Vintage-inspired ATC Tutorial on Crafts Unleashed today

Hey peeps - make sure you head over to Crafts Unleashed later today to check out my tutorial on how to make this super cute, vintage-inspired ATC!!  (And if you head over this morning, you can read all about what ATC's actually ARE and the "rules" for ATC's!  Kind of interesting!)

New posts...and why I haven't been blogging...

I seriously cannot believe it's been a month since I've posted here!!  Ack!  So...I have been VERY busy creating for the Crafts Unleashed design team, and doing product reviews for Craft Test Dummies (would you believe I *still* have products from Winter CHA to review, and it's almost June?!).

Check out my scrapbook layout up at Crafts Unleashed today -

And here's a review I recently did of the Pitt Artist Pens by Faber-Castell...one of my new favorites!!

And yes, I'm still working on my online classes - Soul Restoration with Brave Girls Club and Melody Ross, and The She Art Workshop with Christy Tomlinson.  Loving them...but having a really hard time fitting them into my schedule at the moment!!  I'd show you a pic of my first She-Art canvas, but it's a birthday gift for my sister (a very belated one...because I STILL haven't put it in the mail!!).  *sigh*  I'm terrible about that!

Not sure if I shared this in my last post or not...but the other reason I haven't been blogging is that I was recently (well, a couple months ago) diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I've been in a lot of pain for the last several months, and it has taken the doctors a while to figure out the best medications to treat it.  It's sort of a trial-and-error method, I guess.  I just started a new medication last week - and while the jury is still sort of out on whether I'll be able to take it on a long-term basis, I *am* able to curl and uncurl my fingers when I wake up in the mornings for the first time in months, and it's not excruciatingly painful on my feet the minute I step out of bed!  I consider that a huge improvement over the way things have been.  So I'm at least hopeful that this one will work!

Obviously, all of the pain and joint stiffness has impacted my ability to create art and blog about it - so I've sort of just been doing the bare minimum...meeting my obligations and other than that, just taking time off to take care of myself, because I haven't really been able to do much more than that.  I won't sugar-coat it...it's been very disheartening and downright depressing at times, not being able to do the things I want to be able to do or feel I should be able to do.

But when it comes down to it, I have been forced to ask myself if I really believe the things I confess to believe.  Is the God I say I believe in really big enough to handle my questions, and my anger, and my hurt?  Yes.  Can I trust Him enough to believe that this path He's chosen for me is the best path FOR ME?  Yes.  Even if it includes illness and pain?  Yes.  Does that take away the pain?  No.  Does it help to know that I'm not alone in my pain?  Yes.  Does it help to know that there is some purpose to my pain?  Yes.  Does it help to remember that in life, our biggest lessons are always learned through times of pain and hurt?  Yes!  Has this brought me back to my knees, where I belong?  Yes!

And the best thing I think I've learned through all of this...repeatedly over the past couple months, in many different ways...is that rather than focusing on everything that's WRONG with ME, I need to be focusing on what's RIGHT about HIM.

So anyway, I felt like I kind of owed you all an explanation for why I've disappeared...hopefully this new med will do the trick, and I'll be back in business soon!  Right now I'm off to give my fingers a rest!! ;)