Upside Down

No, not my cards. While I don't know if they're so great, this is by far the most normal thing I did today.

The stamps I used for my cards are from a set, Blooming in Love, from Stampin' Up. I placed a Sale-A-Bration order and got this stamp set, an ink pad, a couple of spools of its great taffeta ribbon, some jumbo pewter eyelets, and of course, my free set, Birthday Whimsy. Blooming In Love includes a couple of sentiments, including "Happy Mother's Day" and " Hope your day is blooming with love," which will be appropriate for birthdays and other occasions as well. I love these fine-lined images, because I can color them! They're also cute and very "springy." While I watercolored the images for these cards with ink pad ink and my Dove blending pen, I really need to sharpen a few more of my Prismacolor pencils and practice the Gamsol technique. I didn't do anything out of the norm with these cards. What the photo doesn't show is that the sentiment on the top card and the watering can on the other one are mounted with foam mounting tape.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Chocolate, Crystal Blue, and Honey cardstock; Black, Chocolate, Crystal Blue, Olive, Petal, Garden Green, Brown Bag, Honey, Grey Wool, Grey Flannel, and Bamboo ink pads; Caprice paper packet; Stampin' Up Blooming with Love, Impression Obsession Sentiments I (top card) and Anytime Sentiments stamp sets; Stampin' Up Word Window punch; 13/16-inch and 1-inch circle punches; Brown mini brads; Chocolate grosgrain ribbon; and 3M foam mounting tape.

It's been a long day. We were up early to get ready for our trip to Grand Forks to see the cardiologist. The day went well. Neither of us had ever dealt with a specialist of any kind before, so that was all new. The doctor was preceded by two nurses and a nurse practitioner, all of whom asked what seemed like hundreds of questions. The cardiologist was pleasant, although I think he was a bit perplexed by the fact that Marv has never experienced the symptoms he was looking for. After the doctor was done, yet another person came in to schedule a echocardiogram, which was done this afternoon, and the angiogram that Marv will have Thursday. If his situation warrants it, angioplasty and stenting will be done at that time, and he will spend the night in the hospital. Regardless, it's going to be a very long day. The procedure isn't scheduled until 4 p.m., and he will have to remain flat on his back for several hours afterwards. While I don't suppose I will be able to get by with bringing a bunch of stamping materials with me, I will have to make certain I have some very engaging reading material along for the wait. I don't wait well nor I am I one to sit in one place for very long. I'm hoping that our youngest son is able to accompany us. If anyone can keep my spirits up and help me pass the time, it's Dustin.

While this is a very stressful time, I believe it will end up being a huge blessing. Had this not been caught, Marv's first "symptom" might have been a heart attack.

My posting might be a little sporadic this week. The little boys will be with us tomorrow night and Wednesday night - a good thing that will keep our minds off everything else. I'm also going to try to plan an Easter celebration for my family in the midst of this madness. Anyway, keep checking on me, as I'm relatively certain that I will periodically take refuge in my corner where the rest of the world has a way of going away . . . for a little while at least. Thanks for stopping!