Thursday, August 30, 2012

CMS #10 {a natural beauty}

Hello out there in cyberland! :)

I have been seriously neglecting my blog. I do have several layouts and cards to share, I just haven't carved out the time to blog. Actually, I think it's more about trying to soak up the last of Summer with the kids. We aren't doing anything other than hanging out at home, but we are keeping busy spending this last stretch of time together before the hustle and bustle of school begins in less than a week.

It's been at least a month (maybe more) since I have participated in a challenge on the Color Me Scrappy site, but today I made it a goal to go check out the challenge since the deadline is tomorrow (or tonight?). I have missed playing along with the great color combos and this layout came together so quickly once I started pulling papers to match the colors.


here is the color palette:


This is not a combo I would have put together on my own, but they are so beautiful together! Once again I love the end result of my layout.

I'll (try) to be back soon with some more layouts. ;) Take care!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Got some layouts to share and big news for me!

Hello! I'm back. Did you miss me? ;) lol The past few weeks have been very busy and have seemed to fly by. I really havn't scrapped much, but I do have a few things to share today. I created these two layouts  several weeks ago for the My Scraps & More Got Talent II contest.

this is for challenge #1:

and this is for challenge #2:



Ashlyn had an appointment with her GI doc in Seattle a couple of weeks ago. At this point she is holding steady. For the first time in a long time we didn't have any bad news. yay! While I do not want to focus on the negative, we didn't get any good news either- OK, the fact that her body is accepting the Methotrexate the way it should at this point is good news. ;) We just need to continue to give her her weekly injections and go forward. We really will not know how the Methotrexate is working for her until we remove her from the steroids, but that won't be until November. We are just building it up now. She's got 4 more weeks for the Methotrexate to fully kick into her system and maybe we'll see something more dramatic then. It's basically a waiting game now.

I have some BIG news for myself! I have decided that it is time to go back to school and finally earn a degree/certificate! I have felt this pull to do this for the past 2 years and everything finally worked out for me. I will be taking it slow as I still have to care heavily for Ashlyn, but I am going to do this! EEK!!!
I am super excited, yet nervous and hope and pray that I have not taken too much of a load on top of what I have already. I am signed up for one class now and am #1 on the waitlist for a math class, which I was told is highly probable that I will get in, although it might not be until school has started. My first day is September 24th.
Oh- I have decided that I am going to work toward becoming a Pharmacy Tech. The certificate program only takes 3 quarters if you go full time, but that is just not feasable for me at this time (and several of the classes were unavailable to me) so I have decided that I am going to work toward both the certificate and AAS. I do have to "catch up" in math, so I will need to take pre-algebra and then algebra to qualify for the math class I need. These will count toward my AAS, as well as the Phsychology class I am starting out with. I really hope I am able to slip into the math class, because that is the one I really need.

This is a huge leap of faith for me, and it's going to take a lot of time and work, but once I get a groove, I know I will be successful. I have given up all my design team commitments as I will not want the extra stress of having a deadline to meet, especially when I first begin, but I am still planning to scrap as much as I can.

I'll be back with some more scrappy projects soon. :)

Have a beautiful day!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

two cards to share today

My Scraps & More is hosting a fun challenge/contest called Got Talent II. There are still plenty of challenges to come, but this week and next week will be catch up weeks for the challenges that have been posted thus far. I decided that this was a great time to jump in and have managed to complete several of the challenges and am hoping to be fully caught up by the end of the weekend (we'll see how that goes. lol)

Unfortunately, the camera I use to photograph my projects isn't functioning correctly, so I only havethr ee projects to share that I photographed earlier in the week before mr. camera decided it didn't want to work. *sigh*

Today I will share two cards:

this was created for mini-challenge #1: create a card using some old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. I "borrowed" sketch #52 from cardabilities.


this card was created for mini-challenge #5 which was to use a vintage office image. I used another great cardabilities sketch, #54.

I'll be back soon to share some more projects. Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Monday, July 16, 2012

Ashlyn's new teddy Memorable Seasons LSS #7

I had a productive scrappy day today, I created two layouts and two cards. It's been months since I have had a scrappy day this productive.

I will share a layout that I created for challenge #7 for the Memorable Seasons Last Scrapper Standing (LSS) contest. You can check out the challenge here.

supplies:
cardstock: Recollections
pp: Bo Bunny, Fancy Pants Designs, Crate Paper, and Lily Bee
embellies: flower- Prima; correguated heart- Jillibean Soup; stickers- Daisy D's, Fancy Pants Designs, and Making Memories
DMC floss; Americana paint; tulle

Sunday, July 15, 2012

ready... set... throw Scrap~N~Sketch #11

Hi! :) I have a layout I created using another great sketch from Scrap ~N~ Sketch today. This is for sketch #11.

ready... set... throw:


supplies: cs- Recollections; pp- Simple Stories, Crate Paper and October Afternoon; embellies: Jillibean Soup, Prima, Simple Stories, October Afternoon, and The Twinery; ink

Thanks for stopping by! Have a beautiful day. :)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

down under CMS #7 and a proud momma moment

I finally had a chance to finish the newest color challenge at Color Me Scrappy. It has taken me all week to complete this layout. It has been "one of those weeks". lol

Here is my layout for challenge #7: I wanted it to have a lot of layers and distressing and have some movement:


and a detail shot:

supplies:
cs: Recollections; pp: Little Yellow Bicycle (splash), Echo Park, My Minds Eye, Grant Studios, American Crafts, AC Dear Lizzy; stickers: Basic Grey and Prima; embellies: LYB and The Twinery; paint

Here is the YUMMY color inspiration:


Thanks CMS for yet ANOTHER fantastic challenge!


I have some fantastic proud momma news!!!
My oldest dd, Kara, who is in the Navy called me early yesterday morning to tell me that she had just found out that she was going to receive an award along with 4 others from her ship. She received the Navy Achievement Medal, which is pretty darn amazing, especially someone who has only served for about 3 years. The other 4 who rec'd this are all "old-timers" (her words- especially since she is the youngest and only female in her rate on her ship).

(I copied and pasted the following from the link above- it's what she had to demonstrate to earn this medal)
Professional achievement that merit the NA must:

(a) Clearly exceed that which is normally required or expected, considering the individual's grade or rate, training, and experience, and
(b) Be an important contribution of benefit to the United States and the Naval Service.

Leadership Achievement that merit the NA must:
(a) Be noteworthy
(b) Be sustained so as to demonstrate a high state of development or, if for a specific achievement, be of such merit as to earn singular recognition for the act, and
(c) Reflect most creditably on the efforts of the individual toward the accomplishment of the unit mission.


I wish I could have flown across the country to give her a big hug and tell her in person how extremely proud of her I am!!!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

hail to the mighty waterfall and updates

This layout was created for Memorable Seasons using the wonderful Macho Nacho Soup collection from Jillibean Soup. I created it for the Member of the Month spotlight and used a card from the chosen member as my inspiration.


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Ashlyn had a gastric emptying study done on Friday. The tech pushed triple the amount of formula she would have on an hour down her ng tube to fill her stomach, and then he pulled the tube which was challenging for her- we really thought she was going to bring it back up, but she really focued and managed to keep it down. *whew* She had to lie under this x-ray/CT scanner for over an hour, which was not easy for her but she did well. She watched 'The Lion King' and managed to make it through without falling apart.


The test did show that she has a slight delay with the amount of time it takes for her stomach to empty, but nothing that will require the need of medication. Thank goodness, because she takes 14 pills a day as is. She's just going to have to live with it and eat less more often. Which is pretty much what we have been doing by running her tube feeds 24/7.
She's going to have a few more tests done this Summer to see why she cannot grow without tube feeding as well as if it is the Crohns that is causing her body to not absorb nutrients from food. We are really hoping to start re-feeding her again, which is a HUGE process. People think that it is as easy as just giving her food, but it is so much more involved. She's allergic to peanuts/nuts, peas, and white beans (there are a lot of products that are made on a line that uses nuts, so we have to read lables religously). Then there's the whole avoiding milk because she is lactose intolerant, and cannot even handle traces of milk product in her food. Oh, then there is the fact that she needs to eat a low-residue diet which is quite strict. We have to count calories meticulously and log everything she eats/drinks, and will still have to continue to suppliment the majority of her calories via tube feeds. This will take months... and we have to make sure she doesn't gain or drop weight too quickly because that is deadly for her as well. We've done it before and I can't even count the number of times I have left the grocery store in tears because it is all so overwhelming to me. I tell you, if I could have someone just to prepare her meals for me I would be in heaven! That would be a huge blessing. But that is not going to happen (can you imagine the cost??!!)

And wouldn't you know it, our refrigerator decided to die. Seriously? Had it happened in the cool of winter I would not have been so stressed, but it just had to do it when we have had nothing but high 90's. The food I had to throw away- yikes! It makes me sick. Thankfully I found one today that was super cheap and will be delivered tomorrow. It's the barest of the barest bone models, but it is so not a good time for this to happen and it is just going to have to do for now. I cannot beleive the prices on some of the models out there! They sure were pretty though....

Thanks for stopping by! :) Many blessings to you.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

twiglers- Sketch~N~Scrap #10

My second blog post today. :) I came across another fabulous sketch site called Sketch ~ N ~ Scrap! I really like the different sketches and so I decided to give one a try.


Here is the sketch, sketch #10: (I stretched it out to create a 2-page layout as you can see.)


closer views:
right side:

left side:

I used the beautiful Summer Fresh Collection from Simple Stories to create this layout.

Thanks for the great inspiration from the sketch! :)

July SWAT

Here is my take on the July challenge for Sketches With A Twist. As you'll see, I really made this one my own. lol The twist this month is to add doodling.

here's the awesome sketch:

I took the sketch and turned it sideways and omitted the banner as well as strip by the photos.

I used a mix of product here: MME, Jillibean SoupFancy Pants Designs, Pink Paislee, Studio Calico and The Twinery. To get the look around the semi-circles, I painted the area white and then did some doodling atop. I then adhered the pp. That is why it is imperfect, but that's the look I was going for.

You'll need to go check out the blog to see the gorgeous work the other design team girls created! AND we have a wonderful new sketch desginer as well as two new fabulous DT girls. :)

Monday, July 2, 2012

My July kit from Memorable Seasons

Hi! This month for Memorable Seasons I got to work with papers from the fun Macho Nacho Soup collection from Jillibean Soup:


I also purchased some Studio Calico Abroad papers to use along with the kit items I was sent.

Here is a card and two layouts:

I hand cut the little ties from the pp and combined them to make the flower.

(I used a sheet of the Studio Calico for the background)

(the yellow/white striped pp as well as the grey paper under the title are from Studio Calico, bue flowers are LYB)

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Before I sign off, I have decided not to extend my term as a design team member for Memorable Seasons. This is the last month of my six-month term. I have enjoyed my time, and the ladies on the board are amazing! If you are looking for a smallish, yet loving and embracing online scrappy community, Memorable Seasons is a wonderful place- I encourage you to check it it.


I am taking off for a few days to enjoy the 4th of July at Lake Chelan with my girls. To my American friends, have a safe and fun 4th! :)

Monday, June 25, 2012

She is...

As soon as I saw the Color Me Scrappy color challenge #6, my heart skipped a beat. I simply love these colors and I knw immediately that I would be digging through my stash to find just the perfect combination of patters and colors. I had an idea in my head, but then as I pulled these great bold colors and prints, my head began to think of something more "quilted" and this is the end result. I have to say that I just love this page- the wheel design really enhances the mixture of patterns and colors, but the main focus is still on the photo of my sweet girl, Ashlyn. I took this photo one morning as she was waiting for her bus. (Her little cheeks are so puffy from the medications- we all talk about how much we just want to sqeeze them because she's never had any fat on her. Ever. lol)

supplies
cs: Recollections
pp: Pink Paislee, Jillibean Soup, October Afternoon, Crate Paper, Bo Bunny, MME, Fancy Pants Designs
embellies: Prima flowers (Hydrangias), Studio Calico butterflies, October Afternoon Chipboard (blue button, teddy and flower), Dear Lizzy chipboard (heart) and crochet flower, Petaloo (dk. pink rose), light pink roses are from the Michaels buck fifty bins, twine is from The Twinery, brads: Crate paper (lg) and doodlebug, punches: Fiskars and EK Success

here is the gorgeous color inspiration:


You can check out what the CMS team did with this pallette HERE. You can also share your layouts on this, as well as the other wonderful color combos.






Sunday, June 24, 2012

snow doggone cute- LCTS #138

This is my last layout for Let's Capture These Sketches. I have had a wonderful time working with the awesome sketches, but decided not to extend my term. I had a lot of fun making this layout. I wanted the cute photos to pop, but also have dimension and a bit of color. My girls love how it turned out- I wonder what Moose would say? lol

supplies:
pp: Fancy Pants Christmas Magic
chipboard alpha: Making Memories
alpha: American Crafts
snowflakes: K&Co
paint
stickles: Ranger
punch: American Crafts Knock Outs and Fiskars

You can see the super fun sketch here (one of my favs!), as well as what some of the other girls on the team did.

Thanks for stopping by! I am enjoying the sounds of the morning- the birds are singing, the rain is gently falling, and the air smells fresh and clean, even though it is muggy and heavy. I truly enjoy my mornings. How about you? I hope you have a blessed day. :)

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

fun with bubble wrap

This layout was inspired by a challenge by our June guest designer for Memorable Seasons. Her challenge this month was to create a page using bubble wrap. I had all kinds of fun with this one and really let my creativity run loose. I love how playful and whimsical this layout is- it suits Skylar's personality to a "T"!


Thanks for stopping by! :)

Monday, June 18, 2012

an update on Ashlyn

My heart continues to break for my sweet Ashlyn. Late last week we got some more bad news about her most recent blood work, and it was not good. In fact those were the exaxt words that were used by the GI nurse when she called me on Thursday. I cannot say that I was surprised, in fact I think we all knew that this was going to be the case. We have not seen improvement on her pain, her nausea, or other symptoms, and with her levels running high both times before when she had this test, it would have been more shocking had her body accepted the medication as it should have.

Although we drastically reduced Ashlyn's dose of Mercaptopurine 6 weeks ago, her levels are still off the charts and we had to stop the medication asap so as not to increase her risk for permanet damage to her body. The good news is that at this point the mercaptopurine has seemed to not leave any permanent damage to her system, so that is a blessing. She will never be able to take this class of medication again; the 6MP class- this is a problem as this is a great maintenance medication.

These are what we are adding:


with just a phone call she went from 4 pills a day up to 12 a day with a weekly injection.

She is really throwing her doctor for a loop as she is not presenting in "textbook manner". This has always been something we have joked about, but it gets less "funny" each time her bloodwork comes back like this. Her ESR levels are elevated, which indicates more inflammation, so we are back to square one with her Crohns (in fact this could mean that the disease is rapidly progressing). Her vitamin D levels are extremely low, as well as her albumin levels (she is now considered to have hypoalbuminemia) this is a huge mystery and can be very dangerous. Basically her body is presenting itself as malnourished even though she has been taking in an excess of calories; we are running her tube feeds 23 hours a day and she is also drinking an additional 355 calories. This is going to be moitored weekly and if these levels don't rise, then who knows what will happen; it almost appears that food is harming her more than helping her- it's just weird. Most likely there is a lot of active disease in her small intestine, where the nutrients and vitamins are absorbed, and these are not being abosrbed, instead they are just passing through quickly and basically running through her without doing any work.

We started high doses of Entocort (an oral steroid medicationon) Friday. She will take a high dose of the Entocort for 4 months and then we'll see about tapering her down. This is not the usual way to take this medication, especially for a child, but we've got to get some of the inflammation down because this is what could be causing her to be malnourished.

We added more Vitamin D as well as some Folic Acid pills daily.

She will start weekly injections of  Methotrexate tomorrow. It's another Immunosuppresant (just as the steroids are). The side effects are nasty, and wll more than likely make her sick. She will have to have a shot in her belly every week, but surprisingly she is not worried about the shot, and neither am I. She's a pro with needles and she is more worried about having to have bloodwork done every Tuesday as well for the next 4-6 weeks. She's had hundreds of blood draws during the last 18 months- sometimes twice a day. She is tired of having her arms poked.
I have all the needles and the medication and a handy at home Sharps container, but the doctors are worried about her having an allergic reaction r other "difficulties" with the Methotrexate (since she does have several allergies to medications as well as intolerances) so her first 3-4 injections will be done at the office so they can montior her closely.

This is a huge setback for her. She has reached her limits and just wants to feel good. I know it is hard for her to see the neighbor kids running around, having a great time while she is pretty much stuck in bed yet another Summer. This will be treatment #3 for her Crohns in a very short time period. I just pray this works for her.

I am usually pretty good about bouncing back from all the negatives and I work to find the ray of sunshine in the dark, but I am struggling terribly this time. I find myself crying several times a day and it physically hurts to breathe sometimes. I don't know if it's because I am just waiting for tomorrow and her first injection, or if it's the stress of knowing that the next few weeks of bloodwork are crutial, or if it's that everything that I have read and talked to the dr. about this disease and how horrible it can be seems to be coming true for her.

I just wish it were me, not her, having to endure this. But I can guarantee that she is handling this with more grace and strength than I could. She is truly remarkable in her courage and endurance. She is just one amazing sweet girl and I am blessed that I am able to take this journey with her, even if it is a long, uphill climb.


Sunday, June 17, 2012

Memorable Seasons LSS challenge week & MOTM lo

Hi! We are into week 3 of the Memorable Seasons Last Scrapper Standing contest and it is my week to host the challenge. I decided to do a doodling challenge for a couple of reasons;  first these super fun, colorful and playful Amy Tan Sketchbook papers just led me in this direction. ;) Secondly, it's a challenge and I don't see a lot of doodling going around, at least in the Memorable Seasons gallery.

Here is my layout:


I kept it simple and just added lines and doodling around each sheet of pp I used. The exception is the yellow squiggles- these are printed on the paper. I even free-handed the title and cut around them.

Although the challenge is well underway, you can still join in on the fun! Check it all out here.


Each month, Memorable Seasons also features a Member of the Month, in which the DT picks a member and we each scraplift one of their layouts. This is my "lift" of the June MOTM, again featuring my kit items from the Amy Tan Sketchbook collection:


you can find all the details about this by visiting the MS message board.

Thanks for dropping by- I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! :)

Thursday, June 14, 2012

LCTS #136- they are having a designer call

Hi! The school year is winding down here, only today and a few hours tomorrow left for this year. I cannot believe Ashlyn made it through 6th grade. I am beyond exhausted and ready for a break, and I know she cannot wait to be able to sleep in and allow her body to get the extra rest it so desperately needs.

This year has been full of big acoomplishments for her as well as huge setbacks. I started this school year feeling hopeful and positive because Ashlyn finally had a diagnosis, appeared to be on track for remission, she was finally strong enough to go to school, and managed to do pretty well especially in the beginning. She had some great weeks followed by a few bad days, but as time moved on the bad days began to be the norm and a good day was hit and miss, and then reality hit and it has been a long, hard road to travel, especially since January when her health really started to decline and hasn't bounced back at all.

I have been furiously trying to work on a plan that will work for Ashlyn's academic needs as well as her medical needs for 7th grade, but I am coming to a stand still- just when I think I have a plan, something impeeds and we are back to square one. I am at a loss, really, as what to do. As it is now, she can barely attend the two hours that we have cut her down to. She has still continued to miss more school due to fevers, nausea, or just plain not feeling well enough to get out of bed. And when she is feeling well enough, just the two hours of school she does attend leaves her pale and exhausted and more often than not she gets a low-grade fever and ends up in bed for hours just trying to recover. *heavy sigh*

I suppose I will just stick to my original plan of waiting until August to figure this out. It will all work out, it really will- sometimes I just like to try to get ahead of the game and that is apparently not what God has planned. :)

Before I share my layout for Let's Capture These Sketches, I want to point out that they have several calls for designers. You can check each call out by heading to the main blog here. It's been an sheer delight to be on this team and the sketches are always wonderful! I encourage you all to apply. I will not be submitting to this call at this time, but some of my most favorite layouts have been created using these sketches. My creativity has been stretched and I know the gorgeous sketches were the starting point for them.

Here is my layout for sketch #136:
I used some Scenic Route, MME, Bo Bunny pp, the flowers are AC Amy Tan, and the stickers are from Jillibean Soup and Sasafrass Lass. The Twinery twine, K&Co. Smash tape, and some ink and bling finish this off.

Have a great day friends! :)

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

CMS challenge #5 and more

Hi! Today I finally have a chance to share the layout I created for the guest desginer spot that I was lucky to have been selected for from the Color Me Scrappy blog. :)

As soon I recieved the color scheme, I knew exactly which papers and photos I was going to use with it.

here is the "feathered" color palette for challenge #5:

and my layout:


I used some Studio Calico as well as some of the LYB Saturday's collection for this. I added some paint, ink, and torn edges for a distressed look. These resin starfish covered with sand were the perfect addition- I came across these a few weeks ago when Ashlyn and I purged my stash.

The ladies on the team totally rocked this challenge! Be sure to check out their beautiful layouts as well as submit your take on the colors here.


In addition to the guest spot, I also won a great kit from Peace, Love & Scrapbooking. Here is a layout I created with the May kit.

As I am not generally a fan of colored cs, I used some Kraft cs from my stash and added some Glimmer Mist. Everything else is from the kit.

Thanks again for the wonderful kit and opportunity to be a guest designer!

Before I sign off, I have a sweet photo of Ashlyn and our puppy, Moose, who is 7 months old now. He and Ashlyn were snuggled up and I snapped a photo before I had to disturb them- he was laying on Ashlyn's feeding tube and was causing it to stop the flow. I really hated to wake him up, but once I adjusted her tube they were able to continue to snuggle.


Have a beautiful day!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Memorable Seasons June DT kit- first of my projects

Hello! I got to work with the super fun Amy Tan Sketchbook collection for my June kit with Memorable Seasons.

As I was browsing through photos, these photos of Emily popped up and were absolutely perfect to use with these papers- they were made for each other. lol

I used some thickers and yellow MLS stickers from my stash as well as the rhinestones.

I also have a card to share:


I receieved a sheet of mini oragne alpha stickers and to be perfectly honest, I didn't really like the orange with the other bright and fun papers, so I needed a creative way to utilize them so I could say that I used everything that I was sent. ;) Once I used some of the letters on the stems, I had an idea- I punced circles out of the alpha sheet and then applied some sparkle Mod Podge atop. Then I adhered other punched pieces to finish the flowers. I really like the end result!

Memorable Seasons is hosting the 3rd annual Last Scrapper Standing contest. There is still time to get in on this as the first challenge layout isn't due for a few days. Even if you are looking for some challenges and do not want to be a part of the competition, we'd love to have you! This contest started on Friday, June 1st and will last through the end of July. You can check out all the details HERE.

I hope your week is off to a great start! :) I am dragging and not feeling all that well today today- mostly run down with a sore throat and cold like symptoms- pretty much how Ashlyn constantly must feel now. :( I work, have some errands to run, dinner to make and then maybe I'll find some scrappy mojo. I just wasn't feeling it this weekend so I didn't scrap at all.

I'll be back tomorrow with a layout I have been dying to share. lol

Saturday, June 2, 2012

SWAT June sketch and LCTS #134

Hello! I have several new things to share, but I don't want to put everything in one post, so I will slowly trickle them in over the next few days.

First off is the June SWAT reveal. This monthhe Twist is to incorporate fabric on the page. You can find the wonderful sketch here, as well as the gorgeous layouts from the DT girls!

I pulled out some old Basic Grey pp for this one, as well as my glitter- the title and each of the embellies have glitter. I wish I could have had a brighter image to share.

*Just a note- SWAT is looking for a sketc designer. If you are interested, check out this post.


Here is my take on sketch #134 from Let's Capture These Sketches (I am a week late posting this):


Again, the team does stellar work and I am always in awe of what they create!

thanks for stopping by- have a beauiful day! :)

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

exploring Montana- Kara style

Hello! Today I have a layout to share that I created using another of the great sketches from ScrapMuch? This was based off the May 25th sketch and I just tweaked it a bit.


Thanks for stopping by! :)

Monday, May 28, 2012

Valentine's Day layout

I am back with another layout featuring a sketch from Scrap Much? I used the May 18th sketch for this layout:

I loved the banners along the bottom. Thanks for another fun sketch!
(sorry this looks a little too washed out- either it was this or too dull- I prefer brighter ;))

Sunday, May 27, 2012

storytime

Hello! :) I used a great sketch from ScrapMuch? to create this layout of Ashlyn reading to one of our cats. These photos have been in my que for awhile now and this sketch was perfect for them!


here is page 1:

and page 2:

thanks for stopping by!

Friday, May 25, 2012

2 sweet girls and Kara is an E-4

Hi! I have a layout to share that I created using the awesome color challenge (#4) from Color Me Scrappy. (I think I have a new addiction) I loved the color palette for this challenge, but I was having trouble with photo placement, so I did some digging and came across this sketch site, Got Sketch?,  and the image in the right top corner immediately caught my attention. It was perfect for what I had in mind!

Thanks to Color Me Scrappy and Got Sketch? I have a layout that I adore! :)



I have one more thing to share- a VERY PROUD momma moment. :) That pretty older girl in the photo above, Kara, just got word this morning that she passed her promotion test on the first round and is now an E-4 in the Navy!!! WOHOO!!! It's a hard test, and her rate (job) only has an 8% promotion rate- in fact, most people have to take the test multiple times to pass. I wish I could be with her to give her a huge hug!

What a great way to start my day, especially since I am taking Skylar to the oral surgeons in about an hour to have her wisdom teeth removed.

ONE more thing- I was selected as the DT fav. as well as the random winner for the Color Me Scrappy challenge #3! I won a super kit from Peace, Love & Scrapbooking as well as a guest spot on the Color Me Scrappy challenge blog (look for me on the next challenge, #5).


Have a beautiful day! :)


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

LCTS #132

Good morning! :) Here is my take on take on the Lets Capture These Sketches #132:


I decided to keep it very simple and used just the circles as the basis for this page.
As usual, the rest of the design team knocked this sketch out of the park! I love their takes.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderul day!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Be You

Happy Monday! :) I came across a fairly new challenge blog called Color Me Scrappy. It seems pretty fun  so I gave it a try.

Before I share the the beautiful color palette, I will share my layout for challenge #3:
(sorry for the dark image)
supplies:
cs: Recollections
pp: Pink Paislee, MME, October Afternoon, Recollections
stickers: Martha Stewart
twine: The Twinery
pearls: Michaels
mist: Maya Mist

These are colors that I normally do not use, so it was a pretty big challenge for me. I pulled out everything I could find with these colors and then just dug in. I wanted to use at least a little of every color, yet keep my layout bright and cheerful ad happy. Overall I am pleased with how it turned out, although I think the kite twine along the side is a bit too much, but I commited to it as soon as I glued it down.

Here is the color palette:




I am looking forward to the next challenge!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a fantastic week! :)