Change

To whom it may concern:

Surprise! I have a new blog!

mamafacesays.wordpress.com

Pass this along to your friends, family, coworkers, exterminator, pen pal, doctor, spouse, therapist, parole officer, personal trainer, bosom buddy, and anyone else you can possibly think of.

Thank ye kindly.

challenges

No the problem with blogger is not solved. I give up. At least until I get some solid, workable advice.

What I've done is this. Added another email and replaced the old one that linked to this blog's profile. Now when I follow another blog it should link to here. I've no idea nor do I care why that other blog is still showing up. It was just driving me plain crazy trying to figure out what was/is going on. Google really does need to come up with a better system to let us, the personal blog blogger with limited knowledge on how blogs work, to get answers to our questions. Or maybe actually answer the one I left on the help forum. 

Oh bother. 

Of course I don't mean to blog about that mess. 

I mean to blog about other types of challenges.

Card making challenges.

You see, there are eleventy billion scrapbook, card making, and/or paper crafting blogs. I find several new ones a day. And here I thought I was so unique. 

Well, what I have learned about are blogs specifically dedicated to card making 'challenges', i.e., different types of ideas to act as a springboard to base your card upon. 

I must admit that I do a lot of copying when making my cards. It truly is the sincerest form of flattery I can think of and I hope that's okay. There are just SO many talented card makers! I'm just learning and there is SO much information, and seriously, there are times I go to bed thinking about CARDS! 

So. Okay.

This first card is another 'differently folded' one I tried. 

And that would be why there are so many photos.  

Speaking of, I may need to start using the real camera. But my phone is just so handy and I am so lazy.

And here is yet another Valentine card! This style as I mentioned last time is one I'm really working on. I love the distressed look from the ink to the stamps. I have a long ways to go to get any good at this technique. I used Glossy Accents on the hearts as you can see in the 2nd picture. Yeah, it is sloppy. So much to learn and practice.

I love this wedding card, (or it could be any type I suppose), and I almost totally copied this from a photo I pinned. I'm actually going to use this card, (gasp!), so that's good.

As I mentioned, there are several different types of challenges to pick from, (if you so choose), out there in card making blog land. What you are supposed to do is link back to them, but I'm still not sure I'm ready for that! As usual, I am completely intimidated by all the talent out there. 

That being said, on this next card I used two different card challenges:

January 16, 2012 http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

and

ColourQ challenge #119 http://colourq.blogspot.com/

Thanks for indulging me in my creative attempts. 

<3

blog quandary

What the frickety frack. When you click on my profile you end up on my OLD blog, which I thought I'd deleted. That blog is what shows up when I click on my face from another blog. I can't even access that blog; if I click on the dashboard and I end up here! I couldn't post there even if I wanted to. For some reason it would take brain surgery in order for me to understand it has a few old posts and has dates from last December. NOTHING about this makes any sense............ I went to the HELP page and left a question about this but even if I do get an answer I'm afraid I won't understand! gah. Maybe I'll give up blogger and go to wordpress. hm. Not that it matters to anyone but me. But I count, right?

sigh.


Okay, on to much more scintillating matters. Here are photos of my latest cards. I wish I had some witty commentary to go with these but I have a headache from trying to figure out the whole mystifying blog mess. I think my eyes are spinning in their sockets from reading all sorts of help articles. And they didn't help at all.

i like this one a lot. i like the more muted colors.

but... i do like these bright colors too.

this card is a bit uggers, but it is me trying to figure out the whole distressed look which i love. i'll get better.

a lil hug card

i never thought i'd card about making valentine cards. it's my least favorite holiday. i don't like heart shapes particularly and red and pink together gag me. 

but i've gone crazy!! and this card is one of my all time faves!

look! the 'i love you' is shiny!

these are accordion style cards. they were fun to make and think they're pretty cute. i learned that the strip of paper wrapped around the card is called a 'belly band'. next i need to make them fit a little more snug. 

sparkly stickles around the heart. i love me some sparkle.

I know they're not works of art and I make more cards then I will ever in my lifetime actually send to anyone but it's fun and i love the colors and and patterns and putting them all together. We all need a creative outlet. 

I am right about that. 

a 5 minute phone call

I am faced with one of the most frustrating and worrying experiences I've ever had. The situation with my Mom and Dad is just going from bad to worse.

Mom fell again and hit her hip this time. When I heard that she fell again it was downright scary-probably the worst thing that could happen to her. Well, I know there are worse things, but with her already laying in bed ALL THE TIME with a backache that no one is clear about how bad it is or even the validity of situation. That's a really sad thing that we don't know even if any of it is in her head. In a way I hope it is real and not imagined. It would seem that that would be easier to deal with. But none of this is easy to deal with.

So, after much haggling with myself as there are other issues on top of this issue that keep me from calling, I called today. Which I didn't do on Christmas OR New Years. The shame is on me; it is all bad on my part. No excuses. But I do have my reasons. My relationship with Dad has never been good and during difficult times it's all the worse. I really don't want him to answer the phone because it seems to always be uncomfortable small talk with us. And I just expect the same old thing with Mom.

Which on the face of it must seem so cowardly and selfish of me. I suppose it is, but my emotions get the best of me and I can't seem to deal with this rationally. How they're living seems so hopeless to me. I shouldn't presume I know the whole story but I do know they never get out, Mom basically stays in bed all day, and therefore they have little interaction with the outside world. Other than through TV. I can't imagine how they get along with each other day in and day out. I feel like they barely tolerate each other .

Frankly, it seems that Mom has given up and has no plans to make any effort to change. Like I said, I don't know how bad or how real the pain is, but my last phone call with her just makes it all the more confusing.

After telling me about fall and her hip, (which I already knew about after talking to Shannon), I asked her how the other area of her back was feeling. She told me that it is cured. Yeah, I don't know what to say or think about that. Trading one excuse for another to stay in bed.

She acts upset that Mike and Lynne are coming over today, (they're going to ski tomorrow), but if you press her she's got no reason to be worried and she knows it. What is she worried about? That they'll make her get out of bed? Which they will, I'm sure.

Then I press a little bit more and ask her flat out if she plans on staying in bed all the time... for some indefinite future? Her reply is that it is depressing. Well, yeah, it is.

I knew I was making her uncomfortable and changed the subject. Our entire conversation lasted 5 minutes. There really isn't anything to talk about and that, too, is so sad.

I question if she's as calm as she pretends to be. This isn't my Mom, not how I ever would have imagined she'd become. I cannot figure out what can be done, what I should do, that will help my parents get out of this rut. I honestly think it's going to take a miracle.

This is from July 4, 2010.

If you read this far you might enjoy these two funnies. Of course they come from Wes.

Sunday night I was talking with Wes about his new Primary teachers and as usual I reminded him that not everyone appreciates sarcasm; you need to get to know them better. (Not saying he should be sarcastic, but the fact is...), He told me not to worry cuz he has a way of making people like him.

Today was the first day back at school after Christmas break. Yesterday he had spacers put in his teeth in preps for getting his braces on Thursday. His mouth is understandably sore, but he made it through the day. He's also exhausted from a lack of sleep. I asked him about his day and he said he was quiet today and didn't make the class laugh. I thought he said he was bummed by that, but what he really said is that the WHOLE class was bummed by his teeth hurting cuz that meant no jokes from him.

Brownies

And so, another year ended, another year just begun.

When I was a lil girl I was a Brownie; the first step in the Girl Scout program. I loved being a Brownie Scout. I loved the uniform, I loved the meetings, (somewhat like Activity Days mtgs in the church now), I loved that there were friends there, something sorely lacking in my school life. I enjoyed those forced social programs. My favorite day of the week was Primary Day; cuz that's when Primary was held, on a week day after school. And that meant you were surrounded by adults who loved you and other kids your age who at least had to be around you. I was a needy child, cans't thou tell?

I digress as usual.

So, I was a Brownie, remember? One other thing I loved about the Brownies was the handbook. I devoured that thing. I loved the promise of a future contained in that book with its activities,  achievements, and most of all, the BADGES to be earned.

I especially loved the story which explained what being a Brownie meant and therefore what we should emulate.

As my children have probably never really understood my reference to wishing for a Brownie or two or three or four to magically clean my messy house I give you the edited, (by me), story...

The cottage on the edge of the wood was in an awful mess. There were dishes to be washed, clothes to be ironed and toys scattered all over the floor. Tommy and Betty didn't care. They hated boring old housework. "What I am going to do?" their mother sighed. "I can't keep the cottage tidy. If only we had a Brownie!"

" What's a Brownie?" asked Tommy. "A Brownie is a magical little creature, which slips into houses very early before anyone is awake. It tidies toys, irons clothes, washes dishes and does all sorts of helpful things in secret," replied his mother.

The children raced over to the pool. Betty did exactly as the Owl had said: "Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and there saw…" She looked into the pool. "Well, can you see it? Can you see a Brownie?" yelled Tommy, hopping from foot to foot in excitement. "No," said Betty, All I can see is my own reflection."

Tommy and Betty returned thoughtfully to the cottage. If you had passed that way very early next morning, you would have seen a lamp burning in the kitchen window and two figures busily scurrying about inside. And when the children's mother came down for breakfast, she couldn't believe her eyes. There wasn't a toy in sight. Everything was clean and tidy. "Why, a Brownie has been here. How wonderful!" she gasped.