Well, Andy, according to his father, looks like he is in boot camp! My child was blessed with a full head of hair and to know that it is now gone...well, his ears will certainly freeze if it gets cold, but I suppose that is why they make hats! The Mohawk is gone and he is once again sporting a Catholic school approved haircut -- BUZZED! Good reports from the doctor who read his last MRI though -- no tearing, no bleeding and we expect a full recovery. He actually has demonstrated better strength in his arms and with his grip, although not full strength as yet, and he does have a somewhat increased range of motion in his neck. There may be neck sprain, but they won't check for that until they know for certain he is fully recovered from concussion. Once fully recovered, they will check for neck sprain and may prescribe some physical therapy to help with this. Because he wants to be a Physical Therapist, I don't actually think Andy would mind having to do some physical therapy and more than likely will talk the therapist's leg off!
Today, I'm sharing a couple of the gift bags I made for the auction at Mom's office. I packaged several "man" gifts and put them all in one bag -- check this out!
While I can easily say this isn't pretty, the idea behind the bag was to use the rope cording because I thought it could symbolize fisherman's net (it's a stretch!). I inked up the Inspired by Nature set in Old Olive and stamped the grass many times to get height and width. Next, in order to simulate cattails (which I adore!), I used the word window punch many times in Chocolate Chip and adhered these with my 2-Way glue pen. Finally, I used Basic Black cardstock to punch the birds using the Movers and Shakers die in my Big Shot. I also used some of the Silver Shimmer Paint on one of those birds to give him some "ooomph". I'm into "ooomph" lately...have you noticed? The background paper on this is from the retired Urban Oasis Designer Series Paper, but then again, I thought it rather looked like netting. I don't fish and neither does Thom, so I'm reaching here admittedly!
This next bag I love though and this one was an easy bag to put together. What do you think?
I used a background of Real Red cardstock and then layered on a full piece of Whisper White. I punched and stamped ornaments in Night of Navy, Real Red and Old Olive. Once I punched them all out, I layered them onto the Whisper White cardstock and adhered them as I thought they looked right and then adhered the gold cord to make them appear as if they were hanging.
Now, if I had been on my A game, I would have used the Peaceful Wishes retired set to get branches in there so it would appear they were hanging from a tree. However, I've packaged that set up to send to LuAnn for the Youth Group to use and didn't want to go to all of the trouble of ripping open the package. Color me LAZY! I should have checked my wheel stash because I have a retired wheel that looks like evergreens as well -- okay, there is always next time! I used an Old Olive ribbon across the bottom and stamped "Merry Christmas" in Night of Navy Ink. My thought is that this bag can be recycled or repurposed and whomever gets it can then use it for a Christmas gift themselves. I love recycling and repurposing gift bags! Again, I am trying to work smarter and not harder here!
If you notice round bulbs here, you have a good eye! I punched the 1 3/8" circle and then just punched the top of the ornament punch, attaching it to the round punch with my 2-Way glue pen so there would be a top to them. I like them and think this works well. I'll be using as many different sizes of "bulbs" as I can to make bags for Christmas for myself. I keep telling myself I have two months until Christmas, but the closer we get, the more I think I had better kick this in gear!
Have a fabulous Tuesday! NCIS Tonight and I'm stoked! Tuesday is TV night in our house so don't call -- you will only get the machine! Blessings to you!
Wonderful idea for the bags Tami! They really got my creative juices going and inspired a few cards that synthesized the two designs together somewhat.
Thanks for sharing the stamping fun. - Jean
Posted by: Jean Fitch | 10/22/2009 at 06:43 PM