Peace and Joy

Hello to all of you, my friends.

My mom is home from the hospital - everything is going well and, to me, she is starting to seem more like her old self. She had been diagnosed with diverticulitis and the diet changes and antibiotic treatments that sometimes can remedy the problem weren't working, so she was scheduled for surgery. It isn't an easy thing, there is a high risk of infection given the location, and in her case required a larger incision than usual. But hopefully it means she will no longer have any discomfort and can get back to eating relatively normally. Thank you all for your thoughts and well wishes.

I am grateful we've made it to Friday - I found myself having a rough time getting much of anything accomplished this week which typically leads to me feeling overwhelmed. I think I will benefit from a very low-key weekend to boost my mental and physical health.. I am so tired.

Did you know that every month Waltzingmouse Stamps has a Christmas Card Challenge? I have chatted about it here before, and this is what I created for January's challenge.

January's challenge was to create a card that showcased either a day or nighttime sky. It has been a while since I've used the cute little angel from Earth Angel, so I thought she would be perfect for this theme.

I switched up a few of the elements on each of the cards just to keep things interesting. Changing up the patterned papers and the sentiments (both from Say It Loud - Winter Holiday) was easy, and since I primarily use the 6x6 patterned paper pads, it distributes my supply use.

I paper pieced the angel and layered her on a pinking circle that had been stamped with the wreath image from Faux Fun Circles. I used a fine tip glue pen to add glitter to her wings. I also made a point to finish the inside of the cards - this will be a HUGE help when it comes to December. I used the coordinating phrases from SIL.. 'to the world' on the inside of the Joy card, 'on Earth' for the Peace card. Nothing fancy, but still finished. I like to go easy on the inside stuff as I always write a message in my cards.

You have all year to complete the challenges, and there are prizes along the way, so you should consider playing with us. There is a thread in the forum and a challenge album in the Gallery, but all the details you need to get started are here on the WMS Blog.
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I have been behind on my Project Life this week. That didn't take long! I'm tackling this two ways. 1. Going easy on myself. This week has been very trying. And 2. I have a plan - this weekend I will print my pictures for both last week and this week and try and hammer out as much as I can this weekend. I have been taking notes, jotting down what I want where, etc. and I feel like once I do sit down to do it I will be ready to go. Plus I have some new goodies from Elle's Studio that I am looking forward to using :)

Thank you for stopping by today, your positive energy, encouragement and support that each of you shares is more helpful than you know!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Earth Angel, Say It Loud - Winter Holiday, Faux Fun Circles, Midnight Feast - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Rustic Cream, Fine Linen, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink; Riding Hood Red - Stampin' Up!
PATTERNED PAPER: Season's Greetings - Echo Park Paper Company
INK: Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, River Rock - Stampin' Up!; Black Onyx VersaFine - Tsukineko; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Smoky Quartz Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Pinking Circles - Spellbinders Paper Arts; Copic Markers