9-21 Friday Challenge

I have not been able to get on my blog so this is a day late. "Embossing" was this week's challenge. This could be with embossing powder, dry embossing with templates or any other kind of technique for an embossed image. Stamped image is by Inky Antics, embossed image is Cuttlebug.

Don't forget to click on the members on the left to see what the other gals did for this challenge.

Thank you

for all the comments and e-mails I rec'd with notes of encouragement after grandma died. I've been in a funk, but gotta get moving, because I have a crop I host twice a year and the fall one is next weekend! I'm not ready for the classes I'm going to teach and need to get busy.
I have so many wonderful memories of grandma. With the exception of 15 months when I lived in Michigan (and they came to see me), I have never lived more than 30 miles from her and grandpa. (which is now, but growing up it was around 15 miles)
I wrote a tribute and read it at the funeral (ok, cried thru most, but can't believe I actually was able to do it!). Growing up we would get to stay 1-2 weeks at grandpa and grandma's farm and she taught me so much-sewing, knitting, crocheting, cooking, baking, and whatever the current popular craft was at the time. When I graduated from high school, we took ceramic classes together on Thursday nites. We painted sooooo many figurines! We even took a Hummel© ceramic class. I gave all of mine as gifts and wish I had at least ONE to show for all the painting we did! Ü
Here is the tribute that I wrote. After reading it, it seemed sooooo short! But to tell everything about grandma would be to still be there reading.
As some of us worked on the memory board for grandma and later here at the funeral home, we talked of our memories of her and here is just a very few we wanted to share…

When we decorated the funeral home, we wanted it in such a way so that when you all walked in here it clearly said GRANDMA! The pictures indicate the love grandma had for each of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, the afghans you see are the ones she made for each grandchild and great grandchild. She also made each of us a quilt. Grandma loved to keep her hands busy and loved crafting of all kinds. I remember going to grandma’s farm every summer and being taught to sew, knit, crochet, cook, bake, and crafts of all kinds. I’m sure that Nancy and Susan were taught the same things as well.

Even though grandma taught me most of what I know, I was able to teach her rubberstamping. Karen, Grandma & I would get together once a month to make cards and papercraft gifts. When they could, Susan, Nancy, Alissa, mom and Cathy would join us. Many of us and others have been blessed to receive a handmade card from grandma. She had a chest of drawers FULL of cards she had made.

The “B” word-BORED was NEVER allowed! That was one of the worse words you could ever let grandma hear you say. When we stayed with her, she always had activities for us (and the great grandchildren too) to do. She made even chores seem like fun. If she ever heard you say “bored”, she would say “only a boring person is bored” and then would tell you that there is “ALWAYS something to do and you should never be bored”.

We remember taking turns staying with grandma and grandpa in the summer and going to Omaha in their truck when they sold cattle. It was the highlight of our summer as we got to stay in a motel, ride the elevator and escalator at the mall. Grandma would pack a sack full of goodies and every town we went through, she would give us something from the sack-a piece of candy, a little toy to play with or a picture to color.

After grandpa and grandma moved to the nursing home, she still would never be “bored”. She crocheted blankets for dad and Karen, made doll blankets for the great grand daughters and started making baby hats to be given to the babies born in the hospital. A couple of weeks ago when I visited her, she was so excited because she got to see a hat on a baby and a nurse took a picture of the baby with one of grandma’s hats. She loved getting visitors and told me recently how blessed they were because so many of us lived close by and could visit often. She felt bad for those in the nursing home who had no one to visit them.

Grandma and grandpa’s eyes would lighten up especially when the great grandkids would visit. Grandma would always ask about them, what they were doing, how they were doing in school and sports and even got to see some of them perform or play.

Grandma loved jelly beans and I don’t think there was ever a time that there wasn’t a jar or candy dish no matter where they lived that there wasn’t jelly beans that she would share with us, except….Jelly Bellys! Grandma loved those and would hoard them and those she didn’t share. I bought grandma 8 bags of them for her birthday. She took a pair of scissors and snipped the corner just enough so they would come out one at a time and offered me one. And I do mean ONE. She then shook 5 or six in her hand and slipped the bag behind her. I did learn that she did share a couple with Trevor when he went to visit, because they were “just his size” and learned just today that she shared several with Nancy because “no one would know”.

As we talked about Monday, we all agreed that it was a miracle from God. Monday was grandpa and grandma’s 69th wedding anniversary. Most of us were able to come and celebrate the evening with them. The first thing grandma said to me was that she got to put a hat on a baby. She was so excited and her face was beaming. Many times when we visit them, grandpa doesn’t know us or even grandma and when he talks we can rarely understand his mumblings. But that night, not only did he recognize some of us, acknowledge that he knew it was their anniversary, but he talked clearly. He even joked and laughed with us. As I was feeding grandpa cake and ice cream, I mentioned to grandma that grandpa was doing really well. She said “yes, I am so thankful that he is like this today”. Then grandpa asked me when he was going to get another bite as I was holding the spoon full of ice cream and talking to grandma and not paying attention to him. If you all know grandpa you know how much he likes his ice cream!

So on Monday, most of us have a wonderful memory of grandma laughing and having a good time with her loved ones and grandma received a wonderful time with the man she loved for over 69 years.

As we were looking through Grandma’s things for something to share at the funeral, we found her Bible and a diary. Another memory I have is grandma always writing something in her diary every night. She might just write what the temp was, what they did, or who visited. She always wrote, “I did this, Cline did this, or we did this”. But the last entry was Monday night and it was written completely different. It was as though she knew it was her last entry, because it was written to us the family…

“Sept 10, 2007
Saturday, September 10th sixty nine years ago your dad & mom, grandpa & grandma, great grandpa & grandma were married in a trailer home of a minister in Taylor, Nebr. A Church of God minister married us. I had a navy dress trimmed in lace and grandpa had a charcoal suit. When we got to Taylor and to the court house to get our marriage license we couldn’t get a marriage license because I was just 17. I had to be 18 by law so I was 5 months short. We had to drive back to Gates and have my parents Carl & Antonia Squier sign a paper that they consented to our marriage so by 2:00 after having a lunch with Kenneth & Alice Lemon we were married and headed back to Sargent. We stopped in Sargent to get some candy bars in case we were shivered and no candy bars to give out. Then we went to Allen Millsap’s to do their chores for them. They went to Minnesota for Irma to see Dr. Ford about a health problem she had. So we stayed at their place to do chores. We fixed our supper at their place and stayed at their place several days till they got back, then moved into Ford Place that Merlin’s moved out of.
Sunday it rained most of the day. We and the Millsap family all went to my parent’s place East of Gates for dinner. We (Cline & I) went back to Allen’s place to do chores and stay over night.
Monday after chores we helped Merlin and Fern, Jimmy & Dona Kay move to a place they bought in Somerford. We had a bed dresser (chest) set and a kerosene stove but didn’t like it so Sears took it back and we got wood. Cline’s dad gave us a big Aladdin lamp and my parents gave us a set of dishes."

This picture was taken Monday nite when we celebrated g'ma and g'pa's anniversary. I love you grandma and will miss you so much!

very sad...

Yesterday I took Benjamin to meet the bus at my brother's and as I was leaving my brother waved me down and said the hospital had called dad to say gr'ma was unresponsive (gr'ma was in a nursing home connected to the hospital). I told him to call Bruce and let him know I was going on to the hospital. By the time I got there, gr'ma had already passed away. They are saying it was a massive stroke.
I was in town most of the day and will be gone today for Benjamin's meet and then tomorrow, cousins are going to get together to make a memory board. Funeral is Saturday. I won't be on line for a few days.
I have wonderful wonderful memories of gr'ma and will share some of them with you all later.

WANTED

inside says: "to wish you a happy birthday"

Help! I am scaring myself here!!!!!! Anyone who knows me knows I am soooooo NOT a western person! I do NOT like country music and have never liked any thing western and now I am ordering western stamps, western paper from Cosmo Cricket and SU! and loving the western look. *gasp* I think it may be because it's also shabby chic looking which I do LOVE! Anyway here's my cowboy! Ü Had to add a little sewing to give an even more distressed look. I stamped him in basic grey ink (for a softer look with watercoloring) Not fond of the turquoise jeans (thought I was grabbing not quite navy). In my defense I am blaming Beate and Debbie Olson Ü for the sudden interest in *western* stamped art! Ü (be sure to ck their blogs for some AWESOME cards with a western flair).

Supply list:
stamps: Inky Antics
paper/cs, brads, watercolor crayons, inkpad: SU!
watercolor paper: unknown
other: sewing machine

Friday Blog Challenge #11

challenge: use the layout on page 12 of the Holiday Mini (star card)

This challenge was much easier for me. I needed a thank you card to get in the mail today and had this idea in my head. It pretty much came out like I was thinking.

supply list:

Stamp set: True Friend by SU! I stamped the "thank u" and then with a q-tip took the ink off of the brackets

papers by SU!, Karen Foster, Basic Grey and newsprint paper unknown-came in a paper pack I got once and had never used

ink & jute: SU!

metal stars had prongs on them: unknown

large star: cut with Cricut using George cartridge @ 3.5". I cut 3 of scrap cardstock and one of the Basic Grey to immulate chipboard.