Sisters *The ScrapRoom*

I'm sure everyone will agree that funerals are very sad events... but I feel that they are also a celebration of sorts. A chance to celebrate the deceased persons life, their release from earthly bonds, their ascension into Gods hands and a reason to get together as family. A lot of times this family hasn't been seen in months or years! This was the case at my Mother's funeral. My aunt, cousins, sister and stepsisters came from North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee to be with us.

Needless to say we got a little goofy and decided to make a sister pyramid (after a couple of cocktails I might add). I love this picture, red eye and all!

I'm in love with this collection by Pink Paislee. Teal and grey with a pop of yellow, so pretty! The frames are from The Good Life by Fancy Pants. This kit from The ScrapRoom is one of my favorites!

Haven't been able to create without spray ink lately. A big flower from Basic Grey and little ones from Bella. 

Border punch love :)

Tab punch and Basic Grey letter stickers.

More layouts using The ScrapRoom's January Flavor of the Month Kit coming soon. Thanks for stopping by!



My Inspiration *thinkingthroughdesign*

Our topic for this weeks' thought was list journaling. Boy am I list maker! Grocery lists, lists to guide trips for errands, lists of what the kids need for school, dream lists and I could go on. Lately I've fount that I tend not to use embellishments with sayings on them, they just sit in my stash untouched. This one from My Minds Eye begged to be used and I was dying to scrap this photo of my beautiful daughter (can you believe she is 13 going on 14!?) from a recent "photo shoot".

 

Stuck with a very traditional style because I wanted the photo to be the focus.

  

 

Used Pink Paislee canvas resistables. Antique tatted lace and buttons I found in an antique stores. I love combing through all the little nooks and crannies for treasures like these.

 

Journaling done on a Hambly screen printed transparency. This led to the layout being staged on a display stand, every time I tried to photograph it flat it created a glare.

I hope you take my link right over to *thinkingthroughdesign* and check out all the amazing layouts my team members created using lists! Thanks for stopping by :)

P.S. The surgery went well. Pretty painful the first day but getting better.

 

Purrrfect! {Out for Publication!}

I'm so in love with these photos :) The colors are beautiful and my sweet girl and her friend were so adorable that day, lovin' on the baby kitties. Those kittens are now 3 years old and aptly named "Hungry Man" & "Lean Cuisine". My father is graciously allowed to live in their domain and even gets to pet them whenever they like.



My Minds Eye is one of my favorite manufacturers...but I have a problem using their papers. They are too pretty to cut into, what if I mess up? Bit the bullet and used them on this layout, the colors are just too purrrfect :)

LOVE this color combo!

Finally used some of my stash of Zva Creative bling, a wonderful blog hop win.

The kitty silhouettes were perfect for this layout, you can find them on the Kate's ABC's Cricut cartridge.

I'd like to kiss whomever invented foam squares :)

Look at the sweet little face!

Love all the textures together.

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts, Bazzill; patterned paper: My Minds Eye; letter stickers, lace ribbon: American Crafts; flowers: Recollections; brads: Making Memories; crystals: Zva Creative; sticker: My Minds Eye; canvas stickers: Little Yellow Bicycle; buttons: October Afternoon; border punch: Fiskars; corner rounder: EK Success; marker: Sharpie; adhesive: 3L, Scotch, Therm O Web.



Busy day ahead! Dr's. appointment this morning, fix lunch at band camp this afternoon, finish a couple of assignments and whatever else I can fit in!

Dad has to go back to surgery on Thursday, his fistula is partially blocked again. My niece and Brother in Law are here visiting unexpectedly from Tennessee, and Matthew is battling a case of ringworm or impetigo (not sure which or if he has both) a nice present from wrestling camp a week or so ago :(

Can you tell that my mind is in chaos? Off I go :)

Cherish Too

Do you ever finish a layout that you thought was one of your best and then look back later and think "I wish I'd moved this or added that?" That is what happened with this layout. Something about the flowers was bugging me! Out came the UnDu (can't live without this stuff!) and up came the flowers. Shuffled them around and now I'm happy!

Here is the original



and now the improved

What do you think? I'm a firm believer in constructive criticism :)

Cherish

Cherish is a word I'm learning to appreciate. This past weekend at my scrap retreat, I mulled the meaning of this word around in my head. Cherish seemed to be a fitting title for this layout featuring my daughter and her Grandpa John. No journaling on this one, the title says it all. After losing my mother 3 years ago, I'm much more aware of how much I cherish my family and friends. My children are so lucky to have 3 Grandpa's and a Grandma left to love and spoil them.

I was in a very sentimental, shabby chic kind of mood when I created this layout...

and I couldn't wait to break out this Basic Grey Kissing Booth paper!

Love these gorgeous flowers from Petaloo but I only had two left :(  Rummaged around in my ribbon until it struck me that I could make my own. Can you guess which one is mine? (answer at bottom of post)



There are bits from so many companies on here! You should have seen my table when I was finished :)

My love affair with Thickers will never end :)

That little green flower is a hitchhiker! I just noticed him as I was typing this.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper, stickers: Basic Grey; letter stickers: American Crafts; flowers: Petaloo, K & Co., Maya Road, Prima; stick pins: Maya Road; gem flourishes: Zva Creative; pearls: Doodlebug; punch: Fiskars; doilies: Martha Stewart; ink: Ranger; acrylic stamp: Glitz Designs; adhesive: 3L, Scotch; misc: vintage buttons and trims.

*The top flower on the lower left of the page is mine*

I have a couple of more layouts to share but you'll have to wait until my guest spot on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog and the reveal of the Scrap Room's August kit, to see the rest...so stay tuned :}}



1st Haircut

A "do it yourself" job. I was stunned to say the least. Sit down on the floor and cry stunned. It took this child 3 years to grow enough hair for her adorable little ponytail. She was bald for the 1st year of her life and I spent every outing repeating "She's a girl" to everyone that said "Isn't he cute!". The child was dressed head to toe in pink and they still thought she was a boy. There was an entire drawer in her dresser just for all the hair pretties I'd accumulated for the day she had enough hair to use them.

She had other ideas. Headbands...nope. Barrettes...nope. Ponytails...she tolerated them, until this fateful day. She ran into the house for a potty trip. When she didn't return in the usual amount of time, I went in to check on her. She was standing in the kitchen with a funny look on her face and a lopsided ponytail. Clueless, I reached up to straighten it and it came off in my hand!!!

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: K & Co.; laser cut paper: Anna Griffen; stickers: Crate Paper; letter stickers: Making Memories; chipboard letter stickers: Basic Grey; chipboard: Maya Road; flowers: Petaloo, Prima; punches: E K Success, Martha Stewart; die cutting machine: Cricut, Provo Craft (Birthday Bash cartridge); pen: Sakura; ink: Tsukinenko; adhesive: 3L, Therm O Web, Tombow; sewing machine: Viking; misc: thread, vintage buttons; sketch: Sketchy Thursdays.

It took 2 years to grow it out to a short bob.

This pretty flower and chipboard scissors are part of my tax time loot :)

The banner is cut with the "Birthday Bash" Cricut cartridge. Threaded the little butterfly right onto the twine.

Having a lazy Saturday. Mimi is sick and camped on the couch. Trying to get the mojo going but feeling like a slug today. Wishing I'd stopped and picked up the copy of "Hunger Games" that I won on the way home from work Thursday night from the local radio station. Could be curled up with Mimi reading :) Thanks for popping by and have a great weekend!

If I Could Turn Back Time

If I could find a way...

I know this is a "love gone wrong" song but the lyrics were the first thing to pop into my head when mulling over a title for this layout. My husband is what you might call photo phobic. Can't stand to have his picture taken. Hand up, turn the head, non photogenic, don't even try to take my picture...photo phobic. So I was thrilled when I came across this photo. He looks so handsome, a bit redneck in his muscle man shirt I'll admit but handsome all the same. Most of all...he looks happy and not in pain.

He was involved in an accident years ago that has left him with chronic pain. Debilitating, continuous pain. Over the years his condition has worsened to the point that even the mundane things like changing a light bulb cause him pain. These fractured lyrics just seemed appropriate.

If I could reach the stars

 I'd give them all to you

I fell in love with this Authentique paper! So blue jeans and bandanna :) The chevron border is cut from a sheet of patterned paper, stitched and popped with foam squares.

The Graphically Speaking Cricut cartridge is full of awesome icons like this clock face and hands. Cut the hands from Core'dinations paper and sanded to match the distressed feel of the papers.

Punched, inked, sanded, and layered and voila! Coordinating flowers.

Did I say how much I love coordinating products :)

 I just remember my wedding vows...For better or worse, in sickness and in health. He is still here with me, and for that, I am grateful.

Beauty...

I love everything about Fall except that it precedes Winter! There is so much beauty to be found. Pumpkins, changing colors, crisp air, warm days and cool nights, Halloween, and I could go on & on :) This layout  highlights my daughter but is really about God's creations and how beautiful they are. I found this sketch on the Scrapbook News and Review site and didn't finish it in time to submit it. The sketch is by Emma Straface.

I'm in love with this My Minds Eye collection, Stella Rose. Such beautiful, saturated colors. Aqua is one of my favorite colors right now. The flowers are punched, sanded, then layered with the crocheted flowers and a brad. Misted the doily to tone down the white.

Cardstock: Bazzill, Bo Bunny; patterned paper: My Minds Eye; chipboard letters: Basic Grey; crocheted flowers: Prima; punches: E K Success, Martha Stewart; brads: Making memories, Paper Studio; pearls: Kaiser Kraft; die cutting machine: Cricut, Provo Craft ( Home Accent, Storybook cartridges); circle cutter: Coluzzle, Provo Craft; spray ink: Tattered Angels; pen: Sakura; adhesive: 3l, Therm O Web, Tombow; doily: Wilton.

Last night was Matthew's first time wrestling at 285lbs. He has lost almost 50 lbs since the start of wrestling season. He discovered the competition is much stiffer. He went from 2-0 to 2-2. I could see he was bummed and my heart hurt for him. It was easy to see the other wrestlers were much more experienced and older. He has a lot to learn and the willpower to do it!

Mimi's 1st basketball game was at the same time, unfortunately they were in different cities :( Daddy & Grandpa went to her game. I'll catch her 2nd game on Monday. Her knees are all floor burned, poor baby. Apparently her body can't keep up with her feet :) This is her 1st year playing basketball too. I just keep reminding them both that practice is the key.

The rest of my day will be spent with Grandpa Joe, first at the pacemaker clinic and then to his internist. The bonus is that I get to make a trip to Hobby Lobby and possibly a scrapbook store. Yea! The "Families" special edition from Cricut Magazine is out and there are 5 of my layouts in it :)) Check it out!

I Miss you Mom.

The Holiday's this year are really reminding me how much I miss my Mom. We used to shop together, make cookies, and wrap presents and it hurts to know she can't do these things with her grand kids either.

Everything on this layout has some meaning to me. She loved to crochet and did so right up til a month or so before she passed. She even made scarves for the nursing home employees. She used to sew my clothes when I was little, loved bingo, and watched the cooking channel faithfully (even though she never cooked any of the recipes). She was only in her early 60's when she passed for COPD and Emphysema. Smoking kills.

The journaling reads: Shopping at Hudson's together in your Hot Mama boots with your Micheal Jackson moves (she slipped and did the splits and came back up from them in one motion, just like Micheal Jackson used to do in his videos)...Making Christmas cookies together from family recipes while singing along to Johnny Mathis... Laughing hysterically over the silliest things like "Vont Turkey!" (think Egor and his limp going through the house yelling "Vont Turkey" because it was taking too long to cook) and my "Flashdance" moves and broken toe (done while doing aforementioned moves)... I miss you Mom...

There is some glare in the upper right corner, darn Michigan weather. Used my favorite Anna Griffin diecut to stencil the upper right corner, it had a lot of dark empty space. Gorgeous Crate Paper, paper.

Love the vintage buttons, found them at a nearby antique mall.

Vintage doily, bingo chip and needle holder (rose). Basic Grey laser cut paper on bottom.

The thread in the button was the original thread from when it was cut off the garment, so cool.

To all of those missing loved ones now, I'm right there with you. Hope they have a glorious celebration in heaven with our Saviour. Off to finish a little shopping and then go to a good friend's house for our annual gingerbread house party. The kids aren't so much into the making as the eating anymore but they still love it :)

Dress Up...or Not!

So much work went into these dresses. French seams, delicate lace around the edges, and an adorable headband for Mimi. Ready just in time for Easter. But when I tried to dress her...it was all "No you are not!". She kicked and screamed the entire time. Not sure if she opposed the fact that it was a dress or this dress. She finally gave in to her mother's superior will (and power), a moment I'm not proud of. Who makes their kid wear something she doesn't want to wear? A Mom who worked like the dickens...that's who!

This making Memories patterned paper has been in my stash forever! Sorry for the glare on the photos, having trouble lately taking pics without it :(  Used a Becky Fleck Pagemap for this layout.

Doesn't she look innocent, hard to believe she was kicking and screaming a few minutes before :)

It's  fun to play with girly, lacy, frou frou stuff sometimes, but I'm ready to go back to my more traditional style now. I think I'm cutesied out! Oh, and a quick note about vellum...it moves when you try to sew it down. I ended up with a ripple and had to add the paper with the heart border punch to cover it up.

Really sad that my long spell off of work is almost over. Not looking forward to the 4 twelve hour days to come. If we are lucky, maybe all the pregnant ladies will be too full to come to the hospital :) Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Kind, Sweet, Beautiful,Friend. *Out for Publication* Yea!

Basic Grey has been hitting it out of the park with paper designs lately, I just can't get enough! "Sweet Threads" has to be one of my favorites, right up there with "Lemonaide" and "Green at Heart". Gorgeous  bright pink, orange, & green...perfect for the girly, shabby chic style I've been leaning toward lately.

This is one of my favorite pictures from this year. When I first viewed it on the computer, I was struck by how much Mariel and I look like one another. This wasn't always the case. I've always had difficulty seeing the resemblence, instead seeing her resemblence to her Dad.

Used some vintage lace and punched the butterflies from vintage sheet music.

Used an Anna Griffin lace diecut as a stencil then flipped it and used it on the layout.

Inked the edges of everything to add a slightly grungy, teenagy look, Not sure if teenagy is a word, maybe current is a better term :) I did this layout for a challenge from Scrapbook Trends to scraplift a layout from the September 2011 issue. I chose "Dada's Wishes for You" by Amy Heller on page 53.

On another note...it was another eventful week here. Dad, aka "Grandpa Joe" had to have an unexpected surgery on his fistula on Saturday. Up at 4:30am and at Borgess by 6am. He was in surgery for about 3 1/2 hours and came out with 22 staples in his arm! Spent an hour and a half in recovery then went to dialysis for another 4 hours, not counting set up and take down. We finally made it home at 8pm.

He is having a hard time recovering from the anesthetic this time. Lots of sleeping and forgetfulness. I hope he doesn't have to have surgery again anytime soon. The good thing is that his fistula is working again. I did get to play with his new "smart" phone during all the waiting and discovered I'm jealous. I want one (insert pouty face), although I hate to admit it...I can't see to work it without my granny glasses :}} Unfortunately it isn't in the budget, so I'll have to settle for playing with his phone.

Thanks for stopping by!

You Make My Heart Swell

Well...this these pics of Mimi & Eric do anyway :) I have so few of Eric period, never mind him with the kids. He is truly photophobic! Mimi is so sweet with her pink blankie wrapped around her neck & pointing to the pictures.

Isn't this cabbage rose paper by Crate Paper to die for?! Had to go with a romantic vintage feel for this one.

The 3D rose is from K&Co., they originally had leaves attached but the green was all wrong. A little trimming and a Prima leaf and problem solved. I tend to alter a lot of my premade embellishments to make them work for my needs :)

I'm a little disappointed that the aqua letter stickers don't show up as well in the photos, they match perfectly.

The trim, button & tulle are actually vintage. Added the pearls to the trim & button.

Had to hollow out the center of the clock face & set the button down into it, it was too thick otherwise.

You Make My Heart Swell:
Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Crate Paper; canvas border sticker: Little Yellow Bicycle; letter stickers: American Crafts, My Little Shoebox; flowers: K&Co., Prima; stickers: Echo Park (heart), K&Co. (word); journaling spots: My Minds Eye, October Afternoon; chipboard: Heidi Swapp; Doilies: Martha Stewart; pearls: K&Co., Kaiser Kraft, Recollections; ink: Clearsnap; diecut: Tim Holtz for Advantus Corp.; pen: Stampin' Up; misc: packaging, metal trinket, vintage button & trim.

Thank you to the gals at Sketchy Thursdays for making me a favorite this week!

http://www.sketchythursdays.blogspot.com/

Stop on by & check them out, their sketch site is awesome!

If I Wait Until...

There are no clouds in Michigan I'll never get a layout posted! It's dark, rainy, and cloudy here. Had to take pics of my Sketchy Thursdays entry anyway, had to have it posted by tonight. My cropping is a little off too. I used the beautiful floral line "Sweet Nectar" from K&Co.,  Anna Griffin diecut. Now that I look at the layout from a distance I can see it is weighted too much to the top and left. Still love the effect :)

Here is the sketch: Here is my take on it:

I was driving through town on my way home from work the other night, thinking about how long I've lived in my town. Realizing I'm actually 45 years old. 45.45. Forty Five! I don't feel 45, is this a cruel joke? I feel young on the inside and look old on the outside. Grrr.  I'm officially middle aged. I refuse to go down easy! So if you see this old lady bustin' a move in the yard or singing at the top of her lungs, remember " I don't feel 45!".