Send a Little Love

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted anything. In all fairness, I have a ton of half written posts in draft. Maybe I can actually get this one done and posted in a single day......ahh, dreams.

If we are Facebook friends, you probably know that last June my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then, in December her mom was also diagnosed. THANKFULLY they are both now done with treatments and are cancer free.

Not being there while my mom was having treatments was a very hard thing. I am sure she was ok, since she is one of the toughest people I know but it was still hard being far away. I wanted to do something for her, but I wasn't sure what would be most helpful. Finally I decided on this:

I can't remember where I got this little plastic box, but I think it might have once been full of rubber bands from Staples. 

I lined the inside with the pretty green paper in order to be able to make the words on the cover. I wanted them protected inside the box when it was closed.

I wanted the insert to be able to stand up all on it's own, so that she could set it next to her chair during chemo, on her desk at work, where ever. The plastic box made it possible for her to fold it and take it in her tote bag or purse. 

Yes, she is really that short.

Two of my favorite photo panels were my wedding day and our photo from our 60 mile Komen 

3-Day event a few years ago. We did that event because this was actually Gram's second go-round with breast cancer. There were photos on both sides of the accordion and I made sure I got all her kids & grand-kids on there, as well as both of her parents. 

The Presents

Did I mention there will soon be a teenager (GASP!) in the house? Well, since we have had a rough year (worst ever) we decided to do something a little different in the present department this year. We are doing countdown to Birthday presents. One gift, some small & some not, each day until THE day. Here is what she saw on November 1st.

The Loot Pile

Most of the gifts are from us, but a couple are not. We recruited the family if they wanted to participate.

Here is the list so far:

1. Purple Glitter Nail Polish

2. Journal Boxes for her Smashbook

3. Purple Tank Top (thank you Aero clearance!)

4. Movie Passes 

5. A Light in the Attic - She got so excited opening this one that she ripped the dust jacket a little and I thought she might cry. 

6. An empty box to fill at the old fashioned candy store.

7. Hand painted shell ornaments from Gummy with the Mad Hatter & Red Queen (Johnny and Helena style)

8. Archeological museum tickets

9. Zero candy bar

10. Phase 10 card game 

11. Socks with cats on them 

12. Brady jersey - he is number 12 after all 

13. Year subscription to Seventeen magazine 

14. Alice in Wonderland- of course! It was slumber party time!

15. Family secret.... Sorry ;)

16. Passes to the Phoenix Art Museum

To be continued.......

Box Card Project

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was touring through blog-land the other day and discovered so many fabulous crafty people. I stumbled upon Cardz TV and their challenge to create a Halloween card that was not a traditional fold. One of the options they gave was a box card. Never in all my crafty years had I attempted one. Not sure why. Just hadn't. So, I gave it a shot.....

Inside

Outside

I wanted to stay with all one piece so it is a simple 12x12 cardstock with the corners cut away and scored to fold. I used some scrap pieces to mat the outside. The 3-D embellishments were some I picked up on a recent trip to Michaels. 

I also scrounged around in my sticker drawer and found these word tiles. 

I think the entire project took me maybe 20 minutes. It went a lot faster than I thought. Now I just need to find a little treat to put inside before I give it to my munchkin next week.