Choosing Hope

So, as you may or may not know...my life has been really difficult lately. And sometimes it get's a bit tough to have hope. I believe that hope is a choice...you have to choose to have hope...to believe that things will get better, easier...to believe that there is purpose behind it all. It's a tough thing to do sometimes. Just keepin' it real. Sometimes, it's easy to get swept into depression...to get swept into the "why me?" attitude.

I made this to hang in my bedroom, as a constant reminder:

First of all, for some reason it photographed a lot SHINIER than how it looks in real life. So picture it a tad less shiny. Second, this is HUGE! It was a 24" x 24" wood piece from Say It With Letters.

I first sprayed it with brown spray paint. Then I covered it with Crackle Medium from Helmar. My Helmar stash is growing very small. :( I emptied my Crackle Medium with this huge project...don't know what I am going to do when all my Helmar stash is gone. I also used Premium Craft Glue and Liquid Scrap Dots from Helmar to adhere everything down.

And then after my Crackle had dried I sprayed Glimmer Mist over it and wiped it off...so it filled the cracks and helped them stand out a bit more...adding a bit of shimmer to my project.

Then I added my papers and elements. All the papers, die cuts, buttons and chipboard are from Crate Paper. Then I added two flowers from Prima.

Here are some close up's:

Those letters (spelling "Hope") are printed (Font is Cooper STD Black) on paper and cut out. The "Choose" is handwritten using 3D paint.

So, I hope this will serve as a reminder in my dark days that I always have a choice. I can choose to dwell in sadness, or choose to have hope. I choose hope.

Have a wonderful day!

Holy cow (in more ways then one)

My boys have done nothing but fight lately...like 24/7! They are no longer friends. They are mortal enemies. It's driving me a bit crazy. And I had so looked forward to summer break and the extra time with the kids. Now, I'm a bit scared. I so want them to be friends...best friends. I don't remember ever fighting this much with my siblings. Sure, we fought, but we had moments of fighting and moments of friendship. I don't know if it's a boy thing, or perhaps it is this way for every sibling and I am just remembering it better then it really was.

Even when I try to get them together to take a picture, one of them is always pushing the other away. And forget a hug! What an impossible request mom! :) BUT...I did manage to get some decent pictures the other day. So I just had to get them on a layout.

Crate Paper has a FANTASTIC sketch up on their blog right now!

I seriously love it. I found it so inspiring. Go check it out! There's still time to play along.

Here's the layout I made using it....

I didn't stray from the sketch too much...simply because I loved the sketch. And I finally got to play with the Toy Box collection from Crate Paper! I was so excited about it and I just hadn't had time yet to sit down and use it. But I knew I wanted to pull it out for this sketch. :)

Here's some close up's of my layout...

I used adhesive from Helmar to put it all together. I used the 450 Quick Dry adhesive and then some Zapdots to help pop up some of my elements. I often forget to mention my adhesive when I am making my blog posts, just know that I always use Helmar. They are simply the best. :)

And there you have it.

And my son has officially graduated from Kindergarten.

(That's Hayden and his teacher)

That happened last night. Wow. Time flies. I can't believe he is going into first grade! This next year is going to be a change for us. Eryn and I will be by ourselves a lot more since Hayden will be in school the full day. At least Eryn's not in school. I'm not ready for that yet.

Have a wonderful day everyone! And as always, thanks for stopping by! :)

Inspiring Colors!

So last week I sat down and did the color challenge over on the Crate Paper blog. I couldn't pass this one up, I just found it SO inspiring. And the colors were so out of the ordinary for me.

This was the color challenge:

See! Isn't it beautiful! And I knew just what pictures to use with this color scheme. :)

So here's my layout:

And the close up's:

*tip: the leftover part of stickers can be a fun addition to any project. See how under my border sticker, I used part of the leftovers. :)

*tip: don't have the color alphabet that you want to use? Paint them! That's what I did here, I used black foam letters and then painted them blue. :)

I splattered paint after the layout was complete simply because it looked like it needed a bit more of the blue on it.

And here I just stuck a few extra pieces of paper behind the one and curled them all over. Just trying something new. :)

I'm happy with how it turned out. Crate Paper already picked a winner for the challenge as well as some of their favorites, you can view those here.

Well I hope it stops raining here so I can get some outside work done, like mowing the lawn! It's rained all week. And I love the rain, but I am ready for it to stop. I still have a bunch of wood chips sitting in my driveway, waiting to be moved back to the new swing set. I'm ready for the sun.

Thanks for popping in today!

Have a wonderful day!

Ain't that the truth!!!

We are showcasing Unity Stamp Company's new store kit today over on the Unity Blog. There are two sets: A Mother's Love and Wishes & Kisses. Or stores can sell them as one kit. I got to play with A Mother's Love....and it is such a beautiful set, I absolutely love it!

Here's the layout I made:

I stamped on the background...the bottom layer. Then I also stamped that beautiful square with spot for journaling or title (I put "Eryn at 19 months" there). And then those butterflies are stamped and cut out. :)

They grow up too fast...isn't that the way it goes? Eryn seriously is growing up faster then the boys did! We went to the doctor this week and the questions he asked just seemed silly. Doctor--"How many words can she say, 5, 10, 20?" Me--"Uh...way more then 20." I was counting afterwards and she can say over 100. Doctor--"Can she walk up the stairs?" Me--"Oh yeah...up and down." Doctor--"She goes down? She doesn't crawl down, she walks?" Me--"Yep". And there are many more examples. I want it to stop. She just isn't my little baby anymore. It's all just happening too fast.

I used some fabulous companies on this layout. Well, Unity of course, then those awesome papers and sticker borders are from Crate Paper. And the chipboard are two pieces put together. They come from Magistical Memories. They are one of the new designs you can findhere. And then I used adhesive from Helmar to put the whole thing together. I used the 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

Here are some close up's of my layout:

Hope you check out the Unity blog to see what the rest of the design team did with the new store kits. :)

And I did want to share a couple things with you...

I opened an Etsy shop!!! :) Trying to earn a little bit of extra money...you know how it goes. I've got some decor pieces listed and I have plans to add more. You can check it out here.

Here are some of my listings...

Etsy pamelacy

And I also listed some stuff on ebay...some CK KOTMs (Becky Higgins and Lisa Bearnson), and some stamp sets from Stampin' Up! You can see my listings here.

Ok...that's it for today. :) Have a wonderful day!!!

Supplies for "Too Fast":

Papers and Stickers--Crate Paper, Stamps--Unity Stamp Company, Ink and Embossing Powder--Stampin' Up!, Pearls and Flower--Prima Marketing, Chipboard Elements--Magistical Memories, Chipboard Letters--My Little Shoebox, Lace--Webster's Pages, Chalkboard Glimme Mist (on chipboard embellishments)--Tattered Angels, Pen--Creative Memories, Computer Font--Chalkboard.

Magistical Memories

Let me take a moment to introduce you to this wonderful chipboard manufacturer called Magistical Memories. A couple years back I came across their company and placed an order. I was so happy with the quality and the designs of the chipboard...I just love it! Recently I discovered they were having a DT call and went for it. As you know, I did make the team, so you will be seeing a lot more of their product in my work. :) Their chipboard really is awesome! It's not too thick, not too thin, easy to alter, but perfect to add just as is too! I hope you take some time and look at the store. Their blog can be found here. And while you are at it, why not check out their facebook page and hit "like". :) You never know when that might benefit YOU. ;)

Today I am sharing a layout with you with some of their new releases...

A little frolicking in the fall anyone?

I used new chipboard from two different designers. I used the Scroll Cara piece (a Nicole Lombardo design) and the Scallop Border (an Amy Teets design). I simply sprayed them with brown glimmer mist.

I used Crate Paper's Restoration line for all the papers and die cuts. Those gems on the bottom are from Nicole Lombardo. And I used Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to put it all together. :) Here are some close up's:

And I almost forgot...I owe you a winner from last week's Hip Hop. :) So....

Diane...you are my winner! :) Please send your address to jimmi.mayo@gmail.com and tell her you won the "Heart Journaling" stamp on my blog. :)

Hope you are having a wonderful day!!!!

Scrap and Stamp Saturday?

Hi all! So I have a layout I want to share with you today. You may have already guessed, but I am no longer doing Scrap and Stamp challenges. I said a while back that I wanted to change things up. I am done with Tattered Angels and now I have stopped doing Scrap and Stamp. I am really going to miss the S & S gals as well as doing the challenges...that really is one of my passions: scrapbooking and stamping TOGETHER. I still plan to hop in on them every now and then and I hope you do too!

But I do have a layout to share with you today and it DOES contain stamping, so technically it is still a Scrap and Stamp Saturday here on my blog. :) I think I still may do these posts every now and then, they will just be unrelated to the other group.

So here is my layout:

I used the AWESOME "Restoration" line from Crate Paper. All of the stamps are from the AMAZING "Roots and Wings" stamp set from Unity. Don't they go together perfectly? I swear, I love this layout...not because I did anything special, but because I LOVE the papers and stamps! :) Here are some close up's:

Apparently I should have brushed off my layout before I took pictures. :) Oh well.

Ok...I hope you have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Friends With Flair Friday!!! :)

Yeah!!! It's Friends with Flair Friday! But first, thank you so much for all the birthday wishes!!! You all rock! I appreciated it so much. Ok...I will be sharing another layout with you today that uses one of the fabulous new scrapbooking kits from Unity. I used the Here's The Ticket kit:

I just love this fabulous kit!

And here's my layout:

I used papers from Crate Paper...they are quickly becoming one of my fav companies. I have been SO impressed by their newest lines. :) The line I used today is called "Snow Day". Here are some close up's of the layout:

I took all those month stamps and stamped them all in a column. Then I circled (more like squared) the month I took the pictures in. :)

I created the border here with those little stamps in the kit. :) Worked perfectly for what I wanted to do! And of course...here are the fabulous tickets:

Now that you have seen what I did, why don't you hop over to the Unity blog and visit all of the blogs participating in Friends with Flair today! :) (There's also the chance to win 25 stamps from Unity by doing so!)

Have a fantastic Friday!!!

Scrap and Stamp Saturday

New, new , new! I don't know about you, but I LOVE using new products. :) Today's layout uses new Crate Paper, new Prima Marketing, and the new store kit from Unity. Lot of fun, fantastically new product. The challenge at Scrap and Stamp is to create a layout based on their sketch that uses stamping. Here's my layout:

And here are some close up's:

I do hope you join us over at Scrap and Stamp for the challenge this week. :)

Have a fantastic day!!!

Supplies:

Papers and Stickers--Crate Paper, Stamps--Unity Stamp Company, Ink--Stampin' Up!, Flowers and Gems--Prima Marketing, Canvas Banner--Maya Road.