Change

Well, it's time for some change. As we know, October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I used the month to get the word out about doing your self exams AND getting regular mammograms!
Now October is over, so I'm changing my colors! I think for now, I'm going to use the color palette in the card above. I made this about 2 months ago. I wasn't crazy about it, but a few people have seen it laying around my craft area (used for MANY crafts!) and said I should share it. So I'm sharing....
This card was made using Priceless. The colors are Pixie Pink, Glorious Green, and Brilliant Blue. I stamped the pink background flowers with craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I did the same for the large flower.
So here's to change!

Emma's b-day is this weekend, so I won't be able to post until next week sometime..... BUT feel free to leave me a comment! :)

BLOG CANDY WINNER!

First off I want to say I'm sorry I'm late getting the winner posted. Michael and I are trying to get the camper packed for this weekend, work with Emma for school, clean the house, and everything else that goes on! It's CRAZY!

Anyway, before I announce the winner, I just wanted to say that it's nice to see so many who are taking an active step in their health. I got my mammogram this morning and the diagnostic center where it was done recently switched over to digital! This is amazing! The woman who did mine showed me last years vs this years! You could actually see the edge of the skin in the digital! It was GREAT (besides the pinching)!

Now on to what everyone wants to know - the WINNER!

janet allen said...
I'm up to date. Thank you for the reminder. It seems that this disease is attacking younger woman now, so doctors need to consider lowering the age to get started on this procedure.

CONGRATS JANET ALLEN! Since you did not leave me your e-mail address please contact me at fourmichaels@yahoo.com.

Suggested screening

The American Academy of Family Physicians currently recommends that women 40-49 get a mammogram every 1-2 years and 50+ every year. BUT I would suggest discussing this with your dr. I get one every year because of my family history. My mother's oncologist (who is GREAT, but the way) suggested it. If you feel you need one more often than your dr is telling you, demand it. OR find another dr!

And of course, there's NO AGE LIMIT on when you should start doing monthly self breast exams! A friend and I stopped at the booth our local hospital had at the MumFest (www.mumfest.com) this past weekend where they had a "visual" that you could actually feel the fibrous tissue in one and then a simulated breast with lumps. My friend was not blessed in the chest area and never realized you can feel the glands in your breast. She went home that night and did a breast exam. She realized that she was doing it wrong! SO, if you are feeling NOTHING, talk with your dr and he/she may have something like this that they can show you with.

When we got to the booth there was a woman in there with her teenage daughter. The daughter kept rolling her eyes at her mother who was telling her she needed to be doing this! PLEASE do not let this be YOUR daughter! Talk to her regularly and honestly!

And don't forget to leave a comment on the post below this one for your chance to win BLOG CANDY!

BLOG CANDY!!

Well, it seems this weekend I passed the 200 hits mark! YEAH! So because of that AND in honor of those women (and some men) who fight the battle, I'm giving away some blog candy.

Please post to let me know when you have YOUR mammogram scheduled for (or the date you had it done). I will pick a winner next Monday - Oct. 22. The winner will receive a Pretty in Pink Stampin' Write marker and a pack of 8.5x11 Pretty in Pink cardstock. Sorry, this is only open to US citizens as this will be a CDO.

To answer my own question - mine is scheduled for October 23. I'm only 30 and this is my second one due to family history.

Good luck!

Giving credit

Well, last night I forgot to give credit and post some links I wanted to share. So that's what this post is for.
First of all, I saw the "Pink for October" idea on Allison's blog. THEN I found the link to http://pinkforoctober.org on Angel's blog. This site is GREAT! I got my "Pink for October" banner from Kim West on their site. I also found a cute site called boobiethon.com - you should check them out!
The other 2 banners were given to me by my mother! And those 2 will ALWAYS stay on my blog somewhere. Later this month be on the lookout for some PINK blog candy.

Pink for October!

Yes, I have gone PINK for October! This is to raise awareness and in honor of my mother - my best friend and strength! Unfortunately, I have been touched too many times with breast cancer.

My great-grandmother (my father's mother's mother) passed away from it after having 2 mastectomies and getting it a third time when it metastasized in her body. Then my cousin on the same side passed away from it. THEN my mother was diagnosed 2 years ago. She stayed strong and persevered! After 6 chemo treatments and 2 years, she is cancer free! YEAH! Then last year, my mother-in-law was diagnosed. And after 6 chemo treatments and radiation, she is currently cancer free - she will be passing her 1 year mark VERY soon. Her hair is coming back now and it's very curly!

Here they are - the 2 strongest ladies I know! I love them both SO much! So this month is for them! Love you!
So here's my "lecture" - DON'T FORGET YOUR MONTHLY SELF EXAMS &/OR SCHEDULE YOUR ANNUAL MAMMOGRAM! I already have MINE scheduled!

Pics of previous work

Well, I made 10 cards for a basket I am donating to the hospital for a fundraiser they hold annually for employees. I would post the cards, but most of them were VERY CASEd from people on SCS! So needless to say, I don't want to upset anyone by posting my version (OK, but not as good as the original) or their work (beautiful! Why else would I CASE it?)
So to make up for it, I'm going to post some other stuff.

This is a candle I made for a workshop I did in July. I LOVED the color combo. I got the combo from www.scraptitude.com/colorcombo. It is Only Orange, Glorious Green, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, and Apricot Appeal. NOT something I would have picked out myself, but I liked the way it looked when I did the "surprise me".

This one I made for another workshop that ended up getting cancelled (I seem to have that happen a lot....). VERY simple, but I REALLY like the way it turned out!

Now this card was kinda a case (saw the layout, but I changed it). I made 10 of these for my god-daughter who came to visit this past April. Her name is Laura (hence the L). I used the Polk Dots and Paisley stamp set for the background (I wouldn't suggest coloring on the stamp when you have multiple cards to make! LOL). I colored in the area in the paisleys with a white gel pen. Color combo is Green Galore, Ballet Blue, and So Saffron.

Now this card I just wanted to try something I had seen on SCS - making a flower with the paisley from Polka Dots and Paisley. This is nice, but not my favorite. Color combo is Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, and Pink Passion (one of my favorite combos).

This is a layout of my daughter at Easter that I did recently. I LOVED the way it turned out! Simple color combo - Basic Black, Whisper White, and Yoyo Yellow. Most of the doodles are by hand - once I got started I couldn't seem to stop! LOL The flowers are from Delight in Life. I thought they gave it a nice touch and blended in well stamped in Whisper White Craft ink.
Just a couple more! These last 2 are a couple layouts I made to show a stamp's versatility. For the USA one, I stamped 3 Big Blossoms - Real Red, Gold, and Brilliant Blue - all craft ink. Then I cut the flowers out and layered them. Then I cut the petals into strips (not all the way in, but close). Then I "roughed" them on the edge of my table. I added the metallic strips in red and blue and punched out a stamped star from Starstruck. The rest of the layout is pretty self-explanatory.

This last one used the same technique as before, but I made a sun out of it. There's a yellow button in the middle. The only thing I would've changed on this one is I think I should've used 2 different colored flowers for the sun instead of 2 of the same color. What's great is even though the Big Blossom is retired (SO SAD!) Stampin' Up! gave us Pick a Petal which can be used in a similar fashion!
Well, it's getting late! I hadn't planned on writing this much, but my computer FINALLY decided to let me into Blogger, so I thought I'd better take advantage of it while I could! I hope to post a LOT more this weekend - Michael is letting me scrap WITHOUT the kids this weekend! YEAH! We'll see how that goes....