Sunday, April 29, 2012

Digi Sunday

I think I'm going to try and publish more digi scrapbook items on Sunday nights. It's a good thing to do while watching Once Upon a Time. I'm bummed that there is only 1 more episode left in the season though.. good thing The Killing is still on!


Here are two digi pages I made- one based on the boys' first experience with water table this year. The other is an ode to my new craft room. Kind of pathetic, but I lurve it! :) I hope everyone has a great week! I had a rough weekend physically so i'm hoping for a much better week!



Saturday, April 28, 2012

SCS Challenge Cards

Happy, Happy Saturday! So far, this weekend has been productive. We did grocery shopping this morning and then I finished my take home final for my last M.Ed course. I will officially be a M.Ed graduate! How awesome is that?! I spent some time cruising the Splitcoaststampers board and decided I also needed to participate in some challenges.


This first card is for SC382 and Teapot Tuesday for 4/23/12
Just Be Yourself
Stamps: Retired The Angel Company (name unknown)
Ink: Brilliance Black, Papertrey Chamomile 
Paper: Close to My Heart 
Accessories: Copics, SU Scallop Punch

The Teapot Tuesday story had to do with a tattoo parlor. I remembered this goody I received from a TAC Bag and thought she'd be perfect for a "tramp stamp". I think I might be giving this to a friend who is hitting a major milestone birthday this year...


This next card is for SC381 and this week's Inspiration Challenge: Rosenberry Rooms. The Rosenberry Rooms website is very cute. It is high end children's furniture and decor. They had several pictures which used vintage airplanes. I also recently got X a vintage airplane mobile for his room. Sorry for the picture quality.. I couldn't get good lighting!

Vintage Airplane Fun
Stamps: SU Sweets for the Sweet (sentiment), Vintage Rides by Nina b Designs (this was the TAC version; it is available now at The Craft's Meow); Cloud from MFT
Ink: Palette
Paper: Main Street and CTMH
Accessories: MS Ribbon

I was lucky enough to purchase some of the Nina b Stamps before TAC closed it's doors. This last catalog was definitely the best yet and it was unfortunate the business had to go under. I'm glad Nina b, Phyllis, and Mabelle R.O. were able to get their designs out there through other means because they have fabulous work! I am also glad I remembered to get this set out! It had been mounted but un-used. Of course, Nina just re-released it with The Craft's Meow so I've been seeing it advertised all over SCS.

For the rest of the night I'm going to work on some digital scrapbooking and just relax. My insanely stressful and busy season is starting to come to a close and I'm excited to have time relaxing! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Monday, April 23, 2012

I'm crafty and I know it

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone has had a good start to the work week! I wanted to share 2 more cards I created this past weekend 'cause we all know I'm crafty and I know it..



This first card uses hostess DSP and the Hostess Set "Up in the Air" from the occasions mini catty. I also used the Beautiful Wings embossing sizzlets.




This next one uses the Sweets for the Sweet set and Calypso Coral and Baja Breeze ink and Baja Breeze ribbon. This was for this weeks Inspiration Challenge on SCS. 


Hope you enjoy checking out some of my work!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

CCMC 198- Sweets for the Sweet

Well this was a kind of up and down weekend for me but I actually got to stamp! I got most of my room organized so that was actually a pretty relaxing event. I was then able to complete some cards for challenges! I was so happy to actually get some crafting mojo going! Now, I'm settling down with this week's Once Upon a Time and a card for share for Create with Connie and Mary's sketch challenge this week.



Sweets for the Sweet
Paper: Whisper White and Pool Party CS, Sweet Shoppe DSP
Ink: Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade
Brads: SAB Everyday Enchantment Embellishments

This is my second time using this stamp set and it is a lot of fun! So much versatility. And I'm digging the 2011-2013 in colors. Can't wait to see all the new ones!

Here's hoping for a productive and calm week for everyone! Time for me to go see who the Evil Queen messes with next...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Thoughts on the Little Feet Meet

Yesterday was our annual field trip to participate in the Little Feet Meet. This event is for young students in special education with developmental delays, Autism, or intellectual disabilities. We took 12 students (4 didn't come) and had a good time. Nate was there with his class and Sam and my MIL came as well. Nate was not very cooperative and lay on the floor almost the entire time but he was good! I was overwhelmed and almost panicked when I first entered. There are so many students and so many different disabilities. It's hard because it is reality and our reality is that Nate will probably be dependent on us for life. At age 5, it still is a huge slap in the face. I love Nate with all my heart but it is very stressful some days. He depends on us for everything as does X. There are days where we barely get to sit for longer than a minute. I know, it's part of parenting but, when he has meltdowns and can't tell us what he needs, there is the hour long guessing game. There's his inability to understand what "we will do that later" truly means. It's just hard. I wouldn't change it for the world but it can be overwhelming. All I can do is pray that God gives me the strength to continue doing the best I can and maybe a little more patience than I already have :) My boys are my world and it definitely helps to have someone amazing like my DH helping each day. We make a good team and that's more than enough for me!

Monday, April 16, 2012

A new digi page

Here is a page I hadn't previously shared. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Evolution of the Craft Room

I was really lacking energy to get the craft room all set up after the massive cleaning and purging from the basement. However, I found my second wind on Saturday! First thing Saturday I finished my final big project for my M.Ed! PTL! I was really putting it off but it was hanging over my head a lot. So anyway, all I have left is a final in the class and comprehensive exams. Once that was done, I had a HUGE burst of energy! I worked that night and then today setting up the craft room: i.e. bringing things over, getting rid of things etc. I still have A LONG way to go but we've made progress! My Dad and Sam went to Lowes and got a wooden door to make my work area. I also got a few things hung on the wall. I still need to put up my vinyl wall saying and make some art to go on the walls but it's turning out good! My "Our dreams give us wings plaque" above the closet door
The desk and the "craft owl" in the window. Also hung up my making memories wall organizer!
My new workspace! YAY!!
The paper/stamp storage. Still working out on how to have this organized best...
My really cute button plaque: I added ribbon to make it colorful.
Another clearance find!
I am super happy with how things are going!! I'll continue to work on it here and there but the next month will be super busy with meetings, etc. I know I promised more digi pages and will try and get more shared this week. Thanks for looking!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Busy Busy Worker Bees...

Today continued more work in the basement. I cleaned up part of the previously finished side so the kids could have a more open area to play. The other half still has a bunch of crud- tools, drywall, and items I haven't gone through or taken to the craft room. In all honesty, this may wait until after May 3rd- the day of my final exam.
Here are pics of the newly finished side. We still have to paint the doors (and put the doors in front of the furnace). I brought down a lot of toys so it's starting to fill up!
And here is the future craft room/study! I have to get countertop on my cabinets and actually bring a lot of my stuff over. I'm excited! I love the color and I love the flooring! It's pergo we found at ollie's. It helps lighten up the basement since there is limited light.
So we still have to: 1- Put drywall up on the adjoining wall from the previously finished room to the newly finished room (the previously finished room was panel) 2- Finish the laundry room/crate area/mudroom 3- Complete the bathroom It's been over 3 yrs since we first even started the basement! It's been a lot of work courtesy of my Dad and Sam. I am so happy with it! I will be back Friday to post more digiscrapbook pages! Happy Hump Day!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Cuteness Personified

I am taking a break from our 3 day long basement work fest to share a digi scrapbook page I made for X. The pic is from last Friday. He fell asleep in the car on the way home from dinner. Once home, he crashed out on the couch looking this adorbs. He is definitely cuteness personified!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Spring Break, I mean Work..

Hope everyone had a great Easter! Sam and I have worked the last 2 days in the basement. We took 1 truck load of trash to the dump, 1 truck load to donate to good will and I'm still cleaning. I also have about 4 boxes of baby clothes for my great nephew. Sam got almost all of the flooring laid in the basement- YAY! We will finish it tomorrow and start moving things around. We should be able to use the new part by this weekend! How awesome is that?! I will share updated pics when we get farther along. I'll also share another digi scrapbook layout tomorrow. Oh btw- I almost missed The Killing season 2 starting. I got caught up quickly though. Fantabulous show!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Angels among us...

So today was an interesting day. A stressful trip to Target made a surprisingly good turn. After having N and X both act like crazy men and getting stuck behind a lady with a bag full of coupons, I could not find my check card. So I'm looking and stressing- it was getting busy. They decided to suspend the transaction so I can look and take the next person. A-OK with me. However, the next person pays for my entire order! $145!! I was in shock and really, kind of ashamed. We're don't need it nearly as much as others. I couldn't believe the kindness. She said "enjoy your day!" and I walked out feeling truly humbled. The rest of the day was a little more stressful as the kids continued to run amuck. However, the trim got painted and lots of things finished in the main room of the basement. On top of that, the stairs were carpeted. Our next mission is flooring followed by cleaning- throwing away, donating, saving. We have way too much crud back there! Happy Easter! I will be paying it forward as we remember why we celebrate this event.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Sweet Spring Evenings

I really wanted to create tonight but nothing is ready for that. I'm not going to go dig stuff out, move it all upstairs and then probably NOT have time to stamp. So, instead, I redownloaded My Digital Studio by Stampin Up. I figure since I have all these pics (love my iPhone 4s.. beautiful pics at my fingertips!), I should be doing SOMETHING!! This is what I came up with:
This uses the New Heights MDS download. Perfect for spring! Oh, and btw- I've lost around 10 lbs this month. Wahoo!! Have a great weekend and for many, start of our spring break!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

A constant battle for change..

From midnight to 5 am last night there was little sleep in my house. Why do you ask? Well, Nate constantly wanted something. Juice, gummies, and then dvd changes every 5 mins. To give some background, Nate only sleeps with a tv and dvd on. We fought a good fight but sleep was more important than following some hidden parenting rule about no tv in the bedroom. Anyway, Nate's collection of 30 some dvds is apparently boring him. If you watched the same dvds for 5 years, I guess you'd be bored to. Bad thing is he isn't liking any of the new shows we're introducing. There has to be some sort of music. I tried A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Jimmy Neutron.. no dice. I am thinking I will try Phineas and Ferb next... any suggestions from ya'll out in blog land? Help a sista out! On the craft room front, my Dad found some great cabinets at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store! We'll paint a hollow door to go on top and voila! Instant table. I was inspired by this great DIY site: The Ivy Cottage Blog As spring break begins for us Saturday, I am looking forward to cleaning out the other part of the basement and setting up my craft room. This should be awesome. Oh yeah, and finishing my 2 projects for grad classes.... Happy Friday friends!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Some splainin to do...

So, I posted this morning my intentions. And yes, they were the hurried before work kind of intentions. I've been inspired reading the blogs of others and how candid they can be. While there is a certain level of privacy to maintain, there is always something cathartic about putting it all on the table. My previous post before today was dated July 10, 2009. I mentioned having a headache.. boy was that an understatement! In fact, that post happened 4 days after I found out I was pregnant with DS #2. I promptly had my first migraine ever and ended up in the hospital over night. It was just the beginning of a stressful but so worth it pregnancy. We struggled to get pregnant the second time. No real answers were given but after 2 rounds of clomid to adjust my cycle, we conceived off meds. I also had what I now know was a gallbladder attack and passed a stone right before I conceived as well. So anyway, I had spotting until about 12 weeks. I stayed nauseous and was losing weight. Seriously, what pregnant woman LOSES weight?! At 17 weeks I had a major scare- bleeding. That was when we found out for sure we were having son number 2, Xander. From that point on, I stayed on modified bed rest and almost lost my job. 2 days before I was supposed to be induced I had what I now know was gallbladder attack #2. I ended up hospitalized early. They thought I had HELPP which is like pre-eclampsia but a little worse. After having an epidural not work right, X was born after 21.5 hrs of labor with the cord wrapped around his neck twice and with a knot. I barely remember asking if he was going to be okay and the doc saying "we're not sure." Fast forward to today and at 25 months old I can say that he is more than okay :) So, 6 weeks later I start having these intense chest pains about once a month. I get a stress test and echocardiogram and all is well with my heart. I get an MRI on my gallbladder, all is supposedly well. That year we had an extended Christmas break. 1 week before going back I get extreme pain like I had right before having X. I go to the ER- nothing, just muscles. I go to the doctor- nothing, no clue. I go back to the ER while turning a nice shade of orange. Why yes, there are gallstones but they're not causing this pain. At 1 am 4 days after the initial onset of pain, I call an ambulance. DH thinks I'm nuts- I mean 4 different doctors have said I'm fine. I can't move the pain is so intense. I wait and I wait in the ER. The ER doc comes in and thinks, well maybe it's a blood clot (I have a clotting factor because of Lupus) and sends me for a CAT scan. The hospitalist comes in and says "did you know you are orange?". I say, "yes, I was when i left here less than 12 hrs ago." He explains I have pancreatitis. I just want to be hospitalized. Then the surgeon comes in and says "I think you threw a stone and it's stuck in your pancreatic duct. We need to get the pancreatitis down and then we'll get the gallbladder out." All I care about are pain meds. Pancreatitis isn't that bad is it?! Turns out, it is bad and I was very close to not doing well at all... Thank God they finally found it! So no foods or drinks, stone passes, pancreatitis is down, I go for surgery. I should be able to leave the hospital on day 5. Well, I come out of surgery and my Oxygen levels are down. They think it is a clot again. Oh no, it's not. Instead my lungs filled up with fluid and are injured because of the pancreatitis (did I mention I had trouble breathing previous to surgery?) So I spend a day in ICU. By the grace of God I go home 2 days later and the rest is history... So that was Jan 2011. Meanwhile Nate has entered Preschool and speech is still a mystery for him. He has more trouble communicating as he's gotten older. To say that the last 2 yrs have been difficult are an understatement. I still get panicky about the medical mishaps and we still struggle to deal with the life impact of Autism. I've found myself struggling with happiness since the pancreatitis event. So, I've made a couple of goals and I'm sticking to them! 1- Eat better!! Seriously! 2- Lose weight! 3- Exercise (walk, etc) at least 3-4 times a week. 4- GET BACK INTO CRAFTING! To help all this, I'm getting back into blogging as well. We all need some sort of release. I truly miss the fun and enjoyment of crafting and sharing it with others. I'm getting back with Stampin Up and I'm going to get my creative juices flowing! First, we need to finish the craft room but that'll be soon enough. Until then I'll be posting randomness but I hope to keep things updated for my sake over all else!

Forever and ever and ever...

Wow has it been a LONG time since I posted here! I've unsuccessfully tried to have 2 other blogs since then. I've decided I'm going to stick with my precocious crafter blog and just incorporate any and all about me here! Since my last post here I've had a baby, lol, who is now 2 years old. My original cause of falling off the face of the earth was said baby. My pregnancy with Xander was rough, to say the least. We've also had lots of challenges as Nate's diagnosis of autism has been more evident. As we get ready to go into spring break I'm going to make a better effort at blogging. We're getting our basement finished (FINALLY!) so I'll have a place to craft and get busy!! So excited!! I will take some pics and upload them later cause everyone needs pics of my beautimus room! Here is an updated pic of my boys for your viewing pleasure. Happy Wednesday, all!
and a really bad but quick invite done for a friend. It's amazing what you get done in a 2 ft space with no real table!

Things I Love..

  • My Family
  • My Beautiful Boys!
  • My Dogs (all 5 of em!)
  • Stamping
  • Scrapbooking
  • Chocolate
  • Shoes and Purses!