A card

A birthday card made for my sister with Studio calico's Summer 69 main kit only. 

No need to email me and tell me I use the chipboard banner wrong, I am banner impaired truly. Happy Monday to you! Until tomorrow.

A weekend drive-by

This past week has just been so crazy, something had to give and unfortunately that meant blogging. Back to school is kind of rough on the parents too! Anyway, hope my pages with Studio calico's Summer of 69 make up for it a little:

 First time I've ever used my Cameo for a scrapbook page:

Happy weekend to you. Until tomorrow. Be safe East Coast, storms coming later today/tonight.

Carry on . . .

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I suppose I could just say that it's back to school time and things are busy, which is kind of true.

Or I could get right to the heart of the matter and say that I'm really stressed this week. Really stressed. I don't do well with change. I try, I really do. But when it involves a new school for my baby, well my stomach just goes to pieces. I've done so much pre-planning, altering my work schedule, doing all that I can to make the transition a smooth one. I try, oh how I try.

It doesn't matter, my guts are smarter than me. I think they even know that I'm trying to hide stuff from them. :)

Struggle on.  It's a phrase I repeat when I am nervous or scared, or not feeling well with crohn's. Just keep going, get out of this moment, out of my head and back to the present moment and back to the task at hand. Back to my child's latest building creation, back to my dh's supportive glance, back to helping other people. I'm so lucky to get to help other people as a job.

I've been scrapping again lately to try to be present, to fiddle with paper in my hands. I finished 2 more layouts and a card for my sister's birthday. Will be back to share soon. Until tomorrow.

Random project life post

I am caught up with project life, but I am wondering if I should just post currently or go back and add the old ones that have never been seen before here. Then again, I think I'll just post them sometimes when I feel like it and not be so anal about getting them all posted. They are done and that is enough. I am like the simplest project life scrapper out there, truly. I studied my printer manual until I knew the ins and outs and can print out my photos in the correct sizes in 2 mins, takes longer to get the iPhone ones emailed to me. My motivation to finish project life this year is to buy a cool album to put it all in, right now it is in an 8.5 x 11 one, and the pages are 10x12 so they don't really fit. I always do a card with journaling and let the photos take center stage. Lisa T (gluestick) told me, "one pocket at a time." I live by that motto. Happy weekend to you! Until tomorrow.

End of Summer Drive-by . . .

It's kind of like walking and chewing gum at the same time, I wasn't sure I could blog and scrapbook too. :) This is a page I made using some of nearly everything in the Studio Calico main kit, Elmwood Park:

My absolute favorite thing on this page? Those SC veneer birds dressed with JBS paint dabbers in cough syrup and soap powder. Love. Love them all! :) Love my lil monkey too.

Happy mid-week to you! Until tomorrow.

Not the deal I thought it was. . .

After I spent $1.99 on the angry bird app, I was feeling pretty good. Such a deal right?

After buying the Angry birds toys, candy, game, t-shirt and now the cheese nips on this week's grocery run, I'm not feeling so good. I'm feeling like I've been had. :P

Our pool party got cancelled due to rain this afternoon. So I will be scrapping to part two of Lord of the Rings. Happy weekend to you!

Little dog, big heart. . .

Tonight I am working on a project for my sister. My sister also has Crohns. Becky's is much worse than mine and she has been on medication since she was 13 years old. She can't have any children, so she opted for a furry child. 

This is Scarlet. My sister only had her for 6 years total. Scarlet died very recently, unexpectedly of congestive heart failure. Chihuahuas usually live for much longer than 10 years. As you can imagine, my sister is devastated like she lost a child. And she kind of did. 

Scarlet was the most photogenic dog I've ever seen. She was pretty much perfect in every shot, so I have lots to pick from. I am presently trying to get my photos uploaded to print out in gallery prints. Have you ever printed mounted photos, photos that look just like photos with no frame and a stand mounted on the back? I'm considering this for a few prints as these are so affordable, but mostly I'll go with canvas. This is all my sister asked for in regard to her upcoming birthday. Sometimes it's not easy to be the family historian and picture-taker. I was tasked with the same project when my grandmother died.

A somber Friday to you, until tomorrow. (This post brought to you by mass doses of Aleve, oh how I hate this arthritis.)

On Top of the World

When you are 5. Happy Thursday, until tomorrow.

Shopping

My hiatus from scrapping has only slowed my shopping for scrapping down a little bit. I get a monthly kit, and rarely a really boyish add-on.

I seldom shop outside of this. There have been two exceptions--wood veneer (studio calico) is the first. And because of the first I convinced myself that I needed the second--all the jenni bowlin dabbers. I never buy a whole collection of something, but I have the yellow and pink bubblegum color (not sure why since pink doesn't get much use in my house). So I really wanted the other colors to paint the veneer:

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Gosh they are all so pretty lined up like that. I only got 1 red though, cough syrup. And I got speckled egg and weather vane. Can never have too much blue or grey in my house. And I didn't get orange, it was out of stock. :( Maybe later? I looked all the usual places, and scrapbook.com had the best selection for the price. I'm waiting impatiently for them to arrive (can't you tell?). No idea where I will put them, but I love them already.

Do you have a collection of scrapping things that you like? Did you buy it all at once or over time? I didn't intend to buy these all at once, but they are becoming increasingly difficult to find.

(I'm much better behaved today than yesterday. The arthritis is improved and I no longer feel the need to curse like a sailor when I type. Thought I'd take advantage. :) ). Happy Wednesday to you, until tomorrow.

Let's go slow, ok. . .

Confession (and ridiculously obvious): I have been a bad blogger. Let's move on.

There have been a lot of obstacles to scrapbooking. Starting with #1:

I have been busy with a kitchen reno from Hades. I kind of felt like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears with appliances. 3 refrigerators and 2 dishwashers later, (And many many curse words later) the finished result. All stainless steel. We still intend to match the faucets, but that is a battle for another day (replace the main faucet with stainless steel? Or replace the filtered water faucet with brushed nickel?) I'm pretty sure the kitchen has sucked the life right out of me. Decorating is hard. And I'm kind of glad it's done now. And after 8 months I have given up my new year's goal of Year of the Home (where I complete  a home improvement project until I cross them all off my list.) Yeah, screw the list. I'm done and I'll get to when I get to it. :P

Obstacle #2

Crohn's arthritis. It's always something with this disease, but the arthritis in my hands has been the most devastating part. I know it's not permanent, doesn't cause lasting damage, will eventually move back to my feet/ankles/back in time. But it's kind of disheartening anyway. I take it day by day, minute by minute sometimes. And sometimes even though I'm not supposed to I take a motrin. :P

Obstacle #3

I don't know how to have a full time career, be a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a dog owner, a maid, an accountant, have a chronic disease and run a laundry mat all at the same time. I'm learning. Life was easier as a SAHM while my child napped. Made for a nice crafting afternoon. Still, I have streamlined my life in the past couple months, partially out of a need to have things run as efficiently as possible with me not feeling %100 percent and partially out of a want to let go of unnecessary stuff/obligations.

So let's go slowly if there is anyone out there still reading. I am still crafting and I'll try to share something soon. Fair enough? Happy new day to you, Until tomorrow.

One insane week

Forgive my lack of project here this week, I really am trying to do better.

We just found out this morning that one of our oldest and dearest military friends died in Afghanistan. Dh and I are pretty devastated. If you have any prayers for his wife and children I would so welcome them.

I have hit the wall with getting new appliances for my kitchen. Supposedly a new dishwasher and fridge will be delivered soon. I'll be so glad when that is all over with. It's kind of like a nightmare I can't wake up from at this point. I declared 2012 year of the home, where I finally complete home improvement projects, order new appliances, etc. Let's just say I'm ready to move onto year of the kitchen in 2013, where I learn to actually cook something. (It has to be easier than this!)

The week has just been filled with all kinds of little aggravations that are stealing my joy. It's Saturday and the sun is shining and I'm going to just let them all go at this point because I'm done stressing about this week. So here is to next week being better. And at the end of the day, compared to the second sentence in this post all the rest is just stuff and matters so very little. Happy weekend to you, until tomorrow.

Drive-by

Just spent the past week on vacation. Finished up this page when we got back, made with Studio Calico 35 mm main kit and lomography add-on:

I plan to do more scrapping and will be updating more regularly as well. Is there any interest in seeing my project life? I'm happy to share if there is interest, but don't want to beat a dead horse if everyone is sick of it. I really enjoy it and look forward to it every week (and I'm caught up so I have lots to share.)
Happy weekend to you! Until tomorrow.

What doesn't kill you. . .

Been a while, so long I can't remember. So I thought I'd just start a new. And then blogger changed up everything and that stumped me for a little bit. But I've done some pages here recently so I thought I'd share. Still keeping current on project life every week, I'm just less enthused to share those. I feel like my version is really simple (aka do-able for me). So, new pages:

This one is from Studio calico's main kit City of Lights (April kit):

This one is from Sorbonne, an add-on for SC April:

 And this one is from the most recent SC kit main 35mm:

So I'm still here, still working, cleaning, scrapping, and gardening (and sneezing, darn allergies.) Not all necessarily in that order. Thanks for stopping by, Happy Mother's day-weekend to you! Until tomorrow.

Another Project Life post

I'm all caught up on project life, even finished this past week today. Problem is, I seem to have no idea how to scrapbook like normal at the moment. I can't make a page or a mini album, it's just kind of sad. I hope this is temporary because even though project life is fun and all, I really miss making regular pages. It's just that project life is so quick for me, seriously, I spend less than an hour and that includes printing photos. Regular pages might take me 2 hours, which I now don't have since I just spent an hour on project life. Sigh. Anyway, here are the past 4 weeks:

I experiment with a lot of digi/hybrid, but that's where I'm happiest anyhow. I did finish the taxes, woohoo! And I used up a bunch of Studio Calico's Boardwalk kit for the last two project life weeks. I have done no CMEs though. And I'm itching to get outside in my garden. :) Except that my allergies are seriously killing me right now.

Sorry for being such a bad blogger. I've been working on my house and some home projects and that seems to have eaten up a lot of my creative focus. I'll be picking paint colors for the first time in my adult life soon, and I'm kind of terrified. Why are there so many neutral colors? Wish me luck. :) Happy weekend to you! Until tomorrow.

So Random

First page/week of project life. I used the Becky Higgins G design page protectors and Studio Calico's Lawn party. I think I'm finally done with that kit. :) I tucked in a valentine that J took to his class.
So, taking stock. I've finished 2 kits so far (out of 6), finished only the federal taxes, and no CMEs. I should go. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Until tomorrow.

Drive-by hi

A quick page about J's bear. I have sewed that bear's lips on so many times, and I hardly ever sew anything except buttons back on clothing when they fall off. Made with Studio calico lawn party main kit.

Took the plunge and ordered some project life page protectors. Now to figure out how to do PL, cont. using up kits, finish the taxes, and do more CMEs. :) Happy Wednesday to you! Until tomorrow.

On my mind

Someone once told me, that if you came to a bonfire and everyone around the circle was throwing their problems on the fire, that once you saw all their problems you would immediately take yours back. I think this accurately sums up my week.

I haven't been feeling well all week, but I hung in there. Didn't miss any work or anything. Nothing really terrible happened. It all turned out fine. But I just had this sense that things were so hard, or heavy, or bigger than me and what I could handle presently. I just could not find my sense of inner peace or well being. It has left me confused.

Contrasted with a year and 1/2 ago, my burdens seem much lighter now. Then: I returned to work after 3.5 yrs at home with J. J went to preschool and had difficulty adjusting (probably because the teachers couldn't understand him with the speech difficulties). J's speech difficulties. My dh deployed to a very dangerous assignment (on top of a recent previous stressful deployment and house buying experience-alone). And then my grandmother died. I think it's little wonder that was the straw that broke the camel's back and sent my into my first flare.

I didn't have any of those issues now. Things really are so much better. J is thriving in school, excelling with speech, happy with his teachers/and they with him. I'm comfortable at my job. My dh is home, with no deployments on the horizon. And so, I feel kind of betrayed that my body would go into a flare or a mini flare or something. I still don't understand it. But I guess I'm never going to understand this illness. It's always going to leave me guessing, second guessing, wondering, blaming, and feeling double-crossed.

And yet, I know how incredibly blessed I am. I did some blog hopping tonight, first time in a while. And I truly would take my problems over anyone elses. Funny how that works. :)

Happy weekend to you. Until tomorrow. Needing to print some photos to scrap with. :)

Valentine's Day

This will be a drive by as I am off to spend time with dh. A page and a card from SC Lawn party (main kit only) plus Cocoa Daisy mason jar stamp:


I think I like stamping. This is a strange realization for me. Happy Love Day to you! Until tomorrow.

Paper Moon

I have been using up Studio Calico's Paper Moon kit, I like all the primary colors. Here are some pages I made with it:


Thanks for looking, and for the warm welcome back. Happy Monday to you! Until tomorrow.

Signs of Life

I'm actually scrapping again, can you believe it? I took December off, first time off in 5 years of working in the scrapbooking industry. Then I got really sick at the beginning of Jan. and it took forever to shake it. But for the past week, I've been scrapping. I'm using up some kits I have! (Can I get an amen, hallelujah?!) I have a goal, I really want to buy some new CHA stuff, but I have to make a dent in those kits first. Here are some pages I made back when I was with Cocoa Daisy:

I resigned after the December kit. I was feeling like I needed to go in a different direction, needed some space and time to feel inspired again. I've been wanting to fall in love with the hobby again, like I did when J was first born. And sometimes it takes giving up the familiar, walking away from the safe thing, and going your own way. So I intend to fully enjoy the process of rediscovering the joy that I have when scrapbooking. Will be sharing new layouts soon, after celebrating my birthday 2/1. Happy Day to you! Until tomorrow.