Sponsor at Sketch Inspiration

I am the sponsor over at Sketch Inspiration this week! Head on over and take a look at the sketch - get your layout for the sketch posted by Saturday night for your chance to win this:

And here is my take on the sketch:

He has it...

Supplies used: Patterned Paper - Fancy Pants, Basic Grey, Echo Park, Punch - EK Success, Alphabet stickers - October Afternoon and KI Memories

Here's another layout made for the sketch class over at Inspired to Scrap.
I have had these photos of Shane just beggin' to be scrapped for a couple of years now - that seems to be the going thing with me for this class - older photos - at least I'm finally getting around to them. Shane used to love to ride with us on the lawnmower, and when he was younger it was sometimes the only way to get him to take a nap. Then he took a spell of being afraid of the mower - running in the opposite direction with his fingers in his ears. On this particular day, he wanted to do it all by himself - no help from anyone - so, Daddy let him drive around the yard on his own. Of course Daddy was right there in case he needed him (and the mower was not engaged!). He did a pretty darn good job for his first time driving!

1 in 88

Stacey has another sketch class going on over at Inspired to Scrap this month and of course I had to take it - she always has such great sketches! This layout is my take on sketch #7. I figured since April is Autism Awareness month, that it was about time I made a layout about it. The strips on the puzzle pieces are statistics about autism.

• Autism now affects 1 in 88 children
• 1 in 54 boys
• Boys are 4 times more likely than girls to have autism
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes, and cancer combined
• Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• We live with autism everyday

I made this layout after Scott had posted a picture of Shane and his thoughts on Shane and autism on Facebook. He was able to say what I struggle to say about autism, so, the journaling behind the picture is from Scott.
This is what he had to say:
This is my son, Shane. He was diagnosed with autism between the ages of 2 and 3. He may never have a best friend or talk to his friends about how gross girls are in the first grade. He will probably never have a first kiss or a high school sweetheart. He will probably never proudly drive his new car or truck to school to show it off. He will probably never ask a girl to the prom or slow dance with the girl he always had a crush on. He will probably never get married or know the joy and pride of having children. He will probably never hit the winning basket or homerun in a ballgame. Shane has autism and may never do these things, but I know that there is an incredible boy inside held hostage by his autism. Unable to express himself or show his true potential. I say he MAY never do these things because I hope and pray daily that they will find the cause and cure for autism.

Stayed tuned because I am determined to get my thoughts and feelings on autism and how it affects our family down on paper.

Home Decor Project

So, it has been ages since I have posted anything here on my blog. I blame it all on our crappy computer that needs updating, but won't let us update. Maybe one day I will invest in a new one!

Anyway...
I was asked to be the guest blogger today over at Inspired To Scrap , and decided I would share here as well, so here goes -

I am going to share a quick and easy home decor project that can be made with things that you already have and you just might use up some scraps in the process. I saw the idea for this here and thought that it was really cute, and decided to make one of my own.


Here is what you will need:

a frame - I am using a 12x12 frame that I found at Michaels. It originally cost $24.99, but it was on sale for 40% off, plus, I had a coupon for an additional 25% off, making the final cost $11 and some change.

1 Sheet of cardstock - for the base

scraps of patterned paper

2 inch square (or shape of your choice) punch, die cut machine, or your paper trimmer

embellishments

small photos

Here is how I made mine:
First, I took all of my photos and paper scraps that I was going to use and cut them into 2 inch squares. I chose to cut mine into squares, however, you could use circles, hexagons, or any other shape that you like. After I got all of the pieces cut, I used my charcoal chalk ink to distress the edges of my papers. Then I arranged all of the papers and photos in a grid on my background. This took a little time for me to get it just the way I wanted – lots of rearranging!
When I had it the way I wanted, I adhered it to the background cardstock. I embellished some of the squares and left some blank. How much you want to embellish is totally up to you.


There you have it -a quick and easy home decor project. I think what took me the longest was getting the arrangement of the photos and papers just the way I wanted it.

Sharing From The Heart Blog Hop

Good morning and welcome to the January edition of the Sharing from the heart blog hop. If you have arrived by way of Wendy's blog - you are on the right track.

This month we had 3 categories to choose from, stamp of the month, Valentine's Day, and wintery. I was going to try to make something for all three, but ran out of time. I do have a couple of Valentine's Day projects and a wintery layout for you today. I apologize in advance for the photos - I had to take them at night.

For this first card I used the Sweetheart level 2 paper pack, black cardstock, black and tulip ink, Love Ya - D1460, Affection - C1441 stamp sets, and I used a sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

For my second project I made a Valentine's Day treat holder. I saw the idea for this back at Halloween on this blog, and thought it would be great for Valentine's Day.

I used kraft, cranberry, and white daisy cardstock, black and cranberry ink, All My Love - D1194 and Affection - C1441 stamp sets, and some ribbon.

Last I have a winter time layout. These pictures are from last February that I have never got around to scrapping yet and since we haven't had much wintery weather this winter - at least not yet- I thought these would be perfect.
I used Wonderland level 2 paper pack, crystal blue cardstock and ink, Snowflakes D1480 and Polka Dot Alphabet D1469, and some baker's twine.

Thanks for stopping by and now head on over to see what Heather has for your today.

Sharing From The Heart Blog Hop

Good morning, and welcome to the Sharing From The Heart blog hop. If you have arrived here from Jody's wonderful blog, then you are on the right track. This month for our projects we could choose to use the stamp of the month, Christmas cards, or New Years. I've chosen to share a few Christmas cards with you today. For the first two I used the Believe workshop on the go from the current catalog.
Supplies used: Believe workshop on the go, holiday red, black, goldrush ink, blender pen, red/pink embroidery floss asst. - all CTMH, and border punch - Fiskars, sketch from the deconstructed sketch.

Supplies: Believe workshop on the go, holiday red, black, and goldrush ink, blender pen - CTMH, ribbon and gems, sketch from the deconstructed sketch.

For the last card I used the Christmas Cheer D1494 stamp set and the Mistletoe Level 2 and creative basics paper.


Supplies - Mistletoe Level 2 paper pack, Mistletoe creative basics paper, Christmas Cheer D1494 stamp set, cranberry and black ink, brads - CTMH, border punch - EK Success, sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

I hope you've enjoyed my cards today and thanks for stopping by! Now head on over to Deb's blog to see what she has created for you today.

Sharing From The Heart Blog Hop

Good morning and welcome to the Sharing From the Heart blog hop. If you have arrived here from Kristine's blog, then you are on the right track. I chose to use the November stamp of month set for my card today. This is a really fun stamp set to work with and can be used for so many things. I am sure it will be showing up on more and more of my projects. It's just a fun way to add the date!
Thanks for stopping by and now hop on over to Wendy's blog to see what she has created for this months hop!

Recipe:

Cardstock - Topiary, White Daisy
Believe Level 2 paper pack
Ink - Black, Holiday Red, Goldrush, Grey Wool
Blender pen
Stamps - November Stamp of the Month S1111
Believe WOTG - C1484
Black Gems
Sketch - Nov. Sketch For You To Try

Isn't it ironic?!

Okay, seriously bad blogger here! I mean it's been almost 3 months since I've blogged?! Really? Where does the time go? I keep meaning to get on here, but it always gets pushed back until I have more time...and guess what - that hasn't happened. There's lots to be talking about, so I guess I'll take the next little bit to get caught back up - so here goes...




The end of September we received a letter from the school letting us know that Shane had received an advanced test score in at least one category on his MAP -A test that they had done last spring, and that he and all the other students who received an advanced score would be recognized at the October school board meeting. I have to say that we were a little surprised to find out that he scored advanced in none other than communication arts. We thought it a little ironic that a child with autism - which is a communications disorder - scored advanced in communication arts. Now I know that there is a difference here, but still a little ironic, right?
We are so proud of Shane and all that he is doing. He is growing up and learning to do more and more things on his own. Way to go, Shane!

Sharing From the Heart blog hop

Welcome to the Sharing From The Heart blog hop! If you came here from Michelle Powell's blog, you are on the right path. For August we had a choice of new product, August stamp of the month, or school. I chose to use new product with the hopes of getting more done, but with my daughter's wedding this weekend, I just ran out of time!
I chose to use the beautiful elemental paper and the lace stamp from the Sweet Moments stamp set for this birthday card for my sister.

Recipe:
Elemental paper pack
CS: kraft, pacifica, colonial white
Ink: Pacifica
SS: Sweet Moments, Friendship alphabet -small
and Homestead alphabet - retired
Card recipe - Medallion from Wishes
chipboard 2 - unknown

Since Lori Miller is feeling a bit under the weather, go ahead on hop on over to Lela's blog and look at beautiful creation. Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the hop!

The Big Day

Well, today is the big day - our little girl is getting married! We have known this day was coming for a while now, but time just seems to fly by. This is the reason I haven't gotten much done this summer, other than wedding stuff and the reason that I haven't posted in a while - there is just so much to do in planning a wedding and everything else just takes second place. It has been a fun process and a stressful one, too, but I wouldn't trade anything for the hours that Abby and I have spent planning out the details, making decorations, and just preparing for this big day in her life. It has all been worth it, and in the end we get a wonderful new member to the family. Shawn is a wonderful young man with a beautiful heart and we could not have asked for anyone better. I wish for them to have a long and happy life together, filled with beautiful memories! Congratulations you two and we love you!