several cards and layouts

Autumn greetings! The weather has been gorgeous the past several days and it's wonderful to feel the heat from the sun. Once the sun goes down, that's another story. It's been below freezing every night so it's cold in the morning. I don't mind it so much.

My ankle has gone downhill pretty quickly. It will feel good for a bit and then all of a sudden I can't walk. Sadly I have no other option but to wear my walking cast most of the time now when I am up and about. :( It's depressing. Really depressing. To make things worse the nurse called me this morning to cancel my appt. tomorrow morning so I had to reschedule for a week from Friday. I started to cry and I felt so stupid, but it's extremely frustrating. I can't even walk Ashlyn to school anymore, which is something I was so thankful to do this year because the previous 2 I was wearing that stupid boot. *sigh* I feel like I was just stripped of my freedom because I can't just get up and go... once again I have to revolve everything around my ankle.
Oh well, enough of that. I am sure the last thing anyone wants is to read about my ankle.

I recently participated in a month-long challenge on AllyScraps. I managed to complete all 8 challenges. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull it off, but I did and I am glad. I enjoyed the challenges and I got some scrapping done that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Here are all the layouts and cards. :)

I am off to go scrap some more. I have the awesome November Kit from Color{Me}Daisy sitting on my desk just waiting for me once I wrap up my projects for Design Monkeys.

Happy Halloween!

so proud of Nathan and some projects

Good Sunday morning! I hope you are having a beautiful day! I have to work this afternoon and evening, but for now I am just enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning. It's 9AM and everyone is still sound asleep. I am sure it won't be long before they are all up and about.

We haven't heard anything from Nathan in months and I knew he was due to graduate from Basic Training sometime last week or so. Well on Friday he called while I was at work and left a message telling us that he had just graduated that morning and was on his way to OK for AIT. I am so proud of him!!! I am sure it was not easy for him on so many levels (especially having to follow rules, lol), but he did it and he should be beaming with satisfaction that he accomplished something on his own! He will probably come home sometime in December right before he moves to his assigned base and hopefully we'll get to see him.

I am sure many of you are aware of all the problems I had with my foot and ankle last year, well everything was going well and I wasn't having any problems other than an occasional day of pain every few weeks. However, a week ago Saturday I started having some sever pain and it got so bad that I actually put my walking cast on and wore it for a few days to rest the area. Ever since then I have been having problems with stabbing pain that comes on quickly and then passes, and my nerves are twitchy and jumpy and it's driving me nuts! My ankle has been pretty stiff too, and the pain has shot up all the way to my knee. It's been hard to walk around and I have been trying to limit that. I can stand on it, but it is inflamed so even though it doesn't hurt when I stand, I am pretty sure that's not a good thing. I have an appt. with my dr. on Thursday just to have it checked out and see what I can do to help it out. I don't know if it's because I am standing on it for 5 hour periods of time at work or not because it just came on and I have been working over a month now. We shall see. I am frustrated and don't want to have to deal with this again. *sigh*

Anyway, onto scrappy stuff.
Here is a layout I created for the Creatively Yours blog as well as a card for this weeks sketch at Di Hickman's blog.

Have a super week!

My sweet girl is 18 today!

I have been an emotional wreck the past few days. I cannot fathom that my precious first-born turns 18 today. Where did the years go? I can still remember the moment of her birth like it was yesterday, it's that fresh in my mind, but so many of the years in between are fuzzy and distant and I can't recall many things and it's driving me nuts.
As I was selecting a birthday card for her this morning I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. There I was standing in the card aisle crying like a baby. I am sure the people who saw me thought I was crazy, but I don't care. Maybe they have been where I am and can totally relate, or maybe not, but it's a huge milestone for a parent. My little girl will always be my little girl. However, now she is an adult and is going to be moving on soon and not be so dependent on me and I think this is the most difficult part of it. These years have seemed like forever sometimes, but I truly feel as if she was just born and I blinked and she became an adult.
I am so very proud of this girl. She's got a strong spirit, and is caring and loving and outgoing and generous and carefree. She's beautiful and has grown into an incredible young lady. She has blessed so many lives and I thank God that he gave her to me to raise and love and care for. My life would be so incomplete without her.

So Kara, Happy Birthday darling and I hope today is a beautiful beginning to a wonderful life as an adult. I love you so much girl!

some more projects

I have been on a roll the past few days and getting a lot of projects done. I sure hope this creative streak carries on for a few more days. :)

Yesterday I made this fun Halloween apothecary bottle set for our living room. I got the bottles and wooden tray at Michael's and have been waiting for a chunk of time to sit and do something with it, and fortunately yesterday was the day. The girls just love how it turned out! Skye and Ashlyn helped fill the bottles with beans, noodles and rice which really finishes it off. They left some half full so it would look as though they have been used for years and years. I am also very happy with the end result, I never would have thought it would turn out as cool as it did.

I also have a card I made for Scrapping Outback. I have had this idea for awhile and it also worked out for me yesterday. Yay!

I still have more creations so stay tuned and I'll share them in a few days, or the next time I make time to update.

Take care!

more scrappy work to share!

I have so many things to upload. :) I am going to back a week (or more) for some of them.

I have been working 5 days a week and it's been rough not having much time to get everything done, but I think I am adjusting a bit.
I took the girls apple picking and to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. I only got 3 pics... my battery died. Ugh! I was so upset, but what could I do. I grabbed the wrong battery, the one that doesn't hold a charge. I should just toss it so I don't make that mistake again. At least it was a beautiful day! It was sunny and in the mid-40's, you can't beat that! We had a great time and came home with plenty of apples, kettle corn and some salsa's and sauces. We stopped to pick up a pizza on the way home. All in all a wonderful time with the girls.

So onto scrappy things:

The clips use some chipboard flowers from Scrapping Outback. These took all of 5-10 minutes to make.

I have a layout and a card using the October kit from Color{Me}Daisy. I just loved this months kit. I should be getting the November kit any day now. I can't wait!

Here are some cards I created using sketches from Di Hickman the past 3 weeks.

And last but not least a layout using a sketch from Creatively Yours.

Oh, I keep forgetting to mention this, but I made the DT for Design Monkeys a few weeks ago! I am so excited about this! The storage system is fantastic, so much better than I would have imagined. It's going to be a fun team for sure!

That's it for now. I have more to share, but I'll save it for another day. Hopefully soon. :)

My Acrylic Album projects (photo heavy)

Hi! Here are the projects I created for My Acrylic Album. I made an Autumn album, a wreath and a clear card.
I haven't been able to put my Alcohol Inks down and when I created the wreath I used them on the leaves first, then I painted on the chipboard letters and then mixed drops of colors and dabbed them with a tissue to blend. The project looks so much better irl and I am surprised with how cool and rustic the letters look. I didn't know I had it in me to create something so neat. I surley didn't expect that. :) I must admit that I did not like the wreath when I first finished it. I let it sit for a few days and then it grew on me. Now I can't help but smile when i see it. That's what this is about... creating something that makes your heart happy. I am learning to just go with it and not worry about perfection and I think that it shows. I am much happier about my work lately even though it may not be "the best", it's from my heart and that's what is important.

I hope you have a great weekend! I am hoping we can take the girls Apple Picking tomorrow... time is running out.

October Color{Me}Daisy kit projects

It's been a week since I last posted? Wow. It feels so much longer. lol!

Work is going well... it's been crazy though. Registers breaking down, credit card machines not working, people calling in sick. You would think these kind of days would just fly by. Nope, not at all. They drag on and on and on. At least the customers overall have been pleasant. I have only had one lady freak out on me. I really didn't want to stand there and take it, but I took the high road and bit my tongue. Literally.

I haven't had much time to scrap. I am still trying to find a balance between working and spending time with the kids and just keeping up with the house. I am slowly figuring it out though. I have been called into work several times which throws me off, but I am sure I'll find a balance soon enough. I have been working on some projects for My Acrylic Album... slowly... like 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there and I have 3 projects done. I will share those tomorrow... or whenever I update next.

Today I found some serious mojo and cranked out 2 layouts and 2 cards with the gorgeous October kit from Color{Me}Daisy. Hands down this has been my favorite CMD kit so far! There is also a fun Halloween kit this month, too. Be sure to check them out here.

Have a wonderful week!