arlette's sudden illness really threw me into a whirlwind of fear and helplessness... of all i know the worst thing to do is to give into the fear-- easier said than done sometimes-- i had to continually remind myself to bath her in positive healing energy and see only the healthy outcome....

after i talked with her i did feel better but with cancer one never REALLY knows and even though she sounded good for that short period of time on the phone, i wondered if it would last...

i so wanted to hop on a plane and be out there with her but that isnt at all practical and there is nothing more i could do there than i can do here--

what can i do for my wonderful friend who has given me the most incredible experiences of exploring thailand, laos, mongolia, china... two avon breast cancer walks of 60 miles each.... the memories of our times together flooded over me and i cherished each one and was thankful of having her in my life....

what can i do to cheer her and to show her how much i care about her? the question tumbled around my brain and suddenly I KNEW...

i would make her my handmade cards and send one to her EVERY DAY!!

and so for the last week i have been working on the cards-- tossing all other responsibilites aside-- and pouring over ideas and techniques..creating long into the night and early morning hours --


making a card a day has been challenging-- its easy to send someone a card-- they only see that one and basically its over-- but having to make something different every day has been a real experience and one that has pushed my creative boundaries and forced me to try new techniques, different colors, and allowed me to do some wild and crazy ideas that have been in the back of my mind..

the first card i sent was an angel-- unfortunately i didnt take a picture of it -- but i made it so it can sit on her bedside table and watch over her-- i used sherril kahns petroglyph angel and used purple inks and glitter to decorate it--



the second card was actually a CD-- you know the ones you get in the mail - i painted it black then collaged a picture of a bird on it and cut out letters from magazines to spell out-- JUST STOPPIN' BY TO SAY HI...then added sliver glitter around the outside edge- it took me forever to cut out all the letters as i did her address too -- but i think it came out pretty cool and she will get a kick out the quirkiness of it! i drilled a hole in the top of the cd so she can hang it in her room --






i havent taken pictures of all the cards but will post the ones i think are majorly cool--
i spoke to arlette last nite only to find out she hasnt received any of the cards but the very first one -- what a bummer -hopefully this week they will start rolling in for her--

ok gotta go clean this dirty house-- making cards is great but i have left everything else GO-- and now i have a ton of cleaning to do--