Celebrate the Everyday!

 I know it's been several months since I've posted anything on this blog. There are various reasons for my absence, the main centering around the health of my dad. Not long after his 91st birthday (see card from previous post), he began falling more around the house, until the 25th of November when he was taken to the ER. That would end up being the last day he would spend at home. From that day until the 21st of January dad was either in one of two hospitals, or The Laurels, a Care Facility where he was strengthening his legs so he could come back home. I was with dad every day at these facilities, except for 2 days when I had a cold. Many nights were spent "sleeping" in hospital and facility chairs. I did not have the time or opportunity to create Cards this past Christmas. For those of you who usually receive a card from me, I apologize for that, but circumstances were totally out of my control.

Christmas was a great day, spent with the whole family, in a special room at the Laurels. Dad had a real nice day that day, surrounded by his entire family, minus my brother who lives in Maryland with his wife. But my brother was there via the telephone for part of our visit! Santa was very good to one and all, but time spent with dad was the best present I received that day. Unfortunately this would unknowingly be the last Christmas spent with dad. On the early morning of January 21, 2013, my dad passed away. It was very unexpected, as he had been improving for some time. In fact, the day before, my mom & I had spent the day and evening with dad, watching football on the TV, playing several games of cards, and just spending some quality time with him. We didn't leave until he was getting sleepy, and was ready for bed at about 10 pm. I took mom home, and it was the next morning at 5:31 am when I received an urgent call from dad's nurse directing us to immediately go to the ER as dad had collapsed was receiving CPR, and was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Unfortunately dad never woke up.

So then there was the planning of the funeral and all that goes with having a death in the family. That next week seemed like the longest week of my life, and yet at the same time it seemed to go by very quickly. My brother and sister-in-law drove in from Maryland, so mom had all her children around her for that week. And ever since then I've been with mom every day, and time has passed surprisingly fast this past Winter/early Spring. Needless to say, I have been in a creative funk until very recently, when I finally felt my crafty mojo returning!

And this is the first project I have created since last Fall. It is a card I will be giving to an acquaintance as a thank-you. On the inside it is stamped with "Celebrate the Everyday". I also entered it into the weekly contest at CropChocolate.com. Details of that are listed below.

Crop Chocolate Challenge #59 - A Little Bit of Everything!

From DeeDee and Corrie:
Today's challenge is a "Little bit of everything" mix! Make sure your project includes buttons, ribbon and an image! Your image can be stamped, fussy cut or die cut. No specific theme or colors :)Products used: Bo Bunny Double Dot CS, Bo Bunny Gabrielle PP, & Chipboard; TH Distress Ink Gathered Twigs, TH Alcohol Ink Espresso; EP CS; MME Velvet Ribbon All from CropChocolate. Also: Anna Griffin Vellum Title, MS Punch, and from my stash-pearls, & button.

So thanks for stopping by and checking out the new post. Hopefully things have calmed down enough and I will be back here posting on a more regular basis!

Stay safe & be happy & healthy :)
-Char♥