joy, delight, imagine, and happiness butterfly banner

While I was doing hanging out online this morning, I clicked on Anabelle's blog, and that led me to The Shabby Tea Room blog, which is fabulous!!! I took a look around and was inspired by what I saw. I decided at 11AM that I was going to participate in this weeks challenge- call me crazy, because not only wa I under a time crunch, but I am in a splint on my right hand, and had a big idea. I really didn't think I was going to pull this off, but I did, just barely, thanks to some very helpful cutting from my sweet daughter Skylar.

Here is my take on the scrumptous challenge which was to use this image for inspiration:

(I told ya it was scrumptous!)

and this is what I created:

some layouts using Crate Paper

Hello! :) Before I share any layouts, I want to share a photo of my beautiful girl, Ashlyn, without her ng tube. yay!!! I take every chance I get to look at her sweet face without tape and a tube going into her nose.

Here are a few layouts I created earlier this week. This one is created for the Crate Paper June sketch challenge. It's the first time I have participated in a CP challenge, and I loved the sketch (which you can view by clicking the link), and I am thrilled with my layout! Wish me luck. :)

I used the Paper Doll collection on this one, along with some twine from The Twinery.

and here is a layout I created for the Monday, June 20th scrap{lift} challenge on My Scraps and More.

 Again, I used Crate Paper- Emma's Shoppe this collection is my favorite, hands down. Along with some Glitz paper, MLS alpha's, MM brads and foam stamps.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a beautiful and blessed weekend!

My new scraproom, and other fun, and not so fun stuff

Hello! I meant to post this several days ago, however, when I was out walking our great-dane mix on Monday night, he decided to be a naughty dog. He is usually quite good and I can handle him well, but sadly, I am done walking him. Long story short, he ended up pulling me into a chain-link fence and I am fortunate to have not been more injured than I was. I ended up with scrapes and cuts and bruising along my left forearm and elbow, a nice 2" gash in the palm of my right hand, which thankfully swelled closed, so I lucked out on having to get sutures, and a badly sprained hand/wrist on my right hand. Three days later and I am still sore, but am on the way up now, so that feels good. Oh, and I received a nice parting gift of a tetanus shot, which just so happens to contain the pertusis vaccination as well- which didn't hurt at the time, but talk about pain later- ouch!  Another thing- it's REALLY hard to use my left hand for everything. lol It takes way too long to type.

GREAT NEWS!!!! Ashlyn got her ng tube out Tuesday night!!! Oh happy dance! It's such a blessing to see my sweet girl's face without the tube going into her nose and all the tape holding it in place. Her skin is pretty raw still, but a photo is coming soon. :) She still has a long way to go in the recovery process, but having the tube removed is a big step and gives us even more hope.

Here is my new scrap room. We finally moved Emily down to Meghan's old room (which had been sitting empty for 10 months) at the end of May and then earlier this month we painted this room and moved my scrappy stuff in here. I LOVE IT!!! It's so nice to have my own room full of my stuff. The girls and the animals like to hang out in here along with me. Sometimes I just come to sit and think because it's such a happy place for me. We still need to add some shelving in the closet and along the bare wall, but that will be done soon enough.

thanks for dropping by!

two more layouts

Happy Sunday! I am not sure how this happened, but these two layouts were not uploaded onto my blog as I thought they had been. These two layouts were created for crop challenges last month over at My Scraps And More. I have to say that these are two of my current favs. :)

I hope that you have a beautiful Sunday, filled with many blessings- especially if you get to spend it with your special dad, since it is Father's Day.

A two-pager!

Hello! :) It's been ages since I have created a two-page layout, but I had to come up with something for the third week of the My Scraps Got Talent! Contest, going on over at My Scraps and More, and what is better to challenge yourself with than a two-page layout (at least this seems to be an opinion I share with many of my fellow scrappers). As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, I also threw in that the layout must contain an unusual paper combination. How's that for fun?! I hope it won't be too much of a challenge, and that everyone who is participating will have fun with this challenge. You can still join in on the contest- the prize is a collection pack from Echo Park, and seriosuly, who wouldn't want to win that?! Come on over and play along! Oh, and before I post my layout, MSAM has the newest Echo Park Country Drive, as well as the new Basic Grey! I have some heading my way and cannot wait to dig in and play. And, if you check out the website, there are often discount codes. ;)

Without furthur ado, here is my layout:

I used some old Rusty Pickle skull and crossbone papers along with some beautiful Crate Papers. It's not a combination I would have ever imagined I would use, but it works. :)

I am really hoping to get back into some Design Team work. I am going to apply for a few positions, wish my luck! If you know of anything that you think i would be a good fit for, I would be grateful if you would pass it along. :)

Happy Weekend~

Another challenge from My Scraps and More

Today I hosted another of the daily challenges over at My Scraps and More. Since it is Thursday, it is a sketch challenge. I have been trying to dig into some of my not-so-great quality photos lately, as well as my stash. These photos of Ashlyn, and one of our cats, Jack, when he was a kitten, are from 2005. I miss how little she is in these pics. *sniff*

Here is the sketch I created (forgove the chicken scratch look- I am not technical enough to do this on the computer just yet):

and my layout:

Thanks for stopping by! :)

tag challenge layout and a sketch challenge layout

Today was one of my days to host a challenge over at My Scraps and More, and since Tuesday's are scrap{stash} challenges, I chose to use tags this week. Here is my layout for this challenge.

I also created a layout for a previous challenge this month, a sketch challenge from 6/2. Here is my layout for this one:


If you haven't been over there, you should really check it out. The daily challenges are a super way to get those creative juices flowing, not to mention there is a fun contest going on now, throughout much of the Summer. I hope to see you there! :)

even more layouts

Hello! Here are some more layouts I have done lately to share with you. Again, these were all completed using the wonderful daily challenges, and fun crop last month over at the My Scraps and More site. There is currently another fun contest going on, so head on over and check it out.

 Thanks for stopping by. I've got a new scrappy room I will share with you this week, as well as some more layouts.

Oh- Emily got hired on with Wendy's yesterday. She is so happy and I am very happy for her! Her first day is tomorrow. Wish her luck. Have a beautiful weekend!

just more layouts

Here are some more layouts. :) All created using challenges over at My Scraps and More.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a beautiful weekend!

some layouts to share

Time is sure flying by way too quickly! I suppose that happens when one is busy. I have several layouts to share over the next few days. I haven't scrapped much lately, as I have been busy with Ashlyn, but I still have plenty to share from last month. All of there were created for challenges, or with posted challenges over at My Scraps and More.

Ashlyn has been working hard to transition from getting all her nutritional needs orally vs. via her ng tube. So far she has been doing very well. She has been off the overnight ng feeds for the past two nights now. yay! She has been drinking 5 Kids Boost drinks daily, each having 325 calories, as well as eating a few bites here and there of rice, mashed potatoes, and cream of wheat. Progess feels so good!

I'll be back tomorrow with more layouts to share. Have a beautiful day! :)

Hope

As some of you may know, our youngest dd, Ashlyn, was diagnosed with Crohn's disease near the end of April. She is 11 and has been ill for most of her life.
For the first time in years we finally have a ray of sunshine, and I couldn't be happier! Her medication is working, in fact her inflammation levels went from being in the unheard of highs down to nearly normal in just 5 weeks. With the help of the ng tube she has had since mid-Feb, she has been able to absorb the food and has even gained 20 pounds since then. Her body is finally acting "normal". She has been hanging out with us more and her spirit is coming back! Her laughter makes my heart full and my eyes tear up... it's been too long since we've heard that sweet sound. :)

Our current goal is for her this week to be able to drink between 1800-2000 calories during the day (5- 375 calorie drinks), so we can take her off the overnight formula feeds and remove the ng tube. This process is going a little slower than I would like for it to go, but I am hopeful by this time next week she can pull it out and toss it.
The next step is for her to slowly start eating solid foods and replace most of the beverage calories with food calories.... easier said than done since she needs to follow a peanut-free, lactose-free, Crohn's diet. But, we'll get there a day at a time. It's going to be a battle and it's going to take months to get into a "normal" regiment of eating. She's associated food with making her sick for most of her life, and her body just flat out started rejecting food back in Jan., and she hasn't had solid food in nearly 2 months now. Fun times ahead (NOT), but we can work with what we know and take it one meal at a time.

Now that we have a diagnosis, and her health is improving, I have spent a lot of thinking about what's next. How do we create a "new normal" as we move onto the next chapter in our lives. After much thought, I made a huge decision- today I officially unenrolled her from the Virtual Academy she has been attending for school the past two years, and enrolled her at the local Middle School. Although she hasn't completed all of the 5th grade curriculum, she will still be able to slide into 6th grade. I have truly enjoyed being with her the past 2 years, and have enjoyed learning along with her, and teaching her, and learning more about her, but now that she is in Middle School there are so many things that she will get to expereience by attending school, that I would not be able to offer her. She also has a lot of anxiety about school, and people/crowds, and her health in general, and she needs to learn how to cope with these things in a positive manner. It's going to be a huge transition for us, but a good one. I spoke with the principal today and he listened to my concerns and adressed them seriously. So many things have changed in her life since she last attended school. She now has food allergies that require an epi-pen, she now has a disease that will require her to take medication at school daily, and at times might disrupt her attendence. She is worried about having an accident, or having diahhrea, or being called names/teased, or being tired, or the possibility of having a severe reaction to peanuts. These are huge issues for her/us, but to them they are something they deal with on a daily basis, and I feel good knowing that they respect these issues and take them seriously. The principle is even going to give Ashlyn a personal tour of the school in a few weeks, once school is out, so she feels safe with the staff, and her anxiety about school won't have to hang over her head all Summer. I know this will be a good thing for her. It feels right, although it is a bit bittersweet. My baby girl is not such a baby anymore. Middle School is a big deal. lol :)

I will be back shortly with some scrappy stuff. I haven't created anything new in weeks, but I have some work from April and May to share that I haven't yet. Until then, take care!