Life is Beautiful

Whenever I get a picture of all my sisters together, I am just thrilled!  This picture was taken at my sister Patti's 25th anniversary party last September.  From left to right in the picture are Patti, Julie, Shelley, my mother Joann, Linda, and myself.  This is a simple layout, but oh, so pretty!

CTMH items used that can be found on my website:  Mayberry Level 2; Mayberry Stickease; Dimensional Elements Borders; Dimensional Elements Framed Fun; Vellum Paper; 3-D Foam Tape

Other items: Imaginisce i-Rock and Hot Rocks

Sisters

I won the Life Documented kit from Simple Stories (Memory Works), and it was delivered to me hot off the press a few days ago.  My goodness, I didn't even know where to start with this yummy kit.  So much goodness in it!  I took out pictures of me and my sisters from last September.  I am always so happy to have individual pictures of me with them.  They are so special in a way that I can't even describe.

The journaling reads, "My 4 sisters...These women mean so much to me! And each of them for very different reasons.  No matter what or where, I constantly hold them tight in my heart."

This is all from the Life Documented kit except for the few flowers (Prima), buttons, hemp, and brads (CTMH). 

What a Lovely Weekend!

It has been a lovely weekend in our house!  On Saturday, we spent a part of the day at Jerry's mother's house.  We brought up boxes and looked through pictures.  I have been wanting to scrap some of Jerry's little boy years, so I was on a mission!  I found treasure after treasure in those bins of pictures.  I made copies of some of the things and hope to spend another day looking through some more.  Bins of pictures can be daunting, so I am trying to do it piece by piece.

Today was another wonderful day!  My niece and nephews had a surprise 25th anniversary party for my sister and her husband.  Oh was it nice!!  It was so nice to spend time with ALL of my sisters and my mother.  I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from the day.  Look at my sister's beautiful family and see just what 25 years brought them!

These sisters of mine will never know just how much they hold a piece of my heart.  It must have been wonderful for my mother to have all of us together...

I took pictures of each of my sisters and my mom individually with me, so you will see those in layouts in the near future.  Here's a really sweet picture of Jerry and me:

And I have to share this last one.  These are my god-parents.  I just never think to take out my camera when I see them, and I am so glad I did today!  (In the days to come, you'll also see a layout with a picture of me and my god-son.)

Now that I've shared some of my weekend, I wanted to ask you if you are a subsciber to the "Here's the truth..." daily thoughts from the Brave Girls Club.  These are daily inspirations written by Melody Ross (GCD Studios).  I love getting this in my e-mailbox every day!  Go HERE if you want to check it out and sign up.  For me, they seem to say the right thing at just the right time.  I wanted to share one of them with you.  First my thoughts to go along with this one.  I am a goal setter, and I have always liked having "the next step" in mind - whether it was to move on toward a long-term goal, finish something, or just plain start a new goal.  I think we can all agree that this is a good thing in life!  I don't know about you, but sometimes I get so caught up in THE goal  - and sometimes getting discouraged along the way - that I forget to look back and remember what I have done or been through in life.  Well, read for yourself - this is a good reminder.  And I hope you find as much inspiration in this as I did.

Dear Incredible, Beautiful, Courageous Girl,

You have been through a lot...and you always pulled through. You are a champ at pulling through! Sure, there were some things that you may have done differently given the chance, but all in all, you made it through every storm, every fire...and up every mountain.

When is the last time you sat down to REALLLLY think about how far you have come? When is the last time you listed all of the things you have learned, all of the weaknesses you have overcome and all of the times you chose to see the good stuff even though the bad stuff seemed to outweigh it?

Sometimes you just need to tally it all up. We all forget how far we have come and we only focus on how far we still have to go. Imagine having to run a marathon and never knowing how many miles you have run....you would probably feel like it would never end!

You are so much further along that you think you are. You are so much stronger than you think you are. You have done so much more in the world than you think you have. Sit down today and really think about the long path that has brought you to now...and pat yourself on the back a little...you did a great job!!!

And you will continue to do a great job.

Thanks for being so brave. You inspire more people than you will ever know!

Mama-Razzi

I wanted to share one of the layouts I made this weekend while we scrapped at Archiver's. This paper is new from Bo Bunny, and it's called Mama-razzi. If you'd like to see the layout up close, just click on the picture to see the beauty of the paper. I have seen and worked with a lot of vintage-type paper, but I think this is the best I've seen. Bo Bunny never fails in my eyes, and they've created another winner with this paper. These are pictures of Shane when he was barely two, and they are so precious to me. What a cute little blond boy!

I got back home this morning after our weekend away. I was with two of my sisters - Linda and Patti - and three of my nieces - Kristina, Jessica, and Lacey. We had so much fun!! Have you ever played Apples to Apples? Try that game with a group of people some time. You will have loads of fun and laughs. On Saturday, we shopped and headed over to Archiver's for scrap mania. Jessica brought a scavenger hunt for us to do on Saturday while we were out and about. I have to admit that I did not do much good for my team with this. My sisters and nieces were just so much better at finding things and being creative! It was a fun twist to the weekend!!

So now I'm home catching up on blogs and e-mails. Jerry and both furry kids are sitting right next to me and life is good. :)

A Day of Scrapbooking

I had a scrapbooking day at my house in early September, and I found just the right paper and embellishements for it!

First of all, I'll tell you that we had a great day. I love my scrapper buddies! My sister Linda, my two nieces, Jessica and Kristina (they are Linda's daughter-in-laws), my mother-in-law Sharon and me. We did more talking, laughing and eating that day. But we all managed to get something done!!

The base paper is Colonial White Textured Cardstock from CTMH. The patterned paper is The Write Stuff designer paper from SU! I love that set - good colors and comes with (3) matching 12x12 sheets of cardstock tags. I also used K & Company paper flowers. Have you used them? They are such sweet flowers and some of them are glittered. They come in a 6x6 pad and have 200 pieces per pad. Normally $4.99 (and that is a good price!), I picked them up online for 40% off. What a deal! The scrapbooking stickers and epoxy are random that I've picked up here and there.

I love these scrapbooking days!

Chick'n Scratches Layout

Over at Two Chicks Design on Facebook, the Head Chick put out her first sketch challenge. If you don't have a Facebook account, Two Chicks is a great reason for getting one! Christie is always putting out good challenges, and not only that, she has amazing scrapping clothes and kits. Look for her at expos. You will see her booth!

Anyway, you will see that I flipped my pages form left to right, and then I rotated the sketch. My design holds true,you just see it a little differently - isn't individuality great?! Here are the challenge "rules":

1. You have until 11:59 pm central time on Sunday, Oct. 18 to upload a photo of your layout using the sketch.
2. Two Chicks will draw a name to win a $50 gift certificate to their site.
3. You must use at least 2 buttons and 1 piece of chipboard on the layout.
4. One word on the layout must be in your own handwriting.
5. You have to use one piece of patterned paper that you have been "hoarding" for at least 6 months.
   

What a fun challenge! I knew right away I would be pulling you Moon Doggie from CTMH. I have had that paper sitting around since April. It's been a hoarder because I just didn't know what to do with it. Also, I wasn't quite certain when I bought it that I liked the paper packet.

All the products used are CTMH (except for the Bazzill flower). You'll notice that the skethc called for 5x7 prints. Well, here is a hint if you don't have any. I used 4x6 pictures, and there are four mats under the (2) 5x7 spots. They are measured in quarter-inch increments. I don't know how well you see it on the computer, but in "real life" - LOL! - I like the looks of it. I also popped up a few photos for character.

These is my sister Patti's family, and she is in the picture as well. We spent a day in Duluth with them, and it was gorgeous by Lake Superior. Truly it is wonderful to see her kids together. They certainly love each other, and their kindness towards each other is amazing. My sister Patti is truly a mother to be admired...

Jerry loves the layout and the faux woode grain paper that is used as the base sheet. Me? I like this layout, but I'm still not too sure I'll make anything else with this paper. Maybe it will be my one hoarding paper set!!

Sisterhood

This is a great sketch by Creative Scrappers. These are pictures from a sister's weekend in 2006. For five of us to re-arrange our schedules was quite a feat. But how wonderful for all of us to get together! That was the last year we were all able to have a "full" sister's weekend with all 5 of us. I am hoping someday that we will have this precious time again, How special to shop, laugh, eat M&M's, and just be friends and sisters for a weekend.

• CTMH Grace Paper and matching journaling stickease
• Bazzill and Prima flowers
• Random chocolate sparkles
• CTMH Dazzling Die-Cuts scalloped circle
• Thickers letters

Oh, and to complete the recipe, 5 lovely girls. Can you tell I love my sisters very much?

Today I am Grateful...

Every morning when I wake up, I list 3 things I am grateful for. I having been doing this for so many years that it's automatic response when I wake. This may sound funny, but somedays I am just thankful that there is cold water to splash my face (think of all the countries that need water wells...), coffee to wake me up, and pets to lick my face.

And then there is today. I woke up with verse from Jeremiah in my head, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

We don't always know what the future holds for us, but this Scripture is a promise we can lean on. Just when we think things are going well, God may change our course and take us in a completely different direction. It's his way of molding us and shaping us into His final image. For those of us that have natural leading abilities, being a follower isn't always an easy thing. However, that's just what God asks us to do.

I have one more week to take orders as an active Close To My Heart consultant. I don't know what direction I will go from there because these days, I am following. I'm listening to my body when I need rest, and hopefully as I continue to make much needed medical changes, I will see a future where I am well again. I am believing that by faith.

But back to that grateful part. There are so many things I am grateful for so I thought I would just list them here:

• My dear, sweet husband who would spin the world for me if I wanted it done. He is an amazing individual who supports our famly, drives me everywhere, has supported me for almost 19 years in everything I've done, and I love him down to the tips of my toes.
• My hard-working, beautiful son who stands tall in the strength of his individuality. He believes in himself, is kind and caring, and he loves me ferociously (just the way a boy should love his mom).
• I have four beautiful sisters each of them with their own unique qualities. I need each one of them in my life, and when one of them is missing for one reason or another, there's a part of me missing, too. I value each of them for the accomplished women they are.
• My mother and mother-in-law are wonderful people. How blessed am I to have them in my life? My mother taught me good financial ethics as I was growing up, and I am greatful for that. I know now how to make a dollar stretch. My mother-in-law answers all my "growing older" questions and she scrapbooks with me. I love that! We can pretty much talk about anything!
• I'm greateful for those pets that lick me in the face every morning. Their unconditional love on a bad day is just what you need some days.
• I am grateful we have a roof over our heads. I know that's not easy for a lot of people these days. I am glad that God provides for our house payment every month.
• I am so grateful that I have a craft room, and I can play during the day. I feel very blessed to be able to do this. More than that, during this time when I am unable to drive, I am hugely grateful God has given me the ability to "be still" and not be bored in my home when I am here.

I could gone on and on, but I will end then for now. But now I challenge you. What are you grateful for today? Always remember, even if you don't see what's going on in your life, God is painting vast divine strokes on the portrait of your life. Your brilliance is more than you know!

Page Maps Sketch Contest..A Heritage Layout

I have had these wonderful pictures sitting on my desk. I decided to put them to use today on a heritage layout. The sketch I used is for a Page Maps contest. Be sure to check it out!

It may be a little known fact, that I was a baseball player when I was young. I played little league on the boy's team because WAY BACK THEN (lol!) there wasn't a girl's team. Anyway, this layout is my youngest sister Julie wearing my uniform in one layout and my cap another year. She was only 3 years on the left and 2 on the right. I love these pictures and have been waiting for something special to do with them.

I used Cosmo Cricket Twist and Shout paper. The diecuts, letters, and tags are matching from that line as well. The ribbon is from My Mind's Eye Laundry Line collection, and the buttons are CTMH. This is going to be a fun layout to have in my heritage book!!

Look at What I Was Surprised With!

Actually, my sister Linda gave me and all of my sisters aprons. We were at Lacey's graduation, and here she passed out the 4 of us packages (there are five of us sisters total). I'll refresh your memory a bit. You met Linda with her grandsons not too long ago. Anyway, she's been going to quilting, and she machine embroidered on aprons. What I liked is that she chose fabric especially for each one of us. I knew immediately that mine would be a craft room apron, and sure enough, that's what she intended it for! Take a look at it. I took a close up at the pocket fabric for you, too.

What a joy to receive presents for absolutely nothing! Just because. It's better than giving on birthdays or holidays or anniversaries. "Just because" is the occasion of all. If you haven't given someone something for absolutely no good reason lately, try it. See how it brightens their day!