What is a girl to do?

I'm thinking.....yes....I have some more BH sketches that we can use and I'm gonna post them...but I think I'm going to finish posting them all this weekend....that way if anyone wants to sit down to do them ALL and have a HUGE card making feast they can....I think also if I do this challenge again that I'm only going to post a couple of sketches a week....don't think I've ever made so many cards in one month! HA!

Here is one more sketch and hopefully Saturday I can sit down and just post the rest of them.....I WILL make cards with ALL of these sketches....right now it looks like Amy is going to take it away with this stack of goodies...but there is STILL time!!!!!



Okay...so....life BEYOND the sketches is CRAZY! This week there just aren't enough hours in a day....But who am I to complain!!! I am blessed beyond measure and I owe all of it to an AWESOME God!

It looks like we have finally settled on the car....hopefully will have a check here in a week or so...now when it comes to the pain and suffering part, who knows how long that will take....need to make sure our attorney has ALL the bills....

Next weekend Vince and celebrate 20 years!!! Wow....where has the time gone?? Think I need to do a whole post dedicated to my wonderful hubby....and the 20 phenomenal years we have had together! Guess right now though, I'll close.....

Where did Monday go???

Oh man....where did Monday go??? I was non stop go and didn't even get to come ON here much less post the sketch! So sorry guys!

Apparently AT&T decided to upgrade their email server and in doing so lost the email list for our ASF Newsletter! So.....that meant I had to manually (luckily it was copy/paste) almost 600 names into the new one! Oh joy.....got it done though, so that is a good thing and now it will be a tad easier to manage!

Guess I need to post the sketch huh?

This one is going to take a little creative thinking! BTW...it is the CURRENT sketch! So....why not submit it after you create it!?!

Saturday...1/2 way through Sept!

Where is this month going??? I'm sitting here covered in fire ant bites...YUCK....we did some yard work on Friday and then later today we will be finishing up the back yard. At least my yard will look nice right?

I actually sat down at my table tonight and made 6 cards! YIPPIE! So....along with the sketch this time I HAVE the samples. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get a few more made tomorrow...I'd also like to do a layout! HA! Need to do one more DT project for the end of the month AND 4 more to meet my goal. I've blown my card making goal out of the water this year...

Anyway...without further ado...here is the next sketch



And here are the examples!

Thursday!

AAKK!!! I'm getting behind!!! Just haven't had a chance to SIT down to create this week....BUT after today it should be a little better....guess I'll be making lots of cards tomorrow!

Here is the sketch though! Should be fun!








Dh and I got to sneak out to lunch today!!! We went to our favorite place (of course)....BUT the neat thing is we got a special treat! Apparently there is a special holiday for Japan in Mid Sept called the 'Moon Festival' Where: Families unite to watch the full moon rise and to eat moon cakes. Couples enjoy evening romance under the light of the full moon.

Well....our guy that we love so much gave us a Moon Cake!!!! How different! But we are the kind of folks that love to try new things and learn at the same time! We feel so special when we go there....even the owner just laughs when he sees us with Ben....he comes over quite often even....I won't tell you what was in this particular 'Moon Cake' because some of you would just go what....you ate that....but I will say in OUR opinion it is GOOD!

Here....check this out to read about the Moon Festival! VERY interesting!!!

Here is a picture of some 'Moon Pies' so neat that we not only eat at our favorite restaurant but that we always get a little bit of education when we go there!


So let me invite you to find YOUR favorite restaurant and not only EAT there but dig into the culture too!

Tuesday Sketch!

Well....at least Amy and I are getting lots of cards made! And I'm loving them! Sure wish a few more of you guys that are 'peeking' in would join us! I've got a nice little pile going for the winner and there is STILL time!!!!

Woohooo! Got the Sept Card Kit for Queen Kat! Check out the goodies! Made 5 cards with it tonight and I have enough stuff to make at LEAST 10 more!

Sunday's Sketch!

Woohooo! I had a great time this weekend!!! I did 7 layouts and 4 cards! Wooohooo! And that means I have samples for this sketch! Wooohooo!!




I just wish I the scan for the first one looked better! I LOVE these cards! Also...the 'enjoy' from the second card is a Target gift card! LOVE these things!

Sure wish a few more folks would play along....but that is okay....Amy and I are having a blast!

4th sketch!

So like Amy said...WHERE ARE YOU ALL??? I know you are LOOKING because I see the counter showing there are folks visiting.....come on! Easy challanges here and some great loot to be won! So far there are a few stamp sets in there some chipboard and tomorrow I'm headed to the store to add to it!

Here is the next sketch! Also....please note....Sunday's sketch will probably not be posted until Sunday afternoon! Since I'm gone until Sat night and NO sleep I'm sure I won't get near the computer until Sunday afternoon! But one of my GOALS this weekend is to finish all the samples for these challenge this weekend! Woohooo!






Here are my examples! Can't wait to see what ya come up with! Have fun!

3rd sketch!

Okay...here it is...the third sketch! And the good news is I've even picked the fourth...but you don't get it yet.....BUT hopefully I'll have examples BEFORE I post them! At least that is my goal...so here is the 3rd sketch....and I'll have samples soon!

Second Sketch!

Woohooo! Got some entries! I put up the slide show and will add all cards (unless you say I can't). Here is the second sketch! What cha gonna do with this one??? It is from her first book of sketches!
Here are the examples!

National Stamping Month!!!

Woohooo! It is NATIONAL stamping month! And I wanna celebrate! I had a BIG idea today when I was going through my new CK Mag....saw how someone now is always doing a card with Becky's sketches! Thought to myself...pretty fun idea! Why not go back to some of her older sketches and see what we could come up with...

SOOOOO.....here is the deal! Every other day I'm gonna post one of Becky's older sketches
(clicking on that will take you to her site with all the sketches!) and I CHALLENGE YOU to create a card (or two) from her sketches! For everyone that you send a link to I'll put your name in the hat for a drawing of a NICE prize package! It will be at LEAST valued at $25 and will include everything from paper to stamps!!! So...what are you waiting for! Also...if it is okay that I snag your creations I'll put them all in a slide show to share on here!

Here is the first sketch! Feel free to us EITHER side of this one! (or do a card for both!)

It is from June 2006

Here are some examples to get the juices flowing!



OOOOHHH....and if you want MORE chances to win...BRING a friend or two or three along! For every friend that you bring to play I'll give you 5 more chances! Just make sure that YOU BOTH mention that you brought them here!

It's been a while...

So I was told (basically...in a round about way) that it is time for me to UPDATE this blog! Since Vince got the stitches my life just has not been fun...of course they don't want to heal. He was off work for 10 days. When he finally got his leg back (the prosthetic dr kept it hostage...ha!) we thought things were going to look up. He could not put it on right away because of some swelling. Well...apparently it is swollen where it has changed things a lot for his leg. He got it back last Friday....couldn't put it on but Sat am he was able to...after about 2 hours though it really started to hurt. Took it off and wore it a few more times that day. Sunday it was worse. More pain...so back to the dr he went on Monday. They have realized that the swelling really has not gone down. He took a liner that he had in his leg out to provide some comfort and while he was doing that realized that Vince had lost a few stitches. Not a huge problem except in one area.

Anyway....they discussed that taking the liner out would help...it has a bit but not really. He went to work Tuesday and by the time he got home he was screaming. He had to use a cart to help him around work just to get through the day. Today it was maybe a HAIR better, but you can still see the pain. He made it through another day at work though...

His boss called today not realizing that he was even BACK! How funny it that! On a GREAT note they are sending him some help next week. And he will be local again. So that is GREAT news. He has Monday off so we are praying that with Sat/Sun/Mon off maybe it will get better yet.

I pulled out 3 stitches, he lost 3 or 4 but there are still 3 in there. Going to leave them there through the weekend. Don't see how that could hurt. And really there is only one area (again about the size of an inch) that just doesn't look good. Not that it is so bad that there is an infection, I just wish it would close up better. It isn't oozing, or if it is it is NOT blood...(last night it was oozing blood a little)...

Sigh, sigh, sigh....I know God is in the midst of all this, really I do but yet I cry out to Him.

On a GOOD note, we have started school and for the most part that is going great. Monday was a 'monday' but we almost expect that. Reva is holding an A and a B in her work right now so I'm okay with that....oh....and her attitude is much better! We are speaking again...HA!

Okay...I'll stop rambling and leave ya with this layout that I did. It was featured in Lifetime Moments online newsletter! Woohooo for me! Guess you could almost call that my first little 'toot'.....

Not the way I wanted to Spend a Tuesday Evening!

Sigh....about 4:50ish or so my dh called me....thought it was the normal 'I'm on my way home' call...but it started out..."Honey, I have a problem"....I so don't like those words!!! (if you are very squeamish don't read on until the last few paragraphs....)

So if you saw one of my last layouts (below) you know he has a prosthetic....has had it for 2 years now. To wear his prosthetic he wears a thing called a liner that has a pin attached to the end of it and that is what clicks into the prosthetic....well...the pin unscrewed some how without him knowing it and as he stepped forward his leg didn't...and he fell on his stump...he told me he got it attached but apparently it was bleeding pretty bad....he was at one of his stores (he is a field service rep for a company that has its products in Lowes) that is about an hour and a half away...he drives home...comes in the house and yup....it looked pretty bad....

We got him in the shower and his liner off and it did NOT look good...some how it was RIPPED open (the skin on his leg)....told him we were headed to the VA as soon as we got him dressed....it wasn't really bleeding any more just knew it needed stitches....

Got to the VA and after 3 of the young interns saw it they decided to call the surgeon....so he came in....cleaned it out (still had lots of yucky clots)....got it to stop bleeding and then the stitches...4 on the INSIDE and somewhere around 10 on the outside...I haven't really gotten to where I can count them....he is out of his leg for the rest of the week....and we will try it a few hours on Saturday and Sunday...if it looks okay he will go to work on Monday....he has the stitches for 2 weeks..the ONLY GOOD thing is the rip is in the front of the leg and not on the bottom....when you wear a prosthetic you actually put the weight on your knee....and you don't walk on the stump....so hopefully it will be okay for him to work....

If you are a praying folk PLEASE pray for this to heal...he is diabetic and that is NOT his strong point (doesn't heal well)....last year he was out of his leg for a month because of an ingrown hair on his leg causing a blister and it was awful...got infected and everything...please pray that this doesn't happen again....

Sigh...so not how I planned for my evening to go...much less my next few days....but I love this guy beyond measure and will be 'nurse' again....and durn it all...if I wasn't working on my cards for the challenge! I got ONE of them done and 1/2 of another...maybe....just maybe....I can finish it tomorrow....

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!!!! We would SOOO appreciate them!

Words On Paper

I was 'cleaning' up yesterday and a piece of paper fell out on the floor....of course I said to myself...what is that....so I bend over...pick it up and realize it is a love letter my wonderful dh wrote me right after he had gotten his prosthetic...after a year dealing with casting because of a disease called 'Charkot Foot' and it not healing we had a difficult choice to make...and we opted to have his leg amputated so he could go on with life...if we had not chosen that we would have had to face surgeries after surgeries to fix the 'bad' problems and then eventually probably face the amputation anyway...so.....much prayer and thought and my wonderful hubby had his leg amputated on July 1, 2005.....it wouldn't heal....it got infected because of falling on it while on his crutches trying to help after Katrina and he fell in a oil filled garage...so....on Sept 4, 2005 he had to go for a revision...thought it would be simple...cut off about another inch and go with it...well....it was severely infected and we were in the hospital much longer than we thought and he had to actually go to surgery, and the couldn't close it (had to let the infection drain) and then go BACK to surgery a few days later to actually take the inch and close....but FINALLY it healed...and right around thanksgiving of 2005 he got his prosthetic!!! Few ups and downs since but all in all we know we chose the right option! Anyway...back to the letter....it was a letter he had written me after going through all of this....I reread it and of course words popped out at me and screamed...'SCRAP ME'....and that is exactly what I did. I did take the liberty to hand write his letter in my own handwriting, BUT it has every spelling booboo and grammatical error that the original does...AND the original is folded behind my handwritten one. I hope one days my kids will love this layout like I do...not only is it words from their wonderful father, but their mom used her hand writing too.....

Here is the letter:

Dec. 12, 2005
My Love,
Words on paper continue to fall short as to what my heart bursts to express. Your husband searches and never finds...you are like a rare gem that eludes a miner who spends a life time looking for...the words to express my heart are always two feet burried deeper...i tire yet my love for you remains hidden in your heart. I love you.
It has been a tough year for me physically, mentally and spiritually. I've endured pain, fear and uncertainty. I at one time was lost in a spiritual desert,thirsting for GOD's comfort, you remained my compass helping me find my way. In my pain you felt. In my uncertainty you showed confidence in me. You have calmed me in my many 'storms' of life, always reminding me of Christ's love to which you radiate and warm my cold heart.
You are the ingredient to my strength to go on. God provided the mixing bowl you are the chef. Through all my struggles in life you are there at my side, going thru it too and giving yourself to the point of depletion. Women always do.
I am richer knowing you, wealthy for having you and stronger for loving you.
Wife is a word you grace and give meaning to its tone. When I say it, it warms my heart and comforts my soul. when I think it there is only one picture of you in my mind....you
all this...words on paper, yet still my definition of how much I love you is burried on the next page. You define my heart and capture my soul.....
You are that gem............I am your Husband...........thank you, I am honored

And here is the layout...

Finally Friday!!!

Ahhh...it is Friday.....my kids are not in school but the neighbors are all there!! YIPPIE....so no one is calling to see if Noah can play or Lydia...and no questions about 'Can I go over to....' SWEEEET! HA! Haven't done too much this week besides find school books. I scrapped a few cards and one of the C52 layouts....the double page, and will be working on the singles here in a bit. Would like to have them done today. We are going to start revealing them sooner. That will make us get them done which will be a good thing. We are also trying to come up with some new ideas and what not for C52 to make it better. Even talking about having a second crop night for it! Love how it is growing slow but strong!

I got my Aug kit from QK Designs....OH MY OH MY OH MY! I wanna start to play with that too, but have to get the layouts done first! This kit ROCKS!!! The stamps are wonderful, the paper is so fun and the embellishments are perfect! The September kit looks great too....so if you like card kits (of which there are not very many out there) go check it out before they are GONE!

I'm supposed to bring the kitty to get fixed today...need to find the phone number and see when the latest I can bring her over there is....it is called the Big Fix Rig....how funny is that! They are a group that was on the coast helping out there after Katrina and all the homeless pets....anyway...my poor kitty won't feel very good for a few days but then we won't have to listen to her when she goes in heat!

Okay...let me find a card to leave you with that I did yesterday....I used one of the flowers from one of QK's Funky Flower Stamp Sets! LOVE how it turned out!

Gonna give it a whirl

I'm trying to check out some of the challenge blogs! I love challenges and thought it might be fun to see if I could win something! So....found a challenge on Scrapdragons and thought I would try entering this layout!

Wish me luck!

Is it hot enough???

YUCK!!!! Can you say the word HOT? Already there is a heat index warning out there....I guess we should be thankful because this is the first really hot spell we have had this summer. July was actually below normal all month!

This weekend was a nice weekend. We had Nicole over Saturday night. We watched Stranger Than Fiction which has moved into the category of one of my all time favorite movies. We ate junk food and just laughed and caught up on life.

Yesterday was our last Sunday before we start small groups. We didn't have an equipping class to teach so we just went to the 9:30 service and decided to grab a bite after that. Came home and chilled until about 5:00. Then Martina, Vince and I headed back to church where the Student Ministry Team cooked us an awesome dinner. After we ate we had a quick 30 minute meeting to go over the new year. And they sent us home with Seattle Drip! YUM!

Came home and finished What I'd Tell layout! I really love how it turned out. Some old products on there including that vine die cut! I found it the other day along with some more of them which I just might be using here soon! The printed paper is Heidi Swap and Chatterbox! Wow, those have been in my stash for quite a while. Overall I just love how it turned out. And YES I have the sketch made for it! Just need to get it from my paper to the computer! HA!

I think I'll go get started on my Monday and see what today has in store for me!

Well It's Wednesday

Yup, we made it to Wednesday....this week seems to be flying by. Sunday I started on a Mini Chipboard Album from QK Designs! She is selling them in her STORE so you have to check them out! Also....you have to see the new stamps for this month! Check them out HERE . We will also be selling the stamps at ASF!

Today we start the 31 Days Around the World Blog Party! That will keep me busy for August!

Yesterday I worked on the ASF Online Store . I uploaded lots of product but I have LOTS more to go! My goal is to have it all uploaded by Aug 15! Exciting stuff coming in there so keep checking!

Okay....so that is what is going on in the scrapping/cardmaking world. How about my house world! HA! Mason is still loving his job. I might get to go with him to his first school in November because he won't be 18 yet and he will need someone that can rent a car to get him from hotel to school....that would be lots of fun for the two of us! It is in Atlanta and I was thinking I could go see the little girl I got close to when we went to Atlanta this summer! That would be really special. I would also love to work at the apartment complex for those days. I'm sure I could get in touch with the missionary that we worked with.

Well, that is enough ramblings for now....I need to do some laundry!

Sleepy Sunday!

I'm sooo sleepy today. Maybe that is because I was up until at least 3am. Couldn't sleep and had somewhat of an upset tummy. I've been working on a project for QK yesterday and today! I want to get it done because they are not my favorite thing to work with but I do like this one....I'll share as soon as I can!

I also got my DT project done for ASF's July 31 newsletter...love it! So you guys can see that here in a few days!

Today was church and came home to grill some dogs on the grill....Reva decided that she needed another bird so the kids all went to Pet Smart to obtain one. She is yellow...think they are going to call her 'Mellow' because she is yellow....ha! How original is that one. Safira is the white and blue one...now that is a well thought about name....and I must say Safira is NOT happy with Mellow....she is the 'Alpha' bird that is for sure!

Okay, I'll quit my ramblings and go finish this project....

It's My BIRTHDAY....

Yup....today(well, in about another 35 minutes that is) is the day that my wonderful mom (and mind you at 92 she is wonderful!!!) gave birth to this gal. My sisters named me....from what I've been told, they were given a list of names by mom and dad and they picked Juliet. I can say that I'm pleased with what they picked...apparently one of the options was 'Gwendolyn'....I don't think that one fits me very well.

What will my day consist of? Who knows....I know according to a lot of little voices (Lydia informs me) that I have presents...hmmm....we will have to see what they are. Should be an interesting day that is for sure!

I'll leave it at that and maybe get a chance to hop over here and share the 'news'. Until then...check out the slide show I did! Wow....I'm moving up in the world huh?! HA!

Check out my Slide Show!