Some holiday cards. . .

Starting to make some holiday cards, you can check out my challenge 8 from Clothing at the Cocoa Daisy crop. We are giving away gift certificates as prizes! Card made entirely from Cocoa Daisy November Bed and Breakfast and add-ons.
Happy Weekend to you! Until Later. ;)

Crop pages

My first page for the Cocoa Daisy fall Crop for challenge #3, involving labels. I love labels, used two on here. I saw that apple on a sign for the elections this week for the district school board, and I loved that idea! I used a heart from photoshop, reverse printed and cut it out. Love this kit (Cocoa Daisy's Bed and Breakfast and add-ons). I also really like cream colored cardstock (included in the main kit.)
Happy Friday to you! Until tomorrow. Will be posting more stuff this weekend. PS Thank you to all the soldiers, The home of the free because of the Brave.

Crop!

I'm finishing up a few things, would love to see you all there. These crops are the best! And you don't need to have a Cocoa Daisy kit, just use your stash. Everyone is welcome! Happy Tuesday, until tomorrow.

A Sunday drive-by

One last page from the Cocoa Daisy October kit Farmer's Market:
I really loved that kit. Just finished a page and a card with the November kit for the crop next weekend (will post a schedule for the crop here soon). Got a new computer yesterday as my old one is acting strangely and sadly on it's last leg. All photos are backed up though, no worries. I'm fanatical about that. Happy about the new iMac though, and a new version of photoshop to learn. You can't get too comfortable with either your computer, software, printer or camera in this hobby, some if not all are bound to change about every 5-6 years. Hope you have a great Sunday, I appreciate you welcoming me back to blogging again. Happy weekend to you! :)

October Hangover

I never really meant to disappear for the month of October, but it just kind of happened. Nothing bad, we were just outside and busy doing all things fall. We went of vacation at the end of Sept, and subsequently I never really caught up (from laundry either). Then there were pumpkin patches and corn mazes and school field trips and before I even looked up it was Halloween. (This photo was taken outside the haunted house/base Halloween party we attended.) It even snowed the weekend before Halloween. First time in years my dh has been home, I'm thinking it was a biblical sign. :)

I took about a 1000 photos, need to do an October daily in the worst possible way. I have some pages from Cocoa Daisy to share, will have more after the crop this weekend. I am really looking forward to that. There were made with the Cocoa Daisy November kit Bed and Breakfast. You will love all the embellishments in the main kit, good stuff and a cute stamp.

Honestly, the last week and a half have been tough. I've not been feeling well, a lot of joint pain and my stomach is pretty upset. After talking with several family members with this illness, they all tell me how the change in season usually adversely affects them and the arthritis. So, I'm trying to tough it out and just see what happens over the next few weeks. Perhaps it will just get better on it's own without intervention. Going to stay positive. I've got a birthday party to plan and the holidays to get ready for, (and I haven't even started hyperventilating in to a bag yet, so I've got things to do. :) )

Thinking of blogging more, but making shorter, more frequent posts, with or perhaps without photos. Happy weekend to you! Until tomorrow. . .

Sneaking in quickly

Bed and Breakfast Nov. Cocoa Daisy kit (main first, then add-on photos):

Sneaking in under the wire with some of my own sneaks:

You will love this kit! Will be working with it more over the weekend for some new, fresh inspiration for the Crop Nov. 11-13. Join us tomorrow night at Cocoa Daisy for the full reveal of Bed and Breakfast. Happy almost Friday! Until tomorrow.

Note: I'm ok, just busy. Not so busy I couldn't blog, but too busy to think of something good to blog about. Still trying to figure out what I want this blog to be exactly. I'll be back soon with pages. :)

Cocoa Daisy October Farmer's Market

Sharing my Cocoa Daisy layouts made with the latest October kit Farmer's Market. This first one is my favorite, and I wrote the journaling on the autumn card there on the side. I've since added the word "pull" in little letter stickers from the kit so that any one else would know that's where the journaling is. (I'm a little afraid it would lead to them pulling the rest of my layouts apart looking for hidden journaling.) This is made with mostly the main kit papers, and ribbon and a few added embellishments from apple pie, pumpkin soup and canned peaches add-ons.

This one is from the Canned peaches and pumpkin soup add-on. I love the paper and the autumn AC letter stickers.
This photo was one that I found at the end of some photos I took last year. I thought I scrapped them all, but then I saw this one. I love all the orange paper in this kit, had to use it. Combining more of all three add-ons with the paper in the main kit.
This one was made for a new magazine. I was asked to use my supplies to make a page about me and J. However, after I made the page I realized that the date to send was after we would leave town for vacation. So I had to pass on the opportunity to be published, but I still love the page. This pages uses the add-ons apple pie and canned peaches. I love how every single piece of every add-on goes so well with the main kit and vice versa.
Last page, I haven't scrapped any of the halloween photos from last year. What I think is so cool about this kit is that you can make it themed if you want, lots of pages about fall, halloween, school, the pumpkin patch, etc. Or you can just do your own thing. I will be using more of this kit soon though.
So that's it. Just got back from vacation a few days ago and dealing with the post-vacation laundry and such. I'm about to start my 4th week of exercising 6 days a week. It might sound crazy, but before I started all I could think of was how tired I was. I was so tired from working all day, had to make dinner, play cars and do bedtime, pay a bill or two, and fall into bed. How on earth was I going to keep scrapbooking except for the rare weekend hour here and there?

But I started doing it anyway, I'm up at 5am (if you follow me on twitter) working out. And a surprising thing happened. I have so much more energy now, so much. Now I try to start everyday with a work out so that I have the energy to do the things I want to do at the end of a day. It's still sometimes hard to wrap my brain around it, but it works. That's why I have so many layouts for this month, and I don't think I'm done yet. Nope, not with this kit. :) Happy weekend to you friends! Until tomorrow.

CD Oct Sneakage

Well, after 5 pages I had to put down the new Cocoa Daisy kit for Oct. It's only a momentarily reprieve though, I'm off to take some more photos over the next few days. :) Here are a few sneaks for you:



I love this kit, so so much. I got 4 add-ons, and I love them all! The stamps are amazing, I am so inspired to make something with them soon. Happy Wednesday to you! Until tomorrow.

Some cards

Was in the mood for some cards. #1 and #3 are using Cocoa Daisy's Printer's Drawer. #2 Uses Cocoa Daisy Siren's Call. There is a prize if you play along here:



Happy weekend to you! Until tomorrow.

Playing with:

Cocoa Daisy's Farmer's Market Oct. (Love, love, love!):
(Favorite add-on! here:)


But I got them all! If you need me, send a search party. I'll be knee deep in this kit! Happy Thursday to you, please come fast weekend! Until tomorrow.

Cocoa Daisy Sept pages. . .

Just getting around to uploading my Cocoa Daisy pages to the blog here (uploaded last week to 2 peas), this is the Sept kit Printer's Drawer. Some add-ons are still available, but the main kit sold out fast.



You can find me on twitter and pinterest now. But not facebook. I just can't make myself go that far. Hope you've had a lovely long weekend, until tomorrow.

More sneaks

We made it through the hurricane, what a pretty day it is here. Wish I would have taken photos of my yard before the storm, it's looking a little battered now. :( But otherwise no damage. Scary last night though, really loud at times. My neighbor lost some siding!

A few more sneaks for you:

Hope you will join us for the reveal at Cocoa Daisy! Until tomorrow.

Sneaking in quickly

Cocoa Daisy's Sept sneaks:

This has been a rough week. Earthquakes and traffic at the beginning. Now running around like a chicken with my head cut off at the end in preparation for this hurricane. I'll be working on the rest of my pages after we lose electricity and there is nothing left to do. Happy weekend to you! Until tomorrow. Be safe East Coasters. :)

Sometimes I forget. . .

Struggling today to find my motivation. It's like my get-up-and-go, got up and went. And sometimes I forget:

1. That I'm a mom of a busy 4 year old.

2. That I work a demanding full time job.

3. That I make 57+ decisions a day.

4. That I don't have a maid or a gardener. (Rats, oh well.)

5. That I don't have a cook either. (double rats)

6. Or a dog-walker. (you get the idea)

7. Or an accountant. (Argh)

8. That I'm also a wife, a daughter, sister, and friend.

9. That I have a chronic illness.

I can get so lost in my head, so busy doing the next thing. But I really believe that to call yourself a scrapbooker, you have to scrapbook. And I'm working toward scrapbooking more. This past year I've made strides to simplify and organize the house/yard. This has freed up a lot of time (of course laundry seems to eat up more than it's fair share but still). And yet, I'm still not very efficient about using that time. I can't say I'm so busy I don't have time. I know I do, I just don't know how to use the chunks I end up with. But I'm working on it. :)

I forgot to share this page for Cocoa Daisy, and now the kit is sold out with just a few add-ons for sale. It's Christmas in August:

Happy Thursday to you! Until tomorrow. (Please come fast weekend, I'm ready.)

Everyday page

An everyday page with the Cocoa Daisy kit Siren's call. This is a take on a sketch provided by Lisa Pace. (Sketch = very good; Me following directions = not quite as good. But close enough for government work. :) ) The Cosmo cricket paper in the middle kind of looks like a border?Honestly, borders intimidate me. :) This is my favorite page this month, the subject just makes me laugh. I love pages that make me laugh.
A rainy day here, but welcome after the hot weather we have had. Will be back with another page tomorrow. Happy Wednesday to you! Until tomorrow.

Procrastination (And Summer Cocoa Daisy Pages)

Sharing some pages today with Cocoa Daisy's August kit Siren's Call:

(Vee, do you remember this day?) I love these photos, taken with my Blackberry phone. And I finally caught the ice cream truck. It's only taken two summers, really. :)

What an amazing kit this was. I'll be sharing more tomorrow. Until then. (No, I mean it, tomorrow. :) )

Sneaks, yep, I'm on that!

Gosh, I feel like the summer is over and I haven't even visited the beach yet. It's just flying by, but I love the fall so much that you won't hear me complaining. I should photograph my yard though before everything dies for the winter, that always makes me sad. I need to do a garden journal. I always have a bout of uneasiness come April looking around, wondering if things will indeed "wake up again." I think a garden journal would help with that. :)

Sneaks of Cocoa Daisy's August kit Siren's call here:



You will love this kit! Love, love, love! Feeling well lately. Thank you again for all your support on my previous post. Happy Tuesday to you! Until tomorrow.

Love

So in love with this new kit from Cocoa Daisy called Siren's call. Do you see the stamp on the tag? How cool is that? I'm loving our exclusive stamps here lately, some of my favorite ever.

Happy Weekend to you! Until tomorrow.
Note: Thank you so much for your comments on the last post, I've missed you all.

Elephant in the Room

Where have I been and what have I been doing?

I try to come here and blog about everyday things or fun things or silly things we do, but that's the question that haunts me so I don't post. I stay silent. So I thought perhaps that the truth would set me free.

After my grandmother died, I got really sick. I was running to the bathroom day and night, seeing blood. (At the risk of being graphic, sorry). I told myself it was stress, I told myself it was an infection. I must have caught something yucky from work. So, I went to my physician and told him what was going on. He ordered tests. I did not have a parasite or bad bacteria. I did have an elevated sed rate (means nonspecific inflammation). I do have a family history of inflammatory bowel disease. That combined with the lab test and my symptoms bought me a colonoscopy.

I told myself that the colonoscopy would be normal, and whatever it was would go away. I woke up from the colonoscopy to my physician telling me I had redness in various places throughout my lower GI tract. It was not, in fact, normal. The biopsies were nonspecific (read, no help.) So my physician sat me down and said that the evidence was pointing strongly to Crohn's disease.

At that point I freaked out. Went into complete and total denial. Lost my mind a little. I turned down medication because I didn't have that illness. I just couldn't. I'd spent my adult life studying IBD to help others, how on earth could this have happened to me?

I spent the next 6 months in a self imposed hell. I developed arthritis, worst in my lower back and wrists (I'm 35). I had bad abdominal pain, and I never stopped running to the bathroom. I told myself I was just stressed. I needed to deal with my mental state, eat well, rest or something. I told myself if I could just pull myself together, things would get better. They didn't. Perhaps this explains why so very little scrapping has been happening on this blog. It's nothing short of a miracle that I completed my Cocoa Daisy assignments on time every month, and that I managed to go to work and take care of my 4 yr old while my husband was deployed.

After being up all night going to the bathroom one night, half delirious, I decided I'd had enough. I didn't care what we called it, I just wanted it to stop. So I spoke to my physician who told me to just give the Pentasa a try. Having no expectations, or even hope that it would work, I debated for 2 days about taking it. When I did try it, within 24 hours I had no back/abd pain. Within 48 hrs, no diarrhea. And within 72 hrs, the arthritis was gone.

I feel some days like Alice and wonderland. Take the big blue pill Alice and we can pretend that the past year never happened. I'm normal again, except that I take blue pills at every meal. The only thing these pills treat is Crohn's, but most days I still try not to think about that. What can I say, denial is strong emotion. It overrides rational thought. I think it's a self defense mechanism from things that threaten the very core of who we are/what we know. I have some way to go before acceptance, but feeling better is helping.

So, that's where I've been. I want to get back into scrapping because I feel more strongly than ever that I have stories to tell, things to say to the people I love. But it's hard, I'm out of practice and really need to develop some consistent habits again. With each day I get a little stronger and I know I'll be loving paper again soon (I already am in love with the CD Aug kit, omgosh). Thank you to anyone who commented on a page in a gallery somewhere, or on this blog. Your comments have lifted me up and helped me keep crafting when I wanted to give up, so thank you.

Now can we just move on? :) Happy weekend to you (and thanks for reading.) Until tomorrow.

Cocoa Daisy July Pages

It's been an interesting start to the summer, I'm still coughing from the last cold that I caught. Spending a very quiet and low key July 4th weekend. Wanted to share my pages with Cocoa Daisy's upcoming July kit called Urban Loft. This kit is so trendy, I was a little intimidated. If it's one thing I'm not, it's trendy. But I do love the colors. So, here are a few pages from our recent stay-cation:


This last page is a member lift from the Cocoa Daisy gallery. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend, it's raining here. Holding out some hope for fireworks tomorrow. Happy weekend, until tomorrow.