Perfect Brightness of Hope String Quilt

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

As has happened several times in my long, exhilaratong life adventure, the start of a new year has brought with it a very annoying and exremely inconvenient challenge for me.  A third brush with breast cancer (yikes) has put me in cahoots with doctors, tests and all the things that go along with making sure my cancer is gone, hopefully for good this time.  To say that it has been  unnerving is an understatement, but my past experiences with it have taught me a lot about faith, healing, resilience and empathy.  One thing I know for certain...God knows each one of us personally and we need only ask for him to help us through our hardest battles.

Usually, when I'm in the midst of my struggles, I'm not in the mood to share, but I'm always happy to reflect on the lessons resulting from my ordeal when I'm back on solid ground. So here's the scoop.  I had surgery to remove my cancer (and the implants from my previous reconstruction surgery) a couple of weeks ago and I'm feeling great now.  The surgery went well and now I just have to follow a treatment plan with estrogen blockers and maybe a little radiation when I'm healed.  It's all doable and I'm looking forward to a long, cancer free future.  I know God's plan for me will be a good one, no matter what it is.

When I first learned about the return of my cancer, I was understandably devastated and you might say a little inconsolable.  That is, until I turned things over to God and retreated to Nannyland in search of a mindless project to keep my thoughts from spiraling into negative territory.  With not much creative mojo happening, I pulled out the box of scraps I had been saving to make a strip quilt and just blindly started sewing.  Strip after strip on block after block, I calmed my mind as I lived through some dark weeks anticipating my PET scan results.  Then came a bone biopsy, ultra sound and ultimately surgery.  The results, both medically and spiritually, have been nothing less than miraculous and my future is looking hopeful and bright.  And, in the end, I have a gorgeous quilt to remind me that nothing is impossible when God is at the helm.  I have appropriately named my masterpiece my "Perfect Brightness of Hope Quilt" after one of my favorite scriptures. 

This colorful quilt was a joy to sew using scraps from many years of fabric bliss.  I loved wandering down memory lane as I remembered countless fun projects, many of them from when I was selling handmade items in my Etsy store. 

I'm definitely NOT giving this one away...it will live on my quilt ladder to remind me of a time when miracles surrounded me and faith, hope and maniacal sewing kept me going. 

It's amazing to see how sewing a hodgepodge of seemingly unrelated fabric scraps can come together in such a harmonious array of awesome color, not unlike the experiences we have in this beautiful patchwork we call life. 

I'm so blessed to have my peaceful Nannyland retreat to escape to when the world gets overwhelming.  No therapy needed here...just prayer and all things artsy. 

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit. 

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply

Flapper Emma - Pink Gem Designs Digi

 Be okay with not knowing for sure what's coming next, 
but know whatever it is, you will be okay. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

Yayyyy!  I'm basking in all the wonderful creative vibes swirling around Nannyland after my surgery last week and it's absolutely blissful. It's so good to shut the world out and imerse myself in a wonderland full of positive possibilities.  I haven't colored for a while but I'm feeling my mojo slowly returning and I think a Copic session would perk me right up.  Until then, I'm happy that I saved this elegant lady I created before my surgery to bring on some springtime cheer.

This adorable image from Pink Gem Designs is called Flapper Emma. I used a complimentary yellow, lavender and aqua pallette to create a bright, vivid design.  After adhering my Copic colored image to my embossed  Anna Griffin oval frame,  I added some pearls and mounted it on a yellow  5 x 7 card base.  The pearl and gem studded flowers adorning Emma's hat and frame are from Spellbinders.  Purple and gold gems trim her hat band and necklace.  I found the perfect gold sentiment in my stash to complete the layout.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that creative, happy thoughts work hand-in hand with lifesaving drugs and are a very important part of healing.  How blessed we are as makers to have access to this restorative and envigorating tonic.  Let the creative revival begin.

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit. 

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply

Playing along with:

A Place to Start April Challenge

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #108

A Gem of a Challenge Wk 8

Crafty Calendar April Challenge

Craft Rocket Challenge #102

Creative Inspirations Challenge #1

Creative Knockouts Challenge #492

Worldwide Crafters and Colorists Challenge #4

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #4

Classic Design Challenge #4

Birthday Sundae Cascade Card - Cricut Crazy Cool Cards SVG

Hey there from Nannyland,

I was stunned and horrified when my dear friend informed me over lunch last week that her husband's birthday was coming up in a couple of days.  We usually host a little birthday dinner for him, even though he insists he doesn't like attention on his birthday.  Yikes!  A guy card and dinner with little notice!!!  Cricut Design Space to the rescue.  

The birthday boy loves treats, especially ice cream.  I was delighted to find this fun sundae cascade card in the Crazy Cool Cards image set (#M40EFC1).  A YouTube video reminded me how to assemble a cascade card and I was off to the races.  I changed the pink ice cream to a light brown chocolate to keep it less girly, but I couldn't resist adding Nuvo drops and glitter for sparkle.  I created the sentiment tag with the Cricut basic shapes and writing features. 

I love how this "quicky" card turned out. A yummy breakfast at our favorite restaurant, a box of cookies and a promise of a birthday dinner at our house very soon saved the day. My friend is an amazing artist and, in the past, I would have been extremely intimidated to present him with a less than perfect handmade card.  But I have found that makers of every kind and level appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating something unique and personal.  When I presented the card to him, he studied all the little details and the fancy card base and appeared to be appropriately impressed.  He even came up with a cute idea to create a birdhouse using the same design.  

I hope I have inspired you to explore the Cricut library and see all the amazing card svgs available, just in case you end up creating a fast card on the fly like I did. It happens.

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit. 

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply

Playing along with:

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #570

The Male Room Challenge #173

The Paper Funday Challenge #52

A Perfect Time to Craft #4

Classic Design Challenge #4

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge #110

QKR Stampede Challenge #464

The Creative Crafters Challenge #62

AAA Birthday Challenge #48

Creative Creases Challenge #54

Jeremiah Ketner Fairy Ring Digi - Stay Wild

 I am an artist. This means I live in a perverse fantasy world
 with unrealistic expectations.  Thank you for understanding. 

Hey there from Nannyland,

Jeremiah Ketner images are always so full of fabulous detail and endless opportunities for creative  embellishments.  This sweet image, called Fairy Ring, had lovely flowers in her hair, just asking to be layered with some of my favorite Spellbinders mini flowers.  I added glossy accents to the  floating mushrooms around her pretty sundress for shiney dimension.  Silver foil die cut stars sprinkled on her skirt maintain her mystical vibe.                           

At first, I thought I might hide some of the shroominess on her dress behind my pretty Spellbinders daisy frame, but in the end I decided I liked all the magic going on with her skirt, so I fussy cut her and  mounted her on top of the frame.   I die cut the frame in white shimmer card stock, added black gems to the daisy centers and layered it with three plain card stock frames for dimension.  I backed it with lavender stripe dp and mounted it on a heavy lavender square card base.  After googling "mushroom sentiments," I created my star shape tag in Cricut Design Space and typed  "Stay Wild" with the writing feature as a nod to the wild mushrooms floating around her.  

I hope I have inspired you to stay happily absorbed with your creative passions and above all,  stay wild. 

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit. 

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply

Playing along with:

Digi Choosday Challenge - wk 12

Creative Fingers Challenge #251

Cut It Up Challenge #274

The Creative Crafters Challenge #62

Classic Design Chall;enge #4

My Time to Craft Challenge #504

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #569

A Gem of a Challenge Wk 7

Crafty Catz Challenge #63

Arty Divas March Challenge