Bleach technique atc's and a big thank you!

Yesterday I had intended to get into my studio for the first time in a week and a half and do some creating. I had plans for getting stuck into my "All Things French" page for the Creative Soul Retreat book challenge that I'm taking part in.....but everyone knows the saying about the best laid plans going awry. I was a little worried about getting in there and starting to "think" about the times Joan and I would spend in my studio just playing around with stuff and then it would just spiral into a pity party that I don't have her with me any more. Consequently, it wasn't until about 4pm that I forced myself out there to at least just do some atc's with a technique I love and one that's quick and easy but still looks beautiful.

So here are the two Bleach Technique atc's I made yesterday and I've promised myself to get started on the French page on Saturday morning before I do a class in the afternoon.

I think I explained how to do this technique in my last post about bleach? Not sure, can't be bothered looking so I'll quickly explain it again anyway. Stamp on the smooth side of black cardstock with clear embossing ink, and emboss with clear embossing powder. Note - not all black cardstock will work with bleach, I know Bazzill does! Paint sections of the embossed image (or alternatively, the entire card) with ordinary household laundry bleach, dry with a hairdryer. Notice how much lighter the colour of the card becomes while the embossed bits stay black. Different cardstocks will bleach different colours. Next, colour in your images with Twinkling H2O's and a waterbrush (aquabrush with a reservoir of water), let dry and marvel at the shimmer of the H2O's and the contrast to the black of the embossing and black card (if you've left any!). You can also leave the card just bleached with no added colour. I did this here on "flighty".

Passageway...

Peace...

I've been extremely touched and overwhelmed by the support via comments on this blog, personal emails, cards and phone calls from friends - both real and internet, on the loss of my best friend Joan. Her funeral was last Friday and it was a beautiful service at Pinnaroo which has a lovely natural bush setting with kangaroos and a wonderful backdrop through the huge glass windows at the chapel looking out onto a bush garden. While the service was happening, there were 2 lorikeets playing in a huge gum tree and also 2 white cockatoos bickering over something only a few feet away from the lorikeets.

Any time during the service I found it all getting too much I'd raise my eyes to the birds and concentrate on them skylarking around. I'm sure they were sent to keep me grounded and focussed on supporting Michael, Hayden and Holly. I'll leave you with one more picture of my friend, I'm actually having this one blown up and made into a canvas for Michael and the kids for a Christmas present. I love the colouring of this picture and how serene she looks.

"Just Joan"

How do I type this....here I sit, fingers poised and I don't know where to start. Some people are lucky enough to have a once-in-a-lifetime friend who touches your soul and shares all your deep, dark secrets, who loves you no matter what. My best friend, my confidante, my partner in crime, the girl who I grew up with from the age of 12 and has been my constant companion....so much so that some people have said "you 2 are joined at the hip!", is such a person in my life. She has been a part of my extended family's life for 37 years and they have all been touched by her joy for life, her gregarious spirit and her passion for her family and her friends.

So here I sit, Sunday morning, knowing that tomorrow morning her life support machine is going to be turned off and that will be it....no more coffee pop-ins, no more sharing our hopes and fears and just plain silliness.

Joan was the person that my Dad gave his trip to when he was too unwell to go, just a short 6 months ago. He was so pleased that he could do it as he absolutely knew how much she would enjoy it and he felt she really deserved a wonderful holiday with myself, my husband, my Mum and my Auntie and Uncle. Dad would call her "Just Joan" or "Joanie", she was his 2nd daughter.

Three and a half years ago she beat breast cancer. Two mornings ago (Friday 28th Nov), she suffered a heart attack and consequently a stroke starved her brain of oxygen for 20 minutes. Her wonderful husband found her and he and their 17 year old son performed CPR until the ambulance arrived. The Doctor said "catastrophic brain damage" yesterday when we went in for a meeting with them.

So she'll forever be 49 years old and we are all totally shell-shocked and devastated to be losing such a huge part of our lives. Her husband and children will need to be so very strong to get through this. I feel like I have lost a huge part of me and I grieve for what will never be, us growing old and crotchety together.

At least I can be of some practical help for Michael with the funeral arrangements, having done it only 2 months ago for my Dad. Life's such a bitch sometimes and it makes you wonder at the fairness of it all. A stupid Aussie quote keeps popping into my head from years ago, think it was Austentayshus (sp?) that said it....."how much can a Koala Bear?". Not too much more I can tell you.

Of course, you go on, for family and friends and to help keep the memory of a true soul friend alive. I sit here again for minutes, wondering if I should push "publish post", but I just can't pretend that all that happens in my private world does not affect everything I do here. Celebrate your friendships, things can change in an instant, love, friendship and companionship with others around you is everything.

Love you Joan, forever and ever.