Cool new project

Right now, this doesn't look like much, does it? It's the start of a cool new project. It will include stamping, but it won't be a card. I think it will take two more days to complete (drying time), but so far, I'm having a really good time. The burgundy and green piece (on the right) is two steps further along than the more colorful piece. I have a third piece drying, too, but I used a different material to paint on and I'm not sure that will be nearly as successful as this material is.

I won't tell you what these are going to be used for. I want it to be a surprise. And the end product will probably look nothing at all like these pieces. I painted them with Lumieres, a beautiful metallic paint that smells awful, like rotten eggs. It smells even worse when you iron on it. The piece on the left is olive green, grape, and blue gold. It will be detailed with citrine. The piece on the right is burgundy and olive green, detailed with bronze. I hate waiting for paint to dry.

My mother in law is hanging in there. God, that woman is one tough nut. We showed up on Saturday to visit her and she was having a very difficult time breathing. By the time we left, she was getting back to herself, and by Sunday, she was playing jokes and giving nurses a hard time. I'm sure it has something to do with all the positive thoughts and prayers people have been sending. My aunt and uncle sent me a Christmas card today and said they are praying. They also said "We believe in miracles." So do I. Every single day my mother in law is still with us and is still in good spirits and still has her wonderful personality is another miracle. The thing with my mother in law, this illness, I really think everyone keeps expecting her to just fade away, but honestly, she's going to go out with a bang. It's just her style. She is surrounded by love at all times. The nurses at the hospital adore her. Her doctor gives her hugs and kisses and she calls him her angel. Her doctor has a nurse practitioner who sits with my mother in law and tells her she loves her and hugs her. She also has a room full of visitors every night - most of her family shows up on a daily basis. How can miracles not happen for someone like that?

I'm lucky. I have a wonderful relationship with my mother and my mother in law. So many women have neither. I know how special it is to have a close connection with strong women and the strength that my mom gave to me (she thinks it wasn't her, but it was) and now the strength I'm seeing and learning from my mother in law, I am so incredibly lucky. I also have this daughter who is one of the neatest people I've known, and we have a great relationship, too. I don't know what I did in a past life to deserve so much in this one. Karma has been so kind to me. Life is good. I've started an altered book that I'm calling Love Life. I want it to be a celebration of the wonders of life.