Club Scrap Assembly Line Boot Camp - Week 1 - Metallics

Well, after a very, very long time, I've been crafting this week.  I'm only well enough to do just a little at a time, but it at least gets my mind off the trespasser in my skull.  I introduced a fellow "brain tumor" mom to card making this week for the same purpose.  She needs a distraction, too.

Here's one of her first cards. Simple, but nice alignment and technique.

We're both playing along with Club Scrap's Assembly Line Boot Camp.  This weeks challenge is "metallic."

Here are my entries. We both used Club Scrap's Love Bites kit.  To meet the challenge requirements, I used platinum embossing powder for the hearts on the second card.  The other cards have metallic floral brads.

Well...it's been years!

So...this blog is still hanging around, but I haven't updated for years.  Why? No good reason, I've been posting my crafty projects in the Club Scrap art gallery instead of here.  More recently (as in the last three years), I have been very sick.  Disabling migraines have kept me from doing much of anything: exercising, reading, crafting, cleaning, cooking, and most of all working.  In early December, after years of pain, I was finally diagnosed with a rather large, non-cancerous, brain tumor.

The tumor has stolen so much from me. I've lost much of the hearing in my right ear and suffer with constant tinnitus. I have problems with my balance, bouts of dizziness, and some trouble with my vision. I'm constantly fatigued and in pain. More recently, I've lost my singing voice and have trouble swallowing. My blog title, lyrical geek, no longer fits. I'm no longer working as a software engineer and my voice is anything but lyrical.

So why am I bothering to update?  Well, I need a distraction. With the help of pain medication, I'm going to try to resume some of my crafting activities.  I need to somehow get my mind off this monster blob in my head and produce something. I've joined the Club Scrap Assembly Line Boot Camp that begins next week. I hope it motivates me to work through the pain and fatigue.  I'm calling in "craft therapy."

In the meantime, I'm going to post many of the projects that I produced between 2008 and 2011, when the tumor took over.  There are so many, I'm not going to provide written details. Some of the photography is less than stellar.  Please forgive me.