Some exciting news to share!

Good Saturday morning! I just wanted to pop in this morning and share my good news with you! I have been asked to be on the Use Your Stuff design team! Since using up my stuff is near and dear to my heart - of course I said yes.

You can meet the rest of the team over on the blog.  The new team will start with the February 2 challenge. I am looking forward to working with this great bunch of talented ladies and I hope you will join in the challenges, too.

Be You - Lasting Memories #225

Good Sunday morning! We are smack dab in the middle of a beautiful 3 day weekend. This is the first time in a long time that the boys actually get Martin Luther King Day off of school. They're usually using it for a snow make-up day, but so far this winter we have been lucky and haven't had a single snow day. At least not yet!

This week's challenge at Lasting Memories is to scrap about a life's lesson. (I apologize in advance - this is going to be a little long.)

Supplies used - Kraft cardstock - Close To My Heart, Patterned Paper - Echo Park - That's My Boy, Alpha stickers - Simple Stories.

I have to be honest - this really was a challenge for me. I struggle with scrapping life lessons. Therefore, I shy away from them. Sure, I have had lots of life lessons. Being the Mom of a special needs child - well I feel like I learn a little something every day. I guess I have a hard time expressing my feelings and then putting it out there for the world to see, but here goes!

This layout is really about a combination of  life lessons. First off I want Shane to know that it's all right to be different. Like the Dr. Seuss quote days - Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Heck, this is a lesson I've had to learn myself. I've always been a people pleaser and it used to be hard to go out in public and see the stares whenever Shane would have a meltdown. Things that we are used to at home, like the noises that he makes, or the bouncing and hand flapping are a surprise to the general public. I get that and it's fine. It just took me a while to get to the point of accepting it and moving on.

Which brings me to my next life lesson. Don't judge a book by it's cover. It's hard to really get to know someone when they have a communication disorder. Shane can communicate, but a lot of what he says is just repeating what he has heard or lines from a movie. Spontaneous speech with him is almost non existent. We can't ask him what he did at school and get a reply. He can get his point across, but to someone that doesn't really know him, it's almost impossible to figure out what he says/means.

I wish, just once, that everybody could see what a great kid that Shane is. He is a typical teenage boy that loves video games, watching movies, playing basketball, and the occasional rough housing - usually with his cousin who is big enough to handle him!

So, the next time you're out shopping and see a kid having a melt down, I hope you don't automatically think "What a spoiled brat!". Yes - 9 times out of 10 it is, but it just might be that one kid that's having sensory overload!

I am also entering this layout in Use Your Stuff's challenge #168 - to use buttons on your project. I still had my button box out on my desk from last week's layout, and thought I'd use a few more on this one!


Be sure to stop by Lasting Memories and see what the rest of design team has done with the challenge, and I hope to see a layout from you, too!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great week!

Lasting Memories #224 - Gentle Giant

Good morning - I am so glad that you stopped by! This week's challenge over at Lasting Memories is "Captured Moments".

Here's a photo of the hidden journaling:

Supplies used- Patterned paper -blue heart and pink ombre triangle paper - Authentique - Crush collection, black diagonal stripe - Fancy Pants- Merry Little Christmas, buttons - Bo Bunny, stamps - Important to remember tab - Close To My Heart - D1378 - Notice the Details, brads - Making Memories, arrow brads - The Paper Studio,  candy dots - Stampin' Up, die cut alphas - Lawn Fawn.

I just love these photos of Shane and Ada standing beside each other. Shane just towers over her and she is not one bit intimidated by him - at least not for the moment!

You see, Shane and Ada have a love/hate relationship with one another. Shane is super sensitive to any noise, and baby squeals usually just send him over the top. So, when they are together it goes something like this - Ada makes a noise, whether it's babbling, or squealing, or whatever, and Shane gets upset and loud, which scares Ada and makes her cry, which makes Shane even more upset, and on and on it goes. But then there are these little moments when out of the blue they just get along. On this particular day Ada crawled in to see what Uncle Shane was doing, and Shane was all right with her watching movies with him. I love these little moments when these two get along!

I used the Jan. 5th from Let's Get Sketchy - posted below and I am also linking this up at Shopping Our Stash  #183.  Their challenge was to use something new on your project. The blue heart pattern paper and the pink ombre triangle paper are both new. I am also linking this up over at Crash Your Stash. I actually pulled out some old brads and stamps from my stash to use on this layout!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a blessed day!

 

Quick Card Share

Good afternoon! I hope y'all are having a good weekend! It's cold but sunny and as long as the sun is shining I am a happy girl! I'm stopping in today for a quick card share.

I still had a few scraps of the My Mind's Eye - The Sweetest Thing - Tangerine 6x6 paper pad out on my desk, and I decided to make another card. I made up my mind that what little scraps were left after this card, well - they were going in the trash!  Since most of the scraps were this reddish color I thought I'd make a somewhat monochromatic card. It feels so good to finally say that I used up all of this paper pad! Seeing as how I have 3 baskets full of 6x6 pads - I need to get busy using them on more projects and get them used up.

I have always had trouble tying bows on my projects. No matter what I did they wanted to turn sideways instead of staying straight. I came across this video by Kristina Werner on how to tie the perfect bow and it absolutely works! My bow on this card is straight. Finally! If you have trouble getting your bows to stay straight, I recommend you watch this quick video. It's a quick and easy fix!

I am entering this in  Use Your Stuff's - challenge #167 - to use floral patterned paper on your project, and I am sharing this at Crash Your Stash as project #3/50.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with a layout to share!

Another quick card - Stick It Down

I am back with another quick card share. While I had the scraps from this card still out on my desk, I thought I would try and put them to use on another card. I had come across a fun card sketch from Stick It Down and thought it would be perfect to get these scraps used up!

Once again I used scraps from My Mind's Eye - The Sweetest Thing - Tangerine 6x6 pad. I also used an older Close To My Heart stamp set - Party Pennants - for the sentiment.

Here is the sketch:

The challenges over at Stick It Down now run all month long. Perfect for me as I usually don't have enough time during the week, or more like I don't  remember sometimes to get my project done and linked up!

I am also linking this card up over at Crash Your Stash for my project #2/50.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Thinking Of You

Good Monday morning! It's time for us to get back into the old routine around here. I don't know if I'm ready, but ready or not - here it comes!

My daughter is dreading going back to work today after having 2 weeks off with Ada, so I thought I would make her a card and put this little cuties picture in it so she can put it on her desk. Maybe she won't miss her quite so much that way!

 

 It has been ages since I have even made a card and it was nice to get back into it.

 

I used My Mind's Eye - The Sweetest Thing - Tangerine 6x6 paper pad for this card. I just love the colors in this collection and I have used up almost every sheet in the pad. I just have a couple of full sheets and a few scraps left. Yay for using up stash!

I am also linking this card up over at Crash Your Stash. With the new year starting I decided to reset my 50 projects back to zero and join in on their challenge. I am starting fresh again and my goal is to make 50 projects before I buy any new scrappy goodies.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lasting Memories Design Team - Simple Pleasures - Blog Hop

Good Sunday morning! I have some exciting news that I finally get to share with you today. I have been asked to be a part of the Lasting Memories Design Team! I am so honored to be part of this wonderful team and I am excited to work with this great group of ladies. We have a lot of fun challenges planned, so I hope you join in the fun.

Now on to the blog hop -

Hello and welcome to our very first challenge for 2015 at Lasting Memories! We're celebrating the new year and new Design Team with a blog hop. Super fun right?! If you're just starting the hop, be sure to start at Lasting Memories so you don't miss anyone - if you're last stop was Lasting Memories then you're on the right track!

Our challenge theme this entire month is "Life's Moments" and our first challenge is "Life's Simple Pleasures" .. we want to know what one of your simple pleasure's in life is. Chocolate? Coffee? Adorable children, pets or grandchildren?? SO many things to consider and we're excited to see what you create! What's my Simple Pleasure??? Here, let me show you!

 

Supplies used - Patterned Paper - Pink Paislee - Solstice, Heart Dies - Lawn Fawn, Lacey Circle Die - Spellbinders, wood veneer arrows - Studio Calico.

 

My simplest pleasure is my family - especially our granddaughter! After 13 years of no babies in the house, you forget how much fun babies can be. Being a grandparent is so much different than being a parent. I had always heard that while raising my own kids and never fully understood it until Ada came along, and I can honestly say it's true. I love getting to spend time with this little girl. She truly is a simple pleasure! And there is nothing sweeter than taking a nap with her and we do it every chance we get!

Your next stop is Tina. Go check out her beautiful blog and see what her simple pleasure is. When you're all done visiting the new Design Team, we really hope you'll have time to join the fun! All our challenges run for the entire month, so you have time to play! Thanks for stopping by today!

Line Up

Lasting Memories

Lori

Tina

Paula

Andrea

Suzanne

Lyne

Bea

Claire (returning member)

Renee

Kimberly (returning member)

Michele

Karen

Lasting Memories (time to craft!)

Happy New Year!

Time for New Year's resolutions - you either love them or hate them. I have never been a fan. I just can't seem to keep them. I have every good intention, but along with the busyness of life they just seem to always get put on the back burner, and truthfully, forgotten. But I can't let the new year get started without at least thinking of a few things I want to work towards in the new year.

For my scrappy goals...

1. I want to continue to use up my stash and make more layouts! I am going to keep my scrappy purchases to a minimum again this year.

2. I want to start my Project Life style scrapbook for 2015 and keep up to date with it, but not stress over it. That might be a hard one for me. I've been making my own pocket style cards and I have quite a stash of cards/kits that I bought in 2014 and it's time to put them to use!

3. I want to make more cards this year. I think I was lucky to have made 10 cards since last August. I guess I lost my card making mojo or something. I have taken over the card challenges for the Yahoo group that I am in, and I'm hoping that will help get me motivated to make more cards this year.

Now that leads me to my not-so-scrappy goals;

4. I want to actually send out the cards that I make this year. Another bad habit of mine - I make the cards, but rarely send them out. I know I love it when I get something in the mail from someone for no reason other than they were thinking of me.

5. Spend more time with my extended family. I get so caught up in my own day to day responsibilities and sometimes I forget to take the time for my sisters and other extended family. I want to be there more for them. Call them, visit them, whatever I can do.

6. Of course there always has to be a fitness goal, right?! 3 years ago I lost 20 pounds. I did really well at keeping it off and I was happier with myself and I felt better than I had in years. Then slowly it started creeping back up on me and I have gained back 10 of those pounds. I am going to work towards losing those 10 pounds, and hopefully more, and keeping it off.

So, there you have it - nothing earth shattering - just a few things that I hope to accomplish this year. I think it will be fun to look back at the end of the year and see how well I kept up with it. Maybe I'll remember to add updates as I go along.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you all have a happy, healthy, and blessed new year!

14 Favorites in 2014

I thought I would pop in today and share 14 of my favorite layouts from 2014. Of course my favorite subject to scrap looks to be Miss Ada (who can resist new baby photos!) but I think I got a good mix of the family here.

Here they are in no particular order:

 

After looking back through the layouts I made this past year, it was really hard to pick just 14! I hope you enjoyed looking back with me. I look forward to everything the new year holds. Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ohana means family

Hello everyone! It's a very cold day in this neck of the woods and I have declared it my "do whatever I want all day" day! It seems like this entire Christmas break I have been on the go and I am ready for a day off!

First of all, I want to tell you that I love challenges! They help to get the ol' wheels to turnin' in my brain. I love challenges - I am just awful at remembering to get them posted by the time they are due. And most of the time I even write them down with the due date - I just forget!

At the first of the year I joined in my Yahoo groups' 52 week challenge. Not so hard to remember this one because if I forgot, I was out! Today I am sharing my week 52 layout with you. It feels so good to know that I made it the whole year and I have (at least) 52 layouts in my albums!

Supplies used - patterned paper - Blue star - Close To My Heart, solid yellow - MME Market Street collection, blue wood grain - KaiserCraft - Off The Wall collection, off white background - Basic Grey - Spice Market collection, yellow with pink hearts and yellow and grey chevron - Studio Calico Snippets collection, Wood veneers - Studio Calico, Alphas - Ohana - Lawn Fawn Cole's ABC's dies, small alpha - Jillibean soup.

We take a lot of family photos around here. A lot. So coming up with titles can be a challenge for me. When I was planning this layout I was having a hard time coming up with a title. Then this line from Lilo & Stitch popped into my head and stuck. My family means the world to me and I love every single minute we get to spend together.

I am also entering this layout in Shopping Our Stash's challenge #182 - Thrice is nice - to use 3 (or more) patterned papers on your project.

I also used this sketch from Let's Get Sketchy - Get Inspired Magazine - Christmas edition.

Thanks so much for stopping by!