Faux Metal, Design Team project.....and my Dad

I'll start with the raffle atc that I made for Tuesday night's Faux Metal class at Scraptivate which was won by Svetlana. Love this particular technique though it doesn't make for the flattest of atc's so I usually attach a bit of magnet strip at the back of these so they can go onto a fridge or filing cabinet.

A close-up so you can see the dimension of this piece.


The wording on this atc was made by covering a piece of chipboard with silver adhesive foil tape, then a tracing wheel (from a sewing store) was used to make the little marks along each long edge. I then covered the piece with black paint so it would get into the little holes made by the tracing wheel, then immediately wiped off, then my clear words were added last. Makes for a great grungey-style word embellishment.


At Scraptivate, the girls who work there are all given different products to work on design team projects. I'm a little bit difficult in this department as I'm not into all the flowery, pretty products that arrive in store constantly so I think they were pretty happy to find something from the new Cuttlebug range that would suit me this month.

Here is a little peek at what I've done, can't show the whole thing yet as it has to go into the newsletter that comes out in the middle of the month. It's a 5" x 7" canvas and I used texture paste, glimmer mists, silver foil tape, hand-made paper, stamping, swarovski crystals, paints and you'll have to wait to see the rest of it. My girlfriend saw me making it and thought I was being a bit macabre, she said she realised my Dad was really sick but did I have to do something like that? After I explained it was Design Team work I think she was a little relieved.

I can joke about that sort of thing now though because my Dad is doing SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! He has that breathing tube out of his throat now but is slightly frustrated as he can't talk because of the tracheotomy tube. Between lip-reading and a chart we made up with all the alphabet on it we sort of communicate, albeit VERY slowly. He doesn't have fine motor control of his hands yet so he can't write yet and we have to rely on these other 2 methods. His sense of humour was certainly not excised during the operation.

The first full sentence we got out of him, after about 30 minutes of combined lip-reading and the alpha chart was "Did I look like Hannibal Lecter???" (think he meant "creepy"). So once again, there he was making fun of himself and making us all laugh along with him. He also said he didn't like the flavour of the food they were feeding him - you know, one of those feeding tubes down his nose into his stomach that he can't even taste! I told him that I'd said to the nurse he would only like steak with pepper sauce flavour, followed up by apple pie and ice cream flavour for dessert. He laughed at that!

So here's a picture of myself, Dad and one of his wonderful nurses. He was particularly impressed with this nurse, he told us that she told the Doctors to "bugger off" as they all traipsed in while she was giving him a wash in the morning and didn't they realise that patients have to have their dignity! lol

A HUGE thankyou to all the people who left comments and to the girls who sent personal emails to me wishing my Dad and family the best, it really means a lot to know that others are out there pulling for you. I'm sure that all that "get-well mojo" helped in his recovery. Still a ways to go, more time to be spent in ICU, then on a ward, then off to a rehab hospital to get his muscles working again but we are heading in the right direction. Those nurses don't know what there in for now he's operational again!!!! lol