When you think things can’t get worse, they probably can … it took us another couple of weeks to get over that nasty virus, and then my mother got worse again, and then had a fall, and then she died almost 4 weeks ago. I try to remind myself that she was 90, she had multiple health issues, she had been ready to go since last summer, and at last she is no longer in pain. The funeral was 10 days ago, so now I’m trying to get used to life without her.

The past 18 months had largely revolved around her, and the anxiety had stopped me doing almost anything creative, but she loved to see the results of my crafting, so I know she would want me to get back to it as soon as I can. We went to the spinning & weaving guild monthly meeting today (Saturday – though strictly speaking it is Sunday here now) – more of that in a later post, probably. I’ve also signed up for two drawing workshops, one next month and one in April. That’s scary!!!

[Edited to split into two posts; personal stuff moved to the next post.]

What have I done since I got home from today’s guild meeting, other than a bit of Indian cookery for dinner?  Well … a so-called ‘friend’ bullied me into submitting something for the All Things Unity challenge #24 - {FAVORITE stamp or set}, though it ended up being one heck of a rush to get it done before the deadline.  Fortunately, I do have a few Unity stamps.  I think my favourite is Linden Branch.  I decided that since I was so short of time, I needed to keep it simple, so I just made a bookmark.

I used fairly thick glossy cardstock, stamped the branch using Ranger Clear Resist, then used a piece of crumpled paper towel to rub Impress Old Rose dye ink over it, leaving the branch almost white.  Next I stamped it again using a no-name brown pigment ink.  I’d have liked to use a darker brown, but that is the darkest I have.  Then I went around the edge of the bookmark with the Old Rose dye ink to give it some definition.  Finally, I punched the hole and threaded pink ribbon through it.  It’s the wrong shade of pink, but again it was all I had at hand, and it was past midnight, so no chance of getting any more.  I’ll try to get something better before I send it away, and perhaps even add some beads.

[As usual, you can click on the picture for a bigger version.]