Monday, July 28, 2008

The Chair


Awhile back Cookie Sunshine had a drawing and I was one of the winners of her prints.
This one is called "The Chair". You should go over and check all of Cookie's prints. She is such a talented artists and has oodles of followers.

THANKS COOKIE....I LOVE IT!

http://www.cookiesunshine.blogspot.com/

Thursday, July 24, 2008

AN AWARD AND A NEW COLLAGE



This collage was made with much love to inspire my wonderful daughter in law Lori, who is stuggling with her weight. She has recently started a new blog ** He Gives Beauty For Ashes ** to help her with this struggle. Please stop by and give her a word of encouragement.

This is an 8 x 10 chipboard background with ephemera paper embellished with a butterfly images, glitter, buttons and a face cab by Lin's Art and Clay Creations.

I am your BIGGEST FAN LORILOO!!

****************************************************************************************************************



I am truly touched and humbled to receive this award and I really don't know what to say. At the heart of blogging we each reach out in our unique way to share a message, encourage others, and try to spread a little sunshine, but often we are the ones relishing the much needed friendships that transpire, and it is heavenly to experience the joy of so much unconditional caring that goes on here.
Joni, I thank you for this gift.

...and now I get the privilege of passing it on to Seven Brilliant Bloggers who have repeatedly blessed me with their words and encouragement. ~ Please accept this award from my heart to yours ~

Friday, July 18, 2008

GREAT NEWS !!

First of all, thanks to anyone that sent that email asking the director of Hospice to keep their commetment to Cookie Sunshine to give her Mother a room. It worked! Her Mother will be moving in to Hospice next week.

Second of all, I don't know if any of you are familiar with the ZNE Network but I have been a member for a year . It is a network of artists that share techniques an tips and art and we learn from each other. I have learned alot from ZNE.
Today I was contacted by the one of the Group Leaders of ZNE with a wonderful compliment on my collages. She actually said my art is amazing! She actually bought the American Beauty Collage. She then ask me to share with the group, my technique in creating the collage in the Sharing Techniques forum of ZNE!

I was so honored by this request. She has been an inspiration to me with her wonderful work so this was very special to me. Oh she is also a member of Etsy and Ruebee.
If you are interested in joining ZNE, this is their link. http://www.znestore.com/page/page/5095933.htm

There are many things going on in the ZNE Network! Come on over and join!

These are the collages that she mentioned.

Rosie..SOLD 2 days ago

Little Faces..available on Etsy

American Beauty ...SOLD to Bernice at ZNE today

In Your Dreams....SOLD to a lady in Canada 2 weeks ago

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

HELPING A FRIEND IN NEED

I received an email from Cookie over at http://cookiesunshine.blogspot.com/
She is having serious problems with finding a new place for her Mother to live.
She has ask for me to post her post on my blog so that you can read the story and help if you would please. It will only take a moment to read and an email. I am sure she will appreciate it more than words can say.

Thanks

Here is her story.

July 16, 2008

Help Please

Dear Friends, Elizabeth needs your support. We are still in the middle of a crisis with her nursing home.

As you may remember, the residents of her nursing home have to be out by August 16th!

We found a place for her nine miles out of town and made a reservation on Monday, July 8th.

Then, on July 9th we were even more fortunate when we met with a nurse named Rebecca from Arbor Hospice who told us that she would place Mother on the waiting list for a room at Arbor Hospice. Obviously, Logan and I were concerned about being on a waiting list. You know, a bird in the hand vs two in the bush. But Rebecca assured us repeatedly after calling and talking with someone on the phone that she was positive that there would be a place for Mother by August 16th which was 5 weeks away at that time. Please understand that I have a reputation for flogging dead horses. I asked repeatedly to make sure that she knew what she was talking about and I made sure that she knew we were giving up a space at another nursing home. We also discussed that 72 other people were being displaced and that this would make it virtually impossible for Mother to find something agreeable if she was wrong.

Rebecca asked us if we would like to go ahead and sign Mother up for hospice care at the nursing home during the meantime while she was waiting for her room at Arbor Hospice. We decided this would be a good idea and this is what we did.

There were many reasons why this was the best decision but I am not going to take up your time listing them all here today.

Two days ago, a case worker named Pat Bower met with Mother, Logan and myself for a long while. I found it strange that the first thing she asked when she came into my Mother's room was about the neighborhood where I live. Why did she need to know about my neighborhood when she was visiting at my Mother's nursing home? Was she interested in my socio-economic status? That is what it felt like to me.

After our visit she invited me down the hall saying to my Mother that what she needed to talk with me about was private and probably something that we shouldn't talk about in front of her. I didn't care for the fact that she actually made a resident move and that she turned the television down so that we could have our conversation. The room is rather large and there was only one resident in the room. We could have chosen another place to sit instead of inconveniencing the resident.

At that point she proceeded to tell me that Mother was not going to have a room at Arbor Hospice and that the rooms at Arbor Hospice are not "used for her particular type of needs". All the while she was smiling! I heard myself say "why are you smiling" She said "I'm wasn't aware I was smiling" as she continued to smile! Excuse me? She qualified for your program, your organization is receiving funds to care for her needs, but you suddenly don't want to provide what was promised?

Understandably, I was quite taken aback by her comments and the suggestion that Arbor Hospice might not honor their original commitment to Elizabeth. I was shocked. But then I realized that this had to be a huge mistake!

The past two days I have been very busy talking with everyone I can and doing everything in my power to get this situation back on track. This morning I spoke with Sheila Hay who is one of the Directors at Arbor Hospice. She is working diligently to straighten this out. While I imagine that Ms. Bower was trying to do her job, she and I did not connect.

Mother does not know what is going on, but she does know something is up because there is so much activity with everyone being moved from Riverview. I was told by the Ombudsman on Sunday that the resident population was already down to 32. Yesterday I was told that the population is not that low and is still around 40 residents. I'm not sure of the exact number but people are being moved at a rate of two or three a day. Employees are finding new jobs and leaving as they need to go. Imagine trying to work in this environment and worry about your job security at the same time! Things are rapidly changing. Elizabeth feels the tension.

Logan and I are exhausted. We are eager to see Elizabeth settled once again and as I said earlier, I hope that this is all just a simple misunderstanding and that Rebecca's promise to us will be honored. We are looking forward to having Mother transferred to Arbor Hospice no later than August 16th. My sister Ann will be coming for a visit on or around August 14th and is looking forward to seeing Mother in her new room.

You've all been such wonderful friends to Elizabeth these past seven months with your cards and emails.

I have a request and I hope that you will do this.

Here's what I'm asking you to do for Elizabeth.

Will you please send an email to Arbor Hospice, thanking them for helping Elizabeth, letting them know that you would like to see Elizabeth settled as soon as possible. And will you please ask others to do the same.

Thanking you all in advance. The address for Arbor Hospice is below as well as a sample email that you can copy and paste if you like.

Hugs and Love,
Donna "Cookie" Gotlib

info@arborhospice.org

Dear Arbor Hospice:

I am a friend of Elizabeth Childree and am very concerned about the current situation surrounding her living arrangements. Please honor the commitments that your RN Rebecca made to Logan Hopper and Donna "Cookie" Gotlib last Tuesday, July 8th and move Elizabeth to a room at Arbor Hospice before August 16, 2008.
I look forward to reading in Cookie's blog that Elizabeth is safe and sound in her room at Arbor Hospice.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

RETIREMENT



This is my newest collage "Retirement".
After a life time of work retirement can make you feel a free as a butterfly !

8 x 10 on chipboard with Ephemera background acrylic paint and embellished a white butterfly and feather and a Face Cab created by Lin's Art and Clay



This is a closer look at the face cab. This was a different sort of collage for me but I enjoyed doing it.
It would look really good with just the right frame. It will be in my Etsy Shop later in next week.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

MY NEWEST COLLAGE

AMERICAN BEAUTY


This collage measures 8 x 10.
I recently purchased a box of vintage greeting cards and also the lid from a box of American Beauty Cards. The background of this collage is the vintage greeting card box. It is embellished with crystal adhesive swirls and on top of that is a Victorian love letter I printed on a transparent sheet. In the far left corner are real dried blackberry bush leaves.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

OLD HOSPITAL


This is an old hospital here in Coos Bay. Built in the 30's .
I fell in love with this building the first time I saw it. I didn't know at first that it was a hospital so I ask around and sure enough it was the old Coos Bay Hospital.
They told me in had been condemed. I called a realtor friend and ask him about it and he said that it was for sale.
He said it had a bid on it and the person that bid on it backed out of the deal.

I am totally facinated by it and I ask him if it comes on the market again if he would take me through it.
He said he would be glad to do that.

The price for this old hospital is $500,000.00
If I had the money I would buy it. There are all sorts of things a person could do with this beautiful old building.This is the building I was referring to in the mini meme I did awhile back.

If I had a billion dollars..
I would open it up for the ole and under privileged .

I would make one floor a free clinic.



I wonder so many things about it.
How many babies were delivered here and who were the doctors and nurses that worked here.
Where is the delivery room?


How many people died here and who were they.
Where is the Morgue?


How many lives were saved by the doctors that worked here.
How many were not able to be saved.
Where is the ER?


How many times did an ambulance pull up here.
How many patient rooms does it have?
Where is the newborn nursery?

Thinking back on all of these things it reminds me of when my Father passed away when I was a little girl.
Later in life I worked in the same hospital that he died in back in 1955.
I saw the room he died in and it was so small to me. It reminded me of a closet.
I saw the xray department where I found his xrays and report on them. Chronic Heart Failure was the diagnosis.

So this is a very old facinating building and I love it!

Do you have a building that facinates you?
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Thursday, July 3, 2008

HAPPY 4TH !!

Hope all of you have a safe weekend as we celebrate our freedom.


Thanks to our Veterans for making that possible.


We are so blessed to live in the land of the free.


Rockets Red Glare, Bombs Bursting in Air Gave Proof through the night that OUR FLAG was still there.




Bless our soldiers that are still fighting.




Pray the war will end soon and our soldiers will come home safely to their families .

Happy Independence Day to all of you.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

TINY RED SHOES


I was so inspired by my friend Nancy at Fete et fleur after seeing the tiny shoes she has been posting about and also my friend Cookie Sunshine over at The Cookie Sheet with her Mary Jane shoes that I decided to try to make a pair of my own.

They are made of clay and have paper insoles. They are 1 3/4" long . They look a bit tattered due to my inexperience but I will keep practicing. I glued them together and put a magnet on the back.

In this picture they are sitting in a lovely gift box with hand painted lid by a new friend, Suzan Landia. She also makes beautiful jewlery. You can find her at www.SuzanLandia.etsy.com This was fun to do.

They will be in my Etsy Shop tomorrow.