To be perfectly honest, I really don't like primary colors. Brads are nice, primaries... not so much. So of course, this challenge was irresistible to me as I love doing things I find difficult.
The Best Fishes card is for my Step Dad. He has terrible S.A.D. and he loves fishing so I thought a bright cheerful fish card would be right up his alley.
For this card I pulled out my markers and free-handed the scallops. I love adding some doodled touches to projects. It makes them more personal. The yellow ribbon was repurposed from a present wrapped by Amazon. I wasn't excited about the pale yellow so topped it with some Sassafras Lass DP. And I finally used one of the cool loteria cards I bought. It's about time.
Good Things:
* I won a GC at Elle's Studio. Yippee. Sending cards to Operation Write Home was reward enough, being chosen as one of the prize winners was icing on the cake.
* Bubby's pathology came back clean on his tumor. He's cancer-free. We are so relieved.
* Brayden was diagnosed with asthma. While not a good thing, as an asthmatic myself I feel a lot better with him having an inhaler and being under a doctor's care.
When he was wheezing Wednesday morning I gave him my favorite cure, a cup of hot coffee. My allergist and ENT(s) have all recommended it for asthma. He is the most hyper kid I know and the coffee calmed him right down. Just like me. He focussed on his school work, had it done in record time, wasn't disruptive - we were all stunned. I checked with the NIH and they said coffee doesn't stunt kid's growth etc. The worst thing they said was it was empty calories and they should be drinking something nutritious. To be honest, I was expecting something a lot more scathing. I was thinking about it though; many parents allow their teens and tweens to drink cola, rootbeer, Mountain Dew etc. It's interesting that there isn't a stigma associated with sugar-filled soft drinks like their is with a small cup of coffee. Next time he's wheezing, if it's early in the day, I'll probably offer him a half cup of my coffee again.
EDIT: I mistakenly posted the card without a brad. Oops. Not so great for a brad challenge. Fixed now :-)
Happy, happy about Bubby. Your creations are fabulous (love that fish).
ReplyDeleteI'll have to turn my dd on to the coffee thing for Ty. I had never heard it. When I was little, my grandma used to tell us that if we drank coffee, it would turn extremities colors and they would fall off. None of my siblings and cousins ever drank coffee except one brother and I. We weren't worried about missing toes, I guess. LOL.
I LOVE that fish card!! My dad fishes all the time - winter or summer! (ok fishing in the WINTER requires a real love! UGH!) I am a big coffee enthusiast - when I was singing full time and I got a cold or congestion, I would drink coffee to clear out the mucus. I drank it on stage all the time too...the hot with the anisceptic nature of it sure did make a difference for me! I think we have a stigma becuase we tend to think of sugary drinks as "kid" drinks and coffee as an "adult" thing...weird, but so true!
ReplyDeleteThat fish card makes me laugh - too clever!
ReplyDeleteLove these cards. You know I'm with you. I'm not the biggest fan of primary colors. I'm much more drawn to neutrals with touches of more saturated colors. But these really are fantastic - aren't challenges great to pull us out of our 'normals.'
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderful creative cards! Very artsy.
ReplyDeleteahh how cute!! I loove the rainbow paper, must get some!!
ReplyDeleteI have heard that people who are hyper actually are really tired (even though they have slept)... their brain tries to over compensate for the tiredness and thus the hyper activity. Rydalin and Speed are pretty much the same pill... I would rather my kid drank a cup of coffee!
ReplyDeleteGlad about your dog!
Love the best fishes card, what a great idea! Very cool!
Cute cards! :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you free-handed those scallops, Nicole! That's awesome. It's such a cheery, bright card...sure to be the cure to anyone with SAD. :)
ReplyDeleteBoth cards are fabulous, though the Fishmas tree is probably one of my favorite OBP stamps. It just tickles me.
ReplyDeleteFor someone who doesn't like primary colors, you rocked the challenge.
That fish is great! Thanks for participating in another challenge!
ReplyDelete--He is the most hyper kid I know and the coffee calmed him right down. Just like me. He focussed on his school work, had it done in record time, wasn't disruptive - we were all stunned.--
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you and your kiddo had AD(H)D. Why didn't you tell me? (Or didn't you know?)
Actually, in your case, it could be that you're addicted to caffeine and therefore need it to focus (the blurry focus can be withdrawal).
Caffeine is not the best solution for ADD, but it definitely works. That's the reason why so many of us always have a coffee cup in hand.
Oh, and yes, good for asthma too, in a pinch. :)
I'm being somewhat facetious about the ADD. Response to coffee is not a diagnosis... but if what I've said surprises you, you might want to think about it.
Me again - just had to chip in -
ReplyDeleteKristin, Ritalin and speed are similar, but speed releases a bunch of stimulant into your system right away, causing a "high" and then a crash. Ritalin (and other stimulant meds for ADD) offers a low dose, slow delivery of medication that does not cause a high or a crash. Caffeine, on the other hand, is kind of counterproductive as a treatment for ADD - it works in the short term but tends to worsen brain function over the long run. It's not really a treatment, although an awful lot of people self-medicate with it.
Curiously, although I have ADD, I have never been much of a coffee drinker... but since my ADD has gotten worse in the past few months, I find coffee more and more appealing. I think I never got into the coffee habit because it never felt stimulating to me - it would make no difference if I was feeling tired. In fact, in college, I once ate a half a cup of chocolate-covered espresso beans and went straight to bed. I slept my usual 8 hours without a problem. I always thought that was weird but never thought about it too much. Now it makes sense. I don't get hyper or super-alert. I just get relaxed and focused.
I wrote a blog post about ADD, stimulants, and time perception over on my blog that I'm actually quite proud of. I hope it's clear enough to explain why stimulants seem to, paradoxically, slow down people with ADD.
http://amywing.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/time/
Okay, getting off my ADD soapbox now. :)