The Darkest Hour...

... is just before the dawn. February is a bad month for me. It is the same every year. I have a few bad memories of this time of year which I try to forget but they manage to creep in anyway. The weather is usually horrible, work is non existent (people are paying off their Christmas bills) and everyone seems to be fed up and tired. This year even the snowdrops seem to be stunted. However, this week I was given a bigger shock when I found out a friend has been diagnosed with a malignant tumour. To say it is a shock is an understatement. She was the last person I would expect to take ill. A farmer's wife, she is always on the go, out and about. She has undergone surgery and now the waiting begins. My thoughts are with her and her husband. Unfortunately I also received a call from another friend and ex-neighbour. She lost her mother this week. She fell and broke her leg but the break was so bad that she did not make a recovery. I mention these stories because these are the moments when you realise how well off you really are. For all the feelings of sadness, worry and tiredness there are always others who are worse off.

So that this post is not too depressing I have added some pics of a few projects from this week. I got an order for some Easter cards which are mostly finished. They range from those for kids to older folk and are for men and women. I also altered a CD. Muted decorative papers, embossing and a sepia photo were used. The wording was a nickname given to Sam - one of those pointless collections of words given to those we love. It may look strange but it came from the heart. I also made some microscope slide collages. These are my first attempts. I pilfered the slides from my microscope - which is not very helpful when I am trying to study plant structures or animal hair. So I bought some more slides 'specially for making collages. I also discovered that if making a slide collage for sticking to a card, where only one side is going to be seen, a backing of sturdy card is a substitute for one of the slides. I used metal tape for edging my slides so when wrapping the edges with the tape you can take it all the way around the back, covering the backing card and round to the other edge. It just tidies up the back and make it more appealing.