My Dad, My Hero ...

It has been two years ago today. It's difficult to believe that the time has gone so quickly. And the second anniversary of my dad's passing just so happens to fall on Memorial Day. Quite fitting ...

I have to also say a heartfelt thank you to so many of you who have sent me support and well wishes since his passing. You have no idea how much they have meant to me and how much your comments have given me encouragement and strength. You are all the BEST!!

I am fortunate that I only live a couple of minutes below the cemetery. It gives me the opportunity to visit Dad more often than just on Memorial Day.

I am also very grateful for all the men and women who have given so much of themselves to defend our freedoms. And to the families who support them. Today is YOUR day!!

Stamps: Tiny Tags
Paper: Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red
Accessories: Cricut Stand and Salute, Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder, Rhinestone Embellishment, Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon, Star Eyelet/Brad, Linen Thread

Remembering Dad ...

While I was doing my 10-day blitz of UnAward Winning Projects, Memorial Day came and went. It just so happens that the one-year mark of my dad's passing also fell on that weekend (May 30). I took some lovely yellow flowers and a card to my dad to mark the occasion. I feel so fortunate to live a few short minutes' drive from where he is buried. I drive by often. Sometimes it is just to drive by, others I get out of the car and stay for a little visit.

This card is a pretty close "direct case" of one done by my friend Jenn Diercks. I very rarely (almost NEVER) case cards anymore, at least not very closely. I may get an idea, technique or layout from someone, but I usually twist it all around and make it my own. I loved Jenn's card so much, however, that I didn't change a whole lot on it. It just seemed the PERFECT thing for my dad and Memorial Day. See?

Jenn's Awesome Card

So that is that. I know it's kinda weird, but making cards for my dad helps me to feel closer to him somehow. Love you, Dad!

Stamps: Rough Edges Alphabet
Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Real Red, Crumb Cake (formerly known as "Kraft"), Pattern Pack III
Ink: Night of Navy
Accessories: Small Star Punch, Large Star Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder, Playground Button, Linen Thread, Corner Rounder Punch, Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, Scor-Buddy, small rhinestone stickers, circle cutter

Dear Dad . . .

I woke up this morning and the weather reflected exactly how I felt . . . dark, gray, with a sky full of tears.

As I look out the window now, the sun is peeking through patches of blue sky . . . reminding me that no matter how sad I feel without you today, the sun WILL shine, the birds WILL sing and we WILL be together again.

I love and miss you.

Happy Father's Day

Your loving daughter,

Wendy :)

Stamps: Print Pattern, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Short & Sweet
Ink: Soft Suede
Paper: Soft Suede, True Thyme, River Rock, Riding Hood Red, Ruby, Red, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Sewing machine, 3-heart punch, large and small oval punches, Spellbinders Small and Large Deckled Rectangles (S4-201 and S4-202), EK Success Zig Zag border punch, Cuttlebug "You" embossing folder, vanilla organza ribbon, pop-up glue dots

Thanks & Grads

You all have NO idea how your comments on my blog over the past several days have helped me through one of the most difficult weeks of my life! I have a Blackberry, you see, and as I was running around making funeral arrangements and picking up various family members at the airport and such, my Blackberry would ping me every single time another lovely comment was posted here. Those comments were such a HUGE lift . . . a true blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As if my dad's passing and funeral weren't ENOUGH, my darling daughter had an appendicitis attack while we were at his viewing. I spent the entire night on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in the Emergency Room at the children's hospital with her. As her symptoms were atypical, they were testing her ALL night long (after we had waited in the waiting room for over THREE hours!)! By the time they had actually determined that it WAS appendicitis, it was 5:30 a.m. (we got there at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night). She didn't get into surgery until just after 9:00 a.m. By the time she got out of recovery it was approximately 10:30 a.m. My wonderful sister in law came and did the "mom fill in" for me while I rushed home, got cleaned up and drove out to my dad's funeral (I had been up for about 30 hours at this point). Did I mention that I was speaking at the funeral, too? By the time we had the funeral, drove to the graveside service, drove back to the church for a dinner provided by the church members then came home, changed clothes and went back to the hospital it was about 7:00 p.m. It took a while to get settled in . . . we had several visitors and the nurse had to hook my daughter up for the night. When did I get to bed? About 10:45 p.m. . . . a mere 41 hours since I had gotten up the day before!! I will NEVER use the term "exhausted" lightly again!!

Here is the graduation announcement I made for my son. Being cheap . . . I mean FRUGAL . . . I decided it would be better to make our OWN announcements instead of having to pay Jostens to make them for us! Here is what I came up with . . .

I did the "West High School - Class of 2009" medallion using WordArt in MS Word. The panther was something I scanned that is actually the icon that the school uses.

For the inside, I just created the photo panel and graduation info using Word Perfect (I don't usually use MS Word - actually, I kinda HATE the program, but I DO like the WordArt feature). I was pretty proud of this, too, because I took the photo on the left and the photo in the middle. LOVE how they turned out! I ended up making about 60 of these babies!! Watercolor paper is so much fun to work with. I'm just sad I couldn't run it through my printer. It is waaayyyy too thick!!

Stamps: None!
Paper: Watercolor, Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red
Ink: Printer ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Small Classic Circle Nestabilities (S4-116) and Large Labels (S4-168), 1 3/8" circle punch

Again . . . thanks, dear friends! You have brightened my days and lightened my burdens . . . HUGS to you ALL!

I Love You, Dad . . .

After years of chronic heart disease and a valiant life well lived, my dear sweet father returned to his heavenly home yesterday. I was looking through some photos on my computer this morning trying to find something that would be suitable for his obituary when I came across this photo of the two of us taken Christmas Day 2007. What a treasure this will be to me, as I didn't think I had any pictures of the two of us together that weren't from when I was 10 years old (as I am usually the one BEHIND the camera). This brought me to tears, yet I am so grateful that I have it, as I will treasure it all my days.

I love you, Dad. Your absence will leave a hole in my heart and you will be missed by so many who loved you dearly. I will always be your little girl . . .

Robert Ross Rantz
May 13, 1947 - May 30, 2009

Wedding Favors & Update

My sister-in-law's niece is getting married on June 8. The bride-to-be and her mother found these lovely little embossed favor boxes (if you click on the picture it will blow up bigger and you will be able to see the embossing on the box) and asked me if I could come up with something in her wedding colors that would dress them up a bit. This is what the final product looks like . . . I thought that embossing the flowers and petals looked really pretty. I also ordered these super large pearl stickers online only to have them arrive MUCH smaller than the ones in the picture I had seen. Luckily, the vendor was able to correct the error on the order and ship me replacements. Whew!! I was a bit worried for awhile there . . .

I ended up making 140 of these (they are being handed out at the wedding lunch). This box shows you half of them . . . I think that they look pretty cool all lined up in the box. It makes me feel like I really accomplished something!!

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: 5-petal flower punch, 1/2" circle punch, 10mm pearl stickers, Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder, celery organza ribbon, glue dots, pop-up glue dots, favor boxes

I was really glad that I finished these up last Tuesday before my dad went to the hospital, which brings me to the update . . .

We have been keeping a steady vigil at the hospital. It appears, after all that has been done for him, that in all likelihood he is not going to wake up. We have a neurologist coming in today to give us an assessment, but I am not feeling too hopeful. My heart is breaking. I have always been "Daddy's Little Girl" and I can scarcely imagine what it is going to be like without him around to give me advice and great big bear hugs. I cannot express enough how much I have appreciated all of the well wishes and prayers that you all have offered to me over the past several days. They have sustained me through this very difficult time. You are all the BEST!!

I am hoping and praying for a miracle, but am resigned to whatever the outcome may be. I am grateful for the faith that has helped me through this, as I don't know how else I would have survived this week. Blessings and many thanks to all of you . . .

- Wendy :)

Yet Another Hinged Card . . .

This card is going to be a very QUICK "fly-by" . . .

I did this card for TLC222, where Lynn linked my tutorial for how to make these fun little gems! I knew I had to play! Since it was Memorial Day, I was feeling patriotic . . . hence the theme of the card . . .











And here it is opened up . . .

I am not sure exactly when I will post again, as I am in the hospital on a vigil with my family on behalf of my dad. His heart stopped yesterday (he has had heart troubles for many years), and they weren't able to get it started until they arrived at the hospital. We are currently awaiting neurological testing (which won't start until late tonight/early tomorrow) to see if there is significant brain damage, as we are not quite sure how long his brain went without oxygen. Sorry for the personal nature of this post . . . it is just that I appreciate all of you who follow/comment on my blog and I wanted to let you know WHY there may be a lag for a few days. There is an internet connection at the hospital, but for some reason my Mac is not playing nicely with it. I have a few more things I COULD share with you, just not sure I will be able to (I will be doing a lot of sitting/waiting/praying over the next several days, so I am sure if I can get the 'net to cooperate, I will have time to share something with you all).

Thanks to all of you for all of your encouragement and support in everything I do. You are terrific!!

Stamps: Everyday Classics by Papertrey and Patriotic Background by Rubbernecker
Paper: Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White Craft
Accessories: tylized Silver hodegepodge hardware (star brad), 1/2" circle punch, zigzag border punch by EK Success, large and small star punches, red striped ribbon by SU, pop-up glue dots