Glaucoma, My Eye!

This picture has been the header for my Facebook profile for a while, now. It is funny (in a black-humor sort of way), that I chose my left eye to highlight, and made some comment about "still having a twinkle in it". I was diagnosed with glaucoma in that eye three months ago, and started on an eye drop regimen that will continue for the rest of my life (unless I actually go blind in that eye, in which case...).

A couple months ago, I underwent laser surgery to blow a hole through my iris to relieve the pressure that was causing my iris to bulge. The surgery was a piece of cake. In fact, my doctor said she'd never had it go so well before: she only had to make two "shots" - one with the hot laser, and one with the cold laser - and ...voila!...a perfect hole in my iris, which has not closed up since the operation, which often happens. (BTW - she said she usually makes 12-15 shots with the hot laser, and 15-18 with the cold laser to get a big enough hole!!!) I had a BUNCH of good friends praying for me, and I can only give the glory and praise to my Heavenly Father for seeing me safely through the procedure.

 I have recently taken a turn for the worse - I developed a white "haze" in that eye - like looking through gauze or fog - and went from seeing 20/20, to not being able to read the top row of letters on the eye chart - with my glasses on. My doctor increased the dosage of steroid drops to 4 times a day (up from once a day), but a side effect of the steroid is that it increases the pressure in the eye, which is basically what glaucoma is. The other two medications I'm taking are drops that limit the production of fluid in the eye, thus reducing the pressure. These drops seem to be making my eye "shrink" - it is not as pronounced as my other, healthy eye, and my eyelid has a decided droop to it. Consequently, my eye doesn't look much like it does in the picture above. My vision does seem to be improving ever so slightly, day by day, though, so keep those prayers a-coming - please! They are mighty powerful stuff!

Unfortunately, I cannot do much work on the computer, as my eye tires easily, and that means blurrier vision, so I am not able to do much design work right now. The Lord has given me the wonderful opportunity to watch my beautiful little granddaughter on a daily basis, which takes all my time, anyway, so I probably wouldn't be getting much design work done anyway. (As proof, notice the "Hello Spring" header on my blog. Sigh.)

Anyway, I just wanted to let some of my peeps know what has been going on with me. Thanks for thinking of me.

Laura

Update: I am doing fine and dandy as long as I use my eye drops twice a day. My vision is clear and pressures are low, thank the Lord and all the docs who've worked on me, and especially all those of you who have prayed for me. Prayer works!

Luring Grandkids to Grammie's House

I don't know where this idea came from...I saw it on Pinterest and couldn't get the original source to open (it was a Spanish site - all I know.) But I LOVE the idea. I corrected the color a bit, from the overall yellow of the original. Gotta do this!

A Cute Wedding Favor Box

Here's a little larger favor box I designed, that would hold a couple of cookies, or a small slice of wedding cake, or whatever. The box measures 4"L x 2½"W x 1½"H. "I DO!" pops up through a slit in the top. The popup sentiment can be personalized in Inkscape, bearing in mind that there is only 2½" in which to fit the sentiment on the band.
This file is available for free here.

Painting Foam Board - To Prime or Not to Prime? - That is the Question

I just finished a project where I had to cut foam board, then paint it, and had trouble finding a definitive answer to the question of whether or not to prime it first, so I thought I'd post my experience with it. The foam board - also called foam core board - had a fairly matte paper finish on both sides of it (I used Elmer's brand), so I painted right onto it without priming. I had read that the stuff doesn't warp when paint is applied to it. Wrong!  It did warp while wet, but as it dried, it flattened back out. I would recommend letting it dry on a flat surface because of this.

I also was painting a piece of rigid foam insulation, which I was using as the surface to which I would be mounting the foam board. This had a plastic film on one side, and foil on the other, but the same recommendation applies to the plain foam insulation with no coatings: PRIME IT! I used Zinsser Sealer/Primer. It rolled on smoothly, and dried very quickly. The can says 30 minutes dry-time, but it was more like 15. It gave a nice "tooth" to the surface, so that the acrylic paint could grip and hold. I used a foam roller to apply both the primer and the paint. The acrylic paint was dry to the touch after 15 minutes, but I gave it 30 minutes before applying a second coat. Only two coats were needed for the black parts, but a third coat was need for the parts I was painting red, which is usually the case when you're painting anything red. It is a "weak" color, even though it wouldn't seem so. Hope this helps someone else looking at painting these two types of foam products.

How to Build an Indoor Awning

A Rainbow of Awnings

Installed in unfinished hallway

I am in the process of building some awnings for the hallway windows of our church's children's wing. The theme is 'Kaleidoscope Kids. 

I constructed the frames from 1x2" pre-primed MDF from Lowes, since it was less expensive than even pine boards. I glued & screwed the 90° joints, and glued and used a nail gun to secure the angled joints. I took the measurements of the wall space, extending the awnings out 2 inches on either side of the windows (they have no frames), and drew up a pattern for the awnings themselves, which consisted of a large rectangle, and two triangles for the sides. 

Bare Frame

Awning with Fabric Cover

Back View

Attaching the Aprons

The aprons have white piping where they join the body of the awning. I used a standard upholstery technique to attach the aprons: stapling through a narrow strip of poster board and stapling through the seam allowance, into the frame, with the apron flipped up, out of the way. 

I used pocket-hole joinery with glue for most of the framing, and glue and a nail gun for the angled joints. The awning covers are stapled on because the budget couldn't accommodate Velcro. I had to make a jig for my miter saw because the angle cut for the diagonal braces was more acute than the degrees on the saw. I found directions online from a woodworkers' site showing how to make a jig for cutting crown molding. I am using Industrial-strength Velcro to attach the awnings to the wall, since they're pretty light - about 7 pounds each. I have a cornice in my study that has been hanging there for 12 years by means of this Industrial-strength Velcro. It does a great job.

The logo below was designed by an artist that goes to our church, Andy Bennett. 

Psalm 139: 13-16
¹³ You created the deepest parts of my being. You put me together inside my mother's body. 
¹⁴ How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that. What you have done is wonderful. I know that very well. 
¹⁵ None of my bones was hidden from you when you made me inside my mother's body. That place was as dark as the deepest parts of the earth. When you were putting me together there, 
¹⁶ your eyes saw my body even before it was formed. You planned how many days I would live. You wrote down the number of them in your book before I had lived through even one of them.

Simply put...

 The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me....
yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. 


This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.” 


Tim Keller, The Reason for God

Awe-inspiring

I came across a blog today, and I have been so intrigued by the photos and quotes I found there. Both this quote, and the one below on the regrets of motherhood, are from http://michelleums.tumblr.com. Please check it out.

I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers to God make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those effects down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.

— Peter Kreeft