Just For Scrappin

A double lo!

2011-02-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

As promised a double page lo! Whew! It turned out not to be about my "Porn Star" birthday...instead it became a double lo for my B.A.M. book. I'm excited about how it turned out! I used a lo sketch from the always fabulous Cheri at Lets Scrap The journaling is long but for those who are curious I've typed it out! (Italics) T.F.L.!

The pictures I used on this double layout were taken by BigDaddy. I knew the second I saw them I wanted to use them for my B.A.M. book. I decided they were perfect for a lo about my insane year...or @ least the last 4 months of it. I wanted the pics to remind me...I can handle this.

This is the complete double lo....DCWV All Dressed Up pp...cardstock from stash...ribbon from stash stickles everywhere...Martha Stewert punch.

This is a close-up of a stamped then stickled sentiment.

The pain started in Sept. by Nov. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. By Jan I had completed two months treatment with little to no avail. Though I am quite sure something is wrong, I am not so convinced it's so easily dismissible. I have found a small bit of ease now that I no longer have side effects to contend with as well. I have a great fear of loosing myself forever to the insane raving lunatic I have become. Between constant never ending pain and headaches and migraines and fatigue and fevers and...lack luster I can't seem to calm down long enough to think straight.

This is a close-up of page 1.

This is the close-up of a tag I made using stamp and heat embossing!

The anxiety is overwhelming. The panic attacks are exhausting. I quit going places. I quit scrapping. I have begun to fade away. So now I must RAGE!! I must fight to keep me...ME. I must Rage against the dying of the light...my light. It has begun.

I made this little flower with stamping and heat embossing...I love how it turned out!

No matter what the final outcome may be, I will continue to strive to stay true to who I am...I am a loving mother - Not a tyrant who hurts to much to hug.
I am a loving wife. Not a selfish impossible cold loud mean raving bitch. I am the life of the party - Not the quiet meek girl by the wall. I am a sexy confident glittering woman - Not a sweats wearing dull sad looking home maker. I am creative, I am capable of making beautiful.

Close up of page 2!

These things I must remember. I must hang on to them must hold tight to who I am must Rage...against the dying of the light.
So here's to making the most of my own unique self...to loving me and being the best I can! TFL!

2011-02-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

I'm BACK!! Well I'm trying anyway...just to prove I'm really trying to get back to my mental therapy....here's some lo's and a card I've done in the last couple of days...I have another lo I've done...however it's a gift...so just to make sure the secret isn't spoiled I haven't even photographed it! Enjoy and TFL!

I'm not sure why...but the picture would not come out on this and actually show the color....which is Pink and black....this is a "just Because" card for one of my sisters!

This is the first lo from my birthday party...there will be at least two more to come...I'm thinking a double page lo! There are just too many great pics not to do a double! Let's Scrap here I come!

This is a lo of my sister and I at the Heart concert. I used the sketch from Sassy lil' Sketches for this! They are one of my go to sites for sketches! Check em' out if your in need of inspiration!

Wanna win a Gypsy!!!???

2010-10-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

Check this amazing give away out!! I heard about it from Pinky!

Good morning my amazing crafty friends!
I have a wonderful day planned today which begins with
a SWEET, amazing giveaway from Provocraft!!!

You know I am on the Provocraft Cricut Circle Magazine Design Team
and they just launched the new Cricut Circle Blog.
In the huge celebration they gave me a GYPSY
to GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want all the details....including how to enter! Head on over to Pinky's blog!

Dirty Scraps challenge #17

2010-09-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here's my entry for Dirty Scraps challenge #17! If you haven't checked these ladies and their amazing work out you should head over there!

Journaling reads:
I am so proud to say I have been lucky and blessed enough to witness so many of your "moments". There is no way I could ever pick just one or "the one". I remember the moment you took your first breath. I was there the moment you found your hands for the first time. I witnessed the moment you slept for the first time. I was there the moment you had your heart broken by someone you loved and trusted. I was there the moment you realized you had a dad...a real one. I was there the moment you got a home with a family. I was there the moment you had the first real fight with your best friend. I was there the moment you realized yo had musical talent. I was there the moment you got your first trumpet. i was there the moment you got asked out by a boy for the first time. I have been blessed so many times by your amazing moments. I look forwards to many more. Moments of joy, excitement and of course most of all happiness! You have mde so many of my life's moments so much more special just by being you. Love mom

This lo is a bit out of the box for me...it is a piece of clear acrylic over the cardstock and pictures...there are a couple of flowers on top of the clear sheet as well as the journaling and the little beads I used to make the title. I don't usually use so many pictures or leave them some what covered....so I'm excited I stepped out of my comfort zone...and I like the turn out!

Catching up on some challenges!

2010-08-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to scrap today during nap time...I even went so far as to neglect the laundry to get it done....hope my family understands! The journaling for this lo reads as follows:

According to you a good mother chooses to live with an abuser rather than push forward and make a better life for herself and her children. I am sure never knowing your granddaughter hurt you very much. I am also sure I did not ever want my child to think that love should hurt. Despite what you may believe love shouldn't hurt. Women don't deserve to be hit. Children don't need to be beaten to learn. I trusted you to love me, to teach me what love was. Then I learned YOUR LOVE HURTS. So it's not for me.

I'm entering this into the following challenges!
Dirty Scraps

Scrap Whispers challenge #74

Sassy lil' Sketches
The lo is based on the new sketch!

ScrapFit Challenge #26

If you haven't checked these sites out please do! The inspiration is abundant!
TFL!

A hapenstance!

2010-08-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

I just happened to pop by sassy lil' sketches today and saw they were having a blog hop...I was so excited by the sketch I couldn't resist doing a lo first! So here is my lo entry...now I'm off to hop and hopefully find the treasure!

Just wanted to let you all know it's done!

2010-08-25T06:42:00.001-07:00

The scrap room is so close to done I'm calling it good enough....at least till I get back to my normal scrapping schedule! So here are some pics! Obviously still needed some clean up when I took these pics...but I cleaned it up a bit over the weekend so I could make a lo for a friends birthday! I'll post it next! TFL!

NO I'm not in the witness protection program!

2010-08-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Ok,I must apologize to all my blogging friends...if I have any left! I hope I do because I'm back in the saddle and rearing to go! To prove it here is my triumphant return I did this lo for a friends birthday. Enjoy and look back soon I'm so excited to do the dirty scrap's challenge...also I'm gonna check up on my other favorite challenge blogs...here to saying goodbye to dry spell!

THIS WOMAN’S WORK

2010-08-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

On August the 1st 1999 at three o’clock in the morning my phone rang. A voice I knew as well as my own responded to my hello. “I know you weren’t going to come till in the morning, but would you come up here now, I don’t want to be alone.” it said. This voice sounded different, I had been hearing it her entire life…yet it wasn’t as familiar as it had always been…there was a tinge of fear, anticipation, worry and excitement in it like I had never heard before. “I’ll be there in about 30mins” was my reply. I got up got dressed, told my husband I was going to the hospital and I left. On the drive to the hospital I had a thousand thoughts running through my head, the most repetitive one being, let it all go smoothly. I arrived at the hospital about a min before a young not bad looking anesthesiologist. He came into the room to administer an epidural. It was the largest needle I had ever seen in my life. I held her head and encouraged her to focus on me as he injected the elixir into her spine. The nurse informed me that now she would be in the room at all times. The three women in the room her, the nurse, and myself began a conversation. No she hadn’t had any difficult contractions yet the epidural was a precautionary method…there was a chance the cervix softener which had been used hours ago would not be enough and they would have to use a drug injected directly into the I.V. to induce hard labor. The small stranger who had yet to breath air outside of the woman’s body was two weeks late. I yawned as the conversation faded into the sounds of machines beeping information and details understood only by the nurse. I began to fall asleep sitting up on the edge of the bed holding her hand. The nurse showed me how the chair in the room folded out to become an uncomfortable excuse for a much to small bed. I was given a pillow and a blanket. I took off my glasses, silently chastising myself for not having thought to put my contacts in, lied back and dozed off.

A little more than an hr later the nurse was calling my name and nudging me gently but insistently. I sat up rubbed my eyes put on my glasses, and looked over to the woman. She looked different, she had small beads of sweat on her forehead and her eyes were closed, her breathing was labored, and every now and then she would take large breaths of air and hold them for just a fraction of a second. She looked over at me…”They were just about to give me the medicine to start labor when the contractions started, they have been getting worse since.” She tells me. I look to the nurse “If there is anyone you want to call you should call them now, there isn’t much time” She informed me. I make two phone calls. Then I make my way over to the bed and wipe her forehead and kiss her and take her hand in mine. Less than 10mins later the room seems to fill magically. As if someone pushed a silent alarm. There were people everywhere all nurses and drs. There was added equipment machines, incubators and a scale. She was instructed to begin pushing. I was joined in the room by her partner, who helped to bring this child into being. I grabbed a leg and began to encourage her to bring the life in her womb to the world. In an instant the bottom half of the bed was taken away, a large plastic bag was put in it’s place and an official looking man in a white coat was sitting on a stool between her thighs. With everyone working together like a well oiled machine, she was encouraged to push, getting only a few seconds of breathing time in between pushes. Finally only about 5mins into what they call “hard labor” I was told to come and look, I was hesitant…after all that’s a hugely messy area. I sucked in all my breath and took a step forward, bent my head and saw a large black circle…”what is that?” I asked “That’s the head” came the answer from somewhere. A level of excitement rose in me like nothing I had ever felt before, “She’s almost here!” I excitedly reported to the woman, as if she had no idea what was going on. Less than a min later I heard a sigh come from this woman unlike any I had ever heard before it felt as if the entire universe sighed with her. Just 10seconds later the child was free from her body. “It’s a girl” someone announced.

As I stood next to her body still holding her leg, while she attempted to finish her woman’s work, I strained to hear the sounds of a new life. There were none. I looked around the room and asked the first set of eyes I met “Is she okay?” No one answered. I was instructed to let her leg go, she was told to relax, her work was done it was all up the dr. now. She began to look curiously around the room as well. “Why isn’t she crying?” she asked no one in particular. We could both see the small body move around the room. Each person she was handed to explored another part of her body and announced their findings to a tall quiet woman in the corner with a pen and chart. When the small, plump, pink and red baby made it’s way to the final machine and nurse, there was some kind of goop placed unceremoniously in both of her eyes, as a cloth was rubbed over her face and head, in that instant a sound began to emerge. A loud piercing instinctual cry filled the room. The woman and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes and our souls raw and open, and smiled.

An hour later, the room is full of family, there is a sense of joy, excitement, wonder and activity in the room. There is also, much harder to detect, a feeling of sadness. She is sitting up in the bed now, after having her body sewn back into place. She was holding the silent, tiny miracle wrapped in a blanket up to her chest. She was touching her fingers and kissing her face. Watching her gently run her fingers over the babies black bunch of hair, I realized I was watching the universe’s ultimate miracle, a child was born, as was a mother. She was lost in the sweet smell, and soft feel of the babies’ skin, hair and breath. There was no talking in the room people were standing around just watching this woman with this brand new helpless life. After what seemed like an eternity, she looks over at me.

“Do you want her?” she asks me. It seems to most like an odd choice of words, Would you like to hold her would have made more sense to most, but then most wouldn’t understand the situation anyway. I walk to the side of the bed. I look her deep in her black eyes. Eyes I have seen and known, it seems, since time began. She asks her question again. “Do you want her?” I lean in close to both of them. “Yes” comes my answer so quiet and weak I could barely hear myself. She looks at the baby again, and then says. “She does everything in her own time, even being born. Don’t rush her. Please take care of her.” She leans towards me and hands me the bundle, I take the small perfect angelic figure in my arms I look past the tiny life she has just placed in my arms and instead I look at the woman sitting before me. I lean in to her ear, “I promise you she will have a better life than we did, I promise you she will want for nothing. Thank you. I love you sissy.” She touches my face and we kiss, we both have tears in our eyes, she leans down kisses the tiny female’s forehead and guides her head as I step back. The monumental figurative and literal meaning of the exchange that has just taken place is lost on no one in the room. I stand back looking at the beautifully perfect child in my arms as I walk slowly to the window. I look out to the bright day outside. I lift the small child to my face, and tell her “welcome to the world, it’s a beautiful place. You will always be safe and loved.” I turn around to look back at the woman. She has changed again, she seems tired now, smaller, quieter and somewhat lost. She smiles at me in a ignorant unknowing way.

The woman is gone. The confused adult child has returned. She is again the same child in a woman’s body I have always known. There was some time there when she was complete…a few brief minuets when she was not confused or immature or lost or mentally incomplete….there was a brief time when she was part of the universe part of something I will never fully understand something I will never feel, an experience I will never have. If only for those few brief moments she was whole, she was everything I had always wanted for her. She was a woman.

Two days later I would take that tiny and perfect human being home, she would be my daughter from that day forward. I would forever be connected to the woman in a special mysterious way only the universe itself could ever comprehend.

That woman was my sister. One of the strongest women I will ever know. She made a sacrifice that day, only a woman could understand the weight of. She made a sacrifice that day not many women would be strong enough to handle. She made a mother where there wasn’t one before.

My daughter is 11yrs old today. I will cherish and revel in her existence today, I will also remember the reason she is here, the reason I’ve had the last 11yrs. I will remember the sacrifice made for her, by her Aunt Toni. I will remember the promise I made. I will remember to send a ball of appreciative and loving energy to my sister. I will remember to thank the universe.

I will remember the circumstances in which I became a mother and in which a mother became an Aunt, circumstances in which a female child was entrusted from one sister to another, and the ultimate sacrifice was made when this woman’s work was done.

Monica Turner
August 1st 2010

A teaser....

2010-06-21T20:11:00.001-07:00

Here's a tease of the scrap room in progress!

Exciting new developments!

2010-06-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be posting this blog!! I am just hours away from having my scrap room move in ready!! We bought all the rest of what we needed tonight to finish it this weekend...this thing has taken forever, due to circumstances beyond our control. So to have all we need and be so far on it already I'm excited and So ready to be organizing and sorting! The whole process has been complicated this weekend by some unusual happenings. Okay now the reason this blog is on my "Scrappin' Blog" and not on my "family Blog" is because the reason I didn't have my camera with me for all the unusual going's on around here this weekend is I have no scrap space...so I don't leave my camera in a place where I upload and print pics for scrappin' so I forget it! It bugged me so with everything else that went on around here this weekend...and there was a lot more...(on the family blog) I was intent on getting it finished. So from these pics you can see it's all been colored the base color...I will be touching up and doing the trim tonight for the rest of this evening...I'm so excited to switch colors! First thing tomorrow I'll tape off the walls and get my "lo" wall and other walls done with all the little details...then it's about getting the furniture in. The actual moving supplies in will happen all next week during nap time. I've prepared for some little I need's...So I think I'll be ready by next weekend to begin scrapping! Have a great Father's day everyone!

Wanna win free stuff?

2010-06-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

I thought so! Check Pinky's huge giveaway out!
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Hello Monday Morning

2010-06-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

We woke up this a.m. to a large bang and what sounded like a train...we found this...better pics to come.

A Huge Blog Candy!

2010-06-07T03:50:00.000-07:00

Check out this Giveaway!---------->---------->
My fabulous friend True is having what has to be one of the biggest giveaway's! She recently had surgery and she's hoping all the comments will keep her busy the entire time she's recouping! Help her out and get a chance to win some fabulous goodies for yourself! Get well soon True! Muahhhh!

Many challenges one lo!

2010-05-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hello blogging buddies! I know I haven't been around lately...you see I've gone back to work...at least part time...so all that scrapping time I used to have...I don't have anymore...I use that time to keep up with my family, home, and friends! So This long holiday weekend I promised myself I would MAKE time to scrap. Well it's not what I thought it was gonna be, but here it is...that's right just one, but I can explain. First of all I have some really beautiful scraps I'm going to make cards out of, so keep an eye out for those. Now about the lo's I only have one to show, because the other one I did I am not at liberty to show at this time...he he he he...that sounded all technical and C.I.A. like...it's not...I'm playing the main game over at Scrap Whispers. This link is for the blog site. Love all the fun things these ladies do! So I can't reveal that lo, but I will when able. This lo is entered in several challenges. I will list them and the links to each below! Thank you so much for checking in on me! Don't forget to leave me a message and I'll stalk your blog as well! Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

I was hoping to make the doodles and faux stitching look like chalk on a chalk board...what do you think? I have wanted to make some hidden journaling like this for a long time...I was just waiting for the inspiration to hit and it did. This lo is made up entirely of cardstock as is the challenge for Scrap Fit. The pp's are a couple from DCWV's All Dresssed Up stack. I adore these pp's! The journaling is stickers from my stash put on more of the A.D.U. stack. There are a few new things here per my challenge from scrap whispers, the buttons are from an RAK and I only received them last week. Also the journaling is a new technique for me. The title and the journaling are all for the Dirty Scraps challenge...this time it was Serenity...I thought the two words "serenity" and "Sanctuary" went hand in hand so I used both in the journaling and in the title. You all know how I feel about my Dirty Scraps...you should check them out! Finally this lo is based on the sketch over at Sassy lil' Sketches. Please hit all the links below and check these ladies out! They are all fabulous and keep me inspired! TFL

Scrap Whispers

Dirty Scraps

Scrap Fit

Sassy Lil' Sketches

No scrap...just a rant!

2010-05-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile...it's been crazy...I don't have anything crafty to share today... and unfortunately it may not be till this weekend that I can scrap so keep an eye out this weekend. As for now I have a bitch...I know it's uncommon for me to be so blunt and crude...but I mean really...ok so I go to the scrap store this weekend...which I don't do much of any way...I go with the intention to buy some misters and some copic markers...I have won a digi image that should be here anytime I wanted to be prepared...I find that the mists are over $7 a piece...the copic markers are over $6 a piece...WHAT THE HELL!! Are you people crazy! Am I crazy! I mean really I understand I'm new to the digi stamps thing...I've never even held one in my hand, but come on...I cannot possible be the only scrapper in the world who thinks this is an outrageous amount to pay for a marker...or a spray bottle of ink. For some silly reason I was thinking they would be like stickles...a couple two or three dollars...which I feel is over priced, but dooable...this on the other hand is just nuts!! No wonder I've been trying to win these things so bad...even before I knew what they were...don't judge me I am an equal opportunity freebie whore...if it's free I'll find a use for it. So I have made my rants public now I ask you my bloggy friends...is my store way over priced? Am I really that much of a tightwad? Do you think the price is fair? Anyone know where I can win some of these goodies? lol! Ok I feel better now!

Like I said I will be trying to scrap this week, but it may not be till this weekend. So keep an eye on me and let me know what you think about this copic/misting situation! Love to you all!

To much

2010-05-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

I must apologize to you all...I was unable to finish all of the blog hop. I offered to help a friend with some wildlife rescue work...in the last two weeks 12 bunnies and 2 racoons have passed away...I will be trying to finish all the lo's tomorrow...I apologize to all of you for the lateness.

A need to see repost.

2010-05-13T11:17:00.001-07:00

This is a repost for my very good bloggy friend Pinky, who lives in Tenn.

This story is my state,
this story is my friends,
this story is my area.

Many of you know I live in Middle TN,
I was speaking with a friend today crying on the phone
telling her how bad it really is in this area.
We live outside Nashville in Murfreesboro, TN and we still have 6 impassable
roads along with hundreds of homes still under water.
When I drove to Lebanon last week, we saw people
standing outside in nothing but shorts dragging all of their belongings to the street to be hauled off forever, which included furniture, mementos, pictures....basically their entire life.

We drove by homes with only the rooftops showing,
with children standing on the edge of the water with nowhere else to go.

I could not even bring myself to photograph because it is so close to my
heart and so painful still.

There is not much I can do personally, but we did go through the
boys clothing and donated all we could. We bought
supplies for cleaning and donated them.

My friend on the phone said "Pinky! Go blog this! make a difference, go and help!!"
She was so right, I cannot believe it never occurred to me.

Our local school has had 2 families at least who have lost EVERYTHING
in Nashville they have students who have NO CLOTHING at all!!
The teachers took them to WalMart and bought them clothing.

IF YOU HAVE CLOTHING OR CAN AFFORD TO BUY A FEW ITEMS
OF CLOTHING FOR CHILDREN.
If you send them to me I will take them to the schools
in Murfreesboro and Nashville and I will donate them and
get them to people who need them!
We can make a difference, please pass this blog along
to anyone who wants to donate.
Even a 5.00 t-shirt will make a difference.

I don't want your money, I just want to help those
kids who have nothing left including clothing and shoes.

email me here for a physical address
andrewcristalhobbs@yahoo.com
My heart breaks for all these families and I am only one person.
But if we all work together we ca make a BIG difference!

This is the first day of flooding a video

If you are within 50 miles and want to donate a larger item
and need to know how to....I know
Fidelity Offset Printing in Nashville is accepting donations,
they even offered to send a truck locally to take furniture and donations.

everyone is doing the best they can, I don't think people understand how many of us in Middle TN were affected..many towns...Murfreesboro, Hermatige, Symrna, Clarksville, Mill Creek, Nashville, Lebanon...just to name a few that had hundreds of millions in damage.

The football team of Titans were in the local neighborhoods yesterday
tearing down walls and helping, people from KY, AL, GA have come
to TN with boats to help rescue.

They found another body today 11 days later it was sad
and they are still looking.every day there is so much sadness and so much hope
seeing everyone work together.
Schools in Nashville some are open with no dress code because
of the clothing problem. Some are closed the
rest of the year because there is no way to clean up enough.

If you help, I will get the items to the right place....please pass this blog
along to anyone you know that might be able to help.

I am so blessed, we are safe and sound in our home.
Thank you for your help.
~Pinky~

Dirty Scraps...and another vein opens...

2010-05-12T15:29:00.001-07:00

I've taken a short break from the blog hop, but do not fear I will be back at it tomorrow! I did finish two other challenge's today. This lo has been a long time coming and I'm sure it won't be the last of it's kind...this particular subject will be a reacuring theme in my B.O.M. book...amazing as it may seem this is the first time I have ever scrapped this particular subject...I'm glad one lo is done. I'm not looking forward to what will surely be just as painful as this lo was to complete. I don't think I would have attempted this subject if it had not been for the challenge from Dirty Scraps. I know I'm always saying how much I love these ladies and this blog...but this is just even more proof that it's not just great challenges they really encourage and...well challenge me to open a vain so to speak and scrap the me on the inside...the deep dirty raw real me. So here is some more of me. You know you wanna know more!! I made this lo using the Sassy lil' Sketches sketch challenge...I changed it up a bit...as always just to fit it all. TFL! If you don't know about Sassy lil' Sketches you should take the time to find out about them. They have the cutest sketches. I just love a Sassy lil' Sketch! I will be back to the Let's Scrap blog hop tomorrow so come back and check that out!
The journaling is impossible to read due to the colors I chose so the journaling is below the pic.

Fact: I will never be pregnant.
Oh, even now 9yrs after the first time I heard it I still get tears in my eyes. I still have to physically calm my breathing or remind myself to breath. I can remember almost nothing of real importance about that day, just silly off the wall things. I remember the obnoxious and expensive suit the dr. wore. I remember the shiny gold and two tone blue tie around his neck. I remember the disgustingly cheery looking animals on the nurses scrubs. I remember there was half a tank of gas in the car. I remember feeling the hope that had been in my chest fall away. As if I were treading water in an iced over pond and I knew my reach wasn’t long enough…I began to fall away into the dark frigid waters….of hopelessness. Something in me shut off or down. I knew I would never ever be the woman who walked into this office again. In an instant I was an entirely different person. My entire life had just been altered.

Fact: I have a child.
I wouldn’t trade her for the world…not even for the opportunity to be pregnant. She truly is my own personal gift from the universe. She is proof a woman will sacrifice everything for another woman.

Fact: Appreciating the child I have doesn’t make the hurt stop.
I will never know what it’s like to tell someone I’m going to have a baby. I will never know what a baby feels like from the inside. I will never have the chance to see my baby on a little TV screen. I will never get to hear my babies heartbeat for the first time. I will never watch my beautiful body change and grow to encompass my child. I will never know the spiritual bond with the universe a woman feels after growing life.

Fact: I will never give birth.
I’ve seen it. I’ve heard about it…in FACT hearing a woman tell her “birth stories” used to be one of my most favorite things. I used to torture myself by watching all the “baby shows”. Now I just try to avoid the topic all together. I have given up friendships…good and treasured, simply to avoid the pregnancy issue. I would spend no time ever with a pregnant woman for the rest of my life, excluding my daughter of course, if I thought it would help ease the pain or want.

Fact: I always knew.
My mother told a story my entire life that when I was about 6 I told her I wasn’t ever going to have kids. She asked me why I didn’t want kids. She thought is was strange because I was already fascinated by small children everywhere. I told her I did want to have children, I just couldn’t. When she asked why I couldn’t my reply was I don’t know ask the dr. My mother asked the dr. he said everything was fine I was just talking about things I knew nothing about. Being that not one woman for the last 3 generations had ever had reproductive issues my mother left it alone and the entire incident was forgotten for years.

Fact: No matter who tells me otherwise I feel defective.
I can smile and congratulate a girlfriend for a new pregnancy and mean it. I do mean it. I don’t begrudge any other woman the joy of pregnancy. However I am so jealous I could scream. I am so hurt and angry that life isn’t fair and that was not in my life plan. I get so upset when I hear about teenage girls throwing babies in trash cans, or smothering their own children. It’s not fair. I live with this feeling of unfair hurt, anger, aggravation and pain every day of my life.

Fact: Time heals all wounds…slowly.
Healed….I don’t think I ever will be. I don’t think the pain and hurt and anger will ever go away…it has lessened or I have adjusted to the limp and have learned to live and walk with it.

Little known fact: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and actually think for a second I could get pregnant. Then I remember I can’t so I won’t…..ever.
Perhaps if I tell myself it’s a fact long enough, I will start to believe it, and begin to hurt less. For now I just open the steel door it’s stored behind when it get’s a bit full or tight let some out as much as will. Then I close it back up. Like a boil it slowly fills back up with grotesque oozing puss of hurt, pain, anger, and disappointment.
It’s a FACT of my life.

A couple more hop's!

2010-05-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

This is My Blog Hop #2. This was Cori's blog Creative Chat She has a sketch up and a requirement of metal and quotation marks...she also happens to have a totally adorable lo she did based on the sketch I loved. I made this lo from our trip to the lake a month or so ago. It's Bo Bunny "roughing it" pp. I know I know I don't PIMP brand names...it's just adorable and it was a gift from my Mr. Right...He came home from work one day and brought me some of this stuff...He's fantastic!! I had to change up the sketch a bit. I wanted to make sure the "mallows" on the bottom of the paper showed. Sorry about the bad pic...it's just wasn't a good pic day!

This is my Blog Hop #4. It's Jean's Blog Pages in Time The challenge here was to use the provided sketch and use a Quote! So I did a lo of my Mini-Me's slumber party! I have to admit I took a lot of liberties with this sketch...I just lost myself in the girlyness of it all! (Love it when that happens) So TFL! I'm off to see what everyone else has been doing!

Blog Hops update!

2010-05-07T18:44:00.001-07:00

You all thought I was gonna advertise about the blog hops and not play didn't you! No way! To many great prizes to be won!! So let me know if your doing the hop's to, so I can stalk your blog and see!!

The Clear Scraps Blog Hop

There were some amazing blogs here! I can't believe I may never have seen some of these blogs if Pinky hadn't shared the information about the hop! Thanks Pinky!

The Let's Scrap Blog Hop

I have finished two of the projects....I skipped one because I wanted to make a card with the scraps left over! I am also using these two projects in another challenge...I was shocked when I looked over at Scrap Fit I was excited because I had used all scrap's on the lo...nothing new! I had done that with this first lo for the Let's Scrap hop! I also wanted to enter it into the Scrap Fit #19 workout! I love these workout's!

When I looked at the scrap fit site they had just put up a mini work out...that's what they call challenges isn't it cute! As fate would have it the mini workout was to make a card using some of the leftover scraps from the Work out #19! I had just done that so these two projects could be used in both!! I was so excited.

This is the card, I made it using the left over scraps from my lo using scraps! Blog Hop #3
This was made for the 3rd stop on the Blog Hop! I adored looking at Deb's blog she is so talented and the card she made is adorable!

This is the lo using nothing new! Based on the sketch from the first stop on the Let's Scrap Blog Hop! Here's the link to Blog Hop 1 It's Susan's blog! Check it out and hop along! The checkered paper behind the pic I made. I love the checkered look behind the pic spot in the sketch and had just seen a cool tutorial about making checkered paper...I'm sure you all know how to do it...if you want to know how I did it just ask! TFL! Have a great day!

Wanna do a blog hop?

2010-05-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

I happen to know of two fabulous blog hops going on right now! I am much more familiar with one site than the other...I belong to the community know as Lets Scrap I have so much fun with these laides! They are having a super fun blog hop...and my favorite part! Ton's of prizes...I know thats shallow...but as a red blooded American born and bred female...I will defend my right to and love of all things free!! (stepping off soapbox) Whoo! Ok, so I will put up both blog hops on this blog read them, and join me in learning about the other blog hop...though maybe you already know them...I'm so narsasistic. Okay I found out about this blog hop from Pinky! Pinky is absolutely adorable! I couldn't enjoy this woman more...unless she lived next door...which would be freekin brilliant! Anywho Here are the links! This is for Pinky. The blog hop is with clear scraps! So here's to a great week of blog hopping!

Welcome to the Clear Scraps blog hop!
We're so excited you joined us this weekend to help us celebrate all our Moms and the women who play a mothering role in our lives.

Our Design Team has been busy making Mom-themed projects to inspire you - both to create something, and also to honor that woman in your life who deserves something special this weekend.

To start you off....here's a layout Amy made for her Grandma for Mother's Day. We love this idea Amy - after all, you never stop being a Mom, right?

Amys mothers day layout

Leave a comment on all our DT blogs, come back to the Clear Scraps blog to let us know you did, and you'll be entered into a draw for a $25 goodie bag of acrylic from Clear Scraps.

Irene: Scrapperlicious
Cristal: Much Ado About Nothing

Rita: Let's Embellish
Tonya: Creativi-T

Elisa: Perpetual Stew

Grace: In My Shoes

Cathy: My art...so far

Happy Hopping!

And HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Let's Scrap Blog Hop!

National Scrapbooking Day was last weekend, right? Well no here at Let's Scrap. We are celebrating scrapbooking ALL MONTH LONG. We started with some great games and challenges during NSD weekend, and now we are back with the Let's Scrap Design Team Blog Hop. Below you will find a list of those DT's members who are joining us in the blog hop. Each stop on the hop will offer you a different challenge. Become a follower of each Design Team Member's blog and as you complete each challenge, upload your finished project to ttp://www.letsscrap.ning.com. Return to each blog and make sure to leave a comment letting us know that you have completed the challenge and uploaded it to Let's Scrap. Make sure you tag your project with the appropriate tag (you will find those instructions on
each of our blogs-ie: bloghop1, bloghop2, etc.).

Each Design Team member will randomly select a winner of a small prize for participating in their challenge. But that's not IT!! Keep hopping through the blogs....there are 10 of us playing along. Complete the challenges at EVERY stop on the blog within the next two weeks and your name will be entered into a random drawing for a $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE to A Cherry On Top Scrapbook Store. And the best part....you have TWO FULL WEEKS to complete your challenges and when all is said and done you will have 10 projects completed and a chance at some great prizes!!

Feel free to start anywhere along the way within this great group of blogs and each one will link from one site to the next where you will find all the great challenges!

Let's get this hop started!! Remember, to become a follower and return to leave a comment after
completing each challenge. Good luck, and have fun!!!! Oops....can't start you yet...but are you excited now? Good!! Start checking our blogs around at 10:00pm (by the time on the main page of this site) TONIGHT...Thursday. Consider it a jump start for our current members as all of the advertising (Facebook, our blogs,. etc) says the Blog Hop starts tomorrow!

1. Susan - http://www.paperdaisydreams.blogspot.com
2. Cori - http://www.creativechat.blogspot.com
3. Deb - http://debhorstcreaterofsendablesentiments.blogspot.com/
4. Jean - http://www.pagesintime.blogspot.com
5. Sally - www.sallyschallengechatter.blogspot.com
6. Rosalie - http://www.fivetulips.blogspot.com/
7. Scarlett - http://scarlettsscrapoirs.blogspot.com
8. Carolina - http://www.caromgar.blogspot.com
9. Nana - http://www.youniquereflections.blogspot.com/
10. Kristie - http://www.lotstoscrap.blogspot.com

So as you can see these two hops are amazing and sound like so much fun! I really hope you join me! I can't wait to see some of these talented ladies blogs...I follow a ton of blogs! I see one that inspires me and I go back to them for more inspiration...most I find from blog hops...and giveaway's! lol Have a great week!

What I did for NSD!

2010-05-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

To say yesterday was a whirlwind would be an understatement!! I was thought I was keeping up with the challenges pretty well...but some of these ladies went just as fast a Nora did putting up challenges!! Needless to say I'm late getting these up on my blog, but here are the challenges I did yesterday...and keep looking 'cause I'm doing more and putting them up today!!

This was a challenge based on a sketch from Nora at Scrapjazz!!

This was another challenge on Scrapjazz...the challenge here was masking!

This was a card challenge on Scrapjazz!

This was a sketch challenge on Let's Scrap! It was also a challenge on scrapjazz to make your own flowers I tried 3 techniques here....I'm still not sure I like how they turned out!

Scrap whispers NSD challenge

2010-05-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

A challenge for Scrap Whispers!

2010-04-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is based of a sketch on one of my cafe mom groups...I'm entering it in the scrap whispers #61 "can't smile without you" I had so much fun doing this lo! I love these pics!

Dirty Scraps Challenge! warning this may offend some

2010-04-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I love this world of scrap booking, even mistakes are made to be fun and forgivable. I love the creative freedom I have found. I love feeling like I belong somewhere I can feel talented, though next to most I still feel inept. I love the scrap booking family I have found online. These women who are so quick to praise me on my small offerings, though sometimes I am sure they are just being nice. I have made a point to absorb my scrappin love into a small electronically charged box, due to my lack of scrappy family in real life. Why would a woman, who has made statements saying how much fun and therapeutic it is to scrap all night with a few pots of coffee some great snacks and a couple of treasured friends, become so enveloped in a much less warm slightly less satisfying world of women she only knows from the internet?

Judgment!

It seems when I participate in a crop I feel their eyes, I can hear the turning of the wheels turning in their heads….”Hmmm what brand of paper is that….is that a Wal-mart stamp…she doesn’t have a cuddle bug…how can she not have that color of ink, stickles, ribbon? Why doesn’t she just go buy it…we are in a scrap store…why would she crop at a scrap store if she wasn’t gonna buy anything?” Sometime’s I get it online as well…I’ll find a great challenge that has a great prize, that I really would like to win….then I find out it has to be done with Basic Grey or Jillibean pps. I don’t have any…I rarely if ever do.

I would like to think of myself as a frugal scrapper…the truth of the matter is my family and I live on a very regulated budget. I can’t spend $20 or $40 at the scrap store every week…I usually don’t spend that on scrap supplies in a month. I know there are so much greater things I could be doing in my scrappin world if I had an unlimited supply of money to spend on such things…however I don’t. So I use what I have. People have asked me why I enter so many challenges online…duh!! To win prizes…don’t judge me because I’m honest…I would love to win with no prize if I won because someone thought my lo was the best out of all the entries…that hasn’t happened. So I enter to win things I perhaps cannot afford to buy…pps, stickles, adhesive…anything. I don’t appreciate the idea that people choose to judge me by my lack of Brand Names…I’m not a scrap snob. I will use supplies from the Dollar Store if I think it fits my needs. I don’t want you to feel sorry for the poor woman who can’t afford to buy the latest and greatest of everything in the scrap world…just a little compassion, perhaps take note of the ability I use to make things the hard way. Perhaps recognize how even with no name pp’s I manage to make a wonderful lo. Maybe even acknowledge that though my skill with a needle and thread may need serious attention I still plug on. I’m not ashamed of my work, I’m not ashamed that every lo I do will not have the latest and greatest of all things on it.

Think about it this way….and maybe your different maybe you scrap for a different reason here’s mine.

In 50 or 80 years when my 3rd great granddaughter is being handed these books so she may study them for a paper she’s doing on her great grandmother…she’s not going to notice the brand of paper…she’s not going to know if it was hand stitched or machine…more importantly she’s not gonna care. She’s gonna read the funny stories, and laugh at how backward our way of life was, she’s gonna read and hopefully begin to understand a little more about her G.G. she’s going to put the book away and do something with her own children or have a feeling or a divorce or something that will remind her of a lo in a book put there Oh so long ago…and she’s gonna appreciate that I took the time to make sure that 3 generation’s from now she’s knows she comes from hardy stock and she can handle this, or she can read about how I handled it. That is why I do this. That is why I feel there shouldn’t need to be the most expensive or coolest or newest tools or supplies…if I could yes I probably would be “that” kind of scrap booker. I can’t so I don’t. So when you see a lo done by me and it has last years making memories, or imaginese pp’s on it…because they were finally priced where I could afford them…due to being last season’s don’t think about what kind of looser would use last season’s supplies…think about how creative it was that I used pp’s to make flowers because I was out of flowers and the price for flowers is a crime! Just appreciate I’m the kind of woman who can manage to stay busy with a hobby that has become so overpriced and …though I hate to admit it…somewhat uppity in the last 5 or 6 years…Just know I do what I can with what I have….and I do a hell of a job at it I do say so myself!

This is my entry for Dirty Scraps "compassion" challenge...I know I say this all the time, but really if you haven't had the experience these ladies give, you have no idea what your missing! The challenge's these ladies come up with encourage raw honesty...these ladies are my new therapist's, they are so much more fun and cheaper!! lol!

A very special lo

2010-04-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

A card

2010-04-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

A card I made for Let's Scrap's card sketch!

A challenge

2010-04-24T14:25:00.001-07:00

This is my entry for Scrappy lil Sketch's. I love this site...if you haven't stopped by you totally should! The title is Makin Memories! The journaling says "this pic was taken at el dorado lake" April 2010.

Helmar spring challenge!

2010-04-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

Helmar's spring challenge! I have been hearing about this company for months now! Here's hoping I can win some adhesive to try!!

A giveaway!

2010-04-19T05:47:00.001-07:00

Check out my blog buddy Chelsea's giveaway!

One more for the weekend!

2010-04-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, so I only got one lo done. It is however the other challenge on Scrapjazz I wanted to do! Even with the icky feeling all day I wanted to do this lo so bad! I have done a lo using this title before, so I just wanted to try it again with a completely new subject and theme! TFL!

I couldn't resist!

2010-04-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

I could resist no longer! I spent all afternoon scrapping, not working on my scrap room like I should have been! There were so many wonderful challenges this week and month I couldn't stop myself from jumping in the kitchen taking over the table and making some things happen! I'll be scrappin tomorrow as well so I will have hopefully at least a few more lo's to come! So on to the scrappy rewards for me today!

This is a double lo using pics from our spring break 2010 vacation! It tells the story of how papa and BigDaddy had some explaining to do when they used the only perfectly calm day to go on a hog hunt instead of taking mini-me fishing! They took her out to the dock the next day! This is based on a sketch I found on Scrap-Fit.
I'm entering it in these challenges!
Scrap-Fit April sketch challenge
Scrapjazz April challenge V

This is the card I made for Sassy lil' Sketches card sketch

This is my entry for Dirty ScrapsI love these ladies they always make me dig deep, journal true, and bleed a little!
Journaling reads: No More Drama

To say this time of your life was dramatic would be an understatement. It all began when I got a letter, one afternoon, from Randall Brookings. The letter is part of this lo. After reading the letter I spoke to your dad about what we should do and how to handle the situation. We decided the decision, however unfair, was really yours to make. You would have to decide to get a new dad or stay with the one who didn’t want to be a father anymore. I was so incredibly torn for you…I tried to make sure you knew it wasn’t your fault…it wasn’t.
When a man calls himself a father for 10yrs then wakes up one morning and decides he no longer wants a simply perfect human being, a human so eager to love and be loved with no ulterior motives, he is no man you should give thought to. You are a perfect human being. You are eager and willing to give and receive love. You made what truly must have been a heartbreaking decision.

I hand you the letter:

You got huge tears in your eyes and said “Does this mean he doesn’t want me”
I said “He just doesn’t want to be a father anymore”
You “Why not”
Me “I don’t know”
You began crying and I cuddled you in between BigDaddy and Me
Me “ I know you are hurt and I know you are angry and you have every right to be. You can feel anyway you want to and it’s ok. You can yell or scream, if you would like you can write a letter to him and tell him how you feel. I know you don’t feel good right now, but I want to tell you about the decision you have to make. You must now decide if you want to keep the father you have, or you could ask BigDaddy to adopt you. Take your time and think about it for however long you want to.”

You looked at me and then at BigDaddy then back to me.
You “ I want BigDaddy to adopt me”
Me “ You can ask him”

You looked up at BigDaddy with great big Alligator tears in your eyes.
You “ Will you adopt me?”
Big Daddy “ I would love to adopt you anytime

You hugged BigDaddy tight around the neck I cried.
You and BigDaddy cried.

The very next week you went to school and began telling everyone you were getting a new dad and a new last name. You and BigDaddy were so very excited the entire 2 ½ months it took to get it done.

After all the drama you had to go through all the time Randall Brookings had done to make you cry or feel left out or alone….you were finally free…free of the fear….free of the anger…free of the loneliness…free of the want for a complete real family where you were the center piece…a feeling every child born has a right to. You were free of all the DRAMA!

Tfl!!

A great giveaway!

2010-04-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

One of my blog buddies is having a giveaway!

Pinky, is an awesome and truly talented woman, I found out about her from the Dirty Scraps blog. I adore this woman her talent, her humor, everthing! So go by her blog and check out her giveaway!

If your in my area check this out!

2010-04-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is my closest scrap store's blog site! I love this store, Karen and Calvin are so wonderful! They are having a giveaway!! Check it out! Scrappin' Time

Update

2010-03-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

So I realize it's been awhile I just wanted to let everyone know I will be back soon...I have been busy putting my scraproom together! It's painted with the base coat...so it shouldn't be long now..until I finish it I have no place to work on my crafty projects :( so I'll just have to do without for a little while! So please keep a lookout the first new post will be pics of my new fabulous scrap room!

Two cards A blog hop and a challenge!

2010-03-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Here's my entry in the Scrap Fit Fit girl Blog Hop!

I did the one on the right, my mini me did the one on the left! We used a sketch from Let's scrap and entered our cards there as well! Let's scrap is having a D.T. member search! I'll post all the info on this after the cards! Make sure you come by and check out Let's scrap! While your there enter for the D.T. member!

The info on the Let's scrap D.T. member search!

DESIGN TEAM CALL!!!
We have another call out for 4 talented ladies that have time May June & July to be on our Design Team!

Requirements would include
*Posting a layout from our sketch each week
*Posting 2 challenges
*Posting 2 'Questions of the Week'
*Being VERY active on our site

If this is something you think you'd like to do, please email us your take on this sketch to dance@tekstar,com no later than April 16, 2010. Please provide your blog or web-addy where other layouts may be seen. Our new Design Team will be announced on Friday April 23. Past DT's are welcome and encouraged to apply!!!!!!!! :)

The sketch can also be seen HERE I know that sketch is to die for!! I love Cheri's sketches! You can see lots more from Cheri and the other ladies over at Let's scrap so come on by and get your scrap inspiration on!!

Fun Challenge

2010-03-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

We left on the 12th of March to go visit family in Texas. It was decided before we left we would be home in time for me to participate in a super fun challenge! The challenge was in one of my Cafe mom groups! I love these ladies they are so much fun and the challenges are always new and exciting! Kellie sent all of those of us signed up a packet of items to use combined with a sketch and an extra requirement!

A snow storm in Oklahoma just as we were traveling through changed our plans slightly, that and the fact that we spent way to much time looking for a place to get new Ink! Anywho...I took a way long nap this afternoon and after unpacking and laundry I finally was able to sit down and get a look at the sketch, by my all time favorite sketch artist Julie Bonner! I whipped this adorable lo out in about 20mins! I adore Julie's sketches and not having touched my craft area in a week solid, I was itching to jump in! TFL!

Scrap Fit's #15 work out!

2010-03-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is my entry for workout #15 on Scrap Fit's blog site. The object was to tell about a day in your life...so I did what follows the lo is the journaling...the tab with ribbon is some hidden hand written journaling!

An average day in my life may seem simple or perhaps to some even trivial. However to me each day is a welcome bit of joy…mostly due to the various people I may come into contact with…and those I come in contact with each and every day.

I begin each day with a bright and beautiful smile from my daughter, only to be followed by the inevitable argument over what she “think’s” she’s going to wear to school that day. Then we make peace as I get myself around…not dressed exactly…I put on the traditional sweats I will wear to drive her to school and slip on the ugly - used to be while- sneakers I wear for the drive. Then we chat pleasantly about whatever happens to come up. I pick up the other girls in the carpool then drop everyone off at school. I have my first cigarette of the day on my way home alone in the car…yet again wishing there was a law against talk radio…eww I dislike it so. When I get home I let in the girls…dogs that is…they jump around for a bit all excited about spending a whole 30mins outside in the weather. Then I watch as they mosey around and go back to sleep. I make the bed. I take morning vitamins and drink at least a couple glasses of water. Then I make coffee. Get on the laptop and check out all my scrap sites and my face book. Now this part of the day is different every day. At this point I do what I have to…dishes, laundry, vacuumed, clean bathroom, sweep, mop…whatever. Then if it’s a scrap day I will scrap. I will catch up on challenges, or look and leave comments on the numerous blogs I follow. Then I break for lunch.
Then I finish out my afternoon watching a recorded movie I’ve been putting off or just chatting on the phone with a friend or finishing whatever scrap project I have been working on. Then I go pick up the girls. Then it’s just about making sure she is focused on what she should be, homework spelling words, chores. Then he comes home, and I welcome him with a big - I missed you today - kiss. Then it really speeds up…there’s dinner, dishes, talk about everyone’s day…what shall we do this weekend…Hi, lo, and something new around the dinner table, shower time, dessert time and finally tuck in time. Then it’s just me and him…the house is quiet and we can discuss the adult things we need to for the following day. Then our shower time. Finally bed and cuddle time.

So as I said though it may seem trivial or simple to some, I adore my days…all of them and with my amazing family who could blame me!

A new blog site....and an insipired lo!

2010-02-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

This lo is for a blog hop...featuring two of my favorite blogs and a new one, which is sure to become one of my favorites. The first two blogs are Sassy lil' SketchesI just adore the wonderful sketches this blog offers! So cute and inspiring! Next up is Scrap Fit I'm sure if you follow my blog you know about this group...the blog and the forum, are just awesome places to hang out! Next is a new blog...I can't begin to tell you all how excited I am to have found out about this blog! I just know I'm gonna be here again and again getting inspiration from these ladies...as is the case with all the blogs these ladies have stunning talent. I am so excited about what they use for inspiration, after all who else encourages the using of "Dirty" pics or pieces of life to scrap book! For those of you who know me...you will agree scrapping the good the bad and the ugly is something I have always done...so I can't believe it's taken me so long to find these seemingly soul mates! So check out Dirty Scraps What follows is the journaling for this lo! I hope it doesn't offend anyone...I was however inspired by the description I found on Dirty Scraps...I wanted to scrap the truth...as ugly as it may be! TFL

Though I call myself the strongest woman I know, I have come to understand other things about myself that really have nothing at all to do with strength. Some would even call them negative personality traits. The list I could make of these would be way to long for a simple lo. One of them however I will address. The "Bitch" . I am intimidating. When it comes to my family and loved one's. I will take a "No tolerance" policy. I will, have, and would again remove someone from my life for the simple crime of not being what's best for anyone in my inner sanctum. I speak my mind no matter who I may offend. I don't set out to hurt people, however I have been know to be more than a bit harsh at times. Sometimes this behaviour is mistaken for maliciousness. Though I do not mean it this way, I accept that being the kind of woman that I am will sometimes if not always lead me to be called or referred to as a "Bitch". It is my opinion that this term is given to any woman willing to stand-up and be vocal and passionate about her convictions. Also it should be said I really am a "Bitch". I'm mean m unforgiving, act out in callousness, unapologetic-even when I should be-selfish, narcissistic, snobbish envious, unsatisfied, harsh, rude, loud, all knowing. Yep all those qualities, add up to the (in my opinion) definition of the modern day term "Bitch". So while it makes me proud when perhaps it shouldn't I will wear the label proudly. I will be proud that even though the term may be derogatory, to some and may offend, to me it is simply me being true to the woman I am inside. I believe being courageous enough to be the woman I am with no excuses or apologies may be the most important lesson I ever teach my daughter.

A blog award!

2010-02-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

I received a blog award from the amazing True...if you haven't found your way to miss True's blog please do yourself a favor and head over there...she makes some of the truly most beautiful cards I have ever seen! It's my pleasure to send this award on to six other blogs I adore!

Kim
Lindsay
Katherine
Madge
Linda
Kat
Julie

These ladies are most certainly making the blogging world more fabulous! Please stop by and see them...and enjoy!!

News!

2010-02-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

I was going to do more of the challenges on the groups...however I have been literally sitting at this table all weekend and believe me I am not complaining! lol I have had an absolute blast! I can't wait for the next weekend crop-a-thon! As if getting all I got done...6 projects...not counting the 6 individual cards...I also meet a new friend who lives in wichita! She's close enough to actually scrap with in person! I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to meeting her and of course doing some scrapping together! So as for the weekend I am done...exhausted, ecstatic about my result, and totally satisfied...I might even take the week off from scrapping...especially since I ordered myself a couple of new toys this weekend...actually one new toy... a label maker...I am uber excited about that I just love the look of the label's for journaling....and accents. Also I ordered my scrapbook room furniture! YaY me! I have to get to the store sometime in the next couple of weeks and get paint and get the room cleaned up and painted so that when the furniture gets here I can put it together, organize it and jump right in to enjoying the room! So If I do nothing for the next week it's only because I'm recouping from a Fantastic weekend of scrapping!! Be Well all!

Trying to keep up!

2010-02-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

I have been scrapping so much this weekend...(two weekend crop-a-thon's) so here are some pics. All the cards were for a "rainbow" challenge...make six things using the colors of the rainbow...so here they be...I even managed to come up with cheesy sentiments! The lo was for a "mainly black and white with a dash of color thrown in" challenge. The pics are all out of order sorry about that! I think it will be pretty easy to tell which card goes with which....due to the color theme! lol TFL!

A card challenge!

2010-02-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

The challenge was make a card with the main color being white!

For the Bam book!

2010-02-20T13:35:00.000-08:00

This challenge was based on the bumper sticker "I want to be Barbie, the bitch has everything" I have always been a fan of that phrase...so I was uber excited to make this lo happen...it's simple, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! TFL!

Then and Now!

2010-02-20T02:23:00.001-08:00

Another challenge from one of my groups over at cafe mom! The challenge here was to have a picture from then and now! TFL!

Pink!

2010-02-19T22:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a double dipper! I made this for the scrap fit wo #14, and for a challenge as part of the weekend online crop in one of my cafe mom scrappin groups! TFL!

A couple of cards!

2010-02-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of cards I made today...I warned everyone, I loved these lingerie cards and you would all be seeing more of them...so here one is! This lingerie card I made especially for a friend of our family...one of the truly most amazing souls I have ever met, she is having cataract surgery tomorrow so I wanted to give her a little something special tonight! The other card is for the sassy little sketches, card sketch! TFL!

Help...with my craft room!

2010-02-18T05:31:00.000-08:00

Okay ladies,
I know I've been talking about my excitement of getting a "scrap room" for awhile...well it's finally time....no not for the reveal...I wish...it's time for someone to help me find the perfect customizable furniture for the room! I have looked around the Internet for a bit, but didn't really see what I'm looking for...I have looked at the oriental trading set. I do like the pieces in the Oriental trading set, however I am unsure what kind of quality these would be. So I am asking all my scrap booking friends for a little Help!! Any suggestions of store I should look at before purchasing or online sites you have used and love! Anything...I am not wanting to spend a ton of money, but I have a pretty good idea what I want the end result to be and how much a reasonable cost is for that look. So please help me out! Thank you so much ladies!

Still learning from Miss Julie!

2010-02-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

This lo started out as a challenge, however it ended up taking on a life of it's own and in the end didn't really fit into the challenge! I just love it when my lo's take on a life of their own, don't you! I love the way it turned out. There was no sketch for this one the placing is all my own, the colors were chosen to fit into the requirements of the challenge. I have to say what I'm most proud of on this lo is the stitching....I was looking at Julie Bonner's blog site one day and she had a pic of a recent lo, which she had done some hand stitching on, I loved the look of her stitching and as most of you know I have been trying really hard to work on my stitching. I do all my stitching by hand, I am still resisting buying a machine, it's not very frugal if you buy every machine that comes out for every little trick, so I have just been trying to perfect my stitching by hand. After seeing Julie's sketch and looking at it really close I hoped I had guessed how to do the stitch. Now I won't say this it the same stitch Julie used on her lo, what I will say is the stitching on this lo is the least embarrassing I have ever done. So to say I am uber excited about the fact I have figured out how to do a really cute stitch simple enough for me and yet absolutely cute enough to use on lo's is an understatement! So thank you Julie, you still inspire me! Thank you to everyone who follows my little blog and takes the time to leave such wonderfully positive and uplifting comments! Have a wonderful day!

A B.A.M book challenge!

2010-02-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

This challenge was so fun. It's scrapjazz's February alaphabet letter N challenge. I did it as a page for my B.A.M book...I can't tell how long it's been since I did a page for my B.A.M book. So I was pretty excited about this one! We also had to include our newest technique and our newest product. I stitched the letters in the title, and the pp was from my extravagant scrapbooking shopping trip last week! TFL!

One lo 3 challenges!

2010-02-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

I did this lo based on a sketch at two of my Cafe mom scrapbooking groups, I also used it as my lo for laurajeans challenge on scra pfit forum. I wanted to use the title "My funny Valentine, so I decided to go very non-traditional with it! TFL

A sketch challenge and a card for the love of paper!

2010-02-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

My plan was to scrapbook all day today, I even prepared by doing all the laundry and housework yesterday...however when I woke up with a horrible headache I just seemed to know it wasn't gonna happen....so after a nap this afternoon and more Aspirin than I care to admit...my head felt better...needless to say it has been a lot of coffee and an all night scrap-a-thon for me! This first lo is my entry for the scrap fit forum Febuary sketch challenge! I tried to make it as manly as possible no flowers no bling no ribbon...ugghh that was the true challenge! Like I always say if you haven't checked out scrap fit you really should these ladies are always doing something fun!! The card I made just because I used the same papers on a lo and I loved the was they all looked together so much I just had to make a card so I could use them all again! It's not based off a sketch and I haven't (at this time)entered it in any challenges. I also didn't add the sentiment yet. I have been trying to leave more blank so I can fill them out with what I need when I need! TFL!

Two challenges one lo!

2010-02-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is my lo for two different challenges First of all it's based off the sketch from Sassy lil' Sketches. They have the cutest sketches! If you don't know about them you should definitely check them out!

Also it's my entry for Scrap Whisperer's Challenge 55. The challenge was to scrap your favorite children's book or your child's favorite book. I chose a poem by Shel Silverstein. I have always loved his poetry and I was thrilled when (after reading it to her everyday for years) my daughter found a natural love for the author as well! TFL!

A supportive card!

2010-02-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was about this challenge...This is truly the cutest card I have seen in years! I am so glad I was able to be a part of this! Thanks to Scrap Fit! These ladies keep things hoppin and are always good for amazing inspiration! This is for the workout #13...if you haven't checked them out you really should the link above will take you to the blog and you can link the forum from there! There is always something going on in the forum, so don't miss out! This one I made for my Besty, however it's a warning to all my gal pal's you will probably be one of these soon! TFL!

An evening challenge turned into an hour challenge!

2010-02-06T20:31:00.001-08:00

This was supposed to be an evening sketch challenge! However I lost track of time and forgot about it until an hour before it was due! Congrats to Laura Jean for winning the awesome Basic Grey prize! Can't wait to see what you do with it! The challenge was a sketch and we had to use brown, for the football, the word "super" in the title or journal and the colors of at least one of the teams in Sunday's Superbowl! Being Saint's fans I of course chose black and yellow. I chose a few pics to go with the colors! TFL!

No Challenge No Sketch!

2010-01-31T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is a lo I've done for some friends of our, i'm actually going to frame it and give it to them. It is based off of my own imagination...no sketch or challenge...unless I happen to find one it fits into! lol! TFL!

A Double lo!

2010-01-27T09:01:00.001-08:00

I'm taking part in a sketch challenge in one of groups at Cafe Mom...I have to give huge props to Mr. Right for helping with this one. When I decided I was gonna use wedding photo's for it he was thrilled, so much so we decided, to do it together! So I want to send a huge thank you out to my hubby, for being an amazing husband and dad, and supporting my scrapbooking habit! I love you baby! Here's the finished project! I gotta tell you I am extra excited about this challenge, because the winner will be decided by votes from the other women in the group! So I am very excited, to see what my peers think of my work! TFL

A card and a lo!

2010-01-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a card I did for the Scrap Fit Forum, based off the January card sketch!

And this lo is for two of the scrapbooking groups over at Cafe Mom! I'm trying to do more stitching so while it's still not the prettiest I'm dedicated to working into more cards and lo's so I can get better! TFL!

A card challenge!

2010-01-24T20:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a really bad couple of pics of the card I did for the cards sketch over at let's scrap! Sorry for the bad pix!

The top photo is the inside of the card.

A quick challenge, and fabulous prize!

2010-01-24T17:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, so after I posted the lo I did for the January sketch challenge on Scrap Fit Forum I went back there to participate in a one hour challenge! Having missed my last opportunity to participate in one of these challenge's I was very eager to play along with this one. Kelly told us we would be doing a sketch, I love love love sketches so I was even more excited at this announcement. Then she put up the sketch. It was the same sketch I had just done! So per Kelly's instructions I changed it up a bit and did it again, I love the turnout and I won the prize! So here is my second lo based on the January sketch challenge on scrap Fit Forum! If you haven't made it over there to see what these ladies are all about come on!Here's a link to the wonderful blog! Happy Scrappin!

January sketch challenge for Scrap Fit!

2010-01-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a lo I just finished based on the January sketch over at Scrap Fit Forum! If you haven't checked this place out you should these ladies always have something Fun going on!!

Rock & Roll Princess

2010-01-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is a lo I did for a challenge in one of the groups I belong to on Cafe mom! The challenge here was to scraplift one of Athena's awesome lo's. I took a lot of artistic freedom with this one, but I have to admit I love love love the way it turned out! Obviously the only thing I didn't do was journal! How I could forget that I do not know! These pics are of our girl playing rock band...it's kinda hard to get pix of her playing because usually I am playing with her....this game is addicting, I love how she really gets into playing whatever instrument she's playing at the time! Such energy! TFL!

Love Julie's sketches!

2010-01-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

I did this lo for a challenge over at the scraproom, it's based off of one of Julie's sketches...as we all know Julie is totally one of my favorites!! Check out the scraproom blog here. Here's a link to Julie's blog!

A giveaway!

2010-01-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

I spy is having a giveaway!! It looks like some amazing stuff check out this uber fun and informative blog here
These ladies always have something fabulous in the works!

My last entry for the weekend!

2010-01-10T18:48:00.000-08:00

This was for the "bundled up" challenge! The idea was to piece papers together to make a quilted look....mine didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but here it is nonetheless! TFL

This will probably be the last entry I make tonight, so Thank you again to all the ladies over at Scrap Fit I had a wonderful time this weekend....I will be with you all again soon!

Whew what a weekend!

2010-01-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

I have been joining in all the fun over at the Scrap fit forum this weekend! They have been having all kinds of fun games and challenges all weekend here are the pix of the few I managed to get done! Here's how I found them the blog!

This first one was for a challenge called "New year in one word" We had to use one word to describe what we wanted 2010 to be! We had to include our goals for 2010 in journaling!

The challenge here was to use the title "Home sweet home" Which was perfect because until this lo I hadn't scrapped the new house at all!

This was for a monochramatic challenge! It was difficult but thanks to a little help from Elizabeth over at Scrap Fit, I think it turned out really well!

This last one is based off of Julie's sketch. It wasn't for a challenge I just loved the sketch and had to do something fun with it! Check out Julie's blog

I have to send out huge hugs and kisses to my Mr. Right and my mini me who did all the weekend chores for me so I could sit in front of the computer and scrap all day! I have the best family ever! I love you both Thank you!

Thank you

2010-01-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

I have to send a huge thank you out to Chelsey, I'm a follower of her blog, and I entered her giveaway and won it! Thank you Chelsey. I gotta tell you Chelsey blogs some amazing receipes with her amazing lo's I just love getting inspiration from both so check out her blog Scrap Happy!

A christmas lo done!

2010-01-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

This was a lo I did based on a sketch from Julie Bonner....it was the last sketch on 52sketches. I really am gonna miss that site! Thanks again Julie and TFL everyone!

New Blog site!

2010-01-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

My friend Madge is starting a new blog site check it out.....i spy......craftiness

An Uber Fun Giveaway!

2010-01-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

Check this one out! Scrap Happy! Such a great idea putting your resolutions on your blog!

A Blog candy!

2010-01-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

This is a Picture of True's latest blog candy! I know it looks SO fun....the card True made using these is truly beautiful check True's blog out here She truly has amazing work!

Just one more!

2010-01-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

This is an idea I got from one of the sketches on lets scrap! I believe this was one of Cheri's sketches! TFL

Finally!

2010-01-01T18:40:00.001-08:00

I am uber excited about getting back to scrappin!! Although it meant bringin the table into the family room, it was a small price to pay for having the luxury of being able to drink coffee, have snacks, and chat with girlfriends! So here they are as promised some of the new lo's I did over the last few days....also another promise of many more to come as I have warned my darling family not to expect the house to be put back together until after the weekend! TFL!

Coming back soon!

2009-08-20T05:53:00.001-07:00

After a much to long absence...I am happy to report I will be returning to my scrap-happy days very soon...all of my scrapping supplies are still boxed up as of today, but I am hopeful of a joyous return very soon...Thank you to all my scrap buddies who have kept me company during my long absence...I look forward to sharing new and wonderful lo's and cards with all of you soon! Blessed Be!

Blog Candy!

2009-06-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have found another amazing blog candy give away! It's in my sidebar. The link to True's blog is True's name and there's a pic of her blog candy! go to her blog and enter to win this truly wonderful blog candy! Her blog is also a great place to just check out and get wonderful new ideas from!

New site...super fun Great giveaway!

2009-05-23T18:18:00.001-07:00

I gotta say people I am soo excited about this new blog site! Check it out! Wow love the blog candy!!
The Next level These ladies are starting off with a BANG this giveaway is awesome!!

A blog award!

2009-05-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

The always too fabulous for words...Lindsay has seen fit to present me with a couple of blog awards....she really is to kind for words...so here are the awards and who I'm passing my awards on to! Lindsay's blog is amazing check it out here...warning you to will become an avid fan!! She has truly become my scrapbook guru! Thanks again Lindsay!

Sooo...... here are the rules of the Lemonade Stand award:

Comment on this blog. Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog. Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude. Link to your nominees within your blog post. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award. Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.

And here's a little about the Friends award:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to five bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

My awards are going to five amazing friends who are always inspiring, supporting, and encouraging me!

Click on their names to check out their BLOGS:

Tina
Georgina
Kim
Lisa
Noella

Another Challenge

2009-05-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

I did this lo for challenge #19 on 52sketches based off of another fabulous sketch by Julie!

My Buds page!

2009-05-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

This is a lo I did the first time Julie from 52sketches had a design team call. I didn't end up entering an app for that call, but today as I was putting up my challenge for Scrap whispers I realized I had never taken a pic of it and put it up so here it is! It's based on a 2008 sketch of Julies!

Challenge # 28 from Scrap whisperers!

2009-05-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for a challenge on Scrap Whispers. Challenge # 28. The challenge was: "Challenge 28 is slightly unusual. We want you to split your page in two and create one layout but with 2 different sides to it. So for example - heaven and hell (white and angelic side v red and black side); sunshine and darkness; ying and yang; red and blue on one side, yellow and green on the other; maybe soccer or football team supporters; a little girl who loves all things barbie and pink but who also loves rock concerts or cars; different seasons; That kind of thing."

So I chose to do a page on our wedding cake's. The journaling says: Our cakes couln't have been more different. The wedding cake was espresso flavored. The grooms cake was butter creme flavored. Their were real black eyed susans. The image on the grooms cake was from Ted Neugent's spirit of the wild!

Check it out!

2009-05-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

Check out this super easy and fabulous Rak give away!! How fun!
thanks for the super fantastic give away Chelsea!http://scraphappychelsey.blogspot.com/2009/05/flowers-ribbon-and-giveaway.html

Here's hoping!

2009-05-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

I talked about it last time and never did anything about it. So this time I decided I wouldn't let the opportunity pass me up....nor would I let my sneaking pessimistic attitude get the better of me! So I have entered 52sketches 52weeks design team call. Below is the sample lo I sent in with my app. It's based on Julies #13 sketch! Wish me luck!

Here you go!

2009-04-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Current catalog

Everyone's been asking where the scrap dollar day's sale is so here's the link! I looked today and they have added new stuff....Dang to bad I already spent my budget!

Craft show!

2009-04-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some cards I've been working on for the craft show....the lo is just one I did the other night when Ash came over to scrap!

The card tied together wouldn't stay open so there's no pic of the inside, but I left it pretty simple...just some swirly stamps and the word celebrate!

More, more, more!!

2009-03-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here are more of my entries for the weekend Birthday Bash over at Lets scrap!!

The bachelorette photos were entered for a recycle challenge....The birthday card was for a recycle card challenge as well!! It really has been an incredible weekend over there ty ladies for all your hard work and uber fun challenges!
The lo of A and I was for a recipe challenge....it was really hard we could only use 3 patterned papers
3 flowers
4 of any other kind of embellie
It wasn't easy, I wasn't thrilled about the way it turner out, but it was a challenge after all!
Okay now about the obvious...for some reason Idk y! Ever pic I took this weekend turned out blurry!! Sorry about that! TFL!

Sketch's, challenges, games Oh my!!

2009-03-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

This is another challenge lo I did this weekend for lets scrap's big Birthday Bash weekend! I have to send a huge thank you and muahhhh out to the ladies over there they kept me hopping all weekend with challenges and games and conversation!! I won 2of the games we played and entered in 4 different challenges....This lo was for Kim's recipe challange....it was challenging....and it was inspired by Cheri's bb3 sketch! So thanks again ladies! It really made my snowed in weekend a blast!!

Birthday Card!

2009-03-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a card I made for Lets scrap card challenge 1....in honor of Cheri's birthday!It's also for the lets scrap birthday card challenge!

4th grade concert!

2009-03-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

This is another challenge entry for lets scrap based on a sketch by Cheri O'neil (sp) Who btw is celebrating a birthday!! Happy Birthday Cheri!! Many returns of the day!!

Two pages....Two challenges!!

2009-03-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for lets scrap challenge #3....although I strayed pretty far from the sketch it was definitely inspired by the sketch! Thank you for encouraging me to do a two page lo! It's been forever! It's also my entry for the march lo challenge on scrapjazz, the challenge was if there was a song playing in the background of your life what would it be....I chose Brown eyed girl by Van Morrison! TFL!

Catching up!

2009-03-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

It has been a month to the day since I scrapped and added to any of my galleries....It has been a crazy month, but I'm back to it....I wanted to share my newest lo's all based on Julies sketches. Btw....Julie chose her first DT! I can't wait to see what the DT has in store for us! It's an incredible team so I know it will be worth the wait and amazing!! I did a lo to use in my app for the DT, but between a funeral and going back to work for two weeks, not to mention my dd being out of town and Spring break....whew! like I said it's been a crazy month!

This is my entry for Julies #11 sketch!

I entered two lo's for Julies #12 sketch!
Hope everyone is well!

2009-02-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

So here's my entry for last weeks #7 sketch on 52 sketches! I was a little worried about the colors, but it turned out pretty well!
I have decided to enter an app for the dt! I did a lo I'll post a pic after g.s. meeting tonight. Wish me luck!!

A design team...

2009-02-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

Julie from 52 sketches is putting together a design team...I am totally considering sending an app.... I'm slightly hesitant, only because I'm not sure my lo's are good enough for a design team...but also because I'm not sure I understand all that is required. So I'm gonna make a lo to add to my app.... and depending on how it turns out I'll decide. If you wanna try for the dt...click the link above!

Scrap whisper's challenge!

2009-02-17T17:08:00.000-08:00

This is my enty for scrap whisper's challenge #17. The challenge this week was to scrap about your best friend, using lyrics from Queens my best friend, and the colors red, white, and pink. I used the little part about sunshine and did a page of me and my girl! TFL!

Blog award!

2009-02-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

Lindsay...who is a doll and as fabulous as fabulous gets has seen fit to give my little blog a blog award!! I am super excited about this! Thank you Lindsay for your thoughtfulness....now I feel I must pass on the wonderful feeling of pride and joy to others! So I give a blog award to....Kim, Jodi, and I gotta send one right back to Lindsay These ladies keep me striving to be a better scrapbooker! It doesn't hurt at all that they are FABULOUS!!

Colorado!

2009-02-15T01:09:00.000-08:00

This lo was inspired by a sketch on creatively yours! It was sketch #48 by Noella! This is the first time I have tried a sketch from any place other than 52 sketches. I will most certainly be looking again at Creatively yours for insperation!

New challenge!

2009-02-14T13:25:00.000-08:00

This is a lo I did for challenge #6 on 52 sketches....it is my first attempt at stitching...I will keep trying it's not the quality I had hoped for but I will work on it!

new page!

2009-02-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

I was in total dd mode this week. This is another page I did of her this one for, 52sketches and 3 scrappy boys!

The tab on the right side is a hidden note from me to her, it's the first time I've ever "hidden" a note in a lo! I have always love the look and the idea of it, just never tried it! The quote is one of my many favorites by Shel Silverstein! TFL!

Blog candy

2009-02-06T13:12:00.001-08:00

Blog candy Check it out!

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=35327973538289413

A truly emotional page.

2009-02-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

This was such an emotional page to do. It is the first of many on this subject. It just literally took me 9 yrs to be able to make the first one....and I'm still balling!

The journaling says....

My sister,
How do I say Thank You?
It seems to fall short of my true feelings about this subject.
How do you thank a woman
who trusted you with the most
perfect event of her entire life?
A woman who gave you something
you couldn't have and wouldn't have
without her, I am reminded of your
gentle, kind, and loving spirit everyday.
It lives in the complete emodiment
of the most amazing human being I
have ever met. I see your face in her
smile. I feel you warmth in her hugs.
You and I will forever be connected,
you were connected to her for nine months.
I have been connected with her since
the day you placed her in my arms.
I made you a promise, the promise she
would have a better life than we did.
I have lived and worked every day
to make that promise a reality.
When one day you, her, and I meet
again I hope you see in her the joy,
hope, and innocence we lost so long
ago. I will never be able to repay you
for what you did. I can't imagine the
sacrifice you made. I could never ask
a woman to just give up her heart and
soul. To just release her life's biggest
accomplishment and joy. I will forever
be grateful that you did. Though I know
I will never fully understand the pain and
heartache you must have felt and still feel.
I will never know how a woman can be that
loving, giving, kind and selfless. I can
only strive to show her the example you
have set. As weak and little as it may
seem I can only say Thank You.
Thank you for the Greatest Gift.

Love your sister,
Monica

Just For Scrappin

A double lo!

Wanna win a Gypsy!!!???

Dirty Scraps challenge #17

Catching up on some challenges!

A hapenstance!

Just wanted to let you all know it's done!

NO I'm not in the witness protection program!

THIS WOMAN’S WORK

A teaser....

Exciting new developments!

Wanna win free stuff?

Hello Monday Morning

A Huge Blog Candy!

Many challenges one lo!

No scrap...just a rant!

To much

A need to see repost.

Dirty Scraps...and another vein opens...

A couple more hop's!

Blog Hops update!

Wanna do a blog hop?

What I did for NSD!

Scrap whispers NSD challenge

A challenge for Scrap Whispers!

Dirty Scraps Challenge! *warning this may offend some*

A very special lo

A card

A challenge

Helmar spring challenge!

A giveaway!

One more for the weekend!

I couldn't resist!

A great giveaway!

If your in my area check this out!

Update

Two cards A blog hop and a challenge!

Fun Challenge

Scrap Fit's #15 work out!

A new blog site....and an insipired lo!

A blog award!

News!

Trying to keep up!

A card challenge!

For the Bam book!

Then and Now!

Pink!

A couple of cards!

Help...with my craft room!

Still learning from Miss Julie!

A B.A.M book challenge!

One lo 3 challenges!

A sketch challenge and a card for the love of paper!

Two challenges one lo!

A supportive card!

An evening challenge turned into an hour challenge!

No Challenge No Sketch!

A Double lo!

A card and a lo!

A card challenge!

A quick challenge, and fabulous prize!

January sketch challenge for Scrap Fit!

Rock & Roll Princess

Love Julie's sketches!

A giveaway!

My last entry for the weekend!

Whew what a weekend!

Thank you

A christmas lo done!

New Blog site!

An Uber Fun Giveaway!

A Blog candy!

Just one more!

Finally!

Coming back soon!

Blog Candy!

New site...super fun Great giveaway!

A blog award!

Another Challenge

My Buds page!

Dirty Scraps Challenge! warning this may offend some