Been Gone, But Still Busy

Well, I have been scrapping the weekend away!! I have fallen behind on some challenges at Scrapbook Challenges that I wanted to get done. This first one is this weeks sketch, which you can see here. On this layout, I used SEI pp, the reverse of 3 Bugs In A Rug pp, misc flowers and brads, Martha Stewart border punch, and title is the pharmacy font cut with my Silhouette.

This one is called Let's Be Clear, where the challenge is to incorporate something clear on your layouts. I used Bazzill cs, October Afternoon pp, hand cut photo corners which I painted over with Diamond Glaze, Hambly overlay, American Crafts Thickers, and misc buttons.

This is a Layout Recipe. Use 2 or more flowers, 2 patterened papers, letter stickers, at least 1 swirl or flourish, and we can used anything we like in addition. I used Bazzill cs, Sassafras Lass pp, Kaiser Crafts and Prima flowers, flower brads, buttons, Felt Fusion, and Sharpie colored Pink Paislee letters.

This one is called Create Your Shape, making our own shapes with scissors. I used Bazzill cs, Basic Grey Euphoria pp, misc buttons, and Dollar Tree sticker letters. The border strips, flower, butterfly, swirl, and heart were all cut freehand, no drawing or tracing.

This one is Create Your Own Letters, pretty self explanatory right?! I used DCWV cs, October Afternoon and Sassafras Lass pp, Bazzill and misc flowers, misc buttons, Dollar Tree ribbon, Heidi Swap mirror butterfly, and Kaiser Crafts pearls. The letters are freehand cut, no drawing or tracing.

This was a Scraplift Challenge, using one of Pamela's layouts. I used Around The Block pp, American Crafts ribbon, Kaiser Crafts flowers, and the title is cut using cuttlekids Tadpole and Fairy alphabets.

This was Count Those Blessings, use bless, blessed or blessing in your title. I used all Basic Grey Two Scoops pp, letters, stickers, and rubons. I also used "skittles" on the right edge.

This was a Snowflake Challenge. I didn't have any photos that would fit the challenge theme, so I went with a card. I used Bazzill cs, smooth white cs, Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, white Staz On, rhinestones, Technique Tuesday Let It Snow stamps, Diamond Stickles, metal snowflake charms, and brads.

After 3 days of scrapbooking, my scrapdesk looked like this! I had moved from working on my desk, to working on the tv tray. I had booted my husband to the other side of the bed while he played video games, lol! Well, not really booted, it just sort of happened. No worries though, I did manage to clean it all up!!

.

(GR users comment here)

My, Oh My!

Yikes, I am so sorry it has been so long! I don't know what I have doing with my time. This post should make up for any missed blogging, you will see, lol!

.

Here is this weeks sketch at Scrapbook Challenges.

Here is my take on it. I used all Basic Grey Sultry, except for the journaling spot which is the reverse side of a Teresa Collins sheet and the rhinestones are miscellaneous.

This week was my turn at the DT challenge at Scrapbook Challenges as well. I came up with this, a Stamping Trifecta. The challenge was to use 3 kinds of stamps-rubber, clear, and foam. I used TT In A Word-Children for part of the title, Local Stamp store rubber stamp (their own design), and some foam stamps from Michael's on the rest of the title. I used BG Granola, Bazzill Just the edge, and a borrowed journal spot so it is unknown, I punched it with a scallop punch.
Here are the stamps I used. This weekend Tigardlilly, Kaydrenth, Inara, and myself celebrated CKC-Seattle at home, we affectionately called it OPSC (Our Private Scrapbook Convention). We all went to tigardlilly's house, made up our own class kit to teach, had a vendor fair where we brought our unwanted items and traded with each other, and we had a layout challenge as well! It was a blast, so much so that we decided to do this every 3 months or so!
.
Here is what I made for my class. Believe it or not, I had it all in my stash! I used Paper Accents Acrylic sheets for the front cover, heavy chipboard sheet for the back cover, a couple sheets of Hambly, Tinkering Ink pp, DCWV cardstock (but only because those are the colors I needed, you know I love Bazzill), KI Memories Lace Cardstock, MM Noteworthy, MM Grommets, lots of chipboard, dyed skittles, flowers, buttons, ribbons, rhinestones, felt, and a few little extra things. I finished it all of with the Bind-It-All.

.

This is the class that Kaydrenth taught, we made a banner using all Stampin' Up stuff, she is a demonstrator now!! She even brought us all our own catalog-how cool is that?! For this project, each piece of the banner is ATC size (2.5 x 3.5), we stamped our letters and flowers using Versamark and ink at the same time, then we heat embossed it, inked it all in yellow, re-inked the over it with the orange, then touched up the edges in the brown. Then we rubbed all the ink off the embossing, put on our ribbon, distressed the edges with our scissors, adhered it all to the kraft paper, set our eyelets, then ran the cord through. It was so simple, yet looks like it took forever! Thanks Kay!!

Tigardlilly taught us how to make a luggage tag album. Her purpose of it was to keep in our purses to keep track of the scrappy stuff we have, so we don't buy double stuff! There is even an envelope in it so we can store our LSS cards and our coupons! We used BG Urban Prairie pp, misc ribbon, she made up those scalloped medallions out of some mat board which we used Glossy Accents on-even over our little cutouts. We used luggage tags on the inside and finished it all up with a binder ring. Awesome project Tigardlilly, can't wait to put my list of supplies in here!

Inara taught us how to make flowers out of paper by rolling it in between our fingers till it gets all soft like fabric. We layered them, sewed on a button, and stamped our sentiment! There is also a little pocket envelope inside the card! So cute, I can't wait to make more of these flowers! Thanks Inara!

Tigardlilly and I got a bunch of our supplies and photos together to make these little layout challenge kits. The idea was to make a layout using some or all of these supplies-within an hour. We took longer than that, and we didn't use all of it, but we had a blast! Here is the kit!

This is what I came up with. I love what the other girls came up with better.

I got the Halloween Deco Squares for the swap at AMR, aren't they just too cute?

I finished up my grungeboard ATC for AMR too. I really struggled with these, but I think they turned out ok.

I made a card for my parents' anniversary, they seemed to like it and were very surprised.

Oh yeah, I finally put my ATCs on my spinner. I was a dummy and bought the 4x6 spinner, but it works out, I have my inchies from swaps on the bottom rung on acrylic! I made these ATC dividers on my Silhouette! I {heart} my ATCs!!!

I know I have said it before, but I am really going to try harder to keep up! This past weekend has really inspired me! I still have to make my Christmas cards, and I want to scrapbook more. I have a job interview on Friday, I had one last week, but didn't get that job. Cliff has 2 interviews tomorrow. We really need to find jobs, and soon! Diet wise, I fell off the wagon, eating crap, not exercising, but at least I am not depressed! I am trying to get going again on the dieting though. That is all I have for now...this 3 hour blog post just about did me in, lol!

.

(GR users comment here)

What A Day!

First of all, I got some bad news last night. My BFF's father has been ill with cancer for a while now, and I found out last night that he passed away early that morning. Thankfully he went peaceably and with no pain. He is with Jesus now. I took the news rather badly, he was like a second father to me! The funeral/celebration of his life is tomorrow and I anticipate many tears. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. He leaves behind his wife, 4 children, and 5 grandchildren. Thank you Max for being a wonderful part of my life, I will miss you always!

.
I got a wonderful surprise in the mail today! Julie aka Scrappin{jewlz} sent me this Basic Grey Notch & Die Tool Set for my birthday! I don't care if it is belated, I love it! I feel so honored that she thought of me and glad to hear she got it on clearance!! Bonus, the ribbon she used on the cute Strawberry Shortcake wrapping paper, is a yard of actual ribbon! How cool was this surprise and how sweet of Julie to send it to me. Thank you SO MUCH Julie!!

Tigardlilly got me a "sign on" bonus as I am going to be working for her a little bit on the side. If you know anything about me, you know how excited I was to get this surprise, Basic Grey Wassail Collection Pack!! Thanks tigardlilly!

I was fortunate enough to pick up a few sheets of extra paper for some Christmas projects I need to work on. This first one is for an ATC swap at AMR. The cardstock is Bazzill, printed papers are of course BG Wassail, stamp is Studio G, ink is Colorbox Chalk, and rhinestones are miscellaneous.
Still working on the design of my Christmas cards, but here is a sneak peek of what I am using! The ribbon is actually American Crafts fall ribbon, that was mistakenly put in Michael's clearance section, so I was fortunate enough to pick up some spool of ribbon for only .39 cents each!!! Printed paper is again BG Wassail and I am being cheap and using plain cardstock for these cards. As a cardstock snob particular to Bazzill, this is a bit painful for me, but cuts must be made right? LOL My hope is for them to be fantastic, we'll see what happens.One more thing to share...I have more pics, but need to wait till the recipient receives her gift! It is for tigardlilly, and she has already seen it up to this point. Sadly, it was for her birthday in July (insert embarrassed face here). I hope to share it with you by the weekend! I painted the chipboard cover with MM paints (3 colors), used all American Crafts Amplified pp, and color matched embellishments. Do you think she will like it??.
I went back to the community health clinic tonight to follow up on my labs from last visit. My triglycerides are way to high-off the charts! Add one more med to my regiment. Another thing, my kidney tests for proteins are too high, meaning I do have some kidney damage. Not bad enough to get dialysis, but adding one more med to my daily cocktail! My weight is a bit disturbing. I have been exercising and eating much better, yet I gained 4 pounds-go figure!! I guess I better step things up! No more cheating, ever! I need more discipline that is for sure! I will get this worked out, I know it!
.
I did send out 6 resumes the other day and filled out about 4 applications. I haven't heard back on any of them yet! I will send out more on Monday!
Here is to a better week and another new start!
.
(GR users comment here)

Could It Be????

Could it be, is it real, did I actually scrapbook????

.

I DID!!! It felt really good too! I can't believe I haven't scrapped in so long, let alone blog-I apologize again to everyone! I have been fine, just not very scrappy lately.

Speaking of scrappy, here is the latest sketch for Scrapbook Challenges...

This is what I came up with. I used Bazzill cs, Crate Paper Taylor Collection, Maya Road chipboard swirl (inked), and American Crafts Thickers. I feel very out of touch, so it is very simple and basic.

This is a card I made last week for a man who helped me get some free parts for my CPAP machine (for sleep apnea). I don't know if it was him or the company he works for, but I got all new parts and didn't have to pay anything at all! Thank goodness too, because my parts were so worn out I was starting to have a hard time sleeping! It meant so much to me, I sent him this card! I used Bazzill cs, BG Blush scraps, Dollar Store ribbon, and an inchie I made a while back!

I received this ATC from "Just Me" at AMR a couple weeks ago just out of the blue! It is hard to see, but the girl's hat, cape, cat and pumpkin are clear embossed (or Glossy Accents)! Isn't is just adorable? Thanks, it was a great surprise and very sweet!

I got these today, the alternate shape inchies from a swap on AMR! I did my inchies a few months ago-I got them done way early, lol! Aren't they just so cute!! There are 2 that I don't know who made them, so if the pink butterfly circle or the striped flower is yours, please speak up-don't be shy, LOL!!

I have been doing pretty well with my "new" way of life, taking walks nearly everyday while picking up the pace and distance! I am up to at least a mile a day. I had NO idea that there were so many streets in my neighborhood. I never go up there, because I never had a need too! There are lots of hills and probably 5 miles of winding around my neighborhood streets so there is lots to look forward to. NOW, if it would only stop raining! Yeah right, I live in Oregon, I get to look forward to month of rain. Tonight I walked a mile or so with the umbrella, so I better get used to that!

I have been taking my meds everyday and my blood sugars are coming down. I have been trying to eat better and definitely less! We have to eat lots of lower quality meats and lots of starches, but I am doing pretty well anyhow! This is gonna be very hard on our budget to eat properly for diabetes and weight loss, but I am determined! I have another doctor appointment at the community clinic on Thursday, I am very excited to see how much more weight I lost! It seems to be coming off very quickly, a little too quickly though, part of me is a little concerned something might be wrong! My boobs are smaller, my tummy is smaller, my legs and arms and my double chin are all smaller! There are parts of me I can see, that I haven't seen in years! I can even bend over and tie my own shoes again! My underwear are falling off and I have had to cinch up my bras, lol! I really hope this keeps working, and if I am sick, I will deal with that after I lose the weight, LOL!!!

Smoking.....I haven't had a cigarette in nearly 2 weeks, and if feels GREAT!!!! Cliff and my mom are right there with me! Dad just quit today, he is having a really hard time! Me, however, am NEVER going to smoke again, when I smell it I want to run away and gag! If only I can get my purse and clothes and everything not stinking. I went to the library today to borrow some movies to watch, opened up my purse and got this huge whiff of cigarette smell, I was disgusted! I can't begin to tell you how good I am feeling! I feel amazing and so confident too! Of course my new anti-depressant isn't hurting at all! Thank you all for your support and encouragement, you have no idea how much it means to me! Is it weird that I consider my bloggy friends actual friends??? I hope not!

Anyway, I gotta get going, lots to do still! I want to do some more scrappy stuff, still have over 500 blogs to read in my reader, and I gotta get some stuff ready for the job hunt! Rent just went up another 100 bucks, all the quarters have been cashed in, and bills are due-unemployment isn't enough anymore. Got our first food box last week, food stamps don't come in for another week, and I just signed up for our Thanksgiving and Christmas boxes. It really sucks having to do this, but there isn't enough money for all of it. Gotta get a job, any job will do! Cliff and I are getting up early (8 am) and hitting the pavement tomorrow-no more excuses! Wish us luck!

Thanks for your patience this last month, I will be a better blogger, I promise! Till next time friends!

(GR users comment here)