sadness

Today, I went to two memorial services for soldiers that died.  When we were at Ft. Riley, I think I went to at least one a week while Dave was deployed. My battle buddy, Suzanne, and I decided it was the right thing to do even if the soldiers were not from our battalion.  Fortunately, we only had two from the battalion, for those were tougher.  As time went on, we ceased crying at them..and worried that we were getting too jaded at the loss of life to care.  I wondered if I ever would cry at them again.  I think emotionally, we were probably just too overwhelmed and had to compartmentalize our feelings somewhat. We were always sad at the loss of life, fearful that it could be us receiving that knock at the door, and trying to soldier on pretending that we were strong enough to just deal with it all.  Now, 3 years later and some time away...I can shed tears for the soldiers who died, and the families who grieve without worrying that if I do I will lose control and never stop crying.  I find myself finally letting the wall down and letting myself be happy and sad without being so sad that I can't deal with it. It's a step in the right direction.  I hope I've also learned that it is okay to lean on others a bit, and let my worries and fear show, and to not pretend to be superwoman. 

Templates

I've made a couple of templates in various classes at JessicaSprague.com but nothing I've ever come up with compares to this Anna Aspnes template..I just love the various brushes and elements she puts on them..and you can use those elements in other places as well! Win/Win!  Thank you Jeanne, about that reminder. :o)

Paper and elements LivEDesigns Sing for Spring, at jessicasprague.com

Thank you, God

For keeping my family safe.
For providing us with a roof over our heads.
For giving us good food to eat.
For good friends.
Most of all, for the love and laughter given to me by the family you've given me.

phinished product from photoshop phun

So, I'm a little behind...The layout I got printed on canvas I couldn't mount on the canvas  frame because it turned out a smidge smaller than 12x12. (and I was expecting 'extra' around it as well, that got trimmed off. Live and learn...) So, I got a 12x12 shadowbox at Michaels and put it in there. Put it on some paper and then mounted the paper to the inside of the shadowbox because I was afraid the canvas wouldn't stick to the fuzzy background.
I punched leaves from some K and Company paper, and used Martha Stewart rhinestones for bling.

or.......I would show you but I can't.......how anti-climactic. I'll try and add the photo some other way.  ::mumbles:: stupidblogger....

.Finished layout..  <----reduced to adding a link. Blogger kept rejecting the photo, I don't know if it's too big or what.

sad, pointless, senseless, waste.

We just returned from the funeral of my niece, Laura. Laura was a loving, giving, friendly girl. An art education major in college, she was student teaching and taking a full load of classes at the same time. From what I have pieced together in all the stories I heard over the weekend, Laura was seriously let down by her advisors, supervisors and supposed mentors. Her family saw the depression, and the despair and tried to help. Her mother took her to the doctor. Laura fell behind in her classes. She was told she didn't have control of the students as a student teacher. Last week, she and her mother were contacting Laura's professors to see if she could get extensions or some other accomodation to have time to finish her classes, so that she could concentrate on improving her teaching. None were forthcoming. For whatever reason, though, that day dear, sweet Laura hit bottom and didn't see a way up. She felt she had failed and disappointed her family and friends. While from the light of day, we understand that there is no disappointment in her, to her it was crushing.
I'll miss her smile, laughter, and love. RIP.

phun with photoshop

I think I'm a total digi convert now. I was going to print out this photo, scrap it on canvas for a fundraiser. I'd already played with the photo to make it look more like a painting and today, as I was getting ready to upload it for printing out......well. I decided to play.
My own photo, Anna Aspenes' brushes
(and, fyi...some UPS stores will print things for you..this is being printed on canvas for FIVE BUCKS. deal! Now all I have to do is mount it..har har)

SQUEE!

Oh, yeah, I really did say that out loud when I read my latest email from JessicaSprague.com!
COSMO CRICKET now has a digi kit for sale at Jessica Sprague! Oh my the cute girly goodness! I'll be buying that one soon. I hope things go so well for the Cosmo/Spragueground team-up that they introduce many more kits. Love CC, Love Jessica Sprague!
Check it out! www.jessicasprague.com