Painted Paper

Inspired by a book by Alisa Golden, I recently painted large sheets of watercolour paper with acrylic inks.  My sister, Dianne, encouraged me to use colours for Christmas cards, and this is how the large sheets ended up:

Although not very awe inspiring as they are, they start to look better when they are cut into small pieces:

Working on the middle piece, I cut it up into "inchies", stamped on it, and made this Christmas card:

For Now, Another Blog

It might be the beginning of a book, or it might just be therapy.

I recently wrote a post pondering how to help others who are coping with the care of an Alzheimer patient.  There are so many issues and so many opportunities that I'm still pondering.  For now, though, I've started another another blog, where I can begin quickly to share what I've learned and investigate some of these issues.

If you know someone in this position, they might want to follow me at When the Doctor Says "Dementia".

One Lucky Girl

Yes, that's me - one lucky girl!

My husband and I are off to China on Wednesday for three weeks.  In addition, he has just finished our kitchen renovations, and I love my new "home".  I guess I do spend quite a bit of time there. 

Here are some before and after shots.  Try the slide show.

Wondering How To Help

As I look back over the last five or more years and my journey with my mother's Alzheimer Disease, I am still struck by the stress I suffered and the toll that it has taken on my health and well being.  But now, as I begin a new chapter in that journey and as I learn about the disease, I realize how much of that stress originated in my ignorance about so many things.  And because I faced so much of it alone and in ignorance, I wonder how I might help others going through this experience.  Oh, how wonderful it would be to spare one person that suffering!

My husband says that I should write a book about all that I have learned.  I have so much still to learn about the disease, and much of what I learned over the last five years is about dealing with the local health professionals and system where my mother lived.  A book is a long-term project and mine might be too localized to be of broad assistance to anyone.  But I haven't ruled out the option.

I have learned that there are volunteer opportunities with my local Alzheimer Society, and there are also advocacy opportunities:  to help raise awareness, to educate decision-makers and influence public policy.

I continue to learn about the disease and the statistics about the affect of this on our society as we baby boomers age are frightening.  I'm also learning about the support programs offered by the Canadian and BC Alzheimer Societies.  One of these is a message board, and through that I'm learning about the challenges of caring for an Alzheimer patient in your home.

And while I do this learning, I'll continue to ponder how I might help in an effective way.

Any suggestions?

Another Christmas Card

This is a simple card with the image and words embossed in silver, and the image coloured with gel pens.  The image has been mounted on green card stock before adding it to the card.

Christmas in August

Not really, but some of us who make our own Christmas cards get started early!  I'm not usually one of those people, but I had a few designs to try out and lots of new Christmas stamps from last year's Hawaiian vacation, so here's my first card for 2009!

Another Photoshop Trick

This colour photo has been turned into black and white and then selectively recoloured for emphasis.

Granville Island Public Market