Update and a Project

I'll tell you one thing....I am so sick of laying on the couch!  I'm still in a lot of pain, and sleeping a lot.  I am just so ready for this to be over with.  I don't do well with doing nothing. 

Still a lot going on though.  Eryn turned 3!!!  Although sometimes she seems older than she is, so it's kinda hard to believe that she's only 3!  

My sweet Austin has been having trouble at school.  There's a bully situation we are dealing with.  But I am feeling pretty good about the school's efforts to deal with it.  And they are supposed  to be meeting with the parents of this kid today...the whole thing is frustrating and heart-breaking.  I just don't get it, and there seems to be so much of it (bullying) going on these days.  It's sad how many people have stories they can share.   

Not all is bad though....I'm getting lots of good cuddle time from the kids.  I think they are worried about me.  Austin and Eryn especially.  Hayden kind of lives in his own little world. 

I've discovered Viggle and have been accumulating bunches and bunches of points since I don't have much else to do.  I am saving my points and trying to collect enough for a Kindle.  If you haven't heard of Viggle before, you essentially get points for checking into tv programs.  I have the app on my phone and just check in when something new comes on. 

Well I do have a project to share today as well.  It's a canvas that I created to hang on the wall.  I showed the step by step process on the Fancy Pants blog, so check that out here. 

The papers and stickers are all from Fancy Pants, from their Winterland collection.  Here is a close up:

Well thanks for popping in again today!!!!  I'll be back soon!

Have a fantastic (LEAP YEAR) day!!

Chilling on the Couch

So the surgery went well.  And I am stuck on the couch.  But I really haven't even been able to read or watch much because I pretty much sleep 20 minutes then wake for 20 minutes.  Even through the night, that is how it went.  So I've seen bits and pieces of shows.  But I hope I am getting good rest and am able to heal quickly.  It does hurt, I'm not going to lie, but I also have a bunch of meds....which might help explain my sleeping patterns and why I have totally been out of it. 

So I really wanted to say thanks for hanging in there with me during this time of recovery.  I probably won't be posting as much, but I'll make sure to do a fun giveaway when things are back to normal, as a thanks for hanging in there with me.  I know that last time I had stuff happen and posted a lot less, I also lost a bunch of followers.  So I wanted you all to know that I WILL get back to posting regularly relatively soon.  I do have some posts scheduled to go, so it's not like I am totally going to be gone, just not posting as often for next 3 weeks or so. 

And here is one of the projects I have to share with you...

I created it to hang on the wall.  Over at the BasicGrey blog we are sharing projects using their fun monograms.  So make sure you stop by the BasicGrey blog to see what others have done with these.  My project also uses the fun Kissing Booth collection from BasicGrey. 

Here are some close up's:

I am pleased with the way this turned out.  :)  My kids are the best...the cutest....of course, I am a bit biased.  But I love the joy they bring me and just looking at this on the wall brings a smile to my face.  It's part of why I do what I do.  :) 

Well, if you need to reach me, I will be here:

Have a fantastic day!!!!!

Thinkin' Summer.

Since we have already established that I am dreaming of Summer...how about we make it worse by posting pics of summer?  :)  A while back I was asked my Creating Keepsakes to do a special assignment for them, which of course, I jumped at the chance.  Not long ago, they released a special issue called Scrapbooking Ideas For Every Season.  In it you can find this layout:

Yep, it screams summer!  Which was actually the assignment.  All the papers, chipboard and rub-on's are from Fancy Pants Designs.  

Design Notes:

*  Use your scraps and create two strips of 2 x 2 squares, add 2 x 2 photos in as well.  

*  I created a red scallop border to go under my strips of paper and photos, but to break up the straight linear feeling, I tilted them!

*  When I hand cut the scalloped border out of the red paper, I used both sides (top one looks more like waves and bottom like scallops)

*  Try making a large sun and building your page around it! 

*  Add your journaling in the form of a wave, then add stitching in between for a fun look. 

*  Try adding rub-on's directly to your photos, like my "Hello Sunshine" on the pool pic. 

Here are some close up's:

I really had a lot of fun with this 2 page layout.  :)

But it does make me long for summer even more.

Oh well.

:)

Thanks for stopping in today!!!  Have a wonderful day!

Simple Cards with BasicGrey

Can you believe that I still haven't shared all my CHA projects with you all?  Today I am sharing some cards I made for the BasicGrey booth.  They are pretty simple and very easy to make!  The papers, brads, felt and flowers are from the new Konnichiwa collection.  

Here's a look at each card individually:

Well, next week I go in for knee surgery.  :(  I know it's no big deal, but I am still a little nervous.  It's my first time having any kind of surgery.  I'll still be posting.  I need to write up some posts and schedule them now.  Not sure how much scrapping/crafting I will be doing though.  I hope I can write though, and do a lot of blog surfing.  :)

Thanks for hanging in with me during this busy month!  I sure appreciate every one of my readers and I love looking through the comments.  Thank you so much!

On My Playlist

It's Mandisa week, I guess.  I have really been lovin' her stuff lately, from Good Morning to Just Cry.  Here are a few of my favorites...

He Is With You

Sung by Mandisa

There's a time to live

And a time to die

There's a time to laugh

And a time to cry

There's a time for war

And a time for peace

There's a hand to hold

In the worst of these

In the worst of these

He is with you when your faith is dead

And you can't even get out of bed

Or your husband doesn't kiss you anymore

He is with you when your baby's gone

And your house is still and your heart's a stone

Cryin' God, what'd you do that for?

He is with you

There's a time for yes

And a time for no

There's a time to be angry

And a time to let it go

There's a time to run

And a time to face it

There is love to see you

Through all of this

Through all of this

He is with you in the conference room

When the world is coming down on you

And your wife and kids don't know you anymore

And He is with you in the ICU

When the doctors don't know what to do

And it scares you to the core

He is with you

We may weep for a time

But joy will come in the morning

The morning light

He is with you when your kids are grown

When there's too much space and you feel alone

And you're worried if you got it right or wrong

Yes He is with you when you've given up

On ever finding your true love 

Someone who feels like home 

He is with you

When nothing else is left

And you take you final breath

He is with you

What If We Were Real?

Sung by Mandisa

Well, I'm tired of saying everything

I feel like I'm supposed to say.

I'm tired of smiling all the time,

I wanna throw the mask away.

Sometimes you just have a bad day.

Sometimes you just wanna scream.

Tell me I'm not the only one,

Tell me that you feel just like me.

We keep tryin to make it look so nice.

And we keep hidin' what's goin on inside.

But what if I share my brokenness?

What if you share how you feel?

And what if we weren't afraid of this crazy mess?

What if we were real?

What if we were real?

I'm over hidin my tears,

I think I'm gonna let em' go.

I'm over actin so strong,

When I ain't even in control.

We make it so complicated.

But why does it have to be?

Why can't we open our hearts 

and let everybody see?

We keep tryin to make it look so nice.

And we keep hidin' what's goin on inside.

But what if I share my brokenness?

What if you share how you feel?

And what if we weren't afraid of this crazy mess?

What if we were real?

We'd think a little less of ourselves.

We'd care about someone else.

'Cause we'd know just how they feel.

Maybe we could let someone love us.

Maybe we'd a little more like Jesus.

Why can't we learn to real?

Broken Hallelujah

Sung by Mandisa

With my love and my sadness

I come before You Lord

My heart's in a thousand pieces

Maybe even more

Yet I trust in this moment

You're with me somehow

And You've always been faithful

So Lord even now

When all that I can sin

Is a broken hallelujah

When my only offering

Is shattered praise

Still a song of adoration

Will rise up from these ruins

I will worship You and give You thanks

Even when my only praise

Is a broken hallelujah

Oh Father, You have given

Much more than I deserve

And I have felt Your hand of blessing

On me at every turn

How could I doubt Your goodness

Your wisdom, Your grace

Oh Lord hear my heart

In this painful place

When all that I can sing

Is a broken hallelujah

When my only offering

Is shattered praise

Still a song of adoration

Will rise up from these ruins

I will worship You and give You thanks

Even when my only praise

Is a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah

I lift my voice

Your Spirit moves

I raise my hands

I reach for You

Sunny to Snowy

Yeah, it was rough.  :)

But I'm back.  I kinda crashed when I got back...was just exhausted from all the traveling I think.  But I am starting to think about starting to get back to normal life.  :)

I left the beautiful warm weather in the Bahamas....and returned to snow.  Got to the airport, could see my breath, and I immediately wanted to turn around and go back.

Somehow the cruise made the weather here in Colorado a lot less magical.

We still have snow covering the ground, although it hasn't actually snowed since our storm a couple weeks ago.  And I am longing for summer.  But it provides to perfect segue to share this project with you....

Last month on the BasicGrey blog we had a snowflake challenge and this was a layout that I did for it.  It uses a variety of BasicGrey collections, bits and pieces of this and bits of that.  I've done this before, but I just cut the snowflakes out the old fashioned way--fold and cut.  I like the texture it gives to the page to see the creases in the papers too.

Here are the close up's:

I also wanted to share a couple challenges with you.  This month, if you remember, Once Upon a Sketch and Get Creative have swapped DT's.  I wanted to share BOTH challenges with you, and encourage you to participate if they look fun to you!  :)

It's a holidays/vacations themed challenge over at Once Upon a Sketch, to be combined with this sketch:

And then over at Get Creative you will find this sketch challenge:

Hope you can play along!  

Well thanks so much for popping in today!!!!

I hope you have a FANTASTIC day!!!

Down the Boardwalk

Today I am sharing the last of the new We R Memory Keeper projects.  I had fun playing with the new Down the Boardwalk collection.  Here are some cards I made with it:

Just a quick post today.  :)

Thanks for stoppin' in!!!

Red, White and Blue

Another of the new releases from We R Memory Keepers that they shared at CHA is the Red, White and Blue line.  I loved working with this collection!  :)

Here's what I made:

I just cut out a couple circles from my background piece and stitched in them.  :) 

Here are the close up's:

And I also made some cards...

This one also featured the Sew Stamper.  

And these next two use the cool coordinating stamps for this line as well as the Sweetheart Inkers:  

Makes me long for Summer and backyard grillin'.  :)

Stop by again tomorrow to see how I used the new Down the Boardwalk collection!  

Love 2 Craft

Yep, today we are moving on to the new Love 2 Craft collection from We R Memory Keepers.  I am excited to share a couple projects I made using this fun new line.

First up, a cool home decor piece.

I used empty tins and their lids to create this piece:

And here are some close up's of this fun project:

I really love how that turned out.  And what a great way to use up those tins you have laying around...like the ones the flowers came in.  :)

And here is another project using this line:

I used the new Power Punch for this one.  It punches through tin!  :)  

Ok, well as always, thanks for stopping in today!!!  Come back tomorrow for some more projects using new WRMK!

Have a fantastic day!!!!