MIA Lately

If you have had back pain and troubles then you know how all consuming is the pain. Back while going through my breast cancer treatments I also ended up with a herniated disk somehow. That was in 2005 and I have lived the past 5 years with several flare-ups. The disk will push on nerves and send shooting pains down my leg all the way down to my foot. In the past, I have been able to reverse this through physical therapy.

For probably the past 4 months I have been dealing with another flare-up. This time it got so bad that there were times that I couldn't even walk or stand up for periods of time. I went back into physical therapy, but this time nothing seemed to work and I was beginning to have nerve damage in my foot. The next time I saw my doctor he told me I needed surgery. Not another surgery! After having an MRI and a second opinion I went in for a diskectomy. As soon as I woke from surgery I was able to walk and had no pain in my leg!! I didn't want to stop walking because it was amazing to finally be pain free after so many months.

So, now that I have recovered from surgery and feel great ~~ I'm back!

Jalapeno Ranch Dip or Dressing

This is a huge crowd pleaser! I make a double batch every time we have company and there is never any left ~~

1 1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup chopped tomatillo

1/3 cup jalapeno (canned, not fresh) & a little bit of the juice

1/6 bunch of cilantro

1 pack Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

** Mix in blender until smooth. The longer it sits, the hotter it gets. Enjoy!

Funky Lips Bag

I really enjoy being creative and making things to sell. Of course I'm even happier when I sell something! I feel like each item I create has a little piece of my heart since I spent my time and energy making it. I always love when I sell some of my supplies though. I think of somebody in their house with their creative juices flowing and I wonder what will become of that supply. Whether it is fabric, findings, or some other supply, I imagine it going on an adventure to another home and then being used in someone else's creative masterpiece. I love for my customers to send pictures of what they have made with a supply I've sent. Here is a bag made out of the funky lips fabric I have for sale that was made by Anita Distel for a speech pathologist friend that has a room covered in lips! How wonderful!

Cat, Welcome to the Dog House

I can use some helpful advice. I had what I called my 1/2 cat. Our next-door neighbor owned a mostly outdoor cat, but wasn't home very often to feed and give the poor little guy any attention. Ken and I stepped into the role of giving Miles, the cat, attention and making sure he was fed. The neighbor moved away and we agreed to keep the cat that has settled in nicely to his outdoor surroundings. We love the cat and he has become part of our family.

Now, on to the dilemma ~ a very spoiled dog has run our house for the past 6 years. We would like the cat to be able to come inside without our dog eating Miles. I have been online and have read some ideas, but I would like to hear some success stories from actual people. Please leave me a comment or send me an email. I'd like our furbabies to get along!

I'm Having Another Giveaway!

I'm having another giveaway! One of these days I'll actually sell something instead of giving it all away :) You have a chance to win this matching set of magnets and eyeglass holder ~~



My friend Fantasy Dream Knits has done a great feature about me on her blog, which you can read here. Simply post a comment and that enters you into the giveaway! So easy even a Caveman could do it! Make sure you also check out the beautiful items on Fantasy Dream Knits site. She has a huge heart and spends all her time promoting others instead of her own business. Let's show her some love!

Nice Cans!

Well, it was a tough choice, but the bra has been named. It is now officially titled "Nice Cans!" The winning comment for adding the exclamation point came from mandylifeboats. I think the punctuation adds some Oomph and strength to the title. Thank you to all those that added a comment and thought about the name. Like I said, it was a tough choice and all the suggestions were good ones. Congrats mandylifeboats!

Name That Bra!

Okay, so here is my Graphic IV art bra for this year. I need help with a name or title for it though. I love people to get a little chuckle out of the name so the bra for my first year was named "Under the C cup" with an ocean theme and last year's bra was titled "Silicone Valley" which was made out of computer components. This bra has been made out of pieces from La Croix water cans. I was first thinking of "Water Bra" but then I thought of "Nice Cans". So, I would like to hear from you. Do you have an idea for a better name? If not, which of my two do you like best? Please leave me a comment with any suggestions. If I use your name you'll receive 20% in my AftFire studio. If I don't use anyone's name then I'll do a random drawing from the people that commented and they will receive 15% off from my ArtFire studio. Put your thinking caps on and here is the art bra ~~

Graphic IV Event is May 22nd

Once again it is Graphic time of year! This is Graphic IV, held May 22nd, and the event is the biggest fundraiser we have for our young breast cancer survivors group, the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls. The event is an evening of art, music, food, silent and live auctions, and the real highlight of the of the night is the runway show of survivors modeling art bras! I've been working on my art bra lately, as well as my modeling figure :), and I'm pretty excited about the results so far! This year's event is going to be the best so far with a new venue, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, and some art bras from some very famous people that I'll reveal after the event or at least once we have them in hand.

My art bra is made up of discs of tin and here is a picture of how my start went and yes that is the tube of Super Glue glued to my fingers as well as the discs ~~




Let's just say that they are serious with the warning labels on the back of the Super Glue tube! I'm almost done with my bra so I'll post pictures then and I might even have a contest to name the bra! Stay tuned . . .

Delivering Cards

When I first heard about Cards 4 Cancer sponsored by Spirit Jump, I wasn't sure if I would have the time and energy to become a Team Leader. I was afraid though that if I didn't represent Austin that nobody else would so I signed up for the position. I can't put into words how happy I am that I made that decision. As team leader I have the privilege of actually delivering the cards to cancer patients. I am in awe at the generosity and outpouring of volunteers that made cards and the sentiments written in those cards. My team is amazing and truly understands the goal of these cards in uplifting the patients.

My friend, also a cancer survivor, and I went on our first delivery on Friday. We were there for about an hour, but what an amazing hour. I was scared that as I approached someone in the waiting room that I would get the standard wave off and "I'm not interested". That never happened and all I got were big smiles and then I witnessed a couple tears after they opened and read the cards. I felt such warmth in my heart. I met Jennifer who was responsible for allowing us to deliver at this center and she expressed the gratitude of the patients and responses that we weren't able to witness as they went in for radiation treatment.

I am writing this just before going off for our second round of deliveries. Today we are going to the center where I was treated and will be able to visit with the patients going through chemotherapy. This has memories flooding back to me, but knowing that I am going in there to spread encouragement and smiles reminds me of the positive message we are there to spread.

More on our deliveries later! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!