Medical Update

Hello all,

Well I am home, sorry I didn't get right back to what was happening. Well the Gallbladder has been removed and the next day they went back in with a scope through my mouth to remove a 1 cm gall stone that was lodged in my bile duct that leads from the liver to the small intestines. Then it was a day for recovery and finally home. I have 5 small punctures from the Gallbladder surgery which are healing fine. No stitches just glue and those no stitch tape to close the wounds. The one just above my belly button is the largest and still some what sore 10 days later. My family doctor is amazed at how quickly I am healing and back to my regular day. I did take it easy, my husband took last week off to help me at home with the day-home kids so I didn't lift anyone but this week I have been doing it all on my own. Today was a big test as it snowed and I had no choice but shovel my drive way and steps for the parents. I only did half my driveway as it is huge and can fit 3 cars in it. Wasn't to bad but a little strenuous.

The hardest part has been getting back into my school work. I was hoping that I would have my schedule worked out before I started full swing with all the kids since that first week of the New Year I only had 2 children here but of course that is when I ended up in the hospital. So slowly I am getting it done. It is a little hard as the 2 littlest ones are being difficult. My grandson plays fine and doesn't need me to entertain him but the little girl I watch has a crying fit every time I get up from the coach to go out of the room. Need to some how break that habit of hers as it makes a very noise house and difficult for me to make lunch let alone go to the bath room or check on the older children. Think it is a form of separation anxiety but from what her parents say she does it at home too.

So far the classes I am taking are very much review for me but that was intentional. I wanted to take it slow so I could get everything to work in my life. I am learning some neat things about Windows 10 that I was not aware of before. There are some neat features with it now which will come in handy with taking notes while I read my textbook since it is all online. I prefer taking notes on the laptop then writing them down, tend to retain the information better that way as I know from previous experience.

I have a BIG crop this Saturday and can't wait for tomorrow, I so need the time to create. I will try to remember to take pictures and everything for my next Blog post. Then I need to start doing some individual crafting posts. As well as be creative for a Blog Hop I hope to be involved in. Might work on some of that on Sunday.

Well God Bless you all and have a marvelous Weekend!!

Life Happens

I had every intention of a new post with some great photos and then BAM life happens. As of right now I am sitting in a hospital room waiting for surgery. Not sure what day that will happen on but was told to expect to be here until Monday. Right now I am being monitored and will have additional blood work in the morning to see how my liver function is. But here is the kicker, my liver is not the problem my Gallbladder is. Either there is a Gallbladder stone in the bile duct blocking the liver from functioning correctly or my Gallbladder is enlarge to the point it is narrowing the bile duct from the liver causing it to malfunction. Either way the Surgeon has said my Gallbladder has to come out. Since all my pictures on at home on my computer I can only write a post from the hospital on my laptop.

I have yet to hear how this will change my lifestyle but I know it will. I know there are foods I can no longer have, and others that will be limited. I LOVE food and to cook or bake so I am a little sad by this. But excited too because some of what I have read talks about experiencing weight-loss after the surgery. That to me is a plus LOL.

If have a private room in the Maternity ward which is strange to me to be in with all the new mom's and babies. Its pretty quite amazingly. But then, hopefully the babies are all sleeping so the moms can get some rest too. Also due to it being Flu season there are no visitors allow under the age of 16 and only 2 at a time per room. That helps keep the noise down too I am sure.

Well I should probly get back to my school work since I have uninterrupted time currently. God Bless you all and I will posted again, hopefully after the surgery with an update. Hopefully I can get back to the craft blogs soon!!

Christmas T-Shirts

December was a hard month. My numbers in my day-home are down and that puts quite the squeeze on extra spending let alone needed spending. My saving grace is the fact I teach classes at Michaels and have a discount on all I buy there. This year I figured I would make everyone their presents.

I own a Cricut Maker and Easy Press so I figured that everyone will get T-shirts. I made about 3 each for my 2 youngest daughters, one for my eldest daughter and for her husband, my son-in-law.

Now V loves Dragons and to Read, she is a voracious reader. For her shirts I looked around for some quotes and different Dragon images. The first is done using Cricut Gold Foil HTV and Sisser Green Glitter HTV. Wyrm is another way of saying Dragon. It really is a play on words :) The next shirt is a done with Sisser Black Glitter HTV. The words and images were cut out using the Cricut Maker and adhered to the shirts with the Cricut Easy Press.

C on the other hand loves Unicorns, horses and Alacorns(winged unicorns). The first shirt is Cricut Black HTV and Cricut Mulicolour Glitter HTV. The blue T-shirt has an Iron-on decal from Cricut on it and the final shirt is made with Cricut Gold Foil HTV, Cricut Purple, Pink and Aqua Glitter HTV.

These were so much fun to make and the girls loved them. Unfortunately I did not get pictures of the ones I made for the adults but they too were enjoyed and made specifically with their interests top of mind. M was a Griffondor logo from Harry Potter and my son-in-law was one of his favourite quotes from Father Ted, a TV show in Ireland.

I also put names on small stockings for each of my day home children and I am currently working on putting their name on stuffies for Valentines day. I have many other projects that I have either created for trade shows, ones planned and others that need to be completed. 

Stay tuned for more pictures of my work and things available for sale!  God Bless

What's New for 2019

January brings a NEW Close To My Heart catalog. The Seasonal Expressions and it is down right amazing! Jeanette, the founder and CEO of CTMH is celebrating 35 years of creativity and running this incredible company. From the beginning where she crafted stamps in her kitchen and sold them at trade shows to the International company it is today. Check out the link below for the catalog.

Other big new for me is that I am starting School! I will be taking my Bachelor of Management in Human Resources and Management. Thankfully I am able to take it online through an accredited University here in Alberta and still remain at home running my Day Home. It will take me longer then if I went to the local University but the fact I still need to work while I study was the deciding factor on what institution I selected. So my already busy life is about to get busier.

As of April of 2018 I am teaching night classes at Michaels on how to use the Cricut Explore and Maker machines with Cricut software Design Space. So far I have run about 20 classes and they seem to be successful. I start again on Monday January 7 with my Basic Design Space class for all the new owners of Cricut cutters. I really enjoy teaching these classes and designing the content for each. This year I have several Maker only classes to teach as the Maker has several blades/features not found on or available to the Explore line. This means I need to learn how to use a sewing machine, LMAO. But I love the challenge.

Lastly, I am hopeful that I will be involved with a CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop that has consultants involved from all across Canada. I really need to get back in the game when it comes to my paper crafting, it kind of fell by the wayside during 2018.

So all that I need to do now is make a schedule and stick to it to accomplish everything I have committed myself too. Of course I have other goals in mind and may share them with you during a future post. God Bless and have a Happy New Years Day!!

https://shanasanregret.closetomyheart.ca/ctmh/products/online-idea-book.aspx

building and continuing my Business

I am still with Close To My Heart, celebrated 5 years in August of 2017. Gone through many ups and downs with building my business with them. But I am currently on an upswing and hopefully be able to keep it there. I have several people join my team and then leave, now I am rebuilding again. The next couple that I will be working with are all in different small towns. This means that coaching them and teaching them might be difficult if it wasn't for technology today. There are so many different ways now to connect with people in different areas of the country or world, it is simply amazing. I will use appear.in, I have my own channel there that is completely private that I can then show them different techniques, how to use tools etc.

Besides building my team I am also working on the class or customer side of my business. I have finally found a location that I can hold once a month all day crops at no cost. It is at a local Church, they just rebuilt their building and have a beautiful kitchen/multipurpose room for me to use. It has been great so far. I plan to donate a bunch of my supplies that I no longer use for their kids to craft with. It will be my thank you to them. It has been slow to get people there but each month I increase by one or two.

I have a huge event planned for NSD this year! So far I have had great interest, now I just need people to register and pay the fee and it will officially be GREAT. I have several draws planned from other local Direct Sellers to help them reach new customers too. So far 7 different companies will be represented. All proceeds from the sale of tickets for the draws will go to Operation Smile, which is a CTMH charity to help fix dental issues in 3rd world countries. The event will also be catered. I am super excited for this as I have been trying for the last 5 years to have one of these.

Next I will fill you in on other neat opportunities that have started happening for me.

I am Back!!!

Holy Cow, what a crazy time it has been. I had to do an account recovery to get access back for my Blog!! So much has happened and now so much more is changing LOL. It would take way to much time to catch you all up so I am going to just start tomorrow with now and what I have planned and what is coming up. Really there is a lot to share with you on tools, some my other media I am on and all my creativeness. Please stay tuned to see what amazing thing await you and me on my continual creative journey!!

Where have I been

My dear followers this past year as been an incredible journey and I am sorry that I did not take you along for the ride. Much creating has gone on and trying different mediums. Ended up very busy with teaching classes, trade shows and growing my Close To My Heart business. Not sure what changed but it took off like crazy and left me spinning. Was just able to keep up with other commitments I was in but unfortunately this fell by the wayside. Currently in the process of designing a web page that will include my business and my blog all into one, once I have a link to share with you I will post it here and you can follow along on the ups and downs of me learning how to design, create and post my site. Should be an exciting adventure and hope to have it somewhat running by February.

God Bless and thank you for sticking with me even when I seem to disappear

Shana