October 31–end of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The last day of the month my Mom was born in. It also happens to be the day I met my late husband. And this year, it’s also the time of ongoing treatment for two of my dearest friends dealing with “that c-word thing” we’re supposed to be very “aware” of this month.

Mom died in 1990 at the age of 52. Of breast cancer. She left behind a husband, two daughters (32 and 30), a son (21), and three granddaughters (7, 5, and 2) who adored her.  She was far from perfect (and would have been the first to tell you so!), but was a perfectly wonderful mother and friend.  Watching her die from this awful beast of a disease was the hardest thing I’d ever done–the cancer spread throughout her body and by the time she “came home to die”, she had seventeen distinct brain tumors, had had a couple of strokes, and was bedridden the last weeks of her life. It was horrendous.

That is the bad part that I remember. In the American Cancer Society‘s Relay for Life, they tell us with their tag line to “Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.”  It’s impossible NOT to remember.  But I want to CELEBRATE my mother’s life, rather than merely remember the pain of the last months she endured.  She was my mother and became my best friend by the time I reached adulthood. She was a doting grandmother when my nieces came along. She was fun, and funny, and seldom complained about anything. She was one of the strongest women I’ve ever known. I am proud to be her daughter.

And so I remember. And I celebrate. AND, working with Relay, I FIGHT BACK. I believe my mother would be proud that her children and grandchildren are involved with a cause that works so hard in research–to find new medicines, new chances for cures, new hope. Mom donated her body for research; the least I can do is donate my time and effort to raise money to fight this thing that killed her. Mom didn’t have enough birthdays…but I know she’d be happy that I’m working to help create a world with more of them for all the ones she left behind.

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today. And, please, give all that you can to help fight breast–and all–cancers. Your money, your time, your effort–every little bit helps. –Terri

“As BRCA -1 gene mutation survivors, we are so fortunate to have each other to lean on, as well as the support from our family and friends.  There is hope in every day and love is the best medicine.” -  Justina Rhodes (31) and Joshlyn Steele (29).

Again, with this sketch to work from, my card went together very quickly. This time I’ve mixed my requisite pink (Pink Pirouette, to be exact) with some Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, and the retired Concord Crush. I stockpiled as much of this luscious purple as I could before SU retired it this summer, because purple is the color of Relay for Life. It stands as the color inclusive and representational of ALL cancers. So I use a LOT of purple throughout the year in various Relay projects.  Aaaand….even though you canNOT tell from my photo, that cardstock banner IS purple. (I need to find some floodlights somewhere to take photos in the middle of the night, because that’s when I ALWAYS do these posts! Ah, well….)

The DSP I’ve used here is from the Cheerful Treat hostess set from last year. This is such happy, happy, HAPPY paper–obviously very aptly named!  I’ve used three different selections from the DSP, including to make the little flower and flower “flags” behind the main panel.

Okay, so I couldn’t get enough NATURAL light into the photo, but I managed to tweak the closeup here a LOT with magical computer light dust (have no clue how these programs work–I just know I love them).  So NOW you can see — kinda — that the card stock IS purple-icious, AND you can see that it’s been embossed. I love the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder–it can evoke everything from sophistication to fun with a single pass through my Big Shot!

The beauty of this PPA sketch is that the focal panel is perfect for so many things–a great stamp set, a great sentiment, a great 3D element–so many options. It is also the perfect showcase for MY main attraction with this card: highlighting my cause. I generated my invitation wording in a simple, elegant font–in purple–then printed it out and “matted it” on several layers of DSP and card stock, and popped it all up on dimensionals to give it a lot of emphasis.  It’s a very SERIOUS cause, this fight against cancer…but it’s a very JOYOUS celebration each year when we gather for Relay for Life and walk around that track, raising money, raising awareness….and celebrating birthdays. My town’s event will be early in May next year. YOUR area will host one nearby to you–I hope you’ll join in the celebration!

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today! –Terri

I found an interesting sketch to work with to create another Breast Cancer Awareness card. Unfortunately, my stamping time usually means I complete my project in the middle of some very dark hours, and my photos don’t generally have enough light in them. On this photo, it makes a big difference–I PROMISE that row of pearls is a lot straighter than that in real life–it’s sitting atop a piece of pleated paper, so it came out wavy looking in the pic.  Ooops!

Anyway, Stampin’ Royalty‘s sketch intrigued me–the “flagged” bottom strip presented a challenge all its own.  I needed to use pink, needed to employ ribbon somewhere on the design (since this month is all about the “pink ribbon” thing)  …. and I needed to work within the sketch parameters. This was even harder than I thought it would be—hence the name “challenge” on these things, right?

I planned the card around the patterns in the Fan Fair DSP. It is such a gorgeous batch of papers! I originally wanted to use something that also pulled in the Island Indigo from this set, but ended up going with only a sheet with Riding Hood Red and one with Pink Pirouette. When I decided to add my little bird to the mix, I threw in some Lucky Limeade and Certainly Celery for some contrast.

I went ‘punch happy’ again with my card (I’m REALLY wanting to punch out some cancer BIG TIME right now!) …I’ve used the Bird Builder, Blossom Petal Builder, Decorative Label, 3/4-inch Circle, the 5/16″ Corner rounder, the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, the Boho Blossom punch, AND the “saw tooth” Edgelit from the Finishing Touches set. Whole lotta punchin’ goin’ on here!

I kind of free-form made a little nest of leaves and “flowers” for my sweet bird. There’s a couple of snippets of pink ribbons from my stash, and I’ve used a Vintage Faceted Button and some pearls to further bling up the sentiment and punch-feature panels. The sentiment is from Friendly Phrases.  (As I try to help raise awareness this month, I also want to send happy tidings to those dealing with breast cancer right now.)

Back to that wonky-looking strip of pearls. This long-line-of-luscious bling is the strip from the Pearl Basics Jewels, atop the ribbon border strip, atop some of the DSP that I pleated with the help of glue dots, and all that is layered atop the Lucky Limeade strip cut with that sawtooth Edgelit. It kind of created the illusion of pennants, I thought, which tied back in nicely with the sketch. The photo here at the right has been super-saturated with highlights so that the pleating would show up on the strip of DSP…and hopefully, it also shows the height/thickness of all those layers to maybe sort of excuse the crooked-looking line of pearls?  Hopefully!

I enjoyed working with this sketch, and like the fact that I was forced to think a bit beyond my comfort zone with the design elements.

……and now I’ve completed another card that I hope to use to raise awareness–and money–in the fight against breast (and ALL) cancers with my ACS Relay for Life activities.  Think pink–and fight like a girl!

–Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today! –Terri

Here’s another “thinkin’ pink” card for October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month — but it’s also a challenge-inspired creation today. Try Stampin’ on Tuesday‘s sketch this week immediately made me think of my Delicate Doilies Sizzlit and this lovely doily-covered page from the Festival of Prints DSP stack from the Holiday catalog.

The sketch elements were perfect for featuring a particularly delightful selection in this great pack of patterned paper…that has lovely prints that can be very Christmasy, but also some lovely papers, like this doily print, that are suitable for all year round. I needed a thank-you card; I needed another “pink” card; I needed to play in another card challenge.  Well, maybe I didn’t actually NEED to play in a challenge, but it’s a nice bonus to complete my trifecta of papercrafting-enabling-reasons.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Lucky Limeade when it was first introduced, but it coordinates so well with so many other SU colors, it didn’t take long to change my mind. And when this year’s In-Colors were introduced, I fell in love with the LL/Primrose Petals combo. Very sweet. Very feminine. I used LL ink on the sentiment, in the DSP, in a circle punched out of CS to back the bow, and I’m going to pretend like the large button is LL, too. (It’s not, of course, but it’s very close, and was in my stash screaming for the honor of adorning this card–I couldn’t say no and risk hurting its feelings.)

Primrose Petals — the pink of choice for this installment of BCA –shows up on the middle-sized doily, the strip of DSP (from the “Stack”), the card stock border, circle punch, and in the lovely 3/8″ Stitched Satin Ribbon used to make the double-loop bow. I sponged the edges of the sentiment banner with PP, as well. I’m not over-the-top with the pink here, but it fits nicely into my theme.

My card has a whole lot of “punch” again: several circle punches, and a whole BUNCH of punching (die-cutting) courtesy of my Big Shot.  In addition to the doilies, I’ve used the Adorning Accents Edgelits and Bitty Banners Framelits to knock out some really pretty shapes in no time.  I scrunched up one of the Very Vanilla doilies just for a bit of variety.

To complete my card, and top it off with some more feminine charm, I’ve used some Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons in varying sizes, and tied them all up with some linen thread.

This card is headed to a generous friend who is also involved with American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and ‘thinks pink’, too. I hope she likes it-she deserves a very big thank-you!

–Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today! –Terri

Well, I don’t know if the Design Team at the new challenge blog, CAS(E) this Sketch, will think I managed to pull off clean and simple with this — my second entry for their first challenge — or if they’ll shake their heads in dismay….because this card has a lot of stuff going on with it.  Of course, I realized that fact AFTER I finished my masterpiece. But I loved this sketch so much and even if it doesn’t meet the CAS criteria, I’ve gotta give a shout out to the sketch and this new place to play in the blogosphere.

This first CTS sketch really is a keeper. As time allows, I’m going to give it another go to try to REALLY get it down to the CAS bones. But for my second card here, I wanted very much to work with another of SU’s great embossing folders, Northern Flurry. It’s been around awhile, but I’ve just recently acquired it, and — like all the other EF’s — I’m loving it. And I added PINK to my card (who ever saw a pink snowflake???), still doing my duty and observing October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There’s some glitter, some pink….but still a lot of white space…….so, MAYBE it’s CAS, after all??

The little snowflakes were cropped with the Boho Blossoms Punch. The large pink snowflake is one of the elements of the new SU Bigz Die offered in this year’s wonderful Holiday catalog.  I’ve gone with a Whisper White and Melon Mambo color combo here, because–again–surely we need some pink snowflakes, too!

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner again today! –Terri

Naturally, pink is the star of the card, in all its incarnations. The DSP I used is some more retired SU loveliness. (I don’t EVER throw it away, I just keep on using it til it’s all gone, and then wish I had some more!)  I loved the combination of the two pinks on this particular paper; the Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke cardstocks, used to back the stamped panels and to create the leaves, the punched ribbon border, and the long vertical banner, provide the necessary anchoring for the lofty florals here.

I used the leaf branch and the wing from the Bird Builder Punch and a petal from the Blossom Builder Punch to make the leaves behind the sentiment panel. The Decorative Label Punch was used to punch out another snippet of pink and Certainly Celery CS was punched twice to create a border behind the pink. The Scallop Oval Punch cropped the sentiment. I’m still punch-happy trying to clobber cancer with these cards!

This sentiment from the stamp set is what sold me on it, before I’d ever seen any projects anywhere with the gorgeous flower. “Hope” is everything… whether you’re fighting cancer yourself… or working hard to help find a cure.  MY wish is that all our hopes and prayers will have the CLOUT to knock cancer OUT. Until this happens, I’m going to keep on working hard toward that goal, working with Relay for Life….and playing with pink paper and ink.

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner of the world today! –Terri

Here’s a pink ribbon for you for another observance of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. Unfortunately, there are far too many for whom I wear pink.

The  challenge this week at colourQ was a must-play for me, since the inspiration photo was a pink ribbon t-shirt! The so-pink colors teamed with classic gray and black and white…well–I want this t-shirt, too! I haven’t used Melon Mambo in some time, and I was glad to get it out for this challenge, since it’s one of my favorites. I both stamped the (now retired) SU pink ribbon on the top cardstock panel, and then snipped a thin strip of Melon Mambo CS and fashioned a 3-D paper ribbon to sit atop it.  Basic Gray frames and backs each layer, which gradually gets darker with each panel.

This variation on the popular ‘triple time stamping’ technique is courtesy of the witty and talented Brian King over at Stamp with Brian. Brian’s great post inspired me to apply his concept with pinks, and then this cQc challenge just gave me the date to get it done. Brian also has a very easy-to-follow tutorial of how to ‘triple-time’ here. Brian’s instructions are clear and concise and very easy to follow.

As one friend prepares for her radiation treatments, another friend heals from her surgery last week, and a relative I love very much heads to get a mammogram this week after a lump was found, I have to say that making these BCA cards this month is more therapy (for me) than anything. I’m using these (and others) each day on my personal facebook page to raise awareness–and to encourage folks to donate to my American Cancer Society Relay for Life page. It’s the organization I have chosen to work with (dealing with ALL cancers–not just breast cancer), but there are other very worthwhile organizations out there who are helping in this pink-ribboned-war. Sure, I’ll be proud if my Relay team raises lots of money this year….but mostly, I just want to get enough money to the right places to help those hurting now and to provide serious funds to find a cure for this awful beast, so I don’t really care (ultimately) who earns it. Anything you can give, any where, will help. It would be wonderful if someday the color pink could quit representing a battle we’re fighting….and start being the color that means VICTORY.

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today! –Terri

Happy October 6! This is National Cardmaking Day, and I’ve been busy doing so all day long. Just barely finished this one in time to get it entered into one of the challenges that inspired it.

Nacho Average Challenge (#14) colors this time were perfect for my October Breast Cancer Awareness cards, since it included a great pink color. For whatever reason, I don’t use Pretty in Pink very often and seldom use So Saffron either–so this challenge gave me an opportunity to flex my color muscles a bit, too. I was very happy with how well they paired up with the Early Espresso.  Leant a sort of vintage vibe to the card, I think. My DSP’s used here are some Sale-a-Bration goodies from several seasons ago. I never throw out anything by Stampin’ UP!, and today I was glad I didn’t, because it was the ONLY DSP I currently own that has So Saffron in it!

This card was also inspired by this sketch at Create with Connie & Mary this week. The flagged elements of the design were perfect to feature ribbon, which is absolutely essential for a Breast Cancer Awareness card! I used some more old Sale-a-Bration goodies for the two So Saffron ribbons, but had absolutely NOTHING in Pretty in Pink. What to do? Well, I cut a length of my Very Vanilla Seam Binding (current product-Yay!), and “dyed” it with my Pretty in Pink marker and some mists of water. I used my heat gun to dry it quickly and then used my flat iron to “press” it a bit. Voila!–a slightly variegated-looking Pretty in Pink ribbon that I made myself….just gotta remember to make sure there’s no ink left on my flat iron before I use it on my hair again!

My little flowers were punched with the smallest petal on the Boho Blossoms Punch and with the larger of the circles on the Owl Builder Punch; some pearls add a soft touch to the centers. The sentiment, stamped directly onto the DSP, is from the very current and very happy “Friendly Phrases” set. And that sentiment is mounted using four different punches–I’m still doing everything I can to PUNCH OUT CANCER!

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner of the world today! –Terri

My card today is dedicated to my mom…whose birthday was October 4th. She would have been 75 years old today. Unfortunately, she died at the ripe old age of 52…younger than I am now. And it was the breast-cancer-beast that took her far too soon.

My mother was as much my friend as she was my Mom; in fact, she never considered herself a good mom to me (she was, of course), but knew that she was a good friend. She was glaringly, sometimes PAINFULLY honest with me about everything. I never had to wonder if I was going to get her real opinion on something I went to her for advice on….it was going to be the truth, no matter how much it hurt. She knew me far too well to allow me to wallow in delusion or self-pity. There are SO many, many times through the years that I’ve missed that with the awful awareness of one who had something priceless that was ripped from them.

She was a realist–that was what allowed her to be so brutally honest. But she was also a tremendous optimist. Unless you proved her wrong, she always assumed the best from everyone she knew. She never met a stranger, and she could learn more about someone in five minutes than I’d known in months of knowing them….NOT because she was nosy, but because it was obvious that she was truly interested in them. And she always tried to make the most of whatever situation life threw at her. She always believed there was hope in any situation. I miss that about her with all my heart.

Mom said her optimism/ability to find hope was the one GOOD quality to she passed on to me…she’d say that as we were laughing at how I also inherited her tendency to gain weight or other less-than-desirable traits. What Mom didn’t know was that I inherited her ‘realist’ trait, too….wherein I can see the good and bad in every situation, and usually every person….and then choose to believe in and focus on the good.  That was her true gift–her ability to choose the BEST…to choose HOPE….to choose to live with a smile every day, even when she hurt.

No, she wasn’t perfect; the realist in me won’t let me say that, mainly because I know she’d be disappointed in me if I tried to pretend she was. Just like I know she’d say “I told you so” (her favorite four words!) when I “failed” at being a Hospice volunteer a few months after Mom died. It was too soon; I have too big of a mooshy heart to be effective at dealing with someone else’s pain if I can’t “fix” the problems; I wasn’t ready….and I knew it, but had to try anyway. She’d say “I told you so”….and then she’d say she was proud of me for trying….and to wait and do something that I WAS ready for….and that my mooshy heart would find to be a good fit.

I have, I think. Thanks to a wonderful friend (that Mom knew and loved, too), I’ve been involved in my area American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life for several years now. Each year, we work hard to raise money that goes for research, education, and to help folks in my area who are dealing with cancer (all kinds). It’s a cause I believe in, especially since I’m also a cancer survivor. I was “luckier” than Mom; mine (which wasn’t breast cancer) was found in the extremely early stages, and I’ve been cancer-free for 16 years now. I never once believed I wouldn’t be okay–I never gave up hope. Because I learned that from my Mom.

Happy birthday, Momma. Hope IS everything. And I’m working hard to share it with a lot of people now. I know you’d be proud.

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today. And, should you want to get involved with YOUR area Relay for Life, check out this link here.  –Terri

Studio image

I have a friend who went from Anchorage, Alaska to Baltimore, Maryland a couple years ago (with hiatuses across the globe to places like Italy and Africa)  and recorded an album. It dropped today. How. Cool. Is that? And what’s even better than that?? She’s donating the proceeds to grow edible gardens in schools in the city!!! SO if you go to this website and buy fantastic music you are also paying for food, learning experiences, and a healthy environment for kids! Win-win-win!

I bought my signed copy this morning and it came with a downloadable version to hold me over until it comes and I’m in love. It has 9 tracks; 4 spoken word poems and 5 original songs. Tis stuff is deep and heartfelt stuff that sinks into your soul.

1. “Sunrise”: Pop driven tune that sounds almost like an Owl City collaboration, but instrumentally only. Sounds like an instant radio hit with its catchy hooks.

2. “Breathe”: Many voices. One need. One message. *And don’t worry, the beeping is not your phone/computer self-dstructing *

3. “We Are the Sounds”: The first single off the album, you can watch the music video here. This one’s a head-bobber. It’s a chill song that brings people to the same place rhythmically. It encompasses the theme of the whole album: UNITY.

4. “Listen”: Poem. Deep and meaningful. Tangible.

5. “The Way I Love You”: Can you imagine if Kelly Clarkson and Colbie Cailat had a vocal love child? Well, the result would be something like this song.

6. “Move”: Another poem. The global influence on the album really shines through on this track.

7. “Let it Shine”: A contemporary spin on the classic children’s song. Rap and pop join forces to create a powerful anthem. Her back up vocal lines are brilliant on this track!

8. “Expose”: A peaceful experience for your ears. Sounds of the oceanside are the context for this short poem.

9. “Unusual Love”: Raw and honest emotion. I can easily see this song on the soundtrack of a movie.

You can download it for only $5 and you won’t be disappointed! Go help inner city children in need and get yourself some good tunes while you’re at it! Ready, set, go!

Here’s another “think pink” card I made for October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. It’s more retired SU DSP, and some extra crafting accessories I had laying around…but I was able to put it together using some cool current SU tools.  My pink color is Pink Pirouette again, with a bright touch of Riding Hood Red to give it a more upbeat “pop”.

This layout, while ultimately ‘tweaked’ enough that it’s fully my own, was inspired from several I’ve seen recently with the DSP as the star of the show. Since I’m working the whole pink theme this month…and have all this luscious leftover SU paper just staring at me, this kind of design worked well for today’s card.  I’ve got some happy pink spots for the bold background, a soft and subtle all-over pink left “border”, and the main panel, which features this gorgeous rose.

I cropped three different sizes using the Labels CollectionFramelits dies, and then also fussy-cut the same rose from another section of the DSP and popped it up on Dimensionals, after snipping and shaping the leaves a bit for even more 3-D effect. Before mounting this to the Framelits panels, I punched a hole with my trusty Paper Piercing Tool and pushed a little wired ribbon rose I’ve had waiting around for just the type project. It was the perfect finishing touch for the focal flower.

The sentiment was stamped with a retired SU hostess set phrase and then sponged with Pink Pirouette and cropped with the Large Oval Punch, and backed with a piece of the coordinating Riding Hood Red DSP, cropped with the Extra-Large Oval Punch. This is popped up on some more Dimensionals and I added a little bit of pink ribbon (GOTTA have ribbon on these kinds of BCA projects!) and a button from my stash.

Other tools used on this card were the Scallop Edge Punch for the side panel and a little strip of Riding Hood Red cropped with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch….and I used the Corner Rounder to soften the edges of the large back panel.  There was something so perfect about using all these punches on this card. After all, this month, we’re all about “fighting like a girl”….and as I work with my area Relay for Life team, we DO want to PUNCH OUT CANCER!

–Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today! –Terri

Heard that line on the radio last week as I was driving home from school and it has really stuck with me. Today there is a public hearing on Shell’s proposal to expand the Tar Sands operations in Alberta. Canada is one of the world’s top polluters due to this insanely dirty/toxic practice. I really do believe that we live in the most beautiful country in the world. Nature is part of us. Stand in the middle of a sun-soaked forest, or on a cliff overlooking the ocean- I challenge you to find something more deeply satisfying than creation.

Destroying what God made so that we can buy more of what man made.

Doesn’t make sense.

My favorite part about Halloween, of course its the Orange. This year however our fall decorations may see a sweet twist. JC and I were planning The Party over the weekend. Food, who to invite, what to wear, what to place in the house. We stopped by Kroger to pick up brunch essentials and discovered these little beauties.

This year pink pumpkins have made their way into super markets nationwide. Double duty – their sales contribute to Breast Cancer Research. As we all know October is the month! The Pink Pumpkin Patch has all the details. Like them on Facebook and show some love and support.

Of course the house is going to be Orange and there may even be some other white pumpkins added for posh. One simply can’t go with ONE variety of pumpkin can they? I thought it would be fun however to add these fellas to the food table as a centerpiece to pay homage to bewbie month and then of course the other decor can be more traditional.

DAY ONE: Starbuck – Opening Night Party
DAY TWO: Ethel – Come As You Are – Bones Brigade: An Autobiography – V/H/S
DAY THREE: Sans Soleil – Dead Weight – Andrew Bird: Fever Year
DAY FOUR: Inland Empire – Bad Brains: A Band in DC
DAY FIVE: Pink Ribbons, Inc. – 11 Flowers – How to Survive a Plague
DAY SIX: Romancing in Thin Air – Elena – The Imposter
DAY SEVEN: 5 Broken Cameras – Goodbye – High Tech, Low Life
DAY EIGHT: Big Boys Gone Bananas!* – Off White Lies – The Milwaukee Show
DAY NINE: Las Acacias – The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie – Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
DAY TEN: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry – Policeman
DAY ELEVEN: Quartet – No God No Master
DAY TWELVE: Mourning – As Goes Janesville – Blackmail – The Ambassador
DAY THIRTEEN: The Invisible War – Klown
DAY FOURTEEN: Old Dog – Little Red – Five Star Existence
DAY FIFTEEN: The Sessions – Detropia

10-1 M
05/15

I am writing this review a full month after the festival ended, and I have learned a valuable lesson about how many films I can conceivably view and report on in a two week period. As such, I am giving the least attention to the reviews on this day, specifically Pink Ribbons, Inc., a Canadian-funded documentary with a relevant message but which left a very minimal impression on this viewer. The pink ribbons used to demonstrate support for breast cancer victims (it does sound silly when you say it like that) have also been abused by myriad corporations in what the film attacks as “for-a-cause marketing” (moving from silly to odious), a curious capitalist phenomenon which creates awareness without action, and which promotes what some women call “the tyranny of cheerfulness” (this I like). This docu details: the Reagan initiative which led to corporate involvement; an appalling level of ignorance on the science of breast cancer; the pink KFC bucket which ignited so much controversy; and some very useful facts about companies who promote breast cancer awareness while selling products that have been linked to cancer. Be scared about ingesting plastic, which is said to mimic estrogen.

To all future documentary filmmakers, hear this!: I am now quite sick of the utilization of statistics like “every 23 seconds a woman is diagnosed and every 69 seconds a woman dies,” alarmist statements which are quite impossible to fully comprehend (let alone prove). You could even say that such statements create an atmosphere of awareness while doing nothing to promote action. So there. This documentary, like so many others, can only mainly be successful if it communicates “stop the machine from consuming us before it’s too late.” Of course it’s an important message. An important message in yet another journalistic docu made by people with no aesthetic input to offer. Yes, I am being subjectively unfair.

“A Portrait of the Communist as a Young Man”

Surely you’re familiar with Wang Xiaoshuai… … …you’re not familiar with Wang Xiaoshuai? Oh, well, then. He’s made about ten films and has received some international notoriety which primarily started with Beijing Bicycle, and naturally I will mention his two films screened at Cannes in 2003 (Drifters) and 2005 (Shanghai Dreams). I had a vague collective recollection of the man, though had not viewed any of his films. And now I must review his autobiographical work, 11 Flowers, about his experience of growing up in a regular rural Chinese town during Mao’s cultural revolution, and focusing on a young 11 year old named Wang and his posse of pre-teen scamps. Already you might be wincing: autobiographical, children, hard times under government – not particularly funny or thrilling, right? Actually I found 11 Flowers to be surprisingly, maybe shockingly watchable, earnest and emotional and well-made and even utilizing child actors well. Thank christ.

I’m going to take this opportunity to opine on children in films. Just for a moment:
I don’t – rather, can’t – usually tolerate films which focus too much on children, for two reasons I’ll list. Primarily it’s because child actors are notoriously misused, miscast, misdirected, written off, simplified – this, however, is all a result of the way a writer treats and views children. Cameron Crowe, for instance, uses them as plot devices and fully exploits their tenderness and naivete (for his purposes this is generally fine, Crowe loves people). The polar opposite is, well, the first worst thing which comes to mind is young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I. The actors in Lucas’s despised canon additions all have free passes, say I, and do not deserve damnation. But call Lloyd to mind in that film – “Are you an angel?” – and see what I mean (Argh – I’m sure my mind only went there because Lucas was in the news so much lately…) My second reason for generally hating children in films is also because of the writers, in this case when we are plunged too much into a child’s perspective, view the world from their eyes, or from a perverted, absurdist perspective that a writer tells us is a child’s perspective; basically, giving children credit or sympathizing with them or making films for them. I find these concepts quite alien and, frankly, weird.

But Xiaoshuai’s kids are fine. They’re just little people. So there’s young Wang and only three days which pass in his town. During this time he is promoted within his class at school to Gym Leader, meaning he stands before about 100 kids and leads daily exercises – quite thrilling for him! His family is criminally poor, so much that buying Wang a single new shirt for his position is an unprecedented extravagence. Btw, another good way to describe this film to others in such a way as to make it sound exquisitely boring is to say that it’s about ‘the misadventures of a pre-teen in communist China and his precious new shirt.’ It’s like Italian neo-realism with more money and time, and without the sinuous beauty of grainy black and white photography (it’s a funny thing to say since film quality in our age is far superior. Digression after digression today, it would seem). Wang meets a activist criminal (the only sane man in the town, actually, and the only moral one) who steals his shirt – wouldn’t you know it? – only to return it at the film’s climax. There’s the very pretty gloomy girl who never says a word, and the really excellent scene where she disrobes and re-robes in the same room as Wang, all the while as Wang hears her father in the next room despairingly going on about the death of his son.

11 Flowers proved to me that Xiaoshuai knows how to compose a film, knows how to let time pass in such a way as to allow his audience of voyeurs to feel it. He directed kids well, didn’t milk for sympathy. In fact, he made me think, “Hm, he’s about a notch or two down from the Dardennes, but that’s still pretty good.” The only complaint I have with the film is that it goes on a bit too long. But it was a fine view, one I was happy to see.

Why is it called 11 Flowers? Goddamned if I know.

Well, folks, it was bound to happen: after 37 other reviews, I officially remember almost nothing from 2012 pro-activist docu How to Survive a Plague. I remember that it is about the horrible treatment of the gay community in the 1980s during the AIDS outbreak and way progress was only possible due to the heroism of an incredibly brave community. I remember that this important yet conventional documentary made me think of The Times of Harvey Milk and how much better that film was. I remember that this was broken up with clips of the growing population of corpses AIDS left in its wake during the 80s and 90s. I will not pretend this film’s message is not important. It was just one of those days. The least I can do is to leave the filmmakers with the message they wanted to leave with their audiences: I remember! (this is the most flip review I’ve ever penned)

Here, I will share some of the thoughts that I had during the film without manipulating them into prosody – just pretend you’re reading the endless, unorganized sprawl of Nietzsche…

-Why does no documentary in the world start with the filmmakers introducing themselves and explaining who they are and why they are conveying the information? Never happens. I’d like to know, among many other things, where the footage we’re seeing is coming from…

-It’s all good information, but it’s technically indistinguishable from 100 other documentaries. I have a growing beef with the myriad documentaries coming out, more every year… it’s journalism, it’s good. Don’t say it’s not. But since so many more people can make documentaries, there are so many more of them, and virtually nobody has the time or inclination to add a damn thing to the medium, or to take the medium into consideration at all. It makes me think of… television.

-Brings to mind Lorenzo’s Oil, which I think is just excellent.

-Sen. Jesse Helms is an evil, awful, ignorant fossil. Just phenomenally, blasphemously ignorant.
(I wrote this during the film, and a month later I admit that I cannot even recall who Helms is)

written by David Ashley

Seen so far:
Starbuck
Ethel
Come As You Are
Bones Brigade: An Autobiography
V/H/S
Sans Soleil
Dead Weight
Andrew Bird: Fever Year
Inland Empire
Bad Brains: A Band in DC
Pink Ribbons, Inc.
11 Flowers
How to Survive a Plague

Ranked:
Sans Soleil
Inland Empire
Bones Brigade: An Autobiography
11 Flowers
Ethel
How to Survive a Plague
Andrew Bird: Fever Year
Bad Brains: A Band in DC
Come As You Are
V/H/S
Pink Ribbons, Inc.
Starbuck
Dead Weight

This card was inspired by this week’s Freshly Made Sketch #54.

The sketch was perfect for the kind of card I wanted to make–simple on the sentiment, with a big punch of “wow” in the featured element.

I’m using some retired SU DSP here, simply because I have a lot of it in pinks! And with a sentiment like “spoil yourself today“, the addition of Chocolate Chip to the lovely Pink Pirouette was an obvious choice….what better way to spoil yourself than with chocolate?  This sentiment is from the current SU stamp set “Bring on the Cake”.  Amazing how many of these sentiments are usable far beyond their “set” intention.  Since Relay for Life’s slogan focuses on a world with “more birthdays”, though, I couldn’t think of a better set to use!

The featured shape was punched several times– out of different DSP’s– with the Blossom punch. The largest flower from the Boho Blossoms punch was used in the center; some tulle ribbon was added as a layer, and the whole thing is topped off and held together with an Antique Brad. These are the most luscious and versatile  embellishments ever.

The sentiment was punched out with the Oval Punch, then backed with some Pink Pirouette DSP punched with the Scallop Oval. This little pampering thought was attached with a short piece of chocolate chip ribbon and some glue dots on one of the blossom layers.

It’s a simple, sweet card for a very complex and horrible subject. Breast (or any) cancer is awful. I’m working on a world with more lovely cards and crafts in it….if you can, find an ACS Relay activity in your area…and work on helping us make a world with more birthdays!

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today! –Terri

Our workout yesterday was really difficult, it involved front squats, jumping on and off of boxes, and pull ups; and that’s not including the warm up. (I like how every work out is difficult, some parts get easier but the work outs never do)

I definitely fell off that box more than once, I’ll be back to get it though. Something about getting my butt kicked by five pieces of particle board just isn’t right. Front squats are difficult, not because of the weight or anything but more the grip you have to have on the bar because it hurts my wrists, more specifically it hurts my left wrist.  Chad (coach) was saying that is was a flexibility issue in a persons forearms, triceps, and shoulders but because I am not an inflexible person I think the pain caused by that is a little more concerning.  During our workout time I asked Chad all kinds of questions about how the different kinds of squats we do work different parts of our bodies:

Today I learned: Front squats focus on your quads, back squats focus on your but and hamstrings, overhead squats are more about your upper body strength. Good stuff to know.

It’s also cool to be at a gym where I can actually stop someone and ask them stuff like that. 

An event coming up “Kalsu up for a cause”  find more info about it at www.crossfitboomtown.com

Here is an example of what Kalsu is because I had to look it up:

This is a website that chad talked about in class yesterday: http://www.mobilitywod.com/

Good for all your flexibility struggles. 

Seriously people, stretching is good for you and makes living easier.  I am a much happier person when I am not cramped up all the time (you will be to). Also if you have never had a massage before, I seriously recommend you look into getting one, totally worth it.  Better yet hike over to a massage class with your special someone and make it a date. 

I am never going to stop talking about how important flexibility is, if you don’t keep up with it every day it will disappear and you will end up with your shoulders rolled forward, all squatted over because you can’t straighten your legs, and unable to bend over and velcro your own shoes together when you are old.  Lets be real, this is not a good look on anyone. 

Being flexible is something that comes with time, just like that weight you can bench, and doing a little every day really does help. 

Hope you all aren’t sick of me talking about stretching yet, because it’s never going to end. 

-Best, 

Kenna

I would like to first of all apologise for a previous entry that I had on my page.  If you read it, or if you are American please forgive my silliness.  I love the USA and have had a great time here, as well as met some real awesome people.  What I wrote were generalisations that were offensive and uncalled for.  I am thankful that there was a blog reader who pointed that out to me, so that I was able to delete that silly post.  Lesson learnt and moving right along!

Here are some new earring listings for all you lovely folks  I am fsix sales away from making my first donation to a student at Acts community school in Tonga.  Thank you to every-one who has stopped by my shop, and for supporting hand-made.  If you follow the links below it will take you straight to my shop, and to the earring that has just been listed.  Enjoy your week folks

http://www.etsy.com/listing/109251787/cute-leather-earrings

http://www.etsy.com/listing/109250541/little-leather-earrings

THE IDEA

So, today I wake up with this really cool idea, at least what I think is a cool idea, which was inspired by a tweet on my timeline.  It’s a great thing to have great friends and their goodness rub off on you.  Your eyes begin to open, you begin to believe in yourself, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you can make a difference or at least be a part of something that is making a difference!

Today I encourage you to find a way to get in tune with the special things that only you do.  Get inspired by something that makes your heart move and open up that part of you that says, “I may not be able to do that, but I CAN do this!”

THE QUESTION

How will your being alive help, encourage, or give effect to this wonderful gift of life around you?  How will you say today and everyday: ‘Thank You!’

We’ve been through a lot, we Daisies….weddings, and births, and divorces, and deaths, and all kinds of illnesses. This year, though, TWO of us are dealing with breast cancer.  Fortunately, they’ve both got great prognoses at this point, but it’s a pain (literally) as they work through all the tests, and surgeries, and treatments. I hurt when my Daisy-sisters hurt.

I made this card for Daisy M. The “Reason to Smile” stamp set is always going to be one of my favorites…because it’s got daisies! (I think a lot of folks were coloring them and using them as sunflowers –and they’re gorgeous that way — but I always see daisies!)

The way the colors came out in the photo, it’s hard to tell, but I’ve used Raspberry Ripple, Pink Pirouette, and Whisper White on the card. I created the stamped/sentiment panel deliberately double-stamping the daisy design and then normally stamping the smaller flower to create my own designer paper panel. The sentiment is from “Friendly Phrases”. I would say that it’s my favorite sentiment stamp set from SU….but whichever set I’m using at the time is my favorite. I always keep ALL my sentiment stamps (retiring stamps don’t bug me at all!)…because I like words!

The sweet little butterflies were triple cut using the “Beautiful Wings” Embosslit…LOVE my Big Shot! I made each by alternating Raspberry Ripple from the DSP stack with some Pink Pirouette CS, putting them all together and attaching them to the card with glue dots. A tiny pearl in the center of each gives them a touch of bling. Using my trusty bone-folder, I fanned out the wings a bit to simulate fluttering.  I finished the card off with some retired (very wide) Pink Pirouette ribbon, but I think any of the current SU ribbons in a soft pink…or even Whisper White…would be just as sweet.  I wanted a very PINK card, and I think I achieved it.

I had the great joy of hand-delivering this card to Ms. Daisy M the day before her birthday in August, as I was vacationing in the Florida area near where she lives. It’s the first time I’ve seen her in months, and it was after her surgery…and it was just SO good to see her and give her a hug. Cancer is a wretched, wretched thing.  Which reminds me, I’m personally involved with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, which raises money for research, local assistance for cancer patients, etc.  And they always appreciate donations and involvement with your local Relay event. But if you choose another cancer charity–that’s fine. Just please give…the money used for research on breast cancer in the past 22 years since my mom DIED from breast cancer has made it possible for my friends to fight this beast knowing their outcome will be good.  Hope is a priceless big, big thing!

Thanks for visiting my Little Corner today! — Terri