My second tattoo, fresh today.

My second tattoo, fresh today., originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

So I got a tattoo today out of the blue! Actually I was at my eye appt. waiting to check out when my hubby texted me to say that there was a cancellation at the tattoo shop where I go and to call them! I was not expecting a tattoo today, I had to wait until Aug. 8th to get it done. I was thrilled when I found out. He was home sick today, if he hadn't been sick I would have had to pass on the appt. today. It all worked out the way it should have I think. This lovely fresh tattoo is in honor of my late Nana who passed away a few months ago. She loved strawberries and cardinals and there are 13 lily of the valley's as well which was her birthday and the same day she passed on her 89th birthday. This cardinal was based on a painting I did while she was sick. This painting is now hanging on my side of the bed where I can see it daily. While I was getting the tattoo done I could picture her looking down on me saying, "my Aimée!!" which she often said while laughing. I miss her dearly and can't wait to be reunited in Heaven with her some day. My wonderful tattoo artist is Kristen from In Living Color Tattoo! I'd work with her again in a heartbeat! She did my first tattoo as well. Just thought I'd share!

I miss you Nana!

OXOXOX

And the winner is ....

Lucky number 13 which was Jodi Ohl!!! Congrats Jodi! You've won my 4 Bistro prints. I will be contacting you shortly Jodi! You all need to check out Jodi's art!! She's fanta-bu-lous! Jodi is also on the same Etsy team as I am. Metsy (mixed media etsy). You can search Metsy on Etsy and every artist on the team's work will show up.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for entering this giveaway!! I learned so much from your responses and got a lot of great feedback. Thank so much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to help an artist out! I truly do appreciate it.

I have already started the clean up process in my shops. I'll no longer be offering bookmarks regularly but may throw some in every now and then. I've also taken out the prints that haven't sold in a super long time. I am going to refocus my energies on series and OOAK pieces. I hope that helps a bit.

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I also wanted to thank those of you who have been praying for my Nana. She passed away this past week on the 13th of all days which was her birthday. This is what I wrote the night it happened.

Just wanted you to get the feeling of Nana's surroundings tonight. I am just now getting home. Nana died peacefully tonight and was at peace and surrounded by her children. I left about 15 minutes before to head home with my Dad and Becky. I am relieved but really sad at the same time. I loved this woman more than anything in the world. God was there it was evident in the peace in the room, also the view from her bed was of God's wonderful creatures. We were joking that Nana was Snow White because all of these wild animals were at her window or close to it. Chipmunks playing, squirrels, a badger, 2 young deer, rabbits, various birds. I am not kidding one bit. The animals were all there and not scared at all. The hard part was when 2 cardinals landed on the bench near her window. Cardinals were Nana's favorite birds and were with her at the end.

Again thank you all for your support and blog love!

Aimée

2 More Little Ones

Out of the Blue - Mixed media, originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

Got busy last night creating and it felt good. I think my creativity is going to help get me through this rough time. I'm so thankful for this gift from God.

Out of the Blue (pictured above)
I made molds of these flowers out of vintage pins, buttons and beads so I can recreate them at any time!! I may do a series of these with limited color schemes. It was so much fun!! I melted UTEE in my melting pot and poured them into the molds!! So much fun and a whole new world to explore!!! This is a 5 x 5 piece and has water color crayons, acrylics, UTEE flowers, silver marker and oil marker. This is now listed on ArtFire.

A Little French
I started this piece a few weeks ago and never finished it until last night. I like how it turned out. I used a light molding pasted for the Fleur de Lis and stamped in the image from a foam stamp I have. It has lots of nice texture to it. It's now listed on Etsy.

Enjoy!

Off to get my daughter to her 2 year check up, fun fun!

Thank you to all who responded to my blog yesterday. Reading everyone's heartfelt comments made my day a bit easier. This is a rough time and I know she will no longer be in pain so that eases it a bit but I'm sure going to miss my Nana. I'm working on another tattoo in memory of her. It will probably include a cardinal, a strawberry and some lily of the valley flowers. All her favorites. I'll keep you posted on that.

:)

Aimée

Blogging through the tears.

Visit with Nana, originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

This is the last photo I have with my Nana and Lorelei. This was taken last summer. We have rough winters here and it didn't make it easy to get across the lake to VT unless we took the ferry across. The ferry is ridiculously expensive and so most of the time we don't go across either way. My biggest regret is not getting over there more to visit my sweet Nana and Papa with Lorelei.

I'm absolutely heartbroken right now. The last time I spoke to Nana was right before my trip to Holland. We were trying to arrange a time for them to help us get to the airport in Burlington. It didn't work out because of schedules, they weren't going to be around when we got back from Holland because they were going on vacation to Costa Rica, something my Aunt set up for them. My cousin and their grandson lives in CR and they were going to see him and get some warm weather during our cold winter. She went there as Nana and came back differently.

Nana suffered a fall and stroke while she was there and was put on Life Support in CR for weeks, then she started improving is what we were told. We couldn't get a straight read on her CAT scan of her brain. The care there was phenomenal I was told and she was in good hands. Various family members went to visit and care for her as well. I was going to try and go but it was too difficult financially for us as well as who would take care of Lo. I never went.

She was just medivac'd back here last week and put in the local hospital. She has a DNR order in place and my Papa was told by the local neurologist that her brain has atrophied and what she is now is what she will be, basically a vegetable. My Nana would never have wanted this to happen. She was so full of life and energy and lived up to her red hair!!

My Papa made the choice 2 nights ago to let nature take it's course. Not sure how much longer she'll be with us. I'm going to try and go over on Tuesday to say my goodbyes. How do you say goodbye to the most wonderful woman in the world? She was the glue in our family, she loved a good party, she still worked out 3 times a week at her gym even at 88 years old. She was a strong woman of God. Devout Jesus follower and the best Nana I could have ever had. She wasn't just my Nana she was a dear friend. I lived with them for 6 months and we had some great times together. It was in the 90's and I even taught her the macarena!! We used to dance together in her kitchen to it and I started calling her the "Maca-Nana". We had so many inside jokes the two of us. I am going to miss her spice for life, her laugh, her face squishes and big kisses. Her calling to talk to Lorelei just to say "I love you". She is truly going to be missed and a big chunk of my heart is being ripped out. I love you Nana more than you ever will know.

Part of me is at peace knowing she's going to Heaven. She is going to be reunited with her Savior and also her son Michael who died 20 years ago. What a happy reunion that will be. I've had months to come to grips with all of this but it's not helping. Please pray for my family as we go through this hard time.

"Renewed" - ©Kathryn Riechert 2009

I bought this necklace as a reminder of her and as a reminder to pray while she was still in CR. It helped me out. It was meant for me because of the name and the stone. My Nana's birthday is May 13th, her birthstone is the emerald which was one of her favorites. I bought this necklace from one of my favorite sellers on Etsy named Kathryn Riechert. She has become a sweet online friend and has made some special pieces of jewelry for me. It's a keepsake for sure. This necklace was named "Renewed" by her and it just jumped off the page of her shop and I bought it instantly. I was looking for something to remind me to pray for Nana, this did. I have only taken it off once since I bought it. It has an emerald for a stone. My plan was to bury this with Nana once I knew she was renewed. I was hoping she would get better and I was going to give it to her or if not I was going to bury it with her. She wants to be cremated so now what do I do? I think I might hang it on a wall with my art or something as a memorial to her. What do you think?

I'm sorry for the long blog but my heart is just overwhelmed and I needed to get this off my chest.

Thank you for reading.

New Art! It's about time right???

Latest 2 pieces, originally uploaded by creativeFlutter AKA MazerDesign.

Hi all,

Life has been so incredibly crazy for me lately so much so that I haven't been able to create. I did manage to get 2 little pieces finished though. These are both 5 x 5 canvases and both mixed media pieces. The blue one is called "Dream Big" and features a locket that opens and closes. I think it's funny that it's called Dream Big and it's really small! The next one is called "Bloom". I really like this one because I used a bunch of different techniques on it. Including using modeling paste under the paint and over painting it but really blending the paints. It has a lot of texture and also has some fiber on it as well. Make sure to view the other photos below to see the details. Both pieces are listed on Etsy!

I've been so MIA from my blog so far this year but as I've said it's been crazy. I just got back from an unexpected trip to Cape Cod with my daughter Lorelei. One of my best friend's mothers passed away last week from cancer and she needed someone to look after her kids so she could go to the funeral in Alabama. I was able to help and boy was that tiring! Two 2 year olds and a 4.5 year old for a week. Insane. The week before that another close friend's mother died of cancer as well in Germany. Then I found out my sweet 88 year old Nana fell while on vacation in Costa Rica and had a brain hemorrhage and was on life support. She is no longer on life support but is still in a coma and seems to be improving. Prayers for her would be greatly appreciated. She can't be moved until she's stabilized so she's staying in Costa Rica. My mom flew out yesterday to be with her for 10 days. It's been a traumatic month for people around me and my family as well.

One bit of good news is that my brother and his beautiful, new wife Petrie are finally reunited and she's here in the states and no longer in Holland. I can now show your photos from their amazing wedding!! Enjoy!

Till next time!!
Count your blessings.

Aimée