In February my good friend, Patti, had a brain aneurysm which was totally unexpected. She lives all the way across the country by herself so we're all thankful her son had been visiting that week so he was able to get her to the hospital. She just thought she was having bad headaches and wouldn't have gone otherwise. She made quite the comeback after surgery and was eager to get back to work.
There have also been several breakups/divorces among family and friends this year. It's really a sad thing to happen, especially when the break up is a bad one. I hate being in the middle of those and this time it was with my brother in law and his wife. It was brutal and I think my brother in law feels we should have ditched his now ex too. I can't be mean and unfriendly with someone who's done nothing to me but I guess some people think otherwise.
Several deaths occupied my 2012 as I'm sure it did many people. One was of a good friend from my high school years. He was gone within months of his diagnosis. I've known the family since I was 5 years old and his sister has been one of my best friends for many of those years. It was heartbreaking to feel the anguish and pain she experienced trying to cope day to day. My husband has not been well for quite a long time now and I feel he's giving up on trying to get better so every person's loss drives home that this could be me next and it scares me to death. I envy people that are strong and can go on despite tragedy and loss. I am not a strong person anymore.
On the upside, today is Halloween! One of my favourite times of year even though this post is not exactly cheerful. I hadn't realized until recently that I gradually stopped celebrating Halloween around the time my father died. It must be some type of psychological thing since today was also his birthday. I still love the day even though I don't decorate and party like I use to. I'm just too warped to stop liking it I guess.
I have done a few creative things this year. These are some of what I've done in the past few months.
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| I used some Viva Las Vegas Stamps on this ATC |
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| This was for a origami crane challenge in a art abandonment group. I left them along with a pocket calendar at our local Oncology center. |
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| This was for a Poe challenge. I used rivet embossing on a piece of copper metal sheet. I cut pairs of eyes out and placed them behind pieces of film ribbon then attached them to the card. |
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| I used the Tim Holtz bird and cage die for this one. I cut the cage and used the upper portion as a vase type vessel and put grassy shreds inside it to puff it out a bit. |
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| This is my first attempt at using digital graphics. The bat girl is from Tiddly Inks. I coloured and cut her out then added it to this digitally coloured background then added the words and moon embellishment. |
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| I made this Halloween tag as a make and take from the Collective Journey scrapbook store in Redlands, CA |
