National Scrapbook Day by CM

On April 20 and 21 I was invited to the National Scrapbook event sponsored by our local Creative Memories ladies.  It was at the SportsPlex, which to me sounded like a very strange place to put on a scrapbook crop....turned out it was a great place. 

It was a crop where I got a lot of stuff done.  It was a very good atmosphere and there were some very friendly people.  The CM ladies gave away prizes, did some silent auctions and had a yard sale table.  But my favorite part was where they gave us free layouts and let us try out their CM tools.  Of course, I fell in love with the CM border punch (gonna have to get that one day).

Below are the things that I made over the course of the two full days.

I have confidence in paper scraps

This was a self imposed challenge.  Something to get my creatives waves flowing and something that I would not allow myself to spend bunches of time on.  I limited myself to 2 minutes per card and only to the papers, embellishments that were in a canvas box.  You can tell that I have been heavily influenced by the Titanic and once again that love has spilled over into my cards.

The first could have been a card that was in the writing room on the Titanic. Maybe the lady in the photo was a passenger.  Did she make it or not?  Quite possibly she did and this is a thank you card she sent to the captain of the Carpathia?????   

And the second card?  Maybe it is a photo from the newspaper articles written on the Titanic?  Maybe a photo of a family that did not make it?  Or a photo of a family where the kids survived and were now orphans?  

The last card is my favorite.  I think this girl is so happy to be doing whatever it is she is doing.  Maybe going on to a new life?  Marrying the man of her dreams?  Leaving Ireland for some greener pastures?   She is living her life NOW!

The stamp and the photo of the lady are by Tim Holtz.  All inks are by Tim Holtz.  The papers are scraps but they are combos of K&Co, Making Memories, and Recollections.  The Thank You stamp is by Fiskars. The flower stamp and pennant punch are by Stampin UP! String by DMC. 


What did I learn from this challenge?  That sometimes art doesn't have to take all day to be nice.  That sometimes I should trust my instincts and just go with my intuition while crafting.  Be confident in myself. 

Today I had a Bible verse on my mind, it might have something to do with my creations...it might just be another of my ramblings....Philippians 1:6
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Today...utter sorrow clouded by utter joy

Today is one of those very tough days for me...let me tell you a story.

January 2001, we were living in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I get a phone call very late at night that my dear father-in-law was ill.  I go to the TV station and get John and we make the most miserable trip to KY we had ever made.  John made the 5.5-hour drive in a record 3 hours!!!

On the way there he says "this is not going to work, I can't lose one of my parents and be this far away from them".  So literally the next week when we returned to our home in Little Rock, John began searching for a new job closer to home.  It was not long later that a job (and a big pay cut later)..... we were packing up the family and moving too little and I do mean LITTLE Paducah, KY.

For the next eleven years, we enjoyed their company, have taken care of them, many trips to Mayfield, many trips to doctors, and many vacations cut short, while we have cared for them.

Today is just one of those days that I miss him.  I have talked to him almost daily since 2001.  I saw him almost every weekend.  I missed the money that we once made in Little Rock, I missed being a stay at home mom (as I could be in LR and could NOT in KY); but it was worth it to be with him.

I am not handling things as he would want them done today and I hate that.  I feel that he would be let down. I am praying and trying.  It's not happening.  I am just trying to focus on the fact that he is now pain-free.  That he is rejoicing in his heavenly reward.

the last photos taken of Henry when he was not in the hospital.  He did not feel well  this day.  It was the second to the last time he was in my house.  The last time was February 4, 2012.  I sat with him while John and his mom went to Ft Campbell. 

Death is sad for the living and today is just one of those sad days and now that I have depressed you. I am sorry, I promise to fix that....come back.

Blessed!!!

Today's posting is all about choices.  I was thinking about the choices that I have made.  I guess in friends.  I was thinking about friendship and the people that were there for me when Henry (Grandpa) died.  There were some people that I expected to come to the visitation and did not.  Then there were those that I thought might come but would not and they DID!  Then there were those that true friends.  Friends I have had for over 20 years.  Friends I feel like I have let down in the past and won't do that again.  God has shown me much in the last two weeks.  He has shown me that I can do things that I did not think I could.  He gave me the ability to tell someone I love that it was okay to quit fighting.  He gave me the ability to promise I would care for my mother-in-law and mean it.  He comforted us during a very hard spring break.  He gave my mother-in-law a blissfully aware attitude to be able to cope with the funeral.  And He showed me that I have put my trust and love in the wrong place.  That I needed to shift what I was doing and who I was doing it with and realize that I have made the right choices by following His will and I need to continue to do so.  I am going to try not to look back at mistakes I have made but look ahead to the good that I can do.  I am have made so many boo-boos, I should learn from them and not repeat them.  I intend to do just that.  I am focusing on truth and not falsehoods.  

I am blessed!!!

To get the looks below:

Patterned paper-K&Co I believe it's Bailey

Pink card stock- open stock from Hobby Lobby

Cream card stock-Bazzil

Doily from a local supermarket

Pocket watch chipboard-Bo Bunny

Ink-Distress inks in Spun Sugar, Frayed Burlap,and Old Paper

Flower from something my father-in-law bought from Publisher's Clearing House

Girl stamp-Hot off the Press Vintage Ladies

Butterfly Chipboard-Oriental Trading

Stickles-Distress Stickles in Picket Fence, Spun Sugar, Vintage Photo, Black Soot and Gold

 

Titanic---100 years later

I have followed the Titanic since I was a very small child.  I have been obsessed with the ins and outs of the ship, the what-ifs, the makeup of the ship and just the ship in general.  The Titanic helped to fuel my love for massive ocean liners and my deep desire to sail all the time.

Today marks the 100th year of the sinking of the history-making ocean liner.  All-day yesterday I followed the real-time events. I just wanted to see how I would react when it hit that "100 years mark".  I felt just as I thought I would.  I was very sad.  I had a tear in my eye and I could not help but think "what were those people thinking about and doing at that very minute".  It was a horrible feeling when the clock struck 2:20.

I decided to do a layout based on a Titanic timeline.  This one features a History Channel timeline.  While it doesn't contain all the facts, it does offer a wonderful representation of the events that lead up to the sinking.  It was also formatted in a PERFECT way.  Around the timeline I have placed photos of the ship....then and now.

Then I added my collage.  My college sums it all up on April 15, 1912, at 2:20 am.  The only thing wrong was that the calendar I used had the 15th on a Saturday when it was a Sunday.  I used an image from a pad of Tim Holtz's paper.  The little boy looks like he could have sailed on that ship, maybe in third class. Boy does that make you think.  The gears can be something that could have been in a machine room.  The fabric could have been from a chair in a first-class lounge.

What did I do the exact moment?  I said a prayer for all.

Keeping it going!

I promised that I was going to be more gracious this year and send cards as much as I could.  I feel that I am keeping this promise.  This week I have to send some thank you cards. Since I can't stand to do things like everyone else, I decided I MUST send some unique cards.  I am so grateful to the love that everyone has shown me the last few days.  I hope that my cards will let everyone know exactly how honored I am for everything that they have done for us.  

All paper used to make these cards are from my scrapbin.  All inks are by Tim Holtz (Broken China, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed).  The punches and die cuts are made by Stampin UP!.  The Thank You stamp is made by Fiskars. 

Thank you notes (Mojo Monday 235)

I needed to make some cards for thank you notes that I need to send for the gifts that people gave us for our grandpa's funeral.  I could not stand using those cards that the funeral home gave us.  They were uncreative, blah and boring!  I did limit my time spent on each card because I needed to make many many cards.  I set a 4 minute limit on each card.  I stuck to it closely and created 28 cards in one night because of my limit.  

I made these 2 from the MOJO Monday sketch for this week. This sketch helped me stay true to my 4 minute limit (at least for these 2 cards).  

Patterned paper on the red card is by K&Co.  On the yellow card it is by Bo Bunny.  The other papers are from my scrapbin.  The Thank You stamp and the border punch are by Fiskars.  The flower stamp is by Stampin UP!  The flower sticker on the yellow card is by Bo Bunny.  All color inks are Distress Inks by Tim Holtz.  The black ink is by Ranger. 

Limiting your creativity???? I don't think so.

You can only use 2 sheets of 12x12 paper.  Everything else must come from scraps that you have.  I did it!  I did not think that I could, but I did.  I took 1 sheet of 12x12 paper made by Bo Bunny (houndstooth on one side, green distressed on the other).  I also took one sheet of yellow Bazzil card stock.  I did NOT measure the paper because I am bad about that. I eyeballed  the paper, and I would say I cut it somewhere around the 7 inch mark. That left a a 5x12 (ish) strip and a 7x12 piece.  I cut the 7 inch piece in half.  I made 2 cards out of this.  I cut the yellow paper in the same fashion, however most of the yellow became mats for the 2 main cards.  As you can see one of the yellow pieces made a card.  That card (card 2) I used a Fiskars border punch to create the edging.  The thank you stamp is by Fiskars.  The face punch is by Hampton Arts.  All color inks are Distress Inks by Tim Holtz.  Black ink by Ranger.  The dot sticker border, the flower sticker, and the patterned paper (as stated earlier) are by Bo Bunny. 

I did have some yellow paper left over after creating these cards and decided it would make a great mat for the inside of the cards (perfect for writing my message). 

Sadness and Rejoicing!

My dear father-in-law that has been so sick passed away on Tuesday.  Henry Champion was man who never gave up.  He came into this world fighting and left it in the same way.  He had tried for so long to overcome the weakness that his body kept giving to him. 

 I call him Grandpa, so I will probably refer to him as that the rest of this blog.  Grandpa was a man that I met way before I met my husband.  He used to visit my Sunday School room at church.  I remember him sitting next to me and asking questions about what was going on in my life like I was the only kid on Earth. I know he spent the same amount of time with the other kids too so I know that wasn't true, but it sure felt like it. 

Then I met and later married John. Grandpa continued to be a big influence in our marriage.   He would do anything for us....sometimes without us asking.  His first act of kindness was to pay off our car after we got married. He said he hated for us to have a car payment just starting out.  How wonderful was that?

As our kids came he became a wonderful Grandpa.  No matter how tired he was, all our daughter or son would have to say is "grandpa will you play with me?" and down in the floor he got and played with them like he felt perfect.

As his body began to fail him, it was more difficult to get onto the floor, so he would sit in his chair and be the student to Hannah's teacher (his grades were pretty good).  Even from his hospital bed he would ask about the kids and try to mess around with them if they were visiting.

One Thursday night March 29, I took him to the ER for the last time.  We did not know that at the time, but he was telling me stories about his childhood, about his wife (my mom in law), telling me how special my kids were and things that he wanted to do.  The next day they put him on an oxygen mask making it very difficult to hear what he was saying.  Still he would lift that mask and try to talk to us about things.  By Saturday he took a turn for the worse. His heart decided that it had enough.  What a terrifying few minutes that was.  They sedated him for a while because they had placed him on a ventilator.  

The next day he was coming out of the sedation and was able to communicate with us.  He was writing words, nodding his head and mouthing "I love you".  We will never forget this because it was not long before his heart betrayed him yet again.

This time we lost him.  I made these cards to kind of calm down my nerves and help to heal my sadness. Then I started reflecting on just about everything and it hit me.............

I rejoice that Grandpa is with the Lord in Heaven.  Grandpa lead a wonderful life with Christ and I have no doubts there.  I am saddened that I shall not hear him ask about my kids again.  I am going to hang onto the thought that his body will not betray him ever again, and that is he is happy and hanging with our Lord.  

All paper materials came from my scrapbin (which is starting to run low).  All the color inks are from Tim Holtz (Broken China, Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick and Spiced Marmalade).  Tim Holtz also created the "artful" charm.  The thank you  and dream stamp is from Fiskars.  The flower stamp is by Close to My Heart.  The Eiffel Tower was drawn and painted by ME.   The embossing powder is by Jo Anns.  The hearts by Making Memories. 

An emotional mess

This weekend has been a little odd.  My father-in-law who has been sick since October 2009, got ill on Thursday and I had to take him to the hospital.  He had stage 4 edema and congestive heart failure (he has had this for years).  They admitted him and figured out that his kidneys were not working.  Into CCU he went so that they could repair the damage.  Yesterday morning I went to visit him.  He was on a bi-level oxygen mask, and had to lift the mask so that I could hear what he had to say.  He was jolly, he was concerned about his dear wife, my mother-in-law.  I took her home and drove the 20 minute drive back to my house.  One hour later the hospital called and told us to get there now.  Some of you can imagine how we felt making that 20 minute drive.  He had coded because he aspirated.  They worked on him and brought him back.  They put him on a vent.  The last 24 hours has been the most critical.  He is fighting for his life.  His body is so weak.  Today a tiny miracle, even with the vent he has been able to communicate with us via those eyes, head shakes, nodding and squeezing our hands.  You can see the love he has for us and how he wants to touch us.

We have been blessed with so many that are praying for him.  Praying for my mother-in-law who thinks the world of him and needs him so much.  April 16 will be their 60th wedding anniversary.  60 years is a long time...a long time in which they have grown to rely on each other for EVERYTHING!!!

I came home from the hospital today counting my blessings that my parents are healthy, that my kids are so wonderful and feeling so proud of my husband who has had to make decisions in the last 24 hours that he never thought he would have to make.  Decisions he thought were made and were not.  Decisions that he does not want to make.  He is so brave so strong!  I am so proud of him!  I know I said that, but I am.

I had to come home and make some cards to calm down my emotions.  I thought more detailed folding would ease my mind and give me time with my thoughts so I could reflect on the last few days.

All patterned papers are by K&CO (Viola Viva, Mira, Bailey, Wild Saffron, Que Sera Sera)
All inks by Tim Holtz
plain cardstock from my scrapbin
word stamp, dot stamp and pear stamp by Technique Tuesday
Bird cage collage stamp by Tim Holtz
tag by K&Co
ribbon by Hobby Lobby
border punch by Fiskars




One more thing, for those of you praying for him, I thank you.  Thank you so very much.

Just read a book!!!

I think I have said this before, but when I was in high school, reading a book was the LAST thing I would do.  I was too cool to read the assigned books and tried very hard NOT to read them unless the teacher required us during class time.  I did read the book A Farewell to Arms because we were required to do so in class.  I fell deeply in love with the story and to this day it is one of my favorite books.  I even love the movie with Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones.  I read this book every year because I love it so much.

The other book I fell for while in high school was The Mayor of Casterbridge.  Again, a wonderful story with a crazy but effective story.  If you have not read these two books you must!

Gone with the Wind was my next book.  This was the book that did it for me.  This is the book that hooked me to reading.  This is it.  I began to realize that in a book you could lose reality, you could imagine people, things and scenery.  I have currently read GWTW 39 times.  That equals one time for every year that I have been alive. I hope to keep it going and read it once a year, we shall see if I can do it.  

Since the introduction of my smartphone, I don't read as much as I did.  I also scrapbook A LOT!!! So there is another thing that takes up my time.  At one time in my life I read around 300 books per year.  Now it is more like 75.  It may be my attention span too, it is worse because there are so many things to distract me.  And then it could be that my kids are more involved in things now.

Still I love to read and love to share that love.

Now I am not talking about the Bible, there are so grand stories in there, and those I read over and over so don't think I am discounting that. I don't believe that counts.  That is the best book and the one you can use for real life.  So basically I count it on a different scale. I guess that is because mainly I read novels for my escapism.  The Bible I read for my soul!

 I made this card for our librarian at LOHS.  She reads books so I made her a bookmark holder with 2 bookmarks.  This was an experiment because I had never made a card with bookmarks.   I am pleased with the result. I am rather pleased with the way it turned out.  It is a two sided card. I stitched it up after I added the pockets. 

This card uses:

Tim Holtz's distress inks in Broken China, Dusty Concord, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, and Weathered Wood

Also DMC thread

Stampendous embossing powder in midnight black

stamps from Inkadinkadoo (Birds Galore)

Patterned paper by K&Co Viola Viva

Sunday Afternoon Workshop

I have never been invited to a card workshop before and was very excited when a scrapbooking buddy (Kelly Veach) invited me to her monthly card class.  The teacher was Gina Fraser and she was GREAT!  Bubbly and excited with TONS of grand ideas!.

Today I am going to share the cards that she created for us to make.  I did change mine a tad.  On most of the cards I used inks to distress a bit or add some dimension.  One card I changed a lot the pennant card. Her card featured 3 flags that went across the card, I simply can't do that straight across stuff so I made mine at an angle and I must say it is one of my 2 favorites.  My favorite is the grey and pink card.  Gina's card was PERFECT and needed me to change NOTHING.

I had a wonderful time.  I was quiet because I was soaking it all in.  The room was so inspiring.  The chatter from the girls was great to be around.  The learning to use a big shot was AWESOME (thanks Jennifer Hodges for showing me how to use it)!  I can't think of anything that could have been changed to make the afternoon better.

I am grateful for the chance to go to this class.

Spring Break Goals

I tend to be more productive if I have a list.  I tend to hold myself accountable when I share that list.  I have a week off starting today and I have some things that I MUST accomplish on this week off.  Today I am going to share this list with you.  What?  I know I can't believe I won't be on a cruise ship either, but no the cruise is later, a staycation is first.  These items are above my usual daily cleaning chores. (Maybe I should post them, yes there is a daily list)

1.  Make 50 cards
2.  Submit at least 40 of those designs
3.  Fix the cracks in the driveway
4.  Reseal the driveway
5.  Stain the deck
6.  Clean the windows in my house
7.  Possibly paint the utility room (still thinking about this one)
8.  Day trip to Nashville
9.  Fix crack in sidewalk
10.  Weed the flower bed (possibly raise it---this depends on funding)
11.  Fix lattice on deck
12.  Try to take apart or fix basketball goal
13.  Having any work needed done on vehicles
14.  Clean the carpets
15.  Clean out the garage and storeroom (this won't take long because I keep them tidy all ready)
16.  Clean out Trevor's closet and toy box


things I wanted to do but finished all ready
1.  Cleaned out hall closet
2.  Weeded the herbs
3.  Worked on the bed frame
4.  Cleaned all the bathroom and kitchen walls
5.  Cleaned behind washer, dryer, fridge and stove
6.  Reorganized the store room shelves
7.  Cleaned out hall closet
8.  Reorganized my closet


Have a great productive spring break, I know I will.