Sunday, June 28, 2009

A Sucky Week

I really couldn't think of any other way to describe this past week except to be glad it is over. The deaths of Farrah, Michael and Billy (Mays) have left me so sad. As a teenager, I didn't know a boy my age who didn't have Farrah's famous poster on their bedroom wall. I watched on television since I was a little girl. Remember the Jackson Five cartoon? I've been hooked on "Pitchman" which starred Billy Mays since it first aired.

We also had our own shock in our home this past week. Curt had taken the week off of work and on Wednesday he complained that his right eye was really scratchy and bothering him. We thought it was allergies but if it continued we would have him see my sister who is an optometrist.

Right before dinner, he complained about a black spot he was seeing and that his vision was blurring. Luckily, my sister had an opening that evening and he went in to see her. She called and said, "He has a retinal detachment and it's very serious. He's on his way to a retina specialist." I knew what it was having a sister who is an eye doctor so I freaked out!

Curt called from the parking lot of the specialist's office, waiting for him to arrive and open up the office. He was really calm about it all. The doctor took a look and said he had to have surgery the following morning. The next morning the black area had grown significantly since the night before. Thursday morning we arrived at the eye clinic and the reattachment took 1 1/2 hours. He was awake for most of it. They reattached the retina which was torn in several places, pumped a gas into the eye to keep the retina attached and wrapped a band around his eye.

The hardest part of this whole ordeal is that he must keep that eye facing the floor to achieve the best results until the air bubble gets absorbed. I went out the same day and rented a chair that looks like a massage chair and he spends his day between that and laying with his head over the end of the couch with pillows supporting his head.

Thank goodness for his iPod where he has a lot of stored podcasts and movies to watch. He can't watch television or even read a book. He has to keep this position for one week or more depending on how fast he heals. It is getting harder and harder each day but we take it one day at a time. He can get up to eat and use the bathroom. At night, he must lay on either side. So I've been waking up every few hours to make sure he doesn't slip onto his back. He hasn't yet and each day he heals a little more.

He will have to learn to live with virtually little vision in that eye for 3 months or more. It takes that long to heal from a detached retina. It's a very serious condition and luckily we caught it quickly. He will be more near-sighted and will also develop cataracts at an earlier age.

If you want to see what an eye looks like after retinal reattachment surgery I took a picture of Curt's eye. But if you are squeamish, don't look!

On Friday, I got a call that my daughter and son-in-law's car had been rear ended while at a stop sign. It was a hard hit but luckily they were both wearing their seatbelts and they were on the way to pick up my grandson. It looks like the car may be totaled but at least they were unhurt.

I could do with a little less excitement. I did work on my maedeup while sitting in the waiting room and a number of people came over to ask what I was doing. I always find that fun to share with others.
The actual detachment caused absolutely no pain.

Monday, June 22, 2009

1. Cupcakes


I love cupcakes! This gorgeous cupcake is the work of Bakerella. Whereas this cupcake is meant to be enjoyed by one lucky mouth (sadly, it's not mine), I have found cupcakes that one can enjoy without the risk of unwanted calories. I am also here to prove the crafting and food go hand in hand.



How about a ceramic cupcake cookie jar!



My friend Holly makes the cutest lampwork beads.



I found this knitted cupcake here.


I will always be a big fan of polymer clay and what cuter than a polymer clay cupcake. You can see more here.

These cupcakes are made using two wash cloths. Aren't they cute? I found them in here.

These cupcakes are soap and made with shea butter. You can find them at LoveLeeSoap's etsy shop. I never knew you could create such things in soap. It makes me want to eat one. I have one of her cupcakes and I have to keep it away from my grandson. He thinks its the real thing.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Maedeup Bracelets



This week I finished some maedeup bracelets and added them to my Etsy shop. It was the first time I had an opportunity to do maedeup since returning to the States. It felt so good to have the cording wrapping around my fingers as I completed these bracelets. It is so relaxing and fun.

I had an interesting story from a visit to my local Hyundai parts shop. We had recently bought a used Hyundai Sonata but it can with no floor mats so I went to buy a set. The parts clerk was very friendly and asked how we came to buy a Hyundai and I told him of returning from two years in South Korea. He was surprised and had a lot of questions for me.

It turned out the mats were not in stock and had to be ordered. It wasn't an emergency so I was fine with ordering them. I also remembered that we had only received one key with the car so I asked him to make me a duplicate. He came back after a few minutes and said it was free because he felt bad that he didn't have the floor mats in stock. Wow! What a nice thing to do.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Sorted


I had all my buttons in a plastic shoe box for years now so I finally decided to take the time to separate them by color and put them into plastic compartment containers. I bought these at Menard's of all places but you can also use embroidery thread containers. It's the same principle.

I inherited a large jar of buttons that belonged to my Aunt and Grandmother when my Aunt passed away a few years ago which makes the buttons even more special to me. I also have a bunch of individual buttons that you get when you buy clothing and I end up having no idea what button went with what top. It sure is nice to have them organized.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Getting Organized


I bought a garment rack while living in South Korea to hang all my maedeup (Korean knotting) cording. It makes it easy to see what colors I have and it keeps the cording from getting tangled (well almost). I found the perfect hooks at Home Plus in Korea which is like a Super Target.

I had lovingly packed all the cording myself, rubber banding each bundle so that it wouldn't get tangled. I didn't trust the movers to just through it all in a box and that would have made a huge mess to unpack. It was wonderful to see everything again.

I am anxiously waiting for my maedeup book to come out as I've only seen a black and white copy which looked fantastic. You can preorder it at Amazon.


I also unpacked my chilbo (Korean enameling) supplies and I'm excited to get started with that also. This is a picture of the powdered glass with each color in it's own container. I bought these from my Korean chilbo teacher who was thoughtful enough to write the color on each container. The only problem is that I can't read Korean. Hannah, my Korean friend wrote 'T" on the transparent colors which will save me a lot of headaches.


The only thing I didn't have for chilbo was a kiln so I researched and ordered a Paragon Kiln. You need a window to watch the chilbo melt. You have to know when it is done by looking at it not by how long it is in the kiln.

I am also selling some of my books on Ebay. I can't wait to get crafting!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

H1N1


My husband's job involves traveling to Asia from time to time. It was much easier when we lived in South Korea and the time difference was only 1 hour instead of 14 hours. Since the bird flu scare a few years ago, his company has provided a few days worth of Tamaflu in his travel kit.

His most recent trip was to China and because of the H1N1 virus his company gave him a additional ziplock bag to his travel kit. I took a picture of it which includes: Tamaflu, three masks, four disposable thermometers, an antiseptic spray and two pair of disposable gloves.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

You Can Play With Your Food



I was sent these pictures from my friend Franny in Indonesia. I never thought of food as being art but look what I was missing out on. I think everything looks too good to eat. While living in South Korea, I did see a television show once that documented food stylist students. I had never heard of a food stylist until that show and it was amazing what they did to make all that food you see on television and in print ads look so realistic. Enjoy!






























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