning to go for our walk because she seemed fine before that.

Anyway, I'm beat. Off to bed to read. I made it to 8:30 - woohoo! (Have fun proofing this one, Mom, I'm too tired to think.)

Sorry for all the whining. Sometimes that's just the way it is. By the way, we passed our Connecticut sales tax audit today with flying colors. He just found one customer we should have charged sales tax that we didn't. No big whoop. He was nice, personable, friendly. The process was painless, a piece of cake. The New York State audit in September will be much more intense and much longer than 2 days, but then it will be done. It's like I tell Simon about certain things - it's a finite thing that will end sometime.

Goodnight.

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Turquoise Quilty Items

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Long time no see. Just coming up for air long enough to show you how the creative juices have been flowing. Taking Friday off as a Stefani Day was mahvelous. Simon and I went to BJ's first thing in the morning. I'm so glad to get that over with - we really stocked up. My Stefani Day treat was lunch from Cole & Parks for me and Simon. Otherwise, it was all paper crafting, all the time.

5" x 5", $22.00

8 x 10", $36.00

7" x 9", $36

3" x 3" Covered Post-It-Notes (refillable, of course), $3.50

Today I'm going to set up a frame refinishing station in the garage and get a bunch done so they are ready to for the next batch of paper art. I'm also going to JoAnn's because I see they have Ott lights for 50% off. I've been coveting one for ages for my craft table. Hope they have the one I want, though I'm not 100% sure which one that is yet.

Next up: Post-It-Note covers - sunflowers with suede centers.

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Erica Fortgens

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My new book arrived yesterday! The funny thing is the main book (origami) I wanted is backordered until the end of August. I only threw this book on the order at the last minute to get the free shipping. Yep, I spent $16.50 to save five bucks in shipping. I'm an accounting genius, aren't I?

I love this book! I have another of Erica Fortgens' books so I knew this would be spectacular.

I was poking around the Internet this morning, looking for images of Erica's work to show you and came upon Dandee Images, a site I had bookmarked and even purchased from but had forgotten about. I literally had to stop looking at the site this morning because my heart was racing. Even though I know there will always be new techniques to try, I still find myself amazed when I come across new techniques. How much more can there be to do with paper??

So now you know. If I ever faint or anything, just wave Dandee Images website under my nose for a quick revival.

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