NOW, HERE'S THE VERSE...

I found it a few weeks back but just haven't taken the time to post. Then, this afternoon on Hank Hanagraf (sp?) a woman called in asking about the new heaven and new earth, and another right after that asking about pets in heaven. Hank gave the same proof that I gave in my previous post about how the new heaven and earth are the heaven and earth as it was created in the beginning, perfect and without sin, and WITH ANIMALS! Hank didn't take a stand for or against whether our petted pets will be in heaven, he did say that several respected Bible greats, such as C.S. Lewis thought that they would be. Anyway, for the verses that describe the animals in the new earth, when Christ reigns over it are in Isaiah 10:6-9 (NIV):

"The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
They will neither harm or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. "

In Romans 8:18-23 (NIV), Paul talks about how the earth itself groans and waits for it's new birth with the return of Christ:

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. "

If God created all of these things the first time, perfect and good and without sin, why would they not be a part of the new heaven and earth? We don't know those answers now and can only go by the hints the Bible gives us, as we can not fathom what heaven is—John describes it as best he can in terms we can understand, but as the Bible says, who can know the mind of God? Here is what John says in Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV):

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things have passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." "

So one thing we do know, we will again walk with God in the cool of the Garden! Amen, come Lord Jesus!

WHY I THINK THERE WILL BE CATS IN HEAVEN

Now there's a topic! You would be surprised how many people either agree or disagree with this theory, but here goes my theory about why I think there will be cats in heaven (and please notice I did not say my specific pets will be there, I hope so, but I have nothing Biblical to support that wish).

So, I'll start out by quoting Genesis 1: 24-31. A long passage, but it all goes together to make the point I am shooting for.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds; livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

First off, notice that in verse 29 that God gives "everything that has breath of life in it" green plant for food. So this means ALL the animals, INCLUDING man and woman, were initially vegetarians, they ate only green plants, fruits, etc. Not that I am advocating vegetarianism, but I want to point this out as some people use the argument that there won't be animals in heaven because they eat meat. They only started eating meat, AFTER the fall of man and when sin entered the world and the world was no longer perfect as God created it.

So then, let me point out that animals were created in God's perfect world, the world where in verse 31 "God saw all that he had made, and it was VERY (my emphasis) good." So animals were very good. They were not carnivorous. In Genesis 2:19 God brought all the animals to Adam to see what he would name them. No man eating lions there.

So this is why I think there will be animals in heaven. If God created them for his perfect world the first time, why would they not be a part of heaven? If man is going to be in heaven, and we are a fallen race that had to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, why can we not expect to see animals there? The Bible says after the end times Lion will lay down with the Lamb in heaven. Whether this is a literal reference or figurative, I'll go for literal as I feel that the Bible is to be taken literally whenever possible. I think it clearly denotes when it starts referring to something figuratively. I'll endeavor to look up the specific reference for the Lion and the Lamb. I guess if I were to postulate, I would say that when Jesus returns and begins his millennial reign here on the new earth, I think the new earth will be what God originally intended this earth to be. Animals, plants and all. My opinion on this, I don't have any specific verse to support this. If it happens that way, great, if not, whatever God has in mind is fine with me!

So, I hope I have a kitty in heaven to give me as much joy and comfort as the ones God has blessed me with here. Of course then, I won't be focused on that I am sure. But I still think there will be animals!

NOW THAT WE'RE PERSONAL AGAIN

Now that all the craft stuff is over at conquestkeepsakes.blogspot.com, I guess I need to think of something else to talk about, get personal again. You know I work on a hanky rating system. Just thought I would warn you.
In life you have so many choices, it's mind-boggling. I'm watching my oldest nephew go through college and I can't help but think of all the things he has ahead of him, all the choices, some right, some wrong, some neither. There are some choices that take you in different directions and me, as a controller type, I want to know where that is before I go. Sad to say, we don't get that privilege. Only God knows that. So how do you know what to do? I'm in my mid-40's and I'm still trying to figure that out, because I'm still having to make those same blasted choices! Do I do this or that? What does God want me to do, what does the hubby want, what do I want? My problem is, I don't really know the answer to any of those questions right now. Do I even have to choose at this juncture? I would like to have an email from God. The burning bush thing might bring out the fire department, and the handwriting on the wall didn't have the best message when it was said and done. A dream would be OK. Most of those worked out well.
I know I have Lupus for a reason, but it sure seems to want to poke it's head out at the wrong times. Or is it the right times? See what I mean? I'm a firm believer in all things happen for a reason and that God really, truly does have a plan. If I had a copy of it, I must have lost it somewhere in one of my super-secret hiding places. I have lots of those. Some day I am going to hit the jackpot and find all those things! Not sure why I would hide the plan though...
So, I guess the best we can do is to pray, and then step out in faith. If it's the wrong path, God will shut the door and open a new one. I sometimes have problems with that. I really like some doors that God wants to close. I'm pretty stubborn and I bet you He knows that about me. So, He has to break out the big stuff every once in a while to get my attention. You know, the bright light on the road to Damascus stuff. Here's hoping I'm paying better attention because the Casa De Cox was not on my list of vacation destinations last summer. Nice people but the accommodations were a bit sparse. Drugs were good, food, BAD.
Letting go is hard. Change is hard. Getting use to a disability is hard. Losing friends is really hard, but making new ones is an indescribable joy! Especially this late in life. You need all the friends you can get. Hopefully with some of the same ailments you have so there is plenty of inappropriate, "too much information" chatter over the speakerphone.
I want to do all the things I used to do as I think I would be more useful to the Lord, but maybe He thinks I am just as useful this way. I don't always feel very useful, but it's not about a feeling, it's about a doing. Someone told me once, "You don't feel yourself into doing, you do yourself into feeling." He's opening a door and sometimes I am too dense to see that the door is meant for me to take. Or, I don't want to take it, because I don't know what is on the other side. Now there's another personality trait I bet you He knows I have. He's got a big boot, too.
I LIKE knowing things. The unknown scares the liver out of me (didn't need that organ anyway—Lupus will eventually want it, so might as well get rid of it on my schedule and not his). Since I was never coordinated enough to be good at sports, or gifted enough to be good at music or arts, I didn't have the looks, so pretty much all that's left is smarts. So smarts it was, or is, sorta. I'm finally getting tired of the "smart" thing. I'm ready to be dumb. My drugs are making me dumb. Half the time I can't tell you what I had for lunch yesterday, if I even ate lunch. Very questionable. So, even if I'm not as smart as I once was, I still love to learn new things. God knows that about me too. He also knows that regardless of whether I am smart or dumb, coordinated or uncoordinated, beautiful or homely, stubborn or malleable, He made me this way from the beginning and He knew what I would be and what it would take to keep me looking up to Him. And if I haven't said it, thank you Lord for Godly parents and grandparents. I saw a quote from T. L. Cuyler, "Never despair of a child. The one you were the most for at the mercy seat may fill your heart with the sweetest joys." I know my Mom spent a lot of time at the mercy seat over me. I know God heard her prayers, but I don't know if I bring her the sweetest joys now, but I hope so.
Anyway, I know He knows EVERYTHING about me. Big WOW there, can I get an AMEN?! Psalm 139. One of my MOST favorite chapters in the Old Testament. For those of you who think abortion is OK, that unborn babies are just blobs of tissue, and that you have the right to terminate a life that only God can breathe in, in any circumstance, you need to read this (I can hear that can of worms popping open):
Starting with verse 13 and ending with verse 15 (NIV): "For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
There are so many other verses in the Bible where God says He knows the number of hairs on our heads, right NOW, and tomorrow too, and that He is waiting for opportunities to bless us when we are obedient to Him and His Word. Yet another thing that is hard for me. Being obedient. Boy, that's why He needs the big hammer sometimes. And I'm glad He does!
So I've decided that the drugs can heave out the old, unimportant, "I don't need to know that anymore" stuff to make room for the new stuff God is trying to teach me. I love to read and learn, I love to watch others and learn (except TV, we all KNOW that's not real, right? Who does House think he is anyway...) and then, if I don't put all the new knowledge in my super-secret hiding place, I might be able to share that with others, and also share some of the "smarts" I still have that count, the God-given smarts. Maybe that's what the Lord has in mind. Learn something new and share it in perspective with what you already know. Creatively share who He is in all that I do, even if it is just making a paper craft. Love your imperfections, use them for His glory, and move on (or "get over it" as my SWEET hubby likes to say). Learn to deal, prayerfully meditate, incorporate, create and give and love the process as much as the outcome.
Whew! A lot to think about. Every day is a new day and a new opportunity for me to sleep in. Ha. OK, do something useful. Like praying and not worrying about my choices, but accepting His choices, and not having to wait to hear "You've got God" when I log into my email. OK, I don't have AOL. Who needs AOL when you have a Mac? I'm pretty sure God has a MacBook, both OS's on one machine, no tower of Babel for Him! Just like I think there will be cats in heaven, but that is another discussion for another day.

New Blogs

Well, the time has come. I'm going to move my craft information over to my new blog, conquestkeepsakes.blogspot.com. That is where you will find all the latest information on my classes at Hobby Lobby and other events and classes here at the home studio.

I've given the craft side a more official name, Conquest Keepsakes. If you are attending the Red Hot Crop at New Covenant Academy, you'll see an ad in the directory and some slides on the big screen promoting Conquest Keepsakes. I am also giving away two free classes during the crop, so come and crop at the Red Hot Crop and support the fundraising event for New Covenant Academy. What could be better than 15 hours of cropping? Make-n-takes by the Paper Princesses? Vendor booths to see the hot new products? NOTHING is better than that!

My other new blog covers the other side of my existence, digital imaging. I've been teaching Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 for quite some time now, but took some time off this summer and fall. Now we are ready to rock and roll with the new training center. We are up and ready to go and I have a new blog to cover the class schedules, equipment recommendations, hints and tips, etc. We'll soon have a full-fledged web site up, but this will get us started. The new blog is fixthatpicture.blogspot.com. New classes start in February. I am also giving away two free Photoshop Elements classes at the Red Hot Crop, so one more incentive to sign up for the crop! Email Sandy Higgins at shiggins@newcovenant.net to sign up. Registration has been extended to the day of the crop, February 3.

So check out the two new blogs (which I am working on tonight as well).

We're in the news!

Sony Hocklander's story on "Find a New Hobby" ran in today's paper. She interviewed several people about quilting, knitting, beading, leatherworking, and photo arts, where we fell in. We had the last paragraphs in the article, which I like being the last thing people read, they tend to remember it! Here's what she put in from our conversation:

"The flood of digital cameras has led to a growing interest in hobby photography—and using photographs in projects. That includes digital scrapbooking, says Vicki Conquest.

Conquest, a photographer and graphic artist, teaches classes in Photoshop Elements 4, a photo-correcting program that includes digital scrapbooking capabilities.

A lot of people also are interested in what Conquest calls heritage projects: Incorporating photos and mementos to create items for homes or gifts.

That's the kind Conquest likes to teach in her home or at Springfield's two Hobby Lobby stores.

"We try to do projects that make you think of family ties," she says."

Altogether very nice, I thought! Talking about both things I love to do, digital photography and crafting, all mixed together. I guess this means I need to get my collective self together and make some business cards. I seem to be able to do that for everyone else but myself!

Also, the boards are up at Northside as well. The individual letter and the Valentine Box are different than what is pictured here on the blog, so check them out to see a different look for the same project.

Well, everyone get ready for the big ice storm!

Nothing Like the Newspaper Business

Due to space constraints, our lovely little article isn't going to run until either Thursday or Friday. Newspaper speak for, "Whenever we can fit it in." Unless you've ever worked for a paper, you don't realize how hard it is to juggle articles, ads and other items and to do it in a day. Working with Laura on her two newspapers in Ash Grove and Willard sure gave me a good perspective on that, and they are weeklies, not dailies. So, we'll read it when they get it published! It is supposed to be the feature story in the Life section, so at least we know where to look now...

In other news, the sample board is up at Hobby Lobby Southside, so if you want to take a look at the new projects in person. I'm still working on Northside. Doing two sets gets a bit time-consuming and sometimes those creative juices just run out of me all over the floor and get licked up by the cats. That's when they get their hair-brained ideas to hop all over my projects, chew on my papers, track through the paints, and lick the adhesives, those little varmits. Their ideas aren't half as good as mine. What's creative about gnawing off the paint on the edge of my laptop screen?

And, oooohhh, iPhone. Apple announced it today. I'm waiting for the iWallet so I can afford to buy some iToys.

Crafting Alive & Well In Springfield!

I had a reporter from the Springfield News-Leader call me on Friday regarding an article she was writing on picking up new hobbies. She had heard that I was teaching the papercrafting classes at both Hobby Lobby's and wanted to talk with me about it. We talked this evening and we not only talked about papercrafting, but also about digital photography/digital scrapbooking. So, you'll see some comments on both. The article is going to be published in Tuesday's News-Leader. I'm pretty excited and a bit humbled that someone would think of me to comment on the craft industry. My, how life comes at you when you get out and enjoy yourself! Scrapbook Generations is also in the article, with some pictures, I think, so it should be a great article.

Anyway, we had a great time chatting and it looks like we may do another article closer to summer on digital photography and retouching images. I'm not sure if they could get me to shut up about that! We'll wait and see on that one.

Don't forget, buy Tuesday's paper! Crafting is alive and well in Springfield!

January Hobby Lobby Classes

Well, Christmas is over and it is time to get serious about crafting for the new year. What better way to start the new year than a holiday celebrating love! So, along those lines, here are a couple of new projects to celebrate love in our lives.


Our first project is "Love Letters" and it is truly LOVE in letters on a wall plaque. We'll be using decorative papers to cover wood letters, stickers, stamps and flowers, and a new technique with Gel Medium to give an artistic look to our wood letters. In the center of our piece, there is a plaque quoting parts of 1 Corinthians 13, all about love. Hang this on your wall and remember what love is truly about. This project is a kit class. Tools you need to bring are glue stick, exacto knife, cutting mat, paint brush, glue dots, pop dots, and sand paper.
Class Cost: $12
Class Dates: January 18 1:00-3:00p Northside
January 19, 1:00-3:00p Southside
Other dates/times by arrangement (vconquestcrafts@mchsi.com or 350-4569)

Our second project involves customizing a single letter for a family member. Use it to pick up on a favorite hobby or personality of the person you want to honor. There are many techniques we can use to decorate your letter and we'll have several examples on hand. Purchase your 9" letter in the wood craft section and paper or embellishments you would like to use on your letter. Bring a paint brush, Exacto knife, cutting mat, scissors, and glue dots and we'll show you all the things you can do to decorate your letters. We'll have plenty of scraps, rub-ons and embellishments as well. This particular example is one honoring my neice Delaney who passed away last January from SIDS. This class is by arrangement. Give me a call and we'll schedule a date that works for you. Class Cost: $5
Dates/times by arrangement (vconquestcrafts@mchsi.com or 350-4569)













Our third project is a familar project brought back for Valentine's Day. Yes, the Valentine's Fantasy Box! Pick out your favorite Valentine's paper and let's make a box that you can stuff with candy or jewelry or lovenotes, or all three! As usual, your imagination is required! Supplies you need to bring are 2 pieces of patterned paper (inside and outside of box), 2 pieces of card stock (lid and boxes inside), glue stick, folding bone, scissors, and a trimmer. Class Cost: $10
Class Dates: January 25 1:00-3:00p Northside
January 26, 1:00-3:00p Southside
Other dates/times by arrangement (vconquestcrafts@mchsi.com or 350-4569)

Future Projects and Past Projects

Please be sure to scroll down the blog to see the current projects.

I'm posting the past projects for posterity. If you would still like to do some, do a group or just buy one already done (in my copious spare time), give me a call.

I'm working ahead on some pretty purrrrfect projects. No pictures (yet), but they include a fabric covered pail recipes box. Fabric, ribbon and chipboard along with some other embellishments will be a pail of a project.

I'm also working on a Birthday book with a couple of surprises. You'll have to wait to see it. You'll never forget another birthday (although I wish I could forget mine...)

I'm also ruminating over a yearly planner. I should have scheduled this one sooner, but watch out, I may be able to squeeze this one in the December schedule between Christmas and New Year's Day. This will be a workshop class (which means you will be my slave for 4 or 5 hours). Watch the blog and the store sample board. This is a kicker nice project and we will be using the Basic Grey notching tool for this project (if you haven't used it before and wondered what it was for). It will be a 3-ring hard-bound fabric cover with lots of ribbons and the calendars will switch out so you can use it year to year.

An last. but not by any means list, the will be a new version of the purse! Can't let the cat out of the bag (no pun intended) quite yet, but you will love it and it has SO many possibilities.

And, in case you didn't know, I DO teach Adobe Photoshop Elements classes for all you digital photographers (and those of you who get a digital camera for Christmas). You will not be able to find these classes ANYWHERE else. I've been working in Photoshop (big expensive brother) for over 20 years as a graphic artist and have digital gear up the wazoo (yeah, that's gonna hurt). We start with the basics and move on to advanced lessons like image collaging, vignetting, painting effects and making your own brushes and stamps. We are currently using PSE4 as the need to go to PSE5 hasn't made a case for me yet. Maybe later. These classes are offered in my home. I have a complete training set up (projector, screen, lessons, some laptops for those of you who do not have your own), and best of all, I'm bi-platform. For a former MacAddict, it was a bit of a change to work and teach from the PC, but I think Adobe Photoshop Elements is the BEST program, BAR NONE for image editing on any platform, PC or Mac. Adobe has done color image editing for 20 years and they know what they are talking about when it comes to color. They eat every other programs for lunch (I won't mention names, but MS wouldn't know color and calibration if it slapped them silly--don't bother). I'll be getting up my own website on this training soon, called FixThatPicture. It will feature my recommendations for hardware, software, printers, cameras, scanners, etc. Of course you know soon is such a vague and nebulous term...

Butterfly Wall Clock

And our last project.

The Butterfly Wall Clock
Dates: Dec 7 Northside: 1-3pm, Dec. 8 Southside, 1-3pm Cost: $10

This 8" x 8" clock is the perfect size to either display on your desk/table or to hang from the wall (hanger included). With a "Time Flies" theme with butterflies, it is right on target for the holidays, as we know how "Time Flies" when you are trying to find that perfect gift for a friend, colleague or family member. All supplies are furnished (including the clock movements). Tools and supplies you need to bring are (of course) Terrificaly Tacky Tape (red line tape), thicker is better for this one, ideal would be half-inch and 1" tape. Also bring pop dots, scissors and a paint brush. Also a Crop-a-dile might come in handy but an old fashion eyelet setter will work too. If you have some needle nose pliers, they would be handy as well (something with a small tip, or jewelers pliers). Have I dropped enough hints about the Crop-a-dile?

"What Christmas Means to Me" explosion box

OK ya'll, this is THE project of the season. You DO NOT want to miss this one! If you have to arrange an alternate date, do it, but you will WANT this project.

"What Christmas Means to Me" Explosion Box
Dec. 14 Northside: 1-3pm, Dec. 15 Southside, 1-3pm Cost: $12
This WONDERFUL heritage Christmas box is one you will want to keep and look at every year. When you take the lid off, the box falls open revealing an ornament place card holder for you to put your family name and year on it. There are a total of twelve tags in the four sides for you to pull out with a ribbon to put a picture of a family member and name, and on the back of the tag, they write what Christmas means to them. This can be adapted for other holidays as well. You can put in new tags each year, then sit back and reminisce about holidays gone by. All paper and embellishments are provided (although some substitutes for paper may be made). Tools and supplies you need to bring are thin (really thin) Terrifically Tacky tape or a glue pen, corner rounder—if you have one, pop dots, glue dots, any size stapler (color staples provided), and scissors. And, of course, yourself!

December Craft Classes—Post One, Yippee!

FINALLY!!! Here are pictures of projects. Blogger Beta hasn't let me upload for the past week, the littler bloggers! I'm starting with the Accordion Hearts and Blocks class. Here is the description for this class. It's a two-for, so a real deal and so easy to do!

Accordion Hearts/Photo Cubes
Dec. 16, 10am-12pm Northside Store (only opening) Cost—$7 for BOTH classes
The Accordion Heart ties up with ribbons into a heart shape, but when you untie it, the heart becomes an inspirational piece with words of encouragement on every side. You can set it on a table or pull it all around into a circle and tie the ends for a fully open hanging ornament. Beautiful ribbons, beads and paper make this a cute gift for a friend! Supplies are provided for this class. The tools and supplies you need to bring are scissors, folding bone or similar, and a 1/8" hole punch.

The Photo Cubes are a fast and fun way to use some of those smaller pictures to display family and friends. We'll use cardstock and embellishments (stickers, rub-ons, letters, etc.) along with our pictures to create a cute set of photo cubes. The tools and supplies you need to bring are 1 package of 1 1/2" wooden blocks (they come 6 to a package for $2.99 in the wood craft section), a paint brush, pictures that can be trimmed to about 1 1/4", a square punch about that size ,if you have one (McGill has one in the tool isle at the 1 1/2" size and smaller), if you don't, then an exacto knife, ruler and cutting mat. If you want to age them, bring a brown chalk ink pad. (Just a factoid for you die-hard scrapbooker/crafter types, you may have seen the BE wooden block photo cube sets at your local scrapbooks store—for—wait for it—$13.00! Unbelievable! Nothing else with them but nine 1 1/2" wood blocks. Buy the Hobby Lobby blocks, with a coupon, two sets to make 12 and you still haven't spent more than $3.60 plus tax.) We're not that gullible are we?

The cost for both classes is only $7! You pay $7 and get TWO projects!

All the new projects can be seen at both Hobby Lobby stores. I've reschedule the Accordion Hearts/Photo Block class to Saturday, Dec. 16 from 10a to 12a at the Northside store (only slot available at the stores).

Of course those of you who have already taken my classes know you can schedule a class time to suite your schedule, just give me a call (350-4569 my direct cell phone, you can still call the other number, but it forwards to my cell). We can still do past projects and also I can do groups, and to a limited extent, kits. I've been doing a lot of groups on weekends, especially Sunday afternoons, so if you have some friends, come on over and have a good time! Just give me a ring (or email) call to arrange a time. Some people have been asking me if I will sell the projects (as they don't have time to make them. I will sell them, but the cost is higher since I have to do all the work and no one to keep me company but the cats, who want to hole punch my paper and eat my ribbon. If you would like to do this, give me a call and I'll see what I can do.

This month's classes have an extra surprise with them as a THANK YOU for coming to take the class. It might be edible (although I always have cholates and drinks if we here at the house) or it may be a surprise mini project. You know me, I am full of surprises!

Long time, no blog

Story of my life. I start something and then life gets in the way. When did we all get so busy? I can't believe it is November and I haven't posted since August. Wow. That means one of two things, too much going on, or, I'm just not that interesting. It's probably the second but I'll look on the bright side and hope it's the first one.

My inlaws came down and spent a couple of weeks with us. They live in Canada up on Lake Huron, but they are British and still have a pronounced British accent. It is always fun to go shopping or out to eat with them as the looks on the other people's faces as Christine and Peter talk is priceless. Some people just flat can't understand them. They do use a few different words for things than we do. A washcloth to us is a flannel to them. A secature to them is a pruning shear for us. There are others but those come to mind first. When someone from England tells you they are going to "spend a penny," that's their way of telling you they are going to the restroom. Long story to explain that one. We really enjoy their visits as we don't get up to Canada very often to visit the family.

The kicker part is that we try to send all our Christmas gifts for the the neices and families (no nephews, the Conquest line on this continent is at an end) back up with Cliff's parents, which means getting them done by the end of October. Last time we tried mailing them (in November) they didn't get them until February. I foolishly made a decision several years ago that I would make all my gifts because no one remembers a gift card. And it is even harder to buy a gift card for a store here that will work in Canada as well. No Hobby Lobby where they live. So I lived in my craft room for two weeks. Christine even helped me make some of my projects (can't say what they are as those kids are too web literate and I think someone up there knows the blog). So mum's the word. Although Mum is what we call a flower but what the British call their Mom's. Confusing, eh? NOW we're speaking Canadian. :-)

I've been teaching some craft classes here at the house and having a great time doing it. Nothing like a bunch of women with chocolate and glue and ribbon! The cats aren't liking it much as I won't let them jump up on the tables and show off their butts to everyone. I know they are pretty proud of their backends, but if I got up on a table and wagged my butt in everyone's face, I wouldn't have any friends! Heaven forbid if it was a bare butt like the cats have! LOL! OK, too much imagination. I have a magnet that says, "You aren't anybody until you've been ignored by a cat." I guess we are all somebodies as our cats are waving their tailends at everyone 5 minutes after our guests have had a seat. I guess that's encouraging. It gives "Cat-Friendly house" a whole new twist. Maybe we need a sign that says, "Beware of Cat Butts" as you walk into the house. Forewarned is forearmed. I could go on, but I'm sure I lost you at the part about me wagging my butt.

I was remiss...

I should have said yesterday that my Dad is doing very well since his two surgeries. Yes, they had to go back in a second time to remove a disc but he has felt virtually no pain from either surgery and was doing so well, they sent him home, not to rehab. The back of his neck looked like a zipper but they took the staples out this past week. Now he will start some low key rehab but we are so very thankful that the Lord showed us mercy again and gave him healing in a way that can only be attributed to His glory and grace and the prayers of believers, those we know well and those we don't. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for our family this summer and know that God has heard your prayers. We've run the gamut but God has been good and continues to hold us in His hands. We are humbled and give all the glory to God. He is the God that heals. Jehova Jira!

Mashed Potatoes!

I was coming out of Hobby Lobby the other day, having scored a handful of those $2 note journals (the ones with Philippians 4:13 quoted on them with a cross on the front) and as I was getting in my truck, what came to mind was, "Mashed Potatoes!" I scored a deal for something I had been looking for and identified it with a TV commercial for Progressive Insurance, the one with James Brown doing his interpretation of the "customer who made it home in time for Thanksgiving Dinner." Who knows the mind of a shopper? Especially a hobby shopper. We are a weird breed. We'll pick up the last item of some coveted embellishment (and not necessarily one that you coveted, just one that "someone" has coveted) and proudly stroll up and down the isles with it prominently displayed in our basket. We'll show it to everyone who wants to see it and explain why it is such a great product. "Yeah, these Basic Grey magnetic discs are great for closures for notebooks, blah, blah, blah" and while you are yapping away, you're thinking, "how am I going to use these? But I HAVE to have them, so-and-so couldn't stop talking about them!" Or, we'll buy the same product over and over and tell everyone why they should have multiple packages of them too. "This is the only chipboard set of letters that includes numbers! You HAVE to have them!" (BTW, those are EK Success Letterpress Sticko Chipboard Letters & Numbers--I KNOW you want to buy them!) I have personally convinced at least two people and one salesperson that they had to purchase several sets of these for any number of cool projects. And really, they ARE the only set of chipboard numbers that I know of. If anyone else knows of any others, let me know! I COVET chipboard numbers. Making my own sucks. Especially when you would really like to have them 2" tall.

I've been working on some craft projects that I will be teaching soon. If I get my digital act together, I'll post some pictures. One of them even includes the chipboard numbers. My DH can no longer say that I don't do anything with my craft stuff. I've actually completed several projects and have had a couple of play days! WOW, Vicki gets out of the house and socializes with something that says something other than "Meowowow!" It's good to have an adult conversation again (nothing against the DH, but he isn't FEMALE and doesn't understand that a conversation involves two people talking to each other, not him talking to the TV). I'll probably have to start singing him to bed too...

What happened to summer?

Boy, time just seems to fly by. This summer has seemed like one of those black holes that just keeps sucking things down into it. The harder you resist, the faster you go in. "Grab the cat, grab the cat! Oh, there he goes, and his hairballs too. Sigh." I had so many things I wanted to do this summer (I started to write simmer, and that is probably a Freudian mistake because simmering we are). As I write, my health seems to be on an uphill swing but my Dad had surgery yesterday for paralysis in his arm. Today that are talking about taking him back in because now his OTHER arm is showing more weakness than the original arm. Go figure. He had severe compression with 4 vertebrae in his neck and had nerve damage and some spinal cord damage. They put in two rods and 8 screws. He was liking the drugs though. He was cracking jokes left and right last night. I though I was going to PMP several times (it didn't help that I had just drank a huge glass of soda). It was good to see him in good spirits. Our whole family is keeping the medical industry in Springfield in business this summer. My sister had her gallbladder removed several weeks ago. I'm waiting for one of the cats to have a "tailectomy". teeheehee! I don't know which one would look the stupidest without a tail. I might have to do a little Photoshop work and see how that comes out...

So, for my last thought, we've been talking amongst friends about how we get our cats to come to bed. We run a tough bedtime schedule because of personality clashes. We can't leave Pewter out at night with Kahlua (he don't like her ONE little bit, don't know why). So, Kahlua stays in our bedroom during the day, and at night Pewter and Maki sleep in our room and Kahlua stays out with Mr. Sniffy and Coon. We used to try to chase all the cats down to get them in the bedroom. This got old as Maki had her game whiskers on and just about the time you would reach down to pick her up, she would run away about 6 feet and sit. We would go around the room this way three or four times. It sucks when you realize your cat is smarter than you are. So, I started singing "Mary had a little lamb" in the highest most squeakiest voice I could. I was like the pied piper of Hamlin. She followed me wherever I went. And surprise, surprise, so did Pewter. So that is how I get them to bed, I stand at the bedroom door and start singing "Vicki had a little cat, little cat, little cat..," and here they come, Pewter sashaying and Maki jogging down the hall as she is sure there must be a dead animal in the room she could eat because it sure sounded like it was dying...

Craftin' Pincushion

Boy, have I been at it! The erstwhile pincushion (I'm surprised there is any blood left in me) has actually completed two (yes TWO!) craft projects this week. That is a new world record! Usually I manage one every couple of years. Even my husband was excited for me. Just kidding. I did a mini album and an explosion box (pictures of box at left). I had to do a little original thinking (boy was the smoke rolling out of the house, I am sure the neighbors thought I was shooting bottle rockets at the cats!). I was following a pattern on a Mini Book class I missed and realized that they had skipped a letter (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,K,--no J). Being the perfectionist that I am, I HAD to add the letter. I thought I was going to have a panic attack with the thought of having to come up with something of my own. I finally came up with something and felt like a pretty fart smeller (uh, pretty smart feller). Then, as I got ready to put on the last page, I realized I put in one too many pages. Lord have mercy, I had to come up with ANOTHER letter (L) and page design. I've moved up to smoke bombs by now. About the time I had the last idea, the DH starts up the riding lawn mower inside our "John Deere" room, which has a smoke alarm in it tied to the rest of the house,and yep, off they all went. I thought it was a message from the Lord, "I gave you one original thought, two is pushing it." Normally the DH doesn't start the mower in the JD room, but he said he was tired of pushing it out of the room through the double doors (aka, LAZY). Amazing how long alarms can go off when carbon dioxide is involved. He had to stand on a stool for about 15 minutes along with two fans and fan the alarm so it would stop. As soon as he would quit, they'd start all over again. Bet he doesn't do THAT again.

So, I finished the book and decided to go all in and do my explosion box kit. As usual, I had to make adjustments. One of the precut pieces was the wrong size. I actually had to use my math skills (OK, the calculator on my Mac) to figure out how much needed to come off. I only had a picture to go by, so there was a lot of winging it which almost cost me a bottle of valium. I decided I wanted the lid sides thinner, and the kit didn't come with the ribbon or the rub-on letters so I actually had to make more creative choices from my stash. The room was spinning. Cliff says it's not a stash, it's a store. Whatever. I pulled out some cute flower ribbon for the lid, some bubble letters and decided to put "kitty friends" on the top since the letters were a lot smaller than the rub-ons (it was supposed to be "friends"). Then, for my "coup de gras" (my hubby speaks French, those silly Canadians have to be bilingual) I used punched retro flowers covered with Mod Podge on the box sides. Too cute. Even the hubby liked it, and he wasn't lying this time, I don't think. It's so hard to read those British Canadians...

But wait, there's more!

Life is strange. All things happen for a reason, but occasionally I wish God would send me an email and spell it out. "Vicki, you twit, that's not what I want you to do, do this instead!" I'm pretty hard headed. It usually takes a couple of whops to get my attention. I guess I've had those this month. So Lord, I'm listening. Just for your entertainment, here are a couple of pics from the hospital. One is of Stephanie, one of the lovely ladies that made my stay at Casa Cox South bearable. The other is of me doing what I do. Work on my computer and look yellow (Atabrine folks, makes the skin look yellow but my eyes are still white, no liver problems here). Me and my Mac are not soon separated. Note the stuffed kitty. My momma loves me, she got me a kitty because she knew I missed my babies. I probably have that goofy morphine look. Oh well. I think you can see Spike and Buster off to the left, just hanging out like the gang should be.

The arm is doing better, the second clot was up around ye old armpit but the pain is better. I did end up having to take Lovenox shots in my stomach for 6 days and they doubled my rat poison intake. Evidently I must have sludge for blood. They wanted me to give myself the shots and, after I woke up, I said I didn't think that was a good idea. Luckily I have an awesome friend in the medical profession who was kind enough to give me my shots. The most comical setting was the Sunday shot at the hospital (no, it wasn't me in this time, but my grandmother). My friend came over and visited with my parents, sister and I and then we adjourned to the restroom to get my shot. We had my friend's Dr. ID in case someone came in and saw us shooting up in the girls room. There was lots of giggling going on. Luckily, we had no witnesses. I thought my Sunday shot was my last one (it started originally with 3) but after bloodwork on Monday, we got another round of 3 plus a double on the rat poison. Guess I'll be on that for a very long time.

For those of you who want a piece of me this week, forget it. I'm booked. I'm living at Ferrell-Duncan all this week. Everyday. Doctor hopping. Bloodwork schmoozing. Everyone knows me by name at the cashiers desk and lab. They are all very nice, too. Of course, since Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon this week, I printed 10 or 15 of them and I use one a day and hand them out to everyone I see. It makes the trip to the southside of town worth it. After I found out I had the blood clots, I called my husband and told him, and of course he was upset, so I told him I was so depressed that I needed to go spend some money at a couple of craft stores. I was hoping I could squeeze three out of it, but I evidently didn't work it hard enough. Opportunity lost. Bummer. Dumb bean counter...

Clots R Us

Just when you think things are getting back to normal, there always seems to be something to throw off your game. A normal day for us is to get up, clean up the midnight cat yak (someone ALWAYS yaks during the night—5 cats, 4 long-haired, they groom each other, ya know where I'm goin' with this...). Since I've come home from the hospital, things have slowly progressed to normal, I can now sleep to 6:30A, I can eat something besides Cream of Wheat (Tuna Helper is my friend), still can't do soda (THAT is 6 weeks and counting without Code Red, another two weeks and they'll have to lock me up), and I am getting used to that whop that liquid hydrocodone packs. In fact, I thought to myself on Monday, "Self, I think you can now do without momma's little helper, you're doing pretty good." Well, nothing like a self-righteous statement to give you a little kick in the patootie. I wake up Tuesday morning, start working on my computer and think, "wow, my left elbow hurts, I wonder what I hit it on?" As the day wore on it started hurting more like a toothache in my arm. Still, I'm a pretty clumsy ditz, so I figured I had clocked it somewhere along the way and didn't think much more of it until I went to bed. By then, it hurt for my clothing to touch it, and needless to say, there is no comfortable way to sleep in bed when the inside of your elbow hurts except for flat on your back with your arm up in a swastika move on a pillow. By Wed. AM, me and momma's little helper are connected at the hip and I called the Doctor. As if I hadn't had enough of that this month. Upshot is, one "venous doplar" later and I have two blood clots in my left arm. Who knew they hurt? Dang, it's a real buzz kill. I need a slave to carry my arm around for me. Just the weight of it stretching those poor little veins is enough to drive me to drink Code Red. So, now we get to add another pill to the cadre of medication. I have officially eclipsed my Mom on the number of pills taken together at one time, which I thought was a complete impossibility (she has Rhuematoid Arthritis among a host of other things—Lord lover her, she's a trooper). So, my arm now comes with instructions, "don't rub it, don't put heat on it (but it hurts mamma, please?), just don't use it unless you have to." Duh. Run that one by me again. Don't use it... Nothing like an IV to give you a few blood clots. And just when I thought all the real fun was over...

Home Again

Home sweet home! Ah, never a better cliche than that! But now that I'm here, I just a bit ticked off. First, I wake up every morning at 5:30A (blood taking time), expect someone to bring me my pills and stuff when I need it (hey, getting waited on, even by the institution is nothing to sneeze at--no pun intended), start looking for breakfast at 6:30A (and I never used to eat breakfast, if you call Cream of Wheat breakfast), and then the finger-poking (blood sugar), vitals every hour it *seemed*, and then there's lunch (soup, pudding-like stuff, jello), and then more drugs, a nice nap or chatting with the nurses and the PCA's (GREAT bunch of folks there on 9 East), read a bit (morphine really inhibited my ability to stay focused for more than three minutes, so I am sure I read the same thing over and over and over... Then there's supper, more vitals, more poking, more pills (slid down courtesy of viscous Lidocaine--great tasting stuff with a texture to die for...), Cliff came over, watched me pick papers and gnats out of the sky (hey, I'm telling ya, that morphine stuff makes things seem REAL! I could have been the Velveteen Rabbit!) and then some TV. Now, here I sit at home, no one to tell me when to take my pills, feed me Breakfast, Lunch and Supper (I really miss the part where they brought my food tray and I had to tell them to take half of it back because it did meet the dietary requirements PRINTED ON THE SHEET!) For example, soft liquid, bland diet, no acidic or spicy foods. What did I get? Orange juice (insert other fruit juice here too), tomato soup, stuff with chocolate, bulky foods, etc. So now I have to figure all that stuff out myself. Bummer. The worst part? No one to talk to but the cats. I really enjoyed talking to the nurses and PCA's. I really miss them. They made what would have been a very crappy two weeks into something with fond memories to go along with the "what the heck is going on with me?" memories. I tried to take pictures when I became lucid enough to realize I should make a mini-book or something about this event. I'll try to get some posted.

I had some really great friends stop by and see me, I was really surprised. I'll apologize now for anything I said that didn't make sense. Everyone was so thoughtful, I had some beautiful flowers and cards, and my friend Rebecca brought me this most wonderful bag full of goodies and 2 (and I said TWO) scrapbook magazines to read--and TWO I hadn't read. I am sure I read them three times but as I look at them now, I don't remember a thing...