What do Mountain Bikers Look Like?

As we were bending to take our shoes off at the yoga studio last week, I exchanged glances with a woman across the room and one of those “why do I feel like I know you” moments.  I smiled without commitment and headed into my class.  Moments later she tapped my shoulder and asked if we had met before.  We agreed we had met but could not remember where and promised to figure it out after class.

By the time we met after class, I remembered that I knew her from when I took Bootycamp last year.  She asked if I had been cycling much and I told her about my accident came last Fall.  With eyebrows raised she said “So you broke two bones in your pelvis mountain biking??”  She seemed so incredulous and then with her next question I understood why. “I don’t mean to be rude,” she said, “but how old are you?”

The Village that Raised my Kid

Snowshoeing on Mt. Seymour in the sunshine

Where I grew up in South Africa, you are raised by your parents along with neighbors, aunts, grandparents and with help from maids. My daughter who turns 19 today was brought up mostly in Vancouver, where we have no family.  We left family and friends in Toronto for the temperate weather on the West Coast and for rumors of a laid-back lifestyle.

The first few years my mother lived with us, so my daughter had the luxury of being cared for by a doting grandmother.  I came home from work everyday to a new finger-paint creation, or a new craft project - most of them equally hideous, but I'm sure they had fun doing them. Eventually I traded in the full time job for the juggling act of working from home and raising my child. My mother passed away almost 8 years ago and we've moved a few times since we moved to the west coast.

Looking back over the years, I am so grateful to all the people who impacted our lives along the way.  So many people who came through our lives and contributed to who Ayesha is today.  There were Guide leaders who wiped her tears at camp and teachers who sent her home beaming with pride.  There was Erin's grandma who had to be the alternate emergency contact at elementary school because we knew no one else. There was Mike the guitar teacher -with the best moustache ever and the gnarliest fingers shaped by years of guitar playing - who turned my child into a musician.  There was Mrs. Buss who taught her to read - talk about lifetime gifts!!

Christmas Cards

I have very few Christmas stamps since I've never made Christmas cards before.  This year I have the Dasher stamp!  

What's not to love about this stamp? On the one hand it's low key and simple and yet you can go nuts with those magnificent antlers.  So I went a little nuts!

 

I feel like such a rebel making black Christmas cards.  On  this one I used my new lace punch and added glitter to the long antlers.  You can see it better here.

Too much maybe? So I just used touches of glitter on the swirlies of the antlers this time.  That didn't seem quite festive enough, so I added some silver embossed snowflakes, and two dangly snowflakes.

Here's another Dasher creation - this time going tone-on-tone for subtlety, and then adding some blingies to bring it to life.  The same lace bunch is used to add a border.  The brown strip on the side went for a ride through the Big Shot with the Vintage embossing envelope.  I am loving my Big Shot.

Ok one more:

Here's the same lace punch in action.  I threaded narrow ribbon through it, and then used some blingies to add some zip to it.

I love how versatile the Dasher stamp is.  I might try making some more traditional Christmas cards this week. 

This blog entry was originally done for my Stampin' Up site at http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/moniera/blog

Iris Folding

In my 1000 Awesome things book, one of the awesome things is the sound of scissors on paper. In my case, it’s the sound of the paper cutter slicing through a sheet of paper.  Iris Folding is a great way to turn strips of paper into pretty things.

Back in the day, when envelopes were still printed on the inside, the envelopes were reused for iris folding.  Today we use any pretty paper, origami paper or fancy paper specifically made for Iris Folding. 

The technique involves cutting strips of paper, then folding over an edge to create clean lines.  Next, place the pieces on a pattern following the numbers to create a picture or design.  Each piece is taped down as you move towards the middle.   The completed piece can be used to embellish a handmade card, a scrap book page, a bookmark or a gift bag.  I find that a paper cutter makes clean enough cuts that the folding is not required.  The folding creates an extra layer, which really adds to the dimension of the card.

All the patterns shown here are from a book called "460 Iris Folded Cards to Make" by Maruscha Gaasenbeek & Tine Beauveser.  This is a pattern for a basic square

Simply follow the numbers to place your paper strips

Here is a simple example of a completed project.

The lid and base of the candy jar are added on after creating the design.

Then I thought, hmmmm, what if I shake up the pattern and play with the colors a little. 

Once you have your design completed you can add elements to dress it up.

These are some other examples.

Simple embossing, some bling and a bow dress this card up nicely.

This card uses an embossing die and the "For All you Do" stamp set from Stampin' Up.  

The velum adds a gentle subtlety to the sentiment.

The sentiment on this card is from Stampin Up's "Easy Events" set

You can find free patterns online if you'd like to give this simple craft a shot.

Fall Colours

After living in Ontario for a number of years, I always feel like our fall colours here in the Lower Mainland pale in comparison. This is partially because the mountains stay green year ‘round. Clearly I have completed under estimated Mother Nature.

Every day I look out my window, and I’m blown away by the stunning palette of colors around me. It seems like each park starts a few weeks apart so that the color magic seems to last for a really long time.

With my mending bones I have not been able to get onto the trails this year, which is the natural choice for taking fall photos. Instead I have a gallery of urban fall colours around North Vancouver.

Look at the Magic in the Sky

Day by day, the leaves keep falling

Typical red fall colors

This tree can't decide what color it wants to be

A lot of yellow

I love the clouds in this one

Love having this park so close to home

Twenty-six Days of Being Broken

Today is day 26 of being broken.

I’m learning lessons in patience and slow movements as my healing bones allow. Was there something else I’m supposed to learn from this experience? Is there some deep meaningful life-lesson that I am supposed to learn from this accident? Well, other than if you ride too fast you’ll get hurt or break some bones. That one I got.

Everyday I can do something that I could not do the day before. On Saturday, I laid out my yoga mat and tried some poses gingerly. I can do a slow sun salutation, sort of, and child’s pose. Some poses work, others don’t right now. I can sit cross-legged on the floor now. From not being able to turn in my bed the first night following my accident, for me to be able to sit down on the floor with crossed legs is such a big achievement. Maybe the big lesson is that I appreciate my body’s amazing ability to fix itself?

Each day I navigate the stairs a little easier. Yesterday I walked laps between two light poles on the street with one crutch. I’m sure the people that passed me wondered why I was beaming with pride when I was limping along from one light pole to the next. Maybe the big lesson is to appreciate the view from my sidewalk?

My best adventure so far has been going to the pool. Any escape from Cripple-Ass Island is a thrill for me, but going to the pool is a whole new level of freedom. In the water I can walk unaided, and I’ve been able to swim the width of the pool. The broken side can kick, but more like a little flutter than a real kick. I can tread water and when I’m standing in waist deep water, I have almost a full range of motion on the bad side. It’s pain free to test that range of motion and work the muscles to restore it. Maybe the big lesson is that I need to get back into the pool?

I also learned some human nature things yesterday. At the pool, one lady helped carry my bag and then came back to check on me again, to see if I needed a hand or if she could do anything for me. Another lady sighed heavily behind me as I hobbled down the passage to the change-room. I stood aside to let her pass, and she pushed past me impatiently. I hope the big lesson was not for her to learn patience because she just flunked out, big time.

Happy 44th Birthday to Me Part 2.

On the trip home from Whistler, I nodded off and woke up a number of times with no perception of how long we’d been on the road. At some point I realised we’d stopped and I was being wheeled into the hospital. I had no sense of time, but knew where I was and what had happened.  When the paramedic took my BP one final time in the ambulance, I asked him what the numbers were and he said 140/80.  I was alarmed and told him that was way higher than my usual reading of 117/70.  He was amused that I was lucid enough to know what my BP usually was and said the high numbers were as a result of the 2 litres of saline that had just been pumped into my body. 

Inside the ER, the admitting nurse wanted my care card. Lady, I’m wearing a hospital gown, where do you think I’m carrying my care card.  I couldn’t understand why the number wasn’t on the paperwork from Whistler; I was supposedly the one with the head injury – hello??? I answered all the identity questions, and yes my husband would be by later with my care card .  They must have believed me because I was wheeled into First Aid room 1 for examination.  First aid? Stick a band-aid on it and send her home?