Proof You Can Link Anything to Deceive

Many people have been lying about Antifa being a part of the Joe Biden campaign. I’m constantly seeing posts stating if you click on the Antifa link it will take you to joebiden.org. Most of these people don’t understand how easily they can be deceived.

 This is a example. This link shows it’s the Joe Biden website joebiden.org but, it will take you to a recipe for Beef Brisket. This is to prove a point to those who don’t understand how easy it is to deceive people. 

Jennifer's Progress After Chiari Surgery

I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update everyone. With all that has been going on at home and work, I just now found a little time to update everyone. I feel bad it's taken me so long. With all of the love, kindness, prayers, and well wishes from so many it made me feel bad not to update everyone until now.

Jennifer just returned to Ohio this past Tuesday for her post-op visit. Sadly, she had about 10 episodes of the "Chiari headaches". She felt a bit depressed by this, but I told her she still had a long recovery ahead of her and it will take time for the surgery to show results.

She tires easily, but she has been great about doing her therapy. It's painful for her to do the exercises, but she follows through with them as she knows it will help make her stronger and better. She let me take a picture of her head and wouldn't have minded if I shared it. I took the picture with my iPhone and cannot get it to my email. I don't know too much about the iPhone because I don't like cell phones too much and figure, why bother to learn all about it....lol. It was a gift from my daughter Jennifer and I must admit, I do like being able to test her when she is at work.

Jennifer is also experiencing some post-op blues. She is used to being an active and busy business woman and mom. Besides missing her routine of work and playing with her children, she is feeling a bit "frumpy" about her shaved head and long scar. Her sister and I are going to take her shopping when she can get out and about. We want to buy her a wig while she waits for her hair to grow out.This is something she will need to pick out.

After almost two weeks she is doing well. Of course, as a mom, I am concerned about some of the things she must be careful to remember. She is not suppose to lift or bend over. After her full recovery, she will also be limited to certain activities. She can no longer ride amusement park rides, jump on a trampoline and of course no Extreme sports of any kind. I'm looking forward to learning all that she has gone through will be worth it. In the meantime, I will go to work, get ready for the holidays, watch over my daughter's recovery and perhaps be able to squeeze in the time to do some of the crafty things we all enjoy.

Thank you everyone for the emails. Again, I apologize for not answering them, but I have read each and every one and they warmed my heart. It's nice to know there are so many thoughtful and kind people out there. Even though I've not met everyone in person; I know the hearts that have reached out to me and my family during the troubled times this year has brought to us. May God continue to  bless and keep each and every one of you. All of you a a lovely part of our family's blessings.




  

My Daughter's Surgery Day

I would like to thank all of you who sent well wishes love, thoughts, and prayers.  Jennifer has been in surgery for almost two hours. The University of Cincinnati Medical Center  has a large computer monitor with a number assigned as her surgery.  It's suppose to give us updates, but it just tells us her surgery is in progress.  The two hours  feels like ten. I'll try to keep everyone posted as I learn more. So many have asked how she is doing so I thought I will try to journal this day on my blog. I have a picture of Jennifer in her surgical dress...blue cap and all but I've not been able to upload it.

The surgery went well but the pain has been difficult on Jennifer. They managed to get the pain down to a 5 but when the medication begins to wear off her pain level escalates back up. They got her up last night and with assistance she was able to take a few steps. Today, they are going to begin physical therapy. She is having a lot of difficulty eating because of the intense pain she feels in her neck when she tries to swallow. The nurse said; she will need to change her diet to soft foods like ice cream, applesauce, and mashed potatoes.

All in all, things have gone very well. What Jennifer is experiencing is normal after this kind of surgery. It's just so hard on her to feel like she feels when she is the kind of woman who loves being on the go and she has already missed her children so much. She is looking forward to better days and a more normal life that will allow her to play with her children. She will always have certain limitations, but for the most part; these are things she won't really miss. She can no longer go on rides like roller coasters, jump on a trampoline, sky diving (which she would have tried at one time)..lol skiing, and other things like this. The most important thing is for her to be able to get in her back yard with her children and play some softball.

We will be with her today and part of tomorrow. It's going to be hard for me to go home with her still here in the hospital, but I know she is in great hands with the staff and her loving, caring, and one good man; her fiance.

Blessings and hugs to all,
Debbie

Papel Picado Wedding Invitation

Hello everyone, as this week approaches the day of Jennifer's surgery, I can hardly keep my mind on anything else. My dear husband suggested, I do some design work. It did help to get my mind to other places. I wish I could give her some moments of freeing her mind. She is, understandably, nervous. Our faith and prayers keep us strong. God knows we all need our minds re-directed to other things beside the thoughts of a long surgery and very long recovery. I think my daughter is most concerned about the long recovery. She is a very active woman and a mommy. She's already missing her children even though our travels won't take place until this Thursday.

While trying to keep my mind occupied I decided to work on a project one of my YouTube subscribers asked me about. She would like me to make a video tutorial on how making a Papel Picado wedding invitation tutorial. With all that has gone on and will be going on, it may be a bit of time before I can make the video tutorial. I did take the time to create and cut one out. They are lovely invitations, but I must say; they are very time consuming to cut and design.

The techniques of design are fairly basic. The most difficult task is making everything fit so it welds, cuts nicely and has a wedding look into it. With all of the intricate details of a Papel Picado you want to have pretty and intricate designs, yet you want to be careful not to go too far. For example; If I would do this over I would make the doves solid and place so heavier designs into the doves. Also, I would use a new blade and be sure to double cut when using a heavier card stock.

I started out with a rectangle measuring 5 x 7 then did an internal offset. From here I began choosing design elements. In the picture below I used the rose flourish for the top, but I also made one using wedding bells ( I forgot to take a picture of the wedding bell Papel Picado) I then worked on the placement of the doves, creating the border edged with some flower shapes and circles that I welded to the edge of the 5 x 7 rectangle. Now all that is left to do is to make sure I have plenty of room for the wording. I used the Adobe Garamond font to create the wording. Arial Bold would also work. Remember, when you weld you must weld to a "compound path". When I made the internal offset of the 5 x 7 rectangle I selected both the inside and outside of the rectangle, right clicked, and selected, "make compound path". This will make it possible for you to weld you border and inside elements to create the card. Another thing to remember when welding is to make sure your elements slightly overlap the areas you will be welding to create the look you want.

I'm looking forward to making another Papel Picado and have learned a few things along the way. When we send out wedding invitations it can be anywhere from ten to hundreds. I would not want to make hundreds of these without the help of some crafty friends who own a Silhouette cutting machine. I would also not like to weed out the hanging chads like I had to do for this one. Next time, I will use a brand new blade, make the elements a little heavier and yet maintain its intricate design, and I will always double cut....lol.

When you look at the photo below you'll be able to see all of the areas that were in need of welding to complete the card and the look. If you decide to try making one of these, I would love to see your design.

As you can see below, I took many pictures of this project. I created a cover for the wedding invitation with a paper band to hold it closed. You can't really see the lovely, sparkling crystal beads placed on the band. The beads did add that special touch needed to make such a lovely wedding invitation look even more special.

I almost forgot to tell you the meaning of Papel Picado. It means to punch out of paper. Just imagine how many of these lovely wedding invitations and other Papel Picados were made by hand. Each delicate detail was cut by hand. Thank goodness! We have cutting machines.

What A Year

For those who have been trying to reach me by email; I apologize for the lack of response. I just got out of the hospital. All I can say is; "What a year!"

My dear husband and daughter both had appointments. My husband was scheduled for surgery this past Friday and of course, as many might recall my dear daughter, Jennifer had her appointment in Ohio regarding her diagnosis of Chiari on Thursday. On Tuesday of this week I began having horrible left flank pain. I went to work, but the pain became almost unbearable so I made an appointment to see my doctor. He thought I had diverticulitis, pancreatitis, or cholectytis since my appendix had already been removed. He sent me to the hospital for a CAT scan which revealed I have a rare condition named; "Epliotic Appendagitis".

The morning I learned my diagnosis the pain had become more severe, my doctor was ill and had to leave work so I went to "Dr. Google" since the nurse could not explain what was going on and told me my doctor wanted me to go the Emergency Room to be admitted. As I read the information on this condition I learned it was self-eliminating with time, pain meds, and anti-biotics. He had already prescribed me two anti-biotics so I tried taking Ibuprofen for pain, used a heating pad, and of course took my anti-biotics. I had no appetite, but forced myself to eat some chicken noodle soup. Obviously, I had decided to try this first. I should have went to the ER. By morning I was so very sick to my stomach and in pain beyond words. My husband took me to the ER and they admitted me to give me IV anti-biotics, and pain medication. The surgeon wanted me to have yet another CAT scan. It was so horrible since I was (please excuse the graphic wording) projectile vomiting. My husband was beyond upset with the state I was in. I was so sick, drugged up on Dilaudid and yet I was awaiting news from my daughter who was now in Ohio and waiting for her test results and second consultation.

I asked them to please not give me anymore Dialudid until after I spoke to my daughter. Finally, I heard from Jennifer and the news was what we expected. She will have surgery on November 7th. They will make a one inch incision behind the base of her skull, through the Dura and place a patch that will expand the skull area so her brain will no longer lie on her C2 vertebrae. She'll be in the hospital for about 5 days. The recovery time will be about eight weeks and the hospital will be sending out a visiting nurse and social worker two days a week. We are all going to pitch in to help her recover and take care of all the home and family things she would normally be doing.Please keep her in your prayers.

Back to the other part of this story. After I heard from my daughter, she offered to take my husband to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning so he could have the surgery on his foot. She is the sweetest, kindest, and thoughtful child/person. We hated asking her to do this, but our other daughter who lives in town has a three year old and college classes so after classes she picked up Jennifer's children from daycare and took care of them while Jennifer went with my husband and came up to check on me. Our grandchildren were out of school on Friday. Can you believe the timing of everything.

The doctor wanted me to stay in the hospital one more day.I practically begged to be released so he told me if  I could keep lunch down he would let me go home. Before this I had not had anything to eat or drink for 48 hours. I ate a small lunch (admittedly, I had to fight my body and brain to keep this lunch down) I made it home before I was sick again. The good news is, my husband is in pain, but doing well for a man who just had his foot cut open, a screw placed in it and stapled back together, my pain scale went from w big 10 to a 5 and I know each day will bring us all to better health.

There is no true reason for "Epliotic Appendagitis". I'm not obese, so the surgeon believes it may have been brought on by all of the physical work we've been doing around our home since the remodel. The best way to explain this is: our bodies have adipose (fat pockets) that protect the peritoneum (lining of our colons) each of these pockets have a blood supply with veins and arteries. These veins and arteries attach to the peritoneum and provide a blood supply. The ones in my body suddenly became twisted and turned creating bulges, inflammation, and infection. Thus the excruciating pain, The surgeon will not do any surgery unless I have a recurrence. I'm thankful for this and now am praying to have a quick turn around. This can last anywhere from 10 days to 4 weeks. Since even the nurses at my doctor's office and in the hospital had never heard of this I thought I would draw up a picture I hope explains it better. I sure am glad this is rare. I hate to think of anyone getting this.

If I wasn't the one living this past year I would not believe all of this could be going on in one family. Thank you all for your love, thoughts, and prayers,

More Card Shares - Geo and Braided Cards

Some time ago I shared a lot of  "Geo" shapes on the Silhouette Plus Forum. In my efforts to organize the member file shares, I lost or deleted them. One of our members posted a challenge on braided cards which reminded me of past shares and had me searching for the Geo shapes. After I couldn't locate them on the forum I searched in my files. Sure enough, right there in a folder with its own name, "Geo Shapes" were the files. I took the files and made card files of them so I could share them here with all of you and on the Silhouette Plus forum.

You can decorate/ embellish these cards in all sorts of fun ways. I cut all of these out them without placing any time to embellishing them. I just wanted to be able to show a sample of the various card styles so you all could see if you wanted to give them a try.

Three of the four Geo and Braided card file is in one file. I forgot to share the "Heart Geo" card file so I went back to the drawing board to make it. Both sets of files are in Studio V2 and V3 formats. I hope you all find lots of fun and creative things to do with these card files.

Oh, I almost forgot to explain how easy they are to make. Once you cut the card file, all you have to do is go counter clockwise tucking the larger of the cuts under the smaller cuts. On the braided card you do the same except you start at the top, fold down the triangular cut and tuck it into the smaller cut below it. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Have a wonderful, crafty day.

One more little note; if you have never visited the Silhouette Plus forum, please sign up and stop in for a visit. You'll find loads of helpful information, inspirations, and free cutting files.

Here is the link to download the Geo.Braided, and Heart Geo card cutting files: Download Here

Pop Out- Not Pop Up Card, Update, and Silhouette Mat Tip

Hi Everyone, I hope all have been doing well. Today, I want to blog about a couple of things and share a fun card and instructions.

First, I want to update everyone about my daughter. Sadly, we still have no conclusive news or updates. After my daughter's trip to the Mayfield Clinic in Ohio they decided she needed two more tests ran because of some of their findings from her MRI. She will return to the Mayfield Clinic this week. I'll let everyone know what we learn. Many thanks to all of you who have kept my dear daughter, Jennifer in your thoughts and prayers.

Now for the Silhouette mat tip. I've been so busy and end up squeezing in time for crafting and creating. While I was trying to make some Print and Cut cards my mat was becoming less and less sticky. I didn't want to stop to spray it with some repositionable spray so I grabbed my blue Painter's tape, tore off some small pieces and placed them on the four corners of my mat. I made sure not to cover any part of the registration marks. It worked like a charm and I proceeded to cut all of the rest of the Print and Cuts in this manner. The nice thing about using the tape is that it can be re-used. I just placed it on the edges of my craft table.


At last, the card. I saw an adorable birthday "Pop-Out" card on Creation by Patti Blog. She makes the most wonderful cards and crafts. I loved to visit her blog. After I saw her adorable birthday "Pop-Out" card I decided to make my own cutting file and make a couple of Halloween cards. Patti didn't have any instructions on her blog, but I remembered doing one like this some time ago. It can be tricky to get just right. If you make the angles of the folds correctly, your images will pop out to the left and right. For those new to this technique I would recommend making a sample card with scraps first. It is important to follow the instructions to a tee. Make sure to tuck a small piece of the upper corner under the "band" that holds the "center card in place. Make sure you don't glue the slits at the top portion of the card. It's where the images will pop out to the side.

I've created a template of the Halloween Pop- Out Card with the face of Frankie I used for my boxes. I'm sorry but, I couldn't share the card front image it's copyrighted. I'm sure all of you have some fun Halloween images to use for the front of your cards.

When you pull up on the center "message" or "Image" part of the card Up and Out! goes the arms or any image you choose.

The instructions are included inside the zipped file. It also contains Studio V3 and V2 cutting files. If you would like to give this card a try; you can download it here ---> Halloween Pop-Out Card

Here's some pics. Please make sure to hop over to Patti's blog to see her adorable Birthday Cake Pop -Out card.