Canvas Photo Layout

I made this canvas for a class at Scrapbook Garden in May. The kit is from Quick Quotes and is surprisingly simple for such an elegant looking end result. It uses patterned paper, chipboard embellishments and brown chalk ink. I am going to make more of these, one about Ray's parents and maybe more colorful ones for Wyatt and Andrea.

Pauline Vivian Brown 1924 to 2010

My mother-in-law Pauline passed away yesterday about noon. She was eighty six years old and had been failing for the last couple of years. She and her husband Wales had five children, Ray is the second child. Pauline was born in Stilwell Oklahoma in 1924. Her family was like most of the people in the area at the time quite poor. It was and is a matter of pride to the family that the Ross's were direct descendents of John Ross the principal chief who led the Cherokee to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.

Pauline and Wales were married July 10, 1941 in Stilwell. Wales was a mechanic, and like most women at the time, Pauline stayed home and raised the children. She said that when she and Wales got married all they had was $11.00 and a trunk. Both of them only had an eighth grade education. Over the years they were to the point of being comfortable, but no more than that. They worked hard all their lives. In 1950, they moved to western Kansas and lived in several small towns, the longest in Montezuma where Ray went to school. During that time Pauline became a CNA and worked in a nursing home, and later as a home companion. In 1985, she and Wales returned to Oklahoma, first to Broken Arrow, then back to Stilwell. My father in law died in 1989 and Pauline remained in Stilwell.

Despite her limited education, Pauline was interested in many things. She loved to travel. When we were in the Air Force, she would come visit us whenever it was possible. It was a disappointment to her not to be able to visit us when we lived in Turkey. She wanted to go on a cruise with us, but by that time she was not up to the trip. She was active in her church and the Stilwell Senior Center. She loved visiting with her many relations in town. For a while, she had been a "Granny" at the Maryetta grade school near her home in Stilwell.

Many people have told her children, how much fun and how they liked being around their mother. Pauline loved social gatherings and parties. She organized family reunions and made sure everything she wanted happened.

Right now, I don't know what I feel. I am sad, and I know that I will miss her. She has been a part of my life for forty five years. But Pauline lived a long and good life. She had all the highs and lows one has to face. Now she is with Jesus and that is just where she wants to be.

The Wait

My mother in law Pauline is dying. The doctor has placed her on comfort care only and it will be just a matter of time until she passes away. The family is making preparations which always feels strange. We did it when my mother died, but it seems so premeditated. However, we are working on things that will make her memorial service more meaningful. It might be difficult to do that after she passes and we have to deal with with her being gone.

Pauline has been declining for a long time, and I don't know how Ray and his brothers and sister will react when she passes. They have a complicated but not dysfunctional relationship with her. I don't know how I will react. Right now, I am in that waiting state, subdued, maybe a little sad, but not grieving. I know I will miss Pauline, she has been my mother in law for forty three years and I have known her for forty five years. It has been sad to watch her lose the ability to do all the things she enjoyed. But in heaven, all pain, weaknesses and suffering are gone, and everyone is whole and happy again.

Cruise pages

This layout is the starting point of my cruise story. I like the bright colors and the glittered patterned paper from Best Creations fits the Caribbean theme perfectly. I used thoughts and quotes from Ray and Wyatt to summarize how we enjoyed the cruise. I added the medal I got for winning the Camp Carnival Twist contest because I wouldn't want to leave that out at all. After all, for me to win any sort of dance contest is a miracle. However, I was the only contestant there who was old enough to have danced the twist when it was popular the first time around.

The 3 of us

Every now and then people will post a picture and say it doesn't do the subject justice. This is one of those times. I finished this page yesterday. It is a picture of Nicole, Andrea and myself which was taken on the cruise. I really like the picture. The colors are good and we all are looking happy and, yes, attractive.

I used October Afternoon Poppy paper and embellishments. I got this paper about a year ago in Denton when we made a field trip to Michael's. I had been afraid the paper would turn into one of those pretty things that never find a use. However, this paper suits this photo perfectly. The layout is really quite simple, the colors do all the work.

BoBunny Waterfall Book

This is the BoBunny waterfall mini album I will be teaching at Scrapbook Garden on March 20th. In the past I used to make these albums for display and demo using the exact themes in the instructions. I have found that very few of the people taking these classes do the same theme, so this time I completed it with a topic useful to me after the class. When I am done with the class I will give the book to Nicole. She has little time to scrap any more, so this will give her an album in addition to the photos on her computer. I also added some handmade paper flowers to the book that I will show the class how to make. BoBunny is neat in that they used both sides of the paper to make these albums. I like this a lot and I think everyone who takes the class will enjoy it too.

A whole lotta shakin.....

Nicole brought over this little piano for Andrea to play with last week. Andrea is really getting into banging on the keys. I showed her how to sit on the little stool and that was just the best thing she could have done. She was playing away, and was so into it that her foot had to go up and help her hands out. Shades of Jerry Lee Lewis.