Altered Music Canvas

Have not been here lately as I haven't had much to say, but for the last two nights I have busy stressing away making this altered canvas project. It is for Challenge #4 of the Summer of Scraplovin' Challenge series at scraplove.com. I have wanted to make an altered canvas for a long time...not stressful. I LOVED putting the paint on the canvas...not stressful. But from there on out...stressful!! I think I like how it turned out, although that is not how it looked in my mind. Now that it is done...not stressful. Thanks for looking!

Sweet Card

Over at the Stamp Something blog, this week's challenge was to stamp something sweet. So, I wanted to give a gift to thank someone, and this is what I came up with. The center is actually raised, but that's hard to tell by the photo. Thank you again for the challenge - gotta love them!!

3 for 3 Challenge/Secret Sister Card

Here's a card I did for my secret sister (hope she doesn't read this blog!). We were supposed to mail our gift before our next monthly crop meeting, which is THIS Saturday. I've been so busy, and didn't get it done in time to mail. So here is my card. I also tried to make it fit the 3 for 3 Challenge at the Scrap Something blog - 3 colors (black, white & green), 3 layers, and 3 embellishments (ric rac, staples, & eyelets). Secret Sister: if you see this, I will try better next month!!

The Look

I wanted to post one of my latest layouts...this is what we are going through at home!!! But we love her dearly!!

Candy Bar anyone?

This was so fun to make - I had the idea brewing all week long, and then I finally had a chance to make it last night. I realized recently that I have 41 Stampin Up sets, and that I really need to use them more. So, I found a couple of really good stamping blogs & challenge sites. One of them is the Stamp Something blog, where this week they challenged you to stamp something red, white & blue and for it to be anything BUT a card. Here is my take on it - a candy bar wrapper. I am going to give it to my husband tomorrow on July 4th. Hope he likes it!

Allergy Testing-Part #4

This post will be about my reactions afterwards...my thoughts, my feelings. When the allergy testing was all over, and we were leaving the building, I definitely had mixed emotions. I really knew that all I wanted to do was cry, but couldn't because of Madison. Only one gentle tear escaped before I got it under control, and Madison was none the wiser. First & foremost, I was happy that the testing was over, and I felt that we had been held in God's hands throughout the process. It was good to have a medical opinion about the food allergy in writing, and that what we had been doing to prevent a reaction were the right things. But, I was also sad. I felt a sense of guilt that I had done this to my child, or that I had passed it on, or that I could have prevented it, or even more crazy things that a parent thinks when their child is diagnosed with anything. I know it's not true, but it was what I was feeling. Then, a heavy sense of burden, wondering if I, as a Mom, could handle the severity of having a child with a nut allergy. I also felt helpless in the times that my child is not with me - that is so out of my control. So, it was with mixed emotions that I continued through the day. Today, as I have processed through some of that emotion, I do feel better about the sad things. Not so blown out of proportion, I guess. I feel empowered (I already emailed both of our senators about food allergy legislation!!) I feel a little more capable, and I feel a sense of completion of something that has been a long time coming.

Allergy Testing-Part #3

To continue, the nurses take out the test vials from the refrigerator. They are already pre-dabbed. Madison puts her arms out, underside up, on top of a pillow, which is on top of a mobile desk that can be adjusted to proper height. They take the **8** 8-pronged vials and one by one dab them on her arms. Dab is probably not a good word, more like gently push the "caterpillars" on her arms so that they only break the 1st layer of her skin. It caused no pain to Madison. Some of the dots were darker than others (the darkest was mushroom, no problems there!) All of Madison's vials were foods - none of the grasses, molds, etc. Then of the 64 dots, one dot is left off, and a positive reactor placed there separately. This will show what a positive reaction should look like, as well as indicate that the test is working. They do the first 32 her right arm, and then the other 32 on her left arm. Within 30 seconds, Madison starts saying that her left arm is hurting. They have warned her that a positive reaction might feel like a mosquito bite. Pretty soon, all but one of the nut "caterpillar" dabs are reacting. The area is turning red, stinging, and all we can do is blow on it to make it cooler. The entire test is 15 minutes, and before 4 minutes hit, the nurse is wiping off the peanut dab, and adding a benedryl-type cream to take away the sting. Madison cries just a little as the rest of the nut dabs react, and strangely enough...one other dab reacted...the orange. (Madison eats a lot of mandarin oranges from the can, but not so many fresh ones, and she has never had a reaction that I know of. However, this would explain the V8 smoothie problem.) They clean off the nut area right before the full 15 minutes are over, and then the rest of the dabs when the test is done. They measure the positive reaction area for size, and then measure the other food reactions to compare them. (There is also a small reaction to lima beans - darn the luck - a medical reason NOT to eat lima beans!) Once all this was done, the doctor came back to check the chart and discuss food allergies. There was so much info given to list here, and all my questions were answered, but I so thankful that God worked it out the way He did. In the course of conversation, I mentioned that we went to Crossroads Christian Church, and the doctor said she did too. And in fact, she is the one that helped get our daycare and nursery staff educated and trained about food allergies. Again, I can see where God is protecting us!