Altered Maya Road Tin

As you all know, I had surgery on my right arm a few months ago. The doctor said it could take up to a year to fully heal (which I think is finally beginning to set in). Four months later, I am just to the point where I can do some of my daily chores without a lot of pain. Don't get me wrong - so many things still hurt - but I can finally raise my arm and stretch. So I knew making Christmas gifts this year was going to be tough. I have improvised and only made a few instead of most like I normally do.

I have this wonderful local friend who is into bees. I am personally petrified of the little stingers (hello hospital, here I come)... but that is no reason to deny my friend! And I love to go over to her house, and she is always very calming for me when they come swarming and I start to panic.

For Christmas I decided to alter a Maya Road tin (I knew I was saving those for a reason). I also made her a set of bee magnets for her fridge. The tin was really simple, nothing too major - and the magnets, well... I discovered an awesome use for those page pebbles I have had in my stash for years (yes, I had to go hunt them down).

The magnets were so easy, I don't know why I didn't think of this before! I stamped my image, colored it in and then covered it with a page pebble. From there, all I had to do was trim and apply the magnet! I'm really sorry for the bad picture... guess I should have looked before I wrapped it up. Oopsie!

Can you believe...

That Christmas is next week? That also means that 2010 is right around the corner! I am not ready for either one. My house is a wreck, despite the fact I spent the majority of 2 weeks scrubbing it... my gifts are not done... my dinner isn't planned... and honestly, I don't know who all is going to be here for the holiday.


But, despite all that, I am thrilled that it's almost here!! I love this holiday, love giving gifts and I love seeing the smiles on people's faces and seeing them have a wonderful time together.


We have so many new traditions this year, I thought I would start another and this year I have been doing a December Daily album. It's digital (of course) because until this week I had only paper scrapped once in the past 4 months. I am proud to say that I changed that nasty habit (boy, I didn't realize how much I missed it)! So far I have made a layout, a card and altered a maya road tin. I don't seem to be having too much pain because of it. I hope that means my arm is on the mend.


At any rate, I will be back to share my December Daily later (when I get them finished next week). For now, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you get to spend time with your families and those you love. Remember it's not about getting the gifts - it's about the time you get to spend together.

I am alive

Well, so to speak...

It's been a long tough few months. I scrapped one paper page between August and December - that's it. Kinda sad when you think about it. But, I am happy to say that I've been smoking up a digital storm (since thats what my arm will let me do).

Since my surgery, I've still been in a great deal of pain - but I think I might be able to get back into the swing of normal life. Jeff had surgery and has been home, then the holidays quickly approached... and all of life's chaos ensued. The past couple of weeks I have been pushing hard to get my house cleaned up, spending every extra amount of energy I have that way. On one hand, it has been a great break, but I miss scrapping. I hope, now that the house is mostly clean and things are organized again (except for that extra room in my basement, but who is counting?) that I can get back to being creative. I know it will help my personality...

so starting tomorrow, I'm going to pull out the crafts again! Now, I just need to find inspiration! :)